In the Night Court's offices a grey earth pony stallion stood at attention, his muscles rigid and head held high. Princess Luna stalked around him, looking over the latest design of the Lunar Guard's armor that he was modelling for her.

Jet Streak, the Lunar Court's chamberlain, had lit several extra candles so that the guard would be able to see well enough to not trip over the furniture. Normally she kept the office very dark as her thestral eyes had no trouble in near darkness and Luna preferred it dark as well. Jet had also lit charcoal in a pair of incense burners and sprinkled chunks of frankincense in them, making the air very fragrant and sneeze-provoking. Although Jet didn't really care for it she knew that the ancient incense helped mellow her highness's mood, although it also tended to make her nostalgic. Which, now that Jet considered it, might not be ideal for reviewing the new guard's armor.

She stood a few paces away from the guard and sincerely hoped that Princess Luna would approve this third version of the armour. Working for the princess was a great honour and at first, she had been awestruck to even be in the presence of The Night Guardian. Even with the year of preparatory training that she had received in Celestia's court, she had felt giddy to be serving the princess who featured in so many thestral legends.

That was before she had gotten to know Princess Luna better.

Finding out that her Princess was a confused, demanding and desperately lonely pony had been an eye-opening experience. The similarities with her own daughter, just before she had left home to attend university, were unsettling. Jet sometimes wondered if she'd been selected for this position because Luna needed 'mothering' after her return, rather than for her skills as an administrator.

"Hmm…" Luna moved in close and gazed at the helmet, running her eyes over the bat-wing-like crest. She seemed pleased that the designer had enlarged it a little and also with the lighter purple for the crest and chest plate.

Jet couldn't remember what all of the terms were for the various parts of the armour. Wasn't the chest plate a 'paytrail'? Maybe? Once this was over she never wanted to see another design sketch of armour or swords or anything military ever again.

Luna walked next to the lieutenant and lowered her head to glare at the unarmoured space between his thighs. Jet smirked as the guard's ears flattened against his helmet.

"Chamberlain! There is no codpiece."

Jet trotted over and leant down to have a quick look as well. With her nose this close she could smell the poor stallion's sweaty anxiety. "You are correct, your highness. This stallion is woefully unprotected."

Luna grunted, still glaring at the armour-free gap between the guard's legs.

Standing back up, Jet took a moment to settle the large aluminium key that she wore as a necklace and badge of her office. She cleared her throat and said, "As discussed during our last design meeting with the Royal Armoury designers, there are four reasons why they removed the codpiece from your original design. One: Codpieces went out of style centuries ago. Two: Half of the guard are mares and codpieces are flagrantly sexist. Three: We would have ended up with bow-legged guards hobbling around the palace with the enormous size you requested." The tall black mare smiled down at Luna as she said, "And Four: Your sister told you 'no', remember?"

Jet had secretly written a note asking Princess Celestia to… discuss Luna's designs for the armour with her. It was part of Jet's mandate as Lunar Chamberlain to—not exactly 'spy' on Luna—but to inform Celestia of any difficulties requiring her wisdom or any signs that Luna was becoming too aggressive or depressed. Nopony wanted to risk the return of Nightmare Moon after all.

Luna snorted angrily, causing the guard to flinch as hot, moist air blew over his sheathed weapon.

"Fie!" Luna raised her head up. "One might mistake our guard for milksop mares, they are so bereft of masculinity. Can we not at least caparison them in fine, coloured silks and bows?"

Jet Streak squeaked a short laugh and pressed a hoof over her muzzle to try and contain it. The poor lieutenant looked terrified, with his eyes wide he stared at Jet over Luna's rump and shook his head while mouthing the word 'No'.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Jet kept the hoof to her mouth while she regained her composure and cleared her throat. "I'm afraid that, by today's standards, dolling up the guard would be the opposite of making them appear more masculine. Though I'm sure some of the guardsmares could be talked into it if you want me to enquire?"

