To Befriend the Night

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen (Conclusion)
Chapter Twelve

Chapter One

Luna exhaled slowly, shaking her head as she did so. This was her fifth night in a row of holding her Lunar Court where nopony had arrived. The only reason it was only the fifth instead of the twentieth was only because of the visit she had received from Twilight Sparkle those few days ago that had broken the common stillness of the room. It was due to these large gaps between visits of that most of the guards were puzzled as to why the night princess even continued to hold the court every night. They did not understand, partially because Luna did not take the initiative to explain, the royal pride she held for the opportunity to speak with her subjects, even if said subjects did not take advantage of the opportunity.

Of course, Celestia had been quick to reassure her sister after her return that ponies had grown more active during the night hours in the past thousand years, but it didn’t seem to solve the issue of her lonely court. As each night concluded and a deflated Luna passed by her sister as they switched shifts it was hard for Celestia not to see the growing despair in her sister eyes and Celestia would try to bring a smile to her face by regaling the depressed princess with tales from her student's ever upbeat letters. Yet, the only thing it did was cause the lunar princess even more heartache when her attempts to make friends backfired against her or were ignored or misunderstood.

She was just not used to spending time around the so very fragile lives of ponies. Indeed, she had become very introverted during her time on the moon and adjusting to being around ponies who could not handle her... eccentricities... was quite the task. In spite of this Luna held a shard of diamond in her heart, immovable in her continued efforts to reinstate herself as co-ruler of Canterlot and refamiliarize herself with the citizenry of the fair capital.

Luna was brought back to her empty night court as the door to her right creaked opened slowly and an earth pony backed into the room, his gaze locked on the hallway as he did so. The automagic spell on the door faded as he left its vicinity and the door swung closed, leaving the hall in silence as even the guards seemed unsure what to do about the sudden intrusion. Luna waited a moment for the stallion to turn to her, but when he was slow to do so, the princess let loose a polite cough to get his attention. She normally would have allowed him all the time it took him to turn to her before her exile, but now she wanted very much not to let another second pass when she could be engaging with her subjects.

His gaze spun to her and she saw the panic in his eyes while beads of sweat started to form on his forehead, much to her surprise. Had he not come into the room to talk to her? Acting quickly to try and defuse the situation before the stallion broke into a panic, the princess addressed her troubled subject. “Hello, my little pony. Do you have a question to pose to the Lunar Court that I may answer for you?”

The stallion gulped visibly and opened his mouth, though no sound came out. After a pause, he shook his head as if to clear it and then looked back toward Luna, eyes shaking with fear and a lack of understanding. Luna, however, simply waited patiently with a curious, searching gaze. In the serenity of the princess the stallion seemed to gather his nerves and found some words to speak. “What are your opinions on the politics of... this.. place...” His voice faded toward the end and Luna raised an eyebrow at his hesitancy, but passed it off as some form of nervousness from meeting a princess. The question however, raised questions all its own. It was not the sort of question one might expect at the night court, as it posed such a large, undirected query as to seem almost pointless.

Luna, however, had more than enough time and, more directly, an empty night court. “I believe that it may take some time for the ponies of Equestria to get used to a diarchy where before there was only a monarchy,” Luna said as she repeated the thought process that had gone through her head many times over the past few months. “In the meantime, I believe that it is of utmost importance that the citizens realize I am here to help should they need me, regardless of the events of which I have apologized for and feel deeply sorry about.”

The stallion nodded, though he seemed distracted by some other thought. Such distraction however, seemed to do little to stop his mouth from moving. “That is a very aspirational approach. You will make a great leader when they get used to the idea, I am sure.” His eyes wandered to the door that he had entered through as he spoke, but only for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the lunar princess.

“You truly believe so? It means a lot to hear that from someone besides my sister,” Luna said, a small smile on her face as she watched the stallion with a degree of curiosity. She couldn’t quite place it, but something was different about this pony. “Tell me, stallion, what is your name?”

“Uh...” His eyes darted around the room for a moment again before he continued. “Hendrick.”

“That is an unusual name. I do not think I have heard of a similar one before.”

“Yes, well." Hendrick coughed lightly, Lightly enough that Luna was certain that said cough had done absolutely nothing to clear his throat and had been more for the purpose of buying time. "I come from far away.” He finished, lamely.

“I see,” Luna said, her curiosity piqued enough that she tried to make out the shape of the strange stallion's cutie mark was, if only to try and glean some insight into the mystery that stood before her. Meanwhile, Hendrick seemed to be planning a quick escape, eyes darting to doors and windows as his frantic hooves twitched and spasmed. Both were interrupted when the loud growl of his stomach filled the air.

Realizing an opportunity to try and pry some information from her strange acquaintance, Luna spoke. “You are hungry." She asserted. "And it would be rude of me to send you on your way without some food. As such, I would like to extend to you the opportunity to come have dinner with myself, my sister, as well as the Captain and Princess Cadence.” Not only would she get to learn more about this strange pony at dinner, but she would also get to see his cutie mark on the way.

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” Hendrick said, slowly backing away, though slightly clumsy in his attempts to do so.

“You have somewhere else to be?”

“Not... specifically...” His eyes began to dart around again, only stopping to linger on the lowest row of windows at the far end of the room.

“Then I insist on your company,” Luna said once again, stepping down from her elevated platform as she did so.

“I... " He paused as he seemed to reconsider the offer. He seemed uncertain about his course of action until his stomach growled once more and he flinched at the sound. "Alright...” The stallion acquiesced, moving towards the door and waiting for Luna. As she approached, he attempted to push the doors open, only to fall on his face when the magic in them opened them first.

Luna approached and looked down Hendrick, who seemed to be mumbling something under his breath. “Are you alright?”

“Right as rain!” He jolted to his feet, his voice rising with fear and looking toward the princess. “I just tripped.” Luna raised an eyebrow, very much aware that he didn’t trip, but deciding not to question him on the matter.

“Then follow me and we shall join Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor for dinner.”

“Erm, yes. You lead the way then, would you, Your Majesty?” The stallion seemed to be waking from a dream as he spoke the words.

Luna looked back at the stallion, “That is what I just said, is it not?”

“Of course. I was just... clarifying it for myself.” Luna nodded, assuming it was a habit that had come into being during her one thousand year absence. Then, she started towards the kitchen, opting not to teleport them both there for the benefit of the shaky earth pony, as she knew not how he might react to a sudden change of surroundings in his current mental state.

They hadn’t gone far, though, when a group of guards rounded the corner and Hendrick ducked behind Luna’s form, trying to hide from them. “I don’t think so!” one of the guards shouted, running faster towards them. With a flash of her horn, Luna stopped the contingent in its collective tracks.

“What seems to be going on? And why are you attacking my guest?” Luna asked, her tone more regal than it had been not moments earlier when she had been talking to Hendrick.

The stallion who had dashed ahead looked shocked for a moment before he bowed his head to the lunar princess. “I apologize, Your Highness. I wasn’t aware that he was your guest. He just walked into the castle and past a group of guards earlier today. When they tried to approach him about his permissions, he ran away. We’ve been trying to track him down ever since. Blank flanks, if you'll pardon the term Princess, tend to cause a lot of trouble. Especially the older ones."

Luna was about to make a rebuttal when she realized what had just been said. With a flick of her mane, the princess looked at the flank of the stallion hiding behind her. It was, indeed, blank. “I see. Well, I assure you that he is with me, so you may halt your search,” the mare said, turning to face the ponies once again.

“Understood, Your Majesty. I will tell the other guards to call it off.” The leader nodded abruptly in recognition to the royal command. With a second flash of Luna's horn, he and his brothers in arms found their legs free, allowing them to back away as a group.

Slowly, the stallion emerged from behind her, shaking like a leaf as he did so, and watched as the guards departed. “Thanks for that,” Hendrick said after he saw no more of the armored ponies.

“'Twas no problem. Though I must say that I find your lack of cutie mark quite odd. Would you mind talking about it?”

“Uh.” The stallion glanced at his flank before looking back at the princess. “I don’t like to talk about it?” The way he raised voice toward the end of his sentence seemed to indicate he wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about, but Luna looked past it once again. At this point, she was only getting more questions than she was answers and she wanted to get to the dinner as soon as possible to pose her questions to Hendrick.

A stressful walk later, and they arrived at the dining room, Luna leading the way past the threshold with Hendrick following meekly after her. As they moved past the doorway, the eyes of the three ponies within turned to see Luna, as well as the stallion following behind her with an unsteady pattern to his steps. Cadence and Shining Armor’s eyes filled with curiosity about the mysterious stallion whom was joining them for dinner. Meanwhile, Celestia merely gave a soft smile before speaking.

“Good of you to join us, Luna. We were beginning to worry you had shut yourself away for the night once again.” The elder sister glanced once more to the stallion and her voice was filled with a poorly concealed feeling of pride. “And I see you brought a guest, as well.”

“Quite right, sister. Everypony, this is Hendrick. He came to the Lunar Court tonight and he was hungry. When I found out he didn’t have anywhere pressing to be, I insisted on him coming to dinner with me.”

“Hendrick, hmm? What an interesting name. Hendrick.” Cadence seemed to roll the syllables over her tongue to get a feel for the odd semantics behind it. “It is nice of you to join us.”

“What Cadence said, it’s good to see the princess has started to meet with some more ponies. My sister can only swing by to ask her questions once a month or so after all.” Shining said with a glance to Luna who returned it with an apathetic gaze of her own.

“Yes, let me be the last to welcome you to our little dinner and I hope that you enjoy the meal.” Celestia said tersely, following it immediately with a flash of magic from her horn. In the same instant an additional cushion appeared next to the table for him to sit upon while they waited for the food to arrive. As she did so, Luna flashed her own horn and informed the head chef that they had an additional member for dinner.

After he took his place on the cushion, Celestia posed the first question before Luna even had the opportunity to do so. “May I ask where are you from to have such an odd name, Hendrick?”

The stallion’s eyes looked at the table, purposefully avoiding eye contact with any of the ponies present at the table. “Away,” he answered, his gaze settling on a single spot on the furniture in front of him.

“I see, and what might your cutie mark be with such a name?”

“Non-existent.” Luna said as the stallion floundered, apparently unable to answer the question.

The solar princess shot first a look to her sister and then a second to the stallion to confirm the answer before looking back to his face that continued to avoid looking back. “Is there a story behind that?”

“Not... really.” Managed the stallion.

Celestia paused and glared lightly at the stallion, trying to understand him from a look alone. Tension hung heavy in the air, a tension that felt too thick to cut with words, and Luna looked on pensively, wondering as to the answers to the question herself. The silent stares of the dining ponies were interrupted by the arrival of the food though, with Hendrick’s head jerking back as the meal appeared in front of him in a flash of light.

Celestia looked at him for a moment longer as he hesitantly began to eat the salad in front of him before turning to the couple whom were seated across the table from her and her sister. “So, Shining, Cadence. How are things between you two?”

“Things are going perfectly,” Shining said, the two nuzzling into each others necks. “I’ve never been happier.”

“Did I ever tell you that I always knew from the moment I saw you that day, when I first came over to visit Twilight, that you were my soulmate?” Cadence asked, kissing the captain of the guard on the cheek.

“Except that that makes absolutely no sense,” came a soft voice from Hendrick.

“Excuse me?” Cadence questioned, unsure that she had heard him correctly.

“Well, look,” he started, his voice now at a regular volume and his tone almost exactly like that of the few professor's that Luna had met, “assuming that such a thing as a soulmate even existed, the chances that they would be alive at the same time as you is completely against any form of mathematical chance. And when you assume geographical and sexual variables, the chances of finding them become even more rare.”

The couple looked at him in confusion with Celestia joining them after a moment. Luna, meanwhile, was trying to keep up with his speedy explanations. “I mean, what if you hadn’t met? Then, wouldn’t the absence of that event to have meant the advent of a tangential narrative in which you don't meet? An alternate hypothetical dimension, if you will. But I digress.”

Luna nodded once before beginning her own sentence. “But what about fate? Surely, if they were fated to meet, then that would resolve the conundrum?”

“The very idea of fate is unfounded and has no evidence to support it. AND EVEN THEN,” --His gaze rose and he looked at the princess, caught up as he was in his debate-- “there should be no pride felt for the relationship if that were the case as, if it were fated to happen, then nothing could change it and there wouldn’t be a point in putting any effort into it. But, as love is the growing of a symbiotic empathy between a pair of people that grows through continued drama and circumstance, the relationship would wilt.”

As he finished his rant, he realized what he had just done. His gaze moved to each of the ponies who were looking at him, three confused faces and one engaged one. Suddenly, as if reality had collapsed back onto his shoulders, he looked back to the table. “I mean... the soup is good.”

Silence.

“I’ll just.. be going then...” he said before standing and leaving the room, followed by the gazes of the completely confused equines.

“Wait!” Luna abruptly left the table as well, desperate to find out just what had happened in front of her very eyes.

“He’s right, ya know.” The remaining trio all turned to see the cook standing a short distance away. “The soup is good.”

Author's Note

The rant on soulmates was inspired partially by the XKCD what if page for it and was almost heavily inspired by the Tim Minchin song.

If I Didn't Have You

Chapter Two

The chase to find Hendrick had been quite short, ending almost as soon as it began. Mere steps outside the dining room, in fact. Hendrick lay with his face pressed up against the smooth marble floor and his legs dangling strangely behind him. As Luna had approached him, she heard him mumbling something under his breath once again but was unable to determine what he was saying, due to both the low volume of his words as well as the marble floor that more or less obstructed his mouth.

When she stepped towards him once again in worry and confusion, wanting to make sure he hadn't hurt himself, he suddenly began to squirm, seemingly in the attempt to place his feet on the ground. After watching helplessly for a few moments Luna grappled his form in her magic and re-orientated him right side up. As she did so he suddenly became perfectly still, his body became stiff and his muscles taut, leaving little difference between him and a statue. She placed the frozen pony carefully onto the tile floor properly oriented and he locked eyes with her.

“Are you okay, Hendrick?” Luna asked, her curiosity for the stallion drowning out the concern that she tried to force into the words.

“Please let me leave,” he pled suddenly, looking to Luna with pupils barely bigger than pinpricks. "I'm sorry for what I've done, all of it, just please let me leave."

Foremost in Luna's mind, however, was whether sending this klutzy, panicking, lost, confused pony into the city alone was a good idea. “Are you sure that-” His body began to shake with fear and Luna stopped herself. Not only did she already feel guilty for the terror she caused, even on accident, but she also did not want word to go around that she was forcing ponies to remain in the castle against their will. “You are free to go whenever you want, Hendrick," she conceded. "The exit isn’t barred.”

“Th-thank you.” He took a few slow steps backwards, his eyes on the lunar princess all the while. Then, breaking off into a clumsy run, he disappeared around a corner and heading to the exit of the castle with all his strength. That was the last that Luna saw of him that night.

The early afternoon of Canterlot found Vinyl Scratch wandering her way through the cobblestone roads of the capital. As she did so, ponies would move out of her way, just like every other day. While the DJ would sometimes toy with the idea that some of them did it out of respect, she knew very well the true reason behind it. All in all she supposed she couldn't blame them as it all tended to boil down to a desire to get from point A to point B without being run into by a blind unicorn who had a bad habit of stumbling on the cobblestones.

The culprit for her handicap was a disease unique to unicorns. Rare, even then. It took sight from a pony, but allowed them the ability to sense magical presences, something not to be underestimated certainly, but the debate was still on going as to if it could truly measure up to the loss of sight. In some respects it was almost a sight unto itself, as all ponies held a unique magical feeling to them and as such the victim of the disease would still be able to recognize friends. However, while this magical malady could be used to avoid direct collisions with other ponies, the cobblestones that made up every major road of Canterlot were completely devoid of any magical identifier themselves. A fact which had caused her more than enough trouble in the past.

And, to no surprise from anyone, it seemed that today would be an example of what she lacked. The DJ found herself once again off balance as her hoof made contact with the side of a disheveled stone and her emotions spiked into a strange mixture of fear and apathy caused by the frequency of these 'trips'. Casting a simple protection spell to minimize the pain from the trip, the DJ awaited the familiar feeling of the stones. Before her body could meet the road however, she felt an odd magical signature press against her side, pushing her upright and stabilizing her once more.

It was strange. The magical presence from the being next to her. It was like a pony... and yet... not, but she'd come in contact with many strange presence before, not the least of which was Discord, and in comparison with that particular crime against universal sense, this one only seemed sort of out of place and she was willing to overlook it.

“Thank you,” the DJ said, the pony next to her backing away to avoid any further unnecessary contact.

“No problem,” came the reply, the tone slightly meek.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt your magical signature before. Are you new to Canterlot?”

“Uhm... You could say that?” His voice was unsure and Vinyl immediately recognized that he didn't know what she was talking about.

“Ah, well, thanks for helping me out all the same. It's nice to meet you, what's your name?”

“Hendrick.” Came the blunt, immediate, reply.

“That's a strange name." Said the DJ and, after allowing a couple moments for a response from the stallion, she continued. "Well, I’m-”

“DJ Pon3!” a mare said, a tone similar to that of an approaching bully decorating her voice. “I see that you managed to stay upright this time thanks to this mysterious earth pony here.”

“Hello, Page,” the unicorn replied emptily.

“Front Page?” Hendrick asked, his curiosity plain in his voice.

“Ah, yes, you know of me? Can’t say I’m surprised. I do work the most popular newspaper business in all of Equestria.”

“What do you want, Page?” the D.J. interrupted, slightly discouraged as she believed her companion to have left her side, figuratively.

“I was just wondering if you took a look at my article this morning- oh wait, you can’t, sorry. I forgot.” Though the unicorn was blind and thus unable to see the look on Front Page's face, she could still practically taste the stupid smug smile on the air.

“Well, it was rather ill-founded,” the earth pony spoke up next to her once again, catching the attention of both rivals.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It was the article on Luna, correct? Well, it wasn’t told from any actual meetings with her, a fact which you poorly hid behind several cutting remarks that were complete fabrications with no basis in reality. Any writer worth their weight in salt will stretch the truth, of course, but to make up lies like that shows absolutely no respect for a job that is, as far as I can tell, about telling the truth.”

Front Page was dumbstruck, but Hendrick continued. “And what’s more, the kerning on the second half of the page drove me nearly insane and the poor formatting with no segways between the ideas was ill-conceived. It seems to me that you didn’t put any love or effort into your work at all and it could be said that you simply put it out there with the intent to garner misplaced affection from long time readers. Of course, if you continue writing like this I'd be surprised if you're still afloat in a year or two irregardless of whatever loyalty base you think you stand on.”

There was a silence that hung over the entire crowd, all ponies now looking at the altercation that had just occurred. No kicks or punches had been thrown, of course, but some ponies could tell there'd been a very one sided fight all the same. Then, Front Page broke into tears.

It took a couple moments for D.J. Pon3's wriggling conscience to make it's way to the front of her mind. But when it did she quickly cut into the scene, directing her words to the motionless stallion by her side. “Apologize to her, Hendrick,” the D.J. said, almost resigned, as she looked toward the unique magical signature.

“Wh-what? Wasn’t she insulting you just a moment ago?” Confusion practically leaked from his words, carried on a tone of doubt as he watched the grown mare crying in the middle of the street.

“Yes, and while that is no way to behave, you did one worse and insulted her talent. At least she didn’t do that to me.”

“I-I-I....”

“She only made fun of my blindness. You practically tore her life’s work down around her.” The DJ couldn’t believe a pony would do that: just jump into a rant about how horrible someone was at something in which they were supposedly talented.

“Oh...” There was only shame and regret in the voice now. As if coming to a realization that had been a long time coming. It took him a moment to collect himself, but it wasn't too terribly long before he approached the crying form of Front Page. His steps seemed to register with her, but she didn't act on them, so Hendrick continued his advance until he was within whispering distance of the emotionally damaged mare. “I’m very sorry for that, I'm not the best at keeping my tongue in check and where I come from, we have tougher hide. It’s much harder to hurt us emotionally.” He explained. "I see now how terrible I've hurt you, I can only imagine if you'd done the same to me." His voice was directed to the mare, but the voice reached all those present.

“I will not take back anything that I said though, and this is important for you to understand. Is it possible that all your time being the top reporter may have gone to your head? That you may have lost sight of that love which you gave to your job that got you where you are now? I know a lot of peop-" He coughed immediately. "Ponies?" He hazarded and, when noone seemed to object to the word, he continued. "I know a lot of ponies who lose sight of why they started their job in the first place, so it is important that you always keep that in mind. Without honor for our work, what are we?”

“I never...” Page’s words were interrupted with some sniffs as she tried to restrain her tears. “I never thought I would learn something about writing from a blank flank.”

“Yes, well... knowledge comes from unexpected places.”

“I’ll see if I can’t talk to Luna tonight, during her court. Find the real story. It will probably an uphill fight to get in though, especially if my reputation precedes me.”

“I may be able to help with that...” the stallion offered, “but I’m not quite sure. We didn’t leave on the best of terms last night.”

“Thank you,” Page said, then turned to face the D.J. whose glasses blocked the tell-tale crimson of her sickness. “And miss Scratch, I’m sorry for poking fun at your blindness.”

The mare was slightly taken aback by the sudden one-eighty heel-turn of her aggressor, but nodded. “Thanks for the apology.”

“Yes, well, I feel as if I’ve awoken for the first time in a long time. I want you to understand that I truly regret what I said.” Page nodded to the mare, though she couldn’t see it, then turned to the stallion by her side. “If you need a way to pass the time until the lunar court opens, would you maybe join me for a lunch?”

“Yea... sure...” Hesitance once again made itself known in his voice and he sounded like that was the very last thing that he wanted to do. However, he never declined it and before too long they had gone away to eat their meal. With that decided, the duo left Vinyl alone with her thoughts as she contemplated the strange, yet heartwarming, absurdity that had just gripped the street.

“Vinyl, are you alright?" The tone was extremely confused, and rightfully so for what they had just walked in on. "Why is everyone just lingering around? Wait, hey, is that stallion crying tears of happiness?” A familiar magical signature approached and the DJ smiled.

“You will never believe what just happened, ‘Tavi.”

The duo approached the castle slowly: the mare out of hesitancy, and the stallion because he was following her. “Thanks again for this,” the mare said in a quiet voice as they reached the castle gates. At which the stallion merely fidgeted nervously, causing more than a little doubt to enter the reporter's mind.

