Fwooo- POP!
Ptoo!

Since her gum was now flavorless and too chewed-up to blow bubbles with anymore, Gilda spat it out into her office's mesh wastebasket, lined with a paper trashbag. Leaning back in her comfortable executive office chair, she kicked her hindlegs out and crossed them over top her organizedly-cluttered desk.

Wearing her sleeveless white button-up dress shirt and red bowtie and leaving her coat and hat hanging next to the door, she felt cool and comfortable; The former of which merely had the sleeves cut off for comfort. The office was rather dimly lit, between the single-bulb ceiling fan which spun lazily above her head, combined with the room’s sole window; of which, the blinds were shut and the privacy curtains were drawn. Below that window was a fancy desk of wooden filing cabinets, atop of which rested her new absinthe fountain, already preparing two glasses of her new favorite cocktail for her.

The crystal blacklight that shone onto the set of Equestrian-made uranium glass revealed the true magic of the curious yellow-sheen glass; they glowed a brilliant green that complimented the drink perfectly. As the water dripped and the sugarcubes mixed in naturally, the emerald liquor was highlighted wonderfully. Without the glow, the liquid would normally turn a pearlescent, milky white-green that was pleasant to look at… but under the magical glow of uranium, it shone verdantly, painting the gray curtain a faint greenish.

Despite all these factors, the office still had a decent amount of light; unlike the workspaces of her contemporaries, hers was rarely full of smoke. She quit doing that after she lost everything; after attempting to smoke discarded cigarette butts on her way to beg Rainbow Dash for forgiveness, she decided to quit if she made it out alive.

Knock, knock, knock.

“I’ll be a minute.” She said, casually hopping off her chair and shutting off the taps to the fountain, just in time for them to be near-full. She set a glass on each side of her desk before casually approaching the door; throwing her coat on, she also made sure it was well-buttoned, to hide her lack of sleeves underneath.

“Major Captain Gallus.” She stood and saluted in the doorway, standing almost a head taller than him. He raised a hand up-

“At ease, Gilda. Mind if we took a seat?” He asked politely and received a plain nod, the two wordlessly taking their seats; Gilda sat in her corporate throne while Gallus sat across from her.

“I was wondering when you’d show.” She said, lifting her glass and gesturing to his as she gave him an uncharacteristically joyful smirk. “Have a sip- you’ll love it.” His beak spread out in a wide grin as he realized that his glass was full of booze. He wasted no time in grabbing the cup by its fancy glass stem-

Tink!

“Cheers!” he said with a grin before savoring the first sip of that bittersweet, refreshing drink that brought with it a pleasant taste of licorice; Gilda took a deeper sip as her face took on a softer, more out-there expression than he ever saw on her face. Gallus couldn’t help but feel impressed at his underlings sudden change of disposition.

“I noticed you’ve been wearing makeup ever since you got back… among other things.” She tilted her head and raised her eyebrow sassily, and he hastily added- “Don’t get me wrong, you look stunning in makeup- that’s not what I’m saying here.” Her intense expression turned flustered in an instant, so Gallus concealed his grin with a sip of his absinthe. He hummed in satisfaction as he lowered the glass, knowing that Gilda would assume he was smirking because he liked his drink. “Why the sudden change in disposition? As much as I enjoy sitting at a desk and delegating out orders, it doesn’t bring me life-changing happiness!” He joked, Gilda chuckling nervously as she glanced away sheepishly.

“I… I met a girl. Plain and simple.” She took a swig of her drink, unaware of the pit forming in Gallus’ stomach. “Speaking of which- any word on her yet?” She asked, leaning in with a grin, ignorant to the sweat forming on Gallus’ forehead. “Come on- you know who.” She looked at him expectantly while he avoided eye contact. After a few moments of unbearable silence, she realized something was off.

“You wanted an update on her whereabouts as soon as possible.” He said cautiously, looking her in the eyes firmly. “One of the resources for her mission was a lighter that would send her last status report to me directly, before she could be teleported home. She sent me her letter of resignation home, where it burned itself up after 10 minutes.” Gilda’s smile dropped entirely- her eyes gaining a hopelessly hollow look to them. “She flipped. There was nothing we could do.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Gallus spoke up- “Are you going to be alright? I understand how difficult this must be for you.” Her response was… a snort.

“No, thank you.” After that… more silence, until Gallus let himself up.

“You might want to be careful with that uranium glass stuff.” He gestured towards the glasses as he turned around, speaking through the silence. “A couple scientists are starting to think that the glowy-magic causes cancer or something.” …

More silence as he made his way out the door- “I appreciate the concern, but…” Gallus turned around and felt a chill shoot down his spine at the… casual grin on Gilda’s face. “I’m not too worried about… that stuff.” he nodded with a concerned look.

“You know where to call me.” He said, shutting the door behind him; leaving Gilda totally alone with her thoughts.

She wanted to chuckle, but could only afford a silent huff. “Sure. Totally.” she said to her closed door. For some odd reason she couldn’t get out of her head, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Gallus was hiding something more sinister. The spy program was put on a temporary hold entirely, meaning that Bonnie should’ve been recalled, orders or no… but none of that could quench the pain she felt stabbing through her heart and soul in this very moment.

