==Spike==

Spike entered the tiny, rocky hole in the side of the mountain. He grunted as he turned to his side, his thick shoulders running along the narrow cave walls. His chin, ever prominent and his posture immaculate gave off a hardened regal view. Broad, purple shoulders flanked either side of his scaly green chest as the sulfur of the cavern hit him. Finally, the cave expanded out, allowing him to stand tall and face the path ahead of him. He rubbed his nose‌ as the scent of rotten egg trickled in, then sneezed. He continued until finally, the dry, yellow ignimbrite pathway ended, and at the very end was a wall of red scales that suddenly lifted up, revealing an enormous eye with a golden iris and a long, vertical pupil.

“Lord Razor, thank you for sending word. The kingdom of Equestria thanks you for—”

“Do not use that name here.” the hall echoed. “With Ember's untimely passing and Torch’s decline, I, like the others, now take on our right and proper names,” the cave around Spike rumbled as pebbles started falling from above. “You should know this, having taken the mantle of Dragon Lord temporarily. Though being raised amongst the Ponies must have dulled whatever sense of dragoness you still clung on to.”

“I apologize Lord Inferno,” Spike turned his scaled palms towards the eye and bowed his head. “That said, uh, why did you call this meeting?”

“I wish to renegotiate the terms of the Second Treaty of Everfree,” the voice bellowed throughout the mountain.

“Lord Inferno, hasn't the treaty served you well? It has kept you safe and –” Spike was suddenly cut off by loud rumbling.

“Safe? That unequal treaty hasn't kept me 'safe' in any sense of the word, with the sole exception of keeping me out of your princess's attention. But the Kingdom of Equestria's time in the sun is over. We of the Consortium can see where the winds are blowing. If you had been able to quickly force the Crystal Ponies of the north to capitulate, then maybe you would still be in a stronger position. But seeing now as your kingdom has been cut to less then half its size…” Lord Inferno trailed off for a moment, “Consider yourselves lucky that I only want to renegotiate. I want the stipulations on my speech exercised from the updated treaty. Furthermore, your Bit has been weakening as it seems that our world is returning to a more… Electrum standard, so to speak. I want the shackles on what I can invest in exercised as well.”

“Lord Inferno, I can assure you that the treaty isn't unfair. When you and Celestia signed it centuries ago–” once again the mountain rumbled as the pupil of the great eye narrowed.

“I was coerced, Pony with Scales. And it's obvious that your great leader no longer has the force to keep me subjugated to that piece of parchment. Or maybe she never had it,” the long pupil narrowed. “You're lucky I simply wish to renegotiate rather than make a total withdrawal.”

Spike pinched the bridge between his eyes and began to breathe heavily, “Lord Inferno, while I have no issue relaying your message to the princesses, you must understand that you're making a grave mistake.”

“Is that a threat?” The mountain shook as the pupil widened. “What is she going to do? Not raise the sun?” The mountain shook violently as the echoes of laughter reverberated throughout its core. “I grow tired of this. As envoy, you will relay my message to your Princess. If I do not receive a delegation in three months' time, and I am being generous giving her three months… I will withdraw from the treaty completely. Tell me, do you believe that your kingdom could survive me opening up my financial records for all to read?”

“You're being unfair! The Princess needs at least six months to prepare!”

“Unfair? UNFAIR!? Let me tell you what's unfair pony masquerading as a Dragon! Over a decade ago, as per our agreement, I moved. Only to be met with your six elements and forcibly vacate me from a mountain that is rightfully mine.”

“Your smoke was literally killing an entire town!”

“It is not my problem that the prevailing winds changed. But instead of sending your ambassadors to negotiate, you sent your elements, and the yellow one did her work. But now your kingdom is split, your elements shattered, and your Princess proven to be weaker than she appeared.” A snarl let loose through the cavern, “You have one fortnight to send a delegation to renegotiate.”

“You said three months!” Spike yelled. “Please, listen to reason. It's very possible that the last time any pony read up on the first or the second Treaty of Everfree may have been generations ago! We need more time to understand what was stipulated.”

“Would you like me to give you a hint as to what was stipulated?” The dragon's eye narrowed, “I assume you have knowledge of the minting of the bit in the treasury?”

“Of course, but what does this have to do with-”

“Do you know how long they have been minting the bit?”

“Um... No?”

“In the second Treaty of Everfree, I was given the inglorious task of removing bits from circulation. Now, do you remember how old the second Treaty of Everfree was?”

“At least five centuries,” Spike answered.

“You have seen some of my treasure hoard, and I can assure you, what you saw is merely a fraction of what I have at my disposal. Now ask yourself the following question: Why has a loaf of bread always been one bit?”

Spike stood in silence as he glanced left and right, trying to come up with any answer, “That's just how it is, it's always been one bit.”

“For every bit that your treasury prints, it gets handed over to the magistrate, which hands it over to ponies to do works, and they themselves hand their bits over to other ponies to do their works. If the treasury keeps printing bits, then eventually everyone is drowning in bits, correct?”

“I guess…”

“And what happens when everyone has bits, but there's only so much bread to go around?”

Spike's eyes started to widen, “You wouldn't…”

“Your Princess's reckless minting of the bit during the war has forced me to take in more extraneous bits than ever before. It's practically worthless now. So, allow me to explain to you exactly what will happen if I do not meet with a delegation in one week to renegotiate: I will begin to buy up as much of anything I can. Gems, property, bread, anything. I will flood the market with five centuries' worth of bit accumulation. Tell me, do you think that bread will be worth one bit then?”

Spike took a step back as his eyes gaped at the iris in the passageway. “No, you wouldn't…”

“I would. Be grateful that you are not dealing with 'Fang'. They would have just withdrawn. Though 'Scale' would've probably just started killing members of your treasury until your Princess got the hint.”

Spike looked down and then glanced to his left and right before holding out his arms. Clearing his voice, he asked, “Is there anything else you need?”

“Only that they have a decree from the Princess, stamped by her seal in Artinian wax, that they be permitted to negotiate in her place. That is, unless she wants to attend herself. Though given the Kingdom's state of affairs, I doubt I'll see horn or wing of her.”

“Of course, of course…” Spike said, giving a bow and turning to leave.

“I'm curious to know…”

Spike turned his head to look at the giant eye.

“My attendants tell me that you are new to the position of envoy, correct?”

“I am…”

“They tell me that despite being a citizen of the kingdom, you are treated as lesser, correct?”

Spike turned around and held his head high, “You have been misinformed, I am treated with the same dignity as any other subject of her Majesty.”

“And yet, according to my sources, you slept in a laundry basket? While attending to the needs of your adoptive family’s sister?”

