Broken Fences

Chapters

She Needs Help
Mole Among Dancers
Friendship Rejected
Don't Need to Know
The Trap is Sprung
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Accountability
Puzzle Pieces

She Needs Help

The message received by Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor was as alarming as it was short. Hoofwritten on parchment embossed with "Canterlot Royal Observatory" at the top, the distress call of a message went as follows:

"To Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, Luna Shift CO, E.U.P. Guard Canterlot Division -

Please meet me at your earliest convenience at my office at the Royal Observatory. I believe you are the only pony that can help me in dealing with my filly's recent distressing change in behavior.

The Most Honorable Star Dancer, Head Canterlot Royal Observatory"

The message immediately set off alarm bells in Shining Armor's head. Star Dancer, the unicorn mare that currently was head of the Royal Observatory, was a longtime friend of both of his parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. The relationship dated back to the foalhood of all three ponies and was held together by the special talents they all had related to the night sky. All three had also been pupils of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and upon graduation all took up jobs with the Royal Observatory.

Twilight Velvet and Night Light eventually resigned their posts at the Observatory to focus more on raising both their foals, but Star Dancer stayed on, becoming its head a few years before the end of Luna's exile. Star Dancer ended up having one foal of her own: Moon Dancer, who showed every indication of secretly looking up to and wanting to follow in the hoofsteps of Twilight Sparkle, even to the point of enrolling in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns herself.

Both Shining Armor and Star Dancer saw Moon Dancer's admiration, but it dismayed both of them greatly that Twilight Sparkle herself did not see it. In the days before Twilight's "enlightenment" regarding the magic of friendship, Shining Armor (among others including the parents and foalsitter Cadance) had gently tried to coax her into trying to make friends with "others her age", all to no avail. As far as she was concerned, friends were a distraction from her magic studies and nothing could persuade her to think otherwise.

This refusal to make friends her age was a nasty, terrible blind spot in Twilight's worldview that broke Shining Armor's heart. It hurt him that she wouldn't listen, that he couldn't fix this problem no matter how hard he tried. And now he worried it had reared its ugly head yet again, just when he thought it might fade away into an unpleasant memory.

Twilight had a chance to reconcile with some other of her fellow pupils Shining knew about. They had all moved to Ponyville with Celestia's approval, and Shining suspected her blessing as well. Twinkleshine apparently had become a member of the Ponyville Choir despite formerly being assigned as Star Dancer's "apprentice" due to her special talent. Lemon Hearts was now working as an event planner for the Ponyville town government. Minuette was rumored to be practicing dentistry there, although Shining had not seen hard evidence for that. But Moon Dancer was not as lucky as the others were - Shining suspected the "why" had something to do with Princess Luna, but did not think it was a good idea to voice his suspicions to anypony else.

Shining worried that Twilight's departure would cause problems with Moon Dancer, and now the message brought those fears back to the surface. Of course he would respond to her distress call, although he feared he couldn't do as much as Star Dancer was hoping he could...

LATER THAT NIGHT...

Stepping into the big dome of the Observatory's atrium always brought back a wave of nostalgic memory to Shining Armor. The memories were among the earliest he had, dating from before his younger sister was born. His parents would bring him to work during the summer and school vacation months, explaining about the expansive "Neo-Lunar" atrium dome and the two most important things in the Observatory: "The Schedule" and "The Starmap".

Unlike in the human world, the purpose of the Royal Observatory was not to study the stars in the sky but to ensure the constancy of their patterns, night after night. At first, Princess Luna performed the arrangement of the stars in the sky each night, then after Luna's exile Celestia assumed that role. Celestia quickly wearied of the tediousness of the duty, however, and appointed a number of powerful unicorns to assist in the task. Indeed, it very quickly became a symbol of great magic power if a unicorn could even nudge a star from its appointed place in the sky, due to the stars being essentially concentrated points of glowing magical energy affixed to a world-spanning "skydome" through which the sun and moon also moved.

These "star-mover" unicorns quickly rose into the Equestrian elite due to their power and important position in Celestia's service, forming the nucleus of what was to become the Royal Observatory. Shining's parents were "star-movers", as were many of his ancestors. While Shining Armor himself was not a "star-mover", and Twilight Sparkle only learned to be one while under Celestia's tutelage, the fact that both of them were the result of the mating of two "star-movers" was the generally accepted explanation for why both of them possessed extraordinary amounts of magical power.

The Lieutenant Captain crosses the atrium to the rear of the building. Besides him and two guards posted at the door, there is only a single other pony in sight - an inky blue pegasus stallion about Twilight Sparkle's age, currently pushing a broad broom across the tiled floor. The pegasus glares in Shining's direction as he goes by, but Shining does nothing in response - he's used to getting dirty looks, particularly from younger pegasi, at this point. It was in the back, displayed like the tourist attractions they were, that "The Schedule" and "The Starmap" were located, and where Shining expected to meet Star Dancer.

During the day, the Observatory bustled with tourists but was empty of actual workers. During the night, the actual workers - currently Star Dancer and a few others - quietly put snout to grindstone to help the royal sisters with their duties. The most important involved "The Schedule", a yearly record of the sunrise and sunset times for each day - done as much for propaganda purposes as for record keeping. But there was also "The Starmap", the royally proscribed arrangement of stars in the sky that were set up each night during and shortly after the sunset.

As Shining Armor approached, he saw most of the unicorn workers busy with The Starmap, carefully rearranging the brass dots in patterns based on the directions shouted from one unicorn mare standing in front of The Schedule next to it. The Lieutenant Captain knew the workers were setting up the following night's patterns, and approached as silently as he could. But he couldn't help but catch the eye of the directing pony - Star Dancer herself, dark pink coated with indigo mane and tail. Soft blue eyes turned to look in relief at him, but her professionalism only dropped for just a moment.

"You all have your orders. I'll be back in a few minutes." Star Dancer shouts back in the direction of the other workers before turning her attention fully to Shining Armor. The concern on his face grows more pronounced as she closes her eyes briefly and gives out a heavy sigh before opening them again.

"Come with me, Lieutenant Captain. It'll be better to discuss this in my office." Star Dancer speaks to Shining Armor.

Once in the office, Star Dancer did not mince words or emotional appeal in her pleading expression: "I am very worried for my filly. She's slipping away from me, and I don't know how to reach her."

"Slipping away from you?" Shining asks in a very concerned tone of voice.

"She doesn't want to throw parties or hang out with any of her friends still in Canterlot. More and more, she just stays in her room reading books. I think she's also sneaking into the castle library, where your sister was, and just stays in there for hours, doing things I have no idea about. And it worries me, because she doesn't have somepony like you to talk things out with." Star Dancer all but pleads.

Shining nods in grim affirmation. Moon Dancer didn't have an older sibling or a foalsitter like Twilight Sparkle did, and Princess Celestia was nothing more than the head of the school and head of the Equestrian kingdom to her. Moon Dancer didn't even have a father to turn to - Star Dancer's mate died in an apparent accident a few years after Moon Dancer's birth when a drunken pegasus knocked him off the castle walls and he fell to his death.

"Most of her friends either don't interest her or have moved away to Ponyville. The only pony she really seems interested in talking to is Zodiac." Star Dancer continues on.

"Who's Zodiac?" Shining Armor naturally asks.

"He's a pegasus, about the age of your sister and my filly. You probably saw him sweeping the atrium floor as you came in." the unicorn mare explains. "He used to work at the Weather Ministry, trying to save up bits to enter Wonderbolt Academy, but when that terrible explosion destroyed the Ministry offices he lost his job. I gave him the cleaning duties so that he could continue to earn an income, but now I'm wondering..."

"If he's a bad influence." Shining Armor finishes in answer.

A frown spreads across Shining's face as Star Dancer nods. To Shining, the concern was quite justified - he had witnessed that pegasi stallions tended to be quite "possessive" and "territorial" about their special someponies. The worst ones could act despicable beyond words, and even the better examples had to constantly wrestle with their impulses molded by nature and society. There were exceptions, and some non-pegasi could act that way of course, but in general there was reason for concern and careful investigation if a pegasus stallion suddenly started exerting undue influence over a mare.

"Although I think it really started with..." Star Dancer starts again.

"My sister snubbing her party invitation." Shining Armor again finishes, giving a half-wince in the process.

"Exactly. I don't think Moon Dancer's moved on from that."

"And I'm here because you think I can help you."

