Colonel Twilight Sparkle watched as the small team of winged ponies expertly directed the local winds around the incoming ship in order to allow the otherwise cumbersome vessel to dock at the fort’s cramped Mission Docks. Strictly speaking, the third-rate ship of the line was larger than the sort of vessel which would typically be permitted to dock at the piers reserved for use by diplomats and dignitaries. Nations with embassies on the island were encouraged to limit the ships serving their ambassadors to smaller sloops and courier ships which had limited armaments. It was felt that having warships serving the delegations would undermine the message of peace which Harmony was trying to promote.

Exceptions to this rule were allowed on a case-by-case basis, however. So long as the party seeking an exception gave proper notice well in advance. After all, piracy was a fact of life on the open water and some of the dignitaries traveling to and from the island might be seen as tempting hostages by more unsavory types. If a nation felt that its representative’s safety was best served by sending them to Harmony aboard a properly armed frigate of war, then that ship was permitted to berth itself at the fort’s Mission Docks while it offloaded its precious cargo.

Such was the case with the Equestrian ship of the line presently docking. It was one of the larger warships in the Equestrian navy, boasting seventy-four canons arrayed along three dedicated gun-decks. It wasn’t the largest or most powerful class of ship in the Equestrian navy, Twilight knew, but it was certainly a formidable vessel.

The little purple unicorn’s gaze drifted down from the pegasus team corralling the ship down to the vessel itself. Her eyes drifted down its masts until they came to rest on the figurehead adorning the bow. The elegantly-carved unicorn mare’s coat had been painted a pearl white, while her flowing mane had been done up in a two-tone pink. The color still shone quite brilliantly in spite of the generally abusive treatment that most paints received from wind, wave, and salt, while crossing the ocean. The carving had almost certainly been the subject of a recent touch-up prior to the ship’s arrival at Harmony in the name of making a good impression.

While the name of the ship painted on the stern was not visible from where Twilight and the rest of the delegation were standing, the unicorn knew what it was from the notice that she’d received several weeks prior. She also knew that, for the duration of the vessel’s trip across the sea, the ship’s given name actually constituted a secondary designation. Because, while Fleur De Lis might be what was actually painted on the ship of the line, its current—official—designation was: ‘Equestria One’.

Twilight’s attention briefly darted to the masts of the two Equestrian naval frigates anchored further off the island’s shore which had served as escorts for the larger warship. Their crews would be ferried on and off the island for the duration of their stay via cutters and other smaller boats like normal. However, it had been understandably decided that it was better—and safer—for all concerned for the Chancellor of Equestria to disembark directly onto the docks from his ship. While cutters were generally quite safe, it wasn’t unheard of for the tiny boats to be capsized by the occasional rogue wave. Twilight even recalled an account of ‘the shortest command in history’ when a newly-appointed captain for a ship never actually made it onto the vessel’s deck; instead slipping and falling into the water while trying to get out of the boat that had ferried them to the frigate…and promptly drowned.

The little mare turned to regard the welcome delegation that had been assembled…again. Her gaze didn’t linger on Major Rarity for long, as the ivory unicorn could always be counted on to present herself with an impeccably assembled uniform. The fort’s executive officer had thus also been enlisted to review the uniforms and appearance of every other pony who would be in attendance on the dock to greet their nation’s chief elected official. The vein throbbing on Captain Applejack’s temple was barely visible now, having ebbed significantly from its peak after Rarity had fussed over the security head’s vest for the better part of thirty minutes.

She quickly reviewed the other assembled ponies in the formation before returning her attention back to Rarity. “Am I still good?” Twilight asked, straightening up so that the other unicorn could judge the lie of her uniform.

The XO’s lips quirked into a small smile before her horn briefly lit in order to tweak one of Twilight’s medals. “You look fine, ma’am. You need to relax, colonel! The chancellor is just here to tour the fortress; you’re acting like it’s a performance review.”

“It’s exactly like a performance review!” Twilight countered. Then she quickly clamped down on the audible note of rising anxiety in her voice. She spared a moment to take in a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. “I’ve been commander of Harmony Fortress long enough that everything is being run the way that I want it. If the chancellor sees something that he doesn’t like, then I’m the pony he’ll hold responsible! This is my first real command in years. If he spots any serious regulatory violations then it could be my last command—”

“We’ve conducted three reviews of the entire fortress every day fer th’past week,” Captain Applejack deadpanned. Her eyes briefly glazed over as she relived the past week’s tedium in vivid detail. The orange earth pony shuddered at the prospect of having to go through another of the exacting inspections again after finally having felt the sweet relief of knowing those trials were over with. “He ain’t gonna find nothin’ out of regs.”

Most of the earth pony mare’s certainty of that last remark was rooted in the fact that the island’s staff had been a clear warning by the orange pony that, should the Equestrian chancellor find anypony out of compliance with established protocols or procedures, the offender would be discharged from Harmony. Immediately. Via cannon.

Applejack hadn’t decided yet if her threat had been hyperbolic.

“He might! Major: stall him. I’m going to make another quick sweep of the—”

The ivory unicorn spotted the pleading look being given to her by the senior security officer and took quick action. Her hoof came down on Twilight’s tail, drawing the mare up short as she started to turn around and trot away. The major’s horn then lit up, her magic lancing in the direction of the docked warship where it grabbed hold of the gangway which was being moved into position far too slowly for her liking. Rarity’s telekinesis forcibly hauled the bridging between the ship and the dock into place, much to the surprise of the crewmembers who’d been attending to the task.

“Oh goodness me,” Major Rarity remarked, feigning surprise while still keeping her senior pinned in place. “It seems that the ship has finished docking. It would reflect incredibly poorly on a commanding officer if they weren’t present to greet their nation’s head of state,” the mare went on to none-too-gently suggest.

Twilight winced before turning back around to face the ship. The little purple mare forced her features into something of a pleasant smile as she waited with dread for the chancellor to disembark.

The Equestrian delegation appeared at the far end of the ramp. The unicorn stallion at its head largely embodied what most ponies tended to envision when they thought about what a ‘proper stallion’ looked like: The alabaster stallion was tall, well-built, impeccable groomed in both coat and mane, and was dressed in a dignified suit jacket. While Twilight had never had the opportunity to interact with the chancellor directly, she’d heard him speak in public on a couple of occasions and he came across as an exceptionally articulate stallion. Assuming that the stallion wasn’t just putting on an act for the voters, he was an exception to the rule regarding self-obsessed and corrupt politicians.

The Harmony Project had actually been one of Fancy Pants’ initiatives before he was elected chancellor, back when the stallion was just a rising star in the Canterlot political scene after the war. While this suggested to Twilight that she wouldn’t have much to worry about when it came to getting the fortress funding and political support, it also made the little mare keenly aware that the civilian head of the Equestrian government might very likely view this peace initiative as being ‘his baby’, and thus might take exception to anypony he felt was ‘mismanaging’ it.

Twilight’s ear flicked at the sound of a rather appreciative “Mm-mmm…” coming from Major Rarity’s direction. The purple unicorn managed to keep herself from reacting to her usually straight-laced XO’s uncharacteristic reaction to the appearance of the chancellor. Besides, Twilight was confident that even if she had turned to glare at the major, she’d find that the other mare’s expression had been soured by the sight of the pony following along in Fancy Pants’ wake.

