Stanton tossed and turned as he fought against the nightmare he suffered through. He murmured and shifted as his mind relayed to him a most terrible sight before something came about to calm him. He mumbled a few undiscernible questions before he calmly fluttered his eyes open to the dark room around him. He turned to his alarm clock expecting the time to be much later, and turned back over to go to sleep.

But something within his mind wouldn't let him.

He had become restless, partially in a state of exhaustion and boredom without ever knowing the physical and mental peace to be able to close his eyes and let bygones be bygones for another three hours. He walked out of his room and walked over to his miniature fridge and pulled out a Four Loko, chugged some of the contents and hoped that the drink would numb himself to the point where he would just nod off again. But instead of fighting to stay awake after, he was still battling to go to sleep as he was before.

He just laid in his bed for time and time on end, hoping that his mind would at least let up on him, allowing sleep to take over. The disturbance in his mind continued to fester, he would not know the peace he wanted as much. "Fuck... why am I awake." He looked over to his alarm clock, seeing an hour had gone by without sleep. "...Yeah, I'm gonna have to do something about this." He murmured, checking in on his roommate, who was snoring far more soundly. "Okay, alternative number two, coming right up." He said as he went to his phone's browser and pulled up PornHub to help him work some of the energy off.

As he was about to pull up a video, his brother's name popped up on the screen. It was a call from Alex.

"Motherfucker!" He grumbled, sending the call to voicemail after a few rings. He waited for the screen to pop back up before Alex came back up on the screen again. "I fucking swear if something happened to Nondis, I'm gonna put his ass in the ground my damn self." He replied as he took the call. "Yo, it's four in the morning."

"You're up, right?" Alex asked on the other line.

"Who the fuck cares if I'm up. It's four in the morning, take your motherfucking ass to sleep."

"Dude, I wish I could sleep right now. My ass got stirred up about an hour ago. I had this really weird dream."

"Bro, you're married. Go talk to your wife about it or something." Stanton replied.

"Like I'm going to wake up my wife for something like this."

Stanton scratched his chin as he laid back down in his bed. "Okay. So did something happen to Nondis?"

"Well not that I'm aware of."

"Then okay. Take your workaholic ass to bed. I know you got to get up at five to beat the traffic, how about you either get some sleep or you start beating the whole damn Dallas metro on your way to the parking lot."

"You had the dream too, didn't you?" He asked, causing Stanton to stop and think.

"...Okay, what dream did you have?"

"Weird flesh monster, look like it came straight out of a Japanese anime. Shit was fucked, until Twilight came to me for some odd reason."

Stanton nodded his head slowly. "Yeah... Something about the power within─"

"Molded by the bonds of friendship, something along those lines?"

Stanton, confirming everything his brother had said with his own self, sat up in his bed. "Yeah, ain't no way you had that same fucking dream at the same fucking time on the same fucking night."

"Mel was the first to call me about it."

"Wait, what? They had it too?" Stanton asked.

"All three of them. They're over at Hermes' place and they all woke up to talk about it this morning." Alex confirmed. "I even asked if this was some sort of side effect from being in Discord's world or if it was some of the magic in Equestria having some side effects on them. But even I had to drop that argument because I wasn't with them and I had the same dream."

"Yo, this is wild." Stanton said, mystified by what was being explained to him. "You think Nondis had it too?"

"I tried calling him about it, his phone goes straight to voicemail. He must have it turned off."

"So what do you think is going down?" The young athlete questioned.

"I'm thinking Friday might be a hell of a day for him. And it might be up to us to do something about it before something bad happens."

"This timing is all weird." He replied. "Like why not any other time than this?"

"Probably with what Discord explained to us tonight, something had to come up. I guess Twilight might be trying to warn us about it."

Stanton looked to his alarm clock, seeing that another forty-five minutes had gone by. "Maybe we need to talk about this tomorrow afternoon. Something about this is all off, and I'm getting some funny vibes about it right now. I think it's best to let us just process it and then come to a conclusion on what we need to do for later."

"I guess..." Alex trailed off for a moment before answering again. "Yeah, I'm feeling a bit tired. Let me take you up on that advice and get a good shower in before I head out to beat the rush."

"Sure thing dude. Goodnight."

"Good morning."

As his brother hung up on the other line, he started going back into his phone, realizing that the porn site was still up on his screen. He shrugged and pulled up a random video before he started to view it at a low volume. But before he could even work himself into a rhythm, his eyelids had grown heavier by the second.

Instead of working off some of his frustration as intended, he postponed it for sometime before his morning shower.

As my eyes opened for the day, I looked around my room as I felt the warmth that the princess had provided me in my room. I got right out of bed, still a bit weirded out over the fact that I wasn't in some random hotel room or something of the sort on today. I went through some security footage on the night at my workstation, verifying that my shifts had gone exactly as I had planned. I was hopeful of seeing how my friends would react to what I had promised them on today, and I was sure that they were happy to be back in modern society.

I unplugged my phone from the charger after it had died last night and went through some messages. I had another Instagram message from Celestia, citing how she had to apologize over keeping Kalimba in the royal hall instead of locating her to one of the guest rooms further down the hall from me.

I already knew what it was she was doing, they were still having a bit of a feud.

I got back into my morning workout regiment and made my way to the showers. And then landed into the Royal Dining Hall for breakfast. I took my breakfast and thought that I could wander on over to the barracks. But along the way, I had noticed that Kalimba, Blue, and Alabaster had gotten together in the cafeteria to talk over their newfound amenities in the castle. I decided to make a quick visit and say good morning.

The zebracorn glanced up to notice me walking up. She flagged me down and spoke warmly. "Well look who decided to show up for de morning."

"You look well-rested. Probably the first time I've seen you that way without having some form of immediate distress following that up." Alabaster joked.

Blue ran up and hugged me, much to Kalimba's jealousy. "Wow. You look absolutely radiant. What's your treatment?"

"A morning of jogging and exercise followed by a good shower." I replied. "Finally got back into my workouts again. Had to start off a bit slow because I was a little out of condition."

Kalimba grabbed one of my arms in her magic and began to feel the firmness of my muscles. "It feels like you have been trying to please somepony with dis. Who's attention you are trying to capture, or make their mind run wild with bliss?"

Alabaster pulled one of my arms and made note of it's tone. "Ah, firm. You have been working out."

Starting to feel left out, Blue complained to her brother. "Oh please stop, you know where you are."

"I'm just assessing the damage for myself." He replied before whispering back to his sister. "Besides, it's not everyday I get to cop a feel."

I regained ownership of my arms and spoke to the three. "Okay, no funny business. The princess had placed me in charge of all three of you. So while I do expect you to show up at the protests and what-not, I do expect you all to be on your best behavior." I especially looked to Kalimba. "That also means to play nice with the host."

Kalimba rolled her eyes. "I do not think you have been made aware of de update. But de princess had elected to make me her personal responsibility. I am to be looked after by her and her sister at all times."

"Wow, I didn't think the princess even had a shade of envy." Blue murmured.

"Guess we find out deep that runs now." Alabaster said with a chuckle.

Without warning, a scream came from across the room. "KALIMBA!"

The zebracorn dropped her head with extreme annoyance upon hearing her father's voice. "Ugh... Why am I here?"

The mare sulked as her father came running up to the table. "Kalimba! I'm so happy to see you again!"

I looked in the direction of the hallway, seeing the princess standing by with her assistant. While she appeared to be busy, she did take occasional glances to survey the scene. Her efforts went largely unnoticed by many, but the four of us at the table knew exactly what was going on. "...It runs that deep." Alabaster murmured into his cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, Kalimba's father was expressing his excitement for seeing his daughter, all while being held back by a chair she picked up to place as a barrier between them both. "I could not believe my ears when I was told that you were actually going to be here for a week. I was so astounded to hear that, I actually came here just to see if it was true!"

"Yes, my stay here is very much true. And no, I do not feel like talking to you." Kalimba rhymed.

"Kalimba, I know there's a lot going on. Especially with you being famous and all. I mean look out Applewood, new star's in town! Diva Kalimba, never thought I would hear that one." Somber Spiral continued to speak to his daughter, not realizing that he had started to infuriate her. "And I know you get the whole mare in Manehattan treatment while you do your thing, I get that you've become a bit of a star and I'm happy for you. Now I know it's a bit abrupt, but I do think it's important for you to at least engage with some of the family, a chance to meet your grandmother... well, maybe not that so soon, but probably meet with your younger sister at the very least."

That was all she needed to hear. She promptly stood up from the table and walked out. She immediately went for her room, not even saying a word as she departed.

The stallion appeared confused and glanced over to the three of us like we had an answer. "Was it something I said?"

"It was everything you said." Alabaster said into his cup of coffee.

Blue rose from the table and went after her, but not before offering some choice words for the older stallion. "You're her biological dad, right?"

"Yes." He answered.