"Maybe you can't solve the problem, but could you at least try to do something? For the sake of her and for the sake of me? You are Twilight's brother, after all." Star Dancer pleads again.

Shining Armor sighs - because Twilight was in Ponyville by the will of Princess Celestia that cut off any solutions involving her, at least for the immediate future. Honor and decency demanded an affirmative answer to Star Dancer's questions, even if he did not think he could do much to help.

When Shining gave his reply, he couched it in a way that tried not to promise more than he felt he could deliver: "I do not know how much I can do to help, but I will at least try to help Moon Dancer. I cannot promise any success, however."

Star Dancer's face briefly shows disappointment, then resignation - she knew she could not ask any more than she already had of him. And what she was asking was probably not going to help in the long run. But she loved her filly too much to let the slide happen. And Shining loved his sister too much to let her previous mistakes ruin the life of another filly, at least not without putting up a good fight for friendship...

Author's Note

(Star Dancer's design is based on the G1 pony of the same name, which as far as I can tell does not have a FIM counterpart. Feel free to share a link if I'm wrong on this, though.)

Mole Among Dancers

Captain of the Guard Gibraltar frowns as he reads over Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor's report regarding his meeting with Star Dancer. Shining himself, sitting across from him in his office, changes his look to one of deep concern.

"Shining, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm worried you're going to end up in over your head. As even you yourself admitted, this isn't really your battle to fight." Gibraltar dryly comments as he looks up from the report.

"But sir, Star Dancer specifically petitioned me for help! As an officer of the Royal Guard and a friend, I felt honor bound to respond to that call." Shining Armor indignantly replies.

"And I'm not saying what you did is wrong, just to be clear Lieutenant Captain." Gibraltar calmly continues on. "What I'm saying is you have that impulse to try to solve the problems of everypony that asks you for help. Just because Princess Celestia trusts you to help with her sister doesn't mean you can help everypony that asks for it. You have to draw the line somewhere."

"Captain, how else was I supposed to respond to her message?" Shining asks.

Gibraltar lets out a loud sigh before responding: "Unfortunately, your approach is the best answer to that question. Also unfortunately, this is not something you can really fix. The problem with Moon Dancer is something your sister is going to have to solve herself, one day."

"But when is that day going to come? My sister is in Ponyville until further notice." Shining Armor replies.

"I wish I could answer that question for you. I'm not even sure Princess Celestia could give you an answer. And whether it would be soon enough to help, your guess is as good as mine." Gibraltar replies with a sad shake of his head.

MEANWHILE, IN THE PEGASUS COLONY ABOVE CANTERLOT...

"So you two want to be Wonderbolts?" Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire was saying to the two younger pegasi standing in front of her desk in the Wonderbolt Canterlot office.

"Yes indeed they do." Misty Fly, standing behind the younger pegasi, replies. "The young stallion is Zodiac, and the mare is Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust is Lightning Streak's filly, and Zodiac is my nephew."

"Ahh, following in the family tradition I see." Spitfire says with an approving nod. "It's always good to see that happening. Do you two foals know each other?"

"We were in the same Junior Speedsters squad, ma'am." Zodiac says, and immediately both he and Lightning Dust start performing the Junior Speedsters chant (and the little dance that goes with it) to prove the point.

Spitfire seems convinced by the little performance and nods again before speaking: "Alright, alright, what about records of their time in Junior Speedsters?"

"I have them right here." Misty Fly answers, walking up to the desk and dropping a pair of parchments on Spitfire's desk. Spitfire picks up one and looks it over quickly, puts it aside and repeats the procedure with the other parchment, nodding in general approval when finished.

The excited smiles on the other pegasi in response to Spitfire's nod are hiding a darker motive - once again, Spitfire has been duped, this time with "whitewashed" Junior Speedster records. The purpose of the whitewashing is threefold - to increase Misty Fly's potential allies, further Zodiac's progress toward becoming a Wonderbolt and clear the way for Lightning Dust (who would have been denied admittance to Wonderbolt Academy with an honest record showing a pattern of reckless endangerment to others) to become a Wonderbolt cadet as well. Spitfire did not see anything that set off her alarm bells at the time, and only became aware of the duping much later, during an investigation into an incident at Academy perpetrated by Lightning Dust that very nearly took lives as a result.

"Very good, very good. Misty Fly, make sure these two are aware of the proper application procedures and requirements." Spitfire concludes after finishing looking at the parchments.

"Yes, ma'am, I'll be sure to tell them." Misty Fly replies with an unnoticed sly smile.

"Very well then, you all are dismissed from my office."

A LITTLE LATER...

Lightning Dust was greatly puzzled by how the completely cloaked unicorn figure standing nearby seemed to be able to walk on clouds. Some special spell? An alicorn in disguise? What exactly was this pony?

"I trust the deception worked, Agent WA?" the mysterious unicorn was saying to a smiling Misty Fly.

"Like a charm, Agent Snake." Misty Fly eagerly replies.

"Excellent. That Wonderbolt Captain is so easy to dupe, like dough between hooves." Agent Snake comments.

"Yes indeed, master. I have a very low opinion of the Captain, and believe I could run the Wonderbolts far better than she can."

"I'm sure you can, Agent. But I have other business to attend to. Has the young mare shown any interest in becoming one of us?" Agent Snake asks, pointing a covered hoof in Lightning Dust's direction.

"Nay, master." Misty Fly answers with a shake of her head.

"Hmm, maybe later then. You may escort her back to her father, I have something specifically for the young stallion." Agent Snake says, this time pointing his hoof toward Zodiac.

"You heard him, Lightning Dust. Come along, your father's waiting for you." Misty Fly says to Lightning Dust as the former beckons the latter to follow along. Lightning Dust does so, but can't resist looking back at the puzzling pony she just met.

"I didn't know she was an Agent too, sir." Zodiac says to Agent Snake once Misty Fly and Lightning Dust are out of earshot.

"You must understand, young Agent. It is for reasons of security that Agents are generally kept unaware of the identities of their fellows. I made an exception for your case because you and Lightning Dust will need WA's support to get into the Wonderbolts." Snake explains.

"I understand, sir." Zodiac replies, giving a salute with a forehoof.

"Good, good. Now, I have a special assignment for you. Follow me." Snake commands, gesturing with a covered forehoof.

Zodiac cautiously follows Agent Snake down an alleyway and through an unmarked door into a room lit by a few candles. As soon as both of them are in the room, Zodiac pushes the door closed, quickly followed by Snake pointing toward a table set against one wall of the room. Zodiac walks over to look at what Snake is pointing at, and in the dim lighting observes a device similar to a crossbow, only double-barrelled and with large syringes filled with some kind of colored liquid loaded as the ammo.

"Your mission is simple, Agent." Snake begins explaining. "Your current employer, Star Dancer, has not been keeping up with the payments she promised to make, and has also sought help from the loyalist Shining Armor for her filly. She is now a traitor, and both she and her filly must now pay for the betrayal."

"And what do I do?" Zodiac naturally asks.

"You must help the forces already pushing mother and filly apart. Moon Dancer seems to trust you, use that trust to get her to run away from Canterlot. Do whatever it takes to separate the two of them. If there is interference or non-compliance, that's what the weapon is for. Do not be afraid to use it, Agent, for it is a glorious tool in the spreading of chaos and the resurrection of the chaotic one."

"Yes sir, sir!" Zodiac eagerly exclaims, and as he picks up the weapon Snake is most pleased to see the young pegasus reflect his own evil grin...

Friendship Rejected

"... Lieutenant Captain, you seem depressed tonight. Pray tell what is wrong?"

"My conversation with Moon Dancer didn't work. I was afraid it wouldn't work, Your Majesty."

"In the days before our exile, we would travel in the dreams of young ponies to help them in facing problems they may have. We do not currently know if we have regained this power yet, but perhaps Moon Dancer could make a good trial subject?"

"Your Majesty, even if you could, I don't think it would help in this case."

"Oh? And pray tell why not?"

"Well, I think it's best to start from the beginning..."

EARLIER THAT EVENING...

It was now hallowed ground. There was no official proclamation of Celestia, but it seemed to have been mutually agreed upon that the library where Twilight Sparkle resided while training under Celestia was to be kept in a pristine condition as an honor to the filly that had saved Equestria from calamity. It was deemed a proper show of respect that she would have a place to return to should Celestia allow it.