“Fuck it,” She said. “I can’t do this to myself- not again.” She resolved, taking a deep breath with a grin.

—

Leaning my side into the bathroom sink, I rubbed my temple. “Caddy, you smoked two joints with me outdoors. Your eyes aren’t red, and you’re sweating because you’re making yourself nervous.” I deadpanned, having been forced to watch her staring at herself in the mirror in the few minutes since we teleported back from my ship. Since she knew where the airstrip was, it was a quick in and out operation. I convinced her because I told her about how much better food tastes when you’re stoned… and stoned, she was hardly.

“But what if you’re too stoned to tell?” She whined, staring closely at her own reflection. I approached her from the side, throwing a wing around her back.

“How do you feel? Really?” I asked her, guiding her to look away from the mirror with me. “Think about it. You look fine- worry about how you feel. Close your eyes.” forehead still damp with sweat, she closed her eyes and nodded. “Breath with me.” I took deep calming breaths for her to follow along with, helping to calm her down immensely. “Doesn’t your mind feel more… awake? Open? That’s the Sativa.” After a few moments of silent breathing, she nodded slowly.

“Yeahhh…” she whispered, opening her eyes slowly. “Damn…” She muttered, staring ahead at the door.

“If you’re that paranoid, just sit and listen- that’s mostly what you’ll be doing.” I encouraged her as we walked towards the door, side by side. “You don’t gotta say a word. Eat your snacks, have one of my soda’s if you want, and nod along. Just relax- it’s all gonna be okay no matter what gets said.” She nodded, a hopeful smile gracing her lips as I moved to open the door, letting her through first; the door wasn’t wide enough for both of us side by side.

I quickly stood back by her side as the two of us walked back to the couches. “I’m glad we could settle things from earlier; I can’t wait to hangout sometime!” She turned and nodded with a dopey grin… perhaps I overestimated her tolerance-to-size ratio; I figured she’d be close to mine.

“Took ya long enough!” Emmie yelled, bumping Twilight in the hoof as Cad and I made our way back to our seats casually.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” I responded sarcastically, slapping my new bestie on the back- don’t get me wrong, I love Emmie… but Cadence is an overall better gal-pal. That’s a totally different niche from the gay best friend. While she wasted no time in tearing into her snack cakes, I spoke up- “So, how many of you are familiar with Daring Do?” I asked, causing Celestia to raise a questioning eyebrow while everyone except Luna raised their hand.

“I’m not up to date on the specific plot points, if someone could fill me in.” Luna spoke before taking a sip of her coffee, tearing open a wrapped cupcake. “I know the point of this conversation- but now I’m curious exactly how you’ll get around to it.” while she chomped down the cupcake, I went on with a smirk-

“Do you remember that one story she wrote about some weird space cult?” I asked, and Twilight gasped!

“Daring Do and the Ancient Aliens.” She giggled, rolling her eyes with a snort. “What a dumb premise the twist turned out to be!” Cadence was giggling along dopily while chuckles spread amongst the group. But Twilight looked at me with a silent grin- and I nodded, giving her the go-ahead. “The big plot-twist was that the change-worshiping cult she’d been hunting down was right; Daring learned that throughout world history, the advancement of civilizations was controlled by visitors from another planet who bring advanced technology to topple several given historic status-quo’s.”

When I heard Luna chuckle in response- I don’t think it’s because she found the plotline itself funny. Celestia gave me a dumbfounded look as she realized the point I was making, too.

“AK Yearling does tend to exaggerate and embellish her stories, everyone knows that.” I joked along with her, “I remember getting into arguments with Rainbow around Ponyville about that!” As everyone listened in on the little side conversation, they relaxed- sipping on tea that Celestia had brought out in the meantime from standby servants; eating their snack cakes and chips; While Thorax purred away softly, their fluffy fur was getting stroked gently as Cadence magically chowed down on the Hostess-like cupcakes- of which tasted exactly like I remembered them. They were made by a company that Pinkie Pie owns minor-ownership shares in, I’ve heard… probably the Cake family, one of the many other businesses that flourished after the Apple family started building factories.

“The worst part is that to this very day, Dashie will in-exclaim, with full confidence-” she ranted, tripping over her words because of her ‘couple drinks.’ “That Daring Do is factual.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I’ve talked to Yearling in private! She told me that was the case.” As we nodded along, Luna couldn’t hold back the snickering that Twilight thought was for her… and I’m fine not telling her that. “Dash is a good storyteller- but come on! Ahuizotl is just another name for Water Opossum!” I nodded and smirked, not actually having been aware of that fact.

“Not many people know what that villain was named after. That’s good you do, too- it means you got an eye for detail.” I pointed at her and tapped my skull to get the point across. While Twilight gave me a smug grin in response, I turned to Celestia. “Twilight’s a smart girl- I’m surprised she hasn’t made the connection yet.” While she rubbed her temple in response, Luna wrapped a mirthful wing around her sister's back. “Your teacher and I are visitors from another planet, bringing the technology and wisdom of our era to change the world we appeared in.”

The purring came to an abrupt halt with a cat-like chirp; Luna forced herself to go quiet as Celestia continued rubbing her temple; Cadence had a look of weed-driven excitement behind her eyes, curious to hear more; while Twilight just had an oddly… strained look in her eye, strands of her mane popping loose slightly.