The more cynical might find themselves wondering if Vice Chancellor Neighsay had been chosen as a running mate specifically based upon his looks. Or, more precisely: due to his lack of traditionally good looks. After all, at a glance, the unicorn following in Fancy Pants’ wake was just about everything that the chancellor was not. The dull gray stallion was spindly, with gaunt, angular features, and a mane and tail style that was best described as: “all of the pomade please”. Placing the walking perpetual scowl next to the chancellor only served to further emphasize how much closer to the ideal Fancy Pants was.

However, by all accounts, the vice chancellor was indeed a competent politician and had almost certainly been selected because he could be counted on to help push Fancy Pants’ initiatives through the legislature. None of that changed the fact that the gray unicorn was an abrasive and thoroughly unpleasant pony to interact with. At least, according to what Twilight had heard from those unfortunate enough to make the vice chancellor’s acquaintance.

“Oh, great…” This time the unsolicited comment was from Applejack. At first, Twilight wondered if the earth pony mare might have had a previous unpleasant interaction with Neighsay, but then she realized that her head of security’s reaction had only come once a third stallion stepped fully into view. The followup the orange mare mumbled under her breath confirmed that Applejack’s objection wasn’t to either of the unicorn dignitaries. “They brought a dern vamp…”

While Twilight made a note about discussing her subordinate’s specific choice of terminology, she found herself mostly agreeing with the expressed sentiment as she saw the pony walking down the gangway in the wake of the unicorns. He was an older stallion with a slate-gray coat and short-cropped black mane. Wings were folded in against his sides. However, they weren’t composed of feathers like those of a typical pegasus. Rather, the stallion’s wings were leathery in appearance. Ears with excessively-long tufts of hair at their tips further confirmed the pony’s species as being a batpony, Equestria’s lesser known fourth pony type.

Even within the borders of the pony nation, batponies weren’t all that common to see. They tended to be insular and keep to their communes in the mountains. That tendency to isolate was only further reinforced by the fact that, under Equestrian law, batponies were required to observe certain restrictions while out in public. The first was that batponies had to file down their fangs whenever they ventured down from their mountain homes. As Twilight understood it, those blunted fangs would regrow after a time if they were fully yanked out, so batponies did have an option for regaining their natural state if and when they returned home.

The other major consideration was that batponies were required to wear thick sunglasses at all times while around non-batponies.

The stallion trailing Fancy Pants and Neighsay was presently wearing such heavily tinted lenses right now. And while it was impossible to see the state of his teeth through his smug smirk at this very moment, Twilight had no reason to doubt that a batpony in the company of Equestia’s leaders wouldn’t be abiding by Equestrian law.

“What inna…?” Captain Applejack managed to quash the rest of her breathless dismay, but only just barely. Twilight did a better job of masking her own shock, but that too was a near thing.

A single batpony was an uncommon sight in Equestria.

A whole squad of them being in one place was unheard of. Or, at least it had been unheard of. Until today. In the wake of the first tufted-eared stallion came another. Then a mare behind them. Then another. In all, seven batponies strode down the gangway off the Fleur De Lis, with six of them wearing deep purple flight suits trimmed with black. A patch with a winged skull was sewn onto their hips. Twilight didn’t recognize it.

She also couldn’t tell if those other batponies were wearing the mandated tinted lenses through their lacquered flight helmets. It was possible that the headgear had tinting built into them, but the unicorn couldn’t tell from this distance.

The fortress’ commander didn’t have much time to take a close look before the chancellor reached the pier though, and Twilight was forced to wrench her gaze away from the unusual sight of the flock of batponies and focus her attention fully on the guest of honor. The little purple mare snapped sharply to attention and took in a deep breath.

“Ponies! Atten—shun!” The mare was encouraged to hear the chorus of booted hooves coming together behind her in near-perfect unison. She kept her amethyst eyes locked on Fancy Pants as the ivory unicorn stallion crossed the remaining distance between them on the docks.

When he was just a few strides away, Twilight raised a foreleg and snapped it to her chest in a crisp salute. “Mister Chancellor, on behalf of my ponies, I would like to welcome you to Harmony Six.”

The well-dressed stallion’s lips spread into a warm smile as he inclined his head slightly in Twilight’s direction. “Colonel Sparkle, thank you for the warm reception,” the chancellor said, speaking in the High Canterlot accent that so many of the capital’s career politicians seemed to favor. He glanced around, shifting slightly on his hooves as he briefly took in the sight of the gathered formations of uniformed ponies that made up the honor guard which had been assembled to welcome him. “As much as I’m grateful for the welcome,” he went on, favoring Twilight with a wry smirk, “I must admit that I’m even more grateful to finally have solid ground under my hooves.

“Sailing halfway around the world is a far cry from enjoying an afternoon yachting around the lake, it turns out,” the stallion confided with a wink.

While the chancellor had yet to actually return Twilight’s salute, the purple mare suspected that the other unicorn might not be wholly familiar with military etiquette. To the best of her knowledge, the chancellor had never served. Instead, she took his acknowledgement of her greeting as tacit permission to drop her own salute and continue on with the introductions. Twilight even permitted herself a commiserating quirk of her own lips as she recalled how her own voyage to the island had left her feeling.

“It does feel like it can take a while to get used to the ground not heaving, doesn’t it, chancellor?” She extended her hoof towards Major Rarity. “May I introduce my executive officer, Major Rarity? While you’re on Harmony, she’ll be acting as your concierge. If there’s anything you or your staff need, she’ll be able to get it for you.”

The ivory mare’s face was plastered with a broad smile that was something a little more than merely ‘warm’ as the major executed a modest bow in the chancellor’s direction. “Anything at all, Chancellor Fancy Pants,” Rarity echoed. Twilight wasn’t sure, but it sounded to her as though her XO’s accent had shifted just a bit to more closely align with the stallion’s own. “Please don’t hesitate to make any request; no matter how big or small. I’m also willing to show you around. I know all of the best restaurants on the island, including one that serves excellent Equestrian cuisine that will have you feeling like you’re back in Canterlot!

“I’m certain that I can secure the two of us a reservation for a table any time you’d like,” Rarity went on. Twilight assumed that one of the major’s eyelashes had come off and fallen into her eye, going by the amount of blinking that the mare was engaged in just now. “Would this evening be too soon or—?”

“—My head of security, Captain Applejack!” Twilight announced, taking back control of the conversation from her executive officer with perhaps just a tiny bit more volume than was strictly necessary. She gestured to the orange earth pony, who offered a slight nod of her head in the stallion’s direction. “She’ll be coordinating with your own security staff during your stay.”

It was only now that Twilight became aware of the ponies that she hadn’t seen since the chancellor had gotten off the ship: the soldiers making up his protection detail. She looked back in the direction of the Fleur De Lis to see if any of those ponies might have disembarked while she’d been making introductions. It was easy enough to see that this wasn’t the case, as all of the ponies moving off the ship right now were obviously crew and porters. There wasn’t any sign of the ponies who should have been acting as bodyguards for Equestria’s leadership.

Unless—

The batpony stallion that had trotted off the ship just after Fancy Pants and Neighsay stepped forward now, his shaded gaze locked onto the orange earth pony. His smug smile became a little broader as he spoke. “Agent Nightshade, head of the Equestrian Bureau of Peace and Serenity.” He extended a leathery wing towards the earth pony in place of the customary hoof. The fortress’ head of security spent a few awkward moments hesitantly raising her own hoof as she contemplated how to accept the batpony’s offered greeting. Twilight thought Nightshade’s smile grew a little while as he watched Applejack fumble for those few seconds. “It looks like the two of us will be working together, captain.”

