“Well, it seems that we have no reason to arrest you,” Sapphire Blade explained.

“Really?” Jewel was relieved. It had been hours since they put him in the interrogation room. Or, at least, it felt like hours. One thing he realized while in confinement was that the ancient part of an ancient city wasn’t just for show. It really made him miss the convenience of a mechanical clock. Like, he was sure he saw sundials on the street. Sundials! “So, I'm free to go?”

“There are a few questions that need to be answered before I can say anything.” Sapphire brought out a scroll and feather. “It's just protocol; don’t take it too personally.”

Jewel nodded. Hot Hammer was right:, the ponies who that escorted him seemed much more relaxed now that he was cooperating. Well, except for that older pegasus. Jewel could swear she barely was holding herself back from killing him by the way she stared at him.

“Alright, what brings you to the empire?” Sapphire asked the first question.

“I like learning things as a hobby, so I thought of doing a little bit of field research on the empire’s history,” Jewel explained. “Once I heard it came back, it seemed like a good opportunity to learn a bit more than the limited sources we had available in Canterlot allowed me.”

Sapphire was nodding along as he wrote down Jewel’s reply. “And what exactly are you hoping to learn about?”

“Culture, history, maybe a bit more about the crystal heart.” Jewel paused for a moment. “To be honest… I’m also really interested in what happened during Sombra’s reign.”

Sapphire did not look up, but he did stop writing for a moment. “Why would you want to learn about it?”

Exactly!
Why are you so interested in it?
You only came here for Blackheart.

Jewel remembered a moment while he was running away from Sapphire and even those visions he had on the train before that. Why exactly was he so afraid of Heartstrings? Whenever he tried to remember, he felt as if he was walking in a fog. Seeing shapes and silhouettes, but not the actual picture or ponies. And whenever he tried to get closer, he felt as if he hadn’t moved at all.

Something’s not right…

She definitely did something.

But what?

“Jeweled Hoof?” Sapphire brought him back from contemplation.

Jewel just stared at him blankly. “I— I don’t know, it just feels important.”

Sapphire just stared at him. His eyes focused and, unmoving, seemed to emanate calm authority. That stallion lived through a lot, and he could sense something was wrong; Jewel was sure of it.

“Listen—“ Sapphire started but was interrupted when the door opened behind him. He and Jewel both looked up at the new arrival. He was a white unicorn who wore gold armor, his eyes stern but calm. His cutie mark was a simple shield emblem. Sapphire immediately stood up and saluted to the stallion. “General.”

“At ease. I heard everything from corporal Blaze Fury,” the general explained and turned toward look at Jewel. “What is your verdict?”

“It may have been a false alarm.” Sapphire brought out Jewel’s bag. “The only things we found were two letters, a book, food, and cloaks. A lot of cloaks.”

Jewel waved with his hoof to get their attention. “Pardon my rudeness, but are you general Shining Armor?”

Shining Armor squinted his eyes. “Yes. Do we know each other? “

“Well, no. But Twilight asked me to bring you a letter.” Jewel pointed to his bag. “One of them should be unopened. It’s for you.”

“How do you know my sister?” tThe general said sternly, but Jewel could tell he relaxed a bit.

“I’m her… friend.”

“Hmmm…” Shining Armor searched through Jewel’s bag and took out the closed letter. He opened it and read through it in silence.

Jewel watched as he smiled softly while he read before his face turned serious as he started to glance at Jewel from time to time while he read

“Sir?” Sapphire asked, studying the general’s face.

“This is Twily’s, alright.” Shining Armor stashed the letter away. “Sapphire, could you please inform the maids to make a room ready?”

“Are you sure, sir?” Sapphire's voice rang an octave deeper than before.

“Yes. Also, could you please meet me later in my office after I'm done here?” Shining Armor smiled. “There are a few things that need to be discussed.”

Sapphire nodded and left the room without any resistance, leaving the general alone with Jewel. “I don’t understand, I—“

“Listen.,” Shining Armor sat down in front of Jewel. “I’m gonna level with you. I was going to send you back to Canterlot, send a report to the princesses, and ask for an investigation on your background.”

“What?! Ohhhh.” Jewel immediately realized what that was about. “Because of the book?”

“Because of the book.” Shining Armor nodded. “Owning it in itself is not bad, but you brought it here of all places. This made you incredibly suspicious, and, for security reasons, I couldn’t ignore that. Once back in Canterlot, the authorities would investigate you for any activities related to black magic.”

“Isn’t black magic openly researched?” Jewel asked.

“Yes, but it’s done by trusted magicians chosen by the princess. Additionally, the research is about protecting against it, not using it.” Shining Armor smiled a little. “But Twilight seems to trust you, at least according to the letter. Did she tell you about the Doll Incident?”

Jewel nodded. “Yes, a while back.”

“Then you know what she did is also considered illegal?”

Jewel nodded again.

“And do you know how Celestia reacted?”

“As far as I know, she pardoned her.” Jewel was starting to lose the point of the conversation.

“Not only that, she admitted she was partially at fault,” Shining Armor elaborated. “She knew that if she just explained to Twilight that she didn’t need to write to her every week sooner, then Twilight wouldn’t feel so pressured to cause the incident.”

“What is your point, general?”

“The princess trusts Twilight. Not only that, she trusts her choice in friends.” The general pointed at Jewel. “That and the fact that Twilight is my sister is the reason I’m letting you off the hook. Because she trusts you.”