“She’s absolutely correct.” Celestia said, causing Twilight to deteriorate further, on the verge of panic- “And I don’t blame you for being skeptical.” She said, helping calm her student back down by pulling her into a quick hug. She’d gotten her posture together by the time Celestia sat back in her chair. “But we believe that what we know will convince you. Have a little faith.”

“And I need this for the context to get my ultimate point across.” I said to her, receiving a slow, incredulous nod in return. “Celestia and I are two individuals who died on another planet and were reborn here; my entire life, I’ve been applying the things I’ve learned from that past life to change the world.” Just as I finished speaking, Luna added on-

“And for the record, I believe my sister and Leona wholeheartedly in this case.” She admitted frankly, taking a sip of coffee. “They’re hairless like the feline Hu-man species was said to be- taking on the appearance of tall-standing apes which dominated their non-magical planet.” I could see Twilight nodding slowly with her lips pursed flatly.

She lit up her horn, a massive spiral notebook and enchanted quill dropping into her lap; flipped open, notes were scribbled out rapidly. “I’ll write down as we go along- I’ve gotten good at casting Mighty Quillpuppets these days.” A few more poofs of purple magic caused several more quills to appear in her magic grasp, each resting above the opened notebook… ready to go.

Taking a sip of her tea, Celestia used her magic to summon a large chalkboard we had for backup in case… wait… I had to speak up- “Wait a minute, where the hell is Discord?” I asked aloud… prompting his voice to seemingly project from nowhere.

“Absolutely NOT!” Two small green vortexes appeared in the air in front of me. A lion's paw and an eagle's talon appeared out of both, each one flipping me off uncomfortably close to my face. “Uh-uh! I’m not helping you any more!” I rolled my eyes and sighed-

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened last time! I didn’t think it’d upset you all that bad; we’ve had this stupid back and forth for years now!” I responded honestly, staring up at the portals intently. “What- what’s your problem with me? Really?” The portals moved back, combining and coalescing into Discord; pouting with his arms crossed as he hovered before me.

After glaring at each other for a few intense seconds, he spoke- “Well you al-”

“Discord. Get down here.” Celestia said gently, causing Discord to straighten his back. An apologetic look actually appeared on his face as he turned around, hovering downward. I couldn’t see Celestia from where I sat; I resisted the urge to lean over the couch to take a look. “Leona is a close friend of mine; please, leave us be.”

For fucks sakes, why is my heart fluttering? WHY WHY WHY? I swallowed, turning my gaze to see the just… smug grins Emmie and Caddy shared, wiggling their eyebrows at me. Why did they have to plant that stupid fucking idea in my head?

“Of course, Celestia.”

Pop.

And just like that, he was gone.
…

After a few moments of expectant silence- “Uh- Oh, uh, thanks, Celly.” I kept my poker face at a neutral expression as I screamed internally at my stupid fucking self. She just gave me that same, wonderful smile she always did.

“Anytime… Lee.” I nodded and grinned, unable to think of what to say after that Discord interruption killed my mojo. Unable to move my beak, she continued- “I’ll take it from where I left off.”

“Yeah,thatsoundsgreat.” I jumbled my words together like an idiot, taking a deep breath and looking intently at the magical chalkboard. I really resisted the urge to slap someone when I felt Emmie nudge my side teasingly. My biggest concern is what happens if Luna starts getting that idea in her head; that I might have a genuine love interest in her sister. I DON’T! These clowns have just been making me nervous by egging me on, making me fuck up.

“Well, without further adieu-” Celestia spoke, her magic levitating a brick of chalk behind her chair, along with some sort of pen with a ruby at the tip. “I brought a pointer-stick for you, Leona. Twist the gem apparatus to turn it on.” She tossed it over and I caught it- examining the fine ebony-wood handle with a golden rod core; held in place at the tip was a swiveling ruby, turning the magical-powered laser pointer on-or-off. “Mind’s Eye can charge it if it starts going dim… or just jiggle it a little bit, either way works.”

While I tested the harmless red laser by letting Thorax swat at it from atop Cadence’s lap, we all heard the sound of the chalk brick; first her magic was able to effortlessly break it apart into sizable chunks, each of which crumbled before our very eyes into a fine powder, not a single particle escaping Celestia’s golden aura of magic. It was oddly mesmerizing watching the golden cloud float lazily towards the chalkboard. One by one, particles of chalkdust shot towards the board looking like a hazy meteor shower through auric space, slowly turning the green chalkboard a perfect white; it reminded me of when our prison library got a computer, and pictures of titties would slowly appear a single strip at a time… only instead of wanting to pull my hair out, I was mesmerized as the cloud thinned itself out rapidly, the lines filling faster and faster until there was no more green chalkboard or cloud left.

“If you don’t mind- I must test the spell’s calibration.” She chuckled as her horn lit up golden again. The cloud of dust rose all at once and shone spectacularly- slamming back into the chalkboard with a dustless poof that still made my throat tingle, baselessly afraid of inhaling the particles.