“Ah’m lookin’ forward to it,” the orange mare managed to return in an even tone.

“‘Equestrian Bureau of Peace and Serenity’?” Twilight said, seeking clarification from the newly-arrived dignitaries that she’d gotten the name correct. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard of that particular agency before—”

It was Vice-Chancellor Neighsay who spoke up now. “It’s a new initiative,” he explained. “At the moment, you’re looking at the entirety of its staff,” the dull gray unicorn admitted, a hoof gesturing in the direction of all seven batponies. “However, it will be growing quickly in the coming years as the agency is assigned additional responsibilities.

“For now, the EBPS is charged with providing security for the chancellor and myself.”

“...I see,” Twilight said. “Is there any particular reason that there aren’t any members of the Equestrian Cavalry assigned to the security detail? I’m sorry, I’m not trying to suggest that these ponies wouldn’t be up to the task,” the purple unicorn quickly hedged, indicating the uniformed batponies. “It’s just that, if they’re part of a civilian agency, I don’t want there to be any confusion when it comes to how the chain of command works while they’re working with our own soldiers.”

“There won’t be any confusion,” Neighsay insisted, “because Agent Nightshade answers directly to me—,” the vice-chancellor abruptly coughed and cleared his throat. “My apologies: the agent and his team report directly to myself and Chancellor Fancy Pants. Any instructions from him should be treated no differently than instructions from either of us.”

The little purple unicorn opened her mouth, on the cusp of pointing out that there was a technical violation of the chain of command that the vice chancellor might not be aware of. Fancy Pants enjoyed a position as the head of the executive branch of the Equestrian government, and that granted the stallion unilateral control of the military through his chosen generals. However, that was the pathway that any instructions from the chancellor were supposed to take: from himself, through his generals, and then to herself. Or, under unique circumstances like this, Fancy Pants could directly order Twilight—or really any officer—to do whatever he wanted. That really wasn’t an issue.

However, there was an issue when a civilian was used as the relay for his orders. Nightshade wasn’t an officer. He didn’t hold a commission that placed him over Twilight or any of her staff. Legally, the agent couldn’t tell Applejack to do anything. Even if what the batpony was telling her to do did come directly from the chancellor. That was why the chancellor usually traveled with members of the Cavalry on his staff: to act as that official bridge with the local military commanders.

On the other hoof, Twilight supposed that there wasn’t really a reason to make a big deal of this. Agent Nightshade’s requests would be in the best interests of the chancellor’s safety, and Twilight hardly expected Fancy Pants to have to seek her out directly every time he wanted her to do something. It was a minimal violation of the regulations, and temporary besides.

“Of course, Mister Vice Chancellor,” Colonel Twilight finally said, nodding her head at Neighsay. The purple unicorn decided that it was likely best to move the welcome along. “If you’re feeling up to it, chancellor,” she said, looking back at Fancy Pants now, “a reception has been prepared for you at the North Garden?” She held the questioning note in case the chancellor decided that he’d prefer to recover from his voyage.

“That sounds positively lovely, colonel.” Fancy Pants glanced at the unicorn stallion standing beside him. “Are you up for it, Neighsay?”

“Actually, Mister Chancellor, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather get settled into my temporary office and prepare for the inspection.”

Twilight’s ears perked up upon hearing the last word. “Inspection?” The mare was fairly certain that she’d kept the level of dread in her voice down to a minimum. “I wasn’t told that there’d be an inspection, sir.” She managed—somehow—not to glare in Major Rarity’s direction. The other unicorn had stopped her from performing another review of the fortress after all. So if the chancellor found anything out of regulations—

Fancy Pants already had a placating hoof in the air, waving away Twilight’s concerns. “Relax, colonel, it’s not the sort of ‘inspection’ that you’re likely thinking of. We’re not looking for anything that you’ve done wrong,” he assured her before chuckling to himself. “Quite the contrary, in fact. We’re looking for anything that we’ve done wrong!”

“Sir?”

“Harmony Six is the first fortress of its kind to manage to actually complete construction and remain in operation for any worthwhile length of time,” the chancellor explained, his smile taking on a slightly more sardonic look to it now. “While Equestria’s engineers and top minds spent a considerable amount of time trying to design an island fortress that would meet the expectations that a place like Harmony Six has on it, I suspect that I don’t need to explain to you, colonel, how theory only takes a pony so far.

“One of the primary reasons for our visit is so that Neighsay and I can see what needs to be done in order to let Harmony Six perform its function to the utmost of its ability.

“For example,” the chancellor said, gesturing out towards the surrounding sea. “I noticed quite a few ships that were anchored outside the fortress’ docks. Would I be correct in assuming that they’re waiting for a pier to become available? And would I also be correct in assuming that it’s fairly typical to have that many ships waiting to be attended to?”

“Um, yes, Mister Chancellor,” Twilight acknowledged. “But I assure you that the dockworkers are doing everything that they can to move ships along—” The unicorn would have continued, but was silenced by a raised hoof from the taller unicorn stallion.

“As I said, colonel: I’m not here to place any blame on you or your ponies for any shortcomings which can clearly be better attributed to the fortress’ design,” Fancy Pants said. “Obviously the biggest issue is that Harmony Six is simply seeing more traffic than its designers anticipated. That’s hardly something that you can be blamed for now is it, colonel?”

“No, sir,” Twilight conceded.

“Then that’s something that the vice chancellor and I need to see gets addressed.” Fancy Pants looked at the gray unicorn in question. “Neighsay, let’s go ahead and make a note of that: have the engineers back home see if there’d be any way to increase the dock space.”

“Of course, Mister Chancellor.” Neighsay’s horn lit with a peach aura and extracted a notebook from his saddlebag. A quill jotted down a brief entry before both were returned to the compartment on his side. He then looked to Major Rarity. “Now, if I can be shown where we’ll be quartered during our stay, major?”

“Yes, Mister Vice Chancellor,” the white unicorn mare said, indicating for Neighsay to follow her. Two of the uniformed batponies followed in their wake, along with a few of Harmony’s own soldiers.

Fancy Pants favored Twilight with another of the winning smiles that had likely played a role in getting him votes from mares like Major Rarity. “Now, I believe that there was mention of a reception in a garden?”

Their small procession walked through the fortress. Twilight had actually elected to take the chancellor on a more roundabout path so that he could see some of the more notable sights of the island. Captain Applejack and Agent Nightshade trailed a short distance behind her and the chancellor. A few of the earth pony mare’s MPs had arranged themselves into something of a perimeter around their group, while the four members of Nightshade’s squad that hadn’t gone with Vice Chancellor Neighsay leisurely circled overhead.

Twilight wondered if any of the others felt the same deep-seated sense of unease about the dark bat-winged forms hovering above them like vultures.

“—Harmony Six has become a thriving center for commerce,” Twilight was explaining as they walked. “Which is impressive, given the short time that it’s been in operation. While the island itself doesn’t host many local industries, it is an ideal anchorage for ships crossing between the surrounding continents. The customs duties have allowed us to be almost entirely self-sufficient.”