As she said this Jet realised she should have kept her muzzle shut because Luna was not pleased to have females in the Lunar Guard. Most mares would be angry about this backwards attitude, but Jet only felt pity for her out-of-touch princess. Not that Luna would appreciate being pitied.

"Nay. Do not trouble them." Luna sighed and admitted, "In this as in many things my desires are antiquated. I must place my faith in thy… in your opinions and the work of the Royal artisans. This design is… loathsome. My guard will look to be ragtag irregulars, nought but wet-ears thrown together as front-line fodder. We might as well arm them with pitchforks and scythes!"

The guard's expression had gone from pleading to grumpy, which was a common response to some of Princess Luna's behaviour. Jet opened her mouth to speak but suddenly Luna laughed, going from annoyed (and annoying) to amused in an eye-blink.

"Oh, but that is most apt! Some of my best companies were the irregulars. Ah, and I think I see my sister's wisdom in this now. Indeed, let our Royal Guard be irregulars, made of common folk and not our dissolute nobility."

The only thing Jet really cared about at this point was getting the new design approved, so she tentatively asked, "You approve then, your highness?"

"Most assuredly."

Saying no more, Luna walked over to Jet's massive desk and settled down on one of the very large and comfortable pillows beside it.

Jet trotted over to the confused looking guard and whispered, "She means 'yes'." She chuckled at his relieved expression and said, "Thank you, Lieutenant, you are dismissed." Jet waved the guard out of the office with one of her black wings and closed the ornate double-door behind him. She trotted over to her ornately carved desk and sat down, not lounging like the princess but upright and ready to work.

Luna sighed and said, "Please tell me there is nought else to be dealt with this eve, Chamberlain."

Taking a deep breath, Jet fought down the urge to yawn and rubbed at one of her eyes with a wingtip. It had been a long night after a week of long nights packed with court business that had piled up while the princess was away, and yet more that needed to be taken care of in advance before her highness departed Canterlot once more. Jet settled her bat-like wings into order and picked up the last folder in her in-tray. She opened it and said, "Mmm… Just a final report on the three ponies you asked the Night Court to investigate. Poppycock is currently awaiting trial for selling coca and opium-laced salts. We're currently observing his supplier. Snap Shot's case has been closed as no evidence of criminal behaviour was found. He is, of course, unaware of the investigation. Mmm… And a review of the Solar Court's evidence confirmed that Duke Star Glow was not involved with his first wife's death." She set the folder down, looked over at Luna and asked, "Did you see anything suspicious in his dreams, Princess?"

"Nay." Luna shook her head and said, "Not a dram of guilt other than that of a pony who hath found new love blooming after the first has withered. I think him innocent in his first wife's demise."

Jet nodded, jotted down a note and put the folder into her out-tray. The investigations had been a good exercise for the cloak-and-dagger teams that were part of the Night Court's staff. Slowly everypony was beginning to integrate, though they would not be complete until the princess herself returned to the court full-time. Hopefully, that would be soon! Certain ponies were champing at the bit to petition the Night Court, most likely hoping that Luna would be easier to con than Celestia. Jet couldn't wait to see the disappointed looks on their sleazy faces. With any luck, a few of them would get a tour of the dungeons that Luna had insisted be restored.

Luna gracefully rose to her hooves and stepped off of the pillow to give herself a shake. As her wings settled back against her sleek, dark blue sides she nodded to Jet. "I will take my leave then as the dreaming hour is nigh. Fare thee well, faithful Jet Streak."

"Good morning and good hunting, Princess."

"Sard!" Luna cursed as the glass-like sphere of a forming dream suddenly swelled into existence, sucking in the billowing grey fog of dream stuff.

She had been waiting for what felt like hours in Prince Blueblood's dream space, killing time by refining some of her dramatis personae. With a flick of her tail, she dismissed the dream version of Miss Cheerilee that she had been tweaking; the original had been copied from a student's somewhat moist and sweaty dream. It dissipated, turning back into fog as Luna trotted over to the still forming dream.

