-Quiet Mountain Town-

All of a sudden, the door to the room creaked open to reveal a very tall, very shapely Princess. Celestia stared into Rein's eyes as she glided into the room and slowly took the seat across from him.

"Gallant Mind?"

"Forgive me, I would bow, but a small mare likes me tied to tables." Rein cooed as he sat back, arms still fastened to the table.

"That is quite alright, Gallant Mind."

Rein bounced his eyebrows and scoffed. "Wrong room there, Princess. I am not Gallant Mind."

A soft pop echoed in the room as his dossier plopped down onto the table. "According to this, you're Gallant Mind."

Rein rolled his eyes. "Are you here to torment me? Because your sister does a good job of that, every night."

Celestia shook her head and her horn ignited, shrouding the room in an illusion of them having a peaceful conversation. She sighed and leaned closer. "I'm here to offer you a job."

"And you think shrouding the room in a discovery era distortion spell will make me believe anything you say?" Rein laughed and pulled on his binds aggressively, drawing Celestia's attention to the cuffs briefly. "I've been here for eighty years. Eighty years or torture, ridicule, and mildly delicious food."

"And today is your day to be executed." Celestia smirked.

"Gonna be a good day." Rein shrugged.

Celestia's breath caught in her throat. "You'll never see the sunset again."

"You would say that." Rein muttered.

"Do... Do you want this?" Celestia asked. "Surely you want freedom? I can offer you this, all I need is your cooperation. Only I may grant you a pardon for your crimes. If you do not accept my offer, you will die here today."

"What about your lovely sister? Surely she could free me. I may even help her succeed in a coup." Rein taunted. "Then again there is your former student and that Sister-in-law of hers. At this rate, you have more friends than enemies to worry about."

"Well, I'm sure my sister would like to hear of ponies supporting her. Unfortunately, since I was the one that passed judgement upon you, I am the only one that can repeal the sentence." Celestia sighed and looked at Rein with sad eyes. "Now I will say again, If you do not accept my offer, you will die here today."

"Not before I get my three cold cans of spaghetti and meatballs." Rein clapped his hooves and started rubbing them together while still cuffed. "I've been waiting for that last meal for about fifty years or so."

Celestia gave Rein a confused look, she remembered meeting Gallant Mind years ago and bestowing medals upon his chest. Only to sit in front of her, scarred and laughing like a foal at his predicament.

"If you do not accept, I will keep you alive and in here until you do." Celestia smiled when she saw Rein's smile fall. "You will never escape, I am your only hope."

Celestia flinched back when Rein's face appeared in front of her own, she used her magic and threw him back into the far wall with a resounding smack. She regained her composure and realized she was standing up and over him. He smiled up at her while wearing her crown with a bone jetting out from his leg. She looked back and found that his cuffs had been unlocked.

"Why?" Celestia asked angrily.

"I liked your crown." Rein choked out.

Celestia looked up and noticed her illusion still held. "I'm offering you life, Gallant Mind, why are you choosing not only death, but to attack the one offering you freedom?"

"I'm Rein six one six. Gallant Mind died with your conviction."

"A conviction rightfully given." Celestia's cold tone was a complete shift from her soft voice a few moments ago. "You are serving thirty consecutive life sentences."

"On top of the death penalty." Rein chuckled. "Cause that makes so much sense."

Celestia's golden magic washed over Rein and seeped into his skin, healing the internal bleeding she caused. Slowly, and with no small measure of pain, the bone pushed itself back into place.

Rein laid there with labored breath as Celestia finished her healing. He looked up at her with sad, angry eyes as she reclaimed her crown and placed it on her head.

"Do you want to die that badly?"

"You tell me."

Celestia glanced back at the unlocked hoof-cuffs. "You have had multiple chances to escape from what your dossier says. Once you were even left alone in the courtyard without any restraints."

With a long, aggravated sigh, Celestia sat before Rein as he pressed himself against the wall. "I am offering you amnesty. You can go and live or try to at least. Many claimed you were innocent, but the evidence was overwhelming. I still want to believe you are innocent."

"Now it's my turn." Rein growled. "Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes, why do you still want to believe I'm innocent." Rein scowled. "I confessed to everything."

