The Manehatten Project

Chapters

Prologue: A New Mayor
Chapter One: Supply & Security.
Chapter Two: Washed Up
Chapter Three: Opportunities Glimmer.
Chapter Four: Starlight Meetings
Chapter Five: Spelling and Glimmer.
Chapter Six: Shipping and Handling
Chapter Seven: Make it Work.
Chapter Eight: Dance's End, Part One.
Chapter Nine: Dance's End, Part Two
Chapter Ten: The Blue Unicorn
Chapter Eleven: A Necessary Evil...
Chapter Twelve: The Alicorn Amulet.
Chapter Thirteen: Gone Home
Chapter Fourteen: Paver's Penmanship
Chapter Fifteen: Otto's Pet Pigeon.
Chapter Sixteen: The Scapegoat.
Chapter Seventeen: Rosebuds and Rhetoric
Chapter Eighteen: The Pursuit of Property
Chapter Nineteen: Filliburtons
Chapter Twenty: Suspicious Minds
Chapter Twenty One: Paranoia
Chapter Twenty Two: Zunbil Zoor
Chapter Twenty Three: Blind Betrayal
The Manehatten Project 24: Chaos in Manehatten Part One.

Prologue: A New Mayor

"I know, Janine, it's truly awful what happened to Mayor Goldstreets." An off-white unicorn stallion spoke on a cell phone, while sitting the back of a Manehatten taxi carriage. "People loved her so much, and why not? She did such good things for this fine city, truly she was a kind and generous mayor." He sighed. "She did always love dancing and parties though, who would've thought she'd be so taken over by it she'd ended up dancing herself off the top of her boat and drowning? Oh, I know! It was horrible. One minute she was trotting about, admiring and showing off those lovely new shoes someone gave her for her birthday, and then splash!" He winced, his voice choking as he wiped tears from his eyes with a hankie he levitated from his coat pocket. "...I heard she sank like a stone. I would've gone in after her like her bodyguards, but I can't swim. All I could do was watch, she was too heavy for three earth ponies to rescue?! I couldn't bare it, I had to get home. I, I just didn't feel safe out at sea like that... I promise you, I'm never going on a boat again!"

"Mister Cratic, sir, there was nothing you could do. Please don't cry." He slumped against the side of the cabin, listening to his PA on the other side try to sooth him.

Janine was such a nice little pony, a pretty, red-maned unicorn who always had such a nice smile whenever they were together. She'd served him loyally for years; it was nice to have someone to trust in the world of Manehatten politics. It was a scary time to anyone who looked closely enough: Four times, four times in the space of barely a few years had the Princesses, two supposed goddesses (figures, Otto remembered, his brother Theo had dedicated his life to), had been laid low by forces who would see Equestria conquered or destroyed, leaving the fate of a nation in the hands of six random ponies from a scenic little village in the middle of nowhere. It was true that one of them had been Celestia's student for years, and had recently ascended to princesshood, but that only went to further frustrate the white unicorn: Some had everything handed to them on a platter, while he had to work for every advantage he ever got for years: To him, it was an injustice!

"Janine, my dear, I told you a thousand times, you don't need to call me sir, or mister, or any of that sort of thing. My name is Otto." He dried his eyes, chuckling nervously. "But, we are now lacking a mayor, and it's been so long, thank the princesses, since a mayor has died on the job. We're going to have to hold an election for a new one certainly... Perhaps I could even be Mayor Otto soon enough?"

"Well, you'd have my vote, sir... Erm, I mean Otto."

He sighed. "You know, you always know how to cheer me up, don't you?" He paused. "Well, it's a horrible situation, of course, but Manehatten needs a mayor. Get in contact with Princess Celestia for me, we need to arrange an election, and perhaps remind her of my loyal service to her for these many years, and my dedication to her glorious reign, and while we're on the subject... I think it's time, yes, I shall stand for election, I think. Do whatever you can to get my name on the ballot papers."

"Yes sir." Came Janine's voice on the other end.

"Oh, and one more thing, clear my calender for today, and get perhaps get in contact with Mustang, I need him to fly East for me for a while, tell him it's about... astrology. He'll know what it means."

With that, he gave his PA a last goodbye, and hung up, just in time for the taxi to drop him off at his house. Tossing a few bits the way of the driver, he climbed upstairs, quickly trotting into his home, locking the door behind him. He walked over to a pile of spellbooks strewn messily over a table, next to an empty shoebox and a receipt. Using his magic, he quietly picked up the books and sorted them away on their shelves. Next was the box and the receipt, picking up the thin sheet of paper, he glared at it, his magic darkening around the paper until it burst into flames, fluttering down into an ashtray, where he'd left a number of extinguished cigarettes.

The box was trickier, it was bigger for a start. He felt a twang of regret in his heart as he looked at the empty box, and the picture of glittering, ruby red horseshoes printed on the front. Those shoes would've looked so pretty on Janine, the little filly she was would've been such a sight dancing and skipping about in them. But no, those shoes were made for dancing, and Janine? They were a little too heavy for her. Otto chuckled: Everyone bought it, even Goldstreets, the vain little idiot, until it was too late. Of course she'd be overcome with excitement at finding a box of beautiful red dancing horseshoes sitting on her bed, a birthday present from an anonymous admirer. Oh how comfy they were on her hooves, and so enchantingly beautiful she'd never take them off again. How proud she was when everyone admired her cantering about the deck of her yacht one fine night during her birthday party; how happy she was when she started dancing, far more gracefully than she'd ever done in her life...

...And how frightened she must have been once she discovered her hooves no longer listened to her as they twirled and pranced, faster and faster, against her will; how nobody took her seriously when she cried that she couldn't stop, and how horrified she must have been when all the magic in her horn couldn't get them off. She was dead the second she slipped those shoes on her hooves, and not a single person had so much as suspected Otto, a pony who'd smiled and backed the mayor in every decision she'd ever made for nearly 5 years now, in any of it! Now, the only evidence of his involvement were fused to the corpse of a drowned mare, at the bottom of the ocean.

Otto smiled: Politics was a dirty game, and nobody played it better than him, but he'd played the waiting game for long enough! Now was the time for him to set his plans in motion...

Author's Note

This might be something of a short chapter to start off with, and in hindsight, there are probably a few things here and there I'd do differently. But overall, I'm still reasonably pleased with all of this.

Thanks go to FullMetalVocaloid on DeviantART http://fullmetalvocaloid.deviantart.com/ for making the images in this chapter. Heh, Poor Paver, she never even saw it coming...

Chapter One: Supply & Security.

The Manehatten mayoral elections had been a landslide, nearly the entire city had come out in force, and the new mayor had won quite an amazing majority. It brought him a new office, a new job, and all the perks of being a mayor...

"Ha ha!" Otto chuckled, looking around the new office in Manehatten City Hall. "This office is huge! It makes my old office feel like a toilet cubicle." He cantered around the room, unable to contain his excitement to his entourage, one of which was Janine, holding a bottle of champaign, a little celebration for his election win; with her was his brother, Theo Cratic; Brass Tacks, a well-built stallion who served as Theo's bodyguard; and Fleetwood Mac, Otto's personal errand runner, his second most trusted underling (behind Janine); and a number of ponies from the press and the office. "This has been quite the turn of events, I think it's time to crack open the bubbly, don't you think?"

The cork on the bottle was popped by Janine and the crowd cheered. "Thank you everybody, I couldn't have done this without you. I assure you, you've made the right decision voting for me as mayor. Big things are coming, my little ponies. Big things..."

It was an ambitious vow to make, he was very much aware of this truth as he clinked glasses in a toast with his companions. He had work to do: He had big plans for Manehatten, but he couldn't draw the attention of the Royal Princesses, or worse still, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, or these newfound, bizarre transformations he'd heard they'd acquired in the place of the elements. If that happened, and they descended upon him, he was finished, and everything would be lost. He was NOT prepared to let that happen, and so, he had one score to settle before he could begin: Tying up a loose end, and securing an opportunity...

A few days had passed since Otto's ascension to mayor, and life in Manehatten had returned to normal, nobody batting so much as an eyelid at the change in administration: That was exactly how he wanted it. If the ponies in the city resented his rise, or too many eyes were laid upon him at once, it would only make his job harder.

In this instance, a degree of breathing room was important: He was meeting a pair of very important 'clients' from 'Fifallmm General Trading Ltd.' It was a front, of course, an idea cultivated between Otto and the clients to protect their anonymity. Of course, he knew who they were.

He'd waited until night for his meeting, the cover of darkness would make it easier for them to enter his office undetected, for everyone had gone home already (even Janine, she was young, after all, far too young for Otto to keep her up this late!). He then planned to down so much cider that it would scramble his brains and make his dreams utterly incomprehensible: Who would've thought that the best way to keep Princess Luna from spying on your dreams was binge drinking?! Otto knew, but he learned that the hard way... Drinking heavily had its other problems, it was a good thing he lived only down the hall now!

Two tall, beige stallions trotted into the office, cheery faced, greasy red maned stallions entered, dressed in white and blue striped waistcoats and straw hats: The Flim Flam Brothers. They were excellent at turning over a quick bit, and seemed to be able to make money from almost anything, but they were tricksters, and had scammed people up and down Equestria with all manner of different schemes, from drink, to miracle cures, they'd even managed to con Prince Blueblood into buying a suit made of the finest 'invisible silk' from Saddle Araba.

Before they had the chance to speak, Otto jumped in first: If they were allowed to start the conversation, it would inevitably turn into a sales pitch, and HE was the one in control here, not them! "You got my invitation then? Did you bring it like I asked you to?"

"Sure we did. Show him, Brother." One of the two ponies (which damn brother was which was almost impossible for Otto to tell) spoke to the other. The other nodded, pulling out a letter from a saddlebag with his horn.

"I'm going to need that letter back before we begin." The mayor continued.

The other brother smirked. "Oh really? What's it worth to you?"

Otto frowned, he'd expected this. "Well, I was hoping you'd ask that, because I indeed have an offer to make you, but not for the letter." He smirked. "Your shoes were... Definitely something."

"Ah, those red beauties." Left-Brother (Possibly Flim if they always stood Flim-Flam, and didn't move about). "They're keen. You put them on and you'll dance like you never danced before."

"They like to run away with you though." Possibly-Flam mentioned. "But I'm guessing, mayor, you know that already?"

"I do." He scowled. "The pony I gave them to died hours after she put them on." The pair fell silent. "She danced, of course, she twirled and pranced to make the princesses jealous. But, then, they danced her off the side of her yacht, and she drowned. It was in the news if you recall... And I still have proof that you sold them to me."

"But wait here a cotton picking minute!" Possibly-Flim protested: "That can't be right! They've never killed a pony before! Our great Uncle Swindle made the mistake of making the shoes irremovable, the poor filly had to have her hooves cut off! We made sure they could be taken off!"

"Yeah, killing ponies is bad for business..."

"Like nearly convincing an O.A.P to dive into a pie dish of water thanks to a tonic?" Otto snorted. "You've got track record. So how about you give me that letter back, and we start talking REAL business? Or else, when they come to lock you up, I'll ensure you're sent to seperate prisons."

They both blinked, the room going deadly quiet.

"You wouldn't." Flim spoke.

"I would." Otto spat. "Try me."

"But you knew exactly what you were buying when you bought it. You'd get into just as much trouble for giving the old mayor magic shoes as we would!"

"I've been friends with Mayor Goldstreets for nearly 10 years. I can claim plausible deniability, do you want to take that risk?" Silence befell the room again while the two salesponies whispered to one another. After a while, they sighed, and the letter was floated over to Otto.

"Fine, you win." One of the two brothers spoke with a huff. Otto, not done yet, beckoned them over to a UV lamp on his table. He placed the letter underneath its blue glow, showing something which, judging by the looks on their faces, they hadn't checked for: a sign of authenticity, the seal of Manehatten, designed to show under the proper lights.

"Awww, shucks! I knew we should've checked for that!" Flim groaned, as Flam watched Otto float the letter away, and burst it into flames with his magic, disintegrating the paper, and destroying the record.

"Now, I'm a merciful pony." The mayor continued. "And you two get results. You could somehow find an industrial cider press the size of a steam train for Celestia's sake! ...I need ponies like you, someone I can use to acquire things for me, should I need them. If I need more shoes, you'll get me more shoes. If I need spellbooks, you'll get me spellbooks. If I want magic weapons, you'll find them for me. I'll pay, cash, very generously, but nothing gets traced to me. If I go down, you go down with me. If I'm successful in my plans, I'll give you all the farmland you want..."

Have their already nefarious name dragged through the mud, or get cosy with the mayor of Manehatten? It was not a difficult choice. Otto still wasn't sure if he could trust the duo just yet, but he was at least confident he'd bought their silence for a time, he just had to find the best way to profit from his investment. For now though, he was hoping to rest, grab a bite to eat, and plan his next move...

"Listen, I know it's late, but I'm the mayor for Celestia's sake. I need that toaster repair pony, now! So as Celestia is my witness, get that little pipsqueak here ASAP, or there's going to be one hell of a fallout if I have to buy a new toaster!" Otto hung up with a sulking pout upon his face. He had a secret love for hay bacon toasties, and he always seemed to have his best ideas while eating. However, it seemed his toaster was on the fritz, and that put him in a bad mood. He paced up and down his kitchen, grabbing a crystal bottle of scotch from a cupboard with his telekinesis, floating it, and a small glass, with his magic as he flopped into a chair, miserably drinking down the glass in an instant, refilling it, and repeating the process with a sigh. He wasn't getting his toaster fixed until tomorrow, it was far too late for it to be fixed tonight, he knew it to be true, even being mayor wouldn't change that.

A fireplace crackled warmly near his chair as he floated several books over, and setting them down on a nearby table. One such book, The Haycart Method: How NOT to Get Lost in a Good Book, was of particular interest to him. A study aid, on the surface of it: A spell talented unicorns could learn to literally lose themselves in a book, becoming a picture on its pages, fully conscious and able to move, and able to positively swim in the book's lines in a way one can't quite put into words. A pony upon the page could see... strange things: Dimensions of the page and the real world could be seen, if one looked properly. He smirked, flipping through the pages: This was a RARE book... And a mess, pages were missing, words were worn. As much as he'd gained a theoretical knowledge of Haycart's method, he couldn't copy the spell for himself, nor could he teach it to others with the book in this state...

...This was the first task he'd given the Flim Flam Brothers: He'd asked for them to go and find a complete copy of the book, and had offered a generous reward if they did as he told them. He wondered if they'd try to con him again, the thought amused him. Maybe they'd find some similar looking book and try to pass it off as the thing he'd sought; maybe they'd find some old copy, and tried to fill in the blanks themselves, or not; maybe, maybe they'd be smart enough to know that Otto would see such scams from a mile away, and would pull their horns off if they tried it. On the flip side, to them, he hoped, they would just see a book, and lack the magical ability to use it themselves, though they might try.

After downing a few more drinks, he climbed into bed and slept. He liked to have alcohol in his system when he went to bed, still under the belief that Princess Luna kept had trouble visiting the dreams of drunken ponies, or simply abstained from even trying. He had no way to test this theory, and indeed, how was he to know if any dream was his own, or a construct of the princess, or indeed, if her apperance was her visiting his dreams, or his own subconscious imagining it. It kept him up at night sometimes, a train of thought which could end up landing the mayor in paranoia if he wasn't careful...

* * *

"That bucking snooper." Otto snarled to his brother, clutching his head as his hangover bit into his brain. "That interfering nocturnal princess, gah, my head..."

"So you saw her? Princess Luna, in your dream?" Theo asked, looking at Otto with a look of worry and amazement.

"Damn right I did." He answered. "She just sat and watched my nightmare haunt me, perhaps she even made it so. She sat from the top of the Trojan Square Building. It was like that damnable horse head was her, watching me. I bucking hate that building..."

"What happened in the dream, you haven't told me yet."

"Wolves. Timberwolf, chasing me... But..." He winced. "The damn thing was made of bones, pony bones... And... It was wearing shoes, red ones." He winced. "You know, Paver's. On the night she died."

Theo winced. "You can't blame yourself, brother." He comforted, unaware that Otto very much could blame himself, and should. "You couldn't swim, and even the ones who could couldn't save her, her dress was too heavy, and she'd put a spell on it so it couldn't just be cut off. All the range for making them durable, but awful if they're weighing you down, I suppose."

"Still, it scared me, and the damn princess did nothing..." Otto scowled. "...I guess, I truly can't rely on the princesses to help me here. I must help myself."

"What are you going to do...?"

Otto smiled. "I think, I have an idea..."

'Always carry plenty of bits. The griffons are sure to help you as long as you share the wealth.' This was a mindset which had prevailed through the reign of King Grover. He'd brought Griffinstone onto the brink of a Renaissance and a seismic shift towards becoming a better people. What a wasted opportunity. Otto found it hard to believe that a treasure could change a people. No, it was Grover: It was no coincidence that the death of King Grover, and the loss of the Idol of Boreas saw the demise of Grover's dream: Two tragedies befalling of such scale befalling a nation in such quick succession would break the spirits of anypony.

But it DID present him an opportunity now. During his reign, King Grover had two sects of personal guards, much as the princesses' did: The Groverclaws, his royal guards. But then, there was the Ravenclaws: A secret sect of spies, assassins and agents for the king. Together, they'd made the most ferocious and powerful fighting force of griffins in all of Equestria and beyond. Without a king though, they were drivided: Many held the ideals of their king, leaving the declining Griffinstone, and becoming some of Equestria's first griffin families. Others, however, succumbed to the mercenary nature of Griffin society, and became mercenaries themselves.

"Does Manehatten really need this much security?" Janine asked, nervously watching the army of heavily armored griffins. "They're kinda scary, sir."

"Yes, we do. Remember Tirek." Otto snorted. "We don't know what threats might befall Equestria, and the princesses clearly lack the power to stop him without Twilight Sparkle's intervention. And I don't want to rely on Twilight Sparkle. We are Manehatten. And them? They're griffins. How many griffins got hunted down and had their magic drained by Lord Tirek? None. Either he couldn't drain them, or there was no magic in them to drain. Either way, those buckers are so tough, I'll bet even the Royal Guard might think twice about a tussle with them." He smirked. "Besides, my dear, these griffins are soldiers at heart. There's nothing they'll love more than having a proper job in military service again."

It was comforting words, and Janine seemed relieved. Of course, she didn't know that he was paying the Griffin's captain, a griffin by the name of Adrienne Ashfeather, a gray griffin with a small tuft of cotton-white feathers at her breast, she was paid to serve Otto, not necessarily Manehatten. They made a fine personal guard and... Enforcement, if ever needed. But Otto's intentions were only for the good of Manehatten, so it made no difference in his mind.

...There was plenty of room for people to worry, though. The griffins had refused to adopt the thin, gold-plated armour of the Equestrian Guard, and had instead chosen the black, red and gold heavy plate armour of their native Griffinstone, as well as their coat of arms: A branch over a weighing scale, upon a black/gold/black bicolour shield. The griffins, it seemed, were very proud of their heritage, even if they had forsaken the values of their old king in the process. Ponies were easily frightened, and these battle-hardened, scarred, hulking griffins might well scare some softer fillies and colts, but this was but one small worry to the Manehatten mayor: If all lay well and Celestia allowed it, the griffins would eventually blend into the background as ponies became used to their presence, and all would be well.

Chapter Two: Washed Up

Paver had sunk into the ocean, deeper and deeper, the shoes locked to her hooves dragging her down with a weight one could liken to a hand tightly grabbing her legs and pulling her into the dark, cold abyss; a rose floated above, the flower had been placed on a maneclip next to her ear: It was a new piece of jewelery she'd gotten for her birthday that night, and now it was breaking apart in the water.

She'd be crying in fright, as she'd been on her boat once the shoes had sprung their trap, had she not been completely engulfed in Manhatten Lake. She'd held her breath and struggled to hold onto what air remained in her lungs. There was a quiet, muffled thump as her hooves hit the floor of the river, what little light Luna's sky offered fracturing and dimly descnding down from the like surface. This was it, her panicking mind concluded: This was how she was going to die. Drowning at the bottom of a lake, in her favorite dress, after some horrible pony decided to curse her hooves with magic shoes...

No.

Becoming Manehatten's mayor was not an easy feat, especially for a mare as young as Paver Goldstreets. And contrary to popular belief, Paver was not a weak pony. She was prone to silliness, as a young unicorn would be, but she'd studied through school, magic academy and university to get where she was: She was NOT weak, and she was NOT going to let a pony kill her like this! This was cowardly! This was evil!

She was shivering, partly from cold, but partly from adrenaline: She HAD to get out of this before either cold or drowning took her. Think, think! All the magic books she'd studied and all the lessons and lectures on magic, there had to be something!!

Her horn glowed with newfound determination, and she felt a burning pain on her neck, as if the flesh was reshaping and being pulled open: Gills sprouted! Of course, Shoobeedoo's Seapony Spell! The waterbreating magic had bought her some time; it wasn't permanent, and if she didn't hurry up and find a way out of the lake, she'd either freeze down here in the deep, or exhaustion would end up taking her.

She tried to swim back up, but she could not. Her dress was not light, and furthermore, each of the horseshoes on her feet were like anchors, and she could not lift them so much as a inch from the lake bed! She was pinned, and couldn't move.

Panic started to seep back into her mind. She tried to use telekinesis to levitate herself from the bottom of the lake, but to equally vain results. She felt the gills on her neck begin to recede, she was running out of time!

Paver had only one chance left, and it was the most difficult spell of the lot: Teleportation. She hadn't time to contemplate where she wanted to teleport to or if it would work: It HAD to work, and she had to try! If she didn't, she was going to drown; if she tried, and it didn't work, she was going to die, but at least she'd fought for her life rather than allow her murderer to succeed unchallenged. Her horn glowed even brighter; there was flash of bright light, and the spell sapped what little was left of her energy, and she blacked out...

* * *

Celestia's sun was slowly beginning to rise over the horizon, it was the morning after Paver's party, and the lake's little glistening tides lapped merrily against a sandy beach.

There was nopony on the beach. In fact, there was nopony around for miles. And so, nobody saw the wet, unicorn-shaped lump wash up on the beach. Paver's body lay there for a time. Her dress was soaked through and battered by the lake's currents, the pretty red pearls which had been sown into the coffee-cream and pink dress had come loose and fell from the threads which held them, some remained on her dress, while others now dotted the sandy shore. The fabric of the gown was water damaged and tatty, torn by rocks on the beach and stained by soggy seaweed. Her mane was a knotted, damp mess on her head and her fur was flattened with moisture. Her hooves were still clad in the red horseshoes, their soles caked in sand, the red leather scuffed bare in places, and slightly squishy with water as her hooves moved slightly within them, though they defiantly held their shape and their hardness nonetheless, albeit with the hardness of new shoes which had only been broken in recently.

However, she was still, and she was alive, just. She shivered with cold as she returned to consciousness, only her back was warmed slightly by the morning sun, but the rest of her body was frozen from her near-drowning in the lake. She was exhausted, and didn't move for a while, even after waking, not caring if the waves continued to strike her hind legs and flanks, making her tail look like golden seaweed for how wet, slimy and drenched it was.

She lay there, her chin sunk slightly into the lake-darkened sand, her eyes tiredly peering at the stretching beach, then at her nearest hoof and the magic shoe upon it: It was still, though her leg lay sprawled out and her hoof was not upright on the ground. An even colder sense of dread passed through her as she theorized the shoes couldn't make her dance if they weren't flat on the ground properly, but wondered if they would make her stand if she chose never to move again. She didn't expect their magic to have gone, and she lacked the energy of body or magic to see if she could remove them with hoof or horn. She'd happily chew off her own hooves if they were to make her dance forever even after all of this.

Chewing... Oh, she longed for some breakfast. By this time in the morning, she'd normally be nursing a mild hangover, trotting down to breakfast, possibly having some daisy toast and a bowl of oaty porridge with the appetite she had right now. Her mother would've likely rang up by now, doting on her as usual, and she'd have happily shrugged her off; she ate healthily, she studied well, and she was mayor of Manehatten, and her life couldn't have been better for it.

Tear formed in her eyes: Everypony's going to think she's dead now, and she could only wonder as to what Manehatten was going to do; perhaps they would hold an emergancy election, and get a new mayor up as soon as possible. Could they do that? She knew only of a few ponies who'd even be able to handle a job at such short notice. Otto was the first pony which came to mind, he had the experience of age, and the skill to manage Manehatten, and he'd always had so many plans for making the city great...

She couldn't just stay here, she needed to get back. She needed to try to set things right, and let everyone know she was okay.

"Please, shoes..." She spoke weakly. "Please just let me find somepony to help me..." Shakily, and with aching limbs, she rose to hooves, shaking off some of the water which hung on her fur and clothes.

Immiediately, she felt her hooves begin to tap in the sand, as though tapping along to a silent rhythm. After her first step, the shoes instantly began to take over... Except, less. When they first took hold of her body, it was like an invisible force was shaking her around; the shoes were so fast, so fluid and so energetic, she could barely even stay on the ground as her shoes bounced her around. Now, they forced her steadily along, but the dancing was slower, weaker, almost more like a magic skipping with the occasional bit of flamboyance or a slight hop to her step. A flicker of hope sparked inside her, even in this dire state: The water had damaged the shoes! The spell which made her dance had weakened with her near-drowning! What's more, the shoe's had lost their grip on navigating her as well. So long as she allowed them to dance, or even willed her legs to dance in step with her hooves, she had some slight control over her own movement, if only the direction in which her legs took her.

She considered trying to use this to kick the shoes off and possibly free herself, but before she even tried she knew it was a folly: She could feel them cling onto her in their snug tightness; whatever magic was keeping the shoes stuck on her feet was far stronger or better cast than the magic making her dance.

Her head hung low with exhaustion and her dress and hair hung limp as she made her way off the beach, leaving hoofprints in the sand, heading east as the shoes continued their perpetual dancing. She saw moutains in the distance, and she gulped in fear: If they were the mountains she thought they were, this was once a home to a large dragon, and beyond that was Froggy Bottom Bog, and then, if she could somehow survive all that, Ponyville...

Author's Note

She lives...

Chapter Three: Opportunities Glimmer.

* * *

Another morning, another hangover, another reason why Manehatten's coffee and doughnut vendors were doing so well in these troubled times. Otto hated mornings.

It was on this particular morning, when he was still in a dressing gown and slippers, telekinetically shovelling cereals down his gullet on what he'd hoped would be a slow day, news landed squarely on his lap to force him to action.

There was a loud banging on his front door, and the white unicorn groaned.

"Who is it?" he barked, shuffling over to the door. Opening it, he was greeted by one of his griffins. "What is it?" He yawned. "It's Saturday. I know I'm the mayor of Manehatten, but I take a break from plans of world conquest on Saturdays." The griffin chuckled, unaware at just how literal his boss was being.

"Forgive me, sir. But you wanted us to keep an eagle eye on things in the city? Well... The Princess of Friendship, she was seen exiting a train in Manehatten Grand Central Station with five other ponies."

Otto blinked in surprise, shaking himself awake. "Sparkle?! She's HERE?! Well, don't just stand there! Delay her or something! I need to put something together for her and her friends! Either she's just here for... Some arbitrary reason, or she's keeping an eye on me. I want to figure out what she's up to."

"What do you want me to do when I find her" The griffin asked.

"I don't know! Book a table at a restaurant or something! Give them theatre tickets, just do what you can to sweeten the deal for them until I can meet with the princess in person! Go, now!" With that, he slammed the door in the griffin's face, groaning loudly: He could've been sitting in his favorite chair, sipping wine and reading one of his favorite classic novels, but NO! He had to play nice with the very ponies who could sink him if this all went wrong; well, there went his weekend...

Only in the days of college had Otto had to get up and showered so quickly. There was nothing like unexpected news to wake up a pony. He threw on his best suit and trotted off to meet with the Princess of Friendship.

Otto admired Twilight Sparkle, many ponies did, though he had very specific reasons: Here was this unicorn, a young, scholarly unicorn, taken under the wing of the Princess Celestia herself, and groomed into Alicornhood, ascended into a near demigod figure, but born a mortal; a powerful mortal, with magic unlike most other ponies, but her very existence made reality the fact that it was in fact possible: Ordinary ponies could become demigods. He just had to figure out how he could replicate it...

"Ah! You're majesty!" He smiled, bowing before the princess and her friends. "Please allow me to offer you and your friends my most humble welcome back to my city."

He was roughly familar with her friends, but his interest in them was sorely lacking; frankly, the only one of real significance to him was Twilight.

Out of all of them, one of them looked terrified of everything, two of them looked bored stiff, and one of them wouldn't stay still, jumping between gleeful hopping and suspicious glaring; the only two truly interested in being invited to City Hall was Twilight, and her unicorn friend known as Rarity, who seemed utterly infatuated with the city as a whole; her impassioned gushing over the decor of the hall, and its intricate artwork on the ceiling, served only to bore one of the other ponies, an orange, hat-clad earth pony, even further; Otto didn't care much for that one, or the pink one for that matter. The blond-manned, hat wearing Earth Pony Otto was going to mentally refer to as 'Farm Pony' seemed to hold a hoof full of careful skepticism, and the pink pony simply creeped him out, as though she knew something the others didn't: Otto made a note that he'd have to keep an eye on those two.

"Thank you." Twilight smiled. "It's very kind for you to offer us a tour of your city hall."

"And dinner. He also said dinner." Rainbow pony added, floating alongside them and refusing (to Otto's quiet annoyance) to walk properly on the ground like everyone else.

"Yes, Rainbow." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying about your stomach for now though, please? It's impolite."

"But..."

"Come on now, Sugercube." Farm Pony interrupted with her hillbilly accent. "Ah'm as happy to get a free lunch as the rest of us, but Ah don't get all the fuss now. We've all been here to the big city before, but they never rolled out the welcome wagons like this then?"

Otto scoffed. "I wasn't mayor back then."

"Oooh!" the gushing unicorn with her... Blast it... Her admittedly quite lovely mane suddenly spoke up. "You mean Paver Goldstreets?! Oh, my, that darling had such a magnificent taste in dinner gowns. She was positively wasted as a politician! She was positively the heart of Manehatten!"

"Wait." Twilight added. "Wasn't she still set to serve as mayor for another two years? What happened to her?"

"Didn't you hear?" Otto spoke with convincing sadness: "She died... She, she fell off her yacht a few nights ago... She drowned because her gowns and everything was too heavy for her to swim to the surface in."

The group fell silent.

"Oh, my..." the white unicorn's (Blast, what was her name? Charity? Clarity? Rarity? Yes, that was it!) voice fell solemn. "Forgive me. The news had not reached us in Ponyville yet. Such a tragedy."

"Yes..." Otto nodded. "She was a great admirer of all of you, but she was a very young mayor, one of the youngest Manehatten ever had. She was simply too busy trying to stay on her hooves to give the defenders of Equestria a proper welcome as they deserve. Me? I'm not going to be making that mistake."

The tour continued on without any further series issue. Otto was only too aware that he had to keep in the good books of these six ponies: The pink one already seemed to distrust him, muttering and giving him glares, but the others seemed to assume it was part of her characteristic 'randomness', much to Otto's relief and Pinkie's frustration.

Otto was very curious to hear some of the stories that Princess Twilight had to share with him as the six friends and the Manehatten mayor shared dinner. Many were primarily of the exploits of Twilight and her friend in Ponyville and beyond. Some of it was quite mundane, but others stories and ponies? Well, they were very interesting indeed.

"So, tell me more about this Starlight Glimmer." Otto asked the princess over the table. "A unicorn who could... Steal cutie marks?"

"Oooh!" Pinkie squealed. "She was a mean meanie pants. I warned everyone that her and her creepy town's smiles were bad news, and then we had to eat these really horrible muffins! I was like 'Me?! Why Meee?!' and AJ was like 'Ya' gotta' do it, Pinkie, you got a bigger mouth than all of us.' and then I was like all urrrgh..." she gagged, and Otto took it as an opportunity to get back onto the topic he really cared about.

"But she stole all your cutie marks, and... Rendered you powerless?"

"Not just powerless." Twilight replied. "It robbed us of our entire identities."

"Sure did." Applejack added. "I couldn't even do a countryism if it would'a won me a last chance saloon rodeo."

"It was totally uncool." Rainbow Dash agreed. "We had to rely on several other ponies to get them back. It was soooo humiliating. I'm meant to THE best flier in Ponyville, and I couldn't even get any speed on!"

"I..." The extremely quiet yellow Pegasus known as Fluttershy squeaked. "...I couldn't understand the birds."

"I'm sorry?" Otto gave her a confused look, not quite hearing her properly.

"I... I can talk to animals, but I couldn't when I was under Starlight's spell." She answered with only slightly more volume to her soft voice.

"I see..." Otto nodded. "Sounds... Awful."

"Oh it was!" Fluttershy squeaked again, louder still, and yet it was barely as loud as a polite inside voice. "She kept us all locked up in this tiny little room, and made me lie about turning on my friends, and, and, she tried to make me turn in some of the other members of her village. It was so horrible!"

"I can imagine." Otto frowned. "I assure you, I'm very keen to meet this Starlight Glimmer. I'd want to have a few words with her, that much is a promise."

It was a promise, through and through: A charismatic cult leader of a pony, with exceptional magical powers, and a spell which could remove cutie marks and render a pony powerless?! He needed that spell, and as he waved the six friends taxis to a nearby hotel after their dinner at his home, he immediately hatched a plan.

To the magnificent Starlight Glimmer,

News of your magical talent, fantastic leadership skills, passionate charisma, and hypnotic beauty have reached my ears, and compelled me to write this letter to you. If you are reading this, Celestia has been kind, and allowed my courier to find you. I would humbly invite you to Manehatten, as it would make my heart skip a beat to lay eyes upon you, and share with you my plans on how, together, we can better my home town of Manehatten, and perhaps later on the entire of Equestria. With your magical skill, and my considerable resources, we could truly bring about a harmony to this land, unlike any other which has been seen before, or shall ever be seen since.

Most excellent Starlight, if my words compel you as you've compelled me, please come to Manehatten and find me. I have attached directions to where and when we should meet, and negotiate on our plans. I ask only that, upon reading this letter, you burn it immiediately after, for I have met the demagogue, Twilight Sparkle, and know her to be an incidious and clever pony, who would surely seek to undermine us both if word reached her that I sought your aid.

Yours sincerely,

A Distant Admirer.

Otto exhaled slightly as he hovered the letter slightly above his desk, quietly reading it back to himself, checking it for any spelling errors or mistakes. Satisfied, he placed the letter in an envelope, sealing it with a plain wax seal, unadorned with crests or markings, lest it incriminate either party in the event it was intercepted by someone who's eyes weren't intended to ever know of this letter's content. With that, he levitated the finished document to Fleetwood, dropping it down into his saddlebag: He was a loyal, but clever servant, and if anyone could find the mysterious Starlight Glimmer, after she'd gone into hiding after the revolt in Ourtown, it would be him. Oh, what an unexpected turn this had been; it was not in Otto's original plan to recruit this strange, cultic pony, but it was an opportunity he dare not miss...

Chapter Four: Starlight Meetings

For once, Otto was not drinking before going to bed; he wanted to be sober tonight, for this was the night he, hopefully, would be making contact with the mysterious Starlight Glimmer. There was a lot of potential for things to go wrong, and having a fuzzy head would only tempt fate. And yet, the excitement of the unknown pushed him forward, throwing on his best suit, buttoning up his favoured black, pinstriped shirt and a tie. The advantages of a pony-controlled weather were immense, and he'd chosen this night specifically for a reason: It was scheduled to be raining. He completed his outfit with a large, heavy rain cloak which covered his cutie mark, and his face, perfectly; a useful contingency, and a plausible sight for those passing by.

The rain as heavy, pattering down upon Otto as he waited, hoping his contact would appear at the time he'd set. The location was a small, quiet plaza with a fountain, which continued to gush quietly behind him as he stood near it, under the light of a lamppost. He'd been waiting for a few moments now, and a part of him was starting to regret the choice of weather: It was very cold, and far wetter than he'd been expecting. Fortunately, old habits died hard: Taking out from his jacket a small flask, he unscrewed it, and took a small swig of whiskey; it wasn't his drink of choice, but it was a drink which warmed him to the core with even a small mouthful. Satisfied, he hovered the silver flask back inside his coat pocket, sighing slightly.

