"...Also, allow me to say this: I have never met somepony so arrogant, so self-serving in my life! You are a disgrace to nobility! I'll let you know that the only decent gentlecolt in this city is Fancypants! Now, excuse me!"

...Don't go... You'll die...

"Excuse me? Did you say something?"

...You'll die... Please don't go...

"Whatever might you be talking about, Blueblood?"

...They will kill you...

The pony talking suddenly turned. Her pristine white fur was splattered with her own blood, the life snuffed out of her sky-blue eyes.

"Kill me, Blueblood? I think you're mistaken. I'm dead. Not that you would care."

...I never wanted this...

The cadaver laughed cruelly.

"Oh, pardon me then! I will just come back to life, so you can have a clear conscience! Oh wait, that's impossible!"

...It wasn't me...

"Wasn't you? So what, Prince? You did absolutely nothing while ponies die around you. How commendable."

...Leave me be...

The corpse's face distorted with rage.

"Never, Blueblood. You know that you've been a lazy slob all your life, and it took a nationwide turmoil and several murders to get you to act. Still, what do you do? You go bug hunting. That will solve all your problems, sure!"

...You're not real... I'm dreaming...

"Sure, you're dreaming. But you will wake up, oh yes, and I will still be dead. Your stepniece will still be dead. And you will wake up next to a suicidal mare, who doesn't trust you. Isn't life just grand?"

...She's not suicidal... She's strong...

The spectre's voice distorted. She seemed like as she was trying to overcome something.

"sweet celeStia, you are one hardHeadEd aSs. Fine, yoU keep teLLing that tO yourselF, dArliNG. i'm surE all will be teRrific... up to the point wHen shE dies in the hooves of a changeLing or a Pony. sHe tEnds to pRovoke everyPony regardLEss of their stAtuSEs."

The bloodcurdling howl the dead pony let out resonated within Blueblood's mind.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"No..." he whispered.

"No wut?"

He opened his eyes. No vengeful cadavers, no creepy voices of doom, just an orange mare trying to tie her headband. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I just...had a bad dream." he explained, getting to his hooves. He cracked his neck, and looked at Applejack. She desperately tried to tie a knot on her headband, but she simply couldn't. Redblood took it in his magical grip, and fastened the cloth around the mare's head.

"There. All better."

The earth pony looked at him with a hostile expression.

"Great job! Whaddya want, a medal? So sorry that Ah'm not a big 'n great unicorn like ya!"

"Is your current goal alienating everypony from yourself?" he jabbed at her. "Because you are heading straight into that direction."

That seemed to hit a nerve.

"Ah... Ah don't... Shaddup!" she huffed, storming out of the tent.

Way to improve your relationship, you idiot. Don't be surprised if she hacks your head off one of these days.

He sighed again, and levitated a small pocket mirror from the desk in front of him. He was not satisfied with what he saw. His mane was unkempt, his face was dirty, and he could swear there were some kick marks on his rear end. What was most disturbing for him was the fact that he stopped caring. Yes, some time ago he would have been irritated by his current outlook, but now... now he only wished to have a bath and a good night's sleep.

Sleep... His thoughts wandered back to his nightmare. Or haunting? If that is the case, maybe she tried to tell him something? Logically thinking, she would have said something about the identity of her killer, which she hadn't, or... Since she was friends with Applejack, probably warning him about not hurting her and such. Not that she wouldn't kick his flank if he tried to do so.

For the first time in his life, the prince openly admitted to himself: yes, that mare could bludgeon him into submission, and he couldn't raise a hoof against her. It was a bit unnerving moment of clarity for him.

He shook his head. Maybe Applejack is being stubborn, but he himself must appear fearless and composed in front of the troops. Morale is a serious concern if you are fighting bug-like creatures that can shapeshift into any of your loved ones, and feast on your emotions. At least they are not superior to ponies in combat.

The cover of the tent opened, revealing a mildly exasperated lieutant, named... He couldn't really recall it, but names weren't important. Rank is everything in a military-based organisation.

"Sir! The Royal Battalion has arrived! There is somepony who wishes to speak with you!"

Redblood nodded.

"Let's go."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Earlier that morning...

"I consider this humiliating."

"Well, you used up all your juice, and I can't exactly leave you in the middle of the forest. Besides, didn't I carry you when you were bleeding to death?"

"That was... different. Now it's only because I magicked myself into submission. I feel stupid."

Rainbow paused, both verbally and literally for a moment.

"Hey Trixie."

"Hmmmm?"

"Thanks. For Mac and Applebloom and Rarity, and... thanks."

"Don't mention it. I owed you at least this much."

"No you didn't." Rainbow argued. The unicorn tapped her forehead absent-mindedly.

"Didn't I? Let's see... You stopped me from becoming a murderer, you talked me out of committing suicide, and you hauled me through the Everfree to get me patched up. I think this at least deserves a mention, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah." the pegasus laughed. "Element of Loyalty, remember? I never leave my friends hanging!"

Trixie smiled.

"No you don't." Her expression changed however, sadness overtaking her features. "It's a pity we can only be friends for a while."

"What? You trying to kill yourself again?"

Trixie shook her head.

"No, Rainbow. Think about it. If this will be finally over, if we can prove our innocence... Then you will no longer have a need for me. You can just reunite with your friends, and... well, I don't know, forget that I ever existed. I figure they are still mad at me, especially with us framed for murders."

"Hey, I don't choose between friends! I don't need to!"

Trixie eyed the back of her head skeptically.

"I have no idea what your face looks like right now, but I think you're not being completely honest here."

Rainbow hung her head.

"You're right... there was a time when I had to choose between an old friend and new friends."

"I'm all ears."

"You see, before I got my cutie mark, I was frequently mocked for my 'awful flying style'. Aaaand—you can probably guess this part—I got into a lot of fights because of that. That kinda made everypony reluctant to hang out with me. Except for Gilda. She was a griffon, so she didn't give a rat's tail about cutie marks; but she saw how fast I was. We became friends, but I didn't see her around after we graduated from Junior Speedsters... not for many years later."

"She came back to town a short while after we kicked Night Mare Moon's butt out of Princess Luna... I was happy to see her, and we went around pranking ponies, but... Well, she didn't mingle so well with others. The whole thing came to a catastrophic end; Pinkie threw her a party, and I set up several pranks in the room. Somehow, she set them all off. Then... then she flipped out something serious. She started shouting at Pinkie, and... I thought she was just jealous, but... I said a few things I shouldn't have. She flew off like a hurricane, and... I couldn't find her later. I think she left the country."

Rainbow sighed.

"It shouldn't have ended that way. We both worked up ourselves, and hurt each other with meaningless insults. And now, I will probably never see her again."

Silence loomed for a few minutes. The Everfree seemed less menacing in the sunlight, despite the chilly wind blowing through the woods. The crisp leaves under her hoof reminded her of the Running of the Leaves—which she took part in every year. It seemed so distant... something lost forever.

"I kind of know where you're coming from." Trixie softly mumbled. The pegasus snapped out of reminiscence.

"Huh?"

"I had a friend... Spectral Prism. Actually, I had four friends, up until a point. Only Shining knows part of what I'm going to tell you."

As Trixie's story unfolded, Rainbow found herself wondering about it.

