“...you are threatening the democratic processes!”

“...we refuse to work if we are going to be treated this way!”

“...I was drug here by a police officer! The unmitigated gall…”

“...we will not tolerate working under these conditions!”

“...we don’t even have hot coffee or tea…”

The sounds of protest were immediately cut off as Belisama dragged her claws down a blackboard, which produced the spine tingling screech that was currently silencing the room. She moved her claws slowly, her eyes clenched shut against the horrible sound she was making.

Unperturbed, Violent Velvet appeared to be enjoying the sound, she stood there with her ears perked as if she might have been listening to a piece by the famous musician Octavia. She smiled serenely at the soul rending screeching sound produced by Belisama’s claws being drug over a blackboard.

“Do I have your attention?” Violet inquired when the screeching sound finally died. “By the way… very good Majesty. That is the proper application of force to gain attention. Psychological torture is effective and memorable.”

The council ponies glared at Violet Velvet, eyes narrowed, their ears folded back against their skulls. They stood on one side of the room, Violet Velvet and Belisama were on the other.

“Let us all get one thing straight. You drug your heels on this issue just to be rebellious and to get petty revenge against Buckminster. This measure costs no money, has no downsides, will provide several paid jobs, and there is absolutely no good reason to block it or prevent it from happening,” Violet announced as she opened a folder and became organised.

“We were meaning to hold a meeting to discuss it,” a mare replied.

“When?” Violet demanded as she peered at the mare over her reading glasses. “Tell me… tell me now. I demand to be informed. Because I’ve read the minutes of the last few meetings. You’ve done nothing to discuss this issue. In fact… the entirety of the last meeting, which was yesterday, the time was spent discussing if you should get a city funded allowance for stationery, ink, and office equipment such as chairs, desks, tables, and the like for home use. I see no work getting done here… why would you need such things at home?”

Nopony replied. Teeth were bared and ears remained pinned back in aggressive defiance from the council as they stood together on the other side of the room.

“Is this true?” Belisama questioned.

“That we discussed this? Yes,” a stallion admitted.

“No… I mean that you refused to pass this measure… just out of a sense of defiance against my mate. Just to… behave like insolent foals. Do you know what he does for you?” Belisama said, her words becoming a question and her voice becoming an angry screech.

The little griffoness spread her wings out and flexed her talons angrily.

“You… you are holding foals back from going to school and preventing jobs from being created just so you can have some kind of meaningless revenge against my mate? How could you be so stupid and petty? How do you live with yourselves? Rather than take up any issues you have with him directly, you take it out on foals and ponies that need jobs? HOW DARE YOU! Do you know what he does for you? How he suffers for you? He has lost parts of his own body trying to keep all of your kind safe. He holds back the darkness so you worthless lot can sleep comfortable and safe in your beds at night. And you do this to thank him? You’re worthless,” Belisama said, scolding the council, her voice becoming a feline hiss of displeasure near the end of her lecture.

“Oh… I like this one… and to think I nearly smacked her with a rolled up newspaper,” Violet remarked as she watched ears begin to droop and lips that were curled back in a defiant sneer become regretful looks of shame. “Oh… and for the record, I plan to post the last week’s minutes and records in the public newspaper under the new local government transparency act.”

“And then what Violet? We make them angrier? Fill them with the need to rebel even more? We shame them publicly, fill them with resentment, bitterness, and anger, which they redirect against my husband? What end does this accomplish?” Belisama questioned in a low voice. The griffoness looked troubled, hurt, confused, and more than a little angry.

“Any suggestions?” Violet asked with a soft knowing smirk upon her face.

Blinking, her crest rising, Belisama glanced at the council first and then at Violet Velvet. Reaching up with her talons, she rubbed at her neck, smoothing down her feathers. “You… all of you… you sign the papers and pass the motion that we need,” Belisama said to the council. “In exchange, Violet and I give you the means to redeem yourselves and make amends for your actions. We get to walk away with the papers and the motion we need and you get to walk away with your dignity mostly intact. And in the future, we start working together with a spirit of cooperation.”

“That seems reasonable,” a mare responded in a fearful whine.

Leaning her head in towards Belisama, Violet Velvet placed her lips near where Belisama’s ear hole existed, hidden by feathers. “This is how you behave as a queen, Majesty. Remember this when dealing with your own griffons in the future. Your actions have strengthened your husband’s position and has shown you to be a good and fair ruler in your own right. One word of advice though… never take prisoners,” Violet whispered in a soft low voice. “And the move with the blackboard was brilliant.”

“Since we are here… perhaps we should pass other measures as well while we are gathered together,” a stallion suggested. “Miss Velvet… if you would be so gracious… we could use your assistance in organising some projects we have planned. I think a large part of the problem for a number of us is feeling overwhelmed and we just don’t know where to get started on these massive multi-generational projects being presented to us. Can you help us? I know I feel out of my element, confused, and frightened by the scope of what is presented sometimes.”

“That is in fact what I am being paid for,” Violet Velvet replied, now looking pleased.

“Really?” a mare asked.

“I can either be your assistant in getting projects done or I can be the Lord of Winter’s assistant in making you get your stuff together and work. Pick one. Choose wisely,” Violet answered in a cold voice. “Either way, I get paid and I get to enjoy my job.”

“You’d still help us?” a stallion asked.