Suddenly, he saw another form appear in the corner of the eye: Another pony, this one also clad in a cloak, though with each step, he could see the glisten of wet, pink hooves underneath the thick grey fabric, trudging through the wet puddles, before standing near Otto's lamppost: He was the only pony here, save for this other individual.

The other pony coughed slightly; it was a feminine cough, but not especially high in pitch: It was a slightly matured pitch, that much was for certain. Otto held his breath, he'd prepared a line that Starlight was supposed to say if this was indeed her.

"Wow." Otto remarked, his eyes flicking to the other pony. "I had not expected the weather to be this bad tonight."

She turned to face him. "Well, it's your fault for not reading the weather schedule properly."

That was it, the line. "Starlight Glimmer?" Otto spoke in a hushed tone.

"Who's asking?" She replied.

"A friend. Come with me." He turned, and walked down the street, hearing hooves trotting behind him confirmed that she was indeed following behind him.

He led her to a small cafe, near its closing time, but he knew it to be safe; the pony at the counter was on his payroll, the normal pony at the counter was feeling... unwell, and had been so ever since somebody had poked him in the leg with an umbrella the day before.

The two ponies sat down in a quiet, darkened part of the cafe, away from the windows; on que, the cafe pony trotted up with a pot of tea and some cake, before locking the cafe doors and hurrying off to the back room.

"You didn't answer my question." Starlight spoke again, pulling down her hood. "Who are you?"

With that, Otto pulled down his hood. "As I said, I am a distant admirer. Though you can call me Otto." He smiled, she was a prettier pony than Twilight's description had betrayed: She wore her mane in a sort of tied up fashion, like a strange combination of a bun, and yet not at the same time. It was fascinating, and indeed, she did look very good. "In short, I'm the mayor of this city, and I was hoping you could help me with a few things, which I would very generously reward you for."

She raised an eyebrow, giving him a look. "And, if you claim to know who I am, you know what I do?"

"I do indeed." Otto smiled. "Your spell is fascinating. A spell which could remove cuite marks and leave ponies without powers or identity?" He chuckled. "A pony like me could use a spell like that very much." He looked around. "But tell me, which one was it?"

She blinked. "Which what?"

"Which prison? Canterlot Dungeons? Alcatrots? Irongate? I know of only three prisons, ultramax security, where the warden is given a spell to help prevent the convicts from using magic, or brute force, to cause trouble." His gaze narrowed. "Did you grow sick of having to deal with scum, Wardeness? Or did you one day realize just what you could do with such a spell, which your fellow wardens had not, and would never would?" He smirked. "They couldn't if they wanted to. They couldn't betray Princess Celestia, could they? But you? You attacked, imprisoned, and tried to brainwash the Princess of Friendship. Something tells me you'll go very far to get what you want... So, what do you want? Because I don't believe the equality crap for one moment."

This took Starlight aback, and she snarled. "So you lied in your letter? You hold no respect for my harmony?"

"I never said I didn't respect what you were trying to accomplish. You brought a princess to her knees, with one spell, and managed to create a cult with nothing more than your charm, and a prison disciplinary tool. But I don't believe you're doing it for equality, and it's very convenient that you didn't cast that spell on yourself. They do generally put the spell into a rod or a staff, so non-unicorns can use it... But, there are those who prefer to use magic the proper way." She huffed, defeated. "...But, I suppose there's a certain kind of harmony in what you did... What if, you could do that to an entire city?"

This brought a deadly quiet to the air. "An entire city? You'd allow me to equalize an entire city?"

"Yes, this one. There are eight million souls living in Manehatten. Seven of those millions are ponies, the rest are other races."

"They'd never vote for you again if you did this to them." Starlight snapped. "And what of the Princesses? Twilight Sparkle knows me, and she'll knew exactly what's going on. You'll lose your mayorship, and the princesses will throw you into a dungeon for certain!"

"Will they?" Otto didn't stop smirking. "What if I was to tell you that, soon, Manehatten may just become an independent city state, with me as it's Grand Prince?"

"I'd say you were crazy." Starlight snorted.

"...And what if I said you could be it's Grand Princess?" Otto continued. "Grand Princess Glimmer. It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"This..." Starlight was on the ropes now, he could tell. "This is insane. This isn't anything like what I was planning to do."

"Oh, really? This is just one other extreme on a scale. Harmony through everyone being equal, or perhaps harmony through a strict hierarchy? That's something you took from prison."

"But. You can't be thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"What? Fascism? Please! We already live under a dictatorship, Starlight! Princess Celestia, a supposedly immortal goddess, has been defeated a grand total of four times in five years, she is not strong enough to defend Equestria from invaders. Her sister is emotionally unstable, and completely inexperienced in rulership after a millennium long banishment from our world. Princess Cadence is on the other side of the world, and has taken the Captain of the Royal Guard of Equestria with her. As for the Captain of the Royal Guard, he is far, far too soft to properly train an army, as can be seen in the woeful incompetence of the Guard, and the Wonderbolts, which are no better than an areal sports team!"

Otto took a break, his mouth dry from ranting, he took a sip of tea, and a bite of cake, before proceeding. "No, the reason he's now a prince at all by technicality is politics. Plain and simple. Princess Twilight Sparkle? She and her five friends are the only ponies with any real combat ability today, and power to defend Equestria. I met them yesterday, as have you. I am NOT trusting the security of this city to six ponies, one of which is so arrogant I'm amazed her head fits through doors, one is completely insane and dangerous unpredictable, and one of them is so damn timid she can barely even speak!" Otto quivered slightly, realizing suddenly that he was angry. It lasted for but a moment, however, for looking up, Starlight was now smiling.

"You hate them that much?" She asked.

"Yes." Otto spat conclusively. "I do. I hate them all, the six, and the princesses. Their short-sighted system is going to kill us all. I need to stop them before it's too late. I can't conquer all of Equestria, and I'm not going to. It's too big, and too loyal to Celestia. Manehatten is a start. It's got numbers, it's got resources, and it's in a perfect spot for trading. Glidedale and Glascow can trade with us for whatever goods Manehatten can't produce for itself. Starlight, please, this is the only chance we're going to have to save some of Ponykind once Celestia lets us down again. And it's not a matter of if, but when, I just know it!"

"And you think you can do a better job of ruling than she can?"

"I don't know." Otto replied. "But the citizens of this city voted for me, which is more than can be said of any of the Princesses. In that sense, I'm more of a legitimate ruler than they are."

"Perhaps, mayor..." Starlight replied with a coy smile. "Or is that Lord Mayor, if you're planning on reigning as a dictator, except still under the hoof of the princesses."

"Whatever you'd like to call me, but so long as I can call you 'friend'." He offered her a hoof. "Or at least... Ally."

"Very well. But I want to get started on equalizing our little ponies as soon as possible."

"Oh, hold on now. As you said, we must wait until the time is right. We need to secure Manehatten for our own ends first... And, you need to teach me the spell. Do this, and I'll reward you immensely."

She snorted. "Deal. It'll take a while though, it's not an easy spell to learn or cast. But together, we'll bring a new era of harmony across this city, and all of Equestria!" She shook his hoof, smirking. "Oh, and to answer your question. Alcatrots, that was my prison, my kingdom, and Celestia took it from me. If we succeed here, I'm taking it right back again..."

Chapter Five: Spelling and Glimmer.

Starlight Glimmer was on board with Otto's plan, and would begin teaching him how to use her equalization spell. Being able to rob a foe of their magical ability would be invaluable in combat! However, there was a problem...

"No, no no!" Starlight groaned, trotting up and down the room in which she was teaching the Manehatten mayor. "You're just as liable to blow up or equalize yourself at this rate. Oh, bother..." She poured herself some coffee. It was the day after the night they'd first met, and she'd not wasted any time trying to get Otto trained in her magic.

"I'm sorry." he snorted a response. "I'm surprised I'm having so much trouble with this spell. I'm not exactly a poor magician."

"Well, it would help if I could have a pony to demonstrate the spell on." Starlight quipped.

"You KNOW why we can't do that."

"We don't even have a proper spellbook!"

He huffed, slumping into a chair and pouring some coffee too. "Well, maybe we should take a break for a while."

"Yeah, and maybe you can teach me the Haycartt Method over lunch?"

Oh, yes, that. Much to Otto's frustration, upon the morning that Starlight had first come to his home under the cover of a disguise, she'd decided she wished to renegotiate their position, for she didn't trust Otto quite enough at first: She wanted a straight trade, spell for spell: She wanted him to teach her the Harcart Method, so she could enter books as Otto planned to. Initially, he'd been furious, furious at how she tried to re-write the deal. But, he'd agreed. This had made her happy, and she'd agreed to spend time trying to teach him first: An hour and a half later, they had not made much progress.

"So far, this is all I've got on the Haycart Method." Otto spoke, the pair of ponies sitting at his table in home; he set down two books, his original Haycart book from his collection, old and worn. "Some of the pages are missing. I've got contacts of mine trying to source me a complete edition of Haycart's studies. At this rate, I may have to have somepony break into Twilight's palace and steal her copy... Unless there's one in her tower in Canterlot... Hmmm..."

Starlight, her eyes glittering with gleeful curiosity, had opened the book with her magic, and was keenly looking through its aging pages. "Oh, this is lovely."

"Indeed." Otto nodded. "Haycart Packard was one of the finest writers and magicians of our age. A true innovator by anypony's standards. He was no legendary adventurer and hero like Starswirl, nor an enchanter like Metalbrook. No, he was a writer, and just a lover of good books." She nodded in agreement. "He writes in a way which is quite easy to understand as well. I expect you should be able to perform his spell very soon after we find a complete copy of his work, but you're free to borrow my copy for now."

"Really?" She asked, looking at the tome with no small supply of interest. "I can just, have it?"

"Of course. For as long as you need. I mean, we're friends, right?"

She chuckled. "Perhaps, we're close, but not quite yet."

Otto smirked. "Well, maybe I should offer you dinner? Help push you one way or the other?"

"Dinner?" she retorted. "You're asking me to dinner?"

"Maybe... I'm sure you eat, and I need you to trust me if this plan of mine is going to work."

"So, you're asking me on a date?" she asked. "You've known me for less than a day, and you're seriously trying to ask me out?"

"Hey. Give me credit: I'm a very ambitious pony. And a pony who knows exactly what he wants."

"Hmmm, I don't doubt it." Starlight rubbed her chin with a hoof in thought. "Well, Grand Prince, what would you suggest?

"I don't know." came Otto's reply. "I'm sure anything is better than those muffins you had to eat back home?"

"Oh. Those." She pulled a face. "Twilight and her lot told you about the catering in Ourtown, hm?"

"Yes. The pink one went to quite some length about it. Well, between her giving me funny looks, that is."

"Hm. She always was a suspicious one. She didn't trust me or my town for a moment." She looked Otto in the eyes, a hint of concern hidden behind that rich purple. "What do you plan on doing about those six?" she asked.

"Right now?" Otto frowned. "Nothing."

"Nothing?!" She took a look of shock at his answer. "The defenders of Equestria, an alicorn princess, and easily the most REAL threat we have to face, and you're going to just, what? Ignore it?!"

"I didn't say ignore it." Otto snorted. "No, why do you think I'm being so cloak and dagger? Starlight, they're oblivious. How deep into your clutches did Twilight and her friends slip until they realized they were caught in your trap?"

She chuckled. "Touché."

"All we need to do is keep a low profile. So long as Twilight and her friends do not become suspicious of us, we're safe. The second they start to investigate us, we'll be in trouble. If we're not strong enough to take them on in a fight by the time they're aware of our plans, we are doomed. Simple as that."

She frowned. "You know what. I changed my mind. I would like dinner. I'd certainly like to think about something other than the consequences of having to listen to another one of the princess' lectures should we fail. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, this is Manehatten! We've got pretty much every kind of food on the globe here... Though personally, I fancy Cowrean. I've got a bit of a hankering for noodles right now."

"That's certainly tempting, but I'd say wait until tonight. I want to see if one or the other of us can make any progress on our magic here."

That plan took up the rest of their daylight, with limited benefit: Starlight picked up the Haycart method quite quickly from the pages she had on hoof, though like Otto, she still couldn't yet cast the spell. Otto meanwhile was at least able to produce the spell, though he nearly blew up part of the empty drawing room they were using for practice in the process; he lacked aim at the moment, and it took him so long to actually fire the spell that, in theory, a sufficiently powerful unicorn could raise a shield to block the spell before he had a chance to fire: If that happened, the only way he could get through would be through trickery, or through using enough magical energy to simply punch through a unicorn's shielding. Both options were exhausting for Otto to contemplate after such a long time of practice.

...And so, the mayor of Manehatten, and a former prison warden turned cult leader, went to get noodles. The vastness of Manehatten could not be overstated, so it was easy for these two ponies to quietly blend into the large crowds, as though they were invisible: This was the same town where the Princess of Friendship herself couldn't even hail a taxi. Nopony was going to bat an eyelid at two ponies walking in a crowd, or sitting at a table in a Cowrean restaurant...

The pair had settled down in a quiet booth, where they dined on noodles and stir fry. The rest of the restaurant was pretty busy, the patrons all caught in the sway of watching several of the cooks in their cooking at an open kitchen contained within the square parimiter of the bar, nestled in the centre of the restaurant itself.

"Hm." Starlight nodded approvingly as she took a bite of her food. "Not bad. Not bad at all..."

"Indeed. It's one of the perks to living in a city like mine." Otto agreed. "I suppose you never quite had as much diversity back in Ourtown?"

"Hey. I was never against diversity." she protested, taking a sip of a small glass of rice wine. "We had unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, all from all over the place... But, everyone had to be equal... Sadly, with their cutie marks went their ability to make foreign quinine..." she sighed. "Celestia above, I missed food that didn't taste like dirt."

"So why did you put up with it?" Otto asked, giving her a look.

"For the same reason as you doing what you're doing." came her response, he saw him smirk slightly at that. "I'll leave you to make of that what you will."

Otto chuckled. "Because you thought it was the right thing to do?" he finished.

"Oh, yes. Of course." She rolled her eyes. "The princesses, the Six, they're all going to make pariahs out of us if they find out about this, you know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I told you, this is why I'm keeping everything under cloak and dagger. I even have means to avoid Princess Luna snooping on me in my dreams."

Starlight eye's brightened at that. "Oh? Really? How do you do that?"

Again, Otto smirked, hovering a bottle with his horn, and topping off her drink with yet more wine.

Starlight chuckled, taking the glass with her own horn. "Ah, I see.."

It was here, as their date drew to nightfall, where Otto's habitual night-time drinking proved to be quite helpful: He was very much fine, if a little fuzzy; Starlight however was getting more and more drunk on the same amount of liquor. He smirked to himself: He imagined an Eastern pony could hold her drink better than that.

She wasn't actively binging on Cowrean rice wine, she was only keeping up with Otto, and yet now, in their booth in the restaurant, she had slumped up against the warm, off-white fur of Otto's leg and side. He'd removed his jacket, draping it over her back with his magic.

"It seems you've not drunk in a while, hm?" He asked her.

"Huh, what?" She looked up, slurring slightly as she spoke. "No, no, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy, that's all."

"Of course." He smirked. "And the room's not spinning that much either, is it?"

"Not that much." she nodded. "I mean, oh... blast." She huffed. "Oh, your furs soft..."

"Okay, time to get you home I think." Otto scoffed. "You need to sleep, I think."

"Oh, I could do far more than just sleep right now." She giggled slightly as Otto helped her up. "Especially with those fine flanks of yours."

Otto fought off a blush and smirked. "And you'd slap an equals sign on those flanks the morning after if I did." he replied. "You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the sofa. I don't know if you have digs of your own nearby, but I'm not having you wander around, drunk, at this hour."

And so, the mayor of Manehatten found himself carrying home a very drunk, very sleepy Starlight. His old townhouse was closer than his flat in the city hall, so, while the pink unicorn clung to Otto, whispering suggestive temptations in his ear, he took out his house keys with his horn, inviting her inside. Apparently, Starlight Glimmer was a flirty drunk, and Otto found this amusing, lightweights...

She might well have been very pretty for her stiff, formal appearance, and Otto was certainly tempted to crawl into his bed with her as he laid her down and tucked her in, watching her fall asleep almost instantly. However, while tipsy, he hadn't lost his sensibility; he left her there to sleep off her drink while taking some blankets and a pillow to try to make his sofa more comfy: He also made a mental note to have some water and painkillers on hoof for the morning hangovers they were both inevitably going to have...

Author's Note

Image in this chapter was created by FullMetalVocaloid on DeviantART, and can be found here: http://fav.me/d9gkxzp

Chapter Six: Shipping and Handling

* * *

Otto was woken by Celestia's sun, her rays pouring though his living room windows, resting upon him, his blankets, and the one hoof of his back leg which had been having over the end of the sofa the whole night, tingling as the limb had gone dead in the night: It had been a long time since the white unicorn had had to sleep on sofa, and memories of how uncomfortable it was had long since passed. Just as he predicted, Otto awoke with the dull throb of pain in his head from his hangover; it was not an unfamiliar feeling for him to wake up in the mornings.

However, it took him but a few seconds to remember why he was on the sofa: Otto's home before he moved into the City Hall was a fairly small row house in the otherwise old and prosperous; it was a two-story house, with one bedroom, and one bathroom, an en-suite: He remembered his guest as he approached the door to his bedroom, hoping to use the bathroom, and finding Starlight sleeping in his bed. It was a good thing he'd slept downstairs, she was a snorer; then again, so was he.

He arrived just in time for the alarm clock to start ringing. He heard the unicorn instinctively swipe and it the alarm clock with her hoof, mumbling to herself, before sitting up and groaning: Yep, Otto recognized the face of a hungover pony when he saw it, and Starlight's head must be splitting at the moment with the look she gave that alarm clock, and then him.

"Oh, my head." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I'd forgotten that you'd brought me to your house last night..." She winced. "Did, did we...?"

"No, no we didn't. I slept on the sofa." Otto quickly responded, feeling a noticeable pain in his back which, hopefully, was quite apparent in his grimacing face. "...I'm paying for it now."

She scoffed. "Hmf... How much did I drink? It feels like another horn is going to break out the front of my forehead."

Otto chuckled. "Only as much as me, but enough for you to be more than a little suggestive."

Her eyes widened, and she fought off a blush. "Damn it."

"You'd had about as much as me, but I'm quite good at handling my liquor." Otto spoke as Starlight climbed out of bed, stretching out her legs with each step.

"Oh, good, so you got a clear head to see me make a fool out of myself?"

"No, no. You actually did a pretty good job keeping up with me." The stallion smiled. "And to be fair, another bottle or two, and my inhibitions would probably have gone out the window as well."

In the midst of her hangover, Starlight still managed to muster a coy smirk. "So you were tempted?"

"Of course. But I sense you're the kind of pony who'd kick me in the crotch the morning after if I took you up on it while under the influence." He held open the door for her. "A wise pony waits, and then offers to make breakfast for the mare the morning after... An ambitious pony starts contemplating the second date."

She scoffed. "Let's start with breakfast, and work our way up from there.

So, he took her back downstairs, made her breakfast, and brewed her some coffee to try and fight off the hangovers they both had. He wasn't amazing at cooking, but his meager efforts at porridge and toast did seem to impress her: He hadn't forgotten that, after years of eating whatever Ourtown was brave and poor fated enough to call 'food', one would make a pony grateful for literally anything else.

"I suppose, now the weekend's over, you're going back to plotting to take over the world?" Starlight asked between mouthfuls of breakfast, her eyes set on Otto from the other side of the dinner table.

"Oh, not quite the world, but yeah, it's Monday, and duty calls."

"And what about me? What am I supposed to do while you're off being mayor?" She didn't look impressed. "Where do I stand in your big plans? I know you want my magic, I want yours, that's a fair trade. But I'm a part of this now, and I wasn't drunk enough to miss seeing you ogling me last night."

Otto stopped eating, wiping his mouth with a napkin, and sighed. "Where do you want to be?"

"I want in." She answered. "Ever since I left Ourtown, I've been on the run, and I've not had anywhere consistent to stay. I'm sick of it. I was the mayor of my own town, the leader of my own movement of ponies who could've changed the face of Equestria forever! Now, I'm a vagrant laid low by Princess Twilight." She grit her teeth slightly. "So, I want in on your scheme. I want to rule over a city with you, I want to be called Grand Princess like you promised, I..." She faltered, looking away.

"What? What else is there?"

"I..." She snorted, looking uncomfortable, and a little bit annoyed at herself. "...I kinda like you." She finally said, quickly adding. "But don't milk it, alright!? I'm grateful that you took me to dinner last night, paid for the lot, and took the sofa so I could sleep in your bed..." Her frown softened. "It's been a long time since I slept in a bed that comfortable."

He chuckled. "Sounds like you missed a lot of home comforts in Ourtown..."

"Hey, quiet you!" She snorted. "It was on the back end of nowhere, but it was MY town. We don't ALL get to be mayor of Manehatten."

"Well, yeah, fair enough. It took a lot of work getting to this point."

"Oh, I'm sure." she replied. "But tell me now, what about me? Because I'm not leaving empty-hoofed."

Otto frowned, mulling over his thoughts with coffee, before finally speaking. "...You like me? Well, I like you too. I admire you, and I admire your intellect and guile... When I become Grand Prince, I will need to consider my succession, because unless I get everything I want, I'll have to consider who will take my place when I'm too old to rule, or, die..." He sipped his drink. "It's yet another place where Celestia's reign if flawed. You see..." Another sip, then a sigh. "...Immortal or no... She has no heir."

"Heir?" Starlight frowned. "What about her sister? Or Blueblood?"

"Luna is emotionally unstable, as I said. As for Blueblood." He scoffed. "Luna is one thing, but do YOU seriously see Prince Blueblood as the ruler of Equestria?" He chuckled disdainfully. "He's no King Grover, I'll tell you that for nothing..." his chuckle past. "No... Starlight. Celestia doesn't have any children."

At that moment, Starlight got it. "Oh." She crumpled her face in disgust. "Oh! Right, I see what you mean."

"Relax, Starlight!" Otto snorted. "If I was more interested in having foals and fillies above your own feelings, why would I have elected to sleep on the sofa, rather than taking you up on your drunken offer last night?" He scowled. "It's too early to jump into such a thing anyway, we've only been on one date, and I'm not prepared to risk everything on rushing it. But... After hearing your story, and meeting you in person..." He sighed again. "I can't think of any mare I'd rather having ruling beside me than you... If that means I need to wait, then... Well, I've already waited ten years to get this far. I can wait a little longer."

Now, it was her time to sigh, a part of her looked defeated, but happily so. "So, what's the plan?" She finally asked.

"For now, my dear, we bide our time." Otto answered. "We cannot win a fight against Twilight and her friends, or the princesses."

"Speak for yourself." Starlight jabbed. "I equalized all six of them in one go. In hindsight, the only place I went wrong was I should've used water resistant makeup to hide my cutie mark."

"That is as maybe, but now they know exactly what to look out for when dealing with you, and without your equalization spell, I don't think either of us can defeat her combat magic." He smirked. "...Not yet, at least. Once I'm strong enough, then we'll strike out."

"And how do you plan to make yourself that powerful?"

"Oh, that's simple..."

With that, Otto produced another book from a nearby shelf, going through the pages and eventually settling down on a page under the chapter Magical Relics and Antiquities. Flicking through it, he found the page he wanted, explain his intention all the way...

"The Alicorn Amulet?!" Starlight gave him a look of bewilderment and mild horror. "You want to find the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Yes."

"The amulet which gives ponies unimaginable power?"

"Yes."

"...And corrupts them the longer they wear it?"

"I'm prepared for that. I won't need to wear that amulet any longer than I have to. I just need its power once I have the theoretical spell I need to cast." He threw down a newspaper from Ponyville, with a picture of a blue unicorn, dressed in a purple hat, with a sinister black and red necklace around her neck. "...With that amulet, this unicorn... Erm, Trixie Lunamoon, was able to defeat Twilight Sparkle in a duel, before that insufferable librarian became an alicorn. That was the strongest any unicorn has ever been, and yet this Trixie was able to defeat her, and so much so that Twilight had to resort to trickery in order to defeat her." He scoffed. "Once I have that amulet, all I need is a spell. Once that spell is cast, the final part of my plan will be completed, and I can challenge the princesses themselves. Rainbow Power won't be able to stop me."

"And what spell would that be?"

Otto's grin was now gleeful, euphoric at the image of his succeeded dream. "Ascension."

Ascension: Becoming an alicorn. Once, such a notion would be madness. But it had happened before, twice! Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight were both ordinary ponies once; ascension COULD be done by an exceptionally talented or gifted pony: Cadence through the power of Love, though the thought of it seemed ludicrous to Otto, and Twilight through completing her studies under Celestia: She'd been groomed for princesshood from the very beginning. Otto was convinced in his theory: If he could find the exact spell for the transformation, he too could succeed: He could become an alicorn, and then truly be considered a prince, a true prince of Equestria; no idiot like Blueblood, or a weakling like Shining Armour. A real, ascended, alicorn prince.

Starlight did definitely seem skeptical of Otto's plan, but strangely, she made no attempt to challenge him on it; something he was expecting from a pony as strong as her, and yet, she followed his plan. He'd called his inner circle to his home for something of a clandestine meeting, where he planned to reveal Starlight to his most trusted allies within his government: Theo and his bodyguard, Fleetwood, Captain Adrienne, and Janine. What's more, he had a job for them, so this would bag two birds with one stone.

"Hang on, just a moment." Theo was the first to speak after his brother's update. "You're going to try to build a relationship with her, Starlight Glimmer?" He gave her a skeptical look.

"I told you, yes."

"But she tried to brainwash the Princess of Friendship!"

"Yes..."

"And she's completely ruthless and deceitful."

"Yes."

"And you met her only TWO DAYS AGO!"

Otto and Starlight exchanged looks. "I know, and we've talked about this. We're going to give dating a go, since there's at least something here. But, if all else fails, we both mutually profit from this relationship, even if... It doesn't really flower, so to speak. Starlight Glimmer is a very capable leader, and a skilled and powerful magician." He gave her another passing glance, a look which was as close to warm as he could muster under the circumstances. "...In any case, you might be the older brother, and you might have been brought up all religious and the like, but this is MY choice, and I'm YOUR boss. So I'd shut your trap if I were you, or you can leave. Whatever, but I wonder if the princesses would be interested to hear that you've been collecting tithes which not do the princesses NEVER ask for, but have been going strangely missing on their way to Canterlot."

Theo stammered, his mouth flapping like a dying fish. "I... I..." He scowled. "Fine, you callous little foal. But what else did you want?"

Otto snorted, brining his newspaper from the table. "This unicorn. Trixie Lunamoon. I need to speak to her, ask a few questions. I want her brought to me as soon as possible. This is not a kidnapping, Ashfeather, this is a meeting. I don't want loose ends."

The griffin snorted. "Do we know if she has any family? Any friends? Anyone who'll miss her if she's gone? If she doesn't, then what's the risk?"

"There's ALWAYS a risk." Otto hissed. "Just because we don't know she has them, doesn't mean she DOESN'T have them. Stay your claws, or else you'll get the bloodshed you're so keen to have."

"But what if she talks? Blabs that you were after her, and wanted to interrogate her for... For... What do you want from her anyway?!"

"I want to ask her about the amulet she's wearing in that picture." Otto responded. "It's magic, and I want it. She doesn't have it anymore, but she might have some leads on how I can find it... I fear our old friend Twilight has probably hidden it."

"It's the only thing she can do." Starlight suddenly spoken. "That amulet, so I've heard, is indestructible, and believe me, ponies have tried."

"Gimme that paper a second." The griffin spoke suddenly, snatching it and reading through it. "Boss, you're going the wrong. It says the task of hiding the amulet was left to somepony named Zecora, in the Everfree. A zebra..." She folded it up. "You don't want the unicorn, you want the zebra." She chuckled. "Come on, boss. A single zebra, living as a recluse in the Everfree. She's the perfect target." She grinned. "Let me send some of my boys around, we'll find that damn amulet."

"No." Otto scowled. "At least not yet. No roughing up ponies!"

"But she's not a pony, is she?" Ashfeather continued grinning.

"You curr!" Theo spat suddenly. "That zebra is an equine, and is just as protected by the rights and laws of this land as any pony! You'd do well to stay your tongue before you continue to insult our kind!"

"Your kind?! Oh, the timid little hypocritial pony dares to bring bigotry into this?! How many zebras do you see in Manehatten, huh? Your kind like to run around, frightened by anything which isn't just like you! Is there any wonder why my homeland is in poverty and squalor, while you lot live in luxery?!"

The unicorn and the griffin continued to shout at one another quite ferociously, causing Fleetwood and Janine to nervously back away. Otto rolled his eyes, looking over at a very cross looking Starlight, who eventually stepped in.

"QUIET!" She barked, easily louder than either griffin or unicorn. The pair froze, turning to look at her. Otto smirked at the sight.

"Heh, impressive voice." he commented, overlooking how she now seemed to have veins popping on her neck, and she'd messed up her mane in her shouting.

"Thanks." she she softened slightly at the compliment, before returning to the others. "...Anyway. If you both want to stop squabbling like a pair of troublesome fools, perhaps we can start acting like adults?!" They winced, she had quite the voice on her. "Captain Ashfeather. Your plan is Plan B. If the unicorn hasn't got any information for us, we'll go and rough up the zebra, but if we do that, we need to make sure there's no chance of this leaking out. It is a LAST RESORT. But, we may need you and your men to put the hoof-screws on if this blue unicorn refuses to play ball."

The griffin was not impressed, but nodded. "Fine. But this better not affect my pay."

"It won't." Otto interjected. "I assure you."

They concluded their meeting, and the higher-ups of Otto's minions hurried out the door, though Janine had loitered after all the others had gone. That was fine by Otto: He quite liked Janine, and she had a habit of brightening his day. She was like a puppy, a puppy who talked about her home life, and her mum, quite a lot: It helped Otto to relax, and distract himself from his own problems for a little while.

"...And it's just unfair. Even my younger sister has got her cutie mark before me, and she's only eight!" Janine continued her long, long rant at Otto, who sat quietly and listening a cup of tea held afloat with his magic. "My mum keeps saying 'oh, don't worry Janine, you'll get your cuite mark when your ready'. But I'm sixteen years old, and I've still got nothing to show for it! Urgh, I must be the oldest unicorn ever to not get their cutie mark."

"Oh, I wouldn't panic too much." Otto responded, pouring her some tea from a pot. "I've heard of far, far older ponies not having their cutie marks."

"You're bluffing." She gave him a look. "There can't be! Right?!"

"There was indeed. I don't remember her name, I think it started with an A... But, she was... Definitely at least an adult."

"Oh, by Celestia..." Janine looked quite disconcerted.

"Don't worry so much about it." Starlight offered. "The deseperate need for ponies like you to have a cuite mark is itself pretty harmful. Fillies and colts like you would be far happier if you didn't worry so much about vicariously living though a picture on your flank."

The young red unicorn looked very skeptical. "Easy for you to say. You've GOT your cutie mark."

"And how much hardship, struggle and effort did I have to put in to get it? I'd have had far more time to relax and actually enjoy myself if I hadn't have even bothered. Nobody in my town cared about sharing a common cutie mark. Everyone was equal, and it was lovely... Well, until we ran across a few problem guests." She frowned.

"So... In a way... You could give ponies cutie marks?"

At that point, Otto interrupted. "Okay, I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here." He chuckled.

"Indeed." Starlight added, briefly flicking her gaze with mild but forgivable annoyance at her companion. "Unfortunately, my spell doesn't actually work on blank flanked ponies. There's no mark to take away in the first place. It's rather like fishing, in that regard. One can cast their line into any body of water they life, but if there isn't a fish, you're not going to get a bite."

Janine didn't look terribly impressed: It was normal for ponies in her position to long for the day they got their marks, it was such a fundamental part of pony society, few could even contemplate life any other way: There was almost a sanctity to the cutie mark, Otto mused on his thoughts later that day, when Janine had long since left, but her conversations lingered on in memory; a mere mark upon the flank, somehow able to decide the fate and destiny of a pony by its mere appearance upon the body.

...Starlight's quest to sever the connection between a pony and their mark was noble, he concluded: At one point, she had genuinely believed she was liberating ponies from a suffering, freeing them from the fickle ties of cutie marks and destinies, and sparing the young fillies and colts from the struggles to seek them, and then live with what they might find. It was, however, a folly: Even Starlight Glimmer herself was caught up the cutie mark's trap, for she needed her mark, and the special talents it embodied, in order to wield that very same magic which used to crusade against them. Even if she converted every pony in the world, then converted herself for good measure, she'd be powerless to prevent the next generation from someday finding their own marks, and then she couldn't take those marks away from them: Destiny would always win in the end.

And that's why Otto knew he had to succeed: He too had been a late bloomer for his cutie mark. It was a strange mark at that: A black shield, and crossed swords. It wasn't common to have a shield as a mark, and weapons were generally not seen as good marks to have upon the flank either: Weapons, naturally, suggested violence, suggesting a violent pony, suggesting a bad pony, a pony one should not mess with. Well, perhaps people shouldn't mess with him, he thought. He knew now what his mark meant, what it had always meant: A shield, to defend his people from the incompetence and serial failures of the Princesses, and to protect said ponies from themselves if needs be; and swords, long and sharp, to cut down anyone and anything which would threaten to undermine his efforts.

It was harsh, he knew. He'd already killed one good pony on his quest, with red shoes replacing the executioner's blade. But it was too important to be sentimental about. He had to succeed! Failure would leave his people, his city, under the eternal rule of a cake-eating fool and her hysterical sister! Failure couldn't be in Otto's vocabulary! There was no room for such thought: This was his destiny! ...At least, that's what his cuite mark had been telling him. He needed only to listen.

Chapter Seven: Make it Work.

Otto spent another night with Starlight after the meeting with his underlings. Starlight was currently homeless, so Otto had settled on letting her live in his old home, at least until she was ready to move in with him proper. He'd settled on staying with her for that night, the pair making the bold move of sharing the house's only bed: Nothing came of them sleeping together, but it was as much a trust exercise as anything else. She certainly seemed grateful for the fact he made breakfast the morning after. He did like her: He admired her strength and her cunning, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't deny that she was indeed a pretty pony. He couldn't know for certain, but her mannerisms at least seemed softer around him, like she wasn't giving him the full barrels of her commanding personality.

His minions had been working through the night to hunt down the unicorn named Trixie, so he could speak with her. Until then, all he could do was wait: He wanted to spend that time trying to build a bond with his new companion.

"So. Tell me about yourself." He asked the unicorn mare over breakfast. "I want to know as much about you as I can."

"Do you really?" She responded. "Well, fair enough... You remember when Janine was talking about still not having her cutie mark despite being 16?" He nodded. "I didn't get mine until I was 25."

Otto nearly spat out his tea at that, choking slightly. "What? That late?!"

"I know, I know. And people never stopped rubbing my face in it." she snorted, unable however to hide her hurt. "So I got a job as a prison guard, as I was always pretty good with magic, and I'm quite strong for a unicorn... I think I get it from my father."

"Your father?"

"Sollus Glimmer. An earth pony. Good with his hooves. Good at pushing ponies around. Good at breaking the law and robbing ponies. He was a bastard, and my mother hated him." She looked away for a moment, but only to take another sip of tea. "Don't try getting soppy with me about it. I had a much better relationship with my step-father. And I'm at peace with it all..." She sighed. "He helped my get my cutie mark, after all."

"Oh?"

"Yes, yes he did. You see, when I first got my magic, the power to take away cutie marks... His was the first."

Otto frowned. "You equalized your own father?"

"I'm not proud of that fact." she defended. "But he deserved it. It's not like I have a brother and a rich family of Manehattenite oligarchs."

"Oh, please." Otto frowned. "My father was Pluto Cratic, he was Manehatten's longest serving mayor, and the chairpony of Filliburton. All he did as mayor was fiddle the tax system for our family and his rich friends, and wanted Princess Celestia to invade Yakyakistan." He snorted. "He was about as good a father as you'd expect a psychopathic, corrupt pig of a pony to be. I hated him, even when I was his favourite, I still hated him. My methods are questionable, yes. But I do what I do for the good of the people of Manehatten. He only served himself."

