Luna stood on a vast plane of endless cloudscape, the dazzling night sky above her holding a such dense collection of stars that their combined light cast various hues on the clouds, painting them multiple shades of light violet, blue, and teal. Bright Skies stood before her, the pink pegasus bowing low before her. The time had finally come. After nearly a year of instruction under her careful tutelage, the time had come for the final test. If she passed, Luna would see her commissioned as a fully fledged dream walker, the first in a millennia. In ancient times, it was their duty to aid the Princess of the Night in watching over ponies in their dreams, counseling them in their troubles, and protecting them from nightmares. All while keeping vigilant for hidden patterns that might indicate a larger concern or threat to pony society in the waking world.

"Rise Bright Skies, I trust you are well?"

Bright Skies raised her head and smiled, "Yes your highness! Just a little anxious if I'm honest." She said with a nervous chuckle.

Luna smiled warmly back at her, "I imagine so, the path to dream walking is always a challenging one."

Bright Skies gave a wistful roll of her violet eyes, "If by 'challenging' you mean the countless sleepless nights, mind games, nightmares, and the ever colorful delights of dealing with all the wonderful insecurities a pony's subconsciousness can offer? Then yes, challenging. I'd hate to see your definition of difficult, your highness."

Princess Luna laughed, "Yes, well, those are the sort things, I can assure you, are instances that I shall attend to personally. Though I must say, having you at my side these last several months has been a great boon for me, my dear. Your gift of being able to lift others up, to relate and emphasize with them despite the variance in their struggles is truly what is needed most in this realm."

"You think too highly of me, your highness," Bright Skies said, looking to one side shyly.

Luna shook her head, "Nay, do not think so little of yourself my dear. But, do tell me, why did you choose to accept my invitation? I knew that there were times you seriously considered withdrawing, so what made you choose to stay?"

Bright Skies glanced down in thought for a moment. It was true, early on, Bright Skies had not been entirely sure why she had accepted Princess Luna's invitation to take instructions. It was an intriguing offer to say the least, a thrilling prospect; after all, how many ponies got the chance to aid their leaders in such a unique and privileged service? However, once the initial novelty of experiencing dream walking had worn off, and she had been exposed to the more brutal side of the job and the mental toll seeing so many nightmare's could have, she had been sorely tempted to quit. After all, what could one little pony like herself, armed with nothing more than a bit of borrowed magic, do against so much anxiety and fear? She looked back up at the Princess,

"I guess, in a way, I chose to stay for the same reason I wanted Flash when I first saw him. Somepony who needed help, and that I could help them," she said with a quick glance back at her cutie mark, a yellow sun peeking out from behind a fluffy white cloud. "I can't just stand by when somepony is in need, not when I can do something to help them."

Luna nodded approvingly, "Well said, my dear. That is precisely why I offered you this role. Well, that, and the fact that you managed a dream walk all on your own with Flash."

Bright Skies laughed, "Well, I guess you have to look for some practical reasons as well."

"Indeed." Luna replied, laughing softly herself. Her face then became more stern, "Now then, my dear. We come to the final test, the same test that every dream walker must face if they are to conquer the world of dreams. You must face your greatest fear and overcome it."

Bright Skies nodded, "I understand your highness, I think I'm ready."

Luna stepped forward, her horn igniting with white light, "Very well. Remember, this spell will reach into your soul and manifest to us what that fear truly is. Be prepared, for what it will show you may be quite different than what you are expecting. It will be most vivid, and seem more real to you than any other kind of dream that you have ever experienced. But do not worry, I shall be with you the entire time."

Bright Skies gave her a determined smile, "I trust you Princess Luna, let's do this!"

"Bright Skies! Don't look at it! It's not real! None of this is real!" Oh my stars, stop! How is this happening?! This can't be happening! Something is wrong, something is very very wrong!"

Luna eyes sprang open as she sat up on her bed, the echo of Bright Skies agonizing screams still haunting her memory of that fateful night. She could still remember how her blood had run cold when she realized that the pony was screaming not from fear, but from pain. Excruciating, soul rending pain that began to tear at the very fabric of her being, nearly driving her insane. It was beyond anything Luna had ever experienced or was even expecting. And that's when she saw it. A fear that was hers also, a fear she shared; and with horror, she understood, though too late, the gravity of the error she had just committed.

Luna looked down at her hooves and shuddered, "I was such a foal, how could I have forgotten?" She whispered to herself, remembering how helpless she had felt when she realized that she had been unable at first to stop what she had started. Mercifully, Bright Skies had been able to overcome it all on her own. She had succeeded, she had shown her true strength, and had brought that unbearable experience to an end for them both. Of course, afterwards, she had told Luna that she was fine, and that she was not upset with her in the least for what had happened. But that wasn't good enough for Luna. She had lost control of the situation, traumatized her student, and showed them both a nightmare that, with each passing week, seemed more terrifyingly close to becoming a reality.

"I shall never let that come to pass," she murmured to herself. Luna glanced up at the stately clock on the wall: 3PM. The late afternoon sun was still peaking through her drawn curtains. She rose from her bed, stretching briefly. It was time to begin her hunt. And since it was likely that her quarry slept during the day and was active at night, she knew that if she was to have the best chance of getting a trace of his dreams and through them, a sense of his whereabouts, she had to begin looking for them now.