Even though Shining Armor was Twilight's big brother, he still felt he needed to lead by example in keeping his distance, only approaching with slow step. There was no formal guard posting, as the information in the library's books was too important to completely seal off, but instead a simple sign telling anypony that went by the identity and heroism of its former occupant as well as plea for treating the space with respect. The door was left open, though, and Shining stopped just outside the doorway to see if the pony he thought was in there was indeed in there.

Looking at Moon Dancer studying a book in the library was for Shining Armor like looking at a strange alternate universe version of his sister, sending a chill down his spine. After joining Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Moon Dancer started wearing her mane and tail in a style resembling Twilight Sparkle's, as well as getting a pair of "reading glasses", and the resemblance only started growing over time. Now looking at her, Shining Armor was alarmed to see the same behavior patterns Twilight had setting in. He was glad he had not come wearing any armor, but wished he had somehow found a way to get the present Spike was going to give her.

As Shining stands just outside the doorway, the glasses and sweater-wearing Moon Dancer looks up from her book in Shining's direction. Her expression gives Shining a distinct impression of unwelcome hostility, first by her eyes moving in a scanning manner and then an angry glare as her glasses are levitated off her face to be set aside nearby.

"I know who you are. Go away." Moon Dancer finally speaks, her voice with growly undertones of hostility.

"Look, I know what you're thinking Moon Dancer, and I'm not here to apologize for my sister." Shining replies, moving just inside the doorway of the library.

"I know what she did is wrong, and it hurts me she wasn't interested in parties or hanging out in general with other fillies her age. I'm hoping she understands now, even though there's no way to turn back the clock."

"You can say whatever you want, I'm not going to believe you. Not after I went through all the trouble to throw a party and she never showed up! And then her leaving on some mission sent by Princess Celestia without so much as a goodbye!" Moon Dancer replies acidly.

"Moon Dancer, I know you're upset, I would be too, but I'm here because your mom is worried about you! She wants you to at least talk to her about it!" Shining almost pleads in response.

"Hah, that's rich. After learning about my sister, I don't ever want to talk to her again!" Moon Dancer says to blow him off.

"Sister? What are you talking about?" Shining asks as his expression suddenly changes to worried puzzlement.

"Oh, you've probably met her before - the 'special friend' or 'special playmate' my mom sometimes referred to. She never told me she was my sister though."

"Then how did you learn about it?"

"Zodiac showed me evidence the 'special friend' was my sister. We have the same mother but different fathers, according to him. My mother wanted to keep it covered up because she wasn't sure who the real father was. She's been lying to me my whole life about her, so why should I trust her now? She's hurt me, just like your sister hurt me!"

Shining's concern had now changed to alarm. He had trouble believing that Star Dancer had been covering up such a situation from everypony else for so long, and there was a very good possibility Zodiac was trying to drive Moon Dancer toward him and away from other, more positive influences. What's worse, he had no way to counter the argument she was making.

"Moon Dancer, I... I'm not sure what to say about that..." he finally tries.

"There's no more point in continuing this conversation." Moon Dancer abruptly states as she rapidly gets onto four hooves, her eyes angry embers of emotion. "If you wanna help, bring your sister here and have her apologize to me!"

"Now you know I can't do that because of Princess Celestia..." Shining tries to explain, only to get cut off again.

"Buck Celestia! I've already decided to drop out of the school! I don't need anything but my books and a private place to read them in!"

"Moon Dancer, please..."

"I've had enough talk! If you can't bring your sister here, get out!"

"...What?"

"You heard me right, turn right around and get out right this instant!"

"Moon Dancer, you can't...!"

"GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" Moon Dancer shouts at the top of her lungs, accompanied by the magic tossing of several books at the same time in Shining's general direction.

None of the books hit their mark, but it's enough to convince Shining the cause is lost. He looks back and forth from the tossed books to Moon Dancer's fuming anger, taking a few breaths to keep his emotion in check. Finally, he manages to lock Moon Dancer straight in the eye.

"Alright, alright Moon Dancer. I'll get out and leave you alone." he speaks softly, utilizing a calming tone that was previously sometimes used to soothe a frustrated or irritated Twilight. "But please, at least talk to your mother. Don't make her a casualty of my sister's mistakes."

BACK IN THE PRESENT...

"How terrible! Do you really believe that she intends to isolate herself from all others?" Princess Luna asks Shining Armor.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I do." Shining sadly replies.

"And the claimed affair that produced a half-sister?"

"I... don't know. I'd have to look into the records."

"And what are you going to do now?"

"The only thing I can do: write my sister a letter." Shining replies with a determined look on his face. "Maybe she'll be shocked into sending Moon Dancer a written apology. It may not work, but it's better than doing nothing."

"I agree. Anything is better than nothing when past sins need to be rectified. I hope one day to do this for the general populace of Equestria as well, not just here in Canterlot." Luna says with a smile.

MEANWHILE...

Moon Dancer, still in the Canterlot library reading books, looks up upon hearing a knocking noise. She sees an inky blue pegasus stallion about her age is making the noise by knocking one of his forehooves on the opened door.

"Oh, at least you gave the courtesy of knocking Zodiac. Come in." Moon Dancer says in the stallion's direction.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Zodiac asks as he steps over beside Moon Dancer.

"Twilight's big brother had the nerve to visit me here earlier! He left after I gave him a piece of my mind!" the unicorn mare replies, a glare under her reading glasses as she looks at Zodiac.

"Oh, him?" Zodiac asks, chuckling a bit. "I don't know what everypony sees in him. He's like Charlie Browncoat - all wishy-washy. I wouldn't worry about him, there's nothing he can do here."

"Well, you don't need to tell me that. What are you doing here anyway?" Moon Dancer asks in a casual tone as she flips over a page in the book in front of her and continues on reading.

"Your mom gave me a day off tomorrow, so... I was wondering if you wanted to hang out at Pony Joe's with me?" Zodiac asks awkwardly, looking away and rubbing one of his forelegs on the back of the other foreleg.

"Really?" Moon Dancer asks hopefully, perking up her mood for the first time that day.

"Sure, why not! Besides, when was the last time somepony, particularly somepony like Twilight Sparkle, invited you out?" Zodiac asks with a grin.

"Well, nopony really has... Twilight never did, I can't remember any others besides my mom..."

"Exactly! I'm not going to be a jerk like they were! I promise, I'll always come to whatever party you want to throw."

"Thank you, Zodiac. I really appreciate that." Moon Dancer says, a rare smile crossing her face.

"Tomorrow afternoon, then? Oh, and don't tell your mom about this conversation."

"Don't worry, I wasn't intending to anyway."

"Good! See you at Pony Joe's tomorrow evening!" Zodiac states as he turns to leave the library.

As Zodiac exits, he looks back at Moon Dancer returning to her reading, albeit in a much better mood than before. He keeps his excited look on his face until he is out of Moon Dancer's sight, then the expression changes to a "got her where I want her" expression. The trap would soon be set for both mother and filly to fall into...

Don't Need to Know

"I'll take a double chocolate with sprinkles, and a vanilla milkshake."

"... I'll just have what he's having."

"Two orders of double chocolate with sprinkles and vanilla milkshake coming right up!"

"What's the matter, Moon Dancer? I thought you'd be happier here!" the pegasus Zodiac asks Moon Dancer, who is sitting across from him in a booth at Pony Joe's donut shop in Canterlot.

Moon Dancer sighs before replying: "Well, it's just that Twilight used to hang out here a lot. I probably could even point out her favorite booth where she and her little dragon companion would study for hours, just munching down on donuts and guzzling coffee. All on Celestia's tab, mind you."

"Bad memories? Yeah, I don't blame ya..." Zodiac replies as he looks around at the relative quiet of the donut shop in mid-afternoon. Except for Pony Joe himself, Zodiac couldn't see another pony in the place.

"I hope my mom doesn't find out I'm here. I think she'd be pissed." Moon Dancer comments when Zodiac returns his attention to her, a forehoof drumming on the table.

"You didn't tell her we were here, right?" Zodiac asks.

"Yeah, I didn't say anything."

"Then we got nothin' to worry about! We'll just have a donut and a milkshake and we'll talk about the future together!"

"Future together?"

"Well, you're not going to go crawling back to your mom, are you? Not after she kept knowledge of that sister of yours secret from you."

"No, definitely not. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Yes, you're old enough, but I'm also old enough to help you take care of yourself."

"Well, you've certainly been nicer to me lately than a certain filly I used to look up to..."

"You see? You don't need her, you don't need your mom, you don't need your sister, you don't even need Celestia. All you need is me and my dreams!"

