Canterlot, Evening

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia both collapsed onto Celestia’s bed with a huge sigh from both of them. Their day had been extremely long and arduous, having dealt with more complaints from the House of Lords about the reopening of the borders. Cash King and Cash Cow had led the charge, but Celestia had sensed that the rhetoric they spat didn’t seem to be their own. It was almost like they had been spoon-fed their words. Even Luna noticed it, and it had infuriated her more. Celestia knew Luna had little patience for politics even back when the nobles had been more…well, noble, but what was done was done, and both royals had to deal with them. Celestia suspected Marchioness High Life of being the true mastermind behind this movement, seeing as she was one of the more well-spoken nobles of the House of Lords, and this suspicion grew when the Marchioness didn’t speak up during the daily arguments and complaints.

Beside her, Luna groaned into the pillow she had her face buried into, then slowly came up and turned to face Celestia. “How in Equus do you manage to deal with this day in and day out?” she asked. “I wanted to blast them to the moon!”

“I’ve had several hundred years of practice in dealing with them,” Celestia replied with a small smirk as she sat up. She trudged over to her changing area and began taking off her new regalia. “The nobles are an entitled bunch, and I’ve had to cater to them for far too long.”

“Can we not simply dissolve the House?” Luna asked as she stood as well, approaching her sister as she brushed her multicolored mane. “What good do they bring to the kingdom?”

“It’s unfortunately not as simple as that,” Celestia said. “The House controls much of Equestria’s wealth. Our economy is in a tailspin because of what happened with Jason and the invasion. My lack of foresight caused this, not just because of what happened to Jason but because ponies like Cash King and Cash Cow hired nonponies at their business and made profits spike by paying them less than the minimum wage. It’s practically slave labor.”

Luna nodded. “So, what can we do to change things? I don’t know much about our current economy, but I do know if we try to change things too fast, our already crumbling economy will just fail epically as the foals say.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “Unfortunately, there’s not too much we can do at the moment. Or so I want them to believe.” Celestia’s smile returned, and it was incredibly devious.

So much so, in fact, that Luna shivered a bit in fear. “Sister, what are you planning?”

Celestia grinned as she lifted a letter up in her magic. The paper was coarsely made, but Luna recognized it as being similar to the paper received from Griffonstone. “I have a letter here from a certain griffoness named Gwendolyn,” Celestia said. “She’s on the Griffonstone Imperial Council and is an Imperial Mage. She’s written to me about a discovery she made about the illegal use of Sylvalin.”

Luna’s eyes shot open wide. Sylvalin was an illegal substance that had once been used back when pony cults existed. They could be attached to ponies and used to control them. Luna had thought that the entire gemstone supply had been eradicated after Discord’s first rule over a thousand years ago, but it appeared that there was a supply somewhere in Equestria. Luna was glad that she and her sister were immune to its effects, though. “What vile monster would dare use such a despicable means of control?!”

“It would appear that our so-called nobles have an even darker side to them than we have ever thought possible,” Celestia said. “She explains that there is a clandestine network of messengers, many of them under the influence of Sylvalin, who work to send secret illegal orders throughout our kingdom.”

Luna’s irises started to become slits and some of her teeth became sharper, her fury beyond even that of when she had been Nightmare Moon. Her mane’s movements sped up and she growled in utter rage as she spoke. “There hast not been an execution in our kingdom for far too long,” she hissed.

Celestia rushed up beside her, worry creasing her face as she put a wing around Luna. “Shh, Lulu, please calm down. They will be punished, but you must remember that executions are illegal now.”

“We do not care!” Luna bellowed, turning to Celestia with her eyes now fully returned to that of Nightmare Moon’s, only instead of them being the usual bluish green, they were now pure crimson. “Those cretins hath made a mockery of Harmony and must be put down like the ANIMALS they are!”

Celestia immediately slapped Luna with her wings, sending her sprawling. Luna groaned as she hit the wall, then looked up with anger in her eyes, only for them to shift into shock and then fear. Celestia’s own eyes had become demonic in appearance, and her mane had only sped up in the ethereal winds they blew in. “They will be punished, sister,” Celestia’s voice had become slightly warped and deeper, “and it will hurt them more than death. Death is too good for them!” With that, she returned to her normal form, her eyes becoming normal and her mane and tail resuming their normal movements.