“A map of the Cosmos- impressive!” Emmie spoke up behind me, probably being able to decipher the map, unlike me. It was a detailed mess of tiny stars, lines, circles, swirls, patterns, even tiny names and labels were legible in the tones of white-and-green afforded by the chalk. It was like how comics could create the illusion of shading with different sized dots, and I had to squint really hard to see it- the board was only a few feet away… but one name that stuck out to me, within the Hyades star-cluster; a planet named Hali, named even though many of the planets around it weren’t. But Emmie interrupted that thought- “The best I can manage is a detailed map of mainland Equestria.”

“I love watching these Point-of-Power spell presentations! They’re so cool!” Cadence giggled, hopefully still enjoying herself over there- while I couldn’t help but grin.

“Yeah- impressive and fun to watch, I agree!” I heard Celestia giggle, and couldn’t help from pursing my beak self consciously. “Back to the show?” I asked, taking the last swig out of my bottle of Tangelo before cracking open another and tearing open my pretzels.

“In the simplest terms I can put it; Leona and I are both people given a second chance at a new life- particularly, in this world. Based on what the people of her time called the planet, I’ll be calling it… Earth.” Once again, dust shot forward, puffing backward with a thud to create a portrait of Earth… and it was all wrong, yet accurate enough. The shorelines were mostly recognizable, with sizable portions of Africa simply cut off flatly; many islands and landmasses that being defined by simple ovals, with the exception of Italy- appearing as a boot, as it should.

“But before, I hailed from an ancient empire which ruled over half the world.” Everyone listened in silent awe as she spoke… including me, even though I already knew all this… and when I wasn’t paying attention, she pointed a green laser at the map, using a tool like mine except made of silver.

“Questions about my personal life can be asked during personal time- allow me to paint a picture for you all here.” she said, pointing directly at Roma- as she convinced me to start calling it. “Res publica Romana- or the Roman Republic, began right here in Roma. It was a valuable city, under attack from all sides; over the centuries, her borders expanded as those outside them began to fear us.” She spoke, circling the pointer around that general area, spreading outward. “Those we conquered were given a simple choice; to live and worship our gods together as one Roman people, or face persecution. Applying their gods to our own pantheon was as-”

“Wait, wait, hold on…” Cadence interrupted, “Back up. Gods? I’m a little lost.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah, the idea does sound a little backwards without any context.” I spoke, taking a sip of soda and clearing my throat. “Earth had no magic whatsoever- and yet, people still needed a way to explain things- hence, Gods. Human ideas and personalities applied to concepts and forces of nature, mainly to explain the world and help them forget the finality of death. The concept was called Religion in my time.” I explained frankly, turning back to Celestia- who seemed unsatisfied with that explanation.

“At its core, that’s true- but religion as you called it seemed to be so much more than that.” She spoke, and I was happy to go down this tangential path with her. “They were places in which members of a community could set their differences aside for a goal; people prayed for answers, and maybe a few even got them from their priest.” I shrugged, able to see where she was coming from.

“True, true- it can also be used as state propaganda to justify a certain type of ruler, such as a succession of direct monarchs.” I explained, letting Twilight catch up with her scribbling. “Which is exactly what happened after the Roman Empire collapsed in on itself.” I took a sip as I heard the loud gasp, sighing with a grin as I looked Twilight in the eyes. “Oops- didn’t mean to spoil that. But still- keep in mind; the word of God is fantastic propaganda, if you can convince enough people that your God is real… hence, why organized religion never really lasted in this world as a major institution. Unicorns make it too hard to believe in miracles.” I chomped on a few pretzels as Celestia nodded.

“But back to the board, and getting to the point- At the height of her borders, the Romans constructed many great monuments; many of which used a similar concrete as to what I built my oven out of. The very same concrete that Canterlot was built from.” She spoke, the chalk slowly puffing away from the board in anticipation. “Roma may have fell… but her spirit never died. The spirit of progress and advancement began to return after several centuries of unstable monarchies, fighting in wars until no one could afford to fight anymore- according to Leona, here.”

Thud!

“So, that’s what the world actually looked like- with the borders of the empire lined in chalk.” I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw the confusion in Cadence’s and Twilight’s eyes. “If you’re wondering where the big fuck-off landmass came from, it wasn’t discovered until much later. You didn’t miss anything on the other map.” I spoke frankly, pointing at the map with borders indicating a time period of the early 1800s- most noticeable in the America’s. “This loose collection of states over here is actually one country- if you couldn’t read the label.” I spoke, causing Cadence to giggle. “They’ll become important later- just keep in mind, they’re one of the first democratic republics based on the ideals of early Roma. For the people, by the people- or so it says on paper.” I made sure to clarify, as to not accidentally give off the impression that the American system is one worth following. “I was born there a couple centuries later.” I spoke plainly, chomping on a couple pretzels while the quills finished up writing.

Happy to receive continued silence, I looked back at the circle to explain- “At this stage in world history, the United States government is the only one that’s designed from the bottom up to try and listen to the needs of the people- and the fact that it actually worked for a while started to weaken monarchies by existing.” I glanced into Twilights eyes briefly, letting her know this was meant for her. “Throughout Europe, the power of the State was weakened by their reliance on industrialist oligarchs, who controlled the majority of the labor around the world. And if the peasants weren’t subject to the whims of the factory owner, it was of the greedy landlord.” Having made that point across, I pointed at the map again.