"Do her a favor and stay out of her life." She harshly replied before trotting out the room to go after the angry zebra.

The stallion appeared crestfallen, seating himself at the table as he felt horrendously impacted by Blue's words. "I suppose we all have our sins to bear."

"I had a father once." Alabaster began as he rose from his seat, gulping down his coffee.

Somber looked at young stallion, waiting for a conclusion to his testimony. "What happened to him?"

"He committed suicide." Alabaster answered bluntly.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry for your loss." The stallion replied, appearing remorseful.

"You call it a loss, I call it karma long-overdue." He said as he put his cup on the table gently while also offering some harsh words. "If I were you, I'd give your daughter some space... like three-towns-away worth of space. You don't get to do what you did and then come back like nothing happened. You're just sitting here like you expect her to just open right back up to you, knowing the trust you defiled! You don't get a second chance, not after that! It doesn't matter what you went through or how bad you had it, you had a choice to be stronger and you chose the easy way out. You have no idea what she goes through every week, the pain and abandonment she suffered throughout her life, the countless times her legs were pried open at her owners request, the instances where her jaw was forcibly dislodged to allow the fruit of countless thugs to fertilize her tongue, the beatings she suffered just for the gradual instance of standing up for herself, the constant threat of being sent right back into sexual slavery. You just assume she's famous, that's the front some asshole put up to make her a commodity to artificially raise her buying price on the market. You don't see that from her, you don't see those wounds, those scars, the trauma she suffered because you wanting a FIVE MINUTE FIX!" Alabaster slammed his chair into the table and stormed off. "You can go to the same hell my father burns in."

The entire cafeteria was absolutely silent, each of the maids and guards present watching as the young stallion walked out of the room. Some even gasped as they whispered to one another over what had happened. The senator sat quietly as more and more murmurings started to sprout throughout the room. I looked to the doorway, where Celestia had been stunned to silence at the sudden development. She looked at me with a sudden remorse. I glanced down to the dispirited senator.

"Yeah. You have a lot of work to do." I quietly informed him. "Now if you excuse me, I have someone I need to talk to."

I walked out of the cafeteria and made my way into the hall with a pointed effort to confront the princess. She went on to greet me as if she normally would. "Good morning captain. I trust you are staying out of trouble─"

"You. Me. Talk. Now." I commanded angrily and walked off to my room.

Upon entering my room, I sat and waited on my bed. I was incensed at the princess for the stunt she pulled. And I wanted to properly illustrate that to her. So as soon as she arrived, I waited calmly until she entered the room without her assistant, and closed the door behind her.

Before I could even get a word in, she immediately sensed what my ire was sourced from and jumped straight to her apology. "I have a feeling of what has made you upset with me, and I can understand if you are unwilling to listen to me for it. I'm sorry, I didn't know that her relationship with her father was so strained. I was only told that he wished to make amends, I was not made completely aware of her feelings on the matter."

I might have unleased my frustration at her a bit harshly considering that she walked in with an apology on her mind, but I still had to look at the fact that she walked in here knowing exactly what she did wrong. All it did was insinuate to me that she could've been more tone-sensitive to the situation. That in mind, I still gave her the lecture I needed to give her. "Hell, Luna could've told you! All you had to do was ask me or her! That shit you pulled, way out of line!"

"I understand now." She said with remorse.

"I don't need you to understand now, I need you to understand before you act. Kali's in a bad place because of that shit, and I don't know how it is I'm going to be able to get her to even buy into being obedient to you when all you've done is just given her every incentive to disregard any authority you have."

Celestia, while acknowledging my argument, had a fairly valid point of her own. "I understand you want to protect her, and it's with good reason. But as long as she is within the castle grounds, she has no other choice but to obey my rules, lest she opt to be sent back out to the city streets."

It was a fair point, but at the moment I was completely in Kalimba's corner. So I still firmly argued my point past her seemingly tone-deaf rebuttal. "Cella, I'm gonna make one thing clear to you, when have these politicians ever played by your rules? When have they not been in your castle? What the fuck do you think happened to you?"

"What does what happened to me play in any of what happened today?" She argued.

"Celeste, I want you to close your eyes and imagine yourself in this situation." I watched as the princess seemed to have very little incentive to follow up on my request. I again emphasized my command. "Close them, don't look at me, don't roll your eyes, just do as I say do."

At that point, she was becoming frustrated over how I didn't allow her any ground to make up. So there was a bit of sighing and body language that showed it. "Okay. Now what?"

After a brief moment to collect my thought process of how I was going to articulate my explanation, I spoke to her a hypothetical scenario rooted in the truth of another's experience. "Imagine if you had gone all the way through with having your kid the first time. It's a girl. You have a daughter in secret, but you don't get to finish seeing her grow up because you die while she's just getting started with puberty. Now imagine this, can you see if one of those so-called loyalists decided it would be better to illegally sell your daughter to some power-abusive aristocrats, who put their hooves on every inch of your daughter's body? I'm sure you'd hate to imagine the sight of your daughter crying because she's being treated like a sexual object, a fleshlight, a masturbatory aid, she's rotated throughout the entire rotunda of the parliament. Those that know, they know. Those that don't they don't care. And your daughter, she's beaten, raped, and drugged for the hell of it, for ten years."

Celestia opened her eyes and grew disdain for the imagery that appeared as I explained it. "I would not like to imagine this scenario for any longer."

"Yeah, I know, right? It's almost as if as a deceased mother, your spirit can't help but to feel absolute hatred for the loyalist who vowed to keep your heiress a secret, who then made off with some bank to dine in the finest halls of the city for just one night. I'm sure that pain never goes away for her, to know that in spite of her direct royal lineage, she's less than the common hooker in Canterrot."

Celestia shook her head, trying to disperse the cruel thoughts that started to manifest some awfully graphic images in her mind. "That's a terrible story to weave."

I finally hammered my point home. "Well that's reality for Kalimba. Can you imagine if your dad sold you out for drug money, because he couldn't process the fact that his rich family─his social circle─disowned him for falling in love with someone else who they thought was a bad influence─or just outright beneath them in standing, only to end up watching his wife die and he feels left with nothing. Instead of being strong, he chose to make himself comfortable in nostalgia rather than face the truth of his daughter needing him to stay rooted in the present for her sake. I find it interesting because I'm pointing out some of the parallels that you suffered, and elected to ignore for someone else."

Celestia's ears folded with shame. Her eyes lowered to the ground, unable to look back into mine. Her forelegs crossed and brushed one another as a child would shyly ponder their faults as their parental figure chided them for them. Her tone softened greatly as she closed her eyes and envisioned her own life and what was done to her. "...I made a grievous mistake." She said as she held the chestplate, namely where here branded scar would be.

As her tone softened, mine did the same while delivering the same message. "I know you like pranks, but sometimes it's better to look into who you're pranking before you do shit on a petty tip, especially on a matter that many have rumored it to be unstable. That would be like if someone pranked you by plucking out all your feathers. That's not fair to you, so it shouldn't be fair to her."

Celestia clenched her eyes and gritted her teeth as she became more and more angry, but not just at herself. "I was only told that he wanted to make amends."

"Who told you that?" I asked.

"Somber Spiral, he was the one who spoke with me this morning." She answered.

I gave her a slow nod and an eye roll, finally understanding what it was that was left out for her. "Did he tell you what all he did to get himself here?"

"No. He just said that he made a mistake when he was younger, only telling me that he abandoned her."

I finally went on my rant about him and explained in detail what I felt about him. "He didn't just abandon her, he abandoned himself, he abandoned his wife, he abandoned his principles, and then when it was all over, he tucked tail and ran back to mamma to try and live his life fresh. Now he has a daughter who he spoils because he can't bear the fact that he abandoned the first one he had. He got married all over again because he couldn't bear the truth that he made himself to be alone. He ran back home because he felt his principles had been dropped in the same grave as his first wife, who was a zebra that his family had discriminated against. And now that he's seen her alive, he wants to make amends to a daughter he doesn't even truly know, and then blindly asks that same mare to meet the sister he spoiled in her place."

"I was not told any of this." Celestia shook her head with disappointment "I am deeply disturbed."

"I'll say it in the accent of a guard you may have seen once or twice. A day in the life in the good old Rotty, am I right?" I said, giving my best impression of Prod.

The princess took a deep breath and concluded with herself her next choice of action. "I must speak with her. I must apologize for my wrongdoing." While the thought of the zebra softened her voice, it grew harsher as her thoughts shifted. "And I do believe that I should find the time to speak with Somber Spiral about this. There needs to be a discussion, and there will be a punishment in order."

"Some punishments write themselves Celestia. I think the worst thing he can suffer is knowing that he left his first family for dead, only to realize that in doing so they've left him as well. I mean a prison sentence would be icing on the cake, but he's at least willing to help us in some way." While I did not have much excitement in that statement, I still had to acknowledge what we agreed on. "Luna and I agreed to lighten his punishment in exchange for his cooperation. That's as far as I go in dealing with him, no matter how many times he's asked me to arrange a meeting with Kalimba."