“Something that I’ve been lording over parliament every time one of my political opponents moves to try and cancel the Harmony Project,” Fancy Pants said with a pleased nod. “And, as we both noted earlier: you’d be able to collect even more of those duties if you had more dock space. It wouldn’t shock me if Harmony ended up turning a profit in another couple of years!

“Not that this was ever meant to be a source of real revenue for Equestria,” the unicorn stallion acknowledged. “But, if Harmony Six starts to operate ‘cost free’ to Equestria, it’ll make expending the bits to build additional such fortresses more palatable to the public.”

“Other Harmony Fortresses, sir?” Twilight ventured. The notion admittedly perplexed the mare a little. As she understood it, the island was chiefly intended to serve as neutral ground for the representatives of the nations of the world to meet and negotiate with each other. Having multiple such diplomatic enclaves all over the world seemed redundant. In fact, it might even undermine the mission of bringing peace.

What happened if the delegations on two different islands reached conflicting agreements with each other?

“That’s admittedly more Neighsay’s brainchild than my own,” Fancy Pants said. “He envisions Equestrian outposts scattered around the globe that would allow us to better coordinate with our allies in maintaining the peace,” he explained. “Frankly, I think that’s a smashing idea.

“It’ll mean expanding Equestria’s military a good bit, so that we can provide all of those additional fortresses with the proper expeditionary forces to support them and whatever peacekeeping efforts might be required, but that’s a ways off in the future, I think.

“For right now, I want to focus on making Harmony Six the shining example of peace and cooperation it can be.” He looked around them at the bustling market stalls lining the street that they were walking down. “Just like this!”

The chancellor’s eyes suddenly went wide. Twilight was about to ask him what was wrong when his expression became almost giddy. He pointed a hoof and leaned in towards Twilight in order to whisper in her ear. “Look at that: a dragon and a griffon! Walking together!”

Twilight turned to follow where Fancy Pants was pointing. She’d had a pretty good idea of what she was going to find and so wasn’t entirely surprised to see the speckled gray griffon hen and the little purple drake walking into a restaurant together. She’d seen the two diplomatic aides in each others’ company a time or two outside of the Council Chamber. The purple mare didn’t know the details of their relationship with each other, but she did recognize that the pair were much more level-headed than their respective ambassadors.

Most Council meetings ended with Twilight desperately wondering why those two couldn’t have been the representatives for their races.

“I see that this project is already making historic strides!”

The little purple mare opened her mouth…and then closed it again. As much as Twilight wanted to point out to the chancellor that Spike and Gabriella’s apparent friendship was an aberration, rather than anything approaching a common occurrence…she also wanted the chancellor to recognize that Harmony was a project worth being continued. Besides, for all Twilight knew, the only reason that those two were friends was because of Harmony Six. So, in that way, Fancy Pants wasn’t wrong…

“The dragons and griffons are talking with each other a lot more,” Twilight said with deliberately chosen words. Yelling was a form of talking.

The little purple mare could feel the weight of Captain Applejack’s stare behind her.

“I’ve heard that they’re shooting at each other a lot more too,” Agent Nightshade chimed in, his smirk remaining as insufferable as it had been since he’d stepped off the Fleur De Lis.

Twilight winced slightly. “Technically,” the mare carefully countered, “no forces formally acknowledged to be aligned with either government have exchanged fire with each other.”

“Not every member of any given race is a part of that race’s recognized government,” Fancy Pants acknowledged, looking back over his shoulder at the batpony stallion. “There are pony pirates in the world too,” the chancellor pointed out.

“Indeed there are, chancell—” The rest of the leather-winged pony’s response was interrupted by his collision with a cyan earth pony stallion who’d apparently not been paying attention to where he was walking. Both of the ponies involved stumbled and a number of items fell to the ground, to include several boxes that the earth pony had been carrying and Nightshade’s sunglasses.

“Oh! Goodness, I am so sorry!” The earth pony launched into an almost instantaneous apology. “I wasn’t paying attention, which I obviously should have been,” he went on to offer by way of acknowledging fault. “Especially with how busy it is around here! I was just in a hurry to get back home and—oh, wow! Is that the chancellor?! Chancellor Fancy Pants! I don’t suppose I can—”

Nightshade whipped his head around and glared at the cyan stallion standing near him. His self-satisfied smirk was nowhere to be seen now. In its place was a seething snarl that exposed his blunted fangs. Furious blood-red eyes glared at the earth pony.

“Shut. Up.”

The cyan stallion’s mouth instantaneously slammed closed with an audible click. The pony visibly recoiled away from the batpony, his own fearful green eyes locked onto the agent’s. Above them, the rest of Nightshade’s squad had descended closer to the group that they were escorting. They didn’t land or take direct action. They simply hovered and watched the head of their nascent bureau deal with the intruder.

Nightshade kept his unblinking gaze locked onto the earth pony. “Grab your shit and leave. Now.”

The other stallion nodded slowly before gathering his fallen property back up onto his back and hurriedly trotting away without a word. The batpony watched him leave for several more seconds before letting out an annoyed huff of air and scooping up his sunglasses with a wing. He carefully slipped the tinted lenses back over his eyes, but not before he’d flicked his gaze in Twilight’s direction for a brief moment.

It was a faint sensation, and brief besides. The little unicorn had to wonder if most would have noticed it at all. She’d spent time in university learning about various charms and potions which could influence a pony and how to defend against them. Part of that education had necessitated being subjected to those very charms in the interests of recognizing when she was potentially being magically influenced. The mare perceived the sensation as pressure. Something pressing down on her mind in an effort to suborn it to another’s will.

Twilight had become keenly sensitive to the feeling during her studies. To the point where she’d been able to feel the telltale signs of a caster preparing to make the attempt. To her, it wasn’t unlike a pony using their hoof to gauge the sturdiness of the ice covering a lake.

She’d felt that tentative hoof pushing down on her just now, when Nightshade’s gaze had briefly met her own. Just a slight pressure, lightly applied…and gone the instant the tinted lenses blocked his crimson irises from sight.

“Are you quite alright, agent?” Fancy Pants inquired.

The smirk was back on the batpony’s face as he regarded the unicorn stallion. “I’m fine, Mister Chancellor. No harm done.” He glanced up at the still-hovering flight of batponies and flicked his wing at them. The four fliers immediately climbed back into the air and resumed their lazy circling.

“T-this way, Chancellor Fancy Pants,” Twilight said, shrugging off the passing sensation that she’d felt. “I think that you’ll find Cowtown—er, I mean: Zone Four—interesting.”

As the purple unicorn led their procession, Captain Applejack shifted the positions within their little herd until she was trotting beside Twilight and Nightshade was with the chancellor. “Y’alright, colonel? Y’looked a might spooked fer jus’ a moment—”

“I’m fine.” The second the words were out of her mouth, the mare knew that they’d been said too quickly to be easily believed. Her head of security raised a patient brow and waited for the inevitable correction that was going to follow when a pony was caught in that blatant of a lie.

“I’m okay,” Twilight tried again, doing a better job of sounding like she meant it. “Really.”

“...Alright. If’n y’say so.” Applejack didn’t press the matter after that, for which the unicorn was grateful.

