Back on Duty

"I see you are feeling much better," Luna said as she walked up from behind Gregory in the hallways.

"Luna! I heard you caught Spring Morning and some others."

The mare inclined her head. Her mouth quirked up in a smile, but it vanished almost instantly and her ears folded down. "I am sorry it took us so long to find you, Gregory."

He just waved a dismissive hand: "They were well prepared. I guess a lot of planning went into the kidnapping."

The Princess leaned her head to one side at the expression, then she blinked and nodded. "Oh, you mean foalnapping. Well, I'm still sorry we didn't find you sooner."

She looked quite downcast from the perceived guilt, so Greg took a step closer and laid a palm against her muzzle. "It's fine. The important thing is that I got out," he reassured the mare quietly.

Luna nuzzled his hand for a moment, then pulled away, brightening up. "Speaking of, whatever did you do to Spring Morning? She was half-asleep when I got there."

"So the potion worked even better than I thought."

"Ah, yes. What she was giving you to keep you from dreaming. How much did you give her?"

Gregory shrugged a little. "I just told her to drink it and she emptied the bottle. That's what she was giving me."

Luna nodded to herself. "That would explain it, yes. Gregory, the dose was meant for you. You weigh twice as much as a pony." He was about to apologize, fearful that he'd nearly killed the mare, changeling or not, but Luna spoke first: "It did the job, anyway."

"What about the other bad guys?"

Chuckling a little to herself, Luna patted the man on his shoulder with a wing. "There were two of them, a mare and a stallion, and they were no trouble at all. When Spring Morning didn't come down they went and tried to wake her up. When that failed, they didn't know what to do." Greg resumed his walking and Luna fell in step beside him as she continued her story. "By the time I got there, they'd worked each other into such a panic that I think they were actually relieved to be arrested."

Gregory frowned a little. He hadn't expected the bad guys to care about each other so much, especially if one of them was a changeling. They must have known, right? They had seen Spring Morning changed into Princess Celestia when she took him out for walks. They were ponies, Greg reminded himself again. Why wouldn't they care for their friends?

"So, did you get anything out of any of them yet?"

Luna nodded with a happy smile and Greg could have sworn her hooves pranced for just a bit. "Indeed! Once she came around, Spring Morning was very helpful indeed. Silvermane was not the leader of this slavery ring, did you know?"

Gregory nearly missed a step in surprise. "What? But Spring Morning always talked about him as if he was her boss!"

"He was," Luna confirmed, "but there was somepony - or someone - even higher up. Silent Spell has a few leads she is following and I am expecting a report from her this evening."

"Can I hear it too?"

Luna frowned a little at him, trying to decide if he was well enough. She caught his gaze and sighed. "I will ask Sister, alright? I don't wish to involve you further unless she is okay with it."

"That's fair."

They walked for a minute in silence, then Luna said quietly: "I'm glad you're okay, Gregory. Sister was quite worried." A moment later she added hurriedly: "And so were all of us."

Gregory reached with his hand and patted her withers, but then they were at the open door to the throne room. There were a couple petitioners inside, but it looked as if the court was nearly done. Celestia looked up from speaking with a garishly-clothed unicorn mare and smiled beautifully. Greg gave her a wave as he entered and his retinue of guards took their posts at the door, joining the two who were already there.

The other ponies in the room glanced over, some uneasily, others indifferently. Most of the populace, especially ponies from Canterlot, had gotten used to Gregory' presence, but there were some who still didn't fully trust humans. It didn't look as if Celestia would be caught up in court for a whole lot longer, so Greg simply leaned against the wall by the entrance to wait. Luna continued on and climbed the steps up to the twin thrones. She stood beside her sister and the two shared a smile, before Celestia nodded at the unicorn mare in the fancy dress to keep going.

She began explaining something about about noise from the street keeping her awake, but it wasn't all that interesting and Gregory tuned it out. He kept catching Celestia's eye and made a little game of seeing how much he could distract her from whatever the petitioner was complaining about. No doubt she'd tell him off afterwards, but it was still an amusing thing to do. At one point when she glanced at him, he gave her a little wave, which for some reason made her blush. Greg made a mental note to ask her what she'd thought of at the gesture, although not until later when they were alone.

The fancy unicorn finished her story, Celestia promised she'd look into it, and then it was time for the last two petitioners. As they approached, Luna leaned closer to Celestia and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was made the Princess smile and she gave her sister a quick nuzzle before starting to climb down from the throne. Gregory blinked in surprise and the petitioning couple stopped uncertainly, until Luna bade them to explain their troubles to her instead. It was just one case, but still a very nice gesture and Greg resolved to get Luna a little treat as thanks. Maybe he'd find out where that blueberry jam she liked was being sold.

"I thought I told you to stay in bed, Gregory," Celestia murmured as she made her way over. She stopped right in front of him and Greg laid his palm on her cheek so he could guide her nose closer for a brief kiss.

"It was boring. I'm fine anyway, just a bit sore and tired."

Celestia just nodded and looked back at where Luna was intently listening to whatever the earth pony couple were telling her. A faint smile of pride touched her lips. "So," she said, looking back, "what would you like to do?"

It wasn't a question Greg had been expecting really, but he thought fast and an idea occurred: "How about we walk down to the Saddle Row, pick a restaurant at random and order their daily special?"

For a moment the Princess looked uncertain, but then a slow smile spread across her muzzle. "Mm, sounds romantic. Are you not worried about the danger? We still do not have everypony responsible in prison."

