Arc Angel

by Valorousspectre

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Main 6, Romance, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Shining Armor, Sex
Length: 58727

Adventure, Power, Corruption, Grim sort of thing, Not a paradise

My name is Arc.

Ten years ago, I joined the gleaming order of the imperial guards under Guard Captain Shining Armour. I'm a unicorn who attended and graduated Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. My teachers call me lazy and said I never truly tried to do anything. It's not my fault I sometimes find Magic difficult. It just happens!

But something's happened, and I'm not sure I'll ever be the same after this.

(I don't mind if you guys don't like this fic, as is standard, but please, if you downthumb it, tell me what it is you dislike about it so maybe I won't stuff up in future fiction. It'd be greatly appreciated)

Thanks ever so much to Maelstrom for this image~ I chose this one over Dusty's because he's in full armour, so you get it. And this is a fic I'm working on whilst taking a break because my creative juices were dammed up working on already written storylines, even if I was adding to them. WELCOME TO ARC ANGEL! Oh, and I might have to up the rating at some stage, I'll let you guys know if I do.

(Warning, not canon to the Phobia story arc, things will be different)

Published 2012-10-11 01:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-30 06:15:09 UTC

Anguish

"So Arc, what are YOU doing tomorrow eh? Hitting on them books again?"

Boisterous laughter burst through the guard common room at my expense. This was a common thing they teased me about. I merely shrugged.

"Nope, just having your fillyfriend screaming my name all day is all I have planned."

A massive 'oooooO!' as I turned the entire thing around on the stallion prompted him to laugh and clap me on the back.

"Yeah, keep dreaming Thunderhead, she's my little angel, and you can't have her."

I looked up from my book. The common room was quite large, and was often full of ponies on their time off before or after a shift just to unwind and store armour and such before heading out and home. This was no exception. The massive fireplace roared it's merry song to the room as a heap of guards jostled and joked around. I was reading a novel at the time. A good novel and I was quite enjoying it, but one rarely gets enough peace in a place like this. I grinned up at my fellow guard.

"I know. But it did get you a good one."

He snorted with laughter and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Another stallion, heavily muscled and solidly built, had approached Nightspring sitting next to me and the entire room went quiet.

Nightspring was known as the Ice Queen when it came to dating or anything concerning intimate contact. Not in the fact that she'd flat out turn you down, but that she'd lead you on and then freeze your heart solid and shatter it like it was nothing but fragile ice. She was flirtatious, but incredibly choosy. I think she'd only ever had one coltfriend since I'd known her, and that had been for a decade at least. She was picking idly at a meal she'd scrounged from the castle chef, who had a soft spot for her and her alone. Nopony knew why, but he did, and she frequently got food from him.

"Hey there, Spring," The big stallion said, obviously impressed with himself. Nightspring turned to look at him and gave him big doe eyes, like she'd never seen a stallion like him before. Even though I knew she was leading him on, I felt a stab of irrational jealousy at that. She'd never made doe eyes at me, not even in jest.

"Wow!" She said in the most girly and gushing way possible, "What a big stallion! Such big, strong muscles~"

She rubbed his forehooves as she spoke, now fluttering her eyelashes at him. The other guys, you could see, were holding back grins and laughter as the arrogant (and obviously new) guard puffed himself up even more at her praise.

"Yep, Gym work. Bet there's nopony else in the core who looks quite like me!"

She shook her head and bit her lip seductively. I had to stop myself from screaming in my jealousy. The big stallion grinned.

"Well, I've got tonight off if you wanna go get some dinner with a fine stallion like moi."

A few of the others actually almost giggled as Nightspring made big doe eyes at him again, full of hopeful adoration.

"Really? You really mean it? Could I be that lucky?"

The self important stallion nodded triumphantly, and that's when she pounced. Her voice took on a chilling edge I'd heard one too many times before and her eyes hardened and turned to shards of ice rather than the lovely blue they normally were.

"Well you can take your stupid dinner and your self important image and shove 'em both where the sun don't shine musclemass, and start using the muscle that matters. I'm not about to go out with some musclebound, thick headed buffoon who wants me for my body and because nopony else has had me. Take a good look sugar, coz you have no hope of ever boning this little filly, nor conquering her neither. Get used to it."

The stallion looked taken aback at first, followed by shock, then a grim, angry humiliated look that spoke volumes as the entire room lit up with a cacaphony of laughter and cat calls to the elusive minx herself as she smirked at the stallion and waved him away. Left with nothing else to do, he did just as she gestured and left, sitting down on his own on the other side of the room.

Another win for the ice queen.

The guard at my shoulder laughed and looked slyly at Spring.

"Wow Spring, you're sounding a little rusty there. Arc not bothering you for even a look anymore?"

I felt a heavy blush claw its way up my face and I elbowed the guard viciously, only making him laugh harder, until Spring turned her vicious, icy gaze upon him.

"I am a little rusty, Copper Shield, are you volunteering to be a practice dummy?"

He shook his head, clamming up with a look of sheer terror on his face. She smirked and tossed her mane before sweeping a wing around my torso and drawing me close. I was so overwhelmed with the fact I was so close to her I almost missed her next words.

"Besides. The bookworm over here probably has twice the chances you other boys have."

"Twice zero is zero..." I mumbled softly and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that?" She asked loudly. I flushed and spoke a little louder.

"I said twice zero is zero, so I have just as much chance as these guys."

With a hoot, the room exploded again, this time along with Nightspring's silvery peals of laughter and her wing reflexively clutched tighter around me. Celestia be damned, these wings were the embodiment of fucking perfection.

One thing ticked off my list.

~*~

Ah, home. Home is where the heart is they say. In my case, I hate the place. Don't get me wrong, the guys are good friends with me and we are quite close, but do you know how annoying it is to be the only guy in the house not 'getting any'? Not to mention without a fillyfriend. The guys had tried to get me out and about but...

I'm a little shy around girls. See, I will stare down a pony bigger than me if needs be, and fight them should the occasion demand it, but when it comes to beautiful mares, I just fall to pieces.Of course, it's worst around Nightspring, but that's to be expected, she is the most beautiful and downright sexy mare I've ever met.

Argh, stop thinking like that.

Anyway, I'm sitting in my room when I hear a crash. Curious, I head downstairs to see what caused the commotion. It appears my room mates had the same idea. See, there's three others. Bolt Flare is a bright yellow with flaming red mane and a rare strain of red eyes. He's a wiry sort of colt like me, but he was granted with a sort of rogueish charm I couldn't even hope to master. His massive wings were his most powerful asset, he pulled long, overland runs for the post office. His fillyfriend was like a dream come true, with a pink coat and gorgeous purple and blue hairs for her mane and tail and the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen. Dusk was, obviously, a dark coloured stallion. He was quite heavily built and many confused him for a guard. He's actually a bouncer. His fillyfriend sort of reflected his dark sort of outlook on life, with deep purple coat and wings with dark blue highlights. Her mane was long and fell over one eye.

The last member of our little household's name was Shade Touch.

We have no idea what he does. But he's rarely ever home, and he has a sort of haunted look in his eyes whenever he is home and he makes a tonne of bits. He sort of blends into the shadows around the place and sometimes it's hard to decide if his coat is grey or black. His mane is a similar deal, it's difficult to discern what it is exactly. No doubt his fillyfriend, a bright, petite little mare named Sugar Cream, knew. Sugar had a silvery coat with rich reds making up her mane and tail, and her eyes were a perky sort of pink. She was seriously cute.

At this moment, the crash, it seems, had been caused by Sugar Cream crash tackling her coltfriend to the ground and kissing him feverishly, much to the humorous delight of my fellow stallions.I just felt a pang of jealousy and went back to my room.

I was due on patrol in a few hours anyway, I needed some sleep.

~*~

I don't know how I feel about this.

Mid way through my shift, I got a summons from Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Now, I'll be frank, I have never met her majesty before. I have met Princess Celestia, and I have been guarding Princess Celestia's room when her sister Princess Luna came by and entered, but I have never met the captain's wife, so why she would want to speak to me is beyond my knowledge. Regardless, I couldn't help but feel a little privileged that she would call for me by name. I had to leave a rather upset Nightspring behind though. She wanted to meet the princess too. Although why on Equestria she would want to meet the wife of the captain is beyond me. Why I wanted to meet her was beyond me, but I was sorta looking forward to it all the same, I mean it's not everyday you get called into a meeting with the princess herself. Or one of them anyway.

So here I am, walking down the corridors leading to her Majesty and her husband's room. I gotta admit, it feels weird. Getting to go into the Captain's room is... wow. Anyway. I'm looking at this door and it's way too fancy. Like almost everything else in this palace. Don't get me wrong, I like the palace, it's just... ugh, sometimes it's simply too much. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and knock on the door. I pace them carefully, making sure it sounded professional. i do have a reputation to uphold as a guard after all. A feminine voice answered.

"Come in."

Maintaining my guard demeanor, I pushed the door open and took a single step into the doorway. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was... well, much more normal that I expected. That's not to say she wasn't just as beautiful as her aunts. Far from it. She was stunning and I had to fight my urge to stare. Don't get me wrong, I am not a perv. At least, I don't think I am. I'm certainly not looking at her in a sexual way, I swear to you. The only one I have ever.. actually, no, I'm not telling that.

Anyway, she looked at me as though I was funny and waved me to come in more. I gulped and took another half step before standing at attention. She laughed softly and smiled.

"You know, you don't have to be so stiff."

I swallowed and spoke formally, as is dictated by protocol.

"I'm sorry Princess, but I am currently on duty. I'm afraid protocol must be followed."

She raised a brow at me and I could feel my stomach twisting. I wasn't sure if I had said or done something wrong, and if I had... well, she is the princess. Not to mention my CO's wife. She suddenly grinned at me.

"Well, consider yourself temporarily relieved of your shift, until such a time as I have finished with speaking to you, okay?"

This is unorthadox to say the least. Guards aren't simply 'taken' off of duty mid shift, not even by Celestia or Luna. I think my uncomfortable disposition to this idea must have been obvious to her because she smiles at me and giggles. It must have been from my uncomfortable squirming.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Shiny or anypony else. Just you and me, alright?"

I licked my lips and avoided her eye. It's not easy to accept, but she is a princess, so her word is absolute so... I relaxed and slipped into a more comfortable sitting position and hesitated before taking my helmet off and shaking my head to get my mane off of where it had plastered onto my head and neck. I flushed as she smiled at me, feeling a little self conscious. She was still smiling at me.

"I wanted to talk to you about something alright? You're not in trouble or anything like that."

I nodded, understanding, but I didn't speak. Her smile went a little melancholy.

"Now, I don't know how well you know me, but in case you don't know, I am considered the Princess of love. As such, I have a... I'm sensitive to such things. I... couldn't help but notice, and no, I haven't been spying on you."

She giggled softly and I swallowed heavily once again. I'm not sure I like how this is going.

"But I have noticed that you seem to have a great attraction to your fellow guard Ni-"

"I don't want to talk about this," I said quickly and maybe a little too aggressively as she recoiled back in surprise. I didn't like where this conversation had gone, and I certainly didn't want to talk to somepony I don't know, even if it WAS Princess Mi Amore.

"Don't be like that Arc, I just want to talk to you about it! I asked around, and found out you're the only stallion in your household wi-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

I bristled angrily, standing and jammed my helmet back on. I really don't want to talk about this, and there's no way I'm going to simply stand here and listen to this crap. I don't need to hear it, and I don't want to.

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to you go on about my personal life as though it's common knowledge and just some new topic to bring up on our first meeting. Forget it! I still have a few hours to my shift. If you'll excuse me, Princess, I have a Patrol partner to get back to."

I left before she could come up with a response.

I wanted nothing to do with it.

~*~

I woke up later that night to the urgent shaking and panicked squeaking of Sugar Cream. She looked at him as he woke up and looked over her shoulder in concern.

"Arc! Arc, you gotta get up. There's guards at the door asking for you, I don't know what's going on, but I'm scared."

I groaned and looked at her, unimpressed.

"Cream, I work with the guard, I'm sure they're just here for some sort of thing to do with duty. probably rosters or something."

She shook her head.

"I don't think so... your friend Nightspring is with them and... she looks grim."

I sighed and forced myself from bed.

"Go back to bed Cream. I'll handle this."

I staggered out of the room. It was too damn late, or early. Whatever. I haven't been sleeping for even close to long enough. Spring's excuse better be good, or I'm going to relocate her to the top tier of the tower and make her wings seem like lead. I walked downstairs and to the door where, true to Sugar's word, Nightspring stood. Strangely enough, Belladonna was on her back, and a ceremonial sword was sheathed at the side of her escort.

"What's this about Spring?"

Spring swallowed heavily and looked at me grimly. It... it's scaring me. She's never this grim. Never.

"Captain Shining has requested your presence... there's..."

She looked away. I feel a chill going down my spine.

"Spring..?"

"There's been an attempt on Princess Mi Amore Candenza's life. You.... you're wanted for questioning by Captain Shining Armour...."

She looked at me quietly, and the look I got was one of betrayal, and I'll never, ever forget it. It broke my heart and chilled my soul all at the same time.

"You're the prime suspect."

Probation

You know, there's a lot of stuff in this world I'm afraid of. Creatures ranging from Manticores to dragons and all things inbetween, Nightspring, thorns on roses and snakes, things like that. Oh, and spiders. Fuck spiders. But if there is one thing that I fear above all else, one thing that I am terrified most of in the entire world. I have decided it must be Captain Shining Armour right now at this very moment. He's glaring at me with an intensity that rivals even the sun. If looks could kill, I would be beyond dead right now. I'd be a charred, smoking mess on the floor that somepony would have to clean up. He looked like he was about to put me through a mulcher one hoof at a time, or slowly pour boiling oil on me. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say that he'd slowly peel the skin and bone away from my heart and roast it on a spit right now he looks that. Freaking. Angry.

That being said, whilst I'm terrified of him, I'm not scared about the outcome of this meeting.

I have done nothing wrong, and even if he imprisons me for a few days for questioning, which is standard protocol, I'm going to get away clean, simply because there's nothing there for me to be punished for. Alright, maybe I was a little aggressive when she wanted to talk to me, but it's a touchy subject and I really didn't want to talk about it. I didn't try to kill her. I'm sure she's a very nice mare. And if I'd taken the time to talk to her I'm sure she'd prove to be very eager to help ponies out. But I didn't, and she was still in perfect health (if a little shocked) when I left. So pinning this to me would be counterproductive.

"Arc. I have called you here as your superior officer to answer several question I have for you concerning the attempt upon the life of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Will you cooperate?"

I nodded once, sitting at attention before him. We're in his private office, and Spring and her colleague were outside the door. The look of barely disguised lust as the pair had been about to step out he gave her told me I really wanted to be out there when she shut him down, but I was in here, and they out there.

"Yes sir, I will cooperate fully and completely without difficulty sir!" I pelted out. Sometimes being a guard is so bloody boring. I hesitate for a moment before asking quietly, "Is... Is the princess okay?"

He seems surprised at my question and for a moment his dementedly furious air faded, before being replaced again just as quickly as it had faded.

"The princess, I'm told, will make a full recovery."

I suppressed my relieved smile. I may have gotten off on the wrong hoof with her, but that doesn't mean I hated the mare. She had been exceedingly gentle in her questions.

"That is excellent news sir," I said quietly in return. It is excellent news indeed. We lost one alicorn for a thousand years, we don't need to permanently lose another one. Shining cleared his throat.

"That's not why you're here. You are here because you were the last one to be seen leaving Cadance's room and, by eyewitness reports and confirmation from your own patrol partner, you were particularly angry as you left."

I swallowed heavily and nodded.

"Sir," I said respectfully, "If you would allow me to explain my position and reason that I was upset, perhaps I may clear some things up about what has been believed about my less than dignified departure from The Princess' room."

Shining narrowed his eyes at me and for a moment I was scared he was going to hit me or something similar, but he nodded his head sharply and I took a deep, calming breath.

"I was called to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's room mid shift," I said cautiously, "I was confused, but not unwilling to follow these orders. Upon arriving, The Princess requested I enter the room. I did so, however she told me I was being too stiff and that, until she said so, my duty shift was postponed. I freely admit I hesitated before following her order. Once I was seated and at ease, she began to talk to me about my private life sir. She told me she'd noticed a certain... attraction I had for a coworker of mine. I told her that I didn't want to talk about it. She persisted and I got angry. I may have said things that should not have been said sir and that may be considered disrespectful, but I swear to you I left with my helmet and did not pursue the matter further."

Again, Shining peered at me intensely. This was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I joined the guard to help ponies, certainly not to harm them. And there was no way I'd ever harm a princess. But of course, as the nature of an investigation is, everypony, even those who seem completely innocent, must be questioned if they have a possible connection to the scene or event. So I certainly didn't blame the Cap for doing what he was, or is, doing. I stood at attention, as any good guard should, even under duress. Although I think it was more to stop my knees from shaking.

"My wife," Began Shining ominously, "Has been assaulted by somepony, Arc, and you were the last to be seen leaving her room. I hope you understand why I say I must detain you for several days as of today whilst we question a few other ponies. This is not some petty crime, Guardspony, this is a serious offense and I will find out who has done it and when I do, I will make sure they wish they'd never been born into this world. If I find out you're lying to me and it was one of my own ponies that harmed her, I will come for you and I will do so baying for your blood, do you understand me?"

I gulped heavily. Even though I knew I'd done nothing wrong, his words, his expression and the tone of his voice alone was enough to chill me to my core. I knew he was intense, but this was borderline obsessive and psychotic. Or, that's what I think. I nodded slowly.

"I understand completely sir. I may not understand your grief, but I understand your intentions and reasons."

"Good," He replied curtly, "Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to bind your magic and put you in a holding cell under armed guard. Armed because you are one of us and are therefore capable of fighting efficiently. You will be held until such a time as I believe that we are clear that you either did or did not do the crime, in which I will call you and the charges will be leveled."

A sudden crash from outside the door made me spin around, searching for my magic out of trained habit. I looked over my shoulder to Shining and he nodded to me. Turning back, I walked cautiously over to the door and opened it. The first thing I noticed was the unconscious body of Nightspring's companion, a small amount of drool on the floor under his muzzle and a large bruise already forming between his eyes. Nightspring was glaring at him angrily and more than a little disgustedly. Shining walked over and she stood at attention instantly, saluting him smartly.

"What in the blazes is going on out here!?" He demanded forcefully. I've never known the Captain to swear.

"Self Defense sir!" Nightspring spoke back, "My colleague believed he could out macho me sir in an attempt at a risque activity and I knocked him a little against the door sir. I don't believe he'll die from it sir."

Shining looked dully at the stallion drooling onto the marble floor and sighed.

"Nightspring, you've been here before for beating up the other guards, when will you learn?"

He raised a hoof as she went to speak.

"But, considering the circumstances, I'll accept your report and send you on your way. Unless you want to be the armed guard for Arc in his time in a holding cell."

She looked at me and i gulped. I'm in no position to protest or suggest my guards. She shook her head with a sigh.

"No sir, I'm a friend of his and therefore cannot be trusted around his cell sir... it'd be against protocol."

I felt my heart sink as Shining sighed and I let my head hang.

"Alright then. You can go then Spring, try not to knock anypony else out though alright?"

"I'll try sir!" Came her answer before she trotted away, no doubt to put Belladonna away. I heard rather than saw Shining turn back to me, the edge creeping back into his voice.

"Now then. Let's get this over with."

~*~

I did exactly what I said I would. I cooperated quietly and without fuss. I was led down to the dungeon level of Canterlot Castle and took the momentary sickness and dizziness that came from have your magic bound all in stride. I was going to be down here for a few days anyway, so I might as well get used to it now. The cell they have me in is small. There's a bed in the corner and it has flowery bed sheets that look newer than the other cells. They've got me in solitary, not because I'm dangerous, but for my own protection really. If they get another prisoner, they may try to attack me simply because of what I am. I was pronounced 'temporarily relieved' of duty, which is to say they're not sure if I'm fired yet or not. It's all just a waste of bloody time.

Come to think of it, this bed isn't too bad, but the sheets are scratchy. Colourful, sure. But scratchy. The two guarding me consist of a pegasus and a unicorn. The pegasus seemed to thing like Spring did, because he had a pair of wingblades on. A wingblade is a sheathe of metal that goes around the main muscle and bone of the wing. The leading edge is sharp and the entire thing is made up of multiple parts so the pegasus can still fly with it, albeit with special training. They're a deadly weapon if maintained, and this stallion obviously knew how to look after his weaponry. The other is a unicorn mare. She's got a pair of what looks like scimitars at her side. How she got a hold of two weapons is beyond me, since I'd only ever seen somepony have one weapon at any given time. Mind you, she looked like she could handle them both. Oh, and just to clarify, Wingblades come in pairs and are considered one weapon per pair. They're both wearing the golden armour of the day guards.

It's rare you see any Knights down here.

Apparently, according to the rumours, The prince ended up down here for some reason or other back before he was who he was. They also say he escaped. Some say he slaughtered his way out, some say he sneaked out, others still say he simply vanished. Whatever the case, the rumours say he was here and he escaped. Not that I have any plans to escape. There's no need. Anyway, since then apparently he didn't let his guards stand in the dungeon. I don't really understand why, even if the rumours are true. Guards are still important, especially to guard dungeons.

Weird.

Anyway. Oh, hey, I haven't told you guys about Prince Defender. Jeez, sorry about that.

The Prince is large, really large. Rumour has it he was the first of the true Night guards. There's been ceremonial night guards since Luna returned, but they only donned the armour for a few hours at a time at maximum. Apparently, he was the first and he was the leader. He's a white alicorn, like Celestia, but his mane and tail flows like molten gold. His horn is long and proud, like all alicorns. I think he sharpens it for potential combat use, I'm not sure. He has as much power as Celestia and Luna, but I don't think he quite understands how to deal with it all. See, again rumour has it was used to be a pegasus who pledged himself to Luna. I'm not sure how that'd work, but I'm not about to question the ligitimacy of a freaking rumour. Apparently, Princess Luna was stolen away and a heap of her guards killed, leaving only Defender and a brave pegasus guard. He was, according to rumour, framed and locked away. He escaped, and then made his way through some of the deadliest terrain in Equestria to save his missing princess.

Here's where it gets ridiculous.

So, he finds the princess after fighting through a veritable army of cultists and discovers she's reverted to her jealous self, Nightmare Moon. May I remind you that Nightmare Moon DOES. NOT. EXIST.
.
Jeez, a silly old mare's tale if I ever saw one. Stupid.

Right. Anyway, apparently he had to fight off demons to get to her, and that one actually wounded him so that he could never fly again, which is pure rubbish since I've seen him flying around the castle at night. According to this, the creature got the upper hoof before Luna stepped in (Miraculously as herself again, go figure!) and killed him by making him explode or some silly rubbish.

Apparently he went into her room soon after and resigned, then came out without a scratch on him and with wings in perfect condition.

Can you believe the bullshit I had to sit through to hear a featherbrained story like that?

Demons. Pffft, stupid. There's no such thing as demons. Demons, Alencar, the underworld. there's not such thing as any of them as far as I'm concerned. The only goddesses I worship sit upon the thrones of Equestria and that's how it's going to stay, mark my words. I'm a pony of little faith, but I deem Celestia and Luna as the godesses, Prince Defender is a bit of a long shot, I'm not sure where to put him, but I'll figure it out.

A clatter interrupted my thoughts and I looked over to the door. They'd unlocked it and placed a tray of food down. To my surprise, the pony now looking at the floor, wings sagging slightly and Belladonna strapped tightly to her back was Nightspring.

"Spring?" I asked incredulously, "What're you doing here?"

She looked up at me and I saw a flicker of annoyance.

"Bringing you something to eat you idiot, what does it look like?" She demanded heatedly and it made me smile.

She was okay. And that made me feel a whole lot better. She flushed slightly and looked away.

"The guys told me you were sorely missed for dinner," She said stiffly, "I think they're missing their teasing dummy."

I chuckled at that. They would pass on such a message for me.

"Tell them don't worry, I'll be back with them in no time, it's just a routine investigation."

A saw a small smile on her face as she answered quietly.

"I'd like that," She said softly before looking at me with a smile, "I think I'd like the attention not on me anymore. I like attention, but this is a little too much for me. So don't think it's because you're anything special, coz you're not, you're a bookworm and a nerd and you read too much, but at least you don't ogle my flank or make puppy eyes at me."

She smirked as I blushed and averted my eyes and I heard her giggle.

"Wait, yes you do. You just try not to."

Another soft giggle and I heard the sound of rustling feathers as she took a step back.

"I'll see you soon then Arc. I pulled some strings to deliver this today, so I'm afraid I can't see you again until you get out, alright? But I..."

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"I managed to wheedle something special out of Silver Stake for you, so you owe me."

I laughed softly and nodded my head. Silver Stake was the chef, and she was the only one who called him by name.

"Yeah, I'll make it up to you sometime."

She blushed and smiled. This was weird, I'd never seen her act like this.

"Make it up to me over dinner when you get out then."

At my wide eyes, she bristled, flushing brighter.

"Only as friends! Completely platonic! Don't get any stupid ideas!"

I grinned and winked at her playfully, knowing full well I'd pay for it later.

"No promises~"

Potential

There was a burst of light and I felt my blood boiling in my veins, heart racing and a blindingly powerful second flash exploded from my horn not a bare millisecond later. I heard the guard cry out and adrenaline surged through my system as whatever it was my body was doing affected him. I felt something hit me hard and I fell back. It hurt, and whatever it was, I'm sure I'm going to have a bruise from it. As I hit the ground I felt the burst of power shut off and I felt exhausted as I fell onto my back and hit my head on the ground. As I lay on the ground, I tried to get back my bearings, and tried to force down the bile rising in my throat with, and I'm glad to admit, great success. The twisting sensation as my stomach contracted, looking for something to digest, hurt like hell though and I groaned in pain. The world was spinning around me, even with my eyes closed. I waited for the sensation to leave me before opening my eyes and becoming dizzy once again as my vision spun. Blinking rapidly seemed to help, and after a minute or so it stopped and I managed to sit up, groaning painfully from the new bruise forming on the back of my head, and looked over at my attacker.

He lay flat on his back, his spear knocked out of his grasp. He looked like he'd pulled out of a dive when he was moving too fast. I've read up on the effects of gravity and speed and aerodynamics and such things, and pulling out of a dive in a turn too sharp will affect your head and can potentially rip off a pair of wings. Not only that, the thin blood vessels around the eyes can rupture, causing black rings around the eyes. He looked a lot like that. There were rings around his eyes and one of his wings was at a bad angle. I wasn't sure if it was broken or dislocated though. But he was definitely out cold. And if he wasn't, he was a really damn good actor.

I approached him cautiously, my stomach grumbling irritably at me, and pushed him gently over onto his stomach so I could examine his wing. All guards are taught basic field medicine, and I was no exception. Thankfully for this pegasus, his wing was only dislocated. Forcing myself to focus, I put my hooves on his torso and gripped his wing in a wreath of my magic. I took a deep breath to make sure I don't fuck this up, since that'd hurt him even more, and wrench it back into place. Even in his unconscious state, he cried out as the pain lanced through his mind. I know how much relocation hurts, I'd dislocated my fetlock once in a sparring match. Granted, it'd knocked out my opponent, but the ringmaster told me never to do that in a real battle. I'd also dislocated my left hind leg at one stage when I was racing Nightspring. She'd found it utterly hilarious at the time and had, I swear, seemed to take great pleasure in the pain it brought me when she pulled it back into place.

Now that I had relocated it to it's proper position, I opened up his satchel to check it. The guard's satchel is only granted to those going outside the city or along the outskirts away from restaurants and such in order to carry vital resources. In this case, what I was looking for was a roll of bandages. I found it quite quickly. My friend here liked to keep his bag neat I suppose, and I started to wrap up the wing joint to reinforce and strengthen it. I froze as he groaned quietly in pain before finishing my job as quickly as possible. Satisfied my job was well done, I took another cursory look around the camp site. It looked as it was, disturbed now and his spear was not so far away. A thought entered my head and I trotted over to it to see if it was usable or not. They make weapons pretty tough for us, so why wouldn't it be?

The broad, laurel leaf shaped blade that had made up the tip of the spear was shattered, and the haft was bent ever so slightly. I don't know what I did in that instant that he attacked me, but whatever it was, it clearly worked. A closer inspection has revealed the places where the pegasus had held the haft to be very slightly charred, like lightning had struck it, but very weak lightning. I doubt that's what knocked the poor guy out.

Thinking about this reminds me. He called me a murderer. Not just attempted murder of Princess Mi Amore, but actual killer of two guards.

I trotted back to him and reached into his satchel to retrieve a ration pack. He had about four or five, he'd be alright without one. Sitting by the dead fire, I opened the pack up, still thinking.

Murderer. I'd been called a lot of things in life, most of them in jest from my colleagues, but murderer takes the cake. I haven't even been able to kill a killer before let alone a princess or two guards. I can only assume that he was referring to the guards that had stood outside my cell for the three days I'd been imprisoned. Although I never knew them and they weren't responsive to anything I said, I didn't want them to die. Nopony deserves to die, no exceptions. But if they were dead, how had they died? I certainly didn't kill them, they knocked me out. I don't remember anything since then until I woke up out here. There's no way I could have killed them in my sleep, let alone...

The blood.

The blood on my hooves. Somepony else must have murdered the pair and them smeared their blood on my hooves, make it look undeniably true. But wanted for the attempted murder of the Princess? I thought Shining had said I was just a suspect? That was all just protocol, I'm certain of it! There's no way he could actually believe anypony about something as stupid as that. Then again, perhaps it's not so stupid. it might be possible. Questionably so, but it is possible. But how did they tie my hooves to that case? I left nothing behind that could be used against me, so that's completely out of the question. I don't even own any weapons. Could he have assumed because I 'escaped' from jail that I was the culprit? No, that can't be right either. Shining is a meticulous stallion, especially in regards to investigations. Even the smallest thing could hold evidence, and Shining knew that. So there was no way he'd view my 'escape' as a testimony to my guilt... I think. At least, it lowers the chances. I mean, I stayed in there, without complaint and without attempts to escape, for three whole days. Why would the guards decide to just up and knock me out, and then get dump me out here? And how had they died, and managed to get their blood on my hooves?

Ugh, just thinking about it was giving me a headache. And the taste of the cheese in this thing is freaking terrible.

Bleh.

I throw away what was left of the ration pack, which was just the cheese. Coincidentally, it landed on the fire by the way. In any case, I couldn't stay here. I had to move. When princess back there wakes up, he'll have a heck of a headache I reckon and his wing'll be hurting him for some time. I can't go back to Canterlot obviously. Not till I figure out a way to clear my name anyhow. I've read the stories before, trying to go back and explain everything never works. Ever. So I can't do that. And if they think I've killed two guards AND tried to kill a Princess, I won't be allowed to go free as I want, he'll send out somepony to track me down. Can't let somepony as 'dangerous' as me go around the land.

I suppose the next question is where can I go? I have no bits, so I can't buy anything, I have no tent and no survival gear. Hell, I don't even have my armour. I'm in no state to merely travel randomly, but I don't see how I have a choice. With a probably melodramatic yawn, I stand up and look around. It doesn't seem to be late, I think I still have a few hours of daylight left at least. Well, with no other place to go, I pick a direction at random and start walking, trying to ignore the rumbles of my still grumbling stomach and the persistent itch of a thirst not quite quenched.

~*~

I thought I'd seen the most beautiful scenery in Equestria gazing upon the great gardens of Canterlot Castle. Never in my life did I imagine I'd be wrong.

I have been walking for hours and the sun is beginning to set. Thankfully, I didn't run into anypony or anything particularly dangerous. There was a trio of Diamond Dogs that eyed me from a distance, and followed me for some time, but they didn't bother me. If I'm right, the patrol who found me wasn't sent out to find me specifically, and no doubt Shining would take a few days to fill in all the paperwork before he did send anypony out, so I'm safe for a few days.