"Yes, but the Gallant I knew was noble." Celestia reasoned. "You got in small bits of trouble, but not on a crime syndicate level. You fought for years to uproot Equestria of its underworld."

"Remember, I'm the 'Butcher' of Bridle Heights." Rein mumbled in air quotes, reciting the papers he has read while imprisoned.

Celestia shook her head. "You have the power to save ponies."

"Are you implying that I have a responsibility?"

"Yes." Celestia lifted Rein up and casted a spell to clean his body of his blood. "I came here to ask for your assistance thinking you would jump at the chance, but I see now that my confidence has not persuaded you one bit. So I ask you; what do you ask of in return for helping me. "

Rein remained silent and stared into Celestia's eyes.

"Please, ask for something." Celestia said and squeezed her eyes shut. "I need your help."

"Okay, I have some demands." Rein let out a long hiss and gave Celestia a wry look. "You get me out of here on one condition."

"Name it."

Rein eyed Celestia up and down before giving her a half lidded expression. "I've been in here a long time and I need what I haven't had since being put on lock down."

Celestia gulped and nodded, silently agreeing to his implied demands.

Sometime Later

"Yeah, so good. Who's your daddy?"

Meat flew everywhere as Rein dug in and sunk his teeth deeper. He tore and pulled at the flesh before him as it was helpless to resist him. He felt exhaustion and euphoria washed over him at last.

After a small break, he smiled and brought his hooves to his muzzle before igniting a small fire, lighting a small cigar. "Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

"You'll put yourself in an early grave if you keep eating and smoking like that." Shining Armor muttered as he stood guard over Rein. He and the other guards had a look of disgust on their faces while Rein tried taking a drag from his cigar with a mouth full of hot sausage.

Rein glared over to Shining while still eating as much as he could.

"I take it everything is to your liking?" Celestia asked as she smiled from across the table. She had provided Rein with a penthouse near the castle. It had been built with its own amenities, he could live in there for the rest of his life and never have to leave.

"Everything is fine, thanks hotflanks." Rein barked into his food between bites.

"You will address Princess Celestia by her honorifics, you scum!" Shining Armor roared, but snapped back to attention at Celestia's placating wing.

Rein rolled his eyes. "So, bright eyes, what's the case so big you gave me a stay of execution from All-Hope?"

Celestia sighed and waved Shining and the other guards out of the room, Shining remained and gestured to Rein.

"Princess, he's a dangerous scoundrel, surely you don't want to be left alone with him."

"Oh believe me, son. She doesn't need your protection. If anything, I need protection from that strong presence of hers, heck I may even swoon and let her take me where I sit."

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Everything is fine, Shining Armor."

The instant the rooms doors shut, Celestia glanced over to Rein who had a thoughtful look on his face. "Something the matter, Gallant?"

"Unless you can bring me something from Mac and Don's steakhouse, no."

"Well, whatever that is seems to be impossible based on your choice of words." Celestia leaned in her chair and tried to lower her head so her eyes could intercept where Gallant was staring. "If I may ask, what kind of food is Mac and Don's steakhouse?"

"Nothing you should know about." Rein grumbled. "Forget I said anything."

"If it's a dish from a restaurant, I could try and find the owner." Celestia asked.

"You're about ninety years off the mark there sweetness. Forget I said anything, the food I ordered fifteen minutes ago is good enough." Rein ran his hoof through his mane.

"You ordered more food?"

"Uh, yeah?" Rein said. "After being locked up, every free inmate feels the overwhelming need to eat."

"I wish you would have said what you meant in that room." Celestia's annoyed look made it clear she was unhappy.

Rein squinted and leaned slightly closer to the Princess. "Who's to say I didn't."

Celestia summoned a stack of manila folders just above Rein's head, luckily for him he sat back moments before they landed. He smirked and tsked at her.

"I don't remember you being this flirtatious, nor acting in such a flippant manner towards royalty." Celestia narrowed her eyes at Gallant. "What happened to you? Equestria fell in love with you and now you're..."

"Maybe Equestria fell in love with the idea of me." Rein mused, a glimmer of Gallant's refined speech shined through before it was swallowed by his more vulgar personality. "Personally, I like to think the media built me up to be someone I'm not. This way I get to hurt the newspapers as well."

"So it's a case of cutting your nose off to spite your face?" Celestia asked.