“How did you…”

“Say what you will about us, 'Scale' is still your country's superior when it comes to information. That said, if you were treated with the same dignity, how come you didn't get a bed of your own? And what about your own schooling? Every pony is given a benevolent gift of an education. What school were you educated at?”

“I didn't go to school…”

“Oh, well that doesn't make sense. Do you still pay their taxes?”

“Yes…”

“And do you have the right to vote for your representative in the House of Baronesses?”

“There's only one of me, my vote wouldn't change a thing compared to the desire of the greater population.”

“Oh… But they still get the right to vote, don't they? They get a say in things. Why don't you?”

“Kingdom law doesn't have an official provision on citizenship for dragons.”

“And yet, during the war they went out of their way to pass legislation allowing for griffons who signed up to be granted citizenship. Why didn't they just extend it to any member of any species who possesses both wit and arms?”

Spike took a step back as he raised his claw hand to his head and shook it, “I…”

“Just some things to chew on. But take it from your senior, I know when someone's being used, and you…” the large Dragon trailed off.

The giant eye closed and the wall of red scales slowly moved as the humongous Dragon disappeared from the meeting spot. Spike let out a sigh as he began to exit the cave. Along the ignimbrite way, pinching himself through the narrow and finally, a vibrant green forest where the scent of crisp, yellow and red leaves cleared his nose. Glancing over at a rock, a blue Pegasus with white hair and cloud brand stood up.

“Good news?”

“Bad, Pillow. Razor wants to renegotiate the old treaty. And if we don't, he's going to…”

“Or what?”

“Let's just say that everyone will be the poorer for it, Pillow,” Spike fell to his rear end and held the palm of his clawed hand against the top of his head.

“If he's getting uppity, I'm sure that Celestia herself will come down and remind him who's who,” Pillow snorted, looking away from the dragon and towards the falling sun.

“We really shouldn't be banking on her Majesty to do anything like that,” Spike grimaced. “Not unless he’s going to do something stupid.”

“I'd say he's already doing something stupid. What does he get off at threatening us? We stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord,” Pillow kicked a rock towards the mountain.

“That was Twi-” Spike began before catching himself.

“Don't say that traitor's name,” Pillow grunted as she rolled her eyes.

Spike looked up at the orange sky and frowned, “Yeah, death to traitors and all that… go get the Phoenix Parchment ready, I need to send Dragon Relations a letter.”

Pillow nodded, then she flew off as Spike pushed himself up. He saw the first stars crop up from the sky when red embers flowed towards him.

“Already? Wait I didn’t send the letter yet,” Spike said as he snatched the parchment out of the air. Opening it, he started to read.

Dear Spike,

I haven’t heard from you in a while, but I assume that’s because of your work. If you need me, I am no longer where I was. I am traveling with someone at the moment to accomplish a task. If things go well, we will meet again soon.

Love,

Twilight Sparkle

“This isn’t her writing style at all,” Spike blinked, then laid his eyes on the twilight sky.

“What in tarturus is going on?”

==Thorax==

A creature of orange, green, and purple carapace stared out across the rocky formations as the scent of smoke wafted on by. Lines of sediment laid on top of each other while green foliage dotted the landscape. He frowned, his purple eyes paler than usual. The sound of rustling behind him caused his attention to shift to the thick brushes to his rear as a dark woman, with salt and pepper hair emerged from the forest, a hiking pack with splotches of green and black across her camo shirt.

“Hutchinson,” Thorax said.

“It's been a while, how have you and your colony been holding up?” Hutchinson said as she shoved her hands in her pockets and pulled up besides the changeling. “You know, they call it the Badlands, but I've seen worse.”

“It’s much larger than that, trust me. This land might be green and it is small, but it is ours,” Thorax said. “The new Ephor has been helping us, but only in the lightest of ways.”

“How has Scootaloo been doing?”

“If you want my honest thoughts, I feel that she has had a lot on her mind. She has a lot of decisions to make, and she's still young,” Thorax answered. “I, for one, am glad that she aims only to use a light touch, given that she wields Xiyphyr. Though as of late, she seems distracted.”

“Maybe she wasn't the best choice,” Hutchison said. “Though Xavier didn't consult anybody on the matter when he offered it to her.”

“I think he understood better than most that there was no best choice,” Thorax said. “Though he did thrust power on her quite suddenly, she's been as mature as she could be given the circumstances.”

“Our species has something of a saying, those best suited for power are those who never seek it,” Hutchison said as she stared at the rock formations.

“Mildly hypocritical coming from your species,” Thorax said. Hutchison turned and raised an eye towards the changeling king as he continued, “but hypocrisy is not in short supply these days. But you and I both know the truth. Those who never seek out power only let it accrue to those who would abuse it.”

Hutchison nodded as she started to walk in circles, “Like you?”

Thorax snorted, “I just wanted to make friends.”

“Yet here you are, leader of a hive of Changelings who’ve regained their sanity,” Hutchison said, shaking her head. “Though, I must ask, why do you look so different then Queen Niab's or Titama's colonies?” the woman with salt and pepper hair asked, her left palm extended out.

“You have to understand,” Thorax said. “It is a consequence of how we choose to live. We choose to live sharing our love communally, while the two Queens must subsist on stolen love.”

“Yeah, but this,” the woman scanned Thorax up and down. “Is so different, no holes, and a complete caprice, it's almost like love that is shared is, for lack of a better term, more nutritious.”

“You could say that, yes,” Thorax said.

“On our side, the closest thing we have to you are grasshoppers,” the woman said. “May I touch your Elytra?”

“Elytra?”

“The hard outer shell of your wings,” Hutchison said, eyeing it.

“Sure,” Thorax said giving a nod.

Hutchison reached out and touched it with her right palm, “So smooth... in your locust form, would you still have this?”

“Locust form?” Thorax asked.

“Sorry, we don't have any kind of phrase to differentiate between your kind and malnourished changelings like the kind the two Queens preside over. So we use grasshopper terms,” Hutchison answered.

“So I would be in a grasshopper state?” asked Thorax.

“Indeed, and they would be in a locust state. Same creatures, different manifestations,” Hutchison answered.

“Not to be rude, but they are still my brethren,” Thorax said. “Please do not call them locusts.”

The woman nodded, “So, why did you ask to meet with me?”

Thorax turned and grimaced as the scent of smoke cleared, “We need assistance.”

Hutchison froze and raised an eye, “Last we heard, you were making ground.”

“We were. However it seems that Niab was able to transplant a sizeable chunk of Titama's colony onto her own. The balance of power has shifted. We need help,” he turned to the woman.

“Well, if you're looking for their help, it's no good. Only one is still in service and she's working directly for The Director. Counter is visiting Manehatten last I checked, but he's useless in his current state. Alexandra went missing a few months ago, and the other three are on the other side trying experimental treatments to help them cope with what they have to live with now,” Hutchison answered.

