Memories Best Left Forgotten

by Valtyra

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Romance, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 54600

What makes a pony? His truth or how he remembers it?

Celestia received a diary. The diary of a pony undying and told to read it. Uncertainty overcomes her and her curiosity wins, leading to a rabbit hole of memories that are best left unshared.

Now Celestia turned Sure Fire has to deal with fiendish vamponies, plundering pirates and... Eternal elk?

Published 2013-06-09 23:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-11 13:24:06 UTC

Chapter 1: Arc 1

"Nothing of value is gained from remembering the past – except maybe the ability to imagine the future." - Mahazo "Grand Elder"

Celestia walked into her quarters. 'Stupid nobles,' she mumbled as she threw off her golden shoes then levitated her tiara and breast plate off and onto their pedestals. She sighed, shook her head and wandered over to her desk.

Celestia sat down on her worn-down wooden chair, its frame creaking under her weight. She had been meaning to replace the old thing, but something always seemed to distra–

-tap tap tap-

Celestia groaned. 'If it's another snob...' she mumbled. Celestia rose from the chair, it eased back into position with a silent thank-you. She wandered over to the door lazily. The day had been long, and sometimes even living deities need a break.

She gripped the handle in her golden magic and pulled the door open. Standing at attention was a young cadet, wearing the normal guard uniform of golden armour over his body. No more than seventeen, she thought, looking him over. She couldn't see his cutie mark as the armour hid it, but she was sure it would be something like a shield or a sword. Too many shield cutie marks.

She looked him over. He stood ever so taller than most of the ponies she had met that day and had a much leaner build than them as well. His brown mane was off to one side and his tail was cut short as was the norm in the Equestrian guard.

The guard turned and presented a package to the princess. She levitated it out of his jaw and gave her thanks. The guard blushed, nodded and the princess dismissed him. He turned and trotted off; turning the corner at the end of the hall.

'He seemed cute,' Celestia muttered, not bothering to check if any pony was listening. She paused, shook her head and continued walking; the light flush fading from her face.

She made her way back over to the desk and sat down. The wind ruffled the curtains, causing the coat on the back of her neck to stand on end. She slowly turned around, glancing at the window with a suspicious eye.

'Lulu...?' She called out expecting Luna to jump out and scare her like old times. Fortunately for her this was not one of those times; only the curtains moved in the moonlight.

That was rather ominous, Celestia thought, getting up from the chair.

Celestia walked over to the curtains, reached past them and closed the window. 'Better,' Celestia said. She leaned back and turned around, only to come face to face with her sister.

'He's taken, you know,' Princess Luna whispered, causing Celestia to jump in shock. 'Has a foal as well,' Luna grinned, tilting her head to the side.

'Damn it Luna, don't jump out and scare me like that.' Celestia walked over to her bed, her embarrassment fading from her face with every step. 'I was only thinking out loud.' She sat down, the covers crinkling around her body.

Luna strolled forward and leaned down so that her head was next to her sister’s, 'Oh, I know what are thinking about when you are alone...' She whispered with a sly grin.

Celestia blushed, 'N-not that kind of stuff Lulu.' Celestia turned her head away, the heat of her face causing her to lose track of her thoughts.

'Please,' Luna rolled her eyes, 'I've seen your dreams, and I know what you desire . How long has it been?' She laughed into Celestia's ear, causing Celestia to push her away. 'Don't worry sister, I jest.' She turned around and trotted to the door. Just before exiting, she turned around with a grin, 'you should have seen your face though, priceless!'

Celestial threw one of her pillows at her, but missed as Luna ducked out through the door. 'Urge, I swear one of these days,' Celestia huffed and rolled her eyes, but her face took on a small smile. She had missed the playful banter she and her sister had thrown at each other before Luna’s departure; even now she was planning on some way to get her own back.

Celestia levitated her pillow back into place on the right side of the bed. She lied down and levitated her package over, placing it gently on the bed. She eyed it suspiciously. There was no return label and nothing seemed out of place; all in all a normal package. But something seemed off; like a little itch right in the place you couldn't reach, or a fly you couldn't swat away.

It made the Princess frown, she rarely came across things that made her feel that way; they always ended up in trouble, and she has made a rule of never purposefully looking for them. Unfortunately, there are always loopholes in every rule and she couldn't help but be curious about the contents.

She tore the top off, frowning slightly when no bubble wrap was found, every pony likes bubble wrap. She emptied the contents onto the bed. Two things fell out, a letter and a diary. ’Strange, who would send me a diary?’ She mumbled as she brought the letter up, it’s rough, slightly browned, aged surface threatening to tear under her delicate magic. She opened it and began reading.

"Dear Princess,
If this package has found its way to you, then you have my deepest sympathies for Princess Luna. I'm sorry you had to do what you did...
I hope that things work out for you two, it's very hard to get any news out where I am in these troubled times.
I have been tasked, in my final hours to store my knowledge. The elders gave me a choice, so I chose a diary. This was created especially for you, it holds all my memories and knowledge. Hopefully the spell embedded in the book is still active. Do not misunderstand, this is not intended as a joke, but merely to educate you for the future. There are dark things coming for Equestria, and after, the world at large.
I give this as a gift, so that you may remember me even as insignificant as I was.
Your undying and always faithful subject
Sure Fire."

Celestia folded up the paper, taking care not to damage it. She put it back in the envelope, then placed that back in the package. She levitated the diary over, she now knew what that nagging sensation was; it was the feeling of high level magic. She usually got it around Twilight, when she was about to perform a spell for her.

She held it up into the light of the candle, the shadows flickering off the leather bound cover. Her eyes glanced over the many scratches and oddly, burn marks. She flipped it over, finding an ornate symbol on the back.

The buckle shimmered in the light and Celestia turned the diary to see. It wrapped around the book from the left side of the cover to the back, locking it firmly in place. It’s gold covering out of place on such an old book. It brought a frown to the princess’s face. ‘Somepony must have tampered with the book,' she muttered under her breath.

Celestia turned the diary so that the cover was facing her. She cast a scan spell to see if there was any pony that would interrupt her; mainly her sister. Satisfied, she tried to open the book. However, it didn't budge. ‘Stuck?’

She checked the package again, and sure enough a tiny key sat at the bottom of the box. Unlikely to be found if one wasn’t looking. She levitated it out as it was too small to be picked up by hoof or mouth. She gently placed it into the hole in the centre of the cover and turned.

-CLICK-

The cover flew open. Silver light poured out, bathing the princess and blurring her vision. ‘Wait!’ She shouted, before the feeling of weightlessness set in, making her stomach feel funny, and her head woozy; she always hated that feeling.

‘Ugh,’ she groaned. She felt like she did the morning after the return party for her sister. After calming down enough to think straight, she opened her eyes and gasped. Everything surrounding her was white. It made her feel so insignificant. She spun around, hoping there was something, anything to help her get her bearings. When she found none, she began to increase the speed of her search, until she broke down; a few tears floating away from her eyes.

‘Hmm, Alicorns act particularly frightened in the void...’ The voice seemed to echo from everywhere and nowhere all at once; almost as if it was inside the princess’s head.

‘Who’s there? Show yourself!” Celestia shouted, frightened. ‘Where am I?’ She asked, unable to find the source of the voice.

‘You are... in the void,' It replied, ‘my own creation; although I take no responsibility for the actual spell.'

‘W-who are you?’ Celestia stuttered, still unsure of what was going on. ‘And where is the v-void?’

‘I was placed here by Sure Fire as a way of guiding you to your destination. She wants nothing else than for you to succeed,' The voice responded, ‘the void is inside the book; think of it as a waiting room of sorts.’

‘O-okay... What does she want me to succeed at?’ Celestia questioned, not really understanding what was being asked of her.

‘You will need to learn about her past, so you may be better prepared for the future. I hope you read the letter?’ It questioned, a slither of hope appeared before it disappeared just as quickly.

The princess nodded, ‘Yes, I did. It didn’t mention that this was to happen though.’ She remembered what the letter said. Something was wrong though, she was an Alicorn; it was debatable that she was one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. If something was strong enough to pull her into the "void", then she would know about it or at least heard about it from somepony...

‘ others have said the same thing... ’ the voice mumbled, ‘Yes, my master is used to being subtle. She sometimes doesn’t know when to stop. Not to worry though, this part will mostly be painless...'

‘Wait...mostly!? W-what’s going to h-happen!?’ Celestia asked, getting increasingly nervous about the whole ordeal, ‘Take m–'

‘I’m sorry Princess, I’m not allowed. You have to complete the diary.’ The voice interrupted, its tone sounding rather regretful; knowing what she was going to ask. ‘Get ready.’

A bright light filled the Princess’s vision, blinding her and causing her groan in frustration. She felt a surge of adrenalin travel through her body, then pain... indescribable pain; it was almost as painful as her first drinking game against Applejack. She really regretted that night.

As the pain faded, her senses started to return slowly. Her hearing was the first to return, bringing with it the sounds of ponies arguing.

'What do you mean “no”!? After all we've been through!?' The voice of a stallion, he sounds distraught, grief spilling over in his voice.

'I just can't... He'll be safer here, than with us.' A mare this time, she sounds less upset but seems to be the leader.

These faded in and out, each time bringing waves of nausea, threatening to push Celestia back into unconsciousness. Touch returned shortly after, letting her feel the soft cotton wrappings that she was wrapped in; quite tightly in fact.

-knock knock-

The sound of hard wood being pounded against filled her hearing, it hurt, but the endured seeing as she couldn't see anything and it appeared she couldn't move either.

'I can't believe we're doing this...'

The mare clicked her tongue and tutted, 'This will be a new start for all of us, alright?' She paused, the sound of hoof steps reached Celestia's ears. 'Alright?'

'Yeah, I guess...'

Her sense of smell returned, although Celestia wished it didn't. The aroma that made its way into her nostrils was far worse than something she would have imagined in this scenario. It smelled like a foal’s dirty diaper, but...

Celestia's sharp mind, honed from thousands of years of leadership and practice put the pieces together. This was obviously Sure Fire's memory; his very first.' The voice said that she would have to go through the memories, but not the very first one and in order...

She tried calling out, or saying anything at all, but her body’s underdeveloped voice box decided to just gargle instead and she ended up coughing.

'Come on, we better go before the sister sees us.' The mare's voice was filled with urgency.

'I want to say goodbye. Please, at least let me have that...' The stallion sounded regretful, but at least he still cared; something Celestia had seen plenty of over her life.

'Alright, be quick though...' The mare sounded nervous now.

Hoof steps came closer. They stopped beside her head and the feeling of lips making contact with her cheek was felt. 'I'm so sorry, I never meant for this...'

He leaned back, turned and walked back to the mare, 'Happy now?'

'Not at all,' she stated bluntly.

Hoof steps slowly faded from earshot as Celestia's sight returned; albeit a bit fuzzy. From what she could make out, she was just inside the main foyer of some house.

She couldn't move much, but she managed to crane her head up to see the door open. What walked out wasn't a pony nor a gryphon; what walked out was a creature that Celestia had only heard about in stories: Elks.

'Impossible...' Celestia thought.

Elks hail from the land of Cervidas, they come in two races as opposed to the ponies three; winged and not.

The elk picked the basket up, its antlers glowing a light blue causing Celestia to shut her eye from the glare.

'Now what kind of parent would leave you all alone out here...?’ The cow whispered. She brought her muzzle down and nuzzled Celestia's forehead, brushing her mane. 'And still so young...'

Celestia tried talking again, but coughed and wiggled inside her basket.

'Be still young one...' the cow soothed. She brought the basket in, closing the door behind her and walked across the cool dirt floor.

She levitated Celestia out and placed her down on a wooden table. 'Now, to see if you are well young cow.'

'Cow? I'm one of them!?' Celestia shouted in her head, getting increasingly frustrated that she couldn't use her voice.

The cow loosened the bundle Celestia was in and after, unwrapped it. She moved it off to the side, placing it back in the basket and took a long hard look at the calf in front of her. She gently tilted her from side to side, to check for any signs of neglect or harm.

Celestia tried to wriggle free and away, but was thwarted by the cow clutching her with surprisingly soft hooves; much softer than pony hooves.

Unfortunately while Celestia couldn't talk, she could still do one thing that foals and calves are good at: crying.

Celestia cried, causing the cow to pause and stare blankly; her ears flipping down to avoid pain.

'Do not worry calf, I mean no harm.' The sister said, looking worried. But soon she collected herself and brought her head down, nuzzling Celestia on the cheek.

Within seconds, Celestia stopped crying. 'T-that... Was rather soothing,' she said in her head.

After a quick examination which Celestia had not expected, the sister seemed pleased and soon wore a pleasant smile. She looked into Celestia's eyes, tilted her head and spoke, 'I think I will name you, Sure Fire...'

'So I guess this is the start...' Celestia casually thought to herself as she felt tired and yawned cutely.

The sister giggled, 'I'm sorry young one, and I must be keeping you up. I will put you down for the night.' The cow levitated Celestia onto her back and walked over to a door. She opened it and walked into another room, much the same as the last one, but as Celestia's vision improved, she could actually see now.

The room she was brought into had bright whitewashed walls. A series of beds were lined up in rows along the walls and each one had an occupant. The sister pulled up alongside a bed and nudged it, waking the occupant up.

'Sister... What time is it?' A cow's voice sounded out from under the covers, a large amount of fright or tiredness crept into the tone.

If the sister heard it, she made no indication but instead replied. 'Rise Green, you are needed.'

A head popped out from the sheet. It had two small antlers, surrounded by a sea of light blue mane. The eyes were the features that stood out, they were like two emeralds. They had a certain sparkle that Celestia had only seen a couple of times before in her life. 'Needed? What for...?' she trailed off at the end, seeing Celestia on the cow's back.

'Let us talk in my office, we have some things to discuss. May she sleep here while you are gone?' Waiting as the young cow left the warmth of the bed and straightened herself out.

'Of course sister.' She said timidly, watching as Celestia was lowered onto the bed before being bundled up again in some small blankets. Green couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Celestia yawning again, but soon shook her head and turned to the sister.

The sister walked away after nuzzling Celestia's cheek; Green following close behind. Celestia tried to look about some more, to get a better picture of where she was but fatigue overwhelmed her and her eyelids closed, seemingly of their own free will; soon she was fast asleep.

Celestia opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. Around her bed were dozens of Elks, all staring at her. She blinked a couple of times, eliciting one cow to mutter "Awe".

Celestia tried to move, but was reminded by the 'restraints' that she was still bundled up. One of the various onlookers noticed and untangled her from the covers.

Celestia stood up weakly, her legs threatening to buckle under her. She stretched and tried moving about. As she got close to the edge of the bed, she was gently nudged back, stopping her from falling off. She was surprised to find her legs begin to feel stronger.

The sister from the night before entered the room and paused. She studied the young spectators and asked, 'What are you all doing?'

The group turned around and stared at their caretaker, 'N-nothing ma'am... I mean, w-watching the new-born...'

'Alright, but I have to take her to get signed in and spend some time with Green.'

'Awe,' a couple of them groan out, 'can we play with her after?'

'We'll see, she has to bond first. You all have chores to attend to anyway. The sister replied, causing more of the groups to moan in protest, bit slowly the group disbanded, leaving Celestia and Sister alone.

The sister bent down and picked Celestia up, placing her on her back. 'Won't be long until you will be talking back like them... Oh how I miss the silence...' she muttered, giving a private chuckle.

The two left the sleeping quarters and travelled down a long hallway, lined with various images. Celestia viewed them with intrigue, this was first hoof knowledge of elk culture; she felt so privileged to see this. Oh how Twilight would die for a chance like this.

Thinking of home left her feeling down, 'What must they be thinking... I'd guess I'm either comatose, and my mind is literally in the book or this is a magic induced dream-state; neither sound particularly pleasing...'

The sister had stopped to open a door and quickly resumed her pace, they walked into a small square courtyard. It was lined on each side by small groves of intertwined vines growing along fences. Above them stood the second level of the orphanage, its many windows overlooking the yard. Under hoof was a loose gravel path that ended with a circle of grass, its edges barely touching the vines.

Two benches sat in the centre, one being taken up by Green, the other sat empty waiting for Sister. 'I am sorry I'm late, the others were helping Sure to walk.' the sister apologised.

Green's ears perked up, she turned her head around and smiled when she saw Sure Fire, then stuttered as she turned to Sister, 'I-it's no problem...'

'Kind as always, I’d expect nothing less...' Sister praised, 'You understand it's a large responsibility?' she continued as she sat Celestia on the grass and sat on the second bench herself.

Green nodded.

'Good, being bonded means you have to look after her, through good and bad, even if you fall out.' Sister explained.

Green nodded again, getting a determined look on her face, 'I understand, I remember what you said last night and gave it a long think through. I'm ready.'

Sister smiled and motioned for Green to sit next to Celestia. Once Green was there, she leaned down and touched each of her antlers to each cow. They glowed, a light blue aura flowing from the bases down the lengths and over the two cows. They glowed briefly, then the magic cut out leaving Celestia in a state of confusion. She didn't feel any different...

Out of the blue, Greene's voice popped up in Celestia's head. 'I don't feel any different... Maybe it didn't work, maybe I wasn't good enough...' on the outside though, Green seemed calm, giving away nothing of her inner thoughts.

'I doubt you will feel anything different for a few weeks, especially since Sure Fire can't talk yet. Being bonded means a special attachment for the rest of your lives.'

'Y-yes ma'am.'

'Good, now return to your quarters. Complete any tasks you may have, we will talk later.' Sister said while standing. She levitated Celestia onto her back and walked off down one of the four hallways, leaving Green to her thoughts.

Celestia was brought through to a room that looked much like her own study back in Canterlot. It had a large sized bed on side of the room, up against the wall. A small desk, with chair; covered in papers and documents. A wardrobe, which had hundreds of pictures of different cows and bulls, towards whom no doubt Sister had taken a liking to.

The floor, instead of being dirt or gravel, was hardwood, the clip-clop of her hooves a painful contrast to the peace that the courtyard held. A small window sat behind the desk, overlooking a garden. This one looked like it hadn't being attended to in a very long time.

Celestia was levitated off Sister’s back and onto the bed. 'I'll put you here for now... I have some documents to sign and update...' Sister muttered before going over to the desk, pulling out the stool that was sitting underneath and started work on some documents.

Celestia sat on the bed watching her, slightly being reminded of herself. It wasn't long before Celestia buried herself into her work when she sent Luna away, some part of her knowing it wouldn't help but she didn't want to think about what she had done 'less she would have done something she would regret.

She had of course became more laid back now that Luna was back, they often went around and spent a lot of time together. Many would argue that they spent too much time, but Celestia would argue back that they needed each other to balance out. You can't have day without night.

Sister turned around, moved over to the bed levitating a small box and some parchment. 'Ok, now hold your hoof out.' Celestia did as she was told, much to the surprise of the sister, who only chuckled and took hold of her hoof. She flipped the top off the box, revealing that it contained ink and dipped Celestia's hoof inside. She took a hoof print on the paper and wiped off the excess with magic, then turned back to her desk and carried on working.

Eight months later:

Celestia pushed the covers off her head with a small groan. She had just woke up and was feeling a bit groggy. Sister had started her on a set of medicine, a couple of days after she arrived, to help her heal her voice. A little while after that, her legs had strengthened enough to actually walk about on her own, unfortunately she still wasn’t able to talk and had gained a reputation of becoming moody at random times.

‘Urgh, I never realised my sun was so bright in the mornings...’ She thought to herself, silently chuckling. She got out of bed and trotted along the rows, seeing a couple of calves were still sleeping with their covers over their heads. At least they get some rest.

Celestia trotted past a trio of calves who nodded, ‘Hello Sure, want to play with us?’ One of them asked.

Celestia shook her head and gave an apologetic look.

‘Oh, alright... well, we’ll see you later.’ They turned back to each other and shrugged.

Celestia moved away and trotted out of the open doorway into the lobby. She saw Sister and a strange bull talking at the bottom of the stairs to the second floor. The bull nodded, turned towards Celestia and smiled, before walking away down a side passage.

Celestia turned back to Sister, a small smile on her face. Celestia trotted up to her and waited for her to say something. Time ticked by as Sister watched the bull walk off; only after he turned a corner did Sister notice Celestia.

‘Oh, hello Sure Fire. I didn’t notice you there...' She slowly muttered as a small blush began its way over her cheeks. ‘How are you? Could you try to say something.' every day since giving Celestia the potion, she had been trying to get her to say something so that she could gauge the effects and how she's healing.

Celestia tried to form a word,. ‘Hello.’ the sound surprised both of them, it was a little higher than Celestia's old voice, so it she jumped a little, not expecting something like that. For the first time she had been able to say something.

Sister grinned, ‘Wonderful!’ She shouted, becoming the centre of attention of quite a few calf wandering about. ‘Every elk, gather around.’ She announced and soon a large group of elks were in a circle around Celestia, ‘Go on, say something.’

Celestia scanned the group, most of the first floor residents had turned up and even some of the second floor as well. Her ears turned back, unable to find Green. She looked at Sister and sighed, 'Hello!'

Celestia walked through the hallways of the orphanage being greeted with congratulations, but otherwise ignored, for the most part. Although it was still a little weird not raising the sun, not being bowed to or, hell, losing her wings; she was getting used to it.

She passed a set of windows that looked out towards the courtyard, bringing back memories of being bonded with Green, it was there she saw Green. She smiled and took off down the hallway as fast answer legs would allow. She bounded through a set of double doors, down the stairs, narrowly missing a set of loitering Elks, and round a corner.

She rushed outside, the warm air feeling sticky under her coat from all the running. It was uncomfortable, but not terribly.

Celestia walked up behind Green, lowered her head so that it was just beside her ear and whispered, 'I *cough* can talk now...' just barely squeezing the last bit out without coughing.

Green jumped up and gasped as Celestia moved around the bench to sit next to her. She grabbed a hold of Celestia, pulling her into a hug and squeezing the life out of her.

'When? Why didn't you tell me sooner?' Green asked, excitement rising. She could now talk with Sure Fire, coming up with stories, or gossip.

'I... met Sister...' She said, just about.

'Oh, never mind, at least you found me now.' Green replied. 'I missed her first word...'

Celestia could almost feel the mixture of emotions flowing from her thoughts. Fortunately, millennia of training has helped her keep her emotions contained, she often needed that when dealing with important ponies.

But this wasn't a pony... This was a different species. She had looked after Celestia since she was put into Greens care, the day after she had arrived. She changed her, washed her and to Celestia's amusement, played with her; there was no need to keep them bottled up from her.

Celestia felt guilty, mainly from the fact that she had kept her thought private, even though she could read Green’s like a book, 'A change from the bonding...' Celestia thought.

"Bonding" as the Elks put it, means the joining of two fates, or emotions. This usually occurs with an elk of sufficient age and a young, usually new-born.

The bonding process is always the same, the two antlers of the "Bonder", are used to join the pair together; like tying two threads together.

The result isn't usually known until the new-born has grown. Most results are increased affection for each other, some limited telepathy where the two's emotions can be felt by each other.

In rare cases; the two, while having the usual results, can also be bonded right down to fate. This was both in a literal and metaphorical sense.

Celestia decided that while she's with Green, she'll be more open and honest. 'I guess a thousand years really did put a damper on things...'

'Green,' Celestia said, making Green look up from tracing the grass edge, 'We can talk like this...'

Greene's eyes flew open. To Celestia's surprise, she didn't run away. Instead she said, 'It was the bonding, it has to be.'

Celestia nodded, 'Do we tell any elk?'

'That's creepy...' Green shook her head, 'We better not, no elk will believe us anyway...'

'Okay. Is it okay if I talk like this? My throat is still bad.' Celestia asked.

'I don't mind. Green replied smiling.

The two friends sat in the courtyard for hours, talking about various subjects. From stories to favourite foods, everything was discussed.

The two laughed, stopping when Celestia coughed, reminding her to take it easy, while also reminding her of the time. ''We should get inside...' Celestia said, looking up to the sky to see ominous dark clouds. ''No doubt we've missed dinner.'

Green's smile dimmed, she liked the food that Sister makes. ' Alright, you can get ready first. I'll be in bed after.'

Since the day that Celestia had arrived and subsequently been placed in the care of Green, she had slept in the same bed. Sister thought it would help them bond, plus help with the whole situation.

It did help them bond, but to Celestia it was more. It reminded her of the times where Luna would rush into her room scared of some silly monster under her bed.

Celestia pushed herself of the bench, stretching her legs and arcing her back, feeling it pop multiple times.

'I wish you wouldn't do that, you know how it makes me feel.' Green scolded, shuddering as she looked away,

Celestia giggled softly, ''Sorry, I'll try to remember next time.'

'I hope there won't be a next time.' Green replied, turning back and blowing a raspberry.

Celestia rolled her eyes and walked off, 'Don't take too long.' she mentally shouted.

She pulled open the set of doors leading into the lobby with her hoof. Her magic not having developed yet to do it for her. She looked about not seeing any elk. 'Hmm strange...' she thought as she walked towards the door leading to the shared quarters.

She could hear noises from inside, which wasn't an uncommon event, even at night. But what seemed strange was that the sounds seemed badly hushed, as if they were trying to keep quiet from someone, but failing.

She hesitantly pushed the door open. She was about to stick her head inside, but life had taught her not to do that. Especially when Pinkie Pie is about.

She shook her head at the reminder of that pink ball of energy and threw caution to the wind. If there was something she would do differently now, it was be less cautious and more impulsive.

She pushed the door open. Her eyes were filled with white light as all the candles in the room were magically lit at the same time. 'Surprise!' a crowd of Elk shouted as they jumped up from behind various objects.

Celestia tried to look shocked and apparently it worked. She jumped as she heard a familiar voice from behind.

'Had you fooled.'

Celestia turned around, seeing Green standing in the doorway looking at the crowd apprehensively.

''What's this for?' Celestia asked, turning back around to the crowd.

''This is for your first word. Come on, you didn't think our family would do nothing?' Green thought back.

The question brought a realisation to Celestia's mind. These Elks were her family now... While Luna was her biological and Twilight, her adoptive family, these elk were here for her now and even if they were some elks memories, they seemed real enough for her.

Sister took the outward silence as a Cue to speak up. 'This is your party Sure. It's for you saying your first word.' Sister walked up to Celestia and leaned down, nuzzling her on the cheek. 'I'm proud of you, those lessons really paid off.'

Every couple of days Celestia and Sister would have a small "get together" and she'd teach Celestia words. What she didn't know was that Celestia was a multi-century year old Alicorn and she already knew how to read, pretty well actually.

Celestia looked up and smiled with barely restrained tears. She wiped them away with a leg, sniffing a couple of times.

Green moved forward to Celestia's side, 'This is from every elk.' She levitated out a box from somewhere and presented it to Celestia whose eyes widened at the sight.

''You all shouldn't have...'

'Now, don't say no. Because we have all agreed extra chores to be able to get this for you.' Green replied. She placed it in front of Celestia and waited.

Celestia lifted a hoof and started to carefully unwrap the present. She finally got the paper off and opened the box. She opened the box, the sight of what was inside made her giggle.

She pulled out a ticked that on one side said, "One week of no chores, well done." the other was blank except for the names of every elk in the room.

''Pretty good right?' Green thought, receiving a small nod from Celestia.

''What chores did you agree to?' Celestia asked curiously.

''Looking after you, obviously.' Green replied giggling; the elks in the room looked at each other.

‘Alright every elk, bring in the food.’ Sister shouted. A couple of elks left and levitated in a selection of food and drink, ‘Go on and have fun, I have to leave for a little while. I’ll be back in a bit though’ Sister whispered to Celestia; slipping unseen out of the room.

‘Huh, oh well...’ Celestia thought as she trotted forward with Green by her side. ‘Thank...you...’ she struggled to say.

A bull trotted up to her, ‘Hi sure, I’m glad you like it.’ He said smiling.

Celestia looked him over. She was sure she had seen him around, but never had the time to know his name... Fortunately, Green was there for her.

’His name’s Bronze Dagger. He’s got his own room on the second floor.’ She thought; even she hadn’t seen this particular elk much, he seemed to keep to himself for the most part.