Luna’s eyes returned to their normal color and her teeth returned to normal as well. She hesitantly stood, still a bit scared of her sister, but that fear vanished when Celestia got low, looking up at her sister with apologetic eyes. This was a throwback to their more animalistic roots, as it was a sign of subservience. Luna quickly stood and tried to pull her sister up. “Nay, please don’t do that, sister,” she said hastily, “I apologize for my words. You’re correct, we cannot execute anypony. I was lost in the moment.”

As Celestia stood, she nodded. “I understand your feelings, sister,” she said, “and I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“You are correct, though,” Luna said, eyebrows narrowed, “death is too good for them. What ideas do you have?”

“We do have an in with the nobles,” Celestia said with a wicked grin, “and he’s on his way right now.”

No sooner had she said that when there was a flash of teleportation magic. Standing in between them, wearing a pair of glasses, stood Prince Blueblood. He looked between his two aunts, seeming to sense the earlier tension. “Um…I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.

Luna put a wing around him, smiling down at him warmly. “Nay, your aunt Cellie and I were just expressing a disagreement, but we resolved it before you came.”

Blueblood nodded and removed his glasses with his magic, then as he pulled out a hoofkerchief to clean them, he said, “Well, as long as you’re not fighting again. So, why did you summon me here, Auntie?” He looked up at Celestia.

Celestia smiled, then put her own wing on top of Luna’s. “We have need of your connections to the House of Nobles.”

Blueblood smirked as he put his glasses back on. “And here I thought you were just eager to see me,” he said, putting on a hurt face.

Celestia and Luna both nuzzled his cheek in a familial affectionate manner. “I’m sorry we don’t spend as much time with you as we’d like,” Celestia said.

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I know why we can’t really be seen having fun,” he reassured her as he gave them both cheek kisses before straightening. “So, how can your favorite mole help you?”

High Elm Estate, Later That Night

High Life lay in her bed, snuggling up close to her surprise visitor and smiling seductively at him. Prince Blueblood lay beside her, reaching over and smacking her flank with his tail before he pulled the covers over them. High Life pouted in the firelight. “You’re such a tease, my Prince. You can’t expect me to not want more than just a simple long kiss and a bath together.”

Blueblood chuckled. “Oh, my dear Marchioness, any other day I would be all over you,” he said in a seductive tone that sent shivers down High Life’s spine. Tingles of pleasure and anticipation enveloped her before Blueblood continued. “Sadly, though, tonight I simply needed some pleasant company. I was dealing with my aunts and their crusade to change the status quo.”

“Oh, my dear Blue,” she cooed, wrapping her forelegs around him and holding his face close to her barrel, “tell your Marchioness all about it…” She ran her right forehoof up and down his mane, eagerly awaiting any sort of information this sexy fool of a prince would let slip.

Blueblood nuzzled her barrel affectionately, before relaxing. “Oh, the usual stuff. There’s been talk from them about some new sanctions placed against businesses that use foreign labor.”

“Is that so?” High Life asked, holding him closer. “What else?” She listened as the gorgeous idiot in her forelegs spilled information. She had spent years building a rapport with this Prince, and while some of his information had likely been the result of mishearing or some misunderstanding, most of what he shared had been accurate. She listened carefully, the gears in her mind turning at the new information.

Finally, something caught her attention. It was how Blueblood had paused in his statement, looking a bit unsure. “There is one thing, but I don’t know if they’d actually do it,” Blueblood said.

“Do what, my dearest?” she cooed as she stroked his mane. She was rewarded when she felt the stallion relax.

“Well, they mentioned taking some more…direct…action against the House of Lords,” he said, “but I don’t know exactly what.”

That alarmed her, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she giggled. “Oh, my dear Blue, your aunts may be oblivious, but even you know they aren’t foolish enough to do something as rash as take action against the House. Hay, with the economy being as it is, they won’t risk it falling further.”

He nodded. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “They wouldn’t disband the House again.”

Her alarm only grew, but being a consummate actress, she once more didn’t let it show. “Again?”

