"You must."

"Sister, I cannot."

"It cannot live like this! It is a failure, Luna! Admit it, you were too ambitious!"

"It is not a failure!"

"Its uses are few, if it possesses any at all! It can barely move!"

"It only needs time!"

"Time? And what will you do with it during this "time"? How will it live?"

"I have... a way. Concern yourself not, soon it will grow. And you will see its uses are many."

Why are all of the hallways in this place so similar? Soul wondered as he jogged down the grey stone corridor in a quick trot, just behind Lay, who was practically bouncing with excitement.

This morning, they'd all been woken up, not by alarms, but by Larus himself. The Corporal had informed them that they'd been assigned a training session late last night, and he'd only just gotten the missive. Soul did not miss how Larus' eyes never once even glanced in his direction. Lay, Marshmallow, pretty much all of the guards except for Deavy, were exceptionally happy with this news. Soul had wondered why, training drills were usually nothing to get excited about, until Lay had explained to him that, though the work was indeed exhausting, it was also the most fun that E-5 could have, and really allowed them to show off their skills as the advanced unit. Soul had concurred with him that it would, indeed, be nice to earn some recognition, especially as the new guy, however he knew it would probably be easier for him than it had been for the others.

Things had been... different. Even though it hadn't even been a day after his actions in the Pit, and subsequent confrontation with Larus, not to mention Princess Celestia speaking to him, but everypony was treating him differently. Friendlier, more respectful. The jokes had stopped, he got more frequent thumps on the back than cold nods, more smiles than stares. He was starting to feel... almost like part of the team. Now he just had to make sure he didn't buck it up. That's where things usually fell apart, sadly.

Speaking of different treatment, Soul gasped very quietly as he felt a tickle on where his balls should have been from behind, and he glanced back to see a very confused looking Marshmallow.

She looked up at him, and he whispered, "Magic, baby!"

She smiled, a smile which quickly vanished and lit into a hot blush as he returned the favor briefly. He giggled at her reaction, and had to turn around as her adorable little face glared at him before he started laughing too hard.

Is this really okay? he thought as the squadron jogged along, I turned Cath down because I was afraid of hurting her, but... this really is against the rules. We could both be kicked out of the guard for doing this.

Soul thought about it for a moment, until he concluded, I guess I should talk with Mally about it, and we can decide together if it's a risk we want to take.

He also felt bad about basically using her as a food source. He did like her, and found her attractive, and enjoyed her company, but he wondered if all of that was just motivated by the desire to keep himself alive. Was that selfish? Keeping yourself alive... not really at the expense of others... it was more like a business deal. She got mind-blowing sex that was literally impossible to get anywhere else, and he got a decent meal every week or so.

Soul musings were interrupted as light began to break through the endless line of symmetrically placed torches on the grey walls, and a great din could be faintly heard on the breeze. A sound that made Soul's heart pump, and blood boil, the sound of crashing, bashing, slashing, and clanging. It was the sound of battle, and the smell of blood and sweat. Soul grinned as he passed underneath the earthen archway and out into an enormous courtyard, very much liking what was in front of him.

The training yard was about five times the size of a barracks, but filled with only about a hundred ponies. They seemed to be from other squadrons, though Soul couldn't tell which, and were each there with their Corporals as well. The squads had broken off into pairs to spar, it appeared, and E-5 was late to the party. All of the activity was being overseen by a stout earth pony mare, with flecks of steel gray scattered all around her once vibrant pink body. Now the pink had faded slightly, and hard lines framed the mare's severe visage. Three long, parallel scars ran deep from her cheek to her shoulder, adding to the look of a seasoned veteran. She instantly spotted the new squadron as they arrived, and sneered at them like she was already planning to make them pay dearly for bothering her.

Larus stepped out of the front of the line, "Alright, Privates, form up along the back wall!" he ordered, and all of them scrambled to do so as he went to talk to the older mare in charge.

Soul stood next to a panting Lay, who he bumped his hip against, "Lay?"

"Yeah?" his friend answered.

"Who's the old mare with the scars?"

Lay didn't have to look up to know who he was talking about, "That's Drill Sargent Cutter. She's been in charge of this place... Celestia, far before my time. Rumor has it she's almost seventy, and still fighting like a bull with red tape over its eyes."

Soul nodded, and watched as Larus interacted with the Sargent, and frowned as the stallion seemed to specifically gesture towards him. He'd hoped that his troubled with the man would be over, but apparently the animosity remained.