Walking over to her desk, Luna opened the top drawer and pulled out a small photograph. It was a picture from Flash's wedding, with herself standing next to Flash, and the changeling known as Telson standing next to Ella. She stared hard at the unflappable changeling's stern demeanor, his features hard, though warmed by a smile of obvious affection for the human he was standing next to. Luna closed her eyes, drawing herself back to that day, to that moment, trying to remember everything she could about Telson in the short time they spent together.

"Alright, my crafty friend," she said as her horn ignited with white tendrils of magic, "Let us see if we can find where you lay thy head."

"Please tell me we have something." Flash said to Lumen Dawn as he stalked down the corridor of their underground headquarters, heading for the communications center. He had asked Ferra to wait for him in the main lobby after he had gone to collect her, and only after getting an earful from the Sergeant Major about the damage caused to the outdoor training facility by Ferra and Rosen’s little playdate. Lumen Dawn matched pace with him, a slight frown adorning the white unicorn’s pessimistic mood.

"Not yet, sir. We performed a sweep of the castle this morning, searching for any spells or artifacts that could be used for eavesdropping, haven't found anything yet. Rose Dust and Sugar Rush have been reviewing the visitor logs covering the last 8 weeks to seeing if anything looks suspicious. As of now, nothing has stood out."

"And what of our little wireless expert, what's he been up to?"

Lumen rolled his eyes, "He and Sharps have been hold up in the communication center since yesterday, working on Celestia knows what. Don't expect me to understand all that wireless sorcery nonsense."

Flash nodded, "Fine, we'll start in there. As of now, finding Secret Threshold takes priority over finding the leak in security."

Lumen stopped walking, raising an eyebrow at that, "What?! You want to fill me in on why?"

Flash stopped walking too, considering what he should tell him from his meeting with the General. He turned around to face him, "I just got out of a meeting with General Iron Shod and your father, Lumen."

“Is that right?” Lumen asked, his annoyance clearly increasing for some reason.

Flash nodded, "They showed me a pretty unsettling development that was discovered aboard Secret Threshold's ship, and it's not good." He then gave Lumen a brief summary of the meeting, what it was they had discovered, and his own reservations about the whole situation.

Lumen Dawn's eyes twitched back and forth for a moment in thought after Flash had finished, his mind obviously racing to absorb the new information. He glared up at the human,

"You know, I could probably be a bit more helpful to you and the team if you actually included me in these meetings once in a while, sir."

"It was invite only, Lumen."

"Bullspit. You're a department head and as such are allowed to include your own adjuncts in any meeting that you are cleared for."

Flash rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. "You're right, I'm sorry Lumen. I just didn't think that the meeting would end up being as Equus-shattering as it turned out to be and thought at the time that your efforts would be better spent here."

"And there it is!" Lumen Dawn drawled with a sarcastic wave of his hoof. "Once more our fearless leader thinking that he has to handle everything by himself."

Flash felt his temper begin to build, but let it go. He had noticed that the tension between him and Lumen Dawn had been building over the last several weeks, and that it seemed to be more than just the usual mutual dislike the two held for the other. He guessed that it was time to bring it to the surface before it caused any real problems.

It's like trying to get a mare to tell you what's really bothering her. Flash thought with a mental smirk.

“What, Lumen, tell me what it is that is that's got your bridle in such a bunch? Is this the same old ‘you and me’ or is it something else? I get it, I should keep you in the loop more, I'm sorry. But if you never tell me when something’s wrong, how am I supposed to know? That’s one of the main reasons I wanted you for this team, Lumen. Because, despite our differences, you’re not a suck up, and you’re never afraid to tell me like it is.”

The unicorn gave an incredulous shake of his head, "You really are incredible, you know that? Here you are, trying to apologize to me when you don't even realize how you've insulted me! That you think so little of me that you'll tell me potentially world-altering intel in a random hallway rather than respect my station and let me hear it in proper order!"

"It's not always about you, Lumen," Flash sighed, "I thought you knew that by now!"

"But it is about me!" Lumen exclaimed with a stomp of his hoof. "I mean, no, not so much about me personally, but what I represent!"

"And that is?"

Lumen Dawn's white horn flickered with golden magic, a translucent orb, one that Flash recognized as a bubble of silence, immediately enveloped the two of them.

"SOCIAL COHESION YOU DAFT! INSUFFERABLE! BRUTE!” The unicorn screamed in a fit of rage. Flash didn't respond immediately, surprised, though not entirely, by Lumen Dawn's sudden and uncharacteristic outburst. The pony breathed hard through clenched teeth,

"With you, it's about the mission. Always about the mission, completing the objective and nothing more! But what you're too dense to realize is that the officer corps of the guard is supposed to be more than just simple soldiers keeping the peace. No, we're supposed to set an example! Deference, manners, cooperation, a standard of order and harmony that ponies can look up to and imitate! Something to give ponies confidence that their leaders actually give a buck! So that they can rest easy feeling as if everything is under control, even when it's not! But you never think of that, do you?! NO! It'd never occur to you in your infantile way of thinking that there's a bigger picture at play here! You never could comprehend that! Not in the academy, and not now! And it's because you're such a, a-"

Flash frowned, "Go on, say it!"

