Fortune favours the brave, they say. When she had been wheeled to her prison cell, Rainbow Dash had managed to get a fairly decent understanding of the tower's layout. Travelling through the ventilation system, she led Trixie and Nurse Redheart to a vast storage compound, containing crates and crates of Governor Glow's private wares. There, in the faint glow of Trixie's horn, they planned their next step.

"There's three of us." said Rainbow Dash. "A pegasus, an earth pony and a unicorn. We've each got to be on the top of our game if we're to break the Princess out! I'm the fastest - I can fly around this place for hours and they wouldn't be able to catch me. So I'm the distraction!"

"I know everything there is to know about pony biology." said Nurse Redheart proudly. "All its strengths and weaknesses. With these hooves..." she extended her white fluffy legs. "I can bring down any guard in seconds."

"There is nopony more magical than the Great and Powerful Trixie, despite any rumours to the contrary! Trixie shall break into the cell and release the Princess!" declared the blue unicorn.

They bumped their hooves together.

Governor Glow hummed and swayed soothingly in his living room, with his daughter still nestling on his back. He waited until she fell asleep, and then set him down his work desk. "You know, Cozy, you really are extraordinarily cute. There's an almost hypnotic quality to you. Like a diamond with a thousand facets. Brilliant... irresistible. You, my dear daughter, have the potential to be a weapon of unparalleled stealth and insidiousness." He kissed her on the forehead.

At that point, a Changeling servant walked into the room. Governor Glow smiled when he saw the mare. It was Private Lighthouse. But this was no longer the spunky best friend of Crimson Star. The lamp-like orange glow of her eyes was replaced by a piercing ice blue. The independent spirit that she'd carried all her life, with an eerie robotic demeanour.

Glow had experimented on her with his Potion of Twisted Minds. He only had the one vial for now, but she seemed like the right sort of test subject. And what a brilliant success she was! "Lighthouse! My toothy friend!" He announced. "What's up?"

"We've taken four prisoners from the nearby village. They were trying to draw the attention of EvilCorp." explained Lighthouse in a flat, disinterested manner. She was still as a statue.

"EvilCorp?" Governor Glow frowned, and settled into an armchair, his leg tapping against the side of it. "Nopony should be aware EvilCorp exists. Nopony except... Celestia. She must be onto us. Well, well, well! And who are these 'Daring-Do's'?"

"Sergeant Crimson Star, his sister, an unidentified zebra and one of Celestia's secretaries, goes by the name Power Point."

Glow paused. He recognised the name 'Power Point'. But from where? The pony scratched his head, trying to recall the memory. "Power Point... Power Point... how do I know that name?"

"She has a criminal history of tax fraud and embezzlement." Lighthouse explained. "Power Point's photographic memory enabled her to falsify various legal documents to perfection."

"Ohhhh." said Glow, and sank into his chair. He wasn't a notable figure in EvilCorp yet when this had happened, but the info had trickled down to him at some point and he'd simply forgotten. "Celestia erased the debt, didn't she?"

"That is correct. She somehow learned the truth and recruited Power Point into her personal retinue."

Governor Glow swiveled in his chair, pleased as punch. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Our dear Princess Celestia seems to have a knack for collecting criminals and villains like Wonderbolt cards. I hear she's even reforming Discord. But that gives me an idea."

"Sir?"

"EvilCorp is a criminal organization that prides itself on collecting half the result of any serious crime anywhere in Equestria. But this mare got away with a lot of money. A lot. Because as the secret founder and puppeteer of EvilCorp, Princess Celestia was able to shield her from the bosses. That was then. This is now. I run EvilCorp now, without Celestia knowing. If I was to make this information public, it would destroy the credibility of both sides of Celestia's regime. The crime bosses would despise knowing they've been duped all this time by the government, and the government would be no more pleased knowing that all crime is regulated by their beloved princess. But more important than the damage done to Celestia would be the damage done to Power Point. Everypony would be after her hide."

Lighthouse did not react at all, physically. "Why is Power Point more significant to you than Princess Celestia?"

Glow jumped to his hooves and circled the motionless bat mare, ironically seeming more predatory than her. "Because, my dear Lighthouse, Power Point is infinitely easier to manipulate than an alicorn. Bring her in here. I've got a job for that mare."

As Governor Glow turned around, his daughter Cozy shut her eyes, making sure her father didn't notice her listening in on the conversation.

Crimson's jaw dropped as he saw the 'new and improved' Lighthouse. "Oh no... what have they done to you?!" He tried to stand, but the chains didn't permit him to get off the bench. He and the rest of his team had been brought to the tower's battlements, and left tied up there, waiting to be judged or moved to jail cells within the villains' lair.

Lighthouse looked at her former leader impassively, her new cold eyes betraying no sign of the mare she used to be. "Hello, sir." she said in a slow, drawling voice. She then saluted him, which Crimson took as a good sign. At least her reflexes were still in there somewhere.