Visiting Blueblood's sleeping mind was going to be grotesque. What she had seen and heard of her many-times-great-grand-nephew's behaviour left little doubt that he was the worst kind of nobility; a pompous, arrogant, debauched letch. Entering a relative's dream—even one so distant—came with the risk of it being sexual in nature, which was too close to engaging in incest for Luna's liking. Particularly with a sod like Blueblood.

She'd halfway hoped that he would drink himself into a dreamless stupor and she could avoid this unpleasantness altogether. But this was her last night in Canterlot and she needed to at least make an effort to deal with Blueblood while he was in range of her still feeble somniomancy.

With a resigned expression, Luna plunged into the dream...

...and found herself wrapped in a dream made of flesh. Beige pony hide pressed up against her from every side, crushing her in a tight, slippery sack of hot, sweaty flesh that stank of excited mare.

For a few moments, Luna was paralysed with surprise. Then she struggled, wiggled and squirmed as much as she could, pushing the heavy flesh away from her muzzle and spitting tangy sweat. She couldn't tell if this was some lusty fantasy or if Blueblood was suffering through a nightmare. She could hear panting and low, female moans of pleasure where the sweaty fur pressed up against her ears. The flesh in front of her swelled and pressed the awful tasting hide back against her muzzle.

With a wordless roar, she fired a silvery beam of destruction from her horn which tore through the fleshy monstrosity, blasting through jiggling flesh that immediately turned back into grey fog. Swinging her head she freed herself and continued to slash until the beam met resistance and something shrieked in pain. For a moment Luna worried that she'd somehow injured the dreamer, though with that particular lancing spell it should not be possible. But no, it wasn't a noise that a pony's throat could create; a warbling chorus of small animals being eviscerated. Tatters of the beige hide fluttered through the air, but most of it was destroyed and turned into a thick fog. Tracking the unseen source of the horrible wailing as it quickly moved to her left, Luna let the beam of magic drop and quickly cast a different spell. This one manifested as a round net made of glowing strands which shot toward the noise.

There was a loud squeak followed by harsh chittering and the remnants of the dream collapsed and flowed away to rejoin the knee deep fog of Blueblood's dreamspace. Luna walked over to where her entrapment spell lay on the 'ground', glowing through the fog. She lifted it up with her magic and examined the creature inside.

About the size of a hoofball, it was an unappealing mass of eyes and limbs from a wide variety of species. Tentacles, bug legs, and furry limbs poked out from the mesh, all wiggling and straining to escape as several mismatched eyes glared at her.

Though Luna had not seen its type before she was certain that it was a minor imp from the upper levels of Tartarus, sent to provoke and collect terror from dreams. Much like a honey bee supping on flowers and taking the sweet nectar back to the hive, this foul creature supplied its master's table with delicacies. They could also provide something like a map which other, less benevolent demons could use to further corrupt a pony's soul.

Blueblood's dream was clearly a nightmare that caused great suffering rather than a domination sex fantasy.

Luna grimaced at the horrible thing as it chittered and burbled at her. She cast another spell which encased it in a tight containment and silencing shield, squeezing it's flailing limbs down into a tight sphere. She squinted at it and wondered why she hadn't detected its presence the moment she'd entered the dream. She would need to study it, drain it, wipe what passed for its mind and then flush its indestructible essence back down to Tartarus.

Imps would keep coming so long as Blueblood was vulnerable to them, so something would need to be done to heal his mind or at the very least shield his dreams. At least he should be safe for a few days now that this leech was contained.

Trotting off towards the exit from his dream space, Luna hummed a little tune. She was feeling good about her first 'kill' since her return, even if it was a minor night terror that had left her exhausted. It was a start and Tartarus would soon learn to their woe that she was back.