"Hm. So, we both had the misfortune to be brought up with bad fathers?"

"Pretty much. My mother was Polly Tickle, but she died when I was young. Theo still remembers her though, that's probably why..." He sighed. "Why he's so sceptical of my methods. Apparently she was a good pony, I always wished I had more memories of her. Theo always told me she looked tired, like the reality of living with suck an unlovable pony as Pluto was slowly crushing her." he faltered, sighing, and taking a long drink of tea. "...Chalk it up as another reason I hate my father."

"I'm sorry. I'm not always the most sympathetic of ponies, but I understand how that feels."

"Forget it." He replied. "We ought to open up if we're going to make this thing work. So, that involves us sharing the good and the bad."

She turned to look at him. "And you trust me with all that? You know me, and everything I do, and yet you still trust me?"

"It's a risk, I know. But, if I trust you, maybe you'll trust me."

She looked down. "You really are trying to make this happen, aren't you?"

"I don't just want to get into a relationship for politics." He took some time to come to this answer. "...I, I want more than that." He winced. "Right, you know what? I think I need a proper drink, tea isn't going to cut it." He stood up. "This place has the mixed fortunes to be situated right next to a pub. Fancy joining me?"

A look of mild relief crept across Starlight's face. "I'd love to."

The pub in question, Marengo's Folly, was right next door to Otto's row house, and was quite a nice place, a little quiet now, but really, that wasn't exactly a bad thing. It was built with creamy standstone blocks and darker corners, which stood in contrast with the grey bricks of Otto's home. It was a cosy place, its walls lined with various shields and pictures, in memory of a long deceased war veteran of a conflict of the distant past.

Otto was a known regular to this place, so the staff had no qualms about allow him and his companion to the upstairs seats behind the bar: It was something of a VIP area reserved for people the staff liked. It gave the two unicorns a bit of quiet and privacy, as it was starting to reach the point where the main seating areas were getting a little noisier.

"By the way." Otto spoke, relaxing enough to start trying to be witty. "I'm counting this as date number two."

"Well aren't you ambitious?" Starlight remarked as she joined him.

"I have the resources to be ambitious, and something quite important to be ambitious for." he quipped. They were then joined by one of the bar staff, who had brought a small tray of drink to their table.

"I'll put it on your tab, sir." He spoke, and Otto bowed, causing the pony to leave them be. The unicorn smiled, taking a bottle of cider from the tray and crack it open with his horn's magic, he poured himself a cup, and offered Starlight the same.

"Is this really a good idea?" Starlight gave him a not unwilling look as she took the cup he offered, her tone betraying only a slight hind of nerves, but she was too strong a pony to let that stop her.

"Oh, contraire." he smirked. "I think it's a very good idea. Unless you'd like to do something else?"

She took a sip of drink. "Such as?"

"It's Manehatten. We've got everything here! And not to mention that we've got some of the best theatre in Equestria, right here."

"You know, having lived in a town with very little variety for as long as I did, suddenly being presented with all the choice in the world isn't exactly easy to process." Starlight said, a ponderous look to her face. "Anything you'd recommend?"

"Well, Lynx is always a popular musical, as is The Musical Hills and The Song of Angry Mares. That last one is about a revolution, you might like it."

She tapped her chin with her hoof before another downing of cider. "Well, I have always had a bit of a fondness for war and politics films."

"Oh?" Otto smirked. "Well, why don't we just go see one then? We've still got plenty of time."

"don't you have work to do? You ARE the mayor?"

"I told you, I've got time. I'll catch up on the workload later, but between that, and our plans, we're at risk of not having enough time to actually get to know one another better... That is if you want to?"

She went quiet, taking her drink with her magic and finishing it, setting the bottle down, and sighing. "Is that you offering? Because I'm not exactly rolling in bits right now. It's almost like you're trying to show off."

"Show off?" Otto chuckled. "Really. Show off? No. Impress you? ...Hm. Maybe. But in any case, I would be paying."

"Hmpf..." She went a little quiet. "Well, sure. Thank you."

"Not a problem." He replied as he got up. "Shall we go?"

So, in essence, they ditched that joint, and Otto took them in search of a local cinema. In all honesty, it matter not where they went, or even what they saw: The importance lay in the two spending time with one another, and in truth: There can be as much fun in slamming an awful movie, as there can be in enjoying a good one.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Starlight snorted as they left the theatre. "You'd think a film with a name like The Treasurer would be a serious film. But what do we get? A comedy about a half-wit idiot wasting Equestria's money."

"Indeed." Otto snorted. "What a stupid, unlikable protagonist." They trotted out, shoving an empty tub of popcorn into a bin, watching as equally unimpressed ponies also shuffled out of the screen room. "There WAS some nice shots of the Canterlot skyline though."

Starlight scoffed. "Is that you trying to defend the film?" she asked.

"Well, that, or justify its existence in the first place. Robb Trottingson has NO place in a political film. Come on, Otto."

He struggled to keep a straight face: He failed. "Okay, fine. That was a hilariously stupid choice of casting."

She nodded. "Hmmm, I suppose the popcorn was nice though."

"Yeah, and honestly, I was quite enjoying the company as well."

"Heh." She scoffed, not quite resisting as Otto brushed up closer to her side. "It's almost as if staying at the pub was the best idea. I know I'd certainly like for us to go get some drinks after that mess."

"hehe... Us now?"

"Oh, don't give me that. I like you. A lot." She watch his grin, and she fought off a blush. "But don't milk it!"

"Fine, I won't milk it. Let's just go drink off that terrible film."

And so, in a strange circularity to their day, they returned to Marengo's Folly, going on the logic that, if they were to drink the night away, it was probably safest to do so in the pub right next to Otto's own home.

The cider, beer and wine flowed quite liberally between the two ponies as the sun descended and the night arose. This night felt different to Otto, and he had far fewer inhibitions when it came to how much he drunk, and what he said as he did it. Indeed, it seemed to be a mutually agreed plan, and it certainly gave... Interesting debate.

"So..." Starlight slurred. "So... So what would yer' rather do? Marry Princess Celestia and become King of Equestria... OR... Or you overthrow the monarchy, make a republic and name yourself president, but you can only rule for eight years, tops."

"Oh, silly filly." Otto teased. "Both options are excellent if you know how to play the system... But, I don't want to marry Princess Celestia. I don't love the princess, and..." He wobbled about on his seat, beaming slightly. "...And, you know what, I don't WANT the princess. Not a bit! So, gimme the presidency. I, I can do a LOT, a WHOLE LOT, in eight years."

Starlight snickered, taking a wine bottle in her magic, which fizzled and shook as she fought to keep her horn alight in her drunken state; she poured yet more of the rich red into Otto's glass. "That, is the right answer." Again, she slumped up against his shoulder, sinking slightly into his white fur: A habit she'd gotten into in their time drinking. "So, now for question two... You, you said you didn't wanna marry the princess, you didn't want her. Hm? Why not?"

"Oooh, you don't know?" He chuckled.

"I have... Theories, but, but but I wanna hear it right from ShieldButt's mouth."

"What? ShieldButt?!" Otto laughed. "Just, jus' this once, I'm gonna let you get away with that..." He gently poked her chest with his hoof, slowly making circular motions in her fur. "...But sure! Let's pretend you dunno..." He blushed. "I want you. You, you are the most wonderful, prettiest little pony I've EVER had the good fortune to meet!" He slumped a little, the two ponies practically hanging off one another. "And, heh, I love you so much right now..."

She seemed to flicker for a moment, as if having a flare of doubt for a second, before she slumped deeper into his side, snuggling up a little. "Hmmm..." She breathed out somewhat. "I love you too."

"Ahaha, yes. Oh, this is good." Otto grinned. "So? How about we go?"

"Go?"

"Yeah, just, go."

"Go where?"

"Where'd you think?"

She looked up a little, no matter how drunk she was, she had a careful look in her eyes: She was letting her guard down, and the booze helped a lot in that regard, however, one could tell she was still out to be careful in taking a plunge. "I think you mean we go back to yours?"

"You'd be thinking right. What'd you say?" He asked.

"Hmmm..." She continued to torture him. "I suppose your bed IS awfully cosy..."

Otto leaned in, nuzzling her mane. "It's about to get even cosier..."

And that was that: Adding their drinks to his tab, Otto and Starlight shuffled out of the pub and back to his home. She was wobbly on her hooves, but then again, so was Otto: He was buzzing with excitement as well as alcohol. As he escorted his date to his bed, he concluded that, all in all, this had been a VERY good night, and for him, it wasn't quite over yet...

Chapter Eight: Dance's End, Part One.

Meanwhile...

* * *

A week: Paver had been forced through her endless dancing for a week now. It had been a strict routine her shoes had forced her into from the second they skipped and twirled her off the beach upon which she'd washed up. She gained respite only when her legs where physically too pained and too tired to move, whereupon she'd finally collapse, and be granted rest until her aching limbs gained strength enough to move again.

She had barely survived so far, and part of her was beginning to wish she'd simply drowned in the lake: At least her troubles would be over. The first night of her journey had been terribly frightful; the shoes had danced her up to Dragon Mountain, and the cave within which a large, red dragon had once threatened to shroud Equestria in a permanent cloud of ash as it slumbered atop a vast fortune of wealth and treasure. However, the dragon (and its treasure) had long since left the cave, and it had at least provided Paver with a shelter for the first night once her hooves gave out and she hit the floor. After that, they'd merrily skipped her down the mountain again, and into the Everfree Forest.

She'd survived only off wild berries and clean river water, all of which she had to quickly grab with her telekinesis as she passed them by. Once, she'd frolicked into a strange clearing, full of oranges... With limbs. Some had frogs legs, and hopped about, a missing wedge in their 'faces' opening and ribbiting like frogs; others had wings, and flew around like birds... But they were oranges! Fresh oranges, and Paver was starving... She'd never much cared for critrus fruits before, but now, she was so grateful for their rich, moist, fleshy fruit in her belly, it almost helped her get over the fact she had to kill the frogoranges and birdoranges, then pull off their limbs, in order to eat the actual fruit.

Her dress was ruined, plain and simple: Between being forced to climb mountains and force her way through thick brambles, bushes and forests, her gown was filthy, wet, and torn to shreds; indeed, the train of her dress was hung on the back of an especially nasty thorn bush it had become ensnared in, now leaving her hind legs and tail completely exposed to the elements; her fur had become matted and filthy, as was her mane, which was knotted and hung limply from her head and neck. Even the shoes themselves were suffering for their efforts, scuffed and scratched and caked in mud and dirt.

The effects of constantly dancing and moving were taking their toll on her body as well, leaving her malnourished and skinnier to show for it, her limbs were constantly sore, and she was quite convinced that the magic of the shoes was the only thing which was stopping her hooves from bleeding.

After a week of this existence, Paver began to wonder if she'd ever be still again, or indeed, if she'd ever see another pony again. Though she had some means to alter her direction somewhat, the shoes ultimately took her where they wanted to go; she wondered if it was a coincidence that, in her journey, the shoes had completely avoided any other ponies or settlements of any kind: The closest she'd gotten was prancing through fields between the mountains and the forests.

It was never going to end, was it? She was going to be dancing forever. Stuck in these cursed shoes, forever. She was never going to be able to stop; never able to stand still again, never able to go home, or live a normal life, or even see her family again. Her eyes were dry, but red and bloodshot: She'd already cried as much as she could cry about it. Now, she simply felt numb: There was no point crying, because that wouldn't change anything; there was no point hoping anypony would come and save her, because everypony thought she was drowned at the bottom of Lake Manehatten; there was no point being angry, because it was impossible for her to find out who did this to her, or indeed, do ANYTHING about it. She barely even felt fear anymore, because at this stage, dying would be a release; surely nothing could be worse than this...

And so came the present: What fresh hell did the shoes have in store for her today? The answer lay all around her. The forest thinned as she danced on, and everything became... Wetter; the air was far more humid, and the ground beneath her hooves was far, far muddy than before. Some parts of the ground was drier, and thus harder, while others were far more saturated and wet: Clearly, she'd been brought into a bog of some description. She shivered slightly as she moved: The air here was far warmer, and more humid than before, making the sweat and wet of her fur make her feel even colder than she'd first realized she was. There was more than that, however: Something about this place felt... Wrong, far more dangerous than anywhere else she'd been before. She didn't want to be here any longer than the shoes insisted upon.

The deeper she went into the bog, the more the ground beneath her hooves squelched, bubbled and gurgled. The ground was very soft, as one could expect from a bog. Each step she took, the ground seemed to get a little softer, and her hooves a little deeper into the muck. It was proving troublesome, even the shoes were struggling to keep up a pace: They were slowing down. The didn't give up, however, and almost seemed to make her dance more and more aggressively to force their host through the worst of the marsh... Or, force her into it.

Suddenly, the shoes made her jump into the air, almost as though trying to skip over a patch of the mud, landing on her hooves with a thick, heavy, splattery splash! Almost the second her hooves hit the soil, they sunk under the surface. Something was wrong: She wasn't dancing anymore. Her hooves were suddenly quite frantic, digging and struggling in the muck, but no matter what they, or she did, she couldn't move! She looked down feeling the cold mud bubble against the leather of her shoes: She was sinking.

Still, the shoes continued to fight and struggle. However, to her horror, this succeeded only in making her sink deeper and quicker into the mud, completely beyond her own control.

"Oh, no." Paver stammered. "Oh no, no no no..."

Something else began to change as the mud engulfed them, her ankles now sitting just above the mud's surface: The shoes were slowing down, losing their fight to free themselves. As the shoes finally stopped. At last, at long last, her hooves were still; this was NOT how Paver wanted it to happpen though: She'd gone from being trapped and nearly killed, to trapped in a different way, and if she couldn't get free, she was definitely going to die: If she didn't drown, she'd still be stuck in the mud; she'd starve, or die of dehydration, or cold. The mud, which now crept yet higher around her legs, was so damn cold, it was almost as bad as the sea itself, except she was too weak to use magic to escape this time.

"Help!" She cried out to the empty bog as she yet sunk even deeper. "Please! Somebody help me!"

She continued to sink, deeper and deeper, her heart was racing and newfound tears welled in her eyes: Not like this. She didn't want to die like this! She panicked, trying to pull herself free with all her might. However, this succeeded only in forcing her rear further down into quicksand, while her front half remained above the surface; losing her balance caused her front hooves to fall back into the mud, leaving her almost worse off than she'd been before. However, she'd stopped sinking: Her hooves had hit the bottom of the muck, now she was merely stuck in place.

She shivered in the mud: It was so, so cold.

"H-help..." She croaked, struggling to remain conscious. "P-please... Someone... H-h-help, me..."

Her visions was beginning to darken; she was exhausted, for the cold was sapping what was left of her strength. Her eyelids grew heavy, as did her head upon her neck. She closed her eyes slightly, not quite able to open them as fully again. Each blink of her eyes made her vision thinner as she blacked out. Just before she lost consciousness entirely, she thought she saw a form hovering behind the trees. It grew closer as she lost her vision entirely: The last thing she remembered hearing was a soft voice, speaking in alarm.

"Oh... Oh my..."

* * *

Author's Note

Image in this picture was created by FullMetalVocaloid and can be found here: http://fav.me/d9em6sy

Chapter Nine: Dance's End, Part Two

"...Froggy Bottom Bog? She looked like she was wearing the remains of some stupid dress! Like THAT was going to help her in the middle of a marsh!"

"It's a good thing there wasn't any extreme damage to her body, doctor. Those shoes are on so tight all the nurses on the ward couldn't get them off her. Even the bolt cutters didn't work! Yes, Miss Rarity, I know they're in a state, but we can't really DO anything about them right now. Miss Rarity, please stop trying to repair her shoes. She's supposed to be sleeping, you'll wake her up!"

"Erm... I, I hope she's going to be okay. I only went to go say hello to my animal friends, it's usually so nice and quiet there... Eep."

* * *

Paver stirred. She was warm... Did she die? Everythign was so bright, she was really warm, and cosy... Her head felt really light and pleasantly calmed... She was struggling to see properly, as her eyes were blurry, and adjusting to the light. As consciousness returned, she started to hear chatter, and activity, she started to see other beds, and ponies! She suddenly figured it out: She was in a hospital ward!

She looked around. A gloriously sunny day poured into the ward, which seemed pleasantly quiet, as only a couple of doctors, some nurses and sleeping patients populated the room. Her fur was clean again, if not especially glossy or well kept...

"Ah." A marble-white furred unicorn doctor with the name tag 'Consultant Dr A. G. Pergamon' spoke, trotting over to her. "Good, you're awake."

"Where..." Paver blinked, her head a little groggy. "Where am I?"

"You, my dear, are in Ponyville General Hospital. you're are quite an oddball, I must say." He floated a clipboard over to his face, reading it as he stood at her bedside. "And terribly lucky. You were suffering from pretty severe malnourishment, dehydration and hypothermia. If our town's local animal carer hadn't chanced upon you..." He frowned. "You were in a torn up dinner dress and dance shoes when she found you..."

Paver's eyes widened a little bit. She sat up, finding herself now dressed in a patient gown... And the shoes. "Oh, oh sweet Celestia!" She cried. "Get them off! Get them off me!"

A struggle broke out as the doctors and the nurses tried to restrain Paver and her magic as she tried, and failed, to remove her red shoes. She quickly found her head swimming, and she fell back on the pillow: Clearly, she wasn't yet strong enough for this sort of stress yet, and fainted.

Time passed, and she eventually woke up again: She was still in the same bed, with the same concerned doctor sitting over her, now a pair of nurses also on standby. Something dawned on Paver this time: She was still in the same place as she had been when she initially woke up... She was still. She remembered the quicksand: Her shoes had struggled and struggled, their movements grew weaker and weaker, before they stopped altogether. Could, could it be...?

"Ma'am." The doctor spoke, interrupting her train of thought. "What's going on? I mean, right now, we don't even know who you are."

Paver's heart continued to beat quickly, though she lay back in the bed. "Paver..." She answered. "My name's Paver Goldstreets..."

And so, she explained her story to the doctors: How she lost control of her hooves at a yacht party, how the shoes stuck upon her hooves threw her overboard and nearly drowned her, how she was forced for a week to dance through Equestria for a week at the mercy of the magic shoes, and how she nearly died in the quicksand of Froggy Bottom Bog. It created looks of deeper concern from her audience as she finished her story. That being said, she'd been sat there for a good long time now, and yet still she remained still, not forced to skip or dance at the mercy of the shoes.

"So... The shoes make you dance against your will?" The doctor asked.

"They did..." Paver looked down at her hooves. "But, something's changed... I, I've come to expect this for a week now, but... Is it over? I think the curse has worn off..." Sitting up, she looked down to the side of the bed... "Doc... Can, can I try to walk, please?"

"You should probably rest, you're still pretty weak."

"I know, and I'll get back into bed again if I can... But please, just let me do this..."

He frowned. "Fine, you can take a short walk, but don't disturb the other patients."

"Oh... I'll, I'll try not to, but... If, if I start, dancing, or anything, just, restrain me. I don't care what you have to do. Just, get me to stop or something." She sighed, quivering slightly as she shuffled over to the end of the bed. She pulled around her hind legs so she sat upright on the side of the bed. Counting down in her head, she took one final look at the shoes on her feet: She remembered them being scuffed, scratched and dirty, but someone had, while she slept, somehow cleaned and fixed them up so they were almost like new again. It did little to settle herself as she pushed herself off the bed and onto her four legs...

...They wobbled as she stood, her legs weak from all the stress of the past few days. She couldn't wipe the look of panic on her face as she stood there... And, nothing happened? No dancing, seeming no uncontrolled movements, she just stood there. She took a step once her legs strengthened somewhat; she moved forwards, and yet she retained control over her own movements. Nothing. Nothing at all! She felt a flood of relief and excitement flow over her, the only thing stopping her from skipping around the room for joy was the fact she'd been skipping and dancing more than enough for the rest of her lifetime, and the thought of doing it more made her feel sick to her stomach.

There were a few caveats, however: Another pony in the ward had turned on a radio in order to listen to music. As soon as the music reached Paver's ears, she nearly jumped out of her skin when her front left hoof suddenly began tapping to the beat; it was completely against her own will, and while she could force her hoof to be still, it took a lot of effort to keep her hoof still, as soon as she relaxed that effort, the shoe was right back to tapping to the beat again.

...Which led on, as Paver swiftly discovered, to caveat number two: The spell which had forced her to dance was somehow different to the spell which kept the shoes on her feet. Between her efforts, the efforts of the doctors before she woke and their help once she came to, the magical strength of both, and all the tools, saws, scissors and even rope at their disposal, her hooves remained completely and inescapably held inside the shoes, the spell which kept them fused to her was just as strong now as it had been when Paver had first put them on.

Time passed, and now she was reasonably fit and healthy again, some of the nurses had brought her some food (some chewy, disgusting food, but it was hot, and she'd not eaten hot food in a week!) and a hot chocolate (which WAS quite nice, actually). As she sat having her meal, she began to realize she had another problem: She was in Ponyville, very far from home; she had no money, she didn't know anybody here, and she didn't have any way to contact home whatsoever. She was alive, she was safe, but she was completely stranded.

She couldn't remain in the hospital forever, the doctors had other patients to see to, and sadly, she was taking up space, and she knew it. Thanking Doctor Pergamon, she walked out the hospital and into the perfect day of Ponyville. It was such a picturesc little place, with whitewashed walls and golden-thatched roofs; worlds away from the rows and rows of blocks, skyscrapers and densely packed communities of Manehatten. A part of Paver wished she could just stay here for a time, a little romantic view of escaping the hustle and bustle of the city, and perhaps setting up a farm played out in her head, but she knew it to be a folly: She was no farmer, and her place was Manehatten. In any case, if she didn't find a way back home, she'd certainly be stuck here for quite a while.

So Paver found herself wandering through the town, a bit lost to say the least. She found herself in the outside the village hall at the centre of Ponyville, looking around at the other ponies going about their daily business. A glittering crystal tower stood over the rooftops of the town, standing as quite an impressive sight, although not exactly in keeping with the village's rustic aesthetic. However, to be fair, it wasn't the only building which stood out, as some buildings seemed to deliberate go against the grain in terms of their architecture, sporting bright purple roofs; one building looked like a jester's hat, one was gloriously opulent and had a roof which looked like a carousel, and one looked like it was made of gingerbread, and smelled just as inviting.

It wasn't clever, as she hadn't any money, but she didn't mind at least taking a quick peak at the wares that gingerbread house bakery place seemed to be selling. She wasn't hungry, but she was curious. She trotted up to the store's windows, looking inside at the bakery's produce: A rich selection of cakes, biscuits and other treats, the likes of which Paver had not enjoyed in more than a week, and had suddenly realized how much she desperately missed such things.

Suddenly, she as happened upon by a bolt of pink which had, upon seeing Paver from inside the shop, homed in on her like a missile. "Ooooh! It's you!" The poofy pink pony squeed as she bounced around the former mayor pony. "You're the pony who Futtershy found in Froggy Bottom Bog! You're new around here, and I know, because I know EVERYPONY here in Ponyville!" She beamed as she continued to speak in a lightening pace. "I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Erm, err, hello. I'm Paver, Paver Goldstreets..."

"It's nice to meet'cha! I'm soooooo glad you came to see me! You're supposed to have your Welcome to Ponyville, Get Well Soon Party! Come on!"

Paver then found herself dragged into the shop by the truly elastic Pinkie; within the span of but a few seconds, she was suddenly in the considerably large store-front, which also seemed to double up as a regularly hired space for parties... Such as right now. She was quite frankly astonished at the sheer quantity of ponies who had managed to comfortably cram themselves into this floorspace.

Paver was in such a bit of a blur at the suddenness of her situation, she barely even registered the frivolity and cheering of the guests Pinkie had invited. For Pinkie, five ponies in particular seemed especially interesting... And a dragon, strangely enough, though it was very small, and seemed quite friendly.

"Hey!" She called out to Paver, beckoning her over. "Paver! Paver! Come quick and meet my friends." Paver nodded, trotting over. As she did, Pinkie turned to the other five ponies. "Hey girls! This is Paver Goldstreets! She's just come outta the hospital and she's all well again..."

"Hold on." One of them spoke... Wait... An alicorn!? Paver figured out very quickly just who she was talking to.

"Princess Twilight?" Paver's eyes widened. "Oh, sweet Celestia. I'm sorry! I knew there was an exuberant pink pony who was part of an extremely powerful band of six friends, but... How could she not figure out this was the Pinkie Pie?!?! Stupid, stupid Paver, she cursed in her mind.

"You, you should be dead?" Twilight gave her a look of confusion, and a little bit of shock. "You, you drowned? I was at Manehatten a week ago, and I was told the whole story!"

"Erm, Sugarcube?" The orange pony (Applejack, Paver quickly figured now she realized who she was talking to) interjected. "If ah' recall, Pinkie had been suspicious about that story the whole time. And, though she's a bit of an odd one, ah' reckon, now the old mayor is standing right here, it kinda throws everythin' into the pig muck. It'd be dumber than a doorstop on a freezer if we still believed Paver was at the bottom of Lake Manehatten." She frowned. "If Fluttershy hadn'ta come find me when she did, we'd have a dead mayor in the Everfree, and that's the truth of it."

"Oh, of course!" The only other unicorn of the group, Rarity, added. "It would've been a true tragedy. Paver dear was such a wonderful mayor, and with such a lovely sense of taste in style. I mean those shoes, darling. They're gorgeous, and they were in such a state when we found you... I could resist trying to fix them up a bit when the doctors weren't looking."

Paver frowned. "It's these damn things which nearly got me killed in the first place. They're cursed, and I cant get them off."

"Oh, my." Rarity winced. "I do apologize, darling. If I'd have known... I suppose it WAS rather odd the doctor's weren't able to remove them while we were there."

It was then Paver turned to see the rather quiet, butter yellow pegasus, who had not said a word so far. "Erm... Yeah." She nodded. "I'd only gone to take some frogs home, and to visit the local hydra..."

"A hydra?!?" Paver felt blood leave her face, leaving it pale in its absence. "There was a hydra in that bog the whole time?!"

"Oh!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Don't worry. Paul, George, Ringo and John aren't that bad. They, they usually have more arguments with each other than ordinary ponies. They're quite nice when you get to know them..."

"Nice!?!" The other Pegasus, Rainbow Dash blurted. "They tried to KILL you!"

"That was years ago." Fluttershy retorted, as closely as she could possibly get to shouting. "They were having a real bad day then, it wasn't how they normally are."

"Oh, feathers to that! And they have NAMES? You'll be giving names to that Cerberus next as well!"

"They DO have names! they're Shadow, Chance and Sassy, because HE'S the witty one!"

The little dragon looked increasingly irritated, and Twilight caught onto this quickly. "Guys, please, we're going off topic!" The group fell silent, and Twilight approached Paver. "The shoes are stuck to you?" Paver nodded. "Hmmm, let me try to fix that with my magic."

As the party continued on, Twilight quietly slipped upstairs with Paver to somewhere move private. She paced about slightly, a curious look upon her face. She turned to face Paver, the beige unicorn's shoe-clad hooves were enveloped in Twilight's purple magic. She felt a tug as Twilight tried to obvious first step, and simply tried to pull them off with magic: As expected, it didn't work, on any of her hooves.

"My, those things really are stuck on tight." Twilight commented. More magic, this time summoning one of her many books from the either with her horn's magic. She flipped through the pages at a lightening speed. "Aha! This should be it! I'll just use a counter-curse spell! It's supposed to be able to remove curses and magic from anything... Normally! We'll get those shoes off in no time!"

She charged a new spell with her horn, creating a bright glow of white magical light. She aimed at the hooves of the increasingly nervous Paver, and fired. The bolt of magic split into four smaller bolts, and each in turn flew at one of the shoes. The second they touched the shoes, the bolts suddenly bouched sharply off the surface of each one, pinging around the room at increasing speeds, knocking things off shelves, breaking things, causing a panic before they finally faded!

"It, it didn't work?" Paver blinked, giving a shoe futile tug with her magic.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Twilight spat, shocked. "That, that spell can remove a curse from anything! It should've worked!" Her pacing intensified, going around in a circle so much she was set to wear a hole in the floor.

"So, what, what do I do now?" Paver asked.

"I, I don't know." the alicorn replied, her tone softer, but shaky. "There's... Oh..." She froze. "...Oh."

"Oh, what?"

"There's, there's one thing which is resistant to the counter-curse spell... A binding spell, far stronger than a merger clinging curse... Whoever cursed your shoes... They've done it in such a way that only they can actually take them off again... Otherwise, the only way we can get them off is, well, whoever made the binding curse has to die."

Paver felt her blood run cold. "So... There's nothing you can do?"

"I'm sorry." Twilight apologized remorsefully. "Unless we can find out who did this... No. The binding curse is, well, it's banned here in Equestria for this very reason. It puts the victim completely at the mercy of the perpetrator. It's dark magic..."

Paver hung her head, feeling what little hope she'd allowed herself to have fade. Now, she felt angry again.

"It's not fair." She spoke. "I, I didn't do anything. I was never lazy, or corrupt, or incompetent as a mayor. I worked hard every day, and I was liked by the people of Manehatten... I..." She sighed. "I didn't even see this coming... I, I suppose it really was naive to think nopony would disagree with me."

"...I, I don't think this was done because ponies were unhappy with the way you ruled. We'd been to Manehatten before, and things were really good under you... Well... Err... Some of my friends told me people were becoming less friendly with each other the last time they went there, but... None of us would've seen assassinations coming... Ponies aren't supposed to mean and evil to each other."

Paver snorted. "And yet here we are." She looked up at Twilight. "Not all ponies are good, it seems. I'd have thought you'd know that?"

"I'm the Princess of Friendship." Twilight defended. "I can't spread harmony, friendship, happiness and everything if I'm constantly distrustful of everypony I meet." She saw Paver's skeptical look. "I know your hurting right now, but if you let it warp you, you're never going to have any friends."

The former mayor still wasn't terribly impressed. "Right... I, I don't think I'm up for a party right now. To be honest, I just want to go back home."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "We can get you on a train, and back in Manehatten by tomorrow, but... Where will you go?"

Paver paused. "Anyone I know could've been the one who did this to me. Anybody on my yacht on that night... I can't trust anybody there, no matter what you say..." She sighed, now SHE was pacing. "...I, I think I'll go to live with my mother, and my little brother... If there's anypony I can trust, it's them."

"But, what if the pony who wanted to kill you is still there?" Twilight asked. "...I suppose it's your choice, but be careful, okay? You should lie low for a bit, until everything's cleared up... I think I'm going to have to write a letter to Princess Celestia over this..."

Author's Note

Image created by Jadekettu on DeviantART http://jadekettu.deviantart.com/

Chapter Ten: The Blue Unicorn

Meanwhile...

* * *

Otto couldn't quite believe it when he woke up that morning, when he saw Starlight Glimmer sleeping next to him in bed, snuggled up into his chest, a peaceful look on her face much unlike that he'd seen on her before. He couldn't help but grin at the sight: In the world of innuendo, he'd done it: A home run, and what a run it had been; what Starlight lacked in experience she more than made up for in stamina, and she'd been drunk too! She kept finding new ways to impress him, and just lying there, looking at her as she slept... He felt warm, but a sort of warmth beyond that of the comfortable bedclothes; a profound sense of happy contentedness. All other things bled into irrelevance, if this had been his eternity, there would be worse things to become of him.

Alas, however, reality marches on, and one cannot eternally live in their bed, or in a pleasant sleep. Otto saw Starlights eyes flicker open; they were a bit bloodshot from the heavy drinking, but... Celestia dammit, Otto couldn't pretend he didn't admire their colour.

"Good morning." He greeted her, watching conciousness set in. He could see she was a bit hungover, but she at least remembered just what happened last night. "You, I have to say, are incredibly cute when you're sleeping."

She groaned a bit, rubbing her head with a hoof. "...Erm, how, how long have you bee awake?"

"Not long, my dear." came his reply. "It's just been nice to share this bed with a fine mare like yourself."

"I'd have thought a pony like you would've had many other mares?"

"You'd think so, but no... Really, you're the first serious interest I've ever had. Yeah, sure, some of them were pretty, but I've never met a mare quite like you. The others are empty headed and unappealing by comparison."

"You really think so?" She suddenly asked. "I know I'm not the... Warmest, most romantic or even terribly popular pony out there..."

"I know..." The white unicorn shrugged. "But I don't care. I said it last night, and I meant it: I want you. I love your intellect, your guile and your charm..." He leaned in close to her, nuzzling her mane. "...And, I love you. And that's the truth of it."

She shuddered a bit, her breathing a little faster. After a few seconds, she suddenly retaliated, kissing him, and brushing her head up against his, he could feel her heart racing her chest; this made Otto VERY happy. "...Don't tell anybody I did that." She whispered to him. "I have a reputation to uphold. I'm not quite ready to be so... open, about all this. Promise me."

He nodded, wrapping a foreleg around her. "Don't worry, I promise."

"I'll make you eat your own horn if you do." She quipped, starting to lighten up some as a grin crossed her face. "You'll PRAY for the terrible muffins!"

"Duly noted." He smirked. "But you'd better expect some affection behind closed doors."

"Do I have to be your drinking buddy for that?"

"Oh, but my little pony, that's an added bonus!"

She blushed. "Fine... But don't ever call me that again."

He chuckled, hugging her. "Deal... But, I wanna reserve the right to try seducing you into my bed again."

"Like right now?" He whispered into her ear again.

"Well..." She answered. "It's only right to make this offical..."

He chuckled, kissing her again. Slowly, he climbed atop her...

...And then there was a knock on the front door, followed by repeated ringing of the doorbell.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" Otto scowled, the moment ruined. "I swear, I'm going to kill them for that..."

"I call dibs on their cutie mark." Starlight called as Otto climbed out of bed, threw on a dressing gown and headed to the door. "What? Everyone needs a hobby?"

He froze for a moment, holding back a laugh. "I'll pretend you're joking. Either way... It's that or breakfast." He answered "See you in a moment." With that, he made his way downstairs. As he went, he started grumbling: He'd seen his clock when he woke up, they had time to do... that. He usually had a few hours before he had to show up at work, and more than enough time for... that. Well, whatever these intruders had to say, it better be good!

He pulled open the front door, seeing Fleetwood standing on the steps, dressed quite smartly in a cream suit and executive overcoat, completed with a fedora. Otto groaned.

"What do you want, Mac?" The mayor grumbled.

"Mr. Cratic, sir." He beamed, unaware of how annoyed Otto was with him. "We've found her! The blue unicorn! She's with Theo right now."

"Oh..." Otto frowned. "Well, can it wait? I know this is big and all, but..." He winced. "Well, I was busy with something!"

"Oh... Sorry, sir." He apologized. "But, Captain Ashfeather's with her too, and your brother is the only thing stopping her from turning this into an interrogation... You know, how Ashfeather would do interrogations. She still thinks we should go after the zebra."

"Fine, fine!" Otto snorted. "I just have to get ready, give Starlight a call, and get this all sorted out."

"Starlight?" Fleetwood frowned. "The other unicorn?"

Otto contorted his face in disdain. "The other one? Her name is Starlight, Mac. Refer to her as 'the other one' again, and you're done here, no more silk suits, no more fancy dinners, no more nice big flat. It's back to collecting the Party Tax, like where I found you."

The look of horror on his face was all the proof Otto needed that Fleetwood had got the message: NOPONY liked the Party Tax Collector; everypony liked the fact Equestria subsidised parties, but nopony liked having to pay for them. The pistachio pony turned tail and ran off, with Otto slamming the door behind him, and went to make breakfast.

Otto was quick to bring Starlight up to date on the situation over food and coffee; the coffee was key, the coffee helped stop her hangover feeling as though her head was going to split in half, and that in turn made getting back to the job at hoof much easier.

The so-called 'Great and Powerful Trixie', also known as Trixie Lunamoon, had been found in a mare's hostel in Manehatten. It wasn't too bad, but it was a world away from the wagon she'd called home for many years. From what Otto had heard, her story was quite sad: Another victim of Twilight Sparkle's interference, as far as he was concerned. Trixie had used the Alicorn Amulet to help her gain revenge over the cause of her humiliation, but had been tricked into surrendering the amulet, and losing its power. Otto hoped, however, that he could persuade this blue unicorn, now found in hard times, to aid him: Perhaps he could offer her something for information?

