Twilight was woken up by the very first knock on her door. Her eyes shot open. Maybe it was the difficult dreams. Or maybe she was dreading to hear anypony waking her up in the dead of day, especially with bad news.

But the rhythm of the rapping wasn’t frantic. And her body was telling her that she did manage to catch some sleep, despite the quality of the bed and the nightly, grim fantasies, so perhaps it was actually the time to get up.

Still, she had essentially every reason to be restless.

“Kwi bid to?” she asked, trying not to sound too sleepy while rubbing her eyes.

“Rowan Berry, hwalba knaze. It’s evening, I took it upon myself to wake you,” came the calm voice from the other side, and Twilight could let out a little sigh of relief. “Would you like to take your breakfast on your own or in company?”

Twilight thought for just a moment. “Both I could do, I suppose,” she uttered as she got up from her bed and stretched, to the protest of some muscles, especially ones of her back. At this point, having conquered the simple bed, she figured that she could just endure anything coming at her. “Give me a moment, please, I will freshen up.”

“Of course.”

The said freshening up was a little more complicated than usual, actually, because instead of a full bath pocket like in the other Mountains, the austere room featured only a wooden tub behind a modest screen. And some ice cold water in a bucket, which must have been left for Twilight at some point before she had settled in the room. The liquid was clear, like coming from a mountain spring, though Twilight could tell that there was this small smell she hadn’t paid attention to before, that of natural minerals. Unsurprising, considering the volcanic region…

Well, it seemed that while cleanliness wasn’t out of the question among the Sunfalls, nopony would spare themselves the mortification of the flesh when it came to even such simple pleasantries in life as having a bath.

Still, Twilight made do, with some magical help. She also picked a simpler, bluish dress without too many embellishments nor any fancy jewelry, then stepped out of her room to tackle the night and all its upcoming problems. It was safer to anticipate those in abundance.

Nonetheless, it was the healer’s calm smile which welcomed her. “Good night to you, hwalba knaze. Did you manage to sleep well enough in our accommodations?”

“ ‘Well enough’. That’s a sadly appropriate term, yes,” Twilight admitted, looking the other mare over out of sheer curiosity. “You don’t look happy, but definitely more rested than me, I think I have to say.”

The lupule showed her fangs in a grin, reached up to take care of a wayward strand of mane and shook her head. “I have already slept in worse places in my life, especially considering my… line of work. Or ‘lines of works’? Though, I wouldn’t want to make this a habit, unlike the ponies around here,” the healer allowed herself a small complaint. “There are sacrifices one has to be ready to make, and then there’s just... the desire to feel like one is living and not simply existing.”

“Wishful thinking,” Twilight quipped, tapping just a touch into how she was feeling, but trying not to allow it to overwhelm her. “I take it the palace servants asked about my meal already?”

“Actually, we were hoping not to be forced into an unplanned fast so Maednoc Wentr went on to counteract that,” the healer remarked.

And Twilight could tell by that stare and that tone that her own reaction was being gauged, astutely and cautiously. For ‘whatever’ reason.

“Good.”

That was as much as she was willing to give the operative, and that would be quite enough, actually.

Rowan Berry nodded, then looked about and spoke again, but it was as if the previous sentence never happened. “The servants should be here with the food soon, but let me first report that the day was calm. Nopony came about, especially not the Countess Consort. Though I am expecting her to try to come into contact with you tonight, considering her… performance yesternight.”

“I would think so too,” Twilight admitted, nodding to herself. “It was just... so strange. Her brief appearance, her presence when you were talking outside.” She lowered her voice even further, pointing back to her room. “Can you actually tell me something about her? I might as well use your experience as an agent...”

The healer pursed her lips, following Twilight so they could remain just out of the corridor. “That’s the problem, we also don’t really have too much insight into the matters of Rodine Soleeced. They are keeping to themselves and, well, very, very rarely do we meet with the local occultani,” Rowan Berry explained, keeping the conversation barely audible. “Sometimes I wonder whether the bloodline even entertains them in any significant numbers. And perhaps that is why I would call them the most dangerous among us.”

Twilight thought for a moment why that would be, and thankfully her rougher night didn’t rob her of her logic. “ ‘We damned few’?” she metaphorically suggested, and it wasn’t a bad bet as it turned out.

“You could definitely say that. The idea behind their existence and service is likely seen as sinful, most undesirable considering the Family’s high religious standard,” Rowan Berry explained with a knowledgeable glint in her eyes. “Still, necessary from the pragmatic point of view, one that cannot be overlooked even in place like this. So one could expect them to fully embrace their role, with the commitment and zeal of their bloodline. And that combined with a... fatalistic mentality of doing damning deeds for the ‘right’ reasons, for being the necessary evil...”

“A dangerous combination,” Twilight admitted with no shortage of irritation over another, disturbing fact she could learn about Noctraliya.

“True. But… we all are like that, in our own ways,” the lupule remarked, and she must have been perfectly aware of just how accurate that sentence was in their current situation. She wasn’t blind and deaf, after all. “But... I still believe, and will continue to do so, that ponies like us can do a lot of good. Even if we are there, in the shadows or in the sunlight, with blade, with poison, with dedication...”

“And being resourceful and opportunistic,” Twilight responded in those very specific words, shaking her head. “Tell me, Rowan Berry – do you consider me a fool?”

That was a loaded question, and the lupule was keenly and visibly aware of it. She took a moment to respond, obviously searching for the right words. Not that the pause felt duplicitous in any way.

“No, you are not, hwalba knaze. And not by a long shot, I would even borrow the expression. You do come from a society that hardly ever entertains matters clandestine, at least from how I see it. Or, if it does, it leaves it to the few specialists,” the healer remarked, being utterly respectful in her tone. “There isn’t a general idea, pushed into your minds, that danger lurks, that vigilance is key, that the great threats of the world could happen. And yet, even with all of that, you have seen through things, defended yourself against schemes pointed at you. I know, I was one of those,” the mare stressed it out with a humble, defeated smile. “You persevered, for good or worse, with your own philosophy and goodness of character. A fool wouldn’t achieve all of that. It’s… honestly inspiring.”

Twilight waited a moment and only then cracked a little smirk, though she didn’t feel particularly mirthful. “To think that you would be complimenting me, Rowan Berry. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

“A long way so far, I want to believe, I don’t feel we are at the end of things yet,” the healer told her back, trying to sound supportive. “But more and more I believe that your gift, Honored Princess, is one of perseverance in the idea of Friendship. You take strikes, when the world around you schemes and seeks personal gains and whatnot, when it acts in ways that could utilize your many virtues against you. But… you’re still here, always getting back up. It’s a rare form of resolve.”

“Or blind belief,” Twilight jested at her own expense, but the other mare only shook her head, her curtain-like mane shifting.