“A shame, truly. But I still need magic. A contingent of unicorns and Inscriptionists would be helpful, even as advisers,” Thorax answered.

The woman raised an eye, “I might be able to get you that but,” she turned. “We need something from you in exchange.”

“What were you thinking?” Thorax asked.

“What can your kind turn into? What are their limits?”

“Well,” Thorax walked away. “We can't become the sun or a pebble, but” with a flash, where Thorax stood was a large rock. “A rock,” another flash, and now stood a large Griffin, “or,” and with another flash, a large cow stood.

“We may need some... volunteers. Getting into kingdom territory is hard work. But, maybe two or three of your friends...” Hutchison murmured.

“I can ask, but no combat. And no fighting,” Thorax stomped on the ground. “We already lose enough with our fights, no more when simple reports will do.”

“That is understandable. But you would not be reporting to the Union or The Crystal Republic,” the woman said.

“To you?”

She nodded. “To me.”

==Sweetie Belle==

“No, no, no, no that can't be right.”

Sweetie Bell, fully grown and tall, stood on the second floor of the Vanhoover College’s study complex. The odor of parchment and pages penetrated as the dark office suddenly flickered with golden light reflected from a chandelier hanging out beyond a window looking over the library. She blinked once, then twice as she looked at the music schedule, “You had the music schedule set to play one song and one song only? But, why?”

“Well, the last director of music felt that changing the song too often would disturb students focus and –”

“Of course it disturbs students focus. But do you know what’s worse? Entropy! Music builds and builds until it hits a high point in that over the course of maybe seconds, maybe minutes, you get diminishing returns! That’s why you rotate out! That’s why you don’t just play the chorus! Music builds and eventually collapses, Celestia’s teats, who was the last director?”

“Bulky Rock.”

“Of course, a stallion,” Sweetie Bell magically grabbed a tissue straight from the box and dabbed her forehead. “How long?”

“He was with us for about a year and –”

“Let me guess? He came from some stallions only college? Nimble Tail Canterlot College? Dapper Legacy Institute? Rutting Dark Venture Polytechnic?”

“I don’t know ma’am, why those?”

“Do I need to spell it out for you? They’re attached to other institutions to give the mares there their pick of the litter! Canterlot University has Nimble Tail Canterlot College, Manehattan University has Dapper Legacy, Cloudsdale Technical has, well had, Dark Venture Polytechnic. They are universities you send your colts to get picked up by affluent, wealthy intelligent mares! Not for a serious education!” Sweetie Bell threw back her head and groaned. “And you want me to try and turn around three months of a semester’s worth of studying? It will take at least three months to get the students who choose to come here to associate the location with the harmony of the music. The damage is done for this semester. Just like its been done for the last three semesters as well.”

“I apologize Doctor,” the librarian said. “We don’t have any expertise here beyond what we’ve hired, we didn’t know.”

“No, no, no, you are fine. The person who hired the last bozo? She needs her head examined! Now,” Sweetie Bell turned to the record catalog, “Obsidia’s Sonata number 12 in C major, Petunia’s Divertimento in D major, Gymnopédie by autumn bark, okay, okay I can work with this. We start with Gymnopédie, that will prime the long term studiers and we move on to Goldstone’s fifth,” Sweetie Belle said.

“I don’t think we have Goldstone’s-”

“You can borrow mine,” Sweetie Bell rolled her eyes. “Now if there’s anything else, I would like to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to lay out the schedule for the upcoming week, and also expect a list of procurements. Also give me directions to the music department, if we're both lucky, we can get some volunteers up here to practice their craft and get some live music going, though I’m going to be honest with you,” Sweetie Bell looked at the library, then turned to her colleague and gazed at them. “They probably won’t do it for anything less than cold hard bits. Especially if we are competing against others. ”

The librarian nodded and walked out of the office. Sweetie Bell let gravity take over, but as she lowered her head and sighed, she looked out the arch window that showed her the floor of the study complex. Dangling bronze wires strung throughout the complex ceiling with massive walnut wood brown speakers angled toward the students. Right now, silence cast its glow across the building. Neither helpful nor harmful, the students sat doing their best as Sweetie Bell watched from above.

She snapped to her right, and turned toward her new office, as she swallowed. It was dark. Cabinets made of wenge lined the back wall as piles upon piles of sheet music were scattered about like buildings in Manehattan, disorganized and reaching for the sky. Sweetie Bell’s head hung lower and lower until she stared at the marble floor.

“This is not where I want to be,” she frowned. She walked over to her saddlebag and pulled out a vinyl record. Walking over to the private record player, she put it on and started it up. Turning down the volume, her ears pointed forward towards the flaring horn pointed at her. Then slowly, the sound of not just her singing, but rarity singing alongside her rose up as well. Memories drifted to the letter she had gotten earlier that day;

Dear Sweetie Bell,

At the Summer Sun celebration, it was decided that due to the war efforts, by order of Celestia and Luna, you are to come to Canterlot. All expenses will be taken care of. You are to arrive by Summers Dawn. If you are already in a herd, we ask that you tender your abdication. If you have any foals, they are to be left with their father and you are to renounce them via the Ceremony of Second Severing at your nearest Basilica. If they do not have a father due to extenuating circumstances, they are to be left at one of her majesty's orphanages where they will be cared for under Celestia’s protection. Your new life awaits in Canterlot. Come.

Signed,

Sapphire Moonlight

Then the music slowly changed. As the vocals of her and her sister slowly faded, new vocals picked up. Of herself and two friends, last seen long ago. Made before their brands appeared. Sweetie Bell’s voice broke first, followed by Apple Bloom then Scootaloo, followed by laughter. The mare stood listening, the sides of her snout slowly becoming wet.

“This is not where I want to be,” she uttered, biting her lip. Standing up, she pounded the dark marble floor with her hoof. “This is not where I want to be.”

Turning, she approached her desk, cluttered with blank sheet music. “Look at this desk, what a complete slob,” she said with a lazy swipe of her head, her horn glowed as a misty rose color formed a rectangle, then swiped across the desk, throwing the blank sheet music on the ground. The same color of magic snapped a blank parchment off the floor and dragged it through the air. It hovered in front of Sweetie Bell as she got comfortable in her desk chair. Finally, a ball-point pen launched itself from her saddlebag, landing on the parchment. The ball-point faced a tiny impression of a cartoon griffin giving a wink to the reader. Immediately, Sweetie Belle scratched it out with her pen, then started writing.

Moments passed into minutes as a knock echoed from the door.

“Come in,” said Sweetie Bell

The librarian returned with several pieces of parchment. Approaching Sweetie Bell’s desk, she saw the blank sheets of music on the floor and frowned.

“I’ll clean it up. You have the instructions?”