The rest of the tour that afternoon passed without any additional incidents. The chancellor was simultaneously thrilled that so many species had made Harmony Six their home, but also a little disappointed that the residents had more or less segregated themselves into distinct sections of the fortress. Twilight managed to satisfactorily explain that it was a bare minimum of segregation, and only because the physical differences between the races made total residential integration the next best thing to impossible.

A minotaur was never going to be comfortable living in an apartment building designed for ponies, and vice-versa. Griffons only felt comfortable nesting up high along the island’s central mountain, but there wasn’t any way you were going to convince a Saddle Arabian to stay up at that altitude for any longer than was absolutely necessary. There were some overlapping species, of course: pegasi and hippogriffs didn’t generally mind being neighbors with griffons. Diamond dogs, minotaurs, and dragons enjoyed the same dark cavernous spaces dug into the mountain.

Besides, whatever each species might prefer when it came to where they slept, they all would hang out and shop in many of the same areas. In that way, Harmony had very much succeeded in creating a place where every species of the planet could associate. At least, every species that wasn’t on the brink of war with one another…

A leader of one of the internationally-recognized Great Powers paying the island a visit wasn’t a minor affair. It was also, in many ways, a de facto ‘diplomatic function’. While Chancellor Fancy Pants wasn’t on Harmony for the purpose of negotiating treaties, it wouldn’t do to have the elected leader of ponykind not tap hooves and shake hands with the ambassadors of the other races represented on the island. As a result, the reception in the garden that afternoon was attended by just about every dignitary who could attend…

…With two notable exceptions.

It had not been the most pleasant conversation in the world that Twilight could recall having. Both times she’d needed to have it. Neither Ambassador Gilda nor Ember had been initially receptive to the idea of getting ‘snubbed’ by being excluded from the party. Which, the unicorn was forced to acknowledge, was fair: the griffons and dragons were two of the five premiere powers on the planet. It should be looked at as a slight to forbid them from attending. And so Twilight hadn’t. Technically.

What she had done—and what the chancellor had agreed to in order to make the fortress commander’s plan work—was let Gilda and Ember know that, if both of them turned out to simply be ‘too busy’ to attend the garden reception because of prior commitments, then Fancy Pants would be more than happy to attend any function that the griffon or dragon ambassador might happen to want to host at a later date—provided both ambassadors didn’t try and double-book the chancellor.

Fortunately, both of the ambassadors had agreed to the compromise, which meant that neither they—nor their aides—were in attendance today. Which—hopefully—meant that the party wouldn’t end the same way that far too many of the Council sessions did: with a screaming match that threatened to devolve into a fistfight.

Ambassadors Celestia and Zecora were in attendance though. The first fifteen minutes of the party had been taken up with Fancy Pants and the zebra posing for pictures together, along with a short speech for the benefit of the press about how grateful Equestria was for the help of their Zebrican allies in launching the Harmony Project. Once all of the reporters had been—mostly—satisfied, the reception had been able to begin in earnest, kicked off with a flyby and aerobatic show put on by Captain Rainbow Dash and her Wonderbolt Squadron.

For Colonel Twilight, this show represented both the first time that she’d seen the prismatic pegasus in the company of her squadron as well as the only time the unicorn had been able to clearly see the captain while she was in the air. Normally, all that Twilight was able to perceive was a rainbow-patterned contrail streaking around the island.

To the squadron commander’s credit, she was a talented flier. The rest of her premiere squadron were also obviously quite skilled as well, and the performance that they put on for the chancellor and his delegation was met with resounding applause from all of the attendees. The applause was only just starting to peter out when Rainbow Dash landed and hastily discarded her combat harness at the edge of the garden, all in an effort to bask in the adoration of her performance’s fans up close. The rigid metal rigging, which was intended to provide a pegasus flier with some moderate protection, as well as mounting pylons for dropped explosives, was collected up by the squadron’s flight crewponies for transport back to the island’s aerie.

Twilight watched as the cerulean mare picked up a small stack of napkins in her wing and started to mark them with her hoofprint, passing out the impromptu ‘autographs’ to every creature that she passed on her way over to the chancellor. The purple unicorn felt some of the muscles in her face come within a tail hair of straining as she fought to keep her expression pleasantly neutral while watching the winged-embodiment of ego present one of the hoof-marked napkins to Fancy Pants, a self-satisfied grin plastered across her muzzle.

“Here you go, Mister Chancellor!” Rainbow said, holding the napkin out to the unicorn stallion. “A personal autograph from the Rainbow Dash! Wouldn’t want you to have come all the way out here just to leave empty-hoofed.” The mare finished with a wink at the taller pony.

So help me if this mare is trying to flirt with him too, Twilight thought to herself, struggling to suppress a long-suffering sigh. It was bad enough when it was just the major…

Fortunately for the purple mare, Fancy Pants hadn’t won the last election just by having a more popular political platform. He was also exceptionally personable. The ivory stallion graciously accepted the cloth napkin and even went so far as to appear as though he was genuinely admiring it. “Well, I must say that that was some of the best-coordinated flying that I’ve ever seen. What was that last maneuver at the end?”

“I call it the Rainbow Blaze!” The pegasus mare proudly announced, her expression the perfect image of a satisfied smirk. She pretended to polish her hoof against her flight suit. “It’s my own personal invention. An awesome flier needs an awesome finale, right?”

“Indeed,” Fancy Pants conceded with a slight nod. His telekinesis stashed the napkin inside his jacket. “You know, there’s a squadron that operates out of the capital that does a lot of performances for the public. I think you might have the talent that they’re looking for.”

Twilight tried not to keep her eyes from widening too visibly. On the one hoof, she didn’t want to believe that Rainbow’s forthright approach had actually worked. On the other, the little purple unicorn was trying not to look hopeful at the prospect of the undisciplined flier being taken off her hooves without the need to make the transfer request herself.

“Only if you’re going to transfer the rest of my flight with me,” the chromatic-maned pegasus replied without even a hint of sarcasm. The response left both Twilight and the chancellor dumbfounded.

“I beg your pardon, captain?” “Excuse me?!”

Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof and flushed, not having intended to give voice to her own incredulity. If the chancellor had noticed it, he gave no sign. Instead he tried to get further elaboration from the pegasus. “Your whole flight?”

“Well…yeah?” Rainbow replied, as though the reasoning behind her request should have been obvious. Either she soon realized that her personal thought process wasn’t obvious, or she just liked hearing herself talk. In either case, the flier deigned to go on. “When I got assigned to Harmony Six, I told all my ponies that I was going to turn them into the most elite squadrons in all of Equestria; and I meant it! Do you know how many months of work I’ve put into those ponies?”

Rainbow Dash flicked a wing in the vague direction of the location in the sky where her squadron’s performance had taken place. “It’s not like that routine came together overnight, or that I did it all on my own.”

Twilight Sparkle was unable to keep her brows from rising in noticeable surprise upon hearing what passed for an uncharacteristic amount of humility from the pegasus—

“I mean, as awesome as I am on my own, I look even more awesome with talented ponies backing me up!”

The purple unicorn closed her eyes and suppressed a sigh, mentally chastising herself for getting her hopes up.

“Once I’m done whipping the rest of my ponies into the best fliers possible,” the pegasus went on, “then I’ll take a transfer to Canterlot. But, until then: I don’t walk out on my ponies, Mister Chancellor.” Rainbow Dash flashed Fancy Pants a broad grin. “But I’ll let you know when my ponies are finally ready to fly on their own without my awesomeness to guide them so that you can offer me that transfer again.”