“It’s not blind belief if the results pile up,” the healer remarked. “I’ve been alongside you for some time now, and to think that we are now at the Iug u Soleeced? And you said yesternight that the talks with the Count went well enough? Again?” The lupule paused briefly to let her point sink in. “You’ve endured, you’ve pushed through. With word, with deed, with intention to witness us reach for a greater purpose. Perhaps I have already said it, perhaps I need to say it again, or perhaps I need to amend what I previously claimed. Because now I think about myself, about iaea haspadre, about…” Rowan Berry paused, briefly closing her eyes. “I’m beginning to believe that nopony is beyond your reach, and subsequently that of your calling, with Bogine as my witness.”

“That... is very kind of you, Rowan Berry,” Twilight admitted. She appreciated the words a lot, though she could make a bet as to what likely was prompting the lupule to be quite so supportive. However, there wasn’t any deceit to be found in those sentences. At ‘worse’, they were simply being said at an opportune moment. “Could you humor me a little more?”

“Oh? Please, hwalba knaze, say how might I do so.”

“Please, tell me with sincerity – do you think that I can actually succeed in my mission? With everything that has happened, and what is happening right now… Can I really gather all of your different and differing Lords, convince them that the path of Harmony and Friendship could be a new opening for Noctraliya…?”

“I now believe in it, actually,” Rowan Berry answered without much delay, looking straight into Twilight’s eyes. “You have the Goddess on your side, you show pony after pony that things could be better if we only try to act with honesty, kindness, generosity, loyalty. Sometimes with a touch of humor, laughter, as well. And I know that even the vilest of my brethren, those that refuse to listen, could still find mercy in your heart for themselves,” the healer spoke, pausing briefly and having perhaps a specific pony in mind.

Twilight could make a safe bet, she believed. It wouldn’t be an obvious one, even considering the happenings at the Mountain of Crescent, however.

“And if those reprobates could still find this clemency, then the rest of us, those that perhaps acted against you out of the sense of loyalty, duty, that believed that what they were doing was right… Those that finally saw the folly of it all and admitted it – yes, they can also have hope,” Rowan Berry finished that declaration.

Twilight nodded, suddenly feeling that little, warm flicker again in her chest. “Do lupuli treat afflictions of just body, or mind as well?”

The other mare, reading into her tone, looked aside briefly. And that little bit of blush made itself visible on her cheeks. “I have remedies for a lot of things, yes, but… do not think I was saying all of that because it was just my calling prompting me to do so. I just… I had a change of heart about you, and I don’t mind letting you know what I am thinking. I see more logic in what I once thought illogical. It isn’t an easy path, as it leaves one vulnerable, but makes them strong simultaneously. It still sounds counter-intuitive, but you make me believe in it, Honored Princess.”

“Thank you, Yazembe Acine,” Twilight told the mare, looking for a specific smile from her, one that she now believed she could invoke. “I know you are trying to help right now. And help not only me,” she pointed out to the lupule. “I definitely appreciate the intention there. I think it also plays well into the ideal of Friendship. I’m happy and proud of you.”

The other mare rolled her coral eyes just a little, though her ridicule was definitely meant to be nothing more than a silly prod. “And there you go again, hwalba knaze. It comes to you very naturally, I must say.”

Perhaps. Perhaps, here and now, Twilight was finding that little bit of support she was desperately needing. And, with everything happening so far, maybe showing that little bit of kindness back to Rowan Berry would actually heal a portion of Twilight’s own, tired core.

Remind her of her ultimate mission.

“You know... if you want, you can just call me ‘Twilight’,” she told the lupule with a whole, genuine smile. “I actually think it’s overdue at this point.”

The healer’s eyes bulged out just a little, no matter how much she tried to contain that. But Twilight understood. Sometimes that was the initial reaction when somepony was subjected to Friendship not as an ideal, but in practice. Still, she tried to remain calm and sympathetic, as she would be the last pony to ridicule a sudden reaction like that.

Rowan Berry took a moment longer before she finally shook her head a little and responded. “I… I mean, that is very kind, but I am not sure if… if I should.”

“I think that you should,” Twilight told her back, holding up that sincere smile. “You’ve shown me some of your best qualities at this point, and you proved that despite the situation you are in, with your line of work and dilemmas you might be facing considering your Lord, you are a most valuable pony. And I don’t mean it at all through the medium of clandestine calculation, but genuine feelings.”

“I… I believe that, however, it’s just…” the lupule tried to find words, her coral eyes looking about a little and her muzzle turning quite reddish. “It’s somewhat difficult for me, since that is against how we… I mean, I’m not opposed to your goodwill, not at all, but… It would be a little hard for me to switch and…”

“I’m not forcing you into anything, no. I just thought that you might like to try. I will gladly see you at my side back in Equestria, if that is your wish… and a lot of ponies I know there, ponies that I consider friends, call me just ‘Twilight’, regardless of my title or role, or anything else,” was the offered explanation, without putting any pressure on the healer.

“I understand, I understand, yes,” the mare responded with a nod. “I just wouldn’t… necessarily want to go past the required respect. It’s a vital thing in Noctraliya, and I would never aim to insult...”

“Doing that definitely won’t cause anything of the sort,” Twilight assured, taking a step towards the mare, in a gesture of support. “On the contrary, it will let me know that you do respect me as a pony that you can count on and that you can trust, not just a dignitary, an envoy or a monarch.”

“It… Alright, I get it, but it might take me a while,” came the response from the lupule, who was fidgeting a little in her place. “Oh, and… I mean, I’m not sure, I do not know if I can offer anything back, you know, I…”

“I am more than willing to call you ‘Rowan Berry’ still, if you so prefer. I too wouldn’t want to disrespect you in any way.”

It was very peculiar to see the lupule so flushed and out of her depth, but it wasn’t a negative situation in any way, Twilight recognized. Just… unusual. And definitely unforeseen, considering just how confused about it was the operative.

“I… If that would not be a problem, hwalba… Twilight…?” the lupule tried, thought it was still going against her sense of sensibility a little. “Actually, I’m not even sure how my name could be abbreviated. Being a lowborn, I don’t have House Grove’s name in my own, unlike the nobles, so… ‘Rowan’? I’m… I don’t know, I am not comfortable with it right now.”

“That’s alright. Small steps,” Twilight encouraged the mare with a nod. “I remember your bloodline. You mentioned it back at the Mountain of Dusk, I think?”

“Yes, couldn’t very well use the Mountroses’ name there… But I’m proud to be a Grove, no matter our status and numbers. Our little corner of our lands is dear to me, with its copses and dales,” the mare mentioned with that touch of pride and joy over her own part of her homeland. But then her brow furrowed a little. “Actually, that makes me think… if I might actually ask about this here and now.”

“Yes? What is it?” Twilight encouraged her, regardless of the thought which prompted the souring expression.

“I’m sorry, it’s just my curiosity in the face of this offer,” the healer continued, though her eyes were having a harder time staring at Twilight again. “Why was it… ‘Midnight’? Everything considered it should have been ‘Wind’, if we are throwing the convention to the said wind…”

Twilight did her best to retain good humor, as this wasn’t a loaded question, just one born out of genuine interest. “He proposed that after I made the ‘offer’. I wanted to shorten the distance before we talked in the interview…”

“Yes… I see,” Rowan Berry spoke up, and she was clearly discerning something from that answer. Clearly more than Twilight herself could tell.