I think.

Anyway. I was saying about the view before I got lost in my thoughts. It's a beautiful scene. I never just grass could be so breathtakingly beautiful on it's own like this. The soft oranges and yellows from the setting sun illuminate it, and it almost seems surreal. I can see a flower patch every so often, but they're never terribly big. They're just as beautiful, their natural reds, whites and blues tainted by the beautiful light filtering down to them from all of Celestia's hard work. I stop, if nothing but to simply stare at the beauty of the scene before me. It's a place like this that I can envision taking the mare of my dreams on a first date. Taking.... Taking Nightspring...

And there it is. The topic I've been trying to avoid all day.

I... I miss her. I know this is stupid and pathetic and I'm a guard and I should be stronger but... I can't help it. I miss her smile, as teasing and mischievous as it is when it shows, and I miss her eyes. I miss simply seeing her each day, and the sight of her in her armour. I blush as I remember a memory, I had walked into the common room late one night to find Spring in there, struggling to take off her armour. the buckles had tightened and she was having difficulty breathing as her chestpiece pressed on her sternum. I'd helped her loosen them the best I could with my weak magic and she'd finally been able to slip out of it all. All except the helmet. She seemed so beautiful and sleek when she slipped out of it like that, and then when she'd finally taken off her helmet and flicked her mane back how she always did she was the picture of perfection.

I can imagine the ribbing I'm going to get when I get back to the core and she sees me again for the first time. She's probably going to hit me a few times, maybe push me around. There'll be a lot of insults being thrown around at me from her, there's no doubt about that. Maybe she'll still be willing to go out to dinner... even if it is only as friends as she wanted it.

I have to stop thinking about her.

I need to make camp. The first rule of survival is to make sure you have suitable protection from the elements.

Fuck.

I'm in grassland, and there's not a tree to be seen as far as the eye can see. I have no tent either, and with my weak magic and in my condition, it's unlikely I'll be able to create one like so many others would. But with no other option, I'm not sure what choice I have. So I start to concentrate.

Making something from scratch is possibly one of the most difficult things a unicorn can learn to do. You have to know exactly what it is you're making, and you need to pump a lot of power into it. Since I know I can't do this, I'm going to stick to transmutation and manipulation. I'm not terribly good at either of them and I am working off of limited reserves, but dammit I have to try. I start by focusing on the grass around me and making it grow. That's easy stuff, a foal could do that. I know, I've seen a foal do it. That, of course, is nothing. Weaving strands of hardened earth around that is significantly harder. See, Earth can't be moved really due to the fact it'd just fall down without any sort of support. Instead, I had to replicate and transmute the strands of grass into earth, stone if I could manage it. I can feel sweat dripping from my forehead as I work. I'm basically making a giant basket with an open roof, so more like a cone I guess, of dirt and grass. I can feel my magic wavering and I'm trying to compensate, but it's difficult.

Finally, it's done. And I've been left as a quivering mess on the floor. I guess I can't really call it floor yet. A flash of magic though and I've got the grass that was trapped in here cut and laying on the hard ground in a semblance of a floor. I'm fully surrounded by grass and hard packed earth, and I have never felt more vulnerable in my life. Magic was never my strong point, but I've never been this alone and this helpless.

I can only hope that nopony finds me before sunrise tomorrow.

~*~

Celestia help me.

I have never felt so ill in my life. My eyes are burning in their sockets and are clogged up by some disgusting muck, my nose is blocked up and is running. My throat has swelled up and it's difficult to breathe. That's not to mention the massive headache I have and the tightness of my chest. It feels like I'm being squeezed in a giant vice, like the castle blacksmith uses, only much bigger. I wish I had my armour. I'd feel safer encased in metal. My hooves shake as I look at them, and my knees are quaking under the strain of holding me up. I don't know how long I've been walking, and I don't know which way I've been going. There's picket fences either side of me and I know I'm walking on dirt.

Dirt.

I have decided I hate dirt. Dirt is... Ugh, it's just so dirty! It gets everywhere, like sand. Brown, disgusting and annoying sand. Not only that, you can't wash it off without it turning into mud. Mud! Urgh... My stomach is twisting in me, it hurts... It hurts to move, it hurts to think, it hurts to talk... Everything hurts and I can't feel my nose anymore. My head is heavy... like it's filled with dirt. Dirty dirt. Or rocks. I hate rocks. I stood on one a little while back and it hurt me too.

Oh please Celestia, help me. What did I do to deserve this? I was a loyal guard, I was humble, I was dutiful. Why does all the bad stuff happen to us? The good, honest and loyal soldiers? I didn't even know your niece, why would I be interested in killing her? Let alone two guards...

I raise my head to the sky with a titanic effort and yell at the sun. Celestia's the Princess of the sun right? Surely she can hear me... right?

"Celestia!" I call in agony, "Please! Take me back! PLEA-HEE-HEASE!"

I slump to the ground in agonizing pain, crying. I can't help it. I'm a guard and I'm crying because of a stupid little... oh fuck it, fine it's serious. But I'm a guard...

"No, Y-you're a guard," I tell myself angrily before coughing a few times and wiping away the tears from my cheeks and the mucus from my nose, "You're g-gunna get up a-and keep w-walking."

I tried to get up, I really did. I don't know how long I tried to get up. I don't know how many bruises and scrapes and cuts I managed to rack up doing so either. I vaguely remember cutting my nose, and splitting my lip. I tasted blood at one stage. When I finally swam back into conscious thought, I think I might have traveled a few meters in all my attempts simply to get up. I give up. Where's the point? I may as well just lay down and die here... I'm going to die...

And I'll never see her again.

Nightspring's cheeky little smiles, her cocky half grins, her teasing tongue pokes... She was such a flirt... such a beautiful, lovely flirt... and I never even stood a chance...

My blood is boiling... I can feel adrenaline in my system and I try desperately one more time to force myself up only to fall back down. It's dark... night? I can't tell... I can barely see... I can feel magic, raw power flooding me and it hurts. I lift my head and roar my pain and frustration to the sky and there's a flash of light, a bright white flash of light and my voice cracked and failed completely, and then all I feel nothing.

Darkness... swept me away.

One Sexy Apple

I remember flashes. Bits and pieces of random voices, all with a southern, countryesque accent common on farms. I remember strong hooves and a broad back. I remember smelling hay, sweat and apples. I remember... Actually, I don't remember much else... I think there was... yes, I remember water on my lips a few times, but not much more than that.

In and out of complete unconsciousness... Swimming in a sea of darkness and dreams... Dreams I can't remember.

Darkness...

~*~

Urgggh.... I feel so weird...

I want to open my eyes, but they're so heavy. So very, very heavy. I can feel sheets covering me, and the heavier feeling of a blanket on top of it. It's hot, but I don't want to move... Urgh, hell with it. I push the blankets off of me only to feel them be slid back on. Grumbling irritably, I kick them off again. They're replaced just as quickly and I kick them off again violently, throwing them off the bed I guess, because they didn't return, although I felt a hoof on my head feeling my temperature. I find it strange that it felt so close to the horn. It dimly registered that the best place to check a unicorn for their temperature was just below the hollow the horn had in the skull to accommodate for the extra bone. Ah bugger it.

I force my eyes open just a little bit and light streamed into them, momentarily blinding me. I groaned and covered my eyes with my hooves. I hear a concerned voice in a country like accent.

"Whoah there sugar hold ya horses. Ain't want ya to get any worse than ya already are."

I nodded slightly and slowly opened my eyes a little more. My vision slowly cleared and what I saw... oh my Celestia.

I swear she must have been an angel. Her orange coat was shining in the dim sunlight streaming in through the window and her luscious golden blonde mane cascaded down her shoulders as she leaned over me, her big emerald green eyes were wide and so absolutely entrancing I was captivated. From my vantage point I could see that her shoulders were powerful and she had cute little freckles on her face. I think I must have smiled, because she smiled.

"There, ya feelin' better there Sugar?"

My smile widened I think, because she giggled softly.

"Hey there..." I said quietly

"Howdy," She replied just as quietly, "Ya feelin' better?"

"I am now that you're around~" I replied dreamily.

What. What the fuck? Why the fuck did I say that? What the fuck brain?

Sorry, can't brain today, apparently I have the dumb.

Despite this, she blushed and, surprisingly, didn't say anything mean.

"Well, that's nice of ya to say there Sugar but uh... Ah think yer a mite bit delirious. Ya were in bad shape when mah brother and Ah picked ya up."

I frowned and I think I must have pouted or something similarly embarrassing because she giggled again.

"Now now then Sugar, ain't that Ah didn't appreciate it, and Ah know ya meant nothin' by it."

Ouch. Shot down in flames even when I'm sickly and looking up at possibly one of the most beautiful mares I've ever seen. I have such bad luck with this relationship stuff.

"Oh," I croaked out painfully. Wait, where did the pain come from?

Oh that's right. I shouted my throat to pieces. Great.

"I'm sorry," I managed to croak out, "I may have been a bit... loopy... for a moment there. It's the light and ambience I think."

"Somethin' left over from ya sickness too no doubt. If it makes ya feel any better sugar, ya ain't too bad yerself."

I felt my face heat up as a blush lit up my face. Desperate to change the subject, I asked the first thing that came to mind.

"Where am I?"

The mare's face lit up and she smiled proudly.

"Yer on Sweet Apple Acres! Mah farm."

"Your farm..?" I asked quietly, "You seem a little young to own a farm."

She bristled at that.

"Hey! Just coz Ah ain't as old as most other farmers don't mean Ah cain't handle mahself ya got that?"

I flushed, embarrassed. I had meant no disrespect.

"I... I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect. I never meant to insinuate you were incompetent."

"S'alright," She replied grudgingly, "t'aint fair of me to go off atcha like that."

In a sudden burst of insight, I knew exactly who she was. I'd seen her likeness before passed around the castle with orders of VIP clearance for Canterlot Castle.

"Hey... Hey, you're Applejack. You're that farmer from Ponyville, grows the apples Princess Luna insists the castle staff stock up on!"

Her happy beam returned full force at being recognised and she nodded.

"Eeyup! That's me! Mah brother delivers them 'imself! In fact, he met his fillyfriend in Canterlot."

She paused and a irritated frown formed on her angelic visage.

"Ain't sure Ah like her though. She's a bit... well, she's very busy all the time, Ah don't have a problem with that, but she's got a real problem with mah authority."

I chuckled slightly.

"You know," I said in reply, "I have a.... a very good friend who has a very similar flaw. She really doesn't like being ordered around and she's not afraid to let you know it, often very bluntly. She's... She's very flirty, very choosy and she, in the whole time I've known her, has only had one partner."

She nodded gently.

"Yep, Ah've met a few flirts mahself over the years. Where's this friend of yours now?"

"Oh... she's back home."

I can hear my voice crack and break as I speak of Nightspring. The look she gives me is skeptical, as though she's not sure if I'm telling the truth about something, but I think she'll let it go.

"And where is 'home' for ya Sugar?"

"Canterlot," I replied dully, "She's a royal guard up at Canterlot."

I can sense her surprise, even though I'd looked down as I'd said it. I guess this town didn't see many visitors from Canterlot.

"Why is it every time we have visitors, they're from Canterlot?"

Well, I never said I was always right.

"Hey, I didn't say I was from Canterlot!"

The look she shot me was both unimpressed and one that said 'really?' in a really sarcastic way all at the same time.

"Then where ya from stranger?"

I flushed again and looked away.

"Canterlot."

"Toldja," She said flatly.

Normally I'd consider conversations like this in the morning as troublesome, but considering the nature of my company... I don't think the morning is going to be anywhere near long enough.

Mornings with a beauty such as Applejack rarely ever are.

~*~

Applejack insisted that I stay in bed for the next day, even after my rather powerful rejections to the idea. As it turned out, I'd slept for three days straight, my sickness waxing and waning through the days I was here. According to Applejack, her brother and I found me after a bright beam of light lit up the sky three nights back. If they found me, that means anypony hunting me could follow me and find me as well. I spent most of the day in bed being attended to by Applejack's teenage sister Applebloom. She was a cute girl, but I'm much too old for her, and I don't think her sister (or her brother, who I also met. He scares the hell out of me) would appreciate me taking any sort of untoward or romantic action towards her little sister.

I think the main problem that kept me in this bed was that I couldn't possibly tell Applejack why I had to leave so quickly. And of course, without a reason she wasn't letting me leave until she was positive I'd healed completely. Thankfully I'd been well fed whilst I was here, so that was something. Applebloom is actually in the room right now trying to get me to drink some water, despite my assurances that I'm alright. She's been with me almost all day, and she's been uh... well, she's been babying me I suppose. Much more than was necessary and much more than her sister would. Big Macintosh (The brother) was always out in the orchards tending to the apple trees and other crops.

I'm starting to wonder about this young mare.

"So AB," I asked cautiously, making her look over to me after putting the mug of water down moodily, "Tell me, do you have a coltfriend or hasn't anypony struck lucky with you yet?"

She blushed brightly and I swear I saw a triumphant little smile on her face.

"Nah, nopony yet Arc. Ain't like mah sister nor brother help none though. AJ is a great sister, but she chases all the colts away, and Big Mac is a good teacher and brother, but just him bein' him scares a lot of colts away. He don't even mean to."

The country accent of Applebloom and her family was a welcome break to the Canterlot Socialite's accent. I'll admit, my Canterlot accent is definitely very well defined. I was born in Canterlot, and my parents were as well so my accent is certainly that of a Canterlot pony. It's still nice to hear something not so... sophisticated? I guess that's the right word.

"That's a pity Applebloom. They'd be lucky to have you."

She blushed a little more and giggled.

"What about yaself? Surely ya got a special pony of yer own right?"

I hesitated. Let's consider this for a moment. If I tell her no, I think there's a definite possibility she'll come onto me, which would be a big problem. Obviously I can't start dating now, let alone somepony as young as Applebloom. She's a lovely girl, don't get me wrong, but I just can't do it. Not to mention her siblings would hunt me down to the ends of Equestria and probably beyond to carve out my tripes with a dull letter opener. Also, in this respect, I'm sure that there are some of the country's hunters wouldn't hesitate to use ponies close to me as bait. And if I got too close to AB...

Well, I just know the system.

On the other hoof, if I tell her I've got a sweetheart back home, maybe, just maybe, she'll leave me alone.

"Well, now that you mention it," I said quietly, "There is somepony waiting for me when I go home."

This isn't a complete lie at least. I'm hoping that Nightspring is willing to wait for me to clear my name, and maybe still be available for that dinner. She actually seems disappointed now, but I can't say I regret my decision. Although this might just be me being selfish and hopeful. I'm not certain. Either way, I said what had to be said, nothing more and nothing less.

I hope.

Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm new to this whole adventure thing, so naturally I am sort of apprehensive of what the hay I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing, and obviously I've already made a mistake in getting sick. Not to mention I've had terrible luck with being the consciousness being knocked out of me once, and not taking another ration pack from the guard I had to knock out to get away with my life. Sucks to be me so far.

"Oh. So uh... what's she like?"

An idle smile climbed onto my face as I thought of Spring.

"Oh, she's beautiful, flirty, teasing. She's got a bit of a tough exterior to some ponies, especially ponies who show interest in her. But she's got a heart of gold and I've never known her not to stand up for her friends. She's always been there for me, and she's never let me down before. I doubt she will this- no, I know she won't this time either. I've only been away for six days... and I already miss her."

There was a bitter disappointment in her voice as she replied. It went against a lot of me simply to say that. I hated lying, even if it was only a half lie. It makes me feel... despicable and wrong.

"Well, She's a lucky mare then. Lucky to have somepony like you in their life."

I couldn't help it. The whole idea that Nightspring was lucky to have somepony like me in her life was enough to make me laugh. Nightspring didn't need me. She never had and she probably never will. She was superior to me in every way. She's faster, stronger, more agile, flexible and all round better, she makes friends easier, more outgoing, and everypony seems to fall in love with her.

"No Applebloom, I'm lucky to have her in my life. She's pretty amazing."

She didn't seem terribly impressed, nor did she look convinced. But she did drop the subject, which is all I could ask for and all I wanted. That is the first time I've ever had to shoot somepony down. Not the first time I'd done it, but all the other times I'd done in on accident.

I felt terrible for doing that to her, but it was for the best.

~*~

Night fell on Sweet Apple Acres, and with it came my decision. Applejack had told me none too gently that tomorrow I spend one more day in bed before I can get up and about and I can't waste any more time here. I've already been here too long and spending any longer with somepony sniffing up my tail probably isn't a good idea, for me or anypony else. I'm afraid they'll get hurt. I don't think Shining would condone it, but sometimes hunters can be downright sadistic creatures. Applejack is in with me now, wishing me good night. Now she was leaving, but I'll have to wait a while before I can leave without notice.

So I wait a few hours to make sure everypony is asleep and I slide out of the bed. As quietly as I can obviously. I reached for my magic and began to refract the light around me, bending it to my will. See, if I can make the light bend around me, I become invisible. It's a handy illusion trick that I've learned from the advanced illusion classes at the School I used to go to. I wish I'd payed more attention to the other spells though, I only picked up this one in the classes I attended. Ah well, it's a handy spell and I can't say I haven't found it helpful before. Satisfied I'd covered my entire body in this 'bubble' of refracted light, I started on my way through the house. Being on the second story, I couldn't jump out the window without injuring myself, potentially really badly. So I had to settle with sneaking out via the door.

Sneaking down the stairs, in fact, was majorly annoying. They creaked at each step, and about halfway down there was one in particular that groaned and I froze, afraid I might have woken somepony up. After a few seconds, it didn't sound like anypony was awake, so I continued.

creak...creak...creak....creak...

One of these days I will find some way to make everything I walk on silent so sneaking will be easier. But, until that day, I suppose I'll have to make do with trying to be as quiet as equinely possible. I'd just reached the door when a familiar, albeit sleepy, voice interrupted me.

"Applebloom? That you?"

Applejack had woken up. I stood stock still, terrified that, should I move or make a sound, I'd be found. After the silence reigned for a little while, she spoke again.

"Big Mac? Is it you down there?"

Still I remained quiet. I really didn't want to mess this up, and sweat was now dripping from my forehead. I swallowed heavily and tried to slow my breathing, maybe make my heart stop beating like a drum. It's so loud, I'm actually worried about her hearing it. After a while again she snorted and stamped one of her hooves.

"Dangit, Ah know somepony is down here, an' if ya ain't Applebloom, and ya ain't Big Mac, then Ah know its you Arc!"

I sigh, knowing that regardless what happens, I'll be caught, and let the spell fail. Applejack's would have saw me immediately, I'm sure of it. I heard her coming down the stairs, and then she was behind me. I still faced the door, but I looked at the floor.

"An' where do ya think yer goin'?"

"I'm leaving Applejack," I replied softly, "Don't try to stop me, I have a lot to do, and I can't accomplish it by waiting here."

There was a short silence before she sighed.

"Look Sugar, Ah know ya keepin' somethin' from me. Ah ain't normally one t' pry, but if ya don't tell me what it is, Ah'm going to have to keep ya here anyhow."

Right. The sexy farmer stopping the runaway guard from leaving her home. Celestia, it's like one of those really bad, trashy romance novels. One of the ones that had one of those authors who seemed to think that the sex scenes made the book, you know? Left with no other choice, I turned around and I told her. I told her everything that had happened. I told her my side of the story, I told her how I'd been taken in for questioning, everything. It felt good to tell her the truth, to finally tell somepony I knew would believe me the truth. By the end of it all I was close to tears as the gravity of the situation came crashing down on my head. She stood there silently, looking my straight in the eye. They say that eyes are the windows to the soul. Scientifically, I know this cannot be true. But... somehow that's exactly what it felt like she was doing at that moment. Staring right into my soul. It was an eerie and disquieting feeling.

After a long moment of silence, it could have lasted for a day or an hour for all I know, of looking into the beautiful eyes of Applejack, she smiled grimly at me.

"Well Sug', Ah'd say ya got a bit of a problem there. T'aint sure if Ah can help any more than Ah already have, but Ah'll be sure to let the family know ya were never here. If them hunters ya mentioned come lookin' for ya, We ain't never seen ya before. S'the best Ah can do."

A smile. I felt my mouth lift into a relieved smile.

"Thanks Applejack. I wish I could repay you, but... I'm afraid I'm a little short on anything and everything at the moment."

Her grim smile turned much happier and a little cheeky.

"And you were gunna leave without even takin' some food with ya. Ya ain't too good at this whole adventurin' thing are ya?"

All I could do was blush in embarrassment because, let's face it, she's completely right. It didn't take her long to find me saddlebags and fill them with (typically) apple related foodstuffs. I don't know how she managed to fit so much in there, but she did. And that was only one side. I didn't see her pack anything into the other side, which means these things are going to be hellishly unstable. Oh well. As she fastened the last of the straps on the saddlebags now adorning my sides, I was surprised to feel that they were much lighter than I thought, and perfectly balanced. When I brought this up, standing next to me as she was as we stood outside the barn where we'd moved to collect the saddlebags and fill them with the supplies she'd decided I needed, she nodded and a wry smile flitted over her face.

"Mah friend Twilight's mighty good at magic. Ah got 'em as a present from 'er few years back. But since ya need 'em more than Ah do, Ah'll pass 'em onto you."

Her smile faded into a grin and she glanced at me.

"Mind you, Ah want 'em back when ya finished with 'em. So you make sure ya take care of 'em, ya hear?"

I nodded silently, thankful and awed she'd give me such a gift. Well, lend me such a treasure is probably a better way to look at it. Either way, it was kind of her. I turned to her and, all of a sudden, I was struck by the stupid shyness that plagued me around beautiful mares. And what a beautiful gal she was. I know I've already covered it, so I won't go on about it again. She hadn't even put her hair up as she normally did during the day. I guess she took it out when she slept, and hadn't bothered to put it back in. Either way, she was stunning. I flushed and tried to stammer out a goodbye.

Dammit, I can't fucking brain around this mare, almost as bad as around Spring!

"I uh... Thanks Applejack it um... It means a lot to me and uh... and stuff..."

Smooth. Real smooth. She giggled at my awkwardness and looked at me and I swear it was from under her lashes. I'm probably wrong, I think I was fantasizing just a bit.

Only a little, I swear.

"Well, Ah had to help ya somehow. Ah'm just glad ya thankful. Ah hate ponies who don't care none about that."

Wow. Sexy, cute and has her head on right. Why didn't this mare live in Canterlot? I tried to think of something nice to say to her and drew a blank on anything appropriate to the situation. Oh sure, a myriad of affectionate ideas came up, but none of them appropriate to the situation. Overwhelmed, I simply said the only thing I could.

"Well, Goodbye Applejack. You'll see me again when I drop off your bags okay?"

She smiled and nodded happily and, on sudden impulse, I leaned across and planted a gentle and quick kiss on her.

What the fuck brain.

She froze instantly, eyes wide, and I skipped quickly out of range of her hooves. She looked at me sideways, then her eyes narrowed and her voice had an edge to it as she spoke.

"An what, pray tell, was that? Ain't ya got nopony waitin' for ya at home like ya told Bloom?"

Fuck. She'd heard that. Not trusting my voice, I shook my head. She raised an eyebrow and a burst of words spilled from my muzzle.

"Well it wasn't a complete lie, I'm hoping she's waitingbutwe'renotactuallytogether."

She lifted a brow.

"Alright, so why on Equestria did ya just do that?" She asked ominously, stepping towards me. Again I skipped out of range nervously. The sun was coming up, which means I had to leave, and soon. Left with nothing else, my brain latched onto something and forced my tongue to say the words. To this day I don't know why I didn't stop myself

"Y... You're sexy." I blurted out before my eyes widened and I bolted, terrified.

I think she chased me all the way off her land.

All I can say is.... The fuck brain?

First reunion

Oh jeez, I have to screw it all up every time don't I? I spend a day at a farm with a beautiful mare, and I screw everything up. Jeez, I can't even spend a day in the company of somepony like Applejack without making them hate me. You know what really sucks? That this is the story of my life. The only friend I have who's female that I made myself is Nightspring. Sure, Bolt Flare and my other room mates certainly did have a hoof in getting their fillyfriends to like me. But for every time I've tried to talk to anypony who was pretty or anything of the sort I'd become... well basically my old, awkward self. See, back in school, I was an awkward, gangly mess. my mane and tail never changed, but I was thin and I was horrible at socialising. I locked myself in my house and room and studied what I could. I was never terribly good with magic, but the potential I'd showed in the initial test had more than convinced them. I'd practically blasted the wall away in an insane attempt to prove to them that I was worth teaching. Apparently they decided it was enough, if only to make sure that I didn't wreak havoc through the city.

I think they did it more from fear than actually wanting to take me in. But they took me, and I think they were disappointed in me when I started. I couldn't summon that sort of power again even if I tried. And trust me, I tried. I majored in Illusion and combat magics, and even then I was terrible. Or, not terrible, but mediocre at best. I had a little trouble with making illusions solid. I can make them lifelike easily, but making them solid is another thing altogether. Combat magic, on the other hoof, was difficult no matter what it is. Sure, I'm better at it than I am even at simple levitation, but I tend to combine my combat magic with my illusion magic to mask and enhance it. I rely mostly on my magic and hoof to hoof combat, and I have to make sure I'm not within striking range for my enemy's weapon.

Why the hell am I talking about this?

Ahem. Anyhow. My hooves are killing me, and I'm not sure if that's because of my mad gallop away from Sweet Apple Acres and the (admittedly much faster) Applejack. In fact, the only reason I got away from her is because I made it look like there was six of me, and we all dashed off in different directions. She gave chase to the wrong apparition and I got away clean. I was shocked that it worked though. Guess she hasn't seen many illusions since I did have to make it up on the fly. I'm not complaining though. I'd rather not face her wrath from unwanted affections. She probably had a coltfriend of her own. Oh jeez, I hope not. If she tells him about what happened and what I look like, he's likely to try to kill me. And I really don't want to have to beat up anypony else.

I'm skirting the little town that Sweet Apple Acres sits across from and I have to say, it's quite adorable. Much more my style than stuffy Canterlot, but to be honest, it's not really heavily populated enough. I know, that's not something many ponies would admit to, but I like populated areas, the denser the better. I guess it's because I can blend in easier in large crowds than in a town as small as this where, no doubt, everypony knows everypony else. I like to know I'm not recognised in public except by anypony except those I was friends with.

Hold on, I think I'm being followed. I can feel the prickling on the back of my neck that was the trademark sign that somepony was following or watching me. Continuing how I was to avoid suspicion, I turned a corner into an alley and quickly bent the light around me, rendering me invisible just in time to watch a bush with big, thick framed glasses poked around the corner with an exaggerated movement. I remained close to the wall, eyes wide as I watched it, and heard it gasp and shoot away down the alley, looking for I can only guess me. I waited for some time to make sure the bush wasn't coming back before shooting away myself, not wanting to run into her again.

I think I got away with relative ease, although I was dodging a bush, a large bale of hay and a weird looking box with a massive mustache and the same glasses on it. It was... disturbing to say the least. I've never been chased by inanimate objects before, and certainly not a bloody bush. As it was, I bypassed the main part of the town and cut across a park, making sure to keep the spell up. I didn't want to be seen, and the only thing ponies would see is maybe a strange shimmer at best. Dodging a few ponies, I managed to get through the park unseen. I got past it and what did I see but another house? Well, more a cottage than a house, but you get the idea. On the other side of the cottage was perhaps my salvation from civilisation.

A forest.

I could hide in a forest for years if need be. Obviously I have shelter there, and if not obviously I can make some. Either way, I need to get past the cottage first. Not that it's going to be difficult, aside from a heap of animals, nopony seems to be there. I decided to be careful anyway and kept my refraction up. It was starting to take a toll on me, despite it being actually quite a simple spell to pull off. I actually passed through the space between the forest and the cottage relatively easily, despite one bunny staring at me the entire time. He must have seen the shimmer of me moving, understandably, much too fast to not leave a trace. Definitely a downside, but I'll live with it. Besides, it's just a rabbit. I did, at one stage, hear somepony humming and it sounded quiet pretty, but I wasn't here to admire pretty humming, I had to get somewhere where I could spend the night and hide out until I got a plan together.

And that forest was my best bet.

But now that I'm in it, I'm not so sure. I let my illusion drop and a strange sense of dread hits me like a hammer. I don't understand, what's this feeling? This place is just a forest, why would I be filled with such a sense? It's ridiculous, I'm a guard! A Royal Guard of Canterlot! I will not be cowed by some stupid forest. It's just a bunch of trees, what could possibly go wrong?

I traversed deep into the forest. I didn't want to be too close to the entrance, and I had to find a source of clean water. There's a lot of weird noises here, and I'm really not in the mood to find out precisely what they are. Pushing through a curtain of stiff plants of some kind (Obviously I'm not too well versed in foliage), I find myself in a clearing. Shafts of sunlight illuminate the area, and there's a bubbling, enticing looking brook right there. Throwing caution to the wind, I rush over to it and start gulping down water. It's sweet and clean, and there seems to be a few bushes here and there with some kind of berries on them, so I suppose this is as good a place as any to set up camp.

I take off the saddlebags with little difficulty and reach into the food stuffed left bag, bringing out a cold apple fritter and bite into it with relish. Damn, that mare can cook. Again I find myself wondering why she doesn't live in Canterlot.

Good Celestia that's annoying.

As I eat, I look at the right side saddlebag with curiosity. These things are magically enlarged, so would that mean there's something in that one to offset the weight of the other bag? I polish off the fritter and flip it open and reach in. The first thing that popped out at even my slightest touch was a small tent, bursting out and erecting itself whilst I scraped myself off the floor and was glad that nopony was around to hear my distinctly girly scream.

It was a small thing, barely large enough for a single pony, and even then they'd have to be pretty small. Not tiny, but small. But it was shelter, and that's all that matters, making my first priority much, much easier. Eagerly, I dug into the bag again, bringing up a pot, two frying pans, a small metal grille on a stand that I could rest the pot and pans on, and a kettle complete with several boxes of tea bags and powdered milk. Twilight Sparkle, you are a fucking legend. AJ said she got this from her friend 'Twilight', and since she's an element of harmony (As explained by the VIP clearance for the castle) I can only assume she meant Twilight Sparkle. She obviously knew what she was doing. The last thing I brought out (After soap, shampoo, conditioner, two different sized combs, a brush, magnifying glasses, a horn file, a hoof file and a set of binoculars) was a knife.

A knife.

Survival knives are often exaggerated by sellers to make them sound better than they were. Whoever made this knife obviously knew what the hay they were doing. The thing had a long blade with a wickedly sharp smooth edge at the top of the blade and a serrated edge for sawing at the strong of the blade. The hilt is made of strong wood of some kind and is very nicely crafted. On the bottom of the hilt rests two letter.

'AJ'

Obviously this was made for Applejack. I made a mental note to thank her fervently the next time I saw her, after she'd finished kicking my flank to the other side of Equestria that is. Either way, I had nothing to actually test the edge against that was practical, so I couldn't actually see if it was sharp without potentially hurting myself, but it looked sharp enough, so I shrugged and decided to put it in last when I packed up, in case I needed it. You never know. For now, I decide to tuck it away in the tent. So I trot over to the tent and poke my head in to find a place to put the knife and my jaw drops, dropping the knife with it. Yes, I was holding the knife's hilt in my mouth, shutup.

The tent was massive inside, a definite improvement to the outside. It still only had one bed, and yes I mean an actual bed, but it looked like there's much more room, and I'll bet you can put more in here. The whole place was already set up, including a small, empty bookshelf and a bedside table. I trotted over to that, opened the top drawer and lay the knife down there and decided to go make myself some tea.