Shining Armor’s eyes darkened, and his expression turned fierce and serious. The message was clear to Jewel. You better not break that trust.

“I understand,” Jewel said. It was better for him to stay on the general's good side.

Shining Armor leaned forward. “I also have a question. Why exactly did you come to the empire?”

“For research,” Jewel answered.

“And what do you expect to learn?”

Careful!

“I don’t think I can tell much…” Jewel explained.

“How come?” Shining Armor, stared directly into Jewel’s eyes.

“It’s… complicated.” Jewel looked away. “But I can promise you, I don’t want it to affect anyone else besides me. My success will affect me alone.”

Jewel looked back at Shining Armor. “You have to believe me.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a solid minute, contemplating in silence. Jewel knew that what he said made him look even more suspicious. He wouldn’t be surprised if the general decided to send him back. It was the next logical step.

Shining Armor sighed. “Alright, but under a few conditions…”

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“Are you sure about this, sir?” Sapphire Blade said calmly, even though, on the inside, he wanted nothing more than to throw the general into Tartarus. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have someone like him here.”

“I agree,” Shining Armor said while he shuffled through some papers on his desk. “But I have my reasons to trust him.”

“Have you at least discussed it with the princess?”

“She would welcome him with open hooves. I’m at least trying to stay professional.” Shining Armor took out a small form and filled it out before he gave it to Sapphire.

Sapphire took the form and read it. It was an official order from the general. “You can’t be serious.”

“Yes, I am. Congratulations, Sapphire Blade; you have been officially promoted to second lieutenant.” Shining Armor smiled. “Your first order is to assign a guard to escort our guest throughout the palace and keep an eye on him.”

“You want me to play babysitter for someone who can be a potential danger? Why go through all this for him?” Sapphire did not care to hide his dissatisfaction anymore. Damn the rank; his general was being unreasonable.

“I didn't do it just for him,” Shining Armor responded. “The only reason I allowed him to stay was under the condition he will never leave the palace and his movement will be constantly monitored. I don’t want another incident to happen because of his presence.”

“But, sir, he came here to research Sombra! He admitted to it!”

“All the more reason to watch him. Princess Celestia is also interested in what happened, and it was only a matter of time before some historian would come along. This way, we’ll not only know his intentions, but we might also further our study on your empire. Especially since our resources are focused on rebuilding it instead.” Shining Armor stood up from his desk. “I leave the task up to you. I have to talk to Cadence.”

Sapphire’s jaw clenched as he tried to remain calm. “Alright, I’ll do what I can.”

“Good.” Shining Armor left the office with Sapphire Blade. “Oh, one more thing: tell Blaze Fury her application has been approved.”

“What application?”

“She wanted her old position. I tried to expedite the process because of her age, so she should be able to start in two days.” Shining Armor took out a badge and gave it to Sapphire. “Keep up the work, and maybe you’ll do the same.”

“I’ll inform her.” Sapphire nodded. He stood there, looking at the badge he was holding as the general left. It has been such a long time since he saw the badge of an officer.

A single blue crystal rod of the second lieutenant. The same symbol, yet a different pony who held it.

It was disgusting.

Sapphire’s vision turned red as he saw the crystal walls around him turn black as tar. They vibrated, echoing the sound of ponies screaming. His ears pulsed with pain as he remembered the rows of statues made from black crystal. All of them showed ponies in different states of agony, as they crumbled into pieces under the watchful eyes of gold and red. Why?

“SAPPHIRE!!”

The images receded and gave way to the worried face of Rosefeather. Her emerald green eyes shook. “Rose?”

“Are you okay, Sep? You were out for a moment.”

“Y-yes, I'm…” Sapphire glanced at the badge. It felt much heavier than it actually was. “No…”

Rosefeather followed his eyes to the badge, and her eyes widened. “You know it was only a matter of time.”

“But this is too fast! Way too fast! The general has been completely irresponsible lately.” His hoof shivered.

“I know., I heard about the guest.” She hugged him. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened back then;, it was me who gave Sombra access to the palace.”

“He tricked you.” Sapphire separated himself from Rosefeather. “Manipulated you and used your feelings against you. Nothing he did was your fault.”

Rosefeather smiled. “The same applies to you. Either we are both at fault for helping Sombra, or neither of us is.”

Sapphire looked her in the eyes. “What if I say that both of us are?”

“Then I will start treating you like you think you deserve.” Her eyes were practically radiating a sly playfulness; it was all a game to her. A little challenge to see what Sapphire would do if she did that. Sapphire smiled, his worries lifting a little.

“You have a weird way of cheering ponies up,” he said.

“Hey, it works!” Rosefeather laughed. “Try to look on the bright side! It’s one more step towards everything going back the way it was.”

Sapphire looked down at the badge. “It’s never going to be the same, Rose.”

Rosefeather bit her lips. “You are right, but that does not mean we can’t live on. We just have to make the best out of what we have left.”

She put her hoof over the badge. “You deserve this, Sep. Amora would want you to keep moving on. To keep on living.”

Sapphire nodded with a sigh. “I know, but it’s difficult without her.”

Rosefeather hugged him tightly. “I know, Sep. I feel the same way.”

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Author's Note

Ok… i know what I said under chapter 7.

I „was” supposed to concentrate on writing a challenging story, but I had this sudden motivation to continue this instead.

I’m definitely procrastinating, aren’t I?

Well… as long as I keep writing I have no issues.