That wasn’t new, lamentably. Twilight was wondering if asking about the said deliberation was prudent, but it was at that moment that the slight shuffling from the corridor meant that the breakfast finally arrived. And the stallion in question was leading the servants bringing it, with a neutral expression of a useful companion.

Well, the feast wasn’t much. Just some oranges, to help one go through the first portion of the night. Still, when one was famished then every fruit was a banquet to be thankful to the Goddess for, and Twilight had a distinct feeling that that was the very idea behind Sunfalls’ dining practices.

“At least we’re not forced to fast,” she commented as she sat at her table with the two other batponies, and was soon slowly munching on an orange.

Rowan Berry nodded. “I’m glad. Though, in fairness, Soleecedi are not that unreasonable. They still remember that, for example, those of them doing manual labor need to have enough strength and focus to perform it safely. Though… I take it that some of them still are limiting themselves just because, in this specific form of devotion.”

“Not the most extreme form of prayer,” Midnight Wind remarked from above his bowl. “I’ve told you, there was a stallion yesternight at the herame with a whole withered leg. From being kept up constantly, as I imagine…” he added, clearly again answering the healer’s unasked question.

She grimaced, while Twilight finished swallowing a piece and spoke up. “At least one should hope for the pony’s pure intentions behind a maddened dedication. Or am I being too disparaging?”

“No,” came Midnight’s reply, and Twilight was satisfied with it.

Rowan Berry cleaned her fangs and hooves, and sighed, though it had little to do with the satisfaction of dining. “I take it that there are no news about the hwalbu haspadr?” she asked of the warrior, who shrugged.

“No, and I can bet that we would have heard of any breakthroughs, in whatever direction. In this case no news is, I think, good news. Or, at least, good enough,” he added with a grim expression. “This situation is a true waiting game, and I think you would agree, Rowan Berry.”

“Yes. Either the Honored Lord’s body manages to restore itself to its relative balance still, giving him a chance at recovering for at least some time, or there will be a quick collapse, followed by… what finally awaits us all,” she pointed out, her voice turning a touch poetic at the end. Even if her logic was much more mundane and prosaic. “A shift in the Covenant due to Honored Lord Sunfall Word’s death, and right now. The repercussions of this…”

“I believe that even I am well-aware of them,” Twilight responded, herself having cleaned her hooves thoroughly. “With all due respect to the Lord, this would be like every political upheaval. Uneasiness, initial chaos, slow restoration of order by following traditional ways of containing damage,” she commented, though felt rather displeased about using those words. The haspadr’s death wasn’t some sort of a ‘typical example’, but an individual loss. “Even so, this is not what anypony needs, not now. And… I’m actually wondering whether the haspadr’s sense of duty, and his deep understanding of these current circumstances, are both not going to be crucial in pushing him away from the silver gates of Argentee.”

“That… is a rather intriguing way of putting that,” Midnight commented, though stopped his voice or expression from showing more emotions regarding Twilight’s words. “I think that the hwalbu haspadr could see it also as a good joke to pull, gathering everypony around his deathbed to then spring up from it when we least expect it.”

“He must be the noble exception from the rest of his Family,” Twilight deemed, and was supported by the healer.

“He definitely shares the approach towards a lack of ‘vanities’ around him, but at least I can see a certain joy in him. A bright facet of character,” Rowan Berry pointed out. “For me, it looks like he had managed to pierce through the stoic and passionless veil of faith of his Rodine and found behind it something far more encouraging. Maybe that is what is still giving him strength. There have been works suggesting that a pony’s will can be strong enough to push away their final moment, at least for a little while. Though some speculate that it might be against the will of Bogine…”

“I think he’s just too old to care for anypony’s opinion at this point… though maybe the Goddess’, yes,” Midnight remarked. He then turned to Twilight once again, in an official manner. “I was not notified of the Honored Count’s desire to meet with you yet. Which means that we… are staying put for now?”

“I doubt it, regardless of our wishes,” Twilight told him, and she meant it most sincerely. “I am expecting something unexpected, as is Noctraliya’s way. And there is this business with the Countess Consort, I’m sure she will try and meet me sooner rather than later, considering what you have shared with me so far.”

“She wasn’t lurking on the way,” Midnight remarked, standing up to gather the plates and bowls in one place. “I can check again as I flag a servant or two,” he offered, but Twilight shook her head.

“I gave it some thought, and I think it’s just a matter of time… even if considering the matter of her lack of confidence. Perhaps she has some unwanted attention on her,” Twilight judged, returning to those few, short memories of meeting Sunfall Glint. “I must say as well that she seems much younger than I thought, considering the age of Captain Sunfall Ordain. And that of the Count, too.”

Rowan Berry nodded in understanding and recognition of the doubts. “Do you recall Kindlefang, hwalba knaze?” the healer asked, and afterwards realized that she still used Twilight’s full title. Though a glance Midnight’s way seemed to serve as an explanation for that. “The haspadre hitwe is young, but bearing a child already, may Bogine bless her and haspadr Blessed Fang. In their case that’s not that glaring because they are of comparable age. Here, however…”

“One can see the disparity clearly, and I suppose that it was even more visible in the past,” Twilight did finish the thought, unsure what to think about it. “I suspect that sometimes things have a tendency of being very much arranged.”

“You’re not wrong,” the healer all but confirmed. “I would dare say that you’re more right than you like. But when these matters lean on politics, power plays, purity of bloodlines, certain deals are made, some… tough decisions are followed through,” she commented, and Twilight could see that sting of guilt in the mare. “Sometimes teeth are gritted for many years later, I can imagine that happens more than we are allowed to see.”

“Perhaps. But sometimes genuine things can still grow, despite all of that,” Midnight reminded the mare, getting ready to leave. “Hrabiye Bright Midnight and Midnight Valor, for example? I heard they are very much enjoying the match and looking forward to the coming wedding.”

“I don’t think I want to weigh pros and cons, or however it is said in Ekwestriyar,” the healer admitted, looking at Twilight. “Enough to say that around here it is the Honored Count who is keeping things rigid. I believe when it comes both to his views and his family life.”

Twilight didn’t have to be told that twice, considering how he had treated his very daughter and the future heir of the Family.

‘Maybe’, at least. Because she wasn’t sure just how complex such a situation could be, when emotions mixed with expectations and duty tackled freedom.

Midnight, who had gathered the plates and bowls and wanted to try and flag a local servant about them, opened the doors at this point, stepping outside… and then back in, as if repelled. It turns out that his disciplined exit encountered a quite foreseeable obstacle, that of a mare standing in the corridor, wearing a simple dress and cap despite her quite high status.

Twilight had grown accustomed to these situations at this point, as much as she wasn’t that keen on strangers appearing at her doorstep over and over. Still, she stood up and approached the doorway, seeing the Countess Consort humbly standing outside, waiting for acknowledgment in the meekest way possible.