Lumen grit his teeth, "Because you’re such a PEASANT!" He spat, disdain dripping from his mouth.

"The officer corps used to be exclusively made up of the noble class! Because we alone had the background, the education, and the generations of proper culture embedded into us necessary to uphold the highest standards for the ponies we would lead, the greatest honor that any pony could ask for! True, most nobles today are not worthy of their name. They can't even find their way out of their own homes without assistance let alone set a good example! But there are still some of us who keep to the old ways, who strive to maintain the standard! And what do we get for trying to check the rot in our society? Ponies like you! Privileged! Clueless! Tearing up generations of tradition and standards that were built upon the sacrifices of countless ponies before you! And in the meantime, you get to be here for no other reason than because you fell from the stars and are beloved of the Crown!”

"I earned my place in the guard, Lumen, I didn't ask for any favors!" Flash countered, keeping his temper in check.

"Oh, you're a fine warrior Flash, and an exemplary tactician, nopony would disagree with that, as much as I might hate to admit it. But at the end of the day, that’s all you are! As far as I'm concerned, you're a failure at everything else that it means to be an officer. And the very fact that you're not even aware of it, or worse, disregard that greater purpose is the primary reason why I've always hated you! Why I could never stand your very existence! So, if you're going to at least pretend to play the part of an officer and our leader, then the very least you could do is make an attempt to maintain at least the appearance of proper order and decorum instead of treating me and everypony else around you like some helpless foals who needs to be coddled all the time…Sir!"

Flash stared in open astonishment at the panting unicorn now that he had finished his breathtaking rant. Instead of feeling upset at the pony’s accusations, he found himself feeling rather deflated. The words stung, not only because of the truth Flash could perceive in them, but because of all ponies, Lumen Dawn was the one to throw back in his face the very same complaint that he had said to Luna, Celestia, Cadance, and even his own mother at times: I’m not a foal anymore, stop treating me like one!

Have I really been treating everypony that way and never realized it? Flash wondered, not sure what to think now that his childhood rival had finally revealed to him, after all of these years, the real reason why he had never liked the him. Flash had always assumed that it was because he wasn’t a pony or of the noble class, and that Lumen was just your typical arrogant rich-colt who was full of himself and thought of others as inferior to him. But now, it seemed that was not the case, at least, not entirely.

Perhaps I misjudged him.

Flash cleared his throat, finding his voice again, “Yes, well, thank you Lumen, for your most, elucidating explanation of the situation. I was not aware of how strongly you felt about this, or of my shortcomings in this regard. I will certainly take it to heart and evaluate my future decisions, thank you.”

Lumen Dawn glared at him with a critical eye for a moment longer, looking hard into his eyes, something that Flash noticed few ponies other than thestrals, alicorns, and Ferra could ever seem to do. He gave Flash an almost imperceptible nod before clearing his own throat,

“Apologies for my outburst, Captain. Yes, I’ll see to it that the team makes finding Threshold their top priority.” He said, saluting and turning to walk away, the bubble of silence dissipating with a small pop.

Flash sighed wearily, just wanting this buck-to-the-teeth of a day to be over with already.

No, not yet. Not until I figure out where we are with-

“Ah, there you are Captain Skies! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Flash spun around to see a light grey unicorn with a scraggly silver mane and matching mustache wearing a white lab coat and large round glasses practically galloping towards him down the corridor, sliding to a stop before him with an all too familiar, excited grin.

“Professor Silver Stream, what seems to be the-”

“You simply must come with me Captain! Something marvelous has just arrived!”

“But I-”

Flash was not able to finish his sentence before the ecstatic unicorn teleported them both away in a burst of silver magic.

“-was on my way, oh, never mind.” Flash said, resigning himself to whatever new demonstration his half-mad quartermaster had in store for him.

They had appeared in the lab section of the Black Guard’s R&D Department which was located on the 5th lower level of their headquarters. The walls, floors, and ceilings of the lab were colored a stark white, providing maximum illumination for the handful of technicians and lab assistants who worked there under the direction of Silver Stream.

The lab was subdivided into various sections: cubicles, work and chemistry stations, a display area with a long metal table, and a large empty room with thick, magically reinforced glass windows that stretched from floor to ceiling.

Silver Stream immediately trotted over to the metal table on which were several items and pieces of equipment, some of which Flash was familiar with, others were new.

Flash took note of three different small racks, one holding the already familiar magic concussion grenades while another held the all-new shield grenades, distinguished by the small grey shield painted on the black spheres. He really liked those, able to instantly deploy a small magical barrier spell for temporary protection from danger, magical or physical. What really caught his eye though, were the new type of grenades on the third display rack. They were black like the others, but with small grey question marks emblazoned all over the casing.

“As you’re well aware, we are constantly at work down here trying to develop new equipment for field use! Some experimental, some theoretical, those Tatzulwurm scales you brought us for example? Very tricky to work with, but we are confident that we will be able to adapt their qualities for that new armor you requested. But this!”

Slipstream immediately removed one of the new grenades from from the rack with his magic and hefted it to Flash.