"The Great and Powerful Trixie remembers the Alicorn Amulet well." the blue unicorn snorted. "Its power was... Compelling. Like nothing the Great and Powerful Trixie had ever experienced before..."

"For goodness sake." Captain Ashfeather scowled. "Do you ALWAYS speak in the third person. Talk normally, or we'll see which one of us is REALLY great and powerful. You, or my claws."

"That won't be necessary." Otto gave the griffin dagger eyes before returning to Trixie. "Please, carry on. Do you think there's anything you could tell us about the duel in Ponyville? Some clues perhaps as to how we could find that amulet again?"

She froze. "You, YOU want the amulet? Why?"

"That's none of your business, unicorn." Ashfeather hissed.

"Quiet, Ashfeather." Starlight spat. "If you can't shut up and stop threatening her, you can go away and wait outside."

The griffin was silent. "I don't take orders from you." She snarled.

Otto turned, his eyes narrowing. "You take orders from me, and I say that Starlight Glimmer is higher up the pecking order than you. You'll do as she says, or by Luna's Torment, I'll pluck every damn feather from your body, one by one, and use them to line my pillows!" That shut her up. "You're showing me up in front of my friend here. Challenge me again, and I promise you, you shall live to regret it. Now, be quiet!"

"Please accept my humblest apologise for our colleague." Starlight returned to Trixie. "Now, please go ahead and tell us what you know? I'm sure Otto can make it worth your while?"

"How?" Trixie inquired.

"How?" Otto chuckled. "I'm the mayor of Manehatten. I'm quite sure that would be a useful pony to have as your friend, hm? Would you like somewhere nicer to live than this hostel? Indeed, I could perhaps even get that lovely wagon of yours rebuilt? Some training at the local magical academy, and who knows? Your show might be better than ever! Just, tell me what you know about the amulet."

Trixie's eyes glistened, a mixture of amazement, perhaps joy and... Fear? "I..." She stammered. "...I don't know a lot about the Alicorn Amulet... Only that it was made by King Sombra, apparently..." She looked to Glimmer, who nodded in agreement. "...It, its effects on me were almost immediate. I'd never felt so good in all my life. So strong, so quick and healthy, so great and... Powerful. As in, actual power, the kind of power which would've scared me if I hadn't been the one wielding it... But, its corruption is so insidious..." She faltered. "Once you close it around your neck, once you let it seal itself shut around you... It never TRULY lets you go again..."

"What do you mean?" Otto asked.

"...I mean, even now, I can feel its absence around my neck. Like when you've worn something that's a little too tight, and it digs into your skin, leaving marks... It's like those marks have dug into my soul. It was an addiction, and... If that amulet was in my hooves, right now, I don't know if I could resist putting it on again..." She shuddered. "...Mr. Cratic, please... Be careful when dealing with that amulet... I, I wish I could help you more, but I really don't know where it is... I can feel it, tugging at me, like the amulet was a collar, and I'm on a leash... It's in the area of Ponyville, somewhere, that's all I can say... It's why I've never gone back there since."

The other ponies, and Ashfeather, looked to one another.

"So, now what?" Starlight asked. "We knew it was in Ponyville to begin with. We're no better off than we were to start with?"

"I know..." He frowned. "But I'm a colt of my word... Fleetwood, take Miss Lunamoon, and help her make the arrangements to get her wagon rebuilt. I made some promises today. Make them happen."

"Really?" Trixie stammered. "T-thank you. This is amazing!"

Otto nodded. "Everyone else, let's go." He spoke, leaving Fleetwood to his work.

"So, what do we do now?" Starlight asked as they left and returned to Otto's house.

"This neither slows nor speeds up our process, admittedly." Otto answered. "Trixie's premonitions help us to definitely nail down the rough location of the amulet, but we don't have any specifics."

"Of course we don't." Captain Ashfeather snorted. "We need the zebra."

"We are NOT harming Zecora." Otto scowled. "I will not tell you that again... We can further narrow down most of Ponyville itself, and concentrate our efforts in the Everfree Forest, and Zecora's hut as a last resort." His final words were aimed almost entirely at the griffin captain, who snorted and rolled her eyes.

"My boys have done far more dirty jobs than that. It's the fastest way for us to get that amulet. And you've already killed one pony, what difference does it make."

Otto froze, before suddenly turning around and smacking the griffin in the face with his hoof, with more force than you'd expect from the limb of a unicorn; it was enough to send the griffin reeling

"That's exactly why I don't want you to do it. I've already had to kill once to get here, I don't want to have to harm anyone else. The more folk I kill, the harder this becomes to justify."

"You're brining morality into this?" Ashfeather laughed coldly. "You've hired my mercenaries to enforce your rule and intimidate your ponies, you've assassinated the former mayor, you want to use an artifact of dark magic to enhance your power, and then use that power to cause a civil war..."

"I'm doing this for the good of ponykind! I wouldn't expect a mercenary to understand anything more important than wealth and power! They're nothing to me! A tool so I might save a precious few ponies from the next big buck-up on the part of Princess Celestia!"

"You think I don't care?!" Ashfeather barked. "I've already SEEN one home of mine destroyed, and laid low by the follies of fools! A wonderful place, brought low. I SAW its decline, Otto!" She scowled, rubbing a black eye which was forming on her face. "...We want the same thing, sir. I'm just willing to go a bit further to get it than you."

Otto looked about ready to kill Ashfeather, but he snorted. "I'm not having this conversation with you. I am your employer, your boss. I'm paying you, and you'll do as I say. We'll be going to Ponyville as soon as possible, and I shall not speak of Zecora again."

Ashfeather's eyes were like slits as she faced off with Otto, towering over him, but he stood his ground as if he were a griffin himself. "I'll arrange a private car on a train for you, and I'll head along first with some of the pony mercs to make sure things are safe. No armour, all undercover. Nobody will even bat an eyelid at you." Her tone was calm, but dripping with anger as she left.

Soon, only Otto and Starlight remained. He'd been sitting on the sofa for a long time now, quietly seething.

"Okay, Otto, you're worrying me now." Starlight spoke, coming and sitting next to him. "You've barely spoken since the nonsense with Ashfeather." She sighed. "I'll have to bring out Nice Glimmer if you keep being miserable. Don't make me be nice, Otto. We both know I'm not very good at it."

Otto breathed in, and out, very methodically. "I'm NOT a bad pony." He suddenly said. "I'm not."

"I never said you were." She replied, brushing up against him. "Where has this all come from?"

"You know where." He spoke with a mild growl. "I didn't want to have to kill Paver. She's one of those ponies who, despite her shortcomings, I've never been able to really hate... But, she'd have been mayor for decades, she's one of those likeable ponies who the locals would just eat up... I'm not young anymore, Starlight... I'd have ran out of time if I didn't do something..." He sighed. "I, I regret it though... I should do something, build a memorial to her, or something."

"...This all because of Ashfeather being a bucking bitch." The pink unicorn commented. "It's not a nice thing you did. But let's face it, neither of us are morally clear, are we? But, we both did what we had to do."

"No more, though." He snorted. "I'm not saying I should hug and make friends with every problem I come across, I'm not naive like Twilight... But, if I can avoid hurting more ponies... Or equines, in Zecroa's case, that's what I'm going to do."

She nuzzled his cheek, affectionately tapping his horn with her own. "It's never going to be morally black or white." She spoke. "But... All we can do is try... But, I love you, and whatever happens, it's going to be us doing it, together. Plotting, scheming, fighting, ruling. You're not alone in this." She chuckled. "If I had a pony like you helping me in Ourtown, Twilight and her lot wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Would I have my cuite mark removed, or would I get to have the makeup?"

She smirked. "See? You ask the right questions."

"Well, in the spirit of asking the right questions... Who was Double Diamond?"

Starlight went quiet. "Oh... Yeah, that..." She frowned. "I liked Double Diamond. He was a simple pony, very loyal. Perhaps, if I'd have been a little younger, or he a little older, it could've been a nice pair. I won't like, he was cute. His head was totally empty even before I equalized him though. Not like you, I mean, you managed to seduce ME, in less than a week. Do you think I would let myself be caught off guard and swept up so easily normally?"

"Heh..." Otto chuckled. "Let's call it beginner's luck." He leaned over and returned the nuzzle. "Thanks, Starlight... I hope I can show you how much I appreciate you doing all this... Opening up to me. You don't strike me as the type who's content to have equals."

She scoffed. "You'd be the first one, and the only one, I'd happily call an equal, in the sense of the word you're using. "Cut Twilight Sparkle down to size" is as good a rallying cry as any to get me on board. But hey, if you want to give me a fancy title, cook me breakfast every morning and show me a good time, I won't say no." Again, in thought she rubbed her chin with a hoof. "...Speaking of which. We're dragging our hooves here. Aren't we supposed to be going to Ponyville?"

"I am, yes. I genuinely believe that amulet is the key to all my plans. I need it for this."

"I wouldn't disagree." Starlight replied, suddenly getting up and jumping from the sofa. "Think about it. The history books claim the amulet is of Sombrian descent? King Sombra, a unicorn with abnormal levels of magical power? He makes an amulet to make himself even more powerful, but is defeated before he gets the chance to use it..." She winced. "Oh, Otto... How could I not see this? He called himself king, but was a mere unicorn, a mortal... Celestia damn it all, I'm so stupid!!" She paced up and down, burying her face in her hoof. "He was going to do exactly what you are doing. He wanted to become an alicorn too!"

"...And then he'd have been unstoppable." Otto finished.

"Exactly! ...Otto, if you pull this off..." She trailed off. "What, what if you could turn other ponies into alicorns, not just yourself?"

"I know, I know! It's exciting, isn't it?." Otto nodded. "But we should be careful, we still need to figure out the proper spell to make it work... But, the solution might well be only a train ride away. We ought to try to get to Ponyville by nightfall so we don't stirr up trouble, especially with the princess."

"Ha. You underestimate how unobservant Twilight Sparkle can be when I've got my eye on her..." She grinned, heading to the door to the hallway, waiting for the mayor to keep pace. "Now, we really ought to be going. Maybe we could even figure out that spell while we're in Ponyville? Imagine Twilight Sparkle's face if we both showed up in her place, you with the amulet, BOTH OF US as full alicorns? I'd kill to see that look..."

Chapter Eleven: A Necessary Evil...

Meanwhile...

* * *

Luna's moon hung in the night sky, and Ponyville slept, but at the town's railway station, a small band of griffins and Manehattenites weren't sleeping. As one especially large griffiness emerged, they left the station, heading towards the Everfree under the cover of night...

There was roughly five of them: Captain Ashfeather, her second in command, Lieutenant Jabsco Talon, and three burly earth ponies.

"This isn't a good idea." One of the ponies spoke. "Mr. Cratic told us not to go after the zebra."

"I don't care." Ashfeather spat. "Otto is being far too sentimental. If you want to make an omelette, you gotta be ready for griffins to kick the shit out of you for threatening to break eggs."

"But I like omelettes." Another pony cried, he was stupid, clearly, and the two griffins glared at him.

"Not clever, Jarhead." Jabsco snarled.

"Yeah, shut up Jarhead." The third pony jabbed. "Your name's stupid too."

"Hey, shut up! I'm only called Jarhead because my dad was a royal guard." Jarhead (who had a jar for a cutie mark) winced.

"ALL OF YOU shut up!" Ashfeath barked. "This is supposed to be quick and quiet, then we hit hard, and we get what we're looking for, one way or another."

They crept through the forest, rays of moonlight piercing through the the canopy and faintly illuminating the ground. Once, the Everfree Forest had been a corrupted, sinister place, blighted by dark magic, hazardous plants and dangerous creatures. However, with Twilight's ascension to Alicornhood, she and her companions had surrendered the source of their old power, the Elements of Harmony, and returned them to their home, the Tree of Harmony, in the centre of the Everfree; many seemed to believe that the tree's revival had 'cured' the forest of its corruption. Whatever happened the forest's threat had become almost trivial: Some dangers remained, of course, but it was almost a non-issue in modern times.

...But these were hardened, trained mercenaries walking through the Everfree, no meagre force by any standards. They were quite convinced there was nothing in this forest they couldn't handle.

They paused, holding in the bushes: They saw light nestled behind the trees, a hollowed out tree, fitted with windows and doors, which glowed with life therein: It was Zecora's hut, and it had been built within a small clearing.

"Shh..." Ashfeather hushed her team, speaking quietly. "That's got to be it."

"What's the plan?" Jabsco asked.

"Up to the door, quick and quiet, get in, force entry if need be." Ashfeather answered. "We may have been told not to hurt the zebra, but we can wreck shop if she doesn't play ball. If all else fails..." She reached into her armoured jacket, producing a black metal baton, which she extended. Quietly, Jabsco did the same.

"Hopefully it won't come to that." The third pony (with a telescope and a compass for a cuite mark) said. "I've heard about this zebra. The town used to be scared of her, but she's completely harmless, and everypony knows it."

"And?" Ashfeather snorted.

"And she's friends with the Six. Princess Twilight regularly has tea with her."

The griffiness captain paused, giving her a look. "And, you only just tell me this NOW?!?" She turned and smacked the pony.

"Dammit, Scope! So Twilight Sparkle is going to know about this if we do it?" Jabsco growled. "Captain?"

"...No if we get to to keep quiet." The captain finally answered. "The plan goes on as before."

"What?!" Jarhead blinked. "But... The princess!?"

"Buck the princess, Jarhead! We're doing this, or you're out of a job!"

Everyone turned to him. He looked torn... "I... I..." He stammered. "No. No I can't. I joined Otto's army to help people, to protect Manehatten. This? This is not protecting Manehatten. This is threatening and bullying a lone zebra... We're only doing it this way because she's so far from the rest of Ponyville? What next?!? Are we going to go attack Fluttershy next? How about we just go and massacre the whole damn town?!?! Buck that! I won't do it! I'm going home!"

Ashfeather growled, her eyes burning. With a quick and sudden movement, she raised her weapon, striking the dissenting soldier over the head with it with a vicious speed and force. He didn't even have time to yelp in pain, collapsing on the floor, unconscious. "...Any other objections?"

The second pony (a first aid kit for a cuite mark) stammered. "No, no, sir, ma'am... Someone ought to stay with Jarhead though, in case he wakes up and does something stupid."

"Oh, for the love of... Fine!" the captain hissed. "Flemming, since you suggested it, you stay with the coward. Jabsco, Scopes. You're with me. No more lollygagging."

Captain Ashfeather clenched her teeth and, with Jabsco and Scopes following in her footsteps, approached the hut from the shadows, backing up against a wall, her comrades at her back as she crept up to the Front door, avoiding the windows where she and her goons could be seen. The three mercenaries sat at opposite ends of the door's frame, the underlings waiting on their CO's order. She put a talon to her mouth to hush them, then held up three talons... Then two... Then one...

With a swing of her baton, she's smashed the handle of the door. She was like lightening, forcing her way inside and happening upon the zebra inside, who had been taken by surprise.

"You!" Ashfeather barked. "You're Zecora, aren't you?!"

The break in had clearly scared the zebra, but she held her composure well. "If you wanted to come in, you should have knocked." She said. "You have truly given me quite a..."

"SHUT UP!" The griffin captain roared, swinging her baton towards her in warning. "Where is it?! The amulet! Where did you hide it?!"

Zecora flinched. "If I know of the amulet of which you speak. I warn you, your chances of finding it are bleak."

"Oh, so they DO always rhyme...?"

"Quiet, Jabsco!" Ashfeather hissed. "You, you're going to tell me where it is. And the sooner you tell me, the more of your home is going to be left when we leave." She nodded to her underlings. Jabsco and Scopes quickly set to grabbing bottles and objects from the shelves and cabinets, throwing them on the ground and smashing them.

A sudden kick from the zebra knocked Ashfeather back: She wasn't expecting her to put up a fight! Suddenly Zecora had a spear. "Do you think I'm afraid of you? You're the cowards, that is true."

Ashfeather struck at Zecora with her baton, the strike blocked by Zecora's spear! The grey griffin hissed and spat, swiping again, but batted back by the far quicker zebra, who counter attacked with a swing and a lunge! The stone head of the spear bounced off of Asheather's plate armour. The griffin slammed down on the wooden shaft with her elbow, snapping off the head as one would break a twig under hoof.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that." Asheather snickered. "I'd say your stick was nothing more than for show. Are all zebras as useless as you at fighting?"

"You're a disgrace to the name of griffin. You're vile and rude. I wouldn't waste a good spear on you, and I'm still hitting!" She retreated her pole arm, spinning it around her fore leg and striking Ashfeather around the head! She reeled as the staff smashed in half against the skull of the griffiness, drawing blood. Jabsco now saw her captain injured, and lunged at the zebra! She was met with a pair of hind hooves to the stomach, sending her back and crashing into Zecora's cooking pot.

"Dammit!" Jabsco cried as she clutched her stomach.

"You'll pay for that, you striped mule! Our kind EAT creatures like you!" Ashfeather roared, going berserk and swinging her weapon with both talons. Zecora ducked out of the way at the sudden explosion of speed in the enraged griffin: Her head and chest escaped the blow, but her shoulder took the brunt of the strike! Pain rushed though her limb and Zecroa yelped in pain, stumbling and landing on one of her counter tops, steading herself in time to see Scopes now join the fight. She threw herself over to him, head-butting him and knocking him down! Still, caution tempered courage, and the reality that Zecora was fighting three trained thugs, two of which were meat eaters, was beginning to hit home: She was in a great deal of pain, and now she realized, she was scared.

Scopes was in a daze, concussed but not unconscious, while Zecora barely felt the strike: zebras skulls were far tougher than pony skulls, it seemed. Grabbing a nearby pot, she threw it at Jabsco as she climbed up to join the fight. It struck him in the chest and smashed, spilling its contents all over the lieutenant. Suddenly, the griffin was on the floor, rolling around and scratching at herself like crazy.

"Argh! Dammit, dammit! It itches so much!!"

"Itching powder, a practical joke." Zecora snorted. "A gift from a friend, one of the pony folk."

"Enough!" Ashfeather lunged; this time, Zecora was too injured to get away quickly enough, and she took the full brunt of a furious griffin soldier, knocking her to the floor, hard. There was nothing to stop Ashfeather striking the zebra with her baton now: The metal rod connecting with Zecora's ribs, winding her and sending pain screaming through her torso. Another blow came to her good leg, leaving horrible marks of injury. Ashfeather continued to dish out punishment to the zebra as she dragged herself out from under Ashfeather.

"You're tough." She snorted to the battered Zecora, whose eyes were wet from the pain. "I'm not here to kill you. You know where the amulet is..." She marched up to her, grabbing the stone spearhead on her way the zebra and pinning her to a wall. She held up the spearhead to Zecora. "But, I can still hurt you."

"Wounds heal, and so will the pain I feel." Zecora coughed. "...But the amulet is NOT yours to steal."

"Tell me." the griffin captain spoke in a softer, deadly tone. "I won't ask again."

She took the spearhead, pushing its sharp end into the side of Zecora's wounded shoulder. Now the zebra screamed. "Tell me!" Deeper went the spearpoint, blood welling at its tip. "TELL ME!"

"THE BLUE CROP!" Zecora finally screamed out. "Go to the blue pants, the amulet is buried there, now please, I beg you, stop!"

The spearhead was removed, and tossed aside, as was Zecora, who fell to the floor in a sobbing heap as she held her bleeding shoulder.

"Blue plants?" Ashfeather asked, and Zecora nodded. "Good. Now..." She grabbed Zecroa by the mane, pulling her head up to meet the griffn's eye level. "Say a sentence where the first line ends in 'timber wolf'. Do it."

A brief look of confusion flickered in her eyes. "I, I warn you of the timber wolf. It's a..." She paused. "I can... It..." She stammered, getting more and more upset. Finally, she stopped, wiping tears from her eyes with a hoof. "You are vicious, hateful and wrong. Were you ever decent, or a monster all along?"

"Sweet Celestia!" Scopes blurted out, having come to and pulled himself to his hooves. "She doesn't shut up! You've beat her half to death and she's still going!"

"What? You think I care?" Ashfeather rolled her eyes. "She told us where the amulet was, we've got what we came for. Let's get out of here." As they left, she turned to make one last threat to the zebra. "Tell anyone about this, and we'll be coming back, you understand? It had better be where you say it is." Finally, she took a mask from the wall. "This looks nice. I think I'll hang it up at home over the fireplace back in Manehatten."

"M-Manehatten?" Zecora suddenly spoke. "Tell me more, who is the person you work for?"

Ashfeather snorted. "A pony far more powerful than you. You don't want to challenge him again."

"Him?" Zecora pulled herself up, her eyes streaming as she limped over to a jar of pale cream, her face relaxing as she rubbed the stuff into her wounds. "The pony you word for is a he? An important pony... The ruler of your city?"

"The mayor?" She snorted. "Lucky guess."

Zecora suddenly laughed. "Then I have news for your leader, when he arrives... A dear old friend of his..." She winced. "...She survives."

Ashfeather drew a confused look. "...And who would that be?"

"I find it cathartic, after your behavior. For you see, it's the old mayor. The one known as Paver."

The griffin captain's smile vanished. "What? No. No! You're lying!"

"Am I?" Zecora continued to chuckle. "Well, we shall see... You'll all get what you deserve."

Zecora has refused to rhyme. There was very little which could get a zebra to deliberately break a rhyme; it was considered rude and disrespectful among zebras, as it showed a zebra was either wasn't putting conscious thought into what they were saying (for if a zebra could speak in rhymes while still speaking wisdom, it showed the mark of a clever zebra indeed!), or, in Zecora's case: It showed the highest form of disdain, for deliberately breaking a lifetime of poetic speech out of spite. Ashfeather wasn't spoken to as zebras speak to others: She wasn't worth speaking to. Not as an equal in the eyes of this wronged zebra.

The group left the hut, and the quietly weeping zebra therein, and resumed their search of the forest, now looking for a patch of blue plants, where the amulet was said to be buried. Sure enough, they soon happened across a large sea of blue flowers, growing out of equally blue vines and bushes.

"Alright. Split up, scan through the blue stuff, anything suspicious, report it to me. It may be our amulet. Move out." Ashfeather ordered, stepping into the blue plants. They split in a three-way prong, covering as much of the patch as possible. The plants were very densely packed, but moved aside quite easy as they walked on through, brushing against the body's of the three as they conducted their search. They headed deeper and deeper into the blue brush, before finally, somewhere in the centre, Ashfeather felt a small bump against her talons. Quickly, she knelt down, digging in the dirt until she uncovered the object: A small box! It had a fairly crude lock on it, but that was of no concern, and she smashed it open. There, inside the padded velvet insides of the box, lay a glistening black amulet, with a large ruby set into its face. They'd found it: The Alicorn Amulet.

Chapter Twelve: The Alicorn Amulet.

* * *

It had begun to rain as the train from Manehatten rumbled along its tracks in the direction of Ponyville. Back in Manehatten, there were regular television broadcasts to inform ponies of the schedule of timetabled conditions for the weather, as set out by the MEoW (Manehatten Engineering of Weather) Office. However, Ponyville lacked such extensive coverage; farmponies and government knew what the weather would do, and it was practically down to word of mouth to spread the schedule from there.

For Otto and Starlight, a private train car had been arranged, as Ashfeather had promised. It featured large, comfortable sofas and large, cloth-covered tables lined with silverware and candles. A rich wooden panelling lined the walls, and the windows were covered with velvet curtains; night had fallen, and so there was very little to see outside of the train, and besides: Otto only had eyes for his fellow passenger anyway.

"...Why do we even need wings for flight?" The pair had been flowing from one conversation to another, namely between their plan, and other things. "Unicorns have a levitation spell, and spells for walking on clouds... I think I could use my magic to levitate myself."

"Well..." Otto nodded, spooning a small mouthful of soup from a silver bowl into his mouth and eating it before speaking. "...I suppose it helps if one isn't too heavy." He paused, seeing Starlight's face and realizing his faux pas. "Erm, not to say you're... Erm, heavy. Of course not! I, I mean I doubt I'd be able to do that, for instance."

She scoffed. "Not if you keep eating like that." She retorted. "Besides, I'm not fat. I once saw this pony in Canterlot. I swear to Celestia, she was the size of a hay bale, with these tiny little legs under her... Hm, strike that: She was more like a tavern beer barrel."

"Heh, you're joking."

"Am I?" Starlight smirked. "The best bit? Her cutie mark was a picture of herself, in a little star!" She looked about ready to laugh. "You know where I stand on cutie marks, but sweet Celestia, that was one which just had me scratching my head."

"I can imagine.." Otto smirked. "I think you could handle levitation quite well. Have you ever tried it?"

"I've dabbled. Once I got my cutie mark, whether I like them or not, magic and spellcraft just seemed to fall into place. It was almost effortless, most of the time."

The white unicorn pulled a face. "Go on then. Levitate. This'll be good."

"Alright, fine." Starlight gave him a look right back, before getting out of her seat.

There was plenty of space in the private car for her to test out her abilities, moving aside a few sofas and chairs with her cyan-coloured magic. Otto set down his spoon, turning to watch. Starlight took a breath, and her horn began to glow... Then she began to glow. Slowly, her hooves left the ground, hovering in place. She lifted a little higher off the ground, sitting in the air, as if upon an invisible stool. She folded her forearms and sat back, reclining with a smug look on her face.

He couldn't fault her: That was pretty impressive, clapping as she, rather than returning to the ground, floated herself around a bit more, and hovering over to sit next to Otto. "Ha! Well played..." Otto smiled. "Yep, definitely got stamina... How long do you suppose you'd be able to maintain a spell like that?"

"Please, that was nothing. I could keep a spell like that going for much longer than that." she replied, still looking pretty pleased with herself.

"Heh, how many other cool spells have you got to teach me?" Otto asked. "I'll have plenty of room to experiment once I have the Alicorn Amulet."

"A good many." Starlight snuggled up next to him. "You're just lucky we're both on the same side."

"And our side is going to have a lot to think about once we win..."

Otto hadn't realized how much he loved it when Starlight did that. There was a far softer, more affectionate pony buried under the hard, disciplinarian shell she'd built around herself; those few moments she let the mask slip were precious to him: He loved that mare dearly, he couldn't help but question just how he was able to win the affections of a mare like Starlight Glimmer. Perhaps there was more to her than first appeared. No, that much went without saying, and Otto felt stupid for thinking it as thought it was a revelation. He'd have to make special effort to make sure he was still appealing to her. It wasn't something he was too worried about, but it lingered in the dark annals of his mind...

Time passed, and the train rumbled into Ponyville's rather small, rural railway station. The night still hung over Equestria, and the station platform had been occupied entirely by Captain Ashfeather and her cronies from before. Otto noticed as he climbed from the steps that the grey griffiness looked especially pleased with herself.

"Captain Ashfeather." Otto spoke in greeting as they left the train.

"What in Celestia's name happened to you?" Starlight asked, before Otto could notice, she herself had seen the scratches on Ashfeather's normally immaculate armour... And the fresh cuts and bruises from on her and her men.

"That IS a good point." Otto raised an eyebrow, frowning. "What did you do?"

Ashfeather smirked. "I thought I'd hurry along the process for you." She answered, producing a small, wooden box, which she offered to Otto. "I know you didn't much care for it, and neither did Jarhead over there, but we made our way to Zecora's. Got her to help out after some... Persuasion."

Otto went very quiet, his eyes narrowed as he took the box, openning it, and seeing the amulet. He looked up again, his eyes meeting with Ashfeather's. "What. Did. You. Do?" He looked to the other soldiers. "Well?!"

"So, we went to see the zebra. She attacked us, and we fought back..."

"Three of us did." Scopes snorted. "...Jarhead refused, as he'd suffered a head injury on the way there, and Flemming stayed with him."

"There was three on one, and you invaded her home!" Starlight barked. "What did you expect her to do?!" She marched up, using her telekinesis to snatch Ashfeather's baton, pulling it out and twirling it around with her magic. "...You beat her? Zecora?"

"She tried to kill me with a spear."

Scopes scowled, sensing he was in fact going to be punished for the mission, he turned on his captin. "Oh, that is it! That spear broke against your armour like a twig! So you smashed her legs and her chest with a metal rod... You, you jammed the spearhead into her dislocated shoulder!"

"What?!?" Starlight blinked. "You tortured her... You tortured her!?"

"Oh, come on." Ashfeather snorted. "And you didn't abuse people in Ourtown?"

"That's not the same!" She protested. "Sure, I locked up ponies, I did desperate things to ensure people would honour the equality I tried to bring about! But I never, NEVER, hurt my ponies!"

As they argued, Otto slowly levitated the amulet out of its box, staring in awe at the beautiful silver and ruby necklace which hovered before him, admiring the quality of the work; a red-eyed pony's head protruded from the top of the amulet, a horn protruding from its forehead, and wings flared wide at its sides. The necklace of the amulet was made up of a series of tightly linked silver plates, forming a collar, which would form a solid ring via a lock at the back of the necklace. He felt a wave of excitement creep up his back as he continued to stare at the necklace. Finally, he made a decision: The necklace floated to his neck; as soon as the amulet rested against his chest, the bands of the necklace seemed to move of their own accord within Otto's magic, swooping behind his neck, connecting, and snapping shut with a sharp click. As soon as the amulet had locked itself onto Otto, he instantly felt a massive inject of of strength and power rocket through him, it felt like a kick to the chest... But, good, really good! Never in his entire life had he felt so wonderful, so healthy, great and powerful! It was as though he had been born again...

...He looked up, smiling as he tucked the amulet under his shirt and tie. He saw Starlight and Ashfeather continued to argue, and he remembered what she'd done to get the amulet... And in that moment of recollection, Otto was furious.

His horn glowed, engulfed in red magic; a similar red ring of light appeared around Ashfeather's neck very suddenly, quickly tightening. She started gasping and wheezing, clawing at her neck as Otto's magic lifted her into the air.

"I told you." Otto spoke, his tone dangerous. "Do NOT attack the zebra. You heard me, you said you wouldn't..." He tightened his grip. "But you deliberately disobeyed me."

"Otto, what are you doing?" Starlight gave him a look of shock as Otto continued to choke the griffin captain. "Stop! You're killing her!"

"Ot... Otto..." Ashfeather wheezed. "She... Ze... Zecora... Please. I have to... Tell you something. It... It's urgent." He continued to squeeze, the plates of armour around her neck crumpled and bend, sharp peices of metal starting to pierce into her throat, causing little bleeds all around. "Paver... She's... Alive..."

Ashfeather fell to the floor with a heavy thud; the air grew tense, even the silence was feeling uncomfortable with its presence.

"...What?" Otto spoke. It took a long while before Ashfeather could speak, her breathing was sharp, loud and laboured as she clutched her throat, choking as air returned to her lungs and swallowing hurt.

"Zecora..." She panted. "...She told me that Paver Goldstreets survived your assassination attempt..."

"What? How?!"

"She must have teleported out of the lake." Starlight suggested.

"She'd danced all the way from Lake Manehatten to Ponyville, she'd nearly drowned in quicksand, but one of the princess' friends found her... She left Ponyville hospital a couple of days ago..." She went quiet.

"But, but the shoes..." Otto frowned, pacing. "She'd have no control over her own movement! What happened?! I put the binding curse on the shoes, she definitely WORE them, I saw it all happen! Flim and Flam PROMISED that..." He suddenly fell silent, realizing his stupidity: He TRUSTED the Flim Flam Brothers. "THOSE BASTARDS!" He shouted aloud. "Those bastards conned me! Of course, it all makes sense now..."

"Otto?"

"For Celestia's sake, Starlight! THINK!" He shouted. "There are prank spells out there which, when applied to the legs, make a pony dance uncontrollably. There are also spells which, as long as the caster maintains the spell with their horn, the victim will keep dancing. That's the dangerous one... I should've known the Flim Flam Brothers couldn't maintain a spell like that on something like shoes. They duped me!" He paced up and down, snorting and scowling.

"But, does it matter?" Starlight offered. "You're mayor now. You've got the power, you were sworn in. There's nothing she can do now."

The white unicorn stood there, breathing heavily as he worked things through in his head, supressing dark thoughts of murder and second assassinations, he sighed. "...We, we continue on anyway." He finally said. "...I've got the Alicorn Amulet now. We need only two things now. We need to stoke the Manehattenite ponies into a rebel sentiment, and... And I need to do more research... It's clear to me now. Sombra wanted to become an alicorn, and he obviously couldn't ascend the way Twilight did. Twilight and Cadence needed the Blessing of Celestia herself to make it happen..." They were done here, so he climbed back aboard the train, Starlight following behind as he had his epiphany. "...He must have gotten close, as the princesses only intervened when he was at the height of his power..." He breathed out and sat back in his train car, his calmness returning, his anger burning into a new sense of drive. "...I know now what I have to do... I need to finish what the king started..."

Chapter Thirteen: Gone Home

Meanwhile...

* * *

The return to Manehatten had been difficult for Paver. After being nearly drowned twice, the shoes had been subdued to the point of submission; they no longer forced her to dance, but that didn't mean they let her legs be still as she might like: It had not helped that, while on the train, she'd been forced to sit opposite a white and blue-maned pony who played music from her headphones far, far too loud; though the music-loving unicorn didn't seem to care this way or that (and didn't seem to be able to hear Paver asking her to turn her music down), the shoes took a great joy in making her legs and hooves tap along to the rhythm.

Between forcing her legs to be still, and their prevailing movements, by the time she actually arrived in Manehatten itself, her legs had were tired and plagued with cramps: The only way they'd have ached more is if she'd literally walked to Manehatten. From there, she walked, and walked, and walked. she didn't walk home: The idea of sleeping alone in her apartment was something which, at that moment, set her stomach in knots.

...She didn't dare go to any of her colleagues either; any one of them could've been the pony who cursed her. Indeed, she'd hoped she could walk through the city unnoticed, not wanting to draw attention to herself: Her former fame had come to bite her in this regard, and she was quickly recognized by many of the ponies she passed on her way, none of their smiles, waves or pleasant words made her feel better.

It slowly dawned on her just how few folk she truly called friends in the world, and she'd never felt more alone in her entire life. For that reason, there was only one place in all of Equestria where she knew she could go...

She stood at the end of a gate, at the end of a tidy, well kept little garden at the front of an equally tidy little brick row house in a Trotten Island suburb. She sighed, her legs trembling slightly, as she made her way up the garden to a green front door set upon a small porch. With her hoof, she pressed the doorbell, and waited.

The door opened ajar, held on a latch. "Hello?" Came a middle-aged, feminine voice from behind the door. Paver quivered, feeling her lip tremble and her eyes wet.

"M-mum...?"

The door went silent, very silent... "Paver?" The door quickly shut, the sound of the latch being removed before the door swung open. "Oh, oh sweet Celestia! PV!" The former mayor was then pounced on by another cream and blond unicorn; a unicorn who looked very similar to Paver, albeit older, and dressed in a dressing gown, with her mane tied back slightly: Her mother, Tila Goldstreets, who now held her daughter in the pony answer to a bear hug, her eyes streaming. "Oh, by the princesses! We all thought you were dead! We, we heard about the yacht, and you falling overboard, and how the divers couldn't rescue you..." Tila clung tightly to her daughter, crying a little into her shoulder, causing Paver to lose her composure herself, joining her in a blubbering hug. "Please, please, come inside. Tell us happened..."

Tila invited her daughter inside her old fillyhood home, where she was immediately pounced upon by another unicorn: Her younger brother, Forger. In the kitchen of the small home, Paver was treated to warm cup of tea, as she recounted her tale of the night of her party, the discovery of her 'gift' and the loss of control of her legs, and the living nightmare which followed shortly after.

"Oooh." Forger and Tila gave Paver worried looks, briefly taking a peak at her shoes. "So... Someone put a spell on you to make you dance, and it's in those shoes?"

"Why would anyone DO that?!" Tila looked both horrified and angry at the notion, she'd been busying herself by brewing tea as Paver told her story, but she'd quickly been distracted from this task as her daughter's story unfolded. "That's simply horrible... Oh, my dear PV, you poor thing." She totted over to the former mayor unicorn, wrapping a foreleg around her and hugging her.