"I should've been better. I am so sorry, Nondis." She apologized once more.

I pulled out my phone, trying to get this situation resolved as quickly as possible. "Don't apologize to me. You take that same energy and deposit it where it should belong." I quickly pulled up Kalimba's number in my list of recent contacts and swiped to call her.

As her name popped up on the screen, it took a few rings before she had finally answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Kali, it's me. You okay?"

The mare on the other end sighed lightly before answering. "I could say yes."

"Kali, I'm headed over to your room. I'm also bringing someone who wants to apologize in full to you for what they've done."

The zebracorn was initially resistant to the idea. "I am fine. I do not need reinforcement or patronization of any kind."

"I understand how you feel right now. But I really think you should hear her out. And by hearing her out, you'll hear me out. Is that okay? If not, then I understand."

The zebra sounded as if she was wrestling with the thought for a moment until she had come to her own conclusion. "...Room 503, Royal Suite."

"Okay. We'll be there. What time are you free?" I questioned.

"Surely a princess doesn't have time in her schedule to speak with a street pony such as I." She joked lightly.

"You'll be surprised what she makes time for. I'll see you in five." I said before hanging up the phone. I looked to the princess who appeared determined to make amends for her mistakes.

"I won't let you down." She said, looking up to me.

I once more stressed my thought on the issue. "I know you and her got this thing going on, but for my sake, both of you need to squash that shit. You know I'm all in with you when it's all said and done, she knows I'm not going to be with her and have acknowledged that much. Now let's try to be mature about this and exercise some diplomacy."

The princess nodded. "Understood."

The Royal Hall of Residence...

A short walk later and both Celestia and I were at Kalimba's door knocking. She was relatively quick to abandon the newfound luxurious amenities and answer the door to see me. Her head peeked through the crack as she hummed at me. "You are here."

"And I brought a guest." I said as I pointed my thumb to the princess beside me.

Kalimba's voice had quickly dropped to her usual lack of excitement. "Your highness."

"As if I deserved to be bowed to." Celestia replied as she lowered her head. "Kalimba Mavembe, I am truly ashamed for what I have done to you."

With discomfort, the zebracorn quietly away from the princess' display of humility. "I am no figure to be bowed to."

The high princess continued. "I seek to converse on matters, specifically as to what had led me to this grievous error."

"No error is made with intent." Replied the zebra, at least willing to hear the princess out. "So you wish to explain, please begin."

Celestia immediately jumped to the point. "I was informed by your father that he wanted to rekindle bonds with you. I thought that it would be fair to acknowledge his request since you were in the castle."

Kalimba had a moment of frowning silence before speaking. "Did he ever tell you what he did?"

"No he did not. I was informed by another source only just recently. And I will have him dealt with later for that. But with you, I must make my own amends."

The zebra scoffed for a moment. "You were upset dat I had gained de attention of your suitor." She jokingly pointed out in a deadpan manner.

Celestia still acted as though the zebra was being serious with her remarks. "I cannot say that I wasn't acting in ill-faith at times. For that I must also apologize."

Kalimba looked elsewhere, namely to me as she spoke to her. "As if I was any better. I was tired of seeing how cold you were to him, it made me angry, as if I was seeing who it was dat he would choose. For most of our time working together, he had made it known dat he would proclaim you to be his one and only mate. All I saw dat night was a mare who appeared to be indifferent. I suppose much of my mind was still on de offensive for him after seeing de pain he was in, but dat was what I chose to see. So I felt like dat I could treat him better, I was also jealous because of dat."

"I suppose he is a bit of a problem to us wounded souls." This time it was Celestia who offered a joke that missed it's intended target.

Kalimba appeared perplexed towards the princess' words. "Wounded soul? Your highness, with all due respect, I do not take you as a wounded soul."

While I was about to make a statement on her behalf, Celestia held her wing out to stop me. She wanted to have this conversation, and it seemed that she was going to find a way to have her understand the common ground they both shared. My phone vibrated to show a reminder of my appointment. "I'm gonna let you two talk. I'm off to my therapy session for the week."

"Please do your best, captain." Celestia answered. As I walked away, the princess extended an invitation to the bruised mare. "May I come in, or would you rather me invite you to my chambers instead?"

"Your highness, in my line of experience, dat phrase is often an invitation to partake in sex." Kalimba joked in deadpan.

Yet again, the joke missed it's mark. "I can assure you that I have no such wants."

"So you say." Replied the zebra before opening the door to allow the princess to enter.

Celestia walked into the room, taking a visual note of state of the room. Most of everything was still unused with the exception of the bed and the complimentary soaps. And even then, the bed was neatly made. "I trust the room is to your expectation of comfort?"

"I slept on a box spring in a cold room, only to have a ice cold shower in de morning to keep myself clean. De water often ran out before I could finish, somedays before I could even start. A modest accommodation is like a luxury to me. Dis is moreso a gross representation of dat fact."

Celestia was visibly displeased in hearing how rough her upbringing was. "I was informed that you were a hardened soul, forged by the troubles of your life and those within it."

"I live because I try to do so." She humbly replied.

"Don't we all?" Celestia asked.

"With all due respect, your highness. A princess like you cannot understand de life of simple ponies."

"I can't feel your pain, I haven't lived your existence. I can only attest for mine. That much is true." The high princess responded as she sat herself before the mare she spoke with. "But I will admit, there are some experiences that I have hidden from the masses."

"Scandals or illegal dealings of sorts? Simple foals play." Kalimba jested, rolling her eyes.

Seeing that she was still unbelieving that she had gone through much of anything, the princess finally opened up to dwell on the story of her own past. "Kalimba, I would like to ask you if you have ever fallen in love."

"What I may want is not what will be. So dere's dat." She deadpanned.

"Have you?" Celestia asked once more.

The zebra looked to the princess and calmly confessed her affections. "...I am in love with somepony I will never have, so yes."

"So much in love that you proudly stood up for your beliefs, even when the optics of it were unfavorable?"

With the misguided perspective of thinking that she was talking about her current relationship with the captain, the zebra replied with a shrug. "With all due respect, dat sounds like a you problem."

"It is... or was." Celestia began, holding her hoof to her chest plate. "But instead of it being a me problem, it became an even bigger beast."

"Unfortunate." Kalimba answered.

"It seems like I'm trying to relate to you on a subject that you would think I wouldn't understand, does it not?" The princess questioned, trying to fully grasp the zebra's perception of the moment.

"Well you are a princess, so dat omits you from a lot of strife."

Celestia smiled weakly as she spoke. "I do honestly find amusement that you would believe a life of royalty would be so simple."

"I do not think dat dere is much to discuss on your end." Kalimba rebutted. "You are royalty. You are loved by de masses, everypony speaks so highly of you. Dere would be too little to discuss."

The princess picked up the zebra's foreleg, taking note of the many scars that hid amongst and in between the stripes of her coat. "What if I told you that I too had to learn how to hide my scars?"

"Bruises of some kind?" She said in disbelief. "Your highness, your coat is pristine, your mane is elegant, your wings are flawless. Abeg, what scars do you have?"

Releasing the mare's hoof, she walked to the bed and started removing her slippers and crown. "Perhaps it would make more sense if I remove all of my regalia to show you."

As the mare slowly stripped herself of every grand item she wore, leaving only a tall, lanky alicorn standing there with the elegance of an ascended fashion model. "A princess without her jewelry, I am almost convinced dat you entered into here just to show off."

The princess turned herself around, still holding her chest as she spoke. "In a way that's true." She dropped her hoof to show the hideous scar on her chest. Kalimba's eyes widened as she saw the mare shyly look elsewhere. Almost immediately, she saw the number of deep gashes and slices on her body become revealed to her. "A brush of the coat here, a little magic there to hide it in the rain, a bit of regalia to distract the masses with something shiny, throw in a smile and wave to some figures and you get away with hiding a lot of abuse."

Mortified by what she saw, namely the scar on her chest, Kalimba was almost frozen in place. "Dat... is new."

Seeing that much of her focus was on the scar on her chest, the princess gave a very thin smile at her. "This old thing, it's been a part of me for a thousand years now. It's a good reminder of how easily I can hide what all I suffered."

"What happened to you for dat to happen?"

"I fell in love." The princess explained. "I fell in love with a king, a king in a parallel universe to this one. But as our visits grew frequent, I was given little choice but to put him aside for the safety of Equestria. But instead of leaving him without warning, I elected to visit him one last time. We spent an entire day together, he and I."

"Nuzzling and talking romances, I assume." Kalimba said with a light chuckle.

The princess chuckled in kind. "Kalimba, we are adults, and no strangers to what love does in the heat of the moment. There's lots to add to the imagination of the rapture he's brought me."