The librarian nodded and placed the parchment at the side of Sweetie Belle.

“I also need you to sign these,” the librarian said, placing more sheets of parchment next to Sweetie Bell, then turned.

“Hold up,” Sweetie Bell said, floating the parchment she was working on. “Can you get me these books please?”

The librarian raised an eye as she read the list floating in front of her, “Holiday, Redhoof and Trotter's Fundamentals of Unicorn Magic, Shadowstep's Modern Approach to Horned Magic, Moondancer and Axel's Unicorn Magic: Modern Lunar Methodologies, one by the title: Monotusken Magic Done Right? I’ll see if we have them but we generally have only one copy of textbooks on hand and we don’t check them out.”

“Why n- oh, to encourage students to buy a copy.”

The librarian nodded, “Though I am sure we can make a special exception for staff, but I will need to check with the lead librarian on this.”

Sweetie Bell nodded and the mare turned around and walked towards the door.

“Just one question,” the librarian said, turning to face Sweetie Belle.

“Yes?”

“Why?”

“When I was younger, I was pretty good at magic but fell out of practice when singing revealed itself to me as my talent,” Sweetie Belle tilted her head left. “I would like to pick up where I left off.”

“Oh, a Magpie.”

“Excuse me?” Sweetie Belle slowly turned and raised an eye.

The Librarian looked away and said, “I meant nothing by it.”

“No, I mean I never heard that term used before.”

“Oh, well,” the Librarian shifted. “Its from an old myth, do you mind if I indulge?”

Sweetie Belle nodded.

“Once upon a time, when the world was pure, all things had cutie marks. But Equus churned, and since only pony’s kept offering sacrifices to the Earth, Sky, Ocean and Fire, only they and Magpies were allowed to keep their marks. However, one day, a Magpie visited a great temple to the sky along a great cliff and begged the Priestess to ask the sky for a second mark, saying ‘My mark is that of a sentry, and I don’t want to live the rest of my days watching for danger.’ So, the Priestess conducted a small, scarcely known ritual, asking the Sky to bestow a second mark on the Magpie. And the Sky did, granting the Magpie the talent of the Seer.”

“However,” the Librarian continued. “The Magpie saw the ritual and was still unhappy with it’s talent. So it went home, gathered all the supplies it could, but before she could start, she had a vision: She saw the world and Magpies without talents. She ignored the ill omen and copied the ritual, giving itself a new talent. And again. And again. And again until it was covered in cutie marks.”

“Soon, the Priestess came to check on the Magpie and found her flying too and fro, chained by the talents she called forth. Finally, she fell to the ground, exhausted.”

“The Priestess put the Magpie on her back and flew back to the Temple. There she called on the Sky to heal the Magpie. The Sky replied back, ‘It is beyond my power alone. Travel to the others, call upon their priestesses, and together with the other aspects, we shall mend you friend, but at great cost.’”

“So sending word, she traveled and gathered herself plus three others to conduct a ritual. But they failed. As all hope seemed lost, two mares bearing the wandering star and strings came. They explained that they could cure the Magpie. With little else, the Magpie agreed. The former called on the Stars high above in the Sky, while the latter called on the fires deep down below even Equus. Both powers collided into a cosmic magic that cured the Magpie, purging her of all her talents. But not just that Magpie, all Magpies found their cutie marks had disappeared.”

“So, when you see a Magpie scavenging, they’re not just looking for food for the winter. They’re also seeking out their lost cutie marks. And when they sing, they are begging, crying out for their lost marks to return back to them.”

==Gabby==

“You can’t be serious,” the gray Griffin lowered her head as she looked at the sheet she had just received from the stallion in front of her. She was in an office covered with polished dark brown wood, leading the queue of seven others, five griffins and two dragons.

“I’m so sorry Gabby,” the light brown Earth stallion nodded. “Your time in service doesn’t qualify you for citizenship.”

“But I served four years as a mail carrier on the front lines! Here,” Gabby dug out a sheet of paper from her pack. “See, it says right here, I signed up three years before the war ended and served six months more time to make sure I could get this!”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but the four-year requisite was with respect to the years in war. Anything after the war doesn’t count towards citizenship,” the stallion hung his head.

“I mean, I just,” the Griffin started gasping for air. “They changed the rules on me!”

“I understand that the new legislation is not exactly-” the stallion was interrupted by Gabby.

“You don’t understand! I joined the war to get out of Griffonstone! And I have absolutely no faith in the Duchy! I can’t go back,” Gabby shook her head as she took a step back. “I won’t go back!”

“Well, you do have a few options…” the stallion said as he grabbed some papers to the side.

“Like what?”

“If you join one of the nine certified mercenary companies, and serve for three years, that would fill in your gap,” the stallion trailed off.

“Wait, so you’re gonna have me either on extended guard duty or fight one of the clans just to get citizenship?”

“One of my mares says it isn’t that bad, she said for her it was basically just guarding a fortification in the middle of nowhere. Easy work, easy money,” the stallion said with a nod. “I can give you her information if you want. But,” the stallion shook his head. “There isn’t anything else I can do for you right now. And you’re holding up the line, so if you please…”

Gabby stared past the stallion and didn’t blink. Haze washed over her eyes as his words flowed through her.

“Well, come on! Not all of us got so lucky as to join during the tail end of the war like you did!” A golden brown Griffin behind her with an eye patch over his right eye screamed.

Gabby shook her head and then nodded at the stallion. He quickly handed her a piece of paper that he had set off to the side and nodded, simply saying, “Next!”

Gabby pushed herself off to the side and began to walk towards the exit to the office. Past the dark brown door was a long street made of mud lined with wooden buildings. Looking up, she could see that a storm was brewing in, and quickly opened her wings with the note gripped in her claws. Gliding towards the tavern, she stopped right at the doorstep and, with a flap of her wings, plopped down onto the ground.

Approaching the entrance doors, she jolted back right before a pony patron popped out, the saloon doors swinging at her. The pony grunted, ignoring the griffin as she walked down the wooden stairs and onto the dirt road. Gabby shook her head and looked at the papers she had in claw. Opening up the letter, it had the mare’s information, a little home out ways past the cherry orchards. But then Gabby flipped the letter to see the advertisement:

🛡️Iron Hoof Steel Security Services🛡️

👁️I spy with my little eye👁️

An unfulfilled Life

🏰Protecting the kingdom of Equestria from things that go bump in the night🏰

What’s life without is a little bit of bucking in the dark?

Gabby sighed as she folded the note and placed it in her bag. The light tapping of rain started to envelop the small town. Closing her eyes, she approached the tavern door and pushed it open.

Two stallions wearing fancy overcoats were staring at the new entry from above on the wooden second floor as four mares were playing Pins off to the side. Gabby caught sight of the tavern keeper from behind the bar, rearranging the top shelf.