Celestia nodded and looked up to him. ‘It’s *cough* nice.’ she whispered out.

Green turned to him, ‘What have you been doing, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you around here.’

‘Oh, I’ve been given an apprenticeship at the new “Gemclod” blacksmiths. Dirty place, but good pay; the owner is nice as well.’ He replied, a hint of red making its way under his dark brown coat.

‘OH, some elk has a crush...’ Green sung, making Bronze’s face become even darker.

‘No, she’s just... nice.’ He replied, unable to keep eye contact.

‘Alright alright, I was only teasing.’ Green turned to Celestia, ‘Would you like to see it tomorrow? I have nothing else other than look after you, so we can walk into town... now that I think about it, you’ve never been...’

’That sounds good, what is it called?’ Celestia asked, turning to Green.

’Buckingshire. Gemclod is right in the centre, next to the river.’ She replied.

‘Okay, I’ll just leave you two alone...’ Bronze whispered causing Celestia and Green to turn to the empty space where Bronze was.

The night went on a lot like that, meeting various friends and others that they had seen around, but never had the pleasure of actually talking to. After a couple of fun filled hours, the party-goers decided it was late enough to turn in for the night and sleep. Celestia and Green helped with the clearing up and soon they found themselves in bed, slowly falling asleep.

The next day, Celestia was woken up by Green exiting the bed. She got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. She came out a little later and stretched. Seeing Celestia laying there she whispered, ‘A little early for you to be up?’

Celestia shook her head and yawned. Green walked over and got into bed, pulling Celestia closer and nuzzling the top of her head. Celestia’s antlers had begun to grow. Right now, they were small nubs that could be compared to mosquito bites, but in ten or so years, they would grow out to full size.

Celestia squirmed, ’Where did Sister go yesterday?’

’I don’t know, we should see in a bit... it’s so nice...and...cosy...’

A scream from outside startled them awake. Three elks rushed into the room. The first was a bull and behind him were two other elks; one cow and another bull. ‘Every elk wake up!’ He shouted.

Green shot out of bed, nearly tripping over the covers and galloped up to him. ‘What’s wrong? What was that shouting about?’ She asked, all hints of nervousness gone.

‘S-sister has b-been...’ The cow stuttered out... while shaking. The bull beside her held her and turned to Green.

‘We found her, in her office.’ He whispered grimly, ‘She was murdered.’

Some of the elks in the room broke down in tears, others held strong and trotted past the group to see for themselves. Green turned back to Celestia, ‘Stay here.’ She ordered.

Celestia nodded and stayed put. The group rushed out of the room with Green in the lead. Celestia could see that she was taking charge of the situation and silently envied her. Before, when she was Princess, she would have Twilight and her friends go and fight her battles and that led her to become lazy.

‘If only I had magic... or something... Wait, I do...’ Celestia thought to herself, ‘I have centuries of knowledge and experience.’ She rose and jumped off the bed, causing a few elks by the door to look her way.

One cow walked over and leaned down, ‘Sorry Sure you have to stay here. It’s not for calves to see...’ She looked away and wiped a few tears from her eyes, ‘Now, go back to bed and I’m sure Green will be back to talk to you.’

Celestia huffed and turned back. As soon as the cow turned to walk back to the door, Celestia rushed past her and ran into the lobby. The cow gave chase, but Celestia lost her by jumping through an open window, through the courtyard and through the doors leading to Sisters room.

She neared the room and could hear crying. She placed her ear next to the door to see if she could hear anything else. She could hear Green giving orders to elks.

Celestia moved back and around the corner as the door opened. Out of it came three Elks each galloping down the hallway and out of the door. Thankful that none of them saw her, she turned round the corner and into the room.

Inside, Green was still inspecting the body. Sister was beside her chair, ink poured out over the desk and spilling onto the floor, mixing with her blood. It always saddened her when her subjects died, but seeing a family member like this just made her angry.

Celestia walked forward next to Green. Green turn and gasped, 'You shouldn't be here!' she shouted, ignoring the tears spilling out if her eyes.

'Sorry, I had to see for myself.' Celestia replied. She saw a trophy that one of the calves had made for Sister. It read, "To mother, you are the best."

It lied on the floor next to Sister's body. Its edge stained red with her blood. 'The weapon,' Celestia thought, stopping it from being heard by Green.

Celestia looked around the room, various books and items were strewn about. It seemed that a struggle took place here.

Green was already moving to push Celestia out of the room, trying to cover her eyes at the same time. 'Please, don't make this any worse than it is...'

'She's my family too, I loved her as much as you!' Celestia shouted, causing Green to pause, 'I mean, I still do..."

Green's ears flattened and she pulled Celestia into a hug. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't want to shout.' She then pulled back and said, 'You can see her once she's been moved. Okay?'

Celestia thought about it. On one hoof, she didn't want to upset Green and possibly any elk else, but she did need to examine the room. She decided she would have to come back later, once Sisters body's been moved; hopefully without any elk cleaning up.

'Alright, I'm sorry too,' Celestia said. She was pulled into another hug, with Green nuzzling her. 'Can you walk me back?'

Green put her hoof to her chin and looked away in thought, 'Okay, we should get you back to bed anyway. It's still early.'

Celestia nodded; actually feeling a little tired, and followed Green out of the room, forcing herself to not turn back at the last second.

The two wandered back on relative silence, the only noise were the crying of Elks in the rooms that were open. 'Who's going to look after us now?' Celestia asked, unsure of the future of the orphanage.

Green looked down at her, 'I don't know, maybe some elk will be sent in. If not, then...'

'Then what?' Celestia knew what would happen, she had seen it done plenty of times over the years. Most surprisingly in the upper class parts of Camelot, where the nobles don't want an "eyesore", as they would put it. They just didn't want anything to ruin their precious view.

'Then... It's best not to talk about stuff like this. I'm sure everything will be fine,' Green replied, smiling down at Celestia. It made her feel guilty for even pretending not to know, and subsequently asking about it.

'Oh, okay,' Celestia said, nodding.

They neared the shared quarters and picked up their pace. They walked in to a multitude of questions ranging from, "What happened," to, "What's going to happen to us?"

Green sighed and walked over to the bed, picking up Celestia and tucking her in. She kissed her on the head; something she had never done before and walked out of the room with all of the other Elks, to answer their questions.

Celestia lied there in bed, slightly stunned by how quick the last part happened. This must really be hard on her if she's kissing instead of simply nuzzling...

Fortunately for her, a few minutes passed and Green walked back into the room, sighing heavily. She walked over to the bed, pulling the covers slightly and entering. She snuggled down and pulled Celestia into a hug, like always.

Celestia turned around, worried for her soul-mate and kissed her on the cheek. Green tightened her hug; not enough to hurt Celestia though. She loosened up and Celestia turned back.

Just before Celestia was about to nod off to sleep, she noticed that Green was shaking slightly. She listened and heard her crying. Trying not to wake any elk up.

She lied there listening, as the emotions flowed off Green and into herself. Little by little the feelings of pain, and not being able to do anything, changed.

They turned into rage and anger. Celestia, for the first time actually wanted to cause physical harm to whoever did this; to whoever took a family member from her.

Green seemed to calm down after twenty minutes or so, meaning that Celestia could finally get some rest. Her mind may be a multi century old Alicorn, but her by was only a month old, at most.

Elk biology is much faster compared to ponies, they grow faster, but once they reach maturity, they live for anywhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundred years.

At around ten, they stop growing until thirty where they will have a growth spurt and their magic will increase slightly.

Celestia awoke to Green in the bed, still holding onto her. She didn't actually mind it, in fact she often preferred it compared to the lonely nights alone in the castle, where her only friend was a good book and a large glass of red wine.

She gripped onto Greens hoof and hugged it, feeling the emotions. Green was dreaming but she could still be read like a book and right then, she was scared, most likely for the future of the orphanage and likely for the two of them as well.

Celestia looked outside, and seeing it was still surprisingly early, pulled herself out of bed. She struggled not to wake Green for what she was about to do.

She walked over to the bathroom door and gently pushed it. Celestia walked through and turned the tap; so a little trickle of water was flowing then proceeded to wash her face, and clean her teeth.

Celestia turned the tap and walked out of the room, but not before checking if Green was awake. Peeking through the half-open door, Celestia could see that she was still very much asleep, but she had started to cry again; this time, without any elk to hold onto.

Feeling horrible for leaving her friend and bonded to cry alone, Celestia tip-hoofed over to the door to the lobby and opened it.

Walking through, she could see the stark contrast between day and night in the orphanage. Even though it was technically early morning, no elk was about and time itself seemed to stand still, making the whole area feel out of place.

Celestia travelled down a hallway and through the double doors leading to the courtyard. As she passed through, the plants didn't seem as green as yesterday; the small insects having flown or scurried off somewhere else giving, for Celestia, a much needed silence to the courtyard.

She moved past the area and through the next set of doors, having to push slightly harder this time. She managed it and fell onto the ground at the last second with an audible *oomph*

She picked herself up, gave herself a pat-down and sighed. She stared at her objective; no doubt it would be locked by now; unless the police here were worse than their pony equivalents.

Celestia walked forward and tried the doorknob, 'just to be sure,' she told herself as she retracted back after the failed attempt at opening the door.

She looked about for another entrance, then remembered that the windows in Sisters office were still looked big enough for her to fit through.

Turning around, Celestia backtracked down the hall and back out into the courtyard, turning right, instead of left and through a similar set of doors, opposite from where she came in from.

She heard the wooden door close behind her with a slam. It was too loud for her liking, but she didn't have time to cover all of her tracks, as much as she'd like to.

This section was the only part of the orphanage she hadn't been to. It was normally off limits to calves, and it was responsible for all of the orphanage documents.

The hallway she was in, had the floor made out of wooden planks that looked to be bleached white. The walls was a beastly wallpaper with small doves on, that Twilight's friend Rarity would have thrown a fit over.

Celestia ignored all of that and travelled forward, then down a side passage, not ten hooves later. She followed that to the end and out of the fire exit. Outside, she looked around for the windows to Sister's office.

The garden itself wasn't taken care of very much, with the whole area off limits to calves and young Elks, this made it difficult for the elder residents give it the attention it deserved, often disregarding the jobs altogether.

Celestia found the Windows after a little searching and pulled one open. Luckily Sister left one lock unlatched before the incident.

She pulled herself into the room, falling onto the floor again. She picked herself up and noticed a cold sensation under her hooves. Lifting her front hoof up, Celestia saw she was standing in the puddle of blood.

Suppressing a scream, and trembled as she waited for the feeling to pass. Minutes went by as Celestia finally felt calm enough to carry on.

There was nothing she could do but keep the blood on her hooves as wiping them with anything could destroy evidence.

She went about the room, looking at various pieces of furniture and items. Remembering the times she had in here with Sister.

Her eyes landed on one item, a small scarf that Sister had brought back from a trip to Buckingshire. She was so happy when she came back, but wouldn't tell any elk why.

Then there was the bull that was here yesterday, Sister couldn't take her eyes off him, until her was gone.

Maybe there's a connection... That's it, I have to go into town.

Celestia scooped up the scarf and wrapped it around her knock, berating herself for not bringing a container. She walked towards the door and unlocked it.

Opening it, Celestia made sure to lock it again, before closing it, so it doesn't look like any elk tampered with it.

She remembered the blood on her hooves and looked down. Slightly relieved that it was dry at last, she walked out into the courtyard and found a small puddle, and washed off the excess blood.

She chuckled for a second, imagining if any elk saw her; a calf washing blood of their hooves. She finished washing the blood off her hooves and trotted over to the doors, and inside.

From there, Celestia had to make a decision. Either find some way to get to Buckingshire, or stash the scarf somewhere and hope Green takes her at a later point.

She wasn't sure which was the better choice and went with her instincts. She chose to leave a note for Green and go straight to town, to try and find the bull.

She knew this would be a hard task, both to find him, and to check if he did kill Sister. But she also knew that if she didn't, or couldn't she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

She was normally the one to give out punishment, when she was an Alicorn. Holding herself above every pony else. But now that it's happening to her, it made her feel so very small.

Celestia walked over to the quarters, fearing Green would be up, but surprisingly she wasn't. She was still fast asleep, with a ray of sunlight threatening to travel over her eyelids and wake her up.

Celestia knew she would have to move fast, so she hastily wrote a note saying: "Gone to town, come pick me up." She placed it on Green's pillow, so she knew she would get the message.

Celestia rushed out of the room as fast as possible, while still being careful not to wake any elk up. She was on a mission now, any interruptions to it would cause her to rethink what she was doing.

She trotted forwards towards the front door with haste, she had to figure out a way to get to some place she'd never been, never seen and barely heard about.

The only things she'd heard of it were from Sister, when she went to town for her, "trips". Now Celestia had to find out what she was doing and how that strange bull was in on it.

She wrapped the scarf tighter, hoping it would stop the icy chill that haunted her every time she thought of leaving Green to deal with this whole mess, alone.

Pulling the door open, Celestia scalloped forward towards the front gate. She reached it in little time and examined the black iron fence that surrounded the orphanage.

It seemed that the two and a half metre tall fence would stop her dead in her tracks, until she saw a small opening at the bottom; too small for normal sized elk, but suspiciously perfect for her.

She kicked her back legs and squeezed through the gap. On the other side Celestia pulled at the scarf, once again feeling the chill; this time for real.

The sun was still low in the sky and frost had arrived in the night, coating everything in a fine layer of ice. It made the path slightly dangerous to walk on unaided. Luckily Celestia decided it would be safer to travel next to the path, in the bushes, to avoid detection; lest any elk decides to take her back to the orphanage.

She silently scolded herself for not bringing any clothing for this kind of weather, but decided not to go back as it was too late.

Celestia rushed as fast as her hooves would let her. Soon enough, after half an hour, she reached the end of the path and made it to what looked to be a small T-junction in the road. The sign in the middle read, on the top arrow pointing south, "To Arrowsmith. 23 Mi."

The one just below it, pointing north read, "To Buckingshire. 4 Mi." She looked down the road and if she squinted, Celestia could just about see the town.

She galloped in the direction, generally keeping out of sight of any potential passer-by. A few minutes later, she saw the first few travellers on the path.

Stopping, she examined them. She'd only known the Elks from the orphanage, so seeing Elks from outside was exciting.

There were two travelling together, one bull and one cow. The bull was fairly built, having a dark Blue coat and a light green mane. The cow was small, but carried herself with confidence, she had a white coat and black mane. They were obviously a couple, Celestia knew this by the way their tails intertwined, and much like her ponies would. Behind them, they pulled a small cart full of produce. Fruits, vegetables, everything a farm would normally grow.

After a few minutes of waiting, the pair moved on, leaving Celestia alone again and free to carry on towards the town.

Seeing as it was only four miles, Celestia made it there before the sun rose too high. The frost had begun to melt, giving the surrounding area a fairy-tale glow.

Celestia made it to the tree line, separating the fields from the town. From what she could see, it looked to be a normal town, albeit fairly large, comparable with Canterlot... If it wasn't on a mountain.

Most of the buildings were made from either wood or brick, the only difference being that the roofs were flat. Giving different sections of the place, different heights. There was a wall around the middle of the town, obstructing her view of inside.

Celestia spotted one of the many roads leading into the town and made her way inside, she averted her gaze as she passed a few citizens. Either they didn't see her or they didn't care, because they didn't do anything and continued to talk to each other as they walked down the street.

Celestia carried on towards the centre of the town, hoping to find something to help her know where to start. Fortunately, she found a newspaper sales-bull standing on his box shouting, 'Come one, Come all, Read all about the king's illness!'

She walked up to him. Clearing her throat to get his attention and coughed out, 'Where... Find... Maker?' she held up the scarf tm and showed it to him.

He looked it over and thought for a second, 'That'll be Fine Wares New stock, he's on the east side.' he spoke with a thick coltish accent.

Looking around, Celestia's ears dropped. She looked back up go the bull. He rolled his eyes and sighed. 'Come on, I'll take you there. This place is dead anyways,' he said, mumbling. The elk got down off his box and held his hoof out, 'Hi, my name's Fast Sell, nice to meet you.'

Celestia took his hoof and shook it, 'Name...Sure Fire...' she choked out, coughing at the end.

Author's Note

Hey everypony. I'm quite proud of myself for doing a 10k chapter X'D

it's my first, but not my last. I'll be updating the story once each chapter gets to 10k, and only 10k. But unfortunatly, I don't know when my editors will be on to help me with this. I'll do my best to find any mistakes etc.

If anyone finds anything, please point them out and i'll be sure to remember not to make them again.

Also, any critisism is welcome :)

Chapter 2

"None could describe what happened. Hell, only those that were there can truly say what happened for certain. But what we heard scared us. The sound of a mourning god." -Unknown.

The two elks walked down the paved road, hooves clicking on stone. They walked for around five minutes before they reached the gatehouse to the east district.

‘These guards are always angry, let’s just hurry past them,’ Quick whispered, making sure noelk heard him, ‘They sit around all day, not doing anything.’

Celestia and Quick walked past a guard, who eyed her suspiciously before he looked away and took a swig from one of his water pouches.

Looks like it doesn’t take a lot to set them off... Celestia thought as she repressed a shudder at the thought of having a guard angry at her.

‘Say, where’re you from? I haven’t seen you around here before?’ Quick Sell asked, turning to face Celestia.

‘Arrowsmith,’ Celestia quickly replied, remembering the other town that the sign on the path pointed to.

‘Ah, I haven’t been to Arrowsmith. Is it nice?’ Quick asked.

‘Very,’ She coughed out, making Quick frown at her.

‘Are you sure you’re ok?’ He asked, making the two of them stop, ‘I can take you to a doctors if you want?’

Celestia couldn’t go to a doctors or any form of help, she needed to get to the colt that sold the scarf and then hopefully not get too badly shouted at by Green, when she got back to the orphanage.

She shook her head, making sure that Quick understood that she was ok before they started moving again. They passed through the gatehouse, she looked up to marvel at the engineering of the thing. It stood taller than many of the buildings in Canterlot, nearing her towers height.

Celestia gave a thought of coming back here once everything was dealt with and have a vacation. It brought back memories of when Luna and her went to the south ocean and had weeks of vacation at a time. Those times have long past, but every so often, she would get the urge to just throw her responsibilities away and run off.

Celestia stopped, a few tears making their way to her eyes. Quick turned around to see her standing there with her head down, shaking. ‘Sure, what’s wrong?’ He asked, nearing her.

She looked away, letting out a quiet sob. In the shade of the gatehouse, noelk noticed the two calfs. Quick frowned, he didn’t like when elks hid stuff from him, but this was obviously a personal issue and could respect her privacy. ‘If you don’t want to talk, alright.’

He turned around, giving Celestia some space, she looked up and wiped away her tears, that little episode dealt with in the same way as any other emotion that she had when Luna was sent away; buried deep away.

Celestia quickly caught up to him and whispered, ‘sorry’. He turned to her and kept his gaze a little longer than reasonable, then turned back and sighed.

‘Don’t worry about it, we’ve all had times like that.’

They passed through the other side of the gatehouse. Celestia gazed at the sudden change in height of the buildings. It made her feel small, with the way they loomed over her. Sure, in Manehatten they were as tall as the sky, but then she could fly.

Quick and Celestia walked for a few minutes, being ignored by the middle class elks of the second district. ‘The elks here and above don’t like the lower classes, so they ignore us rather than lift a hoof.’ Quick explained after seeing the confused look from Celestia, ‘Don’t worry, not everyelk is like that, just the one’s born into houses.’

Seems to be the same no matter the race... Celestia thought to herself. She missed the feeling of when Green replied in her head, even though it had been a few hours at most since she had been gone. This caused her to doubt this would even work, and if she should go back to the orphanage, just to hear her voice again.

She shook her head and continued to follow Quick Sell, it was a long shot, but she wanted to... no, she needed to do this. If not for herself, then for Green. Sister and Green were close, closer than one would expect from a carer, almost mirroring a bonding, like what Green and Celestia had. She knew they weren't bonded by the fact that you can’t bond to two elks.

Quick Sell stopped and said, ‘Here we are, Fine Ware’s shop. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope we meet again.’ He took Celestia hoof and shook it, before galloping off down one of the streets connecting to the one they were on. Celestia watched as that strange bull left her standing on the corner.

She looked over to a nearby sign which read, “Shepherds st.” Celestia the turned and faced the shop. It was an old building compared to the next to it. The door’s paint had chipped away, revealing the wood underneath. The windows had long since been smashed and sealed up, leaving cardboard in their place. Not the sort of place that Celestia thought the scarf would be made, let alone found at all.

Celestia moved forward towards the door, ready to knock. Just before her hoof hit the wood, the sound of shouting rose from inside. She placed her ear to the door, ‘Dammit Shroud. You said you would only scare the cow, not kill her!’

‘How was I suppose to know she would put up fight and break out of my spell!’ The sound of stuff being thrown around could be heard, ‘I had to, she would have told the guards, do you know what they do to elks like us!?’

The sound of hooves nearing the door caused Celestia to rush backwards around the corner. The door opened and a hooded figure trotted out.

'Don't walk away from me! I'm paying you!' A voice from inside the shop shouted. The hooded elk turned around and sighed before shouting, 'I'll fix this, just like all your other mistakes!'

'A-alright, just see to it that you do.'

The door closed and the figure looked around to make sure noelk heard him. Celestia tried moving closer to the wall, but accidentally broke a piece of wood, resulting in a loud snap.

'Well, what do we have here?' the figure asked noelk in particular. He wandered forward towards Celestia, raising his eyebrows when he saw her shaking form.

'Do not worry... I will not hurt you, can you speak?' he asked. From this angle, Celestia could finally see his face.

He had a brown coat, not unlike the other bull, but this elk had a small scar stretching down the right side of his face, ending at his cheekbone. His mane was a dark black, only falling in clumps from his scalp, making him look more sickly than he actually was.

Celestia was scared, nothing in her life could have predicted she would come face to face with a killer. Sure, she had assassination attempts made against her, but the guards usually uncovered them or protected her... Even when they couldn't, she was an Alicorn, nothing pony-made was powerful enough to kill, or even hurt her; only another Alicorn could accomplish that.

And now, she was being asked questions that she was too scared to answer. She could die now, get hurt now or worse.

Apparently her lack of an answer was sufficient, 'Oh well, I'm sure your mother would be proud of you, if you had one.' he insulted. The bull turned around and started trotting off down the path Celestia took to arrive here. His mumbling could be heard just before he turned a corner, 'This town has gone to mule feathers...'

Celestia was left laying there, in the gutter next to the shop that employed her sister's killer. She felt empty, unable to think. It was a new feeling for Celestia.

A familiar voice reached her ears after an unknown amount of time. Though her internal clock told her it was only a few minutes. 'Sure, what are you doing laying there?' Celestia turned her head from it's odd angle, leaning on the corner of the wall and saw Quick Sell. 'Get up,' he ordered.

He pulled Celestia to her hooves, taking her weight on his back. 'Why were you laying in the gutter?' Quick asked, unsure if he was even going to get an answer from the characteristically quiet cow.

' I'm... scared...' Celestia whispered, barely audible; as if saying it quietly would make the issue less valid and cause it to lose meaning.

'What are you scared of?' Quick asked, moving a bit slower.

'Of... Dying...' She whispered slightly louder. In reality, she was scared of admitting she was mortal now. She was having trouble processing the fact that she had reason to be scared.

Normally she would bury it, to deal with later. But the added pressure from everything piling on top of each other finally broke the cow, causing her to start crying into the bulls coat.

He looked shocked for less than a second before he softened up and stopped. He moved Celestia round and hugged her, letting her wet his neck with her tears.

'Sorry!' she coughed. Tears still flowing down her face.

She looked a sorry sight, tears matting her fur on her face. Dirty water dripping off her mane and half of her left side. Still, Quick couldn't help but want to help her; as if helping her is the right thing to do. 'Dammit Quick, you always help the cows...' he thought to himself.

He chuckled, 'it's no problem, let's get you to somewhere warm. I know of a place not too far from here.'

He and Celestia walk through the crowded streets of the east district, unable to pass back through the gate.

They tried going through, but the guards only gave the explanation of, "There was an accident." Celestia knew there couldn't be an accident with something as simple as a gatehouse, meaning that the killer had murdered another victim for the employer.

She was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to carry on, as the two turned into a small alleyway. At the end, laughing could be heard emanating from a large set of boxes and containers.

They neared them and it became clear the noise came from a group of calfs. 'I'm back, and I've brought a surprise.' Quick shouted, getting the group's attention.

They all turned around or looked over to the newcomer standing next to Quick. She froze up and gripped Quick's neck slightly choking him.

'*cough* Sure, please. I do need air...' He whispered into her ear.

She turned her head, realising what she was doing, 'Sorry.' she whispered, blushing at her bad introduction.

'Who's that?' one of the group shouted, 'and why is she covered in water?' This calf had a light grey coat, with specks of what looked to be ash and her mane was a hot red.

She missed Twilight, she missed Luna, she even missed... Blueblood at this point. It didn't matter at this point, she would even settle for Queen chrysalis. She knew how to make somepony feel nice...

Celestia shook her head and stepped forward, 'Name's *cough* Sure Fire *cough* *cough*." Celestia started a coughing fit, causing her to fall to the floor.

The group rushed over and helped her into a container marked infirmary, and onto a bed. They gave her some water and tucked her in. Most of them left, but a few of the younger calfs stayed to examine the new member.

After a quite bad nights sleep, Celestia woke to the worst headache. She had the idea of bashing her head in to stop it, but couldn't think long enough before another wave of pain overcame her.

She screamed out in pain. The group rushed in from outside to see what happened. Seeing Celestia in full blown pain cause some of the younger members to start crying. A couple older calfs led them out, to give a little quiet to those inside.

Quick rushed in, a little after everyelk. And upon seeing Sure in agony, knew he had to take her to s hospital.

'alright everyelk, you have to trust me...' he gathered up what supplies the group could find and mare a makeshift board out of it, tying it to himself.

They put Celestia on top and strapped her in, making sure the straps don't dig into her.

After making sure she wouldn't fall off, Quick said goodbye to the Elks and rushed off, out if the alleyway. He turned a corner and down the paved street, taking care to not hit an elk on his way, in fear of dropping his cargo.

Nearly there Sure... He thought to himself as the cow on his back squirmed about, occasionally coughing and moaning in agony.

To Celestia, this was easily the worst pain imaginable, her head felt like it was being pulled apart in all directions, red hit poker's being jammed into her brain repeatedly. After all of that, one though stood out, the desire to get back to Green, as if all of this would stop if she was by her side, holding onto her leg, feeling her nuzzle.

Celestia screamed again as the hospital slowly loomed into view. St.Mahazo hospital, famous for it's prodigy staff, high class facilities and it's one of a kind homeless clinic; the only one in the country.

The hospital easily towered over the other buildings, looking intimidating with its height. It's walls having been painted the traditional white, its windows reflecting the slowly settling sun.

Quick galloped up to the clinic, his pace rising as he neared it. He ran through the doors shouting, 'Some Elk help!' he untied Celestia and placed her on the floor. A couple of nurses galloped over to see what happened.

'Let' me through,' a confident voice proclaimed behind the nurses. They parted, revealing a cocky looking Bull. He had a white coat, with a golden mane. He wore a doctor's coat with the name badge "Dr. Balthazar" written in bold, black ink.

'She just woke up in pain, you have to help her!' Quick shouted, hoping it would convince them to help her.

The homeless are usually looked down upon in Cervidas, resulting in many of them simply going missing or ending up in the city's morgue.

'I don't know, should we waste our time on a homeless...' the doctor replied raising his nose at the calf, 'I swear, the nerve of calfs these days.'

'She isn't homeless though, she said she's from Arrowsmith!' Quick shouted back, his voice becoming sore.

'She is? Then kart her upstairs, fix her up and send the bill to their hospital.' Balthazar announced. In an instant, the nurses picked Celestia up, and heaved her onto a bed, and wheeled her off.

Quick tried following after her, but was promptly stopped by the doctor, 'If you ever talk like that to me again, I'll exercise my rights... Do you understand, mule.'