“France wound up chopping their kings head off, along with his wife’s.” I said, resisting the urge to turn back as I spoke. “Leading up to the revolution, his solutions to appease the majority of his country by giving them what they wanted were all poorly thought out; they were measures meant to imply that the people would be given some sort of parliamentary representation, only turning into a way to reframe their own oppression by making the process appear democratic.” I felt a hoof tap my side- “Emmie, you got somethin’ to say?”

He nodded, “I believe that the government's response to the plot of treason and the success of the upcoming election will be the intersection that leads to ruin or prosperity.” He spoke, causing Twilight to cock an eyebrow. “Bear in mind, the reason we’re telling you these stories about revolution in the enlightened age is not to make you afraid; it’s to make sure you understand what a group of people can do when they have no recourse or anything to lose.” I nodded in agreement with Emmie while Twilight rubbed her chin. When she nodded back slowly, I continued-

“The French revolutionaries stormed a massive overcrowded prison complex; full of people who despised the government as much as they did.” I spoke deliberately and slowly, gradually switching around who I was making eye contact with. “They eventually stormed his house outside the city and forced him to yield to the demands of the new French government.” I spoke, once again settling my gaze on Twilight.

“When things got out of hand, he was caught trying to flee to a neighboring country out of concern for his and his wife’s safety; the revolutionaries saw their king trying to abandon them… and had both of them returned to the capital city of Paris.” I pulled out a cigarette and lit it while they listened to my story with anticipation and dread. I took a puff before I spoke, flicking the tip’s ashes into an empty soda bottle… set hopefully far enough away that I don’t accidentally try and take a drink of cigarette ash. “Their royal titles were stripped, and they were thrown into cells with the rest of the Nobility.” I gave Celestia the nod to switch to the next slide, the chalk rising upwards and returning to the board with the same thud. “The device sketched here is called a Guillotine. That angular bit is a blade, attached to a simple pulley; the one being executed kneels over the basket face-down, unable to see when his death arrives.” I took another puff, gathering my thoughts before I continued. “Most of the nobility were tried and executed on the spot within their prison; they died from swords, guns, and beatings depending on the perceived severity of their crime- the crime of being born into wealth, most often. Women and children weren’t even spared.” I blew out my smoke, feeling satisfied to see Twilight shudder visibly.

“The guillotine comes into play after this; He was tried, and sentenced to death by a single vote. He and his wife, whose only crime was living a decadent life at the people’s expense… as all her ancestors did before her.” I let that settle in, and I noticed Cadence tearing up slightly as she covered her mouth with a hoof… and I decided to spare her the grief of hearing Marie’s last words- Sorry, I didn’t mean to step on your shoe executioner guy! Or something like that in French.

"In both Celestia's and my era's, people followed a religion that worshiped both a single creator-god and his human son, who died after he was nailed to a cross- shaped like a lowercase t. Again- you can ask Celestia for details on Christianity later.” I made sure to throw the name out so Twilight knew what to ask; I was partially appealing to her natural bookishness and curiosity to further allow her to lower her guard. “The Guillotine was the cross worshiped by the revolutionary government; it became a holy symbol that encapsulated the national mood which allowed an execution instrument to become as feared and revered as the vengeful wrath of the loving Christian God…” Twilight tilted her head, and I added- “God loves humanity, and wants people to always do the right thing; in their myth, the first humans were defined by rebellion and a willingness to break rules. God punishes the rule breakers as a parent punishes their child… doing things like flooding the entire earth or throwing sulfur at cities with too many gay people… or making you suffer for eternity in fire land if you enjoy eating carpet too much.”

I can’t help myself sometimes, and the group let out a few light chuckles that lightened the mood a little. Twilight spoke up- “None of this is real, correct? All part of the same Krish-tin creation mythos?” she enunciated it like I do in my accent, probably since it’s her first time hearing that word. I shook my head, taking a puff of my cigarette.

“Nah- most of the stories were adapted from even older religions dating all the way back to the copper age and the first human empires. All word-of-mouth folklore shit, you know how it is.” I blew out that puff, and Twilight nodded with an understanding look. “But back to my point, the revolutionary government started enforcing loyalty with violence… until it all fell apart and some general declared himself an emperor. I’m grossly oversimplifying something that we can have a chat about another time; I don’t want Equestria to fall into the hands of an anti-griffonian government because of all the worldwide instability it would bring in the long run. If they strike first, I don’t want to have to defend myself or my territory- because there will be heavy casualties… with the worst leaning on the disorganized Revolutionary Equestrian side.” That was the truth, plain and simple. I took the last puff of my cigarette and dropped the smoldering butt into the ash bottle.