“Oh,” Twilight feigned a surprise greater than it really was. “Greetings, hwalba hrabiye hitwe. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

There was a tense silence, one that was interrupted only when it became unbearable. The noblemare looked up ultimately, meeting Twilight’s gaze for a good few seconds before lowering her rich, golden eyes once more and speaking up.

“Forgive me my weakness, hwalba knaze,” she spoke up in almost a whisper. “I had the servants go the other way before they could get the plates… I just needed a moment before you, that’s all,” she explained, in a frail tone which tugged at Twilight’s heart in a strange way.

“Well… I am here, Honored Countess Consort. How could I help you?”

“You’ve already done so, as much as aid can be granted in a situation like this,” the mare explained, though the quick glances that Twilight shared with her entourage confirmed that they also had little to no idea what the mare was about. “I know of your travel here. I know it must have taken you through the Ambyit. And so… through Proznyi Umberi.”

“Y… yes, that is true,” Twilight confirmed, though she still wasn’t sure what the mare wished from her.

Other than, obviously, to ask about her daughter, Captain Sunfall Ordain. It was easy to imagine that while the Count was following his harsh stance and decision, his wife and mother to the Nightguardian officer didn’t have to share his view.

And so Twilight waited for the question to come. Only… that expectation was misplaced.

“Then… I thank you,” the Countess Consort spoke up and it looked like she was getting ready to leave already, again cutting the exchange unnaturally short.

“Wait,” Twilight spoke up, though mindful of volume. “What… are you thanking me for, Honored Countess Consort? I haven’t done anything.”

“I looked into your eyes… that is as much as I would allow myself, as much as I… would sinfully crave,” the mare’s response was, and it was spoken in a tone that would unmercifully suggest that she was suffering from some sort of a mental problem.

Twilight opened her mouth to ask, then looked Rowan Berry’s way, though the healer held no answers at the moment. Nor did the warrior right next to the door, remaining ever vigilant.

“What would be… sinful about such an interaction? I’m sorry, Honored Countess Consort, but I fail to understand,” Twilight admitted, hoping that she could get at least some more from the mare before she would leave.

For the Countess Consort looked almost fervent to do so. Was it guilt or fear that was causing it? “There’s nothing to explain. I cling to what I should abandon, I seek what is no longer to be found.”

Twilight felt… no, she didn’t feel confused. Gone were the nights of endless befuddlement and surprise at the strangeness of the country in which she was, and at the complex, sometimes unnecessarily complex, ways of its inhabitants.

“Why did you wish to see me like this?” came the strong question from the depth of Twilight’s throat, and one that actually managed to stop the noblemare in her tracks.

She didn’t look up again, and spoke with a tone even meeker than before, as the raised voice managed to hold her attention for long enough. “I… I know that I no longer have a daughter… but I wanted to at least see the eyes that saw the pony that was once her…”

Twilight felt almost physically repulsed by those words, as they carried simultaneously so much guilt and so much hope that the combination was as if a wall of arcane force. Just how much grief, how much heartbreak was in that mare that she arrived at such a terrifying state of mind, that she felt it sinful to see the gaze of a pony who had once met her daughter…?

“Honored Countess Consort,” Twilight spoke up, trying to gather enough focus and concentration to sound calm, “there is nothing shameful about wishing to know about your daughter, ask about that matter freely. You don’t have to be ashamed by this, or fear it standing against the will of the Goddess.”

“But my… my marit has spoken,” the Countess Consort responded, in a tone of a mare that found in that the source of ultimate truth, regardless of her ‘weakness’ to seek Twilight out. “I mourn that I can no longer be close to my child. But… it is what it is. It’s just that I cannot utterly push away from my heart her presence and her laugh. And so I sometimes seek an unnecessary reminder. Out of my frailty. And so forgive me my feebleness, and allow me to go…”

“Honored—”

“Thank you, Honored Princess…” the noblemare responded, curtsied, and turned around, leaving in a hurry. A maddened one.

Twilight was left behind, stunned and frustrated. Again. Once again. She waited a breath, for the moment to pass and the pony to disappear, then glanced at her two companions.

“Did that really happen?”

“Yes,” the both confirmed, pretty much at the same time.

“She’s ill,” Twilight judged, and at least Rowan Berry looked like she was agreeing with it, from her experienced side of things.

“This self-abasement of hers is forced. One could say that by discipline and being subservient to the Count, but… there’s more to it,” the healer deemed, looking outside to make sure that the mare was already gone. “Did you see the way she looked up? There was curiosity, yes, but it was like automated. There was recognition of her own deed more than of you, Honored Princess…”

Twilight had to agree, trying to organize it all in her head. “This is… Could we help her?”

Midnight spoke up, himself moved by the situation, but clearly containing it within. “If anypony could get the Captain recognized as the Count’s daughter again, that would be you. I doubt he is blind to the plight of his wife. I suppose he is just too convinced of his own choice there and withstanding the consequences…” He paused briefly and closed the door, giving them all privacy again. “When the circlet moves heads… I wonder if he shall still be so convinced about the actions he took.”

Twilight sighed, walking back to the table and sitting down, though she found no respite, physical or otherwise. “I’m tired of fixing everything around here,” she to them both, in a surge of honesty. “Noctraliya is a beautiful country with a rich culture and incredible legacy, that is what I believe in and what I say out of a diplomat’s tact… but, Harmony, what a right mess your lands are.”

She declared like so, not caring how common she sounded, and at this point both of her companions were inclined to agree. Just to be certain of that she shot the healer a glance, meeting a gaze of understanding amicability, and then finding shame and agreement from Midnight as well.

He spoke up, afterwards. “You… will still try to fix the situation, won’t you?”

Twilight leaned back a little, lifting her gaze to the indescribable heavens and beyond. “I would dare say that I’m a victim of my nature as much as all of you…” she exclaimed, and found no protest.

She waited a breath and sighed afterwards, bringing her stare back to the ponies in the room. “I need a moment. We will see how things progress…”

“Quite… the progress in our case.”

Elegy was quite reserved in her reply when Luna finished telling about the recent development concerning Moonwarden’s assassination attempt. This impromptu meeting of the Second Chance had been organized with all the necessary hurry, because the situation had to be addressed immediately before being put before Celestia, Advisor Raven and any other ponies aware of the case in point. All the available ponies gathered post haste, thankfully.

Brass Plaque, who was sitting next to the unicorn actress leaned in a little, his eyes betraying a certain disbelief regarding what he had heard. “So, not only did this infiltrator resign to getting himself captured once apprehended by your power, he claimed that he wanted it to happen? He had just been… intercepted by you, Your Majesty?”

“He didn’t present it is ‘getting captured’, mind you,” Luna told the lieutenant, keen on presenting things in great detail before everypony gathered. “He claims that he was seeking an opportunity to meet with me, and thought that I would be visiting the hospital, like I had been before. He was observing the building, and he wasn’t even ashamed of admitting to it,” she added, feeling that surge of ire at the fact. “Apparently he wanted to try and contact me after my visit, though… there was visible reluctance in his every sentence about the very idea of his.”