She said a few curt words to Larus, and then went back to the other two groups, while the Corporal trotted back and relayed her instructions, "You are all to grab training weapons from the racks," he gestured to a series of wooden shelves that held weapons of the same material, "and begin sparring with a chosen partner. Every five minutes you will switch. This is a warm up, do not exert or injure yourselves."

"Sir, yes sir!" The troop called out in unison, before moving to collect practice weapons. Soul stayed in place for a little while longer than the others, waiting for Larus to specifically dismiss them, but the Corporal walked off to sit in the shade with another mare of the same rank. Soul shrugged and made note of the change for next time.

Soul trotted over to the weapons rack, and was pleased to find a wide array of them. They had spears, swords, shields, wooden shoes, barrel mounts, bit glaives, and all of it looked very well taken care of. Soul soon learned the reason why.

Every one of his fellows, without exception, grabbed a wooden spear, and filed off back to the training field. Nopony even glanced at any of the other tasty weaponry available for use, which definitely explained why all of it looked to be in mint condition.

Soul shook his head as he walked up to take his turn. Should he go with what everypony else had picked? See what they could do in an even fight? Or should he show off a little? Soul looked over his choices again, and decided to simply do what he would do if he were actually fighting a multitude of spearponies. He grabbed a sword, and tied it into his tail, giving the weapon a few experimental flicks before adjusting it a little with magic to get the balance right. Then he slipped the shoes onto his back hooves, before taking up a sword and shield.

Turning around, Soul scanned the area for a partner. Almost everypony had already paired off, as he'd expected them to, however there was one pony that had apparently made it very clear who he wanted to fight. A rough customer by the name of Flame Brackish, a burly yellow earth pony with a deep black mane that grew wildly across his neck. His dark green eyes stared Soul down as he finished his weapon selection, challenging him to prove himself. Flame had been one of the ones Soul had worried about as soon as he stepped into E-5, the stallion near radiated an aura of malice, and was known for being a dick. Luckily, they'd put him in E-5 where pretty much everypony could put up enough of a fight that it usually wasn't worth the effort, but out here, where there were no consequences, he'd be looking to break a rookie like Soul.

Something will break, alright, Soul thought to himself, as he confidently walked on only his back hooves towards his target, giving him a significant height advantage. His opponent clearly did not like this, and Soul could See his indecision, whether or not to attempt to stand and fight in two-hoof style as well, or stay in four-hoof.

"Hello, Flame! Looks like you and I are partners for a little while," Soul called cheerfully, no need to be rude.

"Looks like," the large stallion rumbled, voice thick with his Manehattan accent, before hoofing his spear into an offensive position, and charging at a full gallop towards Soul.

Well, he's preemptive, I'll give him that, and as Soul began to step out of the way of the blow, he noticed something. The same cold collectedness that always seemed to proceed his lapses was creeping its way up and down his spine, What is that, I wonder? Is it like the feeding? Can I work with it to greater effect, like with Mally?

Instead of resisting the chilled pull, Soul followed along with it, remaining in place, and bracing against the charge with his shield. As Flame struck home, Soul smiled with unshakable confidence, and fully aware of what was happening.

A loud SNAP echoed across the clacking courtyard as the head of the spear snapped clean off, too much force bending it out of line, and Soul acted quickly. As soon as the head snapped, Soul kicked off the ground sideways into the bull rush, slamming into Flame's legs with the bottom of his shield, and using the stallion's momentum to flip Flame over himself, sending the attacker crashing into the sand several feet away, now weaponless. Soul had refrained from using his tail-sword for the moment, just playing with the stallion a little longer before actually "killing" him.

Soul strode up to the dazed stallion, mending the man's spear and tossing it to him as Flame finally regained his feet. Brackish looked confused, but nevertheless charged in again anyway, not even bothering to slow down and analyze his opponent.

Alright, I'm done here, Soul thought, and moved to strike Flame down, when he felt an alien magic grip his hind leg and pull. Acting quickly, Soul used the leverage to flip himself around as the magic dissipated, and flew over Flame's head as the stallion charged under him, grimacing as he saw a dull brown light fade from his hoof. He hit the sand with some force, but stood up unharmed, and immediately locked eyes with Deavy, standing only a few yards away as he and his partner took a break. The brown unicorn watched him with dead eyes, but Soul could See the hatred that filled that tiny body. He wondered why it all focused on him, before realizing he still had a fight to finish.