“Caddy, honey…” I tapped Emmie’s shoulder, getting off the chair so I could sit next to Cadence. She rubbed her eye with a hoof, holding her hoof out so I could hold it. “I know we just met, but I really don’t want what happened to the Romanov family to happen to you. I don’t want to get any details in your head that lead to bad thoughts- it’s gonna be alright.” We gave each other a smile, pulling our arms apart so I could fist bump her hoof. I then looked around the group and spoke-

“Among other needs to be addressed; it’s a good idea to stem the powder keg of violence that could explode from everyone who’s in prison for criticizing the government. Get the media on your side through bribery and incentive instead of threat of violence; make sure they’re constantly highlighting all the efforts being undertaken to listen to the People…” After a moment of thought while the Equestrians looked amongst themselves in thought, I spoke- “Starlight was one of those ponies driven away, because much like the others, her ideas weren’t being listened to; and full disclosure, she’s become a close friend of mine and a member of my extended Family in friendship.” I leaned back into the couch, letting my head rest against the soft cushion. “She also goes under pseudonyms like Trotsky, or, of course, Cutie Marks.” Twilight nodded in understanding, letting out a sigh.

“I-I admit, her ideas are quite good and sensible. One of the latest issues we confiscated mentioned an upcoming manifesto- What do you know about that?” she leered drunkenly and pointed a hoof at me- causing Caddy to swipe at her slightly overreaching arm.

“Leona’s my friend, Twilight. Be nice.” She commanded simply- as it happens, she used to be Twilight’s babysitter while she dated Shining Armor. Twilight nodded silently, shrinking back into her seat with a quiet huff. I just shrugged-

“Way I see it, we’re all friends- ain’t we?” I asked with a grin, stretching my arms out along the back of the couch. “I’m not trying to screw anyone over here. I’m tired of the cat-and-mouse bullshit that’s been going on.” I shrugged with a casual smile, and I heard Thorax begin purring again as smiles grew amongst the group; It might be safe to say I’ve won them all over to various degrees. “We’ll get back to the recording later; I say that we sit and talk through a worldwide plan of action where we work together in harmony, only keeping up the illusion of conflict in order to help keep both of our economies relatively stable.” Twilight and Luna looked at eachother; the latter nodding before the formal did out of agreement.

“We can save this awful situation before it spirals into a crescendoing wave of violence and terror that will forever change the national identity and spirit of Equestria; all the meanwhile, Celestia and I have been meeting in our dreams for the past week in order to devise a plan to solve the dragon problem.” Once again the purring stopped as the group began to look unsure again… save for Luna. I looked up at Celestia- “You mind explaining that conundrum?” I asked, and she nodded solemnly as the board flipped back to the map of the Cosmos.

“No. No, we are not hurting the dragons!” Thorax asserted confidently, still looking like a cat. “Wh-what about E-ember and Spike!” they yelled, causing Twilight to nod furiously.

“I agree! What… what are you two saying?” She asked, probably having no clue what we meant by the Dragon Problem. “We can figure out somewhere else to move the dragons to! We just can’t let that island stay overpopulated, it’d just get worse!” Which was the reason the dragons were given part of Griffonia- to give them the room that they needed to live. Even the diamond dogs got screwed out of their lands and resources; I had their group divided up and spread all throughout the mining towns so as to not raise group dissent over the whole thing.

“If the dragon population grows too much, then Celestia will be powerless to stop it.” Quick glances were exchanged amongst the group while Celly hung her head with a sigh.

“It’s best heard from my mouth.” She said, giving my idea high credibility in their eyes since they all followed Celestia. Follow in her teachings, her hoofsteps, her rule. “Much of this information was gleaned from the Changeling Father a couple millenia ago; before I led the public to forget about the existence of the then-violent pests, protecting their kind from any popular revolts or invasions that could lead to the discovery of the Father.” She spoke sadly, and I had to interject.

“Couldn’t their species have been taught differently than they are now?” I asked, causing Thorax to stare off in thought. “If you don’t mind me asking, because I know you have to have tried.” Celestia huffed with a smirk.

“Oh, we tried alright.” Luna spoke up, finishing her mug of coffee and setting it off to the side. “She was a stubborn old cow who got greedy with power… Yeah, takes one to know one.” She quipped, lightly pounding her chest as we all had a giggle- Celestia included as she wrapped her wing around her sister’s back. “Even when that ridiculous statue she got turned into refused to crumble like her other compatriots did.” She shrugged as we shared a chuckle- except for Twilight, who seemed… regretful.

“Luna, please. I know it was the right thing to prevent them from coming back and further destabilizing Equestria and all, but…” Twilight spoke quietly, staring right forward. “Seeing that little filly’s calcified eyes staring up from her cobbled remains was just… it was messed up- that’s all I’m saying.” Cadence wrapped a wing around Twilight's back as Celly glared at her sister briefly.

“I’m sorry, Twilight… but you wanted to do it with me in secret so that the general public wouldn’t find out. There’s no purpose in taking half-measures.” I nodded in agreement with her while Twilight huffed.

“N-never mind all that. Let’s just move on, please?” She asked while avoiding eye contact- and I felt the need to say something.

“Twilight?” I spoke, looking her in the eye while I spoke. “PTSD isn’t something to shrug off. You’re not alone in dealing with the nightmares and flashbacks.” We both reached out and bumped fists with a casual smile. “If you ever wanna talk, I’m gonna have a special phone line to connect us all easier once this meeting is said and done.” The nods of approval were a fantastic sight to me.

“If we may return to the map?” She spoke up, causing the rest of us to shut our mouths and listen. “So we are on the same page, it should be made clear that Dragons are closer to Fae than biological creature… despite suffering from biological weaknesses; they were created by a god they call their Mother Hydra, residing in a planet here-” She said, gesturing to a cluster which consisted of many stars, located far away from the central Equus. Her green laser then shifted to a different corner of the board. “Her husband lives here… the physical form of the undersea God Dagon… which the seaponies call Father Dagon.”