“Well, since I believe that the good Colonel Sparkle here would be quite put out if I took all of her squadrons away from her on such short notice, I suppose that the ponies of Equestria will just have to wait to behold your ‘awesomeness’, Captain Dash,” Fancy Pants said, sounding sincere enough that Twilight found herself wondering whether or not the career politician really did mean it or not. “Do let me know when you believe your work is done here. If I’m still in office, that is,” the unicorn added with a wry smile of his own.

Rainbow Dash positively beamed before saluting with a flick of her wing. “Will do, Chancellor Pants!”

It was at this time that Vice Chancellor Neighsay returned to the group, having apparently concluded a conversation with a member of the donkey delegation. Agent Nightshade was trotting at the pale gray unicorn stallion’s side.

The lens-covered eyes looked over at the still-preening Rainbow Dash. “Not a bad performance, little filly. I’ll admit that you have some decent skills for somepony flying out here in the middle of nowhere.” His smug was back in full force. “Makes a pony wonder what must have gone wrong to keep you from getting a post in Equestria?”

The pegasus mare’s expression instantly soured at the words: ‘little filly’. Violet eyes narrowed at the batpony. Twilight felt a brief burst of camaraderie with the cerulean flier as she too gave the leathery-winged stallion a cool look. Nightshade was quite clearly trying to suggest that a posting to Harmony Fortress was an indication of ill-favour within Equestria’s military. Obviously that was as far from the case as possible. After all, one of the project’s biggest proponents, the chancellor himself, was standing right here!

“Agent—”

Whatever else Chancellor Fancy Pants might have been about to say to the batpony by way of rebuke was overrun by Rainbow Dash’s own indignant retort. “I’ll have you know I was given my choice of posts, bugeyes!” The mare bristled, puffing her chest out at the taller stallion deriding her. “Flight leaders all over Equestria were begging me to fly with them!”

“Captain Dash—” Twilight tried, but with just as much success in reigning things in as the chancellor had had.

“Oh, really?” Nightshade didn’t appear to react at all to the mare’s posturing, barely even appearing to look in her direction as he spoke. “Because the stack of demerits thickening your academy file suggest that they were more likely to be begging you to fly away from them.”

Rainbow Dash recoiled from the stallion as though she’d been physically slapped. Her eyes widened in brief panic. “You looked at my—?” The mare shook her head and rallied in short order, though she didn’t come off sounding nearly as confident as she had just a few seconds ago. “Everypony has demerits in their training file!” She insisted. Twilight decided that this would be an ill-advised time to hold up her own spotless record as a counter to the assertion and stayed quiet. “But everypony doesn’t set academy speed records,” the squadron commander said with a satisfied huff, finally managing to get her own smug smile in place.

“I saw your records,” the batpony almost conceded. “I also saw that they were signed off on by the same stallion every time. Not a bad looking stallion for his age,” Nightshade went on. Rainbow Dash was regarding him with a look of confusion at the apparent nonsequitur. “I saw pictures of his wife too. Recent and older photos. Coloration’s off, but you definitely have her body type.”

Twilight saw where the agent was going with his comments now. It looked like Rainbow Dash hadn’t quite made the connection yet though by the time the batpony’s smile broadened into a taunting grin. “What do you really raise faster: your altitude? Or your tail…?”

The pegasus’ indignant rage manifested in a fraction of a second. “You fucking bas—!”

“That will be quite enough, Agent!”

The Equestrian chancellor’s earlier jovial expression was gone now. The unicorn stallion was glaring at the batpony, while Twilight had also subtly interposed herself just in front of her flight commander in order to keep the pegasus from doing anything that might result in paperwork needing to be filed. For his part, Nightshade didn’t look the least bit cowed by his superior’s rebuke. He kept his tinted lenses fixed on the scowling Rainbow Dash as he spoke. “Just conducting a brief staff evaluation, Mister Chancellor,” the batpony said. “This is the mare in charge of a significant portion of Harmony Six’s defenses after all.

“If she can’t keep her cool during a simple conversation, then how reliable can she be expected to be during an actual crisis?”

‘Simple conversation’? Colonel Twilight Sparkle was glaring at the batpony stallion. Nightshade had admitted to baiting the pegasus captain, which explained why he’d been saying those things; but the little purple unicorn still didn’t fully understand what the point of it was supposed to be. He was a civilian who worked for an agency unconnected with the Harmony Project—so far as Twilight knew, anyway—to say nothing of the cavalry as a whole. So what interest could he possibly have in ‘evaluating’ her staff?

“While Agent Nightshade’s methods might not be as polished as they could be,” Vice Chancellor Neighsay chimed in, drawing the attention of everypony else nearby, “he does make a valid point that we should want only the best and most suitable ponies managing an installation as important to Equestrian interests as this fortress.”

“Oh, I’m the ‘best’ all right!” Rainbow Dash insisted through what wasn’t quite a snarl that was directed at the offending batpony standing in front of her. “And if Agent Nightsoil here doesn’t think that I earned my records, then I have no problem giving him a demonstration right here and now!”

“Captain Dash—” Twilight tried, only to have the batpony interrupt her again.

“What are you proposing, little filly?”

“A race. Three laps around the fortress, following the shoal buoys,” Rainbow Dash declared.

Twilight noted the slight broadening of the batpony stallion’s smile before he nodded. “Alright then. I don’t mind seeing if you have the wings to back up that mouth of yours, captain,” Nightshade said, flexing his leathery wings in anticipation of the imminent flight. He cast a quick look at the vice chancellor, seeking tacit permission. The gaunt gray unicorn nodded. Beside them both, Chancellor Fancy Pants sighed but made no effort to stop either pony. The expression on his face suggested that a conversation away from prying eyes was going to be had later on the matter.

If neither of Equestria’s leaders were going to object to the race, then Twilight was hardly going to take action either. Honestly, there was a part of her that very much looked forward to seeing the batpony humbled a little after the remarks that he’d made regarding both the pegasus and herself, even if some of them had been made more obliquely than others. Harmony Six might be as far away from Equestria proper as one could get, and it was certainly a less traditionally prestigious posting than, say, Canterlot or Manehattan, but that didn’t make this assignment unimportant.

So the purple unicorn took a step back, getting out from between the pegasus and batpony. The pair maneuvered into position, side-by-side, in order to begin their declared race. Rainbow Dash’s narrowed gaze never broke away from Nightshade’s tinted lenses. While it was impossible to see the batpony’s eyes though the smoky glass, his smug smile never wavered as he crouched down beside the cerulean mare and flared his wings in preparation for the race.

“Colonel?” The leathery-winged pony prompted, still not looking away from Rainbow Dash. “If you’d do the honors?”

Twilight’s lips pulled into a slight frown, but she accepted the impromptu designation as the officiator of the race and took up a position that let her observe that both racers were in line with each other. “Racers: on your marks!” Both fliers tensed. Wings flared. “Get set!” The two ponies coiled their legs in preparation to push off into the sky.

“Go!”

Twilight Sparkle and the pair of Equestrian leaders all winced away from the sudden intense backblast of air as two sets of powerful wings beat down and propelled the winged ponies into the sky. The little purple unicorn lit her horn to magically clear away the worst of the dust and looked on after the fliers. Much to her own chagrin, she noted that Nightshade was actually managing to keep up with the pegasus mare. For now anyway. She didn’t expect that fact to endure for long though.