"Oh trust me, if cutting my nose off caused spite to who I wished, then I would remove my entire head." Rein's tone took on a dark tone before he smirked. "But often enough, in the world, situations are exactly what they appear to be and we look for reasons to believe otherwise."

"Now." Rein grabbed the top folder and opened it. "What do you have for ol' six one six?"

"Since you've been away, a lot has happened." Celestia summoned some tabloids from the past years.

"Skip the montage, we get the newspaper in prison." Rein mumbled as he looked through folder after folder.

"R-Right, well, much has happened and recently there have been disappearances. Subjects of mine tried looking into it, but the longer they did, the more dangerous it got. I-"

"Let me guess." Rein said curtly. "Death threats turn into attempts and soon these 'subjects' found themselves and their families the target of whoever is committing the crimes."

"Precisely.

"Time frame?" Rein asked.

"This started five months ago."

Rein tapped his hoof on the table, chances were they stumbled on their own conspiracy and the culprit didn't actually mean harm, if they did, someone would be dead by now. "So no one is actually dead, right?"

"No."

"Then royalty was threatened?"

"Yes."

"Not your sister, she's too much of a hard ass to take that lying down." Rein chattered his teeth. "Certainly not the Princess of love. She's busy running the empire by herself. That just leaves your former student turned pegacorn, probably decided to help, and being the go get 'em type, she pursued too hard and ended up getting everyone on a hit list."

"Good guest." Celestia smiled, opting to ignore the 'pegacorn' comment.

"Wasn't a guess." Rein said and produced a tabloid of his own. "Princess Twilight is known even in All-Hope. She's actually the pin up for a few inmates I know. The good pin-ups, not the sticky ones taped to pillows. That's your spot."

Celestia gagged.

"So where do you want me to start?" Rein sighed. "Or am I to remain here to give you advice on stuff where I'll inevitably go nuts and rub peanut butter on my chest and demand you finish me off with grape jelly?"

Celestia curled her lip and stared in confusion at Gallant.

"Sorry, prison does things." Rein chuckled.

"I guess you'll start by getting security clearances so you're allowed free reign of the grounds. You'll be able to investigate where and when you want." Celestia stood and started to walk over to the large dark grey stallion who was staring blankly at the table. "I am giving you all the power you'll need to track down the culprit."

Celestia sat and placed her hoof on Rein's cheek. "Gallant, please look at me... like you used to."

Slowly, Rein averted his eyes upward to Celestia's, the coldness of his stare hurt Celestia.

"What happened to you?"

"A series of unavoidable falsified circumstances brought on by a career of being righteous."

"Are you saying you were framed?" Celestia asked.

"Nope." Rein patted Celestia on the flank as he stood from the table and passed her. "But more food has arrived."

Celestia sighed. "When will you be honest with me?"

"When will you be honest with yourself?" Rein called, confusing her. He opened the door to find Raven, Celestia's assistant. "You aren't food." Rein glanced her over. "Though, you do look appetizing."

Raven scowled up at him. "I need to speak with the Princess. She has a meeting in room three with delegates discussing proposition one dash zero seven."

"She's a little busy right now." Rein slammed the door and turned to find a Princess giving him a knowing smirk.

"I'm busy?"

"Oh yeah, you're busy being wooed by this cake." Rein said as he lifted the cloth of the carrot cake he hide before she entered the room. "Now, you'll fall for my devilishly mediocre looks."

Celestia giggled. "I'm happy to see your humor is still in tact."

Rein laughed uproariously and whispered to himself. "Ha, laughter hides real pain."

"Now, if you'll excuse me Princess. You never did answer my question." Rein said as he moved to his window. "Where am I to start my investigation?"

"You're the detective, Gallant. How should I know?" Celestia looked at Rein with expectation.

Rein glared, slightly enraged at the use of his real name. "If you wanted a detective, I'm sure Sherclop Pones would be more than receptive if he is still alive. Though, he might have seen that Meowiarti wasn't involved and would have scampered off somewhere. How about Edogawa? He loves a good mystery, but no, you want results and despite knowing my penchant for getting them at usually questionable means you chose me before even consulting them."

Rein paused and played with the window latch. "Please stop me if I'm wrong."

Celestia sat in her seat and stared on while Rein paced.