"So you did a different kind of show when you were young? Sorry, but it's a little hard to imagine you doing circus tricks."

The unicorn smiled.

"I don't blame you. For years I used my 'boast and humiliate' routine... it became a kind of a second skin. Besides, I wasn't even that good at performing. Every troupé turned me down, for lack of talent. But that's not what I was getting to. As I said, Specs left because she thought she was the one to scare away my other friends. And if there is something I regret, it's not chasing her down right that instant."

"Well, you could bump into her any day!" Rainbow offered. The unicorn shook her head, but then she remembered that Rainbow couldn't see her from that position.

"No, Rainbow. She's a master of illusions, remember? If she doesn't want to be found, she just disappears without a trace. I'd need a whole government agency to track her down, and even then I'm not sure if I could talk her out of hiding. Maybe—WUUUUUOOORRGGH!"

The sudden splash of cold water made the tired unicorn nearly jump off Rainbow's back. Wet and morose, she glared daggers at the perpetrator.

"Vinyl."

"Hey, don't blame me! I' m just getting into the whole 'Element of Laughter' stuff." the white unicorn said defensively. Rainbow suppressed a giggle.

"You gotta admit, her timing is good. Maybe she will grow into a proper prankster someday."

"Ugh! I hope not. Why are you out here, anyway?"

"I'm keeping watch. Princess dudette explained everything to Fancy dude and the pegasus dude, and now they are trying to decide where to go from here. I got bored, so I came up."

"Let's go. The sooner we can decide where to go, the sooner I will be asleep."

________________________________________________________________________________

Redblood found Applejack with two pegasus ponies; white coat, red mane: the new colours of the Royal Guard. Of course, this was to be expected in a country discriminating against blues; changing the service dye to red was vital. He nodded to the guards.

"Report."

"Yes, Sir! We are forward scouts of the 46th battalion, headed par course here! We estimate they will arrive at eight p.m. , Trottingham Time. The Princess ordered us to offer you quick transportation back to Canterlot."

"Does she require our assistance?"

"Negative, Sir. She told me to assure you that it is simply a gesture of goodwill. Just a means to getting home earlier."

Applejack stepped forward.

"Well, since we're all finished here, Ah think we should go. No point in hangin' 'round a desolate place like this."

"I couldn't agree more. You will be the ones transporting us?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Let's get a move on. I want to get into a proper bed this evening."

"Poor widdle Princie." Applejack mocked him.

"Oh, stuff a sock in it!" Redblood snapped. The mare looked surprised, but at least shut up. They both got into the caboose. It wasn't like the ordinary chariots that the Princess used to travel around; for example, it had a roof. The prince brightened up.

"Hey, it's one of the spell-protected ones! Not a single sound goes out of them." His expression darkened. "Then again, I wonder what my dearest aunt wants us to do that shouldn't be heard outside."

They felt a slight pull as the carriage ascended into air.

"Maybe she wanted to offer you a chance to cry unstallionly tears." Applejack offered. The stallion looked indignant.

"Or maybe we could have a normal, ordinary conversation, in which you don't mock, abuse or threaten me. Don't want anypony catch you talking to Redblood, do we?" he snorted.

Applejack gave him a measuring look. Considering they sat about a feet apart, this wasn't as reserved as she intended it to be.

"Ah'm not mocking ya...all the time."

Redblood rolled his eyes.

"Yes, well thank you so much for that. Only every third one of your words humiliate me! Progress! It's as if you have a really bad day today. You were nearly likeable yesterday."

Applejack looked at her hooves.

"Yeah, Ah guess Ah have a... bad day."

The stallion blinked. Seriously?

"Ah just... had a dream 'bout mah family... an' Ah realised Ah chased Mac away... He needed me, and Ah come and chase changelings an' such... while Ah could've helped him put down the drink. Ah'm the worst sister ever."

Redblood fidgeted around nervously. This was certeanly not 'up his alley', as commoners would say. He awkwardly patted her shoulder, making it the second in a day's time. Sometimes he's amazed by his own courage.

"Look, I am sure he doesn't think of you as a bad sister. What I am trying to say is that family accepts you, and they forgive you. I couldn't count the occassions on which Aunt Celestia was angry with me, and yet she forgave me, because that is how things work. He's your brother, so he will probably forgive you, and... I'm not making much sense here, am I?"

The orange mare did something that she'd never done since she met Redblood: she smiled at him, with a true smile.

"Ya make just enough sense for me. Thank you."

This too, was something new for him. Nopony has ever thanked him for anything. To tell the truth, he rather liked this feeling.

"Well..." he began, carefully weighing his words, " I believe since we have free time on our hooves, you could take a day off or two, and head down to your home, while I handle the paperwork."

Applejack's eyes teared up.

"Ya.... ya'd do that for me?"

"Sure, I mean, there is little to none danger to it, and I could use a change of pace. Meanwhile, you could go and patch things up with your—"

Redblood was not at all prepared for one of the infamous Apple family hugs, which were regarded as "bulltackles" by many who received them. As the lifeforce was being squeezed out of him (in a good way), he briefly mused on the frequency of this mare's mood swings. Said mare released him, and instead lowered her head, for it to rest on his shoulder. Glancing down with a mixture of worry and curiousity, he noticed that Applejack was smiling. It was really weird seeing her in a good mood after all these days of brooding, but Redblood was not one to protest when things turned for the better. One might even say that she's cu—

No! No! Shoot yourself down, Redblood! She's a commoner, she hates you (probably), and she is most definitely not cu—damn, she's cute. While the stallion was trying to quell the sudden rush of his hormones, Applejack changed position, and now she was leaning to him with her back. She was still smiling, and by the looks of it, she fell asleep. Suddenly, the first two reasons he gave himself seemed moot.

"Now what the hay am I supposed to do?" he pondered.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"I am merely saying that no noble house would accept us. Not even temporarily. Counting in the fact that we are supposed to keep the fact that you are walking this earth a secret, Princess, I believe we shouldn't even get close to Canterlot. Everypony would be willing to sell out anypony right now for advancing among the ranks of nobility."

All eyes were on Fancypants, who was speaking. Since he had a few hours to sober up, he was back to his old—if somewhat less jolly—self.

"We certainly cannot go to Ponyville, either." Rainbow declared. "I looked around while we were there, and I got real bad vibes around the major's office."

"Also, there were some kind of guards in a black uniform." Trixie added. "Whatever their job is, I doubt they would leave out the chance of capturing us."

"We still need a new hiding place which either is remote enough, or one whose neighbourhood we know enough to prepare for any situation. Seeing as I spent most of my life in Canterlot, my knowledge is somewhat limited about landmarks, aside from Royal Guard outposts."

"We're at an impasse then." Fancypants concluded. "We cannot stay here, yet none of us can offer an alternative. What say you, Princess?"

The moon princess sat at the seat of honour, a map of Equestria unfolded before her. She slowly circled her hoof around a certain area with Canterlot in the middle.

"These two locations were already off limits. They are too close to the castle; if I used magic there, my sister would certainly notice us. We do not have any definitive proof of this conspiracy yet, however." She sighed, looking at her subjects with concern in her eyes. "I am afraid we need to get help... from an unlikely source."

"Like who exactly?" Trixie urged her.

"Chrysalis."