“Do Ah even want t’know?” Captain Applejack’s bored drawl drew the colonel’s attention and she turned to see her head of security approaching, having apparently completed her check of the garden’s perimeter.

“Just some friendly inter-agency competition, captain,” Vice Chancellor Neighsay answered for Twilight. “Nothing to be concerned about.” The fortress’ commander resisted the urge to correct her superior’s ‘mischaracterization’ of earlier events. She’d have more than enough time to fill Applejack in on the specifics of Nightshade and Rainbow Dash’s interaction later.

“Yeah, about that: Ah’ve been wantin’ to ask y’all about this new Equestrian Bureau of Peace and Serenity,” the orange earth pony mare began. “Why exactly is it that they’re suddenly in charge of security fer y’all? Ah thought that was a cavalry duty?”

Twilight suppressed a wince at the prospect of another of her subordinates bluntly confronting the chancellor and vice chancellor. In the unicorn’s opinion, there was a time, place, and manner for inquiring about political decisions. This reception wasn’t it.

On the other hoof, the colonel couldn’t deny that she was also quite curious to hear the answer.

If the captain’s question was impertinent, neither politician gave any indication. If anything, Neighsay seemed almost eager to answer it. “While security for Equestria’s leadership has, traditionally, been the responsibility of the military,” the vice chancellor conceded with a nod, “it’s the opinion of the chancellor and I that our recent war with the zebras has shifted public perception of the cavalry.

“Curfews, rationing, conscription,” the gray-coated unicorn listed off, “while the martial law measures Equestria undertook during the war were certainly necessary for the continued survival of ponykind, one cannot deny that it colored the perception of a soldier’s role among the common pony. You were our valiant defenders, of course,” Neighsay said, giving Twilight and Applejack an almost reverent bow as he made the acknowledgement, “but ponies wearing your uniforms were also the ones who took food from the mouths of civilians, or carried away loved ones to fight on the front lines.

“Nopony is out to cast our courageous ponies in uniform as any sort of villain; but there’s no denying that the less-flattering realities and perceptions linger.” Neighsay’s gaze lingered on Applejack’s modified uniform and he gave the earth pony mare a knowing nod. “I believe that you’ve recognized this as well: ponies don’t like seeing soldiers looming over them as they go about their lives. It reminds them too much of what things were like while the war was going on.

“So, the chancellor and I decided that it was perhaps best if we created an agency with the chartered goal of helping Equestria’s ponies to feel safer and more at peace. Hence the EBPS. And, as a first step in calming ponies’ minds, we’ve delegated the chancellor’s and my safety to them; so that we can walk around among our ponies without them having to see soldiers hovering around them.” The vice chancellor nodded upwards in the direction of the duo of batponies that were presently lazily circling overhead.

Twilight and Applejack exchanged looks. Nothing that the unicorn stallion had said was too different from the orange mare’s own expressed rationale for having the ponies under her command adopt uniforms that were more reminiscent of civilian law enforcement. Of course, her change had just been to the uniform. Those ponies were still very much soldiers. Neighsay had taken things a step further. Though that didn’t mean that it was a bad thing.

Applejack then glanced up at the fliers overhead. “Are they all batponies?”

“Yes,” Neighsay confirmed with another nod. “The EBPS will be staffed exclusively by batponies.”

This got the full attention of both Harmony officers. Neither pair even noticed Rainbow Dash and Nightsahde zooming by beyond the garden bastion, marking the completion of the first lap of their race.

Restricting participation in an agency to a single kind of pony was done only in very specific cases. For example: the Weather Bureau was staffed by pegasi. Of course, this was because of the fact that only pegasi could effectively manipulate and control the weather. It simply wasn’t something that an earth pony or unicorn could do, and so employing them wasn’t practical.

However, Twilight was having a hard time believing that helping ponies feel safe was something that only batponies had the skills to accomplish. “Is there any particular reason for that, vice chancellor?” The purple mare ventured cautiously. She wasn’t in the habit of questioning the decisions of her superiors after all.

“Because while acting as our security will be one of their more public responsibilities, it won’t be the agency’s primary duty,” the unicorn stallion explained without any hint of reservation. “Their mandate will be to evaluate ponies in positions of trust and leadership in order to make certain that they are serving the best interests of the Equestrian ponies, and not themselves. They will also be tasked with seeking out ponies in distress so that they can be given the counseling and care that they need.

“The war left some lasting scars on the psyches of Equestrians. I’m sure you’re aware of some examples, colonel.” Neighsay said with a nod in the purple mare’s direction. Twilight gave a slight nod of her own head but very carefully didn’t say anything aloud. She most certainly didn’t think about White Tail.

There had been a smell that lingered in the air for the next few days.
Twilight had trouble walking near residences inhabited by dragons to this day—

Twilight sharply inhaled to bring herself back to the present, grateful to have apparently not missed anything that the vice chancellor had been saying. “Batpony magic is uniquely qualified to identify both ponies who don’t have Equestria’s best interests at heart as well as those who aren’t serving their own personal best interests.”

Applejack’s expression hardened. When she spoke, it was with a tenseness that Twilight recognized. The mare sounded much like she had when Twilight had asked her for that ‘revised’ report. The earth pony wasn’t happy, to say the least. Twilight was grateful that she at least did a better job of veiling her displeasure than Rainbow Dash had. “Y’all’re takin’ about Enthrallin’, aren’t’cha?”

Fancy Pants cleared his throat, entering the conversation once more. His slightly uneasy expression indicated that he had the grace to acknowledge why Applejack might have objections to Neighsay’s proposal. “It goes without saying that the EBPS will be abiding by strict regulatory guidelines when it comes to when—and especially upon whom—they can exert their influence,” the white unicorn stallion assured the mares.

“Obviously,” Neighsay agreed without hesitation. “Our goal isn’t to intrude upon the personal lives of our ponies. But I’m sure that both of you agree that it is essential that Equestria be safeguarded against any threats; even those from within.

“Especially in such perilous times.”

This time Twilight did note Rainbow Dash and Nightshade flying past. The pegasus mare had achieved a respectable lead over the stallion. If the present topic of conversation weren’t so concerning, the unicorn mare might have smiled.

Twilight raised a curious brow as she looked back at Neighsay. “‘Perilous times’, Mister Vice Chancellor?”

“Oh course, colonel! How else would you describe the current rising tensions between the griffons and the dragons?” The unicorn asked, his tone suggesting a rhetorical nature to the question.

For her part, the purple unicorn cringed, acknowledging that relations between the two were fairly steadily deteriorating. The last intelligence reports that the mare had seen suggested that the dragons had wasted no time in further fortifying Rock Haven Island. There was now a fairly massive military presence on the island. Ambassador Gilda claimed that the dragons intended to use the island as a forward base of operations in order to launch additional military actions against the griffons. Meanwhile, Ambassador Ember insisted that they were merely ensuring that the dragons would be able to continue their anti-piracy efforts in the region.

In case there were any other bands of ‘raiders’ present on other islands in the archipelago.

“Ponies are nervous,” Neighsay continued. “It’s understandable, given the prospect of a possible war between two races. One of whom might even call upon our aid!”

