Aurora awoke from the couch, yawning and stretching her legs before rolling over, shoes sounding out against the floor as she stood up. She looked around; sunlight was peering through the blinds; it was very early morning.

Figures. We got up early due to the whole cat thing.

She took a look around. Maxwell was still sleeping on the couch, curled up and breathing lightly.

It was a bit laughable now, though, that her son had panicked over a cat. She chuckled, lightly in case she awoke the others. Maxwell looked so peaceful at the moment, it was hard to imagine him frightening anyone.

She went into the kitchen, took out a pan, and started the stove.

Her thoughts turned toward Equestria. Toward the sweet dark nights when she and her family would go to Bat City for groceries and to party at friends' houses. Toward picnics under a bright moon high in the sky. Toward the image of Canterlot Palace, illuminated by the moon as she and other thestrals went about their business.

Bat City was another thought in her mind as she cut up some tomatoes. The business that took place as the moon shone through the hole cut in the mountain, the playing of thestral children in the streets, the distant sounds of stones being chipped away throughout the mountain.

All of that and more had been stripped away from them.

She felt darkness - the evil, terrifying kind of darkness that thestrals and day ponies alike hated - descend upon her mind as she remembered her family slinking out of their house with what possessions and money they could fit in their saddlebags. As they made their way to Embassy square, where all the various diplomats from Earth went about their business. As they nervously awaited for their visas to be accepted, of long hours - including daylight hours - waiting, sitting, playing makeshift games with whatever they had at hoof until they were eventually accepted.

She remembered Shadow trying to find job after job, of rejections, of employment not lasting long, of evictions from one house to the next. She remembered the coins in their saddlebags becoming lighter and lighter, until the money was gone and the saddlebags themselves just tossed aside, useless.

They had been living on the streets after that, taking what they could. But that couldn't sustain them.

They were fortunate enough, of course. At least right now they had food and water.

She dragged her mind away from the past. It wouldn't help them now. She just had to take care of her family.

Darkness. For a thestral, it was nothing new; nighttime, when it was darkest, was the bat pony's natural habitat.

That said, the "Dark Lair" of the Thestral Secret Service was dark in a way that even nocturnal creatures could not see in it unless someone bothered to bring a source of light into it. Even so, there were rumors of the room's darkness being from an unearthly source; there were rumors that it came from the remnants of whatever had possessed Princess Luna, that it was from some long forgotten eldritch source, or perhaps it was simply the incarnation of darkness.

Whatever the source, the Dark Lair was darker than the darkest night Shadow had ever witnessed.

Shadow wasn't particularly superstitious, but the Dark Lair even the greatest of Princess Luna's veterans shiver, and he was no exception. Only those completely numb to feeling would be at home here... which was the whole point.

He knocked on the rock door.

"Come in," a deep voice from within said, echoing through the stone.

Repressing a shiver, Shadow went in, closing the door behind him. Total darkness befell the room, such that he was completely unable to see.

The general inside the room let him stew for about five seconds before lighting a match and setting it to a candle. "So, what have you uncovered?" the general asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Sir, another diamond dog nest. Right here," Shadow said, pointing it out on the map on the table. "They've taken the ambassador's children there. Apparently, they have changeling crystal that defuses all normal magic, because the unicorns with us on the scout were unable to use theirs around the place."

"So Chrysalis is involved in the kidnapping, and is cooperating with the dogs." It was a statement, not a question.

"Most likely, sir. We weren't able to locate the exact points of entry, nor map out the underground areas, but we were able to define the rough boundaries of the anti-magic effect. Presumably the base is under that invisible umbrella."

"Understood. That will be all, lieutenant."

"Yes, sir."

Shadow was glad to leave the Dark Lair. It was creepy, even without a general colder than ice within it.

Shadow's eyes blinked open, and he breathed heavily. It took a few moments to realize he wasn't dreaming anymore, and that he was safe in bed.

I can't let them see me like this. I need to be strong.

It was a short memory, true, but it signified just how powerful the Dark Lair seemed to be. Of course, Luna had deliberately chosen who was part of her secret service; thestrals who could look at the most horrific and gory picture before them and not flinch, who could be, at a moment's notice, the terror that nighttime hid within the dark.

Diamond dogs had been kidnapping foals - and now, the child of the US Ambassador - for reasons as of yet unknown, though slavery was suspected as a reason. That particular diamond dog town didn't exist anymore; the Lunar Guard had attacked furiously, killing all who resisted, arresting - and later deporting - the rest of the clan, and freeing the children held captive by the kidnappers. The town itself, once all living captives and its inhabitants had been cleared - and the stone that blocked magic was destroyed - was burned down, after which dynamite had been used to bury the ruins. The clan was forced out of Equestria, on pain of detainment and overseas deportation if it ever returned. That clan hadn't bothered troubling anyone else since then.