"Mintyyy..! Minty!" The Clover the Clever College Residence Hall B dorm director rapped a hoof against the door to Minty's room, despite the door being half open.

Minty sighed and pushed away from her desk and the extremely boring textbook she had been struggling to read. She turned sideways on her padded stool, looked over and said, "Hey, Tulip. What's up?"

Tulip looked a bit agitated and glanced down the hall outside Minty's room. "There's a stallion named Gloaming Gleam in reception who's asked to see you."

Oh. That explained the older mare's agitation at least. It didn't matter that Minty had made it clear she didn't swing that way, Tulip probably still saw old Mr. Gleam as a threat. Poor Tulip. Not that Minty had a pity fuck to give, that would just make things even worse. Right?

Minty hopped down and walked over to the door. "He's my boss from when I did intern. I wonder what he wants?"

The relieved looks on Tulip's pretty pink muzzle was cute, and Minty did feel a teeny bit pleased that somepony was carrying a torch for her. It was flattering, even if there was zero interest on her part. Minty magicked the lock on her door and they quickly trotted down the two flights of stairs to the reception where Mr. Gleam was impatiently pacing back and forth.

Minty waved and called, "Hey, boss! What's up?"

"Hello, Minty." Gloaming smiled sourly and said, "Please just call me 'Gloaming', I'm not your employer anymore."

"Ok, sorry. Mr… Uh. Gloaming. So, what brings you to my castle in the sky?"

Tulip sat down at the reception desk and Gloaming glanced at her before walking away from the desk, gesturing with a hoof for Minty to follow. When they reached the entrance he quietly said, "Do you remember the, umm, special case you were involved with just prior to Hearth's Warming?"

"Mmmhmmm!" Minty nodded, it was the most exciting day of her painful internship.

"Well, Mr. Quire… do you remember him?"

"Old grey stallion. Says 'hmm' a lot."

"Yes. Well, the subject of the case responded to our polite invitation and Mr. Quire has asked me to ask you to join us for the testing." Gloaming huffed, "Celestia knows why, but he would like you there. So, if you'd care to join me, I have a cab waiting to take us."

Minty blinked. "Now? Right now?"

"Yes! Right now, Minty. Unless you're busy…" Gloaming's perked ears and beginnings of a smile made it pretty clear that he'd prefer it if she were unable to go.

Minty grinned, "Nope! Not busy at all. But first I gotta…" She trotted back to the reception desk and told Tulip, "I'm gonna go out for a bit! Just some business stuff they need me for. No worries."

Tulip made a note in the hall's log-book and nodded, "Ok, don't forget to get in touch if you'll be out after nightfall. Take care, Minty."

"You too!"

On her way back to the front doors, Minty grabbed her scarf from one of the communal wardrobes that lined the reception and slung it around her neck. A few minutes later she and Gloaming were inside an enclosed cab and on their way to Canterlot General Hospital. It wasn't snowing for a change, but the gusting wind was bitterly cold. Minty hoped the cabbie pony wasn't freezing his apples off; but he was a big, burly earth pony with a thick, shaggy coat so he was probably ok. At least the streets were clear and dry.

It was a little awkward sitting beside her former boss in the tight confines of the cab. He didn't seem interested in conversation as they rattled along the cobbled streets and just sat gazing out the window at the snow covered buildings and parks.

"So… What's this testing thing all about anyway, bo… uh… Gloaming?"

Gloaming sighed and looked over at her. "So far as I'm aware it's just a T.C. testing procedure. Surely you've had yours tested before, Minty?"

She nodded and said, "Yep! Back in Fillydelphia. Years ago. Every unicorn gets tested, right?" Minty twiddled her hooves for a few moments, but Gloaming didn't seem to have anything further to say.

"So, it's just a T.C. test? That's it?"

Gloaming nodded.

"Oh. Sounds kinda boring. No guards dragging in a reluctant prisoner. No barely contained magical mayhem." Minty sighed and asked, "Why did Mr. Quire even want me to be there?"