"Dreams? What kinda dreams?" Pony Joe interrupts as he magically levitates the tray with the order over to the booth where Moon Dancer and Zodiac were sitting at.

"The same dream a lot of pegasi have: joining the Wonderbolts!" Zodiac replies, next making an enthusiastic swooping gesture with a foreleg as Joe lowers the tray onto the table.

"Them fancy flyers, huh? Well, good luck with that." Joe comments as he lifts off each item on the tray to place it in front of the pony that ordered it.

As soon as Joe walks away with the empty tray, Moon Dancer resumes the conversation: "How are you going to swing that, Zodiac? You don't have any particular talent in flying, as far as I know anyway."

"I have 'connections'." Zodiac smoothly replies, saying the last word in a manner meant to be vague on exactly what he meant.

"Whadda ya mean 'connections'?" was the natural skeptical question Moon Dancer posed now.

"I mean connections the way you think I mean them." Zodiac begins to explain as Moon Dancer takes slurps of her milkshake. "You need connections to get anywhere in Canterlot. It's how that wishy-washy older brother of Twilight Sparkle is as high a rank as he is. And I have connections to make me get into the Wonderbolt Academy."

"What kind of...?" Moon Dancer asks again before being interrupted by Zodiac holding up a foreleg.

"You don't need to know the details. Just know that one day I will be a Wonderbolt and you'll have as much money for books as you could ever want. Enough for your own library, maybe even better than Twilight's! Wouldn't that be fun?" Zodiac explains as if trying to sell the idea like a product.

Moon Dancer looks up for a moment, contemplating what Zodiac had to say. She levitates up her donut and takes a bite, her chewing a visual reflection of the chewing going on in her mind. The idea of some kind of revenge in the future is what convinces her, and she finally gives a nod to Zodiac.

"Awesome! We'll run away together! My aunt already has a place for us to lay low for a while, build a new life together!"

"You're sure about this?" Moon Dancer asks one last time.

"You really have an alternative, Moon Dancer?" Zodiac returns.

"No, I guess not. Mostly because I don't want to see Twilight or my mom again!"

"Then meet me at the Canterlot train station midnight tomorrow night. There's a 'Midnight Express' out of the city. I'll be on that train, I hope you'll be too."

"I think I will, Zodiac. I don't give a buck about Twilight Sparkle or my mom or Princess Celestia anymore, anyway. I'd rather run away with you."

MEANWHILE, IN PONYVILLE...

"MAIL!" a grey, cross-eyed pegasus mare with a mailbag slung across her withers eagerly shouts at the door to the Golden Oak library.

"Thanks, Ditzy. I'll take it off your hooves." Twilight Sparkle says as she walks over to the door from the podium she was reading in front of. Using her magic, she levitates her pile of mail out of the bag, and the mailmare goes on her way.

"'Ditzy'? I thought her name was Derpy Hooves..." Spike, looking over an inventory sheet nearby, comments.

"Ditzy Doo, Derpy Hooves, Muffins... all the same pony. Just don't call her cross-eyed, OK Spike?" Twilight replies with a casual tone as she looks over the bunch of letters being levitated in front of her.

"Yeah, whatever. Anything for me?" Spike asks, still looking at the inventory sheet.

"Looking right now..." Twilight answers as she begins sorting through the pile of mail. "Bill... junk... ugh, Amarezon delayed the order again? I really don't know what's wrong with them... what's this?"

Twilight stops at one envelope, which has an E.U.P. Guard seal on the back face. It usually meant a letter from his big brother, so she felt obligated to at least take a look. Putting the rest of the unsorted mail down, she generates a short "dagger" of magic energy in mid-air that she uses to slit open the envelope.

"Whaddya find?" Spike asks, looking up from his sheet as Twilight starts looking over the letter. He sees Twilight's expression change into a growing unease, then her abruptly crumpling up the letter and tossing into a wastebasket underneath the podium using her magic.

"What's wrong?" Spike asks again, the concern all too evident in his voice.

"Nothing, I thought it was important. You don't need to know the details." Twilight answers, her tone and manner indicating something had rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was something in the letter itself, but more likely is that she just didn't want its contents pricking her conscience.

Spike opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again - he knew that it was generally a bad idea to ask too many questions when Twilight got in that flustered mood she was in now.

"Now where were we... oh yes!" Twilight exclaims, using magic to pick up the unsorted mail and continuing the sorting she had started.

It was thus that Shining Armor's written plea went to total waste, barely even read by its recipient. The problem with Moon Dancer would not be addressed by Twilight Sparkle until much later, and now there was nothing to stop immediate affairs from sliding even further toward disaster...

The Trap is Sprung

"Open up! Open up! Somepony needs to help me! My filly is in danger!"

"Oh Star Dancer, you're right about your filly being in danger, but it's not the filly you think it is!"

The voice behind her interrupts Star Dancer's passionate banging on the locked double doors which separated the civilian staff quarters from the rest of the castle. Turning around, she gasps in horror at what she sees: a pony cloaked and with stockings completely covering their hooves, red eyes fiercely glowing under the hood and flanked by two guards. Moon Dancer could also see being lead around by a rope a filly with mane and coat colors similar to but slightly faded from Moon Dancer's, as well as a blue coffee mug cutie mark and a suppressor ring on her horn. The second filly, the "mistake" Star Dancer had tried to keep knowledge from for so long, was now hostage of the evil Star Dancer immediately could guess as Agent Snake.

"Your cleaning colt does good work, Star Dancer. Seize her!" Agent Snake exclaims, pointing a forehoof toward the stunned unicorn mare and prompting the two flanking unicorn guards to spring into action.

Star Dancer is so stunned and confused by the turn of events that she barely puts up any resistance as the two guards pin her and put a magic suppressor ring over her horn. She is then forced to prostrate before Snake, her looking up with venom in her eyes.

"You have a good explanation for why you stopped payments and started hobnobbing with that favorite of Celestia?" Snake spits out in an interrogative tone.

"You filthy, no-good, rotten-to-the-core...!" Star Dancer begins to rave at the top of her voice, before abruptly being cut off by one of the guards smashing a hoof into the back of her head.

Snake smirked at Star Dancer's dizzy expression as she struggled to get back onto her hooves. He had something particularly devious in mind for her, meant to ensure Moon Dancer's spiral into isolation and make an example of any others that potentially wanted to switch sides.

"Take her to the chamber. She has debts that need repaying." Snake orders the guards, who promptly begin hauling her away. Snake follows behind them with the captive filly in tow, confident that all was going according to plan...

MEANWHILE...

"Stratocumulus, you're certain of this, that Moon Dancer is missing and Star Dancer is in mortal danger?" Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor asks at an emergency meeting called with him and several Lieutenants in attendance.

"Absolutely, sir. The young stallion Zodiac has misled Moon Dancer into running away and Star Dancer into a trap. The Agents of Chaos are behind this, I'm sure of it!" Stratocumulus exclaims.

"Then we'll need to act fast if we want to stop innocent ponies from getting hurt." Shining Armor affirms with a stamp of a forehoof. He then begins giving out orders at a rapid clip: "Lieutenant Vesper, take your bat pony squad and find Moon Dancer before she has a chance to escape Canterlot! Lieutenant Aldebaran, you and your squad inform the guards at the city gates to be on the lookout for Moon Dancer, then join Vesper in sweeping the city. Lieutenant Stratocumulus, come with me, we'll deal with the renegade Zodiac ourselves! Everypony dismissed!"

The good stallions of the Royal Guard were moving into action, but it was already too late to stop the evil plan now in motion...

Into the mountain of Canterlot the captive mother and her filly were lead by Agent Snake's party, the only light in the old mineshafts from enchanted crystals and torches mounted into the walls. The destination was a small cavern dominated by a machine and its control panel, a torture chamber of sorts that made Star Dancer and her filly gasp in horror upon seeing it for the first time.

"Strap her to the table." Snake orders the two guards hauling Star Dancer, who at this point is disoriented and battered from the number of hits she's taken en route. She is strapped to the table without resistance while Snake works the rope of the filly into a sort-of noose, herding her up onto a low platform over which the loose end of the rope could be slung over a projection of the rockface, such that anypony that pulled on the loose end of the rope would tighten the noose and strangle the filly as a result.

Snake positioned himself to do exactly this, but kept the rope in a position where the noose was not tight. He didn't want to kill the filly right away, just use the threat to force compliance. He also takes a moment to relish the fear and panic on the face of both filly and mother, completely helpless before him.