Gabby slowly crawled over to the bar and sat down, lowering her head against the polished oak. The mare turned around and asked, “Didn’t go as planned?”

Gabby shook her head, “Apparently the extra time I put in didn’t qualify. They said I could fill the gap with mercenary service, but I’m not too fond of it.”

“Well, just find one that will be the easiest. Maybe not the best paying, but…” The mare said, finally turning around. “Want me to get you anything?”

“No thanks Mirabelle,” Gabby said. “What do you mean easiest?”

“Well,” Mirabelle began, “it’s not exactly like the kingdom is fighting anything at the moment.”

“What about the other nations?” Gabby raised an eye.

“I doubt were going to war with them,” Mirabelle said. “There are two patrols that make their routes to this town, and it’s been nothing but happy drunks in the occasional brawl. I’ve never seen them come in with frowns or tears. Easy work as far as I can tell.”

“Yeah but if they’re just patrolling, they’re expecting trouble to arise up right?”

“Only because the kingdom military is stretched so thin. They’re just here to make sure that any beasts or chimera or rebellious elements don’t bother us,” Mirabelle said, pulling out a glass and pouring a drink. “And if it happens to also count as military service for you, while you’re making bits on the side, I can’t say that’s a bad deal.”

“Sorry,” Gabby arched her neck back. “I’m just trying to justify this. I don’t want to go back home, but what’s to say that they’re not going to pull that on me again?”

Mirabelle shrugged, sliding the glass towards Gabby “well think of it like this, it’s the only time they done that so far right? So maybe they made a mistake. However if they do it again, then I’d start considering other options.”

Gabby glanced down at the drink, “I’m sorry, I can’t affor-”

“It’s on the house,” Mirabelle smiled. “Look, I’ve gone through days like you’re going through right now. You promise something and then they renege on you. I get it. I’m not all the way out here because I trust Canterlot more than myself.”

Gabby looked at the drink and slowly grabbed it with her right claw and lifted it up to her beak. She took a small sip before putting it back down, “Just out of curiosity, any griffins working with those mercenary groups?”

“One or two,” the mare said as she shrugged. “They usually mind their own business, but the mares they travel with do not seem to be bothered by them.”

“Any dragons?”

Mirabelle shook her head, “Dragons find better work with The Consortium anyways. Most of them won’t touch Kingdom employment after what happened to Dragon Lord Ember.”

“I knew a few griffins that deserted after hearing that…”

“Honestly, if you ask me,” Mirabelle looked to her left and right before putting her front leg on the bar and leaning over. “Something wasn’t right. She sent out a call for help only for Canterlot to ignore her?” Mirabelle shook her head, “And it was early on, when we were still fresh?”

“Are you saying that she was left to die?”

Mirabelle shrugged, “The war did worse things than that. Now, you didn’t hear this from me, but I’m thankful the humans stepped in and sorted things out.”

“Why?!”

“Shhh, look. They may have been brutal, cold and efficient, but that’s exactly what we needed. We weren’t getting anywhere playing by the rules. Charging straight into the enemy? Waiting until daytime to attack? Emphasis taken on removing their helmets before protecting ourselves? Only to get a helmet shoved on them as they tried to save the pony that was trying to stomp them?” Mirabelle shook her head. “They were practically feeding Sombra new conscripts. The humans? If they saw that trying to save them wasn’t worth the trouble, they had no problem raining their shrapnel cannons on them. That’s ignoring the inventions that allow them to kill from kilometers away and,” Mirabelle shuddered, “the clothes that allow them to blend in with the environment.”

“What you mean?”

“I was with a caravan, moving goods from Bridlebrook to Cranberry Grove. Best path there was through a forest. Not one of those haunted forests, just a regular nice field of trees. We’re traveling down a road when we stop at a giant white stone to take a rest. We start setting up camp for the night. Nearby there’s these patches of tall grass that are brown towards the tips. I’m trying to start the fire when I look up and see the patches of tall grass rising to the air. Almost like one of those magic shows, but then the grass starts walking toward me like a monster so, as unmarelike as it may be, I screamed. They shoot out their front limbs in wave at us, holding one of those tools of death and keep crying ‘It’s okay!’. One of them puts their tool down and removes their mask. Hon, we were setting up camp for five hours and not one of us ever suspected that we were being watched by six humans.”

Gabby’s eyes widened as she absently took a sip of her drink.

“Thankfully for us, they just wanted some information. They wanted to know the conditions on the road we came from. We shared a meal with them and parted ways the next morning. But I still get nightmares about walking down the hallway when all of a sudden the wall steps forward or a figure drops from the chandelier that was there the entire time. Look, the point is, they do all of that just to gain an advantage on their enemy. They’re not noble creatures, they’re not monsters, but they are terrifyingly pragmatic.”

“Pragmatic? After scaring you like that?”

“Listen, their goal there was to obviously kill something. They could have done what some of the less scrupulous kingdom companies did when they meet travelers on the road and take everything of use. Or they could have just killed us. I’m willing to bet if they had chosen to do that, as they killed us one by one, we would’ve never known that something was happening. But they didn’t, they didn’t see us as a threat. They asked for information and warmth and left us to our own devices as they moved on. I don’t know if they ever did what they came there to do. On the return trip, nothing seemed out of place. No unusual deaths. It was like watching an owl reveal itself from the side of a tree and swoop down to grab something in the grass. By the time you recognized that it was an owl, you have no clue what it caught and it’s already swooped into the thick of the forest, disappearing from sight. Never to be seen again.”

==Rainbow Dash==

A cold breeze rolled through the ivory white courtyard as the single tree in the middle let go of a single golden brown leaf. The blue and white unicorn was sitting, with a scroll unrolled in front of her, being held aloft by her magic as the skirt of her tail lifted and follow the wind, only to be held back by their roots.

“Minuette, Rainbow Dash will see you now,” an earth stallion announced from the entryway to the courtyard. Minuette quickly wrapped up her scroll and carried it along as she followed her escort from the courtyard and into the interior of the castle. A long archway stood before them as window after window past the left side, each one revealing the greater city of Canterlot held aloft in ethereal light. The castle quickly sloped down, revealing the well-to-do district as it unfurled. Further back of course was the earthen district, but Minuette couldn't for the life of her catch even a glimpse of it.

The stallion suddenly stopped and pushed open the door. Minuette entered in the door shut behind her, revealing a sky-blue Pegasus with rainbow mane at a desk going over paperwork.

“Report.”

Minuette quickly unscrolled her parchment and began to read from it, “Three days ago in Manehattan, the election to decide if it would return to mother Equestria was called off due to riots. Our sources tell us that at approximately nine in the morning, two hours after polls had open, a riot began in the borough of Kings. From there, it quickly spread, soon –”

“Cause?”