Despite the fact that the gathered ponies were fugitives, who solely depended on Luna to survive, there was an uproar. Shining and Rainbow were completely against the idea, and even Vinyl and the usually merry Fancypants voiced their concern. Only Soarin and Trixie didn't protest, because they weren't present during the changeling invasion.

"With all due respect, have you lost your mind, Princess?!" Shining fumed. "Asking help from a former enemy is one thing—one despicable thing, I might add—but we haven't yet ruled her out of the list of potential suspects!"

"Then it will be a good thing that we can interrogate her. If she is the culprit, we can go public. If not, she will have a reason to hide us."

"That reason being?" Rainbow asked.

"If she helps me now, I will consider helping her and her changelings. No doubt they are being persecuted, too."

Vinyl raised her hoof.

"Okay, Princess dudette, but what if she will not be reasonable? That wouldn't be the first time."

"Trust me, Vinyl Scratch, if she just so as makes a threat against us, I will make her regret it for a lifetime." She shot her a cheeky smile. "After all, I am responsible for you, and even if I don't look like it, I am powerful."

Shining sighed.

"I guess we don't have that much of a choice, do we?"

"Believe me, if I could think of any other solution, I would go with it. Sadly, I can't." She raised her head, pointing to a remote place on the map. "We will leave at nightfall. Our spies reported that she is hiding here, in an abandoned mine northwest of our location. She thinks that we don't know she's hiding there, but we were just watching her; we wanted to give her a second chance. So far, she hadn't done anything... but time will tell. I'd advise all of you to have a good sleep before the dusk."

"Princess, if I may." Fancypants interjected. "How did you escape from the moon? That question has been intrigueing me ever since I saw you here."

"There is not much to it, Fancypants. I have anticipated the possibility of the more influential nobles demanding my banishment. So, as a backup plan, I cast a spell on the moon, which lets me slip out—if I don't have an ounce of the Night Mare in me. As long as I walk the righteous path, the moon cannot contain me. Now, let us adjourne this meeting. We need to be rested for the journey ahead."

The ponies slowly left the table one by one, all making their way toward the dormitory. All but one.

"Trixie, this was not a suggestion. You should get some sleep as well."

"Are you feeling all right?"

The question caught Luna off-guard.

"Pardon?"

"It's just... you give off such an awful vibe... I could swear you're feeling lonely. Am I right?"

A moment of silence, broken by the princess.

"I do not know if you guessed or really noticed, but yes, I do indeed feel lonely. The only one who loved me unconditionally thinks she banished me, and is probably torn apart by guilt. And I can't even ease her pain, because if I visited her dream, she would know I'm not imprisoned. Then she'd certainly come to find me, and by doing that, she would undo everything we fought for. I have no greater wish but to go and see her once again... but I cannot."

Trixie carefully examined the alicorn. The fact that she was upset was clear as the day; even the most oblivious mare in the world could see it. The normally calm and composed princess looked tired and weak; her vulnerability stemming from her emotions. Trixie made her decision.

"Look, if you want to, I could sleep with you today."

Luna blinked, then a blush crept over her face.

"I... Your offer is very generous, but I cannot force you to keep me company."

The unicorn sighed.

"Look, if I found being close to you repulsive, then I wouldn't have offered it. Besides, you're a pretty cool princess, even if you don't realise it."

Luna smiled, but then she shook her head.

"No. I thank you for your offer, but then I would betray my sister; she would be all alone, while I..."

"Hey, she has a student, no? I'm sure if she feels too lonely, she'll spend some time with her. Now come on! I might fall asleep any second now!"

The alicorn chuckled.

"All right, you win. Follow me, please."

Trixie trotted after the moon princess, who walked through the corridor, into the farthest room. Stepping inside, the unicorn noticed the lack of decoration inside. No cupboards, no carpets, no paintings... Just a bed, and nothing more. It was, however at least thrice the size of Luna, and it was clad in the finest blue velvet. The alicorn looked nervous.

"Well, here we are... Maybe I will not be visited by haunting memories this night."

The gears in Trixie's mind whirred, pointing out the truth to her.

"Haunting... you mean you're having nightmares? No way!"

"But it is true." Luna confirmed. "I can ease other's horrid dreams... yet I am powerless against my own."

"Huh."

The ex-showmare slowly climbed on the extra-sized bed, still a bit rusty with her fine motor skills sometimes. She patted the sheet beside her.

"Come on, I haven't got all day!"

The alicorn carefully crept beside her, not wanting to touch her wound, and potentially hurt her. After minute of relentless positioning, the princess finally settled down. She gently nuzzled the unicorn, surprising her a little.

"Thank you for keeping me company, Trixie. It means so much to me. Many are afraid of me, and many shun me... There are very few who can accept me as I am."

"I think I of all ponies don't really have the moral higher ground to judge others. I'm..." Her speech was interrupted by a loud yawn, which she couldn't suppress. Shrugging, she put her head down, and let herself descend into the world of dreams.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"So, remind me, why are we doing this again?" Thunderlane demanded. Raindrops sighed.

"For the last time, Thunders, Equestria techically has no police force. So we, as the most mobile of half-military organisations, have to help out solving cases and capturing criminals. Get it now?"

"Y-yes, but this d-doesn't mean we should take a look at c-c-corpses!" Blossomforth protested.

"Yeah, well if you're a medium, and can catch a criminal with your precognition, feel free to do so. In the meantime, we'll go and check out the crime scene."

"Speaking of going, when will Lightning be here? I thought she finished paperwork already."

"Well, some of us have to use the restroom now and then, Thunderlane." a new voice stated. Turning around, they saw Lightning Dust emerge from their temporary dormitories. "Let's go. I imagine the ones in charge of the investigation are eager to push this stuff on us."

"So what happened to those CCF chums?" he asked her while they trotted down the main street. Sure, they could fly, but none of the four ponies really wanted to arrive at the crime scene. They dreaded it.

"I sent them over to Canterlot in a carriage." Dust replied. "I imagine they'll get punished by the leaders of the CCF. "

The stallion raised an eyebrow.

"Punishment handed out by Applejack and Blueblood? Ohhoho, this is not their finest week."

"So what exactly is that we're expected to do?" Raindrops asked. "I know we're supposed to look for clues, and the like, but can we be any help to ponies who had been doing this for years?"

Lightning shrugged.

"Dunno. I think it's half propaganda; 'the vice-captain comes to oversee the smallest cases!' or something like that. I'm pretty sure nopony expects us to solve this case on the spot. Speaking of which, I have no idea what we can expect; all I know is it was a murder case. No names, no details."

The jasmine pegasus groaned.

"Great. Start from absolutely nothing, and produce results. Terrific."

They fell into silence after the verbal exchange. Neither of them would say it, but they were all nervous about what they might encounter. Finally, they arrived at an ordinary, if somewhat worn house. A cream-coloured earth pony with a siren cutie mark stopped them.

"Halt! Are you the group of Wonderbolts that were supposed to arrive an hour ago?"

Raindrops rolled her eyes.

"No, we're the Royal Gardening Club! Of course we're the bloody Wonderbolts!" she scoffed, pointing at their uniform. "I thought it would be bloody obvious!"

"Relax, Drops." Dust salled out calmly. "Yes, officer, we are the contingent tasked to assist the police force. My name is Lightning Dust, and these ponies are my team; Thunderlane, Blossomforth, and the one with the power of sarcasm, Raindrops."

