Alex mind was racing at high speed with thoughts and questions as he was just shaking the hoof of his enemy. What did the general want, why had he revealed himself to Alex, why was he acting like he was on his and Bluebloods side, how much did the prince know? These and many more questions filled the humans mind and made him forget about time and the situation he currently was in.

"Uhh....as much as I like a good hoofshake this seems rather excessive don't you think?" Light Bringer chuckled softly, bringing Alex back from his deep thoughts and making him realize that he was still shaking the generals hoof.

"O-oh sorry, I just.....have a lot on my mind I guess. " He quickly let go of the generals hoof and backed off a bit. In return Light Bringer smiled and rose his eyebrow.

"Oh, care to tell me what that is? Blueblood said you had some things I'd be interested in after all." Light Bringer walked more into the living room past the group and sat down on one of the couches and looking back at Alex. "Come, I always like to discuss such matters while sitting comfortably, as they usually take time and I had a long day of standing and patrolling today."

Alex nodded and sat down beside the general reluctantly, noticing that Blueblood had sat down on the couch close to them. "Before you two start, tell me Light Bringer my old friend, what led you to my suite. Usually we only meet when I make my walk through the garden."

"Well you see Blue, we had a security breach this night. Someone managed to sneak into the princesses throne room and spy on her as she had a meeting with me. I know you have some rebellious people in your staff so I looked here first, since I know that if someone here was the spy, they would be on our side." This made Alex raise a eyebrow.

"What do you mean, our side? Aren't you loyal to the princesses and such. I mean you are a general after all?" This all seemed very suspicious to the human.

"Aye, I am a general and yes I was loyal to them but that changed once I got into Celestia's how do you say it....inner circle." He then looked around quickly and looked at Blue. "Are you sure this place is safe, you know if I get found out I will be...."

Blueblood nodded. "I know but fear not, all of the guards and staff in this suite are with us as you know." Alex now stared at the prince, confused by the way the situation seemed to have changed.

Light Bringer looked back at Alex. "As I was saying, once I entered that circle I got exposed to the things she had planned for the other races as well as what she had set up already. How she wanted to extinguish every kind of opposition by force and to which lengths she would go to get what she wants. " He shook his head in disappointment. "I could not believe it, that all the talk about harmony and such was just a farce to keep the ponies happy, that she would go as far to meddle with other races politics and lives in such ways."

He sighed and continued. "For example, how she began to bribe griffons to betray their own kind so we could hold them at bay and not rebel. However I must admit....at first I was being loyal to her. Till.....she used me in a mission that made me change my mind completely....and my standing within the army completely....but I am sure you already knew that right Alex?" He looked Alex right in the eyes.

This made Alex freeze up right on the spot, of course this would be brought up. "W-what do you mean, I have never seen you before...." Alex tried to escape the generals iron look. "Why should I know about any of that?"

"Well seeing as the spy today was a bipedal being....top that with the fact that said being was able to sneak into the throne room in which the princess just was instructing me on new plans...? Only to be discovered by the princess herself and then running fast, in fact fast enough to outrun me?" The general chuckled, making his beard shake a bit.

"C-could have been a minotaur or small dragon right?" Alex tried to counter, not wanting to give away it had indeed been him.

"Alex, minotaurs are known for being very strong, not being fast and if the intruder had been a spying dragon then why did the spy not just break a window and jump down or fly, seen as they have wings and have extremely tough scales." This now had Alex at a loss for words. "Plus how you reacted to hearing my voice, being in thoughts at the hoofshake. Alex I know it was you who spied on us and to be honest.....that is good in my opinion."

"What...?" Was all that Alex managed to get out, now being fully confused. His look raced over to Blue who seemed to be trying to holding himself back from bursting into laughter.

"As you can see there is no danger in me knowing it. I bet you have many questions by now right?" Light Bringer smiled and looked at Neo. The whole group had slowly gathered around them and had all gasped once the general had shown he knew about Alex spying. "Neo, would you be so kind to get Alex and me something strong to drink, I usually tend to drink while talking about....my mistakes in my past. Also....you and Nox seem much more vitalized....care to explain why that is?"

Both changelings blushed deeply, both throwing a long glance at the human. "Ah I see, well that's good to know." He then grinned towards Alex. "Experimenting around I see, fine by me. Now back to the matters at hand." He dropped the smile and took on a serious expression. "My first.....mission given within those circles of Celestia, which also gave me the rank of general, was the mission that also made me question everything I had done and worked for. Far to late I am afraid." He sighed deeply as Neo handed them both glasses filled with a honey colored liquid.

"You don't have to bring up that old story Light.....I know it pains you and....welll..." Blueblood looked over at Amelia who by now was looking at the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No I need to be honest with Alex here, or he may never trust me enough. If he took care of Silver Mane that means he has seen what is happening within our towns and guard and how high it reaches. He needs the full picture." Blueblood nodded and kept silent.