Stepping forward, Soul went on the attack, and kicked the ground, spinning himself around on one hooftip very quickly, lashing out at Flame with the sword in his hoof almost every half second, each one Flame barely managed to block, until Soul stopped on a dime, his tail-sword perched with its tip just over Flame's jugular. Both stallions were breathing raggedly, and it took a slight poke before Flame even realized he'd lost. His grimace of disappointment told Soul he didn't lose often, even with such rudimentary tactics.

"Change partners!" Larus called out from somewhere, Soul couldn't really tell where.

"You got some fancy moves," Flame said, nodding, "I guess you weren't kiddin' about all that stuff you said on your first day."

Soul smiled, "Indeed. You are a fine fighter, your strength and height would serve you well, if you jabbed instead of charged."

Flame nodded, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look pal, every time I've fought somethin', if I charge it? It goes down. You got me?"

Soul waved his sword hoof dismissively, "Whatever you say, Flame."

Soul partnered up with a few more ponies, all with similar results, he won handily each time, and with such little difficulty that he started to wonder if he should handicap himself. And these were the advanced group? He supposed there was a reason they were still Privates, and hadn't yet moved on. It was after probably half an hour of this that things changed.

"Alright, privates!" Larus said, walking back up to the group, his female compatriot having disappeared, "Listen up! Now, I know how eager most of you are for advancement," at this, every member of E-5 perked up, including Soul, "and today will be the tryouts for the tryouts for quickly filling out some new slots on high, understood?"

"Yes sir!" E-5 roared in unison.

"Now, we will be having some very special guests here in the training field soon, and it will be up to them to choose which out of the three squadrons here today goes on a... training mission."

Everypony glanced at one another. This meant competition, both with the other squadrons, and in E-5 itself. Nopony was going to stick together on this one, it would be a free-for-all.

"The details of this mission will be given to you upon assignment. And any designations you may receive afterwards will only be detailed after the training routine is completed. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Then may I present to you, the Princesses of Equestria," and with that, Larus gestured grandly to a large stone balcony that hovered over the north face of the training yard, upon which two figures emerged.

The first was a figure Soul had met just the night before, and her shining visage still knocked him speechless. Her kind eyes shone in the bright sunlight, and she stood tall with authority, demanding the respect of those beneath her. Next to her? Was quite possibly the most beautiful mare Soul had ever seen, and it felt like his heart was about to give out deciding over the two.

Her fur was nearly the same color as his, a little lighter in shade, and infinitely softer in tone. It shone with a dusky light that calmed even the harsh intensity of the morning sun. Her mane and tale billowed with galaxies, planets, and stars shining in the endless void of space; her eyes were a bright teal that glimmered with danger, power, and just a tad of vulnerability. She was the most perfect creature in existence.

"Who is that?" Soul heard somepony ask Lay.

"I... I..." was all Lay was able to say.

"That is Princess Luna," Soul answered quietly, "Sword of the Stars, Slayer of Drogue'nath, and Princess of the Night," Soul wasn't quite sure how he knew all of that, since this was the first time he'd seen the new princess. Perhaps it was in the stories his mother told him. Yes, that must have been it.

"I just..." Lay stuttered, "There's another Princess?"

Looking around, Soul noticed all the other guards were having similar reactions, they all looked confused, scared, some even seemed angry. He didn't understand at all why they were acting like this, and his heart immediately ached for the poor new Princess, who was receiving such harsh criticism from her people, much less her own military, when she clearly didn't deserve it.

"Alright, privates, line up!" Larus barked, as did his corresponding Corporals on the other squads. Soul was the first one in line, tingling with a strange new sensation. It was like fire had been injected straight into his veins. He had to fight, had to prove himself, by any means necessary. He was driven, confident, and would show the Princesses just how much of an asset he could be.

After all three squads had formed a rough triangle facing the center of the courtyard, the Drill Sargent walked into the middle of the field, "Now, Privates!" She barked in a rough voice, "For many of you, this is your first time in a skirmish, for others it is not. For the newbies, you fight until your opponent yields or is unconscious. There will be no continuing after your enemy has surrendered or is on the ground, or punishment will be severe. Now, on the count of three, you will begin."

The mare walked off of the field, leaving the three squads to eye up both each other, and themselves. Soul was at the far left end of E-5's line, directly next to what looked like A-3. They looked fresh faced, probably just out of basic training. Soul was raring to rip them apart.