"You must have no idea who this is, otherwise you would have burned them to a crisp. No, you're playing a game of chess, are you not? Your opponent has made their moves and you need a new player to-" Rein flipped a book that was sitting on a nearby end table. "-tip the scales."

Rein paused and Celestia's silence was permission to continue with his line of thinking. "What is next for this? Me, I'm going to go about and hunt down this perpetrator and when I find them you're hoping Equestria forgives me and we all jump and sing?"

Celestia sighed and nodded slowly. "I see hiring you was the right choice."

"No, that was your second mistake." Rein said. "You want to believe the best even if evidence tells you otherwise."

"What was my first mistake?" Celestia's voice grew quiet.

Rein looked to the floor and let the question fade into silence. "I will help you, Tia. But know that along the line I may go back to my life the way it was."

"I don't believe you will." Celestia smiled.

Rein rolled his eyes and heard the sound of Celestia teleporting away. He walked over to the high balcony of the penthouse she had purchased for him. For eighty long years he sat like a sardine in a tin can while the dregs of Equestrian society undid everything he had made. He panned up to the Castle, Canterlot always changed, it grew with the times, but the castle stayed unaffected.

A mirror caught Rein's eye, making him pause mid-step from the balcony. Images flashed in his mind of the stallion he used to be, the glimmer of silver armor danced across his form before he tried to shake it from his vision. More memories burned themselves into his eyes of his last case before everything went downhill.

"Screw the balcony." Rein grumbled as he walked deeper into the apartment towards the kitchen, he sighed happily, hoping his demands were met. With a firm jolt, the fridge doors opened and revealed a note that stated very clearly in none other than Celestia's hornwriting.

No alcohol, Gallant.

-Celestia

"You're no fun." Rein mumbled as he tore the note away to reveal another note.

I am very fun, you're just grumpy

-Celestia

"Fine." Rein strode over to the couch and sat, looking out the large vista window. He leaned his head to see a binder filled with classified profiles on Celestia's Elements of Harmony. With a reluctant reach, he grabbed the binder and started to riffle through papers and photos. "Oh hello."

Rein held the photos in front of him and whistled. "I wonder if they're single?"

"Not for you." The snarky voice of Shining Armor called from the door as he enter the room. "You are to interact with them on a professional, investigative level and nothing more."

"Oh, trust me, I will. I will interact and investigate them all I can." Rein chuckled, making Shining huff in anger. "Wait, why are you in my apartment?"

"I am the guard assigned to watch you. I was also ordered to be your liaison to the guard service."

Rein reached forward and brought a large, sweet smelling cigar to his lips, he tapped the ashes away and grunted as he eyed the Unicorn. It was five in the afternoon, the sun hadn't even set, and Equestrian royalty were once again shoving their flanks into what they shouldn't. "You smoke, Shiny?"

"No, it's a vile habit."

Rein nodded and blew a plume of smoke as Shining who magicked a shield around him. "I have to agree. I picked it up decades ago in a Trottingham's ghetto."

"Do you mean your time in whitechapel?" Shining asked.

"Yes, precisely." Rein confirmed. "I take it you're more familiar with me than I am with you."

"There isn't a guard that isn't familiar with your work. Both good, and bad." The venom in Shining's voice was painfully apparent.

Rein stretched and laid his arms out to both sides as he leaned back to watch the sunset. He didn't recognize Shining's insistent tapping, nor any other non-verbal forms of getting his attention.

"Mr. Gallant-"

"Are you royalty, boy?" Rein asked firmly.

"I-I was. How'd you guess?"

"It was rhetorical. You carry yourself like a snob." Rein sighed and leaned forward, twisting around to look at Shining as he stood there scowling. "Your over devotion to your duty tells me you've been thrust into this job, either from tragedy or choice. Though, with you, it's likely both. Divorce? Yeah, divorce."

Rein groaned as he stood and walked around the couch. "Judging from your command of other guards, you were in the service before marrying into the crown, likely of significant rank since I believe stuff like whitechapel wouldn't be taught to basic run of the mill guards." Rein looked into each of Shining's eyes individually. "You're Twilight Sparkle's older brother."

Shining's eyes grew. "Y-You guessed that from looking in my eyes?"

"Yes." 'And relations among royalty are public knowledge.' Rein thought as he blew more smoke. "Relax about the whole meeting the Elements thing. I'm not trying to lay your sister."