“It is my job. I do my job. Buckminster looks me in the eye and commands me to do something… afterwards, I do what he commands. It is really a very simple process. He commanded me to help you out in any way that I could and to bring my sense of efficiency to the city. I will have order. I will get results. The Lord of Winter has given me a task… which will be done because my professionalism demands that I do it,” Violet Velvet explained in deadpan.

“I have an army of assistants that are trained to perform clerical tasks and make things easier,” Belisama mentioned as she looked around the room. “I have the remnants of the castle staff among my number, the very griffons that kept the day to day workings of Griffonholm going smoothly and ran pretty much everything that the larger lazier griffons couldn’t be bothered with.”

“I think there is much we need to discuss before noon,” a mare said as she offered a hopeful smile to Belisama.

“I’m so glad you could come Twilight… I didn’t know what else to do,” Discord said in a nervous voice as he paced in front of the cottage door.

“I still don’t understand why you just don’t tell me what the problem is,” Twilight Sparkle said in an irritated voice as she peered at Discord. She snorted in annoyance and then felt guilty when she saw Discord cringe. The draconequus had certainly changed.

“Because… dearest Twilight… well, just because,” Discord replied and then sniffed nervously. “Well then, without further ado,” he said as he pushed open the door and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to look in.

Blinking, Twilight Sparkle had trouble taking in what it was she was looking at. Fluttershy’s entire cottage was packed wall to wall. Twilight Sparkle felt overwhelmed. She took a deep breath, now feeling panicked, and remembering an incident with Pinkie Pie. She tried to say something but her mouth just fell open, her lower jaw hanging limply.

“So… Fluttershy and I were fooling around… you know, good old fashioned wholesome married couple sexy times… and as I was giving her a good snuggle groping and tickling her wing pits, I said to her ‘you know my dearest Fluttershy, the only way I could be happier right now would be if there were a hundred more of you’ and then no sooner had the words left my lips, Fluttershy’s tail moves and makes a snapping sound, and then this happened,” Discord explained as one hundred and one Fluttershies all blinked at Twilight Sparkle in unison.

“Fluttershy did this?” Twilight Sparkle breathed in disbelief.

“We’re sorry,” one hundred and one Fluttershies said in unison.

“Fluttershy… you have horns growing!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I… uh… we? We know,” Fluttershy responded politely, all one hundred and one of them.

Twilight Sparkle stood there, completely flummoxed and unable to do anything but gape like a landed fish. There were too many Fluttershies, all of them trying to be polite and respectful of one another, each of them looking a bit out of sorts for crowding one another.

“I currently have no magic again, or at least not enough to fix this, and I have a sneaking suspicion as to where my magic currently has gone off to,” Discord announced as he reached down and lovingly patted a beaming Fluttershy upon the head.

“I don’t even know how to begin dealing with this,” Twilight Sparkle muttered as she shook her head from side to side, her mane whipping around her face.

With an alarming cry, one of the Fluttershies popped like a soap bubble.

“Well, this is a problem that will take care of itself,” Twilight announced as she backed away. “I’ll send word to Celestia about your… changes. Maybe she’ll know what is going on.”

Another Fluttershy popped and the other Fluttershies all cried out in worry. One fainted.

“So Bucky had to go and save her like he had to save me and Glass Slipper?” Tourmaline asked in soft whisper so she wouldn't’ disturb the drowsy Crystal Empress. The changeling pressed herself closer to Derpy’s back and then rested her head upon Derpy’s side so she could watch Cadance as the foal drifted off to sleep, pressed tightly against Derpy’s stomach.

“Yes. Bucky had to go after her. She died for the sake of love. As a measure of her life, to see if she was truly loved, somepony had to go off and fetch her… I don’t fully understand… but there are different kinds of love. This really hasn’t happened before so everypony is just kind of guessing what took place. But sometimes, when things are lost, they end up in Tartarus and ponies have to go fetch them. Like the Elements of Harmony ended up down there and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had to go and get them,” Derpy explained, sparing the grisly details of what had taken place down there.

“I’m glad he saved me,” Tourmaline whispered in a sad sounding voice. “The mean ones who kept me… they had no love. They would bring the ponies they stole around and they had some love but they also had fear and fear makes the love feel wrong and it hurt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Derpy said, thoroughly enjoying this moment with Cadance and Tourmaline. She looked over at Bittersweet, who was busy fawning over Harper and Peekaboo, who were in exceptionally good moods this morning.

“There are many loves,” Tourmaline whispered to Derpy. “Auntie Sunshine has a warm love that is a lot like the sun. It feels warm and kinda tickly. Auntie Moon Drops has a funny feeling love. Sort of hot and burny… like love having a tantrum. But I know she loves me. Her love has been hurt though… I can feel it. I wish I knew how to make it better.”

“It must be nice to feel love,” Derpy said in a low soft voice as her tail swished against the floor. She lay on her side, one foal pressed against her spine, the other against her belly.

“The donkey has a lot of love,” Tourmaline whispered as her own eyes blinked sleepily.

“Yes, Bittersweet loves. She loves little foals and she loves one pegasus in a very special way. So much love that it has spilled over and now she loves those who also love that pegasus in a special way,” Derpy responded as she felt Cadance’s warm wet breathing against the soft velvet hairs of her stomach.

With a tiny squeaky yawn, Tourmaline drifted off to sleep, her chin resting upon Derpy’s wing. Overcome with love, feeling warm and sluggish, she slipped away into a blissful slumber.

Author's Notes:

Happy boxing day!

I got typos for Saturnalia.