“Woahwoahwoah- back up…” I interrupted, noticing some concerning parallels. “Where do the Deep Ones- fuck… er, Seaponies live?” I asked, tearing open another cupcake. “I’m noticing a lot of similarities to some books that were written as fiction back on Earth… and one of those was literally a short story named Dagon about an ancient underwater God.” I was basically trying to figure out if this was all some stupid allegory for racemixing or something… wait, what?

Celestia merely giggled- “They reside beneath the much wider Luna Ocean- your eastern coast, my western coast.” She took a sip of her tea and added- “Hence why there are five eastern Equestrian ports for every one to our west; and even those are mainly used for northern-southern transportation rather than large-scale shipping.” I tsk’d a couple times and wiggled my finger, taking a sip of Tangelo to wash down my most recent snack cake.

“I’ve actually had to dynamite out some of the eastern cliff-facing coastlines to supplement supply runs to my colony of Dustbowl.” I cleared my throat, wiping my beak with a napkin. “But even soon, I plan on using volunteer dogs to tunnel through the mountains to allow for more robust train networks and faster shipping from our eastern ports- full disclosure and all that.” I heard Twilight snort-

“Oh, right. I almost forgot we were cooperating with slavers.” Caddy elbowed her for me, and I had to hide my grin with a sip of pop. “What? Tell me I’m wrong!?” I noticed Luna rolling her eyes from behind her coffee mug- so before she could add her two cents, I spoke up-

“How is what’s going on in Crystalia any different?” I asked her, looking her in the eyes- “Crystalians work their long, dangerous shifts. Clock out, maybe pick up some booze rations on the way home and pass out. They live in fear of a constant police presence- how is that not slavery?” I asked, turning to Cadence- “I’m sorry to break it to you like that- but I’m just saying; you might be surrounded by brownnosers and toadies that tell you what you wanna hear.” While she rubbed her chin in thought, Luna just chuckled.

“It’s not like Equestria hasn’t worked with slavers before. Sister, remember when-” But we all clamped our mouths shut when we heard Celestia yell-

“ENOUGH!” she quickly put a hoof to her mouth, looking down regretfully. “I… Twilight, you make a fair point. Perhaps we should address the dogs sleeping quietly in the corner.” Unlike an elephant in the room, my dogs stay quiet and unseen. Just the way I like it. “If the dogs are comparable to Crystalia, then surely- the collapse of your system is as inevitable as your proposed collapse of Crystalia.” My smile… twitched briefly. I leaned back and lit up a cigarette, trying to think of a way to argue my way out of this logical corner, brought on by such a careless comparison.

“I allow the dogs to improve their society through their own volition.” I took a puff of a cigarette. “They elect community leaders and representatives that put motions forward to a Syndicate council for approval or not.” exhaling gently, I concluded- “Some day, they may come to resemble a sort of microstate, dependent on outside trade for sustainability; it all comes down to gradual cultural shifts and policy changes.” I shrugged, taking another drag of a cigarette.

“But why not give them their freedom now?” Thorax piped up, and I had to think about it again. “What’s stopping you from treating them like citizens?” I swallowed, seeing as… this was something I tried not to think about too much.

I took a deep puff of my smoke, looking off to the side. I locked eyes with Twilight- “Because if the people of the syndicate see me as going soft on the Diamond Dogs, my public image would be fucked!” I exhaled, feeling more upset than I wanted to. “All the propaganda that made the people hate the diamond dogs so they could support me- that’s all still fresh on their minds; many of them see a harsh stance against the dogs as a bulwark preventing a second Great Depression!” I rubbed my temple with my left hand, feeling Cadence nudge my other hand; holding her hoof gently, I sighed. “But no matter how effective it was, I never should’ve let things go that far… and I’m still not sure if the griffons hated the diamond dogs, or I made them hate the diamond dogs- getting swept up in my own wave of populism.” I felt terrible about those horrible things when I looked back. What the fuck was I thinking?

“You fell for your own state’s propaganda.” Luna spoke, in the middle of refilling her coffee mug… Jesus, how much coffee does this mare drink? “Ponies have seen my sister and I as goddesses for millennia now; in the time of peace and recovery after the fall of Discord, much energy was put into cementing that perception into Equestrian Canon.” Which is to say, the Equestrian zeitgeist. I saw Leona floating her empty pot of coffee back over to the coffee-maker as she concluded: “I… became convinced that I was a goddess in the literal sense; but you might know her as Nightmare Moon.” She concluded as the coffee maker was already hard at work.

I shrugged, looking off to the side as Twilight spoke up. “A… Arguably, planetary genocide caused by the sun roasting one side of the planet while the other side shrivels and dies is… worse, I guess.” You know, I never actually thought of that. Eternal night is a dumb fucking concept. “But Luna- you were possessed by an evil spirit! Leona’s just a regular woman!” Normally, she puts more thoughts into how she phrases things… but something told me that Twilight’s had more than a couple drinks at some point. One drink is too many and never enough.