"I would like to know the reason as well." Gloaming looked quite grumpy. Grumpier than usual anyway, he almost always looked like the world has peed in his tea.

Minty kind of wished that Jade were here. Something was fishy and Jade was the cynical and suspicious pony who'd be able to figure out what was really going on. She'd know what questions to ask. Oh well, she'd just try to remember everything that happened and tell Jade about it afterwards.

When they arrived at the hospital, Gloaming settled up with the cab hauler and didn't even ask Minty to go halfsies or anything. So, hey, free cab ride at least. Minty felt she was one-up on the evening already, just too bad she didn't actually need to be at the hospital. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too boring. If it was going to be boring she had plenty of boring textbooks at the dorm to be bored by. No need to go out if she wanted to be bored.

"This way, I think."

Gloaming led her down a staff passage rather than going up to reception in the main entrance, so at least that was kind of interesting. Minty had been through a lot of the staff areas below the hospital, but never above ground. It wasn't much different though; bland white and pea green corridor after corridor, sometimes with doors or rolling carts with medical stuff on them. Busy, white-coated staff trotting around doing medical things. Minty didn't see any patients though and figured that they must be trotting through the hospital's labs rather than the patient clinics.

Eventually, Gloaming picked out a door from all of the other look-alike doors and opened it. Following him inside, Minty found herself in yet another corridor. No surprise there, except that it was short, dimly lit and only led to another door.

"Please shut that door, Minty."

Gloaming waited until she'd closed it before opening the next one. It let them into a small, dimly lit room where Mr. Quire was waiting for them, gazing through a window that took up almost an entire wall.

"Mmm… Good evening, Gleam. Minty. Mmm…" The old unicorn's voice was quiet and Minty thought she detected a hint of excitement buried in the grey blandness that she remembered.

Gloaming whispered, "Good evening to you, Mr. Quire."

The room on the other side of the window was two stories tall and round. The window was up on the second floor so they were looking down onto a floor that was tiled in white and had three magical circles worked into it with coloured tiles. Minty wasn't a magical student so the runes written in the circles were unintelligible but pretty. She figured the room must be a re-purposed anatomy theatre where they used to bring in some unlucky pony's dead body and pick it to pieces while medical students watched. Yuck! There weren't any rows of seats though, just a round, domed room.

Directly opposite the window was a door and on the left side of the room, outside of the magic circles, was a table with several pieces of medical looking equipment on it. Cables ran from the equipment to the centre of the room where a pair of ponies in lab coats were standing next to a comfortable looking méridienne chaise lounge; the kind with a high back and arm on only one end. The gold and purple furniture looked out of place in the otherwise sterile looking hospital theatre.

"Oh", said Gloaming, "He's not arrived yet?"

"Soon. Mmm… Hello, Miss Treacle."

Minty waved and said, "Hi, Mr. Quire." She wanted to ask why he'd invited her along, but he was pretty much ignoring her and Gloaming, his gaze fixed on the door to the testing room.

They waited for a few minutes. Just long enough for Minty to notice Quire's slightly wheezy breathing but not quite long enough to become annoyed by it. So far this was just as boring as she'd expected. A door in the testing room opened and a white-coated, unicorn doctor trotted in with a pony following behind her.

Minty pressed her muzzle up against the glass to try and get a better view of the mysterious Click… Click-thing? She saw an older unicorn, rather than the young colt she'd assumed he was when she handled his paperwork. He was a warm yellow colour with a bright blue mane and bit of blue scruff on the end of his chin. There was something weird about his glasses but she was too far away to make out what it was. The doctor was carrying a bunch of wires in her magic field, which connected to round sensors stuck to Click-thing's head and torso, and to a cone made of plastic mesh that concealed his horn.

There was a click, an electronic whine and then the doctor's voice could be heard over a speaker on the observation room's ceiling. "...a seat there and we'll get started."