"Operator, we are ready. And do not be slow now!" Snake shouts in the direction of an annex to the cavern. A few seconds later, a cream-coated unicorn stallion emerges into the main chamber, his reluctant walk prodded on by a dark-coated pegasus stallion using the dull end of a Royal Guard lance.

Star Dancer gasps with a shocked expression at the sight of this stallion, and the filly says something like "Dad!" before a yank on the noose silences her again. The unicorn stallion averts his gaze as if ashamed from those two as he is prodded toward what looks like a control panel for the machine dominating the room.

"Now then, you've been told what to do, Agent. Do not keep me waiting!" Snake states as the unicorn stallion is stopped in front of the panel, the spear on the pegasus guard flipped around to the sharp tip. The pegasus moves the tip of the spear such that it is near the neck of the unicorn, ready to strike at Snake's orders.

The unicorn stallion looks over at the shackled and silently pleading Star Dancer, than at the filly in the noose, then down at the control panel with its big red button. Sweat is dripping from his muzzle, not entirely the result of the heat in the confined cavern space.

Agent Snake lets out a growl and pulls down on the rope, beginning to choke the filly in the noose. Over her gagging sounds, Snake shouts: "I'm not going to say again! Press the button or the filly dies!"

The unicorn stallion now shows panic. He again looks over at Star Dancer desperately shaking "no", then at the choking filly, then at the pegasus ready to skewer his neck with the spear, then down at the panel. Visibly trembling and with sweat pouring down his face, he finally slams a forehoof down on the button.

Somewhere, there is a sound of a buzzsaw revving up. Snake lets slack the rope again, causing the filly to gasp and cough for air. The spinning blade, seen in the dim light attached to an arm of the machine, turns at a specific cutting angle and approaches Star Dancer, now shouting and struggling against her restraints as the blade edges closer and closer to the base of her horn...

ELSEWHERE...

Zodiac was waiting. After Star Dancer had left her apartment looking for her filly, he had broken in and staked out a hiding spot. He had every intention of leaving Moon Dancer high and dry at the train station, and instead seek quick glory with the weapon Agent Snake had given him. A crossbow, loaded with two syringes full of what he had to guess was some kind of poison or knockout compound. Inevitably somepony, possibly somepony important, would come by the apartment looking for Star Dancer. And he would shoot them. And it would be glorious, or so he thought.

The sound of voices breaks Zodiac out of his reveries and sends him scurrying to his hiding spot, just out of view of the apartment's main room. He quickly recognizes one of the voices - Shining Armor himself - and immediately his expression curls into an evil grin. Leaning against a wall to help keep balance, he picks up the loaded crossbow with his forehooves and waits out of sight as the voices come closer.

"Hold up, Lieutenant. Somepony's broken into Star Dancer's apartment." Shining Armor was saying, his position close to the broken door into the apartment.

"They bucked in the door, it looks like." Lieutenant Stratocumulus observes with a grim look down at the broken door knob and splinters of wood on the floor.

"We'll have to assume an ambush. I'm going in with shields up, stay close." Shining Armor replies, his horn glowing with magenta-colored magic to encase him with a similarly-colored shield bubble.

There is silence for a moment, then Zodiac hears the crunch of hooves over the broken wood of the door. He risks a peek around the corner to see both Shining Armor and Lieutenant Stratocumulus entering into the apartment, taking a quick look around near the doorway.

"Some items seem to be disturbed, but beyond the door nothing else appears damaged." Stratocumulus comments.

"We can work out the property damage later, for right now we need to find Star Dancer. She may have left already, but if she's still here she's going to need medical help most likely." Shining Armor replies.

"You're right, she's already left, and you're too late to do anything about it!" Zodiac exclaims in reply, awkwardly swinging around out of his hiding spot and opening his wings to maintain his balance. He stops with the crossbow pointed at Lieutenant Stratocumulus, hoof on the trigger and a cocky grin on his face.

"Zodiac. Shame on you, young stallion! After everything Star Dancer did for you, you repay her by helping send her and her filly to some terrible fate?" Shining Armor scolds after Zodiac reveals himself.

"Shut up, Mr. Wishy-Washy! You have no right to lecture me on anything! I don't take orders from you, period." Zodiac shouts back.

"As a citizen of Equestria, Zodiac, you are bound to..." Shining tries in a formal tone, only to get cut off by an increasingly giddy Zodiac.

"I am not a citizen of Equestria, and my name is not Zodiac! My name is Agent 46, and tonight I'm going to kill a pony in the name of the Agents of Chaos! Glory to the chaotic one!" Zodiac shouts, at the end slamming his hoof down on the trigger as the mania takes him over completely.

There is a great hissing noise, and the recoil of the syringes being launched knocks Zodiac off balance. The crossbow was aimed at Stratocumulus, but because of being knocked off balance Zodiac didn't see whether the shot rang true or not...

A Series of Unfortunate Events

When Zodiac regained his balance, he was disappointed but not necessarily surprised by what he saw. Calmly, he tossed aside his crossbow weapon and pawed the apartment floor, snorting and with wings open. He was not afraid of the stallions confronting him, or the two-against-one odds he faced. He was determined to win as only a pegasus stallion could be.

"You still aren't deterred, young stallion?" Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor asks as he uses his magic to pluck out the syringes embedded in a lobe of his forcefield bubble he had extended over his comrade, Lieutenant Stratocumulus. The syringes had been stopped in mid-air by the sudden extension of the forcefield, leaving Stratocumulus unharmed. Shining now moved them with his magic away from both him and Stratocumulus, then they are tossed like darts at one of the apartment's walls, leaving them stuck in the wall as a result.

Zodiac saw this, and that was his cue. He let out a great shout - Stratocumulus later reported it was a war cry once used by the pre-unification pegasi tribes - and leapt at Stratocumulus. He rebounds off the still-extended forcefield, but flared open wings buffet the impact and allow Zodiac to land on all fours. Shining drops the forcefield, and Zodiac gives another cocky grin as the battle begins in earnest...

MEANWHILE...

Over the Canterlot train station flew Lieutenant Vesper's squadron - six bat ponies, including the Lieutenant, plus the recently-activated griffon defector Guard Upper Class Excelsior. Vesper had the squad circle to see if Moon Dancer was waiting on the currently-empty platform, but upon seeing no sign of the filly lead the squad in for a landing on the platform.

"Arcturus!" Vesper calls out once the squad had landed.

"Yes sir?" a bat pony stallion with surprisingly bright orange colored eyes responds from nearby.

"Take the griffon and two Lower Classes, check down that way." Vesper orders, pointing a certain direction down the platform.

"Yes sir." Arcturus answers, turning to relay the orders to the appropriate members of the squad.

"You two, follow me." Vesper now says to the two closest squad members, and starts into the station proper with the two other bat ponies following.

Vesper is aware of alerting Moon Dancer of the presence of his squad, so makes all subsequent orders using foreleg motions, having his two subordinates look down in different directions within the station. Still, his hoofsteps are echoing too loudly for his taste.

The bat pony Lieutenant rounds a corner - and notices a small lantern glowing some distance down. Carefully walking closer, he notices a young unicorn mare sitting on the station floor while reading a book by the lamplight, along with a few other books stacked beside her. He suspects it's Moon Dancer, and is able to confirm it as he gets closer to her sitting position.

"What do you want? Who sent you?" Moon Dancer asks contemptuously as she looks up at Vesper from her reading, the lantern giving her angry look a sinister undertone.

"It does not matter who sent me, filly. I'm here because your mother is in grave danger. Someponies want to keep you two apart for their own purposes!" Vesper explains as patiently as he can.

Moon Dancer slams her book shut and contorts her face into a scowl before replying: "Now let me tell you something, Sir. I don't give a buck what happens to my mother, not anymore. I am going to take the Midnight Express with my stallionfriend to start a new life with him. You can arrest me if you want, but you're not going to stop me running away and you're not going to make me help my mother!"

"There is no Midnight Express, young mare! Your stallionfriend lied to you! Hold up your lantern to the big schedule board and you'll see the truth!" Vesper exclaims in exasperation.

Moon Dancer gives Lieutenant Vesper a confused look, then uses her unicorn magic to levitate the lamp she was using high up into the air and close to a big display board in the center of the lobby area. With the lantern moved away, Vesper can only make out Moon Dancer's face by reflected light from her glowing horn. Nevertheless, it is enough to see first her confusion, then dismay and horror on her face as she moves the lantern back and forth via the unicorn magic in front of the board.