Quick Sell, nodded and was released by Balthazar. He ran off towards the place Celestia was taken, hoping to not speak to that doctor again.

Celestia was wheeled through door after door, each one made the pounding in her head worse, and each time she screamed and reached out, hoping she would feel Greens hoof.

Finally the nurses stop and enter a room. It was dimly lit, presumably to stop the light from hurting Sure Fire, and had the windows closed to stop any onlookers from watching.

They pulled the bed up to the middle of the room, locking it in place, then took out a syringe full of clear fluid. It was in this moment that Celestia opened her eyes. For any elk that looked into them, they would have seen pure terror.

The nurse with the syringe stepped forwards, holding Celestia down with a hoof, 'It'll go faster if you don't struggle deary.'

She sunk the syringe into Celestia's leg, pushing the stop and injecting the fluid. Celestia went limp, unable to move and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

The nurses backed off, thankful that Celestia didn't put up too much of a fight. They walked out of the room, making sure everything was in place and locked, just in case the calf wakes up earlier than expected.

Outside, Quick reached the room, finding it locked. He huffed and kicked the wall, 'I guess I wasn't fast enough,' he scolded. He leaned against the wall and slumped down, finally feeling the effects of the run.

Celestia woke up in bed. But it felt different, 'Silk?' she opened her eyes and found the ceiling she had missed for so long. She bolted upright, pushing the remains of the package off herself and onto the floor.

She scrambled to the edge of the bed and looked over, examining the remains. All she could see was the box, and a few letters, stamped with Twilight's Cutie Mark. She reached down and picked one up, realising she was in her old body again and let out a window shattering cheer. She began reading the letter, with an ever increasing grin:

"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned to trust my instincts. While on first glance, things may be what they seem, even a closer look can change that, revealing their true nature.
Your faithful student,
Trixie Lulamoon."

The princess placed the letter down, 'Trixie... why would she send me a letter?' then it dawned on her, this was her dream. The nurse had knocked her out and she was still on the bed back in Cervidas...

'buck...' Celestia didn't know what to say, it wasn't often that she swore, usually when a noble or anypony else got her really riled up.

She was in a bad place, her own mind was like a trap. Anything that has lived for as long as her, would remember a small percentage of what they had experienced, leaving the rest floating around inside her head.

While this would normally be alright, like in dreams. There are special occasions where a dream can turn against the owner, usually in occasions of extreme stress or pain.

'I have to get out of here,' Celestia mumbled to herself, while getting out of bed. Her hooves made no impact on the floor, instead passing straight through. Celestia feel through the floor, before instinct took over and her wings spread out, slowing her to a slow glide.

Celestia glanced down, unable to see any ground beneath herself. Instead of the floor, there seemed to be a massive black abyss, stretching on forever in all directions.

'Calm down... This is a dream...' Celestia whispered to herself, her heartbeat slowing.

'Mmm, can you taste the fear...' A familiar voice sounded around Celestia, making her stop and float in midair, 'I think she's ripe...'

'It's just a dream...' Celestia kept telling herself, trying to keep her sleep induced fear from blocking rationality.

'You didn't think of my children, did you?' The voice asked, closer this time, 'They must have starved to death, without their mother...' A small tinge of sadness penetrated the voice, giving it a less intimidating sound. 'I'm their mother, Celestia. Did you ever think? No, you didn't. I had to feel each one of their lives ending, unable to stop it.'

'Queen Chrysalis? Is that you?' Celestia shouted out, flying back; said queen descending from nowhere.

'Hello princess Celestia, how does it feel to be the killer of an entire race?' The insect-pony hybrid spat at her, venom lacing every word.

'I-I... Didn't mean to, you were attacking my capital...' Celestia pleaded, momentarily forgetting she was in a dream.

'To feed in love!' The queen shouted, 'We didn't kill Anthony, remember?' Crysalis moved forwards, and grabbed onto Celestia's hoof, turning it slowly into a replica of her own.

Celestia screamed and tried to pull away, though Chrysalis was too strong and simply stayed put. 'You didn't think Celestia, you trusted your student too much.'

Crysalis let go and vanished, leaving behind an extremely distraught Celestia, who was staring at the her own changed leg.

A twinge at the back of her mind brought a memory back, Only a dream... She shook her head, 'How could I have let myself be blinded to fast... Not anymore...'

Celestia brought her wings in and continued downwards, hoping to find an exit or something, to end this nightmare.

After five minutes of searching the abyss, a strange sight made itself known. A beach ball being ridden by a starfish flew by, making Celestia stop.

Laughter sounded from below her as Discord, the spirit of chaos shifted up. 'My dear Celestia, you seem to be in a bit of a radish...'

'what do you want Discord? I'm busy.' Celestia replied, trying to move past him. Unfortunately, a wall of bunnies stopped her, turning into mustard wherever she pushed into it. 'Alright, you seem to have the upper paw here. So, what is it?'

'You wound, my precious sun-butt.' Discord said sarcastically, purposefully getting on Celestia's nerves. 'I'm here to ask, why did you put me back in stone?'

'I did it because you were making everyone's lives miserable, with your constant chaos.' She replied, staring into his eyes, 'DON'T get me wrong, I know you didn't hurt anypony on purpose. It was indirectly...'

'Did I hurt you?' Discord asked. For a minute seemingly lucid from his chaotic state.

'No, not me. But you hurt Luna, you know that!' Celestia shouted at him, 'I put you into stone because you broke her heart!'

'Now we're getting to the bottom of it...' Discord mumbled, changing positions so that they were sitting on a bed, both wearing towels on their heads. 'Now darling, tell me all about it.'

'Don't push me Discord.' Celestia growled.

'Or what? You'll wobble?' He clicked his talons and Celestia started melting into a bowl of jello.

'Everyone should call you Jellestia...' He laughed, before remembering something and reverting her back, 'Just remember who has the power in here.'

Celestia looked away, 'Yeah...' shaking from that experience.

'It's cold, dark and lonely being stone.' Discord said, 'I'm the spirit, of disharmony, it's in my nature. It's something I can't fight.'

'I didn't want you to stop, maybe just, channel it into something more productive. My ponies were dying because the crops were being turned into anvils.' Celestia replied, raising an eyebrow and waited for his response.

'Why didn't you say something back then, huh?' Discord asked, pleased with his answer.

'Because you were mad with power, you wouldn't have listened.'

'I would have listened to you...' He mumbled, before saying, 'It didn't mean you had to stick me in rock.'

He gripped Celestia's other leg and slowly turned it into a replica of his lions paw and smiled, before vanishing into a cloud of blue spotted marshmallows.

'Bucking Discord...' Celestia grumbled, her mood slowly lowering. 'Dear Faust, if you can hear me... Inside my own head...' Celestia realised she was more than likely crazy at this moment in time and paused, 'damn, I've gone crazy... That must be it.'

She stopped flapping, letting her wings fly above her while she dropped like an anvil. The wind blew past her ears as it became harder and harder to keep her eyes open. Before she closed her eyes completely, she smashed into the ground.

The dust cleared, revealing a small classroom. Celestia sat in the middle chair, surrounded on all sides by empty, identical stools. In front of her sat a desk, the only one in the room.

The sound of hooves on hard wood echoed. Celestia's ears instinctively closed to stop the harsh sound, she still winced slightly every time she heard it.

Celestia looked over to the door, white wood framing a cloudy glass window. The silhouette of a pony could be seen on the other side. It looked familiar to the Princess, by she couldn't quite put her hoof on it.

The hoof-steps stopped, leaving Celestia's ears ringing. She nervously sat on the chair, squirming from it's overly small size as her thighs were forced together by the cold metal.

The door was slowly pushed open. In those few horrible, agonizingly slow seconds, Celestia forgot she was in a dream. She fully believed the situation was real.

'I'll be your teacher today. My name is Mrs. Twilight Sparkle.' Twilight walked in, wearing her trademark two-toned, purple and pink hair in a bun; a few strands falling to the side.

She wore a tight corset, with knee high latex suspenders. Her skirt was dangerously close to showing off too much. If it fazed Celestia, she didn't show it.

Celestia looked nervous, she hadn't revised for at least, forever. 'Miss. Sparkle... Is there a test today?' Celestia asked, raising her hoof.

'Yes there will be, why, didn't you revise?' Miss. Sparkle replied, raising her eyebrow. 'I don't tolerate Ponies not doing their homework in my lessons.'

'Yes miss,' Celestia mumbled, sinking lower into her chair, 'What is the test about?'

'It's the, "Are you a good Princess" Test.' Miss Sparkle levitated the sheet out of nowhere and placed it in front of Celestia. 'You have all of eternity to fill it out. Time starts... Now.'

Miss Sparkle turned and trotted to the door. She pushed and exited as the sound of hooves on wood slowly fell back into silence.

Celestia turned to the first page. The first question asked, "Why weren't you a good sister?"

Upon seeing this, Celestia froze and forgot everything she didn't revise for. Sweat started to drip down her body, making the sweat feel more uncomfortable than it already was; her tail jammed between her legs.

She struggled with answering it as the page morphed into the next question, "Explain the ethics of ordering teenagers about on dangerous missions."

Celestia was in panic mode now. Miss Sparkle would come in and shout at her for not revising, and Celestia didn't want to think of what punishment Miss Sparkle would make up.

The door creaked open and Miss Sparkle walked in. 'I hope you've finished, eternity is up.' she looked down at the empty page in front of Celestia and tutted. 'You've been a naughty mare, haven't you.'

Celestia nodded with her gaze down at the desk. 'Yes Miss Sparkle.'

'Yes... Do you know what we do with bad mares?' Miss Sparkle asked, moving forwards.

Celestia awoke screaming, her surroundings coming into focus. She was back in the hospital room.

Her headache had dulled, leaving only a mildly irritating throb. Celestia reached up to rub her eyes, stopping once she saw the IV line stuck in her leg.

She thought about taking it out, but decided it would be a bad idea and shook her head. She heard some noises from behind the door in front of the bed, and waited.

A few seconds later a nurse opened the door, and walked through. She saw Celestia sitting up in bed and frowned, 'You have given all of us a fright,' the nurse said, walking around the bed. She reached up and checked Celestia"s temperature. 'Seems your temperature is alright, for now. We'll keep you here for another day before you can be released. Unfortunately you will need to be signed out by your parent or guardian; you do have one?' she asked.

Celestia thought about it, she needed to see Green. She was feeling as if she would die if she didn't.

She nodded and pointed to a stack of paper and pencils that were laying on a desk, off to the side.

The nurse levitated the stack over onto Celestia's lap. Celestia picked one up in her mouth and spelt out the word, "orphanage."

The nurse had to jog her memory, but she finally remembered the small orphanage outside of town. 'Oh... You mean the Little Pickles Orphanage?'

'That's what it's called?' Celestia thought, before nodding. The nurse smiled, 'I'll send some elk to contact them. Please, get some rest.'

Celestia nodded and laid back down. She was scared that if she went back to sleep, she would see all of her past mistakes again. She could barely handle it once, there was no way she could continue to go through that.

The nurse left the room, locking the door on the way out. She travelled down the hall to contact the orphanage.

Celestia heard some knocks on the door. When they wouldn't stop, she got up and jumped out of bed. She pulled her IV bag over and unlocked the door, having to jump to reach the handle.

She opened the door. On the other side waiting for her was Quick Sell. As soon as he saw Celestia, his face lit up, 'Are you ok?' he blurted out. Realising that was a stupid question to ask, he blushed.

Celestia rolled her eyes, 'Ok.' she replied, smiling. Moving out of the way to let Quick in, she closed the door and locked it, she didn't want to be disturbed.

'No elk will tell me anything... "I'm too young to know," they say.' Quick said, jumping up onto the bed, 'But now that I know you're safe...'

'Thank... You...' Celestia interrupted, making Quick look quizzically at her. 'You... *cough* saved me.'

'Oh that, it was nothing.' he shrugged, 'It's what any elk would've done.' Brushing off the praise.

Celestia leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, 'Not any *cough* elk.'

Quick blushed, but took his mind off it by asking, 'What happened?'

Celestia shook her head, pretending to not know. In reality, she knew what caused the headache; the distance between Green and herself.

Celestia got into bed, covering herself up. 'I *cough* haven't been handling *cough* everything as best *cough* as I should.'

Quick Sell shuffled around, he didn't really know what to say to that. His only experience was with the group of misfits and homeless, that he governs in the second sector.

Celestia yawned, but was afraid of going back to sleep. She decided to simply rest her head for a few moments, placing her head on the pillow. Quick smiled and curled up beside her.

This time Celestia awoke back in the hospital room to the sound of arguing outside the door. One of the voices she recognised, Green.

She pushed off the covers, waking up Quick and jumped out of bed. Celestia galloped as fast as three legs would move her, as she was pulling the IV bag along with her.

She reached the door; Quick jumping down from the bed. Pulling it open, Celestia rushed over to Green, who wore a look of frustration.

That look quickly melted away as she noticed Celestia run up to her. Green turned to her, completely ignoring Balthazar, making him huff with annoyance and trot off.

'What were you thinking!?' Green practically shouted at Celestia. She walked towards her, a stern look in her eye, 'A note, thats all you left!'

'I'm sorry, I had to...' Celestia pleaded, having been stuck to the spot by Green's rapidly diminishing anger.

'Oh, really. What did you have to do!? Huh?' Green shouted, forgetting Celestia wasn't audibly talking back.

'I was trying to find Sister’s killer!'

Green stopped, her anger having been obliterated by Celestia's answer. While it made her angry that the police had done nothing but wreck the orphanage, search through every elks belongings and generally be a nuisance.

'Sure, let's go inside, we need to have a nice long chat...' Green asked, ushering Celestia into her room. She turned around before closing the door to speak to Quick, 'Thank you.'

Quick was too stunned to say anything, so he just settled with a slight nod of the head as the door closed in front of him. What just happened...

Green watched with slight annoyance as Celestia jumped onto her bed and searched for a comfortable spot. This was the first time that she would have to scold the young cow, and she was nervous. In the past, Sure Fire did all her chores, all of her homework without fail, without argument. This was so unlike her.

Once Celestia was settled, she looked at Green, the ever present pounding of her head, that she had learnt to quickly ignore, faded away, leaving a blissful quiet in her head.

She was sitting on the top of the bed, back legs folded under her, front legs up straight. Celestia slowly rubbing her left leg, still feeling the change that occurred; reminding her of the past that she wished she could forget at this very moment.

Celestia ran her eyes over Green, taking pleasure in the fact that she was close to her once again. She didn't know if it was the feeling that she was going to die, or something more, but Celestia had never felt like she wanted to see any other being more. It compared to the sadness she felt when she sent her sister on her unexpected departure, leaving a hole in her heart for a thousand years.

'So... I take it you're pretty upset...' Celestia asked, unable to keep eye contact. At that very moment, even her mind's voice was cracking under the guilt.

'No...' Green began, 'I was worried, you left a note, Sure, A note. How was I suppose to feel...' Green moved around the bed, not taking her eyes off Celestia. 'I guess you're here because you had the pain as well?'

Celestia nodded turned her gaze downwards, towards her creased sheets. Now she was certain it was the distance between them. This brought on a whole new level of guilt inside her.

Green could feel the emotion flow off Celestia like a tsunami. With everything that's happened, Celestia had forgotten to raise her mental defenses, letting Green feel the mixture of guilt, pain and fear, that was haunting her since her breakdown in the street.

'Quick, the bull waiting outside. He rushed me here.' Celestia said, taking her eyes off her sheets to look at the door.

'The doctor told me, in some words that I won't repeat, what happened.' Green looked towards the door as well, gratitude welling up inside her for the young bull. She would have to find some way to thank him properly.

Green turned back to Celestia, 'What's this about a killer?' She raised her eyebrow at the story Celestia told. She had put two and two together and came here to find the killer, then got sidetracked, then the pains happened.

Green was a little freaked out to hear that it was a hired assassin that killed their Sister. They were bad trouble, normally used to remove high ranking officials from the picture.

Celestia knew this, though she would never admit, she was slightly envious of their job. Not about the killing, it was about the adventure, the thrill, but never about the killing. She knew it was necessary though.

'And here we are...' Green mumbled, just loud enough for Celestia to agree with, 'What do we do now?'

Celestia had no clue. Her will was somewhat broken, between her near useless magic, her fragile frame, and her inability to even create sentences that calfs could make, her choices her pretty limited. 'We could go after him? Celestia asked, turning to her guardian and raising a brow.

'The assassin?!' Green Shouted back, giving Celestia a small headache. 'Oops, sorry...'

'No, the one that hired him. He wouldn't expect us to do that, and the assassin didn't recognize me, so it's safe to assume he won't recognize you either.'

Green stared at Celestia, wide eyed and with her mouth open. She knew Celestia was gifted, particularly at mathematics and art, but this was way beyond anything a calf should be able to do... But even so, Green couldn't ignore the logic.

She wanted ever so much to go back to the orphanage, drink some tea and wait for this to all blow over. but she could see Sister, shaking her head at how Green knew this elk was bad and yet she didn't do anything to stop him, letting Sure get hurt in the process.

And with that in mind, Green stepped forward and wrapped Celestia in a hug. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make the moment less than what it was.

Celestia felt peace, for the first time since she left the orphanage. She felt Greens fur rubbing her own and smelled her scent, and it made her feel good. She could just curl up and sleep, being held by Green.

Somewhere deep down, she was silently afraid she could become dependent on her love, her affection; much like Twilight was.

Another memory she would have rather left buried. She had raised the filly to be special, to be able to think for herself, but instead she had grown dependant on Celestia's love for support. Alas, Celestia saw this but did nothing as she was, for the first time in soo long, loved for who she was, and not what she was. Celestia vowed, if she ever got back to Equestria, she would help Twilight.

Celestia snuggled further into the warmth of Green, moving over slightly to let her onto the bed. They both felt better while in physical contact with each other and felt any pain or annoyance fade away.

Sister was right, they both would stick together until the end. Although it would seem that Green was to follow Sure Fire, like being pulled with a rope tied around her barrel.

Of course, Green would follow anyway. Sure she would put up a fuss, whine about the situation or some other way to annoy Sure, but she wouldn't let her bonded go out on her own.

They let go of each other, feeling a little saddened by the loss of warmth. Celestia was the first to speak up, 'I’ll have to stay here until tomorrow, then the doctors will let me go.'

’Okay, I don’t have anything to take care of back at home. I can stay here with you,’ Green replied, feeling her fatigue taking over. She had galloped all the way from the orphanage to the hospital, when she heard the news. She laid her head down on the pillow, closing her eyes for a few seconds to get some rest.

Celestia did the same, knowing that they weren’t going to do anymore talking until Green has taken her rest.

Celestia woke up. The normally bright sun was being overcast by the dark clouds that floated in front of it, creating a dreary atmosphere in the town. That’s rather ominous... Celestia thought to herself as she raised herself into a sitting position.

She looked to her left and saw that Green was still sleeping, lightly. She was mumbling something incoherent and trying to pull Celestia back down. Celestia nudged Green in the shoulder, gently putting more and more pressure on until she woke up startled.

‘W-what happened!?’ Green shouted, waking up from her dream.

’You fell asleep.’ Celestia replied, leaving Greens embrace. She jumped down off the bed, feeling the effects of not eating for almost two days and falling over. Trying to get back up proved tricky and Green rushed over and pulled her off the floor.

‘Is this part of what happened?’ She asked, getting nervous.

’No, I’m just -’

-Gurgle-

’Hungry... Celestia deadpanned. Green giggled and backed away slightly.

‘Well, it looks like we should go get you something to eat,’ Green said, moving towards the door.

Celestia steadied herself and walked over next to Green. Together, they left the room and spotted Quick, who was sleeping on the floor. He was curled up.

’We should ask if he wants to join us.’ Celestia thought, looking up towards her guardian.

Green nodded. She walked over and gently rocked him, causing Quick to awaken. ‘Huh... What’s going on...’ He looked about, dreary eyed, before locking eyes with Green.

‘Would you like to dine with us today? My treat.’ She asked, holding a hoof out to him. He took it and pulled himself up.

‘I would like to,’ He began, then looked at Celestia, ‘If that’s ok with you...’

Celestia nodded, giving a smile and a small blush. ’Ooh, some elk has a cru-ush. Green sung, much to Celestia’s annoyance.

Celestia turned and huffed, walking away from the two elks. ’Faust help me... She thought to herself.

The group arrived at the cafeteria to find it practically empty, all but a few seats were empty. They walked up to the serving area and waited in line.

Celestia looked over the display. They didn’t have much to serve, and what was there didn’t look very appetising. But it looked infinitely better than what the hospital in Canterlot used to serve. She finally decided she would try some of the strangely named, “alfalfa and Shork” pie.

She had never heard of a “Shork” before and wanted to know what one would taste like. The other two looked at her funny, before ordering their own foods, and they walked over to a desk and sat down. ’Why would you order Shork?’ Green asked, looking very... undecided whether she wanted to move or not.

’I don’t honestly know, i’m not really sure what it is...’ Celestia replied. She tossed the lid off the pie, moving out of the way of the steam and taking a large sniff. As soon as she did that, she knew what it was, seafood.

Normal ponies don’t eat meat, but on occasion they would eat fish and such, mostly for the protein. Celestia, as an Alicorn didn’t need much to survive, so she was strictly vegetarian. No fish, or any other seafood. As it turned out, that rule doesn’t apply for Elks, meaning only other species would eat fish or meat.

Celestia turned around and wretched, she was certain she was going to throw up, but eating nothing for the past two days, that wouldn’t be an issue. Green pushed the food out of the way and placed her own food in front of Celestia. ‘Here, have this.’ She said.

Quick Sell sat there watching this display with a strange sense of wonder. He knew something was strange with Sure Fire as soon as he met her, but didn’t know how strange. He saw how two elks, presumably sisters could tell what the other was thinking and how they felt, it was like they were able to communicate through thought.

Quick decided to ask what was going on, ‘Hey, you guys... What’s with you two?’

The two cows stopped and turned towards him. Quick tensed up and stuttered, ‘How can you tell what each other is thinking so well?’

Green and Celestia looked to each other, ’Shall we tell him?’

’I think we should. Green turned to Quick, softening her gaze, much like a mother and said, ‘We... were bonded a couple of months ago. Normally this would be straightforward, but now we can talk to each other telepathically.’

Quick looked at her with a straight face, then turned to Celestia to see if it was true. She still had a little green on her face, but it seemed Green was telling the truth. ‘That’s the first time i’ve heard of that...’ He said, raising his eyebrows in amazement. ‘Can you talk to any elk else?’

‘No, it’s only us. I don’t think anything else will happen, as long as we stay close together,’ She explained, ‘The pain Sure had was from us being too far apart... or that’s what we think anyway.’

‘Alright, I still don’t fully understand. But I’ll take your word for it.’ Quick replied, a little unsure. He picked up his fork and played with his food a little, before picking some up and eating it.

The rest of the meal carried on with small talk. Neither of the cows would really talk out loud to each other, and Quick was unsure of when to say anything so he stayed quiet. It was only when it was time to go that he spoke up, ‘Hey Sure, I wanted to say thank you, for the meal...’ His face darkened a little, ‘It’s not often that some elk helps me out...’

Celestia smiled, giving him a hug. Green was off to the side grinning slightly. Celestia knew she would annoy her over this, but she didn’t care currently. All she knew was that a friend was feeling bad and needed help. They pulled back from each other, both having a little red around their cheeks.

Dr. Balthazar trotted into the room and over to Green, ‘Ma’am, it’s a pleasure. I’m sure you rested well?’

‘Yes doctor... Is Sure discharged?’ Green asked. This doctors hitting on me?

‘Oh yes, she was able to go this morning. I had some important errands to run, so I couldn’t tell you.’ He explained, moving a bit closer to Green. Celestia, already understanding his intent, blocked him.

’I don’t like him...

’Agreed, let’s go. Green walked around Balthazar and out of the room with Quick and Celestia, leaving him there.

‘I wish you guys wouldn’t just talk together, I can’t hear you remember...’ Quick groaned.

‘Oh, sorry Quick. I keep forgetting.’ Green replied apologetically.

The group left the hospital and started making their way down the main road that Quick took to take Celestia there.

They passed by various stalls that had just been set up. Some had vegetables, some had flowers and plants, one even catered exclusive seeds.

After they passed the stalls, Celestia thought more about how they were to stop the sales elk, and subsequently the assassin elk as well, He would no doubt have protection and I can't fight anything, especially if I'm having breakdowns every day...

Celestia never wanted to feel that helpless again, meaning she would have to get training or find Elks willing to help her. She hoped she still had the magic reserves that her Alicorn body had, or at the very least something, anything at all that could help them.

'I have to ask, how are we going to make the elk that did this pay?' Celestia asked, turning to Green.

In response, Green stopped and looked up to the sky, it's dreary color remaining from earlier. She had often though about this, coming up with ways to find and capture him. But all of that fell, in the face of logic.

In truth, they were two young calfs, yet to develop any magic beyond levitation and yet to know anything about how this world really works.

She knew no elk would really take them seriously. The guards would take them and put them in foster homes, most likely far away from each other as well. This left only one option, go underground

'I don't know... We'll need help though...' She turned to Quick, 'Do you know of any elk that can help us find our sister's murderer?'

Quick thought for a while. He wasn't phased by the word murderer as most Elks would be, he was raised for the first half of his life on the mainland, which was in a state of civil war.

When his sister, parents and himself moved to Buckingshire, they thought they were safe. They were killed soon after they moved into their one bedroom apartment, leaving Quick to fend for himself on the streets.

He found some other homeless and his new home, and had been living there ever since.

Quick turned to Green, 'I might know a few, but I haven't spoken to them in a while...' He looked to the cobbled street, 'I don't even know if they are alive...'

'I'm *cough* Sure they are.' Celestia said, smiling towards Quick.

'I hope so.'

Quick brought them back to his alleyway and asked them to wait by the entrance. He wandered inside and was greeted by cheers and questions asking what happened.

He answered to the best of his knowledge, leaving out parts which would make his new friends feel uncomfortable.

Once everything died down in the group, he trotted outside and said Celestia and Green could come in.

They walked into the alley, Celestia going straight for the fire as it was getting slightly chilly, and Green looking around at the area.

The alleyway was a straight line, with brick walls either side, it turned slightly in the middle, but carried on after, exiting into amother smaller road. Both ends of the alley were covered in some cloth material that was raised overhead by at least a twenty feet then connected to a makeshift roof. It separated the street and stopped prying eyes from viewing inside their own community.

The roof was made out of anything and everything that an elk could either find, if they lived on the street, or throw out, if they had a home. It wasn't purely flat, but had various angles to drain water into, letting it flow down drainage pipes and into the sewers or used as a very basic shower.

It looked like every elk had a room made out of large containers, each connected by a walkway that spanned the first floor, having a gap for the smoke from the fire to rise. The ground floor had a small group area that was connected to the first floor by stairs.

The first floor had most of the rooms, the storage area and the bath house. Elks could be seen walking to and fro from most of them, either chatting or moving stuff.

Green walked over to Celestia and asked, 'I've never seen anything like this...' She spun around, letting herself get caught in the atmosphere of the place.

Light from outside passed through the various bottles and plastics that formed the roof, leaving a rainbow if color on the floor, that passed over Green. It took her breath away, and it was that moment that she thought if she had a choice, she wouldn't mind living here.

'Hey Green,' Quick waved a hoof in her face, 'Are you okay?'

'Hmm, yeah I'm alright,' she replied, looking at Quick, 'why do you ask?'

'Well, you seemed a little out of it as soon as you stepped inside.'

'Oh, I was just admiring the place. It seems nice.' She said.

'Oh yes, we've all worked very hard to make this dream a reality.' Quicks demeanor dropped, 'Without this, most of us would die on the streets.'

'I see...'

Quick sighed and shook his head, 'But let's not talk about depressing stuff, let's introduce you two.' He pulled Celestia and Green over to the fire, sitting them down on an old sofa. 'I'd like to introduce, Green,' He announced, 'And Sure Fire, whom you met last time.'