Blueblood looked up at her. “Well, a few years ago, my Aunt Luna once told me that there was a period where she and my Aunt Celestia enacted some ancient law that took the House temporarily out of power for about twenty years. She didn’t say why and when I asked, she told me that it was ancient history and wasn’t important. I tried looking up the incident, but records from that time are harder to find.”

High Life’s mind was in overdrive now as she held Blueblood closer, reaching down to wrap her tail around his. “It must have been quite the emergency for them to take that kind of action,” she said.

“I guess so,” he replied, nuzzling her closer before yawning. “Ah…thanks for listening, Lifey…it always makes me feel better.”

She smiled down at him then nodded. “Of course, Blue. I’ll always be here to listen. Now, hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head, hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.” In her forelegs, the prince’s eyes began to falter, slowly drooping until his breathing became the regular rhythm that she knew meant he was asleep. She lay there with him for a while in order to be sure before she very cautiously untangled herself from him. She was reluctant to do so, but it needed to be done. She wouldn’t be long.

She stood and walked slowly and quietly into the next room over. She went to her desk, wrote a brief note on a black scroll and placed a blank seal on said scroll. She then went to a nearby cabinet, retrieving a small pouch from a drawer with a false bottom. She opened it briefly, her eyes glistening at the lily shaped white gems within. She grabbed one, put the pouch back, and hid the false bottom again. She poked her head out, took one of the gems in her hooves, and placed it and the letter into the waiting hoof of a pony in a black hood and cloak. “Go and fetch our best messenger,” she ordered quietly, “send this to C2 immediately.”

The pony nodded, turned, and spread a pair of bat-like wings before flying silently down the hall. She quietly closed the door, then returned to bed. Blueblood was still sleeping quietly, his breathing rhythmic and calming. She got back into bed, careful to reclaim the position she had been in, then held the buffoon of a stud close. “Mmm…when this is over, my dear Blue, I will claim you as my stallion,” she purred, giving his horn a gentle lick. This caused the sleeping Prince to shudder slightly, but she only held him closer. “You won’t have a herd with anypony else. You will be mine. Mine forever…” With that, she giggled and fell asleep.

The moment Marchioness High Life was completely asleep, Blueblood stirred, as if he was waking up. Finally, he opened one eye and used the dim light to catch a glimpse of the cream-colored face of the pony lying next to him. He held back a shiver of disgust as he slowly untangled himself from her. He found it especially difficult to untangle her bright red tail from his sandy blonde one. He quietly floated a pillow over to her, which she quickly embraced.

Quickly looking around, he found a quill and a piece of paper. He wrote her a note, explaining that he’d received a magical summons back to the castle for something. He’d used this excuse to get out of bed with her twice before, and the last time had been six months ago. Back then, it had been a legitimate summons, but with things as they were now, he didn’t think she’d suspect anything.

Placing the note on the nightstand, he gathered his cloak and moved through the darkened halls of High Elm. He encountered nopony initially, although that would change when he ran into Ink Blot.

The young pegasus mare was carrying a glass of what smelled like coffee up the stairs when she accidentally ran into Blueblood. It was difficult to see thanks to the candle she held in one of her wings, but the mare in front of him had a dark green coat, a gold mane with a silver streak through it tied back neatly in a bun. She had one gold and one silver eye and wore a pair of black round glasses. She wore a black collar with a red bow tie and had a dark red fountain pen with ink coming from it as a cutie mark. Her expression was always somber, so it was a bit of a welcome change to see Ink Blot’s expression be one of surprise. “Y-Your Highness?” she asked.

“Sorry for that,” he said. He treated Ink Blot kindly enough, mostly because he knew just how poorly High Life treated anypony who wasn’t a unicorn on her staff. “I was summoned back to Canterlot Castle unexpectedly. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I will let the Mistress know when she wakes.”

“I wrote her a note, but thank you,” Blueblood replied. “Sleep well, and don’t overwork yourself.” With that, he nodded at her, then made his way out into the cold winter night. He began to run through the thick snow, the moonlight above him illuminating the snowy rooftops and streets of Canterlot. He slipped a few times, but brushed off the snow that caught on his cloak as he ran to the now darkened castle. When he reached the main doors, he took a right, heading down a hidden pathway that led to a part of the wall.