"Hey, Rocket," he whispered to the pony next to him, who raised an eyebrow, "What say you go right and I go left, and we show these rookies what E-5 can do?"

The sneaky pony grinned, showing off his one gold tooth, "I like those odds, Keeper."

"3... 2... 1... FIGHT!" The pink battlematron roared, and chaos was loosed upon the field.

Soul was immediately faced with a mint green stallion that a quick shield-blow to the temple took down with a vengeance, after him was an off-pink mare who managed to get a jab off, which Soul knocked away with his sword, before roundhouse kicking her so hard her helmet would need to be re-worked. A foreleg sweep and a quick pommel whip took down the next one, after that they started to realize something was tearing through them like butter. Two ponies, an earth mare and pegassus stallion teamed up to charge him from both sides, but Pocket Rocket was there with a quick right hook for the stallion, while Soul caught the spear with the flat of his blade and delivered another bash wound. When the dust cleared, he and Rocket were left standing at the front of a line of groaning bodies, the rest of A-3 had split to deal with E-5 or the other squadron.

Soul felt something sharp press into his neck, "Alright, Soul, yield," the traitorous earth pony said like he'd already won.

"Remind me never to count on you again, Rocket," Soul said, before snapping his neck quickly, and crushing the tip of the wooden sword with his jaw.

'Hey, no fai-" Rocket was silenced by Soul's rapid backwards kick, which sent him hurtling off towards the weapons rack. Soul scanned the field for his next target.

A-3 was doing very poorly, with a large number of them taken out by Soul and Rocket, the rest had unintentionally spread themselves too thin, being quickly devoured by E-5, and what Soul could now see was C-1.

We should take out E-5 first, they pose more of a threat, he mused, stalking his way around the edge of the battlefield, but at the same time, what exactly are the Princesses looking for? Perhaps showing strong bonds with my team will earn me more favor. Having a sentimental side may make them either think I have weaknesses, or can be easily controlled.

Soul blinked as he came out of his fugue, Or, you know, I could just fight indiscriminately and not be a weirdo.

Soul went with option three, wading into the back of C-1 like a hurricane. His tail sword actually came in handy, making others wary of getting behind him as he kicked, struck, parried, and dodged his way through most of the battle. He'd never had to stab somepony with the blade yet, and he hoped to keep it that way, bloodshed was not his intention today.

At last, the inevitable happened, and only the finest fighters were left on the field. A blue pegassus from A-3, an earth pony duo from C-1, and about five from E-5, not counting Soul. Lay was among them, as was Flame, Marshmallow was not, thankfully.

They all stood in a rough sort of ring, everypony eyeing each other, shuffling, dancing, small jabs meant to test their opponents. Until one truly struck.

Perhaps seeking vengeance for the rest of his team, the blue pegassus spread his wings and launched straight at Soul with his spear, swooping down like a hawk from above. Soul commended him for using his natural gifts to gain an advantage on the ground troops, but that gave Soul free reign to use his. Soul's starfield of magic was nearly invisible in the bright daylight, so it was no wonder that the stallion, intent as he was on his enemy, did not see the shield flying towards his face like a frisbee until he woke up the following day in the infirmary.

Soul turned from his downed opponent at hearing the thundering of hooves behind him, and was unsurprised to see Flame bearing sown like the bull he resembled, more than likely just trying to prove a point. Instead of running away or dodging to the side, Soul ran straight towards the charge, which Flame seemed very happy with, until his legs were slide tackled out from under him, and he went sailing into the brickwork columns that lined the edge of the field.

As Soul whipped around to face his remaining opponents, it appeared that only three were left standing. Himself, Lay, and Deavy. How in Tartarus Deavy had managed to survive that long with that thin a frame, Soul would never know, but that only made him more dangerous.

Holding nothing back, Soul charged the smaller unicorn, who grinned... until his horn sparked with brown feedback, and the smile dropped... along with a tooth or two as Soul decked him with a shield. He felt... actually pretty bad about that one.

Finally, Soul turned to Lay, his friend.

"Yield, Lay. I don't want to hurt you, and you can't beat me," he said calmly.

Lay spit blood onto the sand, he'd apparently already taken a hit or two, but he was standing strong, "You don't know shit Keeper, I could end this fight right now if I wanted to."

His words were harsh, but his tone let Soul know he was joking. He smiled at that, it was good to know they would still be friends after Soul knocked him unconscious.