Most of the Elks looked on with smiles, some bulls even looking Green over. Though some of them didn't look happy with the two.

'Are they staying here?' One cow shouted. She was standing on the first floor, bent over the railing causally.

Every elk looked up towards her. She had short red hair and a grey coat, which had small patches missing from malnutrition. 'You know we don't have enough food for them.' She asked, 'We don't have enough for ourselves anymore...'

She drew attention to her own coat, to which most of the Elks turned away, preferring to stay out of the conversation.

'What are you saying? We throw them out?!' Quick replied, 'Do you know how young Sure is?'

'She looks young, granted. But we can't take both, it would kill this community.' The cow reasoned.

'Ok... What about when you joined, what was discussed then?' Quick replied, making the cow look away.

'That's different... That's in the past.' She stuttered.

'I shouldn't have to remind you, you were Green's age when you joined.' Quick turned to the duo sitting there. Green had a leg around Celestia, 'and they are bonded, you know what that separating them would do.'

'Y-yes... Fine, but I'm not doing any extra work for them.' The cow said, before storming away and into a container, closing and locking the door.

Silence hung in the air before Quick coughed and shouted, 'I think it's best every elk goes back to what they were doing. We'll give them a proper welcome later.' Every elk seemed ok with this and nodded, walking off.

'Please don't dislike Alice, she'd had... A difficult upbringing, much like any of us here. Only problem is, she's been unable to cope.' Quick explained.

He walked around the sofa and towards some stairs. Turning around, he asked, 'Do you want the grand tour?' Motioning to the stairs.

Both cows nodded and left their seats. They followed him up to the first floor where he walked around, pointing out parts of the community that were interesting or places that they had to know about.

Soon enough though, it started getting late and every elk retreated back into their own rooms. That just left Quick, Celestia and Green to themselves.

'I think it's about time to show you your own room.' Quick said, before turning and galloping over to a container that had no lights on inside; the only one.

Celestia and Green followed him over and he opened the door. Celestia walked on, feeling around for a lamp. When she found it, she turned the knob and let the light fill the room.

It was surprisingly spacious, for a container. It had two beds on either side, with storage hanging above, and underneath. On the floor laid a carpet, made out of various other carpets, giving it a particularly nice patchwork effect.

The middle of the room was empty, except a small box with the covers, pillowcases and sheets inside.

'I know it isn't much, and it's not what you're used to back home...' Quick began, but was interrupted by Green.

'Stop worrying, it's lovely.' She said, making sure Quick understood she was serious.

'Well, I guess I'll leave you two to it them...' Quick said awkwardly, 'Goodnight Green, Sure.' He turned and walked away from the two.

Celestia smiled and waved. After, she opened the box as Green closed the door and walked over.

They pulled the covers, sheets and pillows out and made one bed. Celestia wasn't about to stop the one last thing that made her feel safe.

After the bed was made and the box stored away, Green snuggled down into bed. Celestia got in afterwards and moved up besides her as far as she would go. 'I love you Sure. No matter what happens, Remember that.' Green whispered, kissing the top of Celestia's head and hugging her.

Quick walked around the first floor, nearing the stairs when Alice moved out from the shadows, 'Why are you doing this?' She asked, 'You're putting all of us in danger, we have no food for them.'

'We'll manage, cut down what we eat. They are going through a rough time right now, and it's going to get worse.' Quick replied, whispering so he wouldn't attract any attention.

'I can't believe Brash left you in charge, I knew you were too young...' Alice said, waking away, leaving Quick standing there with a scowl on his face.

He walked back to his room on the ground floor and slammed the door. Right now, he didn't care who he woke up. All he needed was to be alone. He pulled open a draw and brought out a picture of his parents, sister and himself.

They were posing in front of a lake, their legs around each other, smiling. The picture was taken shortly before the civil war started, leading to them moving and-

Quick flipped the picture away. He didn't like to remember them when he was angry, it brought up worse memories.

He put the picture away and jumped onto his bed. Turning, he laid down on his back, Not feeling the need to go to sleep. Quick began going over names he would have to contact to get information about Fine Ware.

'Johnny, Fleetfoot, Rich... That's about it. Heh, not alot left...' Quick thought to himself as he laid back and closed his eyes.

Chapter 3

"Only two kinds of elk ever see Yggdrasil. The first is the pure of heart, the other are the desperate. You have to find out which you are... Or want to be..."- King Requiem.

The next day, Celestia awoke to the sound of banging on the metal door. She looked over and saw that Green was not currently in the room.

Getting out of bed, she realised how cold it could be and didn’t even know what the time was; though her internal clock said somewhere around six to eight am.

She pulled the door open and saw that the banging was from Quick. He was standing there, holding some paper in his mouth.

“Mph.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and took the paper from him, “I can’t understand you...” She surprised herself, it seemed that she could talk quite well now. Of course she still had a raspy voice, but she knew that would go away with time.

"Wow, you can talk now,”" Quick said, “Better put that to use.” He pointed to the paper, “These are the names of the Elks we have to talk to, to get any information about your bull."

Celestia opened the scrunched paper, ”Johnny, Fleet foot and Rich?” She thought. “Who are they?” Celestia asked, giving the paper back.

Quick backed away from the door, letting Celestia through. He moved past her, letting her follow, “Johnny runs the "underwater bar". He looks big and tough, but he’s a softy." Quick shouted over the sound of a shower being taken.

“Fleet foot?” Celestia tried to shout, but all that ended up was her coughing.

Quick came over, “Fleet foot is the town’s first cow blacksmith. It’s taken a long time, but she was allowed to join the guild,” Quick explained.

The two walked around the railings and down a set of stairs, towards Quick’s room. He pulled open the door and let Celestia through first.

Inside, Green was sat at a desk in the middle of the room. She turned around and brightened when she saw Celestia. “Hey you,” she said, “Good dreams?”

Celestia nodded, ”Of course, you were hugging me.” Celestia rushed over and nuzzled Greens leg.

“Alright, we don’t have much time until Johnny opens his bar. If we get there too late, he’s... Not in a good mood.” Quick announced, gaining the attention of the two cows. “We had better get started.”

The group gathered up some clothing and some bits. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do to get the information they needed.

“What about Rich?” Celestia asked, walking into Quick’s room. “You didn’t say.”

“No... He’s a bit harder to get to.” Quick turned to Celestia, “He’s in the upper district, and with the "accident" it’ll be near impossible without going through the sewers.”

“What’s wrong with the sewers?” Celestia asked, confused.

“They are full of animals, ranging from harmless to, what could only be described as monsters.” Quick replied, shivering slightly, “Thankfully, they stay in specific territories, otherwise we’d all be in danger.”

“I see...”

Celestia walked off, trying to find Green. Celestia said she’d be back when she’d finished talking with Quick. She climbed the stairs and walked to their room.

Green was laying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. She noticed Celestia wander in, “Hey, come over here.”

Celestia went over and laid down next to her. Green wrapped her leg around her, “I meant what I said, about loving you.”

Celestia looked up. “I love you too,” she replied, looking into Greens eyes.

“At first, I didn’t know how to feel about being bonded... But now, it’s the best,” Green said, grinning. “But, it’s also scary, I get so nervous I’ll lose you.”

“You won’t, trust me,” Celestia whispered, kissing Green on the cheek, “I promise.”

After a few minutes of just lying there, they both decide to go join Quick back in the main area.

“So, both of you ready?” He asked, slipping on his saddlebags.

Green and Celestia replied by slipping in their own ones that some elks kindly donated to help them. They had filled them with all sorts of stuff that they would need, such as food, some medicine and a few coins.

“Good, let’s go.” Quick galloped out of the door, patiently stopping and waiting in the street for the two cows. Once they had caught up, he bolted it down the street with them in tow.

He turned a few corners, over a few bridges. They stopped just before the entrance to the main plaza of the second district.

“Alright, we need to decide who we talk to first. Johnny or Fleet foot?” He asked, looking at each cow in turn.

“I think Fleet foot, I don’t like the sound of Johnny much...” Celestia said.

“Fleet foot sounds less dangerous.” Green agreed. “Bronze Dagger works there now, remember?”

“Oh... Yeah.” Celestia replied.

“Hmm,” Quick thought for a minute, looking around to get his bearings. “Alright, her Smith’s only a few blocks away. Let me do the talking, alright?”

Celestia and Green nodded. They all got up and walked into the plaza. They moved across the tiled ground fast, compared to the normal streets and made it to the other side. If any elk was watching, they would have been confused as to why a bunch of calves were running around.

But nonetheless the group still ran forward, towards their goal. They made it to the blacksmiths, hearing the classic sound of metal striking metal.

Quick walked in first, opening the door. He held it for the others, who thanked him and stood off to the side, waiting for him to start.

He walked forward towards the cow that had obviously not heard the trio enter. She wore a large, thick jacket, presumably to protect from the sparks and heat of the furnace. Her face was obstructed by a large wielding mask, which was quick intimidating, had it not been for the bright pink mane sticking out of the back.

The cows coat was a dull orange. Making it easy to see any and all scars she could have accumulated through her work.

Fleet foot stopped, her ears twitching. She turned around and took off the mask, revealing a set of two baby Blue eyes. They stared straight at Celestia and Green, before turning towards Quick. “Quick Sell? What brings you here?” She asked, mild surprise in her voice.

If Celestia had to guess, her voice was a more confident version of Fluttershy’s. Making her confused to how such a cow would be working in a place like this.

“I need a favour, Fleet.” Quick began, but was interrupted by Fleet, who laughed.

“Really? Whatever it is, I can’t help you.” She announced, stomping her foot to make the point clear.

Quick coughed into a hoof, knowing this would be difficult, “We... Need some information. Normally I would get it myself, but it’s a little complicated now.” He said, turning to his two friends.

“How so?” asked Fleet foot. She shook her head, “no, I can’t help you. Not after last time.”

“Fleet... Please...” He looked up at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could pull off, with hopes it would break her defences.

“Uh...” she mumbled, looking into the endless pools, which were Quick’s eyes. “Oh fine, just this once though, and it better not be traced to me... whatever you’re doing.” Fleet foot walked over to a door, just beside her furnace and opened it. She turned to every elk and asked, “Coming?”

The group sat in Fleet foot’s front room, on a very comfortable couch. Celestia was curled up besides Green and Quick was sitting on the other side, next to the leg rest.

The room was spacious, but was taken up by a lot of flowers and decorations. The window overlooking the street was behind the group, and they could hear the beginnings of the day market being set up.

The carpet inside the room was black, mostly to hide any marks left by Fleets work. In the middle of the room sat a glass table, framed by a Gold inlay with an intricate weaving running down each leg.

“So, what are you looking for?” Fleet foot asked, setting down some biscuits and tea.

The group looked between the food and Fleet foot, she giggled, “A cow always need to be a good host.” she sat down on a chair opposite and patiently waited for them to start.

“We’re looking for information on Fine Wares.” Quick stated.

“Oh, him...” Fleet foot mumbled, looking towards her steaming tea. “He’s... Kind of unknown in the guild,” She began. “He turned up a couple of months ago, somehow managed to join without any kind of authorisation, then kept to himself.” Fleet foot thought to herself, then continued, “He was strange though... He kept going on about the new governor.” Afterwards she levitated her cup off the table and took a sip, jumping slightly from burning her tongue.

Celestia fought the urge to ask her why she was working as a blacksmith, pushing it down. She didn’t want to detour the conversation, or risk making Fleet foot stop.

Fleet foot, not receiving any questions, continued, “It’s not often that some elk like that arrives in town... We’re a pretty tight-knit community. Even if we don’t look it.” She blew onto her tea and looked over to Green, “I take it he’s done something bad.”

Green tensed up at the question. “Don’t worry my dear, I’m not one to tell on other Elks. It’s bad for business.”

“O-our sister was...” Green looked away, unable to continue.

“He hired some elk,” Celestia replied, gripping Greens leg. ”I can answer if you can’t.”

”I... Thank you.”

Celestia looked up at green, nodding. Then turned back to Fleet foot, “He hired an assassin.”

Fleet foot looked shocked, “Why would he do such a thing!?” Her tea was shaking, the faint tapping from the china on china being the only sound after her question.

“I don’t,” Celestia paused to cough, “Sorry. I don’t know, that’s what we want to find out.”

Fleet foot got up and levitated her tea down, then walked over to the window. She looked outside, checking if any elk was watching her. It seemed none were, as she visibly calmed down and walked to the door.

“I-I’m sorry... I have w-work to get back to...” she stuttered, opening the door.

Celestia, Green and Quick got up and walked out the door. They turned around to say goodbye, but the door slammed shut with locks being latched.

“Well now... That was rude...” Green said.

“I think we may have scared her.” Celestia said, looking up at Green.

”We? I think it was you...” Green giggled, getting the attention of Quick.

“What’s funny?” He asked, turning around. He waited for every elk to get ready, then they all started down the street, their only other target clear.

“Not much, just the fact that Sure scared her with that assassin business.” Green said with a little smile on her face. Celestia pouted and looked away.

“Ah, most Elks around here get scared at the mere mention of "assassins",” He put emphasis on Assassins, “its best we don’t talk about it in public, don’t want to create a problem for ourselves.”

The cows nodded in understanding, “I guess we’re going to see Johnny?” Celestia asked. She was still thankful to actually be able to talk.

“I... Do we have to?” Green asked, a bit sheepishly.

Quick stopped walking, “Yes we do... I don’t like the idea myself. He’s not known for being nice, but he is a businessman, if he sees an opportunity, he’ll take it.” Quick sighed, “Unfortunately for us, we have to create that opportunity... Somehow.”

“Alright... But I still don’t like it.” Green stated.

“Noted.” Both Celestia and Quick said, at the same time, causing both of them to laugh. Green rolled her eyes and started walking.

The trio walked for what seemed all day. They walked straight across the district; bypassing most of the populated streets in favour of less knowing passages. Finally after hours of walking they made it.

They stood outside of a small sewer grate, eater coming up to their knees. It was dark rusted iron, the sewer water having all but rusted away the cover. Around it sat dark green vines, slowly making their home, though none of them dared to cross the entrance, preferring to weave straight through the rock.

The sewer grate itself was set in concrete, just below a large factory, its sewage flowing out a few feet beside them, glistening their fur with stuff no elk wanted to know.

“So Do we knock?” Green asked, looking down at Quick for some sort of guidance.

Quick chuckled and walked forwards. He jumped up and placed his two front hooves onto separate stones beside the grate. He pushed, then waited.

Walking back to the two cows, he turned and said, “Wait for it...”

The stones slid in, turned slightly then moved back into position, as if nothing happened at all. A short, shrill, repeating noise could be heard from the grate as it started moving back. It stopped half a foot into the passage then rotated into the wall, leaving the passage free for the group to travel down.

“Come on!” Quick shouted, his voice being echoed as he entered the small, dark passage.

Celestia involuntarily shivered. She had never liked dark, damp places, especially if they were tight. She always found her flank was the one thing that she had to force through. Probably why her generals would let her through first.

She would never forget the time she led her forces down into a giant cave spider nest. It was all of the things she hated, plus spiders, how she loathed spiders. She had the guards tripled for a week after that, as she kept getting a "creepy feeling"... Which was later found out to be her sister playing a prank of her.

Celestia shook her head and followed after Quick. If she wanted to finish this, she would have to forget that fear and force herself onwards. She sighed, “How far is it?”

“Not much longer, maybe a few turns.” Quick echoed out as he turned a left.

Green rushed in after them. She got about five feet in and bumped into Celestia, who shouted out in fright and galloped forward. Green picked herself off the ground, shaking off the dust.

She galloped after her bonded and found her tangled up with Quick, in a pile of vines. They both looked quite unamused with each other.

After untangling them from the scary vines, they decided that hold each other’s tails would be the best decision, as not to get lost.

There was light in the tunnel, though not enough to navigate normally. If an elk was scared, or didn’t know the layout, they would easily get lost.

The group wandered for another ten or so minutes before they arrived at the entrance to the underground.

The entrance was like the grate out front, except this one had large iron bars running in a grid pattern across the front, protecting the inside.

Quick walked up to it, turning his head to the bare rock. To the others surprise, the rock was pulled back, revealing a bull. “Yes?”

“I’m here to make a purchase of daisies.” Quick replied, almost robotically.

“Who are they for?” The bull in the wall asked.

“The grandmother.”

The bull in the wall turned, some hush whispering took place and he turned back. “You can go in, no funny business though.”

The rock was placed back and Quick turned back grinning. “Welcome to the underground...”

The bars slid upwards and across, freeing the grate and letting it rotate left, into the wall. The group walked in, amazed at the sight.

It was a small village, underneath the town. Shops, hotels and houses all built, carved or floated around the sewer system. The structure was divided into two levels.

The ground floor was where the floating barges roamed, all looking to pick up a fare to transport about. This was also the sewer proper, marked by the constant flow of sewage.

The first floor was where the village sat, bolted into the rock from above. It hung from large cables positioned every five or so feet from each other.

Houses, shops and the target the group needed to get to was on this level. Johnny’s bar, The Broken drum, sat in front of them, its large neon signs pointing out its location, just in case any elk forgot.

The trio walked across a small metal walkway that spanned the entrance, across the river and attached to the main area.

Celestia looked about. “Quite a lot of elks here...” she said, then turned to Quick.

“Yeah, they come from all over, it’s a port town essentially. It’s full of low life and such. But in here, every elk is equal,” Quick replied. He motioned for the group to continue.

They climbed up the metal steps leading to the front of The Broken Drum and stopped. The doors themselves were made out of polished redwood, they had Gold handles that shined in the neon glow of the signs.

“So what’s the plan?” Green asked, switching been Celestia and Quick.

“Let me talk again, I know these elks. Also, say nothing about assassins.” Quick said, aiming the emphasis at Celestia.

Both cows nodded and pushed the doors open. The sound of crashing reached their ears before the scene unfolded before them.

Chairs were flying through the air, hitting targets across the room. Elks were being smashed through tables and then being hit with bits of said tables.

The group stood there with their mouths hanging open. Celestia instinctively moved closer towards Green, wrapping around her leg.

She could feel her anxiety rising. Celestia feared she would have another breakdown and gripped tighter to Green, who nuzzled the top of Celestia’s head in an effort to comfort her.

“Shh... It’ll be ok,” Green whispered. At the same time, a drunkard smashed into the floor next to her, spilling his drink over her flank. “Eek!” She screamed, picking Celestia up and running out, leaving Quick standing in the doorway.

“Well, I guess I’ll talk to Johnny on my own...” He mumbled, looking at the carnage in the room. He stepped forwards and around the drunkard, making sure not to touching him and ducked, barely missing a flying bottle that just skimmed his mane.

Quick reached the bar, surprised at how unbroken it seemed, and pulled up a stool. He waved over the barkeep and asked, “Is Johnny here? It’s Quick...”

The barkeep looked him over, for a few seconds, thinking him over before he nodded. “He’s in the back room, no funny business though.” The barkeep waved him in, opening the side passage for him and closing it after he passed through.

Outside, Green was trying to calm Celestia down from her anxiety attack. She was shaking like a leaf and wouldn’t let go of her neck. “Sure, you’re going to have to let go... I need you to let go for a second.” Green said, trying to pull Celestia off her.

Celestia on the other hand was having none of that. What she needed right now was comfort of some sort. Memories were coming back, reminding her that she was no longer immortal.

Green took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly and delicately, “I know you’re scared,” she began, talking softly and stroking Celestia’s mane, “So am I. So please, help me to help you.”

Celestia loosened her grip on Greens neck a little, letting her slip of her back. She stood on the ground shivering, and grabbed a hold of Greens tail instead, wrapping it around herself, like a blanket.

“I’m scared...” Celestia whispered, feeling like some elk had taken a red hot poker and stabbed her in the stomach, then let it boil through her. She let go of Greens tail and rushed over to the side of the bar, then threw up what remained of her breakfast.

Green galloped over and held Celestia’s mane out of her face. “Oh Sure...” She whispered, more to herself than the shaking cow under her. Instead of making the situation any more difficult than it needed to be, Green simply decided to be there for her bonded, whether her reaction seemed normal or not.

Celestia spat out the last little bit of vomit and went to wipe her mouth with her leg, but was stopped my Green. She pushed her leg down and wiped Celestia’s mouth with her own leg, her fur dampening.

Celestia opened her emotions up for Green to feel, deciding it’s time to let her in a little bit. She turned around, nuzzling Green’s underside with her forehead.

Green immediately felt the influx of emotions, rendering her speechless. She felt everything Celestia was feeling at that moment. Green started to silently cry, she moved her leg up to stop her tears from hitting Celestia.

She had no idea that any elk, let alone one this young could feel like that. She could compare it to horribly beautiful symphony, emotions conflicting with each other, fighting for control. Some of them she couldn’t figure out, such as the shrinking sense of envy, or deep regret.

“I thought... I didn’t want to hold them from you...” Celestia admitted with a sheepish grin, “Sorry it’s a bit late.”

Green shook her head, giving a short, sharp cough of laughter, “No, You didn’t have to. They’re your own and private.”

Looking down, giving a smile of understanding, Celestia said, “Can we wait here?” she moved some small stone about with her hoof, “I don’t think I can handle that again...”

“Of course. In fact, do you want to go get something to eat, you must hungry?”

Celestia nodded quickly, making Green smile. ”I don’t understand her sometimes...” She thought, rising off the ground. Celestia grabbed onto Greens tail and followed closely behind, moving closer when any elk came near to either of them.

Quick opened the door to Johnny’s office, its un-oiled hinge spoiling the quiet atmosphere that the owner created. Inside was a spacious rectangular room, the floor covered with a velvet like carpet. The walls around the owner were bare rock, leaving the side with the door as wood panels.

Johnny, the owner of "The Broken Drum", sat at his desk waiting patiently for his guest to sit down. He sat in a faux leather chair, dyed dark red. The desk in front of him as made out of sublimely rare chestnut chalk wood, a testament to how well he ran the town.

Spread around his desk were various notes, books and unknown substances, of which he seemed to have lines, already split on either side of him.

The bull in particular seemed tired and irritated, having large, deep bags underneath his eyes. His red coat having blue marks along his legs, from touching the dust on his desk. His brown hair looked particularly badly as it was unkempt, sticking in strange directions.

Johnny sat there simply staring at Quick, as he entered the room. His eyebrow raised at the comic display the bull was putting on.

Quick closed the door, once again wincing at the squeak. He turned back around and walked forwards, then stood in front of Johnny, waiting for him to say something.

“Ah Quick Sell, how are you my lad?” Johnny shouted, causing Quick to jump slightly, “What’s wrong? Worried I’ll hurt you!?”

“Uh, no... Just a bit unexpected is all...” Quick looked around, then locked eyes with Johnny, “I need some information... Please.” Quick scratched the back of his head.

“Information on what exactly?” Johnny asked, leaning forwards, covering his legs in blue dust.

“I need some info on a bull,” Quick said, pulling a chair out, “His name is Fine Wares.” Quick jumped up onto the chair, then got comfortable.

“The name rings a bell...” Johnny tapped his chin, “Maybe I know some stuff, but you’ll have to help me out first.”

Johnny took Quick’s silence as an okay to continue. “There’s been some activity at the storage docks, down in the lower level. Some of my stock has been stolen. I don’t know who did it though and if you want that information, you’ll catch them in the act.”

Johnny knew Quick would take the deal, no elk comes down to the underground, much less straight to him, without needing something; the only question was how badly he needed it.

Quick thought about it, he didn’t want to put the others in danger, but they knew the risks they were in anyway. “Alright, I’ll do it. But first I want some info.”

“Alright, let’s see...” Johnny leaned back, sticking his back legs on the table, missing the dust. “He came down here, kind of a strangle bull if you ask me. He wanted to know where to find an assassin.”

“He found one. I need to know about him,” Quick said.

“Alright alright... Yes he found one, and left. From what my sources have found, the assassin has been targeting Elks of increased stature. He may be focused on the higher districts now, Fine seems to be benefiting from the deaths, though I don’t know why.” Johnny stood up and walked over to Quick and whispered into his ear, “now, get to work!” he shouted, picking him up. He moved over to the door, opening it and threw Quick out onto the floor of the bar; closing the door after.

Green and Celestia Sat inside a diner, they had just been through an emotional experience and needed to calm down. Celestia sat on one side of the booth, not really talking. Green sat on the other, watching Elks pass by outside the window.

Celestia was looking down at the plate of alfalfa and mushrooms that Green had ordered for her, and sighed.

Green looked over, seeing the way Celestia’s mood had changed since they entered the diner. She thought it best to speak up, “Is the food any good?” she asked, smiling a bit as Celestia looked over.

“It’s alright.” She muttered.

Green shook her head, “What’s wrong now?”

“It’s nothing,” Celestia whispered; to herself or to Green was debatable.

“It’s obviously not nothing, let me help.” Green demanded, getting up and moving to Celestia’s side, “We are bonded, we made a promise to help each other.”

Celestia moved away, closer to the window. Green moved closer still, blocking Celestia in. She started to look about to an exit, but couldn’t find one. “I’m afraid...” she mumbled, finally accepting she couldn’t get away.

Green looked surprised for a second, before her motherly instincts kicked in, “Why, we’re not near that bar anymore.”

Celestia seemed nervous, “I’m afraid I’ll get hurt, or worse...you...”

“Sure, you know I’d never let any elk hurt you... I’d die before that happens.” Green replied, confused at how Celestia could even say such a thing, “I’m scared as well, it just means we have to look out for each other from now on. It’s what Sister would have wanted.”

Celestia finally pulled herself away from the window and pushed against Green. “I know, I guess I’m not as wise as I thought I was...”

“Wise? You’re one... You’re not allowed to be wise,” Green giggled ad Celestia punched her on the arm.

The two finished the plate and simply sat there, enjoying each other’s company. Celestia’s mind was in turmoil, she had yet to process the fact that she was mortal now in any real detail, and had affected her more than she thought it would.

But now that she’s had a talk with Green, she’s felt better about handling the whole thing. She made the mental note to work it all out once she gets some sleep, not a minute before.

“Shall we see if Quick has found anything out?” Green asked, nudging Celestia from her relaxed state.

She nodded, releasing her grip of Greens body. They got up, Green paid the check and they left.

The two Elks walked across the walkways and to the front of The Broken Drum. They waited for a couple of minutes before Quick Sell limped out.

He smiled sheepishly, gratefully accepting Greens help to walk down the steps. “Thank you, he gave me some info, but I have to do some work for more,” he said as they reached the bottom of the steps.

“What kind of work?” Celestia asked.

“I think its best we find somewhere to rest first, that ankle looks bad,” Green said, looking around to find a hotel or inn.

“Yeah,” Quick replied, giving a smile to Celestia. “If we take that walkway,” He pointed to a small alleyway nestled between two restaurants, “There’s a nice little inn we can stay at.”

“Alright, come on Sure...” Green said, putting Quick on her back. The three walked down the alley, and out the other side. It came out in front of a small wooden inn called, "The Muckey Rudder".

It was in various states of decay, from the partially caved in roof, that threatened to give way at any time, or the chimney stacks that had slid half way down the building. The only piece that had stood the tests of time, were, surprisingly the insides. One could tell, by looking in the warped windows, that the occupants had taken great care to look after the interior.

The insides looked warm, cosy and most importantly, empty. This bar seemed the only place in town that was empty.

There were numerous seats set up around various tables, the biggest of all could seat up to twenty cows or bulls in two rows. That was the closest to the fire, which at the time was only slightly roaring, the owners deciding best not to waste the firewood.

Green pushed the door open and walked inside, she held it open for Celestia who thanked her and weaved around her legs to get inside, out of the increasingly cold wind.

There was one elk at the bar, wiping a beer mug with a washcloth, mumbling himself about the lack of patrons, he was pacing back and forth, generally looking annoyed.

He had a piss yellow coat, with a bright red mane, his left eye kept twitching as if he was on a sugar rush... Or something worse and his teeth seemed to be the least crooked out of all his features.

As the group move towards the bar, Green takes it upon herself to ask, “How much for a room?”

The barkeep looked over, “Five bits a night, ten if you want a bit of fun.” The bull chuckles madly as Green backed away, pulling Celestia with her.