There is a moment of breathless silence, then the lantern abruptly is "dropped" by her stopping her magic control over it. Before Vesper can react, the lantern shatters on the floor, plunging the room into total darkness. He hears galloping hoofsteps and sobbing sounds mixed together and echoing across the room, and immediately realizes his mission has failed - he had no idea where Moon Dancer would be headed, and could find another hiding place by the time he called his squad back together to chase after her.

Vesper hears a door opening, and the sounds of some of his subordinates shouting orders to stop, but it was too little too late - she was already galloping in the Canterlot streets, easily able to shake his subordinates if they chased her. He shook his head sadly - there was little more he could do now to help anypony...

MEANWHILE, IN THE CANTERLOT MOUNTAIN...

"The extraction process for the horn trophy is complete, Agent Snake."

"Good. Dump the mare down the mountainside, she is of no more use to us. Start the preservation treatment for the horn immediately."

"Sir, what about the others?"

"Take the stallion and the filly to the mountain access point and release them back into the city. They have played their part, for now."

It was such that Star Dancer, hornless and in intense pain, was roughly hauled up a ventilation shaft and tossed out to roll down the mountainside. In the darkness she tumbled, her pain-clouded view constantly inverting and twisting itself, until there was a final merciful stop on a ledge. The pain and her tears took over completely as she drifted in and out of consciousness, wondering if anypony would save her from what seemed to be certain death...

Paralyzed by her injuries and unwanted surgery, Star Dancer had thoughts of both her fillies flitted in and out of her mind, as did thoughts of her long-dead mate. Her breaths came shallow and painful, and she could already imagine seeing her mate again...

ELSEWHERE...

Zodiac was losing his fight in Star Dancer's apartment against Lieutenant Stratocumulus and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor. His youthful energy and determination simply couldn't match the advantage in numbers and training the two Royal Guard stallions had, and despite repeated use of furniture and knives as improvised weapons he was taking a heavy beating.

There was nowhere for Zodiac to run or fly away to - Shining Armor's shielding spell had been generated to block all windows and doors leading out of the apartment. Exhaustion was setting in, and his previous swagger had since been deflated. He was stubborn and glory-seeking as only a pegasus stallion could be, though, and it would soon be his total undoing.

Zodiac had become locked in a pushing contest on his hindlegs against Stratocumulus, sweat and determination evident on both faces. Stratocumulus smashes his head downward into Zodiac's, knocking the latter off balance and allowing Stratocumulus to knock him down with a hoofsmash. The Lieutenant next attempted to smash downward onto Zodiac, but the younger pegasus rolls out of the way and latches onto his side trying to pull him down to the floor.

Stratocumulus hears Shining Armor call his name and sees the unicorn setting up for a hindleg bucking attack. He rolls forward and to the side opposite where Zodiac was clinging to throw the opponent off-balance again, and looks back to see Shining connecting with both hindlegs in a buck on Zodiac's chest. Zodiac goes flying clear across the devastated apartment, hitting the far wall with enough force to crack a spider-web pattern in it!

The younger pegasus slumps to the floor, the screaming pain in his chest certain indications of broken ribs and fractured breastbone. Flying was now impossible, and any movement of a limb sent a pulse of pain shooting through his body - even breathing was beginning to be painful!

"I've had enough of this!" Shining Armor, dripping in sweat and wearing a few bruises, exclaims in frustration in Zodiac's general direction. "Zodiac, you are under arrest in the name of the princesses of Canterlot on charges of treason, conspiracy to endanger the welfare of others and attacking an officer of the Royal Guard!"

It was only at this point that Zodiac realized that he could not escape "The End". There would be no life with Moon Dancer, no Wonderbolts, no glory. Instead, he would only see the inside of a cold dungeon cell (or at least that's what Agent Snake told him it was like) for the rest of his days. If he was particularly unlucky, he would get "zapped" by Princess Celestia as an execution, just like other Agents of Chaos had.

And Zodiac refused even now to accept that fate. He desperately looked around for an out as Stratocumulus and Shining Armor produced the shackles that would bind his hooves together and make him a powerless prisoner. Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed the two fluid-filled syringes had been knocked out of the wall nearby by his impact, laying on the floor waiting for somepony to inject themselves with.

The pegasus seized the opportunity and lunged in the direction of the syringes. Both Shining Armor and Stratocumulus tried to hold him down, but he wriggled out of their pins and lunged again, this time getting close enough to use a forehoof to roll one of the syringes toward his body. Before either of the other stallions had a chance to do anything, Zodiac stood the syringe point-up on the floor and fell on it, the weight of his body insuring the liquid was injected. After the injection was complete, the pegasus tips over on his side, going completely limp and his eyes closing in the process.

"What did he just inject himself with?" Stratocumulus asks as Shining uses his magic to levitate up the other syringe and look it over with it hovering in mid-air.

"Concentrated cyanide solution." Shining answers with a tone that mixed dismay and depression. "This particular shade of blue you're seeing is from a coloring agent that is added as a warning against drinking it. These doses might've been stolen from the pest control supplies used by the groundskeepers."

"Then we need...!" Stratocumulus begins to exclaim in alarm before Shining cuts him off with a raised forehoof.

"Lieutenant, with the dosage he just received he'll be dead before we can do anything to help him. We don't even have enough time to get to the medical station to get an antidote." Shining Armor explains. "What's most important now is finding out what happened to Star Dancer and her filly. I'll take care of things here, you join the other Lieutenants searching for them. Understood?"

"... Yes sir." Stratocumulus replies, reluctantly turning around and walking out of the ruined apartment to help in the search for the two endangered ponies.

As Stratocumulus leaves, Shining Armor levitates the unused syringe toward the apartment's kitchenette sink and squirts the liquid inside down the sink drain. He then turns back to look at the destruction and the doomed colt of a pegasus laying on the floor, and he shakes his head with a great sadness in his expression. This night was already very bad, and he had to wonder if it would get even worse before it got better...

Accountability

It was a terrible thing to see a unicorn without its horn, the mockery of a magical creature lying motionless on a hospital bed. It was even more painful when this unicorn was one who you knew for a long time as a friend of your family.

This was the situation Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor found himself in as he visited the dehorned Most Honorable Star Dancer in Canterlot General Hospital. Only her life had been preserved, mostly due to the vigilance and determination of some of Shining's subordinates - everything else of value had been taken from her. Without her horn, she could no longer effectively fulfill her duties in the Royal Observatory and most likely she would have to live the rest of her life in the manner earth ponies did - a serious disability more in perception than reality, but still enough to be a significant life changer.

As far as Shining knew, Star Dancer would have no one to help her now. Her filly, Moon Dancer, seemed to have walked away from her social obligations to anypony else and gone into some kind of hiding - Shining wasn't even sure if she was still in Canterlot at this point. Star Dancer's parents were long dead, as was her mate, and she had no siblings to step up in caring for her. The possibly-illegitimate second filly and her claimed sire - a secret Star Dancer had tried to hide for so long - had not shown up either.

Shining Armor was turning over in his mind the possibility of asking his parents to take her in when he heard Captain Gibraltar's voice calling him. He turned to see the old unicorn Captain of the Guard standing at the door of the hospital room.

"Shining, I need you to come back down to the lobby." Gibraltar says in a very somber tone of voice.

"Yes, sir." Shining quietly replies, looking back at Star Dancer's battered, hornless form laying in the hospital bed. The only sounds he heard were the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the quiet hissing of the ventilator she was hooked up to. He couldn't keep the gloominess off his face as he slowly walked out of the room to join the Captain...

"Has the doctor said anything about her condition?" Gibraltar asks Shining Armor as the two start their way back to the hospital lobby.

"Yes sir, and most of it is bad news." Shining Armor replies sadly. "Not only does she have a number of broken bones and fractured ribs, her horn is completely gone - with how much of it was cut off, it's not likely to grow back anytime soon, if at all."

"That means she won't be able to properly carry out her duties. I've already advised Princess Celestia a replacement needs to be appointed for her position as soon as possible. We won't even wait for the formality of a resignation letter due to the urgency of the situation."

"Understood, sir. Has anypony found Moon Dancer?"