Ah, tea.

It felt like years since I had tea when I had my first sip, even though it'd only been about a week. Either way, it was like Celestia herself descended and bestowed unto me a taste of Alencar itself. I tried to make it last, really I did, but it was just so delicious that soon after I made it it was all gone. A sad thought, but true.

Ah well, perhaps another cup in the evening.

Oh, and by the way, the cups were in the tent. In a cupboard. It was so cool. I have to meet the unicorn that enchanted this, because I think guards should be given these as standard issue for long distance recon missions and such things. Because this. Is. Awesome.

Simply Awesome.

~*~

I spent most of that day, after my tea of course, laying charms over the campsite. One to keep it from magical detection (at the cost of my magic when a probe of thought was sent out), one to make it difficult to see from the air which would have to be renewed every twelve hours and a series of compulsion traps.

A compulsion trap is a tactical combat spell. Basically you infuse an area with an idea, and as somepony walks onto it, the idea takes a hold in their mind and bugs them incessantly until they follow through with the idea. Unfortunately, they have limited range. It also takes almost no magical strength since all it's doing is sending one tiny little idea and planting it in their mind. One must remember, however, that the more ponies who walk across the field at any given time, the amount of energy required increases. For example, persuading twenty ponies that they don't need to walk any further takes exponentially more than simply convincing one. It also depends on the complexity of the idea, even to the point of being capable of persuading your target's mind that there's something there that isn't, or isn't something there that is. Doing something like that takes much, much more time, effort and magical energy to create and maintain. It also depends on the pony. Certain minds are more resistant than others. This might make it sound like a waste of time and energy, but it's worth it if you know what kind of idea to implant.

Simple ideas catch hold much easier, so I simply implanted a sense of insane boredom into the areas I trapped, followed by a sense of rebellion. The boredom will make them more susceptible to rebellion. However if the pony is naturally rebellious, I can't see how it'll help, but the boredom should work. As a last resort, straight after the initial two rings is a third ring with a powerful compulsion to turn around and go back, that searching any further is useless. But if they get to there, it'll tax my magical energies and will probably leave me unable to fight back if any more than six or seven make it through. Maybe. Could be less, could be more. As I said earlier, it depends.

With my safeguards in place and night approaching quickly, I searched around for some wood to start a campfire away from my barriers. I picked up sticks from the forest floor, dry leaves, anything flammable. Heading back, I sat in front of my very own, brand new tent and started setting my campfire up. A circle of rocks to keep it contained along with a shallow pit for it as well, then I started heating up an apple pie that Applejack had given me and set some water to boil in the kettle. I'm going to have to remember to thank Applejack and Twilight Sparkle the next time I see either of them. All the while, I had to think about what the hay I'm going to do.

I'll be damned if I let myself get blamed for crimes I didn't commit. And I know that Shining is an honourable stallion. If I can get him to listen to reason, I have to be able to prove...

The Princess! Of course!

When the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is awake, I'll be able to go home! She knows I didn't attack her! She can corroborate with my story and prove that I'm not responsible! Which means that Shining will let me go, and possibly let me back into the core, and I can apologise to her about being so damnably aggressive. It's so simple, I can't believe I didn't think of it before! In fact, it's been what, six days? She's probably already awake. I'm not going to risk it just yet, since couriers took time to get from one place to another, but it's entirely possible that I can get this over and done with sooner (preferable) rather than later (not preferable), go home and hope that Spring is still up for that dinner.

Yeah, that's a plan. That's a good plan. It means all I really have to do is wait things out, right? Easy peasy. If only I wasn't so alone... hooo..... oh well. I won't be for too long hopefully. I'll come out in a day or two and hopefully this whole thing has blown over and the Princess has told them what really happened. Then I can go home.

I have never in my life wanted to be home more. Even if I am alone there in relations, I have great friends and, even though she's not interested in a lame bookworm like me, I have Spring.

And they're all I need.

~*~

I've waited for two days in this forest, and I haven't heard a hide nor hair of anypony looking for me. It's a relief, and maybe a sign that they're not looking for me. That, or their not looking incredibly hard. And without that sense of urgency, it could mean that I'm not being hunted to be brought home in shackles anymore, which is a definite plus. It's this reasoning that has made me decide to leave the forest today. It rained yesterday, and the water skein I found in the tent after a more thorough inspection has been filled by it, so I've got hydration while I'm on the road. I'll keep the camp site up just in case though, I don't want to have nowhere to go back to should I be wrong.

I've fashioned a makeshift sheathe for the survival knife that was in Applejack's saddlebag, and it now hangs at my hip much like a sword would. I may not be terribly well versed in swordplay, let alone combat with a dagger, but it's more reliable that hoping that my magic won't fail me completely halfway through combat. Leaving the saddlebags in the tent and the tent up, I double check my wards, recast my gramarye for fliers and begin my exit. The forest is just as creepy as I remember, and I find myself shying away from several sounds. I'm so glad there's nopony here to see me being so damnably cowardly. No point beating myself up about it, only to go on. Self consciously, I cast a track spell in case I get lost.

The Track spell, affectionately named the 'Breadcrumb' spell in reference to an old folk tale, links one mental anchor to another, one to a location and one, naturally, to the mind of the caster. It then strings out mental energy in a thin, ethereal stream that one can 'follow' back to the original anchor. It's a safeguard in case one gets lost, or if you're working your way through a maze. It's low level spirit magic, and not many ponies put stock in it. Goes to show even the lowest level spells are hand huh?

Anyhow, I think it took me about an hour, hour and a half... maybe two? To find my way to the exit to this place, which is significantly longer than it took me to find my clearing in the first place. But the Track spell was still strong, so I'm not complaining. I finally figured out what's so eerie about the forest as well. There's no birdsong. None at all, not even a peep. I burst out into the sunlight and take a moment to bask in it's brilliance. Two hours in the dark does things to you when you don't know what's around you, and it was good to be back in the sun. After my moment of basking, I looked to the sky. More than likely if there was a pony looking for me, the first to find me would be a pegasus. At a cursory glance, I can't see anything, but it's best safe then sorry, so I take my time. I can see a few birds, but nothing more. Satisfied that I'm alone I take a step and stop, staring at the pony now looking at me with wide eyes.

I remember her not only from the VIP posters, but from meeting her once before. her green eyes are wide and watching me and I'm not sure she recognizes me. I know her as Fluttershy, and I also know she's terribly sweet. She's also insanely cute. Her mane is a lovely shade of pink that actually goes quite well with her yellow coat and feathers and her flank is adorned with three pink and yellow butterflies. Figures, since she's almost as quiet as Butterflies. Hesitantly, I lift my hoof and wave to her. I think I jolted her out of her reverie because she started before waving back to me with a smile on her face. How about that, she does remember me. Well, may as well go and say h- OOF!

Something fills my vision and I feel a crashing pain in my chest and torso as I'm flung back, straight back into the forest. I hit the forest floor a few times, bouncing like a rag doll before hitting a tree.

Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow.

I look up slowly to see a familiar face standing over me, glaring down at me like I was some sort of disgusting rat to be squashed.

"Nightspring?" I asked incredulously. Her armour had been heavily modified for extra maneuverability and she had a mask and goggles over her face, but I'd recognize those beautiful, heavenly wings anywhere. I'd also recognize the large, broad bladed scythe she was pulling from the holster on her back. I could see her eyes from under the goggles, and she looked pissed, determined and something else I couldn't quite place.

"By order of Guard Captain Shining Armour and by the authority of the Princesses Celestia and Luna, you, Arc, are under arrest. Shining Armour has put out a decree for your return, dead or alive."

I felt my heart sink even further than it already had.

"You're coming with me Arc, whether you like it or not."

Like it or not huh... Guess it all went to hell then? Why the hell hasn't Mi Amore woken up yet!? She should have been able to tell them what happened that day in her room! Gah! I'm not giving up! I will NOT give in!

"No," I firmly reply to Nightspring. I'm on my back against a tree, but even from my vantage point I can see her eyes widen, "I'm not going back to face a punishment that isn't mine to take."

I hear her growl and the grip on her scythe loosens a little and her stance shifts subtly. Time to weight up my options. I can't take her in combat without my armour. That scythe is too deadly and has a much farther reach than I'm comfortable with fighting. Obviously I have no armour at all, meaning it'd instantly cleave me in two and she'd barely have to try. On top of that, She had armour on that covered all the important places, not that I think I could even bring myself to harm her in the first place. I'd never be able to forgive myself if I hurt her, even if it was just a scratch. That's actually probably why they sent her, because of my stupid infatuation. It wouldn't have been difficult to find out about, just ask anypony in the core. Even Spring knew about it, she was just nice enough not to be cruel about it.

So, what's option one? Give up. Give in, go home and face the music. What's the worst they could do? Imprison me for half my life then let me go, incapable of finding work, unable to go back home and unable to find friends. I'd end up a hopeless vagabond in the street, probably wouldn't survive the first year I'm free.

Option two: Fight back. This is a bit of a no go automatically since I can't hurt Spring, and even if I could I'd have to get within range to fire off a punch or two and hope I can stun her. I can't rely completely on my magic, although I'd use it to enhance my combat abilities. Problem again with that is that I've sparred with Spring before. I have never once won a sparring match with her. Ever.

Option three.... Well, it's the only viable one I can think of.

With a gulp, I rolled out of the way as the scythe came down like a god's wrath, hitting the tree at an angle, the blade sinking in like a knife through warm butter. It occurs to me that it wouldn't have actually hit me, rather she wanted to trap me with it. Her eyes flashed as I leapt to my hooves and took off, running as fast as I can. A few seconds and I can hear her behind me, no doubt bounding from tree to tree occasionally. In a desperate attempt to throw her off, I create several copies of myself and send them off in different directions. I can't tell if it worked, and I only have one place left to go. Taking a long, roundabout route to return and using my track spell, I return to my campsite. I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I have no time to be nice and my horn lit up as I reached for the tent magically. It seemed to read my intentions however and packed itself down and into the saddlebags. I don't have time to be impressed and, with a burst of exertion, I levitate the utensils into the bag as well and reach for it only to hear a triumphant shout and hurl myself out of the way just in time to avoid Nightspring's tackle, which she switches into a roll. How she got past my wards so easily is beyond me, but I'm not about to question it now. I circle her warily, really not wanting to fight her. If I can get to my saddlebags, I'll be able to run again, and this time without having to concentrate on the track spell I should be able to manipulate the air around me to make me run faster. It's worth a shot at least, but first I need that bag.

Spring stops circling in front of the saddlebags, like she can read my mind.

Fuck.

Now I have no choice but to go through her to get them and that's going to be a problem. Without letting me even have a chance to plan anything she lunges forward, scythe held up, ready to slash. Without any other choice, a wrench the knife from it's place at my hip and hold it up at a parry. The solid sound of metal on metal rang through the glade as my survival knife stopped Belladonna in her tracks. I heard a growl from the masked Nightspring and she pulled the scythe away and spun around, going for another overhead swipe from the other side, the scythe spinning in her grip as she adjusted it. I turned and once again blocked it with my knife. I knew it'd be handy. With another growl of annoyance, she leaps back and watches me intently. I switch from handling the knife blade facing forward to a backhoof, defensive stance. I don't want to hurt her, but maybe I can get her to listen to reason.

"Spring, I don't know what they've told you," I said warily, trying to anticipate her next move, "But I assure you I didn't kill anypony."

"I saw the bodies," She shot back, "And you're the only pony I know who uses only his hooves in combat. Who else could it have been?"

Okay, another clue. They were killed via blunt force trauma, most likely hooves.

"Not me," I said back grimly just as she leaped into the air, delivering a spinning, lateral swipe straight at my head. Now that was too far, she wasn't trying to debilitate me anymore, she was trying to kill me. I barely blocked it and for a moment the blade was inches from my neck before I managed to push it back. I can already feel sweat dripping from my brow. Remembering the wards, I let them go, absorbing what energy I could from them and began to focus.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted and swung the butt of her scythe up and smacked me right between the eyes. I saw stars and for a moment couldn't comprehend what was going on around me just in time for her to start swinging at my hind legs. With a split second reaction I leaped up and towards her, like I had with the guard with a spear. Belladonna hit the ground as I landed on the handle, the extra weight making her drop her and suddenly we were grappling.

Now I'm in my element.

I threw a punch which she blocked, then followed up with a strike with my left hoof to her abdomen. She oofed softly as it connected and I tried to press my advantage only to be headbutted viciously. I felt my nose break and resisted the reactive tears from springing to my eyes. Adrenaline surged through my system and I let out a flurry of blows, first with my left, then with my right hoof. She managed to block a lot of them, but she hadn't undertaken advanced hoof to hoof combat training, and it was showing. She lashed out with a feral haymaker and I ducked under it, going onto all fours again before throwing myself forward and tackling her to the ground. She used my momentum to her advantage and flipped me over, landing on me, my broken nose pressing against her soft underbelly for a moment before she adjusted herself and started to lay into me. Her blows hurt, but they were made for swinging something much heavier and she wasn't used to fighting like this, so they didn't affect me as much as they could. I took advantage of her winding up a stronger blow and grabbed her ear in my teeth and yanked to the left. She squeaked and rolled. Now I was on her, but wasn't for long. In her roll she managed to get her powerful hind hooves under me and she kicked, her wings flaring on the ground and I went flying, rolling on the ground. I managed to get my hooves under me and looked up, dirt and hair filling my vision for a moment. I shook my head, trying to clear my eyes of the irritating distractions and looked up in time to see those beautiful wings filling my vision. In a bid of desperation, I reached for my magic and used the first and easiest thing I could think of.

Displaced air.

Displacing air can lead to severe and powerful physical effects including implosion and explosions, so making one directly in front of me normally wouldn't be a good idea if I hadn't thought of a combat shield as well. With a cry, Spring was sent sprawling back in the dirt, then slid into the brook, which seemed to rouse her. She leaped up onto her feet then faltered, almost toppling. She was running on nothing, whilst I wasn't? This was new. Must have been from her searching for me. She regained her footing and leaped at me. I looked around desperately and the first thing I saw was my dagger and Belladonna on the ground nearby. And in that instant I got an idea. I waited for her, readying myself. When she reached my she leaped into a full body tackle. She always was more balls than brains. I dodged to the right, tolling closer to the weapons and she snapped open her wings and changed direction mid leap.

Perfect.

I met her tackle with an uppercut, hitting her straight on the jaw and her head snapped back as she collided with me. I used my magic to make gravity around us increase and we hit the floor forcefully, me on top. This would almost be fantastic if I wasn't currently fighting her in a deathmatch. That drained me more than I thought it would, but I still had enough energy to grab Belladonna from beside me and swing it downwards.

Impact.

She flinched as the blade entered the earth beside her head, sinking in like it was nothing and my horn lit up as I angled the haft across her entire body and the earth swallowed the other end of the haft, holding her firmly in place as I moved earth and packed it hard around her body, making shackles of earth on her hind hooves and a pair of blocks at her shoulders.

With it over, I did the only thing I could do.

I collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and slept.

Now, the crux of the matter.

My everything hurts. Like, majorly hurts. My head is swimming and I can't feel my nose... Oh right, it was broken wasn't it? Ugh, silly me. When I wake up it's dark, and I look to the left, straight into the aggressive, accusing eyes of Nightspring. I scrambled away, terrified until I remembered I had her immobilised. The haft of Belladonna prevented her torso from moving, and the blocks at her shoulder stopped her from going upwards across the ground, and she couldn't go the opposite or any other way thanks to the shackles at her hind hooves. I'll admit, apart from the powerful pang of guilt that overwhelmed me at that moment, I was pretty proud of myself. I'd managed to stop her from killing me, AND do it without seriously injuring her. I hope. I'm not actually sure how much damage my air displacement spell actually did. And it's cold. With a groan I managed to pull myself up to a sitting position. It took a lot more than I thought, and it hurt quite a bit. With a sigh I looked back at my prize. I suppose I can call her that at the moment. If it wasn't for the really peeved look on her face, She'd be adorable on her back like that. Her hooves were on her chest, trapped under the haft of Belladonna, and the straps on her armour are in tatters. Probably the effects of the explosion she went through. Air displacement might not be flashy and it may not be pretty, but it works. Her mask had come off at some point, probably while we were fighting, and her mouth was curved into a frown. I looked at her for a long time....

.....

"Would you stop looking at me like that!?" I demanded of her, getting sick of her look. She looked away, her face still disgruntled. Actually, that's a lie. It's not disgruntled, but I don't know how else to describe it. I sighed again and looked down at my broken nose. Better set that straight again before it heals all weird. This is going to hurt. I reach up with both hooves and set them gently on either side of my nose, clench my eyes and...

OW! FUCK! IT NEVER TOLD ME HOW PAINFUL IT WAS IN BOOKS, OWOWOWOWOW!

"Pansy," I hear from beside me. I look at Nightspring again with a frown. She still refused to look at me. It hurts that she looks at me such animosity, let alone that she refuses to look at me. For a long moment, I simply stare at her, then tiring of this and finding the pain of her refusal to even look at me too great, I stand up and leave. I need to find some firewood. As I walk, I can feel her gaze boring into my back, but when I turn back to look at her, she'd already looked away. As I search for wood for the upcoming fire, I try to figure out why on Equestria she of all ponies would come after me. The first thing that leaped to mind was that she knew me, she knew how I worked and she's the pony I'd most likely listen to. But if that was the case, why send her out first instead of keeping her as a reserve? I'm not THAT crafty, and I'm fairly predictable, as much as I loathe to admit it. It sounds like she had orders straight from the captain as well. Dead or alive...

It's like they've turned all this into a bounty hunt. But the fact of the matter is, Bounty hunts are illegal in Equestria. Sounds pretty stupid doesn't it? Thing is, if the royal guard can't handle it, it generally means the pony in question has fled the country. And if that's into neighbouring territory, it's almost guaranteed to be allied territory, which means they'd be apprehended the moment they were recognized and given back to our ruling body just as we do for them. Although most times it's griffons we end up delivering to their government rather than Zebras or Kirin.

Oh, Kirin? The Kirin are a sub strain of unicorn, or so I've read. They evolved from the same ancestors and they have powerful magic of their own. In fact, if one is to believe ancient accords that date back thousands of years, there was once a Kirin that was the element of magic. The Kirin are governed by their Monarch in the Somerset Glades to the south of Equestria. The endless plains of Zebrica lie to the west, the brutally dangerous land of the dragons to the East, and the Griffa lies far to the north. Not as North as the uninhabited Godsreach Mountains, and slightly to the east of that, but it's there all the same. They're long legged, slender bodied equines with a special affinity for the forests and woods that they call home, even speaking to them occasionally. Equestria is on excellent speaking terms with the Kirin and there's rumours around the castle of Celestia's fondness for the current monarch, King uh... King uh... Dammit, what's his name? Ugh, whatever. There's rumours around the castle, mostly from the maids, that Her Majesty and His Majesty are very, very fond of each other. To be honest, I think it'd do Celestia a world of good to settle down with somepony. Maybe the stress of running a kingdom wouldn't have to be so difficult to bear if she had somepony to be with.

Either way, it's none of my business. As it is, my back is getting speared by half a dozen or more points from all of these sticks and branches I'm carrying, so I guess I can head back now. Making my way back was more of a chore, since I'd forgotten to set a track spell, so it took me a few minutes more than I wanted. As expected, Spring was still in her spot, although closer inspection showed she was shivering. I considered moving her for a moment before rejecting the idea. Moving her would be a bad idea, since she could escape while I'm doing it and kill me very, very quickly. Instead, I redug my trench and moved the rocks from my previous campfires over to next to Spring, who watched me curiously as I did so, then started my fire up. She was watching as I pulled out the tent, and if she was surprised, she hid it well. After careful thought, I decided not to let her up to eat, but rather change how she was sitting. This was going to give me a major migraine, but this is Nightspring, and I don't want her to get sick. I take a deep breath and concentrate. The earth around her begins to shift as I watch it and Spring looks around in alarm, beginning to hyperventilate. I want to reach out, to reassure her, to let her know she'll be okay, but I can't. As gently as I could whilst keeping her restrained, I turned her over so she was laying on her stomach, her hooves folded under her in a typically comfortable fashion, stripping her of her armour along the way. Please understand this is not for my own perverted pleasure, but mainly because it'd get annoying with ruined armour hanging off of you.

She seemed shocked that I'd removed her armour, and given her wings free reign. She couldn't move otherwise from the cords of tree roots I decided to replace the earth with, but her wings could. She looked at me suspiciously and I smiled, trying to set her at ease.

"Eating while lying on your back can make you sick," I tried to explain softly before turning back to the fire, feeling her still smoldering gaze on me. Resigning myself to a long night of silence once again, I started to heat up one of the many apple pies Applejack had stuffed into the saddlebag over the fire. I had to be careful not to burn it of course, but I managed. I took the pie out with my weak telekinesis and plopped it into a frying pan and put it on the ground. It was then that Nightspring spoke.

"You know I didn't believe the captain at first."

I looked at her, surprised she'd spoken to me. She was glaring at me balefully.

"He said you had escaped from your cell and beat two fully armoured, heavily armed guards by yourself. That was in the report he gave me to look over as well. He figured that the only reason you had to escape was because you were afraid your guilt would be discovered and decided you must have assaulted Princess Mi Amore, or at least that you had much more of a chance that you had."

I wasn't surprised that something like this had happened, since I'd given it some thought over the time I've had and decided it was much more likely than what I'd initially thought. However her look brought something akin to physical pain for me. It really did.

"What about the princess? Has she not awoken yet?"

Nightspring looked troubled for a split second and I felt my stomach twist painfully.

"Priness Mi Amore Cadenza is... not well. She's been asleep since the attack."

Great. There goes my plan to wait this whole thing out.

"I take it there's no indicators that she'll get better soon?"

"No."

Typical. The only plan I had, destroyed. My chances of escaping this unfair accusation in one piece are lowering very quickly. I'm going to need a new plan, and I'm going to need it fast. I'm in a really bad spot otherwise. In the interest of intelligence, I try to pry her for more info.

"Has anypony figured out what's keeping her asleep? Physical attacks, unless they damage something vital, don't normally keep somepony asleep for a week."

Nightspring didn't answer, and I took the chance to tear a piece of the pie away and hold it out to her. She looked at me with a look that screamed 'Are you fucking kidding me?'. I shot a look back, hoping it'd get my message across. It's this, or nothing. She sighed and opened her mouth and I carefully put some of the pie in her mouth. She lunged forward, damn near taking some of my hoof with the pie. I swore and flinched back as she smirked at me. Looks like I'm going to have to remind her who was in charge here. I let my magic sweep into life as I forcefully held her mouth open with it. She looked at me as though I was insane, then with the most malicious and bad tempered look I've ever seen. I fed her more pie, letting her mouth close once I'd left the pie in far enough that she couldn't bite me. I don't think she's ever been so powerless, and I felt terrible doing this to her. I fed her slowly, giving her time to chew and swallow each piece before preparing the next one. After she declared she'd eaten enough, I held the water skein to her lips and she drank greedily. Guess she was thirsty. I felt guilt well up in me again.

"Spring..." I whispered quietly, catching her attention almost instantly, "Why didn't you tell me you were thirsty..?"

She glared at me and refused to answer. With another melancholy sigh, I sat down and began to eat my half of the pie. It was, admittedly, delicious, but my mind just wasn't up to enjoying the taste of the pie. Here I was, camping out in a forest with the mare I've crushed on since forever, and I had to restrain her just to keep her from killing me. This is like my biggest dream turned into a really, really bad nightmare. Add onto that that I'm being hunted for a crime I didn't commit, and it turns into a nightmare I can't wake up from. Worst night yet. Even worse than the three days I spent sick in Applejack's home. A frown covered my face as something occurred to me.

"Hold on, How did you find me? I thought I'd done a pretty good job covering my tracks and being stealthy. How did you find me?"

Spring didn't respond for a moment.

"It... was luck," She admitted grudgingly, "I was flying by when I noticed you stepping out of the forest. I'll admit, you've got guts camping out here. Most ponies wouldn't touch this forest with a ten foot pole."

My frown did not disappear. if anything, it deepened.

"Why not? It's just a forest."

She shook her head.

"No, this is the Everfree Forest. Even you should know that name. Especially you, in fact. Bookworm."

For a moment, I could have sworn her old, teasing, flirtatious voice was back, but I might have been imagining things, because it vanished pretty quickly.Then what she said hit me, and it hit me hard.

"What!? The Everfree Forest!?"

She nodded with her limited range she had and smirked.

"You didn't even know did you? You have no idea where the heck you are do you?"

I flushed and looked away, but the damage was done. She burst into laughter, shaking a little as she laughed. I blushed all the more at her mirth.

"Shutup! I didn't even know where I was when I woke up, let alone where I'd end up a few days later. it seemed like a good place to camp out, easy to hide."

She was still laughing, and I swear that I could feel my face burning up and catching fire. A few minutes later and she was still laughing.

"Ugh, ENOUGH! It's not funny anymore! I get it, I got into a dangerous neck of the woods, but I was in danger either way! Hey, it was only luck that you found me as well!"

She clammed up at that and frowned, much to my relief. With a glance to her, still frowning, I made up my mind.

"If I tell you everything that happened, do you promise to at least listen to me?"

For a long moment, she didn't answer. I could see her mulling the idea over in her mind, mainly because she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheeks and sort of moved it around. It made her look absolutely adorable with her face scrunche up like that, with her tongue pressed to her cheek.

"... I can't promise you anything."

Well, it was more than I thought I would have, so it was a start.

"Alright, I'll try to keep it brief. It started when I was incarcerated..."

I must have spoken for an hour, hour and a half at least. I'm not sure if she was hearing everything I said, I wasn't even sure she was listening, but despite this I had to tell her. I had to make her understand. I needed her not to hate me, as I'm convinced she does. I told her what happened on the day she got me the soup, I told her about how I woke up in the middle of nowhere, how a guard tried to arrest me and I was forced to stop him, that I didn't hurt him badly, and I patched up his dislocated wing. I told her of how sick I got, but left out the identity and location of the pony who took care of me and gave me all my new equipment, then I told her of how I sneaked around the town and into the forest. I told her then about the meeting that I had with Princess Mi Amore, to make sure she understood exactly what happened and how I had left the room soon after. I then went on to detail exactly what I'd done the rest of the day, making sure she understood I didn't even have the time to attack the Princess. The whole time she was quiet, never speaking. In a bid to escape the memories of what's happened so far, I looked around, spotting Belladonna lying not too far away. I reached forward and picked her up gently, being incredibly careful. This weapon was everything to Spring, and I wasn't about to damage her in any way.

For a very long time, she lay quietly. It was maddening, but I wasn't about to bother her about it. If I did, she'd be likely to disagree with me on principle. I knew her too well I suppose. I was almost asleep when she spoke softly.

"I guess I always did doubt things. I didn't think you were capable of doing such terrible things It didn't seem right. I've known you for so long..."

I remained quiet, to simply let her speak.

"I thought it strange, that you could defeat and beat down a pair of elites. I mean, you're pretty good Arc, but you're not that good. I'm not even that good, obviously. I mean, I couldn't even beat you this time. The third guard I found seemed more like your style, beaten down but not too badly beaten up. Well, except for the utterly destroyed spear. That was strange. I've known you for almost ten years, and never once have I seen you do something like that. I had no doubt you did the number on the patrol guard, but I doubted the spear. Then I found traces of tracks and followed them, found your hut. I'll admit, it wasn't too bad I suppose. But after that... I found a few traces, but nothing substantial. I sort of flew around, hoping to see you and well... you know what happened from there."

She sniffed and a glance revealed she was looking down at the ground. I couldn't see past her lashes, so I wasn't sure if she was crying or not.

"I... I wanted to find you before anypony else could. I asked around the town but nopony had seen you. I guess that... I wanted to find you before anypony else because... I wanted to know. I wanted to find out if you were really guilty. But when I saw you... I guess I just snapped. I was frustrated, and in my frustration, I turned to the only thing I could to keep myself focused. My orders. They came directly from Captain Shining, and it was all I could think of. Then when you fought back I guess... I guess I snapped again and just fought back. For a moment there, I would have killed you. I guess... I'm sorry about almost killing you, I didn't mean to be so damnably impossible."

Impossible? Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. If 'trying to kill me with a giant scythe' is any form of being 'impossible'. I suppose she's feeling bad enough already though without aggravating the situation. Well, I suppose it can't hurt. I lean forward and nuzzle her cheek gently. I know she hates sympathy, but this is more of an acceptance of her apology rather than sympathy and I think she got this, because she didn't lean away.

"Look, Spring..." I said quietly, "I swear to you, I didn't do it. I didn't kill those guards, and I certainly didn't harm the princess. I might not have had a comfortable or particularly long conversation, but I didn't harm her, nor have any intention to harm her. I promise you, I never did anything of the sort."

She didn't answer and, to be honest, I didn't expect her to. With a sudden decision, I wanted to know if I could trust her. So, naturally, I did what anypony would. I asked.

"Spring, If I set you free, do you promise not to attack me?"

There was a moment of silence before Spring spoke again, and there was a definite note of challenge in her voice.

"Well, I suppose you'll have to trust me won't you?"

Dammit, this was not what I had planned. Well, no risk no reward, right? With a nervous gulp, I began to slowly let her bonds disintegrate. It was a swift process, and as the last fell away, what I most feared happened. She leaped outward straight at me and hit me full on in the chest, bowling me over and snatching Bella from my grasp and planting the blunt edge of the blade (the outside edge for those of you who don't know much about scythes, apparently a lot of ponies don't.) to my throat and pressing down. I could still breathe, but I knew if she wanted to she could easily kill me, so I go limp, fearfully looking up at her as she smirked down at me.

"Well now, look who's good and stuck!"

She leaned down, grinning. Her close proximity both scared me and made me a little nervous... in a different manner. It was confusing, and I felt myself flush.

"Looks like I have a chance to repay you for your little tricks."

Payback and intentions

Note to self. Never, ever give Nightspring a reason to seek revenge over you.

A normal guard would probably hit you once or twice, perhaps rib you out on something concerning your fillyfriend or insinuate that you had a coltfriend, maybe even put eggwash in your helmet or sometimes super glue. But Nightspring? She's like the vengeful spirit from hell. I am a grown stallion, and I have no qualms admitting that. I might not have a fillyfriend, but I am a grown stallion, I am, or was, a Royal Guard of decent distinction, and I have never backed down from a fight in my life. But what Nightspring wanted me to do, and quite forcefully told me I would do under threat of death by broad bladed Scythe, was fucking terrifying, humiliating and all round pathetic. I can feel my stallion's pride wilting even thinking about it. She is now known to me as possibly the most sadistic, evil, beautiful and amazing pegasus mare I have ever had the painfully unhappy pleasure to ever meet. She is, as of right now, on my bed, toying with my survival knife. I'm not sure why, but it seems to have caught her attention.

I never thought I'd have my stallion status stripped away from me so utterly and completely.

"Would the mistress like more tea?" I asked hesitantly, and around a pot filled with said tea. Now, it should be noted here and now that had I access to my magic at the time, this would not be happening. But considering she's slipped onto me an inhibitor ring, the only magic that's around me is the illusion feeding from the sparkling stone around my neck, which is affixed in a pretty pink loveheart shape. The illusion is... Ugh, do I have to even think it? The illusion is making it look like I'm wearing a maid's uniform, all black and white and frilly to boot.

This is not how I expected the evening to go at all.

She smirked at me from the bed and made an effort to look like she was considering it before grabbing her mug and holding out to me.

"Of course I would. Come along then maid, pour me some tea."

I'm not sure if she's still angry at me, or if she even believed me, although she hasn't knocked me out and taken me back to Canterlot yet, so I suppose things could be worse. Not by much, I'd actually caught myself wondering if it'd be better to simply turn myself in. It wouldn't be nearly as humiliating. At least I wouldn't be appearing to wear these fucking fishnets. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at fishnets the same way ever again.