“I think we’ll be okay...” Green mumbled. Quick kicked her in the flank with good hoof.

“What are you doing!?” he whispered, “We need a room, and from what I’ve been told, this is the least shady place around here!”

Green looked back at him, giving a glare of dissatisfaction at the kick. She turned back after a couple of seconds and sighed. “Alright,” Green said, walking back to the bar and placing five bits onto the counter.

“I knew yah would be back, they always do...” the barkeep shouted, causing Green to jump and freeze up. “Your room is the one on the end, up the stairs.” The elk placed a two keys on the counter, “One is for your room, the other is for the toilet,” he chuckled, “You never know when a succubus will get you in the toilet.” The barkeep walked off, laughing madly to himself as he knocked over pots and pans.

The group quickly rushed over to the stairs. They felt the strain as they ascended to the first floor, the floorboards barely keeping their combined weight up; letting out a creak at every little step.

Upon reaching the room, Green opened the door and walked inside, letting Celestia run in first. She smiled as she saw Celestia jump onto the bed, with a small laugh.

”Finally, a chance to relax for once...” Green thought while she walked into the one bed room.

The inside wasn’t too shabby, compared with the look of the exterior, but it did leave a lot of be desired. The first of many was that there was only one bed, which mean that some elk would either have to be squished between two others, and as Green wasn’t willing to let Quick into bed with Sure, or herself, it looked to be an easy decision.

The second was that there simply wasn’t much room. Sure the room was enough, they could all move around easily, but seeing as the walls were bare wood with no paint, it was a bit claustrophobic.

Green lowered herself down and let Quick off. He hobbled over to a nearby chair and sat down. Green walked over to the bed and flopped over onto her side. “Ooh,” she sighed, snuggling into the duvet.

Celestia responded by jumping over to her, “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

Green inhaled, then exhaled slowly, “Nothing Sure, just a bit tired. I think I’ll take a nap.”

Celestia nodded and jumped down. She watched Green get into bed and slowly doze off. Celestia turned around and faced Quick. 'So, tell me about this information,' She asked, moving towards him.

Quick sat there, he didn't really want to make Sure go with him. At best it would mean she'd get in the way. At worst, she would get them caught.

Yet, as he sat there, looking at the stage cow and her bonded, he could really imagine going in an adventure without them.

Shaking his head, he began to recall the information Johnny gave him, "Johnny said that Fine Wares came down and found an assassin."

"Did he say why?" Celestia asked, moving closer to make sure she didn't miss any important information.

"Apparently, he's killing off elks of increasing stature... It would seem that your Sister was either the first, or one of them."

"Ok... I still don't understand why he would do that though, what would he gain for murdering a carer." She said, confused. "It's not like she had anything of value."

"I guess we'll find out afterwards."

"Afterwards? What do you mean?" Celestia frowned, "What does he want you to do?"

"Nothing much... just find out who's stealing his stock..." Quick gave a sheepish smile, then turned around and trotted towards the door, "Make sure she's asleep before following. We don't want her to stop us."

Celestia nodded and jumped over to Green's bed. She placed her ear close to Green's face and heard her slow breathing. Turning to Quick, she nodded and jumped down to the floor, wincing at the sound her hooves made.

Following Quick outside of the room, they passed the bathroom and heard a series of wails that made them move away, scared. 'The hell was that...' She thought, moving closet to Quick.

Walking down the stairs and watching their step, Celestia turned to Quick and asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Absolutely, Johnny won't give us any more information if we don't do this," he replied, looking down at the stairs carefully. "I was lucky he was high, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten anything at all."

Celestia sighed and nodded. They reached the bottom of the stairs and looked about for the barkeep. They had to make sure they didn't get caught otherwise the owner wouldn't let them go out on their own.

They heard a couple of shouts about something called a, "Shazaron" and some pans hit the floor. Looking to each other, they shrugged and creeped their way towards the door.

Opening it, Quick held it for Celestia. She smiled and thanked him as she passed. Looking around outside, she didn't know where the stocks were, let alone anything else.

'So unlike Canterlot...' She thought, remembering that almost everything was laid out in a smart manner. Shops were in one districts, nobles in another. The stock rooms were built into the mountain, to protect them from the weather and in case they needed shelter.

She shook her head as Quick stopped next to her, "Will you be alright, being away from Green?"

"Yeah, as long as it isn't for more than a day or so... I think..." she replied looking a little unsure.

"You can go back if you want, I won't stop you."

"No, I got you into this, I'm going to help," Celestia said, determined to not let him carry the burden by himself.

Quick stared at her, 'so unlike any other elk I've met...' He though, trying to find a reason to stop her; yet finding none. "Fine, but do as I say, alright?"

"Yes sir!" She replied, saluting playfully.

Quick raised an eyebrow, but shook it off. He turned and trotted down one of the side passages that led to the main plaza, then walked across to one of the maintenance walkways.

Crossing that, they snuck around one of the pillars that held the surface from crumbling down, making sure that no elk saw them. Once they determined that they were safe, Quick rushed over and hid being the railings that connected to the rusted metal stairs which led down and into the stock level.

"Sure, come on, quickly!" he whispered, a bit too loud for Sure's liking.

She crouched as low as she could and jolted across. She had nowhere to hide other than press her body against his, making her blush.

Once it was clear that no elk saw them, she let go of him and stepped back. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's ok..." He whispered. Looking down the stairs, Quick saw that the lights were currently on, meaning that some elk was either stock checking, unlikely at this time of night, or stealing. "Let's go, the Elks we have to identify are there already."

"Mhm," Celestia nodded and made their way down the stairs. They hoped their hoof-steps weren’t too loud as the metal creaked slightly under their combined weight.

Thy reached the bottom and heard voiced from inside one of the dugout tunnels.

"Sapphire, are you sure we should be doing this again?" A masculine voice asked. The sound of hoof-steps sounded out, getting closer to the pairs position but stopped just short. "It's just that Johnny is sniffing around, I don't want to be beaten by Johnny!"

"We aren’t going to be caught, he doesn't even know it's us!" Sapphire shouted, sounding more masculine. "Now hush up and open these crates, there has to be something here worth taking, other than booze."

The previous voice sighed, 'Right as always, Hun."

Quick frowned, he hadn't heard of any elk named sapphire down here, though it wasn't often that new elks stay long enough to actually know any other elk.

He shook his head, pushing the list of known acquaintances to the back of his head. Quick turned to Celestia and whispered, "He needs to find out who the other Elk is, which means I have to get caught."

"What, no." Celestia refused, "You can't."

"I have to, name another way and I'll do that," he asked, knowing Sure couldn't.

"I-I got nothing..."

"Don't worry, I've been on the streets long enough to know when an elk will hurt me, they don't seem the types."

Quick pushed Celestia down, further into the shadows, making sure she couldn't be seen and walked out.

He stepped out into the light and shouted, "I guess Johnny was right!"

The two Elk's heads shot straight towards him. The closest elk had a grey coat and a yellow mane which covered most of his face, except for a small section of what Quick could imagine being a burn mark. His wings shook as the bull’s anger rose.

The second bull, which Quick guessed was Sapphire, had a dark blue coat, the same color as his name and a green mane.

They looked at him in half anger and half shock of being caught. "Get him!" Sapphire shouted, prompting the other Elk to run at him.

Quick’s eyes shot open, he wasn’t expecting them to actually be competent. Turning away from Celestia, he ran down the opposite passage and around the waterfront.

Water sprayed up as a few boats sailed past, blowing up sewage and anything else that was thrown out in the last five years. Quick wiped it off, the waste staining his coat and leg. 'Damn, now I need to take buy a shower...'

Quick looked behind him and saw the elk was catching up, fast. Making a left turn, he jumped across a couple of lined up boats and onto the other side of the river. He planned to make his way round and up into Johnny’s bar, hopefully the bull wouldn't notice.

"I see you’re as slow as they come!" Quick shouted, trying to distract the bull.

It was working, the elk jumped across the gap in one leap, blocking Quick off and causing him to rush down a side tunnel.

'Phew, that was close,' he thought, wiping away some sweat.

Just as Quick was nearing the end of the tunnel, he felt his tail get caught on something and fell to the floor with an 'ompf". Looking back at his aching rump, he screamed as he saw the elk hols onto his tail with his mouth.

"Now, what was that about being slow?" the bull asked and picked Quick up. He held onto the back of his neck with his mouth, tightly, so he could run away again.

Quick was scared, he had misjudged these bulls once, maybe they would hurt him... Or worse.

They turned back into the tunnel and he saw a chair set up. Being placed on it, Quick was tied up with some old rope that dug into his coat and irritated his skin.

He stared at the Elks and waited for the questions. "How old are you?" Sapphire asked, in a surprisingly nice tone.

Looking at both of the Elks in front of him and refusing to answer, he winced as Sapphire struck him in the face, making the chair topple over.

Quick spat out some blood, "Is that it?" he asked, making the two bulls look at each other in confusion.

"Answer me!" Sapphire shouted, enraged. "Did Johnny send you?"

Again, nothing. Quick was struck again, splitting his lip and causing him to groan in pain.

"Yes, yes he did!" He shouted hoping it make them stop.

"Oh elders, what do we do now?" The nameless elk asked, holding onto Sapphire's leg.

He was shrugged off, "Calm down, they don't know our names, Johnny can't find us if this elk is gone."

Quick's eyes shot open, "Whoa guys, I won't tell anyone," he groaned, pain shooting through his face as he talked.

"Do you think we are stupid? Me and Emerald have been doing this for years, haven't been caught once!" Sapphire shouted, making Quick wince as he was hit again, this time in the stomach.

His head was low. Quick was on the edge of consciousness when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Celestia rush off.

Grinning, he knew they would find their sisters killer, with or without him. "Well guys, if you’re going to kill me, better do it now. Johnny’s on his way..."

Celestia ran up the stairs, unable to care about the noise nor the stares from the dozens of elks she passed. All she could think about is getting to Johnny and saving Quick.

Sure she had known in for less than a week, but she had a strange connection. He was the first elk she met, outside of the orphanage, he saved her when she was down and again when she was in pain; he even stayed with her to make sure she was alright.

It was an understatement to say they were meant to find each other, and she knew this.

Making her way up the steps of "The Broken Drum" and pushed her fears of this place away. She braced herself against the door and pushed, the sounds of another fight slowly rising until she fell through the gap and onto the floor.

A hoof was held out towards her and she looked over. A rough looking elk with a snow white beard and large knowing eyes was holding the hoof out, waiting patiently to help her up.

Celestia took the beard, thanked him and rushed towards the bar, "I need to talk to Johnny!" She shouted over the noise.

The barkeep turned around and looked over the counter, "Sorry cow, Johnny’s not in the mood to talk, come back some other time."

"But it's about Quick!" She shouted even louder, making her point clear: I will see him!

The barkeep sighed, "It's your funeral..."

The barkeep sighed, "It's your funeral..." He opened the door to the back room then quickly shut it, lest he get in more trouble.

"What do you want?" Johnny shouted, making Celestia shrink back.

She pressed on and walked up to the seat, "We found the Elks responsible for stealing your stock!"

Johnny's ears perked up, "How?"

"They are there right now and have Quick. They’re going to kill him, please help us!" She shouted, hoping it wasn't too late.

Johnny clopped his hooves together and two beefy Elk's made their way into the room. Both had their cutie marks covered up by their large black jumpers, making them seem more intimidating that usual.

"Yes boss?" they both asked at the same time, their voices deep.

"Follow this young cow and make the Elks that steal from me regret it."

"Yes sir," They saluted. Celestia wished she had never met Quick now, as it would have been safer otherwise.

"Go, take them to the Elks," Johnny ordered, turning To Celestia, receiving a nod in return.

She ran out of the room, two Elks on her tail. She ran back the way she came: down the steps, across the plaza, across the walkway and down the stairs.

She stopped, not hearing any sounds except the water flowing down the river. Stepping out from the shadow, time slowed down for the cow. She saw spots of blood quickly turn into sprays as she felt her world crumble around her.

She fell to her knees as the body of Quick came into view. He was still strapped to the chair, his face was bleeding and bruised.

Celestia couldn't take any more and rushed over to the river and emptied the contents of her stomach. She felt dizzy, like someone had punched her in the gut.

Of course, she had been responsible for deaths, she had been in wars. Mares, stallions, even fillies and colts had been crushed under her golden hooves; but this was closer to her than any of that. This was close to her heart and nothing before had struck that close.

She struggled to make her way over, needing to know for sure. Seeing his face stare at her, judging her for bringing him into this made feel horrible, it made her feel like she may as well have killed him herself.

She walked around his back, if not to escape the stare then to check his body. She looked him over, tears falling from her eyes as she did, landing around his body and into his blood.

Celestia didn't care if she was getting bloody, she had lost the first proper friend since Twilight and it was all her fault.

She covered her mouth with a bloody hoof when she saw a stab wound on his stomach. She turned him over and saw multiple all over his chest as well.

Losing balance, she toppled over and onto him. She wrapped her legs around his still warm body and held on as if the very act would bring him back.

"Don't leave me..." she whispered, "I can't do this without you!" Not entirely sure what to do, she stayed there, holding his body as the warmth drained out of him, leaving him a cold lifeless husk.

Her sobs became more pronounced and after a couple of minutes became too much for her little body to take and left her shaking upon Quick’s corpse. One of Johnny’s minions walked over and picked her up, holding her hooves back as she tried to grip onto Quick, not wanting to lose the feeling of his coat.

“No, let me go!” She shouted, hitting the bull on the arm. He simply shrugged it off and carried her back towards the stairs and away from Quick.

She struggled all the way back up to the bar, causing passer-by’s to stare at them with shock. The bulls pushed open the door and threw her onto the floor, then bared the way for her to exit with their bodies. Celestia looked up at their faces and frowned.

Looking back at her, they shook their heads in unison and gently pushed her towards Johnny, who was sitting in his chair and not paying attention to them. Celestia turned around walked towards the seat opposite Johnny. She jumped up and sat down on it, turning to the Elk in charge.

She watched as he snorted up a light blue substance, he shivered with delight as he snorted the last line he had put down. Looking up, he opened his eyes and focused on Celestia.

She shrank under his gaze, but remembered the deal he had made with Quick. The memory burned and threatened to break her mental block she had placed up to stop herself from imploding. She knew she had to get the information on Fine Wares, by any means possible… even if some are heart breaking.

“So… I see my bulls haven’t returned with the thieves...” Johnny said in a slow and mechanical tone. Celestia wasn’t sure what that substance was, but knew it wasn’t good for anything.

“No, they were gone,” Celestia replied, her anger and guilt rising, threatening to spill over, “they left… Quick.”

“Dead, I assume?”

If looks could kill, Celestia’s glare would have scorched the spot Johnny was sitting a thousand times over, “…Yes.”

“A shame, he was a good worker…” Johnny said, oblivious to the glare she was giving him. “I suppose a deal, is a deal.” He rose, walked over to a painting on his left and moved it across, revealing a safe. He turned the dial a number times and opened the black iron door. Pulling out a number of documents, they were levitated across and in front of Celestia. “This is all I have on Fine Wares, I hope it helps.” He sat back down on his chair and leaned forwards, levitating a pen out from beside himself, “Now, the names please…”

Celestia walked out of the bar, and let a tear fall from her face. It fell through the grates and down into the river below. She didn’t know how to handle it; should she bottle it up to try and forget or should she let it out and hope it stops eventually.

Sighing and sucking her emotions back inside, she bottled them up, letting them fizzle out harmlessly. Making her way back to the inn, she realised that her hooves were still covered in Quick’s crimson blood, making her head feel dizzy.

She stumbled through the door and slammed it shut, ignoring the ramblings of the inn’s owner. She pulled herself upstairs, into her room and fell onto the floor with a ‘thud’ waking Green up. Instantly, she let her emotions burst out. She screamed and stomped on the floor in anger.

“Sure, what’s wro- dear elders, is that blood!?” Green shouted, as she gave Celestia a once over. “What the hell happened; where’s Quick?” She asked, making her way over to the sobbing cow.

“H-he’s g-gone!” Celestia chocked out, barely able to form coherent sentences. She buried herself in Greens legs, letting her take half the burden of her emotional turmoil. Green stroked her coat and kissed her on the head.

“I…” She didn’t know what to say, she had slept through one of the most traumatising moments in her bonded’s life. To say her guilt was killing her was an understatement, it was ripping her heart apart.

They stayed like that, leaned up against the door for the next few hours, Celestia crying into Green’s coat. Eventually, Celestia cried herself to sleep and Green picked her up, carrying her over to the bed. Not willing to leave Sure alone tonight, she slipped in beside her and wrapped her legs around her, pulling her close.

Green couldn’t sleep though, and stayed away for most of the night thinking how she should have been there; how things could have been different if only she had kept a closer eye on them. ‘I’m a horrible elk…’

The morning came too quickly and Celestia found herself waking up. She was unwilling to face the day, but knew that with every second, the assassin could be closer to another kill; if he hasn’t already. She rose and looked over for Quick’s face, “Oh yeah…”

She got out of bed and jumped to the floor, red flakes of blood falling off her, ‘I should have a shower…’ She thought as she made her way over to the bathroom. She neared the door and heard the sound of running water. Pushing the door, Celestia called out, “Green?”

“Come in, I’m having a shower; I’ll wash your hair!”

Celestia trotted in, slipping slightly on the tiled surface. Surprised at such a nice bathroom inside the place, she slowly made her way over to the shower and pulled open the door. “Can I come in…?” She asked, not knowing if she wanted some alone time.

“Sure, Let me get you another seat,” Green replied, levitating a stool from the other side of the bathroom. She placed it down and patted it. Celestia walked in and sat down next to her, feeling the warmth of her wet coat rub up against her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t with you…” Green whispered, kissing Celestia on the head, “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.”

“No, you would have been hurt as well.” Celestia turned to Green and pressed her head against her shoulder leaning into her for support. “I guess I deserve it…” She mumbled under her breath.

“What’s that, Sure?”

“N-nothing.” Celestia couldn’t let Green know about being an Alicorn; Celestia didn’t even know if ponies exist here, or if they did, had Alicorns.

Green moved around the back of Celestia and took a hold of her mane, bunching it up and pouring some shampoo onto it. “When you’re ready, you can tell me what happened…" She said, rubbing the shampoo in and lathering it up. She let Celestia’s hair fall and went for her tail, doing the same thing with that.

Eventually, she had Celestia’s whole body lathered up and sprayed water on her and letting the suds flow off. Celestia turned around and held onto Greens body, tight, “We… went out. Q-quick had been given an offer…”

Green leaned back against the wall, letting the water flow over her and Celestia. She wrapped her arms around Celestia and nuzzled the top of her head, giving support.

“He s-said we had to find the names of s-some thieves that w-were stealing from the bar’s stocks,” Celestia manages to explain, her voice shaky at points, threatening to break. “They… I… he was dead when I…” With that, Celestia broke and started crying once again, falling into Green.

Green patiently waited it out. She couldn’t feel any emotions coming off Celestia and for the first time since they were bonded, she was scared for her. Sister dying almost snapped Green, so she could even partially imagine what Sure Fire was going through.

After a couple of minutes, Celestia’s crying died down and she looked up to see Green look at her disappointed, but instead found her smiling down. “Want to stay here some more?” She asked, nuzzling Celestia’s cheek.

Celestia shook her head, “We had better go; the assassin will target Rich next…” Celestia rose, moving out of Greens legs. She walked out of the cubical and over to the mirror, picking up a towel as she went. She towelled herself off, watching Green shampoo herself then threw the towel into the wash basket. Walking out of the bathroom, she waited patiently by the door for green to finish.

Ten minutes later, Green walked out and faced Celestia, “Ready?” Celestia nodded, “alright, stay near me, ok?”

Celestia nodded again, not feeling like talking and opened the door. They walked downstairs and not bothering to say goodbye to the inn keeper, exited the building.

Chapter 5: Arc 2

Celestia and Green trotted down the road and made it to the outskirts of their orphanage, they stopped and gave each other a grin. They took off down the road galloping as fast as their legs would take them as they entered passed one of their roommates.

Dirty Shovel looked up from gardening and wiped her forehead. Watching the pair rush past, she squinted and recognised them. "Sure... Is that you!?" she muttered before she became giddy, jumped up and ran after them.

Celestia glanced back and saw her galloping behind and waved at her. Looking at Green she smiled, "Were back!" She shouted as they raced through the gate and into the orphanage proper.

Unlike when they left, the grass on the front lawn was trimmed immaculately, the flowers were watered and weeded and there were no more broken tiles on the roof.

The pair slowed down and caught their breath. "It seems as if every elk worked hard..." Celestia said.

"Indeed," Green replied, full of mirth. She missed this place, she missed her warm bed, she missed her friends and most importantly, she missed Sister. Green wiped her eyes and smiled, she was back now and it wasn't a time to be sad.

Walking across the gravel /enteragoodword/, the pair saw the front entrance swing open. Wine Glass walked out and fluttered his wings, unaware of the newly arrived elks that were watching him.

Wine arched his back and gave a loud sigh of relief as he felt his back pop and his wing muscles loosen up. "Much better," he said, rolling his wings around.

As Celestia stood there watching the bull, Green was tackled by Dirty Shovel and fell over onto the grass. "Why didn't you tell anyone you left!" She shouted, angry.

"I didn't want to worry you guys," Green replied, getting up off the ground and helping the brown coated cow up. "You know I don't like goodbyes."

"Yeah I guess," Shovel said, lowering her voice down to a normal level. She placed a hoof on Green's whithers and rolled her eyes, "I see you brought Sure Fire back. Did she tire herself out from her episode?"

"Episode?" Green asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Oh you know, she was upset so she ran away," Shovel whispered. "I guess you bought her an ice cream and she forgot all about it?"

Green couldn't tell her about what really happened, how she and Sure had stopped an assassin from killing more innocent Elks, she had to lie. She nodded, "You could say that, I took her to see some sights around the town..." she trailed off, looking at Sure.

Shovel grinned, "I knew it, I'm so jealous of you two."

"Why?"

"Because you two are bonded. I want to be bonded to some elk." Shovel pouted, but it eventually changed back into a smile. "Come on, you have to come inside, every elk will be happy you're back!"

Shovel pulled Green along by her hoof, picked Celestia up and placed her on her back."What's happening?" Celestia asked Green.

"Shovel is, ugh, excited again..." Green replied as she was yanked forwards, her hooves unable to keep her in place against the onslaught of giddiness.

Shovel pulled up to Wine Glass and nudged him, "Hey Wine, Green and Sure are back!" She shouted, a little too loud.

"No way," he replied leaning around Shovel to get a good look at the pair. He moved his aqua colored hair out of the way of his eyes and smiled, "Where did you two go? We had elks looking around everywhere for you."

"Uh, sorry..." Celestia said, looking down. "I didn't mean to upset anyone."

"I'm sure you didn't, but you can't just run off... We were all upset at the loss, but still..."

"Hey, it's over now, they're back." Shovel walked up the steps and opened the front door, she glanced back with a grin, "Let's celebrate!"

She bounced into the orphanage, nearly knocking down some elk that were simply standing hear her door and looked around. "Aha, in here!" She said, deciding to run into the bedroom. She stopped and took a deep breath, and whistled, making several elks jump in fright.

They turned their heads and frowned in annoyance, but lightened up once they saw who Shovel was carrying. The noise level in the room rose as the elks trotted over, whispering to each other.

"It's good to see you again, Sure." one bull said, ruffling her mane.

"You sure gave us a scare, don't do it again." a cow growled, yet sighed and nuzzled Celestia on the cheek, "I'm glad you're back."

Several other Elks gave their regards and quickly settled back down excited about the inevitable party that would be thrown for the two returned members of their family.

Shovel's smile seemed to get even bigger as she had an idea. She levitated Celestia off her back and next to Green, "Okay, you two. I have to go and see some elk about something... I'll see you later at dinner!" with that, she ran off, glancing back to give a quick wave before turning around a corner.

"She likes to shout, doesn't she?" Celestia asked, looking up to Green.

"Yeah, she was here before I arrived, I don't know how she's always so happy?" Green glanced about, reciving smiles and waves from the elks in the bedroom. "Should we look around, I'm sure the new Sister would like to know we're back?"

"Sure, I really hope she's as good as our Sister..." Celestia said.

"No elk could be as good as her."

Celestia nodded, a bit disheartened that she wouldn't ever be able to see her Sister. Sure, she could go and see the grave, but that's just a piece of rock and not the flesh and blood elk she loved.

The two of them trotted down the hallway, giving nods and smiles at the elks that lined the way. Celestia carried on looking ahead and spoke to Green through their link.

I can't wait to just get in bed again and forget everything that happened.

Green nods, Yeah, it's finally over. She leans over and nuzzles Celestia, "We're back..."

Celestia smiles and stops for just a moment, opening her mouth to say something but decides not to. Green pauses and looks at her, "We'll have a talk, there's some things on my mind as well."

Celestia nods and the two carry on walking, turning the corner to the new sisters office. Green turns her head and pulls Sisters scarf out of her saddlebag then wraps it around Celestia.

She smiled as Celestia smiled back, "Thank you."

The two of them stop infront of the door and breath a sigh. Green holds up a hoof and knocks. Together they waited for the new Sister to answer.

Celestia looked around at the other elks wandering the halls and a pang of sadness crept through her. "Nothing will be the same..."

Green looked down at her and wrapped her hoof around Celestia's neck, "It doesn't mean it's bad... Just, different."

Celestia nodded and turned around as the door to the new sisters office creaked open.

A red coated cow with a green mane stood there, a raised eyebrow on her face. "Hi," she smiled, "Can I help you?" Her tone was high and happy, different than what Green or Celestia had imagined.

"Uh.. Yes, we just got back..." Green replied. "I'm sorry, no elk told us your name."

"Oh you can call me pepper, or peps, whichever you prefer." The cow trotted back around the room to her side of the desk, moving some papers into neat stacks as she got comfortable. "I take it you're the two that went missing?"

"Yes ma'am, we are," Celestia confirmed, "we have been..." She looked to Green with a pained look.

"We got lost in the woods," Green said, shrugging. "We saw Sister and got scared."

Pepper sighed and leaned forwards to rest on the desk, "Forget that now, you're home." A new smile formed and she looked over to Celestia. "I've taken the pleasure of setting you up with your own room in the higher section where your age group will stay."

"Why would I need my own room?" Celestia asked, a frown beginning to form, "I sleep with green."

"There will be no more of that," Pepper replied before sighing, "I'm sorry... I haven't had a lot of sleep since arriving."

She rose and walked around towards Celestia, "I read about your bonding with Green and unfortunately, I can't make any exceptions."

Celestia looked away, then hesitantly nodded.

Pepper smiled again and chopped her hooves together, "Great!" She placed hoof on Celestia's shoulder, "Let me show you too your room." they made it halfway across the room before pepper looked back, "Oh, Green, can you look after the young cows in the nursery?"

"...yes, Pepper ," Green replied, almost growling.

Pepper turned back and that hated smile adorned her face once again, "Come along, We can't dawdle all day!"

Celestia and pepper walked down the halls until they made it to the an intersection and turned left. Several stallions actively rushed out of the way as they laughed and joked through the halls.

Pepper tutted and shook her head as she carried on. Soon the hallway changes from marble to carpet, blood red, matching the ones in Rich's mansion.

Celestia blocked out the memories of last night and caught up with Pepper. "Green?"

A few moments and Celestia felt her reply, "Sure... I didn't know it worked this far away..."

Celestia smiled and felt a spring in her step, "I didn't scare you, did I?" She passed by a couple of doors with numbers. One of them was open with a young cow laying inside coloring.

Celestia frowned and looked towards Pepper, "Can Green come and visit me?"

Pepper shook her head, "Depends on if she has done her chores and you have been a good calf."

"Only a little bit," Green replied. "What's it like there?"

"It's cold..." Celestia said, looking around. The walls were wallpapered with small birds and clouds on a light blue background which made her a little sick inside.

After everything that had happened; this is what she had come back to?