Chrysalis' involvement in the kidnapping was never known, though the black rock that stopped normal magic, and the fact that the kidnappers had seemed to have a creature on the inside, pointed toward that conclusion. The hunt for renegade changelings continued, but few had ever been caught, and fewer still talked no matter what pressure was put upon them. There was also evidence, however disturbing, that the number of renegades was increasing, whether through natural processes or through some kind of cloning.

This was only one case of kidnapping, however. Every so often, stallions and mares had frantically reported that their foals were missing, only for the investigators to hit dead ends when looking into the case. These detectives weren't newbies, either; most had been on the job for years, if not decades, and had seen the best and worst of the job. The only thing that could be concluded was that the kidnappings were the work of a master of concealment; concealment of evidence, concealment of contacts, concealment of motives, opportunities, and means, and concealment of the occurrence of the crime itself.

A few families had responded to this problem by making their homes fortresses and homeschooling their foals, although only the very, very rich had any sort of impressive defensive system. But many, if not most, families were unaware of what was going on, or that their foal could be next. Some parents even concluded that, with the breaking of the diamond dog clan and the freeing of the captives there, that the problem was solved.

There were wrong. The kidnappings had continued. They weren't on such a scale as to overly alarm the population; the occasional child getting lost, or being kidnapped, did happen every so often. But the fact that none of the kidnapped foals were being found frustrated police and detectives, along with Guards sent to aid the various cases. It was as if the foals had vanished off the face of the planet, so far as evidence went. Here and there, the occasional missing foal was recovered, but in these cases there was no sign of the deliberate concealment of the group that was vanishing their captives, just the petty interest of gangs and common criminals.

There were, of course, suspects. Perhaps the kidnapping were being done by an undetected diamond dog colony, or Chrysalis' infiltrators. Maybe it was an organized criminal gang selling the foals as slaves overseas for profit. In the latter case, though, Equestria had found no evidence to convict any of its fellow nations, none of whom would have had interest in slaves, and definitely not child slaves.

It was a situation as dark as the Dark Lair itself. Perhaps that was why the Lunar Secret Service was on it.

But even they remained in the dark as to who was committing the crime. Perhaps that had been the scariest part of the whole thing.

Shadow tried to wipe the memories from his mind. But even as he started to fall back asleep, he couldn't shake the image of the general, or the room itself, from his mind.

Bright found himself in Bat City's baseball stadium. The Quarry Quakers were facing the Forest Ferrets - the team Bright was rooting for - and it was the bottom of the ninth. The two teams were very close in score; the Quakers were just ahead, but now it was the Ferrets' turn at bat.

Midnight Swing came out of the dugout, to cheers from Ferret fans, including Bright, who raised a midnight blue flag with the words "Go Ferrets!" on it. Midnight, with his bat slung over his shoulder, nodded to the crowd as he stepped up to the plate.

The batter raised himself up on his hind legs, tapping the bat against a rear hoof and the plate before putting it into position behind his head. The pitcher from the Quakers hurled the ball.

CLUNK!

The bat made contact with the ball. Midnight immediately flung the bat away and galloped for first base as the opposing players scrambled to try and catch the ball. Fortunately for him, the ball landed in the field beyond, and he was able to get all the way to second base before the Quakers could try tagging him. The Ferrets' fans in the stadium cheered loudly, shouting, "Midnight! Midnight!"

Another player made his way out of the dugout, Cake Batter, who also took up position at the plate. He missed his first swing, but the second hit, sending the ball outward, past the thestrals trying to catch it. Both Midnight and Cake ran as fast as they could, Midnight making it back to home base. Unfortunately, one of the opposing players threw the ball accurately enough to hit Cake in his midsection, knocking him out of the game. Quaker fans jeered.

"Don't worry, son," Shadow said to his son from just behind him. "We still have two outs left, and Midnight evened up the score. We just need one more to win."

A third thestral emerged, by the name of Night Pitcher. Like the others, he walked up to the plate and prepared to hit the ball.

The ball was thrown, the bat swung...

...and it was a miss.

Again the ball was pitched. Again Pitcher missed the ball, which clanged into the fencing behind him.

"Maybe he should stick at pitching baseballs, instead of trying to hit them," somepony nearby muttered.

For a third time, the ball was hurled...

CLUNK!

This time, Night Pitcher scored a clean hit. The ball went flying. He went running too.

Unfortunately, although the ball fell into the field, it was picked up at once by an opposing player. As Pitcher ran, this pony hurled the ball to the Quakers' pitcher, who threw it at Midnight Swing. It was a clean hit, and Midnight was out just moments before getting to home base.

A groan went up from Ferret fans, including Bright.

But Night Pitcher wasn't done. He made it to first base, then, dodged the ball thrown at him, allowing him to reach the second. He kept running, even as the Quakers scrambled for the ball.

