"Miss, can we ask you a question?"

I didn't recognize the voice, but the cadence and the rhythm of the steps told me the only thing I needed to know. Guards. I felt cold. My muscles tensed, I almost missed a step but caught myself in time. Never show hesitation, never show doubt. 

Tourmaline had felt it, I'm sure of it. She leaned a bit into me, but she didn't show any fear. She was a good filly.

I glanced around in the mad hope that there was somepony else they could be talking to. There wasn't. We were alone in the alley.

I turned around and kept Tourmaline behind me. If things became ugly she could try to run. She knew the way to my brother. She was a good filly.

The guards stood at the entrances of the alley, armor, blue crests, didn't see any weapons. I swiftly lowered my eyes. "Yes, sirs?"

One stepped forward. I suppressed a shivering. I had to stay calm, keep my head low. I still had a chance to come out of it a go home.

"Miss? Is there a problem?" 

Tourmaline shrunk behind me. I couldn't see her, but I felt it. I prepared to throw myself at the guard if things went south. I kept my tone low, but loud enough so he could hear me. "No problem at all sir. How can I be of service?"

"Miss, if there is a problem please tell us. Your filly seems scared of something. Did something happen?"

That was it, I had to buy some time, I had to...

"No sir, it's just a bit cold here, and I... I forgot my scarf."  Tourmaline had spoken, her tone had been steady. She was a good filly.

"Uh, well, OK then." Hesitation, bad sign. I felt his attention shifting. He still seemed suspicious, but maybe we weren't the right kind of ponies they were looking for. "Miss, you know that if there is something you can talk to us, right?"

"Certainly sir. How can I be of service?"

"Well, Miss...?"

Maybe he hadn't seen my mark. I could give a false name, I had a couple of them  for this kind of occasion. No, that was too risky. It could be a trap, and we weren't too far from home. It wasn't too strange for us to be here. "Shining Facet, sir."

"Yes, Miss Facet. Well, this is a bit embarrassing, but we became kinda lost. We would prefer to not have to backtrack to the palace, so, could you please tell us the way to the Ruby Lane?"

They were out of their district, this made them less predictable, I had to leave as soon as possible. Without looking up I said, "You need to go left, then turn right at the third alley, and then you will be there, sir."

"Thank you, Miss Facet. That helps a lot. Hey, Flash, I told you we had to go in the other direction." His attention was back on me. "Well, we will go now. Thank you again, and if there's a problem, any problem, don't hesitate to ask any guard. We are here for you."

"Thank you, sir. But there is no problem at all."

"Have a nice day." They left.

Tourmaline pressed into my side, I relaxed, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. We made it.

"Mother, can we go?"

I looked down at my daughter. She was calmer than me, I had to be stronger for her. "Yes, we can go."

I still felt a bit weak on my legs, happened every time, but we resumed our walk.

"They seemed nicer than the other guards."

That was a dangerous thought. "We still need to be careful, sweetie."

"Do you think it was true? That we could go to them if there was a problem?"

I thought about it. Sombra was gone, or so they told us. We had bowed down before the new Princess, we had shown our submission, I hoped that was enough.

On the other hoof, there had been the fair and the Crystal Heart glowed again. Yesterday there hadn't been any talk about some glorious future, nor had anypony disappeared in the night, nor had there been the rattling of chains. Yet.

"We shall see, sweetie." Asking guards for help seemed such a strange idea. I could hardly wrap my head around it.

I hoped Tourmaline would see such a thing. She was a good filly.