Ever.

Fucking fishnets.

"What's taking you so long maid? I want my tea."

I jolted out of my reverie, noting that I had yet to pour her some tea, so I hurriedly poured her some tea, leaving quickly and returning with the (freshly made) milk in mouth.

"Milk Mistress?" I asked humiliatedly after I put the damnable saucepan down. She smiled at me and winked at me, holding out her mug again, still holding the knife in her other hoof. Quietly I picked up the saucepan and carefully poured a measure of milk into it.

This sort of thing went on for the rest of the night, with tasks ranging from making her drinks, getting her a snack or retrieving her something from the other side of the room. She even made me massage her hind hooves because they were hurting. I... I'm ashamed to admit it, but I did consider offering to extend it to a full body, but I chickened out at the last second. Now she's sleeping on my bed, and I don't know what to do. She didn't tell me I could dispose of this ridiculous illusionary outfit, so I'm still 'wearing' the uniform, sitting by her bedside waiting for her. After it became painstakingly clear she wasn't about to wake up soon and despite her looking absolutely adorable, I left the tent for the solitude of being outside. The fire was starting to die down, so I added a few sticks to it in the hopes of keeping it going. I don't know what time it is, but I do know I just want some sleep and things to go back they way they were. Nightspring has done some weird things to me in the name of payback, but this is more than that. This is just humiliating and degrading, especially for a guard.

So I lay down by the fire, nursing my wounded pride, hoping I would fall asleep soon. I had no such luck, as what felt like an eternity later the sun poked it's head through the trees. The fire had gone out hours ago and I was shivering with the cold. So now I was cold, hungry, thirsty and tired. I had all the ameneties I needed to sate all of this, but it wasn't allowed for me at all, all thanks to Nightspring and her silly games. She had the saddlebags with her along with all the campfire utensils, my knife and her scythe. I grumbled blearily at the sun before forcing myself to my hooves and stumbling back inside. She hadn't told me when this stint of 'payback' would end, so until she said otherwise or I got a chance to escape, I guess I had to play along with it. It was much warmer in the tent, and as I walked past the bed and to the saddlebags to get out the pots and pan, I heard Nightspring waking up behind me, and felt her stretch and yawn.

"Arc..? S'that you?"

Still shivering, I turned around and bowed my head to her in a pathetic display of subservience.

"Y-y-y-yes Mistress," I replied quietly, damning the chattering of my teeth as I spoke. She looked at me in alarm and gestured for me to come closer. Hesitantly, I stepped forward once. She frowned and pointed to the edge of the bed.

"Come here." She commanded sternly and I, of course, had no choice but to obey. I staggered over, trying without much success to limit my terrible listing from side to side before sitting down, planting my flanks to the ground. Her stern look turned to one of concern.

"What happened? Why are you..." Her second question died on her lips and a flash of guilt lit up her face, "Did you sleep outside!?"

I swallowed heavily and shook my head. She looked skeptical.

"No mistress, I didn't sleep at all last night. It was too cold, even by the fire," I replied, this time managing to keep the tooth chattering to a minimal. With a sigh of frustration, at least I think it was frustration, I'm not entirely certain, she leaned foward and grabbed me. I squeaked as I felt her hooves grab me, which is not a sound any stallion should ever make, and she giggled softly before pulling me forwards, coaxing me towards the bed.

This is not how the morning was meant to go at all.

I held back, pulling against her wishes this time. I may hate this pathetic ensemble and the way she's making me wait on her, but I will not go back on or fail to keep my word. I told her I'd do it until she was satisfied her payback was paid in full, and that's the way it's going to work. At least, that was how it was meant to work. With an irritated growl and a show of strength that belied her size, she wrenched me from place and dragged me into the bed, me protesting the whole way, still trying to stay in character. She covered me up with the blanket and made sure I had my head on a pillow. At this point, I had thought she'd leave. You can imagine my surprise when she lay down next to me on her stomach and draped one wing over me. I must have been blushing or something because she snorted with laughter.

"Don't get any stupid ideas bookworm. This is just so you don't die on me. You're worth more alive, to both me and Shining. Not that we're going back there just yet."

And at those words, A peculiar peace descended upon me as I finally realised she wasn't going to take me in, even if she didn't believe me, and I sighed, finally able to sleep.

~*~

We woke up mid afternoon. That is to say, I woke up. Nightspring was cuddled up to me, her head on my chest and I felt my heart leap to my throat. This little adventure of mine was turning out to have a myriad of weird, unexpected side effects. She looked like an angel when she was asleep. She always had. Her eyes are closed so peacefully and she has an adorable little smile on her face. I can feel one of her hooves on my chest, and the other one draped over me. Her mane is sprayed out against the bedsheets and is glowing in the mid afternoon light. It's a fantastic sight. With a hesitant swallowing of much nervousness, I reached down and stroked her mane gently. She didn't stir, and I smiled, gaining a little confidence as I continued. Inevitably, however, my thoughts went from the beautiful mare on the bed beside me to my predicament, just like the selfish stallion I am I suppose.

I can't go home. That's ruled out since Princess Mi Amore hadn't woken up yet and I had no way to prove what I knew was true and any guard who sees me will arrest me on sight. Shining wouldn't see reason either. His connection to the Princes means he's much too close to this investigation. He shouldn't be heading it up in the first place, but with him being captain, I guess it's unavoidable. My mind swirls with thoughts as I absently stroke Spring's mane, much to her pleased little murmurs occasionally. I can't leave this forest without a plan though, and there's really no place I can go, and there's no way I'm living the rest of my life in the Everfree Forest, and I'm not living it out on the run. Not to mention that, if Spring decides to travel with me, two mouths to feed will effectively halve the amount of time I can travel before I have to restock. It'll make things more difficult, but...

Nah, I'm not sure I could do that to Spring. I don't want to drag her around Equestria on my account. No way. I'm not dragging her into my neck of the woods, because if she joins me, no doubt she'll be condemned as well, and there's no way I'm doing that to her. I wish I could have her around, but there's no way I'm ruining her life just for my own pathetic wants.

So, first order of business, ditch Nightspring. She'll probably hate me at first, but I'm sure she'll understand. She might still hunt me, and that's fine, so long as she still have a home to call her own and a job. Not like me. Then I need a plan. Some way to get back all that for myself. I suppose that if I can convince her to sleep outside tonight, I can cover her with the blanket, give her her armour and make sure she has food enough to get home, then leave.

The Princess hasn't woken up. I need to know why. Princess Mi Amore is the only one who can clear me of the main charges. After that, I need to find whoever DID kill those guards and get them to talk, clearing my name. The first main problem here is definitely getting info on the Princess' condition without getting caught and thrown into the dungeons. After that, the problem would be finding the solution to her condition. After that.... Well, I'm sure the Princess would be willing to lend me some resources to help capture the real villains. But how in the hell will I get into the castle without being arrested or something similar. Or outright killed. I imagine that Shining would want to see me personally, that he could dish out his own judgement. I never was terribly good with this planning thing. Too many variables, too many things that could possibly go wrong, too much to try and plan for. Ugh, it's absurd. I may as well just...

Wait.

A smile grows on my face. It's the perfect plan. I feel Spring stir against me as she awakens and looks at me, instantly snatching her hoof away from me and pushing me away, damn near pushing me off the bed. I don't even care that I'm still 'wearing' this illusory maid uniform.

"What are you smiling so stupidly about?" She snapped irritably, probably thinking it was because of where she was. Even if I was kinda happy about that before, this overruled it completely. It was perfect! It got me in the castle, and made sure that Nightspring was still a guard and left unsuspected. I looked down at her, still smiling.

"I just figured how I can get some more info on the Princess and maybe even get her back on her hooves again. But I'm going to need your help."

She looked at me suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. She still looks cute to me with her face scrunched up like that.

"My help?" She asked cautiously, "How is it I could help you?"

I tapped the magic inhibitor still latched firmly onto my horn.

"You need a prisoner, and I need to get into the castle. You're going to take me to the castle, and straight to Shining Armour."

The look that I received from Nightspring screamed 'Are you fucking kidding me?' whilst looking at me as though trying to discern if I was kidding or not. I can assure you, I am certainly not kidding. I looked right back at her. The plan was win-win either way. If I did get the information I need, I can chase the solution down and fix that part, and if I don't, I suppose I'll be thrown in the dungeon and probably executed a few days later. And if that happens, all my troubles will be over, and nopony else will be affected by me. Well... My family would mourn when they heard the news, and I have no doubt that my friends will be there as well. Nightspring would probably curse my name to the abyss after she was finished cursing herself for not being there or being able to help. But after that... I suppose it's better to have it over quickly than torturously slowly.

"You're... not kidding are you?"

"Hell no I'm not."

Her face turned shocked and I think she damn near choked on her breath.

"Are you insane!? Taking you to the castle'd be suicide! I can't take you to the freaking castle!"

I could feel my grin growing and shook my head.

"Are you forgetting? I'm good at illusions Spring, and you're a pegasus."

Her shock melted away to confusion and she blinked very quickly.

"Wait... what?"

"Simple Spring. See, you bring me in and go to take me to Shining Armour. Then, you let me go and I give you a copy of me, including the ability to touch the fake me. You take the fake me to Shining, I go to the med wing with a disguise I'll keep in this locket. I'll have to override this uh..."

I flush and look at myself, now in the rumpled looking illusion of a maid uniform, fishnets included.

Fucking. Fishnets.

"... uniform. But I can make myself look completely different. So long as I keep away from unicorns trained to see through illusions, like guards at close range, I should be fine. You on the other hand can't be taught to see through illusions, just like Earth Ponies, Pegasi can't use their inborn, passive magic to see through illusions. So Shining,who might see through the illusion given he gets close enough and tries to, can't blame you for being 'fooled' by my magic."

She still looked skeptical.

"Look, all you need to do is get me in, then proceed as you would. I'll sneak into the med bay and try and pry some info from the doctors or a bubbly nurse who's looking after the Princess alright?"

I wasn't looking for her approval of the plan, I only needed her cooperation. But whether she agreed to my plan or not, I was going back to Canterlot.

I needed that information, and I needed it as fast as I could manage. I looked her in the unsure, still disbelieving eye.

"I want you in on this Spring, but if you don't help, I'll go anyway, and going with you stands a much greater chance of success than without. What say you?"

Sneaking in.

It took me damn near two hours to get her to agree. I'm not certain why I spent so much time convincing her, but I felt it was needed. I was telling the truth before, I had a better chance of getting in with her on my side. Besides that, it cleared her of any evidence of betrayal. Not that I'm saying she's betrayed anypony! I'm just saying uh... um... Forget it. Anyway, obviously I had a few preparations to make. Erasing a spell on a precious stone is not easy, and it takes a lot of energy. Naturally, I was the one who had to do it. Why on Equestria Nightspring brought a pendant that would make me look like a maid is beyond me, but now I'm kinda glad she did. Not so glad that she used it, but glad she brought it. Obviously the inhibitor she stuck on me before had been taken off. It had taken me the better part of the next day to purge the spell from the pendant, and about just as much time weaving a brand new illusion into it, complete with sensory capabilities, meaning others will hear, smell and can even taste my illusion and touching it will lead to them 'feeling' the illusion instead of me. It's a very complex procedure. In order to lower suspicion about my identity even more, I had chosen a female guise. 'Her' coat is velvety soft and a pastel pink, and her mane and tail are quite long. Not long enough for 'her' tail to be dragging along the ground, but still quite long and a soft mauve. I had to make up a cutie mark on the spot, and that's no easy. You have to consider where your guise is coming from, what's happened in their lives, how it meshes in with the rest of the family. In my case, I decided that my guise will have a four leaf clover cutie mark and sold Lucky Charms. Her name will be 'Top 'o the Morning'. Or I wanted it to be. Nightspring told me it was a stupid name and that I should go with a nurse of some kind, maybe a foreign nurse brought in for a different perspective. So I changed the cutie mark to a medical mark and altered her name to 'Sparkling Grotto', which Spring seemed to like.

That exhausted me, however, and I slept damn near two days. Illusions on their own, tricks of light, are easily done. I have no trouble with simple illusions, but making ones that can be seen, touched and everything else is just plain difficult. Spring kept telling me I was a wuss and that I should get up already. Like she understands. She knows physical combat and speed, but magic is best left to us professionals, unicorns. On the third day I dug into her satchel (Which she tried to hide from me. Silly girl) and started drawing up an illusion scroll.

Spell Scrolls are an invaluable tool regardless what anypony else says. It's a bit of a lost art, I'll admit. I'm not certain anypony else in Canterlot, or at least in the guard, do it. I'm not sure they know how. What a Spell Scroll does is literally store the energy of a spell in it's design inside the scroll and any pony that comes along can use it, if they know how. Naturally, you have to prepare the scroll for whatever kind of spell you're retrofitting it with. This is achieved through various symbols and runes etched with ink onto them. Of course, you don't have to use ink. I've heard say that there are a few things that actually change the effects of the scroll a little. I heard that Squid ink will have a dampening effect on any spell except a water element spell, so is good for healing spells, that dragon saliva exponentially upgrades any fire type spell you put into it as well as infusing the paper with a resistance to heat and flames, and the most ridiculous of them all being that unicorn's blood can exponentially increase the power of any spell put into it by a massive scale. Of course, when I say 'heard' I meant 'read in a book of legends that's so ancient it's probably full of bullshit'. I knew the scrolls worked, but I wasn't willing to try out the other theories. Aside from the fact most of them would risk life and limb, it just seemed silly to go all that way simply to have one little test.

Ahem. Anyway.

I infused the scroll with another complex illusion spell, this time a perfect representation of me. For who knows me quite like I do? Nopony. I had to tweak it here and there, make him look a little more downtrodden and weatherbeaten, like I looked now after my time on my own and especially my sickness. I smiled as I looked upon the finished product, albeit tiredly. I felt rather than heard Spring exit the tent and look at me. I looked back at her, and the illusion did the same. I had instilled within it my personality so it was just that more convincing and it grinned at her just as I did. I don't think I've ever seen her looking so hopelessly confused. It was quite amusing to say the least an I chuckled, at the same time the other me did. She groaned and stomped back into the tent, to my great amusement I might add. Still chuckling, I looked at the other me and he nodded and looked to the still empty, inscribed spell scroll. With a casual spell, I sealed the magic creating him into the scroll.

I might hang on to this scroll. Might come in handy someday to play a prank on Spring. If I get out of this alive.

~*~

You know, when I told Spring to 'make it look natural' when she brought me to Canterlot, I didn't mean to actually knock me out, tie me up, stick the inhibitor on me again and drape me over her back like some lump. Now I have a very real bruise on my head with a very real splitting headache. It hurts. A lot. I forced her to stop whilst I made a modification to the fake me before resealing it and getting back onto her back. It's annoying. She's wearing her tattered, banged up armour again and it's really, really uncomfortable and cold, but I'm not allowed to complain. why? I'm the prisoner. I didn't mean to treat me like a criminal when I asked her to make it look natural, and I think she's enjoying this waaayyyy too much. She has a pleased little smile on her face that I can't decipher whether or not it's real or staged. I cracked one eye open and stole a quick look around. We looked to be alone.

"Is it really necessary to have me tied up like this?"

I groaned as she arched her back, then quickly bounced back, rocking me painfully against her armour.

"Be quiet!" She hissed at me angrily, "You're meant to be knocked out. Unconscious ponies don't talk!"

I grunted in frustration. This is starting to get on my nerves.

"Dammit Spring, I can't just hang here all the time! How far are we away from Canterlot!?"

With a growl she jerked her head back and hit me again. It hurt, and I'm getting suspicious that she's only helping me to make my life a living hell.

"Shutup! I told you, we're getting the next train from this place. I requested having it to myself with just my prisoner so I could lock you down, prevent you doing anything. I have to have you like this, or they'll get suspicious. Now will you please shut the fuck up!"

Having nothing else to do, I grunted and fell silent. As much as I hate it, she's right. And I'm starting to hate her right now as well. No, no, she's doing what she has to, she's just in character and is just making it as believable as possible. That's all that it is, and I have to remember that. She's just doing what she has to. She has to be.

I hope so. Because in a few minutes I'll be alone with her on a train headed to possibly the most dangerous city I could be in right now.

Canterlot.

~*~

I was surprised that we made it past the Royal guards at the train station so easily. I was no longer meant to be 'unconscious', but I wasn't allowed to speak, and I had to follow Spring. Not that I had much choice, she was pulling me along by a rope around my neck. My hooves were hobbled as well, and I swear she's pulling me sharply every so often simply because she can. It's chafing severely and I think I'm having welts develop on my neck. It hurts like hell, and there's no way in hell she's not going to be yelled out for that. Trust me when I say I'm going to need to talk to her about this. Very seriously.

I can hear us traversing the streets of Canterlot, and I can hear whispers from afar. It's not a comforting feeling, let me tell you. I'm keeping my head down, simply looking at the bricks and cobblestones. I can't actually tell where we're going, I'm just following Spring's lead... and the rope of course. She leads me up stairs and almost instantly I can tell we're going to the castle. It has a certain vibe to it that nowhere else has. Unfortunately, there's a hell of a lot of steps. I can hear the bitch flying ahead of me, forcing me to almost run to keep up. I tripped and fell face first into the steps, feeling my nose break again. Spring dropped from the sky and ushered me back to my hooves and then cracked my nose back into place, then continued. We couldn't stop, it'd look suspicious. But fuck my nose hurts now. Again. I'm sick of this shit.

"Halt! State your name and business here!"

Brilliant. The guards at the door. I have a moment to rest my legs. I sink down into a sitting position with a sigh of relief as Nightspring landed before me, bristling with indignation.

"Whaddaya mean state name? You both know me damn well! And you know who this is, so three fucking guesses what I'm here to do."

I could feel the pair recoil under her venomous tone and there was a pause before one of them spoke hesitantly.

"Regardless Miss Nightspring, we're obligated to make sure you're not a fake or anything."

With a groan, she reached into her satchel (Standard issue) and withdrew something. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it was her ID. Knowing my luck though, it probably wasn't. There was a long silence from the other (unseen in my case) guards before I saw her putting her item back in the satchel and she tugged me forward. I can only assume they had waved her through. The material under my hooves... I felt it change from brick into marble as we entered the castle. For a long while, I followed her quietly before suddenly she yanked me away from the main path an into a side passage. I gasped as she did so, trying to get my breath back.

"Shh! They'll hear you fool!" She hissed at me angrily, untying my bonds quickly so I could move around, then pulling out the pendant I'd enchanted some time back and latching it around my neck, then yanked off the inhibitor ring on my horn. I took a moment to recover from the sudden dizziness of having my magic returned so quickly before I noticed she'd pulled out my Spell Scroll and had it opened for me rather impatiently.

"Hurry, hurry! We don't have all day and I need to have somepony who looks like you. We can't change the nose now, but it'll have to do. Hurry it up and summon the other stupid you already will you?"

With a glare, I activated the illusion in the scroll and the other me climbed his way out of the scroll and looked at me.

"Wow..." He said quietly, "You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks," I said dryly, "You don't look much better. You know what to do, don't let me down."

He nodded with a smile and turned to Spring, who was shaking her head. With a wry smile, I activated the charm hidden in the heart shaped gem around my neck and set off, heading towards the med bay. I have to get there quickly. I can't dally, I have to get there as soon as I can, and I have to keep my identity hidden.

So now, it's not me walking around, it's Sparkling Grotto the nurse brought in to look at the Princess. I'm a pastel pink earth mare with a mauve mane. I am not a guard, I am not a stallion... shit. I search quickly for a spell to change my voice and almost miss it before I finally catch it. Thankfully it's a relatively simple spell, and it takes me no time at all to cast it. Now I should sound the part as well, although with my luck lately I've no doubt that I'm going to have some stupid voice that isn't anything like a cute little nurse mare. We'll find out though won't we?

Trying not to limp from my sore hooves, I begin to make my way through the castle. It's quite quick going since not many ponies are really paying attention to me. Well, except for the few guards I can feel eyeing me off as I pass. I must have made her look pretty damn good. Anyhow, I'm walking for a while until I finally realise that I am utterly and completely lost.

Lost in the castle I patrol for a living, how ironic.

Without any other choice, I approach the nearest pony to ask him for directions.

"Excuse me sir," I ask, satisfied to hear a very feminine voice issue from my maw, "but could you possibly give me directions to the medical wing? I've lost my way."

The stallion in question, wearing a red bow tie and a red fez hat smiled at me.

"Sure thing! Medical wing is just down the hall and to the left, third one. good luck miss!"

And with that he trotted away, careless. I was just happy with the answer, and obviously my disguise was working, so I followed his directions, happy that my plan was working so far. I can't get ahead of myself though. Doing that would pretty much doom me to failure. this was going much too easily. I liked that it was easy, but it's a little suspicious at the same time. I hope Spring hasn't run into any trouble, or run to any trouble for me. The hall is way longer than it looks, and by the time I reach the third archway on the left I can feel my hooves aching. Even with the brief respite from the door guards etc, I was tired as hell and really didn't want to be here right now.

But I must go on.

I follow the passage and, just as the stallion said, arrive at the medical wing. It's not terribly busy, and the clerk (Clerk? I'm not sure what they call them here. Or in a hospital. Intern? receptionist? Who knows? Who cares.) looked half asleep. All it took was a little nudge and she was snoring. Feeling rather proud of myself, I took off down the corridors, looking for the Princess' room. I found it in short order, aside from it being in intensive care and being the only one currently being used. I poked my head in. Empty except for her in bed. Excellent. I trot in confidently and pick up the clipboard at the end of the bed to look at it. It's just a bunch of random words I don't understand and a graph or two, but I can't see anything mentioning symptoms or possible causes, so I put it back down. Not knowing what else to do, I sat by the bedside of the one princess whom had actually wanted to talk to me, and felt a stab of guilt at how I'd reacted to her gentle probing.

"Princess I... I know you probably can't hear me..." I started quietly, not really sure why I was saying any of this, "But... I wanted to let you know I'm sorry. I can't take back what's been done, but I swear to you I didn't have a hoof in this, and I will find who did. I'll get you better again, don't you worry."

"Ah! Excellent! I was wondering when you would show up."

I froze in shocked fear. Hiding behind an illusion will fool pegasi and earth ponies, even most unicorns. But there is something it will almost never fool.

I turn to look at the face of one of the one ponies I really didn't want to run into.

Prince Stalwart Defender in all his glory, standing beside a doctor in the hallway.

I am so fucked.

Defender

I am fucked.

I am so fucking fucked and it's too late to run.

Defender is just standing the the doorway, smiling at me, a strange look in his eye. I don't like it, and it's difficult to stop my knees from shaking. Prince Defender is the leader of the Knights, the Night Guards, the Midlight Knights, Moonlight Guardians, call them what you will. He had the reputation of being a hardass and severely punishing lax guards or guards who screw up even the slightest. His methods could sometimes be considered borderline barbaric. He believed in hard discipline, and he wasn't afraid to dish it out, although sometimes he left it in the hooves of the ever mischievous Princess Luna. No matter how you look at it though, whether he kills me or imprisons me, I'm still fucked.

It's like a rainbow has been combined with a tornado. A tornainbow. And it's too late to fucking save myself.

"It's been a while my little pony. I hadn't thought you'd arrive so soon! I'm glad to see you."

I swallow heavily as he approached me. It was everything I could do just to keep my body from shaking. He was still smiling. With a smirk however as the doctor entered the room, he winked at me and mouthed something at me. It took me a moment to realise what he said.

'Play along Arc.'

Still wondering what the hell was going on, I forced myself to smile and rubbed my foreleg with my other one shyly.

"Well, I tried to get here as fast as I could. My teacher told me I'd been called to Canterlot, but I didn't know it'd be somepony so prestigious..? Is that the right word?"

He chuckled softly and, to my complete and utter surprise, drew me into a big hug with one large foreleg, holding me against his chest and against the cold metal of his chest accessory. If you remember, Celestia and Luna both wear similar accessories, but his is more like a combat chestplate, although more ornate. I flushed and, thankfully, he spoke first as the doctor looked away.

"Of course! I'm not letting my little god daughter have anything less than the best of educations."-

Still holding me to his chest, he leveled a stern look at the doctor. I could feel the uniorn cower away from the glare.

"You will oblige my god daughter's questions to the best of your abilities, understand? If you do not, you will be answering to me. Is this quite understood?"

I looked over at the doc to see him nodding vigorously. This is certainly going better than I thought it would. I pushed at him gently with an embarrassed giggle.

"Defender! You're embarrassing me! Lemme go!"

He laughed richly and let me go, then nudged me towards the bed again. I looked to the unconscious Princess again and looked to the doctor, fluttering my eyelashes at him.

"So um, are you going to tell me the situation or not?"

The doctor nodded instantly.

"Of course! Of course miss uh..?"

"Sparkling Grotto."

With a nervous glance at Defender, now looming in the corner, the doctor swallowed.

"Miss Grotto then. Uh, the patient is obviously Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, known as Cadance by her husband and friends. Almost two weeks ago she was attacked by an unknown assailant and she's been in a coma ever since. We got her in here as quick as we could and started treatment, analysing her wounds. They were blunt force trauma, most likely hoof strikes. However she's not in a coma because of the trauma. We've found minimal traces of a poison in her system, but it's certainly not native to Equestria. We actually don't know where it comes from, but it's torturously slowly destroying her system organ by organ. We've managed to slow it down even further with a series of injections and certain wards carved into her bedframe, but I'm afraid unless we find a cure, she's going to die."

I frown and think for a moment before asking cautiously.

"Can we tell if it was synthetic or natural?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to talk but stopped, and frowned, then looked at the clipboard he'd brought in with him, then back at me. I'm not sure if I said something wrong, but he seemed concerned.

"I... I don't think we'd even thought of that. I suppose we certainly could find out. Since you don't have a horn however, I'm afraid I'm going to have to perform the spell. It's a simple spell really, and it should tell us whether or not the poison was magically created, or synthetic, or if it's natural. I'll ask you to wait a moment whilst I cast the spell."

Holy shit I am so lucky. I was winging it there, I'll admit. I wasn't sure if he was going to think I was stupid or not, or if he'd catch me out. I suppose there must have been something right about what I said. I barely noticed as he began casting his spell. Poison. Cadance had been poisoned. That's why she hadn't woken up yet. And she won't wake up until she's cured. But without knowing what the fuck this poison was, I couldn't find a cure. And if that happened, Celestia and the ancients protect me.

"Yes! That's it! It's a naturally occuring poison, not magically created. The problem is that it seems to alter itself whenever magic is used to try and heal it. If we try and destroy it, it multiplies instead. If we try to change it, it reflects us. I can't heal it with the resources I have here, I'd need to know more about it."

From the corner, Defender rich voice thrummed through the room.

"Sounds like we need the help of the Kirin. Aren't they the most well versed in floral organisms?"

The doctor jumped, like he'd forgotten Defender's presence, and he nodded quickly.

"I... It would seem so. We'll have to send messengers and some such, yes?"

Defender snorted.

"Don't worry about it. King Chlorophyll is here right now. I'll just have to drag him out of Celestia's room with a team of oxen. It's an easy... fix... Where the hay are you going?"

As he spoke, I watched the doctor's eyes flash. I had a vague memory of seeing that yellow colour before and the Doctor simply left the room with a vacant, blank face. For a moment we both stared at the doorway before it was enveloped in a white light and the door to the room shut quickly and locked. I started and turned to look at the Prince who was looking now at me with an amused face.

"You know, that disguise is quite impressive. You're lucky it was me who found you first and not either my sister or my wife. I'm not certain Celestia would show any leniency. Luna may have, but I have a harder time predicting my sister's actions."

I flushed and fiddled with the pendant around my neck.

"Why are you helping me? I'd thought that the Prince would want me as bad as Shining or the Princesses did."

Defender chuckled softly and nodded.

"True. If I thought you guilty. But I don't. I can see the truth of things on many matters, and yours was one. I knew you weren't guilty the moment I saw you. I also saw right through your disguise. But I'm fairly certain that nopony else has. Shining Armour is currently telling your illusion that he's going to tell him the truth. I'll have you know that you've deceived the Captain of the Royal Guard, you deserve to be a little proud of that. Well, until he settles down."

I could feel the heat encompassing my face intensifying and looked quickly at the door before back to the prince.

"You said that the Kirin were the best bet for information on the antidote for this poison, was that a clue?"

Defender grinned and I could feel myself doing a little dance deep in my mind. A little dance of triumph. I was finally getting someplace.

"Maybe. To be honest it'll probably take three weeks or so to actually get all the paperwork in order, even though Chlorophyll will want to get everything taken care of as soon as he can. Some things have to be recorded, if only for diplomatic leverage. We probably don’t need it, knowing how much those two are spending in their company. But that’s royal business, you didn’t hear that from me.”

I nodded quickly, just happy to be getting help from such a powerful pony.

“No sir, of course not.”

He nodded to me with a happy smile.

“Good. Now I think you really should get going. You shouldn’t push your luck, you’ve been here too long as it is.”

The door opened slowly and I glanced at it again.

“And don’t worry. Nightspring won’t be disciplined. I’ll see to that myself.”

I couldn't help it, I smiled thankfully.

“Thanks sir.”

“But I can’t guarantee she won’t chase after you.”

For a moment I felt a stab of concern before shrugging.

"It's alright. I would prefer her to remain here and away from potential harm, but she's always been a free spirit. If she decides she needs to follow me she will, and no force on Equestria will stop her. She's always been like that. Just don't tell her where I'm going because she'll probably use the excuse of hunting me to get out of here and come after me."

~*~

As I walked down the halls of the castle, I lost myself in thought. I think it's fairly obvious what I was thinking about.

The Prince. I was helped and concealed by the Prince Defender, and now I have the perfect alibi as to who I am and if they question it they can go and ask Defender about me and he'd back me up. But why in the hell did he help me anyway? His reason didn't really explain it. Seeing the truth of some matters? Was he spying on me somehow? I don't understand how that'd be even possible. I suppose scrying could work, but without the added magic needed to add audio, which is fairly advanced, he wouldn't know what was said. And no offense to his Majesty, but he's not terribly good at magic which is surprising given his alicorn status. And yeah, I see the Alicorn race as more of a status than a race.

Regardless however if he's helping me out of the goodness of his heart or for his own strange and inconceivable gain, he helped me anyway. And this was going to clear my name.

It won't be long now.

I have to get to the Somerset Glade.

Well That escalated quickly!

I was always rather proud of the Guard's alarm system. At least when it's confined to the castle.

It's a simple procedure that's undeniably effective. Depending on what's going on, a different alert signal will sound through the ears of all guards in the castle. But only their ears. In the office of the Captain and I believe there's one in the private rooms of both Major Princesses (And no doubt soon to be one in Shining and Cadance's rooms) is a set of lodestones. Now, as you've probably guessed, gemstones can store magic, but it slowly bleeds out over time and it can't hold powerful spells. Any gem can hold an illusion because they're simple. Sure adding parameters to solidity, sound and such things can be a pain and does tend to make them last less time overall, but it still works. A lodestone on the other hoof is quite rare. A lodestone is a magical artifact capable of storing magical energies far beyond their gem counterparts and are almost always found perfectly cut in the wilderness. It's a strange thing. Sometimes, they're found with a set of holes in them that look like tiny fang pierced them, other times like big fangs pierced them. Like a dragon bit it, then decided otherwise and left it be. These stones are always drained of power.

Anyway.

When the alarm for an intruder goes off, the guard are able to become much more alert quickly and automatically go to defend the main exits. Basically trap the intruder in, and apprehend him before he can leave without alarming anypony. It's a simple thing to do and understand. But as I've just found out, it's not so simple trying to get around it.