"Lighthouse, what is this? What's happened?"

"A lot of things have... happened. But I'm not here to catch up." The batmare turned to look at Power Point, who was shivering. "You. You're coming with me." She ordered the guards to unchain the secretary, and to drag her to somepony called the Governor.

"Let me go!" Crimson pleaded. "We can talk things through... I'm your superior officer and I'm ordering you to let go!"

Lighthouse turned back, her blue eyes boring into him with a frightening intensity. "There is no need to talk things through. Everything will become clear very soon." She then tried to smile, but it was a sociopathic imitation of real emotion. "I look forward to serving with you again... sir."

She saluted him again, and climbed downstairs, locking the hatch behind her. After waiting for a few minutes, Crimson thumped angrily at the hatch, hoping that the few bat guards that remained to guard them would hear. "Do any of you know Crystal Star? I imagine she's a pretty famous employee around here. Hello? She's my mom, you know."

Silence. Finally, one of them spoke up, his voice muffled behind the hatch. "She's around..."

"Maybe you want to let her know that I'm here? You wouldn't want your career to end too soon, now, would you?"

There was a murmur among them. Finally, it seemed that one of them had run off to find Crystal Star.

Soup sighed. "Hopefully we're not too late. It doesn't look like she's running things around here. And if that friend of yours is anything to by-"

"No!" said Crimson emphatically. "They wouldn't brainwash Mother. They wouldn't have to. This is just bureaucracy." He was trying to convince himself as much as her. "EvilCorp is a big organisation. Lots of moving pieces. She wouldn't immediately know we're here."

"Big is the right word..." Soup's voice became more hoarse. "I thought it was just her and some grumpy bats. But this bunch looks like they're prepping for a war. And did you see what's going on beneath the tower? There's like a whole city of casinos and bazaars."

"Obviously a high value base for EvilCorp. I expected more subtlety." Crimson commented. "Princess Celestia would never let them grow this fat... well, it could be a rogue faction I suppose. But if it's not... then we're dealing with a problem that might dwarf Mother entirely. Celestia told me she built EvilCorp to contain and monitor all crime in the nation. But if she's not running it anymore, then that's a whole lot of power in the wrong hooves."

Zecora interrupted his train of thought. "Sergeant Star, such evil power would not tolerate having Nightmare Moon throw around her weight. Your mother can only be a pawn, a joke. By telling her, we might get her to turn her cloak."

"Well, I think we should be ready for anything!" said Soup, pulling at her chains. "We can't just sit on our butts waiting for fate to throw us a bone!"

"On that, we are agreed." Zecora replied. "I think I'll apply my magic weed!"

"You what?"

The zebra rustled her cloak a little, and a packet of herbs fell out of her pocket. With careful precision, she opened it and began rubbing the herbs onto her chains, careful not to let them touch her. Soon, the chains began to hiss, and smoke wafted upwards.

Power Point fell to her knees in front of Governor Glow, the latter greatly enjoying the smell of fear on her. "I think I've made things adequately clear for you, sweet filly." He smirked. "The rules of life apply to everypony. EvilCorp has become something bigger than Celestia. It's given structure and meaning to us deviants who pride ourselves on our ability to stray from the straight and narrow. A sense of grand purpose. Evil we may be, but we're still part of a system. Everything, both corrupt and saintly, exists as part of a system. Betray that, and you're useless."

"You really like hearing yourself talk, huh?" Lighthouse muttered.

Glow rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm glad to see my brainwashing hasn't robbed you of that, err, rural temperament. Shoo! Shoo! I'm being intimidating over here."

The batmare shuffled outside, muttering something like "intimidating, my butt" under her breath.

"As I was saying..." Glow drew a deep breath, having spent most of it on the last speech. "I'm here to bring you back into the system, back into the fold. But I'm a forgiving pony. In exchange for all the money you stole from EvilCorp, I will only ask you one itty-bitty favor before releasing you back into the wild." He pulled the covers off of a familiar stone boulder that had been left in front of his fireplace. "Recognise this? It's a Tradestone. Used by Chrysalis in her last invasion and protected by that old fool Care Taker ever since. I, um, borrowed it on behest of dear Crystal Star. Of course, I wasn't going to bring back Nightmare Moon like she hoped, but it still has its use. It connects directly with the Tradestones in Canterlot, for example. I can get you straight back to the Castle. You'll take something I want, and come back. If you play your part right... your little affair with us need never be mentioned again. You can go where you want. Heh, I'll be so pleased I might even give you a boat or something."

"W-what do you want?" Power Point squeaked.

Governor Glow beamed. He sat back into his armchair. Cozy Glow still appeared to be sleeping. He played fondly with her mane. "My informants report that Princess Celestia destroyed the Alicorn Amulet. I want its ashes."

Author's Note

Merry Christmas!!