Kalimba grew almost embarrassed to hear of what took place, especially from the mouth of such an esteemed figure of the kingdom. "Wait, you and him─"

"One. Whole. Day." The princess closed her eyes and rubbed her forelegs to the idea of what all had taken place between her and her lover, her hoof wandering to her neck. In the midst of her thoughts, she started wandering into the territory of the man who grasped at her in an even bigger way. Before she could become too ensnared by both memories of the distant past and recent weeks, she opened her eyes and continued her story, blushing lightly all the while. "I'm sorry, I don't usually have moments like that. It's just that it's been a while. All digressions aside, I wanted to make sure I had something to remember him by, or at least to love on in secret."

"How did dat translate to what is on your chest?" Kalimba questioned.

"In due time." The princess responded. "My old mentor, advisor to the royal court, had caught me upon my return and scolded me for leaving to that place one more time. He broke the portal, severing any possibility of our reunion for good. But while he vowed to keep it secret, others in my close association did not. I was tried on the crime of fornicating with a enemy leader, but they were misguided as to which leader I had actually copulated with."

"And who was dat?" The zebra asked.

"King Sombra, or rather the alternate universe's King Sombra. Where as the one who existed here was evil, the other there was good. And as I consider myself a fair ruler in some aspects, my counterpart in that universe was nothing of the sort."

While she wasn't aware fully of who that figure was, Kalimba remained open-minded. "So dey found you guilty, I assume."

"That they did. I didn't deny it, I only stood up for my right to love who I wanted to love. But many envious lords and aristocrats took matters into their own hooves, legislating a law to which I was to be punished by. They temporarily stripped me of my powers and ruled over Equestria in my place. But instead of just punishing me and sending me back on my way, which was typical of the time, they waited for months to issue my punishment."

As the princess' face started to show sadness, Kalimba continued to inquire about the princess' story. "Why would dey do dat?"

"Because they feared I held the offspring of a king they perceived to be evil. I'm sure it goes without much explanation as to what they did next."

"They branded you?" She guessed.

Celestia shook her head. "No... It wasn't as easy as that. In fact, they made sure to let me know their real intent. If I recall correctly, they said this: Today, you shall have us feel like kings."

The zebra grew mortified of the quote she uttered. "Dat does not imply what I think it does."

"It was not an implication, Ms. Mavembe. It was a promise." Celestia confirmed, running her hooves against her own wings. "They whipped my body with cruel tools to tear at my flesh. They dislocated my forelegs, to render me unable to fight back or run. They raked the feathers from my wings using a rusted claw that left many shards in them. Many of them had fulfilled their fantasy of partaking in my body whenever I fell unconscious. And then they branded me with this mark."

"For what reason!?" The zebra grew appalled.

"I already told you, they were envious of what I freely gave to another that they took what they sought after by force. But there was another reason why their particular punishment was so cruel. You see, when a mare endures so much physical trauma, it also poses a risk to the unborn fetus. In short..."

"Dey did all of dat to force you to miscarry." Kalimba concluded with sadness and pity for the distinguished royal.

"I cannot emphasize with you over what you experienced, likewise you cannot do the same for what all I've told you. But I can offer that to you in showing you the care and friendship that you need on your way to recovery, maybe on your way to a better life." Celestia finished as her mind started to focus on her source of comfort. "In a way, I think that's what has us so enamored with a certain human."

Seeing the princess reveal her story, as well as unveiling the scars on her body, the zebra came to terms that her approach to her had been one of misunderstanding. She began to understand the reason for her romance and why she grew attached to the human, especially since she felt the same way. The mare weakly chuckled. "Perhaps dere is much we can learn from each other after all." Kalimba looked to the pile of regalia sitting on her bed for the moment until the princess had started putting it back on. "Your highness─"

The princess only managed to put back on her chestplate, looking back to the zebra. "I do recall the doors being closed. Perhaps you would feel more comfortable to call me Celestia."

The zebra grew surprised of the invitation of informality, becoming uncomfortable with the idea. "I do not think I can do dat."

The alabaster princess giggled. "Just try. I promise you won't get sent to a dungeon for calling me by my name."

Despite feeling personally uncomfortable, she grew past it enough to make the attempt to call her simply by her name. "Celestia... I am sorry dat I have been so harsh on you."

Celestia put back on her slippers and went back to donning her tiara. "It's all the same on my end. I can be a bit possessive at times because of some antics my sister pulls on the regular. But with you, I suppose I felt that you were trying to compete with me on matters of affection. Even if that were true, I should've been the bigger mind and not allow myself to become as petty as I did... then again, I was always the petty one between my sister and I. Perhaps in the future, we can be adults and communicate on some issues that may be a concern."

The zebra chuckled. "And here I thought you were some cold princess who was indifferent to de world."

"I was at one point. But that's another story for another day." She confessed with a scoff and a brief laugh. "As to my perceived indifference towards the captain, it's merely a front I put on for the others. But since you accompany Nondis to the lounge, I'm sure you do know of our dealings with one another already."

Kalimba smirked as she spoke in a low voice. "I was told you and he had a moment."

"Who said that?" Asked Celestia, who started to appear concerned.

"De usual idjiot who we cannot name."

"Oh, right." She replied with an eye roll of disdain. "But no, I'm fairly invested in that man. To see him in the way he was on Friday had me ready to send Equestria's entire arsenal into one of my own cities, much less my own doorstep. But at this point, I'm just waiting for the week to be done so I can finally have him around the castle more."

The zebra was initially confused by the princess' statement. "Does he not work here?"

"Yes. But I don't want him going out there and getting hurt anymore. It's already hard enough for him to try and salvage his mental health every week, much less remaining physically intact. But I do consider possibly changing my schedule to be around him a little more, albeit in secrecy for the time being." The princess concluded, appearing a bit sad at the outcome. "Even if nothing changes and all is at a loss to our cause, I can be satisfied with where we are... or I can at least learn to be."

Seeing the princess at odds with her emotions, the zebra questioned her about her current infatuation. "So, what do you find interesting about him?"

"Where do I begin?" She said before her mind started trailing off to the various memories she shared. From the time he complimented her wings to the moment he preened them clean of the long imbued shrapnel. From the moment she went from wanting to know about modern dating practices to being the one she chose to court. From kisses on her feathers and hooves to the sensation of his tongue and fingers invading her most sacred places. From the initial contact of her lips greeting his to the adventures her tongue journeyed into his. Even the conversation they shared in the car, to the moment they shared at their impromptu dinner-date, finally to the moment where she confessed her love as she straddled over him, their bodies just merely separated by the thin veil of her silk sheets. The princess chuckled fondly. "Oh, sorry. I might have zoned out again."

With her own moments committed to memory, Kalimba couldn't help but smile. "It happens."

Seeing the warmth on her otherwise cold face, Celestia grew curious of the zebra's own encounters. "...How about you? What do you see in him?"

Instead of coming up with a long list of things she admired, she took the moment to think about how she could abbreviate her response to simple short-worded answers. "Strength... Determination... Bravery... Security... Modesty... Kindness... Love..." Her cheeks began to point upwards as she closed her eyes, holding her forelegs in thought. "Well, I wanted to go by your example. Since he and I are not able to be together, I entertained de thought of simply having souvenir of my own. I never imagined myself having anything other than an early grave, but he makes me want him... at least a reminder of him I could love on my own."

Surprised by her response, the princess turned away and quietly responded. "I see..."

The Royal Hall of Parliamentary Office

Somber Spiral, returning from one of his meetings, had gazed down at his locket, inside of it carried the two images of him carrying his daughters. His younger daughter had stayed in the forefront in a pose ordering him to march forward as she stood on his back. But behind his youngest was that of him having his ears nibbled playfully by his eldest at a similar age in her life. He stopped for a moment and quietly removed the image of his younger daughter to gaze at his eldest. In doing so, he looked down and saw the brightness on his face, the innocence and joy on hers. A frown appeared on his face as the words from earlier in the morning started to fade into his mind.

"Three-towns-away worth of space... Maybe she truly wants me dead after all. Could I even blame her?"

As he started to put the image of his youngest daughter back into the front of his locket, I approached him from behind. "Yo. A moment."

He turned around quickly, hiding the locket from view. "Oh... it's you." He said as he started to lower his guard. "Captain, I understand that you're upset over this morning. And looking back at what I might have said, I have come to the conclusion that I was both tone-deaf and unrealistic in my plea to Kalimba. I mean, meeting her grandmother? I love my mother but she treated my first wife like she was a subspecies. I can't imagine how cruelly she'd treat Kalimba at first sight."

"I'm not even on that." I replied. "Princess Celestia may be getting the 101 on what all you did to your daughter, but since you're helping us out, she's willing to agree to the terms Luna and I worked out about your punishment. And since you're in deep shit now, I'm calling in that favor from you to at least help lessen the extent of that self-inflicted injury of yours."

The senator sighed in resignation. "What's the favor you need?"