I'm hiding in a small alcove off the main pathways of the castle, cringing back in the shadows whenever a unicorn trots by, his eyes alert and flicking around. This has gone from an easy way in to hell on an express elevator carrying more than it's intended weight. It' absurd. The illusion that cloaked me is failing, and my voice has returned to how it was, which means I cant speak anymore. I'm considering taking the pendant off in fact. The illusion is weak now and I'm almost positive it'd be easy to see through it even if you aren't a unicorn. It's not like it's going to do a whole lot of good to me anymore. The problem remained however that I had nowhere to put it. With a shrug I wrapped it around my hoof. It won't activate the magic like that, and it won't impede me. So now I guess I look and sound normal.

This is not going how I hoped.

Another patrol marched past me and I froze, tense. They apparently didn't see me, so I relaxed and breathed easy. I wish Spring hadn't taken my damn bags. They'll be in the Captain's room in the prisoner belongings chest no doubt. A drag, but I really need my stuff.

Okay. So what do I need to do? Get out and survive. Part one; Get my saddlebags back, Part two; Acquire food from the kitchen. The amount of food I had been given dropped exponentially when Spring joined me. Part three; Get the hell out of the castle, Part four; Get to the Somerset Glades without being killed along the way or captured. How do I do all this? First I head to the Captain's room, then I descend to the lower levels and into the Kitchen. I'll have to get to the store room, which means going through the kitchen itself. After that I'll try for the service passage heading out of the kitchen. That should get me out and well away before they think to look there. As for getting to the Somerset Glades....

I have no idea.

A map would be helpful, but the cartographers guild delivered straight to Celestia herself, who then made copies and put one in Luna's room as well. Obviously sneaking in either of these rooms would be suicide. So I suppose I'll have to improvise.

Just my luck.

Well, I may as well start now. Another patrol marches by and I take a deep breath to steel myself. Ignoring my aching head, I bend the light around me to render myself invisible and start up the corridor, leaving the shelter of my alcove. The Captain's quarters isn't that far from the Guard Common Room, so that's where I'm headed. I give a cursory thought to getting some armour, but discard the idea as soon as it occurs to me. It'd be a waste of time, and I'd be clanking as I walked. No deal. Dodging patrols turns out to be relatively easy. Just standing still as they pass works wonders, even on the unicorns, but I can feel my tenuous hold on the spell slipping every so often and I have to reinforce it again and again. Bypassing the Common room with a pang of loss, I observed the Captain's room. Apparently, he hasn't seen any point in keeping guards there. I suppose it's because this is the last place I want to be. Cautiously, I nudge the door open. I can see him as well as hear him in my head and physically as he spoke into the lodestone. It was... disorientating. Thankfully the door is well looked after and it doesn't squeak. The chest is just by the door. I reach forward and flip it open as quietly as I can, reach in and grab my saddlebags. They were right where I thought they'd be.

Then something else caught my eye.

As I flipped the saddlebags onto my back a strange cloak leaped up into my optic sensory perception. It was a strange cloak, and I couldn't tell what colour it was. It seemed to shift as I watched between greens, reds and browns. With a glance at the still occupied Shining Armour, I grabbed it too and bolted. No way was I staying any longer than I had to. Now to the next area. Since I've gotten my bags, and this strange cloak of which I am now stuffing into my saddlebags, I have to descend into the lower levels.

The kitchen.

~*~

Now it should be said that never in the history of the castle has there been an orderly kitchen until recently.

Some of the best chefs in Equestria, and some from other places, have worked and slaved over grills, pots and pans in this magnificent place, but never has it been so in sync and so organized as when Silver Stake took over the kitchen as head chef.

Silver is an older stallion with a white mane shot through with gray. His blue coat had faded over the years and he had silver streaks on his muzzle, but his eyes were hard and sharp and his tongue was razor sharp and quick to bite. If there was anypony not of the guard to fear in the castle, Silver was him. He might not have been the best cook in the world, but the other staff respected and trusted his judgement, and his strange ability to tell precisely what should go one when and how everything should work. He was not afraid to get rough if required, and his burn scarred fetlocks had thrown one too many dishes aside as 'tasteless' or 'bland'. That's not to say he was cruel. Every piece of aggression was met with an equal amount of tender affection in the form of soft words, gestures or helpful advice and he never abandoned a team mate. he was perhaps the most complex stallion I have ever met, and I'm glad I met him with Spring else he might have turned me inside out with a word. He was, peculiarly enough, a pegasus stallion who hadn't opened his wings for years. They were more aesthetic than practical now, and he barely bothered to preen them. Nopony knew why he hadn't opened them, they just knew he didn't fly anymore.

"More heat on that soup! Cut those carrots finer Edgy! Make sure those potatoes are washed to perfection! Celestia wants the king to have only the best we can offer! Hawke!"

"Yes Sir?"

"You're making the mash! Do it just like last time, I've never tasted better mash!"

As I watched, the young earth mare blushed and her colleagues winked at her.

"Thank you sir, I'll make it even better."

"That's what I like to hear! Move your flanks! Only three hours before we serve!"

Blistering hot grills, small wall mounted top down grillers called Salamanders, A massive stove top with twelve different gas burners on it, Three massive deep fryers and a whole range of culinary equipment and machinery I don't even know the name to.

Welcome to the kitchen.

Trying to ignore the constant shouts is easy. Dodging every single pony that was rushing around like a headless chicken was fucking murderous. Ducking, Weaving and occasionally jumping, I tried wildly to dodge the kitchen staff, at one point even having to sweep around Silver himself. I swear he glanced at me, but he didn't seem to see me, because he kept going. My head is killing me, and I can feel the illusion beginning to fade. Desperately I pump more power into it. My head feels like it's going to split but I finally make it to the storage room. But I can't go in without somepony else opening the door, or ponies will get suspicious. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long before Silver came along and opened the door, hurrying into the room. I followed, careful not to bump into him or anypony else. It was to my great surprise when the door slammed shut behind me. I spun around to see Silver glaring at me, even through my light bending.

"You can drop the invisible act now lad," He said quietly. He has a really thick accent, like he was from some far off place. he drew out his o's and a's. It was strange, but not unpleasant. With a gulp, I let the field drop around me. He was still glaring at me. He glanced at the now closed door, of which he stood by, then back to me.

"I hear yer gettin' Nightspring inta trouble," He growled at me and I swallowed, shaking my head. Where the hell had he heard that!?

"No sir!" I quickly replied, as quietly as I could whilst still being heard by him, "I'm not intentionally doing so, no. I'm trying to leave her here sir, so she can't."

The old stallion huffed and jerked his head to the racks upon racks of supplies all around me.

"Strange story. Ain't every day I get a visit from the Prince. He reckons that I should give ya whatever supplies ya need and send ya on yer way. I say why? Why help a crim? And he just looked at me and smiled. But I ain't one to go back on an order, or on my word."

His eyes narrowed as hope flared in my chest.

"But if I hear 'bout ya again, or ya show yer face in my kitchen again before you clear ya name as the Prince seems so positive ya will, I'm afraid I won't have the same leniency. I'll be forced to turn ya into the cap. Got it lad?"

I nodded quickly and he huffed again.

"Take what ya need."

He watched me as I slowly started taking bits and pieces from the store room. Only a few apples, because I was over them, some turnips, vegetable stock for soup, oats and other things that were essential. Then, out of a whim, I looked up at a shelf of chocolate and glanced back at Silver. His eyes were glinting mischievously.

"Ya know, normally I'd kill ya if a lad looked at Celestia's chocolate like that. But since you seem so hopeless, I'll let ya have a piece."

Suddenly feeling overwhelmingly guilty, I looked back at the chocolate longingly, before shaking my head and leaving it be. Maybe some other time. I looked back at him and bowed.

"Thanks sir. I won't forget this."

He grunted sourly and jerked his head to somewhere behind me.

"Normally, I'd let ya out the service passage, but they went and blocked that off too. You're gunna have to go through someplace else."

Shit. There goes that idea.

With a sigh I nodded. He smiled.

"Don't ya worry about your little disguise in the kitchen. We won't rat ya out lad. Let's go."

With a nod, I left him and went out of the store room...

And right into the eyesight of three Royal guards.

Fuck.

"There he is! After him!"

With a curse I sprang into action, disregarding the aching in my hooves and my head. Stealth was not an option anymore. I plunged recklessly into the sea of ponies making up the kitchen staff and the guards did the same. Pushing, shoving and apologising, I ran through the crowd when suddenly it parted and a pegasus guard was leaping at me! With a reaction faster than I could think I dived low, shooting under him as he faceplanted into the ground. I got up an kept running as a crowd gathered around the injured guard, asking if he wanted assistance. By the time the other two had realised I'd left, I was running back up the stairs. But I could hear them in my ear.

Target found, lower levels, kitchen. Going upstairs now, anypony able to intercept?

Intercepting at the top of the steps. Don't worry, he won't escape us.

Well, we'll see about that. I reached the top of the steps, leaping up them three at a time before a wall of magic appeared before me. With a surge of adrenaline I brought my magic to bear...

And got more than I bargained for.

A flash of light and a bang followed by screams later and the two guards from the top of the stairs were unconscious and the wall's power flowed into me. I could feel it, My headache was fading. Now it was more like a headache, less like somepony was trying to cut my head open with a rusty spoon. I could run with that. I didn't slow down, rushing up the next staircase, listening as they set up a blockade on the next floor. With a surge of inspiration, I hit the top of the stairs and leaped to one side, several bolts of magical energy missing my by inches and one clipping my fetlock as I hit the bannister and leaped off of it, landing on my hooves on the other side of the barricade and instantly galloping again. My hooves were killing me. They felt like they were going to fall off at any minute and I could feel the burn where the magic bolt had hit me pulsing with pain.

The next staircase was blocked by a contingency of guards, and I had no wish to try and go through them. With more now hot on my heels, I bolted to the left and deeper into the castle. That was when the bolts started flying past my ears, their incessant sparking making me yelp and try to force myself to go faster. My lungs are burning, and I can't feel my hooves anymore. just as well, they were hurting so much before. Without a thought I plunged into a room and slammed the door shut. Panting I turned around to behold the stunned look of a noble pony, at least twelve pairs of guard eyes and the eyes of King Chlorophyll and Princess Celestia.

Celestia dammit, I had to turn into the throne room didn't I?

"What on Equestria is going on here!?" demanded the noble, who I now recognized as the reviled prince Blueblood. Irritating stallion. I glared at him, still out of breath and Celestia's brow arched. Chlorophyll looked a bit... shocked, but otherwise unaffected.

"My little pony..." Said Celestia quietly, making me gulp in dread, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in your cell?"

Shit. She knew who I was. Of course she did. She's Celestia. With a gulp, I raise my head high.

"Because I'm not guilty," I shot back at her proudly. Or I hope it was proudly. It was difficult to keep my legs from quaking under her glare, "And I will not be judged for crimes I did not commit."

There was a long silence. Then I was running again as she waved a hoof to the guards and they sprang into action. With a desperate cry, I bolted again, around one guard. Another glanced me as he tried to tackle me and I heard a pot whistle past my head as I fell, rolling before springing back up and galloping again. Not knowing where else to go, my eyes fixed on a door off to the left and I bolted for it. I heard somepony scream 'No!' before I busted through the old door and rushed up the stairs. It seems I'm in some sort of tower and I can hear stamping hooves behind me as I bound up the steps, hoping I hit the top before them.

I did, and what I found there confused me.

I hit the top, spun around and slammed the door shut, sliding the bolt home just as the others reached me and started banging on the door. Turning around searching for escape I was met by the gaze of an intensely old stallion. He had a long white beard, and his entire coat seemed to be that grey that one develops in old age, his mane and tail were the same white as his beard and he was leaning on a cane. He stared at me for a long moment, his eyes strangely golden before he looked to my saddlebags and then to the window. I was dimly aware that the pounding on the door was still going. The old stallion nodded to my bags.

"One way out," He croaked out quietly, "One item to keep you alive. Just don't shout as you dive."

What he said didn't compute before from somewhere within the shock of white mane a horn glowed and the cloak, the cloak I'd taken from the office of my former CO, floated out from the bag and settled on my back, the drawstring tying themselves around my neck. I took a few steps forward before the door gave out and the guards burst in. Without anyplace else to go and with no other thought other than that I was going to die, I leaped out the window, shattering the glass into billions of pieces as I fell

Spurs Hollow

Falling.

In retrospect, jumping out of the window from, as I've just found out, possibly one of the tallest towers on the castle, was probably a really terrible idea. Maybe. I suppose the possible consequences of me falling and becoming little more than a bright red splatter on the concrete below. I think my brain must have shut down or something at some point, because this only occurred to me right about now. As I'm falling. As the wind whistles through my mane and past my ears. It would almost be exhilarating and beautiful, if I wasn't falling to my death. Strangely though, I wasn't panicking. I wasn't terribly worried either. I knew what was going to happen, so I suppose I was at peace with my death. The cloak was flapping behind me in the wind, and it still didn't seem to want to fix on a colour. I was curious, and somewhat amused by it. I can feel the ground rushing towards me and suddenly I was suspended in the air, gliding slowly through the air, yanked belly side down again as I was seemingly automatically angled into a shallow glide.

As I watched, all bemused, my mind still distant, still accepting that I was going to die I suppose, the ground beneath me rushed by as I flew through the air. I'd always wondered how it was to fly. Unless I was already dead. I suppose that's possible. I might already be dead. I wonder if you can see your dead body when you're a ghost. I wonder if it's possible for me to look back and see what was left of my body. I thought about this for a moment before discarding the thought. No, It'd be fine without looking at my remains. Probably not a pretty picture anyway. I watched as the Canterlot walls swept by underneath me and I drifted through space without effort and without a care. This must be what it's like to fly. I envy the pegasi that can do this on command. On a whim. Without a care.

I'm not sure how long I spent in the air. Does it matter when one is dead? I wouldn't think so. I drifted well away from Canterlot. I suppose I was drifting to wherever the dead go, if they go anywhere. I watched as I passed ponies young and old, pegasi and unicorns and earth ponies all. They looked so happy. So peaceful. It's strange. Thinking back on my life, Most of my life I spent indoors, watching others interact and taking notes or reading books. Sometimes sketching. The only time I really spent outside was when I had to, or when I was working. Even then most times I was inside. I never really went outside. I feel regret that so much of my life was wasted.

I felt a painful stab of regret as I saw a stallion and a mare upon a hilltop. The sun was setting and they were lying beside each other, leaning against one another. Something I would never experience. Something I will never have the pleasure of doing. A deep set sorrow washed away the regret as I thought of Nightspring. If only my thoughts could go out to her. But I am but a spirit now, so I suppose it doesn't matter what I think or do. Oh goodness, I loved her. I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. What are emotions to a spirit? Nothing I suppose. What is it that a spirit could possibly do with emotion? Nothing that I know of. I passed the pair by, shedding a tear. It's a sad thought, that I never had the balls to ask her.

The landscape passed quickly, and only occasionally was I beset by emotion. Joy, sorrow, regret. But that's about all. I was slowly approaching the ground as I glided through the atmosphere. It's such a wonderful sensation. I suppose I'm going to pass down through the earth and into some new plane. I descended, watching the ground in bemusement as it got closer and closer. I reached out for it, ready to descend into whatever plane my soul is to inhabit....

And hit the ground rolling.

I cried out in pain as the ground hit me I was rolled head over hooves, hitting a rock once and making me cry out again before I hit a large rock and flipped into the air again with a very un-stallion like squeal of pain before faceplanting and scraping my way across several meters or more of earth, giving the term 'bite the dust' or 'tasting the dirt' a whole new meaning.

Ow.

I sat up slowly, spitting out rocks and dirt. This did not taste good. At all.

Disgusting.

Blinking owlishly let me sort of recover as I tried to get over the insane dizzy spell I was having before spitting out more dirt and a few blades of grass. It's a little...

Screw that. It's really disgusting. I look back and see a trench of dirt where my face scraped across the ground an carved a half pipe tunnel through the earth. it hurts now and my cheeks are stinging. Shaking my head only made me dizzier so I stayed very, very still, try to force down my nausea from landing so hard and flying so far. I still haven't figured out how I got so far, or even why. It hurt to move after my tumble and I could feel bruises forming in places I didn't even know I had. I looked around slowly and noted a sign in the distance. With an unsteady wobble, I staggered towards it. It's painful and I feel really distant. But I'll get there. You watch. I keep staggering forwards, my eyes narrowing as I try to read the sign. As I reach it, I notice the edges are stylishly curved and it's blue. Written across it is 'Spurs Hollow' and some other smaller print my fuzzy eyes can't make out. I can vaguely make out the number 102 as well, but my head feels so heavy...

With an exhausted sigh, I passed out.

~*~

Light stabbed at my closed eyelids and I moaned painfully. This was the second time since I began my little quest that I woke up with everything hurting and I think I could feel air flowing over cuts and scrapes, even through my fur, if I had any left. That tumble was pretty catastrophic. I'm surprised I can remember it at all to be honest. This is exactly the reason why I don't spar with Nightspring. To do so may as well be to commit suicide. She won't kill you of course, but you'll wish you were dead in the morning. Trust me. I did it once.

With a groan I pulled the blankets over me tighter.

Wait.

Blankets?

My eyes shot open and were instantly assaulted with light and pain. With a groan, I closed them again tightly, hoping that the pain would go away. It did after a while and I reopened them slowly. Very slowly so as not to hurt myself again. I was in a brightly coloured room and I was covered by a bright polka dotted sheet. My head rested upon a big, fluffy pillow.

Brilliant.

Twice. I fall unconscious and I wake up in somepony else's bed again. Being taken care of another pony again. Celestia, Luna and Alencar I feel so useless. Can't even take care of myself for a few days without keeling over and practically dying and then being taken in by some random pony and taken care of. Nightspring would find it utterly hilarious. I'll bet it'd take her weeks before she even made a tiny little mistake. Why am I so pathetic? Probably picked me to frame because I'd die before I even got close to clearing my name. Typical.

With a sigh, I resigned myself to being taken care of again, and let myself fall back to sleep. I may as well catch up on some more sleep. I have nothing better to do.

~*~

It must have been a few hours later when I woke up again. Remembering what happened last time, I opened my eyes slowly.

And looked straight into the eyes of a giant, black and red hound of some description.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed in shock, scrambling backwards, trying to get away. The hound flinched back and glared at me like I was some sort of idiot. I swallowed heavily, trying to ignore the pain wracking my body as I moved. I glanced around quickly, trying not to take my eyes off of the massive, fanged hound who seemed to think I am a bloody idiot.

"I wonder when you're going to stop your infernal screaming small equine, that my ears will recover." it growled irritably. My eyes went impossibly wide and I gaped at it. A talking hound. A talking hound!

A talking hound?

With almost relief I felt the lull of unconsciousness take me away again. I woke up and it was night. All was quiet and still, and dark. Oh so very dark. Well, I suppose this'd be the best time to leave. This is taking into account how difficult it was to get away from Applejack and her family. besides that, I still don't think that it's a good idea for me to stay in one place for too long in case I'm found. And considering the way I flew in one direction I think. I don't actually know where I flew. Or glided. Or whatever. Or how. I need to find my stuff of course, I can't leave without any of it. Not if I want to survive any longer than a day or two. With a quiet groan I eased my way out of this... camp mattress? Whatever. Maybe that's why the damn hound looked so big. Anyhow. Slowly I eased my way across the room, searching first for my bags. They aren't in here, which pains me a little, but the cloak is resting by the bedside, so I shrug that on. I felt quite a bit more comfortable with it on. At the same time, it was a bit... chilly. Like a cold tingle running down my spine. It didn't help that my entire spinal column was greatly painful.

Shaking my urge to get back into the comfortable camp mattress, I crept over to the door and creaked it open an inch or two. The room beyond the threshold was darkened much like mine, so I had no reservations sneaking through the doorway into it. A soft snoring growl made me freeze and look over to one corner of the room. In a big, fluffy dog bed rested the hellishly massive hound from before. Thankfully he was asleep, so I gulped and began to very carefully sneak past. With a quick movement, I darted into another room. It looked like I was in a kitchen and, look at that! My bags are on the table! Sweet.

Lifting up the cloak, which seemed longer than I remember, I donned the saddlebags. It was at this moment I noted a letter on the table and I frowned and picked it up. for a moment I felt guilty, but it passed relatively swiftly an I opened the letter.

'Our dear little Dusty.

Just a little reminder dearie that this week's Family reunion is at your home and everypony will be there! Even cousin Ranger! She's taking time off of her work to specially come by and help out with the prep and to see us all.

Oh, and it's on the fourteenth, remember that. We'll be there super dooper early!

With love.
Your mama and papa.'

It occurred to me I had no idea what day it is at all. Damn. I don't even know how long I was out. With a pained swallow, I poked my head out of the doorway again, looking at the massive hound. I remember it speaking to me at some point. With a start I remembered I still had the letter and threw it back on the table before sneaking out again, hopefully towards the door. I entered another room, this one with a glowing hammock in it and glow in the dark stickers all over the joint. It looked more like a bedroom, so I quietly left that one and took another chance to leave, coming to an exit to the place. The ramp looked pretty stable, so I shouldn't have any-

"Hey! Where are you going like that?"

With a shocked cry I shied away from the sound and promptly fell off the ramp and hit my head on the ground.

Again.

This was getting really tiresome. Dizzy and feeling more than a little sickly, I sat up woozily, trying to stay up as a white pegasus mare floated down to me. The weirdest part was that she was glowing. literally. Maybe I really had died? I'm not sure. Do angels glow? She had rainbow coloured, short cut mane and a tail cropped almost severely short. A bow adorned the base of her tail and she looked concerned as she landed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I looked at her unsteadily for a long moment, trying to keep her in focus. It wasn't east, and I could feel as well as see my vision swimming.

"Where... am I?" I asked quietly, holding back the need to hurl. She smiled brightly.

"My house of course! In Spurs Hollow! The coolest town in AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL of Equestria! Come on now, let's get you inside. You look like you..."

The rest of her words were lost as, once again and with a mental sigh of frustration, my body caved to unconsciousness.

This was getting to be a chore.

Moondust, Frankie and Spurs Hollow all used with permission from MoonDust, as is the members of her family.

To be Frank...ie.

Pain.

If ever there was a reminder to everypony that they were mortal, it was pain. Physiological, emotional, mental and even spiritual pains. The most common being physical, and thus the one I'm feeling right now. Bolts of electrical impulses sent all the way from the nerve endings spread throughout my body straight to my brain to gently remind me with all the subtlety of a goddamn Sledgehammer. Do you know how subtle a sledgehammer is?

NOT VERY FUCKING SUBTLE!

It's in my flesh, my muscles, my bones, the very pores of my skin. I can feel it everywhere. Even in places I didn't even know I had! My ears even hurt, and I can feel something inside my ear hurting. Hell, I can even feel pain in places that I really shouldn't be feeling pain in right now, unless I'd just had a rectal examination or something, or more. I'm not even kidding. Pain should not exist. I curse the pony who invented pain. I curse them down to the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus itself. I will find him and inflict that much pain upon him that life itself will lose all meaning. Then I will kill him. Slowly. Very slowly. Making sure he experienced as much of his creation as possible.

Gods above, below, on this plane or any other, I hate pain.

With a low groan, I opened my eyes painfully. Oh right, everything is painful. Anyway, it's dark out. Still dark. Either I've gone and slept for only an hour or so, or I've been asleep for some time. I can't decide which, hopefully only an hour or two. No promises of course, but there you go.

"I see you are awakened, small equine. We trust you will not scream again and harm our ears."

I froze and turned my head painstakingly slowly, literally, to look at the massive hound glaring balefully at me. I gulped and shook my head, grimacing at the pain. Fuck you pain. Fuck you. The hound snorted, apparently satisfied.

"That is satisfactory. Please do not struggle against your bonds. They are there for your own protection,and will not come off unless MoonDust permits it."

Bonds?

I tugged experimentally and found my left hoof was shackled, yes, shackled to the floor! With a surprised yelp I tried to yank myself free only to find the rest of me shackled as well! With a cry of dismay I started to struggle, the metallic chains clanking against their links and the floor. This went on for almost a minute before a loud bark silenced me, making me still and look at the terrifyingly massive hound before me with a nervous gulp. He looked pissed. But then, he always seemed to look pissed from what I've seen.

"Will you please be quiet!? I have a big enough headache as it is. Simply having to look after you is irritating enough without you going and a bigger headache. So do yourself a favor and shut. Up. It'd be such a pity for you to lose your vocal cords."

Holy crap. I am in so much trouble right now. I nodded rapidly to him. It's not that I was afraid! No way! I was definitively NOT afraid of the really big black and red hound with really big teeth and the eyes of a killer. Nu-uh. No way. Impossible. I was just... quiet because I needed to think! Yes. I need to figure out how to get out of here. I have no doubt that if I tried to use magic he'd be on me in a moment. I'm not ready to get on his bad side though. Not that I'm afraid of him! No way. Just because he's bigger than me by about two feet...

Shutup.

~*~

An hour passed, and the cold of the metal shackles chilled my fetlocks and I was getting cramps in my hind legs. The hound was curled up in the corner, watching me closely. It's a bit creepy, the way he's been watching me. Another hour passes and I can no longer feel my forehooves and I'm desperately trying to restrain my groans of pain from the agony I can feel in my hind legs. I looked at the hound, or glare would probably be a better word. He glared back at me. With a lack of anything better to do, I decided it probably couldn't harm me any more than it already had.

"You know," I said quietly, catching his attention, "Restraining a pony against their will is illegal, just as owning shackles is unless you're an officer of the law or a guard. You can be arrested for it."

The hound raised an eyebrow, as if he was amused.

"If you can find a lawman in Spurs Hollow, then go ahead and tell them, but the closest thing we have is the self proclaimed sheriff, Gold Star. I'm sure he'd see Moon Dust's side of things. It's for your own good."

I felt a rather rational surge of anger at this and I felt the rage in my voice as I spoke without thought.

"I've been shackled to the floor by cold fucking shackles in possibly the most uncomfortable way possible to give me cramps that increase in intensity until I feel like a shiv's been shoved through both legs and I'll never walk again you great oaf!"

Almost instantly after I said it, I had a deep feeling of dread, like I was going to regret ever uttering those words to this creature. Contrary to my expectations however, he smirked smugly, and I can see the effort he put in not to smile any wider.

"Well, I do have a reputation to keep up. Hellhounds aren't known for their generosity."

Hellhound? Hellhound? Bullshit, Hellhounds don't exist. Their stories. Tales. Myths. They've never been recorded to even begin existing and, even if they did, they didn't live on this plane. Stupidity. This is probably some normal dog with a spell cast on it to make it speak in our language, nothing more. An elaborate hoax. A canine conundrum, A trickster's trolling, a fools jest. Hellhounds don't exist!

Do they?

A rolling laugh filled the room and I glared at the hound, the source of the laughter and my discomfort.

"You do not believe me. I can see it in your eyes. Think what you will, I have told you of what I am. It is up to you to decide to believe me or not. Either way, Moondust will decide if you go free or if you stay for longer. You need rest. And a lesson in hospitality."

I won't even grace that with an answer.

I looked away, frowning deeply. I really shouldn't be here, and lying like this any longer was probably going to lose me my legs. I just know it. Already I can feel them start to pain me, throbbing and aching. It's not a pleasant feeling, and it's one I dread. If I lose anything now, I'll never get to the glades, and I'll never get the cure for Cadenza.

I guess I have a long time to think.

~*~

Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this in the first place? Is it because my name has been sullied with slights not of my doing? Am I really that selfish that I would forsake everything simply to save myself? Am I really that pathetic?

I'm not sure if I can answer that.

My whole life was me trying to prove myself. My father was a guard, my mother was a powerful spell caster. Of course I had big shoes to fill, but how could I? I barely graduated Magic School and I'm wiry, thing and gangly, not suiting of a guard at all. My armour had to be tailored to my fit since I'm so thin, I don't wield any weapons and my magic is practically nonexistent. And yet a talent in illusion and combat magic? What good is that if I can barely cast the spells? Is that why I'm trying so hard, so desperate to get to the Somerset Glades? To prove myself? I have a lot to prove... but mother left Canterlot years ago, I don't even know where she went, and father was put into a coma by a mugger in an alley when he was off duty. I have nopony to prove anything to, so why would I be trying to prove anything when there's nopony to prove myself to?

None of this makes any sense.

Maybe it's because I swore to defend the Royal family. Princess Mi Amore is Celestia's niece after all, so she is part of the royal family. Her life is in critical danger, so I suppose maybe that's it? I don't know her terribly well, and we didn't really have the best first meeting in the world, but I harbor her no ill will. Perhaps that is it. Just trying to protect the family, and clear my name.

Ugh, this is destroying my brain.

A clink and the rattle of chains broke my train of thought and I looked up to see the two shackles holding my hind legs down being opened by the hound. As soon as they were free I tried to sit up, then was brutally reminded about the pair on my forehooves as I near yanked my shoulders from their sockets. With an irritable grumble the hound undid one of the shackles, then sat back where he was and watched me. With this much freedom, I could certainly move into a more comfortable position and, watching the hound carefully, I slowly did so, rotating my body around until I was on my stomach, hind legs pressed against my sides and I could lay comfortably, one forehoof rubbing the other to try and restore as much circulation as I could. I was still restricted of course, and fairly heavily, but not as much. It glanced suspiciously at the hound.

"Why did you do that? I thought you said-"

"She is not home yet," Interrupted the hound, "And had I left it any longer, there would be a good chance your legs wouldn't function properly for some time."

Well, that was the most obvious observation I've heard all year. Let's have a medal for the terribly observant mutt before my eyes shall we? Yes, I think that might be appropriate. Perhaps a badge! Captain Obvious! And I can be lieutenant sarcasm, running amok causing shenanigans.

Bloody stupid mutt.

I don't like this dog, in case I needed to reiterate that fact. I don't even know it's name and I hate this dog. This fleabitten, lice ridden, big nosed, fat headed mongrel of a thing that looked vaguely like a dog. Not happy at all.

"However I will not remove the last shackle. And to put your fears at ease, Moondust has a permit for them."

Oh, right. Like telling me the shackles I had on were permitted to be used by the owner was really going to put my mind at ease. What does she use them for? Interrogation? Celestia's mane, this was getting more and more ridiculous. Because I'm totally going to get all relaxed because the shackles I have on are legally owned. What is she, a policepony? If so, I'm royally screwed. And not in the good way either.

"Well, I feel so much better knowing that my jailer has a bloody permit for a set of shackles. I feel so much at ease."

The dog growled evilly at me and I could feel myself shrink away from its glare.

"Be glad she did not follow my advice to kick you out on your own with nothing on your back but your cloak, else you would probably be dead by now. Her kind heart has kept your ungrateful self alive, so sit there and shutup."

I don't see how on Equestria I'm only alive because of somepony who now has me imprisoned in her home. It's not like my life was threatened by that tumble I had, it's absurd. It wasn't that bad.

"You had six broken bones, three fractured ribs and a very small fracture in your skull close to your horn. Apparently, that's dangerous for your kind."

Shit. Guess I was in danger. Not going to let this dick kno-

Wait up, if I was in such danger, how the hell long was I out!? And I can't feel any difference in my bones. They still hurt like hell. Did they bother to even treat my broken and busted bones? I doubt it. It doesn't feel like it. Probably didn't even care. Just brought me in so they didn't feel guilty. I'm not staying here though. No way. As soon as I can, I'm getting out of here, whether they like it or not.

"Frankie! I'm Hoome~!"

The dog's ears perked up and swiveled with his head to the doorway as the familiar voice ripped through my aching head.I had heard that voice before. It was before I hit my head on the ground I believe. Before I really hurt my head falling off that bloody ramp to the house I was in. Probably still in.