"I'm the one ending the fight," both stallions looked over, startled, as Drill Sargent Cutter stepped onto the field, "Private Keeper is disqualified for the use of magic."

Soul blinked, confused, "But... ma'am, I-"

"Disqualified! Soldier! You want time in the Pit?" The Drill Sargent roared, stepping chest to chest with Soul, even though she was a hoof shorter than him.

"Sargent, I believe Mister Keeper here has a case," another voice called from the sidelines. Walking out from the balcony behind the Princesses was a young looking green unicorn, wearing a flowing white robe with blue trim lacing the edges.

The Drill Master sneered, "What on Equestria are you talking about?"

The stallion floated down off the balcony, hooves lightly gliding down to rest on the bloodied arena sand, "You made no mention in the beginning of magic being disallowed."

"It's a house rule! Everypony-" she started, before being cut off.

"Everypony? Then, pray tell, why so many others were using magic without an intervention such as this?" The young stallion said, stepping up to Cutter.

She sighed, "Your point, Battlemage?"

He shrugged, "All I'm saying is that nearly all the pegassi flew throughout the fight, and I heard no complaints. And, goodness me, preventing an earth pony from using their magic is like telling them to stop breathing, it happens all the time, a passive effect"

The Drill Master looked at this little mage like she was ready to tear him limb from limb then and there, before she turned and gave a salute to the Princesses, "Your Highness... er- Highnesses, what is your verdict?"

Celestia and the darker Princess looked at each other, and turned away to convene. Within seconds they turned back around, and Celestia spoke, "Meaning no disrespect to you and your service, Drill Sargent Cutter, but it is our decision that Album Scratch is correct in this matter. If it is part of the rules that magic is disallowed, it should be stated beforehand, and all should be subject to it."

The white-robed unicorn bowed, as the Drill Sargent gritted her teeth with a salute, "As you command. Fight on!"

Soul watched the mage leave the field, and the smug grin that accompanied his verbal victory.

"Well... that killed the mood," Lay joked, and Soul laughed with him, until it died into an uncomfortable silence, as the two friends began to circle one another. Lay was looking for an opening in Soul's sword and shield defense, Soul just wanted him to make the first move.

Finally, Lay struck forward, jabbing quickly with his spear and pulling it back before Soul could catch it, the only option left to the unicorn was to quickly get inside his guard, making his medium range spear practically useless. Soul darted forward, sand spraying up behind him as he jumped from one hoof to the other. Lay lashed out again, but was blocked by Soul's shield, and then took a vicious bash to the head, stumbling backwards. Soul dashed and kneed Lay in the stomach as the guard already reeled from the first blow, then cracked him bellow the cerebellum with a final shield strike. It was all over within ten seconds, and Soul immediately helped to carry Lay to the infirmary.

Once everypony filed back into the barracks, things felt... tense. Ponies gave Soul sidelong looks, muttering about him here and there. He had known that his fighting style might attract attention, but he hadn't wanted it to be this way. Hopefully with time, they'd see that he was still the same pony he always was. Of course, maybe that was the problem.

"Hello there Soul Keeper!" A bubbly voice brought him out from his musing, and he looked up to see the smiling face of Marshmallow. Her eye was bruised, and she had a large red mark on her neck. Soul frowned, and put one hoof up to each.

"Oh, those? Yeah, but I've had wo... rse?" As Soul's magic flared he mended the broken Flesh and Blood inside of the two injuries, and took away as much of the Pain as he could. He only hoped he'd done enough.

Marshmallow seemed confused, "Soul, that was... that was incredible! You know healing magic?"

Soul nodded, leaning back and smiling as he got to look at her face, "It's something you pick up when it's used enough on you. Sit down!" he gestured to the bottom of the bed he was sprawled on.

She took a similar seated position, "While that is another amazing thing about you, it's not what I came to talk about. I am free tomorrow afternoon!"

Soul raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Well, I have plans, sadly," he saw her visibly deflate a little, "A shame too. I've heard tell that a place called the Violet Bell is one of the nicest restaurants in town."

Marshmallow seemed confused, until his meaning clicked, and a devious smile spread across her face, "Yeah, I was going to try it out tomorrow, actually."

"Really?" Soul said, returning the smile, "A little bird told me that around five thirty is the best time to go if you want to miss the lunch rush."

Her brow furrowed as she mouthed "five thirty".