"I don't like it here..." Celestia shuddered, feeling the shadows pass over her. One of the lights hanging off the walls was broken; its shell cracked.

"We're here," Pepper said, slowing till she stood outside room twenty four.

Celestia stopped and looked the door over. It looked like every other door in the orphanage, brown with small imperfections, nothing out of the ordinary.

She had to hold up a hoof from the light pouring in from outside through the window that was right next to the door.

Pepper turned the knob and pushed, opening the door and entering the room. "Come on in, I don't have all day."

Celestia moved inside and Pepper smiled. The room itself wasn't large; maybe a quarter of the older elk's sleeping room. The wall in front of Celestia had the entire surface littered with shelves and cubby holds.

There was a small bed in the corner, surrounded by white-washed walls, making it look even smaller than it needed to be.

A stool and desk sat next to the bed, taking up the far wall, leaving a small trashcan and chest on the other side of the room.

A tiny window let in some dying light over Celestia's bed and pepper walked over then patted it. "Jump on," she said.

Celestia did so and jumped onto the bed. She was surprised by it's softness.

"Why can't I stay with Green?" Celestia asked, "No elk cared before!"

"Well, times change. They may not have cared before, but we'll be having new rules set up."

Celestia frowned, but nodded. She understood the need to implement new rules, even though most wern't liked by many. "Okay, can Green stay with me tonight, just so I get used to it?"

"I don't think that will be a good idea, she's got some work she has to do tomorrow."

Celestia looked away. "Fine," she snapped.

If Pepper noticed, she didn't show it and turned around, "I'll be back up in a bit with your dinner." She neared the door, "Go around, meet the others and make some friends."

Pepper walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving Celestia to sit on the bed, staring out of the room.

"I don't like Pepper..." She said, hoping Green wouldn't be doing anything and would reply quickly.

She felt sad at the fact that everything was changing fast. Back when she was a Princess, she had the power to change things at her own pace, being the avatar of sun incarnate.

But still, she sighed and jumped off the bed and wandered over to the chest on the other side of the room, placed a hoof onto the handle and opened it.

A plume of dust blew out and made her cough. "Oh me... This hasn't been used in forever..." Celestia threw the lid up and it hit the back, making a loud 'BANG'.

She looked inside and saw a small and dusty folded up note. Intrigued, Celestia reached down and picked it up. A blow of dust and a wave of her hoof later, Celestia unfolded the note and started to read.

Dear Sure Fire / Princess Celestia.

I am sorry to tell you, I have lied to you. Or at the very least, bent the truth. You are not in "Sure Fire's" memories.

You are, in fact, in an alternate universe that runs very far behind yours.

I am sorry for lying, but it's the only thing I could do at the time that would have made you open the book.

Unfortunately, you would not be able to go back to your universe without meeting with me personally. For this, I feel the most.

You see, I sense a great evil in this world and sent out a spell to find the one that is most capable of fighting it. It found you and placed you inside the body of a calf.

You must find me after you find out what the evil is as I am unable to detect it somehow, though I belive it is in the vicinity of Concordia.

I am located on Eden, please find me.

This note will disintegrate after you finish it, so please read carefully.

With deepest regrets,
Allure.

Celestia watched as the note fell apart and turned into dust around her hooves. She stared down at it as tears threatened to drop from her eyes.

Her mind was a flurry of thoughts, some of them darker than she would like to admit. She had flashbacks of being locked inside her own sun and felt the familiar crushing that went along with being inside something she couldn't escape; this time being her own skin.

She felt her skin crawl as the need to tear at it became too much and she gripped her left leg and started to pull at her coat, tearing out the fur.

She didn't stop, even after the skin had started to bleed down her leg. She kept saying, "This isn't my body?!" over and over again, tearing at her leg even more.

Rapid hoof-steps could be heard getting closer and Green rushed into the room. She stopped and looked about until she found Celestia, huddled in the corner, covered in her own blood.

Celestia looked up to Green and started to cry, "This isn't my body..." She let out a scream, fell forwards and started convulsing as her mind promptly shut down.

~~~ A couple of days later ~~~

Celestia let out a small groan and her legs felt like they were on fire. She opened her eyes and found herself unable to see. Panicking, she moved a leg up and felt a large bandage around her head, specifically her eyes.

She heared a shuffle from her left side and turned her ears towards it. "Green, is that you?" She coughed, her throat hoarse.

"Yes..." Green replied, feeling apprehensive.

Celestia held out a hoof and felt Green take a hold, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure, you... hurt yourself," Green chocked and ran a hoof over the bandages on Celestia's leg.

The memories came flashing and Celestia took her hoof away from Green. "Oh... Yeah..." she said, turning over ti face the wall. "I... Need some time to think..."

"I'll be here-"

"Alone."

"Oh... okay, I'll be outside then."

Celestia heard the scraping of the stool and the click if the door before rolling over onto her back.

Her mind raced again but this time she didn't have the dark thoughts. "Stupid..." she thought, grinding her teeth, "Didn't Starswirl teach me anything?"

Celestia reread the letter in her head and frowned, "It said a great evil... I guess I'm meant to stop it?" This only confused Celestia further, "Why didn't she... yeah, a she, summon the elements or better yet, Luna, she's always been the fighter of us two."

Celestia felt the questions pile up high and she shook her head and focused on what she knew. "One, there's an evil thing. Two, I can only get home if I meet this Allure. Three, I need to get to the capital and then to Eden... Wherever that is."

Her thoughts were interrupted by shouting from outside the door. "What do you mean I can't see her, she's under my care?!"

"I'm sorry, Pepper, I won't allow you through until she wants me to."

"Green, it's alright, let her in." Celestia said, telepathically over to her bonded.

"Are you sure?"

"I am." A few moments later and the door opened, letting Pepper walk in. Celestia felt her footsteps come closer and pull out the stool to sit on.

"So... I have some questions," Pepper said, leaving no room for discussion.

"Okay," Celestia said, turning to her.

"Firstly, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you... hurt yourself?" Pepper's upbeat voice dropped and she let out a shudder that was easily heard by Celestia.

"I wasn't thinking right," Celestia replied. She knew she was in some sort of trouble, stuff like this wasn't simply brushed under the carpet, there would be paperwork. Thus, she put on her best hurt calf impression and said, "I... I'm sorry..."

Pepper sighed and stroked Celestia's upper leg, "Now now, don't cry."

"I d-don't know why I did i-it!"

Pepper cooed and moved onto the bed. Celestia leaned forwards and wrapped her legs around her, letting out a small whimper, which was more real than she was going for.

"It's okay, you're not in any trouble."

"I...I'm not?"

"No, you're not. I just have to ask one more thing and I'll let you sleep, okay?"

Celestia nodded and she felt Pepper lean forwards to give her a small nuzzle.

"Can you tell me where you really ran off to?"

Celestia's blood ran cold, "T-the woods... I told-"

"I talked to some of the other elks and they said you went into the city. So which is it?"

"I... okay..." Celestia looked away, "We did get scared, well I did. I saw Sister's body and ran away; Green came after me." Celestia sighed and shuddered, remembering her time in the town and everything that happened.

She let out a whimper at the memory of Quick Sell and curled up, "She found me and brought me back..."

"I... Okay. I think that's all for now," Pepper whispered, watching Celestia curl up. "Try and get some sleep, please."

Pepper left the room and Celestia found herself alone,m after blocking Green from talking to her. She needed to be alone for a while and desperatly felt like exhausted.

Quick enough, she fell asleep.

Celestia was jolted awake by a familiar giggle. She opened her eyes and smiled; she was dreaming. Leaning up, she saw she was sitting in a field of flowers.

Standing, she looked over to where the giggle originated and saw the lovely sight of a certain purple unicorn.

The unicorn turned and smiled, spuring Celestia to gallop up the hill it was sitting on. As she neared, the wind picked up, disintegrating the pony into thousands of butterflies and drifted them off into the winds.

Celestia slowed and reached the top only to gaze Down the other side of the hill into a canyon if death.

Everywhere she looked was filles with death and decay. Corpses of recently fallen ponies and elks laid next to half rotten ones and skeletons. There were tree's torn from the ground and ripped apart all over the place, large craters littered the battlefield and grand structures laid shattered, spearing into the ground.

"It's horrible isn't it?" Twilight asked, making Celestia jump. She giggled, "I'm sorry... Please don't send me off on another suicide mission!"

"I would never..." It slowly dawned on Celestia that this was the part of her subconscious that she met with before.

"You didn't complete your test, you know?" The fake Twilight shimmered and then wore a latex full body suit, "Fortunately for you, I'm nice. Let's talk."

"A-about what?"

"About us." The fake Twilight replied, running a whip across Celestia's flank and rump. "more specifically, why you sent me and my friends instead of dealing with Sombra yourself?"

Celestia looked away and couldn't think of anything. She hated the though of her precious student being in harms way more than anything, but sacrifices must be made.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I see you're having trouble making a good excuse." She giggled and four chains tied themselves around Celestia's hooves, "Alight, let me ask this, "Do you think you deserve to go back?"

"Of course I do!" Celestia snapped, "I may not be a good friend, but... I love all of them."

"Oh, is that right?" Twilight said, walking around Celestia. When she came back into view, she was now all cut up with scars and chips taken out of her horn. "Remember this?" She asked, "I sure do."

"Please, don't."

"This was just after I stopped Nightmare Moon!" Twilight gripped Celestia's cheeks and made her look, "She beat me. Your sister beat me while my friends were looking!"

"Stop!" Celestia shouted, blowing Twilight back. "Enough," the chains melted away, "You have hurt me too much, I am Celestia, Princess of Equestria!"

"Then start acting like it!" Twilight screamed back. "You rule Equestria. Right now, you are nothing, a "Foal"."

Twilight's scowl changed into sadness, "We... I... Want you back, promise..." Letting the conversation fade away, her body disintegrated into butterflies again.

Celestia felt herself tire and soon enough she found herself waking up in her new bed. She let out a yawn and found the bandages still there.

"Green?" Celestia said, hoping to feel her bonded again.

"Yes, sure?" Green replied, sounding concerned. "Are you feeling better today?"

"I am... Can you help me out of bed?"

"Of course, give me a couple of minutes," Greens voice cut off.

Celestia laid there wondering how she would be able to make it to Concordia with Green. Hell, she'd do it alone if she needed to. She had a country to run and nothing would stop that, especially not some evil.

She heard the door open and Green walk over to her bed, "Come on, let's get you up."

Celestia leaned up and felt the covers being pulled off her. She shivered as the cold air rushed over her body and felt the need to grab onto Green intensify.

She jumped off the bed into Greens waiting legs and was gently lowered onto the ground. "There," Green said. "Let"s go, we need to get you checked out now."

Celestia nodded and took Greens hoof into her own, following her out of the room. Even though she couldn't see, Celestia was sure she could feelings stares of the other elks on her body and shied closer to Green.

These were normal stares she would get during her reign; less of awe and more of nervousness.

Celestia felt the carpet underneath her change to marble and she slowly drifted away, taking care to keep a firm hold of Green lest she bump into anything or anyone.

They passed through the door into the infirmary and Green closed it behind them. "Here," Green said, moving Celestia and placing her onto an examination table, "Don't move."

The elk that Celestia guessed was the doctor swiveled his chair around and said, "So... She's been sleeping since the accident?"

"Yes, she's only just woken up," Green replied.

"I see. Do you know what caused it?" The doctor asked, checking his notes.

"Not really," Green said, shuddering at the image of Celestia covered in blood. "She said she didn't know..."

"Okay." The doctor rose from his chair and walked over to Celestia, "Let's start the examination then."

The doctor placed a hoof on the bandages around Celestia's leg and began to remove them. He unwrapped the last one and gasped. "It's completely healed, how?!"

The doctor unwrapped the wraps around her eyes and removes the cotton buds. He shook his head and frowned, "How is this possible..."

Celestia blinked and could, once again, see. She looked over to Green with a large smile then looked around the room.

It looked like a normal doctors office with cabinets lining the walls with a grey wallpaper and small counter-tops sitting underneath.

The examination table was sat next to a large tray of instruments and a surgical light that overlooked her body.

Celestia looked up to see the light blue coated and grey maned doctor looking down at her with confusion.

"H-how..." He said, moving back and sitting in his chair. "Uh... She's free to go, there's nothing wrong with her now..."

"Okay, thank you doctor..."

"Lightheart, Dr. Lightheart."

"Thank you," Celestia said, jumping off the table and rushing over to hug Green.

Together, they left the room and travelled to the courtyard. They opened the double doors and crunched across the grass until they came to the stone benches.

Green watched as Celestia jumped up and laid down. "Lay with me..." Celestia said, patting the spot behind her.

Green rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. She moves onto the bench and laid down, pulling Celestia into her embrace. "Better?" She asked, nuzzling the top of Celestia's head.

"Much," Celestia grinned, enjoying her bonded being so close. Soon though, her grin slipped and she snuggled closer, "I have some stuff to ask and you can't know why..." She whispered so only Green could hear.

"How can I answer..."

Celestia rolled around and faced Green, "Please, Green, I need to know you'll help me."

"I... Anything for you."

Celestia smiled and nuzzled Greens chest, "I need to go to Concordia..."

"Wh-"

Celestia cut her off, "No asking why, you said."

"I did... When then?" Green looked a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, yet she would always help her Sure Fire, no matter what.

"As soon as we can, it's... going to be hard..."

"It was last time as well," Green said, holding Celestia closer, "I don't want to lose you again, even if that means helping you with what you want."

"Thank you," Celestia whispered as she leaned up and kissed Green on the nose, "for everything."

Green gave a weak smile and then blushed, "I... I've never said this, but you're not like other calfs..."

"No, I don't think I am..." Celestia giggled. "I think we should start packing, I don't know how long we'll be gone."

"Okay, I can do that." Green rose and helped Celestia down off the bench, stretching her back with a series of 'POPS'.

Celestia nodded and looked to the rapidly darkening sky. "I think I had better go back to my room before I get in trouble, I don't want pepper to lecture me."

"Yeah, you should. I have chores that need doing, I'll come see you tomorrow morning and we can see if we need anything specific."

"Okay... Not too early though..."

Green laughed, "No, of course not." she walked off, leaving Celestia to wander back to her own room.

Once Celestia had entered and shut her own door, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We have to do this... I am the sun incarnate, I defeat evil no matter what." Sometimes, even she couldn't belive that.

The bight came quickly for Celestia and found herself awoken by Twilight. "By the stars!"

"We have to go!" Twilight screamed, pulling Celestia out of bed. She dragged her along the floor until Celestia pushed her away.

"You're not her!" Celestia shouted, backing away and bumping into the back wall.

"Oh great," The changeling huffed as its body burned away into a normal hosts body. "Now I have to hurt you..."

Celestia jumped and kicked it in the jaw, dazing the insect. She scurried through it's legs and put into the hall to see that the rest of the calf's and elks were being captured and strung up.

She shook her head, removing memories of her time in their pod and barrelled forwards through the destruction.

There were the drones that were spraying bodies with thick green goo, holding multiple elks together and workers that were spraying the walls with black liquid chitin, quickly hardening so that they could place their egg sacks down.

Celestia gagged at the smell but carried on running. She didn't know if the changelings were the 'evil' that Allure was talking about, but at this moment she didn't care, she needed to find Green.

"Green, answer me!" She screamed over their link and was rewarded.

"Are you okay?!" Green asked, "Where are you?"

Celestia was about to answer until a drone dove at her and pinned her down on the hard marble. It sprayed the green goo at her, catching her on the mouth, sealing it shut.

"I'm in the main hallway, help me!" Celestia shouted to Green.

The drone tried to spray some more, but a punch ti the face stopped that and instead it decided to simply knock Celestia out with a headbutt.

Celestia awoke, the feeling off movement making her drowsy still. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the sleeping forms of the orphanages elks.

She was being hauled in some sort of cart, its roof up and seemed to be early evening.

Celestia grabbed her head as Green screamed, "Sure Fire, wake up!"

"I am... are you okay?" Celestia asked, looking around for her.

"They didn't hurt me... Whatever they are..."

Celestia spotted Green in the corner of the cart and made her way over. Or she would have, if her legs wern't tied up with goo.

She fell flat on the floor and slowly crawled over. She made it and Green pulled her into her legs, holding her tight, "I'm so sorry... I couldn't get to you in time..."

"It's okay, really."

"But you got hurt and I couldn't save you like last... time..." Green went quiet and held Celestia tighter, "I'm sorry, I should have brought that up."

"Stop," Celestia said, placing her hooves over Greens mouth, "We need a way out of here..."

Celestia looked around at the bodies of her fellow orphans and sighed. She looked back at Green and nodded, "Right, I can get the goo off if you help."

"What do you need me to do?" Green asked, confused and scared.

"First, let me get behind you."

Green leaned forwards and let Celestia move around to her back. Green's legs were tied behind her and Celestia pulled with no luck.

'Damn,' she thought to herself. She leaned down and bit the goo, holding back her vomit as she tore through the sticky restraints.

Celestia came back up and spat out some with a, "Blah!" She looked around to see several other Elks start to wake up in a daze.

"By the elders, where are we?!" One bull shouted, hysterical.

"Calm down," Celestia whispered, "You don't want them to know we're awake."

"We're all going to die!" He continued, crying.

The cart slowed and eventually stopped. Celestia froze and pulled Green down to the deck. She pretended to be asleep as a pair of Changelings strode around and into the back of the cart.

The pair looked around and found the crying elk. They walked over to him, stepping over the bodies and picked him up then sprayed him in the face with some gas which made him fall asleep.

They dropped him to the deck and jumped out of the cart, latching themselves back to the front and carried on.

Celestia opened her eyes and picked herself up, sighing in relief. "I said be quiet..."

Green looked at Celestia with mixed emotions, "I have some questions."

"Can't they wait, we have been captured you know?"

"No, they can't." Green glared at Celestia and crossed her legs, "I think this is the perfect time."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, backing away slightly.

"You know full well. How do you know so much about them?" Green's expression fell, "How are you so unfazed by anything... I killed and you didn't even care!?"

Celestia looked away, "I..."

"Please, Sure, I need to know." Green reached forwards and brought Celestia's gaze to her own. "You asked if we could go to Concordia... Why?"

"You'd hate me..."

"Why, why would I?" Green gripped Celestia's hoof tight. "I can't promise I won't be angry, but I'd never hate you."

"I... I've lied to you."

Green leaned back against the side of the cart, "About what?"

"Everything..." Celestia sighed and looked Green in the eyes, "I'm not who you think I am."

Green blinked, "Of course you are... You're Sure Fire..."

"No, Green." Celestia breathed deep, "My name is actually Celestia."

Green stared at Celestia with disbelief.

"I am from an alternate universe and I need to go to Concordia to go back..."

Green continued staring until her face changed to horror, "You're serious, aren't you?" She shook her head, "No, you can't be..."

"Please, Green, don't be angry!" Celestia reached for her, but was slapped away.

"Don't you touch me!" Green said as a look of disgust came over her face. "What have you done with my Sure Fire!"

"Green..." Celestia's heart ached. "Please, I didn't mean to hurt you... I didn't expect to become this attached to you..."

"How long have you taken her place!?"

"Sure Fire never existed, technically, you have to believe me."

"No, no!" Green lunged forwards and gripped Celestia around the throat, "You lied all that time!"

"Please, Green..." Celestia coughed, "I still love you..."

Green's anger wavered and she found herself loosening her grip, "Why did you do it?"

"It wasn't my entirely my choice, loving you was though."

Green fell and sobbed into Celestia's coat, "Is... Is that why you are always so..."

"Unfazed, yeah." Celestia stroked Green's hair, "I'm a Princess... If that helps..."

"Not quite..." Green sniffed and wiped her nose. "I don't know what to think..."

"Don't then, let me, I've been at it longer."

Green's eyebrow raised, "What do you mean?"

"I'm an old nag."

"Nag... Isn't that pony speak?"

Celestia smiled, "Yeah, it is."

"Wait, you're a pony?"

"Yes, I am," Celestia replied, nodding. "This body's more slender though, so some aspects are better," she said, looking at her rump.

Green looked away in thought, "I think I need some time to think about this."

"Okay, I'll be over here," Celestia nodded and walked over to her original space. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry and I love you."

Green didn't respond and simply laid down, placing her head on the ground, looking away from Celestia.

Celestia sighed and snuggled close to one of the other elks. She hated feeling this way, but even if Green hated her, she would still help her, save her and even die for her. Celestia did love her after all.

Her mind ran over the scenarios in her head of how this foalnapping could go down. 'If there are changeling, there's a Queen. If there's a Queen, Chrysalis might be there..."

It was a long-shot, but Celestia had to hope. Even if Chrysalis didn't recognise her, Celestia still had knowledge of her.

No knowledgeable hoe to beat her, but any was better than none.

Soon, her eyelids felt heavy and she yawned, 'Stupid calf body...' Celestia took one last look over to her bonded and love, then closed her eyes, hoping she would find it in her to forgive an old nag.

Celestia jolted awake as the cards bounced over some rubble and her eyes flew open. She hissed as the sunlight poured in, burning her retina's and making her recoil back into the embrace of Green.

'Wait, Green?' Celestia looked up and saw Green sleeping upright next to her. Smiling, Celestia snuggled into her coat and inhaled, enjoying her bonded's scent.

Green was woken up and looked down at the calf currently breathing her in. "You're awake," she stated.

Celestia jumped and blushed, "I am..."

"I'm going to ask some questions and you're going to answer them."

"Okay..." Celestia felt nervous, but nodded.

"First, How old are you?"

"Over two thousand years old..." Celestia answered truthfully.

Green hummed and said, "Second, Why are in hat body?"

Celestia frowned and looked down. She snuggled closer into Green and explained how she arrived here and what she had to do to get back.

"I see... Is that why you had your... episode?"

"Yes, it is." Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, "I thought this was only a short term thing... learn some lesson or something... turns out it isn't." Celestia shuddered, "I guess I deserved it though..."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a terrible friend and teacher. I put my student into harms way too many times... Granted I can't always deal with them, like Discord or Tirek..."

"Do you regret it?" Green asked, looking down at the shivering mess, "Are you sorry for all those times?"

"Yes, you have no idea how sorry I am..." Celestia let out a sob and held onto Green tighter, "I hope Twilight forgives me someday..."

"Alright, Shh," Green cooed, stroking Celestia's mane. "What should I call you from now on?"

"I... Can you call me 'tia... or Cell?" Celestia gave a smile, "It's what my sister and my student called me."

"I... can try. I can't promise I won't slip back though."

"That's okay."

"I have one last question..."

"Yes?"

"Why do you act childish so much, when you're so old?"

"Why not?" Celestia saw Green frown and she shook her head, "I don't really know, to be honest..." Celestia sat back, "It could be because I never really got a childhood, having been popped into existence... Or it might be because this body is making me think differently, OR it might be because I'm so messed up..." She chuckled, "I saw Quick Sell being beaten and I was too late to save him... Great friend I am... I'm not right in the head, I wasn't even before I came here..."

"But..."

"No, Green, I'm not. I think I lost it when I had to send my sister to the moon... I cried for a month straight... I refused to move the moon as I could see her, judging me..."

Green gripped Celestia's hoof, "I doubt it was your fault..."

"But it was though... I ignored her requests and she felt unloved, I'm a horrible pony!" Celestia broke down into Greens legs and sobbed.

Green stroked Celestia's mane and rubbed her back, "That's in the past, there's nothing you can do now... You have to think of the now." Green looked about, "Now, we're being taken somewhere and I think you're the only one that can save us."

Celestia pulled back and wiped the tears away, "I think you're right..." She brought her legs up and tore off the goo that was covering her hooves. Next, she tore off the goo around Green's and her own back legs, stretching to regain circulation.

"Shh, much better," Green exclaimed, shaking her back legs. "What now?"

"I... don't know..." Celestia face-hoofed and sat down, "I don't know anything about these Changelings... My versions didn't take prisoners, they would put us in pods straight away..." she grimaced at the memory.

"I take it you've experience it?"

"Yeah, it's not pleasant."

"Okay, so we sit back and wait to get to whereever we're going?"

"I guess so..."

The next few hours were spent in relative silence with an elk waking up every so often. The first few were scared, but as more and more woke up, the less scared they became.

The cart finally stopped and Celestia looked out of the back to see a desolate field of charred crops and dead trees; remarkably like her dream except with less bodies.

She frowned and instead waited for the changelings to come out. Instead of a changeling, an elk wandered around the back of the cart and opened it up, sliding the back down to form a ramp.

She frowned and waited for the changelings to come out. Instead of a changeling, an elk wandered around the back of the cart and opened it up, sliding the back down to form a ramp.

The bull had a short blond mane with a white coat and had an air of smugness about him that Celestia could recognise from being around her nephew, Bluebood.

"Come along little piggies, the foreman is waiting!" The bull smacked the ramp and a few of the elks in the cart hesitantly walked out, only to be herded away.

Celestia's eyes widened and she looked up to Green, "I don't actually know what's going to happen..."

Green nuzzled Celestia and held her tight, "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you."

The bull pointed at them, "You there, stop talking and get out!"

Green rose and brought Celestia along with her, "I want my calf to stay with me!"

The bull thought for a second, "Fine, but if it slows you down, it gets changed, next!"

Green levitated Celestia onto her back and walked down the ramp, giving a sympathetic expression to all she passed. She didn't know what would happen, but she knew it wouldn't be good if she simply stayed there.

Once she passed the bull, Green was pushed along by a changeling until she was in line with the others that left the cart.

She looked about and saw they were in some sort of military complex with metal fences and barbed wire. Further on, a large bunker stood with a massive hole in the ground just beyond that.

The elks that had wings were restrained and had them clipped, causing them to fight back and become knocked unconscious.

Celestia looked away, feeling their pain. She too would fight if her wings were going to be clipped.

The elks that had antlers were moved asidenand had them cut or sometimes, in the case of violent elks, ripped away.

Celestia felt bile rise and had to fight to keep from vomiting what little she had in her stomach.

They were pushed forwards until they got to a checkpoint and Green was held down while Celestia was taken.

Celestia was brought over to a small table and a changeling walked over with a pair of clippers. Celestia looked over at Green and panicked.

"Please, she doesn't know any magic, I never taught her!" Green screamed, making the changeling look at her confused.

It walked over and charged its magic up into a lie detector which blinked green. The other changelings nodded and let Celestia go, who scrambled back to Green.

"I told you I wouldn't let them..." She said, giving Celestia's nubs a kiss.

But, instead of Celestia being snipped, it was Green and the two were separated as Green was pulled away into a separate tent.

She thrashed about as more changelings had to be called in to restrain her. Eventually she tired herself out and a changeling brought in a bigger pair of cutters.

It moved them into place and Celestia felt Greens terror and pain as the changeling cut off one antler.

Celestia's vision wavered as Green screamed out in agony. The second of her antlers were cut away and Celestia vomited into the mud, the pain overcoming her mind, bleeding over from Green.

Celestia rushed into the tent, unrestricted as all the changelings were inside anyway and saw Green being pulled off of the table. She was thrown onto the ground and dragged off by a lone changeling.

Celestia followed with them until they came to the bunkers entrance. The double steel plated doors slid open and revealed a ramp that seemed to travel down into the depths of Tartarus itself, an ominous red glow down the bottom.

The changeling dragged Green onto the edge and Celestia gripped her, trying to pull her back. "You can't throw her down!" She shouted, only to recieve a hoof to the face.

The changeling snickered and launched Green down the ramp and then Celestia.

They tumbled and slid down until they landed on the hard ground at the bottom. Green hit first, then Celestia landed on top of her.

She let out a groan and fell of Green. Once standing, she leaned forwards and cupped Green's cheek in her hoof, wiping it off on her own coat first. "Green, are you there?"

When she recieved no response? Celestia gripped her two back legs and dragged her further into the area they were in, choosing to go down one of the many glowing tunnel systems on offer.

Celestia grunted and became increasingly more exhausted the further she dragged Green, But soon came to a door built directly into the wall.

She placed Green's legs down and turned the handle, opening said door. It slowly creaked open to reveal a hastily made massive bore hole on a scale that Celestia had never seen before.

There were hundreds of walkways and tunnels that spanned the gap that was, easily, three hundred meters across.

"By the stars..." Celestia said, as she watched elks andna multitude of other beings move minerals and precious stones around.

On her level, there was one walkway that circled the entire hole, coming back around. She followed it until she found what she hoped to be some sort of foreman or managets office.

Moving back to the other side of the door, Celestia moved Green into a more dignified position out of the way and travelled around the metal walkway until she arrived at the office.

Instead of wood, she was greeted with the entire room being made directly into the wall and sighed. Knocking on the door, it slid open to reveal a dark blue coated bull with a grey man. "Can I help you?" he asked, annoyed at the disturbance.

Two changeling soldiers stepped out from the shadows to accompany him and Celestia found herself shying away slightly at the bulk of muscle and chitin.

"Uh... I'm new..."

"Oh great, they captured more!" The bull shouted, stomping on the ground, "Well goodie... It's just your luck, I have one more room that isn't being occupied or a cage."

Celestia frowned, but nodded. She didn't want to have to worry about a room in a place like this, especially if they would be doing manual labour.

"I have my... mum, she's hurt... they took her..." Celestia started crying, mimicking how a calf would.

"Has she stopped moving?"

Celestia nodded, wiping away the ever increasing tears.

The bull sighed, "Soldier." one of the soldiers moved forward. "Follow this calf, take her and her mother to room... One seven six four five."

The changeling saluted and waited for Celestia to move. She ran along the walkway and back out into the tunnels to where she left Green.

The changeling picked Green up, carrying her effortlessly on its back then walked away.

Celestia followed it for about ten minutes before it stopped outside a chitin covered door. The soldier tapped the chitin and it split apart, opening inwards.

It threw Green inside and Celestia rushed in after her.

"Green, talk to me!" Celestia said, shaking her, with no luck.

The soldier tapped a pice of chitin and the door closed, sealing them in.

Celestia took one last glance at the sealed door before returning to Green. She looked her over except the obvious loss of her antlers.

Green simply laid there, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Please... Green..." Celestia choked, "I can't do this without you..."

Green's eyes filled up with tears and spilled out, down her cheeks. Celestia leaned down and licked her face, cleaning it.

Celestia put all of the love she could muster into that gesture, one normally reserved for their foal or calf.

She sat there, simply cleaning her bonded until the tears dried up and no more would come. Celestia dragged her over to the only thing that could be close to a bed and lifted her up onto it, covering her in some sort of moss and making sure she was warm enough.

"I'm so sorry... it should have been me..." Celestia said. "I can't even use magic in this body..." she broke down, "I... love you so much..."

Celestia laid down next to Green and held her hoof in hers, taking solace in the face that at least she wasn't dead and gone forever.

What Celestia thought was the night, passed slowly, with her waking up every hour or so. Eventually she stayed asleep until she heard dripping from inside the room.

She looked around and saw the moss and bed was damp. "Oh no..." Celestia said, removing the cover.

She slid Green off the bed and placed her on the floor, then wiped the bed down with the covers. Then she used the remaining dry part of the covers to clean Green up.

Celestia looked away and wandered over to the other side of the room, placing the covers down and unfolding them to let them dry.

She turned back to see Green cry once more, stuck in silence. Celestia rushed over and nuzzled her. "Don't worry... It's not your fault," she said, kissing her on the cheek.

The tears slowed and Celestia licked her face clean again, both of them relaxing in the gesture. "This is getting to be a habit..." Celestia giggled and snuggled in close to save warmth.

They both woke up with a bang as the door was slid open. A siren blared in their room, "Time for work!"

Celestia grunted as she lifted herself up and out of the still non-moving form of Green. "I... have to leave you here," Celestia said, her expression full of regret and anger. "I'll come back with some food, promise."

Reciving no response, Celestia turned to the door and exited. The door slid shut behind her and she saw numerous other elks wander out of their rooms.

Not knowing where to go, she followed every other elk. They made their way out of the small section they were stationed and down a set of stairs.

There, they picked up a pick and carried on down at least a hundred flights of stairs until they reached the bottom of the hole.

Celestia was gasping from exhaustion and the heat as she reached the bottom, at least a couple minutes behind the others.

She tightened her grip on the pick and carried on following. 'This will not beat me. I have been through Tartarus and back, beaten Discord and triumphed the blistering wilds.'

Celestia trudged on and followed the others down one smaller ramp and was pushed out of the way by a minotaur.

The other elks moved out of the way for him and he stopped, looked about and chose a plot of rock to smash his pick into. Every hit caused a miniture earthquake and the crack to grow larger.

Celestia tried to ignore that and pick a smaller plot to start with. She gripped her pick in one hoof and swung clumsily, hitting the ground and making a small scratch.

She frowned and tried again and again, slowly making progress. Of course, this wasn't enough and by the time she had exhausted herself, she had only made a small hole.

"You had better speed up soon," A bull said next to her, looking down at her hole. "You don't want to go the the changing chambers..."

Celestia looked over and saw Quick Sell. She blinked and shook her head, taking another look.

The bull had a back mane with a light blue coat, smudged with an excessive amount of rock dust and mud.

He held out a hoof, "I'm Shatter Hoof..."

"Celestia... pleasure." Celestia glanced up and saw he had his antlers clipped off and also saw his wings were clipped as well.

She gasped and held a hoof over her mouth. "I..."

"Oh these?" Shatter looked at where Celestia was looking, "I had them taken when I was born, they don't bother me."

"But, you've never flown..."

"and I never will, not a big deal underground." Shattered let out a chuckle and picked his pick up, striking the earth. "You really should pick up the pace, I know you're young but they won't take it easy on you."

"R-right..." Celestia picked up her own pick and hit the ground with a bit less intensity, but still managed to do more than she normally would.

'I guess a thousand years makes a pony lazy...' she thought, waiting in line for her gruel. She held the place out with a shaking leg and caught the vile looking food.

Placing it on her back, she rushed out of the make-shift canteen and back up the hundred flights of stairs. She made it back to the room and kicked the chitin, making it slide open.

Celestia rushed inside and placed the gruel on front of Green who hadn't moved. She moved Green around to make sure she didn't lose circulation in her body parts and lifted her onto the bed. "I got some... food?"

Lifting the spoon up to Green's mouth, Celestia opened her jaw and moved it in, closing and helping her swallow.

"I hope it tastes okay..." Celestia said, looking down. Her own stomach ached from hunger, but she wanted to make sure Green didn't go without.

Compared to her age, Green was a foal anyway and she had stopped her from losing her nubs. She would do anything for this cow, anything.

Celestia nuzzled her and kissed Green on the cheek, stopping herself from trembling, "I have to go back, I have the rest of the day."

Celestia backed away, giving Green a large smile and exited the room.