When he reached the door, he closed his eyes, then focused his magic. His horn glowed its sky-blue color and a hidden structure of latticework began glowing in the shape of a door. He gently and quietly pushed it open, closed it, then cast the spell to hide the invisible door from prying eyes. He turned and almost ran into two tall cloaked ponies who were waiting in front of him. “Mother of Mothers!” he hissed in shock as he recovered his breath, “you startled me!”

The two ponies removed their hoods, revealing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. “Well, I’m the Princess of the night, after all,” Luna said with a smirk.

Coming up from behind them were two hooded ponies, who pulled back their hoods to reveal a dark green and dark blue member of the hidden race, the chiropteran ponies. Their batlike wings bristled underneath their cloaks. Blueblood had hardly seen them as they were mostly hidden from view from the other pony tribes. The chiropterans were a subspecies of pegasi who had undergone some sort of metamorphosis during Nightmare Moon’s creation. As such, they were more loyal to Luna, although Celestia had earned their respect and loyalty by treating them well as night guards of the palace and as night rangers around Equestria.

Blueblood looked up at his aunts. “Who are these two?” he asked.

“Special Rangers Jinx and Iris,” Celestia said. “I summoned them here to help get us some information for us.”

“What did you see or hear while over there?” Luna asked.

Blueblood straightened and removed his hood. “I managed to trick her into thinking that you would be making a move on the House,” he said, “then when she thought I was asleep, she left the room and wrote some sort of note. She gave it t a chiropteran and said that they were to find a messenger for said message.”

Celestia nodded, then turned to the two chiropterans. “Track them.”

The chiropterans nodded, put their hoods over their heads again, made their way out of the door behind Blueblood, then flew into the sky, soon becoming invisible thanks to their lightbending magic. Blueblood closed the door again, then turned back to his aunts. “What now?”

“Now, my dear nephew, we wait for more concrete evidence to be uncovered so we can convict these corrupt nobles and send them to the dungeons,” Celestia said.

“Not only that,” Luna said with a dark smirk, “but all of their assets shall be seized and liquidated before being spread throughout Equestria. I believe the term our treasurer used was a stimulus package?”

Blueblood’s eyes widened in surprise, but then he nodded. That was just what the regular ponies of this country would need. “And what about any nonponies?” he asked.

“They will be getting a larger package as a means to begin healing the damage done,” Celestia said.

“Come, nephew,” Luna said, putting her wing on his back and gesturing him down the ancient and damp hallway, “‘Tis time to move to the next step, and we may need your assistance.”

Hidden Location, The Next Morning

High Life sat at a round table which sat in a cavern lit by old style torches. Behind her, Ink Blot, her secretary, stood as she held a clipboard in her wing. High Life was a bit frustrated in Blueblood for having left without waking her up for a goodbye kiss or anything, but the note he’d left had been hastily written and the brief interaction he had with her secretary had seemed to indicate he’d left in a hurry. No matter, she had managed to send the message out thanks to her messenger. That gorgeous idiot would be here soon, she knew it.

There were hoofsteps from the ancient stairway of this hidden cavern, and she sat up in anticipation. From the archway, Prince Blueblood strolled in, looking tired as he slowly walked over to a chair next to High Life. When he sat down, she scooted her chair closer, nuzzling him. “It was pretty rude of you to leave in the middle of a lovely snuggle,” she chastised him playfully.

He yawned. “Unfortunately, I had to return to Canterlot Castle. There was some sudden work my aunts needed my assistance with. Something about economics, blah blah blah. Boring stuff.”

High Life gave his ear an affectionate nip before sitting back as another pair of ponies entered the room. “My poor Prince, those two are slave driving you so much lately,” she cooed.

He frowned and nodded. “It’s quite the pain,” he said, “and my hooves are sore from all the running. I haven’t even had the chance to get them clean, so now they’re all filthy!”

The two newcomer ponies, Jet Set and Upper Crust, took a seat nearby. “Is that so?” Jet said, having apparently overheard their conversation, “I feel for you, your Highness.”

“So many of shops have been having troubles thanks to that foul human filth and his bug invasion,” Upper Crust said.