Soul blinked as he realized her confusion, "That's sixteen hundred and thirty, for us guards," he wasn't quite sure how to say that in military time, nopony had really talked about it much, he thought that was right.

She smiled, "Gotcha. Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing tomorrow afternoon!" and promptly walked off. Glancing around, she looked back at him and swished her orange tail from side to side briefly, allowing him long looks at her dark yellow lips, and slightly pink passageway. Soul's stomach rumbled.

She is not going to sleep well tonight, he promised himself, before getting ready for his first real lunch in ages.

That afternoon, Soul had his first assignment that wasn't the Pit. He couldn't wait to do it, whatever it was, because nothing would ever compare to starving himself to death in the blazing sun for three weeks hauling a mountain up a cliff. Turns out Larus must have actually been playing fair, because Soul had what was called Room Duty. The concept was fairly simple, you stood outside of a room. For many hours.

Soul happily trotted his way to his post, guarding the door of a Prench ambassador along with a pony from B-2 by the name of Emerald Chalice. On his way, he noticed a distinct difference from the guards' section of the castle, and this section, and he was starting to work out a reason as to why. This area, where the guests and commoners filtered about, was brightly lit, polished, and immaculately laid out, whereas the guards' quarters were grey, samey, and dull. They were still beautiful in that ancient and majestic way, but these halls felt more... inviting, rather than alive and unhappy about it. The reason for this, or at least Soul suspected, was that there was actually a large portion of the castle that was underground, or built into the mountain. He knew the jail was supposed to be, but he wondered if there was more to the castle than the Princesses were letting on.

Arriving at his post, Soul saw the poor ponies that had the night shift. Their eyes were heavy with bags, and one was leaning dangerously on his spear.

"Good morning, gents!" he called out to them, rousing them both either from half-lucidity or slumber, "I'm here to relieve you, go get some rest."

As they walked by, Soul's eyebrow quirked as he saw that one of the guards had some lipstick on his cheek. It was nothing more than a purple smudge, but the color and fragrance was unmistakable.

How strange, he thought, before positioning himself like a statue beside the door. He was five minutes early, and so he expected his partner to be along later, but he must have waited for at least half an hour before a very worried and flustered looking green earth pony stallion rounded the corner at the opposite end of the hallway, and became visibly less panicked when he saw Soul.

"Oh! Thank Celestia, if old Ham had caught me late again, it'd be the Pits for sure!"

Soul cocked an eyebrow, but shrugged, "Well, I relieved the other two five minutes early, you're welcome I suppose. I'm Soul Keeper, you must be Emerald Chalice."

The stallion nodded, wiping his face with a hoof. Soul thought he was a stallion, but he really was quite young, very boyish in features. Soft cheeks, wide blue eyes, shorter stature. Soul shrugged it off, and stared down the long hallway in front of him, then looked down the halls to his left and right. The room behind him must have been huge, it was the only one here.

Soul stood silent for at least an hour, perfectly content. It was Chalice that was making it weird. He kept shuffling, sniffing, adjusting his gear, glancing at Soul and opening his mouth, before shutting it and looking away.

"Is there something you need?" Soul asked tersely, after he just couldn't stand the fidgeting anymore.

The green pony sighed with relief, "Hey, man, thanks for not ratting on me, I really appreciate it."

Soul nodded, "Just try not to be late next time."

Chalice nodded, "Right, right. It's just... you know how it is sometimes... when you're really tired, and then you think "I'll just close my eyes for a few seconds?""

Soul gave no response.

"Well, uh, hehe, it was, uh, it was like that..." Chalice chuckled nervously and trailed off.

After another hour, shuffling could be heard in the room behind them. An hour after that, the door swung open.

In the doorway was revealed to be a scandalously clad white unicorn mare, with a slightly aged face, but a stunning body. Her lavender nightgown revealed pretty much every curve of it, too, and even hinted at the lower parts with abandon. Her lips and mane were both a dark shade of blue, and her eyes were as black as coal.

"Well, hello there boys," she purred with a thick Prench accent, "And who has the pleasure of keeping me warm and safe this morning?"

Chalice immediately bowed over her hoof with a roguish smile, "Name's Emerald Chalice, m'lady, and this is... er..."

"Soul Keeper, Ambassador," Soul said with a bow, ignoring her rather large assets down below.