“So… lyin’ through his fangs, was he now?” Wobble Wink remarked from over another crossword. He had claimed it helped him focus, though it was more likely that he just hadn’t wanted to interrupt himself when he had been solving it before the meeting. “Ya know, I would be claiming all of that, havin’ been nabbed by you, Your Majesty!” the pegasus claimed, taking a pencil from behind his ear and jotting down an answer of some sort.

“I would have thought so, but… he didn’t sound like he was fabricating anything. It didn’t feel like he was. And, actually, neither did Moonwarden feel any deceit coming from the stallion, and he was focused on him very much...” Luna commented, knowing that she didn’t have to state the obvious reason as to why.

“How is Master Moonwarden, by the way?” Elegy asked, genuine care manifesting in her tone. “I suppose that witnessing his very assailant before his silver eyes, and especially when it was combined with such a… sudden entrance, must have affected him quite strongly.”

“He was… a little giddy, actually,” Luna admitted, remembering the details quite vividly still. “And he wasn’t hiding that he was definitely glad that we wouldn’t have to go through all of the trouble of the plan.”

“Now that!” Double remarked, as his eye did the familiar tick. It looked like he had just guessed a rather tricky phrase, but when he looked up from the crossword he clearly still had the situation in mind. “That is not like the boss. Our monocled moderator does enjoy the outcome and the process both, so… He must still not feel his best, right? If he preferred to spare himself the ‘amenity’ which is goin’ through with an intrigue…”

“I would concur,” Jade Wind spoke up, listening in to the conversation due to an official dispensation, but also quite willing to offer his expertise. “I might not have known the Royal Advisor for too long, but he strikes me as an individual who very much relishes in his undertakings. And I do say that with the utmost respect.”

“ ‘Utmost’?” Wobble Wink prodded at the crystal stallion with a wicked smile, making the latter sigh and roll his eyes.

“Required respect, then,” the on-trial-period thaumaturge reluctantly clarified.

“You aren’t wrong, however, Jade Wind,” Elegy came to his support, rubbing her chin with the grace of an actress, indeed. “Master Moonwarden’s willingness to participate in the ploy could be an indicator of just well he is faring. That being said – not well enough yet, but that is to be expected,” she judged, standing up and supporting herself on the table, as the de facto deputy leader of the ring. “That aside, we have to focus on other matters that he is usually very keen on. Your Majesty, we must take into consideration damage control and information containment. A broken hospital window in that hospital is not an accident, however one spins the story for the ever-ravening media.”

“I may not have the overall proficiency of our most gifted spellcasters,” Luna immediately answered, having anticipated the point, “but thankfully I have enough skill to mend things… even shattered into quite a lot of pieces,” she admitted.

“Meticulous work, restoring a substantial pane like that,” Jade Wind did assess. “Are you well-versed in glaziery, Your Majesty? Crystal and glass both have very specific traits that make restoration… finicky, for the lack of a better word.”

Luna made a face, ever so briefly. “Never thought of taking the craft, even if I do enjoy stained glass windows. Thankfully, my alicorn powers served as a sufficient substitute for lack of real expertise…” she revealed, though she never would have thought that restoring her connection with her ancient power would find such rapid usage in hiding evidence of that sort.

“That then leaves the matter of the two witnesses? You did mention two nurses of Silver Scalpel being around, Your Majesty,” Brass Plaque remarked with a quite grim focus in his dutiful voice.

“I suppose that Moonwarden would usually turn to his… talents in situations like that,” Luna admitted, though mentioning this solution like so still caused her to feel like her conscience was being dirtied. “But I have discussed the matter with the good doctor, as he was on late call, and I’ve been assured that, should it be required, the two will be offered additional compensation for their discretion regarding the apprehending. But it seems to me that, were they not to possess that quality already, they wouldn’t be answering directly to our friend.”

“The whack quack is our friend now?” Wobble Wink asked in quite the theatrical tone. “And here I thought that we were all done with zany ponies in our ‘closer’ circles,” he added, looking about as if having his very own company in mind as well. “Wow, talk about strange bedside-manner-fellows…”

“Silver Scalpel did ask about you exactly at one point,” Elegy remarked with quite the more acting proficiency, which was enough for Double to drop the pencil due to a whole body shudder. The utensil rolled across the table in a quite theatrical manner as the mare returned to the subject matter, having quickly achieved her goal. “That should cover the two of the nurses, although… I must say that I find myself leaning towards the greater assurance of Master Moonwarden’s craft than just loyalty or gold. But that is perhaps why I am standing right where I am standing…” Elegy commented with a touch of self-criticism and a practiced toss of her mane which could kill weaker hearts. And, most likely, had already done so.

Brass Plaque was perhaps agreeing with her on the assurances front, but focused more on the technical side of things. “Very well, witnesses on the inside that can be convinced through bribery are one thing. But what about any onlookers? I imagine that a window which was illuminated by your very moonlight, Your Majesty, could have been in the line of sight of many ponies, likely still up and awake at that hour… Even a vigilant journalist.”

“The Lieutenant is very right, unfortunately,” Elegy spoke up again. “Yes, we have managed to contain the situation regarding this sudden… burst of public readiness to come to Master Moonwarden's aid, caused by his spell, by flooding the editorial offices with conflicting theories, but that surely didn’t cause all of the denizens to stop being overtly alert. Especially with the wounded Royal Advisor right in the hospital nearby.”

“Yes, that is… all very correct,” Luna admitted, taking a deep breath and going through the entire scenario once again. She hadn’t seen anypony else, but her focus was singularly on the infiltrator before her. “There is a chance that somepony saw the moment that I pushed the infiltrator in, through the glass…”

“How loud was the deed?” Jade Wind remarked, but it was Double who replied, having chased down his pencil.

“ ‘Big-window-shattering’ loud, I would say, but I’m not a high and mighty specialist in all things hoodoo.”

“Are you stuck on a clue or something?” Brass Plaque asked the other pegasus in a chastising tone, though that only made the kerchiefed stallion scowl and shake his head.

“Nah, that’s not it. I just… I don’t like any of this!” the other stallion responded, putting down the crossword on the table and leaning over it in quite the overt fashion. “Your Majesty, this is the same freakin’ guy that tried to off the boss, chased him down in some sort of a hunt! And now he’s givin’ himself up like this? Why does this not add up for me?” he asked, looking about, his eye twitching again.

Luna understood where these questions were coming from. And though she didn’t hold all the answers, she could provide at least some context to make the situation regain a semblance of logic.

“Perhaps it will be a little harder to digest or understand, but… from what I could gather during that brief exchange with the infiltrator, he wanted to seek my aid, as his Goddess, after what he had done.”

“… you mean – after tryin’ to kill the boss, your top stallion?” Double asked again, with an incredulous look and more strength behind his words. “Yeah, still does not make freakin’ sense.”