One of the medical assistants helped Click-thing get comfortable on the chaise, sitting him down facing the window, while the other hooked up his wires to the cables on the floor. Then the doctor and assistants went to fiddle with the equipment, switching things on with a chorus of quiet beeps. Once everything had been double-checked, the doctor turned and said, "All right, Mr. Clickspring. Please relax. We're going to activate the circles now and you may feel some discomfort before they stabilise."

Minty shuffled her hooves nervously as one of the assistants hop-walked up to the innermost circle, carrying something small in her hoof. She stopped and pressed it into the floor at the edge of the inner ring. The whole thing lit up with a bright blue glow and crackling streaks of energy lept up forming a transparent dome over the centre of the room. Clickspring sat up and gasped and even this far away, safely behind a wall and window, Minty felt her fur trying to stand on end as the local magic field's strength suddenly increased.

One of the assistants checked a machine and announced, "Induced magic field is stable and its power level is sufficient." He tapped a key on one of the other machines. "T.D.S. has been calibrated."

The doctor scribbled on a clipboard and nodded. "Noted. Bring up the suppressor."

As the assistant three-legged it to a spot on the middle circle, Minty squinted her eyes and could just make out where a tile was missing in the pattern. The assistant placed the missing tile and the middle ring glowed a bright yellow and produced its own dome of energy around the first one, like another layer being added to an onion. To Minty, it felt as though somepony had closed a window and shut out a wind made of magic that had been blowing past her.

"Suppression is active. Thaumaton levels within the testing area are now within zero point one five percent of test requirements."

The doctor nodded and made a note on her clipboard before walking to the edge of the still inactive outer magic circle. "Mr. Clickspring, for the first test can you please light up your horn for us?"

Clickspring nervously asked, "H… how long do you need me to hold it for?"

Minty would have been nervous too! She was just out here watching, not in the middle of all those powerful circles, and she was worried.

"Just get it as bright as you can for a moment, no need to hold it for any length of time."

"Whew. Alright, I can do that." The speaker crackled as Clickspring sat up and closed his eyes to concentrate on using his horn.

Minty glanced at her fellow observers and saw that everypony was pressing as close at the could to the window in anticipation of seeing a freak perform.

The plastic cone around Clickspring's horn glowed a bluish-green and then the tip lit up like a light bulb, growing quickly in intensity to almost arc-welder brilliance before just as quickly fading away and going out.

She couldn't help but feel let down. Sure, it had been pretty bright but Minty had expected something spectacular and maybe dangerous to happen. Clickspring was panting and looked a bit sweaty; just like a pony doing a jerk-and-lift of their max at the gym. He could be faking it but Minty found it pretty convincing.

"Peak T.C. of seventy-seven point eight percent", said a technician as he wrote a note on one of the scrolling papers coming out of a machine.

That was a pretty decent score, but nowhere near the freaky end of things. Seventy-seven and a bit wouldn't even get a unicorn into the School for Gifted Unicorns. Minty felt a little envious since she had a fifty-four, which wasn't good enough to get her any advanced training and meant she'd had to pursue a career in paperwork rather than spell slinging.

"Well, that was a let down", Gloaming huffed, "I suppose those Ponyville doctors must have been in error, what?" He pulled out a handkerchief from somewhere and mopped his brow.

"Mmm… We shall see."

"Are you ready for the next test?" asked the doctor.

Clickspring stopped rubbing his forehead and nodded, "Sure, I guess." He certainly didn't sound like somepony who was pleased with having a high score, just resigned and wishing he was somewhere else.

The doctor pulled a lever next to the desk and a round hatch on the floor in front of Clickspring slid open, out of it rose a brass ball on the end of a thick, grey pole. It locking into place when it was level with Clickspring's head.

"For this test, I'd like you to push against the ball as hard as you can. Alright?"

Clickspring nodded and sat up straighter, focusing his attention on the ball.