“Chaos grenades!” Silver Stream proudly proclaimed, “Straight from the Lord of Chaos himself!”

“Come again?” Flash asked in surprise.

Silver Stream nodded eagerly, “Yes! Chaos grenades! Discord himself came to the lab last week, gave me quite a shock in my office, nearly dropped my lunch when he popped out of my tea mug haha! Did you know that they are serving a new brand of daisy sandwiches in the commissary? Very tasty, much better than-”

“Stay on task, Professor.” Flash said with a bemused smile.

“Ah, yes, yes, apologies. Yes, well, after poking around, Discord said that he wanted to offer his assistance to our team, said that he thought you could use a little unorthodoxy in your methods, something to keep our opponents guessing! I wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but the next day, an entire crate of these little beauties appeared over my desk, smashed it flat haha! Came with a note!” He said, hading a small folded piece of paper to Flash.

Flash opened the letter which looked like it was pieced together from cut up newspapers and magazines:

A LiTtLe sOMeThinG to kEep yOuR OpPoNeTS GUesSiNg!

Best wishes, your Friend,

-Discord

Flash looked up from the the note, “So, what do they do?”

“What do they do Captain? More like, what won’t they do!” Silver Stream exclaimed with a hearty laugh.

“But here, let me show you! Oi! Mortar! Pestel! Get your flanks over here and make yourselves useful!”

Flash watched as two lab assistants in white coats, a pair of earth ponies, one brown and one a light gold, hesitantly approached. He thought they appeared very nervous, traumatized even. He was pretty sure Pestel just whimpered.

Silver Stream ushered them into the large empty containment room with the reinforced windows, shoving a grenade into each of their hooves and walking out, sealing the heavy door behind him.

“Uh, professor, are you sure this is safe?” Flash asked.

“Perfectly! Already done it a dozen times!” He said while picking up a microphone connected to a speaker in the chamber.

“Now, both of you, activate your grenades!” Silverstream shouted.

Mortar and Pestel each glanced at each other with a kind of fatalistic resignation. One after the other, they each pulled the pins and slapped the round primer on top of the grenade.

Mortar’s grenade went off first after a delay of about four seconds. There was a bright flash of white magic and the earth pony suddenly lifted off the ground, his legs flailing wildly as he floated up towards the ceiling like a balloon and bumped into it, unable to get down.

Pestel’s grenade went off a second later. Another pop, another white flash of light. The golden pony covered his head with both hooves, eyes squeezed shut and shaking in fear as he waited for the worst. A few seconds ticked by, and when nothing seemed to happen, he dared to peek his eyes open. Glancing left, glancing right. Nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to be creamed by a three foot wide mulberry pie that hit him like an express train from the side with a loud SPLUT.

“And there you have it!” Silver Stream crowed triumphantly, “Non-lethal, unpredictable, and completely unblockable! Not unless you know somepony who can stop Discord’s magic haha!”

Flash looked in awe at the grenade still in his hand, “Incredible,” he agreed. “How long do the effects last?”

Silver Stream glanced at the ceiling a second in thought, “Oh, roughly thirty seconds, give or take.”

As if on cue, Mortar dropped from the ceiling as gravity suddenly resumed working on him, screaming as he landed with a loud splat on top of Pestel who was still pulling himself out of pie.

Flash winced at the sound, “Are they, uh, going to be okay?”

Silver Stream waved a hoof dismissively, “Oh, don’t worry about them, they love it Captain! Don’t you boys?!” He said over the intercom. All Flash heard in reply was some groaning and somepony crying that he wanted to go home.

Silver Stream rubbed the back of his head, “Ahh, on second thought, perhaps I’ll let them go home early today. For being such good sports.”

Flash nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I’d say they’ve earned it.” He said. He suddenly felt something warm and squishy in his hand, the one that was still holding the grenade. He looked down and saw that he was no longer holding a grenade, but a large yellow eyeball with a red iris that was currently blinking up at him.

“GAH!” Flash shouted while flinging the eye away from him and scrabbling backwards.

The eyeball bounced a few times on the tile floor before bursting into a cloud of steam that blocked everyone’s view for a moment. As it slowly cleared, Flash saw Discord himself standing there, wearing a sharp tuxedo and dark sunglasses. An unseen guitar was strumming a frantic chord in the background, which Flash vaguely remembered hearing at some point in a movie from earth he watched with Ella about a human secret agent working for some sort of foreign government.

The draconiquis lowered his shades, “The name’s Chaos. Lord of Chaos of their Majesties’ Secret Service.”

Everypony in the lab stopped working, turning instead to gape at their sudden guest.

“Uh, Discord?” Flash asked. “What are you-”

“Vodka martini my dear. Shaken, not stirred.” Discord said to a blue mare with a red and white striped mane holding a clipboard behind him. He snapped his claws and she was suddenly wearing a red server suit and standing behind a well appointed bar, shaking a bright silver mixer in her hooves.

Flash cleared his throat, “Discord! What-”

“Am I doing here?” Discord finished for him while taking the drink that his new bar mare poured for him in a crystal martini glass. He took a sip and leaned back against the bar, “Why I’m having a drink, I thought that was obvious. And, coincidentally, I came to see how you liked the new tech I’ve added to your arsenal! My own design of course.”