"That mission I was sent on was three years ago. As you know I had been sent off to Griffonstone. A revolutionary force had begun raising it's head there, building up hope for the griffons that they would free them from Equestrias overseeing, that soon the Griffon Kingdom would be free again. My job there was to infiltrate and destroy said group from the inside. Giving all informations to the stationed guards and in that way orchestrating attacks on the group. At first I thought I did what was right, that those griffons would throw us as well as Griffonstone into chaos, that we were merely stopping a group of criminals but I was oh so wrong." He took a big gulp of his drink.

"Once I had entered the group I soon noticed that they were nothing more than a bunch of families and friends that were growing in size due to the legislation's Princess Celestia had thrown onto the Griffon Kingdom and how the stationed guards were acting. " Anger seemingly seeped into his voice. "They were not the honorable guards I had gotten used to here in Canterlot, no they were just like Silver Mane, violent,cruel, raping Bastards. They did whatever they wanted and did not care for who they broke in the process. But back to the rebels. They were not trusting at first, which I understood but slowly they trusted me more and more. At the same time I grew more and more angry with the guards. So I tried to contact the princess asking why this was allowed to go on and what her plans were in the end for the rebels. "

A shaky breath left his mouth as Amelia let out a saddened bird chirp. "She told me that she would wipe them out entirely, them and their families, be it adult or child. She wanted to burn out any chance for a rebellion. This alone shocked me to the core but even worse was that she had no problem with the guards behavior. She said they could do that as Griffonstone was ours and ours to do with as we pleased, I tried to reason with her but she told me to not question her and that she could easily replace me at any moment if I dared to speak up against her."

He slammed his glass on the table while Alex sat there, his mouth slightly hanging ajar. "From that day on I began to rebel as well, I did still do my job but always told half truths and warned in turn the rebels about every attack the guards were planning on them. In that time that I became very good friends with the leaders of the group, which were the parents of Amelia, they were a pair of honorable but well aged griffons. They were kind yet had a clear idea on how they wanted to change the land. Everything seemed good, sure we made no astronomical accomplishments but we managed to get the general public on our sides and had quite a few of small wins. Then that one fateful day happened...." By now tears ran down Amelia's face and dropped from her beak.

"On that day I had orders to lead the group to a so called safe place for them to stay as the last one had been raided.Said so called safe place was clearly a trap, so I made the effort to look around to find them a more secured area to settle to. I was confident that with that we would be able to trick the guards and also keep hidden that I had betrayed my princess. To my dismay I got ordered to give my report, making me part ways with the group to hopefully reunite with them soon after in the safe area. To my shock I was informed at the report meeting with the guards that they knew that someone had been a spy and helping the rebels, so they had first given out false informations to see how close the traitor was with the group. The safe place they had given out was indeed safe, they instead had set up units around every other safe area around and within town. At that moment I knew that the eradication of the rebels had begun. As fast as I could I made my way over there to help but all I could do is get Amelia to safety and save her from two guards who tried to rape her after brutally murdering her parents. I then hid her away and reported to the princess. She never found out about her and I got promoted to the position of general......" He sighed deeply, his look on the ground. "However the weirdest of all is though....she has not been that way, being power hungry and destructive. At least she was different when I began my training here in the castle but that was many years ago."

"In any case from that day I kept up the double play to help the other races together with Blueblood and now with you, as I think I am assuming right, you want to give the other races their freedom back too and help them?" To that the human nodded. "Good now please tell me, how much of the talk did you hear I had with the princess?"

"Pretty much all of your report to her, about the new rebellion of the griffons and all that." The general nodded.

"And....what are your plans now friend?" Alex took a big gulp of his own drink.

"Well since I now know that there is someone being held hostage inside this castles dungeons I will try to get into there and find out who it is and if they have informations and well.....maybe try to free them. However i have no idea how hard that one may become. I actually had planned to try to do so this night." Alex took another sip only to see the general shaking his head.

"That is not a good idea, you just barely got away from being captured and held hostage inside said chambers. By now the whole castle is on high alert. Let some grass grow over the whole incident and then try freeing them." Blueblood nodded in agreement.

"Now that you say it, yeah you are probably right. I should sleep on it. Thank you for your honesty Light Bringer. " Spoke Alex, acting as if he now fully trusted the general, but on the inside he still was unsure if he should do so.

"Good, I better take my leave now before anyone is wondering where I went. See you all soon again." With that the general stood up and left, leaving the group to talk among each other. Alex by now noticed how tired he was, the whole ordeal in the deep night had quite taken the toll on him. Saying goodnight to everyone he made his way to his bed and threw himself on it.

As he sank into dreamland one simple question was on his mind. Could he trust the general and how much of his story had been true?

Author's Note

And another chapter done, and oh boy this one is a exposition load, hope you all don't mind. Also, can Alex trust Light Bringer, or is it all just a trick, who is hidden away within the chambers, find out soon!!

As always, comments and such are highly encouraged and appreciated. Have a great day!