He reached third base just as they got the ball, and hurled it again to their pitcher. He threw...

...and missed by inches, as the ball went right between Night's legs.

Night Pitcher reached home base, and was safe.

Quaker fans shouted in despair as Ferret fans almost drowned them out completely in their cheers. Bright practically shouted his lungs out, and nearly lost his flag waving it around.

"We won, dad! We won!"

Shadow didn't respond. Bright turned back to him briefly to see him looking briefly... grim. His eyes were no longer looking upon the baseball stadium, but upon some memory or thought of some kind. It came close to killing Bright's mood right then and there.

Then his father shook himself out of it, and smiled at his son. "Yes, son, we won."

Bright would almost not sleep the morning after the victory, as he was so happy.

Luke left his place of work just past five in the evening. It had been a busy day; a field trip from a local elementary school had visited the museum, and there had been the usual tours and lectures.

Doing what you love for a living shouldn't feel like work, but I'm exhausted.

He sat down on one of the benches outside the museum and leaned back, allowing the gentle breeze to whirl around him.

Hmmm. Smells like the ocean. Well, the beach isn't far away.

Presently the metallic clip-clop of hooves on pavement was heard. He looked up to see a gray earth pony in a tuxedo walking toward the museum; saddlebags were on his back. His cutie mark was of a clay or bronze tablet being wiped with a brush.

"Hey fella, where you going?"

The earth pony looked surprised for a moment, then turned to face him. "Oh, hi there! I'm going to apply for a position here."

"Sorry to say it, pal, but the museum just closed for the day."

"What?" the pony replied, looking surprised and defeated. "Already?"

"Yeah. Sorry but the higher-ups decided the place needed some maintenance work, and we've been closing early this week because of it."

"Ohhhhhhhh, and I had all the paperwork and everything ready," the stallion said, head falling towards the ground.

Luke felt a surge of pity for the stallion, who looked miserable. "Don't sweat it," he said, getting up and walking over to the pony. "Tomorrow, come in at 8:00 A.M., and I can show you in to the boss myself."

"Oh, thank you!" the pony said, looking up and smiling. He held out a shod hoof. "I'm Relic Hunter. I'm a historian who graduated from the University of Manehattan."

Luke took and shook it. "I'm Luke Martin. I work at this establishment. Glad to help. You're quite a long way from home."

"Yeah, I am," Relic answered, withdrawing his hoof. "Or maybe not, if you look at it from a certain point of view."

"Oh?"

"I'm in the process of moving here. I'll be a citizen in seven years, if I'm right about this country's laws."

"I..."

"I know what you're thinking; why would I leave Equestria, the pony paradise?"

"Well, yes."

Relic sighed. "While Equestria is a great place to live, it's not some perfect heaven on earth. My parents wanted me to go into archeology, as per my cutie mark, whereas I prefer to teach about history and maybe use artifacts to back what I'm saying."

"Basically what I do here every day. But please continue."

"Since the portals opened, I've wanted to come here and study. But my parents don't trust humans - don't like them, if I'm being honest. I was excited beyond words when the news of a new world - potentially another dimension - was discovered. I mean, a world where the planet revolves around the sun on its own? With new histories to discover? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. And don't get me started on all the books I could read! Naturally, I wanted to come immediately. But Mom and dad got upset, saying my talents were wasted on a 'species that can't stop fighting itself every day' and that I should be using my talents back home. We got into an argument. I... we all said things... I'm not proud of what I said and I wish I could just forget."

"That explains why you left your household, but why leave Equestria entirely?"

"Well, part of it is what I've already said; I was eager to explore history on a new world. But I'll admit that there are other reasons. For one, Equestria isn't some paradise on Earth. Not even close. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful place to live, but there are problems. One being that so many ponies love Equestria itself so much that they don't necessarily want to venture outside of it - except maybe for a vacation. A lot of ponies prefer to live in their own communities. Even though we're supposed to be a land of harmony, its sometimes only selectively true. For example, my hometown of Barkfur - called such for the woods around it - is almost entirely made up of earth ponies, and the few unicorns and pegasi living in town are treated like outsiders, even if they've living there for a long time. And in my own experience in the Manehattan University, the unicorn teachers blatantly favored unicorn students, and we earth ponies were treated like boneheads. Not overtly, but you could see it in their eyes and body language. Thankfully, only a few of them were like that, but I didn't like being thought of as being stupid just because of my tribe. That's just the tip of the iceberg, and I don't feel like going into the rest right now."

"I apologize for making you uncomfortable."

"Not at all; I needed to get that out. At least here, that kind of stigma doesn't happen. Much. I mean, walking, talking ponies aren't a common sight here, and at least a few humans have been... rude. For the most part, though, it's more curious looks than insults, so it's mostly good."