The stallion did not react to her attempt of a joke, but nodded, and gestured them to follow him inside. As soon as they were in, a horrid stench reached their noses. Blossomforth paled, but managed to squeak out a small 'Sorry!' before running outside making hurling noises. Their guide shook his head.

"Why did she join the force if she can't take the heat? Anyway, we are at one of the victims' house. His name was Silent Song, a unicorn. We do not know much about him."

"Wait... I think I know him. Most of the time he was hitting on Cloudchaser, I think. Got rejected every single time, though."

"The outher two victims are pegasi," the officer continued, ignoring Raindrops, "by the name of Flitter and Cloud Kicker."

The following silence was heavier than a mountain. Both Raindrops and Thunderlane stared in disbelief; their stunned expression spoke lengths to even Lightning Dust. The officer cleared his throat.

"I am sure it's a simple case. The pegasi probably acted like whores, then tried to back up from a hot situation. It's all I would expect from the likes of them. One flirt too many, with fatal consequences. Goddamn blues."

Raindrops snapped. The normally calm and collected pegasus saw the world through a blood-red haze; she wished to destroy this foal!

"You ignorant, bloody retard! They were my friends! IF YOU—"

"Raindrops. Out. Now."

The jasmine pegasus blinked. Dust's calm voice snapped her out from her rage. She grudgingly left the scene, heading where Blossomforth was last seen. Lightning Dust turned to the officer.

"First, let me apologise for the unsightly behaviour of my teammate."

Thunderlane snorted. Sucking up to this slimeball? Great job, vice captain.

"Second, if you try to provoke my teammates again, I will break your face. Are we clear?"

Then again, maybe she is not hopeless. The stance she took seemed to intimidate the officer, who could only nod in shock. Dust stomped her hoof.

"Now go the buck away, or I'll have your badge!"

The earth pony looked like as if he tried to become a shooting star as he left the scene. The mint-colored pegasus huffed.

"Seriously, the nerve!" She noticed Thunderlane's smug expression. "And what are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing." he stated innocently. "Only somepony on her way to become a decent leader."

The mare brightened up.

"Really? I mean, ahem! Go and get Raindrops to cool down, I'll need her brains for this one. And make sure Blossomforth's all right! In the meantime, I'll se what I can get from the forensics guys."

The stallion saluted.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

He trotted out of the building, only to find his two teammates next to a garbage can; the white pegasus' head deep inside while constantly throwing up, the jasmine mare gently tapping her back. When she noticed the stallion, she rolled her eyes.

"I told her not to lean in so much, but now the trash's smell is making her vomit. What's the situation?"

"Officer gone. With tail between legs, you could say."

Raindrops eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you serious?"

The stallion nodded.

"Yep. You should've seen Dust; she practically sent that dumb idiot packing with a glare. Anyway, he's gone, and she wants you to help her. I'll watch over Blossom."

Raindrops snorted.

"'Over'... right, if over means her flank..." She shrugged. "Well, off I go!"

She returned to the crime scene, but by the time she arrived, Dust was nowhere to be found. Deciding to take initiative, she made her way towards the basement. It's always the basement. Her assumptions proved to be true, when she found her vice captain talking with a pale unicorn in front of the door leading downstairs. He seemed extremely tired, his brown bangs nearly covering his outdated glasses. He had a magnifying glass as a cutie mark on his pristine white coat. They noticed her arrival, nodding at her.

"Hey, Raindrops, this is Cold Clue. He is the one in charge of the crime scene."

"Nice to meet you. Wish it could've been under better circumstances."

"Nice to meet you too, I suppose. At least you are a lot nicer than that officer that greeted us."

The stallion raised an eyebrow, albeit barely visible under his shaggy mane.

"Officer? I was alone until now."

This came as a surprise to both mares.

"B-but there was this cream earth pony, who started mocking the victims, and..."

"Look, Miss," the stallion interrupted her, "it has been a long day already, and I'm not in the mood for jokes. Nopony is here, except me. Nopony else is supposed to be here, except for me, and you. Can we concentrate on the very real murder case before starting to chase ghosts?"

"All right, all right, bite my head down." Raindrops groaned. The stallion gave her a wan expression.

"Sorry... I'm not used to these kind of... atrocities. A year ago the worst I saw were accidents... but this... this is freaking horrid. Follow me." he beckoned. "Whatever happened in this house happened down there."

The mares followed the scruffy stallion, arriving to the scene of the carnage. The corpses were neatly laid down next to the wall, and hidden under sheets. The unicorn cleared his throat.

"Three victims. Two pegasi, both of them found chained on the wall. It was pretty obvious, but I ran a test. It seems that they were raped several times before their deaths, probably by the third victim. Cause of death was probably blood loss for the one with the bluish-white mane, and suffocation for the blond-maned pegasus. Their identities are currently unknown."

"Wait a sec." Dust paused him, "The nonexistent officer who we didn't meet had not mentioned that the victims were Flitter and Cloud Kicker. Are you sure you didn't see him?"

The stallion gave an exasperated sigh.

"Look Ma'am, I'm just doing my job. I don't know if some freak scouted the house before I came here, but I can tell you this: nopony came down those stairs since I've been here. And as I've said, they are currently unidentified, and I don't know them personally."

"Show them to me." Raindrops said with sudden determination. "I was their friend; I can identify them."

The stallion gave her a concerned look.

"Are you sure, Miss? They are in a terrible shape."

"Things won't get any better if I ignore the facts. Show them to me." the jasmine pegasus insisted. The stallion shrugged, and pulled two of the sheets down. Raindrops immediately wished he didn't. The stench became even more suffocating, and their visage... he wasn't joking. Both of Flitter's eyes were poked out, traces of blood around her eyesockets. And...something else?

"T-this is Flitter." she confirmed, her voice trembling. "B-but what's that around h-her....h-her..."

"Her eye?" the stallion finished. "Semen. It seems like their captor used her as a personal toy... even her eyesockets."

Raindrops began to hurl. Dust was no better off, but at least she didn't know the victims. A minute later, Raindrops' breathing calmed down.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." she wheezed. "How come you're not feeling ill even a little bit?" she asked the stallion.

"I have already vomited five times." he responded with a straight face. "There is literally nothing left in me. Now, if you feel ready for it, please take a look at the other mare."

The pegasus obliged, dreading what she might see. Cloud Kicker was no better off than her late friend. Even though the stallion claimed she's been strangled, her throat was slit, and blood tarnished her coat all across her chest. Her expression frozen at her last moment; pure terror, and pain. Raindrops' stomach churned again.

"This is Cloud Kicker."

The stallion nodded. He replaced the sheets, much to the pegasi's relief. He motioned towards the wall.

"As you can see, there are three sets of chains there. If you think it's worth it, I can give you my explanation of what happened here."

"Go on." Dust beckoned.

"I think the owner of this house captured the three mares somewhere, and brought them here. Judging by the look of the room, he was probably planning it for a long time. By the state of the wounds on... Flitter, was it? I concluded that one of her eyes were stabbed out before she even got here. She probably died after he pierced her second eyeball, by slowly bleeding to death. I assume the stallion proceeded to have sex with her corpse a few times after that."