“My business has not been faring well either,” the voice of Cash King said from the archway as he and Cash Cow both entered, finding a seat at the table. “I’m being forced to shut down businesses in order to make any sort of profit!”

“Dear brother, calm yourself,” Cash Cow said.

Cash King nodded, then took a deep breath before turning to High Rise. “This had better be important, Marchioness,” he said with a scowl, “we haven’t had a full meeting in this place in years.”

“I assure you it is, since this isn’t something we want on official record,” High Life said.

That seemed to catch his attention. “That bad?”

“Potentially,” the Marchioness replied, turning to Blueblood. “When everypony gets here, you mind telling them what you told me last night?” she asked.

He looked down at her, clearly not remembering at first. Then his eyes widened and he nodded. “Okay, sure,” he nodded.

“Excellent,” she said, clapping her hooves. “When you’re done, you can go back to Canterlot. We can handle things here.”

Blueblood sighed, sounding relieved. “Good. I could use some more rest.”

“Of course you do,” High Life agreed.

With that, the group sat and broke into their own private discussions while other nobleponies arrived. About ten minutes later, almost every chair was filled. At that moment, High Life looked around and nodded. “Time to start the meeting.”

“Wait, what about Count Fancy Pants, Countess Fleur De Lis, and Countess Noblesse Oblige?” Blueblood asked, turning and looking towards the three empty chairs.

High Life chuckled. Such a fool. “My dear Prince, those three have, shall we say, fallen out of favor with the House,” she said. “As House Speaker, I’ve had my eyes on those three. They have…a sickening sympathy for the common pony and even other creatures in our lands. In fact, I plan on making a motion to have them removed from the House. Unfortunately, that’s all I can do. They have the friendship of the Crown.” She stood and brought her hoof down on the table like a gavel, signaling for silence. The House of Lords all came to attention and looked over at High Rise, Speaker of the House. “Greetings, my fellow nobleponies,” she began, her eloquent voice capturing the minds of everypony in the room. “I’m aware that we haven’t gathered in this secret meeting hall for many moons, but we have a potential crisis on our hands that affects everypony in this room.” She turned to Blueblood. “My Prince, would you please tell them what you told me about your aunt’s remarks?”

Everypony in the crowd listened carefully as Blueblood repeated what he’d heard about the possibility of disbanding the House of Lords. When he was finished, the entire House was in an uproar, their voices clamoring to be heard. Some were demanding that they storm the castle and demand the Princesses step down while other more level headed ponies were demanding that they withhold their support for the crown if such a thing were to occur. Many ideas on how to combat this possibility were put forth, but High Life simply sat and let them get it out of their system. Blueblood watched this in worry, clearly worried that he’d be hurt.

After several minutes of bickering, High Life stood and brought her hoof down on the table again, bringing them back into order. Those who had stood took their seats again as High Life looked over the table. “Listen, this is only a possibility,” she emphasized, “and despite one princess being so out of touch with reality she doesn’t know her flank from her rump and the other being so complacent that her cake flanks are her only selling point anymore I sincerely doubt that they would make such a move on us. We’ve grown too influential, and with the economy taking the hit that it has, they will need us and our influence.”

“So what do we do?” one of the nobles asked.

“We need a plan in place just in case they do decide to attempt to dissolve the house,” High Life said, walking around the table behind each chair, giving many of the single stallions alluring glances. This seemed to make Blueblood upset, which was part of High Life’s plan. “The Solar Princess has ruled for more than ten centuries. Equestria has flourished well under her rule, but we have been slowly accumulating the majority of wealth in this kingdom. We are the greatest nation in the world, or we were. Now, thanks to that pond scum Jason Wright and his insects our economy is spiraling. Now, another human has arrived on our world and has risen to become a powerful politician in the Griffon Empire, their Chancellor.”

This caused another outburst; however, this time High Life was having none of it. She stamped on the stone table immediately. “Don’t worry about him,” she said, “I have personally seen to it that he has been…dealt with.”

“How?” Jet Set asked.

Her grin caused many ponies in the room to shudder in fear and nervousness. “Let’s just say…I had access to some rather fascinating artifacts that sent him to the most dangerous place on Equus: Tartarus. He won’t be coming back from there.”