"Sorry, I tend to be overprotective-"

"Yet." Rein chuckled. "What are your parent's names? I know they'll be a bit surprised, but seeing me at dinner may startle them."

Shining's fur kinked in anger, but Rein waved him off. "Oh yeah, you're definitely royalty."

"That's not funny."

"To you." Rein replied curtly. "Not funny to you."

Shining growled. "Thank Celestia I'm only watching you to Ponyville."

"I thought you were my assistant?"

Shining scoffed. "I was only to show you the way to Ponyville and to introduce you to the Elements, then I have to return to my duties. Other than that, I am only to talk to you in an official capacity."

"One quick thing, Shiny." Rein lifted the dossier binder. "Is Applejack Apple of the Apple family, or is that a coincidence?"

"She's an Apple." Shining said. "And very proud of it."

Rein nodded and spewed more smoke at Shining. "So when do we go to Ponyville? The sooner the better."

"Tomorrow, so sleep early because we leave at dawn. Sleep well, slime." Shining barked as he strode toward the door and slammed it shut.

"I love being talked down to." Rein wiggled and felt himself drifting off. For the first time since Luna's return, peaceful dreams comforted him as he sat there. A usual ponies dreams were of fields and flowers, but Rein dreamed of subways and cold city streets. Years ago Luna asked him how his mind created such detailed cityscapes, but he lied and told her he was just gifted and not the truth.

"I see you still have vivid dreams of skyscrapers and odd subterranean tubes?"

Rein sighed and tried to suck on his cigar only to find that the flame was long dead. He opened his eyes to see the beautiful lady of the night herself in his living room with the dim backlight of the city behind her. Rein groaned and grabbed a lighter and tried in vain to light his cigar due to Luna's magic dampening the wick.

"Those things will kill you."

"So I'm told." Rein sighed. "Haven't had any luck yet."

Luna was unsure how to answer, she paused briefly and saw Rein rub his face. "I can't imagine you're here to check up on me, just get the death threats over with so I can get back to time-skipping till dawn."

"I had no such intention, Rein."

"Finally!" Rein shouted, startling Luna. "Someone that calls me Rein."

"Of course?" Luna said slowly. "The first we met, you introduced yourself as such. Gallant Mind will never be your name to me."

Rein chuckled. "So if you aren't here for a threat, then what are you here for?"

"A warning."

Rein looked to the side and threw up a hoof.

"My sister has released you from your sentence, but know you are not free. Should you cause trouble, I will drag you back to Equestria's admax-"

"All-Hope. The prison's name is All-Hope." Rein said. "As in 'Abandon all hope.'"

"I have heard the name it has been given." Luna's calm mood has took on a darker, colder tone. "I do not appreciate that the villains of Equus have dubbed my sister's prison."

"So I'm a villain?"

"Yes. Once you were a hero and now you're what you once swore to destroy." Luna looked sad. "I know many of the ponies you once called friend will have conflicted feelings about seeing you. All I ask is that you try and live your life like the stallion you once were."

Luna's magic finally released Rein's lighter, allowing him to reignite the cigar.

"Most of the ponies I knew are long dead. Everything is a matter of perspective I suppose." Rein filled the room with sweet aroma once again. He looked at Luna and knew she had secretly been more understanding about his methods than Celestia. Upon her return, they would talk a great many times and at length about the crime in Equestria. Night time was the best time for Equestrian detectives to hunt their quarry after all. But she always tried to keep the interrogations professional at best.

"Perspective or not, what you're guilty of is beyond evil."

"Fair enough." Rein shrugged. "Goodnight, Luna."

Luna smiled weakly and left Rein to his dreams as she disappeared into the frigid night air.

Ponyville Express
The Next Day

"When do we get there?" Rein groaned as he sat in a train car surrounded by guards. He played with his coat strap and kept waving the Stewardess to bring him peanuts which annoyed everyone to no end.

"Another two hours." Shining grumbled as he read the Canterlot daily paper about a new penthouse that went up in flame due to a poorly placed cigar. "And in five minutes it will be five minutes closer to two hours."

"Fine, geez." Rein growled into his hoof as he rested his head on his knuckle. He let his mind swim as he looked around and noticed a parallel set of tracks. "Those are new?"