With a hop and a skip, in came a white pegasus with bright, bright multicoloured mane and tail. Her tail was cut severely short and a big pink bow decorated the base of her tail. Her eyes were a bright, bright green and she was big.

Bigger than me anyway.

"Frankie! Is our- Oh! he is! Hello! Sorry about the whole shackle thing, it was for your own good."

She was cute. I've never met a tall mare I could call cute, but this mare was certainly cute. It took me a moment to actually get my thoughts into order that I could respond, and when I did it was angry and heated.

"Yes, because shackling me and leaving me in the company of a talking hound who was more likely to rip my throat out than let me change my position is totally for my own good."

She went to speak, but my rant was far from over.

"Not to mention not treating my apparent broken bones and such things because you couldn't be bothered to help me out rather than to lock me up in your bloody house using shackles you apparently have a permit for, but that I haven't seen yet. And where the hell are my saddlebags!? And what bloody day is it? How long have I been asleep?"

There was a long moment of silence from the entirety of the room as they stared at me, no doubt shocked by my outburst. I myself could scarcely believe I just said what I said, but I stand by it none the less. I can feel the oppressive pains in my chest and limbs right now, reminding me just how much damage I'd done, and how lax she'd been in my keeping.

"Not treating you? Don't be silly! What a mean, thoughtless and rude thing to say! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

I found myself blinking stupidly at the mare before me, who didn't seem angry so much as disappointed.

"Of course I found you some help for your injuries! You still have to put up with the pain of them healing though! Your bags are on the kitchen table, I do have a permit for those, written by Celly herself-"

My mind latched onto that. Celly.

Celly?

The only pony with a name I could think of that fit the pet name was Princess Celestia, and she did have the authority to give permits for the owning and use of shackles to a point. But that's absurd. Why on Equestria, or rather how, could Moondust possibly know the princess? Let alone well enough to call her 'Celly'. That's absurd. Stupid. Wacko. No way could she be on pet-name-basis with the most powerful, or one of, pony in the entire kingdom. Not even possible. Not even close. Princess Celestia is nice, but she's simply too busy to get to know anypony on a pet-name-basis, let alone a first name basis. Most times she calls you 'My little Pony'.

I must have said it out loud, because she was looking at me funny.

"Of course! Who else would I get it off of? My mother worked on your bones I'll have you know, and she's the bestest nurse in all of Equestria!"

Well of course it was her mother. Of course she's the best nurse in all of Equestria. It sounds perfect. Best treatment in the entirety of Equestria.

I'm doomed.

Dinner with the Clydesdales.

It's not often that I'm left not knowing what to do. Normally, the answer is right in front of me, and I have no problem acting as soon as I can, doing what's necessary or required. It's not terribly difficult when you think about it. Most times, the answer is right in front of our faces, staring at us without any semblance of even an attempt of hiding. And, as a guard who's been on both patrol duty in the castle and in the city itself of Canterlot, I've been in pretty much every situation that could be called for including, but not limited to, making split second decisions to save other ponies' lives. It's a dangerous life, that of a royal guard and I won't ever deny it. Many a guard has fallen, especially the more foolhardy, headstrong ones. A guard is not a guard if he cannot curb his urge to plunge into battle or curtail his stupidity enough to think something through without getting himself or anypony else with him hurt or killed. You learn to think on your hooves, consider all possibilities and decide on the best course of action in a matter of milliseconds, the electrical impulses of the brain hastened by adrenaline, experience and finely tuned instincts. If you live past your first year in the core, you'll turn out just fine, or resign before the next month is out. it's just that simple.

But I have never, ever been in a situation like this. When I said I was doomed before, I had no idea what was to come.

Now I'm officially doomed. I have no idea how to react to this at all, nor how I'm meant to act.

After I had apologised, and rather profusely at that, My hostess had perked up and told me it was all okay, that it was but a misunderstanding. She proceeded to unshackle me and lead me around her entire household, taking delight in showing me everything except her room, which she deliberately left out of the tour. Right now she was taking me into, believe it or not, the final spot of the house she was willing to show me.

"And this of course is the dining room!"

It was a simple room with a large, rectangular table. A very large rectangular table, easily big enough to fit in with an army camp, I swear. I'm curious, however, about why exactly a mare living on her own would need such a massive table. I doubt even the guard corps would use such a massive table. It's absurd! A banquet table with room to spare is what it really is. The decor is plain, very simple. the wooden walls indicated that the room was on the edge of the house.

"Okay! Now that you know the house, You're ready to join us all for dinner!"

What.

I stared at her for a long moment until I found my voice again.

"I'm sorry, what? Me? Dinner?"

She nodded enthusiastically with a smile.

"Of course! All the family is coming down for our weekly reunion! We do it every week!"

Reunion? An annual reunion!? And she wanted me to join them!? She only just met me! Not to mention I insulted her, yelled at her and was basically the worst house guest on the planet and she was inviting me to dinner? With the family? What is this, a freaking dating video on fast forward? And a really bad one at that. Maybe a soap opera? Ugh, this is absurd!

"Uh," I started, not sure how to put this, "I appreciate the gesture but... I'm afraid I must decline."

The look this mare before me gave me, the mare at least a foot taller than I am and even bulkier than I am if you can believe that (not to say she's fat, because she's not) gave me the most heartbroken, saddest puppy eyes I have ever seen before in my life. But I am a guard! I'm a royal guard! A powerful, strong willed! I will endure!

"Look, I'm not trying to be rude I just... I have to get going soon, I'm just so... I have so many places... I'm just... Oh alright!"

Dammit.

~*~

In my experience, which is very little, of dating, meeting the parents is the worst part. Or at least, I find it that way. That is NOT to say I'm seeing this as a date, because it's certainly not. But it's a little like that. If I could manage to get a filly to like me enough, or be curious enough, to go out on a date with me and keep the relationship long enough, I'd always mess everything up at the dinner with the parents. It was always meeting their parents though, never the other way around. Before dad was put in a coma, where he's been for the past year or two (With frequent physio, so when he wakes up his muscles haven't atrophied,) Whenever I brought a filly to meet him, he'd be all smiles and pride, always telling me that I'd done well. My dad's a great guy. Always has been, always will be. He always flattered my date silly and the ones he really liked ended up with gifts most times.

My dates adored my dad.

On the flipside...

Most times, the filly in question's father took a dislike to me. I was polite, dressed when appropriate and anything else needed, but for some reason, the father always took a dislike to some aspect of my life. Most of them thought, I think, that the scrawny Royal Guard in his first year couldn't protect or provide for their daughter, and I'm fairly certain that some of them just thought this scrawny pony before them must have been a joke. I tried to be polite, I stood up for her and myself when needed, and all it got me was a swift kick out of the house, and a swifter and harder kick out of their lives. I know I'm not the biggest stallion on the block, but at least give me a chance dammit. It may have been a monetary issue as well I suppose, since guard's wages, although decent, aren't anything special. Ponies that earn money like Shade Touch does would probably be alright dating nobles. I know. He is dating one. Sugar Cream comes from a minor noble family of almost exclusively pegasi, including her petite self. And I'm fairly sure her parents fully approved of Shade. Who wouldn't? Shade might be quiet and have a haunted look to him that he won't explain, but he's courteous, calculating and fiercely protective, not to mention he makes a tonne of bits. Not to mention he cuts a mean figure in a suit.

How very unlike me.

At this moment, I can see the ponies coming in from town and can only assume that this is Moondust's family. I'm sitting behind Moondust, trying vainly to seem as small as ponily possible, to avoid attention. It probably won't work. In point of fact I know it won't, because Frankie, the hound from before, just pushed me up beside Moondust, telling me I had to greet the family as well.

Well shit.

The first to arrive was a bored looking mare of grey with a dull red for mane and tail. Her flank, which surprised me most, was completely blank. she had a bow at her tailbase much like Mondust. She was introduced to me as 'Clueless'. I was not given any information in concerns to her relation to the mare. But apparently, she is the oldest blankflank in Spurs Hollow. Not a terribly fun fact. Rushing after her was a small brown colt with bright, two tone blue mane and tail. On his flank was a wheel. Looked like it was made of stone. He said I was weird and apparently Clueless is his worst enemy.

What I saw approaching the house after this left me wondering about the possibility of sentient boxes.

A white mare with a red mane and tail streaked through with blue in a place or two, was walking next a moving pile of bags, boxes and cans. All I could do was stare at the moving pile of foodstuffs. Yes, I've realised it's foodstuffs. It was the damndest thing I've ever seen. Moondust didn't even seem phased! Like this was normal! The mare's wings, I've only just noticed them now, were tightly folded against her body.

"Mum!" She called out excitedly, "Dad!"

Mum? Dad? THESE were her parents? And where was her father?

"Uh... Moondust.." I said quietly, making her look to me, "There's only one pony there, and a pile of... well... groceries. And I thought you said your mother put magical splints on the broken bones?"

She giggled and shrugged.

"Well, she called in a favor. And no, Dad is under all those groceries~"

As it turned out, she wasn't kidding. When the pile of groceries reached us, what else popped out of it but a smiling pony head! Green coat and a dark, ashen mane hidden mostly under a large hat that fell over the sides of his head as well, his ears perked up through what looked like custom made holes.

"Dusty! I trust you didn't get in too much trouble while we were gone hmm?"

Moondust giggled and shook her head.

"Of course not! Don't be silly. Mum, Dad, this is Arc. The pony I found just outside of town that you helped heal mum?"

Her mother smiled and nodded. Her father looked at me and, to be honest, I couldn't read his expression. I was never terribly good at reading emotions anyway.

"Oh yes, I remember. Quite a few broken bones you had dear, mind if I ask how you managed?"

I didn't even think before answering, "Oh, I jumped out of one of the towers at Canterlot."

All three ponies stared at me as I suddenly became aware of what I said and flushed. Her mother spoke again.

"And... you ended all the way out here because of it?"

I hesitated before nodding, knowing she wasn't going to believe me. To my surprise, she shrugged.

"Oh well, I suppose you need to get thrills somehow. Unicorns. You're a strange bunch you are~"

I could tell she was teasing, but it still stung a little. We're not strange... are we? Maybe we are to others. I'll have to think on that someday.

Then her father smiled and a hoof materialised somewhere from within the pile of tomatoes, daisies and other groceries.

"Nice to meet you lad! My name's Crosshairs, professional Zombie hunter! It's good to meet somepony else who's not afraid to do crazy and dangerous things! I'm sure you had good reason to jump out of a tower, why else would you do it eh?"

What. Not even a question, just 'what'. Zombie Hunter? Really? Please, it's not like zombies exist. That's stupid. Zombies are just a stupid story told to foals to scare them silly, nothing to a full grown pony. Everypony knows zombies don't exist. They're imaginary, mythological, falsifications, poppycock even! They've never existed, and never will. Honestly, a dead pony or creature back to life come to consume the brains and flesh of the living? How absurd.

But I didn't voice my thoughts, I simply shook his hoof with a nod and a simple 'Hello sir'. He nodded to me and drew my attention to his wife.

"And this is obviously my wife, Twister. She's a nurse, so near everypony calls her Nurse Twister."

She smiled and nodded to me, which I returned. They were much more interested in me and more polite than both Wheels and Clueless, although I suppose they were adults and had cutie marks. Speaking of which...

Twister's mark was a pair of light blue hearts, side by side, although one was significantly larger than the other and quartered. A medical mark. I couldn't see Crosshairs', but I don't think I really need much more info to guess what it is.

Introductions to her parents being made, we parted and allowed them inside before Moondust stepped back into place, eagerly awaiting the next family member. I was pushed back by Frankie, who seemed hellbent on making me greet every single pony who entered the house.

Stupid mutt.

The next pair that approached made me do a double take. The mare looked normal, a mare in every respect of the word, but the stallion?

Pardon my language but uh... what the fuck is that?

He was orange coated, his forelegs ended in hooves and he had a very short mane of spikey hair, but that's pretty much where the resemblance ended. His hind legs ended in some sort of three toed feet, and his tail was... well, it was just that. A fleshy tail he could move independently to his body, and extensively by the look of it. It did have a tuft of the same reddish hair that made up his mane, but... Wait, he even has spots! White spots are occasionally marking his torso and he had a horn upon his head. At least his general physiology looks at least pony like. Hopefully I won't stare and offend him, or his friend. Upon the mare's back was a foal wrapped up in a blanket. With a start, I realised these two must be a couple. I've also discovered where Moondust's multihued mane comes from. This mare's side of the family apparently. Grey coat, white labcoat and a set of purple goggles over her eyes along with a pair of black gloves over her forehooves, it looked like she just came from work.

I was introduced to the pair by name. Apparently, Aunt Calpurnica and Uncle Oddity were quite the fun loving couple, and Cousin Candystripe was a very busy filly. Busy making a career out of being a baby, full time.

This is the weirdest family I've ever met.

~*~

They were not the last I met. But I digress, we now sit around the massive banquet table with, no surprise, a massive banquet sitting on the table. Tonight, as Moondust had told me, was the family reunion and thus, Taco night. The mountain of taco shells was rapidly dwindling. I myself had had at least five of them shoved onto my plate before being told to eat. I'm not the biggest stallion in the world, I do not eat very much at all. Certainly not five tacos! Just the thought is absurd. Around the table was the rest of the family, including those that I had met later. Moondust's other cousin, 'Prickle Punk', was a white earth pony with spiked up, punky mane and a piercing in pretty much every part of his face and three in one ear. I liked Prickle Punk, he's a fun guy who seemed to like everypony regardless. His mark was like a graffitied skull in red. It's pretty cool. And I hesitate to use that word for pretty much everything. Her rather strict Aunt Cavalry from the military. I was most comfortable around her, since it reminded me of back home with the chain of command. Mind you, she seemed a little... weird herself. Across the table from me was an old mare of green with a rainbow mane and tail. She'd been introduce to me as 'Grandma Gumnut'. According to Moondust, the entire family believed that this mare was a witch by trade. She's an earth mare though, how could she be a witch? Sitting beside her was Great, Great Grandpa Gravyboat, who used to be a gourmet, well known gravy chef before he lost his tastebuds in uh... I stopped listening after that.

And last but not least is the supposedly difficult to contact Cousin Ranger. Leafy green coat and bark brown mane, She seemed to be the most sensible of the clan altogether. She was an archaeologist, which beat Calpurnica's Coronary career, or Clueless' jobless state. think about it, travelling all over Equestria to see ancient ruins and researching our culture of old, aspects and relics that had been lost to time.

That'd be fun.

She's been glancing at me the entire time we've been at the table, but whenever I try to catch her eye, she looks away. I'm not really sure what's going on there, but I'm not really certain i want to find out either. I just want to get through this meal and be on my way. I need to get to Somerset Glade.

It occurred to me just then as I was filling my taco with fried daisies and lettuce that Oddity was speaking.

"But then I said, you might have the money, but I have the Snitzel!"

The entire table, minus me, erupted into racuous laughter and i hesitantly joined them, not actually knowing what was said. I spooned some of the sauce into the taco and began to nibble at the taco as I heard a complaint from Wheels about Clueless hogging all of the tomatoes. I'll admit, this isn't as unpleasant as I thought it'd be. The family seems pleasant enough, if not argumentative in many cases, and they'd all frantically shushed Twister when she'd started telling a story. Gravyboat had, true to his name, made some gravy, although I fail to see what gravy had in relevance to tacos. I caught the eye of Prickle punk and he winked at me with a grin.

"This taco sauce is perfection Auntie Twister," he called out across the table, making Twister smile.

"Thank you Prickle, I do aim to please," she replied, sounding quite proud of herself. He grinned at me again before taking a bite of his taco. Across the table, Clueless and Wheels had started arguing, this time concerning what was left of the mountain of taco shells, which had now diminished to barely any. I'd surprised myself, having eaten quite a few tacos myself. The arguing pair were quickly broken up by Gumnut and the table went quiet as Crosshairs tapped the table.

"It's great to be here with all of you," He began with a smile, "And I can't tell you how much I look forward to out weekly get togethers. I've heard some questions going around wondering why we're here at Dusty's lovely home rather than our customary meeting place, Twisty and I's home."

A murmur of agreement passed over the table, with Gravyboat simply nodding slowly. To be honest, I'm not sure he even knows where he is.

"Well, the answer is sitting at this table tonight. A few days ago, Dusty found a young stallion outside of town. He was badly beaten up, and had more than a few broken bones."

Boy am I glad they're still looking at him.

"She brought him home, gave him a place to stay out of the goodness of her kind heart, and called for her mother to help treat him. Thanks to our hard work, he's made quite the recovery. Ladies and Gentlecolts, it's my pleasure to welcome Arc to our reunion."

All eyes turned to me, and all I wanted to do at that moment was sink through the floor and never be seen again.

"Even though he's not family, and even though he's not been around long, we welcome him, as any good pony should. We welcome him to our table, and give him welcome to our food, because what are friends but extended family?"

He picked up his glass, half filled with water, like the rest of the table. They'd been set out at the beginning of the meal, and Moondust told me not to touch it under any circumstances until such a time as she said I could. It was now that she nudged me and picked up hers. I picked up mine hesitantly as he held his glass up.

"And so I propose a toast! To family!" He said proudly, "To us!"

As I watched, the entire table, even young Wheels, raised their glasses and echoed him.

"To family! To us!"

I've never been so moved by anything in my life, and it was such a simple gesture. For that one moment, everypony at the table had put aside difference, and had shown that, even if they bicker, fight and maybe sometimes leave for a long time, they still value each other as family, and they'll always be there when it's important. They showed they were proud to be family, even accepting Oddity, who true to his name was possibly the most odd creature I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting.

I had not raised my glass or drank, these thoughts distracting me and Crosshairs noticed me, probably noticed my pensive look.

"What's the matter Arc? Something wrong with my proposal?"

Again, all eyes turned to me and I felt tiny. i shook my head.

"No sir, not at all. It's a noble thing to toast... I was just..."

To be honest, I'd never missed my father more than I had just at that very moment. I wished he could be here to see that families do hold together, even when they bicker over the tiniest thing, like Clueless and Wheels, or put aside difference, like Oddity and Calpurnica. A family can survive, and these ponies were living proof it can survive through pretty much everything.

"I guess you guys reminded me of my family... or all I have left. i wish my father were here to see this... He would... He would have really loved you guys."

I felt a hoof over mine and looked at it, noting a leafy green hoof on mine. Ranger was trying to comfort me. I smiled sadly.

"He... had an accident a year or so back, slipped into a coma. He's stable, and the hospital is keeping his physical condition in top shape, like he would have wanted... but I miss him. Now more than ever."

There was a long pause before Crosshairs spoke once more.

"What's his name lad?"

"His name is Grey Steel. He's... a Royal guard."

Another pause before, almost as one, the ponies around me lifted their glasses and called out "To Grey Steel!" and drank the rest of their drinks.

I was in tears.. but that is one thing I will drink to.

~*~

Midnight.

I hate to do this, especially after everything these ponies have done for me, and my terrible guest manners, but I must leave. In secret. Again. This time, I won't be followed.

The room I'm in was the one I was originally contained within, and I was just finishing packing my saddlebags. I had my cloak on. I wasn't about to risk magic again, since the last time I'd done it (just after the feast) had resulted in a splitting headache and Nurse Twister telling me to take it easy with the magic until the bone is healed. I never knew using magic with a fracture even near the horn could cause such pain. Anyhow, I have my bags under the cloak, which feels like it's rolling off my skin all the time, even though it's not even moving, and I start to move. the entire family was sleeping here tonight, so i had to avoid a lot of sleeping forms. I passed Prickle Punk with relative ease, I guess he's a heavy sleeper. Dusty was in her room, so she was easy to avoid, and so was Frankie, who'd decided he'd best sleep with out hostess. Sneaking through the house was surprisingly easy, until I hit the front door.

"Arc?"

I froze and cursed under my breath. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid. I heard hoofsteps and a hoof tapped my shoulder. I sighed and sat down, just outside the doorway.

"Where are you going?"

I turned to see who I was addressing and was honestly surprised to come eye to eye with Ranger.

"I can't say. But I have to go. I've delayed enough already. I wouldn't have stayed had it not been for my injuries, and Dusty's insistence."

An uncomfortable silence spanned what felt like an eternity before she shifted stance subtly and cleared her throat.

"Can you take me with you?"

I was so shocked I had to do a double take. Had she really just said that!?

"What? No, no you can't. It's too dangerous."

She scoffed and looked at me, looking insulted.

"I'm an archaeologist, how much more dangerous could it be than searching Arcaeni ruins?"

Arcaeni. That's a word I haven't heard in some time. The Arcaeni were a super advanced race of ponies, at least technologically speaking, that lived millenia ago. Their machines and artifacts were greatly prized by museums and collectors, and many fortune seekers had met their ends by Arcaeni traps.

But this was not some old ruins.

"Ranger, I'm not doubting your expertise, but this isn't some old vault filled with predictable traps. It's going to be a long journey, and I don't know if even I'll survive it. You need to stay with your family, and do what you love best. I'm not taking you away from them, under any circumstances."

For a moment she was quiet before sighing.

"Okay, I see your point. I was hoping to finally find my pirate's treasure from following you..."

What.

"But I suppose you're right. But hey, if you finish your little quest, whatever that is, promise you'll come back sometime? Have dinner with us again?"

I smiled, genuinely entertaining the idea of coming back every so often to have dinner with this marvelous family and I nodded.

"Certainly, I'll give it my best shot."

She giggled.

"Good~ Because you're kinda cute, and I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little better~"

I started in shock and she giggled as I stared at her. With a teasing wink, she leaned forward and pressed an little kiss to my cheek and went back inside.

I sighed as I finally snapped out of my shock and left the household behind me.

Why was it always the ones I can't have?

So, a quick note here, the 'Arcaeni' are basalisk120's creation, used with permission, and Moondust and her family belong to this tumblr: http://ask-moondust.tumblr.com/ and were also used with prior permission. Spurs Hollow was also created by Moondust, used with permission. EVERYTHING NOT MINE WAS USED WITH PERMISSION! WAAAAARGH!

Relations

There are ponies I know of that have dreamed of being in the position I am in right now. In fact, I'd be a dirty fucking liar if I said I hadn't dreamed of being here more than a few nights myself. There were plentiful guards in the core that were bigger than me, much more handsome than awkward, wiry me, smarter than me, more deserving than me and others still that were just downright better in every regard than me. But of all the ponies in Equestria that ended up in this situation, it ended up being me.

Who would have thought? I just have to hope I don't get my flank kicked.

Four days. Four days she'd refused to continue on. Four days she'd decided she needed me and my assets more than she needed food or water, although she did demand that I went out and get her something to drink and something to eat and of course I obliged her. I couldn't let her get weak, and I had to keep her energy levels up. She's quite feisty, although I suppose I expected that. What I didn't expect was, and I'm actually starting to think I may have dreamed it all, her avid desire to be dominated. She fought me every step of the way, but she wanted me to own her, and she made it very clear what she wanted.

Right now, I am in bed, the heady musk of sweat in the air as well as other things, invading my nostrils. Next to me, with her free wing draped over my torso, is the beauty that is Nightspring. She looks so peaceful and beautiful asleep.

WAIT! Before any of you think otherwise, I took precautions against possible pregnancy. Nightspring will not and was physically incapable of being impregnated by me for the past few days. I'm not stupid.

Anyhow, we're in the bed, as I said before. Her hooves are around me and her snout is buried in the fur of my chest. Her mane is tangled and frizzed all over the place, and I think I may or may not have rubbed a few of her feathers the wrong way in a literal sense, but it's still the most divine feeling I've ever known. Forget sheets and blankets, I'll take Spring's feathers any day of the week. The problem that's plaguing my mind however, is the question of whether or not Spring is going to blame me for what's happened and hate me. If she does that, she's liable to lose her temper and she can be violent when that happens. That's what I'm afraid of. She won't have a single problem in kicking my flank three ways to next Sunday if she decides that it was my fault.

I think I've said before that Nightspring has only ever had one partner the entire time I've known her. I wasn't lying. Her former flame's name was Lucere, or Lucis as he liked to be called. He had an ivory coat and an almost blindingly golden hued mane and tail. He was arrogant, confident and very good at what he did. He was also a guard. An officer in fact, a few ranks higher than pretty much everypony we called friend. He specialised in tactics and strategy. I don't think he was ever beaten in any game of strategy that I know of, although I'm willing to bet he was beaten by Guard Captain Shining Armour. I used to get jealous watching them. It wasn't very clear what started them down the path to breaking up, but whatever it was, it did the job to a T. I didn't like Lucis. Never did. I'm not certain if it was because he had Nightspring whilst I never could, or if it was just because he was a pain in the flank. Either way, I took great personal pleasure from watching him be turned flat after they pair had an argument in the common room. After I'd given it some thought though, I don't think I've ever felt so guilty. I was actually glad he was gone, and that Spring had been so damn brutal. I was beating myself up about it for weeks afterwards, and Nightspring was cold to everypony for a long time, eventually making Lucis request a transfer to a different area. He was transferred to the Gryphon border, which makes me wonder why he'd choose one of the most distant places away from Canterlot, and what Spring did to him to make him think he needed to.

My thoughts froze as he she shifted in her sleep, mumbling happily, her hooves shifting to rest on my chest on either side of her snout. Celestia and Luna, she looks so adorable like that. If I ever forgot why I like her so much, all I will ever need to do is remember this moment, as I look down at her while she sleeps on me. It is the most adorably cute thing I've ever seen. I'm actually surprised that I haven't fallen asleep myself, she pushed me pretty hard and it was for four days straight. My stamina surprises even me. Another murmur from her and now I think she's waking up. She yawned cutely and nuzzled into my chest, grumbling about waking up by the sounds of it. Her eyes fluttered open and her hind legs twitched. She has the most gorgeous wine red eyes, I can't believe it took me so long to notice them. She looked at the fur in front of her for a moment before looking up at me and, for the first time that I can remember, I saw her blush in what I could only assume was embarrassment.

"Uh... Morning?" She asked hesitantly and I chuckled softly.

"No Spring, it's actually early evening. You've slept through most of the day, although I'm not surprised at that. You've worked me pretty hard over the past few days."

"Yes, and it was amazing~" She replied dreamily before coughing and looking away with a grimace, "Not that you're special or anything."

"Of course not Spring..."

We both fell silent, and awkward silence. You know, one of those silences when something needs to be said but neither party can actually bring themselves to say it? Yeah, it was one of those. I hate awkward sillences, especially ones like this. Despite this, she hasn't pulled away from me. If anything, she's pulled herself closer. It's not something I'm used to, I'll admit. Most times it's me being pushed away or some such similar thing. One of her hooves is stroking my chest now and she looks a bit shy.

"Arc..." She began quietly, making me prick up my ears and smile at her.

"Yes?"

"Look, I know this is... a bit unorthodox.." She said quietly. She wasn't hesitant about it, but she did seem a little nervous about what she was saying, or trying to, "And you didn't need to do what you did. I know you're not terribly comfortable with the whole sex thing like I am..."

I can feel my face heating up just at her mention of the word and I nodded uncomfortably as she paused. She giggled softly at that before continuing.

"I was taken a bit by surprise by this cycle, I didn't mean to be so... aggressive. I thought I could hold it off this time but... Obviously I was wrong."

She leaned up and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, much to my stunned delight.

"Thanks."

I blushed heavily and stumbled a little and coughed.

"It was my pleasure..."

My eyes went wide and she started giggling as I realised what I'd just said.

"I mean, Glad to help? I mean... fuck..."

She laughed happily and put a hoof over my mouth to silence me.

"Shhhh, I know what you mean. And you were a very good boy."

I flushed hotly and coughed uncomfortably, finding some way to broach the subject I wanted to talk about. Heck with it, I'm just going to go for it.

"Spring... There's something I want to talk to you about, but I need you to promise me something."

She raised a brow at me, drawing her wing back to her side.

"I'm listening."

Here goes nothing.

"Alright, promise you won't hurt me?"

She narrowed her eyes at me and sighed, in too good a mood to argue I guess.

"Sure, I promise. Now what is it?"

"It's about us..."

Oh boy, this is going to be difficult.

"I know that this was sort of a desperation thing," I hurried on to stop her from responding before I could lose my nerve, "But I wanted to talk about our uh... relationship? Yes, our relationship. Uh, I'm not sure if this means anything at all to you. I do know that you needed this, I'm not going to deny that..."

Her eyes narrowed further and I felt the cold stab of fear bolt down my spine. She did not look happy now. This is so not good.

"I mean... Shit, I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"I don't know yet," She replied coldly, "Please, continue though."

Fuck, not a good sign.

"Alright," I answered nervously, "I'll just skip to it then. I know for a fact I don't need to tell you how I feel about you, you've known for a long time, like everypony else in the guard corps. There's no point in denying it, and I never denied it at any time."

She nodded silently, almost coldly.

"I was just... I wanted to know if this changed anything. I mean, When I was taken away from Canterlot, you followed me, found me and listened to my story, and you believed me over the Captain. Then when I proposed my plan, which could have gotten you killed as well as me, you went along with it without question. Then after all that, and leaving you at Canterlot, you followed me again. I'm not certain if you have some sort of feelings for me, or if you're just really stubborn and want something from me that I don't know about, but it doesn't make much sense to me."

Dammit, now I'm off on a tangent. She seems to be listening though, so it's not all bad.

"And then, even though you knew staying with me means being treated as a traitor as well, you've stayed. Now we've... shared the same bed... for four days and... I was just... wondering... if that changed anything... about.. between us."

Her brow had raised at the mention of 'us', and a stab of fear hit me. The whole tent had gone silent again, and Spring looked deep in thought, which was certainly new for her. No offense, she's just more the 'act first, ask questions later' sort of mare if you know what I'm saying. With a sigh, she pulled away from me and I felt my heart plummet. She sat up laboriously, groaning from her aching muscles. I know she has them because dammit, I have them too. Hurriedly, I sit up to. Now both sitting upright on the bed, her with her back to me, and me probably with a stupid, goofy expression on my face, we sit in silence before what felt like an eternity later, she spoke.

"I don't know why I chased you down," She said quietly, "I don't know why I disobeyed Shining Armour. I wanted to punish you for leaving me back at Canterlot, abandoning me so to speak. I knew that my cycle was coming sometime soon, but I thought I still had a month or two, more than enough time to get to the Glades and back. The excitement must have thrown off my biological clock and set it off early. I trust you at least took precautions against any unwanted additions to our group of you and I?"

It took me a moment to realise what she meant, and I nodded stupidly.

"Yes, of course. It might have been difficult to think with you being so eager, but I'm not dim."

"Good," She answered. She sighed once more.

"The last time I had a stallion to call my own, he abused me and used me for fun. Lucere was a prick, and maybe that's what attracted me to him. He was arrogant, selfish and he was sexy as hell. Not to mention every mare from Canterlot Castle to the commons wanted him. Much like all the stallions seem to want me."

That made sense. I guess it's the nature of our kind to want to obtain the unobtainable.

"He used me for my body and as a scapegoat when things went wrong. Eventually, you saw what I did. And I continued to complain about him until he requested a transfer. It got him out of my mane, and that's all I cared about. After that, I guess I got sick of everypony hounding me, so I started to push them away. You were always there of course, and no amount of pushing would get you to leave me alone. You stuck by me. I wasn't sure if I appreciated that or hated you for it."

"Then I started to calm down, but I never considered anypony nearby for a partner. My mate... I wasn't sure."

I felt my heart drop. I'd been used. She hadn't meant to, but she'd used me. Great.

And then she turned around and sort of crawled across the bed to me, nuzzling up under my chin and my heart leapt to my throat.

"But I did mean what I said in the common room that time. You had twice the chances of the others, and you are kinda cute."

Her words stunned me and I looked at her hopefully, making her giggle at me.