Discord vanished in a burst of magic and reappeared behind Flash, resting his mismatched limbs on his shoulders, “What do you think? Got room for a little chaos in the defense of Equestria? I thought you might find it helpful in the little endeavors you run for Celly.”

Flash nodded as he turned to face the spirit, “Well, as a matter of fact, yeah.” Flash admitted, which seemed to take Discord by surprise. “In fact, I think this is one of the craziest, most useful concepts I’ve ever seen you come up with Discord, I really wish I had thought of something like this sooner. So yeah, thank you!”

Discord’s mismatched eyes blinked at different intervals. For a second, he looked as if he were uncertain on how to accept the compliment, like he wasn’t expecting it before settling for a smug grin.

“But of course! You know, that’s just me! Always looking out for the little guy, especially my friends! Hey, and speaking of little guys,” Discord vanished and reappeared at Flash’s side, nudging him with his elbow, “Looks like you’ll probably be a proud papa by the time I get back.” He said while snapping his claws so that a large cigar appeared in Flash’s mouth.

Flash removed the sudden stogie from his mouth, smacking his lips; it actually tasted like a fairly high quality tobacco. But he was confused, asking, “Uh, get back? From where?”

“Why, from my trip with Fluttershy, of course!” He exclaimed with an exuberant spread of his arms. “She won a drawing for a pair of tickets to an all expense paid trip to see the mirror butterfly migration! Oh ho! The poor dear, you should have just seen the look on her precious face when she found out! She didn’t even recall ever entering such a drawing but hey, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, am I right? You know, she’s always wanted to see them, and now she will, but with me by her side! Of course, she could have asked any of her friends to go with her, but hey, not all of us can be me now can we? Haha!”

Flash’s mind raced for a second, sensing an opportunity. Perhaps this was a chance where he could just flip the script. He could ask Discord to help him find Secret Threshold before he left. Maybe even turn all the guns that might be in Equestria into bubbles for him or something! After all, who could stop Discord into doing whatever he felt like doing? Not even Celestia, and certainly not Iron Shod.

Discord grinned a knowing grin, “Ah, ah, ahh!” He said, wagging a digit of his lion’s paw at Flash, “I can just see the wheels turning in that little head of yours my friend, and I’m afraid the answer, is ‘no’.”

Flash looked away despondently, “Was it really that obvious?”

“Quite.”

“Yeah, thought it might’ve been worth a shot.”

Discord smiled sympathetically, “As I’ve told you and the and girls many times before, ‘How will you ever learn if I’m always solving your problems for you?’ But fear not!” He said, pouring the contents of his martini glass into his lion’s paw which formed another chaos grenade which he tossed to Flash. “You already have everything you need to succeed, young man.” He said with a friendly wink.

Flash smiled and nodded, “I understand. Thanks, Discord.”

Discord put on his secret agent sunglasses, “Well then, I do believe that is my signal to exit!” He said with a snap of his claws causing the music started up again. A random hole opened up in the floor that showed the blue sky and clouds rushing by, a parachute appeared on his back. “Till we meet again, ta-ta!” He shouted before jumping into the hole with a blare of unseen trumpets and horns, the hole disappearing with the fading strum of the unseen guitar.

With a burst of light, the lab returned to its normal state. No bar, no fancy suits. Just a young man with his ponies, and a bunch of unanswered questions.

“Sitrep! Tell me what you got, whatever it is!” Flash said as he stepped into the communications center.

“Stagecoach!” Slipstream blurted as his head shot up off the table, an empty paper coffee cup was covering one ear, one of many scattered about the table and floor. He looked back and forth and flushed slightly, “Oh, hi boss. What brings you here?”

Flash didn’t answer right away, instead turning his attention towards Short Wave who was standing in front of a map of Equestria with a subsection of the Canterlot district pined up next to it. Sharp Shot was leaning against the wall next to his fellow unicorn. There were dark circles under his pale blue eyes, though still focused and flinty with determination.

The communication center was on the second level. It was a large gray rectangular room lined on both sides with wireless sets, wired telegraphs, and printing machines that whirred and beeped. There were normally at least a few ponies in here taking and passing important messages, but given the time, Flash knew that they were out for lunch, with Slipstream no doubt telling them that he would keep the watch for them.

Flash wondered how long the three ponies had been in here. By the looks of things, for quite a while.

Short Wave didn’t even turn to acknowledge the human’s presence, engrossed as he was staring at the dozens of pins and lines of red string spider-webbing across the map before him. His brown mane was frazzled, and his jaw was slack. There were piles of loose printer paper covered in various scribbles and numbers piled around his hooves. Like Sharp Shot, there were heavy bags under his eyes. The little pony blinked his light green eyes and refocused at the wall, like somepony who had something on the tip of their tongue but for the life of them, couldn’t recall it.

“I know it’s here…somewhere…” He mumbled softly under his breath while staring blankly at the wall, as if willing it to give up it’s secrets.

Flash walked up behind him and gently patted him on the top of his head, “Hey, Short Wave, you good?”

The small unicorn jumped with a startled cry, nearly toppling over as he scrambled on his hooves for balance.