“We're unsure as of this time. One source claims it was a Union plot, though given polling numbers, it seems unlikely. We believe that a third-party was attempting to cast doubt on the referendum, which in itself spiraled out of control,” Minuette finished.

Rainbow Dash stopped and looked up from her paperwork, her purple eyes catching the unicorn, “Elaborate.”

“Ma'am, as far as we can tell, this was either caused by ‘Sunrise’ or possibly parties loyal to us in Manehatten. We doubt it's the former case despite this being right up their alley,” Minuette nodded.

“Any sign of human interference?”

“Not that we can determine ma'am. Though there were a few human casualties, it was mostly city residents that felt the most from this,” Minuette said.

“Don't think they weren't involved Minuette,” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the unicorn. “They are a cunning, deceitful kind.”

“Of course, of cour-”

The door swung open and the room echoed with a crash as a Stallion in Gold armor rushed in, and bowed to both mares, “High General Dash, you have been summoned.”

“Who?”

“Flash on command of her Majesty.”

Rainbow Dash's head thrust up, “Where is Celestia?”

“She is currently handling something else, but you and the others are called to the throne room.”

Dash glanced over at Minuette, then stood up, revealing a metal wing that glimmered with the colors of the rainbow at her left... and right wing tucked in a sling.

“Lets go Minuette,” Dash said, already out the door.

==Flash Sentry==

“Dash, Neighsay, Dancer, Blueblood, Amethyst Star, Apple Polish, Cherry Jubilee, Harshwhinny, Professor Fossil, Spoiled Rich, Dr. Caballeron, High Winds, Bluebell.” Fash nodded from in front of the throne. Each of the Ponies found a position around the elevated space. “We are here to discuss the human situation.”

“Are we finally getting rid of the visas?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You're just giving them a chance to survey our lands.”

Flash shot a frown at Rainbow Dash, “No.”

“What?” shouted Dancer. A sea of murmurs flooded the chamber. Flash cleared his throat, then coughed, summoning everyone’s attention onto him.

“It is no secret that ever since the war ended, we have been recovering at a snail's pace, while those who will not acknowledge our divine majesties grow stronger by siphoning power from across the veil. The Boysenberry Thrones have decided that we can not afford to ignore what the humans can provide any longer. Our visa program has been deemed a success and will be expanded,” Flash said.

“He's right,” Cherry Jubilee spoke up. “Their knowledge of agriculture has helped our farms. Their fertilizer is extremely potent. We have been able to reclaim land we thought was forever lost thanks to them.”

Flash nodded to Cherry, “Hence, starting today, we have six new members joining our court. Three of them are still on the way, but to-”

“Joining the court?”

“Why?”

“How?”

“No!” Dash shouted. “I can tolerate just enough of their help to get us back up again, but I will not tolerate those Flatfaced Rutti-”

“Rainbow Dash.” Flash's steely blue gaze caught the war hero. “Not another word.”

“You bronco. You only have your position because you rutted your way to the top!”

“Would you like me to go bring her Majesty of the Sun here to discuss this with you personally?”

Dash froze and took a step back.

“Or how about waking up her Majesty of the Moon? They will tolerate me asking for help, I'm just a Stallion after all. Though they might have an issue with our High General conducting herself poorly at court.”

Dash turned and spat.

“Thank you, now,” Flash turned to face the rest. “Today, I would like to introduce you to our new advisers. It took us awhile, but after careful vetting, we believe we have the right mare-humans for the job.”

Flash tapped his hoof three times, as three humans made their way from the servant's passageway. One tall, one squat, and one in the middle. Each of them wore cloths of black, grey and white respectively. Layers of cloths on layers of cloths. Their skin tones ranged from palest white to darkest ebony.

“Dr Tawnya Tadder, Economist. Dr Loreta Rutledge, Expert occultist. Dr Debra Montis, one of their healers.”

Each of the women took a step forward as their name was called and gave a shallow bow each.

“They have free reign, are not required to have paperwork on them, and are under our Majesty's protection,” Flash gazed at the ponies there. “Make sure word makes its way down. Dr Tadder,” Flash turned to the tall ebony woman with brown hair. “The Princess is currently meeting with the Finance Ministress and Ministress of the Mint. Your expertise is needed.”

“Right, um, how-” the ebony woman said, turning left, then right.

“Exit out the main arch, follow the blue rug until you see a yellow rug to your left. Follow it until you reach another blue, take the turn following the new blue long rug until you come across the Aviary. Leave the phoenix there alone and it will leave you alone. Follow the circumference to the right at the first exit out, and follow the hall to the end. Just give your name to the Royal Guards outside the door and they will allow you passage.”

“Blue, yellow, blue, new blue, birds, flying fire, circle, line. Thank you,” the woman nodded, then walked around the sea of courtiers and out of the room.

Flash turned to the crowd, a grimace on his face as he looked down, “You all are to extend our advisors here every courtesy, every nicety. They are here and if our princesses find out that there are schemes or ploys to get them blamed for events outside of their control, you will pray for exile when they are through with you. Questions?”

“Um... will they be needing Thornback?”

Flash's head yanked back as he turned to Dr Rutledge and Montis and raised an eye.

“No thanks,” Dr Rutledge smiled as Dr Montis rolled her eyes.

“Right, before you all are dismissed, there will be a 7th human here, a young stallion, Dr Montis' colt,” Flash lowered his gaze at the crowd. “He is to remain verdant,” he growled. “If we discover any of you attempting to trample him, we will reassign you to the Hinterlands and we will leave you to rot. Now, anything else?”

Silence reverberated throughout the chamber.

“Right, return to your day everyone,” Flash nodded. Dash turned around and started to walk when Flash raised his voice, “Except for you Rainbow Dash. Stay.”

Murmurs shot out again. Ponies folded out the Throne room as Dash froze, and shook her head. When the final door closed, she turned around and faced Flash, with the two humans to his left.

“Rainbow Dash, I do not appreciate your outbursts. If this happens again, we will have words, with the Princesses themselves.”

“You think the impotent words of a stallion are going to worry me?” Dash chuckled. “They wouldn't dare touch the Hero of Arkose, the mare who lost her left wing holding the Hordes at Brass’ Edge back. The mare that got them both out of the mess they got themselves in with Sombra.”

Flash stepped down from the elevated platform holding the two Thrones and walked right at Rainbow Dash. She had half a hoof over him, but he kept coming, stopping right in front of her face, and snorted, “You are ordered to the Lunar Lounge. You will have your mane and tail dyed a color the Spymaster picks for you and your cutie mark painted over. You will then follow Dr Rutledge and Dr Montis out of the Kingdom and to a Union Corridor. There you will follow every order they give, give them every ounce of courtesy, and you will let them operate on your right side. There, with Celestia's blessing you will receive forbidden magic that, when you return, will be consecrated by her Majesty. Then, you will have both of your wings back.”