"I'm sure the halls outside of the parliament chamber has been quite noisy as of recent. You can already imagine why." I pointed out.

"The free-lovers movement. I've been made aware of their platform, but I don't agree with how they've been going at it for the past two days now. I mean where did they even get the permit to be in the halls making all of this commotion?"

"Don't worry about that. But I can tell you that if you draft up some lovely piece of legislation that can appease their wishes, I'm sure your buddies will find them out of your collective manes much faster than you can say 'litigation'. So if you can, draft us up some terms to put through to the floor so we can get this passed and have our halls a lot quieter."

"Reasonably speaking, captain, you could just send guards to quell this matter." He disputed.

"First, the groups are already under escort by the guards to make sure they don't break anything, as per what was issued in the permit. And second, you're asking me to betray the trust of some within my command for putting down some ponies looking to protest their civil rights to love who they want freely? That reflects on the princess very poorly, and I'd be less likely to lead much of anyone if I look like a hypocrite on this matter. I'm sure you know that there's politics in the guard as much as there is in parliament."

"Well I sure don't have much to say in this particular matter other than that I do agree with the movement." He replied. "However, I wish to change the terms of our agreement."

"You're getting less time in prison, what more do you want?"

"More time in confinement." He answered.

"What?" I asked confusedly.

"I am willing to take the maximum sentence that could be issued to me. In exchange of that favor, I wish to know more about my daughter. If my being sent to the hold alleviates that, then I can accept it if she's willing to see me at least once a month."

I chuckled out of disbelief and ridiculed his terms. "You're asking for more time to appease a mare who wants nothing to do with you."

"I understand. But what needs to be done shall be done."

"Negative. Not gonna happen." I said before I further pointed out the failed logic of his choice. "You haven't really picked up on anything that was put down, have you? You have a daughter, who's going to wonder why her daddy hasn't been around, only to later discover that he went to prison for sex trafficking his own daughter, a sister whom she's not acquainted with or even know of. And just like Kalimba, your family will dust themselves off of you and let you rot. For what, for the very slim margin of Kalimba to actually pay you a five minute visit once a month, knowing that she won't even give you the luxury of that for even once a year? You'd be abandoning your daughter, trying to hold on to a past that can't be changed. Your baby girl, Kalimba all over again."

"I still have to try and do right by her." He adamantly rebutted.

"You don't get it, do you? You can't forsake one daughter to appease to the first one you fucked up almost a decade ago. You're gonna wake up and have no daughters to love in the next decade if you keep thinking like that."

"All I want is a chance to make things right."

"For who? I can't see you doing that for Kalimba, she's doesn't trust stallions because of what happened to her, she barely trusts me. You want me to try and tell her to smile and hug you, hell no. I can't make that happen for you. I'm not gonna force it, I'm not gonna pull a Celestia and blindly point you into a room with her when I know what's going on."

Remaining adamant in wanting to see his daughter get the justice he felt she deserved, he folded his forelegs and remained unmoved on his argument. "Then I guess I will be going to prison for as long as my life will last. And I suppose your side will walk away with nothing."

I shook my head in disbelief. "So you're trying to bribe me into getting your daughter to see you, knowing that your daughter wants nothing to do with you."

"Even if it may be my last time seeing her, I want to speak with her." I just about started to walk away before he jumped back on his hooves and tried to stop me from doing so. "One more time, just to apologize for this morning. If I can start with that, I will be satisfied. I'll draft your bill, call it for a vote, do whatever it takes to make it happen as soon as you need it to. Just get me a moment with my daughter."

"She doesn't want to see you." I said angrily, feeling as though I was at an impasse. But hearing the possibility of him putting a bill to the floor for a vote appeared more enticing by the moment. Eventually, I came to an idea where I could at least offer that solution without making it harder for Kalimba to bear with. And if it didn't work, he would have no choice but to accept that the situation would be unlikely to change. At least the prospect of her hanging up would be the best way for the point to get across. "Okay... I have an idea. Now, she may not want to see you, but she might be able to hear what you have to say regardless of that fact. But, if she ends the conversation, you have to accept that."

"So what's your idea." He asked, almost elated in the idea of speaking with his daughter.

"Take me to your office real quick." I ordered.

"Sure thing. It's a few doors down." He replied.

After a short fifteen second walk down the hall, he came to his office and invited me inside. He closed the door behind himself and waited patiently as I pulled out my phone and pulled up his daughter contact. "Give me a sec." I said as I waited for her to pick up. It didn't take long to hear her voice on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Kali, you good?" I asked the zebra on the other end, all while holding my hand up to stop the stallion from talking too early on.

"I am. De princess and I had much to discuss about one another. It seems dat we have safely concluded all rivalries."

"Well I'm glad to hear that." I said with a sigh of relief. "Okay, I know you're gonna hate my guts for this."

"What is it, you silly boy?" She asked in a teasing manner.

"Your dad wants to apologize for this morning."

Her tone then shifted to that of annoyance. "Abeg, why do you try and keep on about him!?"

"Because he wants to apologize for earlier. He said he was tone-deaf and he was overtly excited. Also, I want you to try and convince him that he shouldn't throw his life away for the thought of trying to appease you."

"By doing what!?" She asked in disgust.

"By asking for a longer prison sentence."

"Longer prison sentence!? Say less!" The voice of the high princess called out in the background.

The senator tensed up as he heard her voice. I felt tense for him as well. "Celestia's still in the room with you?"

"She is, and she has taught me how to put my phone on speaker mode." Kalimba added.

"Oh boy." I mumbled.

"Is he there with you right now?" Celestia questioned.

"Princess, we talked about this." I urged.

"I know. But I just want him to hear how immeasurable my disappointment is with him."

"Yeah, I know, all that, hold on a sec." I placed it on speaker and placed it on his desk. "Ladies, you there?"

"Present." Celestia called out.

"Go on and get it over with." Kalimba also called out.

I pointed to the senator, who was just as impressed with the technology as he was excited to be able to speak with his daughter. Though he took more of his focus to the latter task. "Kalimba. I'm sorry."

"I told you dat your words mean nothing to me. So what is dis nonsense I am hearing about you?"

Somber Spiral sat himself at his desk, questioning his daughter. "Kalimba, do you feel that I should be punished greatly for what I've done?"

"It would please me, but it will not change anything. I have still suffered from what you did! You have no place in my life for it, you idjiot!" She vehemently stated to her father before speaking with me. "Nondis, what is he going on about?"

"I told him he's being stupid for throwing away his family to endure a possible life-term prison sentence."

Even Kalimba was in disbelief of what he had proposed. "Mpumbavu kamili. Did you tell him how stupid dat is, to try and make amends for de past when he can clearly provide no change to de present?"

"We had that conversation already." I pointed out.

"And he still trying? Stupid baboon." She harshly replied.

"Yeah. I was hoping you'd tell him off for making the same mistake twice. But I guess I'm not going to get that bit of fireworks today. I mean I know you don't want to speak to him as it is."

While I had assumed that Kalimba was going to just laugh it off and keep our call short, she thoroughly surprised me with her response. "Oh-ho-ho you do not know who you called, you silly boy. Sit and enjoy de show."

I grew wide-eyed at the mare on the other end and propped myself against the wall to await the results of the hypothetical nitroglycerine fecal matter hit the fan. The only thing I was missing was a hazmat suit in anticipation of the inevitable fallout. "Okay, let her rip." I called out to the mare as I pointed the phone's speakers directly to the sitting senator.

Hearing her inhale at that one moment was like me ducking for cover to avoid the shrapnel. She let loose onto her father.

"YOU MODEFUCKER! IDJIOT! POOR EXCUSE OF A BABOON'S ASS! YOU WANT TO TALK LIKE YOU ARE DE VICTIM, AH!? YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN A BROTHEL AND WATCH OTHER PONIES BEFORE YOU GET RAPED AND KILLED! YOU HAVE NOT LIVED ONE DAY SEEING DEADY BODIES LYING IN DE STREET! YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TAKEN IN AND MADE TO SUCK OFF A HORRIBLE PIECE OF SHIT, WHO HAD JUST FINISHED CONSUMATING WITH SAID BODY! YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL ME ABOUT BEING A VICTIM! YOU DON'T GET TO SAY SHIT! DEN YOU COME TO ME LIKE YOU WANT ME TO BE HAPPY? HAPPY DAT YOU AREN'T DEAD IN SOME STREET, LIKE I HAD HOPED YOU WERE? DE ONLY REASON WHY I DID NOT KILL YOU MYSELF IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FAMILY TO GO HOME TO! I HAVE NOT HAD DAT FOR TEN YEARS! TEN YEARS, MY ONLY FADDAH WAS DE PENIS I HAD TO FELLATE DAT HOUR!!"

Hearing his daughter's crude testimony, Somber remained quiet as he was forced to process the pain she started to exhibit. After her graphic commentary, she started to sob angrily, loudly, and without restraint. It appeared that she had worked herself up to this point, probably holding it in from the moment she first saw him alive. Her broken voice continued on the other line as her father was forced to listen to her pain.

