We marched out into the streets of Ponyville, the Castle in our sights. We had little else in our minds besides the end of it all. Finally we were coming to the end we so desperately wanted. We'd end the Emperor and the world would be able to go on. We'd find solace in knowing no pony would have to have the opportunity to thank us besides those who the Empire had enslaved. Keeping everypony out of the loop... it was for the best.

The tension was high as we moved with confidence, sure that a trap was just around the corner for us. We could only hope that they weren't aware of our trap for them. Their overconfidence would be their own undoing, if all went according to the loose assemblage of a plan that we had. We could only hope. Hope and march.

The streets were quiet, so quiet that you could almost feel a gruff old stallion rasp out a hoarse 'too quiet'. It was eerie. The town was dead, or more appropriately in hiding. I could only hope it was from waking up to the shameful display. Otherwise... I really didn't want to think about it. There was a lot I didn't want to think about to be fair.

The Castle was a menacing structure when viewed from the perspective of somepony trying to conquer it out from somepony, or someone, else. We had hoped our last venture was the final one, but now... now it was different. At that point we hoped for something of surprise. That was... well if the Emperor was surprised it would be his fault 'cause we honestly weren't doing much to be hidden.

I grabbed the doors, looking back at the other ponies, who each gave me a nod. Taking a breath as I returned my focus to the doors, I threw them open, expecting a horde of minions, or maybe the Emperor flanked by a few elite soldiers. Heck, I was even down for a little filly in her nightgown with her hair drooped over her face. BRING ON THE PSYCOLOGICAL WARFARE!

Instead we got an empty hallway that had a a carpet rolled out, leading toward a flight of stairs. The path was flanked by candles that cast an eerie glow across the scene.

"Well..." I coughed, "Seems we're expected." I noted, looking over the entrance, making sure there was no obvious evil laughter or ominous organ music echoing from somewhere in the castle. This was both something I entirely could've expected, and yet also just far away enough from most assumptions that I was a tad off balance.

Hall after hall passed as we followed the carpet, the path leading us ever onwards. Finally we came to what was to be our destination. Either that or the door the carpet ended at was just being unsporting about the whole affair. Opening the door I fully expected a white hall and dining table that led to a black clad figure who'd deflect a laser and ask us to join him for dinner. I almost wasn't disappointed.

The table was there, the food was there, and even the ominous figure was there. I guess it was my fault that I didn't have a laser thrower to complete the scene, though I did think really hard about shooting a laser with mind powers. Unfortunately, I had no latent abilities that remained untapped.

"Welcome." The ominous figure boomed from his side of the hall. "Please, take a seat. There is much to discuss." We all stood there, disappointed by the lack of lightning flashes from the window behind him. Anything besides the blue skies would've done really. In the end, we did as he asked, thoroughly disarmed by it all.

"Am I guessing right that you are the Emperor I have heard so much about?" I asked, taking a seat beside Raven. The figure, bedecked in full regalia smirked from their convenient shadowy seat. I had to guess there was some sort of magical effect he was putting up because the rest of the room besides him was perfectly well lit - especially wit the big window behind him.

"You do guess correctly." He said, swiveling his head towards me. "And you must be the ever persistent Crescendo I've heard so much about." He lowered his hood, the shadow dissipating as he did, revealing an old face. "At last we meet."

"Can we skip to the part where you try and convince me to hand over the artifact or do we have to wind our way through small talk first?" I asked, already fed up with his theatrical arse. He chuckled at that.

"I suppose that could be arranged." He said in a patient voice, one well tried by insolent idiots like myself. "My underlings have done little to help my case, I fear. Their ambitions and sense of... entitlement. They were their own worst enemies."

"Yes yes yes. They put a bad foot forward but you'd like to sweep that under the rug with a few smiles and a handshake. You'd love if we could get along and if I could hand over the artifact that your... I'm gonna say twelve times great grandpa made. You'd also consider having me on staff, though now you're reconsidering that pretty heftily." I said with as much impetuousness as I could muster. He might've met my ilk before, but I was going to be the grandest of the annoyances. The cherry AND the chocolate sauce on top.