This is the perfect opportunity to feed. It is also dishonorable and unnecessary at the moment, Marshmallow can give us what we need later. But look at those curves! And look at how she expects us to fall for them, the last thought made Soul curl his lip in disgust, and he pointedly stepped to the side of the door, where he could continue watching the hallways.

The ambassador didn't seem too bothered, "Well, I hate to leave the two of you brave gentlecolts outside in the cold! Come in to my room, its much warmer, see?"

Chalice took a hesitant step forward, and then looked over to Soul.

Soul shook his head ever so minutely.

Chalice looked back at the ambassador, who was pouting with precision targeted intent, and holding herself as though she were getting cold, and he melted, "I'll happily join you, m'lady. Keeper will stay out here... just in case."

The ambassador looked out at him, "Are you sure, Monsieur Keeper?"

Soul nodded firmly, "I am sure, my lady. Please, finish getting ready for your day."

Soul was alone in the hallway for a good long while. And of course he could hear everything, with his heightened senses. Every thrust, moan, grunt, and squeak of the bed. But not only that, he could See as well, and from that, he could glean. He Saw that she expected him to peak, Saw that she was making more noise than she had to, in an attempt to break him down. Soon, Soul turned away from it, and Saw her no more.

Then, drawing near to the sixth hour of his watch, a flash of light exploded next to Soul's head, which he instinctively butted with his spear.

His vision cleared, to discover a golden ticket pinned to the floor under the haft. He picked it up, and read,

Dear Soul Keeper, you are hereby invited to attend the Grand Galloping Gala....

Soul didn't read the rest yet, he merely pocketed the ticket, intending to finish it when he wasn't on duty. He was then greeted with more grunts and thumps that, mercifully, fell silent after a time.

About an hour later, the ambassador appeared in the doorway again, flashing a wide smile, and quickly shutting the door, "He might be out for a little while. The poor dear fell asleep inside, he must be exhausted from all the hard work you big, strong stallions do. I've put him in my bed to rest and... recover."

Soul nodded, which seemed to frustrate the mare. She sidled up closer, running a hoof down his foreleg, "I was... so disappointed you didn't join us inside. We had a wonderful time. We laughed, and played, and sang such beautiful songs."

He looked her straight in the eye, "I'm afraid I had a previous engagement which I simply could not forget. I trust you don't have the same problem?"

She let out a light, tinkling laugh, and patted Soul on the shoulder, "Such an innocent young boy, you are. Well... if your "previous engagement" finds itself cancelled... I wouldn't mind you guarding my door."

Soul maintained eye contact, and an unwavering stance. The mare chuckled, and moved off down the hallway with a skip. He shook his head, and waited out the remaining hour of his watch partnerless. He didn't even bother waking the stallion up as he left.

"Soul Keeper?" a voice called from the doorway of E-5.

After his watch, Soul had returned to the barracks to change clothes for dinner, before heading to his first night of sweet, sweet sleep. But now, a black mare wearing a long brown travelling cloak that concealed most of her features called to him as he sat on his bed.

"Yes? That's me," he answered.

She waved a hoof over to herself, "Follow me, you've been selected for a special mission following your performance in the training session."

Soul stood immediately, nodding to the mare before following her, teleporting his gear back onto himself. They tread down familiar paths, at first, but Soul was still new to the castle as a whole, and soon they began to stride down darker corridors that he'd yet to see. And as the shadows crept in around the pair, and the silence between them remained heavy, Soul's thoughts turned inward. What was this mission? Why did they have to be combat ready for it? Why the apparent secrecy? It was unlike anything he'd heard of the Guard before. This seemed like more of a job for the Night's Cloak than anything else.

Soon the equine pair turned a final stone corner, and came to a large set of double doors, already opened, and with a few more ponies milling about inside. The room was impressive in scale, octangular in shape, lit by blue braziers that flickered with shadow, and fitted in the middle with a large stone slab that held an extensive map of Canterlot City, with every scrupulous detail recorded in fine hoofwriting on all sides. Motes of white-blue light hung suspended above it, adding to the room's hushed ambiance even more.

As Soul stepped in, he recognized several ponies, most from the training session from which he'd been selected, and was surprised to see Marshmallow Cascade standing in the shadow of a corner, though his eyes perceived her easily regardless.

Turning his head back to the table, it seemed that the final piece of some sort of puzzle had been placed, as the cloaked mare moved towards a stone speaking podium after leading him in, and all the ponies in the room ceased their quiet conversations, and turned their eyes to her.