"That's just it..." Paver spoke. "I don't even know. The shoes just appeared in a box in my bedroom. No note, no nothing. Just there, in my room on the yacht..."

"Oh, that yacht." Tila sighed. "Tila, why did you even have that thing?"

"It's not mine. It belongs to the office of the mayor. The office has had a yacht ever since Mayor Albany bought one. Yeah, okay, it's a waste of paxpayers' bits, but..." She sighed. "I was so damn excited about being mayor, I didn't even really stop to think about it. I get a huge new paycheck? Awesome! I get my own bathroom in the city hall? Awesome! I get a BOAT? Sweet Celestia, I was bouncing off the walls! You know that!"

"I know, I know..." Tila sighed. "I'm just worried about you. All of us are. Even your father came to see me after, you know, after it happened. You really ought to give Locke a call later on."

"And you definitely can't get those nasty shoes off?" Forger asked, to which Paver shook her head. "Really? I bet I could do it."

"Erm, I don't think you can help here, Forgie." Paver frowned.

"Come on PV! My magic's been getting really strong lately." To prove his point, he lit up his horn, taking a hold of one of Paver's hooves with his magic. He tugged sharply, causing Paver to yelp as she was pulled form her chair. "Hnng... Come on, you stupid shoe, come off!"

"Forger! Forger! Stop it! You're dragging me through the kitchen!" The older sister cried as she landed, struggling as Forger's magic pulled her across the kitchen floor by her hoof, the shoe in question unshaken and unmoved from its place. It took Tila stepping in and shooing off Forger before her finally stopped, allowing Paver to dust herself down and return to her seat.

"I know he means well..." The younger of the two unicorn mares sighed. "...But it's no use. My magic, the doctors in Ponyville with all their kit, and even Princess Twilight herself couldn't get these things off me." She took her tea, sipping it. "...I, I guess there's nothing for it. Aside from a few moments where the shoes make my hooves tap, they don't really control me, even if they're stuck to me. I'm just going to have to accept that, unless I find whoever cursed me, I have no choice but to live with the fact that, well, I'm probably going to have these shoes stuck to my hooves for the rest of my life. The sooner I come to terms with it... Still, at least they're comfy. Even now, I've never worn a pair of shoes which feel this good on my hooves in my life. I suppose that'll help me comes to terms with having to wear these shoes forever, and get on with my life." Before her mother had the chance to speak, Paver continued. "Speaking of which, what have I missed while I was gone? I'll need to return to my work as mayor anyway..." She froze, seeing her mother's face. "Mum? What happened?"

...Tila went a little quiet, before replying. "...Paver." she spoke: "After, after people thought you drowned, the city government called for an emergency election to get a new mayor as soon as possible..."

"Oh..." Paver ears dropped. "So, who's mayor now?"

"There were two candidates, but really, there was only one who anyone voted for... They voted in Otto Cratic, it was a landslide."

"Otto?" Paver pulled a face. "Well, I suppose he did have years of experience, and he'd always wanted to be mayor, and... Well, he did take me under his wing when I first got into politics. He was always keeping an eye on me. We had a few disagreements now and then, but..." She sighed. "I hope he's been doing well as mayor..."

"He's been pretty busy actually." Tila mentioned. "He's been big on defense, following the failed invasion of Lord Tirek. He's employed a load of girffins to help guard the city, and he's been VERY unhappy with the princess and the quality of her soldiers' training and equipment."

"Well, his father DOES own an arms manufacturer." Paver snorted coldly. "What else?"

"He's employed a deputy mayor. A former prison warden, actually. Called Starlight, I think."

"Appointed? You can't just appoint deputy mayors..."

"Oh, it's all politics, PV." Tila sighed. "I warned you that it was all dirty and backhoofed. I'd have loved it if you had joined me at the flower shop. I could even have understood if you went to help your father run his lock factory."

Paver snorted. "So why did you let me, if you didn't like it?"

"Because you were so keen to make a difference, do some good, and I'm your mother. It's my job to support you, and you know I will..." She sighed. "I, I still remember the day you first got your cutie mark..." She sighed happily.

"Oh, you're going to repeat the story, aren't you?"

"Oh of course." Tila teased, putting on a faux lilt to her tone. "...You were 11 years old, and your school was doing a model Equestria Summit, and before any of the event actually happened, well, you didn't so much argue with Skipping Rope over who got to be Celestia as much as you filibustered her for nearly the entire lesson until Mrs Chalk just gave you the role to make you stop..." She smiled. "...You were the best damn Celestia that school had ever seen."

Paver chuckled. "I would've been far more excited about getting my cutie mark, but I was so sleepy that day, I remember napping through so much of the day afterwards."

Tila chuckled warmly. "Yeah. It's ironic that you were at your most subdued on what is normally the most exciting day in a young filly's life."

"Hm, well, I'm thinking I'm not exactly going to be bubbly for a long while. Celestia only knows what I'd do to the one who did this to me." The daughter unicorn said, her face long and scowling. "Whoever they are. It could've been anyone, I can't trust the lot of them."

"Oh Paver, don't be like that." Tila spoke sadly. "You can't let this turn you. You're a kind, selfless, compassionate pony. The Paver Goldstreets I know wouldn't be letting distrust, anger and vengeance spoil such a good heart." She hugged her daughter tightly. "Hardship and struggle can turn good ponies bad, but it can also bring out the best in folk. Paver, you need to listen to me, and remember what kind of pony you are, and what pony you want to be. It's hard now, but please, stay strong, like my little PV."

"I..." Paver faltered. "...I'll try..." She snapped her mouth shut, exhaling in and out of her nostrils, trying to keep her cool. "...I, I don't know what I'm going to do from here though."

"Dear, you've always got your bedroom here. You can stay as a long as you like."

"Oh, I know, you've always been there for me... But, I can't just do that. I still need to get a job so I can pay rent and stuff..."

"Well, what about going to see Otto? He's always looked out for you, after all."

"Hmmm, good point." Paver smiled slightly. "...Yeah. That, that could work... Thanks mum."

With that, Tila gave her daughter one last hug, before walking upstairs with her to Paver's old bedroom, kept tidy and preserved over the years, flooding Paver with fillyhood memories. Her mother left to begin preparing dinner, leaving Paver to get settled in: she knew she had work to do, but for this moment, the first thing Paver did was trot over to her old bed and collapse into it, letting her world fade to a sleepy black as she nestled among the bedclothes...

Chapter Fourteen: Paver's Penmanship

* * *

The night since Paver first moved back into her mother's home turned to day: She lay on her stomach in her bed, her face burrowed into her pillow, and her left hooves hanging out of the bed and onto the floor. Her alarm clock radio suddenly buzzed into life. She groaned, mostly asleep as, to her growing annoyance, her hoof started moving against her will, tapping to the music of the radio. She fumbled, forcing control over her hoof to try to hit her clock.

"Time for the Spectacle, time for the..."

"...Mayor of Manehatten has revealed the cost of the Grand Equestria Pony Summit on Manehattenite taxpayers. After the disastrous flooding of the main hall, and destruction of the gemstone centerpiece. The summit, which had already cost Manehattenites an estimated 1.9 million bits, is set to further cost the city an additional..."

"...Trixe! My show is back on the road! The Great and Powerful Trixie is going back to studying, so her magic shall be even more spectacular! And, the Great and Powerful Trixie owes it all to..."

"...An alarming increase in the number of Changeling infiltrators have been discovered to be kidnapping and replacing Manehattenite ponies within our fair city! This is yet another sign of the failure of the part of Princess Celestia and her army to protect good, hard-working Manehattenites!" That last channel perked Paver's ears. She recognized that voice: Otto? She sat up, listening to the broadcast. "And it is this Changeling threat, angry remnants of the vile Queen Chrysalis, who cursed our former mayor, and drove her to her death! Our sources have discovered!" Paver sat up in bed, perplexed at what she was hearing. Changelings? THEY Were the ones who had done this to her? Whatever she thought, the radio kept playing regardless.

"Therefore, as of today, after yet another string of failures on the part of Princess Celestia and her men I will be disbanding the Manehatten branch of the Royal Guard! Those incompetent Canterlot flathoofs will be replaced by the Groverclaw mercenaries from Griffinstone. They are better trained, better equipped, and I'm confident they shall do a magnificent job keeping us all safe. To further guarantee our security, I shall also be increasing defensive spending in the city tenfold, and we shall be considering further measures to detect changelings and other threats within our fair city! Celestia might fail us, time and time again, but I won't!"

Otto appeared to be very busy indeed with radio broadcasting that morning, for he was still at it as Paver finished having a shower (an interesting task when having to do so while wearing formal overly-clingy horseshoes) and went downstairs to have breakfast with her mother and brother.

"The mayor's been pretty quiet for most of his term so far." Tila looked confused as she spoke, the kitchen radio still playing Otto making speeches. "Something must have happened. The changelings, maybe?"

"Oh, mum, I really don't know what Otto's doing here." Paver frowned. "But, when I was mayor, we didn't HAVE changeling problems. Not like how Otto is painting it."

"They tried to kill you!"

"And where's the proof? There's already enough ponies who are afraid of changelings, without stoking it to the point of prejudice. Besides, they can't feed off the love of ponies if they're dead." she took a bite out of her toast, chewing and swallowing the food. "...This is madness. I'm going to write to City Hall and try to arrange to see Otto about this. He needs to give me my job back, and we need to calm this situation down before it turns nasty."

"Oh..." Tila looked concerned. "If you must, but dear, be careful. He's a busy pony, and I doubt he's going to be too pleased with you bossing him about."

"I'm not bossing." Paver snorted in disagreement, brushing the mane out of her eyes with her magic. "I've know the guy for years, and he's been good to me, more or less. Surely he must see reason here." She pulled a face. "...I have another two years of my term left to serve, and Otto, as good a job as he's doing, is basically keeping the seat warm for me."

After having a long shower, Paver had returned to her bedroom. She'd laid out a few sheets of smooth, creamy paper and her best quills to begin writing out her letter once she was done. She sat down and took up a quill with her horn's magic. Dipping it in the dark blue ink of one of her inkpots, she sighed, and began to write.

Dear Mister Cratic.

Mister Cratic? She snorted, she hadn't called him that since she was a filly! What was she doing?! She crumpled up the letter and started again.

Dear Otto.

She stared at the page, the vast blankness of it was almost intimidating: This wasn't exactly going to be a nice letter. She'd thought about her position through the night, and during her shower, and she was nervous: She didn't quite want to reveal herself to Manehatten just yet, but she couldn't simply sit back and do nothing. Otto had always looked out for her when she first came into politics. She'd almost consider him a friend, if there hadn't been such an age gap and he wasn't always so busy with his own work; she didn't blame him for being dedicated to his job (she liked to think she'd picked up that very trait from him), but it didn't leave them a lot of time to get to know each other better.

She scrunched her eyebrows, staring at the letter.

I am writing to let you know to inform you that I am alive and well. I washed up on the shore after I danced overboard my yacht a week ago. I had been cursed. The shoes I wore were magic, and made me dance against my will. This continued when I woke up on the beaches of Lake Manehatten, and continued to happen every day for the next week until the spell finally wore off, at least in part. I still cannot get these stupid shoes off remove these shoes, but I am alive. You had been like a mentor for me for years, taking me under your wing when I was an inexperienced, lost intern within the corridors of City Hall. I would like to think, of all the ponies in government right now, I could at least trust you with this information.

Her quill stopped. The next part of her letter was going to be about her desire to return to work as mayor, and effectively call him out for his scapegoating of the Changelings. But how to word such things? She spoke so well of Otto's skill, and how she appreciated him looking out for her, and yet she was going to question him, and usurp his role as mayor anyway? She sighed, she may as well make this a draft letter, as she's already scratched out several lines. Finding the words suitable for asking Otto to give her the mayorship of Manehatten back wouldn't be easy, and for now, Paver's mind was drawing blanks.

Her ears twitched to the sound of tapping, loud and close. Her brother had a radio, and liked to play music while doing his homework; she'd heard him trotting upstairs, grumbling, and thought nothing of it; she'd also thought nothing of it when she heard the tunes he was listening to through her bedroom wall (she kinda enjoyed a bit of music now and then too). She looked down at her hooves, seeing now what the tapping was: Her hooves were moving, by themselves, tapping to the beat from Forger's radio. She winced as they went: This wasn't unusual for her, this was what was left of the dancing curse which had been placed on the shoes, and she'd had to deal with their tapping on the way home, forcing her feet to be still. However, with music, it was impossible: She shuffled about on her haunches, leaned on her desk, even trying to stand up and pace, but no matter what she tried, whether she stood, sat, tried to walk off the tapping or cling to something for dear life to occupy her hooves, they simply would not stay still!

Paver groaned, how was she going to be able to concentrate like this?! She picked up a book with her magic, banging it against the shared wall between here and her younger brother.

"Forger! Forger! Can you turn your music down please?!"

"Oh come on, Paver!" He wined. "It's Countess Coloratura! It's one of her new songs and I wanna listen to it!"

"It's setting my shoes off, Celestia dammit!" She shouted in reply. She groaned, again. This simply wouldn't do at all! Perhaps she could get some peace out in town, and get her letter done in the park, or a cafe, or something...

The weather today was cold; the MEoW Office had arranged for the milder, slightly damp weather to be accompanied with fog which hung over the city like a faint cloud. Paver took to her old wardrobe for something to keep her warm as she headed out, on recommendation of Doctor Pergamon back in Ponyville: Sure, she'd recovered from her hypothermia, but she shouldn't tempt fate, and was advised to keep warm for the next few days, just to be safe. Fortunately, she'd had a massive growth spurt in her teens, making her far taller than most ponies, but she'd barely grown since then; it meant a lot of the clothes in her old wardrobe would still fit quite nicely.

...What's more, everypony expected Paver to be wearing a smart suit, or a fancy dress, as she'd deeply enjoyed doing that while she was mayor. If she wore something else, she could perhaps make it easier to blend into the multi-faced huddle which was most of Manehatten.

With that in mind, she still wanted to find something reasonably decent to wear. For the reasons she gave, she'd written off dresses and formal suits, she'd stick out way to easily with those. It wouldn't be hard for her either: Most of the dresses in her childhood bedroom were all made with a teenage filly in mind, prom, for instance. She gave a dismissive snort and shoved that dress aside: Magic shoes or no, she'd look ridiculous if she tried to wear THAT out in public for anything other than, well, prom, and she'd found it to be quite an underwhelming event anyway.

Looking through the wardrobe, she found a slightly baggy, beige turtleneck from the back of her wardrobe: Ah, memories. She used to love this jumper. It always kept her nice and warm when she was younger, and kinda regretted that she'd always forgot to come back and pick it up when she moved. It was a little casual, but hey, she was unemployed right now, and most ponies didn't even bother anyway; she was just happy it was stiff a comfy fit, after all these years.

Rummaging through her wardrobe, she dug up a long, white scarf, for it was definitely a cold day out, and... Something her mother never approved of when she was a teen: A red, leather jacket (Faux Leather, of course: The very notion of equines killing bovines just to wear their skins is positively barbaric!) which she'd bought with birthday money, but she'd never wore, until today. Paver was much older now, though, and she no longer looked like a teenager trying to show off... Showing off had nearly been the death of her, after all. It also matched the colour of her shoes nicely, she noted: If she was going to be stuck with these red shoes, she was going to own them, and if that didn't work, she could always hide them under her sleeves somewhat.

Perhaps she would need to return to her old flat, to pick up some more formal clothes, but for now, she headed out, taking a purse with her and trotting out into town. The decidedly informal attire would help her blend in. Her mane had grown a little longer, and less well kept since her party, hanging low over one of her eyes, causing her to have to brush it aside every now and then. Annoying, but helpful, as it obscured her face, which itself bore slight wrinkles from a week of endless dancing, restless sleep and constant stress and fear: Once all this was over, she was going to have to get that seen to, no doubt about it.

As you can surely imagine, more than just a part of her was very happy to be doing normal things again: It was a world away from her suffering at the hands of the long dance, where she was living completely robbed of self-control, and generally believing herself to be living on borrowed time; it gave her a newfound appreciation for the little things, like standing still.

Chapter Fifteen: Otto's Pet Pigeon.

* * *

Yesterday had been busy for Otto. He'd been sending our broadcasts on the TV and the radio like mad, trying to stir up Manehattenite fervor in the face of 'Changeling' aggression. While it was true that various hives outside of Equestria's borders had been growing since the Canterlot Wedding, where the first high-profile Changeling infiltration became public knowledge, few of them had the horsepower, or the will, to be truly powerful enough to threaten all of Equestria, not after the failure of the Queen Chrysalsis, at least. Still, he didn't need them to be: They only needed to be powerful enough for the odd infiltration or attack on ponies; that would be enough to scare ponies into surrendering their common sense.

He'd sat down, once again, in his office, ready for another day's worth of work. However, his deputy and companion had her qualms, and wasn't prepared to sit quietly on her haunches about it...

"Otto?" Starlight spoke to the mayor, his magic engulfing a typewriter and its keys, causing them to click in rapid succession as he wrote out a letter. "Otto."

He looked up. "Yes, what?"

"Are we going to talk about what happened the other night? With Ashfeather?"

The clicking stopped. "She deliberately disobeyed me, Starlight." He snorted. "She nearly KILLED Zecora. Two griffins and an earth pony, with armour and metal truncheons, against a single zebra? How do you THINK that's going to end? I was more than merciful that night. Today, they're getting punished properly. That's GOING to happen, Starlight. What if your prison guards did that to someone while you were warden, or somepony came to Ourtown and beat the living daylights out of one of your villagers? What would YOU do?"

She frowned. "...I'd punish them."

"Yes, and so shall I." His office phone rang. He picked it up with the red glow of his magic and listened.

"Heya Otto, Sir." came Janine's voice. "The two griffins and that pony you wanted to see are here... They don't look very well, sir. Shall I fetch a bucket for you?"

Otto chuckled. "If they're going to throw up everywhere, maybe you should. Send them in. Thanks Janine."

He groaned, looking at Starlight. "Watch where you put your hooves for the next five minutes or so."

The doors to his office opened. In marched the three mercenaries, they looked pale, which did not surprise Otto in the slightest. They approached the chairs at the desk, intent to sit: Otto took them in his magic, gently pushing two aside and out of the way, denying them; the third he gently floated to his side, offering to Starlight. All the while, Otto's eyes bore into the three of them.

"So." He spoke. "What is there to say? I gave you expressed orders. DO NOT ATTACK THE ZEBRA! I told you, and you ignored me."

"We..." Ashfeather responded, looking unusually queasy. "We got your stupid amulet. Sure we had the cause some brusies, but..." She coughed. "...We got the damn thing."

"I don't care." The mayor hissed, the sharp, glittering steel blade of a letter opener rising from the desktop, hovering between Otto and Ashfeather, pointing at the griffin, aimed at chest level. "The captain of my mercenaries, unable to follow a simple order. You're a liability to me, and..." She kept coughing, growing more intense, violent than before. "WILL YOU STOP COUGHING?!?!"

"I don't think she can help it, sir." Jabsco interjected. "We've all be feeling pretty..." She groaned, clutching her side and wincing. "...Pretty bad. My entire body hurts, and my head is splitting."

"Oh. That's so bad." Came Otto's sarcastic snort. "What about you, Scopes? You feeling poorly too?" He nodded quietly. "Oh, Celestia damn you all. I hope..."

Suddenly, Ashfeather let out a sharp yell of pain, stumbling and falling, tumbling to the desk. Her body twitched and moved about in a most strange fashion. Then Jabsco suddenly followed suit, screaming in agony. Then came Jabsco, who clutched his limbs on the floor... The fur on his forelegs was falling off.

"Otto!" Starlight cried. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything!" He barked, rising sharply to his hooves. "What in Tartarus is going on here?!?!"

He watched as strange things began to happen to the three mercs. The griffins were... Shrinking. Jabsco appeared to be getting shorter, the toes and talons of her paws forced to tightly clench as she lay on the floor; her feathers feel out and her wings withered and vanished. Her beak changed shape, and then... It stopped being a beak; in its place was a snout... The extremities of the paws had fused together, covered in fur... Jabsco was turning into a pony?!

Scopes, meanwhile, had grown considerably. His front legs had shrunk, his hooves growing talons; feathers replaced the fur on his head and neck, large wings grew from his back, reinforced with many more feathers of his fur colour: He was a hippogriff, now...

the transformations had finished. Where Jabsco once lay, now sat a unicorn: Her fur the same copper brown as Jabsco's feathers, her mane and tail white. Her cutie mark was a blue flower, growing from an equally blue vine. She sat up, looking confused, but smiling. "Oh, hello sir." She spoke, her tone was strange, a weird sort of calmness. "...What, what just happened? I remember getting up, getting ready to see you, and then, well, everything went fuzzy, and now I'm here. I can't quite put my hoof on it..." She looked around. "Oooh, a hippogriff? I've not seen one of those before..."

Otto and Starlight exchanged looks, before turning to Scopes, who was freaking out.

"What? What!?! What's happened to me?!" He cried, spinning around, trying to take a glimpse of himself. "I, what?! Otto, sir, please DO something! Please!"

Quietly, the mayor climbed out of his seat. There was still one griffin left unaccounted for. He peered around his desk, but there was no griffin to be seen: In the pile of feathers and fur lay a single, large, gray-feathered pigeon.

"Awww, look at her." Jabsco smiled as she too saw the bird. "It's so cute. I..." She flinched with a yelp as the bird squawked at her, lashing out with its claws and flapping angrily about. It didn't last long, Otto engulfed the bird with his magic, freezing her in place as she hovered in the air.

"Ha! So this is what became of the mighty Captain Ashfeather?" Otto smirked. "Well, I guess that's it for you, isn't it?"

"Isn't there a cure for this?" Starlight asked. "What..." She saw Jabsco's new cutie mark, joining the dots in her mind. "...This is Poison Joke. There is a cure!"

"Of course." Otto nodded. "Shame this featherbrain attacked the only one who'd know how to brew it." He frowned. "So, here we stand." He glared at the pigeon. "Still, that does mean one thing: The Groverclaws are mine now. Ashfeather controls the mercenaries, and now she's a pigeon, I control Ashfeather." A smirk on his face was followed by another evil chuckle. "Jabsco!" The copper-brown unicorn turned to face him.

"Yes sir?"

"How would you like to have a job as an errand runner for me? I could do with a unicorn like you."

"Oh, I'd love to!" She grinned, seeming to have become far more docile and friendly with her transformation, the Poison Joke clearly having affected her mind. "What do you want me to do?"

He hovered the pigeon over to her, letting her take it in her own magic. "I want you to find a cage for my new pet. Nice, big, strong one, money's no object, just tell them to send the bill to City Hall..."

"Oooh, she's a feisty one sir."

"I know. I may need to find some magical means to gentle her temper." Otto smiled. "But for now, run along. Go fetch me a bird cage."

The now-unicorn smiled, nodded, and quickly trotted out the door, leaving the two unicorns and the hippogriff.

"As for you..." Otto snorted. "A hippogriff is tougher than an earth pony, and more useful to me. Consider that your punishment for disobeying me. That, and a month suspension without pay."

"Sir, please." He begged. "I'm sorry. Just, turn me back, I can't live like this!"

"I don't care. You shouldn't have disobeyed me." He snorted, a sudden, evil glint in his eyes. He tapped his office phone, looking up at Scopes. "Guards! Guards! I need help in here! There's a Changeling!"

"What? Sir?!" Scopes cried as guards swiftly descended upon him. "No! Please!"

"That hippogriff was one of my mercenaries! He was Scopes! Now he's a damn hippogriff! Get him! Get him now!"

The hippogriff screamed in protest, struggling and fighting as Otto's men wrestled with him. With his newfound beak, he lunged and bit down on one of the ponies, drawing blood and causing a loosening of grip. It was enough of an opportunity for Scopes to break free, he charged, having to quickly figure out his new wings as he jumped into the air, shattering through the office windows and flying away. The other mercenaries wasted no time shouting, and giving chase into the Manehatten sky...

The messy piles of feathers and fur of three transformations took a very, very, very long time for the janitor to clean up. By this time, the new and improved Jabsco had returned with a large, standing bird cage, with a very unhappy looking pigeon inside it. Things swiftly returned to normal, and Otto felt this had been more than a net gain for him: An annoying thorn in his side was now a caged bird, he'd usurped control of a paramilitary organization from said bird, and he'd gained a useful, docile, brainwashed servant to boot. He smiled: This had been a good day so far...

"Well..." Starlight spoke after the dust settled, and Ashfeather had given up trying to rattle the bars of her cage. "...That was something. Hm?"

"Indeed."

"Are we going to talk about you and that amulet, now?"

He huffed. "I'm fine." He smiled. "Really. You're worrying too much about this amulet. I'm strong enough to be able to resist its impulses." A scoff marked his dismissiveness. "I'm no easily influenced showmare. I'm not being corrupted by it."

"Fine." The mare snorted. "Then take it off. You don't need its magic right now. Once we have the spell to turn you into an alicorn, then we can use it to secure your ascension." He fell silent, his face crumpled in his discomfort. "Come on, Otto. Please."

The mayor sighed, shaking his head. The amulet's lock clicked open, and he floated the Alicorn Amulet onto the table. "There." He said flatly. "It's off."

She stared at it, its stone shining in the office lights. "...How do you feel?"

"...Weaker. Actually." Otto remarked. "...Like the amulet has taken my strength with it as I took it off." He sighed. Starlight trotted over to him and hugged him.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear. "You really don't need that amulet as much as you think you do. It's more important we keep you you in the grand scheme of things. If that thing made something awful out of you... I don't know if I could stop you."

He turned to look at her. "That won't happen." He assured her. "I can fight it. I will fight it. I've seen enough stories of ponies being corrupted by power. I won't let that happen to me. It's too important. The pony folk need me us to save them. The amulet... It's a means to an end." He went quiet, thoughtful. "...But, if I'm wearing it, nobody else is, and so it can't fall into the wrong hooves."

"We won't allow that to happen." Starlight nodded. "It's for the greater good. But, promise me, if I tell you to take it off, because I fear what it's doing to you, you'll do it, right?"

Again, silence. He wieghed it up. "I will..." He nodded. "...For you. I'll narrow to my time with the amulet to short bursts, to minimize the risks of it corrupting me. You'll help make sure I don't wear it for too long."

She smiled. "Of course. We'll do this together."

At that moment, the phone buzzed again.

"Sorry sir." Janine's voice spoke. "I've got a letter for you here. It's marked as pretty urgent."

Otto sighed, giving a wistful look to Starlight, before settling back in his seat. "Fine. Send it in."

The red blank-flank quickly trotted in, bowing her head slightly and setting the letter down on his desk, before leaving as quickly as she'd arrived.

Otto's magic returned to the letter opener, slicing the envelope open with a quick swipe of the blade. He produced the letter, and sat down to read, his blood turning cold at the familiar handwriting.

Dear Otto,

I am writing to inform you that I am alive and well. I washed up on the shore after I danced overboard my yacht a week ago. I had been cursed. The shoes I wore were magic, and made me dance against my will. This continued when I woke up on the beaches of Lake Manehatten, and continued to happen every day for the next week until the spell finally wore off, at least in part. I still cannot remove these shoes, but I am alive. You had been like a mentor for me for years, taking me under your wing when I was an inexperienced, lost intern within the corridors of City Hall. I would like to think, of all the ponies in government right now, I could at least trust you with this information.

However, I have also decided that for the time being I should lie low. I've been seen to by Princess Twilight Sparkle, whose friend was the one who had saved me after nearly drowning in Froggy Bottom Bog, and she is going to investigate into who cursed me, and see that they remove the curse on my shoes, and are brought to justice. It is also my intention to return to office as mayor of Manehatten, and serve out the remaining two years of my term. Your rule has been competent and just, and an excellent government in this transitory time. I thank you for what you have done so far, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Your sincerely,

Paver Goldstreets.

"So it's true..." Starlight was the first to speak, having read the letter over Otto's shoulder. "She's alive. Zecora wasn't trying to trick us as Ashfeather believed."

Quietly, Otto nodded. "Indeed..." He rolled a pen with his magic atop the desk, his mind casually floating it around in the air, before conclusively tapping the table with it. "We go on as ahead. We don't let her survival interfere with our plans."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"We call her bluff. Make sure she stays hidden. Now she's alive, and the princesses are involved, we've got a deadline to get this done by, so we're powerful enough to force through our uprising regardless of if the princesses know the truth or not." He turned to a drawer, collecting some paper and filing it into a typewriter. "For now, I'm going to write some letters, and see if I can't buy us more time." He leaned over, giving his companion a brief hug. "Then, I think we draw a line in the sand for today, say screw it for the rest of it, and just go home, get drunk, and order a pizza or something. Sound good?"

"It's been years since I've had pizza." Starlight sighed rather wistfully. "It'd better be a good delivery place."

He kissed her cheek, causing her to blush slightly (having still not yet shaken off her hardy exterior). "It will be, one of the very best... For now though, I'd best get some coffee, I'm going to be here a while..."

Author's Note

Image created by Jadekettu on DeviantART http://jadekettu.deviantart.com/

Chapter Sixteen: The Scapegoat.

* * *

Urgh, mornings... So many questions: Why was Otto sleeping on his dining table? Why was he wearing a pizza box, impaled upon his horn, for a hat? Why was Starlight fast asleep on top of him, face first in the fur of his chest? The answer, as was so often the case, lay in the excruciating hangover which intended to split his skull in half, the smell of alcohol which hung on their breath, and the pile of bottles which lay around them like a solid, clattering sea. He groaned, sitting up; he couldn't blame Paver for his drinking habits, but he could blame her for spoiling his day.

He yawned a bit as he finished spraying disinfectant on the dining table, scrubbing down its surface with a sponge and hot water: Yes, this table should be clean enough to eat off of again. With that, he took up the bottles with his magic and dumping them and the pizza box (which he'd now removed from his horn) into the recycling bin, and then picking out the bits of hay bacon strips, which had somehow escaped being eaten, and threw them in the bin: By the time he'd finished, Starlight had returned from her shower, having been in there far longer than normal.

"Good morning, Starshine." Otto teased. "The Earth says hello."

"Oh, don't start." She gave him the eye. "Oh, sweet Celestia, last night was insane, we were only meant to be having pizza and a few drinks... Oh, wow..." She winced. "...Oh, we're out of mouthwash, by the way."

"Yeah, and I'm out of disinfectant... That was some pizza, right?

"Yeah, right..."

"Sorry, that thing wasn't as good as I'd hoped... I shan't be buying from them again."

"Yeah, right..." She looked away for a moment, before trotting over to sit at the dining table she'd formerly been sleeping on. "You really did clean this place up quite quickly."

"Thanks. I like to keep a clean house, and that's not really an easy job if I keep getting drunk..." He sighed. "It's getting a bit crazy again lately. That is to say, not quite as bad as when I was a student, but things have been quite difficult lately. Especially now my predecessor's back on the scene."

"So... What do we do now?"

"What do you suggest?"

Satarlight rubbed her head with her hoof, her face furrowed to a point. "...We spin this." Starlight spoke at last. "...We call her bluff, and we pin her down, make her stay hidden." Before adding. "Without using the Alicorn Amulet. You're smarter than that."

He gave her a look, running his eyes up and down her mane, rigorously brushed and tied back, her fur equally well maintained to a point where one would never have guessed the extent of their actions the night before: Otto had yet to lean himself up so extensively. "...Of course..." He quickly jumped to his hooves, hugging the unicorn mare and retreating to the door. "Make some calls for me while I get myself presentable, I need to get on the air. Radio, television, whatever you can get. I need to make a speech." With that, he ran upstairs...

Otto was better than this, better than getting drunk, eating pizza and spending the night on his dinner table enjoying the company of a sympathetic mare. They were all comfortable distractions, and he had to return to what was important: Being the mayor, and then with hard work and the masterful wrangling of Politics, becoming The Prince. If there was anything Otto was good at, it was wrangling Politics.

...Ponies were inherently peaceful, most of the time; they had their squabbles and their scraps, of course, but most of this only came out of fear, or out of broken friendships or, in the most potent of cases, hate. Otto didn't hate anybody: Hate made ponies stupid, short-sighted and prone to acting in a way they wouldn't normally act. After the Canterlot Wedding, many ponies hated, and feared, Changelings. With that, and the careful application of touched nerves and frightful insinuation, Otto could do exactly what he wanted.

Otto couldn't help but flinch as the makeup-mare added the finishing touches to his face, making him ready to wheel out onto television for the city to see. Otto wasn't young. He had bags under his eyes, and his fur was not as silky and soft like a younger stallion; it didn't shine in the light as though it were slick with rainwater. For that reason, he found himself having makeup applied to his face, and liner to the undersides of his eyelids, in order to make himself more presentable for the cameras: He hated this, but it was a necessary part of Politics, apparently. It was why he did most of his speeches on the radio, he knew that in an hour, his eyes were going to be itchy red from the eyeliner. It happened every time, and he could only conclude that he had some kind of allergy to the stuff in facial cosmetics, although he used to love face painting as a foal, which ultimately just left him confused. Confusion, however, had to wait, he had a speech to make.

A podium was set up in front of the city hall, flags (both of which were the flag of Manehatten: The flag of the Royal Sisters was strangely absent) set upon poles at each side of a podium upon which Otto would make his speech. At his right was Starlight, all signs of her hangover contained saved for some a mild case of bloodshot eyes; she'd distracted the much more sober eyes of the press with a long, black dress quickly made for her by one of the up-and-coming designers in the city.

Cameras in the hooves and magic of photographers and journalists flickered and flashed as the TV broadcasters quietly looked on. He coughed slightly to clear his throat, blinking a little as he already started to feel the tickling under his eyes, he did his best not to let it distract him as he laid down some place notes on his podium to make his speech.

"Citizens of Manehatten." He started. "Today, I've learned something very... Mixed. You see, what I must tell you is this: Our beloved former mayor, Paver Goldstreets, is alive." He paused, as the mass of people below exploded into a sea of chatter, questions and all manner of confusion and shock, he hammered his hoof into the podium to silence them. "...Yes, she lives, and many of you naturally would want her to return to power. So do I, she still has two years of her term left to serve. But you see, our mayor was cursed! In yet another insult to our proud city, and a direct attack on good, hardworking Manehattenites, we have reason to believe that a Changeling infiltrator sneaked aboard her yacht, and planted cursed shoes within her chambers..." His face was a scowl as he leaned on the podium. "My fellow Manehattenites, Paver did not fall from her ship that night, lost in the moment of a passionate dance... Instead, she was thrown, forced to dance against her will, and nearly murdered as a result!"

His hoof banged against the podium, taking a swig of water from a glass, captured in the glow of his magic, before setting down the glass again. He sighed: "My friends, what do the Changelings seek to gain with this terrorism? What does this senseless evil prove? The answer is simple... Once again, this is yet another case of the rampant threats which blight Equestria, and yet another failure on the part of Princess Celestia and the lazy, self-serving fools in her capital! Don't you see?! The Changelings have already beaten her once before! And we have to put our faith in her?! Don't you see?! It's either incompetence, or she simply doesn't care about us. Now, which of those is the better reality? Because they both seem pretty awful deals for us Manehattenites! We are hardworking, we are strong, we are clever and we are good. Manehattenites are some of the best ponies in Equestria, and we are being failed! Princess Celestia has failed us! Canterlot has failed us! Equestria has failed us!"

The crowd had turned increasingly rabid at Otto's speaking, he'd made sure to gather as many of the more chest-thumping Manehattenites as he could to hear his speech, purely for this moment. "Well, I say, NO MORE! From this point, my friends, I shall ceaselessly strive to do what Princess Celestia clearly can't: Protect and serve the good, brave, hardworking citizens of our great city! Whatever must be done for the good of you and our city, it shall be done! Celestia will rue the day she let Changelings and tyrants stand on us Manehattenites! I promise you! She and her useless Canterlot elite will regret their incompetence!"

Otto's throat was painfully raw as he sat down with Starlight in a nearby cafe. It had been an hour since the speech ended, and while he could barely speak after his shouting, coupled with the heavy drinking from the night before, he was happy: Even now, he could feel a change in the air: The citizens here were angry, but thankfully, they weren't angry at him. Fact suddenly became less and less relevant in the face of growing emotion. He and Starlight could see it in the faces of many of the other ponies in the cafe; a collective sense that, somehow, they'd been wronged.