~~~

She came back after another eight hours of work absolutely exhausted and having achieved minimal results.

She was pushed into the room and gagged. Celestia looked around and found that Green had soiled the bed.

Sighing, Celestia walked over and moved her off and back onto the floor. She picked up the dry covers and cleaned her up, then wrapped the feces up, placing it in the corner.

Celestia walked back and nuzzled Green, "Don't worry, I'll throw it away tomorrow."

Green shook as her tears cascaded down the face. "Hey... Don't cry, it will be alright, you'll see..." Celestia didn't know if she believed it herself, all the evidence looked to be against her.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against Green's, "Please Green, believe me."

~~~

The next few weeks carried on like a routine. Celestia would go out to the mine, kissing Green goodbye, bring food up to her, leave and come back eight hours later.

Celestia started to lose weight until she was almost skin and bones. Her muscles lost density until she could barely lift her pick.

She walked into the room, the soldier not having the heart to push her in. The door shut behind her and she felt to the ground.

"Green..." Celestia wheezed, "I'm sorry I didn't bring food..."

Green's eye twitched.

"I don't think I can look after you..." Celestia coughed. "For much longer..."

Green's leg twitched and her tail wagged.

"Heh, to think... The great solar diarch's end is this mine..." Celestia let out a pained laugh, "I have enjoyed our time together..."

Green reached out and gripped Celestia's hoof, "N-no!" She fell off the bed and dragged herself onto Celestia, "I love you too much... to let you kill yourself for me!"

Green pulled Celestia into her embrace, "Please..."

Celestia hugged back and sobbed into Green's coat, "What happened to you!"

"I don't know... I couldn't move... I tried to scream, but I couldn't after they took..." Green looked away before smiling, "You don't know how grateful I am to have you."

Celestia peppered Green with kisses, finally ending with one on the lips. She pulled back with a blush, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay..." Green replied, touching her lips with a hoof.

Celestia looked away, ashamed and embarrassed.

The two of them glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes. Finally, it was Green that spoke up, "Can you describe what you look like?"

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, confused.

"You're the solar Princess, right?" Celestia nodded, "You never said what you look like."

Celestia looked around for a small rock and moved to the wall Green was leaning against. She drew out the basic outline, then filed in her cutie-mark and her regalia.

"There..." She said, showing off her work. "I was in charge of the sun... much good that did me..."

Green ran a hoof over the etch and smiled, "Can you take me... when you go back?"

"I... Guess I can, I don't really know though, why?"

"I don't want to live in a world without you..." Green blushed and ran a hoof across Celestia's cheek.

Celestia turned away, "I... This is wrong..." Green pulled back, hurt. "I can take you, damn it, I want to. But this body is... too young..."

"I'm sure we can get a high wizard or something?"

Celestia chuckled, "Really?"

"I guess not..."

"Why though?"

"I... spent all this time, simply laying and..." Green blushed, "other stuff... I came to realize that you're looking after me, not out of obligation, but because of love..."

"I felt it when we entered, but couldn't say... until now..." Green cupped Celestia's cheek.

"Please, you can't..."

"But we love each other; your two thousand..."

"They see me as a calf," Celestia said, silencing Green.

Her expression faded to nothingness and Green backed away. "You're right, of course."

"I would like to... when I'm home and in my own body." Celestia smiled and held Green's hoof. "Just not yet..."

Green nodded, "Alright, I can wait, you're worth it."

Celestia blushed. "I'm really not," she mumbled. "Either way, we got problems. I'm getting too weak to hold a pick. I need something more. I need you to teach me magic."

Green looked away, "I don't have-"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Celestia eased up, "We'll both die if I can't mine. Plus, now you're alright, they'll want you to mine as well."

"All you have to do is describe how to access my magic and how to use it. I might not know as much as Twilight, but I know my magic."

Green frowned as she thought, "Well..."

Chapter 6

Celestia sat with Green; they watched the mine crumble and fall apart around them. Screams of elks and changelings alike echo through the abyss as they fall to their deaths, their clipped wings and melted husks doing nothing to save them from their fate.

As Celestia looked over the rapidly heating railing, the cracks of the bodies could be heard, making her blink in indifference.

Celestia turned to Green, kissed and nuzzled her cheek, "Shall we go?"

Green nodded, watching the fire below increase in magnitude as a burst of superheated air rushed past them.

Celestia charged up her magic and in a blink they were gone, leaving the rest of the Elks and Changelings to die as their bodies burnt away to nothing but ashes.

Green and Celestia popped back into existance outside the bunker entrance. Celestia looked around and saw no changelings guarding their posts.

She laughed and looked down to her bonded, giving her a hug. "We did it, Green. We're finally free!"

"I knew you would save me." Green pulled Celestia close and mashed their lips together. She moaned quietly and released Celestia to catch her breath, her face flush with crimson. "Ahem, anyway... we should go, no knowing how many might turn up now..."

"Yeah..." Celestia sighed then shook her head, "Hey wait up!" She shouted, trotting over to Green. "Do you know the way?"

"I don't... We should look for a path or something and get out of these rags."

Celestia looked at Green in her tattered, loose fitting clothes and whistled, "I think you look pretty good in them... even though they're way out of date."

"You really know how to charm a cow..." Green replied, chuckling, a hint of sarcasm bleeding through.

"Seriously though," Celestia started, "I think you'd look even better without them..."

"Is that all you think about now?" Green asked, raising an eyebrow and looking back at Celestia.

"No... Not all the time... Alright, most of the time..." Celestia blushed and loomed away, "You know I can't help it..."

Green giggled and fell back, giving Celestia a nuzzle, "I know... and I don't blame you." She looked about and gave Celestia a kiss. Pulling back, she smiled, "Now, help me find the way..."

Celestia nodded and looked around for a path or road leading anywhere, pressing her body against Green's.

"What's the chances of this evil being in Concordia still?" Green asked, glancing at Celestia's finely blossoming antlers with a blush.

"I don't know, but we should hope it is... as strange as it is... It has been a long time..."

Green nodded, "Nine years..." She whispered. "There," she pointed, "we can follow that one!"

Celestia looked over and grinned. Just as she said, a road leading anywhere but here. 'Not hard to find, I suppose...'

"Come on!" Green said, impatiently pulling Celestia along.

"Alright, I can't keep up if you're pulling me!" Green slowed down and let go of Celestia. "Thank you," Celestia grunted, rubbing her ankle. "I don't think a little bit is going to matter after being gone for so long. If it isn't there, we can always find some way to Eden and go home without finding it..."

"I know... But..."

"But what?" Celestia asked, concerned, "I don't care what comes between us and home, I will get you there, that's a promise."

The fire in Celestia's eyes made Green recoil at first, but it wasn't made to burn her. Instead, it was there to shield her, reinforce her against anything that would stand to harm her. It made her feel safe.

She rubbed her tired eyes and smiled, "I know... that's why I love you."

Celestia beamed and trotted off towards the road, her mood lifted. She came to the edge of the path and tentatively stepped on, smiling as her hoof hade contact with the stone.

She jumped on and jumped about. "Woohoo!" She hollered.

"Settle down, you'll alert any changelings nearby!"

Celestia stopped and nodded, "Okay."

"Honestly..." Green remarked, shaking her head. "I dont know why I fell for you..."

"It's because I was the best looking cow in the mine!"

"Or because you're the best with putting up with my Crap?" Green snickered.

"Oh come on, that was only the first few months..." Celestia pushed Green and giggled, "I dont recall you ever complaining about having to be cleaned by me..."

"W-well..." Green stuttered. "I couldn't help it, I was unable to move..."

"Celestia huffed, "This is getting us nowhere... We have to go to Concordia." she was trying to be the better cow and end this playful argument, before It moved into all out tickle war.

"You're right, grandmare." Green whispered.

"Hey, "Celestia giggled, kicking the gravel. "... You know how we've been making this plan for a while now..."

"A while?" Green laughed, "Three years isn't a while..."

"It is when you're my age!"

Green sighed, "Go on..."

"Oh yeah, where was I?" Celestia nodded with a smile, "That's right, the plan!" She grinned, "I know we done have a lot. No food... water... or shelter... but we have each other and I'll find us somewhere to stay."

Green nuzzled and kissed Celestia, "I don't deserve you..."

"Without you, I would have thrown myself off the top level, don't say that!" Celestia stopped, kicking up dust and turned around. "You held me together when Sister died, when Quick died... oh Tartarus..."

Celestia struggled to keep her emotions in and let out a miniscule sob; a tear sliding down her cheek.

"Oh Cells..." Green rushed over and hugged her tight.

Celestia pulled back and wiped away her tears, shaking her head. "We should keep going... Not long till nighttime."

Green nodded and they trotted down the road, savoring the taste and smell of release.

~~~

The two of them reached an abandoned farmhouse and slowed just outside its fence. Celestia looked it over and grimaced. "I don't like the look of it..." she whispered, glancing to Green. "What do you think, go in?"

"Maybe... Should we just go up to it? What if there's elks in there already?"

"Then... We either leave or kick them out," Celestia replied. "I think it's best if I go in first."

Green nodded and kissed Celestia's cheek, "Be careful..."

"I will, promise."

Green sat back and watched the house for signs of movement intensely. Her mind wandered, bringing up memories of the last time she had said that To Celestia.

***
"Be careful, hun," Green said, slapping Celestia's rump for a boost.

Celestia grinned and winked, "Of course... I always am!" She turned back and got into a ready position for the upcoming hit.

The hoof came down and hit Celestia on the cheekbone, splitting the skin and pouring blood down onto the dirt.

Celestia spit out blood and grinned. She dove at the bull that had struck her and pinned him down. He held up a hoof to her face, trying to get her off, but couldn't get enough strength to do so.

Celestia frowned and pulled back her hoof; striking down with enough force to crack his nose. The bull cried out in pain and Celestia kept striking, over and over until he stopped.

She rose and walked away, picking up her food from a nearby table.

"Hey wait!" Ravanov shouted as Celestia started for the door. She turned and rose an eyebrow. "You forgot this." He threw over one more piece of bread and winked at her.

She smiled and turned back to find Green already at her side, looking over her injury.

"Hey, hun," Celestia said, waving her away. "We should be able to eat until we leave now."

"That's great..." Green replied, sighing.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that you seem to enjoy these fights..." Green glanced to Celestia and back to the floor, unsure if she wanted to continue.

"I... a bit..." Celestia confessed. "I don't know why..." She looked away, ashamed, "What I know is that we won't go hungry, right?"

"Right," Green replied, her concern rising.
***

Green shook her head and brought her attention back to the present. Celestia was sneaking up to the front door but hesitated. A few seconds later, she carried on and made it to the door, pressing her ear up against it and listening.

Green rose and slowly made her way over, walking quietly as possible, like Celestia had taught her. She reached the door to find it open and Celestia nowhere to be seen.

"Cells!" She whispered as loud as she could. "Where are you?!"

The door creaked open and Grins caught sight of her mare wandering into the kitchen. She bounded in and slowed as she neared Celestia.

"Did you find anything?" Green asked, rubbing up against Celestia. "Anyelk here?"

"Not that I can tell..." Celestia replied, pulling open a cupboard and sorting everything she found into different piles. "One tin, one fork and one spoon..."

"So... Anywhere to sleep?"

"Oh, yeah." Celestia trotted out of the kitchen, closing the door with her magic and walked into the living room. "Here," she said, pointing at one derelict couch.

"That old thing..." Green looked disgusted and looked at Celestia, "Isn't there any better?"

"Not unless you want to sleep on the floor like in that mine?" Celestia groaned.

"I was only asking..." Green looked away and walked over and fell onto the couch, sinking in slightly. "It's... Okay.

"Good, make yourself comfortable, I'll keep looking for stuff."

Green nodded then jumped off the couch and rushed over to Celestia, kissing her on the lips, mashing her lips against her loves. They pulled apart after several seconds and she pecked her on the lisp again, "Come to bed soon, okay. I get cold without you there..."

Celestia chucked, but nodded and said, "Okay, I'll join you in fee minutes. Now, go on."

Green fell back onto the couch and Celestia left the room. She wandered around until she found the bathroom and used her magic to light the line candle on the wall.

She watched as the light flickered across the light blue wallpaper and brightened the room. She walked in and searched through the cupboard under the sink to no luck.

She slammed the door and leaned back up, only to come face to face with herself in a mirror. Celestia smiled and looked herself over with the grin forming.

She was only a calf when she entered, but she left a fully fledged cow. Nine years can change an elk and she is no exception.

Her scrawny legs grew slender and toned, seemingly unending. Her antlers have grown out from stubs into an average size with one offshoot in each.

Celestia's mane had grown from a short and shabby mane-do all the way down to her ankles, threatening to drag along the floor and tangle itself.

She ran a hoof through it, its fiery orange strands flowing off her light yellow coat. She sighed and put down her hoof, taking a note to trim her fetlocks before they enter any town, village or... Anywhere really.

Celestia ran her hoof across a scar on the left hand side of her stomach and frowned; it flared up from time to time.

***
Celestia walked along the catwalk on her way back to her room and turned into the corridor leading to it.

She pressed a hoof to the chitin and the door opened, revealing a bull standing over Green who was sobbing uncontrollably.

"What's going on..." Celestia asked, her muscles flexing and her adrenalin pumping.

"Oh, me and your bitch her were having a little conversation about manners, isn't that right?" The bull glances to Green and holds a small rock, sharpened to a point, to her neck and her sobs pick up.

"You better leave before I hurt you."

"Aww, what's a calf going to do to me!" The bull shouted, laughing as the rock cut Green, slightly nicking her.

Celestia rushed up and kicked the bull in the face, shattering his jaw. He fell back in agony, screaming in pain as Celestia mounted him and kept punching him in the face.

In a moment if clarity, the bull thrusted with his knife and jammed it between Celestia's ribs, getting caught.

She fell back and dragged herself over to Green, "Green..."
***

Her coat had a light sheen on it from the walk and the teleport form earlier and she felt herself grow increasingly tired.

Shaking her head, she walked back into the living room and smiled at the sight that Green left for her. She was hanging off the couch, and drooling on the cushion.

Celestia shook her head and walked over, levitating Green up and placing her properly. She climbed on and wrapped Green in her embrace, nuzzling and kissing her repeatedly, "I won't let them hurt to..."

The night passed surprisingly quickly for the two of them and they only woke once to find the toilet.

Celestia woke up first and looked down at Green lovingly. "My only regret is that I couldn't meet you sooner..."

Green groaned and curled up closer to Celestia, looking for more warmth.

Celestia nodded to herself and smiled. "I really hope we get home..."

She sighed and laid back, pulling Green onto her chest. "So long has passed, I'm not the pony I once was... will I ever be?"

Closing her eyes, Celestia let out a quiet chuckle. "I guess it's time to go," she said, shaking Green gently. "Hey, sleepyhead, time to get up."

Green's sleeping form shook as she came out of unconsciousness, "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure anymore, might be around three though..."

"Okay..." Green rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and leaned up, kissing Celestia. She pulled back, "Good morning..." She thought for a second and grinned, "Out first morning as free cows!"

"It is," Celestia agreed, smiling. "We need to get going If we want to make it to the capital in good time... especially if we're not going the right way..."

"I'm sure we are," Green said, stroking her cow's chest, "You know... We could stay a few hours..." Green's eyes wandered and made their way down Celestia's body. "We could..."

Celestia grinned, but lost it as fast as it appeared. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, rising from the couch. She made for the door but was stopped by a hoof on her whithers.

"It's okay... I can still wait..." Green gave a small smile and nodded, "I'll wait as long as you need..."

'Even though it's been a year..." Celestia replied in her head, a cynicism worming its way into the thought. She turned her head and nodded, not able to look Green in the eyes, "Let's go."