"Alright. But why find work up here instead of a more populous or famous state?"

"I could have, but while I'm all for others learning about history, I'm not comfortable in gigantic cities like Philadelphia or New York; smaller towns like this one just feel right to me. I'm not a big city pony. And, to be fair, I don't want my family to find me up here."

"The break up was that bad?"

"Worse. But right now I'm just happy to get to work, provided you do what you promised."

"I will. See you at 8 tomorrow morning right here."

Aurora finished with making breakfast (for thestrals, anyway) and began setting bowls of salad mixed with sliced up sausage on the table. Just in case the smell alone hadn't done it, she used a spoon to ring on one of the bowls.

A minute latter, Bright came trotting out of the bedroom, followed a few seconds latter by his father.

"Yum! Sausage salad!" the colt said as he sat down. His father simply grunted as he followed suit.

"I'm glad at least one of you is happy," the mother said, lightly cuffing her husband over the head with a wing. Shadow just glared at her for a moment before grunting again.

The front door opened, and Luke came through, looking tired but happy. "I have a few more groceries, if anyone's hungry."

"Anypony," Shadow muttered, but Luke didn't hear him.

I've been asking myself this for months, Aurora thought as she again gave Shadow a look, but who are you, and what have you done with my husband?

Luke set the groceries on the kitchen counter. "Well, another day at work. And at the supermarket."

"I was thinking about that," Aurora noted.

"How so?" Luke asked, leaning on a chair.

"I don't think it's right for us to live in your house and do none of the work. I'm offering to do the laundry and the dishes in exchange for a fair price in money. We need to start earning again, or we're not going to be able to get back on all four hooves."

"I didn't bring you here to force you to labor for me," Luke protested.

"I know. But we need to be doing something to help, and to build up some cash on our behalf. I'm willing to do the laundry, dishwashing, and cooking provided you give me five dollars a day."

"If I give you a regular job, I'd have to pay you at least $7.25 as a minimum wage." Luke stopped and thought about it.

"I can get my husband and son to do chores, like mowing the lawn and taking out the trash in exchange for an allowance. And it evens out the work load. We get an allowance and can start building up for an independent life, and stuff that needs doing gets done."

"Hold up," Shadow said angrily, "I didn't-"

"And we can start on getting Bright some manner of schooling."

"We can homeschool-"

"I want him to grow up with some kind of socialization, Shadow!" Aurora said, turning to her husband in exasperation. "You can't properly do that stuck in a house all night!"

"I'm not letting our son abandon our culture!"

"One; that's up to him to decide when he's old enough. Two, I don't want to abandon our way of life either, but we're not in Equestria anymore. We don't have the option of only being up at night, and to be honest we haven't ever since we left. Three, we can keep our culture while still adapting to needs of the situation."

"..."

Sighing, Aurora turned her entire body to face Shadow. "I'm sorry, Shadow, but we need to move on, not remain poor and stagnant. Unless you want us to remain in this house, mooching off the kindness of our host, making no money and having no future, then we need to continue our life."

Shadow didn't reply, but instead looked into his bowl of salad as if trying to drill holes in it with his eyes.

"I don't mind you staying here, honestly-"

"Don't sweat it," Aurora replied, turning back to Luke. "We need to start living again and not just live off another's generosity. I'll do some daily chores for you, if you are willing to pay me for them."

"I'm happy to pay you, and I do indeed want those things done," Luke answered, scratching the back of his head, "but I don't intend to force it on you. It just feels awkward to invite you guys to live under my roof and then... I feel like it's just-"

"Like you're forcing slavery on us? That's not what's happening; like I said, we need to move on, and if we help you out in the process, then it's just repaying you for what you've done for us."

Luke let some air out of his nose. "Well," he said at last, "if you're serious about this, then I can easily afford to pay you, given that my own job pays a lot. But I don't want you to feel forced into this."

"I wouldn't be volunteering if I felt forced; I'd be taking my family out of this house and never giving you the time of day ever again if I really felt that way."

Luke finally nodded. "Alright, then I'll come up with a list of things I'd like done, payment upon completion of the chore in question."

"Thank you."

"Just be careful. I don't know how familiar you are with modern conveniences like dishwashers and washing machines-"

"Dear, do you really think Equestria was that backwards before our worlds came to know each other? I may not know how your appliances work, but we can figure it out pretty easily. And little Slugger can mow the lawn for an allowance."

"And...?" Luke paused, looking at Shadow, who was still trying to have a staring contest with his dinner.

"I'll find something for him to do. In the meantime, thanks for helping get my family up and out of the gutter."

"Don't mention it. I'm glad to help. God willing, it all goes well."

Author's Note

AAAAAAAAAAnd here come all the comments shouting, "It's alive!"