Luna huffed- “And I’m not a regular mare?” She responded sarcastically, the rest of us giggling softly. “The Tantabus cultivated itself from within using my own frustration and jealousy as fuel; Depression and black thoughts plagued me all the time until I just couldn’t take the pain anymore.” She shrugged and took a sip of bitter, black coffee which even from my seat looked smoking hot; I just listened, finishing my cigarette and dropping the butt into an empty. “Even today, I live with the pain of the scale of destruction my actions in that time could have caused. Everypony I ever cared about would have been dead; even… even my dear sister. All after Equestria’s only and bloodiest civil war, which I caused.” The two sisters wrapped wings around each other's backs, while Luna just shrugged, looking over at me with a smirk. “And I often lament; I never should have let things go that far.”

The two of us shared a laugh, as one woman full of regrets to another. I took a sip of pop as Emmie spoke up- “Can I ask something unrelated?” he said to her, receiving a nod in response. “I’ve heard mention of an Esoteric Order of the Dream Moon in a few cult manuscripts written around that time. Was that-” But before he could finish, Luna was nodding as she grinned, rolling her eyes. Emmie beamed with a grin- “I knew it! A few old colleagues of mine owe me quite the hefty sum, now.” she turned over to her sister for approval to elaborate- being granted it, since we weren’t in any major rush tonight. I don’t care if we’re going until the fuck-you hours of the morning, the more the merrier.

“The wonderful thing about dream magic is its potential to sway public opinion.” She spoke, Emmie listening with a fascinated grin. “Through a campaign of subliminal messaging and other dream-interference, I was able to garner a fiercely loyal gathering, which was used to my advantage in turning ponies against my sister.” As a show of no-hard-feelings, Celestia turned her head and blew a raspberry at her sister. She rolled her eyes- “Ladies, gentlestallion, and Thorax- Our brave leader!” She pointed at her sister with a hoof, the whole gathering going up in soft laughter and amusement.

“See, I did that sort of thing, too-” I spoke up, “Just with posters, eye-catching symbols and colors, and movies that have an obvious agenda to anyone who bothers to watch critically… which is no-one.” I rolled my eyes, waving off that topic with a gesture. “So, does that settle that for now? Bottom line is, things will get better for the Diamond Dogs. Now’s just not the time to be loud-and-proud about freedom for the dogs.” After a few moments where we all looked between each other questioningly… Twilight spoke up again.

“From what I understand, Celestia has her own… reasons to want to go to war with the dragons. But I wanna hear your motivations, first.” she asked, crossing her hooves and taking a sip of tea with her magic. “If you regret what you did to the Diamond Dogs, then why is your first instinct to deal with the Dragon problem another genocide?” I had to strain myself to keep from rolling my eyes in annoyance.

“I’ll let Celestia explain the pragmatic reasons herself. For me, it’s personal.” I gave her a smirk, pulling out another smoke and lighting it.

Celestia spoke- “Leona, you know it’s not a personal vende-”

“But it is! It is personal!” I couldn’t keep the grimace off my face, as talking about this genuinely upset me. “Catlus is a smoking ruin because of those fucking dragons!” I pointed my finger casually- “And you want me to just… forget all the trauma that caused to a then-limping population?” I asked, Twilight looking off to the side and rubbing her shoulder. “Let Celly talk, for fucks sake.” I took a heavy drag of my cigarette, relishing in the silence that allowed me to hear the crackling embers.

Celestia looked down at me with a smirk, nodding in appreciation- probably glad I didn’t keep pushing things. That’s the problem with fascism- when you start asking questions, the whole act tends to fall apart. Telling her to ‘let Celly talk’ was an appeal to authority that got her to shut up and listen.

“... Where was I again?” She asked after a few moments of silence, causing a few of us to giggle and the rest of us to try and remember where the fuck we left off.

—

From the top of a Bittsburgh skyscraper, the city looked beautiful within the confines of the small valley-girt peninsula she was built on. A compact city, which ruffled and frizzed Gilda’s feathers with its smokey high-altitude winds. She sat with her legs dangling over the edge, cradling a bottle of absinthe at her side.

Her wings itched terribly, but the bottle was down to its last merciful gulp. Her twitchy wings would never get the relief- as the small key she dropped into the bottle was swallowed along with her last gulp; it burned like hell on the way down, paling in comparison to the pain she felt in her heart. She tossed the bottle carelessly over the ledge; having just stolen these wing-cuffs from the armory earlier that evening, she ran her fingers beneath to ensure they were on tight… just as she often did to the prisoners.

Too drunk to formulate proper words, she scooted forward numbly. She refused to be a prisoner to this world anymore… until halfway to the cold, hard ground; only then did she realize that maybe her cell wasn’t so uncomfortable after all.

KYAEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
BOOM!

Late-night pedestrians stared in shock and horror at the streetlamp-illuminated pile of blood, scattered limbs, and feathers floating daintily through the air.

Crash!

All were startled by the sound of the shattering bottle that followed not long after.

Author's Note

A new chapter, just in time for our last Fourth of July as an on-paper Democracy! For those out there who'd rather just read fanfiction instead of dealing with their family, I don't blame you one bit. I'm with ya- I hope you enjoyed :3

Likes and comments are appreciated greatly :p