On the approach to the entrance, a pair of guards caught sight of the mare and snorted indignantly, waiting for her to get close enough before they voiced their disdain. “What business do you have here, Front Page? Come to insult the princesses to their faces?” It was common knowledge, of course, that the guards cared deeply for their princesses, but it came to a shock to Front Page how much they seemed to care for Luna, given the rumors she had heard.

“N-no. I was hoping that I could have a meeting with Luna, so I may apologize and ask her questions for a more accurate article.” She was perturbed by the assumptions, assumptions that would have been true if she was the same mare she had been that same morning.

“Uhuh, and how can we trust you?”

“I trust her...” Hendrick's voice was shattering and breaking and everything about him screamed to Front Page that he had every belief that this plan would burn down in a blaze of glory. He walked out from behind the mare, flinching slightly as he recognized the pair as two of the guards who had been turned away by Luna.

“Hey, is that...” one of the guards began, turning to his companion.

“Of course it is. You know anypony else without a cutie mark?”

“Right, well...” The first guard turned backed to the duo, his voice at a normal level. “If Mr. Hendrick trusts you, then I guess we can let you in. But!” -His gaze narrowed on Front Page- “If we hear so much as a disappointed cough from Luna, you are going to be out of the castle faster then you can say, ‘ink it’. Am I understood?”

“Yes, of course.” Front Page readily agreed, a bit too readily in fact, and the guards exchanged several glances before they let the duo through.

The guards nodded eventually and simultaneously stepped to the sides of the door, allowing Page and Hendrick entry. After passing them, the guards moved back together, blocking to doorway. After rounding a corner, Page eyed the stallion. “Mr. Hendrick? What’s the story behind that?”

“Well...” The stallion looked toward her for a moment, then looked back to the hallway ahead. “I went to dinner with Luna. Kinda became famous with the guards, I guess.”

“Dinner with the princess. Boy, you get around, don’t you?” Her question went unanswered however, as the stallion merely kept walking, sweat beginning to form on his brow. Taking the silence for what it was, Page decided to change the subject. “So, you said that from where you come from, ponies are harder to insult emotionally and that it was more common. Does that mean that you were made fun of a lot for not having a cutie mark?”

“Hey, look, we’re here,” the stallion said, changing the subject immediately and making Front Page extremely preturbed by the fact that he didn't answer any of her questions in any useful way. As he approached the door, the magic activated once again and he walked into the room face forward for the first time. As he stood at the doorway, he clumsily swung one of his front hooves to invite the mare first entry into the room. She obliged, retrieving a notebook and pencil from her saddlebags as she did so.

“Hello, Your Highness.”

“Hello. I understand you are the one responsible behind this morning’s paper?” Luna looked down from her throne with a bit of malevolence haunting her gaze, but her voice completely bare of it.

“Indeed I am, and I apologize for that. I have come to ask for your forgiveness as well as an interview. An interview that I will put in tomorrow’s paper with actual truth, something I had forgotten about until recently.”

“And to whom do you owe that gift?” Luna asked, a slight smile on her face as she caught sight of a form near the door way, still partially obscured by shadows.

“That would be Hendrick.” At the mention of his name the stallion emerged from the hall, taking slow, unsteady steps.

A coy smile spread across the princess's face as she looked at the familiar stallion. “Why am I not surprised.”

Chapter Three

Luna took another sip of her tea, looking across the table toward Hendrick as she did so. The stallion seemed to be trying to figure out the tea cup in front of him. Occasionally, he would look toward the handle of the cup with particular intensity before returning to scanning the remainder of the mug, as if looking for something that might be hidden on the plain white cup.

As he went about doing... whatever it was he was doing, Luna’s mind went back to the events of the previous few days. After a second article by Front Page, the citizens of Canterlot had started trickling into the night court, intrigued by the idea of asking the pariah princess any questions they deemed important. A few of which were not unlike those that Celestia dealt with during the day.

She had also started to host events, small parties and the like, at which a few ponies would arrive to talk to her and to socialize. Whenever she planned such an event, she invited Hendrick, only to have him decline the offer, stating that he wasn’t good with social events. She could always have ordered him to attend, but she didn’t want to force something on the jittery stallion. With that in mind, she had finally managed to hook him into having a calming tea with her in the afternoon. Though, now, she wasn’t sure if that had been such a good idea, given the distrust he showed as he looked at the tea in front of him.

The lunar princess let this continue for a moment longer before smiling, “Can I help you with anything?” The sound of her voice caused Hendrick to stiffen in his seat, directing all his attention to Luna now that she had spoken up. “You seem to have been stumped by your tea cup.” She nodded toward the offending porcelain and sipped some more of her tea.

“Ah, no, yes, I just....” He looked toward the cup once again, then faced Luna, his expression displaying frustration. “How am I supposed to pick it up?”

It took all of Luna’s restraint to not spit tea in response. After a swallow to make sure her mouth was liquid free, she looked at Hendrick to see if he had been joking. Seeing no sign of joviality in his face, she smiled politely once again. “You put your hooves on either side of the cup and pick it up, of course.”

“Ah, I see...” His gaze went to the handle again. “But then, why is there a spot for me to pick it up from?”

“That is for griffins and any other visiting foreigners who may visit.”

“Griffins. Of course, how silly of me to forget.” He seemed distracted once again and his voice had taken on a tone that made the princess suspect he had just learned of the existence of the winged carnivores.

“Well, here goes nothing then.” Hesitantly, he reached out for the cup with both forelimbs and pressed his hooves against either side. Lifting it shakily off the table, Hendrick brought the cup to his lips. Just as he was about to sip from it however, his right hoof twitched, sending the scalding tea all over his chest.

Instead of jumping from his seat as Luna expected the fidgety stallion to do, he sat perfectly still, inhaling sharply through his teeth and giving off a hissing noise. “Are you alright, Hendrick? Here let me wipe that off for you.” A nearby napkin was surrounded in blue magic and it had started approaching him when he flinched away.

“N-no thanks, I’m fine.” Hendrick reached across the table and grabbed a napkin of his own in his teeth, then pressed it against his soaked fur with a hoof. After letting the fabric soak up the majority of the hot tea, he looked towards Luna once again.“Do you have a straw?”

Luna watched from the balcony as Hendrick left the castle grounds, his unsteady steps making him easy to differentiate from all the other ponies. He was indeed different, like a newborn foal pretty much. Yet, he seemed much more mature than he was letting on. More mature than even the princesses, though neither Luna nor her sister would admit it.

This was where her thoughts led her as she watched the odd stallion walk slowly toward Canterlot. What must his life have been like where he was from? According to Front Page, he had said that everyone was made fun of a lot more than they were around Canterlot, but Luna found that hard to believe.

As far as the princess was aware, no such place existed anywhere within Equestria, and she doubted that he had come from any of the other regions. He was most definitely a pony, on the surface at least, but beneath that, he seemed like some odd animal she had never seen before. Every situation seemed to not only change him for the moment, but he seemed to absorb his hardships and evolve from them.

Her mind danced across the topic for a moment before she let loose a heavy sigh. Maybe she would never know. Hendrick seemed quite keen on giving away as little information as possible and it was not in her place to pry. Still... a little research couldn’t hurt.

As she turned away from the view, she looked once more to the table and smiled softly to herself. Sitting upon the piece of furniture were the two teacups as well as the kettle, still giving off steam as the heat enchanted steel kept the liquid warm. However, one of the cups had a blue straw drooping lazily out of the side.

As she magicked away all the dishes to the kitchen, her mind couldn’t help but replay a line that the stallion said when asked about the specifics of the straw.

“Do you have one in blue? It’s such a calming color.”

Shining Armor laughed amongst his guards as they made their way toward Steers, a bar that had become a regular place for the entire castle staff. It was his and his contingent’s day off, having left the night guard in charge of palace security in their absence, and they planned on having one heck of a drinking night.

It had, of course, taken some extra persuasion on the captain’s part to get away from his wife. He loved her as he always had, but they had come to a mutual understanding that he appreciated some ‘guy time’ with the guards. The only thing they had left to ‘discuss’ was when it was okay for him to take it.

Excitement buzzed through the air as they all made light hearted jokes, preparing for a night of joviality as they made their way across the streets to the bar. A few were old enough to remember when the building had been built, and it was on the brink of bankruptcy when the guards made it their designated hang out. The reason for its declining state prior to that had been due to the snooty nobles that, even now, viewed the building as an eye sore.

Picking up his pace slightly, Shining Armor took the lead and opened the doors to the bar first, entering ahead of the rest of the stallions. The barkeep turned with a smile and nodded to the captain, who returned the greeting. As each of the guards made their way to open seats, Shining spotted a familiar pony he would never have expected to find here.

“Hey, Hendrick! Didn’t think I would see you here!” The stallion in question turned to see the approaching captain and smiled softly.

“Hello.”

“I never would’ve pegged you for a drinking fellow,” the captain said before ordering a drink from the barkeep.

“I’m not here for drinks, I’m here for the atmosphere,” Hendrick said, the smile still on his face as he looked around the bar.

“What do you mean, ‘here for the atmosphere’?”

“Well...” At the mere tone of the word, Shining Armor was sorry he had asked. “The bar in and of itself is probably the most common in regards to where I come from. Of course, there are bars where you go just to get drunk, and to rabble rouse, but occasionally, you find a bar, like this one, that turns all the rules of social interaction on its head. Any two ponies can become friends in a matter of moments, no precursors required. Just bumping into another being can net you a friend for life. It’s not the bar itself that does it. It’s the general feeling of camaraderie in the air, and that’s something that I haven’t seen magic able to replicate.”

The stallion looked into his clear drink, which Shining Armor now realized was water. “Sometimes, I get a little homesick, Captain, and just the feeling in the air of this bar is enough to put those fears to rest. It’s just such a unique place...” The smile still on his face, he looked towards the white unicorn. “I’m sorry Captain, I seem to be blathering on. Go ahead and join your guards for some drinks. I think I’ll just stay a little while and breath in this comfort.”

“If you say so,” the captain said, completely lost as to what had just been said. “I’ll see ya later then, Hendrick.” After a nod, Shining Armor stood from his seat and started walking towards the stallions who had all seated themselves, finding that a drinking fight had broken out to the cheers of ‘chug, chug, chug!’

Hendrick turned the barstool to face the greater portion of the bar. After a moment, he began to hum a tune before building into a soft song. “...where everybody knows your name.”

The events of the bar were familiar to the tightly knit stallions of the guard. Drinks, jokes, and laughter filled the air as they each took part in this moment while they had it. But time was limited and, before long, they had to get back to their jobs.

As the slightly tipsy guards prepared to head back to the castle to take up their duties once again, the captain glanced over to where Hendrick had been at the start of the night, only to find the seat empty. He smiled softly to himself and walked out of the bar, the last of his group to do so. “Wonder what he does during the day...”

Vinyl Scratch slowly walked the streets, carefully, so as to avoid tripping. Next to her was her dearest friend, Octavia, the one pony the DJ knew who didn’t treat her like a handicap. They had set up a lunch date, and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile as she felt her body wrapped in the comforting energy Octavia gave off wherever she went.

The DJ had tried to explain the intricacies of her magic senses to the earth pony, but in the end, it ended up the same way it did when Octavia tried to explain what she could see. Despite that, the conversation still came up occasionally.

“Oh.” Octavia’s voice cut the chat short though, filled with worry as it was. “A beggar, poor soul. You don’t see many of those.” She approached the pony, but Vinyl was trying to find the pony with her own sense. There was someone there, but they seemed... blurred.

The sound of metal hitting metal reached the DJ’s ears as she heard Octavia give some money to the bit-less stallion. Then, they walked on.

Just before the suppressed magical signature faded away completely, it sparked, and the blind unicorn felt the all too familiar energy of the pony who had revitalized Front Page those few days ago.

Vinyl spun around, trying in vain to find the energy again. She felt a hoof touch her side and she became aware of Octavia standing near her, worried from her sudden action. “Do you see that beggar anywhere?” the DJ asked, turning her head to the cellist to indicate who she was talking to.

Octavia squinted her eyes, looking into the distance where she had seen the poor pony a few minutes prior, only to find him no longer there. “No, I guess he moved on. Why? Is something the matter, Vinyl?”

“N-no, I don’t think so. Just thought I knew him for a second.” The DJ turned back around, losing her balance as she stumbled into another stone. Octavia quickly balanced her out and smiled, though the unicorn couldn’t see it.

“We should get to lunch, then. I hear that they came up with a new sandwich that I think you’re going to love.”

Vinyl returned a smile of her own and nodded. “Lead the way.”

Chapter Four

Luna sighed, resting her head against her hoof as she slumped in the chair. She had recently taken part in a midnight binge of research and had failed to come up with the answers to her question. She had, of course, checked into the possibilities of Hendrick being a changeling, but had failed to come to a conclusive decision. She had gone through all the books she had at her disposal and still, there was no creature that could take the form of a pony that shared the personality traits of Hendrick.

Her frustrated exhale hadn’t gone unnoticed, as there was a pony in the library who had been trying to find her amongst the massive collection of tomes. At the sound of the noise, the pony in question altered her course and approached the blue alicorn, a soft smile on her face.

“Hello, sister,” Celestia said, a small joy rising in her heart as her sister jerked around to see who was talking. She had missed her so, when Luna was on the moon, and it was great to have her back. “I understand that you’ve been doing some heavy research. May I ask as to what you are searching so deeply into?” She was hoping that her sister would start spending time with her subjects on her own and, indeed, if Hendrick hadn’t arrived, she probably would have taken action to get her sister to be more social. Though she was hesitant, the last time she had acted on her sister’s behalf without consulting her first... it hadn’t ended well.

“Oh, Celestia. You surprised me,” Luna said, a smile of her own blossoming across her face. “I was just looking up the various different races and types of creatures that inhabited Equestria.”

Concern showed on the elder sister’s face. “Why would that be? Did you see something odd?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just...” The alicorn hung her head slightly, realizing how weird it sounded to her now. “I thought that Hendrick wasn’t a pony; he just seems so odd.”

Celestia’s smile returned and she approached her sister. “All ponies are different Luna, even more so the farther away they are from Canterlot. Which, if he’s telling the truth, Hendrick is from very far away, indeed.”

“I guess so, but- I don’t know...” Luna said, her hesitant tone telling of how unsure she was now.

“Of course you don’t, sister. You’ve been in this castle almost the entire day and some of your beautiful night. You need to get out and think about what you’ve read and seen. Not to mention that the fresh air would probably do you worlds of good.”

“Ah yes, that would be wonderful. Oh, but I have my night court.”

“I’ll tell them you took the night off. I’ve done it occasionally myself when I need time to think. Go ahead and have a night flight.”

“Okay. Thank you, sister,” Luna responded with a smile as she stood from the desk. Celestia nodded to her and the blue alicorn walked to a nearby window. She opened it slowly with her magic, letting the cool night breeze flow over her and the feeling of serenity consume her for the moment. After taking a deep breath of the air, she smiled broadly and jumped from her perch, spreading her wings wide as she left the library window behind, as a white alicorn was smiling contentedly at her departing sister from inside the building.

The lunar princess’s wings beat against the air, the warmth from her working muscles fighting against the night’s chill air. Her gaze wandered lazily over the whole of Canterlot beneath her as her mind began to work around the mystery of Hendrick. Perhaps Celestia was correct and he is just an odd pony from far away? That would certainly explain everything nicely.

Occasionally on her flight, something might catch her attention and she would examine it from the air, taking in the details until her mind was bored or content with her examination and she would move on. After reaching the edge of the city, the alicorn decided that it was probably about time to head back to the castle. If she hurried, she might even be able to be in time for some questions at her night court.

She was about to turn when an odd reflection from below caught her attention and the alicorn glanced down. The reflection had come from the dim light of the stars as they met with the water of one of the town’s fountains. As she looked at it however, she noticed something she wasn’t used to seeing, especially in the dead chill of the night. A pony was standing beneath the flowing water, scrubbing himself with a crude brush.

Intrigued by the odd act, the princess descended out of the sky and landed lightly on a nearby building to get a better look while still remaining mostly concealed. From this distance, the best she could make out was the outline of the pony that was most definitely a stallion. However, the colors of his mane and coat were indistinguishable because of the low light that lit the area.

After he had finished getting what he could with the brush in his mouth, he raised a hoof out of the water, a small brush strapped to that, and began to work his way through his mane, down his body, and finally, his tail. Just as he finished the tail though, his balance failed him. The water sloshed from his sudden tip and after a moment, he stood slowly out of the ice water. At long last, he finally stepped from the fountain, his brushes wrapped in a dirty cloth which he held in his mouth.

His steps took him down the road next to the building Luna had alit upon and gave her the opportunity to see the stallion as he shook compulsively from the biting, ice-like water that still clung to his coat. As he walked away, Luna’s curiosity continued to gnaw at her and she followed, flying as stealthily as she could behind the pony and hoping she might find out where he lived that would explain why he had taken to the fountain in order to clean himself.

The stallion walked, jittering, down the road. His unsure steps marked his movement across the cobblestones as the alicorn tailed him from the sky, though the princess passed this off as being caused by his nighttime dip into the water. At last, he turned, but not to enter a building. Rather, he walked down an alleyway. Cautiously, the alicorn moved forward to allow her to see down the gap between the houses on either side.

She was shocked to see a semi-residence in position. A small collection of newspapers marked where he slept, his cloth bundle resting nearby now that he had put it down. The stallion was on the newspapers, his head resting on his hooves as he gazed down the other alleys that continued towards the end of town and eventually opened up to a view of the land below the capital.

Overcome by curiosity, the princess landed, her hooves hitting the stones and telling the stallion he had company. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder to see Luna approaching and then he turned away. “I didn’t expect you to be out tonight, Your Highness.” His voice was shaky, but it was familiar and the princess froze in her steps as she recognized the stallion she had been following for the past hour.

“Hendrick? Is that you? What are you doing here?” Luna asked, stepping forward to approach the stallion.

“Some sky watching. Would you like to join me?” he said, his tone the same as one would use when being polite, but really don’t want the listener to take the offer. The tone wasn’t lost on the princess, but nonetheless, her curiosity was still peaked and she never could let a mystery go unsolved.

“Is this your home?” It was blunt and straightforward, not allowing the stallion to weevil his way out of the question with some alternate phrasing. Though, he still managed it.

“Home is where your heart is. Mine is far far away from here and broken in half.”

“Stop dodging questions and being so cryptic!” Luna said, frustration leaking into her voice. “Is this alley the place where you live?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you rent or buy a home?”

“No money.”

“Why don’t you get a job?”

“No talent.”

And then the pieces fell together for the alicorn. He was a reject from everyone else, relying on the good will of his fellow ponies to make ends meet for himself. No one would hire a blank flank, she realized now. She doubted even her sister would be kind enough; it was just too much of a risk. The best he could hope for was small jobs that would last for a day and then bleed away.

She looked at the stallion who was so odd and a feeling of sympathy hit her. She knew what it felt like to be an outcast, to live in the shadows from day to day. But something was still bugging her, a feeling at the back of her mind. “But then... what did you do before you came here? You must have had a job where you originally came from.”

“Librarian,” Hendrick answered, never turning to face the princess.

“Oh, well, perfect, then,” the alicorn said as excitement built in her voice. “We have an opening in the library. You could come work at the castle.”

“No, but thank you for offering.”

“What? You were looking for a job, and then I offer you the same one you held before and you turn it down? Why?”

“Well, I’m a bit more klutzy than I was back then. I would hate to accidentally damage a book. That is the one thing that I cherished in my previous job. Every page, every word was important to me and had to be protected. That’s also the thing that got me banished, my identity torn from my person, and then brought here. Because, apparently, if you hate something enough, the words about it, or written by people who are near it, become plague and taboo, something I still don’t believe despite me being in this alley.

“Words are to be taken in and respected, as the thought that the author put into the words flows through them no matter what. To want to be rid of books because of something as shallow as anger... Well, I didn’t agree. And despite the punishment I’ve received, I still believe it. That’s why I was so disappointed in Front Page.” The stallion looked at a nearby newspaper and paused for a moment. “If the author doesn’t love their words, then no one else will, and that is a tragedy in and of itself.”

The alicorn absorbed his words, her steps taking her next to the stallion as she did so. Though parts of what he just said seemed odd and alien to her, she had understood at least one thing. “The reason you’re here, is because you were banished?” The stallion nodded and her sympathy rose to a new level. One event had turned his world on its head and he had been removed from everything he knew.

Silence reigned with an iron fist as both the ponies rested, side by side. The sky above shown down with the lights of stars and illuminated the pitiful excuse for a home, but both rested on the ground and let their gazes move across the open expanse above them.

A chill breeze ran through the alley and a sudden spasm of shivers went through Hendrick’s bones. Subconsciously, the alicorn draped her wing over him in an attempt to warm the still wet stallion. As soon as he felt the contact, he pulled away and put some distance between him and the blue alicorn, leaving her with a feeling of guilt about the event that had occurred without her thinking into it.

His gaze still never met her, his vision locked on the night sky beyond the edge of the city. “Luna.” His words caught the attention of the alicorn and she turned her head to look toward the stallion. “I’ve heard that you create and control every night. Is that true?”

“Yes, I take a few moments every dusk to dream up what the sky should look like that night, and then I create it. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if you could do a shooting star.”

“Of course. May I ask as to the purpose behind it?”

“Nothing important, really,” the stallion said, then let out a slow breath exit his lungs. “I could just really do with a wish right now.”

(A/N: I promise more funny next chapter. I'm just setting the stage with this one.)

Chapter Five

Luna rubbed her eyes for a moment before she opened the newspaper she had received outside her bedroom and continued to walk towards the kitchen. It was the paper from the morning prior, but because of her nocturnal habits, she insisted on receiving it when she awoke. She had spent the vast majority of the day before looking for a job around the castle that a klutzy stallion might be able to do well in, but had failed. The entire castle worked like a clock. Every piece had to be pristine and perfect in whatever location they were placed, thus making it nigh impossible to find a place where Hendrick, with his unsteady hoofsteps, could get a job.

Her eyes drifted lazily across a story on the newspaper written by the popular Front Page. It told of some illegal scheme that a stallion had been cooking up to avoid paying his taxes, only to be taken down by the always active judicial forces of Canterlot. After uncovering the evidence they needed, the stallion had been apprehended quickly and brought to court, where he was subsequently charged guilty and punished for his crime in the form of jail time and a fine.

She didn’t deem it very important, but smiled at the obvious amount of effort that had gone into the story. She was about to turn the page when a small note near the bottom caught her attention. “P.S. Dear readers, our usual editor has quit. He didn’t like the sudden amount of effort that I insisted he put into checking for errors, so he left us to find an easier job. So this is a note to all you readers out there: If you are any good at editing, swing by and try out for the job. I’ll be happy to personally interview all who care to try.”