Dash laughed, but neither the Stallion nor the humans moved. “You serious?”

Flash swiftly yanked his head to his side, and bit a parchment and presented it to Rainbow Dash, “A direct order from Celestia.”

“No, no,” Dash said, taking it and opening it. “It's signed...”

“The humans have created a way to use forbidden magics to restore lame body parts. You will let them heal your right wing, and Celestia will sanctify it. Combined with your Mythril left wing, you will be fully restored.”

“How? Once they have me, they might do anything, an-”

“My son will be serving as hostage,” Dr Montis stepped forward. “He understands the risks, and volunteered.”

“W-wha? How?”

“We have a method of restoring damaged limbs. It involves engraving into your bones using our medical technology and special types of ink. It will take several surgeries and therapy to teach you how to become accustomed to your repaired limb, but,” Dr Mortis teetered off. “The damage you suffered at one of our own can be fixed.”

“You, you can't do this to me,” Dash gulped, still staring at Flash.

“It's a direct order from the princess,” Flash snorted.

Rainbow Dash stepped back, looking at the two humans, “No, no no no.”

“Rainbow Dash, if you do not follow your orders, you will be charged with insubordination. And we will strip you of everything,” Flash said.

Rainbow Dash's head lowered, “I-I will need to inform Minuette that she will need to take over my duties while I am gone.”

Flash nodded as Rainbow Dash slowly walked out of the room, and turned to the humans, “If she gives you any trouble, send us a letter. Normally if she were a more compliant mare, we would give her full hostage protection, but if anything happens to her, Danny will merely not be returned to your custody until he is of age.”

“Thank you,” Dr Mortis said. “From what I've heard about her, she's not exactly easy to work with.”

“Understand Dr Mortis,” Flash looked over. “She is a hero and there are many mares who look up to her. But as she is, she is a cruel reminder of everything he took.” Flash then looked at Dr Rutledge, “Ma'am, are you sure it will work?”

Dr Rutledge nodded, “We've used a similar procedure to restore horns that have undergone 1st grade cracks or full amputation. In comparison, this is trivial.”

“You've been able to restore amputated horns?” Flash asked.

“And more,” said Dr Rutledge. “I can't speak on the specifics, much of what and how we can do is being held as a close secret, but publicly, we can restore such things. We were lucky that our diplomats could convince our leaders to extend this olive branch.”

Flash sighed as he walked past the two doctors, “It is too bad your kind do not have Celestia's blessing. I know many Pegasai who would like to touch the stratosphere again.”

“Perhaps we can be the advent of such cha-” Dr Mortis stopped, looking at Dr Rutledge shaking her head. “Of course, Celestia's word is law.”

Flash nodded and walked forward, “If you follow me, I will show you to your rooms for the night.”

==Jade==

Jade sat on a tan stool in the tan waiting room. She frowned as she shifted in her seat, then glanced over at the secretary stallion who was busily floating papers in the air with his magic and reorganizing them. His mane was short, but pulled back in a slick manner that only slightly jostled as he stapled one set of sheets to another. A crystal ball shone red on his desk as, every so often, he would glance right and look at the time.

Then the director's door flew open, a human mare with a grin on her face strode out and approached the secretary's desk. She took out an orange cylinder and popped a pill. The stallion froze for a second, then quickly laid his sheet of paper and stapler down.

"I just wanted to say," the dirty blonde human said, "if you're interested, I'll be at Bismuth Lounge later this evening, that is if you're in the mood for something a bit more exotic."

Jade looked at the mare humans arms. Her mouth slightly dropped a little. There were scars on her arms. Lines and dots elegantly cut like a connect the dots puzzle, stretched out starting from her fingertips all the way to the green shirt that hid the rest of her flesh.

The stallion looked to his left and nodded. The human picked herself up and with long sweeping steps, left the waiting room and returned to the greater complex. A tiny ding went off next to the stallion, causing him to once again pivot his head to the right and gasped. Jumping out of his seat, he galloped in full out of the waiting room, leaving Jade by herself. That was, until her left ear flickered: sound was coming out of the directors office. Jade turned to see the door had been left open ever so slightly.

"The isles are ours," the rough voice of a mare grumbled out the door. "The kingdom has never been big on naval and air power. At least, air power without the fleet of pegasai that used to be the backbone of Kingdom Armed Forces. But given that New Cloudsdale's postwar negotiations have put a strain on the Kingdom's government, they had to rely on mercenary companies to patrol the frontier of their borders. And most of them are just land patrols. There are two or three air companies and one steamship that ensures the safety of a local protectorate. Truthfully, unless they begin to mobilize their unicorn corps, we can afford to behave more liberally with the outer Union cities."

"You can probably afford to do more than that," the sound of a western stallion replied, "our government is more than willing to lease you more artillery on the cheap. Though the shells still need obsidian fragmentation modification to deal with anything magical, as long as you can keep growing those crystals, I can promise you that not even the unicorns of Canterlot will be a problem."

"What about the accords?" the sound of a young mare popped up.

"The accords explicitly talks about such weaponry on the whole. An entire light howitzer, a fully constructed mortar. But since we do component standardization, we can ship it to you piece by piece without breaking the treaty. It's not our fault you decided to reassemble all the components to its original state, we thought that you were going to be melting them down and repurposing them."

"So that's the gig now? You ship us the puzzle box and we reconstruct it?"

"Think of it less as remaking a puzzle and more like job creation," one of the other males laughed.

"Then it is agreed," the young mare voiced up again. "When we claim the island, we will have our researchers begin an examination of the tomb.

The secretary stallion burst through the door, a potion vial magically held ahead of him as he popped open the door to the director's office and apologized. The sound of liquid pouring continued for moments before the sounds of churning and popping echoed. The stallion once again emerged from the directors office and galloped back onto the hallway, still leaving a crack for Jade to listen through.

“I apologize, I must take this,” the young mare intoned.

The sound of commotion rattled as once again the director’s door opened and a indigo crystal mare walked out. Her right ear was in tatters, as if chewed while the right side of her face scarred, with a white sphere where her eye should have been.

“I’ll go get the ball rolling,” she said, her rough voice grinding against the air.

A human walked out, a large brown trench coat with one of the human weapons at his side, “Good, sooner the better.” he said in that western tone.

A second human stallion walked out, this time he was balding, wearing a grey suit. “I’ll submit the procurements. Just remember to send one of yours to our side to copy down the assembly instructions.”

The trio left the room, and once again, the director’s door lay ajar. Jade adjusted herself, looking the other way but still, her ears soon turned.

Then, the sound of churning ceased and a new voice emerged.