"I suppose I could give it a shot. We're stuck with each other for a while anyway, may as well give you a chance hmm?"

I nodded eagerly.

"I won't let you down Spring," I said elatedly, "You'll see! I promise!"

She smirked and to my complete surprise, kissed me dead on the lips. I swear I almost had a heart attack right then and there. When she pulled away, she licked her lips, eyelids half closed and spoke softly.

"Show me~"

No, I'm not going to write any clop for these two or this story. As I said to one of the commentors, I tried it once and it wasn't my scene, so it's highly unlikely I'll do so again. Hope you're enjoying it!

~Valorousspectre~

Warlock

I suppose that, being on the run, I should have expected to meet others. I suppose I did really. I mean, Applejack, Moondust. Both were unexpected, but I knew I'd meet ponies. I guess I expected guards, or something like that. At worst some sort of hunter looking for a bounty. But what I found when I exited the tent I was sharing with my new fillyfriend was the last thing I expected. I must say, I wasn't unpleasantly surprised, but I was surprised nonetheless.

I'd slipped out of bed, you know, so as not to disturb the angel within it, and had decided I wanted to make her breakfast. So, after I'd collected the necessary foodstuffs from the saddlebags (Located conveniently next to the bed), naturally my first action was to exit the tent. Outside, sitting by the ashes of the fire, sat a familiar face I never thought I'd see out here. Haunted look and all, Shade Touch sat staring into the ashes, as thought they'd hold the answers to life itself. I didn't even get to speak. My shock at seeing him rendered me silent and then he spoke.

"Good Morning, Arc. Been a while."

"Shade?" I asked, bewildered, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in Canterlot?"

Shade's horn, forgot to mention that he's a unicorn didn't I? Anyhow, His horn is long, thin and tapered. He looked up and his steel grey eyes bored into mine, chilling me. They were still as haunted as they ever were, never changing, but there was something else in them too. I couldn't place what it was, and it scared me.

"I never did tell you what I did for a living did I, Arc?"

I shook my head slowly. And he never did tell me either. I've never been told, and I still don't know. He sighed in answer. A long, haunted sigh. I know I use the word 'haunted' to describe him a lot, but really there's no other way to do so. His eyes closed for a long moment and I started to feel worried. When he opened them again, they were dark, angry and determined. There wasn't a speck of the Shade I'd gotten to know as my housemate, nor as my friend. We didn't speak much, but of all the others, I'd gotten on best with him. There was no recognition of a friend in those eyes, no pity, remorse, no nothing. His horn began to glow ominously and the field around us grew cold.

"Arc. By order of her Royal Highnesses Princesses Celestia and Luna and on the authority of Guard Captain Shining Armour, You are under arrest."

By Starswirl's saggy right armpit, is Shade Touch trying to arrests me!? Shade is one of the most peaceful, if not mysterious, ponies I've ever met! He hates violence, there's no way he's serious!

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously, "You can't be serious, right?"

The glare he was giving me suggested otherwise. I couldn't help it, I started laughing.

"Shade, you know I'm a trained guard right?"

All he did was nod. I felt my confidence begin to falter at his unbudging, unfaltering glare.

"Shade, I don't want to hurt you."

He stood up slowly and took a menacing step forward. I held my ground. I might not be able to stand to a mare, but I will not back down, especially not from a friend.

"Then give yourself up, Arc," He said quietly, dangerously. His voice had an edge to it I'd never heard before. It was dangerous, deadly and icy cold, "It'll be so much better for me to bring you in unharmed, and better still alive. My pay will be docked if I'm forced to kill you."

Kill me!?

"Kill me!?" I exclaimed, "You? You hate violence! Look, we can talk about this, I don't want to hurt you Shade, but if I have to I will."

A manic, homicidal grin broke across his face like a wave of pure malice and his eyes glinted.

"I do so love it when they resist~"

It came so suddenly I didn't have time to react. A blast of raw force so powerful it knocked me off my hooves impacted against my chest, no doubt from Shade. I didn't know he even knew combat magic! But there's nopony else here, so it had to have been from him. With a startled shout, I reacted instantly, rolling as I hit the ground and springing back up. My ribs hurt, but it wasn't anything serious. I guess my hopes that he'd see reason is pretty much useless.

"Alright, if you can't see reason, I'm sorry."

Shade's grin hadn't changed the entire time, and now he merely licked his lips, the faded glow of his horn returning, and the glade dropping a few more degrees.

"No you're not~ Not yet~"

He sprang forward and I only just managed to dodge his physical assault before I realised it was just a diversion. He turned his head and blasted me again in mid air and I was sent hurtling backwards. My back hit a tree, the food I'd been carrying, even after the first blast, was sent flying away even further than I was. Hitting the ground hard, I barely had time to look up when he darted forth once more. This time, I wasn't running. Not a chance. I reached deep into myself, taking hold of my own magic even as he fired off a blast of his own, still galloping towards me. I threw up a shield without even a thought and the shot was deflected, or rather, reflected. It shot back at him and, for a moment, he blurred and the magical bolt passed right through him and missed the tent by inches!

Not allowing myself the luxury of surprise, I displaced the air directly in front of Shade. I wanted to knock him out maybe, but I certainly didn't want to kill him. I was quite surprised when he dodged to the side. He was still hit, but only by the fringes of the blast. He jerked to the side slightly and lunged, tapered horn first, at my chest.

I refuse to run. I won't turn away. I will not back down.

And then it came.

A surge of magical energy so powerful it physically hurt. I had to release it. With a cry of pain I focused the surge on my friend and prepared to launch something, anything, to stop him.

Which is precisely when his smile became even crazier.

"Gotcha!" He all but screamed and the magic he'd stored in his horn burst to life. A dark purple aura leaked out of his horn and shot out, whiplashing over to me and enveloping me. More pain than I'd ever experienced in my life flooded my senses and I screamed. The thread between us grew and, as I watched, the whites of his eyes blurred to green and his irisis burned a bloody red. A cloud of purple streamed from his eyes, matching each other unnerringly. How I noticed all this is beyond me. The thread of magic expanded again and I felt something being ripped from me. As I watched helplessly, a stream of magical energy was stolen from me. I could tell what it was because I could feel my magic ebbing away. It was the only logical explanation. I could feel myself weakening, and as I watched, he was surrounded by the glow, and he was showing no sign of letting up.

"W...What the hell are you.. doing.. to me..!?" I demanded weakly, inciting only a huff of laughter from him.

"I'm draining you of magical energy," He said simply, "You can feel it can't you? You can feel the life draining out of you, and flowing into me. I have to say Arc, I never thought you'd have such tasty magical power. I knew you had power, but I didn't know I'd enjoy it this much."

I'd have responded, if not for that being the precise moment when Nightspring smashed into him, shocking even me and I was facing the tent. I could barely watch I was so weakened as Nightspring leaped over in front of me, a snarl rolling out of her mouth, wings half outstretched as she came to my defense.

"You don't so much as touch him you half baked freak! The only one who beats him up is me!"

I wasn't sure whether to be honored, insulted or terrified.

For his part, Shade, whose smile had vanished when he was hit, grinned once more, his tongue running over his teeth.

"Nightspring~ The hunter. Traitorous as well are we? Bringing you in will get me a bonus, and now that your friend has given me his power, you really think you can defeat me?"

"Arc's never beaten me in his life. What makes you think you, even with his magic, which isn't terribly powerful remember, can beat me?"

Ouch. That hurt. I'm wounded.

"Because Arc can't stand to harm you. But I can, and I certainly will!"

And now he charged once more, his tapered horn leading, as though to skewer her. She barely flinched before her wings flared. in a split second decision, Shade jumped to intercept her on her implied flight. Spring smiled as she dived low, rolling as she did so, driving her hind legs into Shade's face. Shade grunted and stopped short, falling on top of Spring and right into her waiting hooves. She had him in a choke hold almost instantly and I couldn't help but feel proud of her.

That, is my fillyfriend.

Her hind legs were wrapped around his torso, pinning his forelegs in place, and her forehooves were around his neck tightly, strangling him.

"D'you give up yet bitch?" She asked angrily into his ear, "I might let you go in one piece if you do."

But of all the things I expected, Shade laughing was not one of them. It was strained and choked out, but it was a laugh nonetheless.

"Nice moves," He choked out breathlessly, "But you're forgetting something about me."

"Oh, and what's that?" She asked condescendingly. Shade grinned evilly as his horn started to glow.

"I'm a bloody unicorn!"

He vanished. Literally, just vanished! Instantly I knew he teleported, I just didn't know where. Teleportation isn't a lost art by any means as many seem to think. It's not restricted to the Princesses, trust me. There are very few who can actually do it, but it is possible. Shade must be more powerful, or at least more skilled than I thought. He reappeared directly behind Spring almost fifteen seconds later and, as hard as I tried, I couldn't warn her. My vocal chords refused to work, and my mouth only flapped uselessly. He'd taken much more than I'd thought. With a powerful strike that landed right on the joint of her left wing. She cried out in pain and her legs nearly buckled. Dammit, why didn't she bring Bella out with her?! I know she had the damn thing, why didn't she bring her to this fight!?

Arrogance I suppose.

They circled each other, both of them cautious, re-evaluating their opponent. In the time I've known Shade, I've learned he's patient, calculating and very bright. I've never won a chess game to him, and he grasps things much faster than I do.

Nightspring has no such patience.

With a fierce battle cry she charge at him head on, wings held tightly to her body. Her best weapon, flight, had been taken away from her, and without her scythe I'm afraid she's a second rate fighter. She's still good, but her skill goes down significantly. He merely grinned and sidestepped her assault, grabbing her mane as she went by and yanking it back viciously. I heard her scream in pain as she went down and his hoof found her neck. His horn, already glowing, began to crackle and that damning aura surrounded him again, flowing down him, over his hoof and around Spring. I wanted to cry out, to get him off her, anything, but I couldn't move. I fought vainly with my body, but it simply didn't have the energy left. I watched helplessly as he began to drain her energy.

"There's no bounty on your head~" He said, a quiet, sibilant whisper that I could only just hear, "So maybe I'll just kill you, drain you dry to add to my power. What do you think of that?"

I wanted to scream. To rush forward and kick the lights out of him but, again, I couldn't move. I was stuck on the ground, helplessly watching as the one I loved slowly died, forced to surrender her life energy, her magical power, to the enemy, the stallion I once called friend. Spring struggled weakly, trying to beat him off of her. His grin turned ever more maniacal, ear to ear if you know what I mean.

"Game. Over~" He taunted, pressing his hoof down harder on her throat, constricting her airways. I saw her, watched as she began to die...

Boom. Explosion.

An ear blowingly loud explosion blasted through the area and Shade was sent flying away, a grunt of pain as he hit the ground. In his place, moving Spring out of the combat zone with almost fatherly tenderness, was a stallion I didn't know. His tail was absurdly long, and seemed to move independently to his body, swaying against the breeze. He had a horn, but it looked like it'd been broken at some point, jagged and sharp. I barely got to see that much before he was gone again, and I heard Shade growl and vanish as well. I could see flashes of light and sounds of clashing, grunts of pain and I saw a tree trunk splinter into nothing like it wasn't even there before Shade tripped.

He faceplanted heavily on the ground, a really long tail around his hooves. As I watched, the tail (leading to the top of a tree) twined itself around Shade and started to squeeze, like it was a constrictor of some sort. I could almost feel his bone creaking and beginning to break.

Finally I found my voice as I forced myself to move.

"Stop!" I croaked out and, surprisingly, the tail froze. Shade was desperately trying to breathe before the tail seemed to loosen just a tad and he gasped for breath. With great difficulty, I managed to finally get to my hooves and stagger over to the growling Shade. I sat tiredly by his head and he glared at me, his eyes piercing straight through me.

"Shade," I forced out painfully, "I don't want to hurt you. But if you leave me no choice, I can't tell you what this pony will do to you. Please... just leave us in peace."

A burst of guttural, unintelligible language that I didn't recognize flowed from Shade's mouth. It was like he was chewing his words before violently spitting them out. Suddenly he stopped and violently shuddered. The glow around his horn, crackling and sparking, vanished all at once and his eyes returned to their steel grey and whites. He panted heavily, his brow matted with sweat before looking up at me seriously.

"I yield. I cannot best you all this day."

With a happy sigh I looked for the pony holding him. I didn't have to, since the tail uncurled itself from its quarry and darted back into the treeline. I could hear it as it moved before everything went silent. Shade got up slowly and cracked his neck. Aside from the sweat on his brow, you couldn't tell he was even remotely tired. For all I know, he isn't. With an absent flick, he dusted his shoulder free of dirt and sighed.

"I cannot guarantee I will not find you again Arc. But I have been bested, I will not persist for today. But I will hunt you, no matter where you go I will be there. It doesn't matter how fast you travel, I will travel faster."

He scowled angrily at me.

"I don't know if you did what they say, but that's really none of my business. I just bring you in. Keep running Arc, and I will be there. Return, and You won't have to worry about me. You have been warned."

Before I could answer, he faded into the air, vanishing from view.

"Wait!" I cried out, but he was gone.

Dammit, I want that spell.

The first thing I did was rush to Spring and regretted it instantly, swaying on my hooves as I got to her and almost toppling. She looked up at me from her back and smiled weakly.

"Sure showed him didn't we?" She asked breathlessly and I huffed softly with laughter.

"Yeah, sure did."

"You're lucky I came by when I did."

I froze at the new voice. It was more than a little cocky and spoke volumes of arrogance and self confidence. It was the voice of a young stallion fresh from school who thought he knew everything, ready to take on the world, young and foolish. I turned slowly, more to stop myself throwing up in dizzying waves than anything else, and beheld our saviour.

"The name's Warlock, and you two owe me big."

Enigma of the Unicorn race

The stallion was standing tall, head held high with an arrogant grin plastered on it. His mane was cut short and spunky, spiking up on his head and down his neck. His eyes were a deep blue and sparkled with cocky confidence. His coat was a bright yellow, and the hair making up his tail and mane was a rusty orange. Come to think of it...

It was then I noticed his tail. His mane, as I said before, was short cut and spunky. But his tail defied all sorts of laws. The damn thing was beyond long. Not just that, the damn thing was floating. Three or four feet above the ground, the tail was floating, swaying on an imaginary breeze. The corner of my eye spotted movement and I turned my head to face it only to see more tail, curling itself up. I watched in amazement as the tail, having curled the entire way around us, rolled itself up tightly. Almost a full two minutes later, the stallion had a big ball of hair where his tail should have been. I suppose it is his tail, but even so. I blinked stupidly at it and Spring huffed.

"Huh..." She said weakly, catching my attention and his, "I think your tail is a little too long for a stallion... don't you?"

The stallion glared at Nightspring. He looked more than a little insulted at the idea of that.

"Hey, I just saved your flank from getting sucked dry and this is the thanks I get? Jeez, maybe I should have just left you to his mercy."

Even in her severely weakened state, Nightspring found the strength to bristle with indignation and actually stood up. I envy her strength, always had.

"I had everything under control!" She said, her voice already getting stronger, "It's not like I needed your help!"

Just before he could answer, I jumped in.

"I did. Hey, look, uh, Warlock was it? Thanks for the assist. You're right, we owe you."

He seemed to calm down a little at this, although Spring glared at me like I was crazy.

"Huh, at least your damn coltfriend has sense."

He looked at me, one of his ears flicking.

"I don't know what you did stringbean, but you must have really fucked up bad for 'em to send him after you. That guy's a nutcase, he's chased me a few times."

That grabbed my attention. If this guy knows Shade, and he'd been chased by him before, then obviously he's no random citizen. Just the fact they'd sent him after me made me wonder what the guy'd done. If they sent Shade after me for supposedly poisoning a princess, killing two guards and theft, I can only imagine what he's done. Come to think of it, I'm not certain I want to know what he did to get Shade on his back.

"Shade's an old friend," I replied cautiously, much to the brow raising surprise of Warlock, "I thought I knew him. Evidently I was wrong."

Warlock laughed, a barking, harsh laugh and shook his head.

"Doubtful. Shade did you call him? He's got an interesting little talent that changes his mentality and everything about him. He calls this little talent 'Karma', because he uses it to punish those he's sent after. Since Celestia herself has to authorize his missions, Only those 'guilty' get taken out, thus 'Karma'."

He looked very proud of himself, and I felt a stab of annoyance at the stallion's cocky attitude.

"If you don't mind my asking, how do you know this?"

He smirked at me and I felt the same annoyance from before.

"Oh, I got him to tell almost a year ago. He really was quite indifferent about my knowledge of his work."

Yeah, that sounds like Shade. Indifferent. He didn't tell us what he did because we didn't need to know, but to somepony already being hunted, it wouldn't matter either way so long as they don't know his name so they can't use anything against him. Not that I plan to do so either way. This guy is really pissing me off though. He's arrogant, cocky and really, really irritating and I've only just met him.

"Yeah, he thinks he's so tough, but in all the times I've clashed with him he's never beaten me. No sir, not now, not ever."

Oh for the love of Celestia, somepony shut him up.

"Hey shutup will you jabbermouth?" came the voice of Nightspring from my hooves, "You're giving me a headache."

Well, this is going swimmingly. Warlock growled, an angry frown on his face.

"Hey! How about you shut your mouth huh? If it weren't for me you'd be fuckin' dead! You should be thankful that you can hear my voice at all you little bitch!"

"Bitch!? Who are you callin' bitch you dumbass!? You're a goddamn idiot with a face only a blind mother could love!"

"Uh, excuse me-"

"Hey! Don't you talk about my mother that way you inbred hag!"

Nightspring feigned shocked surprise and looked at me with an exaggerated incredulous look.

"It speaks! Look Arc! A talking lemon!"

His growl turned into a snarl and he barked back harshly, eyes beginning to literally spark, which I found strange because eyes shouldn't spark. At all. Ever.

"Shut your fat mouth! You aren't even fit to lick the ground I walk on!"

"Look, guys-"

"Lick the ground you walk on? Please, the beetles that feast upon carrion are more fit for worship than you!"

"WILL YOU BOTH SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!?"

The entire area went silent and I surprised even myself when I yelled. I knew I was getting frustrated but...

"You suck," Came the petulant reply to Nightspring from Warlock and I glared at Spring as she went to reply. She bit it back angrily and sat down.

"Warlock," I said testily and he looked at me with a self confident smirk on his face, "Wipe that stupid fucking grin off your face and get your flank over here."

He looked offended and went to reply hotly only for me to cut him off.

"NOW!"

He almost automatically started forward, the big ball that made up his tail comically following behind him. Upon reaching us he glared at Nightspring, who glared right back, and sat down. scowling at the ground. I sighed in frustration. This was going to be a long day.

"Warlock. You saved our asses today, whether Spring likes to admit it or not. For that yes, we thank you and recognize that we owe you."

"Damn straight," Came the arrogant reply, almost making me slap him upside the head right there and then. I turned to Nightspring, who was looking at me as though I'd just betrayed her.

"You need to tone down the pride Spring," I said quietly to her, trying to calm her down. Rather hesitantly, I reached forward to caress her cheek and, weirdly, she didn't object, leaning into it even, "It could get us into more trouble."

She sighed and nodded. Relief washed over me in a wave. Nightspring might be impatient and proud, but she's not stupid and she never will be. However, I wasn't sure whether to be assured or afeared when she stepped up to me, leaned her head on my shoulder and whispered "We'll talk about this later," Into my ear. With a shiver, I turned my attention back to Warlock, who was making a gagging face at Spring's show of affection. I felt a wave of anger burst over me and forced it down, instead letting my words come out cold.

"Warlock."

He looked at me with a smirk on his face.

"Wipe that stupid look of your face. We need to talk."

~*~

"Right. Now whether we like to admit it or not, you saved our skins today Warlock, so firstly thanks. But before you start smiling like an idiot, there's a few other things I need to point out."

Warlock's smile faded and he looked at me like I was an idiot. Goddesses, this stallion is going to piss me off.

"One. Spring and I did nothing wrong. We're not criminals, we're guards."

He scoffed and I had to hold Spring back from giving him an ass whooping.

"Two, you are a criminal, thus it's our job normally to bring you in to face justice."

His face darkened and I could feel power crackling through the air. Spring was unaffected, although that's to be expected. Unicorns feel magical energies much more keenly than pegasi or Earth ponies.

"However, given the circumstances, it's probably not the best idea. You helped us, we'll help you. Besides. You took down Shade, I don't think we could do much against you in a fight in our present conditions."

Beside me, Spring snorted derisively.

"Speak for yourself..." She muttered under her breath. Luckily, Warlock didn't hear her, so a fight didn't break out there and then.

"We won't try to arrest you or anything, and you'll let us go as well. That way we're all good and happy, and you don't end up in jail. Is this a happy compromise to you?"

Warlock rolled his eyes. I swear, if this smug prick does one more thing...

"Yeah, whatevs," He snorted back arrogantly, "It's not like you two weaklings could even touch me anyway."

I actually had to physically restrain Nightspring after this comment, with Warlock laughing in her face all the while. Insults went flying concerning parentage, legitimacy and the idea that Warlock was the result of a union between a lemon and a pony and the lemon had come out lucky.

Yeah, great talk.

~*~

Surprisingly, the next month and a half were virtually trouble free. I'd have forgotten I was on the run if not for the goal I had set firmly within my head. We, the three of us, were headed to the only place that could give us the cure.

The Kirin homeland of the Somerset Glades.

During our time, Warlock and Nightspring spent most of their free time bickering. I was forced to ignore it. Twice I fell ill, affected by some kind of sickness that was quite resilient, and both times Warlock complained whilst Nightspring took care of me. I'm shocked... I didn't know she cared, although when I asked later she merely blushed and told me that I was her ticket back to her normal life.

Figures.

Warlock, on the other hoof, was much more interesting. Of all the unicorns I've ever met, he was the most curious. I asked him about his abilities, and he couldn't really explain them.

"I've done it as long as I can remember," He'd reply, then he'd rub at the jagged stump that was his horn, "Since my horn shattered, I guess my body took up the slack."

So I came up with a curious theory, and this will rewrite everything we know about unicorn's magic. It might even grant me an award or something when I get home. Warlock's horn was shattered. Now, for a long time, it's been assumed that a unicorn's horn is the focal point for their magic, and this much is true. A unicorn uses his or her horn to enact magical action upon their surroundings. But what if a unicorn lost their horn? What would happen?

Well, previous observations appeared to show demoralisation, frequent migraines and bleeding at the horn stump when magic was attempted. Warlock seems to be the complete antithesis of this. His magic has found a new focal point, a new outlet. He can stream and channel his magic through his entire body. This is entirely theoretical of course. I have observed him going through strict exercises during the night. He doesn't seem to sleep. He told me he doesn't have to. Apparently, his body's adaptations have altered his biological clock or something. He literally doesn't sleep. He tells me he is physically incapable of sleep. In any case, he seems to stream his magic through his form to affect the world around him. I have seen him change the colour of the grass at will when he's bored. His tail seems to have a constant flow of magic through it, and he uses it as a fifth appendage, more often as a claw or talon than anything else.

Damn, I wish I was able to write a thesis right now.

In any case, it would be almost forty-five days until we ran into anypony else. Or rather, anyone else.

Surprise!

You know, I've heard a lot of ponies say that going on an adventure would be great. Just like a really long camping trip, I believe the best description was. I had thought about adventures my whole life. I thought getting into the guard would get me some adventures too. But now, as I lie beside the mare of my dreams, I'm wondering if any of it was worth it. I'm a wanted stallion now, for a crime I'm positive I didn't commit teamed up with the love of my life and a wanted criminal who admits his crimes but is possibly the strangest unicorn I've ever met!

On top of that, I've been sick, broken a leg and attacked by one of my best friends, all to get an antivenom to a princess I don't even really like.

Ugh.

In any case, it's been three weeks. Nothing has happened. My entertainment for all this time has been listening to the arguments of an arrogant unicorn and a hotheaded pegasus as they hurled insults at each other, or waiting for Nightspring to finally realise that Warlock had turned her mane a garish shade of pink or chartreuse or some similar absurd colour. Either that, or arguing with Nightspring or alternatively yelling at Warlock. Life is not all I thought it would be, and adventures suck. Anypony who says different can go suck on a rock.

We've been travelling steadily, headed for the Somerset Glades. We had to circumvent a mountain, which cost us a good week as we found our way around and, to my utter horror and Nightspring's disgust, we're now travelling very slowly through a swamp. The air stinks, the water is foul and purifying it with magic takes more effort than it's worth, although Warlock seems to have unlimited reserves of energy. He purifies water much more efficiently than I do. In possibly the nicest thing he's said to me the whole time I've known him, he told me one day:

"Don't feel bad about it. I grew up on this stuff, so it makes sense I'm better. You'll get there."

He's right of course, but it doesn't make the dirty looks Nightspring shoots me any better. She keeps complaining that her water is still too dirty, or that her mane is frizzing up, or her feathers are filthy. Warlock got sick of it once and picked her bodily up with his tail and carried her through the day, the fibres of his tail keeping her mouth shut and restraining her. I told him he'd have to teach me that trick. He laughed and told me that one day he might.

After you get through the arrogance, he's really not that bad.

The tent is our only real safehouse. The magical wards Warlock and I set up keep the creepy crawlies away, and the inside of the tent warm and dry, although that's more Twilight's innovation, not mine. We've been heading North-East, hopefully drawing closer, although it certainly doesn't feel that way. It feels like we're not moving forward at all.

I looked down at Nightspring as she moved, banishing these thoughts from my head. I smiled, gently stroking her mane. Even in her current 'frazzled' condition, her mane was smooth and shiny. I'm almost jealous.

Almost.

With a sigh, I decided it'd be best to get some sleep, burying my face in her mane gently.

I'd consider this tomorrow.

~*~

Twenty-one days, we'd spent a few days in the swamp. But by the thirtieth day, I was questioning my sense of direction, even if we're actually following Warlock, since he claimed he knew the way through the swamp. The Glade is meant to be in a southerly direction, and I'm sure we should have been out of the swamp by now. We're running out of supplies, and I don't trust even Warlock with finding food here. I swear, ninety percent of the possible foodstuffs here I've recognised as poisonous. I've given up the thought of actually not starving at some point in this adventure, and I've started to ration off the food. This has made Nightspring very cranky, and has made Warlock complain incessantly. He might not have to sleep, but by Luna does that stallion eat.

"Do you even know where in Equestria you're going?"

My concentration was broken as Nightspring snarled at Warlock, who was ahead.

"Because I'm fairly sure we've been in here for ages too long. What's the matter? Your tail not act as a compass?"

Warlock sighed from his vantage point ahead.

"Well, if you wanted to you could have flown through the treetops to get our bearings, but you don't even know what we're looking for, so who's useless now?"

She glared at me, and I gave her a look back. Leave me out of this. Her responding glare wasn't just a warning, it was a promise. She'd get over it.

"Useless? I didn't say that," She growled back at him, turning away from me, "But now that you mention it, You are kind of useless. I'll tell you what, when I want my mane recoloured, I'll let you know. Till then, why not actually do something helpful?"

Warlock's tail grew into two foreleg like shapes and shrugged. He didn't even bother to turn around, navigating over a fallen tree trunk.

"I'll keep that in mind Short Round, but at the moment I'm fairly certain you're the one being utterly useless. Why not go primp your mane somewhere else, like with the rest of your Canterlot hussies?"

That even hit me. Canterlot hussies? How insulting. I had to bite back my retort however, because it seemed Nightspring wasn't finished.

"Better than criminal scumbags like you!" She bit back, enraged, "Can't make it in the real world so you steal what everypony else has worked so hard to get!"

Warlock whirled around and stomped up to Nightspring, who looked smugly at him, as though she'd won the argument. I took a step back. If these two were going to get physical, I wanted nothing to do with it.

"I stole to survive," He spat. I've never seen him so honest to goodness angry. His entire form is sparking with energy, and I can feel power radiating off of him in almost suffocating waves of magic, "I stole food because without it I would starve. I stole money because without it I would die. I ate from the trash if I couldn't get food, and I drank the water from puddles and ponds so I wouldn't die of thirst."

Warlock's hoof pushed Nightspring back effortlessly, and even she seemed shocked when she stumbled back a step or three.

"Don't go lecturing me on working hard at life, because my life is all I've ever had. And now, I'm stuck with you two out of some stupid sense of moral obligation that I've never felt before. Why? Because I've never been stupid enough to let myself be taken in by this stupidity!"

He grabbed her mane and wrenched her forward. At this point, let it be known I tried to intervene. But that tail of his seems to have a mind of its own, and it hit me like a hammer, holding me still as he continued.

"I'm doing this for a pony who treated me like an equal. Better yet, thanked me and told me I saved his life. I'm doing this because I know the agony of being alone and helpless, and Whichever princess it is that's poisoned doesn't deserve to be."

He took a step back, now looking upon a stricken looking Nightspring in disgust.

"I'm doing this because I care about the Princesses, and I'm sick of walking around and being hunted wherever I go. I'm doing this for a good reason."

He leaned forward and spoke softly, darkly.

"What's your reason?"

He held there for a moment before, without really waiting for an answer, turned and stalked away, his tail letting me go. I could feel malevolent energies cascading off of him, chaotic and unfocused. Nothing harmful thank goodness. I looked back to Nightspring in time to see her face change into one of contempt, but she didn't call out anything to him. Instead she glared daggers at me and stomped away, following his lead once more.

I just might have made a big mistake.

~*~

It's been so long since we've had a decent meal. Jeez, I'm thankful that Warlock is so skilled in purifying water and Nightspring's incessant complaints are getting on my nerves. It's been forty days, and we're still not through the place. Warlock's attitude and ego had dwindled rapidly as the days went by, and he frequently was quiet now, not speaking or even bothering to acknowledge our presence. Nightspring keeps insulting him, and she almost hit him before I stopped her. Since then, she's been picking relentlessly on me. Intervention's been on Warlock's mind, but I warn him away with a glance. When she's off on a tirade, she won't stop till she's spent.

They're getting worse though, and she's blaming me for everything. Perhaps she's right, it is my fault that I'm in this mess, but I gave her the option and the opportunity to stay away, to keep her nose clean, and she didn't take it. When I remind her of this, she gets even worse, so I've stopped mentioning it entirely. I've rationed us down to nearly nothing. We found a few roots earlier, so I volunteered to try them. They were sweet, and had a red center. If I haven't keeled over and died by the end of the day, we'll pick more and eat them. Warlock and I are growing increasingly concerned. Not for the lack of food, but because we're sure we're being watched.

The survival knife went missing two days back, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of it. I'm not getting any sleep. If I can't clear my name now, my deal with Warlock goes out the window, and Nightspring won't keep my bargain. Warlock is a criminal, she'll turn him in, if he doesn't kill her first.

This is getting bad.

Warlock and I have started talking at night, when I can't sleep. He's our guardian at night, and appreciates the company. I brought up my worries and confessed my concerns, and he agreed. But to my surprise, he told me not to worry about him.

"I've survived on my own before, I can do so again."

It didn't make me feel any better and he merely laughed at me. We're not friends just yet, but I think we're working towards it.

~*~

It was late afternoon when they struck. I should have seen it coming. Warlock cursed from his place up front and, to my shock, his tail shot from its normal place at his rump and encircled Nightspring and I. She cried in alarm, something accusatory no doubt, but I didn't hear it. I was too busy yelping myself as a dart no thicker than a strand of hair pierced the wall of hair and stuck, halfway through, dripping with some sort of liquid. I could hear fighting outside my cocoon of safety, no doubt as Warlock fought our assailants. The wall on the side I was pressing myself to, opposite of the dart, suddenly concaved and I was thrown forward and I was scratched by the barb. The effect was instantaneous. I felt woozy, dizzy and nauseous.