"About ... 'Cloud Kicker'... She was strangled to death, probably during intercourse. Her killer, seeing that she didn't breathe, snapped into a rage, and slit her throat, but she was already dead by that time. Some of the cuts on her body, however, originate before that. Meaning he probably tortured her for his own satisfaction."

"I think you can feel the smell, too, but they were forced to relieve themselves into those buckets. Judging by the state of the room, I think they were held here for more than a week."

"Now, about the third captive, and the death of the stallion..."

He walked back to the corpses, and lifted the third cover. His face looked even worse for the wear, if possible. Even so, Raindrops felt dark satisfaction upon seeing his corpse.

"This is Silent Song. He often hit on Flitter's sister, Cloudchaser. Come to think of it, Cloudchaser refused to stay at the Wonderbolt Training Grounds, so that she could be together with her sister. I think we can safely assume that the third one was Cloudchaser, because of their relation, and this stallion's crush. Logically speaking, the one who would last the longest in the hooves of such a psychopath, would be her."

The stallion nodded.

"That seems reasonable. Now, the cause of death for... Silent Song is this cut to his head. Technically, it cut his brain into two different sized parts, killing him instantly. The murder weapon's special form, and the blood on the steps, combined with the strange dent on the rails lead me to believe that he was the reason of his own demise. I believe the weapon richocheted back, causing the injury."

"What is this weapon you speak of?" Dust asked. The stallion levitated a strange contraption in front of them; blades protruding from it in a circular pattern. Clue placed it in front of the mint pegasus.

"This is the murder weapon. I did not dare try it out, but I think it works with unicorn magic. The blood on the blades matches with the third victim's. Now, if you would—WHAT THE...?!"

The stallion's angry yell was directed at Dust, for she stomped on the weapon with all her might. It cracked, and fell to tiny pieces; some of them rolling to the farthest corner.

"What are you doing?! That was evidence!" Clue shouted.

"It was destroyed during their struggle." Dust stated calmly.

"No, it wasn't." he argued.

"Either I crushed that thing, or some idiotic military researcher would have mass produced it. I think I don't want to face this... anything. So?"

"...It was destroyed during their struggle." the stallion answered begrudgingly. The vice captain nodded.

"Carry on."

"Judging by the hoofprints, he was chasing somepony around. On the other hoof, they left so many prints that it is impossible to determine if he chased Cloudchaser or some other pony. What we know is this: he chased somepony around, and then his weapon collided with the railing of the stairs, and bounced back, killing him. What we don't know is the following: one, who was the third captive? Two, who was the pony that he chased around? Three, where is she now?"

"I see. Is there something else?"

"No, I don't think so. That about wraps up my report. Let's move out, and I'll notify the ones in charge of cleaning up."

Dust nodded.

"Sounds good."

They trotted back to the house, glad to leave the gruesome scene behind. Clue locked the basement, and motioned them to move outside. As soon as they complied, he cast some spell unknown to them, then he locked the front door, too.

"Thank you for your time." he said turning to them. "I hope we can crack this case. Until next time."

"Yeah, see you around, I guess." Dust replied.

Just as they were about to leave, a purple-coloured earth pony with deep magenta mane came running towards them; her expression was as if she saw a ghost.

"Help! Help!" she screamed. Thunderlane jumped to her side, shaking her a little.

"Get a hold of yourself, Berry! What's wrong?"

"The Everfree! Monster! Dead! Pony!"

"What?" Dust asked in confusion.

"Dead! Pony! Near! Everfree!" the mare hiccuped each word. All ponies' expression darkened.

"Lead the way, Berry." Raindrops urged her.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow sat on a cliff overlooking a vast plain. She didn't know it's name, nor did she care. She rested her gaze upon the city in the distance—some third-rate griffon settlement. A windy chill blowing atop the cliff caused her to shiver, pulling her ragged brown cloak tighter.

"You're going to catch a cold like this." Trixie remarked.

"Don't care." the pegasus replied. "A cold doesn't amount to anything. I could keep going with ten colds."

The unicorn rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. Tell me, o mighty Rainbow Dash, what do you expect to find in that city?"

"Refuge. Gilda. I don't know."

"Refuge? Griffons hate us. Why would they accept you?"

"Equestria hates me, too. Enemy of my enemy, right?"

"You don't sound too loyal." Trixie observed. Rainbow raised her voice.

"Don't sound too loyal? Let's see... All of my friends are dead, or have abandoned me. The rulers of our country are dead. The love of my life is dead. What is there to be loyal for?"

"I didn't abandon you." Trixie argued.

"Yes, but you're dead. A specter. A ghost."

The ex-pony hung her head. The setting sun shone through her incorporeal body.

"You're right. There is nothing left. We failed." She sighed. "Why did we think that Soarin was Kindness? It was way too convenient."

Rainbow snorted.

"Easy to be smart afterwards. Now come on. I've got a long way to walk towards that settlement."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow jolted awake. Looking around she saw the sleeping faces of her companions, calming her a little. She took a deep breath, thinking about her recent nightmare.

"Well, crud." she concluded.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Canterlot is beautiful, if you look at it at the right angle. A flying carriage well above it seemed to be the right angle for Redblood; he thought he entered a different city at first. The intricate pattern of the streets, the small ponies running around about their own business... the whole sight seemed much more calming compared to the sight from below. Redblood sighed. He'd rather this flight didn't end.

Alas, it did. The pegasi pulling the carriage stopped, and once again he stood on solid ground. Applejack seemed a bit out of it; she looked rather absent-minded compared to her previous huffing and puffing attitude. Maybe she thought about her family. Who knows?

"Sir?"

Redblood looked at the newcomer. He didn't seem like a fighter, but a gardener. Regardless, he was clad in Royal Guard armour, and dyed the uniform colours.

"Report."

"Yes, Sir! There is an emergency meeting in the foyer of the Night Guard barracks. The Princess requested your attendance."

Applejack looked at him questioningly. He shrugged. Whatever it was, he had no prior knowledge of it. Regardless of that, the Princess' wishes best not be left unfulfilled. They followed the stallion into a rather inconspicous building. During the years of Luna's absence, the Guard fulfilled all their duties faithfully, yet they preferred to reside in the dark, the unknown. Given the past few days' hectic events, the prince could see where they were coming from.

"Here, Sir and Ma'am. This will be the meeting room. I am afraid there is only Miss Sparkle present yet, but the others are due to arrive soon."

The two ponies nodded.

"All right. Go back to your duties, soldier."

The stallion saluted.

"Yes, Sir."

Redblood turned to his companion.

"Go on in. I will wait here so you can talk with your friend."

Applejack snorted.

"Ya'll come, too. Nothin' shameful with bein' in the same room as ya."

The stallion raised an eyebrow.

"I thought your opinion was the opposite?"

"Ah changed it. Now c'mon!"

The two entered the meeting hall. It seemed like a sort of conference room, with a round table in the middle. The room itself was barely larger than the table itself; you could fit a pony between it and the wall, but no more. Clearly, this place was designed for small meetings.

"I wonder who'll be here?" Applejack mused. "The guard mentioned Twilight, the Princess, and I suppose the leader of the Night Guard? Otherwise, why would we be meeting here?"