"I see you've made some deductions in your down time." He said flatly. "And to respond, yes, the artifacts in question were created by my great ancestor. History saw fit to try and bereave my line of these masterpieces of his handiwork."

"Sweetness. So you are ol' Žlezie Rake's kiddo... by a gulf of generations." I said, noting the Emperor's small twitching. I was getting to him, his nerves were teased, his jimmies were not one hundred percent unrusteled, and I was having the time of it.

"Fine, I'll be frank. I want you to hand over your artifact peacefully. Last night was a demonstration that I can make this happen one way or another, but I want you to do so willingly so that I don't have to worry about you and your lot coming back around to try and steal it back." The Emperor stood from his chair, revealing his lower centaur half.

"I will have it from you, but your consent makes it that much better in the long run. In short, I want a peace deal. A complete cessation of hostilities between us and our people. In exchange, I want all the artifacts you have. I'll let you keep your slaves and shan't touch you or them. I'll even be so gracious as to allow you to not have any of your commands undone, I'll even allow a few more slaves to be added to the roster before you hand it over if you so choose, seeing as after this you won't be able to make more."

The Emperor, lowered his upper body so that his hands were planted on the table. "This is the best offer you can hope for. I might be persuaded into some other concessions, though they would be minor. You keep the slaves you have, maybe a few more, all you've said to the recorder stays, and I leave all of you alone. Myself, my followers, and any level of subfollowers below them will not touch or affect the lives of you, your slaves, your family, their families, friends, or loved-ones. All I want are the artifacts from you."

I paused at this. It WAS a good deal, even to my eyes. I fully expected him to just say 'Gimme' and that would be it. Instead I got him offering actual terms. Beyond that, he was even offering mutually beneficial terms.

"Question on that: could the terms of the treaty be ratified in the Straight Record?" I asked, testing how far he was willing to push it. "Not to say I don't trust your word on the matter, but... you know, the Straight Record is as good as anything for making the final treaty in such a way that neither of us could break the trust."

"If you hadn't suggested it, I would've." He said plainly, calming down from where I had had him. He was good at this. Then again, he did run an Empire, however shoddily. "We can bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones. I'd have the final piece of my inheritance from my forefathers and you'd have all the mares - and stallions should you wish - you could ever want. Maybe even more." This was something. The most something of a something that ever I had planted my eyeballs on.

"You know..." I said, leaning back with a reminiscing sort of tone, "If that had been your opening play, I might've just handed over the artifact. Heck... If you had found me just after finding it I might've done it for less." I admitted, thinking back on those opening moments of this convoluted chapter of my life. My gaze hardened, fixing the Emperor with an icy glare. "But this isn't then."

I leaned forward, minorly closing the distance the table gave us, "I've gone through enough heartache and trauma to make those peace terms seem laughable. I've also seen my friends and I gain far more ground than you seem willing to concede. Those are the type of terms I might've agreed to after first running into Silver and Gunther. But this isn't then.

"I've taken down Gunther and Silver, I've got Brass over there," I pointed a thumb at the mare, "I even ended the homunculus. I've suffered trauma after trauma. I got split in two, and after that freed a whole mess of slaves. I drove you to a dark place in your Empire's history - so says the resident speaker on Empire history.

"Last time you had this much catastrophe, according to her, you had to majorly restructure the Empire. Am I wrong?" I pressed, but he didn't budge. "What I'm saying is that your position may not be as tenable as you might think. Your power base is lessened and-" Suddenly Peri let out a yelp.

My head whipped around to the sound. Peri, wide-eyed, stepped onto the table, moving fluidly, though her expression seemed less than enthused. In fact I'd say she looked downright terrified. I quickly saw why. She held a knife. The blade was pointed at her heart, her hands trembled. On instinct I reached to the cassette player in my jacket.