“Behave,” Brass Plaque told the pegasus, then focused on Luna with clear intent. “Your Majesty, I won’t pretend to understand the nature of piety, like the one that the batponies are to possess… but this seems to me like a contradiction even when it is taken into consideration. Trying to assassinate your most faithful servant first and then asking you for help afterwards?”

“There is an answer here – some ponies believe that they can usurp my authority and give orders in my name,” Luna replied. Quite concisely, she thought, but the strength of her voice made the room dead silent, and the shadows were forced to deepen ever so briefly. “When I will have more time to converse with the assassin I shall definitely grant you more insight into his choices… but, for the moment, all I know is that he wishes to put himself in my power, and seek solace in the help I can grant him. And not merely spiritual solace.”

Jade Wind cleared his throat ever so delicately and deliberately. “As a… resident traitor I would pay great attention to his words, yes. Sometimes one’s conscience finally catches up with… whatever else which had been put on the pedestal instead of it, but… I must ask.” The crystal stallion turned his onyx-hued eyes to Luna. “Considering that you see the mountain-dwellers as your progeny in a spiritual sense… which, I suppose, sometimes is stronger than familial bonds – you have not let him go in a form of misplaced mercy, Your Majesty?”

Luna would have felt touched by the suggestion… but there had been a part of her that, after the conversation with the Immaculate Moon and what she had had to pontificate upon lately, considered showing leniency of that sort. And yet she had, thankfully, squashed such a notion quite quickly. This was still a dangerous operative that they were talking about, and showing this sort of clemency would serve nopony.

Not to mention that there was one more thing to reveal.

“No, Jade Wind. He wasn’t opposed to being contained in some way, shape or form…” she began, but then arrived at a point that she had been dreading to make before the gathered operatives. “On one, specific condition.”

“Daring of him, to believe he has room for bargaining,” Elegy remarked, and Luna would be forced to agree. “Still, I am intrigued as to what it was.”

“That Moonwarden dies.”

The utmost silence that was achieved in the chamber with those three words was even greater than then one before, if one could actually grade the absolute state that silence was. The ponies gathered at the table looked at one another as if their leader, the very Alicorn of the Night, had just lost her senses before their very eyes.

Luna was very much in full possession of her faculties, though also understood why she was receiving worried glances. If there was one pony in the entirety in Equestria that had been proven to be protected by her personally, it was the grey unicorn.

And they didn’t even know about their love for one another, which definitely served to strengthen that bond of preservation.

Double, for all of his faults, was again proving that he was the most driven and daring of the group, even if his commentary left a lot to be desired from the elegance standpoint.

“… the rut?”

Luna didn’t particularly mind the swear, considering the situation. And even Elegy didn’t feel like admonishing the pegasus when she had just heard such a declaration.

“Your… Your Majesty, what…? What would this even mean? Surely he did not ask you to finish his mission for him!” the cornflower unicorn protested, her voice marked by dedication to both Luna and Moonwarden alike. “This is unthinkable, this is ludicrous…!”

“I fathom it.”

All the heads in the chamber, even Luna’s, turned to Jade Wind, who was nodding to himself in quite the steady rhythm, in understanding of what he had just heard. And sharing this comprehension with only one other pony present.

Brass Plaque wasn’t the one, actually, but it was he who spoke up afterwards. “Do you actually see… logic in this, Jade Wind? You look like you have hit an immediate breakthrough…”

“That I have done, I believe. I cogitate that… some of my past experiences are revealing the essence of this puzzle to me, actually,” the crystal stallion responded. He leaned in, avoiding Wobble Wink’s glare of jealousy, and instead his eyes first met Luna’s stern and stoic gaze. “That reason, sounding however absurd, is exactly why the asset came to you for succor, Your Majesty. If I have ever heard somepony acting in desperation and under duress, well, I suppose this is it. But… you make it sound simultaneously calculated, without doubt. Which means…” He paused briefly, looked aside, as if searching for something, and then leaned back again, with an expression of somepony seeing through the situation in entirety. “Eureka.”

“Don’t know her,” Wobble Wink commented sardonically before being shushed by Elegy, which allowed Jade Wind to continue.

“I have seen despair aplenty under the rule of King Sombra, before the rescue from Equestria came. That is to say, from you, Your Majesty, and your noble, solar sibling,” the stallion commented in gratitude, though it also wasn’t clear whether he was more lamenting the fact that help had come late, or that the Crystal Empire had needed rescuing in the first place. “There were tough choices, terrible consequences. And a very high price for failure in performing one’s assigned tasks. Highest price, some would claim, when one’s life is more important than one’s integrity. But – who am I to talk and chastise, when I know for a fact that not everypony is always willing to pay that cost, instead hoping to preserve one’s existence by any means necessary,” the ancient traitor spoke, and there was terrible gravity in his words. “And so… our assassin seeks solace and protection in creating the illusion of having completed his mission in the secondary attempt, does he not?”

“Brilliant deduction, Jade Wind. Commendable,” Luna complimented the crystal pony, who nodded, accepting the praise with grace. “Yes, that is exactly the case. Although there wasn’t time to divulge everything, nor was it the place to do so, the infiltrator did claim that Moonwarden’s death is critical. Even if it were to be a staged one.”

“Hah, the boss must have been in stitches to hear it. Actually, he already had been in those for some time,” Double commented with his signature tick and an incredulous look, observing the gathered. “Right, sure, why not, what could go wrong with that idea? Are we due a new handler to keep the pretense? Who’s bitin’?”

“I will, if necessary. So don’t get your hopes up, Wobble Wink, you might find me a worse deal than you think. I have been previously described as a devourer of stallions,” Elegy quipped, assured of her capabilities and definitely not afraid to step up. Still, her focus was not on wrangling sham power. “This assassin… He expects us to conduct a whole play just for the sake of preserving his life from a possible punishment? I must say, Your Majesty, that is not the sort of production I envision gladly. I’ve done some big spectacles, but… does he think we will begin deceiving the entire nation? A Royal Advisor’s death is a huge deal and an undertaking. There would have to be a state funeral, official channels would have to be utilized for the sake of condolences and expressions of sympathy from inside and outside the country. And do not let me start on media coverage of an assassination story, this has already proven—”

“Fortunately it will prove mostly unnecessary,” Luna stopped the unicorn before she delivered her whole speech and all of her concerns, for it was blatant that they were viable and many. “We don’t have to conduct the whole show, actually. It will be enough to act as if we do not want to conduct it.”

There was another pause, but brief, because Brass Plaque’s military mind caught onto Luna’s words quickly and the pegasus spoke up to vocalize his findings. “We act as if the one thing we do not wish to reveal is that the Royal Advisor actually perished. That means that if the batponies are paying attention, scoping us out, they will notify who they need that we are on the back hoof, trying to perform damage control…”

“Which perceived weakness could be detrimental, yes. But our new, willing captive told me that he even has somepony that could deliver the right sort of news. It all just needs to be made… believable,” Luna told the officer, who nodded in understanding before offering a question.