She noticed a familiar lavender figure sitting at the table, reading a piece of paper from a much larger stack. The farmpony gulped. When her family died... she had an argument with her friends. Well, more like shouting and telling them to go buck themselves. She was not proud of it, but the pain turned her demeanor upside-down.

"Advisor Sparkle." Blueblood nodded. Or was it Redblood now? Applejack couldn't really understand the reason behind the namechange. Blueblood is Blueblood. 'Nuff said.

"Vice Captain Redblood. Captain Applejack." her friend replied coolly. The orange mare has felt a lump in her throat. Twilight was still angry. No wonder. The shame coursed through Applejack's veins. She told one of her best friends that her father should go kick the bucket, too, with all the blue ponies in the world. Pain talked through her, but still; it was an inexcusable thing to say. Talking trash about your family... feels the worst of all insults.

"Um... Twilight?" she began sheepishly. The unicorn gave her a stern look.

"Yes, Captain Applejack?"

She gulped. Hoo boy, a grudge.

"Look, Ah didn't mean what Ah said back there... Ah mean, Ah meant it at the time but Ah figured out it was stupid... Ah mean, mah opinion, not yer family... Ah mean... Bah! Ah'm sorry, Twilight. Can you forgive me?"

Twilight eyed her measuringly.

"The last time we talked, you were hell-bent on exterminating the population of blue ponies." It was not a question.

"Ah know, and Ah was wrong. Ah was pushin' mah problems on everypony else. Ah shouldn't have lashed out on all of ya, but... Ah felt so sad, and angry, and Ah couldn't control mahself. Now, Ah just want to keep Equestria safe. No more murderous bull—"

"Applejack!" Redblood interrupted, horrified. The mare rolled her eyes.

"No more bull, then. Twilight, please..."

The silence loomed on long, and it was beginning to get uncomfortable, when Twilight spoke.

"You've betrayed my trust and expectations, Applejack. A simple 'sorry' will not cut it."

"Isn't friendship about forgiveness?" the prince interjected quietly. The lavender mare seemed surprised.

"Since when do you know about friendship, Prince?" She nearly spat the last word.

"I admit, I know little of friendship. But do you really want to lose her because she made one mistake that she regrets?"

The unicorn mare stared at him surprised, but not without hostility. Unable to come up with anything, she stormed out of the room. Redblood looked displeased.

"She is the one expert on friendship? We're doomed."

"Cut 'er some slack, Charmin'." she interjected. "She has a lot goin' on for her right now, an' Ah most certainly didn't make things easier by hurtin' her."

The stallion shivered at the sound of his first name, but nodded. He sat down at a random chair, and lowered his head against the table. From this angle, he almost seemed handso—no. No handsome stallions around here, nope. Just him. Darn it!

"Redblood?" a voice cracked from behind them. "Figures, they want to spread the news our failure to everypony. Grand."

They turned, facing an elderly pony in dark guard armour. The stallion was not familiar to Applejack, but the prince recognised him.

"Lieutant Night Shade. No, we don't know anything about failure, we were just called here by the Princess."

"Hm. We'll see."

"See what?" Applejack was about to ask, but she didn't have the chance. The door swung open, and quite a few ponies entered. They quickly took seats, as if they had some sort of pre-arranged sitting order. Applejack trotted over to a dark green unicorn, who sat down beside the prince.

"Ya. Shoo. Now."

The stallion looked like as he was about to explode.

"You insolent peasant! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Applejack leaned closer.

"Target practice?" she offered with a menacing tone. The stallion stared at her for a moment, but then he stood up, and left with his nose held high. The orange mare hopped into his empty seat.

"You just made enemies with Open Book, the most fickle noble of Canterlot." Redblood observed. Applejack shrugged.

"Couldn't care less. He's just another stupid noble."

The stallion raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Then what am I?"

"Pillow?" she offered playfully. The stallion blushed, but their conversation was interrupted by the Princess' arrival. She trotted in gracefully, her faithful student taking place beside her.

"Order, please." Twilight said, raising her voice. The chatter of the various ponies immediately stopped.

"My dear subjects, it is because of an important matter that we called you here today. Lieutant Shade will explain."

The elderly stallion stood up.

"Yesterday evening the Fancypants mansion was besieged, and it's occupant freed. Whomever it was, they completely bypassed our security, smuggling themselves in, and then the prisoner out. It seems our guard of the city was not good enough."

The stallion paused, taking a deep breath.

"Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to step down as leader of the Night Guard."

The murmur in the room made it clear for Applejack that this was unexpected for them. Except for two. The pony she intimidated, and an earth pony with a yellow coat and orange mane, who was smiling smugly. She didn't like it. Reminded her too much of Trixie.

"I am afraid I cannot accept that."

Everypony looked at the Princess, except Applejack. She eyed the two aforementioned nobles. They looked like as if somepony took their sweetroll. Somehow, it filled her with satisfaction.

"The troops indeed make a mistake, but your experience is invaluable to us, Night Shade. The error has been noted, but now we need you. Do not abandon the country in it's hour of need."

The stallion bowed.

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty," the yellow stallion began, "I cannot help but feel that we are too hasty in this matter. Our very city's security has been breached, yet the one in charge is let free without repercussion? Preposterous!"

"What do you suggest then, Golden Coin?" the princess asked bemused.

"New leadership for the Night Guard. Preferably well-known and experienced. Somepony with... connections and proper relations."

"Somepony like Shining Armor, you mean?" the princess offered sarcastically.

"Uh... No, Your Majesty, I was referring to—"

"If you can't show me a pony capable of defending this city at least as well as Night Shade here, I suggest you kindly stuff a sock in it."

The nobles were shocked at their ruler's words, and stormed out of the room in unison. Only Redblood, Applejack, Night Shade, Twilight, the princess, and another pony remained. Her eyes met with Applejack's. She rose a little, revealing her purplish armour. She was a pegasus, with pristine white coat and deep red mane. Her cutie mark was a pink diamond.

"My apologies. I believe we haven't been introduced yet. My name is Diamond Rose. I am currently appointed as acting Captain for the Royal Guard."

"Much obliged. Don't ya have some relative in Ponyville, though?"

The pegasus nodded.

"Yes, actually. Her name is Roseluck."

"Know her. Nice fella."

Rose smiled.

"Thank you."

The alicorn cleared her throat.

"Rose here will take over the duties of Shining Armor. That encompasses the defense of the city, but not control of the army. I expect your full cooperation."

"If I may interject..."

Celestia beckoned.

"Go on, nephew."

"What made you appoint her as the new captain? I do not mean to question you, but I am curious."

"Diamond Rose was stationed near the griffon border. During a raid by a rogue griffon group, she showed excellent combat skills and leadership. I chose her to ensure Canterlot is guarded by somepony who is actually capable of doing so."

Applejack left her mind wander. Was that last sentence a jab to Night Shade? No, it couldn't be...

"What is the situation near the Badlands border?" the princess asked. Redblood explained the current situation in detail, which didn't really interest Applejack. Show her a face to buck in, and she will, but planning is not her strong side. The prince finally finished his explanation.

"I see." Celestia nodded. "Twilight, what is your take on things?"

Twilight pulled out a paper from the stack.