The edges of the princess's lips began to curve upwards as a plan started to hatch in her mind. She was at the kitchen now, and she immediately reached out to grab a mug of steaming drink. She quickly drank the brown liquid and her smile widened. “Oh, I do so love some hot cocoa after I wake up,” she said to herself before turning her attention back to the goal she now had.

Front Page sat at her desk as the sun started to sink beneath the horizon. It looked like time for her to go home. She stood from her desk and let the paper she had written remain in the typewriter. After going over it multiple times, she still felt like she had forgotten something. Some errors were still in that paper, she just couldn’t see them. Her mind skipped over them because she couldn’t view the pages like her editor had. She just saw the words.

With a sigh, the mare placed her personal belongings within her saddlebags and closed the door to her workspace behind her. As she turned around, she was met face to face with Luna. After slamming herself against the closed door in an effort to back away, she took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry; I was just about to knock,” Luna apologized.

“It’s all right, Your Highness. My heart just jumped a little.” Front Page let out a breath, then looked to her. “So, what brings you to my work?”

“Yes, well, in the last paper I noticed that you said you were no longer employing an editor to work for you?”

“That’s right,” Front Page said cautiously.

“I was wondering if you would consider employing Hendrick for the job, as he is out of one, currently.”

“Oh, of course I would,” Front Page said with a smile. “He’ll still have to take the entry exam, but if what he said when we first met is any indication, then I’m sure that that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Great. I’ll send him a note and ask him come by around noon tomorrow. I assume that would be fine by him.”

“You assume? You mean you didn’t talk to him about this first?”

“No, I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Uhuh. Well, I’ll see him tomorrow, then. It was an honor, Your Highness.”

“The honor was all mine. Thank you for your time, Front Page,” Luna said with a smile of her own, then took to the air and left the building through a window to the right.

As her wings glided on the thermals of a late afternoon in Canterlot, her mind drifted back to what it had been like when she had returned from her banishment, only to find a world she no longer knew. But there had been her sister to look out for her, then. She wanted someone to be there for Hendrick. And if noone else was going to, then she would do it, gladly.

Front Page smiled from behind the front desk, nodding at each of the editors who wanted to take the job opening. Each of them took a seat in the room to her right where the exam was to take place. It wasn’t usual protocol for hiring, but the writer enjoyed watching the competition face off for who would take the open spot. A few who had tried for employment at the place before weren’t surprised by the room, but some of the newbies had to have the protocol explained to them.

Eventually, the familiar unsteady steps of Hendrick sounded on the linoleum and Front Page smiled to the earth pony. “Hello, Front Page. I got this note saying I should come here?” he asked.

“Yes, indeed. You’re just in time for the exam. Please go in that room on the left.”

“Ex-exam? What?”

“She didn’t tell you?” The stallion shook his head. “You’re here for a test that will let you take the open position of editor for this newspaper.” Sweat began to pour down his face immediately at the words.

“Oh, Luna, why?” he croaked as he made his way toward the room. Upon entering, several of the ponies within turned to see the new competition, a few breaking into chuckles when they saw his lack of a cutie mark. Front Page remained at the desk for a few more moments before deciding that no one else was coming and entered the room, closing the door behind her as she did so.

The noise caught the attention of the ponies and all looked toward her, including Hendrick, who sat at the farthest back and leftmost seat. “Hello everypony, and welcome to the editorial exam.” Her tone screamed high school teacher, but no one made a comment as a smile began to worm its way across her face. “As you’ll see on your desks in front of you, there is an article written by me. My first, in fact, before it was edited. This is your first test. I want you to show me what is wrong with this article. Quills have been provided. You have ten minutes. Good luck.”

Each of the ponies began to quickly work over the article, scratching and writing in the margins hurriedly as the time ticked away. As she looked over them all, an evil smile on her face, her gaze moved to Hendrick, who was merely staring at the paper and occasionally looking between the quill and his hooves. He snuck a glance at someone else and saw they were holding it in their teeth, but despite that evidence, he seemed to refuse to use it as they were.

He glanced around the room, checking his surroundings, and, after finding some loose cloth, managed to tie the quill perpendicular to his hoof just as the time ran out. Front Page smacked the front desk and all the ponies dropped their quills, except for Hendrick, who just let his hoof fall to his side. One by one, Front Page looked through the papers until, at last, she came to the pony at the back.

All the others in the room turned to see him as well and a few began to snicker when they saw he had done nothing with the paper in front of him. “Hendrick,” Front Page said, a grim look on her face. “Why didn’t you do anything with the paper?”

“Well...” Hendrick paused, obviously under stress. “That’s because you told us to show you what was wrong with it.” He then took the paper in his hooves and crumbled it into a ball. “The paper was horrible. The first paragraph had error after error and, even if I used the margins to their fullest extent with my smallest writing, I would probably need to use the back as well. The result of which might be that you miss something on your next draft. It is just more efficient if I tell you the major errors verbally, without the paper, and then have you provide another draft. For instance, you need to use ‘then’ and ‘than’ correctly. Then, the use of comments from your perspective need to be rephrased.”

The rest of the potential employees were dumbstruck, but a smile crept slowly onto Front Page’s face. “That’s pretty much exactly what the editor told me, too. Congrats, you make it to the next round. As do,” -The mare turned around and pointed to a few more ponies- “you seven.” As she said that, one of the other’s came up, whispered in her ear, and left. Front Page pointed out another pony “You, then, since that display scared off that other one,” she corrected.

All the others left the room and Front page moved to the front once again. “Second and final test, now. You are going to pair up with another pony, and you are both going to write your own stories about anything you want. When the bell goes off in ten minutes, you are going to swap with your partner and edit each other’s works.” Papers were passed around and the timer at the front was set once again.

After the cue was given by Front Page and the timer started, all the eight remaining ponies started working hurriedly, all of them either levitating the quill, or writing with their teeth. Except for Hendrick, who, of course, was using a quill that was strapped to his hoof. The sound of writing on paper filled the air and Front Page took a moment to lean back and relax. It wasn’t often that she got time off during the day.

Eventually, the alarm went off and she sat back up. “All right, everypony. Pass your papers to your partner and start your correcting. When you’re finished, set your quill down, and I’ll come around to check.” Her smile was incredibly large. She always did enjoy the competition between ponies. It brought out the strongest aspects of a pony’s personality. Now that I think about it, that’s an odd word. Why is it ‘personality’?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Hendrick slammed his quill onto the table. Sweat was slicking his entire coat and his gaze was locked on the paper in front of him. All the others turned to look at him for a moment, before returning to their work. His partner was equally worried as he continued to read and reread the paper that Hendrick had handed him. Wondering what was going on, Front Page meandered around to behind the pony and looked at it. He had managed to find three errors so far, but was desperately looking for more. After looking at the one Hendrick had edited, she realized why; his own paper was covered in circles and comments in the margins.

All the others put their quills down as well and, eventually, the pony reluctantly set Hendrick’s story down as well, a sigh of acceptance heavy in his exhale. Glancing around at the other papers and reading the various edits, the mare smiled knowingly. She looked at Hendrick for a moment, sweat still pouring from his face, then went back to the front of the room again. “All right, everypony. I think I’ve made my decision. Could everypony except Hendrick please leave? Thank you all for coming.”

All the other’s diligently left, leaving Hendrick alone in the seated part of the room. “Hendrick, I would like to-”

“I’m so sorry!” he interrupted. “I screwed up!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I accidentally did a comma where a semi colon would have fit better, and I know that there were errors that I missed, but I just didn’t see them because I was strained for time, and then, in the first section, I was going to write the general errors on your paper, but I didn’t want to hold a quill in my mouth and by the time I had it tied around my hoof, it was over and I had to improvise. And then...” He continued on, telling of every single mistake and error he had done during the course of the event, panic evident on his face.

One thing’s for sure, Front Page thought to herself as she watched the stallion blather on about his own mistakes. This is going to be one heck of an employment.

Chapter Six

Front Page smiled to herself as she walked, approaching the editor’s room Hendrick had taken over when he had received his job. She was going to receive the edited version of her column so it could be run in the paper and also see how the fidgety stallion had taken to the change of surroundings, as well as his new work load.

She knocked softly on the door and waited, but when no reply was forthcoming from within. Rolling her eyes impatiently, she opened the door on her own and peered inside. The lights were out and Front Page had to fumble to find the light switch. After she turned it on, she was greeted with a perfectly organized editor’s room. The files had been reordered by Hendrick and the system he used was slightly confusing, something he called the Dewey Decimal System.

As she entered, looking for the stallion who was supposed to be in the room, she noticed a paper still in the typewriter, as well as a two individual sheets of paper that sat separate of each other near the device. Deciding to start with the paper he had written before he left, Front Page approached so she could read the type. Looking it over, a slight smile of relief came over her face. Then, she decided she should look it over, in case she missed something when she had skimmed it.

‘Dear Front Page,

I have need to go out today. It only recently came up, so I wasn’t aware of it until now. I have finished editing your paper and it is the one farthest from the typewriter. Sorry if my absence worried you. I will be back tomorrow. See you then.

Sincerely,

Hendrick’

With her smile still on her face, she approached the aforementioned paper. On her way, she let her gaze move to the other paper, the odd paragraphing on the page catching her notice. She looked down at it and realized it was a poem, most likely written by Hendrick prior to him leaving.

‘They told me I would be a great man,

But only if I never ran.

They told me the darkness was bad,

Because it held things light never had.

‘But I’ve run a lot, I’ve run to aid and help.

While they just march around and yelp.

And I’ve hugged the darkness, because it didn’t harm.

And I got to see the darkness’s homes and farms.

‘So now they say I am with the dark,

They came to end my life.

But with truth upon my head, a mark.

They are the ones who now know strife.’

Front Page reread the poem multiple times, trying to figure out what the stallion had been saying with the work, but was unable to decipher it. From all her experience as a writer though, she knew one thing: these words had had emotion poured into them. With a respectful nod, the mare placed the poem back upon the desk and retrieved her edited article before leaving the room. She still needed to get her article to the printer’s, after all. As she moved past the light switch, she looked once more to the empty desk in the center of the room. After a moment of stillness, she flipped the switch and closed the door, plunging the miniature world into darkness once again.

It was getting louder. Luna could hear it from the depths of her room and under her pillow. She still had a solid three hours of sleep scheduled, but the uproar consuming the castle and approaching her door was preventing her from falling back into her dreams. Fed up with the sound and having no explanation for it, the lunar alicorn rolled out of her bed and angrily approached the calendar pinned up in the corner. She scanned the page until she found the day’s date and was distraught to find nothing marked for the day.

Just as she was about to head back to bed and get the remainder of her sleep, regardless of the noise, a knock came from the door. Figuring it might be someone who could explain what the ruckus beyond her silent walls was, she went to open it. As she swung it inward, she spotted Hendrick, his hoof in the air as he was about to knock again. A few guards that were obviously not at their posts quickly dismissed themselves, not wanting to be reprimanded by the princess.

“Yes, Hendrick?” Her tone had an edge of annoyance to it as the lack of sleep pushed against her brain, causing her drowsy mind to demand more sleep, no matter who was asking for her.

“Do you have some spare time?” Hendrick said, looking at her with a worried expression. “If you want to head back to bed I would understand...”

“Nonsense, I have plenty of free time for a worried subject,” Luna replied, though her mind desperately begged her for a few more minutes in bed. “Especially if that subject single-handedly upped the attendance of my night court by several hundred percent.”

“I was just wondering...” His voice fell away and his mouth closed while his gaze dropped to the ground. Then, he spoke up again. “Can we talk? Alone?”

The tone of worry and fear held in his voice caused the alicorn to completely snap out of her state of mind and she smiled reassuringly. “Of course, Hendrick; come on in.” The princess moved to the side and the stallion approached somewhat slowly. As he passed by Luna, she noticed that a major difference had taken place since they had last talked. Shock ran through her system as she looked at the symbol now displayed proudly against his coat.

“Congratulations on your cutie mark, Hendrick!” She said, loudly. As she did so, she realized what the noise from earlier had been about and smiled. Looking back to the mark, she began to try and deduce what it was for.

The mark, in and of itself, seemed to display two different activities, causing some confusion in the alicorn’s mind. After all, it wasn’t everyday you saw a blacksmith hammer laying on top of a dictionary.

“Yea, it’s great.” The alicorn looked at him in confusion. His voice had held a grim tone in it and even now, his gaze was still locked on the ground, as if he was frightened and ashamed.

“What’s the matter, Hendrick? This is a wondrous moment. It’s not like you to be so depressed.”

“Isn’t it? Maybe it is, now.”

The alicorn raised an eyebrow at his statement. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if, now, I’m all depressed and grim. What if that’s what my cutie mark did to me?”

“What your cutie mark did to you?” Luna had no idea what the stallion was talking about, even more so than when he had gone on a rant at the dinner on the day they had first met.

“That’s what it does, isn’t it? Changes you. Makes you match the mark?” Hendrick asked as he looked toward her. “I didn’t ask for this. I would have been more than happy to have gone the rest of my days here without any mark upon my flank. But now that’s it there, I’m going to have to change to match it. Isn’t that how it works?”

“Hendrick, I think you misunderstand.” Luna said, very confused. How could a pony not know about what a cutie mark really was? “Your cutie mark merely displays your special talent, one you had all along.”

“Does it?” Hendrick said, his tone suddenly adding an angry edge to his words. “Because I’ve seen plenty of ponies around town whose personalities match their cutie marks. Vinyl’s is two eighth notes: speedy notes that are used to switch and change quickly. This is displayed in the way she acts rashly at times. Front Page’s cutie mark is a newspaper: something that changes daily, much like how she changed on the day I met her.”

Luna looked blankly at the stallion as he began to fall into his habit of rambling, confused and worried for him. “So now I’m probably going to start talking in a gruff tone or something, right? I’m going to change now. That’s all there is to it, right? What if it’s already happened? Maybe I’m not even me anymore. But then the question becomes: who am I? Should I change my name to match my cutie mark? Call me, ‘Verbose Paige’. How does that sound? I mean, if I’m not sure who I am, I may as well be someone else, right?”

The lunar princess listened to him ramble on for a few more minutes before determination flooded through her veins, like a fire roaring in her heart. “Hendrick, pay attention to me!” she demanded, her voice echoing off the walls of the room. His voice falling silent, the stallion turned to look toward her. “You are Hendrick. You are a stallion who knows so much about such a wide array of things. You used to be a librarian, but you are now editor for one of the best columnists in the entirety of Equestria. That’s who you are and that’s who you always will be, and no mark on your flank can change that.”

“But what if I’m not?” His tone was more relieved than it was before, but a new feeling of despair and guilt now hung in the air. Before Luna could ask him about it, he continued. “I’ve been lying since I met you, Luna. Not a straight out lie, but one of omission.”

“What are you talking about, Hendrick?”

“I’m... I’m...” He let out a slow breath. “I’m the proofreader and an editor."

Luna blinked slowly. “What? That’s what you weren’t telling me? But you said, ‘ever since we met.’ ”

“I meant today.” A half-hearted smile was coming across his face. “Sorry about that. Thanks for talking to me about it though, Luna. I was really worried there for a minute.”

“Of course, Hendrick. Any time.” The lunar princess returned the smile. Something was still wrong, she could feel it, but her tired mind was unable to puzzle it out. Her gaze moved to the clock resting on the wall nearby, detailing that a surprising amount of time had passed while Hendrick ranted. “It’s far too late for you to be heading home now. I insist that you spend the night in the castle.”

“I- I really couldn’t do that,” he said, the familiar nervousness in his words once again.

“Nonsense, you can sleep in my bed,” the alicorn insisted, completely ignorant of the way those words affected the stallion.

“If you insist I stay, then I suppose I could sleep here,” the stallion said as he curled into a ball at the foot of the bed.

“That can’t be comfortable for you. Are you sure?”

“I’ve been sleeping on newspapers, Luna; this carpet feels like satin to me right now.”

“If you insist...” The hesitance was clear in Luna’s voice as she moved towards the bed, eager to get what little sleep she could before she would be required to raise the moon. As she lay down on the bed, a spell from her horn darkened the room. With that done, the duo slowly drifted to sleep.

Luna looked around; something was wrong. She seemed to be standing higher than she usually did. Her mind reminded her that this was a dream and anything was possible, to which the alicorn decided to see just how high off the ground she was. As her gaze moved downwards, she noticed two things. She seemed to be standing on a white opaque tile that was almost invisible against the white of her surroundings. Secondly, she wasn’t even a pony in this dream. She was standing on her hind feet, a surprisingly less disorienting experience than Luna would have thought being bipedal would be like.

Her gaze moved to what had replaced her front hooves and realized they had been replaced with five digits attached to the arm with a large pad of flesh. A flash glimmered in the corner of her eye and she turned to see a mirror reflecting her complete appearance. Her blue ethereal mane had stayed, but her face had changed entirely.

The nose and mouth were separate, and her entire face was now a lot flatter than a pony’s. Despite this shocking body in which she found herself, a voice seemed to be whispering to her from the back of her mind. Human... Human... Human... She wasn’t sure why, but it sounded correct, so she went with it. She was a human in this dream.

Now that her attention was done being drawn to the oddities of her body, she was able to fully appreciate the dress that covered her hairless form. It glittered blue in the low light of the setting and she marveled at how well the cloth seemed to have been crafted. Her examination of it was cut short though, as she became aware that she was being stared down from behind.

Turning around, Luna saw another being not unlike her new form, though he was obviously male. His clothing was that of a tuxedo, slacks and all, while a top hat rested easily on of his head. She thought something about him seemed familiar, but that feeling vanished as a broad smile, full of joy, covered his face.

He waved his hand to something off to the side that Luna was unable to see. Shortly thereafter, a caressing tango filled the air. He held his hand out, facing upwards, toward Luna. Her mind acted for her and her own hand reached out to grab his. As their skin connected, Luna felt sudden warmth and comfort flood her being. The man moved their clasped hands to the side and he placed his other on her waist.

With little thought on her own part, she stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. A moment of stillness hung in the air as the orchestra continued playing. Then, the duo began to dance in unison. With her body acting for her, Luna was merely along for the ride. As they danced, the comfort and warmth spread through her body, as if lulling her to bed. Just as she felt her eyes growing heavy though, a rogue flame sprang to life on the shoulder of the man.

She hurriedly removed her hand, but the man kept his grip on her waist and her outstretched hand, not allowing her to flee. His face was covered with a peaceful expression, as if nothing was wrong. She tried to tell him of the danger, but found her mouth unable to move. The fire spread quickly and, before long, his entire shoulder had burnt away as ashes, leaving his levitating arm to be consumed next.

Yet, he still didn’t notice. With a sudden burst of determination, Luna pushed past the weight binding her tongue. “You’re on fire!” Her words broke the orchestral music and the man stopped his dance, looking towards her in confusion. The confusion swiftly turned to horror and he let go of her, taking steps away as he tried to distance himself from her. The silent air was filled once again with the tango, though now it was composed of sharp chords from heavy metal music.

His remaining limbs were caught in the fire as well, and they began to burn away much faster than his arm had. He looked toward her as his torso began to burn and started moving his mouth, trying to speak, but unable to get words past the music that shook the world. Eventually, she managed to read his lips just before they were consumed in flame. ‘I’m sorry’

The fire devoured his face and head, causing the top hat to fall to the ground unharmed. Then, the fire consumed her surroundings. Once again, the top hat remained.

Luna shot awake, more energy running through her veins than she had had in a long time. Glancing towards the foot of the bed to make sure that Hendrick was alright, she realized he had gone missing. “What...” Luna said in her confusion, trying to understand what she had just dreamed up. “What was that?”

Chapter Seven

Shining Armor shook his head slightly in the dim light of dusk. The captain was not liking where he was heading, nor what the results of his arrival would be. A stallion that had been troublesome in the past had been apprehended once again by the authorities. They had evidence by the miles of his latest offence and all that was left was for the captain of the guard to interview the various witnesses as part of a formality. In the current case, it was of utmost importance that Shining interview those who saw it again, to ensure that they had told the truth before judgement was handed down on the accused.

With a heavy heart of pity for the stallion to be punished, Shining entered the jail. As he came in, he lifted his head and looked straight ahead, letting his desire for resolute justice shine on his countenance, boosting the morale of the jailors and police ponies who saw him. He was approached by a swift younger stallion whom looked to be apprenticing at the jail, a notepad levitating in the air next to him.

“Captain Shining Armor.” The pony saluted and waited for the white armored stallion to return the act before he continued. “The first pony is already in the interview room for you. When you are finished discussing the events with him, we will send in the next. You will be receiving them in the order of those who were closest and most focused on the event. Does that sound all right?” Despite his age, the pony’s voice was strong and full of equal amounts respect and duty.

“Yes it does, thank you.” The captain was about to continue, until a question came to mind. “May I know the name of this first pony?” he asked. He wasn’t sure why the question had come to mind, but in his line of work, he had come to trust his gut.

“Ah yes. He calls himself ‘Hendrick’, sir. An odd name, I know, but I don’t think he’s lying.”

“Hendrick, huh?” Curiosity covered the captain’s features. “Wonder what he was doing there.”

“You know him, sir?”

“As an acquaintance, nothing more.” The young stallion looked around nervously, not wanting to oppose the captain, but remembering something that he was supposed to prevent. Knowing precisely his troubles, Shining decided to put his fears to rest. “I assure you, my judgement won’t be swayed by me knowing him.” The captain smiled at the pony who, in turn, returned a smile and saluted once again.

After another mirror of the action from Shining Armor, the apprentice left toward an office near the end of the hall, around which was gathered several ponies. After glancing toward the mass of ponies and realizing it was going to be a long night, the captain of the guard turned his gaze and headed towards the interview room.

As he opened it, he immediately recognized the familiar stallion and approached the opposite end of the table where a manilla folder rested, so as to begin the interview proper. Hendrick didn’t raise his gaze, keeping his eyes locked on the metal surface. Thinking that he may be in the middle of something, Shining Armor paused a moment to wait for him to look up. In the interim of silence, the captain’s gaze moved to the bruises and swollen horseshoe marks that decorated the pony’s coat and the flesh beneath it.

Coming to the realization that Hendrick wasn’t going to break the silence, Shining did instead. “Hello, Hendrick. Fancy seeing you here,” the captain said with an affable smile. The stallion looked up in response to his name and nodded in recognition, though he remained silent.