“Oh! M-Mister Skies, sir! I mean, uh, Captain! Sir! S-Sorry, I, uh-”

“Hey, hey!” Flash said softly, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “Easy there bud, don’t worry. I’m not here to banish you to the moon or nothing.”

Short Wave visibly relaxed, but he still appeared as if he could topple over from nervousness at any moment.

“Y-Yes sir, thank you.”

Flash smiled and shook his head, partly sympathetic, partly incredulous.

“Have you even gotten any sleep at all since you’ve gotten here? Sharps?”

Sharps shook his head slowly in response.

Flash nodded, “I see, that’s some dedication, Short Wave.”

Short Wave looked away sheepishly, “I just wanted to prove my dedication sir, that’s all. To show you that I’m really not a bad pony. Please don’t put me in jail.”

Flash chuckled, “Don’t worry about that Short Wave, just show me what you’ve been working on here.”

The pony nodded eagerly, a burst of enthusiasm running though his tired body.

“Well you see sir, all wireless signals run on different wavelengths that all systems can see. When one goes out, any system that is on at the time will hear it if it’s in range. Using the records Mr. Sharp Shot got me of all the wireless sets licensed in the greater metropolitan area, where most wireless sets are, I was able to check their message logs one by one and found out which ones also heard the message sent to Mr. Threshold that night.”

Short Wave gestured to his pair of maps with a few dozen pins set in it, showing the locations of various wireless sets. Some of the pins were orange, some red. He pointed to a blue pin set way down on the southern edge of the map.

“Here’s where Mr. Threshold’s ship was when we got the message. According to the logs we studied, the signal was also picked up strongest coming from this direction: here, here, and here.” He said, pointing to different red pins closer to Canterlot.

Red strings were tied to these pins, creating a definite pattern that Flash could see leading to a smaller area of Canterlot in the eastern sector of the city, about twenty square blocks. Far too large to search easily, but definitely narrowed down.

“Not bad,” Flash said, “But if the signal came from this part of the city, how come there’s no pins in this search area? Isn't there a transmitter somewhere in there?”

Short Wave shook his head, “That’s the best part sir, there isn’t! Not officially anyways! There are no registered wireless sets in this part of the city! That means whoever sent the message is using an unlicensed set!”

“Naughty ponies.” Flash said with a disapproving shake of his head.

“Yes sir!” Short Wave agreed. “So I contacted the users of two other sets here, and here,” he said, pointing to two pins set at just outside the search area. “I told them to pay attention to any signals that come out of this area, we’ll be listening too!”

Flash saw a pair of strings attached to the two registered stations, connecting them to each other and a gold pin right on the castle which represented their own wireless set, forming a triangle of sorts around the search area.

Short Wave grinned, “Whoever sent the message, the next time they turn on their wireless set and send something, based on the timing from ours and the other two stations, I’ll be able to tell exactly where they are in that area. I call it, triangulation!” He said triumphantly, planting a pin right in the center of the triangle for emphasis.

Flash felt like he could kiss the little guy. Here he was, feeling like he was losing his mind with dead ends, and with a technology that barely anypony understood, this little pony had created an invisible net for him. More importantly, he had given him hope in a day that desperately needed some.

Flash looked down at Short Wave, the pony still brimming with enthusiasm from his presentation; he noticed his cutie mark, three yellow sparks of electricity. It suddenly occurred to Flash that Short Wave was still young, very young. Not yet 16 years old, maybe less than 15. He was still slight in stature, with the gangle of youth not yet come to full maturity.

Flash got down on one knee so that he could look the short unicorn in the eye.

“Where are your parents, Short Wave?”

Short Wave’s smile faded as he shook his head, “Don’t got any, sir. I was raised in the Baltimare Orphanage. I didn’t have many friends, so I read books, lots of em, at the Baltimare Library. It’s how I learned about electricity n’ stuff, it’s how I got my cutie mark.” He said, looking back at the sparking lightning bolts on his flank.

Flash felt his heart swell with emotion at that. Being an orphan himself, he couldn’t help but empathize.

“How’d you get caught up with a pony like Secret Threshold?”

“At a local science fair I won, I built my own wireless set from scrap and other odds and ends that I had begged, borrowed, or collected from others over the years. A blue unicorn came up to me after the fair was over, offered me a job, said it would pay a lot, let me live my dreams.”

“Cold Front,” Flash said.

Short Wave nodded, “Yes sir. He didn’t tell me the job would be working for Mr. Threshold. Once I found out, I wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let me. Said they would hurt me real bad if I didn’t do the job. I was scared, so I did it. I know that doesn’t make it right but…I’m, I’m sorry.”

Flash didn’t respond immediately, instead, taking a moment to evaluate the electrical impulses produced by the young colt’s heart that he could feel coming through his bioelectric field. Steady as a calm river, he wasn’t lying. Flash flicked a glance at Sharp Shot who nodded in confirmation.

Flash smiled, slowly reaching out a hand to Short Wave to pet the side of his head. The pony flinched fearfully at first, but then tentatively leaned into the touch, especially when Flash started scratching behind one of his ears.

“Well Short Wave, I must say that you have done a great service for Equestria here today. You are a very smart, very good little pony, and I’m so proud of you. Thank you so much for your help.”