"Negative. All we know for certain is that she's probably still in Canterlot somewhere, we've been watching the trains in and out of the city and she hasn't been spotted on any of them. With her stallionfriend dead and her mother crippled, she's going to be laying low and maybe grieving for a long while. As far as we're concerned, she's lost to any influence we might be able to exert on her. If this problem is going to be fixed, your sister is going to have to be the one to do it." Gibraltar explains.

"I understand, sir." Shining replies, his expression visibly depressed and his ears drooping low.

"My condolences to you, I know Star Dancer was a good friend of your parents." Gibraltar responds sympathetically. "But just as I said before, you just couldn't do enough to change the outcome of these events. Not just the perpetrators, but your sister, will one day have to be held accountable, in some way, for their actions."

The rest of the trip to the lobby passes in awkward silence - Shining remains crestfallen that this was a scenario where he couldn't save the day, where he couldn't have made enough of a difference to change anything. He also hated the thought his beloved sister had a good part of the blame for the events that transpired, but deep down in his heart he knew it was true. Twilight Sparkle would have to amend the broken fences she left behind, somehow and someday, all by herself...

When Shining Armor and Captain Gibraltar got back to the lobby, the former was surprised by what was waiting for him: a filly only a little younger than Moon Dancer and Twilight Sparkle pleading with two of his subordinates for the release of a cream-coated unicorn stallion in their custody!

"What's going on here?" Shining turns to ask the Captain, concerned about the public spectacle taking place.

"I wanted you to see what's going on here." Gibraltar responds. "The filly is Java Jive, the sister Star Dancer tried to keep secret from Moon Dancer for so long."

"Full sister, or half-sister?" Shining asks.

"Full sister, we believe. We'll need to run some tests to be absolutely sure, but the stallion she claims to be her father we don't think is her actual father."

"I recognize that stallion - isn't he from the morning shift, a lackey in lockstep with Aten's policies?"

"Now now, Shining, we must maintain some level of professionalism here when referring to a fellow Guard member." Gibraltar gently scolds. "But yes, he's from the morning shift. He surrendered himself into custody shortly after Aldebaran's squad rescued Star Dancer on the mountainside, claiming he was an Agent of Chaos. We've kept him in custody in hopes of getting some answers on what happened to Star Dancer."

Shining stared at the somewhat bizarre scene with silent concern. He wasn't sure what affected him more - the cream-coated stallion's humiliation, or Java Jive's teary pleading for the stallion's release. Gibraltar stepped to the guarded stallion, speaking in a low tone Shining couldn't make out. After a minute, Gibraltar beckons Java Jive to follow him, which she reluctantly does.

"I'm taking the filly back up to Star Dancer's room. Aldebaran can brief you on what else needs to be done." the Captain says to Shining as he goes past with the filly in tow, and Java Jive's confused and pleading worry briefly sears Shining's heart before she is lost to sight.

Shining turns to face the captive stallion, clears his throat, straightens himself up, and walks over to where the captive stallion is seated. The cream-coated stallion looks down in shame, rather like as if he knew he had made a terrible mistake long ago. He was currently guarded by Lieutenant Aldebaran and one of his squad.

"Lay it on me, Lieutenant." Shining Armor says to Aldebaran, who was sitting next to the captive on his right.

"After we found Star Dancer on the mountainside and were trying to get her safely airlifted to the hospital, the stallion..." Aldebaran begins to explain.

"I know he has a name, Lieutenant. Please use it." Shining interrupts, and the captive winces a bit as the words are spoken.

"Yes, sir." Aldebaran acknowledges before continuing on. "Lieutenant Ventas here approached one of my squad, asking the filly with him being transferred into our protection temporarily. After I got Star Dancer off the mountain to the hospital, I took custody of the filly and then Ventas told of what had happened to Star Dancer in the mountain caverns."

"So he was also an Agent of Chaos?" Shining asks, keeping a critical eye on Ventas.

"That's correct, sir. After his confession, we placed him into custody until the Captain could deal with him. He's already been stripped of rank and commission, but the Captain left his ultimate fate for you to decide."

"Can we court-martial him?"

"Not without evidence beyond his confession. All written documentation that could've been used was destroyed in the record tower fire, and the statute of limitations on any civil crimes he may have committed has since expired. And of course, Aten will be pissed about this..."

"I'm not worried about Aten. He can rage all he wants, but there's nothing he can do to change the situation." Shining states. "What I need to know is how the ex-Lieutenant got involved, why the filly thinks he's her father. I'll speak with him alone. Leave his horn ring on, and go check in with the Captain about custody of the filly. Understood?"

"... Yes sir." Aldebaran replies after a moment, giving a skeptical look about leaving Ventas and Shining Armor together without anypony else watching. He and the member of his squad with him undo the shackles binding hooves together, taking those shackles with them as they depart to check in with the Captain.

Ventas had trouble maintaining eye contact with Shining, now that the two of them were face-to-face in the hospital lobby. Ventas had no particular animosity against the Lieutenant Captain, but his face burned with shame as he remembered the enthusiasm with which he had echoed and affirmed Aten's disparaging comments against "the favorite of Celestia". Once again, he wore the expression of a pony having chosen the wrong side in a conflict and now suffering for it.

Shining, for his part, found his initial anger tamped down by curiosity. Up to this point, any "defections" from Aten's faction were on the fringes, Lower Classes mostly. This was the first of Aten's major supporters to crack, and the confessional of being an Agent of Chaos lead to suspicions that Aten himself was a leading Agent, or at least his ambition was being harnessed to advance their cause.

Nevertheless, the speculation could wait. Shining needed answers, and he hoped Ventas had the ones he needed.

"Ventas, come with me. I need to know how all this fits together." Shining firmly states, beckoning Ventas to follow. The latter does so, albeit with a heavy step and a heavy heart. Most of the damage had already been done in this situation, but Shining thought that just maybe he could make something good out of it...

Puzzle Pieces

"Sit down Ventas, this isn't a court martial."

"With all due respect sir, I feel like I am in one."

"Make sure to thank Celestia later it's not a real one. Raise your right forehoof and repeat after me: 'I vow by the Princesses of Equestria'..."

"'I vow by the Princesses of Equestria'..."

"'to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'..."

"'else may I be condemned to the depths of Tartarus.'"

"Let's get right down to business, then." Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor crisply states, magically levitating a notepad and charcoal "pencil" to take notes on what Ventas would tell him. Ventas, stripped of his Lieutenant's commission and his self-respect in the aftermath of the previous night's events, just awkwardly stares down at his hooves, the magic suppressing ring on his cream-colored horn a further indignation he had to suffer.

"Question one: Are you Java Jive's father?" Shining continues, scratching the tip of the pencil on the notepad as he speaks.

Ventas is silent for a moment, then gives a sigh of resignation, as if recognizing that further delaying is useless. Finally, his answer comes out slowly and carefully: "For all of her life, I have raised her as my own filly. But whether she actually is or not, I do not know for certain."

"Her paternity is disputed? That is why the Captain wanted to run the test?" Shining now asks.

"Yes, sir. And let it be stated for the record I have already promised full cooperation in that matter." Ventas answers.

"Done." Shining affirms, writing on the notepad as he speaks. "However, I still need an answer for why the dispute exists in the first place."

Ventas gives another sigh before replying: "Well sir, it goes all the way back to my first year out of field training. That's when I first met Star Dancer. It wasn't long after Moon Dancer was born, I guess. It was at a Hearth Warming's Eve party. We were both... we both had too much that night..."

"Oh! Oh goodness, are you alright ma'am? You almost fell flat on your face!"

"Yeah, I'm, hic, fine. Guess I had more than I should've, huh?"

"Where's your, uh, escort, ma'am?"

"Mate had to work over the holiday. I'm a big, hic, strong mare, came all by myself!"

"Well it's cold out! And in your condition..."

"Well, I... hic, don't really want to make a fool of myself again. You wanna take me home, big boy?"

"So you offered to take Star Dancer home because her mate was working over the Hearth's Warming holiday?" Shining asks, scratching again on the notepad.

"That's correct, sir." Ventas affirms. "You're probably well aware of the standing..."

"Standing order to offer an escort any full-grown mare that doesn't already have one, yes. Go on, what happened when you two got to her apartment?"

"Well sir, it went something like this..."

"Here ya go, ma'am. Safe and, uh, hopefully sound."

"Really appreciate the effort, sir. With my mate being gone over the holiday..."

"Just my job, ma'am. You're looking at, uh, freshly-minted Guard Upper Class!"

"Oh, aren't you, hic, moving up in the world? And you gotta go out in that cold again? Tsk tsk tsk..."