Deciding to give the bruised stallion a few minutes to collect himself, Shining reclined slightly in his chair. As he had just barely gotten into a comfortable position he was somewhat surprised when Hendrick broke the silence seconds later. “What would his punishment be if he’s convicted?” His voice was quiet while his gaze remained locked on the table.

“Well, he’ll be fined; his daughter, that reports say he was beating, will be taken from him; and he might face a fair amount of jail time.” The stallion flinched and Shining Armor felt a small degree of sympathy for him. He didn’t like having to dish out judgement either, but sometimes, what a pony really needed was a strong hoof to put them in line.

“And you have all the information and evidence you need to ensure this judgement?” Hendrick asked.

Shining Armor took a brief moment to realize that he was being asked the questions and not the opposite. Pushing this aside for the moment, he nodded. “Yes; these interviews are mostly just part of the drill to ensure that no mistakes are made.”

Hendrick looked up from the table with a smile that expressed embarrassment. “Oh good. You see, I forgot everything about the confrontation.”

“Oh?” Shining said dubiously, seeing the stallion’s inability to look in his eyes for a sustained period of time. He was clearly lying. With a determined demeanor, he flipped open the folder that contained the scene as described by the various ponies questioned. He hated being lied to. His eyes glanced over the familiar material he had read earlier, now replacing the words ‘primary witness’ with ‘Hendrick’. “You forgot about being beaten by a drunken stallion as you stood between him and his cowering daughter who’s suffering from similar bruises as your own?”

“Is that what happened? Sorry, I guess he must have hit me on the head too hard. Can’t remember a thing.” Hendrick hadn’t hesitated, hadn’t flinched, and the smile was still on his face, causing Shining to back off his verbal attack slightly. He’s had a hard time and here I am pressuring him. But why would he lie about this? “Sorry I can’t answer your questions, Captain. If you don’t get what you need from the other witnesses though, ask Luna to get a hold of me and I’ll come in again. Maybe I’ll have remembered something by then.”

The stallion rose from his seat and turned away from Shining as he headed for the door. “Hendrick?” Shining called after the exiting stallion. “Even if you don’t remember it, thanks for doing what you did.” The stallion didn’t answer the thanks, merely keeping his unsteady pace as he left the room. A few seconds after he passed over the threshold, a round of stomping hooves came from the other witnesses, applauding him for the good he had done.

Before the next witness was sent in, the captain of the guard was afforded a few moments to reflect on his talk with Hendrick. The more he thought about it, the more it didn’t seem to make any sense. Why would he have lied just then? His actions at the time of the event showed that he didn’t like, nor agree with, the stallion whom had been beating his daughter. So then, why? This train of thought was put aside as a mare entered the room, obviously eager to tell what she had seen.

Octavia was on her way home from a late afternoon ensemble, her cello in a case on her back. As she walked, she paused for a moment and looked toward a medium sized building as several younger ponies headed inside the structure for the night. As they did so, one of them didn’t seem to notice as a charm from her bracelet fell to the ground. Looking toward the setting sun, the mare realized she had a few more minutes before she was due for some sleep and headed toward the dropped trinket to return it to its owner.

She lifted the small object from the grass with a careful grip, before she approached the building and was slightly surprised as she read the small sign next to the door: ‘Ms. Caretaker’s Home for Lost Children’. The cellist looked to the building again in realization. She had known there was an orphanage nearby, but she never payed enough attention to find it. A particular feeling of joy ran through her as she was filled with more pride for her decision to return the charm to its owner.

Upon entering the building, the mare spotted a few younger ponies heading towards the back, into a room, and decided to follow them, hoping to find the owner of the forlorn bracelet piece. As she approached, a familiar voice exited the room, instantly reminding her of Vinyl’s friend Hendrick, whom she had come to know when he stopped by on his days off to chat with the DJ. She paused in her steps, letting the young ponies enter first, then continued and stood just outside the door to see why the mysterious stallion was there.

He stood next to a bunk bed, carefully tucking in the filly whom rested on the bottom bed. After he finished with the act, he stepped back and was making to leave when the filly called out with a slight twinge of fear in her voice. “Hendrick.” He paused and turned back towards her. “Thanks for being there...” She let the sentence fall.

“It was no problem; think nothing of it.” From her position by the door, Octavia couldn’t make out the face of the stallion, but she assumed he was smiling, given the uplifting tone behind his words. He started to turn, but stopped once again, this time on his own whim. “Moon Light...” He paused to rethink what he was about to do, but shook off his doubts. “Would you like to hear a lullaby so you can go to bed easier?”

Once again, the mare could only assume that the child nodded eagerly. This was followed by the stallion walking back to the bedside and coughing to clear his throat. As he did so, some of the other nearby orphans leaned out of their beds to listen to the stallion.

“For all the light in all the world, I would pay to let you dream.

Let no fearful thing come out, no matter how small it seems.

I wish you peaceful sleep my child, the world to cradle you away.

And in your wonderful dreams, I hope that you may stay.”

The rhythm was slow, the beat and words being drawn out. The stallion’s voice wasn’t singing the words as much as it was saying them to a tune. Despite this, Octavia wished very much that he would sing the pitches, if only so she could have such a song in her repertoire. She stood in the hallway, watching as the young fillies and colts behind the door began to go to bed.

As the last of them fell to their dreams, she was surprised to hear the stallion do one final verse in a low tone as he turned to exit the room. He was clearly not singing to the children. This time, he seemed to be addressing himself.

“I once stood in ashes brighter than stars.

The dark ‘twixt the light left me in scars.

Perhaps this world might mend my skin.

Though only if I let myself in.”

He left the room and moved toward the exit, unaware that his final verse had been overheard by a cellist that had hidden in the shadows of the hall. She watched him leave, curiosity flowing through her from the rhymes she had heard. Her attention was so focused on the door that she was caught completely unaware as a voice spoke up behind her.

“Hello, miss. Can I help you?” After Octavia’s heart slowed back down to its normal rhythm, she remembered why she had come.

“Oh, yes,” Octavia said as she presented the trinket she had picked up to the caretaker. “I found this on the ground, but was too slow to catch the filly before she came in. Do you know who it might belong to?”

“Why that would be little Cardy’s. Her charm bracelet is a gift from her elder sister who is working to sustain a house for them so they can be together again. She was so worried when this piece went missing. I just came from her bedside, I just barely managed to calm her down. Thank you so much for bringing it in.” Octavia smiled broadly as an uplifting feeling hit her heart.

“It was no problem. I really must be going, though. Give Cardy my best wishes,” Octavia said. The caretaker nodded and the cellist set off toward home, the back of her mind dancing with the mysteries that seemed to follow Hendrick around and what they might mean. Eventually, she let the ideas drop and entered her house, smiling at the DJ who lay asleep after an exhausting day playing records for a day club.

“Home sweet home.”

Chapter Eight

Shining Armor paced anxiously in front of the gates, the ferocity of his steps matched by his frantic heartbeat as they both pounded fiercely. His steps were not accompanied by others, though. The guards had decided to give him the space he needed and Cadence had left him to get more warm milk, in an attempt to get her husband to calm down despite his rampant anxiety. Though his footsteps were heavy and dedicated, his mind was far from his body, flitting through thoughts no older brother would ever want to imagine. And when his mind wandered to what these thoughts might lead to, the sound of his hoof smashing against stone would echo through the area as the captain forcefully removed the thought from his mind.

Just as one such noise had faded from the air, his wife returned, flying just above the ground with another stallion following close behind her. The captain paused his steps and looked to the approaching duo as a curiosity. His wife levitated a coffee pot next to her, no doubt repurposed to hold milk, while the stallion was unburdened by saddlebags or any other object. Which was odd, as most ponies would have saddlebags even when they were merely going for a walk in order to keep certain things on hand.

“Hey, honey!” Cadence called out as she approached. “I brought someone to help.” The captain smiled to himself and set off towards them, his pace and temperament calmed for the moment. They met him halfway and Shining Armor was able to see the pony who had come with his wife was, in fact, an acquaintance to both of them, and not one of the politicians Cadence would occasionally introduce him to.

“Hello, sugar,” Shining Armor said with a stupid grin, nuzzling his wife’s neck for a moment before turning to the other pony. “Hendrick.” The words were accentuated with a nod, one that the stallion returned. With the greetings done, Cadence poured each of them a cup of warm milk as the trio began making idle chat. Drinks were placed in each of their grasps, sensory magic keeping Hendrick’s in front of his mouth so he didn’t have to try and hold it in a hoof while he talked.

“So, Hendrick, what brings you around?” Shining asked, taking a sip from his milk and relishing the rejuvenating feeling that melted through his mind and eased his joints.

“Ah, well, I was on my way to work when your wife told me there was something you could use my help with,” Hendrick responded, his voice holding a surprising amount of confidence. “I was, of course, hesitant at first, but I decided that the least I could do was try and make up for my horrible first impression at that dinner.” Hendrick took a sip of his milk as well, though he seemed not to enjoy it as much as the other ponies. As he did so, the captain took a moment to fully realize just how much the earth pony had changed over the past few weeks. “But I have to wonder what I could help with that a unicorn and an alicorn can’t solve.”

Shining Armor’s disposition dropped suddenly and he looked into his cup. “That’s actually the reason we can’t do anything.” Hendrick’s face turned to concern, but he remained silent. “My sister is in the medical wing here at the castle; her sickness is a magical instability. Because of this, unicorns and alicorns are limited to one at a time. I was with her all through the night when Celestia asked if she could watch over her. She wasn’t pushy about it, but I imagine she’s suffering as much as me right now. She’s like a second mother to Twilight.”

“Apprentice?” Hendrick cut in for a moment, his cup floating in front of him with only the one sip missing. His attitude had shifted back to what it was before: not dark per se... but deeper and more cryptic.

“Hmm?”

“Is she her apprentice, or what?”

“Student, actually,” the captain corrected, taking a brief pause as he took another sip of the milk.

“I see. You must be proud of her.”

“Oh yea.” A smile crossed Shining Armor’s face as he reflected on the past. “I wasn’t there when she was taking the test—I was testing to enter the guards, you see—but I still remember how absolutely ecstatic she was when I got home.” The captain was about to ask Cadence if she remembered, but the smile on her face answered the question before he could ask it.

“Well,” Hendrick said, drinking the remaining milk from his cup in a single gulp. “I should get going.”

The pink alicorn glanced toward the rising sun and realized most of the dawn had slipped by without her knowledge. “Ah yes, you have that job with Front Page, don’t you? I’m sorry to drag you out of your way; it completely slipped my mind.”

“No, you misunderstand. I don’t have anything important to do until late evening. So... how do I get to Twilight’s room?”

Celestia sat in the medical room, her gaze on her student. Doctor’s were running around, fretting about a sudden drop in her student’s body temperature. She was worried herself, but she knew that she would get in the way more than help as things currently stood. To exert her magic would only worsen Twilight’s condition, so she restrained herself.

At least, as long as she could.

With sudden movement, she approached one of the doctors. “What’s going on?” Her voice was full of worry, she knew, but didn’t care enough about it to try hiding it from the ponies.

“Her body temperature suddenly dropped. We have no idea why,” the doctor said shortly as he continued to move about.

“Are you or are you not the best doctors that money can buy?” Celestia said, her mind betraying her edginess through her words.

“We are, Your Majesty, but perhaps you should inform your student that going into the Everfree is just begging for trouble. And then, when you’re done with that, learn how to not piss off the ponies who’re trying to help you.” The words returned were sharp, causing the alicorn to retreat both verbally and physically. She hated to admit it, but Twilight was a large hole in the armor that kept the alicorn composed.

“I’m sorry. I should contain myself better. My apologies.”

“You're worried for her; that’s understandable. But please, Your Highness, we are trying our hardest to help her and it would be very helpful if you could avoid interfering anymore unless asked to.” The words were rushed and the doctor was gone before Celestia could ask more questions.

The door to the room let loose a creak and the princess turned to watch Hendrick enter the room with the same uneasy hoofsteps that took him everywhere he went. The alicorn was about to ask about his arrival when something else caught her attention: absolute silence. With a fear for the worst sprouting in her heart, the princess turned to see what had caused the doctors to go quiet.

“What did you do?” It was a disarmingly quiet question from the doctor Celestia had exchanged words with mere moments earlier as he addressed one of the nurses.

“I didn’t do anything,” came the hushed reply.

With slow steps, the solar princess approached the group of medical practitioners, leaving Hendrick to his confused self as he took a seat in the room. “What happened?” she asked, the atmosphere of the room dulling her voice.

“Her temperature went back to normal. Not only that, all her other vitals are improving. The reason we couldn’t determine the sickness was because of the chill in her body; it confused any equipment we used on her. It’s like somepony just flipped a switch and she started getting better.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know...” The doctor’s tone spoke of worry, but Celestia found her own heart soaring.

“Mmmmaraaaaaa.” The sound came from the purple unicorn, her eyes flickering as she awoke from her coma-like condition. The room was still, everypony present watching over the unicorn as she came back to the land of the waking. “Oh, hi, princess. What’s going on?”

“You’re in the castle, Twilight. Medical wing. You received a strange sickness in the Everfree and your friends took you to the Ponyville hospital. When they realized it was too much for them to handle, they sent you to the Canterlot hospital, that sent you here.”

“Aaaa, that’s nice.” She was obviously delirious, though the doctors weren’t sure why. “What’s the tall thing that’s standing behind you?” All eyes turned, but the only thing to be seen was Hendrick, who was still seated patiently.

“I can’t see anything, Twilight. What does it look like?” As she asked her question, a look of realization came over one of the doctors. He quickly told his revelation to the others and they all shared a nod before gathering the equipment they would need.

“He stands really tall, and burns very brightly,” she said, explaining the mysterious thing as best she could in her state.

“Burns brightly? You mean he’s shiney? Like... white?”

“No, he’s decorated in fire.” She took a moment to yawn, her limbs unable to meet the gesture as they were currently being connected to a machine. “Aww, he’s frowning now. Pinkie wouldn’t want him to frown. I wonder why he’s sad.”

Before Celestia could ask more questions, a doctor leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. “We’re ready to begin. This will almost certainly cure her, but we’ll need you to keep her mind occupied while it works to ensure a complete system cleanse.” The alicorn nodded and turned back to her student.

“Oh, he probably dropped his glasses,” the unicorn said, as if that made everything make sense. “Silly tall man, there’s some glasses available at most glass shops. Only a silly wouldn’t know that.”

“How tall is he exactly, Twilight?” Celestia asked, both to meet the request of the doctor and out of her search for answers. The hum of the machine started to fill the air, but it was rhythmic enough to avoid the notice of the librarian.

“He’d see eye to eye with you if you could see him.” Despite knowing she wouldn’t see the creature of which her student spoke, she turned to look again, anyway. After doing so, her peripheral vision showed her how Hendrick was reacting. His entire body seemed downtrodden as he looked at the ground, his hooves moving in circles around each other to demonstrate what the princess could only assume was the need for his body to keep itself busy.

A polite cough from the doctor caught her attention and Celestia remembered what she was supposed to be doing.”What’s he doing now, Twilight?”

“He’s really sad, and looking at the ground. He’s moving his hands around each other too, though I don’t kno— Oh wait, now he’s looking up in surprise. I think I might have startled him.” A quick glance to the corner of her eye confirmed the princess’s suspicion: Hendrick was also looking up in shock.

“Aww, he’s disappearing now. Oh well, I guess it’s ti—” A yawn split her lips while her head fell back against the pillow and her eyes closed, taking her into a serene sleep. “Time for him to go,” she managed to finish before sleep took her completely.

“Good job, Doctor Meds. It seems your idea has healed the patient,” one of the doctors congratulated, the nurses and other ponies joining in on the celebration. Hoofbumps were exchanged all around; a job well done by all had cured the patient.

With this good news to settle her mind, the princess turned to face Hendrick, only to see him leaving. “Where are you going?” she asked, her tone holding equal parts authority and curiosity.

“I need to go back and tell Shining Armor that his sister is cured. He’ll be so happy to hear the good news.” With that, the door closed behind Hendrick and Celestia was given the decision of following him, or ensuring her student’s complete recovery. After a mental debate, she realized Hendrick would probably be available for questions about the occurrences later.

One thing was sure in her mind, though: there would be questions.

(A/N: Now if you will all excuse me, I’m going back to playing Fallout: New Vegas. -N64Fan)

Chapter Nine

To say that Celestia’s gaze was fixed on the doors would be an understatement. The closest one could get to explain it would be to say the princess had suddenly formed an extremely advanced interest for the stone passageway that marked the entrance to the room. Her eyes seemed to be afraid to blink, as if that inconceivably small flicker of darkness would cause her to miss the moment she was waiting for.

She wasn’t awaiting the pony who was to arrive in a few moments as much as she was waiting for the answers he would bring with him. For though the curiosity that surrounded the stallion was intriguing to say the least, the solar princess was far more worried for those he had ties to. Her sister, primarily, but also the various ponies he had come to be friends with throughout the town.

Shining Armor, Cadence, Vinyl Scratch, Moon Light, and many others, each and every one of them as unaware of the stallion’s secrets as the princess herself. Someone who kept themselves so far away from their friends could seldom be trusted, and ones who didn’t want to acknowledge their pasts at all, even more so. After the events of the day prior, Celestia had been informed of just how far the depths of his secrets went, and now endeavored to keep an eye on their bearer.

The only problem was that Celestia had no idea as to the location of Hendrick. When she had searched the housing records of the past month, she found no evidence of the stallion ever buying a house. When she had asked Luna about it, the response was that Hendrick probably wouldn’t like the location of his house shared with ponies and left it at that, an almost unnoticeable touch of pity in her voice. As an alternative, the elder sister had asked if Luna herself could deliver the message, to which she had happily accepted.

She had taken the request seriously and had done her work immediately when she found herself free, returning to inform Celestia he would be visiting her that afternoon. The suddenness of that had taken the princess by surprise. After managing her schedule for the day to allow room for the visit, the princess had gone about the events she had planned. Talks with her advisors, updates on the state of Equestria, and a quick visit with her doctor to ensure her physical aptitude hadn’t suffered a decline were among the events she had seen to before she returning to the throne room and awaiting the arrival of Hendrick.

It all lead to this moment, this tense moment where the princess waited for the doors to open and the mysterious stallion to enter. She doubted getting the answers from him would be easy, especially after all the trouble he had gone through to hide them from the ponies he obviously cared for, but she still awaited it eagerly. There was little in the world stronger than the sisters’ lust for truth, as it was the one thing they could lean upon when the very cornerstones of the world seemed to shudder. The one thing that had lived as long as they.

Yet, Celestia reminded herself, she owed him. Since his arrival, he had managed to engage her sister in the political world once again, bringing her closer to her subjects as a result. Then, he had proceeded to reform one of the greatest news reporters into a new pony, one who cared much more about her work. Then, just to finish up, he had managed to save her student from the brink of death.

The proof as to the last claim was still missing, but the fact that she had suddenly started to recover upon his entry into the room was obviously far more than a coincidence. So she owed him, for helping her sister, for helping save Twilight, and for no selfish reason she could tell. So she would respect his decision to visit, in good will, and she would respect his privacy should he choose to assert it.

With that decision made, the princess’s body calmed and her mind moved into less important musings to keep her time, until, at last, the door opened after a lifetime of silence. Her attention was back on the door immediately, all peace and relaxation she had let seep into her cast out in a moment of excitation. So it was with some disappointment when she discovered it was merely the delivery mare, arriving with a package.

The mare placed the package on the ground in front of her, sweeping into a bow in one swift motion. A smile graced the princess’s face as she looked at the grey pegasus, then she started the talk that they shared each time she delivered to her. “Hello, Ms. Turner. Thank you for delivering my mail to me today.”

“It was no problem, Your Highness,” the mare responded, standing from her bow. “If you could just sign this paper to confirm that I delivered it, please.”

“Of course.” Celestia levitated the indicated sheet and a pen with which to sign it. The scratching of pen on paper filled the air, alone, for a moment, before the alicorn’s voice joined in. “And how is your family doing? Well, I hope,” she asked with genuine care. It was painful everytime someone that she knew died, but time had dulled the pain.

“Oh yes, Timey is doing just fine and my daughters are being their usual wonderful selves. Thank you for asking.” The paper was finished and passed back to the pegasus. “Well, I have a few more deliveries for today. If you’ll excuse me.” She executed a much shorter bow and then, she was off, flying out the door and heading for the exit.

With her gone, the princess closed the doors and glanced toward the package, debating whether to open it or hold her vigil on the unmoving entranceway. It held her attention for a moment longer before she lifted it from its prone position with her magic and turned it over and over to look at it.

The basic brown paper that had common usage in the postage system covered the parcel, strings wrapped around the sides of the box-like shape to allow easy lifting by earth ponies and pegasi. Under one of the cross-sections was a small note held in place by the taut strings, having been on the opposite side of where the package had been lifted at. After removing the small paper from its bindings, Celestia set the package on the arm of her chair, wanting to avoid damaging whatever may be underneath the wrappings while she took a few moments to look at the white sheet that now levitated in front of her.

‘I realize you wanted to hear the answers straight from my lips, Celestia, but I am not one for answering things face to face, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Within this wrapping is my autobiography. I began writing it shortly after I discovered my cutie mark. It was such a marvelous place compared to where I came from that I couldn’t help but write down my experiences.

‘It doesn’t delve into my past prior to coming to Canterlot, as I don’t pride myself on a multitude of choices I made before arriving here. And while I do wish that I could just reveal everything to you here and now about what I did, I know that not only would you not believe me, not matter how much you wanted to, but you would probably think me insane.

‘The reason I know you wouldn’t understand is simple: the very thing that makes this world so wonderful and great would also prevent you from understanding the reasons I had for my actions. I just don’t think you could understand the level of hate and rage that had consumed my home and led me to do the things that I did.

'So, even though you won’t receive any answers to my mysterious past in this book, I hope that any questions you have concerning my actions upon my arrival in this city will be explained.

'-Hendrick.’

The alicorn nodded to herself. She always figured it may have been a possibility, given how anti-social he had been around her. She just hoped he was doing okay with all the pressure. Having both rulers of a country seeking you out couldn’t be good for a pony’s nerves. And it didn’t seem like Hendrick had many nerves left, given his jittery self. A small nagging feeling of guilt built in Celestia’s gut for a moment; no matter what he had been before, he was a pony now, one of her ponies. She had to remember that as she continued interacting with the odd stallion.