...In truth, they had been. They were being used, as much by Otto as by Canterlot, but Otto couldn't afford to think like that. He wanted to give as much as he took, and while he took advantage of them, he was to give them something Canterlot never had given them, and never could: Cultural Pride. By the time he was crowned, the Manehattenites would not only want to see themselves as their own country, with their own culture, but would cheer and bow before Otto as their liberator. He'd didn't enjoy the abuse of his people in this way, but he held his resolve as he always did: If he could save even a comparably small hoofful of his fellow ponies by this campaign, he knew it was something he had to do, and would lose no sleep over it.

Chapter Seventeen: Rosebuds and Rhetoric

* * *

It had been a day since Paver had initially sent her first letter to Otto. A part of her didn't expect him to respond so quickly, but She was pleasantly surprised to find he'd replied and sent his response to her by the morning, arriving at the door to Tila's house over breakfast, as Paver sat down to eat in the kitchen:

Dear Paver,

You cannot begin to imagine how pleased I am to hear that you're alive. I wish there was something I could have done to prevent you from falling into the trap of your shoes, and failing that, have some manner to remove them for you, or at the very least prevent you from nearly drowning, and the week of suffering, that of which I can't begin to fathom myself. A week of constant, uncontrollable dancing, only ended after you nearly drowning in a marsh? My fur stands on end at the thought!

But that is in the past, and it does us no good to dwell on such things. At the moment, for your own safety, I would suggest you remain in hiding for the time being. Perhaps you could go and work for your mother at her flower shop, or your father at his lock factory for the time being? Meanwhile, I shall endeavor to contact Princess Twilight, as you have, and help her find a way to lift the curse on your shoes, and if no such thing exists, to find the ones responsible for this deplorable act, and see that they are brought to justice, and right the wrongs committed against you.

For now though, I cannot emphasize enough: Please do not come out of hiding yet. As much as I understand your dedication to your mayoral role, and accept that my position is transitional, I am in no doubt that whoever did this to you will still be out there somewhere, and if you return to politics, they will surely seek to harm you once again, and this time, one can only dread to think what they might do if they find you.

Yours sincerely,

Otto.

He hadn't helped settle her nerves, but he did have a good point about helping her mum at work, it gave her an idea...

"You want to come help me at the shop?" Tila asked over breakfast that morning, stirring some tea in a mug with her magic. To this, Paver nodded.

"It looks like I'm going to be here for a while." Paver frowned. "Otto's telling me I should lie low until they find out who cursed me. You've been putting me up and keeping me fed and stuff for free up until now. I'm not happy with that. I should be pulling my weight more."

"Oh, but Paver, dear, you're my daughter, and you nearly died. I really don't mind at all, just so long as you're safe."

The younger mare sighed. "I know, but I want to, and I know you get good business at the store, but hey, more hooves can only make things easier for you, right?"

Tila looked away for a moment, clearly tempted to take Paver up on her offer. "...Well, you did used to help with my shop when you were younger. It was nice to have someone to talk to while I worked."

"Yeah." Paver put on a smile. "You never even hired any other help. You did practically everything on your own, it was incredible! But, as I said, having some extra help can only do good things, right?"

Tila nodded. "Right... Well, I suppose you could help out with watering the flowers, and things like that."

...And so, Paver got a job at her mum's flower shop. It was a quaint little store, on the corner of a local marketplace in Colten Island, above the door hung a wooden sign baring daffodils, tulips, and kowhai flowers weaved around a golden ring, within which was the shop's name, painted in gold: The Three Flowers.

She'd started by watering the plants and bringing them out front, as well as helping with wagon deliveries of more flowers from out of town. Now, she was working the till, her jacket had been hung up in the back room and an apron over her jumper. There were some things she couldn't change in the face of her grand plan to get on with her life: A radio played on the tills to have some ambient music in the store, and so her shoes made sure she was always aware of it, but even that wasn't too much of a problem, so long as she kept herself busy and moving during her shift; she refused to let her curse spoil this.

The wonderful thing about being a civilization of herbivorous equines was that a flower shop served three purposes, rather than two: Decoration, celebration, and for the peckish, snack food on the go! As a result, the shop saw plenty of business that day, especially during lunch hours, when the small daisy buds were selling, literally, like hot cakes (making the hot cakes vendor across the street very jealous).

Many faces came in and out of the store that day. For the vast majority, Paver did not recognize them, and she hoped none of them would recognize her, dressed as a store clerk as she was. A few did clock as to who exactly she was, but many paid her no heed, and bought their goods and left as quickly as they came. It was tough work, far more so than she'd originally been expecting. The carrying of plants, soil, fertilizer and other bits and bobs was easy enough with her horn at first, but she soon found herself carrying more than she could handle: Her magic faltered and things began to fall. She quickly grabbed most of the things she'd been carrying, but not before a large quantity of dirt and fertilizer landed on the floor with a thud, making a huge mess of the floor, and her hooves!

"Oh, dammit." Paver cursed, setting things down on a counter top.

"Everything alright, P?" Tila turned.

"Yeah, yeah, just dropped some things." She winced. "Sorry."

"Oh, gosh..." Tila frowned.

"I'll clean it up."

"No no, you just go sort yourself out, that stuff's going to be a nightmare to clean out of shoes you can't throw in the washing machine if you let it stain. I'll sweep this up, just make sure you don't carry so much next time."

Paver remembered being dragged through the countryside, seeing her hooves caked in mud, and how filthy she must have been after she was fished out of the quicksand in Froggy Bottom Bog: She theorized that it took a bit more than that to stain the shoes, but she didn't want to cause a fuss, so she nodded thankfully, and left for the back room. She sighed as she flicked on a light in the rather spartan staff room, and approached one of the sink. It was a simple metal basin with a hot and cold water faucet; next to it was a kitchenette with a microwave, an electric kettle, a mini-fridge and a cabinet of cups, small plates, teabags, coffee and assorted biscuits.

Whatever Rarity had done to fix her shoes had made them waterproof, Paver discovered this the first time she tried to negotiate the shower-bath in the family bathroom; as a result, she held no qualms about casually turning on a tap and rinsing the dirt off her shoes, kicking the last of it off with several sharp taps against the side of the sink. As she cleaned off her shoes, she noticed something new about them: On the bottom of the shoes, near the back of the hoof, was a small logo in the form of two F's placed back to back from one another, contained within the small outline of an apple; the F's logically being in the place of apple pips, one could suspect. She'd seen it in the reflection of the sink as she'd cleaned the shoes down, staring at them at they seemed to quickly regain their sparkle, as if they'd never been dirtied to start with: Celestia's sun, Rarity! What DID you do to these shoes to fix them up like that?! It was a mystery that only the marshmallow white unicorn would every truly know the answer to...

As Paver left the back room, one particular pony entered, and this time, Paver DID recognize her. Her thoughts swiftly turned to a small picture upon her desk in her bedroom: Two teenage mares on the day of their graduation from highschool, one was Paver, and the other was an off-white earth pony with a short, light blue mane, tied back, ironically enough, into ponytails. They'd known one another since high school, and had been pretty good friends throughout; she was too quiet to even try making other friends, and Paver, with her thick glasses and her all over the place fashion style was much too geeky to have much success either. The other pony knew exactly what to wear to make herself look adorable, and so it made sense that, after graduation, while Paver went on to study Magic and Politics, she'd gone and studied Fashion and the Arts.

...They'd lost contact ever since; Paver being engulfed by her studies and her political career, and her old friend caught up in an apprenticeship, having only just broken free from her less than pleasant boss a year ago, and gaining pretty rapid fame in the Bridleway Fashion Industry. And now, here she stood, cute as a button, a pony Paver hadn't seen in years: Coco Pommel.

Awkwardly, there was only three ponies in the shop at that exact moment: Paver, her mother, and Coco. Out of all of those ponies, it was Paver's mum who broke the silence, exactly as you might expect.

"Oh, wow! Paver, isn't that that nice pony from highschool?" She swiftly turned to face the fashion designer, who blushed slightly.

"Erm, yes..." Paver smiled nervously. "Hey, Coco... It's..." She faltered off. "It's been such a long time." She left the till, trotting over to greet her.

"I, I'd heard rumors you were still alive after... After what happened." The earth pony finally spoke. "I, I was so nervous about trying to find out for myself. I thought I'd come ask Tila if she knew anything, since, well, I needed some nice flowers anyway..." She smiled. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Well, mostly." Paver's smile wavered. "I've had some trouble, as you'd expect." She kicked a hoof against the floor slightly as she said that, her eyes flicking down to her shoes. "Someone put cursed shoes in my bedroom on the night of that party, and they made me dance myself overboard." Paver explained. "After washing up on shore, I spend a week dancing uncontrollably around Equestria until I nearly drowned in a marsh. The dancing curse has worn off, mostly, but I still can't get these shoes off."

"Oh..." Coco looked down at them. "I'm so sorry. That's horrible! Why would anypony do that?" Paver shrugged. "...May I have a look?"

The unicorn nodded, offering her a hoof. Coco looked them over for a little while, before laying eyes on the brand on the bottom of the shoe.

"Hmmm, they look like Fairtrot's to me." Coco finally spoke. "Pretty nice designer brand. Rare too. A good pair like these can sell for hundreds of bits. No wonder you were so keen to try them on... But then this mark is a bit odd, nothing I've ever seen in the fashion industry, that's for sure." She released the shoe she was looking at and stood up, letting Paver return her hoof to the floor. "I'll ask around, see what I can find out. Hopefully I can dig up something which could help."

"Thanks. I didn't want you to worry about it too much. I'm alive, and I'll be fine." Paver reassured. "But, still, it's so good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too." Coco put on a smile, but Paver could tell she was still worried. "I'm sorry I'd not been writing lately. Things have been so crazy."

"I know, but we'll fix that now. I'll be sure to write to you as well from now on, if you're okay to do the same."

So, the two friends exchanged contact information anew, and Coco went on her way, briefly brightening Paver's day. After that, things slowly went back to normal, and Paver was at risk of having quite a good day: Then, Otto's latest speech came in on the radio... It proved quite uncomfortable listening...

Paver was not happy. Rather than try to keep some discretion with her curse and the frankly shocking revelation that it was apparently Changelings who'd done this to her, Otto had instead decided to plaster the story all over the news, and for what? So he could spout more hateful nonsense against the Royal Sisters.

Returning home that evening, she found herself growing more and more angry as she entered her bedroom: She had to write to Otto again. Why was he saying these things, and doing all of this? Why did he tell the entire world, including those who wanted to kill her, that she was still alive and their curse hadn't worked properly?! He'd forced her hoof, now she didn't really have a choice but to stay hidden. She continued to pace up and down in her room, letting her mind think, then overthink, and then generally worry about her situation to no end.

Dear Otto,

Why did you not tell me in private that you'd discovered who'd cursed me? I'd liked to have talked about this or something before you decided to splash it all over the news. I'm finding it hard to believe that Changelings would really gain from cursing me like they said they had, and if this is indeed true, is it really fair for you to lay into the princesses as you have been? To what end does this serve, beyond antagonizing the entire city against the government? I know you have always been skeptical of Celestia and Canterlot, but this is dangerous.

You've got me very worried, Otto. I don't like the speeches you're making on the radio and the television. I don't know what you're doing, or why, but it's having an affect on the atmopshere in the city. I felt it in my mother's shop today. It's like there's electricity in the air. You've made a powder keg, and we need to defuse this tension before it does something terrible.

In any case, I will be maintaining written contact with Princess Twilight and her friends as they try to help me with my curse. Perhaps she can help with our Changeling problem?

Yours sincerely,

Paver Goldstreets.

As she finished, music once again flowed from Forger's bedroom into Paver's room, and again, this started provoking her hooves to uncontrolled fidgeting. She was in no mood for this, and was about ready to storm in and throw his radio out his bedroom window. She certainly had no qualms about grabbing another book with her hoof and lobbing it at their shared wall.

As the book left her grip and sailed through the air, she took another moment to look at the small branding on the bottoms of her shoes.

"Hmm." She muttered. "Who are you...?"

She drafted her brother into helping her take a few pictures of the logos, having a small addition to an idea she'd just had: She was expecting, though mainly hoping, to hear back from Princess Twilight soon, but thought it perhaps better to contact her first, before she had the chance: Perhaps Rarity might recognize the branding on her shoes... Though, she confessed she didn't truly understand how that would help, she was clutching at straws.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter to you. Things are going quite... Turbulent, here in Manehatten. I've gone to live with my mother until the heat dies down, but I'm still worried.

You see, since my departure from the city under the duress of my curse, the now mayor or Manehatten, Otto Cratic, has been saying increasingly unpleasant things to denounce Princess Celestia, and folk here seem to be listening to him. I'm scared that this is going to lead to something very nasty if left unchecked; what's more, a small part of me has a horrible hunch that, actually, he's doing it deliberately.

Furthermore, after discovering I'm alive, he's now out and publically claimed that it was Changelings who'd infiltrated my yacht and planted the cursed shoes in my bedroom for me to find. It feels like he's trying to scaremonger ponies, and further incite hostility towards Celestia. After all, we all know about the events of the Canterlot Wedding, and the defeat of their goddess princess is not something ordinary Equestrians are going to forget quickly.

I'm sorry to burden you with these problems, but I still need your help, and I don't know what to do, short of confronting Otto directly and demand my old job back. He's got me pinned down quite well at the moment however: I'm still quite afraid of what might happen if I come out of hiding at this point. But if things get much worse, I may not have a choice.

Best regards,

Paver.

PS: I discovered some kind of logos or branding on the bottom of my shoes today. I don't know if your friend Rarity had seen it before or not, but I've attached some pictures to this letter, and I hope that helps. If nothing else, she definitely at least seemed quite interested in my choice (or lack thereof) in hoofwear. Believe me, if she can find a way to get them off me, she's welcome to them.

So now, sat upon her desk were two letters, finished, set inside envelopes and stamped, ready to be sent off. She knew it was the only power she really had if she wanted to remain hidden, but Celestia damn it all, she just hated the inactive waiting.

Author's Note

Image created by FullMetalVocaloid on DeviantART, and can be found here: http://fav.me/d9n8ii5

Chapter Eighteen: The Pursuit of Property

It was happening, or it was going to happen soon: If one repeats a line enough times, eventually ponies will start to believe it as truth. The choice of things Otto had said to that effect had been practically gifted to him, ironically enough, by the gods.

It was very easy to incite fear of an enemy who could replace one's family and friends so perfectly at a moment's notice. And it was even easier still to lay blame and scorn at the hooves of Princess Celestia, when the scars of the attacks from Lord Tirek, Changelings, Nightmare Moon and countless other dangers, threats and evils which had battered at Equestria's door.

Even as he Otto sat at his breakfast table, munching on toast and reading the latest little letter from his daisy-pushing predecessor, he was beginning to hear word of peaceful protests aimed at Canterlot, voicing their fears and anger at Celestia herself... It also helped that some of the ponies in such rallies may or may not have been on Otto's payroll. What? Manehatten Ponies were already frightened, what was one pony paying another to loudly say what everypony was already thinking?

Of course, there was then counter protests: A loyalist faction had erupted in Manehatten, known as the Acolytes of the Solar Princess (or the ASP). Their leader was a white furred, golden-maned unicorn named Zunbil Zoor (or 'Rubyeyes' since his glittering ruby red eyes looked like they were carved straight out of a Crystal Pony's face!), and he was just handsome and charismatic enough to swoon over enough ponies to be a problem. He'd broke out the peanut butter for this breakfast, he'd not expected this faction to get as bad as it had, and he knew he was going to have a rough day.

...Things were peaceful for now, but he'd been hearing whispers of more militant ponies within the ASP, known as the Zealots of the Solar Empire: These ponies were no mere activists; these were ponies from some of the most violently loyal families to Celestia in Manehatten, perhaps even Equestria as a whole. But not the Royal Sisters, no: Celestia alone. Their ancestors had been the soldiers who fought her sister and her minions, and most likely held no love for Princess Luna: Perhaps they could be manipulated, have their newfound fire turned on Canterlot itself, and cause more harm to their beloved Princess than good. But for now, they were going to cause nothing but trouble, especially if they were even going to give his mercenaries trouble. He needed to pick up the pace, and perhaps, up his game: Starlight preferred him to avoid violence, but the Amulet said otherwise; it was time for him to show he had teeth.

"You're laying that peanut butter pretty thick." Starlight muttered, watching him from the corner of her eyes as she tucked into some porridge.

"Yep." Otto nodded. "Finally managed to find a toaster repair pony, and I'm taking full advantage of it now. I always feel like I preform and talk better once I've had some peanut butter. it gets on the roof of my mouth a lot though. Still, it helps put me in a better mood when I know I'm going to have a bad day..." He went quiet, thinking. "Something has to be done. I NEED to find that spell soon. Whatever Sombra was working on. I know it has to be in the Crystal Empire somewhere."

She nodded in reply. "...I, I could go up to the Crystal Empire myself?" Starlight offered: "I know what to look for, and where I could start looking for leads."

"You, you want to leave?"

"Yes. I think it would help if we're not both just sitting here in Manehatten. The Crystal Empire is going to be on our priority list anyway. If I go to the Crystal Empire, you can still manage things here in Manehatten. And I know you've got plans. We can tackle two issues at once."

"Yes..." Otto frowned. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

The mare didn't miss Otto's concerned looks. "It's not going to be forever. Maybe a week or two, tops. And, I'll keep in contact via letters as and when I can. Once I get back, you'll be able to become an alicorn. Isn't that worth it?"

"I suppose." He forced a smile. "I will admit, however, I had grown quite accustomed to having company on a regular basis... I'm going to miss you, you know."

She smiled, trotting over and giving him a quick kiss to the cheek. "I know, and I'll miss you as well. But it's only for a week."

"I know, I know. And I'll have to focus on my work as well. Your argument makes too much sense to refuse, so I don't have much of a choice but to agree. Let me walk you to the train station, though. Just so I can see you off."

So that was it, it was settled. The pair got themselves ready, suited and dressed up for occasion: Starlight had packed a travel cloak, money and some other kit to help her out on her travel, and Otto had gone to suit up, then pick up his phone from his office.

He walked in, closing the door, and searching his desk, upon which was the Alicorn Amulet, placed inside a jar display. He froze as his eyes fell upon the ruby set into the amulet's front. It's shine was hypnotic, and he barely even noticed himself set his horn aglow, and remove the amulet from its display, tucking it inside his jacket "just in case" he told himself.

They took Otto's personal carriage, black, fully enclosed and protected, at least for its passengers. It was a good call, since the ASP and ZSE were holding a protest outside of Manehatten's train station: A large crowd, restrained by the police, just. It was enough for Brass Tacts to get nervous.

"There's a lot of sunbutts out there." He frowned. "Are you sure you want to do this, sir?"

"Yes, Brass." Otto snorted. "I'm not going to have my actions dictated to me by some radicals led by a red-eyed troublemaker." He watched as the carriage pulled up outside the station. "I'm here to see Starlight off to the Crystal Empire, and I shall. Now get the door."

Reluctantly, the bodyguard agreed, opening the carriage door for Otto to step outside into the street, seeing the screaming, angry crowd for himself. As he walked to the station's entrance with his companion, he wondered if Celestia knew about these protesters, and that many in their rank threatened violence in her name, and if she did, did she care to stop them? Otto seriously doubted she'd remained ignorant to ponies picking fights on her streets.

Otto was glad to get inside; his arrival on the scene had come as a surprise for the protesters, and they'd exploded into newfound energy. Brass Tacts watched from the sidelines, watching from the windows with growing worry about the situation. Otto had left him to it, trotting off to the platform with Starlight. They shared a final hug as her train to the Crystal Empire rolled to the platform.

"Goodbye, Starlight." He said, forcing a smile. "Good luck."

"Thank you. Good luck to you too."

With that, she was gone, off on a train to the North. He stood there on the platform, watching as the train vanished into the horizon. As it vanished, he suddenly became aware of the sounds of loud banging near the station's front. He turned, just in time for Brass Tacts to gallop over to him.

"Sir!" He cried. "Sir! We gotta go!" He panted. "The Zealots! Sir, the zealots!"

"CALM DOWN!" Otto barked at the panicking bodyguard; this had been his first time this large pony had been in a serious danger zone, and he was not impressing Otto one bit. "What's going on!?"

"They, they're getting really nasty out there. Starting to throw things. If things get any worse we're looking like we're going to have a riot on our hooves!"

Otto scowled, pacing. He felt the Alicorn Amulet dig into his chest in his pocket. Taking it from his coat, he stared at it, before snorting, and placing it around his neck. "Alright. You listen to me, and you listen well: Get yourself together! If you don't calm down right now I'll throw you to those damn zealots and they can rip you apart for all I care!" The bodyguard flinched, standing up straight. "...Good. Now, you are going to call the mercs, get them here, and crack down on this nonsense before it begins."

So they fled. Otto refused to run, and walked in a firm stride through the station, and out into the chaos as his bodyguard struggled to keep pace and shield his boss. He saw the protesters getting up in the faces of the police, who were NOT prepared for a riot. That being said, it was looking almost like most of what Brass Tacts had said was exaggerated, but things WERE stating to be thrown, albeit by pony a tiny handful of the protesters . Zealots were trying to push past the lines of police to get to the mayor, throwing rocks, bottles and all manner of things.

Otto snarled at this display, suddenly finding a rock fly past him, hitting a wall. He scowled, glaring at the pony who threw it, a large, angry looking pegasus. It got him thinking, however, as he climbed into his carriage.

"Starlight was in the Equestrian S6 train on it's way to the Crystal Empire." Otto spoke. "When we get back home, I want people on phones. If Starlight isn't safe and well in S6, then heads are going to roll. Understand?" Brass Tacts nodded at this. Otto stretched his neck a bit, feeling tense. He turned to look out the back window, seeing a few especially determined pegasi following behind. He scoffed, sitting back in spite of the continuous banging of rocks from against the carriage as they continued to chase them: They were brave, but they were going have their wings broken by griffins if they were serious.

They weren't, it seemed: Otto's house was peaceful as he returned and entered, his heart racing but his limbs energized with adrenaline. This attack had filled him with new ideas! Celestia's zealots had attacked him directly, and chased him back to his home, and she'd done nothing to stop them. ...She could well have sent them herself for all anypony knew. Unknowingly, they'd given him the ammo he needed. But, more could be done... He explained his plan to his bodyguard, and the griffin mercs in his company at present, and then nodded.

"So, Brass. Go run me a bath. I need to get some fresh air outside. You two griffins come with me. I want someone with ACTUAL competence looking out for me."

He quietly walked out the back yard, with a glass of cider in hoof. As he sat and drank he, his horn glowed, picking up a large rock from the garden. With the strength of his Alicorn Amulet enhanced magic, he winced, breathing deeply, before launching the rock high into the air, where he suddenly brought it back down again at speed. The rock smashed against his own head, and he blacked out...

"Our mayor, Otto Cratic, was rushed to hospital today, after suffering a serious head injury. Two pegasi, known to be members of the Zealots of the Solar Empire, were arrested under suspicion of attempted murder, as the pair had been seen following the mayor's carriage after escaping police containment in the Manehatten Station Riot. This story is backed up by two griffin bodyguards, who witness the attack as the mayor was enjoying a glass of cider in his back yard. This vicious and cowardly attack failed to kill the mayor, however, who is now currently in a stable condition in Manehatten City Hospital. Although expected to be kept for observation by medical staff, initial reports suggest the mayor is in good spirits, and keen to return to work as soon as possible, in spite of the violence perpetrated against him. This is Ticker Tape, reporting from Manehatten City Hospital for Manehatten News Network."

Otto was doing more than stable. He had the mother of all bruises on his face, and a pretty nasty scar hidden under his mane, but his magic was strong enough to protect him from serious brain damage. But this, coupled with the anger of the crowds and the pegasi who'd stalked his carriage on the way home, gave Otto all the ammunition her needed to step things up to a whole new level. For that, though, he needed equipment, and sadly, there was only one pony with the means to produce what he needed, and would be willing to betray Princess Celestia for all the gold Manehatten could offer: Sir Pluto Cratic, CEO of the weapons manufacturer known as Filliburtons. Maybe Otto really was suffering from concussion, because as he sat in a hospital bed, he was sending word for that pony he once called a father to meet him in Canterlot, ASAP...

Chapter Nineteen: Filliburtons

"Well, well." Came the smug tones of the fat bast... The fat pony on the phone Otto called his father. "Yours was a number I was not expecting to see again. Did you miss your old dad, Otto?"

"Save it, Pluto." Otto snorted, tapping his hoof against the table of his train carriage impatiently as he spoke. "I'm calling in a professional capacity. It's Mayor Otto now. I'm on my way to Canterlot, to you'd best clear your schedule and ready me a meeting at Filliburtons."

"Oh, you always were a charming young colt." Pluto snorted. "What do you want, Mayor Otto?"

"Please, Pluto. I'm riding to Canterlot as we speak, and you're one of the largest weapon producers in Equestria. Changelings and rioters are running rampant in my city, and one of them nearly killed me. What do you THINK I want?"

"Ah..." Pluto chuckled on the phone. "It's like that, is it? You don't have to be rude, you know."

Otto ignored this. "My men need better weapons than they have. The equipment provided to me by Celestia for this purpose are ineffective and outdated. My mercs are a little better armed, but it's not going to be enough for what I have planned. You have weapons, I have money. Get a meeting arranged, and tell nobody about this call." With that, Otto hung up, angrily tossing his phone back onto the table with a thud, before magicking over a glass of cider to calm himself down with. It was going to be a long train ride...

Pluto Cratic: He looked like an older version of Otto himself, but otherwise, what a psychopathic, hateful excuse for a pony he was. Theo had already disowned and estranged himself from him entirely, but Otto? Otto was pragmatic. He'd remained, more or less, in his father's good books, and had been rewarded for his endurance: He was the family favorite, he was set to inherit Pluto's company when he died, and even before then, it was always useful to have a trustworthy ally in the weapons industry: Pluto had resented Princess Celestia ever since she refused to invade Yakyakistan; he'd projected to have made a fortune selling arms to Celestia's soldiers, and unoffically arming resistance movements in the invaded country itself. He held no loyalty to anything except money, and that was his ultimate downfall.

As Otto saw it: Money is all well and good, money and wealth were what built Canterlot and all its splendor in the first place. but Otto had always cared more about Power. Power was the mountain Canterlot was built into; it had stood for thousands of years before Canterlot was built, and would continue to stand thousands of years after Canterlot collapsed into the valleys below. Still, money had its uses, and it wasn't surprising that the two often went hoof in hoof...

Canterlot was a strange place; no matter how grim or unpleasant an occupation or facility was, it always managed to contain itself in a very pretty, very opulent building which fit into Canterlot's skyline perfectly. And so, it came as little surprise that Pluto had managed to make a weapons factory which looked nothing like a weapons on the exterior: No, instead, the factory on the outside looked deceptively like an old family blacksmith shop and house on the outside, albeit a HUGE one; it even had a quaint little sign above the door, of an anvil with a hammer.

The inside however was far more... Industrial. The outside was a thin veil for the foundries and the skunkworks contained therein, all of which overseen by a fairly comfortable office and board room on the upper floors, where Pluto had arranged to meet the Manehatten mayor in private. They shared no pleasantries, no affection, nothing to suggest they were father and son, or anything beyond two stallions sitting down to have a meeting.

"Hm..." He paused. "What happened to your face?"

Otto scowled, still visibly baring a rather dark black eye and bruising. "A pegasus threw a rock at me, damn thing put me in the hospital." welcome to Canterlot." He groaned. "I'm fine. Let's get this over with quickly... I hate this city. Whoever thought building a city on the side of a mountain was a good idea should be hanged."

The unicorn frowned, but conceded. "As you wish. Take a seat."

Otto refused. "I said I didn't want to waste time, Pluto. You know what I want, and you know I can pay for it. Can you deliver?"

"Of course I can deliver. Celestia's equipment is horrifically outdated, and we're losing money due to her refusal to grow her army. Her pacifism is going to get us all killed."

Otto scoffed. "Finally, something we agree on. Can you give me a demonstration of what you've got to offer?"

The older unicorn smirk a little. "Oh, certainly..."

He stepped out of the office, holding the door for Otto to follow, and they descended downstairs to a proving ground chamber in the factory. There, they found a number of ponies in dirty overalls. On tables and shelves were a large array of kit: Spears, batons, blades, and crossbows with what looked like large boxes attached to them.

"Right. So we all know the royal guards have conventional spears, made of steel. They're pretty heavy, and blunt pretty easily." Pluto started, one of the workers, a unicorn, picking up a shiny, silvery spear with his magic as he spoke. "Well, here I present to you out answer to reinventing the wheel. Titanium alloy spear, with serrated head. Far lighter than normal spears, far sharper, and will hurt a hell of a lot more when they poke through their foes. A steady hoof could potentially even throw these like javelins if all else fails..." He chuckled, trotting over to the batons. "But that's why I always have a plan B in mind." Picking up the baton, it shared the silvery colour, but had a small band at the bottom of the extended pole. "Titanium batons, fitted with an electrical stun pack. Through use of magic gemstones inside, you should find that these keep their charge for a very, very long time. One hit with this thing at full power will DEFINITELY incapacitate a foe... Just make sure they're not standing in a puddle when you do. Things will get pretty messy otherwise." Pluto took the batton with his magic and tossed it over to Otto, who caught it with similar telekinesis: It was incredibly light in his magic as he opened it up, hearing the slight buzz of the electricity: He took a swing, cutting through the air like a knife in butter. Yes, this would do nicely...

Next, Pluto showed Otto the crossbow which sat on the table: Made of dark wood and black titanium, the crossbow also featured a large case fitted to the bottom of the weapon's body, directly below the bolt, which was quite a thin, metal-shafted projectile with a fairly vicious looking head.

"Ah, this is something I'm especially proud of here." Pluto smirked, picking it up. "A repeating crossbow. The cartridge carries five of these bolts before needing to be reloaded, which is major improvement over needing to be reloaded after every shot. It's quite shocking that ordinary ponies can get a hold of the same level of crossbow as the military itself." He chuckled evilly. "Not anymore. The limbs of this crossbow are far stronger than conventional crossbow parts, and we can draw the bolt and its string far, far tighter than previous models. Getting shot with one of these will definitely be a confirmed kill... Especially since we'll also be providing you with higher quality ammunition than standard wooden and steel bolts. And, guess what, we even considered what would happen if one of your foes got their hooves on this stuff!" He turned to his men. "Hey! Get Bulwark out here!"

Bulwark was an extremely large earth pony, or at least it looked as such, for he was clad from head to hoof in heavy, black armour, studded with spikes, and completed with a full face helmet; the eyes of the helmet glowed green. He didn't walk out so much as he was wheeled out; he didn't speak or move even slightly: Initially, Otto assumed it was just a manikin, but no: The pony WAS actually breathing, but otherwise, he was seemingly completely frozen.

"Last year, we recovered some interesting equipment from the Crystal Empire. A suit of spiked armour, this armour. Sombrian. Sadly, our friend here was stupid enough to try it on once we brought it back home, and it turns out, King Sombra wasn't terribly interested in free will for his soldiers..." He coughed nervously. "The entire suit seems to have fused to what used to be a perfectly nice archaeologist called Walton Croft, and has turned him into a mindless drone. Unfortunately, he killed nearly everyone in his team once the magic on the suit took over, a relic of the old Equestrian-Crystal War we expect, before we found a way to subdue him."

Pluto showed him a glass case, containing a sinister black bracelet, specked with blood, upon a small cushion. "That bracelet has been what's allowed us to control and subdue our tank of a friend here. He's been completely catatonic without someone wearing that bracelet, but, well, the last pony who wore it found that it fused to their leg, and to get it off... Well... You see the specks the of bloods." Otto blinked, looking about, he noticed a rather displeased looking pony, with a metal prosthetic foreleg from the elbow down to the hoof, and quickly put the pieces together. "We're hoping that, with time, we can reverse engineer the magic in the armour, and produce our own without somepony having to be stuck wearing a bracelet like this."

Otto scoffed. "Is there any other problems with the bracelet, other than it being clingy?"

"Well..." Pluto frowned. "One of our researchers, Powder Keg, believes that there was a hierarchy of control here using magic. Sombra was perfectly happy to enslave ponies, so he believed that Sombra himself probably held some relic or another which held a slave-like control over everyone who wore the armour or the bracelets. The commonly agreed upon theory is that it would've been his crown. But, at the same time, Sombra has been dead for years, and nobody knows where his crown has gone."

Again, Otto scoffed. "I don't see the problem then. I want the bracelet."

Pluto gave him a look. "Don't be stupid, Otto. It's not going to make a great Hearts and Hooves Day present. Not unless you're into eternal bands and mind control."

"Sombra's GONE, there's nobody higher up now. And to have an obedient drone the size of a hulking tank sounds like a pretty nice replacement for my coward of a bodyguard right now."

"No. I won't do it. We're going to find a way to reverse engineer it, and make our own..." Pluto protested, but was quickly silenced as Otto's horn glowed, and he magicked into existence a VERY large bag of gold bits, which he dumped at Pluto's hooves. "The bracelet, you kit out my men, and I make you the richest pony in Manehatten. Your company will also have exclusive rights to produce our arms for as long as I'm mayor, and believe me, that's going to be a LONG time."

Pluto, for once, looked torn. He looked between his son, and the money, turning between the two as his mind battled. Eventually, he sighed. "No, Otto. I won't do it. I'm willing to agree to everything else, but I'm not giving you the bracelet."

Otto scowled, furious. He felt his eyes practically glowing with rage. He glared at Pluto, and the bracelet he refused him. Something, somewhere inside him suddenly clicked, and he looked down at the Alicorn Amulet which hung around his neck, seeing it suddenly shine far brighter than usual... Now it was closer to its kin, Otto realised: He had an idea. An arguably evil idea, but a brilliant idea regardless...

"Well..." Otto suddenly said, venom in his voice. "You could do that, but, well..." His horn glowed, and the amulet slipped out from under his shirt. "...I have this." hovering it in the air slightly, he showed it to Pluto.

"What?" Pluto's face looked aghast. "Is that..."

"...The Alicorn Amulet? The Sombrian artefact which augments a user's power beyond all measure?" Otto smirked. "Yes, yes it is, and, if my theory is correct..." He turned to Bulwark. "Soldier!" He barked, pointing at Pluto. "Apprehend that pony! Smash anypony who gets in your way!"

The armour-clad pony turned sharply to face Otto, before wordlessly marching towards Pluto.

"What are you doing?" Pluto backed up slightly. "Stop! Stop! Otto! What are you doing?!" Otto didn't answer, watching as Bulwark shoved aside one of the engineers. "Somepony stop him!"

Before they could grab a weapon to fight the attacking soldier, Otto engulfed the lot of them in his magic, lifting them up into the air. He fired spears at the ponies with the speed of bullets, his only failing was his aim: The spears narrowly missed their targets, burying themselves into the ground.

The ponies panicked. Some fled, while a young mare had the bright idea to run to the glass case and smash her way to the Officer's Bracelet. Before Otto could stop her, she'd grabbed it and snapped it shut about her own leg, wincing in pain as it locked and tightened around her foreleg.

"Stop it!" She screamed at the soldier, and he froze. The ponies breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Ha." Pluto scoffed. "That backfired for you, didn't it?"

"Did it?" Otto smiled. "What's that young mare's name? The one who apparently foiled my plan?"

"My names Sketchbook, you lunatic!" She shouted; Sketchbook was apparently quiet a feisty young unicorn of pale blue fur and a pearly white mane, her cutie mark, predictably, was a sketchbook and a pencil. She'd sat back on her haunches, her hoof trying in vain to force open the lock on the bracelet, so she might release herself from its grip; foolish filly, the amputee pony was a testament to the permanence of her situation, she was deluding herself by thinking otherwise.

"Thank you kindly." Otto smiled. "Now stand up." The mare squealed as suddenly her hoof froze and her legs forced her standing; she looked at the bracelet, and back at Otto, suddenly realising what just happened. "Good, now come here."

A terrified look was plastered on Sketchbook's face as her legs begun to move against her will, quickly trotting her over to stand before Otto.

"Please..." She whimpered. "Please don't do this. Whatever you're doing."