“And what does Equestria get out of it, exactly? Does the culprit have a… vision of some sort there? A whole intrigue he wants to sell us? It certainly sounds like it.”

“I’m glad you asked, Lieutenant,” she responded, making herself a little more comfortable in her chair. “First of all, the mission being accomplished and the perpetrator promptly ‘disappearing’, without us pursuing further the matter of who did the deed and gave the order, will make sure that nopony is suddenly goaded into giving other, more destructive instructions for the moment. That is buying us time…”

“Postponing the possible invasion, which could have been prompted by the plot being discovered and a batpony named the assailant,” the officer commented with a sour expression. “At least, that is the idea… and one that this operative is suggesting as well?”

“Yes, though, as I have said, the offer was presented very concisely so far. Second – the infiltrator, for the price of being kept safe and secure, will reveal before me, as obliged by his religion, who our main enemy is. With that knowledge, we might rule out some possibilities,” Luna explained, looking over the gathered. “It is easier to deal with one, rogue and overambitious political figure pulling the strings, than the whole nation attempting to strike at us.”

“Nah… Sounds to me like an incomplete crossword still,” Double remarked, jotting down another phrase with quite the aggressive intent, even if he was listening very attentively. “Say we get all of that, say we play the game of whodunit, say we say that we don’t know a thing and let it seem like the boss is gone. We learn in return who’s tryin’ to be slick out there – what then? You bust in there with a victorious shout like a gumshoe catchin’ the big bad pony, ma’am? Or we let Princess Twilight in on it and trust she deals with it herself?”

“That… is something that we need to pontificate upon, I agree,” Luna replied, as she had been pondering the course of action herself and was hoping that her faithful ponies would shine some light on her further path.

Path which had been illuminated by the strange communion she had been a part of recently, but which remained convoluted and possibly treacherous.

It seemed that not only Moonwarden believed that there was a reason for caution.

“And what if this whole thing is just a convoluted plan?” Brass Plaque spoke up, weary in voice and approach. “I can imagine sending a ‘sacrificial pawn’ forward, to lead us down exactly the path we need to traverse. What if this operative was sent to lie to you, Your Majesty? To deceive you?”

“No,” Luna replied.

“Ma’am, I know you like the batties, but there’s always a chance, right?” Double also erred on the side of caution, but she remained adamant about her response.

Though, it warranted a longer explanation, for the sake of the gathered. “If I had any doubts about his intentions, I wouldn’t be taking your precious time, especially in a situation like this one. Let us just say that there are a few things that are as certain as the words of a noctral in the very presence of the Goddess.”

“But…!”

Everypony looked at the kerchiefed pegasus, as he dared to speak up again, in a tone that had some deference but also couldn’t quite hide the blatant protest.

Luna wasn’t going to hold that against the stallion, she decided. “Speak plainly, Wobble Wink,” she allowed him to share his thoughts.

“Well, ma’am… You say that, and it’s all good, but… they went for the boss. They planned it, somepony stamped it, and they must have been aware that he’s so close to ya, right? So, like, would it be so strange for a pony to lie to your muzzle and hide it behind bein’ remorseful and all that? What they tried is quite… well, big. How would they explain to themselves this sudden change of heart? Or whatnot, I don’t know what they have there, but it’s weird!”

Those weren’t silly questions, not at all, even if presented in Double’s idiosyncratic style. And there was genuine care and worry expressed in those, despite his quite chaotic disposition.

And it presented a certain dilemma for Luna. Yes, she was the Goddess for the noctrali. The Immaculate Moon… or, at least, in some part. Perhaps wrongly assigned the true role, yet seen as divine. But if a pony had lost faith, lost belief, did any of that matter? Were they under any obligation to be truthful to a deity that no longer had their respect and fealty? If they didn’t fear the Goddess, then what was stopping them, other than common decency and conscience?

Yet if duty called, was it so hard to simply abandon even those notions?

Luna closed her eyes, then nodded. “I do see your point, Wobble Wink, and I thank you for it. But I also will ask in return, and I wish an honest answer from you.”

“… yeah, sure. What’s that about, ma’am?”

“Do you trust me? Respect me?”

Another moment of still silence happened in the chamber that night. It would become worryingly long at some point, but the pegasus never allowed it to quite reach that level.

“Yeah, ma’am. I mean… you proved to be a good boss to us. Better than the boss, I’d say, but don’t let him know I uttered that,” Double revealed, looking over the gathered in hopes that they would remain discreet as well.

Luna didn’t hold such a sentiment against the stallion. Her faithful grey unicorn was certainly a character, and an overseer with a tight grip on the Second Chance. A necessary one, some would say. But he had also managed to install within this surreptitious group at least a portion of their loyalty to Luna, which was proving to be one more gift that Moonwarden had granted her in the name of their unique and beautiful connection.

“Thank you for those words, Double,” Luna told the pegasus, who smirked a little at the usage of his moniker. “Your concern is reasonable, and shows astute logic. But, please, in this one instance lean on the trust you have in me. I admit, I might have been… reluctant before. Fearful, pulled down and incapacitated by what I have endured before, what I have brought upon myself,” she declared, looking around the table as well. “But these latest happenings, the lessons I am learning from them, I believe will make me a much more capable pony in the coming future. A future that I see involving my visit to Noctraliya when the time is right. I promise you all this – I will allow no more Equestrians to be harmed by vicious schemes, weaved by twisted minds. But also…”

She paused, to stand up and walk away from the table for a moment. She stopped right at the wall of manifold papers and complex connections, her faithful grey spider’s own creation. She looked over it all. She took in what she had been told by Moonwarden in this very room, the words that encouraged her again and again. She drank from the gazes on her, which were in equal parts cautious and trusting.

She could work with that trust. “I put my own belief, my own faith, in other ponies that wish to do the right thing,” Luna declared, turning back in a way that placed her in the exact, center spot in the thick net of plans, schemes and underhoof dealings. All for a good reason. “Princess Twilight Sparkle will do her part. Before she returns, I, all of us, will make sure that her great mission is not jeopardized on our end. And so, hear my commands. Elegy?” Luna called forth the mare, tapping into confidence bubbling in her chest.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the actress stood up when called out.

“I trust you to have decorum in mind in this delicate situation. Make sure that what assets we have are acting accordingly, and give a believable show when it comes to Moonwarden’s apparent demise. I trust that you can direct things in a way that would nonetheless leave everypony in the necessary dark regarding what we are trying to achieve?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will start right away, and make the first moves with the coming morn,” the unicorn promised, remaining standing with grace and conviction.

“Fantastic. Lieutenant?”

Brass Plaque stood up with a soldier’s precision and saluted. “At your service, Your Majesty!”