"Please, do try and stop her." The Emperor said dismissively, one of his hands acting as if a puppet was suspended by strings from his fingers. "Let's see... put her to sleep and her mind no longer resists and the knife digs in. Make the knife dull and it only makes the process longer and so much more painful. Have you ever tried to cut a tree down with a plastic knife? You can do it, but it takes forever. I bet if the tree could scream it would. And this tree..." The knife steadily grew closer to her chest, gaining a yelp from her.

"Now, you were saying something about me being in an untenable position? I think you were about to demand better terms." He gave a wry grin. He was trying to play us like a fiddle. Unfortunately for him, I knew how to play a fiddle. Heck, my parents made sure I could at least play violin, and this punk wasn't a maestro.

"Put her down." I said with as much menace in my voice as I could. He raised an eyebrow at that, twitching his hand slightly, causing her arm to jerk closer to its target.

"What? You think there's something you can give me in return for it? Please do place a bargaining chip down so that I have an excuse to give you even fewer concessions." He continued to smirk, playing with Peri's life. That would go poorly for him. "I'm willing to let you have the terms we discussed. I may change my mind soon, so please do act quickly, the offer is likely to expire, much the same as this mare."

"What artifacts do we have?" I asked, a smirk of my own playing across my features. He regarded me with some new found curiosity, his hand temporarily relaxing a tad bit, Peri's body doing the same. "It's a simple question to answer. And one that-" The world shifted slightly, and suddenly Periwinkle was without her knife - the entire table cleared of all sharpened implements in the blink of an eye, "I think you'll find gives us certain advantages." Periwinkle, realizing she was free, quickly moved back into her seat, Berry laying a hand on her for some measure of comfort.

"Interesting," The Emperor began, looking me over as he began to flex the gloved hand once more, "but you-" Suddenly he paused, his form finding itself no longer bedecked in ornamentation, even clothing suddenly finding itself gone from his form. "Very well..." His voice had an edge to it. "I see that you are willing to use all tactical options at your disposal to let yourself get a good deal in these negotiations. How quaint."

"You are partially right." I said, leaning back in my chair. "We are willing to use all the options available to us." The Emperor crossed his arms over his bear chest, raising a bemused eyebrow at me. "The point you've failed to assimilate is that this," I continued, gesturing to the room indistinctly, "is not negotiations."

"How so, Rousing Crescendo?" He said, as if he hadn't already said my name to me. Names had power, but not as much as he seemed to be thinking. Actions had power. Those and artifacts. I had both, and he was steadily running out of way for him to exert his own form of either.

"Negotiations," I smirked, "entail give and take. You know, what you lead with when we came in here... before you got yourself a case of the disappearing artifacts." I leaned forward in my chair. "What you're in right now might be called negotiations by some, but I doubt nations in history that left the table of negotiations felt very well served when the terms were 'full annexation'."

"What he's saying is that we're issuing demands, not requests." Double emphasized, his voice a steady rock of confidence bereft of my snideness. The Emperor gave a huff at this, shaking his head.

"Odd how you think what you've done has improved your chances." He said, his grin growing slightly. "You think that you're the only ones that are willing to use all the tactical options available to you?" An icy chill ran down my spine as I tried to read his hand. I had a flush, but he could still pull something.

"What do you have in your favor to sway us?" I asked simply, showing as little change in my disposition as possible. Confidence was key, I just had to hold out for my stars to align.

"Your royals are on the way this moment." He said with an air of such certainty that it felt... wrong. I raised an eyebrow at him, taking his words in and mulling them over.

"Pardon me if I don't quite see how that's in your favor." Double said, though I think we both had a grasp on why it might be. The Emperor simply turned towards the grand window behind him, looking out over Ponyville like a predator over its prey.