"I could've used that bracelet." He snorted. "A trap for a pony far more valuable than you, perhaps. Or for research, like your boss here. But no. Now I have you." He eyed her up. "...I could simply cut your leg off too and take back my bracelet..."

"That's MY bracelet, Otto!" Pluto protested, though he was quickly silenced once Otto brought a spearhead to his throat with his magic, close enough to make anypony fear for their lives.

"...Or, perhaps you can be useful to me. And I won't chop you up for now."

"Yes, yes of course." She begged. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't do that!"

"Yes, yes you will. I've proven that already." Otto responded. "As for YOU, father. I think you understand your position: You can take the money, as you have always done, or you can take my spear. Do we have an agreement?"

"This is madness!" Pluto protested. "This is slavery! You can't urgh!"

Otto pressed the spear slightly deeper into his father's throat, the sharp point breaking the skin, causing blood to dribble slightly from the wound it created: It wasn't a fatal injury, but it would be if it went any deeper.

"A simple nod will do." Otto hissed. Defeated, Pluto obeyed. "Good!" The spear pulled back, twirling a little in Otto's magic to shake off the loose drips of blood. "I think today's been very productive." He smiled as he skipped over to Bulwark. "Listen, Bulwark! From this point on, you will serve as my personal bodyguard, your job is to protect me and my friend Starlight Glimmer, otherwise, you will do exactly as I say, when I say it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Bulwark spoke coldly, bowing.

"Very good. And you..." Otto turned to Sketchpad. "You shall work as my personal servant from now on. You will do exactly as I say, and you will not speak of this, or your curse, to anypony."

She trembled as she stood there. "Y-yes sir."

"In which case, we're done here." Otto snorted, turning to leave, the two ponies he'd 'recruited' following behind him. "I'll expect the first shipment of weapons by tomorrow!" He shouted to his father as he left...

Chapter Twenty: Suspicious Minds

Meanwhile...

* * *

Life had continued as normal, or as close to normal as it could be, for Paver. Colten Island, made up of the merger of small market towns, sleepy suburbs and just the odd lashings of more built up developments, was never a terribly busy part of Manehatten, and as such, was a poor representation of the city as a whole. The stories on the TV and the radio were far more revealing of the state of the city, and their broadcasts, ever more jingoistic and aggressive language being used by the mayor and his supporters.

As for Otto himself, he'd not written to Paver since their first correspondence. She'd sent him letters, of course, but rumour had it that Otto had left Manehatten for Canterlot, either hoping to strike some deal or another, or to visit family. Either way, he'd been and returned, and still he refused to talk to her. What in the world was going on over at City Hall?

Tila had tried her best to keep her daughter in good spirits throughout all of this, but it would take more than takeouts and movies to distract Paver from her worrying. The more she thought on it, the worse her fear became: This was growing to be a bigger problem than the former mayor had first expected; the things Otto was saying, and the way ponies were talking, all of it was getting very scary indeed.

"The things Otto's saying are practically rebellious now." She spoke to her mother over breakfast the following morning. "Why are the princesses not stepping in to try to calm down the bloody tension? This is getting insane..."

"This is why I don't try to get into politics." Tila frowned. "I did when you were in there, but otherwise it's just nasty stuff. I've never liked it."

"But, just ignoring it isn't going to make it go away." Paver retorted. "That's how folks like him get to do whatever it is they want to do. But, what good is it for me to keep writing to him if he's just going to ignore me?"

Tila didn't have an answer for that. Thankfully, she never had the chance to give one in the first place: A rattle at the door, followed by a light thud, signified the arrival of the morning post. "I'd best get that." She quickly said with a nervous smile. A few moments later, she'd returned: Bills for her, school report card for Forger, and three things for Paver.

The first as a flier, from the the Zealots of the Solar Empire: It looked like it was a fairly simple, hastily made and amateur piece of printing. It read, quite simply:

"Mayor Otto has recruited a cult leader as his deputy, and has been seen meeting with weapon manufacturers in Canterlot! He is LYING TO YOU AND PREPARING FOR A WAR! Protect yourselves! Protect your family! Protect the honour of Princess Celestia! Join the Zealots, and ensure Celestia's sun continues to shine over us all!"

She frowned, folding up the flier and setting it aside. She didn't care for violence, and these zealots would only serve to give Otto the ammunition he'd need to set his hoof down harder on those he didn't like: If these rumours were true (as Paver had heard of the fairly infamously pro-war attitude of Pluto Cratic), it would only make sense for Otto to go to his father for weapons.

"I do hope these ponies are wrong." Tila spoke as she read the Zealots' flier.

"It would explain the change in language Otto has been making lately." The young unicorn snorted. "I've known Otto for ten years, and he knows his history. You can't start a war without something to fight for, and..." Paver trailed off, she was distracted by a roll of parchment, stamped with a purple wax seal, baring a symbol of a star: Princess Twilight. Quickly, she floated the letter over and opened it, reading it.

Dear Paver,

So far, I'm sorry to say that my efforts to find a counter-curse for you has been fruitless. 20,000 books are in my library here in Ponyville, and not one of them have anything to help us get around your Binding Curse. I'm not willing to give up, however, and so after being persuaded by my friends, I wrote to Princess Celestia herself to ask for her help. Rather than trying to find a way to remove the curse itself, she suggested instead I try to find the one who cursed you in the first place. She directed me towards studying means to identify the casters of spells. Apparently, there are means to trace the magic placed upon things to the original caster.

Which brings me on to the images of the logos on your shoes. At first, we were stumped. Rarity was indeed curious about it, but it was actually my friend Applejack who was able to identify the logo itself: Although they go by many names, it is actually one of the many brands that the Flim Flam Brothers use. It appears to be a brand new one, but AJ has had more than her fair share of run-ins with those two, and she knows well enough the dirty dealings and dishonest practices they employ. If you choose to try to pursue this, I warn you to be careful. They're both very tricky sorts.

More concerning, however, is what I was told when I asked the princess about your friend... I was told that the current mayor of Manehatten has never written to her since being voted into office as mayor. If he said he was going to work with the princesses to help find the one who cursed you, either he has been slow to get in contact with them, or he simply isn't going to.

Yours sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle.

Paver stared blankly at the letter. Somehow, deep down, she knew. Why would Otto give up his position for Paver, now she'd been quietly pushed into the shadows and allowed him to unroll whatever insane plan he was trying to push? She cursed aloud, causing Tila to cover Forger's ears and give her dagger eyes: HOW could she be so naive!?!

She quickly abandoned breakfast and went to fetch some paper and a quill, there was a newfound sense of anger deep within, forged into purpose by a sense of betrayal: She was going to get to the bottom of this mess, if it was the last thing she ever did. It went beyond being snubbed, magic shoes, or even her mayorship: All these things coming her way at once, it was building a horrible hunch in her head. She just hoped she was wrong...

Dear Princes Twilight,

I would like to meet with these Flim Flim Brothers, as soon as possible. I want to speak to them about their role in me getting cursed, and who bought these shoes from them. If I can find out who bought them, I'll know who cursed me. You have my home address, if you can get hold of them, send them to me.

Yours sincerely,

Paver.

After all of this, Paver found herself far more sympathetic to the cause of the Zealots, although she could accredit some of that sympathy to her anger at this present moment. Still, it was perhaps important to keep her options open if Otto truly was plotting something horrible: She wasn't going to stay hiding like a frightened filly for much longer, and all the evidence so far, she feared, pointed to Otto himself having at least some involvement in this affair: He certainly profited from it.

To the Zealots of the Solar Empire, and your respective leaders,

I understand you have been arranging protests and demonstrations against the mayor's anti-Celestia campaign, and your fears that he is preparing for a war.

I'm afraid to say, but I think you might be right.

I have been in contact with Princess Twilight Sparkle since I returned to Manehatten, and I have evidence enough to suspect that Otto has been lying to me, and if my worst fears are true, actually had a hoof in trying to kill me. It all makes sense! He wanted to get rid of me so he could become mayor himself, since he was the most popular candidate at the time. If it was a changeling who had tried to kill me, that changeling would surely have tried to impersonate me so it could feed off the love of my family: It wouldn't have needed to use magic shoes to make it look like I'd died.

I intend to go public with my evidence and openly denounce Otto for his increasingly dangerous behaviour. However, if he has tried to kill me, I fear he might try again if he realizes I'm on to him. Therefore, I would like work with, or join, your organization to try to help you in your cause. I will offer whatever I can to help your cause, but what I want in return is protection, since I fear what will happen in the coming days. Things are very turbulent right now.

Yours sincerely,

Paver Goldstreets.

She finished up her letters, ready to be sent off ASAP. She didn't like having to ask for help like this, but having the safety net would definitely be nice. She wanted more concrete proof that Otto was involved, however: Once she found out exactly if he had cursed her or not, that was when she was going to go public with her information information. Regardless though, the idea of Changelings going to so much trouble to kill her, only to then not try to impersonate her? That didn't make any sense. Once again, signs of her own nativity that she fell for it in the first place: No more...

She'd wait on Twilight's letter if she had to, but in the meantime, she explained her plan to her mother, and set about getting the house nice and ready for if they ever showed up.

They had a pretty nice, albeit small living room, where she'd corral and grill them until they told her what she wanted. She knew that she could force the information out of them: She could get them locked up for selling cursed objects just by waving her shoes in front of a judge, they were stupid enough to put their own branding on them after all.

Still, she wanted it all to look nice. With that in mind, she quietly slipped out to go pick up some flowers from her mother's store. She'd pay for what she took later, but she just wanted some flowers to help decorate the room, or failing that, nibbles. The shop was expecting a fresh shipment for flowers today, so she knew she was going to have a good range to choose from.

The flowers had been delivered in on a selection of small shipping pallets, and left around the back of the store, as per usual, save for one, which was left slightly further back from the doors; upon it was a note, which read: "Sorry Mrs. G, this pack was unusually heavy, so we had real trouble getting it her. We had to give up after Special Delivery threw out his back trying to lift this damn thing. Sorry for the inconvenience. Signed, Special Order."

Paver frowned. She'd heard about the Special Family: They were the ones who were in charge of delivering her stock to the shop on a regular basis. Theirs was a busy family business of logistics, based a little way out of Manehatten, but delivered all over the city. They were Earth Ponies, so didn't have the luxury of telekinesis to help them carry things, but that had never been a problem for them before... Just what had Paver's mum ordered for the shop?

Her horn glowed, and she set about the doubtlessly difficult task of trying to lift the pallet by herself. Her horn's glow intensified, becoming hot, and sweat beaded from her brow, her muscles clenged and her teeth ground in her mouth, but with all her strength, she could only move the delivery a short distance before her magic gave out entirely, and it hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Argh!" A muffled shout suddenly emerged from the box! Naturally, this took Paver by quite some surprise, and she trotted over to it. grabbing a crowbar with her magic, both to open the box, and to bludgeon a would-be attacker if things turned nasty.

The box was lined with holes and slats to allow air and light inside (a necessary feature when trying to deliver fresh flowers), and as she approached, she noticed a large, dark lump inside the box, where flowers should have been. She was a little scared, of course, as she drove the crowbar between the lid and the box, and with a flick of her magic, quickly shoved it open.

"Fyaah!" The creature inside the box yelped in surprise as the light flooded inside.

"Ah!" Paver jumped back as she saw it: A hippgriff, hiding among a holly bush. Her magic zapped off as she lurched back, and the crowbar dropped from the air, hitting the hippogriff in the head with a THUD!

"Oof!" He groaned, pulling himself up and flopping out of the box.

"What, what in Tartarus!?" Paver cried. "What are you doing in our delivery!?!"

The hippogriff, looking rather disheveled and, actually, rather starved. "Oh, oh sweet Celestia... It's all true..." He stammered, quivering. "It's really you... You're, you're alive..." With that, the hippogriff passed out, collapsing on the floor with a limp thump...

* * *

Paver sat in her mother's living room, watching the strange hippogriff lie on the sofa, unconscious and wrapped in blankets, which also helpfully concealed that his wings were tied up and he himself was tied by a forelimb to the sofa itself in case he turned nasty or had another attack of panic; on the coffee table lay his steel security baton, folded up and kept out of talon's reach.

...Her mother had been very shocked when Paver rung up to say that a hippogriff had been hiding in her holly delivery, and was very keen to find out just what he'd been doing in there. She was less keen, however, to help Paver bring him home and tie him up in her living room. Since then, he'd blurted awake, rambling wildly and without much sense, before dozing off again: Since then, he'd stabilized somewhat, and would probably be well enough to talk the next time he woke up.

For now, Paver was quite content to leave him there. If he was some kind of assassin sent by her attackers, or a fugitive fleeing from them: He'd make good leverage against the Flim Flam brothers in any case, and she was definitely going to twist their hooves over it when they got here.

"It's a good thing Forger went to a friend's house today." Tila mentioned as she approached her daughter. "I don't want to have to try and explain why we've got a knocked out hippogriff lying in our living room. Shouldn't we just call the police?"

"I, I don't know. I just have a bad feeling. I want to hear this hippogriff's side first. If I'm not convinced, I'll call the police. But... If Otto's involved in all of this, he'll have the police on his payroll, just look at his uniform!" She sighed. "I want to know who did this. I'm going to find out what they're doing, and why. Then I'm going to find them, and I'm to put a stop to it, and I'm going to MAKE them take these shoes off me. I NEED this."

Tila sighed, there was a knock on the door: She wasn't going to be able to talk her daughter out of this one. "...Ok, Paver. Just please, be careful. Hippogriffs in mercenary uniforms? Shady businessponies? Zunbil Zoor? You're messing with dangerous folk. Promise me you'll be careful."

Paver nodded "I promise." She replied, before heading off to get ready, since Paver had had a thought: She did not expect the Flim Flam Brothers to stay long if they knew they were going to see the very pony they'd ended up cursing, so she'd disguise herself for their arrival. She finished prepping herself with use of a sleeved hoodie and a long skirt, before there was a knock on the front door: They were here.

The very second she lay eyes on the Flim Flam brothers, Paver knew they were shady sorts: They looked to her like the kind of ponies who'd go door to door in an area full of OAPs, forcing anypony who let them inside into buying whatever shoddy goods they were playing the hard sell with through hours of aggressive sales pitches. As far as she could tell, you could identify which brother was which by their cutie mark: Flim had a slice of an apple, while Flam had the rest of the apple; altneratively, Flam had a mustache, while Flim didn't. At least, that was the theory Paver was operating under...

"Forgive me for saying, but I thought we were expecting somepony else." Flim said as he was invited inside.

"Yes. I know." Paver replied, disguising her voice and hiding beneath the hood. "...Paver can't make it just yet. She had an allergic reaction to something at her mother's store, so me and Tila are here instead. We're going to sort this, today."
"I'm sure we will."

Paver led them into the living room, where Tila invited them to sit down: She stood near the doorway to the hallway while Paver took a seat opposite the salesponies.

"Please forgive the hippogriff." She spoke. "We found him unconscious earlier today. We're keeping an eye on him until he's well enough to leave."

"I see." Flam nodded, looking around. "Oooh, boy, this is a real nice place you got here." he added, with particular emphasis towards Paver's mother, making Paver want to shove her hoof through his throat.

"Indeed brother, a real nice place." the other brother added. "A fine filly who owns a place like this must surely keep up with latest home fashions? No? Well, what a surprise! I'm sure we could help you keep up with the latest trends?"

"Both of you, we're not here for you to sell your rubbish. I think you know that, so I want answers." Paver barked and the pair fell silent. "I'm here about a pair of shoes." She spoke. "Which you sold to somepony?"

"Ah, well, we're businessponies." The mustachioed unicorn spoke with a smirk. "My dear, we sell shoes to lots of ponies! Very nice shoes! Perhaps we could tempt you to try out a pair?"

Paver felt a spark of anger inside her at the notion, it made her chuckle. "Oh, no, I already have a pair of your shoes. Care to take a look?"

She lifted a hoof to show the brother one of the red shoes which clung to her hooves. Flim smiled, taking the shoe in his horn's magic and taking a closer look, pulling Paver forward slightly. "Huh, tight fit, hm?"

She wrenched back her hoof. "I suppose you could say that..." She spat, pulling back her hood and revealing herself.

"Oh, hello!" He reeled back. "Well isn't this a surprise!? I'd heard you were dead!"

"Indeed we had!" Flam added. "And we toast to your good health!"

"Toast indeed! But we've no drink to toast with! We'd better go fetch some cider for you, huh brother?"

"I agree, brother. Let's got fetch it now." They both turn to try and leave, but Tila quickly stepped in the way. "Nope. Not going to happen. Now you sit down and help my daughter or so help me, a thousand years on the moon will look lenient."

They gulped, and slowly returned to their seats. "Well, I suppose we can always toast later. How about we talk about those pretty shoes of yours?"

"Lets." Paver snorted. "Whoever bought these things cursed them, making me dance against my will, which nearly killed me, twice. They also made them stuck to my hooves. Only the person who cursed them can get them off. So who bought them from you?!"

"Ah, now normally we'd have customer confidentiality to deal with here." Flam replied with a nervous smile. "But, but in this case, I'm sure we can make an exception!"

"Oh, but of course!" Flim added. "We wouldn't want to allow whoever did this to get away! We'll happily help you in your investigation! But we're both busy ponies, and if we can avoid being dragged into any legal distractions, you can chase the villains who did this awful thing, and we can go back to trade! Everypony wins!"

"Fine, fine, whatever." Paver agreed. "Now tell me."

The pair looked at each other, the omnipresent smirk wavered, betraying them their anxiety of their situation. Eventually, the left brother spoke. "Ah, well, that's just it my dear. The shocking, sorry news was that, while our shoes did make you dance, it was never meant to be as bad as trying to kill you. No sir! It was a prank spell!"

"A prank spell?!" Paver glared. "This is NOT just a prank spell!"

"Oh, but we never put the binding curse on those shoes of yours. The spell which made you dance would've worn off eventually. Everything WE did was all above board. No, as you rightly guessed, the one who bought them added the other curse which has them clinging to you tighter than a toddler around their mother's leg on their first day of school." He faltered, and his twin finished what he started.

"...The truth of it is this. The one who bought the shoes was the mayor. Mr. Cratic himself..."

Before Paver, who's look of anger had turned into a look of horror and disbelief, could react, the hippogriff had jerked awake with a sharp yelp, having heard the name 'Otto' had somehow jarred him in consciousness.

"Gaah!!!" He cried. "Otto?! Where!? What?! What's going on!?!?" He then started coughing, his throat dry and coarse, and sudden shouting didn't help. The others turned in surprise at the hippogriff's sudden waking.

"My my..." Flim smirked. "That's unexpected..."

"Save it, you two." Paver scowled, quickly trotting over to the panicking hippogriff. She was still angry at her dove-white guest, and the temptation to have a go at him for hiding in the holly package was overwhelming. Luckily, Tila knew all the signs of her daughter in a mood, and quietly stepped in before she reach him.

"I don't think shouting at him is going to work Paver." She offered. "Speak softly, and carry a big stick."

Paver froze: She hadn't realized how fiery she was getting, and she didn't like it. "Quoting Teddy Bear, are we?" She sighed. "...Alright, I'll try."

Tila nodded, turning to the Flim Flam brothers with a cold face to bare down on them. "I think it's time you left." She softly spoke to them: The twins were only too happy to agree, and ran from the living room and out the front door. After that, Tila herself left Paver to it, on hoof if her daughter needed her.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's fine." Paver tried to sooth him. "Just try and relax..." She magicked over a large jug of water and a cup, pouring him something to drink. "Here, you look like you need a drink."

That helped, a lot: He quickly took the glass and downed its contents, looking up at Paver gratefully. "Thank you." He spoke, his tone still strained; at least he wasn't screaming and thrashing around. "Where, where am I? Why did you tie me to this sofa?"

"You're in my mother's living room. We brought you here after you passed out in the back yard of my mother's florist shop. You're tied up because you're clearly dressed in the uniform of one of Otto's soldiers. I couldn't be certain you wouldn't try and attack me."

He winced. "Oh no. No no! You don't understand! This was the last place I wanted to be." He tried to sit up, wincing as he remembered the pain in his head, and the many scratches, cuts and small scars on his face and body from the holly. "I, I was trying to escape Manehatten. I was in this shipping place on the outskirts of town. I hopped into the first open box I found, hoping it would ship me off somewhere far away. The LAST place I wanted to be was here! Oh Celestia, whatever is the mayor going to think now I've been seen being helped by the very pony who's causing him so much trouble?!"

"What? You were trying to flee? I'm putting you in danger?! Please, one thing at a time."

"Okay, I'm sorry!" He fought to maintain control of his breathing. "Yes, I'm a part of Captain Ashfeather's Night Guard, a Ravenclaw... It was quite an achievement, since... I used to be an Earth pony." He saw Paver's disbelieving look and quickly added. "I was cursed! I was ordered by Captain Ashfeather to..." He paused, his beak quivering slightly. "...To find something for the mayor. It was buried, in a large patch of Poison Joke. I ended up wading in those horrible blue plants for ages, trying to find what we were looking for. But, the day after, we were called to Mr Cratic's office, since he wasn't happy with the captain. Then, then I turned into this! Cursed by a damn plant!"

Paver fell quiet: She'd heard about Posion Joke curses in her studies. "I see..." She spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that. You're not the only one to have to deal with a curse." She casually shook a hoof his way. "Mine's thanks to the mayor too, if what I've heard is to be believed."

"I'm sorry too." The hippogriff fugitive nodded sadly. "My, my name's Scopes, by the way, Scopes Sight."

Paver relaxed a little as she sat on the floor next to Scopes. "So you disobeyed the mayor and was turned into a hippogriff by Poison Joke?"

"Yes. He tried to have me arrested, even though we found what he'd been looking for. I got away though, and really, it could've been much worse..." He forced a smile. "I mean, I can fly. Do you know how many Earth Ponies would kill for the chance to be able to fly? Or use Magic?" He paused... "Actually, not very many. We're very proud ponies. But I was always jealous of pegasi and unicorns. You lot have it so damn easy!"

Paver smirked. "You think? Magical migraines can knock a unicorn filly out for days if they overexert themselves too much. And in school?" She snorted. "A lot of people in school expect a lot from unicorns because of the magic. I did quite good for myself, but I've known plenty who really struggled in school. As for Pegasi..." she winced. "If you can't fly as a pegasus, you're screwed."

Scopes shrugged. "And Earth Ponies? Everyone just thinks we're farmers and soldier grunts. I'd always been friends with the other ponies in my squad, and Jarhead definitely didn't help the 'all Earth Ponies are simple' image. But Fleming? He's an Earth Pony, but I've never seen a better field medic in all my days!" He suddenly went quiet, a look of grief-filled guilt creeping over him like a shadow. "...I should've never gone with Captain Ashfeather. I should've stayed with Fleming and Jarhead. This never would've happened if I'd just stood by my friends."

Paver raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Scopes' face drained of any joy which might have once been there: Clearly, he'd been thinking on things for a while, and he didn't like the conclusions he'd reached. "...I'm a coward." He finally managed to say, though it looks as though every word hurt to speak. "Jarhead was, well, a jarhead, but he was a pony with principles. A brave pony with a good heart... ...Ashfeather was hunting a zebra, she lived alone in the Everfree Forest. She was alone and defenseless, and Ashfeather ordered us to siege her hut and attack her. Jarhead refused, and Ashfeather struck him around the head so hard I could've sworn she'd killed him. Somehow the tough bastard survived, but Fleming stayed with him to make sure he was okay... I..." Words failed him, he started shaking. "...I didn't. I went with Ashfeather, and I watched as she beat the zebra down, she tortured her, shoving a spearhead into a dislocated shoulder until she told her where the thing we were after was hidden. The zebra had already fought back, she'd nearly headbutted my into a concussion, so I sat there and did nothing." He looked away. "And so, Ashfeather forced out the information she sought, and now... Now Mayor Otto has some evil amulet thing, and he's seriously talking about trying to turn himself into an alicorn."

This revelation left Paver rather taken aback: It was a lot to take on board.

"I... I..." She stammered. "He wants to become an alicorn?! And the zebra?"

"I, I was going to attack her, but she was so fast. She whirled around and hit me and knocked me out completely. But we had metal batons and the griffins had claws and sharp beaks. She had a stick. It was, unfair."

"Hmmm..." She pondered. "It's bad, yeah... But you didn't actually manage to hit her yourself?"

"I guess not, she had me out of the fight before I even had the chance."

"So, you didn't ACTUALLY torture her yourself?"

"It doesn't matter!" He cried. "I didn't DO anything to stop it!"

"I know, I know." Paver replied. "So what ARE you going to do about it?" she asked, leaving Scopes silent. "Look, what you and this Captain Ashfeather did was horrible, it's good that you didn't hurt her yourself, but you're right, it's not excuseable. So, we have to make up for what you did. The way I see it, you can sit and wallow, or you can try to make amends. I want to stop Otto before he goes to far. If you help me, we can bring down a power hungry unicorn, and clear your name in the process." She takes a breath, and cuts Scope's bonds with her magic. "Will you help me?"

Scopes fell silent, looking down at his relatively new talons, before looking up, meeting Paver's blue eyes with his own gray. With newfound resolve, he nods. "I will... I know Otto is out to get you. He's out to get the pair of us it seems. I'm still not used to this body yet, but if we stick together, we'll definitely be safe than if we're alone... If you'll have me."

Paver smiled: Having a trained hippogriff soldier as a bodyguard sounded like a pretty good idea to her...

Chapter Twenty One: Paranoia

* * *

The Zealots had been getting louder and ever more difficult to ignore with each passing day since their formation; they'd been taking to the streets with a fervor and anger befitting mutiny or treason.

The unrest had left Otto with sleepless nights which only served to worsen his mood and his growing paranoia: Paver was going to uncover him any day now, Zunbil Zoor was inciting people to violently take to the streets in the name of Celestia, and Starlight? Starlight was still skipping around the Crystal Empire, and had yet to even send a word back to Manehatten! Where WAS she?!

...At times he didn't want to leave the house: Any of his enemies could try to attack him if he did. He'd managed to convince himself that the effectiveness of Bulwark as a bodyguard would outweigh the chances of a foolish pony trying to do something stupid. He wasn't going to suffer personal attacks or risk of death when he was SO CLOSE to achieving all of his goals.

Perhaps he could still successfully break his city free from Equestria's rule even without the ascension, he pondered to himself over breakfast. Sure, crowning himself as Grand Prince would be much more difficult as a mere unicorn; it was a definite risk that many would question his legitimacy if he remained a unicorn. That being said, all of that could be managed with his army; the REAL danger lay in the long game: His own mortality would eventually become an issue. He was weaker as a unicorn, and with alicornhood, there was an admittedly slightly chance he could extend his own longevity, at least to long enough that he'd be able to secure the stability of the city state, and perhaps even his own succession... Seriously, why was she taking so long?! What was she doing? ...What was she up to?

These thoughts and more invasively haunted Otto as he left and headed out: Today he was going to the barracks where his army were stationed. The new shipment of weapons and armour were due to arrive today.

Jabsco and Sketchbook were already waiting when he arrived. He enter the room where they were waiting in time to see Sketchbook fiddling with her bracelet, again.

"Good Morning sir!" Jabsco cooed as he entered.

"Morning..." Otto quietly, his eyes focused on Sketchbook. "You know that thing isn't coming off, don't you?" He asked.

"I know." She quietly replied. "It doesn't stop me from trying though. Every, single, day." Judging from her hoof, and the cuts, scratches and even a small burn mark on the fur and skin around her bracelet, she wasn't exaggerating.

"But I so enjoy your company." he retorted. "Perhaps the feeling isn't mutual, but I can say this: If that's what you think." He responded. "It's going to be quite tragic for all of us."

She winced. "I hate you."

"That's a shame." Otto snorted, a fake smile on his face. He was done with her, pushing past, he gave her orders as he left to the training yard. "Go help bring the equipment into the yard, and don't speak another word until I'm done here." With that, her mouth suddenly snapped shut, unable to open, and her legs quickly dragged her off to help bring the deliveries inside.

It was terribly impressive for Otto, seeing all the griffins and the ponies with their armour and their weapons. The crossbows were works of art: A lightweight weapon which could be easily stored away as the arms of the weapon could be folded away into the body of the weapon and carried on one's back with ease alongside a quiver of bolts; some griffins and unicorns had even managed to put telescopic scopes on their weapons: The idea of having marksmares and marksponies able to snipe people from a distance excited Otto to no end, and these new, improved crossbows would serve that purpose perfectly.

For everypony else, there were the spears, glistening and silvery, yet to see blood, but a number of their carriers looked more than eager to try out the new polearms... Or the shock batons they had strapped to their sides, all encouraging things for a prospective army.
Otto took to a small podium, clearing his throat to address his soldiers.

"Listen up!" He barked. "You mercenaries have gone from paycheck to paycheck, without any care for a cause! Until now! Now, you have come under my employment!" He paused for a moment; technically, he was improvising a bit here: It hadn't failed him up to this point. "Now you, you're smarter than mere hired goons. So now, I present you a choice! Look at the weapons you hold in your talons and your hooves, look at the emblems on your uniforms, and the bits in your pockets. From today, I will offer you this: You will be mercenaries no longer, and instead become soldiers of my army, professionals, loyal to me and the good of Manehatten! Do this, and you'll see nothing but wealth and glory, and a pension worthy of your hard work! To all of those who refuse, you may lay down my weapons and walk out of these barracks, and you will NEVER work in this city again! Those who stand against me? I'll run you through myself! Now is not a time for disloyalty! The Zealots seek to bring us under the rule of an incompetent and arbitrary autocrat! Changelings want to enslave and feed off us all! And for the love of all that you hold dear, remember Tirek!"

If utter silence could become MORE painfully silent, that would be the atmosphere of the barracks at that moment: Many of them DID remember Lord Tirek, the giant centaur monster who nearly destroyed Equestria not longer than a year ago. Many had been subjugated by him as he attacked Manehatten: Otto himself had managed to escape, hiding in a safe room in his attic, but many had suffered for the princess' failure to contain him, or successfully protect their people from his wrath.

...It had been as he hid in the shadows and silence, surrounded by tinned beans and moth-bitten books that he'd finally lost faith in Celestia entirely: Had Tirek never invaded Manehatten, perhaps he'd have continued to simply sit in the shadows and control the former mayor from afar, criticizing but never taking decisive action. But no, destiny intervened, and Paver had been laid low in the gutter with everyone else: She'd proven herself weak, unable to preserve herself, and unwilling to question the Princesses, even when rumors of them simply giving up their magic to Princess Twilight proved to be truth. No, she couldn't be allowed to remain as mayor any longer: He had to take the reigns by force, and drag Manehatten away from oblivion...

"Remember how he ramaged through our land! Remember how he subjugated and enslaved us! Remember how he nearly destroyed EVERYTHING we hold in our hearts, be you griffin or pony! And remember, my friends, how Princess Celestia did NOTHING as he besieged Canterlot and brought them to their knees! I will not forget. And I will let Celestia feel the weight of her failure!" He stamped his hoof into the ground. "So, Manehattenites! Griffins of Griffonstone, who carry the legacy of King Grover in your hearts! Tell me now! Do you wish to be mere mercenaries, or do you wish to help me forge a state anew, free from inept rulers and the terrors outside Equestria's walls?! If I can count on the wings on your backs, the horns on your heads, the weapons in your grasps, the blood in your veins and the fires in your hearts, step forward! Stand forward and let yourselves be counted as soldiers of Manehatten!"

There was yet more silence, and for the briefest moment fear sparked in Otto's heart: If nopony moved, his talk of identity and Manehatten would be for nothing, he'd have no army to fight with; this was the final test he needed for the loyalty of his followers, if he couldn't rally them now, he'd have fallen at the first hurdle...

...Then, a pony nodded, and stepped forward. He recognized the pony, it had been one of the mercenaries who'd followed him home following the riots outside Grand Central Station. He removed his helmet drove it into the dirt and kneeled. "For the Prince Mayor!" He shouted. "And for Manehatten!"

Slowly, more and more men followed in that first pony's lead, perhaps out of genuine loyalty, or perhaps out of the knowledge that Otto had usurped Ashfeather as Captain of their order and thus feared reprisal. Whatever the reason, suddenly, every pony, griffin, and everything in between was kneeling, all of them chanting "For the Prince, and for Manehatten".

Something about being CALLED a prince stirred something in Otto, a sense of excitement beyond anything he'd experienced before. He could taste it in his mouth, even if this was simply his men declaring their loyalty to him, it was a taste, hopefully, of things to come.

He'd been tempted to send them on a march, a demonstration of their loyalty on the streets of Manehatten, but it was a foolish move and he knew it: It was far too soon and sudden, and would disrupt a lot of Manehatten's streets and roads; he didn't want to waste the loyalty of his men on simply showing off, he'd up their pay and give them better rations and sleeping quarters as a quick and immediate reward for their fealty; finally, he wanted to keep his cards close to his chest, and having his army marching through the streets would reveal too much, too soon.

...Besides, at that moment, he was called to City Hall: He had a package... From the Crystal Empire.

Night was slowly beginning to crawl into the sky as he went with his bodyguard and his two servants to City Hall, practically galloping to the front desk.

"Hello Janine." He spoke with breathlessness, having wasted no time travelling to the City Hall as quickly as his hooves would allow. "I understand you've got a package for me?"

"I do indeed sir!" She smiled, a letter: The handwriting was Starlight's... Was that it?

"Excellent, excellent!" He feigned a smile for the very happy looking intern. "Thank you."

Quickly, he retreated alone to his office and tore open the wrapping paper, first reading the letter which had come with it.

Dear Otto,

I've done it. Through days of working my way through the more disloyal corners of the Crystal Empire, I've managed to rally some support from the Crystal Pony families who hold secret loyalty to King Sombra, and who denounce the reign of Princess Cadence. Through black markets and some shady deals, I've managed to secure you two things: A vow of support from the prestigious House Standard, one of the oldest families in the Crystal Empire, who have agreed to help me with another little project I have in mind. What's more, I think I've found what you're looking for.

By the looks of things, the spell involves creating a pentagram with use of 5 channeling crystals, and the use of a chant to begin the spell. I suspect it requires the Alicorn Amulet to power them, and thus turn you into an alicorn... But, this spell is untested, and I suspect it's not a pleasant process. Although I've got a fair number of Sombrian books and documents I've managed to get from what I can only describe as a magic black market in the underbelly of the Crystal Empire, I'll keep the materials and the spell I've found with me until I return to Equestria.

With love,

Starlight.

PS: I'm sorry to say I'm going to need to stay in the Crystal Empire for a little longer, and will return in a couple of days or so. I have a surprise for you! X.

Like a fire on dry wood, Otto felt anger start to burn inside him, spreading as wildfire through drylands. She had the spell, the spell needed, but she refused to give it to him! She'd betrayed him! Why?! Thoughts spiralled out of control in Otto's head as he furiously left City Hall. Heads were going to roll for this...

Chapter Twenty Two: Zunbil Zoor

* * *

Scopes had slept on the sofa that night, after Tila had explained to Forger why a hippogriff was going to stay with them for a little while. Scopes seemed to have found a new sense of purpose since teaming up with Paver; that, coupled with a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast gave him a new lease of life.

Paver found him that morning in front of the bathroom mirror, checking his face and body over with a slight sigh.

"Sorry." She blushed a little, stepping back. "I didn't realize you were using the bathroom."

"Oh?" He looked over. "Did I leave the door open? I'm not doing much, just trying to clean up some of the cuts and scratches from your mother's holly." He winced as he applied some disinfectant to some of the cuts. "Ah, feathers... No scars though." He chuckled a little as Paver joined him. "...I've served in the army for about a year now, and yet I've never had any scars... I've had broken bones and concussions, but broken bones and woozy heads aren't attractive to the ladies. Scars though..." He scoffed. "Didn't need to be a big one from that stuff, just one I could show off, and boom. A quick little fib about a fight or some heroics, and I'd be in..." His smile faded. "Then, I got turned into a hippogriff, and now I just get funny looks. Figures."

"Well, at least you're not talking gibberish now." Paver offered. "It certainly wasn't fun when you were screaming and having a panic attack."

"Oh, that..." He washed his foreclaws and dried them. "...Sorry. That wasn't my finest moment." He shuffled a bit on the spot, looking down. "Err... I'm pretty much done in here. Did you need to use the bathroom?"