"I know, Luna told me," Greg assured her, "but maybe seeing that I'm okay will surprise whoever it is and they'll make a mistake?"

Celestia was forced to agree with his logic, even if she didn't quite like it. Her ears splayed, but she finally nodded. "Maybe. But we will still take-"

"No guards. Give them the evening off."

"What?!"

Gregory let out a sigh and reached up to scratch an ear. "I feel safe enough with just you, Celly. Besides, I don't wanna scare half of Canterlot with a large retinue of guards." He thought of something else and his smile grew mischievous. "How do you propose we have a romantic dinner with a bunch of guard ponies around?"

His smile and wink clinched the deal and Celestia finally nodded. "Very well, Gregory. I suppose you are right."

It was a bit of a walk, but he'd resolved to start exercising more and the stroll to Saddle Row in the afternoon promised to be quite a pleasant one. Greg patted the Princess on her withers and followed her out of the throne room. He was sure Sergeant Bright Beam wouldn't like the idea of letting them go out alone, but he wouldn't disobey an order. Besides, if Gregory wasn't safe with Princess Celestia by his side, then there were no safe places in all of Equestria.

They hadn't had a real, romantic dinner out of the Castle in ages. It would be a very welcome change of pace.

"Oh, and before I forget: Aura and Blossom are making you a cake. I'll bring it tomorrow after I visit. She actually asked if she could go and learn, can you believe that?"

He almost laughed outright when he saw the joy of impending cake war with worry for the young mare in Celestia's eyes.

"Don't worry, she has guards with her."

That mollified the Princess somewhat and the cake won over. "Good. I wish you spoke with me before making a decision like that, but good. It better be a delicious cake though, Gregory!"

This time he did laugh and patted her again. "It's an Aura cake, so yeah, I think I'm covered."

Celestia snorted, but she couldn't keep a smile from her muzzle even as she rolled her eyes.

"Please be careful, Gregory," Celestia was saying as they stood in the corridor. "Are you sure you will not have breakfast?"

The man shook his head for the fifth or sixth time. "I'll be fine. You know Storm Pop and Aura. They're gonna stuff me regardless and I'd prefer not to explode today."

The Princess could not argue that and simply inclined her head. "I am sending Glory Tail and Pepper Crush with you. Make sure you-" The mare fell silent when Greg put his palm on her nose.

"Hush, it's safe enough. I'll be fine," he repeated.

With a warning glint in her eye, Celestia shook free and frowned at him. "I only just got you back, Gregory, but if you get yourself foalnapped again, I will deport you back to Earth!"

She had picked a weak threat and all it did was make the man chuckle. He put his hand right back against her muzzle. "Yeah, like you can give this up!" He gestured at his body with his other hand. Celestia's frown deepened and Greg took his fingers away a moment before she could nip him.

"Try me!"

Laughing, Greg leaned in and planted a quick kiss on the tip of her muzzle, before peeling away and looking around for the guards who were meant to accompany him. Both the sergeant and the specialist were doing their best to pretend nothing untoward was happening, but light blushes betrayed them however hard they tried to hide under the helmets.

"Well, let's go."

"One more thing," Fire Fly said from behind and the two guards froze mid-step. The Captain wasn't addressing them though. "Gregory, when you see Snow Cover tell him to get his tail right back to the barracks! He was supposed to be on duty this morning!" The unicorn seemed angry and Greg tried to mollify him, if only because he didn't want Aura to be sad when her coltfriend got in trouble.

"He's keeping an eye on Blossom. They sent a letter they were sleeping over, remember?"

Fire Fly just shook his head with a snort. "If I know Snow Cover, that was only half Blossom's idea! More like an excuse to canoodle with that pegasus!"

Gregory caught Celestia's eye and the Princess seemed to be having trouble keeping her face straight. He wondered if she would interfere, but a twinkle in her eye said she'd be looking forward to what happened. Celestia tended to find amusement in the silliest of things.

"Okay, I'll tell him."

"Good," Fire Fly said. "He is to get his tail over here right now and get in uniform!"

Greg just nodded. Having been a part-owner of the legal firm back on Earth, he understood that you had to be firm with underlings sometimes, otherwise the business culture shifted to a free-for-all. Guards needed even more discipline, by all accounts. He raised a hand and twiddled his fingers at Celestia, who inclined her head in return. That smile kept tugging at her mouth when she glanced at the Captain.

Thanks to Fire Fly's apparent foul mood, the other guards were a picture of smart efficiency and the two tasked with accompanying Gregory didn't say a single word as they left the Castle. Once or twice Greg opened his mouth to chat, but thought better of it. He had to admit that he had also been slightly worried the previous night when he and Celestia returned from Saddle Row and found that Blossom still wasn't back. Thankfully her message had arrived, explaining that she would sleep over at Aura's. Star Bright and Snow Cover were still with her and everything was fine, but it was the first night since they found her that the mare hadn't spent in the Canterlot Castle.

On the other hand, the young mare sounded like she was having fun making cakes with her new pegasus friend, so Greg couldn't begrudge her a sleepover. It was perhaps the most normal thing she'd done recently. He idly wondered just how many cakes they'd baked by now. Poor Star Bright, who was probably delegated to holding bowls, mixing and generally staying out of the way. It sounded boring.

Past time he got there and rescued his unicorn friend, then!