"I AM A COMMON WHORE! I DON'T HAVE A MUDDA TO LOVE OR A FADDAH TO LOOK UP TO! I DIDN'T HAVE A HOME TO REST IN! I DID NOT HAVE A PROPER BED TO CLOSE MY EYES IN! I DON'T EVEN HAVE A CUTIE MARK TO NOTE WHO OR WHAT I AM BECAUSE I NEVER HAD DE CHANCE TO REALIZE IT! I NEVER HAD A HOME-COOKED MEAL IN TEN YEARS BEFORE MEETING NONDIS! I WAS SICK, WAITING TO DIE FOR TEN YEARS BECAUSE MY FADDAH DECIDED HE DIDN'T WANT TO HOLD ME ANYMORE! I LOST MY MUDDA AND MY FADDAH GAVE ME AWAY!"

It was truly at that point where she could be heard screaming on the other end, angrily shouting out her grief like a grieving soul. I couldn't bear to listen to it because she sounded like my mother did when she found out my grandfather had passed away. That pain, I'm sure she harbored it for the decade he didn't hold her.

"YOU GAVE ME AWAY, YOU COULD HAVE LOVED ME LIKE I WAS DE ONLY THING OF MY MUDDA YOU HAD LEFT, AND YOU GAVE ME AWAY! NOW YOU COME TO ME AND TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE AND HOW YOU WANT ME BACK IN IT AFTER TEN YEARS OF CHOOSING TO NOT BE IN MINE!? I DON'T KNOW LOVE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LOVED ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU LEFT ME! YOU LEFT ME, BABA!! YOU GAVE ME AWAY!!"

"Oh fuck, I was not prepared for today." I couldn't bear it anymore, I started welling up tears, plugging my ears shut to avoid hearing her be in that pain. Her dad, however, had no choice. He listened, he cried in his chair trying to lift the phone up to his chest to hug the only representation of his daughter for the moment.

"SAY SOMETHING!" She cried out as he father sobbed. "SAY SOMETHING, BABA!! TELL ME WHAT IS DERE FOR ME NOW!! I HAVE MONEY, I DON'T NEED DAT! I HAVE A NEW HOME, SO DON'T ASK! I HAVE FRIENDS TO CARE FOR ME WHERE YOU LEFT ME! I MAY NOT HAVE HIM FOR LONG, BUT I HAVE A MAN WHO HOLDS ME LIKE YOU DID WHEN I GO TO SLEEP! I AM LEARNING MAGIC JUST LIKE MAMA SAID!" At last, he erupted in a painful wail, pouring the remorse, hurt, guilt, shame, and love into the phone at his chest. "WHY DID YOU GIVE ME AWAY, BABA!? WHY DID YOU DO IT!?"

Somehow the suppressed screams and wails seemed even worse to look at while my ears were plugged. I wiped my eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and collect myself before I had to take my phone back. While he tried to hold onto it like it was his daughter, I had to take that comfort from him. Kalimba was left in tears on the other end, Celestia spoke out in her place. "I think we had enough of this conversation for today."

"Yeah. Can you hug Kali for me?" I said, clearing my throat.

"I've already started, Nondis. Just... just hang up."

I ended the call, watching as the senator began to grieve on his desk. He took out a small locket and yanked out the photo of his youngest daughter and looked to the one with his youngest atop his head. He nearly crushed it as he held it tightly to his chest. He looked to me with reddened eyes, ravaged by sadness. I gave him a firm confirmation of my initial argument. "That's your grown-ass daughter telling you how she felt when you abandoned her." I lined the picture of him and his youngest daughter next to one the other and concluded my statement. "So can you imagine what your grade-school daughter is going to say when you do the same to her?"

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." He wheezed as he took both images to his chest, hugging both of his daughters with every intent to be the father he should've been many years ago.

I walked out of the room, but not before addressing him one final time. "Stop being sorry. Start with being better."

The Royal Hall of Heroes
Two Hours Later...

As more protests took place throughout the castle, the senators who walked the halls began to grow more infuriated with their daily commute. Instead of the sound of guards standing still and maids being at work, it was an ever present protest at various offices where some delegates vowed to dismiss all attempts to field a bill with the requested terms.

One such senator was none other than Damper Trot himself. He knew what the fielding of a bill of a similar stature would bring about. He knew that it would propose the idea of being in an Equestria where royalty could wed and consumate with anypony they desired at will. And knowing the limitations of power that an ascended royal would bring to the parliament had driven fear in the eyes of many traditionalists holding office. The last thing they wanted was a Queen Celestia barking orders and holding power over a parliament where she was once suppressed.

To him, Equestria as it was would come to an end.

Along his commute from parliament to his next meeting was a senator that aligned favorably with him within his party. The pair sought to avoid any possibly groups of protestors when possible, even hiding behind some pillars to remain hidden. As a small group walked by with their signs in the opposite direction, they waited until the group had turned the corner. "Where is that confounded captain!?" The angry senator questioned.

"He's gone to the barracks again." Damper informed his associate.

"Ugh, that lazy, no-good human! We need to have a summons to get him to quell this insurrection this instant!"

But as one of the lingering protestors left a nearby bathroom, she soon found herself in exclusive company of the two passing senators. She ran up with her picket sign in tow. "Hey! Senator Sendoff, You represent my district! Can you please explain why our marriage and breeding laws continue to discriminate against same-sex couples?"

Damper and Sendoff walked onwards, ignoring the mare as she pleaded with them. "Posture. Patience." Damper quietly noted.

"Let's walk over this way, maybe they'll run into something while they're not paying attention." Sendoff muttered as he ignored his name being called out by the mare beside them.

"'Scuse me, sir!" Her efforts continued to be consistent, matching the duo step by step as they made their way onward.

Damper led him and his associate into a hallway with a number of items on display. He looked towards the largest vase he could use as a means of getting rid of their pursuer. "We found our ticket out. Just walk this way with me."

As they passed the large vase, Damper used his magic to grab hold of the vase and waited for the mare to get close to it. "Sir!" She called out as a vase came flying from next to her and landing just behind the two senators.

With everything already in place, Damper turned around feigning anger with an even louder voice to go along with it. "Excuse you, what did you just do!?"

"I didn't do that!" She called out incredulously.

"You just shattered one of the princess' prized vases." He hollered out, quickly getting the attention of some nearby guards on detail. "Guards!" He called out once more to grab their attention.

Two armor clad ponies ran to the pair of senators and the protestor. "Sir?" One of them addressed respectfully.

"This crowd is beginning to grow unruly! Look at the mess we have now!" Sendoff replied as he pointed to the shattered remnants of the vase Damper threw their way.

The guard took note of the empty pedestal where the vase one stood before questioning the protestor. "Ma'am are you responsible for this?"

Damper then sold his story. "Of course she is, she's been looking to get my colleague's attention. We were on our way to a session and she elected to break a vase to get our attention."

"I did no such thing!" She called out, strongly advocating for her own innocence.

As another two guards ran over to help assess the issue, the initial two looked to assign them with notating the situation. "Report this incident to the captain." The leading guard called out before arresting the mare in question. "Ma'am you're coming with us."

"I've done nothing! Please let me go!" She pleaded with the guards for her release, but found that her cries had fallen on deaf ears.

The mare was escorted away, the two senators made their report, and set off after they were done. Once the guards left to report the incident, Damper nudged Sendoff with a smirk. "And thus the tables are set to turn in our favor."

"A crafty mind, you are." Sendoff replied.

"I learn from the best."

Fifteen Minutes Later

As the day chugged along relatively slowly after the previous events, I had continued to oversee the effort to monitor the protestors in the hall, at least to ensure that nothing had gone wrong. So far, most of the encounters have been civil outside of a few shouting matches that had to be defused before others were emboldened to take matters into their own hooves. And even those were primarily rooted in the neglect of several politicians looking to go about their day ignoring the questions that were asked.

And though they aren't obligated to play twenty questions with the masses, they could at least notify the passing protestors that they won't be fielding questions for the time being. Instead they're just trying to hide and pretend that these ponies aren't even here. Most of these ponies voted some of these guys in, and they aren't going after the representation of other cities, they're only going after Canterlot candidates who have to represent them. Again, it's not an obligation to answer them, but it is a courtesy to inform them that they won't field questions. And still, it's a courtesy that they refuse to practice. I wouldn't be surprised to find them going against opponents in their respective primaries who will tout this moment over their heads.

As I was still performing oversight, two guards walked up to me and saluted while offering me a incident report. "Sir."

"Okay, what's this?" I asked.

"An incident has occurred with one of the protestors, sir." One of the guards informed me.

I kissed my teeth as I grew a bit frustrated. "What happened?"

"One of them broke a vase in the east hall."