Now knowing the package was from the pony she had asked to talk to, and knowing that he was no longer going to show up in person, Celestia carefully opened the package to reveal a small tome within. The title of the book, Redemption, was in simple block lettering and black ink, and the binding was extremely basic. Levitating a pair of enchanted glasses from a nearby table onto her muzzle, the princess opened the book to the first page. After all, there’s no time like the present.

“...I was a coward; I couldn’t bring myself to tell him my firsthoof account...”

Flip.

“...I only wanted to save her...”

Flip. Flip.

“... Please, don’t make me a hero...”

Flip.

“...Sometimes, my mouth motors off without my brain...”

No, no, no. Where was it? Luna flipped hurriedly through the chapters of the book in front of her. Her eyes reading small passages as quickly as she could, trying to find a specific line he had written. She had found something before and now she couldn’t even find the chapter it had been in.

“... So I tried to cover it up, with more words...”

“... Cutie Mark ...”

She was getting closer, but it still seemed to be evading her. She couldn’t remember exactly what he had said, merely that it referred to his past. Wait, there it was. The pages stopped their flipping and the princess’s gaze locked on the words in front of her.

“... Sometimes, I miss what my home used to be ...”

With a sigh, the princess closed the book. She had been hoping for something a bit more detailed. That was the only hint the tricky stallion had placed in the whole book with any amount of information regarding his past.

But why? Why had the stallion gone through such pains to ensure his past never met the light of day. What did he have to hide? With another sigh, she fell onto her bed, her head turning to the side as it collided with the soft bounce of the mattress. The note that had come with the book rested only a short distance away, teasing her with its surprisingly short message.

‘No matter what happens, Luna, I just want you to know... I’m sorry.’

He was doing it again! Like it was his job to be unnecessarily cryptic. What was he sorry for? What was he afraid was going to happen? Why couldn’t he just tell her? Exasperated, the lunar princess moved the book to settle next to the note. Fretting over something wasn’t going to help her, and Hendrick hadn’t been ‘home’ when she went to ask him about it.

So she went back to bed, deciding on some sleep before she had to raise the moon. Nothing would get accomplished that night if she wasn’t in a rested state, and she still needed to prove she could handle the new responsibilities her sister had given her. So, with some degree of regret at the idea that she was giving up, the princess let her mind drop into the waters of a dream-like state, devoid of the puzzles and riddles that had started to increase in occurrence in her waking life. “Just a few hours and I’ll be fine,” she said, yawning for a moment before she settled.

Little did she know the events of the next day; she might have slept longer just to try and avoid them.

Chapter Ten

The sound of hooves on stone followed the blue alicorn, pounding into her skull with every step. She cringed in response, desperately trying to avoid letting the migraine affect her outside appearance; she didn’t want the guards to see her like this. She was aware of how fast news spread now, and knew that if any of them noticed, it would be around the entire capital by mid afternoon, along with a question dancing from mouth to mouth of her subjects: was the lunar princess really ready to take on the same responsibilities of her sister?

“Princess Luna!” The princess froze in her steps, looking around frantically. Though she didn’t recognize the voice, the tone rang clear in her ears. It was a tone she hadn’t heard in a long time, and one that still brought chills to her whenever she encountered it. “Princess Luna!” came the call again, louder than before. The alicorn managed to pinpoint its origin and turned to face the approaching guard running as fast as he could over the slick surface of the polished floors.

When he was almost next to the princess, she stopped him, rejuvenating his energy so he could speak clearly. A grateful look shining in his eye, the guard spoke quickly. “You have to come quick, Your Highness. The orphanage is on fire!” At the news, Luna’s mind began screaming, panic fighting through her body in a vain attempt to cover her features. With practiced ease, the princess inhaled deeply through her nostrils, cleaning the fog from her head and replacing it with a crisp clearness.

She nodded to the guard, a quick yet significant action, and reached out with her mind. She gathered the energy coursing through her, asking it to help her with the spell. The energy obliged and, before too long, the familiar semi-visible glow of the princess’s magic had surrounded her horn. The nearby ponies backed away from her in respect, not wanting to interfere with her.

Her eyes snapped open suddenly and the magic flowed out of her. The next moment, she was standing in front of the orphanage as the orange flames danced across it, converting even the most normal of things into a being of crimson and darkened shadows. Luna looked toward them, a cold look in her eye, when Shining Armor approached. “Don’t!” he exclaimed, noticing the look in her eyes.

“Why?” she asked, looking at the stallion.

“If you put the fire out now, the sudden temperature change will make the roof cave in!”

“If that is an issue, then I assume there are ponies inside the building?” she asked, her tone calculated as her eyes flitted between the moving orange flames and the stalwart white unicorn.

“Yes. There are five foals still inside, all different ages and genders.”

“Then I must go inside to save them!” Luna exclaimed, her masquerade shattering at the idea of young ponies in danger.

“I can’t let you do that, princess. It is my job to protect you. I won’t let you go in there.” He gazed deeply into the eyes of the alicorn, into the emotions the orbs held: the determination, the sadness, the desperate need to do something. He did this for a long period of time, until, at last, another emotion joined them. Regretful acceptance. Shining Armor sighed as the look met her eyes. “If you want to do something... Hendrick is facing the same decision, right now.” With that, the stallion nodded into the distance, where an earth pony was grimly illuminated by the destructive light of the fire. Then, he returned toward a group of guards sharing in a heated discussion.

“Hendrick...” Luna said in an exhale. She was merely content to watch him from a distance for a time, before she started her approach. After several contemplative steps, she arrived by his side and stood in silence. “Hendrick,” she said again, as if she wanted to comfort him, but wasn’t quite sure what she should say.

“The flames are back,” the stallion replied, eyeing the fire. “They want me, but I can’t go. I don’t want to.”

“What are you saying?” On closer inspection, the princess realized Hendrick was shaking, though the night wasn’t cold in the least. “What do you mean, ‘the flames are back’?”

“I’m the only thing they want, because I avoided them last time. I somehow cheated their game, and now they want me back.” He was rambling now; she wasn’t even sure he knew she was there. “Luna... I can’t go on. I need to be stronger, for Moon Light. But I just can’t be; not in front of those hungry flames.” He was leaning against her, his own legs too weak to support him completely. “Can you give me strength? You’re the only one I trust.”

He obviously wasn’t in his right mind. Something had deeply struck a chord with him, and because of that, he had gone at least slightly insane. Despite that, Luna smiled a soft smile and placed a wing over him, calming his shivers. “Of course I can. You’ve helped me out far more than I deserved. The least I can do is be here for you.” Luna glanced around; a few ponies were looking at the duo. Let them look, the princess thought. I’m comforting a friend in need.

She gazed back toward the stallion by her side, but she was interrupted as a pair of lips connected with hers. Shock ran through her system as she looked down at the stallion who had locked her in a kiss she hadn’t expected. Then, just as unexpectedly, he broke away from her and ran toward the burning building, his pace steady for the first time since his arrival.

Several ponies called out to him as he disappeared within the flames. Behind those shouts, though, was a rolling murmur slowly consuming the crowd. “Did that stallion just kiss Princess Luna?”

Whimpers. Whimpers echoed amongst the heavy cracking of the wooden structure. Five foals were laying next to each other as the only place any of them had called home began to shatter and fall around them, like a jigsaw run through a woodchipper. It was odd, how none of them were crying loudly. It was like the despair had completely overpowered them, destroying their sadness as they were washed under waves of absolute hopelessness.

Then, a voice. Moon Light heard it speaking amongst the angry roars of the fire; soft in comparison, but it was a familiar soft. Leaning as close as she dare to what remained of the doorway, she heard the voice again, clearer. “Moon Light!” it called, called for her. With sudden vigor, she began to shout, followed shortly by the remainder of the foals who caught on. After a moment, the stallion pinpointed their location and approached the cindered wood.

With sudden force, the blockage for the doorway shattered apart, sending barely visible sparks into the air as the exit opened for the trapped foals. They quickly exited, Moon Light catching a glimpse of Hendrick as she ran. With speedy steps, they left the prison behind. As they exited out into the blissfully open air, a round of applause took up and the orphans all ran toward the distant form of their caretaker.

All except for Moon Light, that is. She looked back toward the burning building, waiting for the stallion who had saved her to exit. After a minute of such a wait, the foal ran back toward the flame. She was stopped by the large form of Princess Luna.

“Where are you going?” the princess inquired. She hadn’t seen Hendrick exit either, but she was hoping the small child’s answer was going to be anything except what it was.

“I need to go help Hendrick. He saved me! Now he needs help!”

Luna sighed heavily as her suspicions were confirmed, then looked back toward the determined face of the young pony. “You need to stay with your friends. I’ll go get Hendrick.” she said, a fake smile on her face to comfort the young one.

“You will? You promise?” the child asked. After all, this was very serious and anything very serious required a promise.

“I promise.”

With a nod, the young pony started to run toward the caretaker, but stopped after a few steps. “Make sure you bring him out!” she called over her shoulder before running at full speed toward her friends.

With the young filly gone, the alicorn turned towards the burning building. She examined it for a moment, when the approaching form of Shining Armor caught her eye. Not waiting for his disapproval, the princess entered the blaze.

“Hendrick!?” she cried, her voice barely distinguishable over the constant noise of the fire reminding her it could come down at any time. “HENDRICK!” The voice blasted from her mouth with such force that a few of the flames were put out completely. As she rounded a decrepit corner, she spotted her target: a pony standing in the middle of the flames, not moving.

“Hendrick! What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!”

The stallion turned to face her and for a moment, the princess saw a man in a suit burning amongst the flames, as opposed to the stallion whose fur was being seared and melted by the intense heat of his surroundings. “Luna,” he stated. “You should leave. I don’t want you to die just because I have to.”

“Have to? What are you talking about?”

“The fire is here for me. It wants me. If it takes me, it will leave everyone else alone.”

“You’re making no sense. It’s just fire. A force of destruction. It doesn’t want anyone, let alone you!”

“It’s better this way.”

“Better for who? You? Are you really that selfish?” Luna asked, her desperation growing with her fear as the stallion remained immobile.

“For everyone. If I die, it will be better for everyone.”

“Really? You think so? Because I met a filly mere moments ago who made me promise I’d get you out of here. I know Front Page would miss you; she’s been saying you’re the best editor she’s ever had whenever she has extra space in the newspaper. Vinyl came in for a license renewal just last night and said she couldn’t wait to invite you to her next show.”

The stallion seemed like he had a rebuttal, but he paused. Luna was glaring at him with unholy white eyes. “Do not think you are alone when there are so many people who love you, Hendrick. You’ll regret it for the rest of your days if you do. Trust me. I know.”

“Luna...” His voice was normal once again, though it held an uncertain feeling in it. Just as he had spoken those words however, the roof collapsed. Using the magic she had pulled into herself not moments prior, the alicorn teleported both of them from their impending doom. The pair ended up outside, just as the building fell to pieces.

Hendrick was barely conscious, the pain from his wounds having taken their toll on him. As the alicorn looked him over, she began to talk to him. “Don’t be dead; don’t be dead. Don’t you dare die on me you selfish kiss stealer.”

“Don’t worry.” His voice was harsh and raspy, much different from how he had sounded amongst the flames. “I’m not dying. Or, if I am, it certainly doesn’t feel the same.”

Not bothering to stop and ponder these words, the alicorn shouted loudly, “Get this stallion to the hospital!” She stood from her position on the ground, a look of dignity coming over her as she straightened her pose. After a moment, Moon Light showed up on the scene, hugging the sore stallion a moment before managing to pull herself aside, just as the medics started to lift him away.

Smiling a wide smile, she turned to Luna. “Thank you for saving him.”

“Anytime,” came the truthful reply. “Anytime.”

Chapter Eleven

Today. Today was the day. Luna had waited a full week since saving Hendrick from the fire. The medics had insisted time was needed, that healing him couldn’t be done all at once. She had debated it as simple magic, but they stopped her by explaining that if he was healed too quickly, his body might go into shock or become dependant of healing magic for its self-protection.

So, she had waited. A full week she had waited as she had gone about her duties, questions plinking against the inside of her skull and into the growing pool of curiosity that had started to build up within her.

Alongside the alicorn floated a bouquet of flowers. She wasn’t sure why Celestia had insisted on taking them with her. Apparently, it was common for a pony to bring a get well gift to someone she cared about.

The mare manning the front desk nodded to her, allowing her to proceed down the passage towards the room that housed the stallion whom had kissed her.

Kissed her...

In reflection, Luna realized she hadn’t been kissed before. Not on the lips, anyway. Her hooves had been kissed by a group of peasants at some point before her banishment, but it was an afterthought from them. She had seen it in their eyes. They had come to honor her sister; she had been an unwelcome intrusion upon their moment.

But not anymore. Not since Hendrick had entered into the public eye with his exploits. Ponies came to see her now, came to ask her questions. Though she wouldn’t say it aloud, the thing she was most scared of on her return had been that she wouldn’t be noticed, the same as before, which had provided fuel for the Nightmare to control her body again. Right up until the elements struck her and shattered, if only for a moment, the crushing despair that had cloaked her.

As the days had worn on and on though, her mind had shifted toward it once again against her will. It was a tablecloth that, having been stained with red wine and let dry, would never return to its old form no matter how much washing or hope was applied to it. Even now, as she marched towards Hendrick, she felt the stirring chill of the forgotten night as permanent within her as it had always been, sending phantom chills through her body.

But, as it always was when she was near the odd stallion, the chill felt farther and farther away as she approached. Perhaps this is what love feels like? Luna mused, her shoes clinking against the stone, hollow silver against the steadfast ground. A fire that burns away fears? Could pass through any threshold, despite its thickness?

As she thought, she came to the door, the very real physical boundary splitting her from Hendrick. Allowing a soft smile to break her royal facade, the princess leaned forward, as if to break through it, but froze when a voice pierced the wood, echoing into the hall as it rolled like thunder through her bones.

“I do not know how you escaped,” the voice whispered, an impossible volume to such a quiet tone. “Twice, even.” Its voice could only be explained as speaking while you inhaled with an echo sounding your words both before and after your own. “Fire will be your end, though. It’s scheduled.”

Carefully, Luna opened the door and peeked through the crack toward the pony on the bed. Suddenly, the speaker leaned forward, making his appearance visible to the princess. An ebony white skull reflected the moonlight through its eye sockets. “Understood?”

“Something stopping you from killing me now?” Hendrick’s voice held a shocking amount of bravery. “I expected more from Death himself.” Hisses of cold air shot through the skeleton’s teeth and he pinned Hendrick to the wall. Luna wanted very much to save him, but found her body frozen in fear. Slowly, she watched as Hendrick’s body changed slowly, clothes coming from his flesh as he turned paler and paler.

Luna watched in abject horror as Hendrick took the form of the very familiar human who had been in her dreams those weeks ago. “I can kill you whenever I like,” Death said, a sickle coming into view behind him as it levitated through the air. “But there are contracts, and there are rules...” He let go, Hendrick turning immediately back into his pony state. “I can’t interfere with a contract.” Hendrick’s face remained in the sheets of his bed, fatigue running its course through his body. Without another word, Death faded away from view.

As soon as he was fully gone, Luna rushed forward, her body no longer stiffened with terror. “Hendrick!” she called, tossing the flowers aside in her hurry to check on him. He didn’t answer, but the warmth of his skin and rhythmic beating of his heart kept her worst fears at bay. With slow, careful movements she stepped into the bed as well and placed her wing over his body. Though it was clear he didn’t need the warmth, she figured he could use any comfort she could provide.

“How long were you there?” he asked finally, surprising Luna with his sudden words. “And what did you see?”

“I saw him attack you...” Luna admitted. “But I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. I’m sorry.” And she truly was, but what does one do when faced with Death incarnate? Yet, she still found it digging into her, the feelings of helplessness and guilt burrowing through her.

“I see.” Hendrick’s words carried an unreadable tone and, with his face buried in the blankets, Luna wasn’t sure how he was reacting. She wanted very much to make it up to him, some way to apologize completely for being so afraid even though there was no way she could have been prepared for it. As thoughts swirled through Luna’s head, she remained silent, mostly because nothing came to mind she could say.

“Luna...” Hendrick said eventually. She turned her attention back towards him and watched as he raised his heads from the sheets, his red eyes reflecting the moonlight frighteningly. “I don’t want to hurt you by proximity... but I can’t leave.” He was choking back tears as he spoke. “I can’t think of being alone again; it hurts too much.” She tried to comfort him lightly with her voice, but to no avail. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He sniffed heavily, trying to keep his voice together for a few more moments. “May I stay?” A pleading tone bled from the words as tears would from eyes.

“Of course.”

“Thank you so much.” He nuzzled up next to her, pressing against her side with his tear stained face. In response, she closed her wing around him, bringing the two closer than they had been before. “It’s so hot here, and you're so comfortably cold,” he mumbled through a half asleep mouth, a childish tone perforating his words to the extent that Luna blinked in surprise. She had never heard that before... about anyone.

She felt a chill shoot through his body and an intense heat pool off him while he shifted to make himself more comfortable. “Thank you...” It seemed like he wanted to say more, but he couldn’t. His eyes closed and before too long, he had fallen asleep. Luna began to ponder about how someone could be so cold and so warm at the same time, but was thwarted as her mind became inexplicably fatigued. Unease began to pound through her system. She had only awoken a few minutes ago; why was she tired?

Against her will, sleep overtook her and she quickly found herself within her dreams. A quick look down told her she had once again taken the form of a human, almost exactly the same as she had in her previous dream. Expanding her gaze to her surroundings informed the now-bipedal Luna she was in a large library with tomes and tomes of knowledge sitting idly on the strong wooden boards making up the shelves around her.

Taken by awe for the massive collection of literature, Luna began to wander through the maze-like structure of the building. As she walked, she decided to take a look at one extremely large book sitting on the shelves. Pulling it from its resting place, she began to look through it. Each and every page was blank, yet she kept turning. She wasn’t sure why.

Letting her feet guide her, Luna continued to scour the book, looking for words. Just when she had given up, she raised her gaze to see she was among a collection of human children looking at her with fear-stricken eyes. Luna smiled comfortingly and sat down, motioning for the children to sit next to her.

Slowly, a few did. Each of them held a book tightly in their grasp and they started to read. Some of them appeared to be talking, but she couldn’t hear them. So, she smiled comfortingly and leaned against the wall, taking the moment to examine all the small ones.

There were about a dozen of them, all clustered in this back corner of the library, and each of them bore an odd marking on their forehead, some kind of red dot. She wanted to ask them what it was, but realized they wouldn’t hear her if she spoke, and she really didn’t want to break this comforting silence encasing her world of the library.

She smiled at the children until they all looked in one direction, an unseen noise catching their attention. Following their eyes, Luna watched as the man she had danced with, the man she now knew was most likely Hendrick, rounded the corner in a panic. He looked different, his tuxedo replaced with an old cloak and rough red shirt. He hurriedly lifted the children from Luna’s lap and began to usher them all somewhere.

It was clear he didn’t know her on sight, but he was guiding her all the same. The group found themselves out back and the man began to make shooing motions with his hands. Luna wanted very desperately to stay, but was dragged away with the rest of the children as they all ran into the night.

With a bittersweet smile, he turned away, pulling something from a shelf that glittered in the dim light of the building. The front door burst down and an explosion echoed through the air, shattering the silence that had encased Luna up until that moment. Another explosion. The device the man held shot backward and he lowered it again.

He managed one more explosion before tongues of flame shot forth and began to eat away at his clothes, burning the books all around him as he was destroyed by the hungry fire of the weapons wielded against him. Luna cried out, but found she was the only one doing so. When she was about to speak again, one of the children held a finger to her lips.

Now that she didn’t want to hear, she was forced to. The children made almost no noise as they ran away. Luna broke free, but the children kept going, hurrying away. The sickening crackle of fire filled her ears as she looked to the pyre that had taken the place of the library. She ran towards it, her feet pounding against the grass as she propelled herself toward the building.

When she met the flames, two towering beings emerged. Each of them were covered in black and carried large canisters on their back attached to rod-like devices in their hands. “Please,” Luna cried, unsure if they could hear her. “You have to help him!” The creatures looked at each other, shared a glance, and one drew something similar to what Hendrick had had. Slowly, the creature lowered it and pointed it at her forehead.

She didn’t know what it did, but she still felt the overpowering fear for it. Something told her running would be useless at this point. So, with the strongest face she could manage, she looked up at the thing and let tears roll down her face. When at last the explosion came, she went out like Hendrick had. Proudly. As the metal hit her forehead, it ended her dream, leaving a ghostlike touch as if it were still there..

Luna bolted awake in shock. Glancing down, she saw Hendrick asleep exactly how he had been when she drifted off. A flicker of movement caught her eye and Luna turned to see a candle had fallen from the bedside table and lit the flowers she brought alite, which in turn, threatened to burn the bed. Luna quickly put it out with her magic and looked back to Hendrick, whom shivered in response.

Deciding he deserved his sleep, Luna didn’t disturb him. It wouldn’t have helped anyone, anyhow.

Chapter Thirteen

Luna watched Hendrick as he walked away, his gait unsteady. He had kept his end of the deal; he had told her the answers to her questions. Even now, as the stallion walked away with his gaze locked on the ground, she could hear his answers playing in her memories. She had jumped at the opportunity, excited with the idea. It was all she had wanted from the stallion: some answers.

In her excitement, however, she had fallen upon a touchy subject with the stallion, and he had declined to continue. All credit to him though, he had answered the question that had bothered him, but the answer had caused a feeling of guilt with Luna for forcing him to answer it, though she hadn’t pushed him. She had ran ahead without thinking, and now she watched as the very defeated form of Hendrick walked away.

Sighing, Luna closed her eyes and turned her head skyward. Immediately, the memories rushed to the front of her mind.

“What did you mean when you said you always hurt people when you act like yourself?” Luna questioned first. The inquiry was the first one to her mind due to the words he had spoken in his drunken state. Hendrick took his time, placing the remaining wine bottle onto the ground and closing his eyes as he thought of his answer.

“It’s not always physically, I suppose. But I was enrolled as something I do not wish to go over. In the process of this ‘occupation’, I did things that I regret, things that I would undo if I could go back and do so, regardless of the cost that entailed. That’s who I really am, I think, deep down. The one who did all those things was me after all; no one pushed me to do them.”

Luna nodded, another question popping to her mind. “But, then, who did you hurt this time?” Instantly, the alicorn resented that question, as the stallion’s face contorted into a pained expression. She tried to take back the question, but he had refused, declaring that he wanted to be honest with her for once and not go back on his promise.