"Okay."

~~~

The pair walked down the road, a chilly autumn breeze blowing their manes about. Celestia shivered slightly as she looked across the seemingly endless fields of wheat.

She frowned, not seeing any city or structure on the horizon. "I don't understand... we should have seen something by now..."

"Strange..." Green looked to Celestia, "How long have we been walking?"

"I'd say about two hours."

Green turned back forwards and nodded, "Okay."

The pair carried on walking for a few more hours and eventually found a small Inn. They walked up to the entrance and opened the door.

They were greeted by a roaring fire, a couple of guests and an old smell of beer and pie. Celestia took a look around and frowned, "Not a lot of patrons..."

"So?" Green replied, "Eying a minotaur that sat in the corner, nursing a mug. "Less elks to be suspicious of, right?"

"Ri-" Celestia stopped and stared at one of the other patrons. A small grey coated, aqua maned pony.

Green waved a hoof in front of her face, breaking Celestia out of her trance. "Hun... You okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just saw a pony..."

"Ahh, yes, a rare one around these parts," A rough voice interjected beside them. Celestia backed off, holding a hoof in front of Green. "Sorry... didn't meant to startle you..."

Celestia looked the newcomer over. He wore a long brown trentchcoat and had a bright orange coat with light red hair. "No harm done..." Celestia didn't know what to make of this elk, but she wasn't taking any chances, not this soon.

"They don't usually come this far south, preferring to stay in the more easily controllable weather systems..."

"Name?" Celestia ordered, standing up straight.

The stranger stood there, staring her down before he chuckled, "The name's Joe."

"Oh..." Celestia said, rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry for that..."

"It's no problem, happens to me surprisingly often." He looked Celestia and Green over and whistled. "You two look right down in the dumps..."

"You could say that," Green said, looking to her own fetlocks.

"Yeah, spent some time away and have only just came back."

"Anywhere I know of?" Joe asked.

"I doubt it..."

"Oh, shame." Joe looked about and found a secluded table in the back, "Care to join a traveller for a drink or two?"

Celestia turned back to Green and saw she had kept the hoof up the entire time. Hesitantly taking it down, she caught Green smiling at her and gave one back. "Sure, we'll join you... although..."

"Drinks are on me, don't worry about it." Joe grinned and walked over to the table.

The three of them sat down onto the uncomfortable wooden seats. Green found herself squirming a bit, partly due to the seat, but also because of her close proximity to the crackling fire.

Celestia enjoyed the warmth and sighed happily when Green wanted to switch. She nodded and sat closer to the fire, enjoying its touch.

Joe smiled as they did and once they sat quiet, he asked, "So, what brought you lovely cows back to civilisation?"

Celestia thought for a second, "Family and... that's it."

Green nodded.

Joe nodded as well and clopped his hooves together. One of the servant cows walked over. "What can I get you, my dear?"

"Can I have three mugs of your finest, love."

"Of course, give me a few."

Joe turned back to his guest and smiled, "I was surprised to see two young, pretty cows, out at this time... don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous, how?" Celestia asked, swivelling her ears so she could only hear Joe.

"They say the king has killing squads roam the countryside, looking for something, or someelk..."

The atmosphere in the inn dropped and a chilly feeling rang around the room.

Celestia glanced to Green and nodded, "I think it sounds like the Evil, don't you?"

"Indeed, it seems we wern't too late..."

Joe looked between them and frowned, "What did you day your names were?"

"We didn't."

Attest moment, the servant cow returned, carrying three mugs in the aura. Green looked longingly st the aura and sighed.

"Can I know them?" Asked Joe, "I did buy you these drinks."

"Fine, mine is, Sure Fire."

"Mines Red..."

"Funny name..." Joe muttered.

"My parents were strange..."

"Well, that's all taken care of, we know each other!" Joe raised a glass up in celebration. Celestia and Green looked at him weirdly, "What?"

Laughing, Celestia raised her own in her aura and shook her head. Green picked her own up and raised it with a grunt.

They knocked the mugs and cheered, taking a large swig after. "Ahh..." Celestia said after downing her drink.

Joe stared at her in shock, "That was the strongest here..."

"Meh, thapths weap!" She shouted, throwing her mug on the ground, "More!"

Green giggled and place a hoof on Celestia's shoulder, "I think one's enough, hun."

Celestia picked up the second mug that was brought around, her hoof getting wet from the alcohol sloshing about and downed that one.

"Dwam, thees ar goop!" Was the last thing she said before she passed out, hitting her head on the table.

"Is she going to be alright?" Joe asked, looking shocked.

Green sighed, "Don't worry, she's been though worse. The morning will be Tartarus for us both though."

"What do you mean?"

"She gets clingy... The bad kind..."

"Oh..."

"Yup." Green looked about and made sure Celestia was actually passed out. "I hate to ask, but do you have any spare change?" She glanced at Celestia lovingly, "She'd be angry to know I asked..."

"I'll do one better, here's enough for one night." Green looked at him shocked as Joe slid a silver coin across the table, "Think of this as making the morning slightly easier." He gave Green a wink and stood up, pushing the stool out from under him.

"It's about time I left anyway, things to do... Places to be, all that jazz."

Green nodded and smiled up at him. She wrapped a hoof around Celestia's body and pulled her from the table with a grunt. "Thank you, Joe. You have no idea how much this means..."

"Don't worry, red." Joe turned and walked to the door, "I do..."

Green looked down to the unconscious Celestia in her legs and sighed. She hated when she got like this. Celestia always drunk too much.

With a quite uncowlike grunt, she heaved Celestia onto her back and struggled over to the bar, placing the silver coin onto the counter. "One night please!" she said, shaking.

The barkers walked over and placed a rusted and worn key onto the counter, "Here you go, up the stairs and third on the right."

"Thank you," Green said, picking the key up with her mouth. Green trudged across the room and up the stairs, thankful to be out of the company of haggards and drunks. She climbed the stairs almost robotically and once she made it to the top, she wobbled over to the specified door and plucked thr key out of her mouth with her hoof.

She plunged the key into the door and turned, unlocking it and creaking it open. Looking inside, she found a nice and spacious room, not exactly what she expected, but still good.

Green walked in and rushed over to the bed, gently lowering Celestia until she sunk into the sheets. Once free of her cargo, Green felt nature call and ran into the bathroom, closing and locking the room's door on the way over.

She came out with a sigh and brushed her mane out of her face, walking over to the bed. Now she could think again, she could feel the alcohol take effect and felt herself grow a little tipsy.

She made it to the bed and opened the covers, then moved Celestia in, covering her up tightly. "There you go, love..."

Green sighed and kissed her on the cheek, then closer and finally on Celestia's lips. She loved the feel and taste of her lips and stopped to savor them.

Blinking, she pulled back and grimaced at what she had done, "Oh..."

She grabbed a pillow and walked over to the couch. Placing the pillow down, she laid down and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to go as fast as possible.

On the other side of the room, Celestia was wishing the opposite as she felt her dream slowly come to life.

*** one year ago ***

"So..." Celestia began, "I double checked the dates and got some information... And I hear that I am... of consenting age..."

Green cracked an eye open and looked at Celestia with a smirk, "Is that so?"

"Yes... And do you know what that means?"

"No, what?" Green asked, knowing full well what and loving it.

Celestia closed the gap between them and watched as Green slid off the bed and sat on her rump. "I... I'm going to kiss you," she said, inches from Green's face, feeling her warm breath wash over her.

Green blushed slightly as her heartrate skyrocketed. "I would like th-"

Celestia pushed her lips onto Green's. She felt their warm and inviting texture, the moist surface and most importantly, the cow behind them.

Celestia brought her fore-legs around and held Green. One around her waist and one behind her head, pulling her into Celestia's embrace and keeping her there.

Green closed her eyes and melted. She felt so happy that even a billion stars exploding at once couldn't equal a fraction of the happiness she had.

Green brought her own hooves around Celestia's back, tangling her mane around her hooves. She moaned into the kiss and opened up her lipsnas invite.

Celestia took it and slid her tongue forwards into Green's mouth. Their tongues wrestled and traded fluid, making both blush as they felt each other's bodies.

Celestia ran her hooves down and up, one going to the rump and one going for the regrowing nubs.

Green gasped as Celestia's hooves traced her tail-dock and relaxed as she felt hooves dancing over her rump.

Celestia pulled Green over and fell on the floor together. She then rolled on top of Green, pinning her down.

Celestia pulled back for breath and grinned. "I should have done that a long time ago..."

Green caught her breath and held a hoof up to Celestia's cheek, rubbing it, "Oh you... I haven't done that in almost twelve years..."

"That's..."

"Before all this, yes." Green grinned, "Worth the wait..," she nuzzled Celestia and said, "I bet you have a lot of experience from your two thousand years..."

Celestia rolled her eyes, "Not as much as you'd think... But we're off topic, the topic is us making out."

The two locked lips again, spending the rest of the night exploring each other.

*** Present ***

Celestia awoke, startled. She jolted up and looked about, frowning. "Where... am I?" She asked, calling out to the empty room.

She threw back the covers and stepped down from the bed, "Hello!"

A flush rang out from the bathroom and Green stepped out. She looked over to Celestia and smiled, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

Celestia looked away, abashed and said, "I'm good... Where are we?"

Green trotted over and nuzzled her, "Joe gave me a coin to get this room... he was nice."

"Who?" Celestia asked, trying to remember the night before.

"Oh... Nevermind then..." Green smiled and shook her head, "What time are we leaving?"

Celestia shrugged, "Can we just hang here for a while, I want to cuddle..." she moved closer and kissed Green on the neck, trailing kisses up towards her lips.

"You know... We have a perfectly good bed..." Green said, giving a sultry look to Celestia. "I... Love you... all of you."

"So do I..." Celestia bit her lip. "I want to... But I'm not ready, I told you before..."

Green sighed, "I have needs Celestia, I can't take care of myself forever."

"I know and it hurts me to deny you. But this isn't the right time, or the right body." Celestia stroked Green's mane, "I really want to, but it would be a lie for both of us..."

Green leaned into the touch, her frown that had grown disappeared. "I think we were destined to be together..."

"If unbeliever in that, I would say so too."

Green leaned forwards and kissed Celestia, "If you"d like, we can cuddle..."

"I would..."

The pair jumped up onto the bed and Celestia snuggled into Green's legs. She sighed and inhaled her scent. "Just like the first time..." she whispered.

"You know, I remember everything from the mine... every day..." Green started to shake, "Every beating still hurts, even the ones I don't remember..."

Celestia cupped Green's cheeks and pulled her head down, "You shouldn't forget... you should use them to give you strength."

Green looked away, her eyes watering, "How can I do that... they hurt so much."

"Let that strength empower you, it doesn't hurt once you accept that it wasn't your fault... it was mine..."

"What do you mean, your fault?"

Celestia sighed, "It's nothing... just some thoughts..."

Green sighed but ultimately nodded and dropped it. "So..." She started, stroking Celestia's foreleg. She looked her deep in the eyes and smiled, "Do you know what you're going to do once you've found the king?"

"King?" Celestia asked, "Why would I see the king?"

"Oh yeah, you can't remember... Joe said that the king was sending out search parties around the country to find something and has basically gone mad."

"That... sounds plausible... we should see what happened to him in any case."

"Okay, any idea on how we'll handle him, if he has indeed, gone crazy?"

"Not really..." Celestia laughed, "You should know, I don't really have a plan anymore, they seem to break."

Green giggled, making Celestia smile, "I guess you're right, even though we need one." She then pulled Celestia closer and sighed, enjoying the warmth of her mate, "If the king is long gone, then it might be time to rethink about everything and go straight to Eden..."

Celestia opened her mouth, but thought better of it. Instead she snuggled comfortably into Green's chest, slowly running her hoof up and down Green's fur.

Soon, their eyes grew heavy and they dozed off, content in that very moment.

***

Celestia opened her eyes to find herself in a field of flowers and she grinned. She rose up, her head cutting through the surface and finding the familiar silhouette of Twilight, the setting sun lighting the sky behind her in beautiful shades of red and orange.

Celestia rushed over and stood beside her on the hill. Twilight looked up and gave her a neutral expression, "You're late."

"Was I expected?" Celestia asked, looking over the slowly healing battlefield. Since the last time she was here, the battlefield had nature reclaim parts of it.

Gone were the skeletons. They retreated back to the ground to help grow the bright green grass that littered the canyon.

Several of the monolithian structures were interwoven with hundreds of vines, easily hundreds of hooves wide. The vines grew directly out of the ground and looked as if they were holding the structures down.

Twilight looked back to the canyon and blinked. "You know, it's rude to keep a mare waiting..."

"Which one?" Celestia asked, catching on. "I'll do it when I'm ready... This isn't my right body..."

"And kissing is okay?" Twilight frowned and glanced at Celestia, "Cells, you have to get over this... She doesn't care about them. They are just another part of you!"

"You know what Luna would say?" Celestia looked down at Twilight.

"What would she say?"

"Boo, fucking, hoo..."

"That sounds like her, but I would know that. I'm part of you, you know that right?"

"I know... It just helps to think of you as a real pony..." Celestia wrapped a wing around her and pulled Twilight closer. "If your part of me, then you know what I'm about to say?"

"I do. But I want to hear you say it."

"I'm sorry for being late."

"That's okay." Twilight smiled and leaned against Celestia. "I'm sure the real Twilight misses you... Or would miss you, or..."

"It's alright... I get it." Celestia smiled and said, "I didn't think we'd escape from there..."

"Me neither, pretty scary, right?"

"That's the most understated thing ever. We were locked up for nine years!"

"I know, I had to watch it, feel it, smell it, taste it... All through you!"

"Then why?" Celestia started, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I can't interact with you outside here, it's dangerous..."

Celestia knew to let it go and dropped it. "I'm back now... and I need a favor..."

"Like what?" Twilight asked. "We don't do so well with favors ..."

"Well... Firstly, can you change this to a more memorable scene... like my chambers?"

Thr world changed to a more homely area. A crackling fire spitting light out into the room, a large silk covered bed with a sleeping Green laying on top and the window that spanned the whole wall that overlooked Canterlot.

Celestia whistled, "Damn, you know how to make them..."

"Thank you, it's been a while though..." Twilight paced around and ran a hoof over the furniture around the room. A chair, her bed, the table.

After half a minute, Twilight spoke up, "I can understand why you would block me out so hastily after the first time, especially after being taken and working in that horrible place." Looking down at the bright red carpet that overlaid the white marble floor, she sighed, "Believe me, Celestia. I may be a figment of your imagination, as much as that pains me, but I still feel an attachment to you." Twilight sighed and trotted over to Celestia, "If you die, I die."

"I understand."

"No, I don't think you do," Twilight said, teleporting to the bed with a crack. "While you have your consciousness and stuff, I look after your unconscious controls. When you flare your nostrils as you look at Green, or when you feel like kissing her, or when you feel fear... Yeah, that's me."

"If you're doing all that, why would you only now come to me?" Celestia walked forward and Twilight flicked her horn, changing Celestia back into her Alicorn form, "Why did you show yourself back before the mine?"

"I ask myself that question and you want to know the answer?" Twilight waited for Celestia to nod, "I wasn't strong enough."

"Strong enough?"

"Yeah, all of your power was stripped away when you were pulled from your normal shell into this, Elk." Twilight huffed and rolles over, "It wasn't a cade of showing myself, I wasn't even 'alive' back in Equestria. It took you coming here and experiencing everything you went through to fracture your mind enough for me to be born."

"That sounds serious..." Celestia leaned on the bed, "I fractured my mind?"

"Oh, any normal pony would have gone mad, but with me here you'll be fine."

Celestia sighed, "I just don't care anymore..." She turned around, made her way over to one of the chairs and sat down. "I've escaped with Green and there's an entire world that most likely wants me dead, or worse. Can't we just stop?"

"No!" Twilight shouted, using her magic to spin The chair around, "You can't!"

"Why?"

"You don't sense what I do. You only sense your environment, think in your head and occasionally, very occasionally, see what I do." Twilight shook her head, "While you're awake, I sense what you sense but so much more. There's a thousand things you don't pick up, magic being one of them."

She teleported on top of Celestia, wrapping her legs around her neck, "There's dark magic all around us... it matches the nightmare's..."

Celestia looked away, "But..."

"I know..." Twilight moved a leg up to Celestia's cheek, "Enough about this, let's talk about us."

"Us?" Celestia asked, leaning into the hoof, "I'm sure I've gone mad..."

"That's one possibility, but I'd rather think that you've surpassed whoever made us." Twilight caressed Celestia's cheek and leaned down, locking lips, "I'm sure you wouldn't want to remember Twilight like this..."

A flash of light later and Celestia opened her eyes go find a younger Green sitting on her lap, "How's this?"

"I... don't know how to feel about this." Celestia admitted taking in an eyeful of Green's thick thighs and long silky mane. "Why are you a perfect match?"

"Is there something wrong, sweetie?" Green answered, a small blush on her face. "Was I a bad mare again, oops..."

Celestia looked away, her own face heating up, "Wake me up, now!"

"As you wish, but remember that she doesn't care if you're mortal or not, there's only so much time you'll have with her even if you two get back to Equestria."

Celestia's expression fell and she blinked, feeling herself thrown very quickly in all directions. She opened her eyes and found herself back in the bedroom, with Green snuggled up by her side.

Sighing, she snuggled closer and nuzzled Green's cheek. "I... Guess I could give it a go, in this body..." she whispered to herself. "It's not like don't get those urg-"

Green breathed deep and squirmed, waking up. Yawning, she looked up and smiled upon seeing Celestia's face. "Good morning... Or is it afternoon now?" Green giggled and rose up so they were the same height, "How did you sleep?"

"It was alright... Yours?" Celestia replied, her nervousness rising. She felt she needed to say this, do this for Green. If only to show how much she loved her.

The talk with Twilight opened her eyes to the things she was too blind to see: time, aging and mortal needs.

Celestia didn't need sex. She didn't need a lot of things as an Alicorn; but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy them.

She didn't know how long she had managed without realising this and it hurt her for relying on her immortality instead of learning basic things that all beings learn.

"I'm a terrible pony..."

"Hmm?" Asked Green, stopping mid sentence, "Did you say something?"

"Oh no..." Celestia replied, wiping away a stray tear, "I'm just happy you're still with me..."

"Of course I would be," said Green, leaning in to nuzzle Celestia's cheek. She leaned back and hovered her lips over Celestia's, "I love you too much..."

"I've been a horrible pony to you..." Celestia said, kissing Green. "I've been selfish and haven't given you what you needed."

She kissed her again, this time more passionately and wrapped a leg around Green's body, pulling her closer. They broke apart and Celestia grinned, "You helped me through all of my stuff; now it's my turn to help you through yours."

Celestia rose and pulled Green over until she was laying across the bed. She stood over her with a loving smile and traced a hoof down her stomach using a feather touch.

Green laid there, looking up with a crimson glow adorning her face, "Be gentle... It's my first time..."

Celestia leaned down and kissed Green's cheek, "As if I would do anything else."

~~~

Celestia closed the door to their room and followed Green down the stairs, two fat smiles on their faces. They walked side by side up to the counter, bumping flanks along the way and exchanging glances.

"I see you two enjoyed yourselves!" Boomed the gravely voice of the bartender, different from the night prior. "Leaving?"

"Indeed we are," said Celestia, placing the key on the counter. "thank you for the room."

"No problem yer fine cow," The bartender winked.

Celestia smiled and turned with Green towards the exit.

Once outside, Green took a deep breath and sighed happily. "I... Thank you..."

"No, Green, thank you." Celestia shuddered and barely held a grin back, " I know why my ponies were active so much..." Green tilted her head. "It's because it's soo much better as a mortal..."

Green giggled, "I don't know about that, but you were amazing!"

"Heh, I guess... I had to learn a lot to keep it interesting. After a thousand years, the normal stuff got boring..." Celestia scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly.

Green closed her eyes and sighed, "I could imagine." She moved closer and asked, "To Concordia?"

"To Concordia."

~~~

The pair travelled down the beaten path, the day passing surprisingly quickly for them, until they reached a small hamlet just outside Concordia.

They could see the massive city on the other side of a thick, dark forest and quickly rushed for the hamlet before it became too dark to travel.

"I'm telling you, I'll think of something!" Assured Celestia, shaking her head.

"I hope so, otherwise we won't have anywhere to live," Green paused for a second and took a breather, "I won't sleep in some crumbling house again."

Celestia nodded and followed Green through the gate that separated the hamlet from the forest. It ran the entire perimeter of the village and rose past even thr second story houses, casting a dark shadow across the village square.

A large number of Elks were walking about, chatting and bartering for food or items. Most of them looked run down; looking like they hadn't eaten in a long time.

The pair walked into the square, the eyes on the guards above and beside on them, then looked for the nearest Inn.

Celestia moved around a group of chatting Elks, who ignored her questions, then carried on with Green down the road towards the square.

Celestia noticed that the square was filled with mostly muted colors on the elks; no vibrant colors anywhere to be seen.

They easily spotted the village Inn but decided to take a look around first. "I don't think I like this place..." Green whispered into Celestia ear, "It's strange."

"I know it is, but we have to stay here somehow," Celestia looked over to the top of the forest sticking it's head over the wall. "We can't go through the forest at night, if it's anything like the one back home, it will full of things that won't think twice about eating us."

Green shuddered, "Alright, you know best here." Green nuzzled Celestia and felt her lean in. "Love you," she whispered.

"Love you too." Celestia thought on how to get a place to sleep and the only thing that came to mind was the inn, but how were they going to do that if they had no money?

Celestia glanced at Green and saw her smiling. Pushing her nervousness down, she knew they had no money, no food and no proper skills. She was a former princess and Green had only looked after her.

The only thing going for her, was her strength that she got from working hard enough in the mines for two people. Either she killed herself keeping them fed, or they were both turned into drones.

That gave her an idea, but she didn't know if Green would accept it. "Hey, hun?"

"Yeah?"

"We have two options... we either break into the inn... or we use other means of getting a room..."

"Other means?" Asked Green, not understanding.

"Seduction..." Squeaked Celestia, hoping Green wouldn't be angry.

"Oh... I'd rather not do either, but seducing the owner wouldn't put us in jail." Green sighed, "We'll have to seduce him or her..."

Celestia blinked, "Wait, you're seriously okay with this?"

"I know you love me, it's not like you'd run off with him or her. Plus, it's only for a room, as bad as that sounds." Green kissed Celestia on the cheek and walked towards the inn. Turning back, she asked, "Coming?"

"Uh... Y-yeah!" Suddenly she felt even more nervous, she had only felt safe enough to do anything with Green.

Green was the first to enter the inn. She moved out of the way to let Celestia in and looked around. "No elk in here."

"Looks like it." Celestia spotted the bartender and swallowed her nervousness. "Come on... I guess..."

Green giggled and followed her mare towards the bar, "No need to be nervous, dear, it's not like we'll actually so anything with him."

"I... knew that..." Celestia lied, badly, making Green chuckle.

The two made it to the bar and hopped up onto the stools. The bartender turned around and smiled, "Hello, w-what can I get y-you two t-today?"

Green and Celestia glanced at each other and the corners of their mouths turned up. Celestia put on her best seductive voice and went for it, "Hey... We were looking for a room for tonight, it's awfully cold and I don't want my flank to get cold..."

She saw the bartender gulp and knew it was working, "The only thing is, we lost our bits on the road and I was thinking we could pay you back some... other way..."

"O-other way?"

It was Green's turn, "Oh yes, I'm sure it gets awfully lonely for a growing bull... we can entertain you..."

"I..." the Bull nodded shyly and looked about, "I f-finish at f-five..."

"Of course, deary, come on up. We'll be waiting."

The bartender nervously handed Green the key and watched as they walked up the stairs.

As the pair entered the room, Green was pounced by Celestia. "You said we wouldn't so anything!"

Green struggled by ultimately failed under Celestia's strength. "Fine, I lied..." she looked away, "We got thr key didn't we?"

Celestia huffed, but nodded anyway. She looked down and smiled, "Speaking of doing something..."

Green closed her eyes as Celestia's lips touched her own and her breathing picked up. The two mashed lips, trading fluids and moans as the pair ground against each other.

They broke apart to catch their breath and Celestia grinned, "I am so lucky to have you..."

"Same here..."

They waited until half five, having had a shower together and brushed each other's manes. The door's handle clicked and opened slowly.

"H-hello...?" The bartender asked, shuffling into the room. He looked around nervously in the darkened room and found Celestia sitting on a deep red couch in front of the fireplace, her mane in a loose ponytail which hung down her front.

The curtains were pulled open slightly, allowing a beam of moonlight to illuminate her features and let crucial light into the room.

"It's just us tonight," Celestia said, half turning her head back towards the adolescent Bull. "My love is downstairs, I'm sure."

"S-she is..." The bull said, closing in on Celestia. The nearer he got, the more of her he could see.

First it was her smooth back, covered in finely brushed fur, then her toned flank with her tail neatly nestled in between her rump. His eyes finally rested on her long, strong legs, laid out across the couch.

He gulped and moved around the side of the couch. Celestia's eyes never left his as he did so and she held no smile.

The bull seemed as nervous as he would ever get in that moment. He broke eye contact first and looked about, "Are w-we going on the bed?"

"Yes... I suppose that would be best." Celestia rose from the couch effortlessly and walked around towards the large double. She looked back and thought, "I really have to do this, don't I?"

Pushing her guilt down, she was about to jump up on the bed when the door burst open and Green shouted, "Celestia, don't you dare!"

"Green, we talked about this..."

"No, I don't care if we stay on the rain, or in a palace!" Green rushed forwards and embraced Celestia, pouring every ounce of her love in the hug, "As long as it's with you."

"We got away from that life though..." Celestia closed her eyes and leaned on Green, "I don't want to go back to the dirt."

"Me neither, but I wouldn't mind as long as your with me..." Green paused and thought, "Well, if some elk forced us... I wouldn't want you to live in the dirt if you didn't ha-"

Celestia pulled back and kissed Green. Electricity pulsed through their lips, tingling their senses and making Green's heart soar.

Green melted and let Celestia hold her as the bartender silently tiptoed out of the room, awkwardly.

The pair broke apart with a gasp and nuzzled each other. Neither spoke until they were in bed, Celestia over Green.

"I can't beli-"

Green took her hoof away from Celestia's lips, "Shh... No more talking." She then placed a hoof on Celestia's rump, "Just, no more."

Celestia nodded and lowered herself. The sound of giggles, moaning and screams of pleasure could be heard throughout the night.

~~~

"So, thank you for the room..." Green said, winking to the bartender who blushed.

Celestia walked up and smiled, "I'm sorry nothing happened, you seem nice..." An idea popped into Celestia's head, "Come with me."

The bartender nodded hesitantly, then went around the side of the bar and followed Celestia over to the front door. She opened it and stepped outside to see the square full of elks.

Green asked her, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to make his day," She thought back. Celestia spotted a group of young cows and grinned, just as they were walking past, she turned to the bar-keep and kissed him.

Pulling apart, she thought to Green, "Help me out here..." "You were so good last night." Celestia cupped the young bulls cheek.

Green bit her lip and said, "You know how to treat a mare!" She then kissed him on the other cheek, giggling after.

The bull went bright red and rushed inside, leaving Green and Celestia to stand there smiling. They turned around to find the young cows staring at them.

"Hey Green, he really was amazing last night, wasn't he..." Celestia said, dreamily.

Green nodded, "He really was..."

The group looked to each other and slowly walked away, some looking back at the pair and biting their lips.

Green and Celestia looked to each other and burst out laughing. "I'm sure he's a bit more popular now..."

"Probably the inn as well." Green added. "Either way, it's early and we should get going If we want to make it to the city on any sort of schedule."

Celestia took a look at the trees poking over the wall as a bit of nervousness welled up inside her, "Yeah, we should... I hope it isn't hard to go through the forest..."

"Hey," Green said, nudging her, "We'll be fine. It's not like before the mine..." She smiled, "What I'm trying to say is, we're not weak anymore, we can do anything now."

"I guess, but we can't do much until we know what the king is affected with."

"Of course, but it won't be like Quick, I promise."

Celestia looked away and stiffened up, "That..." she sighed, "Let's go." she started towards the gate with Green close behind.

Green rushed up and glanced at Celestia with sympathy, "I'm sorry..." she mumbled.

"It's alright..." Celestia replied, "It shouldn't make me feel like this anymore, it was nine damn years!" Sighing, she looked at Green, "It seemed so long ago... At the same time it felt like a blink for me..."

"Maybe I've been alive too long... I'm sure someone like Twilight could take over to a bit... If not her, then Luna. She'd love to be queen..."

"You don't mean that!" Said Green, stopping in the road. "You sound crazy; too long?"

"Twelve thousand years is a long time, Green."

"Yeah, but I'm with you now..." Green walked up to Celestia and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Just a bit more, then we'll be together in Equestria. The place you say is paradise..."

"I never said paradise..."

"The point still stands, it's better than this place and we can live in peace."

"Alright, if it makes you happy... It makes me
Happy." Celestia leaned her head on Green's and sighed, "Let's go, we need to stop talking like this in the middle of the path."

Celestia chuckled and gave a sheepish grin, "Maybe we shouldn't..."

The two followed the trail towards the forest, eyeing it carefully. After everything that Celestia had said about the Everfree, any forest sounded scary, meaning that the pair were having second thoughts.

"I'm sure there's another way around," Greeen said, slowing.

"Oh no you don't, We have to get to Concordia and fast!" Celestia grunted, pulling Green along by her leg. "We have to go through by nightfall or we will get lost."

"But it's scary!" Green whined, "What if we get lost!"

"We won't if we keep to the road, it can't be too hard..." Celestia then realised she wasn't making any progress and let Green go, sighing. "Green, we have to go through... If we don't, we don't confront the king, we don't find a way to our true home and we don't live happily ever after like we deserve."

Celestia looked away and kicked a small pebble off the path, "This might not be a fairy tale but for once, can't the Princess live without something putting her in danger."

Green giggled, then it turned into full blown laughter, "Oh, that was so bad... Plus, you go me to look put for you. You're my mare and I know how to take care of my mare..."

Green moved closer and kissed Celestia on the neck, making her coo. "I'll follow you anywhere. I might whine, but I love you too much to see you go in there yourself."

Celestia closed her eyes and leaned into the next kiss, which landed on her cheek. "You have no idea how that makes me feel."

"I think I do, because I know you would do it for me as well." Green moved her lips again and her next kiss landed on Celestia's lips, sending bolts of electricity through their systems and making their fur stand on end.

Celestia leaned in and opened her lips, allowing Green to enter. Green's tongue slivered past Celestia's mouth and playfully wrestled with her mates own, making each other moan.

Celestia brought a hoof over and gripped Green's hoof, holding it tightly. green couldn't help but feel her heart leap from that simple gesture and tightned her hold on Celestia's own.

The world around them collapsed and they were the only two that existed; their attention focused on the other and every sense was finely tuned to measure the others pleasure.

Green had to pull away to catch her breath and gasped for air. "W-wow..." she said dreamily, "Can you always kiss me like that..."

"I thought I did?" Celestia replied, frowning slightly. "I love you, Green."

"As do I, darling."

The pair rubbed noses and stared into each other's eyes for a couple of minutes longer before they broke apart with extravagant grins on their faces.

Celestia coughed, "We should get going, daylight and all that..."

"If we must go in there, fine," Green said, holding back, "But in one condition," Celestia nodded, "I want to stare at your rump, so you go ahead..."

Celestia rolled her eyes and made for the forest, the wiggle in her hips exaggerated for her mare. Green was basically drooling at the sight before she realised that the massive tree trunks were among her and she looked up and gulped.

"I..." she mumbled, scared.

Celestia rushed up and said, "If you love me, you'd do this."

Green narrowed her eyes and stared at Celestia, "You would use that against me?"

"I shouldn't have to..."

"Touche."

"Now, stick behind me and maybe, just maybe, you'll get a little extra..."

Celestia let that hang before she turned and entered the forest. Green's smile slowly grew before it turned into a grin and she rushed in after her.

~~~

The pair travelled along the dirt path through the first for a couple hours before boredom kicked in. Thr light beams from the canapé lit patches of darkened forest floor around them, making it seem like magical... safe even.

Green was growing Increasingly paranoid about her environment and had slowly snuck up upon Celestia and clamped herself by her side before she could say anything.

Without missing a beat, Celestia used her magic to preen Green's hair, cleaning it of dirt and debris that had made their way in from the forest.

Green sighed then smiled, "Thank you, that feels amazing."

Celestia didn't respond, only keeping her attention on her magic. After about half an hour, she cut her magic and smiled, "Thank you."

"What for?" Green asked, looking confused.

"I never thanked you for teaching me elk magic," Celestia explained, a sombre look on her face. "Without you, I would never have escaped that mine."

"Well, I couldn't have let you not have horns and not use them..." Green brought a hoof up and felt her stubs with a small sight.

Celestia nudged her, "Don't worry, they'll grow back."

"I know, it's just hard... I can't use magic for another two months..."

Celestia didn't know how to respond and instead simply carried on walking and letting Green lean on herself. They didn't know how long they had to go, but they would make it though no matter what.

Chapter 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”I don’t want to talk about it.”

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

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

“Yeah, I think its best you don’t.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, it’s for you.”

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

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

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

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

“Who says it won’t?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“They were drunk.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I think its best we do.”

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

“Hi… We’re a bit lost,” Green said.

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

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

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

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

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

Green gave her a smile, “Thank you.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Please, go ahead."

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

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

"He-"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"To my darling Caring Heart, love Cornelias."

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

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

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

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

"Were they valuable?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Sure, anything.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tap.

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

Tap.

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

Tap.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I know, I watched you do it."

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

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

"That's not what I-"

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

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

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

"Damn..." Celestia said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Green just placed the coins on the counter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m fine.”

“Really, because you can talk abo-”

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

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

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

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

"Um... Yes please."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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