With a glow of faint grey magic, the double doors of the room swung shut soundlessly, and locked with an audible click. The mare drew back her cowl to reveal a scarred but pretty face, a dusky blue like Soul's own, and dark yellow eyes. Her scars all ran crossways, as if she'd taken many swipes in rapid succession from something, and one had even grazed her horn, which stood proud from her short mane of black.

"Greetings, all. You may call me Hallow, I already know all of your names," the mare's accent was clipped and straight-forward, and she spoke with a slight rasp, as though her vocal chords had also healed over after damage, "Let me bring you up to speed on why you have been called here today, and what you may be doing for the next several days."

The mare called Hallow stepped down from her perch, and gestured to the map, causing many small orbs of golden energy to float gently a few inches from its surface, "In a few weeks, Canterlot Castle will host the Grand Galloping Gala. As you know, it is one of the most highly secured events that takes place in this city, and checks and pre-checks that extend back for months are involved in its planning. Tickets to the Gala are extended in waves based on both importance and distance, first those the Princess," she hesitated for a brief moment, the first sign of uncertainty from her, "the Princesses wish to invite personally. Then the noble houses, merchants, craftsponies, commoners, all sorts that are deemed worthy to enter as guests," Hallow stepped around the map, pacing, "These invitations are teleported to their recipient, and, once opened and accepted, stay with the receiver until they present the ticket at the gate."

She took a long breath in, "Now, what most ponies do not know, and what, by your contracts that you singed when entering the Guard, you will tell nopony, is that these tickets, when accepted, act as a beacon, so that their location may be tracked. This beacon does not de-activate unless the pony declines the invitation, or becomes otherwise unable to attend."

Her eyes turned to the group of assembled guards, "In some cases "unable to attend" translates to "dead"."

Hallow tapped the map again, and the golden orbs began to move swiftly, racing over the table's surface. Many became fascinated by the floating lights, whispering or pointing out specific ones. But Soul began to notice a pattern. Often, the lights would travel specific paths, or similar ones at least. Then, out of the blue, the light would become erratic, flicker, and die out. This happened with four or five, not enough to be easily visible in the veritable sea of glowing magic, but enough to be concerning.

Hallow tapped the map again, and it reset, this time showing six golden orbs only. All of them, save one, Soul had noticed earlier for their erratic behavior.

"These six invitations, watch them carefully," Hallow said, watching the group. She canned all of their faces, looking for recognition or a sign that they understood, until she met Soul's eyes, and saw his mouth in a grim line.

"Private Keeper, what do you think has happened?" Hallow asked clearly, and Soul felt a shiver of unease as all eyes in the darkened room looked at him.

He walked over to the map, and pointed at each of the orbs in turn, "All of these orbs follow a daily schedule. They have places to go, ponies to see, homes to return to," he paused as one strayed, "but all of them abandon this path, moments before..." the orb flickered out. As did all six, the last on to fade was inside the castle itself, "... moments before the light dies. I would assume, from the nature of this room, and from the gravity with which you have approached this situation, Agent Hallow," she blinked at the title, but said nothing, "That the investigation of these lights' end points would yield grisly results."

Soul stepped back as Hallow tapped the map again and revealed four images of "Ponies Missing" posters, each with a face, name, and personal details. Hallow turned to the group, "So far only four were gone long enough to warrant an investigation. All were dead. All of their tickets were missing, as of right now the..."

As Hallow continued to talk, the orbs replayed their trails over and over, each fading away a dozen times. Soul looked at them, trying to match who was who, when something began to tickle at his memory. The one in the castle. It was the latest orb to die out, every day it moved about the castle, but on the final one it stayed put longer than it had. It then moved at a faster than average pace, like the pony was hurrying, before it turned a left hand corner...

"Agent Hallow?" Soul called, and heads turned as he interrupted her.

"Yes, Private?" She sounded annoyed until she saw what he was studying, "What is it?"

Soul pointed at the orb in the castle, "That's the diplomatic area of the castle is it not?"

She looked closer, and nodded, just as the dot stopped outside one of the rooms. In a long T junction, with only one door, "Yes, it is, why?"

"Because," Soul said slowly, watching the orb move sluggishly into the room, moving about it, before finally having its light cut, "I was just there an hour ago."

Author's Note

Plots and plans hatch beneath Canterlot. Murders, grand parties, and secretive assignments. What is Soul's role to play? What is to blame? Find out, next time.