I immediately pulled out my phone, cussing to myself all the while. "Goddammit, Celestia's gonna have my head for this. So is there any eye-witness accounts of the protestor doing this or is this an after-the-fact issue?"

"The protestor claims she's innocent, saying she went nowhere near the vase." The guard answered.

On my phone, I went to search for the camera feed of the hall that had the mess still possibly being cleaned up. "What was she doing at the time of the incident."

"Pursuing two senators, they say that she couldn't get their attention so she elected to do something to grab their attention, they say that's where the vase came into play. They happen to also be the eye-witnesses."

Something within me told me that the situation wasn't all too well put together. None of the protestors have exhibited any outstanding violent tendencies. Verbally combative, definitely. But as far as physical is concerned, many have preached to one another about the importance of not causing a violent scene by throwing anything at the senators. They were very firm about that, citing that the smallest incident could invalidate their movement. Also, how is it that two senators are the only ones to be eye-witnesses to a crime they also happen to be the victim of? You're either one or the other. They can either be first party participants or third party observers, no in-between.

Perhaps I should take the incident as an eye witness myself. Time to look into the cameras. "You said east hall, what floor?"

"Second." He answered.

"Second floor, east hall, that's the Hall of Heroes. What room were they closest to?"

"They were closer to the offices."

"Okay." With that information, I went back in the feed up to about the time where the incident took place. Once I could verify the scene and the changes of the background, I could also close in on incident itself as it took place. "So tell me what they told you."

"They ignored her on their way to session. The protestor grew violent and threw a vase at their hooves. That's what they filed in their incident report."

While they had filed one thing, I was seeing a vastly different situation play out. It was a female earth pony trailing who appeared to be Damper Trot and another senator. The two appeared to walk closely to the vase as they passed. But in time, I saw a magic ring wrap around the vase and launch towards the hooves of the two politicians.

I knew something was off somewhere.

"You may want to redo that incident report." I stated as I showed them the scene taking place from one of the HD cameras I had set up in that hall. I even played it from the moment where the two senators walked by. "That protestor is an earth pony, they don't have telekinetic levitation." As the situation appeared to be a view from behind the scene, I had a camera set up to also capture the front of it as well, albeit from a little further away. And it showed that Damper had used his magic to throw the vase at their own hind legs, following up by the footage of them framing the mare. "The senator here, however, does."

"So he knocked over the vase?" The guard questioned.

"Probably to get her arrested for destruction of royal property." I added. "I'm sure they'll try to use that incident as a justification to enforce some method of detainment of the protestors. This was clearly a move of spite. So it's technically two, essentially three crimes. Destruction of royal property, falsifying a report, and bearing false witness to the scene of a crime."

I will quietly admit it, I was looking at the situation as a stroke of favor since I could technically detain him to investigate the crimes he committed here. And Blue always said that I should find some way to bring him in. This may be the most petty way of doing it, but I could also probe him for information that I could use on Friday. This works out well.

"We can't arrest him in session." The guard called out.

"Nail his ass when he gets out." I suggested.

The other guard who witnessed what the camera feed issued had brought about his own question. "Sir, how did you do that? How were you able to see what happened in that hall?"

I then answered. "While your world relies on testimony of the parties involved, mine relies on visual evidence." I pulled up a feed of the very hall we stood in and showed it to him. "Surveillance is never wrong until it's made to be wrong, and that takes way too much time and energy to do on the fly."

On that note, I closed my app and reissued the report to the two guards before me. The first who did most of the talking saluted me before taking off to the barracks. "We'll send for him as soon as he leaves, sir."

The other took my report and saluted. "I'll send a report to our findings to the princess, sir."

"Carry on then." I saluted them back, already making my way to the hall where the offices of the many senators were.

It was only a mere five minutes later when I poached outside of the office of Damper Trot, leaning against a pillar as I waited patiently for the other three guards to commence to retaining the senator. I kept myself occupied on my phone while I waited.

It didn't take long to reveal that he wasn't coming from a session, but from within his own office. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the three guards all awaiting him. "Gentlecolts, can I help you?"

One of the trio then announced. "Damper Trot, you are hereby under arrest for destruction of royal property, issuing a falsified report, and falsely accusing a witness."

The senator appeared surprised that his own hubris had caught up with him. The stallion tried to walk the other way as if he was innocent of all wrong-doing. "I'm sorry, perhaps there must have been some mistake."

But before he could set hoof in the opposite direction, I stepped out to further dissuade his escape. "No mistake made or mentioned."

I started reaching for my phone, pulling up the security feed that I had on loop. Damper continued to try and vouch for his innocence. "Captain, surely we can discuss this─"

"This you?" I said, not discussing anything further outside of showing him the video of his own transgressions.

His jaw fell as the scene clearly illustrated how he walked near the vase, threw it towards them to frame the protestor, and had them falsely arrested. He stammered to come up with an excuse. "T-that must be a-a-a changeling of sorts. W-we still have a significant issue with changelings here in the city."

The guards wasted no time in applying the shackles to his hind legs as I continued to point out the blatant evidence of his crime. "That's your colleague, that's you, that's you launching the vase across the room, that's also you pointing the hoof at that protestor, that's them getting toted off, that's you and your colleague smirking after. Now, you're under arrest." As I finished, so did they in clamping all of his hooves together so that he couldn't run.

The senator raised his voice in dispute. "I've done nothing wrong! You can't detain me! I want my lawyer present!"

I shrugged back at him. "That's fine, but it'll take some time for your lawyer to clear you of wrongdoing of a royal crime, misdemeanor or not. But for now you'll be held in holding until you're processed."

"You can't do this! I'm a senator! I have a session to attend!" He argued.

"Session was adjourned about an hour ago. Your protections don't apply here." One of the guards pointed out.

"I want my lawyer!" He screamed again.

"Yeah, it'll still be a week before you get anything done." I pointed out before flagging the guards down the hall. "Take him away."

Two took to each of his side and began to guide him to the dungeons. As he was being toted off, the senator issued one final threat to me. "You know who you'll answer to, captain."

The last remaining guard I had to file a report of arrest had watched as the three ponies slowly disappeared down the hall. "Sir, is it really wise to keep a senator in holding?" He asked.

I then explained. "You either put him in holding to separate him from a potentially angry crowd for his protection, or you bat at the wasps nest and try to coral over two hundred angry protestors in our halls. Pick your poison."

The guard shuddered at the thought of the latter option. "I vote the issue of least resistance."

"Holding cell it is."

Meanwhile at the Fringe District...

A well-dressed young adult mare walked alongside her brimming young foal, listening as her daughter described in great detail about how her day went in school. The young filly, a mint green little girl with bright fuchsia eyes and a blond straightened mane, remained high in energy as she trotted in circles around her mother.

The two came to the gates of their fairly lofty residence, a gothic home surrounded by a white stone brick wall and black iron-wrought fencing pikes decorating the top. The mare reached within her saddlebags to grab her keys to the iron gate. As she turned the lock, her daughter pranced in place excitedly. "I can't wait to tell daddy what I want from the jeweler!"

The mare sweetly responded. "Of course, sweetheart. But don't you think you have enough jewelry for the month?"

"But mom, all of my friends have the jade bracelet! All I got is this lousy sapphire one!" She replied a bit annoyingly while she held up her foreleg to show the aforementioned item.

"Then you can use that to stand out and show them how special you are." The young mother replied.

Opening the door to their home, both the mother and daughter walked into the lavish house. "But I want all the colors in the set! I'm only halfway there!"

"Didn't you make your father take that ruby red one back?" The mare questioned.

"Nope! I kept it!" The filly exclaimed.

The mare giggled at her daughter's excitement. "So that makes the green and yellow the only two you don't have?"

"That's right!"

The mare leaned down to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Well why don't we discuss it with your father when he gets home. He's the one who's gonna get it for you."

"Okay." The filly answered with a roll of her eyes.

Getting out of her winter coat and placing it on the rack next to the door, the mare hollered out into the halls of the house. "Mom, we're home!"

The young filly darted her way through the halls and ran into the dining room where she expected her grandmother to be, usually sitting in front of the radio listening to her usual afternoon soaps on the broadcast. The elderly mare sat quietly in her chair, facing the radio as her granddaughter walked into the room. "Grandma! Mom said I can talk to daddy about getting another bracelet!"

The older mare was silent and unmoved by her granddaughters voice. The young filly ran to her side and noticed that her eyes were motionless and open, her jaw agape, with blood on her neck. The mother walked in and took note of her mother-in-law and approached as to hug her, until she realized that her body was cold. Upon looking further, she started to see the blood dripping down the chair and pooling into the rug below her.

"Get back!" The mother ordered her child, yanking the little filly away from her deceased grandmother. The mare was caught in shock as she covered her mouth. "Oh sweet Celestia!"

"Aw, you lot still use her as an expression? That's pretty amusing." Said a voice at the back of the room, specifically from the door they just walked in from. The stallion walked into the room with a carefree smirk and a cane twirling in his possession.