"What?"

"I didn't know this line had two tracks?"

"Yeah, the other tracks is for the express that brings resources between the cities." Shining Armor said as he read the newspaper.

Rein went to light a cigar, but a guard hissed at him and pointed to a 'no smoking' sign. He grumbled and heard the whistle of another train approaching. "And now I have to use the bathroom."

"Hold it."

"Can't."

"Yes you can."

"No I can't." Rein whinnied.

"Yes you can." Shining insisted, but folded when Rein furrowed his brow. "Fine, but three guards are going to follow you."

"Okay, but let them be mares. I don't want and stallions trying to touch me." Rein chuckled as a large mare pushed him as he walked by. "Yes, a dominating hellion."

Shining chuckled as Rein was lead away by three angry mares.

Rein stopped before the stall and turned to Brunhilde. Helga. And Mary, the queen of pain. "I think it's best if I go in by myself.

"Absolutely not, criminal." The largest mare, Mary, barked. "We aren't letting you out of our sight!"

Rein rolled his eyes and opened the stall door, only to reveal enough room for one. "I know you three are pent up from those long guard duties, but I'm fresh out of the stall, so please threat me delicately."

The large mare rolled her eyes and shoved him in the stall and slammed the door.

"What? Too much?" Rein laughed in the same fake tone he usually did and immediately started to look around. 'Hole Hole Hole Hole Hole' He thought to himself before grabbing the toilet and pulling tot he right aggressively, causing a loud pop.

"Everything alright in there?"

"Totally." Rein called. "Just trying to drop a pound of fudge! Anyone want to pull my ears? It helps it along."

Rein smirked when he heard the mare cough in surprise. 'Good, don't bug me.'

The rails passed by the hole beneath the train as it trucked along the tracks. He worked the toilet even further for his large body to wiggle out, he annoyed his captors long enough for them to relish his absence and now that a resource train approached, his time to escape had arrived.

Shining huffed to himself as he continued reading the morning paper with a tabloid scolding Princess Celestia for inaction regarding another unsolved case in one of Equestria's major cities. It didn't outright scorn Equestrian royalty, but the tones in the writing were less than flattering.

"Why did you burn down your penthouse, Rein?" Shining mumbled absentmindedly as he glanced over the front page again.

A sudden commotion in the back of the car drew his attention. The sight of three panicked guards and the lack of a prisoner made Shining's stomach drop. "What happened!"

"S-Sir, he's gone." The large, armor clad mare choked out. "We opened the bathroom and... nothing."

Shining threw the paper to the side and rushed by the dumbfounded guards. "You three, send a message to the Princesses. Guards! Search the train!"

Guards scrambled from car to car searching and asking passengers if they had seen a large stallion pass by. Shining headed straight for the bathroom and let out an angry growl at seeing nothing but a toilet. He turned to leave, but the air pressure drew his attention back to the toilet. "No."

With a heavy, violent kick, Shining Armor threw the toilet to the side to reveal a jagged hole with traces of grey fur along the edges. "Son of a- Pegasi Guards! Search the bottom of... the train."

Shining's mouth hung open to see Rein clung to the side of the faster moving train as it passed the Ponyville express. Rein looked up and swung up onto the train's connector and waved at Shining.

The enraged guard captain scowled and read 'Ma.Tr.Co' along the other car. "Belay that! To the other train!"

With a raging expression, Shining tore through the crowd of confused guards, trying to keep up with the Manehatten Transportation Company's bigger, faster train.

"You aren't getting away!" Shining barked through the train car at Rein.

Back on the Manehatten Transportation Company's train, Rein chuckled. "Warped perspectives can be a horrible thing."

Rein leisurely made his way through the half empty cargo cars, the lack of ponies on cargo trains always made for easy targets unless they had magic anti-theft breaks. With a big smile and a silly dance, Rein hoped the train had them.

Slowly, an old song, foreign to modern Equestria, bubbled up from Rein and started to echo off the metal walls.

With a sudden opening of the train car door, the coal car was revealed, telling him he had arrive at the engine. Rein crept along the coal container and saw the conductor resting in the window, scratching his flank. His bandana for mouth protection against the soot hung on a hook behind him as did a small sword.

Quietly Rein donned both the rag and sword. "Too easy."

