They crested a hill and found what remained of Starstreak's team already in combat. Both the earth pony and pegasus were fighting a manticore together, though the pegusus was clearly having difficulty getting airborne, his body covered in fresh scratches and bites. Solaris wanted to charge, but some deep part of him made him delay instead, going slow in his approach.

Jade crashed into his side with her own. "Wake up! They need us, now." She glowered and charged forward as the earth pony was flung into a tree, crumpling against its thick base.

Shaking free of that momentary befuddlement, Solaris leaped to follow, wings flaring out as he flapped to gain altitude.

He had no time for fancy maneuvers, he just threw himself at the manticore. His spear slipped between its shoulder blades, earning him a howl of pain that he could only compare to a lion. Unfortunately, its teeth proved its similarities to a lion didn't stop at a roar. Riding a high of adrenalin, he shoved the beast away with all four hooves and drew the spear back in his magic.

It came at him with furious swipes of its claws, its stinger flickering as it readied its strike. Solaris held back this time, letting the more experienced fighters take the lead. He focused on defense, parrying and swatting that fast stinger even as where he had been bitten stung furiously. His spear was covered in a layer of manticore's blood by the time they managed to subdue it with non-lethal injuries.

Solaris panted softly as he looked over at Jade and Lancer, but neither seemed seriously injured. Scraped and battered, but intact. He smiled just as he crumbled, energy entirely expended for the day.

***

He blinked awake, looking up at Jade's face. She glanced down at him with a smile. "Welcome back. I'm not surprised you passed out, there."

"Did you?" He tried to sit up in bed but the various pains quickly convinced him to abort that idea. "Did we win?"

She snorted softly. "Oh yes, that's all that matters." She shook her head. "Yes, we brought them down safely. You did lose consciousness. I thought I'd stay here. The captain and the other two went back to Canterlot ahead of us. I'll take you back now, though."

That reminded him of the feel of the grass beneath him, a separate sensation from the complaints his body had for the rough treatment. "That one seemed tougher than the one we fought first."

"I think the other team made the mistake of getting it in a real fighting fever. We got ours running for its life and tiring itself out first." She lightly swatted him on his less injured shoulder. "You're partly to blame. Those wings of yours aren't purely decorative."

He laughed softly. "Well, I should hope not!" He flexed both his wings outwards, making her duck under the left. "I'm glad to see I can still use them for something, even if I am still figuring that one out."

"Still figuring it out?" She nudged him, encouraging him slowly to his hooves. "Makes me scared to see what you'll fly like after you're done. You have a knack with those wings. Do you think Princess Celestia is as fast?"

He shrugged slowly. "I'm sure she is, when she wants to be. She has control of the sun." Solaris smiled softly at Jade. "But she is a princess first. She takes it seriously." His hesitant steps slowly evened out as he got his aches in order. "She will rule long before she takes flight for fun."

Jade smiled gently, nodding along. "You have a lot of respect for her."

Solaris laughed softly and looked up into the sky. "She's a remarkable mare. I've learned a lot from her." He glanced aside at Jade, thoughts surfacing, but feeling improper to give voice to with her. "Sometimes I feel a little foreign."

"Because you are." She rolled her eyes at that. "Literally from another country, but don't feel bad. We like who you are, and you're learning Equestrian things fair enough." She brushed against his side. "You're even trying new things, like fighting big angry critters with us."

He grinned at that and nodded slowly. "I guess I am. Thank you, Jade." The two shared a soft smile for a moment before Solaris started to look away again, but hesitated. "This will sound stupid, but how do I know if I should be with Celestia."

Jade's smile turned into a squint instantly, tail lashing in a fitful gesture. "You're kidding. First, you just called Princess Celestia just Celestia. I bet she gets a kick out of that. Second, she is an adult last I checked on Our Majesty. If you like her, she seems to like you back. What else is there to consider? I swear, why am I the one talking to the one bedding my princess about this?"

He blushed, rubbing the back of his head, then glanced at Jade. "I just wondered, if maybe, there might be somepony out there who would be better for her."

Jade closed in her steps. "Look, if that's confidence, ditch it. She's making her pick, and if you trust her, well, trust her. If that's legit consideration for her, good! But she hasn't found a better in a thousand moons, so I think she's sticking with you out of her options. Why wouldn't she?" She shrugged gently, but the motion was exaggerated by her wings flaring. "If she wanted some other pony, she'd have them." Jade stopped. "And if that's your ego talking, you don't seem to have one."

Solaris burst into laughter at that last part. "Mean. Of course I have an ego." He tried to point at himself and found the motion made things hurt in unpleasant ways. "Oof, let's get to the part where I sit down first."

She chuckled softly and followed after him. "If it feels like we're moving too fast, then slow it down. I'm not exactly an expert in relationships myself, but I know a thing or two about what a relationship should and shouldn't be." She huffed gently. "You didn't cheat on her the first chance you had. Makes you better than some stallions."

Solaris blinked once. "Well, thank you for that vote of confidence." He smiled faintly, but the expression quickly fell as he considered his options and feelings. "She is special and I'm sure I'll never meet somepony like her again." Reaching back through his discomfort, he played back what she had just said. "Wait. Did someone hurt you? Christ, what I said was super, sorry. Sorry, for what happened. That sounds awful."

"I'm fine." Her reply was quick, and she sighed with a shake of her head. "I was a young mare, it didn't get very far before I got my sense back. But, if you want my opinion, keep being yourself, unless that's too hard on you." She bumped against him. "You have eyes just for her. Which I approve of. Be hers, it's what she wants, and, well, I am her guard. What she wants, I want."