This seemed to shock many of them. Tartarus was the deadliest place in all of Equus. It wasn’t even connected to Equus in a traditional sense. It was a different dimension altogether and had not even been explored due to the many dangerous creatures said to inhabit it, including demons.

“What if somepony finds out about this?” Blueblood asked. “We could be in a lot of trouble if this gets out.”

“Oh, nopony will find out,” she said, “because everypony here is on my side and if they do tell, well, you know what I’ll do.”

This got everypony else to quiet down and return to their seats. High Life inwardly smirked. She had plenty on everypony here to keep them in line, and that included Prince Blueblood. The poor sexy sap hadn’t been too careful with any of his dealings, especially skimming funds from the royal treasury to fuel some of his own behavior. She turned back to the crowd. “Back to the matter at hoof. We need to work on a way to act against the Crown in case they do move against us. Fortunately, we do have our own in with the Princesses.” Here, she gestured to Blueblood before continuing. “If this is to succeed, we must present a united front. I know of several laws we can utilize against the Crown, but it will take time for us to implement. We need evidence from the Castle, evidence we can’t access. Here, I’ll read the laws out to you all.”

As Ink Blot was giving the clipboard to High Life, the latter noticed Blueblood tugging nervously at his collar, the one he normally wore with his cravat. He looked genuinely nervous, so High Life turned to him. “Relax, my Prince, I won’t put you in any danger. Besides, we can always send in a maid or two and blame them for incompetence.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, his voice a bit uncertain.

Under the table, she caressed his flank with her bright red tail. “Don’t worry about it, your Highness. You’ll be kept safe, I promise.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

Smiling briefly at her prey, she turned back to the crowd. “I know many of you are apprehensive about acting against the Crown, but we may have no choice. Equestria won’t survive without us. We control large businesses and a lot of the wealth of this kingdom. There are several options left open to us. We can act on several laws, although the most logical one we can enact is known as the Royal Madness Law.” She looked down at the notes in front of her and continued. “In short, if we deem it worth investigating, we can have a Royal Physician examine the Princesses and deem them unfit to rule at this time. That would be our best bet, considering their rather unorthodox change in behavior and dress. Our Prince here can give the Physician some incentive to see things our way, and then he becomes the monarch.”

“I don’t want to be the ruler,” Blueblood whined.

“We’ll be by your side to help you push Equestria to a better future,” High Life said reassuringly before turning to the others. “We can also call upon the Equestrian Betterment Law. If we feel that the Crown has not been acting in the best interests of ponykind, they can be brought before a Tribunal of impartial ponies. Of course, in this economy, nopony can be that impartial with the proper…incentive.”

“Is there anything else?” a random noble asked.

“There is one more desperate alternative: assassination.”

Unlike before, this brought a stunned silence to the members of the House of Lords as they digested this. A noblemare named Zesty Gourmand spoke up. “And how would we do that? The Princesses have loyal guards surrounding them at all times. Not only that, but they are strong and powerful.”

“And it would be treason if we ever were found out!” another pony said nervously.

“Everypony has a weakness,” High Life said, turning to Blueblood with a smirk. “And besides, I know how to make it so that we can’t be tracked.” She reached into a small bag on the floor and brought out a pouch. She set it on the table and opened it, spilling out several gems. Everypony looked forward, seemingly entranced by them. “Fillies and gentlecolts, this is Sylvalin. I know you’re not aware of this because you won’t remember what I’m about to say.”

She grinned wider as the gems on the table began their hypnotic affect on those looking at them. She had always used this trick on the House before the end of every meeting. “You all will take one of these gems back with you and gift them to your best messenger once more. Tell them that it is a reward for their great service. Have them wear it behind their ears and out of sight, then send them out with messages spread throughout Equestria. You will go home after this meeting and write what I am about to say in your own words.”

She looked around, her smirk triumphant as she watched the nobles all look at her with obedient eyes. However, that smirk faded when Blueblood slowly stood, tugging on his collar again, only this time, the look on his face wasn’t nervous. There was a look of determination and intelligence that she had never seen before. He turned back to her, a small smile on his muzzle. “Well, Marchioness, this has been quite the…enlightening diversion, but I have what I came here for.”