"Huh?" The conductor jumped and swiveled around to see his own sword held in front of him. "A robbery?"

"Uh, sure." Rein chuckled out loudly, between his coat flapping in the breeze and the engines mechanics, it was hard to hear. "Listen, I'm sure you're a good stallion."

The conductor back away and to the edge of the train's railing, fearing the stallion would do his worst.

"Relax, I'm not going to kill you." Rein rolled his eyes. "Just jump off and the Express a mile back will pick you up."

"I can't just let you take the train!" The conductor called over the rushing winds.

"Don't worry, I'll make it look good." Rein said and shook the sword back and forth playfully. "Where do you want it?"

"S-Small cut on the shoulder?" The conductor winced.

Rein deadpanned. "You don't want it to look like you just gave up? How about through the arm?"

"But that would-"

Rein huffed and slashed his shoulder, causing a deep laceration. With a firm kick, he pushed the conductor far enough away so he would land on the soft, lush grass along the trains tracks.

"Does your depravity know no bounds!" Shining called from the car behind him.

Rein smirked. "Shiny! You followed me."

"I'm chasing you!" Shining barked in surprise as he leaped down between the cars and was met shortly by his prisoner. "You're not even out for a full day and you're stealing a train!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rein said in surprise.

"I just watched you stab somepony and kick them from a train!" Shining held his hooves in front of him, exasperated. "Are you crazy?"

"Why are you getting smaller?" Shining asked as he looked down to see that the connection between the trains had been severed and that the engine was pulling away from the rest of the train. He teleported next to Rein and growled. "You aren't getting rid of me. It's my job to watch you!"

"Then who's going to hit all the breaks on all those fast moving cars full of cargo?" Rein smirked as the realization washed over Shining.

"This isn't over!" Shining teleported back to the other cars to operate the breaks.

"Yes, it is." Rein's cold tone turned into a devious glare as he hit the lock holding the coal gate and started to funnel more into the furnace. Many cargo companies ran their engines extra hot due to the increased demand for power in moving their goods faster, this meant having special packages filled with enchanted dust to add an explosive effect in their engines.

The conductor had already used one of the three packages they were limited to by Equestrian law. Rein laughed to himself as he remembered the time he chased a suspect through Rein District and into the factory where they were made and the explosion that resulted from the suspect throwing a lit torch on a ten foot high pile of the dust.

Rein paused and took a deep breath. He looked at the small town on the horizon, a small tinge of want lingered inside him concerning the case, but he shrugged and threw both packages in before slamming the steel cover closed before the boom of their activation rocked the large engine and the surrounding valley.

"How much sooner, Discord?" Celestia asked as she stood by the train stations platform, surrounded by a platoon of elite guards.

"Well, my dear. If the cargo train continues its usual speed, it will take an hour." Discord floated and summoned a pocket watch. "From the explosion we heard when we arrived, it should be here in five minutes."

"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked as she and the Elements trotted to the train platform from a group of concerned town's folk. "What is going on?"

"Twilight, you should leave, it isn't safe for you right now." Celestia said bluntly before staring at the sand colored train barreling toward the station.

"Guards, get the ponies to safety." Celestia's calm, loud voice sprang the guards into action.

"Princess, we can help!" Twilight teleported to her side. Twilight's ears hugged her head when she saw the speeding train covered in fire and smoke, throwing off sparks as it bounced between the tracks and the support boards.

"Discord, can you curve the track enough to the train to make a safe landing?" Celestia asked to a bemused Discord who only snapped his fingers, causing the track to lift high into the air and bank left before leading directly into the ground.

"Better?"

"No, that will destroy the train." Celestia scolded. "And him along with it."

"He's a Unicorn, right?" Discord asked. "He'll just teleport out."

"Who is in the train?" Twilight asked.

Celestia ignored Twilight, much to the shock of the nearby ponies. "Discord, fix the tracks!"

"No, he'll teleport, watch." Discord summoned theater snacks and floated in the air.

"No, he won't. He can't." Celestia growled and ignited her horn as everyone watched the flamed out train climb the shaky rails. The grinding metal screamed as it descended in a forty five degree angle toward the hard ground below.