Solaris sighed softly and gave a faint nod. "That's good." He glanced over at her. "It must have hurt. If I'm ever an asshole, you have permission to put me in my place."

She howled with a short laugh. "You'll regret giving me that permission, good sir. I will use it. Not today, you've been roughed up enough I think." She pointed to the castle not far ahead of them. "Go, get some rest. You did really well today."

He chuckled softly. "Thank you. I don't think I would have done as well without your teaching. And Lancer." Solaris smiled at Jade as they came in for a landing in front of the gates.

The guards on duty saluted Solaris as they went past. "Sir."

But they weren't the toughest thing on duty. With firm steps, Raven Inkwell approached with one brow raised. "You are late." She tapped her floating clipboard with equally floating quill. "Not unsalvagably late, but you are injured as well. That will make what I had in mind difficult."

Jade veered away, striding into the castle. "Good luck," she called back before vanishing.

Raven watched her go and adjusted her glasses. "I will send word to the infirmary that they need to prepare for you. Please, follow along this way." She pointed down one hall. Leading the way, She made notes on her board. "I was going to have you spend time with Celestia earlier in the day, as to not interfere with her sleep schedule. I don't think that's possible in your condition today."

He smiled at the idea of seeing Celestia, but it was a little bittersweet. "I'd love to see her again, but maybe you should ask her before we decide something like that." He flinched as a step made something inside twinge. "And today's not a good day, no. Miss Inkwell, you care about Celestia. A lot, I think."

"Keeping her things in order—" She turned back to Solaris. "—is my primary objective. She is a fine pony, who deserves to have her day be as friction-free as possible."

"Right." Solaris leaned in a little closer. He didn't want to loom over her, but she was smaller by some measure. "I appreciate that. But love isn't always 'friction free', especially when you're just getting started. Celestia and I are still feeling things out, and how we fit with each other."

"I am not interested in the specifics of your bedroom activities." She inclined her head faintly. "Kindly exclude that."

It took Solaris a moment to see where the meaning had slipped, color raising in his cheeks. "N-no, not like that. I mean here." He pointed to the clipboard floating in Raven's magic. "How our schedules connect, and how our lives connect. I want to be a positive part of things. I'm sure you do, too."

"Then I am failing." She adjusted her glasses. "You have missed your scheduled times with Princess Celestia. She is my highest priority, but you were brought to Equestria for her happiness." She let out her breath in a slow sigh. "She has bypassed many rules to hurry you along. I do not know precisely what she sees, but that she is smitten with you is very obvious. She has not been so happy since..."

Raven blinked at him, and he blinked back, a little confused as to why she had trailed off suddenly, only to jerk upright with a sudden sharp inhale. "Let's get you to the infirmary." She whirled back around and hurried in her steps. "Here we are." She waved one hoof around the medical area, one pony already laying on a bed. A nurse looked up from her counter. "I would like to submit this stallion for treatment."

The nurse chuckled softly. "I'll take it from here." He was an earth pony, his mane bright pink and tied into a ponytail. "You look like you had a day."

Solaris laughed softly, then winced at how it made him ache. "That's a good way to put it."

He allowed the nurse to see him to a bed. "I don't suppose, with all the magic, there's a healing spell or something?"

The nurse looked confused a moment, then he shook his head. "Magic that could do that would be very high level, and probably a little banned, Sir." He gave Solaris' flank a firm pat. "I will give you a treatment, so don't worry about a thing."

Solaris sighed gently and sank down onto his belly, listening as Raven departed. She shut the door behind herself and trotted off.

Just as he was getting comfortable, another nurse entered the room. This one was a pegasus mare with a bright pink coat, and short purple hair that barely brushed the edge of her ears. "Good afternoon. I'll be treating you for your injuries this afternoon. My name is Sweet Cream, and I'll be taking over for Nurse Tender Care, as he's nearing the end of his shift."

She settled next to him. "Now, you're a creature last I checked, a pony at that, so I'd like you to tell me clearly what hurts and where. If you have to do something to make it hurt, don't do that, but tell me all about it. Sweet Cream is here for you."

***

Raven Inkwell trotted away, making notes on her clipboard. The palace had been in operation for hundreds of years. There were many such hidden areas in its structure that only a select few knew about.

Some, she felt certain, even Princess Celestia had forgotten about in her rush to take care of things that resided more squarely in view.

Fortunately for her, she had helpers, like Raven. She nodded to herself as she pressed a brick that looked like so many others, triggering the secret door. "We take care of it for her." The stone ground as it swung away, allowing her access.

In her thoughts, she was running over what had been said. She stopped in the corridor, blinking as a thought came to her. "I need to check something." She hurried down into a new room where an oak box rested. The seal looked like two alicorns meeting in a spinning dance, their hooves just touching. Opening it would separate their hooves. "How long have you waited?"

The artifact was older than Miss Inkwell, she felt certain. And it had sat here for all that time, waiting for her. That much she did know.

Her hoof reached for the edge of the box. She drew the hoof back with a trembling gasp of hesitation. "It's for Her sake," she reminded herself, picking up the box in her magic. "She trusts me to see that her needs are met." It would take some time, but she could manage it.

Her horn glowed and in her magic the seal broke with a faint crackle of power. The box's lid slid away, revealing an old letter, covered in writing that she couldn't understand at first, then it shifted to make itself known. "This will fix things."

Author's Note

What is Miss Inkwell up to? What is she pulling out for Celestia?

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