Short Wave’s eyes became glassy with tears and his bottom lip trembled as he stared in wonder at Flash before suddenly flinging himself around Flash’s chest, hugging him as if his life depended on it.

Flash stiffened at first, eyes opening wide for a second in surprise before he smiled and relaxed, wrapping his arms around the little guy in a warm embrace.

The pony was trembling and panting, his face pressed hard into Flash’s shoulder like a frightened foal who had just woken up from a nightmare.

Flash gently rubbed the back of his neck, speaking soft reassurances to him.

“There, there, it’s all right little guy. Don’t worry anymore, you’re safe now. I won’t let anypony hurt you, I promise.”

Flash glanced up and saw Sharp Shot looking down and away, as if he had found something very interesting on the floor, though Flash could see the smallest of smiles curling one side of the pony's mouth. Slipstream, however, was less subtle, resting his chin on his hooves, a smug grin on his face.

Flash rolled his eyes at him, but smiled back.

“Slipstream, get our guest here a rack where he can rest and recuperate. Get him something to eat as well, he’s certainly earned it.”

The pegasus slid out of his chair onto his hooves, “You got it boss.”

“And that goes for you two as well, get some rest. We’ve had a long couple of weeks and we need to get ready for whatever comes next. Pass the word on to Rose Dust and Sugar as well, thanks.”

Three miles away, in the eastern district of Canterlot, a black earth pony stallion named Long Shadow was working in the ground floor of an old, abandoned workshop. It used to be a textile mill, way back in the day. Before his grandfather’s father’s time. Back when labor laws were still thin, when foals still in grade school could work the mills after class was over at the end of the day. Being paid fractions of a bit for hours of backbreaking work. All the real profits going to the robber barons in the merchant guilds. Celestia, of course, had eventually clamped down on that real hard. The guilds fought her every step of the way of course, kicking and screaming through all the courts. But try as they did, they learned what many before them and after had discovered the hard way: it was impossible to hold back the sun.

Now the shop lay empty and abandoned, save for the occasional rat Long Shadow saw scurrying along the ancient base boards lining the bottom of the yellow, stained walls. The only illumination coming from a few dingy lightbulbs dangling from ancient, broken fixtures in the ceiling. From the outside, the building appeared as almost every building did in Canterlot: white, pristine, perfect. Local zoning laws saw to that, couldn’t afford for the property values to dip because of any local eyesores.

That was fine for Long Shadow. It provided the perfect place to carry out his master’s work undisturbed. And it was fitting too, a suitable representation of Equestria in his eyes. Beautiful on the outside, empty and rotten on the inside. A stark reminder to him of why he needed to work, and work quickly. His master’s deadline was only three days away, and everything needed to go perfectly.

Grabbing a screwdriver in his mouth, he made another adjustment to the mechanical timer. The timer was attached to a large cask, the size of a small carriage. Inside the cask was a volatile mixture, prepared with the greatest caution and precision. Layer upon layer of black powder, incendiaries, roofing nails, and ball bearings. A perfect spark which would ignite the cleansing fire necessary to eventually rid Equestria of all that was rotten, all that was weak.

Long Shadow stepped back and removed the tool from his mouth, wiping his brow with the back of his hoof. He smiled as he looked up at the embossed, black ‘F’ painted onto the side of the brown wooden cask.

“For a stronger Equestria!” He whispered.

Flash awoke with a small start, not realizing he had drifted off after closing his eyes to rest them. His leg felt warm. He looked down to see Ferra resting her head on his thigh, her eyes closed and her side slowly rising and falling with her gentle breathing. For once, he thought that she might actually be asleep this time and not simply taking one of her surveillance cat-naps.

He was sitting on the small red couch in his office set to the side of his desk. He had sat down to rest a moment after coming up from the communications center where he had discovered Ferra already lounging on one side of the couch with her eyes closed. He checked the clock on the opposite wall. Thirty minutes had gone by.

Must have been more tired than I realized. He thought. He considered getting up for a second, but then decided against it, just in case Ferra was well and truly asleep. Better to let her rest.

Instead, Flash began to consider all that he knew so far, all the various pieces of information, events, and interactions of the last 48 hours. He could see it all in his mind, like the pieces on a chess board. He loved chess. It was his favorite game growing up and one of the few that Sunset Shimmer would regularly play with him. Thanks to her, he had gotten pretty good at it, able to hold his own even against the likes of Luna and could regularly beat even Twilight in a match.

He loved it because it was all so linear, and yet so challenging, always having to think multiple steps ahead if you wanted to win against a clever opponent. Strategy and deception, feints and sacrifices. Getting inside the other pony’s head, trying to think as they might think so that you could outmaneuver and trap them.

Why would Threshold show me a bunch of crossbows as his best merchandise when he had a crate of firearms in his possession? Flash wondered.

It was the thought that had been bothering him ever since Iron Shod had showed him the gun earlier that day. It didn’t make any sense. Secret Threshold was a pony that had made a name for himself in the underworld by only carrying the very best and being able to get the latest tech on the market into the hooves of whoever was willing to pay for it. He wasn’t the shy type. Even if those items had been for another customer, from what he knew about the pony, he would have at least shown Flash a glimpse of them. Maybe as a way of tempting him for future business, or to see if he might outbid the other customer for the product.