Twilight’s lips pursed now. She glanced between the two stallions, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern. “I wasn’t aware that we had a mutual defense pact with either the Griffonian Republic or the Dragon Lands…?”

“We don’t,” Fancy Pants assured the mare.

“But it’s common knowledge that the griffons aided Equestria during our war with the zebras,” Neighsay pointed out. “Founded or not, it is understandable that ponies might jump to the conclusion that Equestria will get involved in a possible war between the griffons and dragons. That has some ponies on edge. Our intention is to use the EBPS to seek out any misinformed ponies spreading dangerous rumors like that and…correct their unfounded assumptions.”

The gray unicorn smiled warmly and looked between both mares. “We can’t have ponies spreading lies now, can we? Even if those ponies don’t mean to be malicious about it.”

Applejack’s lips were still pulled in a tight line. “...Ah s’ppose not,” she agreed. “Ah’m jus’ not so sure about letting batponies Enthrall ponies to go about it,” the earth pony reiterated. “Ah thought there were laws about compellin’ testimony and such?”

Neighsay’s smile didn’t falter as he dismissed the captain’s concerns with an idle wave of his hoof. “I assure you, captain, it isn’t the chancellor’s or my goal to imprison ponies for merely jumping to mistaken conclusions!” The stallion even permitted himself an amused chuckle at the absurdity of the notion. “We simply believe it’s in the best interests of all Equestrians for any troubling lies to be tracked back to their source as quickly as possible so that the ponies spreading them to be educated on the facts.

“Surely you don’t see anything objectionable about that?”

“...The idea certainly sounds noble,” Applejack carefully conceded.

Fancy Pants cleared his throat once more. “I understand that there might be misgivings—I even share them, I assure you—which is why I promise that the protocols for the EBPS will be crafted carefully. The agency won’t receive its mandate to start those kinds of operations until my full cabinet and I are satisfied that we’ve managed to properly balance the security of Equestria against the rights of our ponies.” He shared a meaningful look with his vice chancellor, getting a nod from the other unicorn stallion.

“I’m certainly grateful to hear that, Mister Chancellor,” Twilight said. Her ear flicked as she picked up the sound of furiously flapping wings. She and the other ponies nearby turned in time to see Rainbow Dash and Nightshade turning into their final approach, diving towards the spot on the ground that they’d taken off from earlier. The purple unicorn allowed herself a smile upon seeing that the pegasus had achieved a commanding lead over the EBPS agent. There would be no doubt about who’d won the race between them.

“Well done, Captain Dash,” she declared, permitting herself to execute a short congratulatory stomping of applause as the cerulean mare alighted gracefully in front of them. Her lips spread into a lightly smug expression of her own as she watched the trailing batpony stallion flying in after her. “It looks like you barely even worked up a sweat.” This much was undeniably an exaggeration, as Rainbow Dash was visibly breathing hard, and her coat visible above the collar of her flight suit was noticeably matted with perspiration. However, Twilight decided to permit herself the fib if it might mean annoying the batpony a little more.

Much to the unicorn mare’s slight annoyance, Agent Nightshade didn’t look all that disappointed that he’d lost the race, and not by a little either. The leather-winged stallion slipped into a gentle glide the rest of the way to the ground. Once he’d finally landed, he used a wingtip to nudge one of his tinted lenses back into place from where it had shifted slightly during flight. His expression seemed fairly passive, and his lips maintained their cocky tilt. “Not bad, filly. I guess you can manage to fly in circles at least.”

Rainbow Dash glared at the stallion and let out an annoyed snort in his direction before accepting the praise from her commander. “There wasn’t even a question that I’d win, ma’am,” the mare said, giving Twilight a brief salute with her wing.

“A truly impressive performance, Captain Dash,” Fancy Pants commended, favoring the pegasus mare with a warm smile. “Are you certain that I can’t entice you back to the capital?” The expression on his face made it clear that the chancellor was being playful, but there was a slight note of genuine hope in his words.

“Sorry, Mister Chancellor; not while Harmony Fortress still needs me,” Rainbow returned with a smile and a shake of her head.

“Ah well, I suppose that even a chancellor must learn to live with life’s little disappointments. Speaking of which: I’m afraid that I don’t have much more time to spend in the company of you lovely mares any longer,” the ivory unicorn stallion lamented with a warm smile cast at each of the three officers. “At least not in this moment. Now that the media has had their fill, Ambassador Zecora and I can finally have a meaningful conversation. Hopefully we can finish our talks in time for me to grab some of that absolutely delicious-smelling pecan pie I saw on the desert table earlier!

“Until later, colonel, captains.” Fancy Pants bowed his head slightly in the direction of all three officers before turning, along with Vice Chancellor Neighsay, and heading off in the direction of the zebra representative and her staff.

Agent Nightshade followed in their wake. “It was nice finally seeing you, Captain Dash. You didn’t disappoint.”

Twilight frowned before looking over at the pegasus beside her. “He sure changed his tune, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know what any of that was about!” Rainbow Dash huffed, unabashedly annoyed. “He questions my records, hints that I slept my way to the top, puts up a truly pitiful effort in our race, and now he’s acting like nothing even happened? What’s his deal?” The pegasus mare let out a frustrated grunt, her wing coming up to massage her temple. “It’s enough to make my head hurt. I’m going to go get some water.

“Catch you two later.”

Twilight and Applejack offered nods as the winged mare departed for the refreshment stand. Then it was Applejack’s turn to sigh and shake her head. “Still not sure Ah like all this EBSP stuff,” she confided. “Givin’ batponies not jus’ permission to Enthrall ponies, but makin’ it an official duty? There’s a reason they gotta wear them glasses, you know?

“Ah don’t like it,” the orange earth pony echoed. “Not one bit.”

“I know. I’m not sure that I’m entirely comfortable with all of it either,” Twilight agreed. “But I trust the chancellor. He’s a good pony. I’m certain he’ll make sure that the agency’s regulations only let the batponies use their magic responsibly.”

“Don’t know that there’s any ‘responsible’ way to use mind control,” Applejack scoffed.

“It’s not ‘mind control’,” Twilight countered, mostly as a matter of clarifying the correct terminology. There were spells and enchantments that existed which truly overrode a creature’s thoughts and effected bona fide control over their actions. Batpony magic didn’t work like that. They couldn’t control what a creature did—so far as Twilight understood the research—they could merely influence their actions. And only for as long as they maintained direct eye contact.

In Twilight’s opinion, a lot of the public’s understanding of what batponies could do was greatly misinformed thanks to old bigotries. Those stigmas hadn’t faded with time though, and so the exaggerations of what they could do persisted. Along with the laws which required batponies to wear tinted lenses any time they were around other ponies in order to ensure that nopony was unintentionally Enthralled by them.

“They can make you do and say things that you weren’t thinkin’ about sayin’ or doin’,” Applejack countered. “If that ain’t ‘mind control’, then it’s close enough fer me as to make no difference.”

The purple unicorn sighed and briefly weighed the merits of getting into a prolonged academic argument with her head of security over the semantics of what qualified as genuine domination magic, and what was effectively an innate form of temporary hypnosis. Not unlike what stage performers engaged in with their audience. In the end, Twilight decided that she didn’t have the energy for any particularly lengthy discussions this evening.

“I’m going to start making my own social rounds,” the unicorn announced. “I’ll see you later, captain.”

“Take care, ma’am.”

Author's Note

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