With a series of pops, a ball of flame and smoke appeared on the ground between Celestia and the Elements seconds before the train exploded, the loud whine of metal scrapping together could be heard as the train evaporated into pieces of metal and clouds of thick smoke and dirt floated up.

"Do you have a death wish!" Celestia scolded as she glared at the ball of smoke before her.

Discord landed next to Celestia, equally as upset that he almost killed a pony. "Celestia, who is this?"

Celestia sighed and whisked away the smoke to reveal a large stallion stuffing a photo into of his coat pocket. She remained silent while he stared at her. He pulled a Cigar from another pocket and chewed the end.

"And here I thought you were too busy for little ol' me." Rein chided.

"Well, a letter informing me of your little stunt forced me to clear my schedule." Celestia scolded as she stomped over to Rein, the point of her rage not being a mystery.

"So stealing a train was all I had to do to get you to love me?" Rein smirked. "I was planning a heist, maybe some bedlam and extortion, but this was much nicer." Rein glanced at the wreckage. "And flashier."

"You're depraved." One of the town's ponies spat.

"Why, thank you." Rein wiggled his flank at the group of nearby ponies. "Anything for a fan."

"This isn't a comical matter, Gallant." Celestia said with authority, the drop of his name elicited a few gasps. "You are here for a job, if you continue with this behavior, I will throw you back."

"Will you?" Rein challenged. "You usually turn to threats, but in the end you always forgive."

"To those who deserve it."

"And there's the subjective qualifier." Rein chewed the end of his dead cigar as he tried to light it on nearby wreckage.

"Princess?" Twilight called to her former mentor.

Celestia sighed and turned to Twilight. "I'm sorry, Twilight. This stallion has had the castle in an uproar for the past hour, so we had to teleport here to make sure he got here."

Rein mimicked her response.

"It is rude to mimic the Princess!" Twilight scolded.

Rein chuckled and patted Celestia's flank as he skipped passed her. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna love this Sunday morning in this quiet little mountain town."

"It's Thursday?" Rainbow asked and looked to her friends to see if she was right.

"Yeah." Applejack muttered. "And this is a farming town?"

As Rein skipped away, Celestia sighed in regret. She walked over to Twilight's friends with Twilight in tow.

"What's this about, Princess?" Rarity's refined voice sounded worried as she watched Rein stutter step ponies before ducking into a coffee shop.

With a heavy heart, Celestia looked each of her friends in the eye. "We uncovered a plot to foalnap you as leverage against our pursuits into the dark hoof's business."

"And the stallion?" Rarity asked. "He seems incredibly unrefined."

"If by unrefined, you mean rude and dirty, then I agree." Applejack nodded.

"Is that who I think it is?" Twilight asked.

"It is." Celestia winced at Twilight's shocked look. "I have given Gallant Mind conditional amnesty if he takes on the case of who is trying to harm you. Once he is done, he will have his record expunged."

Twilight sat, her mind reeling at her mentor's decision.

"Should we go and meet him?" Rarity asked. "Call me ignorant, but I am unfamiliar with, what was his name? Gallant Hind?"

"Gallant Mind." Celestia corrected. She heard barking laughter in the coffee shop and shook her head. "I would fill you in, but I know Twilight is very familiar with his work."

"Very." Twilight said, obviously conflicted with his presence.

"Perhaps it is best to just let him come to you and conduct his investigation." Celestia looked up to Discord's questioning look. "I think we should give him space, that would help. Right?"

Author's Note

I make alot of innuendos. but it's all in good fun and never goes too far.

Rein is a bit eccentric as I'm sure you can tell. He spent a great many years in a quiet cell with little else to keep him company besides his thoughts.

I tried to keep him as a silly person and not some personification of edge that I see so much in other mediums where if they're kept locked up for a long time they go crazy and try biting people. He is more complex than it seems at first glance, I try to show that off with his sudden character shifts and brief actions when no one is looking. For example, when Shining goes to stop the train cars, Rein drops his act and glares in Shining's direction. Same with the picture in his coat pocket.

Why am I telling you this? I need something to put in the A/N but more seriously, those of you that read that and were like >.> huh? You can have verification that you aren't crazy and for those of you that missed it.

Also, let me know if you enjoy this? I would like to start releasing more stuff and shorter stories like this as compared to Shattered Skies could be fun.

If not, I can also do one-shots.

We love ya