It’s like he didn’t even know they were on his ship! Flash speculated, and from what Iron Shod had told him, none of the other crew they had captured and interrogated knew anything about them either. Or if they did, they were doing an admirable job of playing dumb about the whole thing.

He couldn’t help but get the feeling that there was something else in play here, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Like there was another hoof on the board moving the pieces that he was unable to see.

Flash aimlessly dropped a hand gently onto Ferra’s soft side, slowly stroking her neck and shoulder. She remained still and quiet, not purring like she usually did whenever he showed her affection.

Definitely asleep.

Flash’s thoughts then turned to Lumen Dawn’s earlier outburst, where he had basically dropped a train on him. With you it’s about the mission, always about the mission…As far as I'm concerned, you're a failure at everything else that it means to be an officer!

Flash wasn’t sure if he agreed with Lumen’s assessment of him, he thought he had always tried to be a fine officer, at least according to rules, right order, and discipline. But perhaps there really was a deeper component to it that he wasn’t seeing? Lumen Dawn certainly seemed to think so. At the very least, he could strive to be more sensitive to his XO’s worldview, even if he wasn’t quite sure he understood it himself. But he was certain of one thing, if it mattered to his teammate, it should in some way matter to him. Good leaders care about those they lead.

Social cohesion, huh? Well, I’ll definitely make sure to include him in ongoing developments as they happen in the future. Maybe I can even make sure he’s with me the next time one of the Princesses brief me on something, that’ll certainly make his day.

He looked back down at Ferra as he continued petting her, feeling the strong muscles beneath her shiny orange coat. It seemed that she had managed to groom herself since her fight earlier.

She really is a beautiful mare. Flash thought to himself, and he found himself wondering what would happen if a stallion managed to catch her eye someday. One that, you know, managed to not run away screaming.

That’d be one heck of a stallion. Flash thought with no small amount of amusement.

He wondered that if it were to happen, would she ever want to get married? To settle down? To have foals of her own? Or was she really just planning on sticking with him for the rest of her life? He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But one thing that he did know, was that in the relatively short time she had been with him, he had grown quite fond of her, as had Ella. In fact, it was becoming hard to imagine life without Ferra as part of their burgeoning little family.

Flash gave her cheek a gentle poke.

Ferra stirred slightly, humming in her sleep, a content smile on her face as she gave his thigh a loving nuzzle.

“…Mmmm…Flash? Oh yes, I’m quite fond of Flash. Pass the gravy please…”

Flash shoved her off the couch.

Ferra rolled once as she limply fell to the low-carpeted floor, giving an almost cackle-like giggle.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Flash said, shaking his head.

Ferra looked up at him with laughing yellow eyes, her chin resting on the floor.

“Mmm-hmmm….Hmm-Hmm-Hmm-Hmmmm!” She giggled in a slightly demented tone.

Flash rose to his feet only for Ferra to instantly latch onto his left ankle with her teeth and yank his foot out from under him, causing him to stumble backwards with a frustrated shout and fall to his rear on the floor next to her, his back against the couch.

Flash groaned as he wiped a hand over his face, “Ugh, you’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?”

“Most likely!” Ferra cheerfully agreed with a toothy grin, slowly licking her sharp incisors. She stood and stretched like a cat, opening her mouth in a wide, fang-filled yawn that peaked with a tiny adorable squeak. Finished stretching, she stepped forward and gave Flash a gentle bump with her head to his, nuzzling the side of her fuzzy face into his cheek with an affectionate purr.

Flash smiled and put a hand on her face, playfully shoving her away. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too, ya fanged fur ball.” He said while rising to his feet and stretching. She nipped at his fingers, following him to the front of his desk.

Flash looked down and saw a few letters on his desk. “Looks like the mail came,” he said as he grabbed the small stack of envelopes. Most of them looked to be usual business correspondents, but one envelope had on it a golden seal, embossed with the imprint of a golden fleece.

Flash smiled as he cracked open the seal and unfolded the letter contained within:

Flash my boy! Wherever have you been? How is that lovely wife of yours doing? I’m feeling cheated lately that you keep her charming presence all to yourself haha! Just thinking about you, feel free to drop by and pay me a visit anytime, I’d love to catch up!

Your friend,

-Gold Fleece

Flash closed his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning his head back in thought.

Maybe talking to somepony like him is just what I need after a day like today.

Flash grabbed his cover, turning and walking towards the office door.

“C’mon Ferra, let’s go.”

“Master? Where are we going?”

Flash smiled, “To see an old friend.”

Author's Note

Let us practice many acts of kindness and gentle charity toward those we like the least.

-St. Francis de Sales

Hello and welcome back!

No, I am not back from deployment at sea yet, but I still managed to get a glimpse of internet service out here and so took the opportunity to post this chapter, I look forward to your thoughts!

Special thanks as always to my editor Venerable Ro for helping me flesh out Flash's confrontation with Lumen Dawn, adding great depth to a character I'm going to enjoy writing more in the future.

As always, thanks for being here, and may God bless you always!

-Destiny Chaser