“Moon Light, Your Highness. I acted without thinking that she might be watching and I fear for what she thinks of me, now. Not because of my own selfishness, though that does play a role, I imagine. Rather, because she trusted me, and I broke that trust. I hope with all my heart she will be able to recover from my stories and lies.” His face twisted into a haunted expression and his eyes locked onto the table sitting in front of him. “If you wouldn’t mind, Your Highness, I was wondering if I could leave now.”

Luna sighed, her breath visible against the growing chill of the night air. Her eyes opened slowly and gazed upon the full array of constellations covering the sky in their bright spanning canvas. She let her eyes roam over the constellations, over the individual stars, and over the bright nebula glittering through the darkness of the sky, fighting the darkness with their own minute light. A broken smile came to the princesses muzzle and her horn flashed. A star detached itself and descended, scattering through the sky as it fell.

Moon Light walked. It was all she could manage at this point; her muscles burned sorely from the run she had taken. She hadn’t watched where she was going when she fled from the hospital and now found herself lost. Every few steps she would stop in fear; her attention would snap towards a sound she heard, or thought she heard. At this point, the filly was so scared of the encroaching darkness that she wasn’t sure of anything except the consistent pain in her hooves.

She continued on. She would have been scared of her own shadow if she could see it. Tears began to trickle down her face, but she continued to walk, knowing if she stopped now that any chance she had of getting back would be lost. She looked around for any landmarks she might remember, but no success was had. She was utterly lost and she knew it. With a sigh, the filly stopped underneath one of the few magic lights littering around the capital to help with night time lighting. She welcomed the light, letting it trickle over her, and imagined that it gave heat as well.

As she lay there, she heard a noise: hoof beats. Excited at the possibility of someone being around to help her, she took off towards them, a speedy walk all she could manage in her hurry. Her appendages announced their displeasure through her senses, but she continued on as fast as she could manage through the omniscient cold seeming to haunt the night. Reaching a corner, the filly glanced around it and spotted the source of the noise. She paused there, at the corner, and watched the pony. It was a stallion, by what his body frame told, and his steps were wavering and unsure, reminding Moon Light of her father when he came home drunk. The next thing that came to her mind was the searing pain he would rain down on her moments later.

Because of this mental connection, Moon Light waited, watching as he disappeared around a corner. She made no move to follow him immediately, hoping for someone else to arrive who could help her. Moon Light stayed there, looking for her hope to become a reality. No one showed up, however, and the filly reluctantly moved to follow the stallion. She decided she wouldn’t approach him directly; she would get a look at his face first and, if they looked dangerous, she wouldn’t talk to them. With as perfect a plan as that, what could go wrong?

Slowly, Moon Light tracked the pony in question through the streets of Canterlot, until he came to a brief stop. The young filly worried that he might go into one of the nearby buildings, leaving her alone in the cold, but was surprised when he went down an alley. She waited several moments for him to come back out. When he didn’t, she snuck around to look down it and check up on him.

When she peered around the corner, she spotted him. He was curled up against the wall of the nearby building and his eyes were shut. His chest rhythmically rose and fell as he inhaled the lifegiving air around him, then let out a shuddering exhale as if he was afraid the next breath he took would never come. Intrigued by the odd stallion, the filly silently approached, sliding around to look at his face and was surprised to identify the stallion as Hendrick.

The surprise hit her immediately and was followed by a deep feeling of hurt. He had threatened to do bad things to a pony, right? No good pony would do something like that. She stood, paused on the brink of waking him up and asking for his help in getting back home. As she stood there, motionless, her body counterattacked, hitting her with an unbeatable urge to sleep, the likes of which few could understand. Only partially aware of her actions through the sudden drowsy fog clouding her senses, her body brushed lightly against Hendrick. Then, she pressed herself against him, hoping to keep warm. Her breaths fell into rhythm with Hendrick’s and she drifted off into the realm of sleep.

Deep within her own mind, she found herself falling through darkness, and right before she hit the ground, she woke up. Or at least she thought she woke up, but it was far too dark. Impossibly dark, in fact. She stood on a solid substance, but to say it was ground would be a large stretch of the imagination. Glancing around, the filly tried to understand her surroundings, surroundings she had never seen before. Everything was an utter, inescapable black. Everything, that is, except for the fire burning a long distance off.

The flames brought out a silhouette of an odd creature to Moon Light’s attention. It reminded her of the stories about minotaurs, except it was less muscular. It sat, its body clenched together and its arms rocking a small bundle in its grasp to and fro. Wondering how she had dreamed this up, Moon Light approached the being, only to be stopped by some strange force holding her back. She tried once again to move, but when the force proved consistent, she stopped, instead.

“For all the light in all the world, I would pay to let you dream.
Let no fearful thing come out, no matter how small it seems.
I wish you peaceful sleep, my child, the world to cradle you away.
And in your wonderful dreams, I hope that you may stay.”

She was instantly reminded of Hendrick’s lullaby, but why would this creature be saying it? This didn’t even make sense for a dream, and that was saying something. A crackling noise echoed from behind her and as she turned, Moon Light spotted a very odd pony. She thought, at first, that he was on fire, but quickly came to realize he was flame. He had arrived unexpectedly, where before there had been nothing. It reminded her of Hendrick, though it barely resembled him at all. Slowly, it approached, a smile making itself visible against the orange movement of its body.

“Oh dear, it seems you’ve found yourself down the rabbit hole, deary. Hendrick is rather busy right now.” The living flame nodded towards the biped sitting perfectly still, except for his swaying arms, as if he heard nothing. “I’ll admit, I thought it was that cold lady again. She always tries to put me out when she’s around. I don’t like her. But Hendrick sparks me back to life again anyway, so I guess it’s fine.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Though you do feel like you’re going to dowse me.”

“What... what are you talking about?” Moon Light asked, afraid of the creature looming closer and closer. She tried to back away, but found herself caught by the unknown force again.

“I’m talking about that sad sack over there. He’s such a wuss; I’m surprised he’s still alive. Can’t even handle his past. What a worthless existence that must be, always scared of yourself, scared of the truth, scared of fire and flames and death. He’s scared to be alone and he’s scared to be with other people. So much fear, so much fuel.” The smile widened.

“What are you?” Moon Light had barely understood its words, but she had decided against asking the same question twice.

“I’m the cost he paid when he came to this world. Every now and then, I show up in the real world when he’s especially frightened to keep him on his toes and fuel his fears so I can stay alive. Why, one time, I convinced him I was Death. What a laugh.” The fire crackled idly, but the filly didn’t share the hilarity. “But I’ve said enough. You’ve been here too long, already.” Fire shot around the filly, scaring her. She burned in the flames, and when they were gone, the small filly found herself inside her own familiar dreams. So quick was the exchange that she forgot all about the realm of darkness and fire as she slept, though it remained at the back of her mind.

In the real world, a small filly slept peacefully next to a large stallion who fidgeted regularly, looking for a comfort that wouldn’t come.

Chapter Fourteen

Octavia awoke to the sound of knocks at the door. She mumbled something incomprehensible and began to stir and, through sheer will, managed to lift herself off the bed and onto the ground. She stood still for a moment, almost falling asleep on her hooves, but the knocking shot through her mind again and she stumbled her way toward the noise. She was barely managing movement at this point and her hooves were a single misstep away from catching on the ground and making her tumble head over hooves.

As she made her way to the incessant dull noise, she passed through the kitchen, finding Vinyl smiling to herself as she continued to 'read' the magazine in front of her, though it was clear the DJ was just too lazy to get up and answer the door. Octavia paused for a moment, letting the DJ levitate a coffee cup to the cellist lips. She drank a mouthful and closed her eyes. With a deep swallow, she opened her eyes fully and gave the mare a light peck on the cheek before she finished the rest of the trip to the door. Vinyl grinned and set the coffee cup across the table, then took a drink from a separate one sitting nearer to her.

Octavia paused at the door and made sure she looked presentable before opening it. A curious feeling stirred within her when she saw the stallion looking back at her from beyond the entrance. He turned his head to face her more fully and Octavia spotted a small filly draped over his back. After a second, she recognized the filly as the one from the orphanage with whom Hendrick had been talking: Moon Light, if she remembered correctly. Afterwards, she looked to Hendrick for an explanation.

“Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you had a bed for this little one? Just until she wakes up. I found her sleeping in an alley; I think she must have gotten lost.” His face was immovable, a perfect look of apathy frozen upon it.

In response, the earth pony smiled warmly and stepped to the side. “Come on in. You can set her down in the guest room.” Hendrick nodded to her and entered. As he passed, the faint smell of old newspaper filled the air, which confirmed the story to the cellist. She followed after him, watching as he and Vinyl shared a greeting, then the DJ stood from her chair at the table and lead the stallion toward the guest room.

After the filly had been put on the bed to rest, the adults returned to the kitchen. A third chair was brought to the table and Hendrick rested himself upon it, thanking his hostesses as he did so. Vinyl retrieved a third cup of coffee with her magic and Octavia passed a plate of cookies toward him, which he respectfully declined. Octavia moved the plate back to the center of the table and took a cookie for herself, placing it on a napkin next to her coffee.

“Quite the breakfast,” Hendrick said with a smile.

“You have Vinyl to thank for that,” Octavia said, glancing towards the blind DJ out of the corner of her eye. “She’s been infecting my diet with sweets ever since I met her. I like to think I’ve done the same to her music, though.”

Vinyl grinned in return, but didn’t say anything. Hendrick took a slow drink of coffee and relaxed, leaning against the chair and gazing up towards the ceiling. A slow sigh passed between his lips and he closed his eyes, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

“I miss the days when words were light,” he said idly. “They’ve been so heavy, recently.”

“I don’t mean to pry, Hendrick,” Octavia said, “but if you want to, you can talk to us about it.”

“Yea.” Vinyl punched him in the shoulder. “We’re always here for ya, you crazy lug, no matter how many flaming buildings you run into.” A half-hearted smile crossed the stallions face, but quickly disappeared, carried away on another sigh.

“I suppose it would be nice to talk about it, if you two are sure you don’t mind listening to my blatherings.” The mares nodded and Hendrick let his neck go loose, causing his head to look backwards behind the chair he sat on. “All right then, I guess it’s really just me being stupid.” He sat up immediately, and straightened his back. “I scared Moon Light, really badly. I didn’t mean to, but I think she’s afraid of me now.” A squeak hit the air and Hendrick looked to its source, the nearby hallway. He was about to stand up and go investigate when Octavia grabbed his front hoof.

“Don’t worry about it; that hallway has always been really noisy.” Hendrick nodded and let his body settle back into the chair, though his eyes continued to look in the direction of the hallway every now and then.

Moon Light could hear her heart beating in her ears and it was a wonder Hendrick didn’t pick up on it. Her mind raced through her memories in its desperate search for something tangible to calm her.

She had woken up as soon as Hendrick hefted her onto his back, but had been too scared to tell him at the time, so she played along. After he had put her on the bed, she had waited until they left, then went after them.

I didn’t even know these ponies! Moon Light cursed herself silently. This wasn’t calming! The voice of Hendrick intruded upon her panic and brought a welcome, if unexpected, calmness to her.

“I just wish I could make it up to her.” Oddly, her heart quieted to its normal volume and she focused on her sense of hearing, making sure she could hear him correctly. “No doubt I can’t just apologize to her, that’s hollow enough on its own, but I wouldn’t be half surprised if that’s what her father told her every morning after he beat her.”

The memories of exactly that came to Moon Light’s mind, but she didn’t flinch. They seemed far away for some reason. She wasn’t hurt. Instead, she focused more intently on what was being said in the room just behind her.

“I don’t mean to suppose anything, but she’s up for adoption, correct?” Silence filled the air as Hendrick answered the question with a nod of his head. “Then perhaps you could adopt her? No doubt that would bring a smile to her face?” Octavia hid her excitement for the idea well, her tone remaining even as she spoke and hiding a small smile as she drank her coffee.

On the other side of the wall, Moon Light’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t expected that proposition. She wasn’t sure why, but the idea seemed extremely appealing to her.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” he stated almost immediately. A chill filled the air and Moon Light shivered as she felt her hope drain from her. “I simply don’t have a home that would suit a child, and she deserves much better than I can give her.” Vinyl and Octavia were silent as the stallion took a deep drink of his coffee. “However...” He let the word hang in the air, looking from one mare to the other. “You two seem to be in a good position financially; perhaps you could adopt her?” Overcome with anticipation for what was to come next, Moon Light dared a glance around the corner.

“I—” Octavia cut herself off and took a moment to compose her words. “I suppose we could, but I think she would be much better in your company, don’t you?”

“After the stupid act I pulled yesterday? I highly doubt it,” Hendrick replied, his expression not changing. “She deserves more than the emotions of a broken stallion. She deserves two very caring ponies, like you and Vinyl.”

“All right then,” Vinyl said before Octavia could get another word in. “Me and ‘Tavi have been thinking about adopting, anyway. This is just the push we needed, isn’t that right, ‘Tavi?” The cellist shook herself from a reverie and nodded to the unicorn. “So it’s decided, then. We’ll adopt Moon Light. She’ll be spinning records and playing the cello before the month’s out,” Vinyl concluded with a smile.

“Thank you,” Hendrick replied softly. Then, he stood from his chair and finished the rest of the coffee. “Thank you for the coffee as well, but if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get going.”

“No problem; see you later,” Vinyl responded with a grin. With the conversation done, Moon Light quickly made her way back to the guest room. She had a lot to think about.

Celestia was pacing across the street from the house when Hendrick stepped out the door, her steps worried and her mind elsewhere as she trotted back and forth. When Hendrick spotted her, a look of confusion crossed his face, then he closed the door behind him and made his way towards her.

“We need to talk elsewhere. Do you have time to spare?” she asked as soon as he was within speaking distance.

His eyes flicked away from the princess for a moment to check the time, then he nodded to her. She curtly nodded in return, then cast a teleportation spell. The two of them were both dragged through space before they ended up at the castle in a secluded room.

Celestia remained looking regal, despite the disorienting experience, while Hendrick did not. He was laying on the ground, his eyes clenched shut. His face had taken on a tinge of green and he looked extremely nauseous. As she was unable to think of a spell to help him off the top of her head, she patiently waited until Hendrick didn’t look nearly as close to vomiting.

“I need you to stop seeing my sister,” Celestia said as Hendrick picked himself up off the ground.

Hendrick eyed her up for a few moments before making a move to speak, but a wave of nausea interrupted him and he was forced to close his mouth for a moment with a hoof to his lips. After a few short coughs, he turned to face Celestia again. “I’m going to assume you aren’t going to tell me why?” he asked blandly. Celestia nodded. Not missing a beat, Hendrick continued on. “And what does Luna think of this idea?”

“I haven’t asked her opinion on it.” She could sense the conversation was changing toward whatever the stallion was curious about, a trick that Hendrick seemed to perform whenever he spoke.

“Well then, I don’t see how talking to me is going to stop the situation. If Luna asks for my presence, am I to decline? And when she comes to see me, what then?”

Celestia sighed in response. After several minutes of thought, she spoke up again. “It seems I didn’t act soon enough. I didn’t anticipate the two of you to be so close, already. Only today did I hear from an eyewitness that you kissed her. I acted as soon as I could, but it appears I’m too late.” The white alicorn began to walk back and forth in the empty room. “I’d ask how it escalated so quickly, but that’s irrelevant right now.”

Hendrick kept a mask of absolute calm on his face. “May I ask what you are worried about?” Celestia stopped and glanced to the odd stallion. She seemed to be sizing him up with her eyes. Then, she approached him.

“Luna’s last relationship didn’t end well,” she said. “And it ended with... complications. She was damaged, emotionally, and I don’t think she’ll ever recover." A sadness bled through the words, the kind of sadness that only truth can hold. "I had hoped to keep her from loving another, to prevent it from ever occurring again, but it appears she’s grown attached to you. Something I did not expect to happen.”

“Ah, I see. May I ask why you decided to share that with me?” Hendrick asked. “Don’t mistake me; I understand you wish me to know precisely what I’m getting into, but you could have said that in so many other ways. And it’s not like I would be able to force an answer from you.”

“I told you because you’ve proven you’re quite adept at keeping secrets. I ask that this be added to your list of things you will not discuss. I do not want you to talk about this to Front Page or anyone else, am I clear?” Celestia asked with a threatening tone.

“As crystal.” From the princess’s view, a fire began to grow in Hendrick’s eye, but when she blinked, it was gone. His expression, however, had changed to one of pain and hopelessness. A memory had obviously changed his demeanor, but Celestia opted not to press on the subject. There was a pause, then Hendrick continued. “I assume you won’t be telling me more on this subject.”

“I am unable to.” Celestia eyed the gem in her necklace for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the stallion.

She eyed him for a moment longer; it was an impossibly long moment. Her eyes met Hendrick’s. Pathways to the soul, they had been called. Despite herself, a soft smile crossed her face. She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she decided to close the conversation.

“Thank you for understanding, Hendrick.” The words were filled with an indescribable mix of joy and sorrow. “I doubted you would be able to sympathize with my sister’s plight, but that look in your eye right now says I was wrong.”

“It’s a pleasure to serve, Your Highness,” he responded solemnly. Her head bobbed in response and she cast a quick spell, sending Hendrick back to the street outside Vinyl and Octavia’s house. Celestia, on the other hand, teleported to her throne room.

For the first time, Celestia thought she saw what had enraptured her sister about Hendrick. And she found herself dwelling on the enigma that he was. He was solitary, but sympathetic. Secretive, but open. She pondered briefly on what could cause that change in someone, but decided against pursuing it. She didn’t have the time, but more importantly, she was scared to find out where that line of questioning led.

Author's Note

I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for favoriting/reading/ and thumbing up this story. I honestly can't express the pride within me in words. Every time I'm feeling bad about my writing skills (Which is quite often) I can look back on the comments and see all the comments that exclaim how happy they are with the story. It really is much more then I deserve.

The reason why I'm saying this now is because this story recently hit five hundred 'likes'. Five. Hundred. That's tons. Like. If I took every person I knew personally I don't think I would even hit a tenth of that number. I know that noone cares about this, the vast majority of you probably thought that the chapter update was out, sorry about that it'll be out when I can finish writing it. My apologies for getting your hopes up.

Chapter Fifteen

“So, now that the small talk is over, let’s get to the actual business, shall we?” The older mare smiled at three ponies sitting across from her. Upon the table rested two half-finished salads, one sandwich, and an empty plate decorated with several crumbs. The blank plate sat in front of the widely known DJ PON3, whom had bitten into her sandwich as fast as her blindness would let her. At the other end of the bench was her best friend and more, Octavia, whom had smiled at the antics of the DJ.

Between the two of them sat the reason for their current conversation: the small filly who could barely reach onto the table, Moon Light. The older mare was, of course, an orphanage volunteer by the name of Spyglass. They had enjoyed a degree of small talk prior, but as the announcement of the switch in topics met the air, the filly began to tighten herself together, attempting to disappear as much as possible.

“It’s quite the simple process,” Spyglass explained, seeing the sudden anxiety in the filly and trying to comfort it away. She was quite familiar with Moon Light and had come to feel sorry for her during her time at the orphanage. The filly hadn’t made any friends; she had purposefully avoided it, in fact. So when news reached the foster home that a couple wished to adopt her, the volunteers couldn’t help but be excited for her. “We just need a written confirmation from both the adults and the filly.” As she said those words, papers were slid across the table towards them.

Octavia hesitated, still not completely sure about the decision. She enjoyed Moon Light’s company, certainly, but she was worried about the fact that the filly didn’t really know them, a fear that was shared by Moon Light as well. Vinyl, however, immediately lifted the pen in the glow of her magic.

“Okay, then. Can you place the pen where I’m supposed to sign?” After that had been accomplished, the DJ signed the paper, though a bit sloppily. When she was done, she placed the pen in front of Octavia and waited.

The cellist started a staring contest with the pen, one she lost quickly, before shifting her gaze to Vinyl, who was smiling at her. Octavia gave an imperceptible nod and took a breath through her nose, using the same trick she does before performing in front of a crowd. Her mind cleared of doubt and fear. Then, with a cool head, she asked herself a simple question.

Do I want to adopt Moon Light? The answer was a resounding ‘yes’. It shouted from the middle of her being, from the middle of her soul. Happily surprised by the realization, she looked toward Vinyl again and saw something different in her smile: a sort of joy Octavia hadn’t seen in a long time, not since their first ‘date’ at least.

With a calm smile of her own, Octavia also signed the papers.

Then, the pen came to rest in front of Moon Light. All the adults looked to her expectantly. Except for Vinyl, who looked in the general direction of her. The child looked between them, then to the pen. Just as she moved forward to pick it up, a crashing sound echoed through restaurant, catching the attention of all the current denizens of the building. Somewhere nearby, Octavia thought she heard a stallion curse, but when she looked, she couldn’t find him.

Turning back to the sudden intruder, she watched a unicorn mare a year or two older than herself approach. After she passed a few tables, the other restaurant goers went back to what they had been doing before. Then, her eyes flicked towards her target and Octavia became aware that she was heading towards their table. But what frightened her most was the hungry look in the older mare’s eyes hidden behind the mask of a genial smile.

“Excuse me,” she said on arrival, then squeezed into the bar seat across from the trio, forcing Spyglass out of the center and towards the other end. After she had settled down, she let out a short breath.

“I’m sorry, is there something we can do for you?” Octavia said, smoothly concealing her annoyance with the busy body intruding on their group. So focused was her mind that she didn’t notice the mare across from her actually staring at Moon Light.

“Well, I’ve come to pick up my daughter. I’ve been looking for her forever, you know. Poor dear probably doesn’t even remember me.” The older mare batted her eyes, drawing Octavia’s attention to the disgusting amount of makeup trying it’s hardest to block the mare’s features from view. A frown had started to spread over Vinyl’s face, like a bad taste was in her mouth but was too polite to put her tongue out.

“Your daughter?”

“Yes, that’s her, right between you two.” She nodded towards Moon Light and Octavia looked towards Vinyl, who had her attention focused on the one claiming parental status of the filly.

Octavia was about to say something, but was cut off by Spyglass. “I’m sorry, but you understand you need to provide proof of your claim, yes?”

“Oh, of course.” The mare reached around and began to dig through a pair of saddlebags Octavia hadn’t even seen when she entered. “It’s actually a rather interesting story,” the mare began as she rummaged. “I went to my ex-husbands house and found a guard there. He directed me to the orphanage, and they directed me here. Quite the labyrinth of pathways, wasn’t it?” As she said that, the filly cringed. Octavia took notice and looked towards her, taking a moment to talk to Moon Light while her ‘mother’ looked for proof of her parenthood.