“Continue working with the Royal Guard and close Moonwarden’s case in a way you see fit. Make sure that the spokespony provides the necessary information to the press, with Elegy’s guidance. Also – you will make certain that all of the possible communication channels that might involve the noctrali in the Bastion are more than diligently monitored,” she ordered, following this surge of strength coming from her core, once again illuminated by the argent presence of the Moon, Luna’s returned connection and might. “I trust that you know ponies that can do so without asking why they are fanatically looking for bats and the like?”

The pegasus’ tone was as professional as one could expect from an aspiring paragon of duty. “Fear not, ma’am. We will keep a keen, hidden eye on everything.”

“I know you will. Wobble Wink?”

The other pegasus, anticipated being called at some point, tossed the pencil up, got from his chair leaving the crossword on the table, then caught the implement proficiently to put it behind his ear.

“Ma’am?”

“Utilize the same eagerness, as well as drive and cunning, to go about the town, fish out rumors. If they don’t help, squash them. If they do – propagate them. Spin some new ones, to get the ponies talking just loud enough. Controlled commotion, I know you can achieve that.”

“Squash, propagate, spin, sure thing! Sounds like a ‘three-card’ kinda mission. Could I work the crowd when doin’ some of it?” the stallion asked, biting the tip of his tongue cheekily.

“Within reason and away from notoriety,” Luna advised and commanded both, feeling that embracing her supervising role was doing her a lot of good. “Also – notify Nettlie and Toolbox. Wouldn’t mind seeing them in person if they have something to report about the Eastern Woods’ situation and if it is safe to leave their posts for a moment.”

“You’ve got it, ma’am!”

Finally, Luna’s gaze focused on Jade Wind. He was staring back at her with enough deference to feel satisfied, and stood as soon as that stare landed on him.

“Jade Wind, your contributions to this group, both in action and discussion, are appreciated. I would like for you to report to Princess Cadance directly, make sure that she is in the loop. And that she keeps it close to her and the Prince Consort’s chests. I trust that you aren’t objecting?”

“No, Your Lunar Majesty,” the thaumaturge replied, his gaze lowering for a brief moment. “I was expecting a meeting like this… Reporting these findings is one thing. But I suppose this second, long talk I am about to have with Her Highness was a long-time coming.”

Luna trotted closer to the table, so that she could face the crystal stallion in a way maybe not less regal, but at least a touch more amicable. “I am not sending you to be taken away back to the Crystal Empire, Jade Wind. But when it comes to your past sins and mistakes – that is for Princess Cadance to decide. And for you to judge whether you have atoned for what you have done…”

The stallion sighed, then looked back at Luna with those dark, faceted eyes of his. “I suppose it depends, Your Lunar Majesty. Whether I will find myself absolved in the eyes of others, and mine own, shall be resultant from whether, in the gaze of Her Highness, I shall see a facet of Her Luminous Majesty’s own stare… I am uncertain if I will weather such a chastising, righteous glare.”

Luna nodded, understanding this plight well. “It is your challenge to face. And to best, Jade Wind. Take it from one former wrongdoer to another – it can be bested. It takes time, effort, and definitely the will to better oneself… but it is within reach, for everypony.”

The crystal stallion looked back at Luna and then… chuckled. She gave him a look of curiosity, for she was expecting him to explain that reaction to her post haste.

He did, indeed. “That is… quite amusing to hear, Your Lunar Majesty, for I presume that Her Luminous Majesty would say quite an analogous thing, you know,” the thaumaturge admitted, and a certain nostalgia pierced through that tone of shame. “Our great Empress, Rose Quartz IV, was a multifaceted monarch, like the finest of gems, the most brilliant of cuts and natural formations alike. And she always believed in… us, as peculiar as that sounds. She cared for the Empire, for its denizens, showing us great love and… and trust. Trust in us doing the right thing.” There was a pause, a very somber one. “I… failed to follow her example of self-sacrifice.”

It was perhaps the first time that Luna saw from the crystal pony before her a touch of emotion. Coming right from behind that stoic mask, which occasionally showed only the anticipated shame over past transgressions. And yet something had stirred in Jade Wind, something that had appeared due to his stay in Equestria, during carrying out his duties and obligations. Something that didn’t come from a fear of capital punishment. And, through that, the crystal stallion so quickly reminded Luna that ponies could change, make amends, return to the right path.

Perhaps she hadn’t made a mistake in trusting the words of her wayward child that very night...

And, oh how well Luna understood the ancient crystal traitor. “Yes, you did fail in that. There’s no hiding it behind kind words and delicate expressions. But I fell short of expectations myself, I will have you know,” she spoke candidly and with an empathetic smile. “These nights, however? I believe that I can be better once more, and that I can make the world a better place. I broke through that shell of darkness and emerged, ready to do my part. Not just because of the guilt. Because that is the right thing to do, simple as that.”

“There is a certain… elegance in such simplicity, yes. From time to time, at least,” Jade Wind told her with a grateful smile. “I will meet with Her Highness as soon as I will be granted audience.”

Luna nodded, thoroughly satisfied about encouraging him. She had her own meeting to attend, actually, and this exchange installed some strength in herself. “Then we all know our duties for now,” she told the rest of the chamber. “I know you will not disappoint me. And I shall do my part as well, confide in my sister, so that we are all in the clear about what we are planning.”

“Actually, funny thought – I’m sure that Advisor Raven will be thrilled to pretend like the boss is no more, however much she actually enjoys their rivalry,” Double remarked, picking up his crossword again. “Also – I doubt he will treat this scheme as vacation, even if he needs one to get back in shape. So can we expect to hear from him soon?”

“Depends on how believably he wants to play dead, I suppose,” Brass Plaque allowed himself some quite rare humor, but it made even Luna chuckle.

“I believe in his genuine reluctance to do anything of the sort,” she admitted, smiling to herself, and at Moonwarden’s obstinacy and stubbornness that had saved his life twice already. “But I think if I ask him to play his part and sit still for a brief while he won’t refuse me.”

Actually, that gave her a pause. Maybe… that would actually be the case. Maybe Moonwarden wouldn’t oppose, would listen, would leave behind his post briefly. Perhaps, if the grey stallion would have this chance, to do just ‘nothing’ for the moment, then maybe she would find some time to talk with him, privately. Intimately, even. Not as monarch and servant, but as…

Luna shook her head. She wasn’t sure if Moonwarden would go that far even in these circumstances, since he was finding so much strength and drive in his role as her Advisor. Just her Advisor, despite the wishes of his heart. Maybe closing this distance so quickly wouldn’t serve anypony, even her, as she wasn’t sure if she would actually manage to suddenly see herself as just an ordinary pony in love, despite the wishes of her heart.

Huh. Maybe they were both victims of their respective natures, indeed. But, as she had just told Jade Wind, anypony had a chance to become a better version of themselves.

Then why not them, as well?

Author's Note

Greetings, everyone,

I just wish to duly apologize for the delay of this chapter. A serious illness in the family and then renovations of my flat, not to mention professional obligations, did all sap my strength to write, which resulted in the wait. And possibly some mistakes I have overlooked, despite my best efforts.

I should be back to a healthy tempo now, however, and shall do my best to provide.

~Gulheru