"No no, I'm already done." Paver replied. "You sir, are a heavy sleeper."

"It's certainly led me to get my ears chewed off by my drill sergeants back in training... You know, back when I had ears."

Scopes' entrance into Paver's life had been... Odd. She didn't much like the idea of this strange, erratic turncoat panicking and thrashing in her mother's living room.

...And yet, with the passing of that rather stressful stage, Scopes seemed to fancy himself as something of joker. He was definitely not the hardened killer she'd expected from the mercenaries Otto had hired, or at least he didn't appear to be: She imagined a hardened killer would have a panic attack on a florist's sofa, and they certainly wouldn't have cried and called themselves a coward over those they'd been complicit in attacking. Although Paver had become far, far more cynical and distrusting of folks lately, somehow, Scopes had convinced her that his sense of guilt was real. She had to admit, even if it wasn't perhaps the wisest move, he didn't exactly seem all that bad to her: Getting to know more about him wouldn't be a bad idea...

Besides, at this moment, when things seemed to be becoming more and more threatening by the day, Paver needed all the friends she could get.

"Paver!" Tila called from downstairs. "There's a visitor at the door... You're, you're going to want to come see this!"
Sitting in a bathroom and talking all day wasn't the best course of action, but that didn't sound good either. She exchanged a look with Scopes, before heading downstairs to the front door.

...Two ponies stood at the door; a unicorn who seemed to be the one in charge, and a far smaller pegasus mare. They didn't wear police uniforms, or the armour of Otto's mercenaries: They wore armour, yes, but it was golden and white, with sun symbols proudly marked on them. No, these were Zealots.

"Captain Light Ray." The unicorn grunted his name. "This is Private Beaming. Paver Goldstreets, we got your letter. If you want to help us, you have to come with us, now."

"Woah woah woah." Scopes snapped. "What is this?!"

"We'll explain later, but we can't talk here. But unless you want to bring a ton of heat down on Paver's mother and brother, we shouldn't be having this conversation here. We're wasting time!" The captain was not a polite fellow, his pegasus companion scowled, stepping forward.

"Please." She spoke. "I know this must look suspicious to you, but we've had a tip off. Mr Cratic is up to something BAD. You confirmed this yourself, and Commander Zoor himself wants to speak to you personally. If you join us, he's promised he'll do whatever he can to protect you form harm... We can't do that if you won't help us. We both want the same thing after all. To stop the mayor from whatever scheme he's plotting... Please."

Scopes and Paver looked at one another. "What about me?" He asked.

"What about you?" the captain snorted.

"He's, he's a friend. He wants to help."

"...Yeah, if we can avoid the awkward looks from me... Looking like this. That'd be swell" he added.

"Urgh, fine." Sun Ray grumbled. "No promises about the funny looks though."

With that, Paver and Scopes were swiftly escorted into a carriage and spirited into the early morning daylight. It rode hard and fast through the empty streets, eventually entering one of the darker, rougher districts, The Flanks: Home to one of Manehatten's largest ports, the majority of its wealth came from shipping and handling the flocks of ponies who migrated to the big city, as Grand Central Station's proximity to the district borders made it a useful link for shipping things outwards to the rest of Equestria. For the residents, work was found in one of three places: The docks, the train station, or whatever industries formed around those major transport links, mainly textiles and metal smelting.

Countless ships were docked at Manehatten's harbour, the skyline in the background, obscured by a faint smog. A number were large shipping galleons, anchored in port, their sails hoisted and stationary. Lately however, the shipwrights had been working on some new designs: Smaller, sleeker, and most importantly, coal-fired: They were steamers, large paddle wheels built at the sides of their black, iron-plated hulls.

It was these ships which made the captain, his companion and the carriage driver and puller visibly nervous as they quickly hurried Paver and Scopes out: These were warships; party planners had managed to make party cannons and generally make a joke out of ballistics, but there was nothing funny about this gleaming black artillery, lined in dozens along the upper and lower decks of the ships: Blockading, invading, a massive vanity project; Paver was convinced that it hadn't been Celestia who'd asked for this warcraft.

There was no time to dwell on that, however, as Paver and Scopes were quickly hurried down a street, turning into a rather quiet alleyway. It looked like a market arcade, countless shops -some open, many were abandoned however- were crammed into an exceptionally tight walkway.

From there, they were hurried inside a bar, the sign hanging over the door read "The Drake and Dismare" featuring a red dragon dancing around a confused looking pony filly. Inside was a number of ponies huddled around tables and the rather worn looking bar. A silence briefly fell as its many large, grim looking ponies sat with a silent sense of anger. They gradually returned to their drinking after they exchanged looks with Sun Ray and his companions.

"We do cocktails." The barkeep unicorn said, in a tone which decidedly suggested they WEREN'T really a cocktail place. "Fancy a Supermoon Shaker on ice?"

Sun Ray didn't miss a beat. "You can stick it where the sun don't shine."

The barkeep smirked. "Ah, so you're a cider guy, huh?" His eyes flicked up at Paver and Scopes, before looking back at the Zealots.

"Yes, we'll take a six pack."

"Fine." His horn glowed, and a six pack of canned ciders floated to the bartop. "Take 'em round the back."

The captain nodded, taking the cans and going with his companions behind the bar, beckoning for Paver and Scopes to follow.

The back room had a decidedly different vibe to it: There was still ponies sat around, drinking and chatting, but the tone and conversation was far more serious than out front, where the atmosphere was intent to be that of a busy pub: If this was indeed some kind of secret HQ or social club for the Zealots, the ones out front were either guards acting as patrons, or they were simply lower ranking members. Perhaps some of them were even legitimately just ponies trying to have a drink, but THIS early in the morning? Paver doubted it.

And now the pair were in a room, alone: The zealots who'd brought them here had briefly stopped to talk with some of their friends, sharing a brief moment of levity; the pair had been offered some of the cans from the six pack, but they refused (it was early morning, after all), the pack was left with the others with a promise from the two zealots that they'd be back later, and the group continued on their way. Up a flight of steps to an upper floor and yet more zealots, before being deposited in a comfortable office-like room, and told to wait.

There was only two noises which broke the intolerable silence in the room: The ticking of a large, grandfather clock in the office, and the incessant tapping of Paver's hooves against the floor; it was only partially the result of the shoes' curse this time, for Paver couldn't pretend that her fidgeting wasn't at least somewhat influenced by sheer nerves at this point in time.

She tried to take her mind off it, looking around at the office in which they sat, trying to get a bead on the pony who was playing host to them right now: It was a pretty quaint, well kept office. On a wall, above a small fireplace hung a spear, shorter than the regular spears of the royal guard, but infinitely more ornate and beautiful; it appeared to be made of gold and white enamel; it featured wing-like axe blades on the sides of the spearhead, all lovingly engraved with a bizzarely masterful quality for something made by hoof; finally, there was a white banner, gold trimmed and adorned with the image of a sun tied to the shaft: A mastercraft weapon, set behind a large golden shield which hung on the wall.

The door finally opened after what felt like an eternity. At that moment, Paver and Scopes first laid eyes upon the golden unicorn, Zunbil Zoor. What a pony he was: He was an old pony, clearly. Old, but strong. A suit of ancient gold armour hung on his chest and body, a short, pearly white mane was combed out of his one good ruby eye, his other eye was covered with a patch, a long scar across that side of his face: Merely one of a collection of scars and burns across his body, including his ear, his legs, and doubtlessly other parts of his body concealed by his outfit.

"Welcome." He greeted with a gravelly, low voice. He slowly trotted to his desk and sitting down with a slight grunt. His eye ached with experience and age as he observed his guests. "You are the former mayor, Miss Goldstreets... But I don't know your companion. We weren't expecting anypony other than yourself..."

"Oh ,he's with me." Paver protested. "I think we can trust him."

"I know." Zunbil spoke. "While he's suspicious, if we thought he was a serious threat, I'd have driven Zulukind's Needle through his chest before he even got to the door."

"Zulukind's Needle?" Paver blinked. She then looked up, remembering the golden weapon above his desk. "...The spear?"

Zunbil smiled for a moment. "Very good." He turned to the shortspear, carefully taking it down from the wall with his magic and offering it to her to look at. As her horn glowed and she held it with her own unicorn telekinesis, she marveled at how light the shortspear, Zulukind's Needle, seemed to be.

"It was a gift, for one of my earliest achievements working in Celestia's military." the golden pony explained. "From the Zebra King, Zulukind the Word Weaver. We'd been sent to aid his kingdom in exchange for his fealty. I was serving in an... Ambassadorial role. My family had held positions of authority in the Royal Guard all the way back to the days of Nightmare Moon's Uprising. It got me pretty close to Zulukind, and he and I build up something of a rapport. He'd read me his poetry, and I'd tell him of my family's war stories. When it became time for us to return home, he gave me his sceptre, which is that spear you hold in your magic now..." He let out a sigh as he took it back. "...He was a good zebra, and a good friend. It hurts me to think of those memories sometimes... But it was long ago, and it was far away..." Another sigh. "So very far..." He winced, putting the spear back.

"What did you want us for?" Scopes asked. "It has to be important. You wouldn't have come to see us personally if it wasn't."
He frowned slightly, his eye narrowing as he fought back memories. "...Perhaps you should first tell me who you actually are? I want to know before I start talking."

"My name's Scopes. Scopes Sight."

"...And are you the same hippogriff who flew out the mayor's window naught but a few days ago?" He snorted. "It was on the news, and even to whatever extent Otto Cratic has his hooves in the media here, there was a still a gaping hope smashed through his city hall window."

At this point, Paver would've stepped in, but Scopes, after the initial injury of the question, spoke first. "I'm not going to lie: I was working for Otto's mercs up till that point. But working for him got me turned into... This, and for that, he nearly had me arrested. He's already imprisoned my CO, and turned another into a mindless slave, all thanks to some plant. I was a merc, I had no loyalty to Otto outside of a paycheck, and he had no loyalty to me."

"...And why should we assume you'd be loyal to us?"

Scopes went quiet for a moment, looking over at his unicorn companion before replying. "Honestly? You don't. But Paver could've ratted me out or killed me at any time. She could've just left me to rot in the streets, and none of it would've been less than I deserved. Instead she took me in and helped me. She doesn't deserve any of this."

A silence crept into the room after he spoke, Zunbil calculating his response as Paver stared at him: It was a moment of sincerity she hadn't been expecting: In truth, she wasn't completely sure if she could trust him either. But now, either he was a very good liar, or he meant every word of what he'd just said, and she couldn't help but feel a strong sense of appreciation for it. "I'd also like to live long enough to turn my front half equine again. Freakin' feathers, you know?" he followed up the last quip with a nervous grin.

"Quite..." Zunbil broke the empty quiet. "...If you're still lying to us now, I think I'll let our friend here kill you instead. Celestia knows she'll be the one who'll end up hurting most after that spiel."

Scopes nodded. "...Very good."

Zunbil produced from his desk a number of things. The first was a folder, containing many photographs, a letter, and a copy of the train timetables for that week. The most interesting thing in the folder, however, was the letter, which had been levitated from the folder and offered to Paver.

"A little while ago, we got this letter." He explained. "It wasn't much longer after you sent us mail talking about offering to help us... You suspected Otto was up to something? Well, so did we. That letter? That letter is proof of what we'd both feared."
Paver opened the letter, and began to read:

Dear Zealots of Manehatten,

I can't write for long, lest I'm found out, but if you want to oppose the mayor, you need to hear this. Something's wrong with him. He's paranoid and cruel, and some of the other staff here in city hall have told me that, while not always pleasant, he wasn't always like this. He scares them, and after what I'm going to tell you, I don't blame them: He definitely scares me.

In my servitude to him, I overheard something frightful. He'd received a letter which he read aloud to his receptionist (he seems to have a soft spot for her)... I don't know what he's doing, but Starlight Glimmer has managed to find something he'd been looking for in the Crystal Empire. She also said that she was staying in Manehatten a few days longer than expected, and was planning to remain there for a couple of days longer. That last part flew the mayor into a rage, and he stormed out raving, raving about ponies plotting against him. Whatever Starlight has in her possession, you cannot allow her to bring it back to Mr. Cratic. From what he said, it sounded like some kind of ritual, or some magic object. Something about an amulet was mentioned.

I hope you can use this information. I need your help. Otto has enslaved me and another pony, and has us working as his servants. The first seems brainwashed or something, but me? He's using a magic bracelet to control me, and make me do whatever he tells me to. The only reason I was able to write this in the first place was because he'd left for the night, and never bothered to give me any orders.

I don't know what you can do, and I don't care what you chose to do: Arrest him, kill him, force him out of Equestria. Just please, get me out of here. I want this evil thing off me. I want to go home.

Signed,

Sketchbook.

Paver looked up, her heart arching for this Sketchbook; she felt a sense of connection to the pony in the letter, a bond formed over their experiences: Both of them, it seemed, had fallen victim to Otto, and his tendency to curse ponies with magic trinkets. She felt a burning in her chest, anger crept from her heart and through her veins like a corruption in the blood. She tossed the letter back onto the table and spoke to Zunbil.

"We have to stop him!" Her tone far more demanding than she'd intended. "How could he DO this to another pony?!"

Scopes sat up. "An amulet? Wait! I know what they're talking about. It was the something Amulet... The Alicorn Amulet, my captain called it!" His eyes widened. "...And that other pony, the brainwashed one. It, it's the lieutenant of our mercenary company, Jabsco Talon. When we were cursed, she turned into a unicorn, and started acting so placid and gentle. It's, it's totally unlike her. She's tough, and fierce, and she wouldn't be the happy, giggling type for anypony!"

Zunbil raised an eyebrow, leaning forwards and resting the elbows of his forelegs on the desk. "...And your captain herself?"

"...She's a pigeon, sir."

"This isn't the time for your jokes, Scopes." Paver muttered.

"I'm not kidding about here. Otto literally turned her into a dam pigeon!"

"Oh?" Zunbil pondered aloud. "I think, Scopes, I figured out why Otto tried to have you arrested that day. I think you just witnessed a very opportunistic coup. With the captain turned into a bird, and her second in command transformed as you suggested... That's what I'd call a power vacuum." He floated some photos from the folder, as well as the train timetables. "...But that's small in comparison to this news here. Whatever it is Starlight has, and Otto is up to. We can't allow it to happen. Starlight Glimmer cannot be allowed to leave Manehatten Grand Central Station." He frowned, decision in his eye. "...So it comes to this at last." He muttered.

"What are you going to do, Zunbil?" Paver demanded.

"...As of right now, there are roughly 18,457 members of the Zealots. Out of them, nearly 10,000 are fit to fight. All of them are willing to kill, bleed, and die for her majesty, Princess Celestia... In two days, they will." He sighed. "...In two days, we are going to march on Grand Central Station, occupy it, and intercept Starlight Glimmer before she can get her delivery to Otto. I feared this, but I knew in my heart it would come to violence someday."

Scopes looked and Paver, and Paver at Scopes: Their eyes shared the look of horror at this plan.

"...It's going to be war." Paver mouthed quietly.

"Yes." Zunbil said sadly. "It's going to be war." He got up, trotting to the door. "If you plan to, I'd confront Otto at that time. I know you want to, and it will be a useful distraction for us."

"You're going to use her as bait!" Scopes shouted suddenly. "I've seen him! If Paver goes to him, he'll rip her apart!"

"I'm not sending her ALONE!" Zunbil roared. "Don't take me for a cruel idiot, boy! I was planning campaigns like this since before you were born! Sit down, and listen!" There was fire in Zunbil's eye, and Scopes fell into line. "...I will divert 50 of my best zealots to go with Paver to City Hall. She will have to go before the march begins, or he'll know something's wrong. Once Paver's inside, we'll begin moving, it'll give us a precious little time before he starts planning a counter-attack. At the first sign things start going wrong, those 50 zealots will storm the building and pull her out... It'll be 51 if we can count you of their number, and chances are, you'll be in there already."

Scopes snorted. "...I've already been a coward up till now. Not this time though. I'll be there... If Paver agrees to this."

They turned to face her. Paver gulped, she'd wanted to confront Otto of course, but up until now, she'd suppressed any thought about how Otto would react to her confronting him: This was foolish of course, he'd been willing to kill her long before he'd placed the Alicorn Amulet around his neck... What would he do to her now?! ...What would he do to Equestria if she didn't try to stop him?

"...I... I'll do it." She declared after what felt like an eternity.

"Thank you." Zunbil smiled. "I promise you, if anything happens, we won't let him harm you." He paused, an idea came to mind. "We could even smuggle you a weapon or two if you needed it?"
"Something more useful than a baton I hope?" Scopes suggested.

"...You could say that, yes. We've got a few light crossbows left from some of the competitive shooting ponies in our number. They won't pierce armour, but a good shot will definitely cause some nasty bleeding."

"Lights?" Scopes pulled a disdainful face. "We had nothing short of heavies in Ashfeather's band. I'd even heard rumours of long ranged and repeating crossbows. You might as well give us slingshots!"

"I might just do that if you keep complaining." Zunbil growled. "As it is, if you change your mind, I'll be sending you some sunflowers, and in that shipment we'll be concealing any equipment we can spare for you." He sighed one final time. "...I'd get yourselves ready. In two days, all hell is going to break loose."

Chapter Twenty Three: Blind Betrayal

Otto hadn't slept. He hadn't eaten either. His eyes were bloodshot, he'd be feeling the ache of hunger if his mind didn't race with paranoid panic. He couldn't explain Starlight's attempts to play him like this! What was she up to in the Crystal Empire that she'd want to stay there longer, and not tell him why!? It broke his heart, but deep down he'd always assumed she'd turn on him: It was foolish to assume that a pony would fall in love with another pony, after knowing them only for a few weeks. He cursed his foolishness: She'd used him! Taken his knowledge of the Haycart Method while enjoying his food, his bed and his money; now she'd buggered off with some other pony and left him! ...But no, she said she was coming back... Why would she do that?

Nothing, nothing he did would settle his mind. He'd tried drinking, even though it was the middle of the morning, and most ponies would've been having their breakfast right now: His breakfast was a bottle of 1842 Veneigh Brothers Canterlot Red. Normally, he'd never have condoned such a wasteful use of such an expensive and rare vintage, but right now, he didn't give a damn. It was that, or the cans of cheep beer he had stashed in his fridge, behind a leftover slice of cake he'd been saving (with some of the best icing sugar he'd ever tasted)... Okay, so he did eat SOMETHING that day.

The only comfort had been the amulet. Its ruby glowed warmly at his neck and gave him strength in place of his loss of appetite and sleep. The amulet seemed to clear his mind, it helped him to decide what needed to be done...

...And so, he sat in his study, in darkness as he'd left all of the lights in his house off, trying to get on with some paperwork under the single, solitary light of a table lamp: Whether or not Starlight ever came back was one thing, but the Zealots were another, and they were plotting against him. He knew it! Deep in his heart, he could tell: Them, Princess Celestia, the Elements of Harmoney... Paver Goldstreets...

A pencil snapped in Otto's magic at the thought of her. His first mistake in all of this mess! Why didn't he just kill her?!?! If had to go down the cursing route, why didn't he just make the shoes run her into traffic, or make a necklace which would choke her once she wore it? Why DANCING!?! ...He'd wanted it to look like an accident, it wasn't HIS fault! It was Paver! She was crafty, and deceitful: She's surely tricked him into thinking she was stupid so he started taking risks! ...He still remembered the look of terror on her face as she fought vainly against those red shoes of hers. A cruel part of him smiled at that vengeance, before remembering her showing up out of the blue, ready to throw his plans into a tailspin! ...He was going to make her suffer for making a fool out of him: He who was the mayor of the greatest city in Equestria, the wearer of the Alicorn Amulet, and the heir to one of the largest arms industry in the entire kingdom! He'd been far too complacent with her until now. He... He...

...He'd crashed, having been going on no sleep and very little food, he'd been struggling to remain conscious, until now, when he fell asleep with his face on his desk. His sleep was dreamless, a brief respite from his troubled mind.

The front door opened, and Otto jerked up: He'd been asleep all day, it seemed, and there was only one other pony who had a key to his house.

"Otto? Otto?!" Came Starlight's voice from downstairs. Switches flicked on, and light flooded in from the hallway. Quickly, Otto was on his hooves and quietly crept to the landing.

"You're back sooner than I expected?" Otto growled, his eyes locked on Starlight at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, err... Yeah." She winced. "I managed to arrange the surprise I wanted to get for you a bit quicker than expected. So I came home early!" She looked around as she produced a large package from her saddlebags, seeing Otto for the first time as he slowly descended the stairs. "Otto, sweet Celestia, you look awful. What's happened?"

"Don't try and twist this!" He suddenly barked, causing Starlight to flinch. "What were you doing in the Crystal Empire?! Why are you keeping secrets from me?! What are you hiding!?"

"I, wait, what?" This took her for a loop and she backed up, Otto snatching the package from her magic with his own, amulet-enhanced telekinesis. It was at this time she noticed the red glow of his horn, and the amulet around his neck. "Otto..." She said with a tremor. "...How long have you been wearing that?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like to know." He hissed. "I was happened upon by rioters after you left. Putting it on guaranteed nopony would try to steal it from me. I never felt so powerful in all my life! Everything fell into place! It helped me discover exactly what I needed to do... And it opened my eyes to your sneaky, lying nonsense!"

"Sneaky lying..." She stammered, her eyes suddenly going wide. "Wait, you've been wearing that thing for more than a WEEK?!" She attempted to approach, but the fire in Otto's eyes stopped her. "Otto, you need to take off that amulet."

"I'm sure you'd like that, wouldn't you?! That way you can have the amulet, and the ritual spell, all to yourself! THAT'S why you stayed in the Crystal Empire!" He paced on the stairs, quivering. "You, you're planning to turn on me!"

"No..."

"...You want to get rid of me! I LOVED YOU, and you claim to feel the same, but you betray me nonetheless!"

"That's not true!" She cried. "Otto please! Take off that damn amulet! Can't you see what it's making you do?! This is insane! That thing is making you insane and paranoid!" She continued to back up, Otto never taking his eyes off her.

"And the worst thing of all?" He continued, ignoring her words entirely. "I feel for it! I was convinced that you cared about me, and that you loved me. How could you after but a month?! I was so stupid!"

"No!"

"Stupid and naive! You took advantage of me and took what you needed. You, a homeless, penniless, treasonous wretch! You tried to trick me! Traitor!"

He lunged at her, eyes burning and teeth bared. He crashed against a blue aura, the shielding magic of a crying Starlight, and slid off it harmlessly. He grabbed the nearest object in the hall, a vase on a table, and hurled it at her, which was blocked. Again and again. Starlight, for her part, had no choice but to flee. She ran to the door, her horn glowing as she tore it open: She wanted to try to talk him down, or at least pacify him, but she couldn't bring herself to fight back, and so she ran. She ran out the door and into the night.

With his companion fleeing for her life, Otto relented. His anger broke down, and he turned to the box she'd left with him. He greedily tore open the brown paper wrapping and opened it: Inside was a number of books, papers, bottles, and five large, black crystals. There was also a large bundle of fabric and two notes: One was a receipt for 'Royal Standard Vexillography', and the other was a little letter. Otto took the letter, and began to read.

Hey SheildButt,

Or should I say Prince ShieldButt now? I wanted this to be a nice surprise for you if your transformation into Alicornhood was a success. I knew about you complaing about how bad Manehatten's flag is, so I'd managed to find a sympathetic designer in the Crystal Empire to make you a new one! If you're going to be a grand prince of a grand city, you'll need a grand new flag to go with it!

Lots of Love,

GlimGlim. X.

Quietly, he laid down the note and unfurled the fabric bundle. It was a large, white flag, with a black trim around its edge; in its center was a black shield with crossed swords, Otto's cutie mark. The only difference was that, upon the shield, there was a white flaming torch: The very same as that held by the Manehatten Statue of Harmony.

A sudden spark inside him screamed things he didn't want to hear: THIS was the surprise she'd been planning?! A new flag for his fiefdom?! No coup, or secret affairs or assassination plots? She'd had a flag professionally made for him... And a letter, congratulating him for becoming an alicorn, and telling him that she loved him... It, it even had a little kiss x on it... She'd given them both pet names...

Otto's legs gave out from under him, and he collapsed onto his rump. He'd ATTACKED her! He'd attacked her, and she hadn't even done anything! He quivered, and felt like crying. How could he be so gravely mistaken?! So stupid?! He'd acted like a jealous boyfriend, becoming possessive and vicious over nothing. And now, Starlight was gone. Perhaps she'd been right. Perhaps he was suffering under the amulet. Perhaps it was time to take it off. Perhaps...

...No. No! He scowled. This was EXACTLY what she wanted him to think! Of course she wanted him to feel guilty and take off the amulet! That way she could steal it for herself! He sneered at the notion: He'd do no such thing! The sneaky mare, he wasn't going ever taking off this amulet, and her gifts couldn't make him! His grief was yanked away, leaving him with only anger: She'd come crawling back, surely. And if she didn't... It wasn't his fault she tried to keep things from her. She'd served her purpose, well, mostly.

Otto went to the box again, looking through the contents he'd ignored previously. His mouth went dry as he studied the books and the papers: This was it. This was the spell! The spell which was going to finally transform Otto into an alicorn!

He had to try it, he couldn't resist its temptation. Quickly, He packed up the box and took it into the attic. He hadn't been up there in years. Many of the things therein had been there since he moved. If he looked hard enough, he could probably find anything inside the boxes here; books, treasure, magic objects good and bad all stored away. But again, nopony ever came up here, so it was the perfect place to test out the spell.

Tirelessly, he got to work: Reading through his books under candlelight, he began to draw out the pentagram in chalk which he needed for his ritual, setting the channeling crystals at each end of a five pointed star set into a circle.

By the time he was finished, he was standing the centre of a pentagram, made with a deep red 'ritual reagent' which had come in a large jar, and that Otto strongly suspected was actually blood mixed into some kind of pasty paint. Looking at it all instilled a sense of unholy dread into Otto, but those thoughts were quickly suppressed by his own ambition, and by the temptations of power brought on by the amulet hanging around his neck.

He knew the spell he had to cast with his horn, and the words he had to say as he did it:
Corona mea magicae

Et sanguis per crystalla,

Et fecit magnalia Dei

Per cornua, et ecce cornu meum

Propter tormentum et cruciatum,

Cum mea nemo aequalis

Hoc coronatur meo,

Et princeps in aeternum.

One thing which made Otto very nervous was a large note written into one of the last books he'd been provided with: The spell had to be maintained throughout the entirety of the transformation. At no point could Otto falter in his magic or terminate the spell... Well, he could only assume that nothing good would come of it.

Bah! He couldn't let fear slow him now! Not when everything was laid out and ready for him to meet his destiny! He was going to become an alicorn! He WAS! He grit his teeth, stepping into the circle, his horn started to glow red and bright, and he began to chant:

"Corona mea magicae

et sanguis per crystalla,

et fecit magnalia Dei

per cornua, et ecce cornu meum

propter tormentum et cruciatum,

cum mea nemo aequalis

hoc coronatur meo,

et princeps in aeternum."

For a brief second, nothing appeared to happen. He kept the spell going, but he could definitely FEEL something, a hot sensation in his chest. Looking down, he saw the Alicorn Amulet glow brightly around his neck, a burning like pain where it rested. One by one, the crystals around the circle began to glow red as well...

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain crack his spine, and he let out a cry of pain! He kept the magic going still, his horn getting brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter, as did the amulet. He felt movement in his back, setting sweat on his brow and his heart racing. All the time, so much pain, getting worse and worse! His head, his legs, everything burned with pain as he felt his body change: His horn grew longer, as did his legs...

...Then, a blood curdling howl of agony stole the air from his lungs as the skin on his back exploded with blood and muscle. A pair of large, skeletal bones of wings stretched out from the large gashes which had ripped open on his back. They too glowed red, intensified by the fact they were soaked in his own blood. Out they stretched, totally against Otto's will until they were standing up on end.

A painful, cold itchiness spread up from his back, giving him new feeling in the bony wings as nerve ending errupted from his nervous system and tied themselves to the new limbs, wrapping around the bones like vines and fusing to them. The process was quite quick, though it felt like an eternity for Otto, who had to live with the pain of the ordeal.

Flesh started to grow on the wings, covering them and giving Otto autonomy over their movement. Then came skin, and fur, wrapping around the wings and concealing the muscle and blood therein. Finally, there was feathers, each growing at a rapid rate, each feeling like a needle piercing out of him before fully forming.

...The magic suddenly gave out on its own, and Otto fell to the floor, realizing that tears streamed down his face from his eyes, which were red and bloodshot, having been glowing intensely through the whole terrible procedure. Blood from the transformation and the ritual splattered on his face.

He lay there for what felt like another eternity: He couldn't stop crying from the pain, even if it was now quickly fading, he continued to quiver on the floor, his newfound wings hanging limply at his side: He could see one from the corner of his eye as he lay there: Its feathers an off white, like his fur.

He couldn't quite believe it at first, a part of his mind convinced they were somepony else's wings, even though nopony else lay with him in that room: He was alone; they were HIS wings! He was an alicorn now.

Gradually, he started to experiment. The wings twitched as his brain adjusted to their presence. In time, they moved as he made them move. Quickly, his mind was realizing the truth, like learning how to walk again. It still felt far quicker than it should have: Even Twilight Sparkle needed help to fly at first... The amulet... Could it be that he was being assisted in his mastery of his new limbs by the Alicorn Amulet's influence?

Climbing to his hooves, his movements with the wings on his back became more fluid, exaggerated. He flapped them where he stood, the quivering slowly stopping; the strain from his ordeal suddenly collapsing in the face of curiosity; curiosity giving way itself to excitement; excitement playing host to euphoria which sat on its shoulders. Otto nearly jumped out of his skin when his hooves slowly started to lift from the ground as he continued to flap his wings, as was their strength. His legs shaking now with the excitement of his reality, he jumped onto a large pile of boxes, and jumped from them, flapping his wings and gliding: He was FLYING!!!

It lasted for only a second before he landed on the ground again, but it was all he needed. Tears streamed from his face, but they were joyful tears. He couldn't help but laugh aloud, the pain a distant memory: Otto had done what King Sombra never could; he'd cast off his unicorn form as a snake would cast off old skin. Now, he wore the finery of princes, his body the divine form of the Gods. Soon, he would discover what power that form would give him; but for now, he needed rest: The adrenaline had worn off, and the strain of his transformation was beginning to make itself known...

The Manehatten Project 24: Chaos in Manehatten Part One.

* * *

Paver had trouble sleeping. Her hooves kept twitching against her will, even more randomly than the shoes normally dictated. Sleeping wasn't exactly easy when your body refused to stay still long enough to sleep. She did sleep in the end, when exhaustion meant her limbs simply didn't have the energy to keep moving under the bedsheets.

Then there were the thoughts. The ceaseless, anxious thoughts about the plan Zunbil had in store come daylight. The more she thought, the more she realised how much she was putting herself in danger, putting her family in danger, and then sleep crept even more out of her grasp...

"Maybe I shouldn't do this." Paver said to Scopes over breakfast that morning, the weather was forecast to be pretty grim, the dull, dark clouds outside confirming that prediction with certainty.

He nodded in agreement. "Personally, I'd be on a train to Griffinstone to start a new life as Flappy Falconkin, had things gone a little differently..." He sighed. "But no. We've got to see this through. You need to confront Otto and get those evil shoes off. I, I need to redeem myself for the things I've done on that pony's payroll. Besides, we agreed to it, and Zunbil's men are gonna be there no matter what we do." He sat back. "Still, I wouldn't want you to go either. Otto's going crazy, and... I try to be cool, but there's no cool way to say I'm worried about you."

Paver's face was contorted with shared worry. "...But you're right. I have to see this through."

"I'm really sorry, Paver." Scopes said, his face lowly. "I should never have been working for a pony like him..." he shook his head. "...Maybe it won't go so bad." He offered, trying to clutch at straws. "...Then I can go back to my annoying wit, that'd be fun, huh?"

Paver giggled. "Oh, now you mention it, maybe you should go to Griffinstone? I could try to turn into a hippogriff too, call myself pigeonbum or something?"

Scopes smirked. "I think I'd like that."

"We just got something we gotta do first. All goes well, these shoes will be gone, Otto will explain himself, and maybe things can go back to normal..."

Paver's mother made one last attempt to persuade her daughter not to go after Otto as she and Scopes headed to the front door, but the die had been cast, and Paver's mind made up. She'd donned her warm, beige jumper, her red fake-leather jacket which went so nicely with the cursed shoes, and her flannel scarf. She and Scopes, who'd donned his armour for good measure, made their way to Manehatten City Hall...

"Remember the plan." One of the zealots spoke. "...You go in there, and keep Otto distracted while Zunbil and his men do the work." Paver nodded, fighting to stop herself shaking, either from anger or anxiety, perhaps both at once. "Don't worry. First sign of trouble, we're coming in to get you out."

They nodded in agreement, even Scopes. The white hippogriff would, against his better judgment, remain with the zealots so Paver could enter the city hall without drawing suspicion. The cream coloured mare made her way up the marble steps to the hall's double doors, her red shoes glistening from the wet of rain and puddle water.

At the reception desk was Janine, as though nothing had happened. Paver stormed up to the desk, placing her hooves upon it. "Janine, I need to see Otto." she said sternly to the young mare.

"But, but he's a bit busy right..."

"Janine." Paver growled. "Please."

"Erm, erm, okay." she winced, setting a hoof on the intercom button and speaking into it. "Mr. Cratic, sir? Miss Goldstreets is here, she wants to see you."

"Really? Hmmm... Send her in, alone."

"Yes sir. Right away sir."

And that was it, with a cheery smile, Janine led Paver down the hall to Otto's office, her office, at least before he tried to kill her. Inside, Otto was sat in the shadows, watching Paver as she entered. With his magic, he slammed the door shut behind her. "Good morning, Paver." Otto greeted her with a soft voice. "I was wondering when you'd come to visit me."

"Save it!" she spat. "I know about the Flim Flam brothers, I know everything about these damn shoes, I know about the curses on them, and I know what you did!" She advanced on Otto, glaring angrily. "I just want to know why, why you tried to kill me, when I trusted you! Was it just for power, was that it?! Answer me!"

Otto's body language shifted, impatient, and yet playing with Paver all the while. "No." he answered.

"No?"

"It wasn't just for power. Not at first." he continued. "You were prepared to kneel before the princesses, even when they proved they simply can't protect us. I remember Tirek, I don't think I can ever forget. I can't forget what he did to us. I can't forget the path of chaos and descrution he paved through Equestria... And I can't forget how Princess Celestia's best scheme was to nothing, and the other princesses agreed to it! And you? You were actually a competent mayor... But you followed them without question, even with such nonsensical leadership!" He huffed. "...It was at that moment, I knew. You had to go, and then... Then I could do what I needed to do."

"And what's that?"

With that question, Otto stood, taller than he'd ever stood before. Paver gasped as the alicorn amulet about his neck, his eyes red through iris and through bloodshot veins, and his his mighty wings unfurled as he emerged from the darkness. "...Rule."

"Otto..." Paver stammered. "What, what have you done?"

He chuckled. "Well, I had a few drinks, went on a hunt for dark artifacts, got into a big fight with my marefriend after she tried to betray me, and I decided I was sick to death of being shorter than so I transformed myself into an alicorn prince! It's been a mixed week in all." He smirked. "But how's your mum been?"

"Leave my mother out of this!" Paver yelled. "I've had enough of you playing me for a fool, and I've had enough of these shoes! Get them off my hooves, now!"

Otto stopped, looking down at Paver, and the shoes, and he chuckled again. "But you look so good in red. And you're far better at dancing than you are at trying to intimidate people."

Paver glared at him. "I said take them off!"

Otto scoffed. "No, I won't." he said. "I like you, Paver. Had circumstances been different, you and I would've worked well together. Consider that the reason why I didn't kill you as soon as I discovered you were still alive... But you and your friends have become a thorn in my side."

Paver lost it, and charged at Otto... Or she tried to. Otto's horn lit up, and her shoes glowed. Each step grew heavier, her feet and her shoes actively fighting her until they rooted themselves to the spot, leaving her stood before the gray alicorn, unable to move...