“Something the matter, Moon Light?” Octavia asked. A blush crossed the filly’s face.

“That was a bad use of the word ‘labyrinth’,” she said in a quiet tone. Octavia had to fight back a snicker. Moon Light picked up on the restraint and looked at the cellist with curious eyes. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I didn’t expect you to know that word, let alone when to use it. It’s a big word,” Vinyl said with a grin, picking up on the conversation with her sharp hearing.

“Hendrick told really big stories sometimes, and sometimes, he had to explain words to me,” Moon Light explained.

“Oh, I see,” Octavia said. She looked towards the ‘mother’ and frowned when she saw her start tossing papers to the side of her bag in a hasty attempt to find whatever proof she owned. “What do you know about your mom, Moon Light?”

“Not much. Dad always called her names and was mad at her for leaving, but I don’t remember at all.” Before Octavia could continue the conversation, an exclamation of success came from across the table and the cellist looked towards the mare expectantly.

“Here it is.” She proudly displayed a rather thick sheet of paper, as well as a small note. The paper got placed in the middle of the table and the note was passed to Spyglass. Between them lay a birth certificate, Moon Light’s specifically. It was clearly uncared for, creased extremely chaotically with a coffee ring decorating the upper right corner of it. Eventually, Spyglass put the note on the table as well, one attesting to the authenticity of the birth certificate and signed by the owner of the orphanage.

“Well...” Spyglass sounded reluctant to finish her statement. “It seems everything checks out, Ms...” She leaned over the birth certificate to get a better look. “Ms. Gloss?” The mother nodded and Spyglass leaned back into her seat.

“It was nice meeting with you,” Gloss said immediately and stood, signalling for Moon Light to follow her.

A feeling of deep despair shot through Octavia. Complete and utter hopelessness crippled her. She had only recently found her desire to have Moon Light as her adopted daughter, and she was already losing her, but the filly didn’t move to follow her mom.

“Where are we going to go?” Moon Light asked from her spot between Vinyl and Octavia. The DJ was looking towards the back of the restaurant with a peculiar look on her face while Octavia turned to look at Moon Light. Somewhere deep inside her, the cellist felt really, really bad.

“We’re going to Manehattan, dearie. Mommy has a friend there for you to meet.”

“But... I don’t want to go,” Moon Light said with an unsure tone. “Can’t we stay here?”

“No, dearie, you’re coming with me and we’re going to Manehattan.” The kindness in Gloss’s tone was fading quickly and her horn had started to glow.

“But, I don’t know anyone in Manehattan.” It was a respectful tone, even as hesitance bled through it.

Gloss’s patience snapped and she wrapped her daughter in a telekinetic glow. With a jerk of her head, she yanked her daughter from between the mares, levitating the writhing form of Moon Light towards the door, when a plate struck her in the back of the head.

The mother’s attention shattered and Moon Light fell towards the ground. Before the filly hit the ground, she was wrapped in another form of magic and calmly levitated back towards her place between the mares. A smile was splitting Vinyl’s face as her magic faded, her empty plate missing from its place in front of her.

If anger could boil water, Gloss would have been steaming. “What do you think you’re doing?!” she shouted at Vinyl.

“Well, I don’t know where you’re from, but here in Canterlot, you have to ask someone before you use magic on them,” Vinyl stated in a fake snooty tone. “So you really should just answer your daughter’s questions.” A cold tone of seriousness leaked from the words and Octavia’s mind was stirred awake. Sudden feelings of resistance surged through her as she turned a glare towards Gloss.

“She’s my daughter! I brought her into this world, so she’ll do what I say, even if that means working for my business!” Rage bubbled over in her voice and Octavia’s fires of emotion were fueled higher.

Gloss’s horn began to shine and Vinyl quickly drew from her own ethereal energies as well. The raw magic of the two began to collide in the air. A unicorn duel. However, this one was doomed to be interrupted.

“You don’t have a right to anything!” Octavia shouted, drawing a look of shock from Vinyl. She hadn’t seen the cellist this mad before. Gloss’s attention was shattered as well. “She’s her own being and she’ll do whatever she wants!” Moon Light looked towards Octavia with joyous eyes, but remained silent. Octavia’s mind went back to her memories of when she was young, back when she had wrecked her parents’ expectations.

Gloss gave a gasp and her face contorted into one full of rage. “I will not be told how to treat my child by some dirty earth pony fillyfooler BRAT!” The unicorn grasped Octavia’s bowtie in her magic and yanked it backwards, pulling Octavia against the back of the bench and cutting off her air.

Before anyone else could do anything to stop the crazy mother, a coffee cup smashed into the side of Gloss’s head, covering her face in the brown liquid and making her mascara start to run. The magic grip broke and she turned to find her new target.

“WHO—” she started, but was stopped as a hooded stallion ran into her side. With unbelievable speed, he had pinned her, and was about to strike her across the face.

“Hendrick!” Moon Light exclaimed, halting the pony’s assault. After Octavia regained her breath, she looked towards the hooded stallion and saw the familiar face of Hendrick underneath. He turned his gaze towards Moon Light. She gazed back with sad eyes, tears beginning to form in them. “Please... don’t...”

An unbearable silence hung over the restaurant.

But was shattered by the sound of a hoof crashing against a jaw.

Octavia looked in horror at the form of Gloss, running mascara and blood running from her open mouth. Hendrick stood above her, his face dark, a haunted expression covering every facet of it. Beneath that, however, Octavia saw a plea he couldn’t bring himself to utter, a certain darkness he wanted to hide.

Then, he left, his lips sealed just as tightly as when he had arrived. Everyone turned to watch him leave the building, except Moon Light, who turned away and curled up tightly. Octavia’s fires of rage died away as she heard the beginnings of a crying session building from the filly’s form.

Eventually, Gloss began to lift herself from the ground. She looked between Vinyl and Octavia, then to Moon Light, then Spyglass, and finally to all the angry faces around the bar facing her directly.

“Now come along, Moon Light. We’re leaving,” she said, trying to look dignified despite her horrible appearance.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a right to being her mother, anymore,” Spyglass said, her eyes cold. “After such a display as that, I don’t think you have a right to being anyone’s mother.” Then, the volunteer picked up the thick paper still resting on the table. “We thank you for giving us Moon Light’s birth certificate, however. This will speed the adoption process considerably.”

Gloss fumed, but realizing how outmatched she was, decided on a different course of action. She began to run towards the exit, her escape blocked by two thick-looking stallions.

“You realize,” the elder of the two began, “that threatening work on a child of her age is a fine?”

“And,” came the second, “that the mare you just tried to choke, as well as insulted, is one of the most well-known musicians in Canterlot?”

“Oh, and since Hendrick didn’t attack you until after you started choking her, the worse thing we can do to him is a minor fine for the coffee cup.” She looked around at the attendees of the bar, then started to conjure a teleportation spell.

A thick black ring immediately dropped around her horn, halting her magic. Defeated, Gloss let one of the stallions drag her out of the building. The other approached Octavia’s table.

“Are you all right, Miss Octavia?” She nodded and he made to leave.

“Wait.” Something didn’t seem right to her. “Are you being honest about Hendrick? Will he just get a fine?”

He glanced over his shoulder and shook his head solemnly, then left.

When Octavia turned around, Moon Light was still crying. But now, Vinyl had dropped herself to the eye level of the filly. With a smile, Vinyl lifted the purple glasses from her face and placed them on the filly’s nose.

Her tears came to a slow stop. Then, she looked at Vinyl through the purple lenses. After a moment, she turned to face Octavia as well. The sight of the massive glasses on the small filly made a grin break across Octavia’s face. The smiles of the adults proved contagious and before long, Moon Light had one of her own.

With her tears all but stopped, she sat up and grabbed the pen in her mouth. Both adults watched as she signed her name on the bottom of the paper. At this point, a stream of tears leaked from Octavia’s face and she brought Moon Light into a hug. Vinyl joined in almost immediately afterwards. Spyglass smiled from across the table and waited a moment before taking the paper and leaving the new family to their emotions.

In the back of Octavia’s mind, she couldn’t help but think about Hendrick. He had protected her; he seemed to have a penchant for helping people. At the same time, she felt horrible that he had hit Gloss when she was pretty much contained anyway. In just the past few days, she had seen his mental condition slowly worsening, and if he would only stop running for a second, his friends would be able to help him.

Yet, the pessimistic part of the cellist’s mind said, there’s no way in all of Tartarus that would happen, and he’s all the worse because of it. With her eyes closed, Octavia took a moment to make a wish, a wish that Hendrick’s spiral of self-destruction would be stopped by someone.

Because that was all she could do at this point. Wish.

Chapter Sixteen

Shining Armor. Prince Shining Armor, husband to the alicorn of love and captain of the guards of Canterlot, brother to the Element of Magic and son of two well-established mages, and arguably the most influential unicorn alive. His gaze was sad as he looked at the ruins of the prison cell.

Lying in the corner of the room, like a piece of gutter trash, was the cell door, bent outwards from an incredible blow. Where the door had been, there was instead a black char streak across the ground. He cursed under his breath and turned away, leaving the other guards to the task of acquiring testimonies from those who had remained.

All the prisoners were accounted for, except for Hendrick. A heavy, disappointed sigh split the air and the captain really wished he had something to drink. The sentence had been one year. One year in a cell for aggravated assault. But then, the princess of the night had come on the scene. Luna had swayed the jury, explaining all the good he had done. So, it had been reduced to ten days, and all seemed to be going well, as half of those days passed without incident.

Then, Ms. Gloss had a cell transfer. She had scared her previous cell mates, so they moved her to Hendrick’s cell. “Surely, Hendrick can make her behave better,” had been their thought process. This was the result.

Shining Armor’s mind went back to the previous day. Hendrick had requested a few words, and the captain had decided to answer the call. There had been no warm greetings, no friendly exchange of words, only one question. One question from the apathetic stallion who looked like Hendrick, but didn’t act like him at all.

Are ponies like Moon Light’s parents common?

Shining Armor answered after a brief pause of disappointment, losing any hope of having a happy discussion. With a very factual tone, the captain had informed Hendrick that no, it wasn’t common in the least. Hendrick had seemed relieved by that answer, and for a split second, Shining Armor thought he saw the familiar stallion again.

Hendrick had then excused him, saying, “You may leave now, Captain.” Biting back a cruel remark, Shining Armor left. The last thing he had wanted to do was listen to the words from the twisted tongue inside that imposter’s mouth.

“What in Celestia's name has come over Hendrick?” Shining Armor had asked himself, angered by the very rough attitude that now formed the stallion’s being. Only now, looking at the destruction around him, did he realize how wrong he had been in doing so. Before that day, the captain would have considered himself one of Hendrick’s friends, but when the stallion needed to be reminded who he was, Shining hadn’t been there. No one had.

No one would tell the captain how he had done it, but Hendrick had somehow destroyed the magically infused metal and escaped, leaving a shell shocked Ms. Gloss behind in the process. Another heavy sigh filled the air and several of the guards looked towards him.

Eventually, one of them, an older guard, approached. He had left the captain to his thoughts, not wanting to interrupt. After that sigh, however, it was clear that the captain would more than appreciate a break.

“Captain,” he started, throwing up a respectful salute. Shining Armor returned the gesture in a very lackluster way, then signaled for the guard to continue speaking. “A unicorn has spoken with Ms. Gloss. After calming her down with some relaxation magic, she was more than willing to cooperate.”

“Excellent,” Shining Armor replied, a shallow smile coming to his face. At least he was getting answers. “So how did he get out?”

A frown crossed the guard’s face. “Well, sir, she says she doesn’t really know.”

“Were those her words, exactly? That she ‘doesn’t really know’?”

“To the letter, sir.”

Shining nodded in thought. That didn’t sound like the old Ms. Gloss. “Continue.”

“Well, she says he had three bags that he had tied inside his mane. He mixed them together, then kicked the ground with the tip of his horseshoe until sparks caught on it. The next thing she knew, the cell door had exploded and Hendrick was running away.”

Shining nodded again. Use of explosives. He had underestimated Hendrick. “Why didn’t she try and stop him?”

“I mean no disrespect, sir, but he did hit her across the face not a week ago. I can’t imagine she was too keen on receiving another.”

Another absent nod and a moment of thought later, he decided that while he waited for Luna to show up, as he knew she would, he would talk to Gloss, if only to pass the time. “You’re dismissed,” he said. They shared another salute and both set about their work again.

Despite the distraction, the niggling self-blame still squirmed around at the back of the captain’s mind, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, it seemed to come back to him again and again.

He was captain of the guard! He was supposed to prevent things like this. And yet, here he was in a jail with a broken cell in the midst of a very worried Canterlot. With a very stiff walk, he turned the final corner and approached the room at the far end of the hall. After knocking once out of habit, Shining Armor opened the door and saw a mare sitting at the table. It took him a moment to realize it was Ms. Gloss. Without her makeup and primped hair, she looked entirely different. She looked... refreshed.

She didn’t seem to notice his arrival; she was busy looking at her reflection in the immaculate table at which she sat. Some form of inner conflict seemed to plague her being. So extensive was it, that Shining Armor didn’t feel like interrupting. Her expression shifted at random intervals, from anger to despair to rage and back again. Then, without any warning at all, her face simply fell loose. She gazed at herself in the shiny surface for several moments, then a tear began to leak from one eye.

Deciding that the time for silence had passed, Shining Armor let out a cough. Gloss looked towards the captain, then her eyes darted away as she wiped the moisture from her muzzle. She coughed to ensure her voice was steady, then turned back towards the alabaster unicorn stallion.

“I hope you plan on giving me some form of recompense for that,” she said, her usual strict and pompous tone shattered by a soft undercurrent.

Shining let a subtle smile break his muzzle. “I’m not sure. We’re not used to things like that happening.” Gloss turned away, hiding her face. Something had changed; any fool could tell that. Hendrick wouldn’t have explained his plans or his escape, but he had clearly directed some well-thought words in her direction to have elicited this response. “What did he say to you?” he softly asked as he moved to take an empty seat for himself.

“Well, Captain,” Gloss began, a dwindling tone of superiority hanging onto her words with all it could manage. Shining Armor didn’t respond, so Gloss glanced back at him, a slight curiosity in her eyes and another tear trickling down her face. “He made me promise not to tell anyone. He said the words were for me alone.”

“That makes sense, I suppose,” Shining Armor said, smiling kindly towards Gloss. Hendrick seemed to have a knack for reforging ponies’ flaws with carefully selected words. The room echoed as Shining Armor face hoofed. “Well, now it makes sense,” the captain said, more to himself than the unicorn across from him. Gloss’s look of confusion intensified in response. “I suppose I owe Shroud five bits, dangit. You know, I was sure it was ‘wordsmith’.”

The air battered against Luna as she flew, which is saying something, since there was no wind this afternoon. Such was Luna’s speed that she felt like she was flying through gale force winds, but she brushed aside the friction that tried to hold her back and pushed herself to go faster. Her cheeks began to chaff from the incessant wind that hit them, but Luna didn’t care. She was determined.

Her meeting with Shining Armor moments ago had told her everything she needed to know. Hendrick was in trouble; something about him had changed horribly and Luna cursed her inaction. She had thought he was just going through a rough patch, but no longer did such a thought rest on her mind.

Hendrick was losing it, and what he really needed was someone to help him, someone to ground him, and remind him who he was. Luna had done it before, though the situation hadn’t been nearly as bad. But that didn’t matter, because no matter what, she had every intention to do it again.

As she neared her destination, her speed slowed. She turned the tight corner into the alley and was forced to flap backwards in order to land, sending eddies of wind over the single body that laid there. At first, Luna believed she was to blame for the shivers that racked the stallions body, but his shakes continued long after the air had steadied itself.

“Why did you come back here, Hendrick?” Luna asked herself as she approached the sleeping escapee. “You knew this would be the first place I searched.”

She slowly yet regally approached the stallion. Her steps were firm and unwavering, but her eyes betrayed a compassion that lingered in her mind. As she came closer to Hendrick, the air got colder and colder. Luna stopped in her steps, closed her eyes, and reached out with her mind. Luna’s magic weaved through the air and stopped inches from Hendrick’s head. She could feel the nightmare originating from his mind; she could feel his terror and his loneliness.

Her eyes still closed, she stepped closer. The feelings grew stronger and his shivers increased. She retracted her magic. No change. Moving the magic to her eyes, Luna gazed once more upon Hendrick.

Black lines crisscrossed his coat, pulsing like a heartbeat. It was old magic, old magic with a mind of its own. She couldn’t determine when it had started, but she could tell it was slowly corrupting him, and had only seen it once before. The victim had lost themselves in bouts of insanity that had no known cause. Luna’s heart ached.

Then, the lines stuttered. Luna watched with awe as the lines began to shrink, pulling away from his coat and closer to their point of origin as something forced them back. A particularly violent shiver rocked Hendrick’s body and the lines moved out again. Blinking once to clear the spell from her eyes, Luna moved closer to Hendrick.

She dropped onto her stomach next to him and looked at him. Then, without warning, she found herself inside his dreamscape, tumbling through emptiness as her mind rushed about how she had ended up there. She hadn’t cast a spell; she hadn’t even connected with Hendrick’s mind. How had she been pulled in?

Her knowledge of the dreamscape came back to her, having not truly been inside one in a long time. It was the deepest subconscious of a being, where their soul took residence.

Suddenly, Luna felt her hooves touch on the ground, though it wasn’t visible. After landing, a figure in the distance grew closer, though it was facing away from her. It looked like Hendrick as a human, but then she realized it was composed of flames. A soul would look like the body, down to specks on their faces. He should not have been composed of flames.

Slowly, the figure wheeled around to face her. The sound of crackling suddenly reaching the air. “Oh,” the fiery creature said as it looked to Luna, its face unidentifiable from the flames forming its body. “Good. It’s you.” She sensed the old magic within this composition. This was the cause of Hendrick’s issue, she could tell, but the sincerity in its voice paused Luna’s judgement.

The fire coughed and looked side to side, as if fearing something was going to attack from the darkness around them. He turned his attention back to the princess and fought with himself as a look of worry and apprehension formed from the flames. Eventually, he managed to squeeze the words past his lips. “Listen, Cold Lady...” The words hung in the air, the speaker having reached another gap. He cringed, but continued. “I hate to admit it, but... I need your help.”

Chapter Seventeen (Conclusion)

“What,” Luna deadpanned.

“I know, I know. Look, it’s hard for me to admit, but things got complicated. Hendrick is acting split; he’s been getting scared less and less. Things are not going according to plan,” the fire thing rambled off. “Which is why it’s a good thing you’re here.”

“Why is my presence a good thing?” Luna’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the fire being, but he didn’t seem to notice. He walked away, running a hand through what would be his hair had he been a physical being.

“Because you’re the only thing he still cares about, now! There’s a fear for each person or being that won’t fade with time, something they avoid confronting. You’re that thing for him. When all of the other fears lost their sheen, showing him a nightmare of you dying in fire, crying out in pain, forcing him to watch as your skin burned in fire and you turned to a skeleton...” The crackling voice died away as a smile split the creature’s face. “Oh, it really was beautiful. You should have seen it.” The being turned around to see Luna looking unamused. “Anyway, if anyone can bring Hendrick back into working order, it’s you, and I can help make sure it happens.”

There was a moment of stillness where Luna took an opportunity to think. “No.” Luna’s eyes gleamed like ice as the words left her mouth and the fire being shivered from some unseen cold.

“No? What do you mean, ‘no’? I thought you two had a whole relationship thing going on. You’re just gonna ditch him?”

“You misunderstand.” Enraged sadness covered Luna’s features as her words bit into the air, sending another shiver through the demon’s body. “I’m going to help him, but you are not. You aren’t going to exist.”

“But, but you need me!” The flames were flickering away; its voice shuddered from a chill only he could feel. He looked towards Luna and she stared back at him, emptily.

“I am Princess Luna, the guardian of the night, the culler of nightmares and bringer of dreams. I do not need you. I do not need a being who treats Hendrick as a food source, a being of pure malice, a nightmare that takes a pony’s worst fear and uses it to their own advantage, twisting and turning their brain to the point that they go mad from imagined fears. No, your time is quite done.” Princess Luna closed her eyes as she finished talking. Her mane began to reach out, the mass of ethereal stars transforming into tendrils that snaked through the air.

But he wasn’t going down without a fight. “N-no, I’ve put a lot of work into surviving here!” it shouted. Fiery needles exited the being and flew through the air with shocking speed, burrowing into Luna’s skin, digging into her body and crawling to her brain. “Do you even know what it’s like to exist here? I had to carve out even the simplest of livings! The first few weeks were hell!”

Luna’s mane began to shake violently, her body mimicking the action. The physical flaming night terrors wormed through her body; she could feel them behind her eyes and all along her spine. Is this where it ends? Luna thought as she felt the darkness making haste towards her mind. Then, a surge of determination shot through her.

“NO! I will not lose Hendrick, too!” Her canterlot voice split the air like an axe. Luna opened her eyes—her white, shining eyes—and her mane wrapped the demon in an chilling vice grip as it shone like diamonds. It struggled and strained against the pincer hold, but all in vain as the ice bit deeper and deeper into its fiery being and it writhed harder and harder.

Then, all at once, it stopped.

“Nightmare Moon,” the being said with a defeated tone that held an air of forgery. Silence answered it. Luna’s attack was slowed, though the tendrils still dug into the skin of the fiery creature. Eventually, it raised its burning gaze to face the full form of Luna. “That’s who you are, isn’t it? Or who you were, as the case may be.” A look of sadness shown through the eyes of the captured prey. “My, how you’ve grown.” It grinned a genial happy grin and Luna felt chills run down her spine.

“Had I but known, I might have let you take Hendrick back from me from the start. After all, the last time you tried to break the hold of a nightmare—” Spikes of ice shot forth from Luna’s mane and the creature’s face was torn to shreds, interrupting what it had been about to say. Luna looked on, full of rage, towards the dying entity. Even as it was pulled apart, however, it didn’t break its expression, didn’t scream. It just smiled at her. Then, with a burst of black flames, it was gone.

Luna’s mane retracted and black flames licked at her hair, the last remnants of the spirit fighting to survive. She paid them no heed. Her mind was tormented by the after-effects of the creature’s fiery shards, and she found herself unable to move as the incessant pounding in her ears seemed to grow louder and louder. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes while her horn shown in the silent and still darkness as she fought back.