"Duty calls, ma'am. Nothing I, uh, can do about it."

"Are you sure you don't wanna stay for the night? Stay nice and warm?"

"Well... I am off for the holiday. I can stay for one night without getting in trouble with the superiors."

"Then come in! You can get nice and toasty by the fire, and one night oughta, hic, be OK 'cause mate won't be back 'till day after Hearth's Warming. He doesn't have to know anything about it."

"So you took Star Dancer up on her offer? I'm guessing Moon Dancer would've been too young to remember your first visit..." Shining asks, shaking his head as he wonders why a mare would leave a very young filly all alone to go indulge in too much Apple family cider at a Hearth Warming's Eve party.

"That's correct, sir. We snuggled up together by the fire, one thing lead to another..." Ventas explains, awkwardly looking away as he does so.

"You already told me you were both very drunk. And I imagine that next thing you know you're waking up on Hearth's Warming sharing the same bed and wondering what exactly you two did the previous night." Shining comments, taking Ventas' subsequent, blushing silence as an affirmative answer.

There is an awkward pause as Shining catches up with his note taking, and his next question can't come soon enough for Ventas: "So I imagine you both were terribly embarrassed, wanted to keep what happened between the two of you only?"

"That's correct, sir. We made a promise to tell nopony else what happened that night." Ventas forces out, the blush on his face quite deep at this point.

"And it held for a while, I trust?"

"Yes, until I heard about three or four months later Star Dancer was pregnant. I was worried, because of the timing..."

"Mm-hmm, I would've been as well. Did you have a chance to discuss with Star Dancer about the foal?"

"No, we kept apart for the sake of both of our futures. Had I or her told anypony else what had happened, it would've meant the end of my Guard career and probably her marriage as well. Moon Dancer would've been too young to understand any of this, of course. Probably is barely old enough now..."

"Of course. What happened next?"

"About a week and a half after learning Star Dancer was pregnant, her mate took that fatal fall off the wall. The report was that the pegasus was drunk and didn't see him before the impact, but..." Ventas answers, trailing off after the last word.

"It wasn't really an accident. I can believe that. The Agents of Chaos have covered a lot of stuff up, and we're still trying to unravel their webs of lying and deceit." Shining comments, giving another sad shake of his head as he continues writing on the notepad with the charcoal pencil.

"During the mourning period, a rumor sprung up that the foal Star Dancer was pregnant with was the product of an affair and that somepony had put a 'hit' on her mate to help cover it up."

"Do you know who started this rumor?"

"No I do not, sir."

At this point, Shining pauses for a moment to let the unspoken implications of Ventas' testimony sink in before continuing on to the next question: "If the rumor was true, eventually you would've been implicated, investigated and likely court-martialed, or at least given a quick dishonorable discharge. How did you avoid that happening to you?"

Ventas sighs again, then pauses a moment before answering: "Once the rumor got in full swing, I was visited on my rounds inside the castle by a strange stallion completely covered in a cloak and stockings."

Shining's eyebrow goes up at hearing this, the charcoal pencil scribbling furiously. "Agent Snake, maybe?" he asks with a curious tone.

"I don't know if it's the same pony, this was many years ago, sir."

"Do you remember the conversation you had with him?"

At this, Ventas gives a haunted look in Shining's direction before replying: "Yes sir, it will probably be burned in my mind for the rest of my life..."

"Guard Upper Class Ventas?"

"How do you know my name? Who are you? Why are you sneaking around the castle?"

"It is my business to know things about ponies. In your case, I know that Star Dancer is carrying a foal of yours, not that of her mate."

"... Did you start the rumors around that?"

"I did not start the rumors, but I know how to end them. To save your future in the Guard. To make the whole unpleasant business go away."

"... Start talking, stranger."

"Star Dancer has already made a deal about the foal she carries. Now you must make one as well..."

"And what were the terms of this 'deal'?" Shining Armor asks after Ventas finishes relaying the content of his conversation.

"Upon Star Dancer giving birth to the foal, I would declare myself the foal's legal guardian and deny being the biological father, regardless of whatever the truth really was, with support of a forged public statement signed by both myself and Star Dancer. In turn, I would raise the foal alone, with Star Dancer providing financial support only. It would satisfy the gossips because even if I wasn't the father, the real father wasn't around to care for the foal." Ventas explains.

"... I don't see how it could be enforced, though." Shining comments, frowning as he looks down at his notes.

"That's because there's another wrinkle in the deal. The payments from Star Dancer would be delivered by Aten. He was another freshly-minted Upper Class at the time, we served in the same squad. I had to confide in him the deal in order to make sure I would get the payments from Star Dancer."

"So that means he had to learn from Star Dancer as well." Shining comments again, writing some more on the notepad. "I certainly have reason to believe his ambition and ruthlessness was enough to keep things going. He made his name by squealing on two unicorn Lieutenants, you could've just as easily been another victim of his had you not kept your part of the deal."

Ventas nods somberly, but stays silent. Shining sees from his expression that he still has more information to share, so he decides to press further: "Were you inducted as an Agent of Chaos?"

"Yes, I was Agent 12. After Aten was given a Lieutenant's commission, I stayed with his squad in order to be sure the money would keep flowing, even though Aten stopped doing that himself after getting the commission."

"Who replaced him in delivering the money to you?"

"I don't know his identity, I never met him directly. He just dropped the money off in a package with my rations, once a week."

"Alright that's good enough..." Shining comments, looking over the notes on the pad in an increasingly awkward silence. He does not feel the need to go over Ventas' consistent support of Aten in the "pegasi affirmative action" movement - he knows from the other unicorn's increasingly uncomfortable shuffling that Ventas was feeling plenty guilty of that record now and that it did not need to be hit over the head how wrong it was.

"One more question: Star Dancer was sending you payments, with the Agents of Chaos doubtless taking something off the top for their own uses. Did the two of you mutually agree to stop payments, and why?" Shining asks to break the silence.

"Yes, it was mutual agreement." Ventas answers. "Once Nightmare... er, Princess Luna came back and Twilight Sparkle left, we realized that continuing to associate with the Agents of Chaos could turn very bad very fast. Star Dancer saw what was happening to Moon Dancer, and didn't want to turn to my connections to help her. She wanted your help instead."

"Agent Snake definitely would not have liked that. Whatever they set up, it was never really meant to help anypony else. It was all about control, and they exploited the old mistake you and Star Dancer made to control the family that was created. And now you can see for yourself the consequences of trying to break free from that control!" Shining Armor explains in an almost preacher tone, and Ventas slumps his head down in total defeat - there was no way he could deny the truth of what was being said.

There is more awkward silence that follows for the next few minutes, except for Shining Armor continuing to scribble on the notepad. Ventas does not dare to break that silence, fearing he was risking making a bad situation worse by doing so.

When the silence is broken, it's by Shining again: "No more questions will be needed - I've made my decision about your fate."

"You have?" Ventas asks tentatively as he looks up at Shining again, trying not to betray too much hope in his expression.

"Yes, indeed. Effective immediately, you are 'locked' Guard Lower Class, Canterlot night shift." Shining answers. "You are to take Star Dancer into your care during her recovery, and after the paternity test comes back you are to sign a public statement affirming the results, regardless of whether they are consistent with the previous assumptions of paternity or not. Understood?"

Ventas has to think a moment before giving his answer - being "locked" to a certain rank and shift meant that would be his assignment for the rest of his Guard career, he would not ever be eligible for transfer or promotion again. But he also knew that he was not likely to get any better terms by looking elsewhere. His acceptance came as a silent nod - it greatly pained him to have to submit to "Celestia's favorite", but after all he had witnessed and been involved in there was no other honorable path forward.

The tension in the room eases a bit after Ventas' acceptance, and Shining Armor dares a small smile for the first time. There were still many broken fences, some of which that could only be mended by his sister, but Shining had done the best he could in the scenario he found himself in. The damage already inflicted would be blunted, and the cracking of Aten's inner circle would have bigger consequences long-term than short-term. Most importantly, he had not pushed Ventas back into the sympathies of the enemy.

"We'll go to the Captain, give the report together. Follow me." Shining says, beckoning Ventas with a forehoof as he proceeds to leave the room, notepad and charcoal pencil levitated beside him. Ventas slowly follows behind, the resentment and embarrassment on his expression slowly eroding into a resignation, then a hope. A hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a point in the future he could give real atonement for the sins of his past...