Quashed

Jericho sat down at the table at Twilight's immediate left. To her right was Cadance, at the head of the table, and then Shining Armor to her right. To Jericho's left sat his officers running down the table, and across from them were Shining Armor's officers. There were strong tensions across the width of the table, but under Jericho and Jaxton's commands, the zebras refrained from showing it. Malak had assured them that they would be rewarded for their patience.

As the staff brought out the meals, Cadance stood up. "Friends, soldiers, visiting dignitaries. We have all gathered for tonight's feast to celebrate not only our first major victory, but our second as well!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Victory," muttered LTC Diamond Victory, earning a chuckle from his younger brother, MAJ Flawless Victory.

"We've reclaimed the Equestrian capitol of Canterlot from the hands of its minotaur captors, and can once more place an Equestrian on the throne," she continued. "If that weren't enough, we have wrenched from their clutches one of the Equestrian princesses, currently the rightful ruler of the land, my dearest sister-in-law, Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

A roar of applause echoed around the room as Twilight stood up. "I want to thank you all for your hard work. From the crystal ponies taking back the capitol to the zebras' altruism in rescuing me at their own expense, you all have my sincerest and most profound gratitude."

She sat back down, disliking being on her feet for too long with all of the extra weight. Another round of applause erupted as the table's attention returned to Cadance. "I have heard from Princess Twilight what terrible things have befallen the princesses. While I am most glad to have claimed this victory, we are most assuredly not done. In taking back Princess Twilight, I have to guess that the minotaurs will be tightening their grips. Undoubtedly, freeing Princesses Luna and Celestia will be much more difficult. Hopefully, when Twilight's account is made public knowledge, Equestria itself will realize how dangerous this minotaur menace is, and we will all come together to drive Steelhorn out of Equestria and back to the Hornburg from whence he came!"

A third round of applause echoed throughout the room as Cadance sat down. Her speech had given the serving staff plenty of time to lay out their dishes to the waiting VIPs. As she began her meal, they followed suit, enjoying the food at their leisure. In an effort to preserve the delicate peace, conversations stayed on one side of the table or the other, and stayed in hushed tones.

Jericho turned to Twilight. "I'm glad to see that you're recovering well. I bet it feels good to be out of your cell."

Twilight swallowed her mouthful of food. "It's nice to be out, but I wasn't really kept in a cell. I was allowed anywhere in the residential wing of the castle, I just couldn't leave that area. That's not to say it was easy to live there, but I can easily imagine it being so much worse." She took another bite. "Celestia was kept in a cell for quite a while, though."

"That's quite a punishment for such a powerful mare. What horrible decision landed her in there?"

Twilight cocked her head to the side. "It was a pretty bad move. She told me later that she was trying to piss off the leader so that he'd go back home. It pissed him off, that's for sure, but he didn't go back home." She continued her meal for a few bites, then realized that she hadn't answered his question. "What she did was salting his wound. He'd just found out that his cousin died by poisoned arrow. It was meant for him, but he was here in Equestria and couldn't make the meeting. Following that, his firstborn child was murdered that same day. Celestia called his people incompetent, and in need of a better leader." Jericho coughed, having choked on his food. Twilight gently rubbed his back. "Are you alright?"

Jericho waved it off. "Nothing I can't handle, thank you for your concern. I'm just shocked that that's a lesson Celestia never learned. Antagonizing your captor is never a smart move. Her choice in doing so, I cannot approve."

"Luna was much more accepting of their takeover. She did as they asked for the most part. In the end, I think that may have been to her benefit. She was allowed to walk into the city, without any horn ring. She even told me she almost met with you. Right before the siege began."

Jericho nodded and locked eyes with Shining Armor. "Yes, that was a mistake best not repeated. We'd prefer, in the future, if things were less heated."

Shining Armor sipped at his wine. "Yeah, we're not sure exactly what went wrong, but one of our archers misfired."

Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Luna said it was two of your archers. In fact, I saw the puncture wounds. Two arrows were fired that day, I'm sure of it."

Shining Armor swallowed hard. Twilight was smart. He knew he'd never succeed in lying to her. "Well, you see... That is to say..."

"What he means is the other one passed," answered Jericho. "Your brother forgives fallen soldiers so fast."

The rest of dinner continued in much the same manner. When it ended, Shining Armor was so glad to be finished that he didn't bother seeing his officers out of the dining hall. Instead, he returned to his bedchambers, ran out onto the balcony, and took several deep breaths. Lying like this was torturing him, and Jericho was delighting in every minute of it. He couldn't take anymore; this experience had thus far been excruciating. He ran his fingertips up into his mane, separating it into small locks as he tried to calm himself.

He was so wrapped up in himself that he didn't hear his wife entering the room until she stepped out onto the balcony. "You've been acting so strange today, dear," she said, gently running her hand up his back. "Is everything alright?"

Shining took a deep breath. It was time to come clean. "No, everything is not alright. Prince Jericho is lying to you, and he's dragging me into it. I feel so awful about it that I just want to throw up." He looked deeply into his wife's eyes. "I don't know if he told you how that wound in his gut came about, but the truth is... I stabbed him."