"About the Badlands situation, I have nothing to add at the moment. Regarding the other case, I have a report here that claims that around the time of the breakout, a unicorn mare was seen in the vicinity of the crime scene. We can safely conclude that it was an outside work, if we take the guards' testimonies into account. If you are interested in my opinion, that mare was Lulamoon."

"Who?" Applejack asked confused.

"Trixie."

Celestia shook her head.

"Unlikely. She might have escaped, but she had serious wounds."

"Princess?" Twilight gave her an unsure look.

"I have read the diary of Strong Walls, the previous director of Canterlot Prison. Trixie was shot in the leg by a military-grade crossbow, with an arrowhead nearly as large as a hoof. Reports state that it shot her clear in her front right hoof. I doubt any pony could heal that wound... but the culprit yesterday was not limping, was she?"

"...No, Princess."

" I am willing to consider options, but she had no opportunity to break that stallion out. She might not even be alive. Now, if there are no further issues, this meeting is adjourned."

The four ponies watched as Celestia and her student walked out of the room. Diamond turned to Night Shade.

"Do you have any idea why would somepony break out Fancypants?"

"Ah thought it was juss' symphatisers." Applejack interjected. The elderly unicorn shook his head.

"No, lass. Nopony would take such a risk to break out somepony from a guarded position out of their heart's kindness. I can only give you my opinion as a soldier; he was recruited for some cause, presumably because of his connections, or maybe because his fencing skills are second best in the country."

"Who's first?" Applejack asked with curiousity. Night Shade looked surprised.

"You don't know? It is none other than Prince Redblood here."

It was Applejack's turn to be surprised. She eyed the stallion with suspicion.

"Izzat true?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say something about it?"

The stallion shrugged.

"You didn't act like as if you were interested in me or my skills."

The pegasus chuckled.

"It is good to see you in high spirits."

Applejack silently contemplated the possibility of idiocy being infectous amongst pegasi. No, seriously. Show her a pegasus without a mental defect, and she'll dance in the Castle's main hall while singing.

"Captain Rose, a word if I may." Redblood said, clearing his throat.

"Sure."

"I would like to warn you; Golden Coin is an ambitious pony. You better watch your back."

Rose blinked.

"I'm sorry? What did I ever do to Golden Coin?"

"It's an open secret, but he worked hard so that his son would be appointed as new Captain. With you fulfilling that duty, he considers you an obstacle to power. He has years of political experience; it would be wise to be cautious around him."

The pegasus nodded.

"Thank you for your advice."

"My pleasure. Watch your back, Captain."

They left the guard barracks, making their way towards... well, Applejack didn't really know where they were going. She was in Canterlot for a few times before, but she never explored around, except for the castle, the train station, and the marketplace. Other than those, she was a lost lamb.

Still, that Golden Coin fellow seemed suspicious. Better ask Redblood.

"How do ya know that Coin fella?" she asked.

"I always paid attention at council meetings. He is a bold speaker, but he is less subtle than he thinks. I believe everypony in Canterlot knows that he is a ruthless powermonger... yet my aunt lets him scheme around, because he is more often thwarted by the other nobles instead of her. This helps her to avoid situations where one could accuse her of limiting freedom of others. As for him... his greed is his undoing. If he would go one step at a time, he might acquire the power he seeks... but no, he has to accomplish all his goals at once. You already know of his ambition to have his son as guard captain... but you are unaware that he tried several times to arrange a marriage between his daughter and me."

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"He did? Didn't figure you were all hot and wanted around here."

"Well, yes. My standing as aunt Celestia's nephew interests him only. He believes he could control her through me... which is stupid. I don't think anypony told her what to do in a thousand years... save for maybe Luna."

The farmpony chuckled knowingly.

"Takes more than that to influence an independent mare."

"Yes, well..." Redblood paused. "I am sorry, are you having an... accent dysfunction?"

"Hm? Oh, right. Sorry, sometimes when Ah'm reminded of mah foalhood, Ah sometimes use mah Manehattan accent."

"It's rather refreshing to hear, actually. Regardless, I'm intrigued; did your foalhood differ from your current life?"

The orange mare gazed into the distance.

"Yeah... When Ah was young, Ah left our farm... Ah figured the city life's for me. So Ah went to mah aunt and uncle Orange, and learned a few things about... 'high society'. But... After a while, Ah realised how much I missed mah family, so Ah went back... Funny thing is, Rainbow had a hoof in it."

Applejack felt her mood slowly degrade. Not because of revealing personal details to Redblood; she was quite comfortable with that, Element of Honesty and all. No, her problem was with a certain cyan catastrophe. She was arrogant, she was inconsiderate, she was lazy, she killed Applebloom... yet she always stood beside her. She always came through, no matter the danger or the opposition. Why? Is there something crueler than realising your best friend is a criminal? Does Applebloom's blood scream for vengeance? Did Rainbow really, really cause it? Did Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, decide to murder a bunch of foals in cold blood?

She didn't know. When she punched Rainbow in the hospital, she felt nothing. No satisfaction. The pain stayed. A month later, her life is falling apart. She scared away her friends, maybe insulted Twilight forever, she left her own brother hanging... Nopony is on her side. Nopony, except for this stallion, who is supposed to be an arrogant, uptight foal with a chicken's intelligence... Yet he's somewhat smart, able to handle himself in combat, and tolerates her venomous jabs. This was not how she remembered him.

"Hey, Redblood."

"Hm?"

"Ah don't mean to pry, but... ya changed. Ya weren't like this at all when we first met. What happened to turn ya around like this?"

Redblood took a heavy breath.

"It's... It was Luna."

Applejack was surprised. What connection would he have with the moon princess?

"We weren't particularly close..." the stallion continued, "yet we kept a casual, if formal relationship. It was really weird to see her... open up, in a way, and get accepted by the very ponies who shunned her. I respected her willpower. She started with zero friends, yet she worked hard to be accepted by her subjects... and she mostly succeeded. What did I do, in the meanwhile? Lead a life of luxury? Sure, sounds impressive, but it becomes boring after a while. The only ponies willing to have longer conversations with me were my aunt, and Fancypants... Neither of whom approved of my lifestyle. So I finally think it through; maybe I should mingle with some commoners? Then... it happened."

"I walk into the council room, and bam! they start talking about banishing Luna. That was the first time I heard the 'blue theory'. Frankly, I was dumbfounded. Not only was this treason, but logically, the next one to be banished would be none other than aunt Celestia! I don't know what to think about this whole conspiracy theory, but I know one thing. Those nobles? They couldn't give a rat's ass about it—they only want to use it for their own petty means. I snapped. I kept shouting, and shouting, until my voice became hoarse... That was when I had an epiphany. I didn't want to be that kind of a noble."

"Still, I didn't really have options. The council didn't listen—they all saw the oppurtunity to seize power with Luna's absence, so they all agreed to her banishment. I wanted to warn her, but I couldn't... The nobles headed straight to my aunt, and demanded their ridiculous little claims. The look on my aunt's face... I never saw her in so much pain before. I thought she was going to snap, and burn the whole council down. I am not entirely convinced that it's any better that she didn't."

"After that... well, I got a few letters. Some from the nobles, warning me that getting in their way would be... undesireable for me. Some from others, with empty pleasantries... And finally, I've gotten quite a few letters accusing me of being a 'blue-sympathiser'. They were little less than open death threats. I decided to change my name, so it would divert their attention from me, but it was barely enough. I applied for this position to get away from politics, and generally, the city itself."