"I wasn't wielding all the artifacts. Several are still out there and ready to be used. My Justiciar for one." He looked over his shoulder. "The one who made you dance on strings like puppets as you proclaimed MY glory." His teeth flashed in something between a snarl and a smile. He turned his attention back to the window, looking out of it towards the sun as it climbed ever higher in the sky.

"They will arrive here in Ponyville. Of course they will wish to meet with their fellow Princess." His confidence was getting on my nerves, and his point was becoming clear. "They will arrive. Just in time too." His grin, reflected in the glass, grew all that more pleased with his devious plan as it unfurled before us. "They'll then grant me their blessing to rule over Equestria in their stead. My Empire will be a legal polity, not just an assemblage of those I grant power to. No longer confined to shadows, but walking in the light."

I looked to Double's chair, noting it as already empty before returning my gaze to the centaur that still stood at the window. "You think we didn't have a plan for something like that?" I asked, getting a definite reaction from the Emperor. "You act as if we haven't been planning to ensure you don't even have to be deposed in the first place, your Lowliness." He huffed at that.

"You think any of your stratagems could hope to stop this? Not even the Fixed Dial can let your pony find m-" His pronouncement was cut short by Double appearing with a pair of bracers dangling from a cord.

"These ones?" He asked to the question he hadn't been gone long enough to let be asked. Looking him over I could tell he was in a state, but he was doing admirably considering the circumstances. The Emperor narrowed his eyes at Double Time. "Now, I know what you're thinking: 'How in Tartarus did this pony just get these bracers from the guy who was all the way on the other side of Ponyville?' I'll answer that question with another question. Why the heck did you think we'd not try and counteract your string of shenanigans?"

The Emperor had been right about the Fixed Dial not having the ability to get all those ponies and whatever else he had. Of course he had had enough minions and Ponyville itself was large enough that just stopping time wouldn't have given us much benefit in the search for them all. However combining it with Button's artifact and his ability to spot the odd ones out was greatly improved.

"Interesting." The Emperor managed. "I'm glad you've had this much initiative, but even so... I have more resources than just my Justiciar at my disposal."

"Oh shoot, forgot these!" Double said, hoisting a large rucksack onto the table. Unzipping it he removed a lead box that held another box... well, to be short, the final box held a collection of Dark Stones and Dark Stone tipped weaponry. "Yeah, the trip was a bit of a long one for me, but then again a lot of them didn't realize they were near one another I'd guess. That's the problem with having ponies picking their own spots without communicating. Same problem with hide and seek to be fair." The Emperor snorted to this.

"So... anymore chips to put down before us?" I asked, smirking at our clean sweep. He stared daggers into me, probably wandering if he could activate some residual effect from the artifacts he no longer possessed if he thought hard enough. Or maybe he was just trying to shoot me with laser eyes. "Alright then, how about I cut you the embarrassment of having to ask me and just deliver you the demands I got for you." I brought out a piece of printer paper that had a nice short list of demands.

1. The Empire will dissolve immediately
   
2. The entity formerly known as 'The Emperor' will cease all hostilities against any and all creatures
   
3. All of the Emperor's artifacts are to be confiscated and are the immutable property of Rousing Crescendo and those he deems worthy of their possession

The Emperor looked over the treaty, and then back to us, giving us a sneer before taking one of the quills he had at the ready, giving a signature to the paper. I looked it over, raising an eyebrow at the name. Emperor Stone Heart. Apt. Rousing Crescendo almost seemed like a joke written next to it.

"Alright, I'll just record this into the Straight Record and you can be on your way." I grinned as snidely as ever.

"Enjoy this victory." He said darkly. "I think we both realize that this peace... this shall barely be a reprieve from the devastation you will suffer at my hands when the time is right."

"I look forward to seeing you later, Stone Brain." I said, bringing out the recorder from my pocket. "It's been... well, it's been terrible, but I'm glad that we can put this chapter behind us in the very least."

Author's Note

So continues my anti-writer's block!