"You betrayed us!"

"I did no such thing."

"We found your mole!" then the sound of a thud popped out.

"If that is a mole..." the mare said. "It's not mine grandma."

Then, the room bellowed.

"YOU CALL ME GRANDMA! WHEN I FIND BEHENSANDAL, NOT IF, WHEN... I WILL UNLEASH 1000 YEARS OF CRYSTAL JUSTICE ON CANTERLOT AND GRIND IT AND EVERY UNICORN ON EQUUS INTO DUST! THEN, DIRECTOR... I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

Suddenly a pop, then silence.

“Geeze, what a sore loser…” the mare said as she let out a sigh. Then, a few seconds later, the sound of clicking and pounding bled out of the office.

The door to the waiting room flung open as the secretary stallion rushed to his station. Once again, he levitated papers and started grouping and stapling them one at a time. Then the red glow of the crystal ball on his desk then changed to green.

“The director will see you now,” the secretary stallion spoke to the green Crystal pony across from his workstation. Jade got up and nodded. Then she gazed at the floor downtrodden. Creeping her way into the office, crystal glass arched around the room, revealing the Crystal Republic in all of its glory. And right in front of it, was a young, fully grown light pink Pegasus with blue curled locks slamming a stamp of approval on another sheet of paper on her desk. She glanced up at Jade briefly before returning to her paperwork and said, “Jade, come on in come on in, take a seat.”

Jade sat at the left chair as the director continued her work, “So, rough week in Manehatten huh?”

“I failed my appointed task director, though to be honest I'm surprised that I'm not packing up my locker right now,” Jade mumbled as she slumped.

“Now, now, we don't fire agents for filling tasks that were far above their current skill level,” the director said as she finally put down the stamp and looked Jade in the eye. “It was our fault, our futurecasting failed to account for certain factors. If we had known certain individuals of interest were nearby, we would've attached two unicorns with you as well.”

“Then why am I here?” Jade raised an eye.

“Because I want to debrief you personally,” the director smiled. “Afterwards, you'll be given a month-long vacation with pay and a promotion afterwards.”

“Director,” Jade paused, tilting her head at her superior. “I failed?” Jade said as she wiggled in her seat.

The director chuckled, “You didn't fail, you were given a task for which you did not have the proper resources to achieve it. That's it. Now, give me a quick rundown of your time in Manehatten.”

“I arrived two days before Xavier, I found a suitable hotel and made a examination of the University before I met him at the train station. He was belligerent, wanted to go explore. He performed his task to the pony that requested him, then he ran away.”

“Oh? How did you find him?”

“After scouring the city, I found him at the Professor's office. Turns out he was visiting a monument to the war, which I did confirm. Then the embassy called and requested my presence due to worries about the city becoming a riot zone due to voting on the independence issue. But it turns out he ran away again. After days of searching, I find him in his room at the hotel and he trapped me in the bathroom for over half the day. After that I lost him,” Jade turned away from the director.

“He does have a tendency to do that, doesn't he?” the director mumbled as she scrunched her lips.

“Excuse me?”

“Don't worry, during the war he would frequently go MIA for days at a time and just reappear as if nothing happened. Our friends on the other side realized that it was better to just let him pop off and pop back, normally he would only have a few scratches, and bruises at the worst, but he almost always brought back some useful intel. Though one time he was dragged back by his superior in an absolutely awful state,” the director trailed off.

“So I was on a fool's errand to mind him?” Jade asked.

“Allow me to explain some of our thought processes when we assigned you to this task. We assume that this would've been a quick milk run. Human goes to Manehatten, sees his friend, visits the Kingdom State building, eats one of the disgusting pretzels, gets a souvenir that says 'I survived my trip to Manehatten', comes back up north, gets his little lot of land and, not to put too fine a point on it, dies somewhere between one month to 30 years,” the director tilted her head back and forth as she went from point-to-point. “So for something like that, we don't need a unicorn or two to keep him in line. A single minder will do, and since it's a simple task, let's pass it to one of our better agents as a pseudo-vacation. But like I said, factors made themselves apparent that weren't known to us at the time. Twilight Sparkle's little song-”

“He made contact with Twilight Sparkle?” Jade lunged forth from her seat.

“I don't suppose you know that, do you? Well, seeing as you're going to get a promotion anyways, I don't see the problem in letting you in on this. Apparently after his first escape, he made contact with one of the Elements of Harmony. We're not sure why, of course, but last time we had eyes on them, they had left the city,” The director mouthed.

Jade fell back on her seat, her pupils dilated as she began to rapidly inhale and exhale. “I didn't, I didn't…”

“Of course you didn't,” the director mumbled out her nose. “Like I said, too big a task, not enough resources for you to work with. Don't feel too bad, better mares have fared worse than you have in similar cases.”

“I just, I mean… Anything else you need for me?” Jade trailed off.

“Not at the moment, be sure to have my secretary get you the paperwork for the promotion.”

Jade lifted herself off the chair and began to walk towards the door to the office. Then she stopped, biting her lower lip and turned towards the mare who had already started back up on her paperwork.

“I have a question,” Jade spoke up.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Xavier had scars on his arms, but they were obviously not natural,” Jade said.

The director froze and looked up at the Crystal pony across from her, “Go on…”

“They were on both of his arms, and it was obvious that something or someone did something to him. Also there were dots that lined them. I know about the pain he was under.” Jade froze for a second before continuing, “He referred to them as something along the lines of the price he and others paid for the liberation. And that mare-human that walked out had those too. Can you tell me anything about those?”

The director slumped in her seat slightly and raised an eye, looking to her right, she curled her lips for a second before blinking once, then twice, “They are none of your concern.”

Jade turned and started to walk before the director spoke up again, “Jade, before you leave, go to the Cryptoneirics office. Have them encrypt for your time between arriving in Manehatten until now. Wouldn't want Luna stumbling on that information now would we?”

“Yes, of course, Director Cozy Glow.”

Author's Note

Few Notes before I sign off

First, there has been a crisis in my family. Due to this, it delayed the release of this prose by a week. Thus parts were cut out that were just unfinished and there is a very good chance that I will need to go over this yet again. Most of everything I want to say is here, but I will probably need to edit for clarification and grammar when this event has passed.

Second I apologize for such a delay. Work had been even harder then anticipated and I crashed my writing habit which I will need to rebuild. Due to this, when chapters finally start to release before Christmas, expect release cycles to be every 3 weeks until my buffer is rebuilt.

Finally, depending on how things go, when I get to the parts that I cut out, I hope to have them ready and released before 22nd of December. If not, I will be sure to note at the very start where in the Chronology they fit as with my last story, I discovered my audience has little patience for stories that are not chronologically linear.

Again, thank you for your patience, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!