While Redblood was talking, they arrived to a building Applejack knew well: the headquarters of the CFF, estabilished not long ago. The building used to be some kind of warehouse before; sometimes, they found empty crates in unused rooms still. Applejack groaned.

"Let's juss hurry up, an' finish here. Ah really want to set things right with mah brother."

"Duly noted. I also wish to leave this week behind me."

As soon as they entered, the receptionist jumped up and saluted.

"Captain! There is an urgent matter requiring your attention!"

"Yeah?"

"There has been a group in Ponyville, who severely breached our code. The culprits have been expelled, and they await further punishment."

"What exactly did they do?" she asked.

"They attacked Ponyvillean citizens, including the Cake family, Pinkamena Diane Pie, and Big Macintosh Apple."

"THEY DID WHAT?!" Applejack yelled. Terrorising citizens? Attacking her helpless brother?! She will end them!

"Lead me to them. Now." she hissed.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"This... this can't be."

The five ponies stood near the edge of the Everfree. Not at the actual entrance, but at a remote location. An hour ago, Raindrops thought she saw the worst today. Oh how wrong she was.

The scene they stood at was a little less gruesome than the murders, but this time, it was made worse by the fact that this wasn't supposed to happen.

When they arrived here, they never expected to find a dead manticore. The beast looked like it was bucked to death, bruises all over it's body. To the opposite of it, a pony who died from blood loss. A pegasus, whose wing was probably clipped in the struggle.

A pegasus by the name of Soarin.

"Looks like it is." Cold Clue observed. He already took samples from literally everything in the scene, looking engrossed in his work. He had a small case in front of him, filled with bottles and syringes.

"I had time to analyse the blood sample with a spell, and it's definitely Soarin's." he continued. "Looks like he happened upon a manticore when he passed through here."

"Why in Tartarus would he come here?" Blossomforth asked hysterically. The others were a little closer than her. She had learned from her previous experience, and kept her distance. The smell wasn't that bad, but the sight wasn't pretty.

"Maybe he heard about Azure City, and tried to take a different route to the Academy?" Thunderlane suggested, kicking rocks around. All of them were devastated. Soarin was nothing short of their childhood hero, one whom they could always look up to. Now—he was no more.

"I can't believe this. First Flitter, now him... Why? Why did they have to die? Just to satisfy some cruel fantasy? I—I can't..."

Blossomforth broke out in tears. Thunderlane gently rubbed her shoulders, turning her away from the corpses. Raindrops let out a deep sigh. This was not going well at all. How would Spitfire react to this?

"Oh, bugger." she called out loud when she imagined the captain's reaction. Personal pain aside, they lost two valuable members of the Wonderbolts today; one dead, one missing. Every aspect of this day just screamed 'catastrophe'.

"We must inform Spitfire."

Raindrops looked at Dust, who looked like as if she wasn't even there. The pegasus was standing a few feet away, just outside Clue's hearing.

"Yes, we have to. It doesn't mean it should be you, however. Anypony amongst us could—"

"No." the mint pegasus interjected. "It is my duty to inform her."

"Dust, you don't have to do this!" Raindrops said in a calming tone. "I know you're trying to act like a proper vice captain, but hay, you've already done enough! In the past month, you actually worked together with us, as opposed to your old behaviour; you even stopped me from tearing that jerk's head off! You don't have anything to prove anymore!"

Lightning slowly turned to face her. The jasmine pegasus noticed that she was crying.

"Drops, he's dead. He was the true vice captain, not me. I was only appointed 'cause he was not available. It—it was my childhood dream to become a Wonderbolt, and to become vice captain, I'd have sold my soul. But this... this doesn't feel right. I didn't become a vice captain because I was better than him... I was not chosen because I was the best, Spitfire just had some grand scheme with me. So the least I can do is act like a true damn vice captain, and weather the storm of her hate."

Raindrops was speechless. Despite all her wit, she couldn't say anything to Dust; nothing seemd right. She did the only thing she had left; she obeyed.

"Understood, Ma'am." she said, saluting. "What are our orders until you are away?"

"Give Cold Clue every assistance he needs. After that, make sure everything's fine around here. I don't want any more crimes to be committed today. That's all."

"Yes Ma'am."

Raindrops watched Lightning Dust take flight, then she turned to the other two.

"Come on, blokes, let's wrap this up."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"....And make sure they're kept inside!" Applejack shouted. The pony in front of her saluted.

"Yes, Ma'am! Of course!"

The orange mare turned to... to... some paper-pusher, that she knew.

"Anythin' else?"

"No, nothing, I mean, yes, there is this letter, addressed to you, Ma'am!"

The pony produced a plain envelope, and gave it to the farmpony. One glance at it, and she paled a little.

It was from Mac.

"W-where did ya get this?" she asked, barely containing the trembling in her voice.

"It arrived with the mail this noon, Ma'am." the stallion replied.

"Okay! G'job! Bye!" she uttered before galloping to her appointed office (which she barely used as of then). Confused, Redlood followed her.

As soon as she arrived inside, she tore open the envelope, and began reading her brother's bumbling hoofwriting.

Applejack,

I am sorry. After Granny died, I tried to ignore everything, to drown myself in alcohol. I didn't listen to reason. You went away to become an enforcer, and I just chugged drink after drink.

I realised how wrong I was. If Granny was still alive, she'd kick my flank for doing this. Family's gotta stick together, right? Pity that everypony abandoned us, except for Braeburn. You're the only family I've left. I wish that you'd forgive me. I want to see you again soon; after I've set things right in Ponyville. Things were stirred up by the troops that terrorised the Cakes, but I think I see a way out of this.

Many ponies are frightened here. Even your friends, Pinkie and Fluttershy. I offered them home until they feel safe to live on their own. I remembered how much I love this town, and it's residents—no more denying and horsing around. This town needs me Applejack, and I'm not going to let it down.

Sorry if I'm rambling. What I wanted to say is this: I've put the bottle down, and started to help ponies. I only ask you to stop destroying yourself, too. Capture Rainbow if you need to, but don't hurt her. Hear her out. That's what Granny and Applebloom would have wanted.

Hope to see you soon. Love you, sis.

Mac

Applejack dropped the letter. Her lower lip was trembling.

"Forgive...him? That oaf, I should be the one apologising! I'm the one who—who..."

She couldn't continue. The surge of emotion simply overtook her, and she bawled like a foal. She didn't notice when, but she was in the grip of somepony.

"Shhh. It's all right."

"Redblood?" she asked, not seeing clearly through her tears.

"Yes. I'm here, don't worry. Don't hold anything back."

She felt another surge of tears, and she buried her muzzle into the whiteness before her. The stallion patiently waited until her sobs became less frequent, then he carefully raised her head with his hoof.

"Tell you what, you can come to my estate, have some food, get cleaned up and rest; then tomorrow you can take the first express train to Ponyville. How does that sound?"

She smiled at him through her tears.

"Ah... I'd love to."

She snuggled closer to the surprised prince.

"Could you hold me a little longer, please?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay. Been writing my other story, called P.H.D.
Anyway, have this short chapter! More updates for my stories are on the way.
Have an awesome Luna as an apology, that my friend custom-made for me: Luna!