Magic coursed through Luna’s veins, battling the fire that burned through her soul. It reached greedily for the back corners of the princess’s mind, reaching for the fears that she had placed there, reaching for the food mere inches away. They inched closer and closer through Luna’s being, but just when they were about to reach it, she cried out in pain. Magic coursed through her in uncomfortable levels, tearing the fiber of her being as they traversed her body en masse. The magic collided with the fire, and it was removed from her body in an icy purge.

Luna slouched, letting the magic bleed from her body. Her mane lay limp next to her, a testament to how much she had put into removing the infection. It no longer shone with the night sky, but had turned back into its old light blue. For a moment, she just laid there, letting the fatigue run its course on her body. As she lay on the black ground, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander, back to the first day she had met Hendrick and the feeling of segregation that had plagued her.

She had convinced herself she could manage just fine. It had been the norm, a thought that, in retrospect, scared Luna to some degree. To be content with being lonely and forgotten, aside from the constant, comforting presence of her sister. None besides Celestia had cared about her. The guards seemed annoyed when they had to be present for her night court, to which no one showed up day after day.

It was a numbing kind of despair, entirely different from the jealousness and hate that had fueled Nightmare Moon. This had been a poison she never felt on her. Not until she was cured of it did she realize it had been there at all. Another pony had done that for her once: cured her of corrupting emotions. Luna looked up at the pitch black sky of the soul realm. She couldn’t see anything up there, of course, but her gaze remained steadfastly directed upward anyway. Eventually, a single tear came to her face, a stark contrast against her steady expression.

Feeling the liquid on her coat, Luna brushed it away, along with the memory that had stirred it. The sheen was coming back to the princess’s hair, and Luna was feeling much more rejuvenated. She forced herself to her hooves and took a deep breath, an act more for the comfort of knowing she could breath than because she needed to.

“No use crying over spilt milk,” she said to herself, a sad undercurrent breaking the monotony of the saying.

With a too-steady gaze, the princess turned herself about and faced every which way, looking for the thing that had broken the omnipresent darkness holding her in its wrappings. Slowly, something began to form around Luna. She didn’t notice at first, as it started incredibly subtle, but before too long, the entirety of a library had come into being around her. She was confused, now more than ever. If she were seeing a library, then she had to either be in a dream of Hendrick’s, or she had to be directly touching his soul. Neither of those answers felt right.

“Luna!” came a call from behind the princess. She turned to face the voice and was surprised to see Hendrick in his pony state behind her. He had never been a pony in the dreams, and his soul should appear as a human as well. Something was most definitely off. “I’m glad you’re here. I need help—” His voice suddenly dropped a pitch or two and he was replaced by his human form. He didn’t seem to notice, continuing on without stopping. “—culling these rebel scum.”

“What?” Luna asked. Things weren’t making sense in the least.

Human Hendrick sighed, but spoke again in an annoyed tone. “Your orders are to—” He was a pony once again, and his light voice she had come to know was back. “—help me shelve some of these books? It’s proving to be a rather more daunting task than I had anticipated.” He smiled at her kindly.

Princess Luna found herself unable to speak, out of shock, and simply nodded her head instead. She grabbed some of the books in her magical aura and Hendrick’s smile widened. “Oh thank you—” Another shift. “—you worthless maggot.”

Deciding not to point out the change, she began to follow Hendrick as he made his way through the library. He would occasionally shelve some books, all the while shifting between human and pony forms. Luna would shelve her own books when she passed by a place where they went, but otherwise kept her full attention on Hendrick, trying to figure him out.

After several minutes of walking, Luna decided to change tactics, having gotten nowhere with her previous approach. “Hendrick, is something the matter?” She posed this question to the human avatar.

“You dare question your superior—” Pony Hendrick. “—friend?”

That was still disorienting. “No, I just want to make sure you’re feeling well. You don’t seem like yourself.”

Hendrick glanced from side to side, then leaned towards Luna. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked, a worried tone evident in his voice. Luna nodded and leaned towards him. “I think I’m—YOU ARE NOT A HIGH ENOUGH RANK TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ME!” Luna backpedaled at the sudden change in voice. “Am I understood!” Her mind still shaking from undue exposure to the surprise shout, she hesitantly nodded. “Good!”

And then they went back to shelving books.

Luna was worried, not because of what had just happened, but because she had never seen this before. She hadn’t even heard of this before. It was like his soul was trying to be two different people at the same time. Hendrick would end up killing himself from stress if this kept up. The constant shift between militaristic march and soft steps kept Luna on the tips of her hooves as she followed behind the shifting form of Hendrick.

Then, something changed. The books began to become disorganized, but Hendrick continued on as if nothing were amiss. He shelved books still, though Luna found herself forced to stop.

Hendrick had explained his sorting system to her once, and she had managed to remember most of it. But this... this shelf of books didn’t even look sorted by his system at all. Instead, smaller books were placed on the bottom rows and they got thicker as they moved up. Despite this nondescript system, Hendrick still seemed to have an exact location for all the literature he carried with him.

A shout caught the attention of the duo.

Luna turned to face the noise moments after Hendrick, whom was currently a pony. A little girl was approaching them and Luna found herself shocked still. This girl.... This was her. Well, not her exactly, but the form she had taken whenever she had dreamt of Hendrick. But how was she here? Was this all truly a dream and not a reflection of Hendrick’s soul?

“Rakya, I thought I told you to stay with the others, dear,” Hendrick said in a calm tone. The girl kept her gaze locked on Hendrick’s face, not paying attention to the fact that he was currently a pony, nor the giant blue alicorn standing behind him.

In response to Hendrick’s statement, the girl only shook her head and pointed to the shelves behind him. He turned to glance as well and a half smile crossed his face. “I promised you I would read it to you later. It’s not safe for you to be moving around the library right now. You should head back to the reading area.” Rakya shook her head fiercely and crossed her arms, universal body language Luna easily deciphered.

Hendrick cringed. “Please, Rakya. Please.” His voice was growing weak and Luna quickly approached him to make sure he was okay. Rakya, however, remained steadfast in her stance. Just as suddenly as it had been all times previously, Hendrick changed into a human again and the girl began to back away in fear instantly, as if knowing what was coming.

“A no good tribal. Just like all the others. You aren’t worthy to breath my air, you filthy, worthless piece of trash.” Hendrick pulled an odd device from his clothes and leveled the open end of it towards the head of the small child. The look on his face told the princess exactly what he was planning. Acting instantly, Luna moved between them. She wasn’t sure why there was a child here, she wasn’t sure why they were in a library, she wasn’t even sure what Hendrick was going though, but she was still going to live by her morales.

“No, Hendrick. You can’t do this.”

“And who do you think you are to tell me what I can and can’t do?!” Using the thumb of his finger, he pulled back the piece of metal attached to the device. This change caused Luna to remember it. She had seen in one of the dreams; it had killed people. Or she thought it had killed people. She thought it might have killed her. She couldn’t remember it correctly, anymore.

Her mind stopped for a second, contemplating if she could die in whatever this place between dreams and the soul was called. But she pushed on. “I am Pr—” She stopped immediately. She had been about to announce herself in the same way she had with the fire spirit. Now, though, she realized that would be a bad choice. “I am your friend, Hendrick, and I want you to be well again.” The words rang with truth and a spike of hope filled her as human Hendrick began to lower the gun.

Then, he raised it again. “You lying maggot. I don’t have any friends!” He practically hissed the last words.

“No, Hendrick, you do.” Luna stepped forward, her fear of the gun forgotten. “You are friends with Octavia and Vinyl. You are practically a father to Moon Light. A friend to Shining Armor and Cadence.”

“Then where were they?!” His voice had taken on an edge of sadness that went all too well with the rage that currently sat in his voice. “Where were they at?! Where were you?!”

A shallow scowl came over Luna’s face. “I’m sorry we weren’t there for you, Hendrick, I really am, but you never gave us an opportunity to help you, either. Would you rather, when you act like you want space, we just crowd you? Do you honestly want that?”

“Y-yes.” Hendrick was a pony once more and tears were beginning to gather in his eyes. “Just... please don’t leave me alone.” The library began to fade from view, as did the young child. The book disappeared and all that was left was Hendrick and Luna in the crushing blackness that made up Hendrick’s soul area. “I can’t handle being alone...”

Luna looked around, a reassuring sense of normality filling her body. She leaned in towards Hendrick, as if to whisper something in his ear, then pecked a kiss lightly on his cheek. She smiled as Hendrick smiled and stepped a few feet away from him. With one last glance towards Hendrick, she cast a spell and disappeared out of the realm.

Luna found herself back in her body, not that it felt like she had ever left. She glanced towards the form of Hendrick that was beginning to stir. Then, her eyes looked around at her surroundings. Both of them had been encompassed by what looked to be a whole battalion of guards while they slept. Luna caught the eye of Shining Armor, but made no move to speak with him.

Hendrick’s eyes began to flicker open and all the guards took a step forward to be prepared. Luna, however, maneuvered herself to be in front of Hendrick. His eyes opened fully and when he saw the princess, a blush came to his cheeks and a soft smile crossed his face. “Thank you, Luna.”

“I would do it again, Hendrick.” Luna’s voice was unnaturally cold for so cheerful a statement. Her voice lowered and she spoke again. “But, I can’t do anything if I don’t know something’s wrong. All right?” Hendrick nodded. “Good.”

She stood, Hendrick mimicking the action, and several nearby guards moved forward to contain him. They found themselves slowed by a blue magic aura that had sunk around their knees. “Oh, Hendrick, I almost forgot. Vinyl has invited us to a dance party in a week. I expect to see you on time. Also, I’ll have to get in touch with you later. Celestia informs me that flowers are a good thing to bring for a date, but I don’t know which ones you like.”

Hendrick made no move to answer, a wide smile speaking for him instead. The guards cuffed him and began to lead him away. As they did so, Luna approached Shining Armor. “Make sure to tell the judges my judgement is parole. And that is final. I doubt many of them will argue.” Shining Armor nodded, a jovial smile on his face, and teleported away.

Luna remained in the alleyway for a period of time, thinking. Then, with as much force as she could muster, she shot into the sky with a heavy down beat and made her way towards the castle. Celestia was going to have quite the story to listen to today.

The End

Author's Note

(If you're looking for a link to the sequel check the description of this story.)

'Tis the end. I just want to thank everyone who read this. As I finish this off I have perhaps the best feeling in the world. Staple Cactus is an amazing Editor, I need you guys/gals to bug him while I'm gone. Don't let him quit editing like he keeps saying he will, someone needs to get him to write his stories too. He still owes me a chapter of CoSH.

715 likes right now, prior to the conclusion being published. I'm quite astounded. Seems like only last week my goal was five hundred. My heart is so light right now, knowing that I finished this before I left. It's going to be a great two years, I can feel it. Thanks for all the support guys.

I can't express my feelings right now. Everything is just so.... warm...
I think I'm getting all soft inside, like an old apple.
Don't forget me while I'm gone eh? I'd hate to come back in two years and post about how excited I am to be back, only to be answered by empty silence.

Don't let Knighty shut down Fimfic. Not that I think he will, he doesn't seem the type to do something drastic like that.
Well... I suppose this is the last Hurrah for now. I'm sorry I couldn't write more for my other stories. Time was tight and I was lazy. A horrible combination.

I...
Oh, what does Luffy say?
"I never say good bye. I just say see you later."
Something like that.
...Apt isn't it?...

(This farewell has since been... changed. Ignore the parts about me being gone for an extended period of time.)

Chapter Twelve

“So with new conviction, the stallion brought his blade to bear and attacked his opponent,” Hendrick said, leaning backwards against a pair of cushions provided by the hospital when he had asked for them.

“And then what happened?” Moon Light asked, her eyes shining brightly as only children’s eyes could. She had been the reason why Hendrick was placed in a public hospital instead of the one in the castle, though she didn’t know it. When Luna had thought about transferring him, she had remembered the small filly and decided to let him stay in the public hospital so others could visit him easier.

Hendrick paused for a moment, looking back at her. “The mighty hero, Flare, the savior of those who had been rejected, attacked the villainous fiend. His quest to avenge his family could not be achieved so long as the man who stood before him now still lived.” Hendrick seemed to be enjoying his time telling Moon Light a story from his hospital bed. A soft breeze came in through an open window, leaving the scent of the room fresh. As if in spite of the fresh breeze, the room maintained it's usual medicinal scent.

“The evil guy who killed his parents?” the filly asked, her hooves held over her muzzle in anticipation. She was lying on the bed and was enraptured by his current tale, having forgotten he was in the hospital, and pushed against his leg, but quickly pulled back as his face twisted in pain. After gathering himself again, he continued.

“The very same.” Hendrick had a wry smile on his face. “And do you know what he did next?” The suspense was obvious in the air and Moon Light leaned forward so as to not miss a word. “He defeated him and took back the land!” Moon Light let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

“That’s good. That’ll teach the bad guy.” Moon Light’s face took on a puzzled expression. “But then, what happened to the villain? He didn’t kill him, did he?”

“Of course not. Good guys don’t kill people.”

“Then, what happened?”

“No one knows; he just vanished. Some say he became a librarian, but very few people believe that. He was called a war hero by his home town! Why would he become a measly librarian?”

“Maybe he learned his lesson and didn’t want to hurt people anymore.” Moon Light sounded quite sure of herself.

“You think so? What makes you say that?”

“Well, he didn’t really want to kill people to begin with, did he? He just kinda accepted it. Maybe when he was defeated, he realized what he had done was wrong.”

“Maybe so,” Hendrick said, his tone unreadable. “Maybe so.”

Moon Light’s ears twitched as a sound caught her attention, and she turned her head to the open window. After a moment, Hendrick mimicked the action, hearing something as well. Busy voices tumbled into the room, carried on the air. None of them sounded familiar, but they had an official sounding tone behind them.

“I wonder what’s going on,” the filly said idly. Hendrick remained silent and seemed to be focusing on the jumble of words.

“I need to go,” he said eventually. He removed the blanket from himself and carefully placed his legs on the ground. A flinch shot across his face, but he steadied out and the grimace faded. His limbs didn’t show any obvious damage, but the chart hanging on the bed told a different story, one that involved inner muscle wounds. Moon Light looked at him, confused and worried; she didn’t want him to leave. “Just to the lobby. I think something bad is about to happen there.” This only increased her worry.

Moon Light had grown extremely attached to the stallion after he protected her from her drunk father that night. She was happy to spend time with him, and after he saved her the second time from the fire at the orphanage, she didn’t feel safe unless it was in the company of the odd adult. He, in turn, had began to spend more time with her, though he never told her exactly why, always brushing it off with another question or going off on a tangent. Or a story. He had quickly discovered Moon Light’s passion for listening to stories.

“If something bad is going to happen, why are you going towards it?”

“To make sure the bad thing doesn’t hurt anyone,” Hendrick replied calmly, taking his signature swaying steps towards the door. “And I want you to stay here, where you’ll be safe. I’ll be right back. I promise.” Then, he closed the door, leaving Moon Light in the room.

She waited, patiently. As patiently as she could, anyway. Her hoof drew circles on the floor and she silently fought back the urge to run after Hendrick. She managed to succeed with that restraint until she heard an echoing thump from below. Adrenaline shot through her as the restraint she had showed shattered with the silence. Her legs were running with worried steps and she hurried out of the room, her footsteps light on the floor, and down the stairs to the lobby.

“I said, ‘where is she?!’ ” The voice was gruff and ground against her ears familiarly. It sounded similar to her father. She had always assumed alcohol must be full of rocks, because he always complained about the taste and his voice always sounded worse after a night out drinking. Just as it had for her entire life, the voice slowed her movements and she found herself slowly approaching the lobby of the hospital, scared of what she would see.

The worries of the filly intensified as the large form of her father came into view, his large frame obscuring the stallion he held against the ground. With his attention focused on whoever he had pinned, one of the ponies in the room managed to sneak out undetected. Moon Light could only hope they had gone to get the guard as she stopped behind a green plant sitting awkwardly where the room narrowed and formed the hallway. From her position, the filly was hidden from pretty much everypony.

“Tell me where she is!” the drunken musclehead shouted again. He slammed his captives head against the floor loudly, revealing the pinned stallion’s identity to Moon Light. In retrospect, she realized she could have just looked at his flank; it was very hard to miss Hendrick’s cutie mark. “Tell me, or I’ll kill you!” The air fell still for a moment, both stallions having fallen disturbingly silent. To everyone else, it seemed like the captive was scared; but from Moon Light’s point of view, she could see a contemplative look on his face. “What is it, you punk? Now that the guard isn’t here to help you, you can’t do anything?”

“No, quite the opposite, actually.” Hendrick’s tone was cold and sent shivers down Moon Light’s spine like no winter air ever could. His hind legs, still injured, lunged out and connected with the beer gut of the stallion, though it clearly caused him pain to do so.

The force from the blow was enough to knock the drunkard up and onto his hind legs. While he was rearing back, Hendrick rushed forward, using his momentum and that of his foe to get the larger opponent onto his back. Once that had been accomplished, Hendrick placed his foreleg tight against the drunk’s neck.

“You learn a trick or two in the army,” Hendrick said quietly, seeing the surprise in his opponents face. “Now, let me tell you what’s going to happen, you slug. You said you were going to kill me. Now, if I assume you're smarter than you actually are, let’s say you attack me in the middle of the night, when I’m asleep.” Everyone in the hospital looked on in shock after the quick turn around. All except for Moon Light, whom looked on in fear. The tone in the words wasn’t angry, or loud; it was like hearing a teacher state facts to her students.

“Now, that would be a good plan, but you’re an utter fool, so you would stumble or trip or make some noise and I would wake up, because I’m a light sleeper. I would have the advantage and you would be a complete idiot, so I would be able to get you in this position again. But this time, I wouldn’t have onlookers. This means I would be able to kill you and call it self-defense. Do you understand? I would kill you.” He lifted his front leg from his opponent’s throat for a quick moment so he could get breath, then pinned him again. Tears began to run down Moon Light’s face at the severe brutality Hendrick, the stallion she had thought the kindest in the world, was displaying.

“So if you ever think it’s a marginally good idea to come after me or the filly you call your daughter again, I will end you and serve whatever amount of time in jail I need to to make sure you stay away from her.”

Moon Light moved back in shock, fire suddenly flaring behind Hendrick’s eyes, fueled by his anger. Crimson lept across the white of his eyes and sweat began to pour from the portly stallion he had pinned. Eventually, the guard arrived and took the father away, though at this point in the engagement, it was probably better for the prisoner than the onlookers.

Hendrick’s fiery eyes followed the drunkard being escorted. When he was gone from sight, the fire died away and their bearer started rubbing his hind legs in an effort to remove the lingering pain shooting through them. Slowly, he turned.

When he easily spotted Moon Light and the tears running down her face, it became immediately clear from his facial expression that he would have preferred not to have seen her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn’t want to hear it. She was out the door before he could stop her. As she ran, she heard him sigh and say to a nearby nurse, “I’d like to check out, please.” Her feet carried her over the cobblestones while the voice of Hendrick echoed in her head. “Of course not. Good guys don’t kill people.” She couldn’t quite believe he had just threatened to go against that. After all, in her mind, Hendrick was the goodest of guys.

Luna sat on her throne as she listened to the pony currently talking. Her attention was focused as her mind thought about what he had to say. The issue he was talking about was deeply important to the protection of Canterlot and the continued future of Equestria. So, naturally, she wanted to make sure she didn’t miss any of his words.

“And so,” he began, coming to his conclusion, “that is why it is important that we up the levels of chocolate quality. It’s clear that if we don’t, it will affect our snack consumption in the long run.” Okay, maybe it wasn’t important to the safety of Canterlot, but Luna really liked snack foods. The next pony had started to move up when Luna noticed the new librarian approaching, a look of worry and panic set on her face. Luna held up her hoof to signal a brief intermission. The pony nodded and Luna waited for the librarian to reach her.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” the librarian said with a bow to her. “I wasn’t sure what to do!” The attention of the ponies in the court was pulled towards her curiously, but the mare didn’t seem to notice. “He just barged in with that, that, alcohol! Then, he went straight into the section of old tomes, and just sat there. Then he started singing! He’s starting to worry me and I can’t get him to leave.” Someone had barged into the library? That didn’t bode well. Luna nodded to her and she left the room quickly, worried for what might have happened in her absence.

“I’m sorry, my ponies. It seems something has come up. I apologize to those of you whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. I shall be holding a lunar court tomorrow, but not the night after. Please visit me before then if it’s important.” After a short bow from each of the ponies, Luna left, teleporting herself to the library. The librarian was nowhere in sight upon her arrival, so the princess started into the deep collection of books for this arrival.

She was progressing through the aisles when the sound of a song drifted through the air, altering her path slightly she progressed toward where it was coming from, listening to the voice as she went on.

“I miss the night like I miss my heart,

I often wish I could appreciate art.

But there is one thing I know for sure,

The world hates me and there is no cure!”

The tone was surprisingly upbeat despite how down the lyrics seemed to be. It was around this point in the song that Luna realized she recognized it was Hendrick singing. She paused a moment to listen to the next verse before she continued toward him again.

“Despite how down on myself I may seem,

I know that true love awaits in my dreams.

I love her truly, I miss her so.

I hope noone tells her though!”

His tone was different and the words seemed to sway through the air blindly, their tone sometimes changing mid-pitch. Luna was blushing slightly as she rounded the corner and spotted Hendrick, a bottle of wine sitting in front of him and an open book next to it, though it was upside down from his point of view. It also detailed extremely complicated spell diagrams.

“Oh, hello, Luna. You didn’t hear that, did you? Oh, you did, didn’t you? Crap. Well, anyway, I was hoping you could help me read this. No matter how I turn this book, I can’t seem to read it,” Hendrick said, taking another deep drink of wine. “Ooo, look, now the book is turning on its own. Magic is crazy stuff.” The book, however, remained idle.

Luna placed her hoof on the book, disgusted by the drunken stupor in which Hendrick had put himself. As she did so, she spotted an empty bottle behind him. “Funny,” he started, “the other guy seemed to be quite happy to be drunk. I just feel really dull.”

“Hendrick,” Luna began, “what’s gotten into you? What happened?”

“I acted like myself. I hate acting like myself, always hurts people I don’t want to hurt,” he said, his words slurring.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Luna asked, wondering what he could possibly mean.

“Not particularly, but it’s clear you do. So tell you what, you get rid of this drunken stupor and I’ll chat. Deal?”

“Deal,” she said instantly. Her horn flashed and Hendrick blinked. His eyes were straight once again and he took a moment to glance at the half empty bottle of wine resting next to his hoof.

“Well, crap.” He turned his gaze once more toward Luna. “I didn’t think you could actually do that.”