"Begin whenever you're ready."

Everypony in the observation room was focused on Clickspring again, as his horn glowed and the glow reached out to touch the orange-sized sphere. There wasn't much else to see at first, just an old unicorn starting to sweat again from the effort of pushing against the immobile metal. But then Minty noticed that the sphere was moving a little, swaying back and forth as the glow of Clickspring's magic began to pulse in intensity.

One of the technicians glanced up from the machine he was monitoring and said, "Try to keep an even pressure, Mr. Clickspring."

"I… am…"

The oscillation kept growing, getting bigger and faster. Minty pressed her nose against the cool glass and noticed that the colour of Clickspring's magic glow was changing. He'd closed his eyes and was grimacing and his magic was turning purple, then red and the light it made was getting dimmer and dimmer.

Soon it went out completely and yet the ball was vibrating back and forth violently as somehow Clickspring was still pushing it despite his magic having flickered out. Sort of. There were sparks shooting up from the top of his head, kind of like embers coming off of a fire. Minty thought they should stop the test because that looked really painful. The ball was a blur on the end of the vibrating pole and she could feel the floor of the observation room vibrating under her hooves.

The test ended abruptly when with a loud squawk of abused metal the pole gave out and bent at the base. Clickspring slumped on the chaise and the colour of his magic glow reappeared, quickly flashing through red, purple and blue before it faded out again.

Gloaming quietly asked, "What in Equestria was that?"

Down in the testing room, Clickspring had slid the horn sensor off and was rubbing at the base of his horn. The doctor and her assistants were just sitting, staring at him.

"Mmm… Doctor. The results, please."

Minty hadn't seen a microphone anywhere in the room, but the doctor snapped out of his shock and glanced down at the scrolling paper from one of the machines. "Peak T.C. of... one hundred and nineteen percent? That's not possible..."

'Alright! Way to go, Clickspring', Minty thought.

"Miss Treacle, this is decidedly not something to be cheering about."

Oops… stupid mouth! "Sorry, boss… uh… Mr. Gloaming."

Over the speaker, she heard one of the technicians ask the doctor, "Do well, uh, continue testing?"

"No!"

Gloaming and Quire both gave Minty surprised and questioning looks, while she spluttered and wished she had just a little control over her mouth right now.

"Mmm… Miss Treacle, I…"

"No, seriously. No. I mean, look at the guy! He's in a lotta pain and I know this is important but there's gotta be another way to…"

"Shhh… Calm yourself, Miss Treacle. Mmm… There won't be any more tests, not today. You're correct and mmm I think we have what we need. Don't we, Gloaming? Mmm..?"

"I believe so. That last test was quite… unique."

"Mmm… good." Quire's horn glowed again as he spoke to the doctor, "Mmm… no more tests, doctor. Please see to your patient, he appears to be in distress. Mmm… thank you. Mmm…"

The doctor's voice crackled over the speakers, "Dispel the circles, we're finished for now. Let's get Mr. Clickspring cleaned up and down to Physiology."

Minty went back to watching as the assistants went through shutting down the two magic circles and the doctor trotted over to help Clickspring. After a few minutes, his sensors were unplugged, a cloth was pressed against the base of his horn and they led him away and out of the room.

"Mmm… Miss. Treacle?"

Minty turned away from the window and asked, "Yes, Mr. Quire?" Minty still didn't know why the old stallion had invited her, maybe she could get that out of him before she headed home to her dull books.

He waved a grey hoof, beckoning her to follow as he tottered out the door. "Mmm… Come, walk with us."

Gloaming nodded and gestured for her to go ahead. He followed as she trotted out into the hospital hall where Quire was waiting. As they walked along to whatever destination he had in mind, he turned to Minty and asked, "Mmm… So, what do you make of him?"

"Clickspring?"

Quire nodded slowly. "Mmmhmm."