Startled by his sudden shift in tone, she started to say something before the sound of flapping wings and teleportation spells were heard in the room. High Life looked around in alarm only to see a large contingent of Royal Guards appearing from the door and surrounded the still transfixed nobles. She turned back, eyebrows furled at this betrayal. “Blue…?”

Blueblood smirked as his horn lit up. High Life found herself encased in a powerful magical aura, which further surprised the stunned mare. As she was lifted up into the air, he moved forward, looking up at her with a frown. “Non ducor, duco,” he said. “I am not led, I lead.”

In two more flashes, the Diarchs of Equestria, each of them wearing armor and wielding swords on their belts, appeared. Each stood on either side of Blueblood as their eyes flashed with determination. “Marchioness High Life,” Princess Celestia said in a stern tone, “you and the House of Lords gathered in this place today are accused of high treason against the Crown and against Equestria.”

“Evidence of your crimes has been discovered in all of your mansions and from this very meeting hall,” Princess Luna added, “and because of this overwhelming evidence against you, you are to be sent to Canterlot’s dungeons while all of your assets are liquidated for the betterment of this kingdom.”

“Thank you for your donation, and enjoy your new rooms,” Blueblood said with a delighted expression, waving at her as she was placed in cuffs and pulled away.

High Life’s shock turned to rage, and before any of the guards could put a magical suppression ring on her horn, she charged it up and shot her most powerful bolt of offensive magic directly at the Prince. “DIE!” she shouted in utter hatred.

Blueblood, however, raised a magical shield to protect himself, but so did the two Princesses. The bolt never reached him. He simply shook his head as the ring was quickly placed on High Life’s horn. “Add on attempted assassination to the charges,” he said.

The last High Life ever saw of Blueblood and the Princesses before a bag was put over her head was three watching her with stoic expressions on their faces.

When High Life had been taken out of the room, Blueblood’s knees went week and he collapsed, taking in deep breaths of air as his aunts surrounded him, hugging him close. He was breathing heavily, heart pounding as his two aunts knelt quickly by his side. “Nephew??” Celestia held her adopted nephew close, letting him sink into her fur for comfort.

He chuckled a little bit, although it was a nervous one. “Maybe…heh…maybe I’m more spoiled than I think,” he said, “maybe being in the castle all my life affected me more than I thought.”

“You are not weak, nephew,” Luna said reassuringly, “nopony who is weak could have placed himself or herself in the den of lions here and fooled everypony so well.”

“You did so well, and we’re both very proud of you,” Celestia said.

From behind them, a nervous looking Ink Blot stepped forward. She had a look of fear on her face as she stepped in front of the three. “Y-Your Highnesses…?” she asked, her breathing shaky and fearful.

Blueblood quickly stood back up, although the effort made him dizzy. He shook it off and faced the poor terrified looking pegasus. “Miss Ink Blot, your time living in fear is over,” he said. “You’re free of Marchioness High Life’s wickedness. In fact, I have a proposition for you. Would you like to come work for the Crown? You would be given a much higher rate of pay, you would live in the castle and your family would be well taken care of. I know your mother is sick, and we can get her the best medical care available to heal her.”

“My nephew has spoken quite highly of you and your work,” Luna said, “and my sister and I are in agreement that if you wish better work, you can work for him.”

“Regardless, we will give your mother the care she deserves,” Celestia added, “whether you wish to work for the Crown or no.”

Ink Blot’s normally stoic and depressed demeanor was replaced by hope. Tears welled up in her eyes and to the surprise of everypony there she leaped into Blueblood’s embrace, sobbing loudly and thanking him over and over. As the rather surprised prince comforted the young mare, the two sisters watched on with a smile. Neither of them may have been the Princess of Love, but this could be the start of a very lovely relationship between the two of them.

Luna then turned to Celestia. “One problem closer to being dealt with,” she began, “and another one to resolve as quickly as possible.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “Chancellor Graystone…” she muttered. Looking up at the ceiling, all she could mutter was, “Please be safe, Gregory Graystone…wherever you are…”

Author's Note

Wow, this took a while to figure out how to write, but one aspect of the story is now dealt with. Next chapter, we return to the Luxe Deluxe and see just what happened to our other heroes.

Enjoy!