Almost the same description of Sea Sickness, but this was no sea sickness. The world around me tilted, but I closed my eyes and swallowed, trying to breathe shallowly and slow my heartbeat. It wasn't working well. My heart rate increased instead, spreading the tiny bit of poison in me instead and my head throbbed. The last thing I remember before I lost consciousness was hitting the floor and the walls around me shuddering as they sagged and collapsed, revealing a silhouette of... something...

Blackout.

Arc

My name is Arc.

You know, there's a lot of stallions out there that would take this chance to make themselves look bigger, sound better or some crap like that. I'm not like that. I'm on duty right now, so at the moment I'm standing, looking straight ahead, as is protocol. The wall ain't all that exciting though, lemme tell you. I'm a wiry sort of stallion at best with a long sort of face and bright emerald green eyes, and my mane is constantly a tangled mess. My coat is the sort of grey that makes up the storm clouds the weather pegasi move around in the times of light rainstorms, and my mane is even darker. Both my mane and tail are made up of a dark, thundercloud black with, and I quote my fellow guards, 'Bolts of lightning' through them. That is to say, Streaks of blue and white.

In the tangled mess that makes up my mane, it looks a bit like a thundercloud preparing to fire out a bolt of lightning.

Thus the name.

I was born and raised in Canterlot and attended Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. I passed with difficulty, and graduated after my school years, where I then went on to train as a royal guard. I met Celestia's pupil once, but I didn't know who it was at the time. As a guard, there are six ponies that are known as VIPs regardless of circumstance, and we're to accomodate them in any way we can. Some pink pony with a mess of a mane worse than mine, a white, pretty unicorn mare, a sporty looking blue pegasus mare, a downright sexy as hell orange mare with a sweet as hat, a cute little yellow pegasus mare who I've met once. She was really, really sweet. And of course, the student herself, Twilight Sparkle.

I guess you want to know my cutie mark as well. I guess I can tell you. I specialise in illusions and combat. Thus, my cutie mark reflects this as a Lightning bolt reflected off of a mirror. I've been teased about it before, all in good fun. In the core, you never make fun of a fellow guard, or you get the shit kicked out of you by everypony else, and that's IF the Captain doesn't get to you first.

Oh, the Cap? Captain Shining isn't a bad guy. He's a bit stiff sometimes and he always seem to go through procedure even if it calls for fast action. Can't blame the guy really though, when his freakin' aunt is Celestia. If you had her as your aunt, you'd be freaking terrified of fuckin' things up too. It's hard enough when you're simply standing outside her bloody door. Trust me, having the princess as your charge ain't a picnic in the least. And Shining can be a bit of a hard ass, but he's loyal to his boys, and we're loyal right back. Ain't nothing that could turn us from our captain, or each other.

I've heard a few things about the commander of the night guards, and that's something I want nothing to do with. Don't get me wrong, I'd serve as quickly with the Knights as quick as I would with my core, but their captain's the husband of Luna herself, so if you fuck up, you have to deal with him.

Don't know about you, but I'd rather a pissed off Shining Armour than a pissed off Prince Defender.

Anyhow. The guard on the other side of this door is my buddy Nightspring and she's tougher than nails and has more balls than all the boys in the core put together. One of the few females on the core, she practically beat the respect from our peers in a street fight when she was just a stripling in the training center. I was being picked on by some obnoxious colts who thought it'd be funny to pick on the unicorn without much control on his magic. Now, don't get me wrong, I have magic. Powerful magic. But it's hard to reach, and only really comes out when I'm distressed. Illusions are easy, but combat stuff... not so much. Anyway, she decided it wasn't fair and she stood up for me. They threw a few insults at her and she decked the fuckers without even breaking a sweat.

I'm rather happy to say that we've been friends since. And I have to admit, she looked freaking hot in her armour.

She has a crimson coat with a deep, dark mane that seems to be black, but look closely and you'll find it's actually a ridiculously dark shade of blue. It's hardly tangled, but it isn't straight and I wouldn't describe it as curled. It sort of cascades. I think she spends like, an hour each morning fixing it up just right. Her wings though man. Her freaking wings.

I have never once regretted being born a unicorn, even if I didn't have a choice, but those wings man. They make me want to just curl up and cry. Curl up and cry tears of wanton regret, sorrow and despair that I would never, ever feel those feathers against my coat and that I will never have a chance with that fine specimen of a mare.

Oh shit, she caught me staring and now she's winked at me. I look away quickly and can feel a blush hitting me. I try to fight it down before glancing back at her and she quirks a brow and wiggles her rump, making me look away again.

"Like what you see there helmet mane?" She asks me playfully.

She is such a tease.

"I would," I reply quickly, "If you hadn't left one of your buckles undone when you put your armour on this morning."

I hear her squeak in shock and start shuffling her head to find the 'undone' buckle. There was no buckle on her armour undone, but she didn't need to know that yet. After about a minute of trying not to laugh, I glance at her as she falls silent and see a petulant (And really, really adorable) pout on her face. She looked at me and frowns.

"There was no undone buckle!"

I grinned and, telekinetically, undid every single buckle that held her armour on, making her squeak again as it crashed to the floor.

"Sure there was. You simply missed it."

She growled at me, annoyed and went about putting her armour back on. Or at least, I'm sure she would have had the princess not stuck her head outside the door to see what we were doing. Spring froze in shock and horror and I stiffened. For a moment Celestia looked at my colleague with a quirked brow, then she looked to me. I continued looking at the wall, suddenly intensely interested in it. With horror, I felt the buckles on my armour becoming undone and it crashed to the floor before I even had a chance to react. Blushing with humiliation, I forced myself to retain my unmoving and emotionless stare at the wall as I heard her (the princess) giggle.

"Look at me, my little pony."

With a gulp, I turned promptly and sat before her, and bowed, as was expected of a guard. Another giggle and I looked up tentatively. She was smiling at me, apparently greatly amused.

"I think you forgot a buckle when you put your armour on this morning. Do try to watch that, okay?"

I could see Nightspring snickering in the background and resolved myself to an eternity of ribbing from her as I nodded stiffly.

"I will see to it Princess." I stated formally before she snaked her head back into her room and closed the door. It was only then I leveled what I hoped was a withering glare at Spring, only making her laugh harder.

"Cow..." I muttered, only making her double over with peal after peal of silvery laughter. With the assistance of magic, my armour was on much swifter than hers, and I was treated to another view of those gorgeous wings.

Sleek, shiny and perfectly maintained, Spring's wings were definitely something to be envied. They were the picture of what athletes struggle to achieve, and what models would give their own hooves to obtain. The black tipped feathers gave the wings a sort of layered look to them, black and red in a sort of colour coded, turn based.... thing.

Dammit, I can't brain when I look at her, she's too distracting. That of course, is her greatest weapon.

That and that blasted scythe of hers.

See, when they take you into training, they give you a weapon to train with. Most times, ponies pick something purely ceremonial, a sword or an axe. Something you never actually use. Spring saw the scythe and fell in love with it. She'd even named her scythe 'Belladonna', after the deadly plant of the same name. In my case, I refused a weapon in favor of hoof to hoof fighting (Of which I took an advanced class since I had extra time on my hooves) and magical assaults taught by a grizzled old ex guard who believed in discipline and positive reinforcement. Sounds like a double standard doesn't it?

However when you're on guard duty instead of patrol, you're not allowed to carry your weapon, since your job is to stand there and look intimidating rather than actually need to fight, especially around the Princess. Mind you, I hear that Prince Defender flat out refused to let his guards go about unarmed, and insisted they keep their weapons clean, usable and sheathed or carried with them at all times whilst on duty. I think that came about from an attempt on the princess that had seen a guard killed, but I try not to listen to rumors around the core, they're rarely true.

Technically, we're not meant to speak whilst on duty, patrol or guard duty. The patrols get more leniency in the matter however, and are rarely punished for speaking on the job, depending on what they're conversing about. Obviously you can't talk about how sexy some mare is when you're on your rounds. It has to be acceptable to the workplace.

So, we worked for our monarchs, and lived for our RDOs, partying and leading generally normal lives on our time off. A lot of the guards have partners and such. Night doesn't, and I don't. I wish I could change that, since I've crushed on her since like, forever, but I know it'll never happen, so I've put it out of my mind. At least, I do whenever I can.

I live in an apartment with three other guys, and I'm the only one who sleeps alone and, most times, quietly.

Welcome to my life.
Before it all went to hell.

Confrontation

Three days.

Three incredibly boring, uneventful and unfantastic days I spent in that blasted cell. The guards wouldn't talk to me, the pony who brought me food didn't talk to me. I had nothing to do. I think I understand why so many ponies go beserk after a stint in solitary. However, luckily for me, I've been alone for long periods of time before with naught but my thoughts, and I can do so again if I must. I have to admit though, I wish I had something to do. The dampener for my magic must remain upon my horn until such a time as I am released, which is a drag because at least I could practice my magic skills whilst I'm here if I had it off. What's worse is that these guards don't even talk. It's so bloody irritating. I mean, you'd think these ponies would at least talk to each other. They take turns sleeping at night, and they even eat here. They're never gone from their posts, it's so annoying. I miss my colleagues. I miss my colleagues, I miss my room mates and their fillyfriends who were always willing to chat to me, I miss....

Yeah, I guess I miss Spring the most.

I mean, she's been there for me since I started training, and she's been with me the whole time, never letting me give up, pulling me to my hooves whenever I fell down, letting me lean on her in times of great duress. I suppose it isn't difficult to see how I managed to have a crush on my best friend huh? But hey, she's not interested in me, so I haven't filled my head with too many delusions. Obviously I've daydreamed a time or two... or three... or twelve... whilst I've been in here, but come on! Who wouldn't? Most of all though... I guess I miss her hugs. She doesn't hug me often, but when she does... she's just so soft. It sort of doesn't suit her at all. Her muscles are obviously firm and strong, but her coat is like velvet. Mine is like some sort of thick wire, not soft at all, no matter how much I wash it. I think the only thing she's ever told me she envied about me was my mane, and I remember asking her flatly if she wanted it. The damn thing never sits straight, and I can't untangle it without it tangling again seemingly two minutes later. It's clean, but not neat.

You know, I remember one time when the two of us went camping on one of our days off from the academy. She was looking for somepony to hang out with, and I was just reading a book at the time, so she dragged me out of the library and took me out to a picnic. It was a beautiful day. I remember she teased me about the tapered point of my horn and I'd flushed, not knowing how to get her back or anything. She was, and still is, practically perfect in every way. At least, she is to me. We sat upon the top of the mountain that Canterlot hangs off of. The air was thinner than I was used to, and she had helped me up some of the way by letting me lean on her. Being a pegasus, her lungs did take the thin, cold air better than mine did. But the view from the top was spectacular. We had eaten a veritable feast (For us. We lived off of rations at training to get used to eating little and working for a long time) of sandwiches and watermelon. Ah, watermelon. I haven't eaten any in years now. I can barely remember what it tastes like. I remember that we decided to camp out. Of course, since this WAS a spur of the moment thing, we hadn't brought blankets. Luckily the blanket Spring had brought could roll up at one end to make satisfactory pillows, but without another blanket, we had to find another way to get warm.

When I first brought up the option of sharing body heat, she'd fiercely rejected it. I had to talk very, very fast in order to stop her from breaking my nose. I told her the scientifically proved value of the method, and assured her that it was only to bring warmth whilst we slept so we would not catch cold. She seemed reluctant, but given that was the best idea we had, she sighed and went along with it. Honestly, I don't think she minded so much though. Whilst she wasn't terribly friendly when we were trying to get to sleep, still convinced I was trying to 'sleep' with her, I remember waking up to the sensation of her hooves wrapped tightly around my stomach as her head rested on the small of my back and the rest of her was curled up and around the lower half of my body. I had to fight very hard that morning to resist the more primal itches that begged to be heard. It's only natural after all that a stallion become excited when such an amazing mare is wrapped around him like that I suppose. My method worked anyway, and neither of us were sick for training the next morning.

Ah, the good old days. Then she got with that jerk Lucis and she got more and more depressed before finally just dumping him. It was brutal.

He deserved it. I don't know what he did, but he definitely deserved it.

Oh? Is it lunch time already? The door is opening and a pony is standing in the doorway with a tray of food. I trot forward eagerly, curious as to what today's lunch was. Soft white bread, still steaming, so obviously fresh, and what smelled like heavenly pumpkin soup, complete with a dollop of sour cream. I looked to the pony with a raised brow and she smiled shyly.

"Courtesy of Miss Nightspring," She whispered to me quietly and winked, "She sends her regards, and wishes you to hurry up so she can get a free dinner."

I try not to laugh and nod to the maid as she backed out of the cell and the door was slammed shut again. Even when I was in jail she was looking after me. Granted, I was only being detained, but still. I didn't hesitate to dive into the soup and, despite its heat, it was simply delicious. I looked to the hunk of bread and smiled. I ripped some of it off, and dipped it into the soup, swirled it around and ate it quickly. If you have never done this before, you simply must try it.

Suddenly I heard the door lock rattle and I looked up to see the pair of guards (Of which I had nicknamed in my head Ig and Ook) unlocking my door. I frowned and looked down at my soup again, then back up at the guards now striding into the cell. There was something... off. Their eyes were distant and had a faint yellow shimmer to them that simply wasn't normal. They're looking at me blankly, as though they don't recognise what they're looking at.

"It is time." They both said at the same time. I sighed in relief. I was getting out of here, Shining was letting me go. I looked up at them and grinned, both in relief and slight mischief. Looks like I was finally getting that dinner with Spring.

"Can I at least finish my lunch first?"

Neither of them laughed. They didn't even react to the joke. But the male one, the pegasus (Ook) stepped forward and stood over me before I felt a starburst of pain on the back of my neck and everything I could see faded to black.

~*~

Oh jeez that hurts... My head feels like it's on fire from the inside, burning it's way through my head. Or trying to. I crack open my eyes and immediately squeeze them shut from the bright light. I hear a groan of pain and I think I made it. I'm not too sure. I can feel dirt against my coat and skin. I'm lying on my side, and my head really, really hurts. I think I can make it to my hooves... first attempt... no luck, I hit the ground again with a grunt of pain. I'm on my belly now. Second attempt... yes, getting there... Ah shit, no luck again. I tripped over my own hooves and now I think my nose is bleeding. Well, third time's a charm they say so here I go again. I try to stand and manage to get all four hooves under me and planted firmly onto the ground. After all, I am a guard. I'm a little dizzy, and I still can't open my eyes past a squint, but I'm adjusting. Finally my vision clears and what I see confuses me.

I appear to be at some sort of camp. There's a campfire in front of me and it looks like it only recently burned itself out. Wherever I am, and whoever set this up, they probably aren't too far away, unless they decided I wasn't worth the effort and figured they'd lighten the load a little. There wasn't any tents though and... strange, there's no hoofprints around here anywhere except the scuffling from where I'd gotten up and the few wobbly steps I've taken since then. Well, I suppose I should check for damage then. I start doing some routine twists to limber up my torso. Nothing seems injured there, so that's always a good sign. Now I stretch out my hooves. Nothing serious. I feel some pain on my right forehoof so I guess I'll- WHAT!?

THERE'S BLOOD ON MY HOOF!

THERE'S FREAKING BLOOD ON BOTH MY HOOVES!

I start to feverishly check my entire body for lesions, lacerations or open wounds. If there's this much blood on my hooves and it's from my wounds it's likely I'll die of blood loss soon. But no, there's no blood on me, and there doesn't seem to be any cuts, lacerations, abrasions or even scrapes on me save for one on my hind left leg. So, aside from being in a ghost camp and having something's blood on my hooves AND having a massive, really painful bruise on the back of my neck, I seem to be alright. But fuck me, what the hell is it from and where did this blood come from!? I cast my mind back desperately to the last thing I remembered. The last thing I remember is... Yeah, the last I remember is being knocked the hell out by Ook, that pegasus guard with the wingblades. Where the hell is he? And his partner, where is she?

Did they make this campfire?

I start to stare at it. I must look a right fool staring stupidly at a campfire, but I do so anyway. I wouldn't be able to tell you how long I looked at it, but eventually I decide it's time to look around some more. There's no evidence of any tents or food in the are-

Food. Oh Celestia I am so hungry right now.

I could really go for some food. It feels like I haven't eaten in months and my throat is parched and sore. That should be my first order of business. Find food, find water. The ground around me is all dirt, so I guess that's out of the picture. If I can find a fruit tree of some sort, or even a patch of grass, I can eat something from that. Then I need to find a source of water. I can't travel far on an empty tank. After that I think it'd be best that I find some way to clean this... these stains off my hooves. Then I need to figure out exactly where I am an-

"You! Stay where you are!"

I froze instantly. That was the authoritative voice of a city guard, and being one myself, I'm not about to disobey it. I turned around slowly and was met with a white pegasus holding a spear at the ready. He must have been relatively new to what he was doing though, because the spear was wobbling slightly as he held it and, through the gritted teeth of determination, I could see nervousness and doubt at what he was doing. Since my job was, so far as I knew, temporarily on hold, I sat down slowly and didn't question him. He glanced at my hooves and swallowed heavily. I glance down to them as well. I mean, it's difficult not to notice red stains on a coat as dull as mine. I looked back up at him.

"Look, if you'll let me expla-"

"Shutup! You're under arrest!"

I looked at him incredulously as he approached.

"On what grounds!?"

He swallowed and took another step, brandishing his spear. I think the spear made him feel safer, even if he knew he was facing a unicorn, which entails magic used to alter the physical world in a direct fashion.

"For.." he hesitated and it irked me, so I reacted.

"You're a guard, don't hesitate!" I snapped at him irritably and he snapped out of his hesitation and his face curled into a snarl.

"You're under arrest on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a Princess of the realm!"

"What!?" I yelled out, but he wasn't finished.

"You're also arrested for breaking out of Canterlot Dungeon and removing your magic inhibitor."

I fell silent for a moment before holding up my hooves, a universal sign of peace, for most places anyway.

"Now, wait a moment, you don't know the full stor-"

"Shut it! I'm bringing you in!"

From a pouch at his side he withdrew a familiar silver ring. A magic inhibitor is a simple thing and feeds upon the magic drawn by a unicorn as they try to do magic, effectively putting a restriction on their abilities. I took a step back, rising from my sitting position.

"I swear, just let me-"

He charged at me, obviously taking my attempts to explain as resisting arrest which, I guess, I was sort of doing anyway. I spun out of the way, my head spinning for slightly longer as a result of my thirst and hunger and he stopped and turned to face me all in one move. We stood there for a moment, him now sizing me up... I think. I was trying to stop my head spinning. It was like the world was suddenly content to spin around me.

And then my stomach growled.

We both stopped for a moment and I looked at my stomach, then back up to him.

"You wouldn't happen to have any rations would you?" I asked plaintively, "I'm sure we could work this out over lunch or something because I really don't want to-"

He charged again and I swore as he missed my heart by inches as I threw myself to the side I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of how close I came to death as that moment. I rolled as I hit the ground and he lunged at me again, spear held outward.

"Don't want to hurt you!"

He swung his spear in a lateral swipe aimed at my chest and I ducked down. He followed his swipe through and spun around, bringing his spear low and I leaped over it and towards him. He flung himself into a backflip and it was all I could manage to sway backwards to avoid his hind hooves as they passed by my head, inches from my snout. He stabbed once, twice, three times, missing me each time. He wasn't terribly good with that thing, because I was running on nothing. How he even graduated is beyond me. I grabbed his spear as he made another lunge and rolled myself over it, knocking him off balance and making him stumble towards me. If I could get out of the long range of his spear I should be okay. I brought my forehooves up in a defensive position with regret filling me and lashed out with a punch with my left hoof. He blocked it and blasted backwards, wings open. I couldn't see, dust filled my vision and I coughed and spluttered, trying vainly to get my vision back only to see him lunging towards me again. I wanted to dodge but he was too close, approaching too fast!

This is it.

Impact.

Second Reunion, and unexpected Circumstance.

I was in quite high spirits when I left Spurs Hollow. I have to say, I haven't had such high spirits since Spring hugged me to her with her wing. It'd been some time since I'd felt like this, and it was a bit of a novelty, to be on the road and yet, for the first time, not feel helpless. For once I knew where I was going, and I know what I'm doing. I know what I need, where to go, and nothing is going to stand in my way.

If this damn thorn in my hoof would get OUT, I'd be better still.

Right now, I'm sitting on the side of the road that had, as of almost twelve hours ago, led me out and away from Spurs Hollow, trying to reach the thorn stuck in my hind left hoof. It's damn annoying, and it's starting to actually hurting me now, I can feel a crick in my neck forming as I crane around to see what I'm doing. It's been stuck in my hoof for the past hour and I've finally gotten sick enough to try and grab it. And so you know, it has occurred to me to use magic, but using it to try and grasp something that I cannot physically see, or know precisely where it is. Neither of which I do or can.

With an irritable grunt, I change position, rolling onto my back and curling and finally I saw it. A great big red thorn that looked more like it belonged in the mouth of a full grown cerberus rather than on a plant. With a grunt, I leaned forward and grabbed the thorn in my teeth and yanked it out with another painful grunt. It's larger than I thought, and a small bead of blood welled out of it. Nothing to be done though, I'll just have to make do.

The countryside I've been walking through these past few hours is quite spectacular. Many would say that these rolling plains are boring and featureless, but some of us know better. The sky is clear and the hills are covered in long grass with occasional spots of colour where a flower bush or simply some flowers had grown. There's a pool of water not far to my right and, hey, why not? I start towards it, I need to fill my water supply anyway. I'd sort of forgotten to do so when I'd left Spurs Hollow, and I'd feel bad doing it anyway, taking Moondust's water. It just doesn't seem right, to take her water.

Moondust.

I really do owe her. My life I suppose. It's unreal to owe someone else my life rather than have it the other way around like I'm used to. Seriously, when Spring and I are on patrol, it's the other way around. I remember once when we saved a mare who worked in a brothel. She didn't really have much choice, as I found out later, but that's neither here nor there. I found it highly amusing when she offered her services for free for Nightspring whenever she wanted. Spring had gotten all flustered and hadn't known how to respond. Of course, I couldn't laugh for long however when she turned her gaze unto me. Yes, she made me blush to the roots of my mane that day, with an offer that I have yet to take her up on. I'm fairly certain I will never take her up on it come to think of it. It's a little uh... yeah.

Ahem.

Anyway! Juicy piece of gossip aside, I've reached the pool, or spring, or whatever, I've never been very good at geography, despite my studies. Geography simply never struck a chord with me, I was always better at Mathematics, Magical Theory and Strategy. Obviously I've studied more but...

I'm getting off topic again.

With a sigh I sat down again at the water's edge and let the saddlebags drop from my back. There's still several hours of daylight left, so I'm not stopping yet, but I do need water. Flicking open the bags, I reached in and took out my canteen. Oh, I don't think I ever mentioned having that hey? Well, I have a canteen, it came with the bags. It's a pretty thing, made of what I can only guess is steel, painted orange with a red apple. It seems everything in these saddlebags was tailor made for Applejack. The apple matches those on her flanks... Not that I ever looked at her flanks! I'm actually missing her food now that I think on it...

I catch myself staring at the canteen and shake myself out of it, unscrewing the cap for the canteen and taking a swig before emptying the contents onto the ground with a grimace. The damn thing tasted horrible, guess I need to clean this thing. This is where magic comes in handy. It barely took a few seconds to clean the thing with magic, despite how fiddly the thing is, and a few seconds more to fill it. As I do so, I start to thinking. How exactly do I get within the castle once I have the antidote? I can't get in the same way as I did last time, they'd have me under lock and key the moment I was in sight and escorted by an entire contingency of guards, I know it. And I doubt even Defender's authority could get me out of that jam. I suppose going at night might buy me some leniency, but I doubt it. I'd doubt Captain would leave Princess Cadenza on her own for long, and probably spends entire nights at her bedside.

Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there I suppose. Canteen filled and replaced in the bags, I relocated them onto my back and headed South for the Somerset Glade. I'll be honest, I'm not certain why they call it the Somerset 'Glade', because to be honest, I've heard it's more a forest than a glade. But then, the Kirin were never terribly sociable, excepting the current King.

I was just following this line of reasoning when it occurred to me that I was on the ground. As in, face in the dirt, dirt tasting, face planting. You know what I mean, we've all been in that position.

"Ha! Found you! Only took me a few days!"

That voice...

"Oh jeez, Spring didn't I leave you in Canterlot?"

The familiar sound of Nightspring's voice invaded my ears and I'm not sure if I'm relieved, happy to see her or pissed off that she followed me. I'd left her there for a reason, but as usual she'd just plunge into everything without thought, as she always did. Sometimes...

"Yes, you did. I'm very disappointed in you for that," She said frigidly, "That wasn't part of the plan."

"The plan went to Tartarus the moment Defender discovered me," I shot back angrily, struggling against her. Unfortunately for me, Spring is stronger than me physically and there's no way I'm capable of throwing her off me, no matter how hard I try. It's kinda discouraging to be honest, that a mare I'd known most of my adult life was stronger than I was. Isn't it meant to be the other way around?

"He didn't turn you in did he? So I'd say it worked anyway. You were meant to leave with me! Not jump out of a fucking window! I was terrified you were dead! You're SO lucky I have wings you know, otherwise I could have never tracked you. How in Celestia's name did you glide so far anyway? You're a unicorn but you're not that good."

Ouch.

"I'm not all that certain myself, if you must know," I replied snidely, "But I'm fairly certain it had something to do with the cloak I'm wearing. But asking me about it will get you nowhere, since I don't even know why I took it from Shining's office, I just saw it and took it."

We both paused for a moment as I smoldered under her comment concerning my latent magical abilities, or lack thereof. Certainly not called for, and more than a little insulting if you ask me. And she was still sitting on me. That was getting old rather quickly.

"Spring, could you get off me now?" I asked irritably, "I need to keep moving sometime soon."

"No," She replied coldly, obviously not liking my tone, "I think I'll sit here a little longer. I'm not certain you've learned your lesson yet. We'll stay here for a while longer."

Naturally. The most important time in my life, and the most important journey of my lifetime, and I happen to be stuck under the most petty mare on the face of Equestria who happened to be physically stronger than me, plus I have no way of summoning up enough strength to lift the stupid mare via telekinesis. Well, to be honest, if the circumstances were different I'd be close to being in heaven right now. But considering these circumstances...

Nope, still in heaven.

I feel heat flush across my face and instinctively know that I'm blushing. Her forehooves are digging into my shoulders and her rump is on my back. I must look like the biggest fool, with my forehooves stuck out in front of me and my hind legs splayed out on the ground. I'm so glad I'm on my stomach right now though, and my tail lies pretty flat. There are some features of the stallion's body that aren't meant to be shown in broad daylight.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt.... she's probably better at this than me right?

"Fine," I said quietly, "You can come with me then."

I'm not sure if I'll regret this or not, but hey, why not?

~*~

It was almost a week later. We'd been travelling due South for some time, having to bypass most towns and all cities. Thankfully, Spring wasn't wanted for treason, so she could go into any town or city she wanted. Unfortunately, she couldn't be seen with me. So nine times out of ten, she either walked ahead or flew high above, avoiding the sight of unicorns and earth ponies all together. I'm fairly certain we're going the right way, but since I've never actually been to the Somerset Glade, I can't be entirely certain. But hey, South is South right? How hard could it be?

Anyhow.

A week we were travelling South. We'd just set up camp and I was midway through finishing a turnip broth. It wasn't a great turnip broth, but it was a semblance of a turnip broth. I'm not a terribly good cook. Spring had been acting strange all day, and now was no exception. She was moody and often pushed me away or snapped at me. To be honest, I wasn't sure how to react. I knew she could be a bitch sometimes, but this was absurd.

"The broth is almost ready Spring, you hungry?" I asked cautiously.

"No, I don't want any of your stupid broth!" She shot back angrily, "I don't want anything you cook you idiot!"

"Sorry I asked," I replied indignantly. She huffed angrily and shook her head.

"Your bloody cooking is worse than my father's hygiene, and that's saying something!"

Okay, that does it. I've met Nightspring's father, and my cooking isn't that bad. I looked at her angrily.

"What is wrong with you today!? You're acting worse than my mother in a foul mood!"

And if her father's hygiene is bad, my mother's temper is something to behold. I swear, she made legend in Canterlot for her bad moods. It's absurd. She seemed to take offense to this.

"Well maybe I'm sick of travelling with a reject like you!" She yelled back at me, "And sick of your stupid cooking and pathetic brooding all the time! It's like travelling with an overly emotional teenage colt in the middle of puberty!"

I saw red and leapt at her, pinning her under my hooves, her shocked cry turning into a grunt as both of us hit the ground, the fire, food and tent forgotten in our spat. Adrenaline lent me strength as I held her down despite her struggles and I yelled at her.

"DAMMIT NIGHTSPRING, WHAT THE HECK IS WRO-"

My rant cut short as I noted her appearance. She was sweating, for one, and her bottom lip was clutched tightly in her teeth. She was looking anywhere but at me, and her wings were partway open. Her cheeks were flushed red and her ears were splayed flat against her head. She looks really, really uncomfortable.

"Spring? Are you alright?"

She nodded slowly, her bottom lip turning white. Hesitantly, afraid she'd bite through it or something, I took her lip from her teeth with a careful hoof. She actually tried to nibble my hoof and I jerked away, a flush on my face now.

"W-what are you doing? What's wrong?" I asked, although I had my suspicions by now. Suspicions that were slowly being confirmed. Her whole demeanor now that I was on top of her changed, and her hoof quested out to caress my cheek and mane, making me flush even more. She still didn't answer me at first, but her scent answered for me. That alone confirmed my suspicions. There was only one reason that she would be giving off such a scent, and would also explain why she'd been pushing me away as best she could all day.

"Spring... Are you..?"

Her answer was a solid bite to my ear, making me yelp in surprised pain. Always knew she was a rough filly. She growled seductively as she did so and whispered softly after letting go.

"You caught me, Now what are you going to do about it?"

How the hell did I answer to that? I can feel my body starting to react to her biological demands, even as I try to swallow and get my head back together.

"Spring.. You're not.. thinking straight you're just.. It's-"

"Don't tell me you don't," She said bluntly, licking my cheek slowly afterwards, despite my jerking away, "You've wanted me for a long time~ Now's your chance you know, and you know I won't stop you..~"

She glanced back at the tent, then back to me. I was trying desperately to keep my head out of the clouds and in the real world. It's difficult. Fuck, it's worse than difficult, it's damn near impossible. I gulped heavily.

"Spring... I.. you're in heat.. it messes with your head..."

She grabbed my head, shutting me up quite effectively and giggled.

"Stop denying yourself, and stop denying me~ You couldn't deny little old me could you?"

Crafty minx. I sighed and stepped off of her, not fighting her as she nipped and pushed at my rump, pushing me into the massive tent.

I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight, if any.

Author's Note

Just figured it'd be best to add this in whilst I think of it and update it as I go along. This is a list pertaining as to what I've borrowed from others. Please note that all characters, places or concepts are either used with permission or made up myself.

One: To Basalisk120, who thought up the Arcaeni, The Godsreach mountains and collaborated with me to create the gods that will appear later in the series, consider yourselves warned as well as the old seer at the top of the tower, all used with permission.

Two: To Sparky, for the use of Frankie, Moondust and her entire family including the town she resides in, Spurs Hollow.

Three: My Friend Jay for the use of his character (Later chapters) Zubari. He's tried his hand at writing and was pretty good if you'll do me a favor of reading this http://pastebin.com/XaKGsgdk . Feel free to message comments about it and I'll pass it on to him, I know he'll appreciate it.

For the moment, that's all that the list pertains to, all other aspects, areas, concepts and species were created by me, all similarities to other aspects, areas, concepts and species are completely coincidental. I do not own nor do I pretend to own 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic', all rights go to Hasbro on that score.

This list will be updated as the story continues.