"Um, well… He seems like the real deal. That light spell wasn't anything special but he sure messed up that pole, right? I mean, sure there'r spells that'll do that easier but busting it up by just pushing really hard is pretty crazy."

Quire chuckled as they trotted down a flight of stairs and she gave him a questioning look. "What's funny about that?"

"Mmm… He bent the steel post in half while leaving the softer brass ball undamaged. What do you think that means? Mmm..?"

"I… I don't know. What?"

"Mmm…" Quire smiled in an unpleasant way, with no emotions at all reaching his eyes. "I don't know. If you figure it out, please tell me."

Their hooves were very loud on the tile floor as they walked into the round testing room. Minty smelled something in the air as she trotted over to the chaise, it was like burnt hair and it made her feel a little ill. She checked out the steel post and found that Quire had been on the money; the post was warped and almost split off near the base, but the brass sphere looked untouched.

"Mmm… Be a good fellow and gather the… mmm… data, won't you Gloaming? Mmm..?"

Gloaming nodded and went over to the test equipment. "Of course." He pulled an orange folder out of his saddlebags and started ripping the chart papers off of each machine and tucking them into it.

Minty trotted over and asked, "Umm… Don't those belong to the hospital?"

It was Quire who answered, "Don't what belong to the hospital? Mmm..?"

She waved a hoof at the folder that Gloaming was tucking away. "Those read-out chart things from the test?"

Gloaming raised his eyebrows and looked surprised. "Test? Was there a test, Mr. Quire?"

"I don't recall any tests, Mr. Gloaming. Mmm…" Quire turned and walked towards the door, "Come. Mmm… Let us retire, take some tea and have ourselves a little mmm chat, shall we?"

As they walked through the hospital's back hallways, Minty quietly thought about the strange situation she'd found herself in. She was just a paper pusher. A rubber stamp wrangler. What in Celestia was she doing involved in this stuff? Crazy powered unicorns… well… unicorn, so far. Mysterious stallions that seemed to be outside of the law, stealing confidential patient stuff and dragging her into this. Whatever it was.

She stood next to Mr. Quire on the hospital's front steps while Gloaming trotted out into the street to hail a cab.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Mmm..? Of course, Miss Treacle."

She sighed and asked, "Why am I here? You seem to want me in on this for some reason."

Quire coughed and turned to look at her. "Mmm… Do you remember when we met? You said Mr. Clickspring was your mmm 'client', yes?"

"Uh huh."

"That's why you're here. Mmm… I need somepony to be his mmm advocate while we sort this out. Somepony who cares about what happens to him."

Minty bit her lip and asked, "Is something bad going to happen to him?"

Quire's only response was a raspy sigh a few shades more morose than his usual tone.

Gloaming came trotting back with a cab following behind him, the big earth pony mare pulling it breathing gouts of steam from her nostrils. Quire started down the steps but turned and looked back when he realised that Minty wasn't with him.

"I… I don't know if I can do this, Mr. Quire."

He nodded and walked back up a few steps and looked her in the eyes. "Mmm… I understand, Miss Treacle. Please think about it and maybe talk with your friend… that red mare, but nopony else please. Mmm... We'll contact you when the doctors finish examining Mr. Clickspring and we have some idea of what to do." He turned and walked slowly down the stairs towards the cab door that Gloaming was holding open for him.

After he'd climbed in, Gloaming nodded to her and got in as well. Minty waved as the cab moved off and then stood for a while on the steps. It was getting cold as the sun set and she shivered, then trotted down the steps with the desire for a hot chai pushing her to find a cafe. Then some dull books to take her mind off of all this. And maybe a long talk with Jade. First, chai. A filly has to have her priorities straight after all.

Author's Note

Whew. Finally! This chapter was much delayed because I couldn't stop reading Starlight Over Detrot: A Noir Tale. Sorry about that.

As always, please PM me if you spot any errors.

Edit: Now with a bunch of embarrassing typos fixed courtesy of the vigilant Cross Lament.