The filly, unsure as to what to do about the situation, hid behind her mother's legs as she took prominence of the situation. "Who are you!?"

The stallion trotted closer and closer, leaning past the mother as though he made his response directly to the filly instead of the one who asked the question. "Me? I'm a close family friend. I'm very veeeeery close to your big sister."

"I don't have a sister." The little filly replied timidly.

"Aw, of course you do." He replied as he started to get closer to the pair.

A thin beam of magic was sent in the direction of the grinning stallion, he stopped walking forward as the mare bravely stood between him and the young filly. "Get out of our house! Please just leave us alone!" She commanded after firing the warning shot past the stallion.

"Why whatever for? I'm just telling her about her dear big sis." Umbra replied with a smirk.

"I only have one daughter, and that's MY daughter!" The mare replied, ready to send yet another beam of magic at the stallion.

Umbra walked closer towards the nearby fireplace with a pair of fencing rapiers set above the mantle. "Yes, but your husband has two, one by you, another in his first marriage some twenty years ago."

"He told me his first wife died of disease." She replied, still on her guard.

Levitating one of the blunted blades from atop of the fireplace, he twirled the sword around with a lack of respect for the space around him, hitting a nearby curtain and ripping it. "Oops. Sorry, swordplay isn't exactly a strength of mine, I just always wanted to get one of these, ponies look so elegant when they know how to use one. I think I knew a guy from way before your time who'd use a bunch of these." He said before tapping the deceased elder in the head with the blade. "Well, she was more-or-less immunocompromised. So there's that. But enough of the old stuff, I came here to discuss to you at great length an offer you cannot refuse."

The mare carefully navigated her daughter towards the door and away from the deranged stallion. "What do you want?"

"Well, I wish to have words with your husband, pertaining to his eldest daughter specifically. I guess the three of you are going to help me get that tonight."

"How do we help you with something we don't even know!?" The mare replied as she used her hind leg to nudge the little filly back into the hallway.

But the stallion teleported himself and pointed the tip of the bloodied foil to the filly's face. "Don't even think about calling for the authorities." Suddenly hearing his voice behind her, the mother ran back into the hall, only to be stopped by the same fencing foil being thrown into the door way. "There's no point, it's too late." He added as he summoned a large bloodied knife, walking closer to the young filly. "I'm actually surprised that old bat didn't tell you lot anything. But then again, it's easy to understand when she's just as racist as the late Count DuMoneé. 'That zebra girl' this, 'them striped ones' that. I get it, you don't like zebras, it's like beating a dead horse, the point's been made and resolved, and she's still going. Couldn't really stand to hear it so much, so I just out and told her what her son had been hiding from her recently."

"Zebra?" The mother questioned as she tried to sneak her way under the first blade, only to see a second summoned and lodged in the doorframe.

"His first wife, of course." Umbra explained without missing a single breath or blink. "Ugh, that old bat was so disrespectful to my friend. Could you believe what she told me? 'She left my poor baby alone. I told him she was no good, both her and her flea-infested daughter.' So I told her that she'll be the one covered in more than just fleas. Maggots will do fine."

"I have a sister?" The little filly questioned, both scared and confused.

The stallion teleported behind her and petted her atop her mane, causing the little filly to urinate on herself out of fear. "Yes, little one. Maybe you would like to meet her one day."

"Like hell she will!" The mother called out as she snatched one of the fencing foils from the doorway and pointed it at the stallion. She appeared fairly trained with the weapon as she provided a few thrusts to back the stallion away and advance to where her daughter was well behind her. "Honey, go out there and call for help! Mommy is gonna make sure he doesn't go after you, okay?"

"I said not to run. Please don't make this harder on yourselves." Umbra urged impatiently.

"Gala, run!" The mare called back to her young filly.

"Mommy I'm scared." The filly whimpered.

"Gala Galleria, run! Get help!" The mare urged as she sent another thrust towards the intruding stallion.

"If you run, I will find you." Umbra warned.

Seeing her mother's order over the warning of a complete stranger, the filly fled down the hall to try and get help for her family. "Constable! Constable!" She cried loudly at the top of her voice.

"Ah, the spoils of youth, to have so much energy." Umbra said with endearment before slightly charging his horn and sending a very narrow beam of concentrated magic into the mother's forehead. The mare fell lifeless as blood started to pool around both the entrance wound of her forehead and the exit out the back of her skull. He smiled as he closed his eyes and whispered before a deep breath. "Ready or not, here I come!"

The filly ran onward as she heard a second body fall lifeless to the ground. She opened the door to the house, crying out to the streets outside. "Constable!!"

Instead of an officer answering her call, it was Umbra instead, who came walking around the corner with a smile on his face. He swing the iron gate closed behind him, holding the keys to the lock she could not levitate to reach just yet. "Not quite."

The little filly shrieked as she shut herself inside of her own home. She used all that she could of the little magic she had and locked the door. After that she ran up the stairs and took shelter into her own bedroom. She locked the latch to her door and hid under her bed. She breathed heavily, startled by the knock at her bedroom door.

She covered her mouth as if she was trying her best to not get caught by the stallion. So she continued hiding under her bed. Trembling, she jumped as he banged on the door yet another time.

She turned around to see a head peering at her from outside, Umbra smiled back at her as he pointed to her.

The young filly started to stifle her own breath, seeing the pony looking right at her through her bedroom window before he suddenly disappeared from view. She turned around to check the door, only to see the stallion's face smiling right next to hers as he levitated the entire bed from over her.

"Though I'd love to see it closer."

Canterlot Dungeons...

It's been some time since I've found myself coming down here. Ever since the situation with Kalimba and myself being thrown in, I just had it in mind to never really look back to this place. But today I had a good reason for being down here, and it wasn't to make deals with Padrig or Caramel.

Since Damper was in a cell today, I at least had to take the opportunity to probe his mind for anything pertaining to a certain stallion I can't name. And if he could just give me tiny bits of information, I can take that a long way. And I'm sure he had some insider information about my fight Friday night. Again, the more information on that, the better of a chance I'll have in surviving.

I walked into the interrogation chamber for questioning, the senator being very unhappy with being detained in a holding cell for the better part of an hour. "I take it you're not too thrilled with being here."

The politician cracked a slight smile and looked at me. "I'm not too thrilled of much outside of what's needed to take place. Come on now, you know what you promised."

I sat my phone on the table and continued my questions. "And what's that?"

"What else? A system of government where the ponies elect their rulers. No more lines of succession tilted to blood relation and generational favors to the crown. Why not have a fair and free government ruled by the ponies who help truly make Equestria what it is, it's citizens?"

"That's a pretty virtuous vision you got there for a guy blaming a protestor for what you did, all to have them silenced and removed." I responded as I sat down. "So what's so wrong with the current structure?"

"Aside from royals putting those who they favor into key positions to sway the dealings of the structure?" He said, pointing to me in particular.

"Okay, you have a point, I even admit that my being fast-tracked to my position has had some regrettable backlash. But since you think that your ideal system is so much better, I want to know how you'll make that a non-issue should you implement your vision."

The stallion placed his hoof on the table, made a slashing motion as he spoke. "First, I'll do away with royal appointments. It'll be just like you said, a system where the ponies decides who will hold reigns of Equestria's present and future. Appointments will be voted on by the parliament, a parliament that represents the voters that put them in power."

Anyone in my world could easily point out how that can backfire and become an even worse issue, especially with the way he worded it. I then argued against his vision. "If you ask me, Equestria has been headed into a fairly bright place. Look at the numerous political movements that are taking place. Do you see guards trying to quell things like that, trying to bring a calm to a group of citizens looking to legitimize their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? You can have a royal system of checks and balances, but there cannot be one branch that supersedes the other. It has to be a balanced order."

The senator scoffed and ridiculed me. "If this racket in the halls is what you call order, then I fear for Equestria's future. There will be an angry mob for every little thing if that's the case."

"There'll be an angry mob if you continue to act like their issues aren't anything to take seriously. I'm sure you understand that." I replied.

The stallion leaned back in his chair, pointing at me and motioning for me to take the table. "Can you tell me when was the last time an angry mob have ever brought any good to themselves."

I sat myself up as I could quickly give him many examples. "I'll name a few from my world's history. The signing of the Magna Carta was birthed by a group of angry barons who went to war against their own tyrannical ruler and won, causing a siege of the town and forcing the king to affix his seal to a document saying that he too would obey the laws of the land as if he were none other than a common citizen. The Revolutionary War, or The War of the Rebellion if you go by the other side of things, ended the occupation of the British Empire to colonial settlers, giving them the right to govern their own land and tax accordingly. The French Revolution was simply the entire people of France arming themselves against their king and his aristocratic buddies, who would often throw lavish parties and outweigh the desires of the very citizenry they starved through heavy taxation. The Russian Revolution was similar in some aspects to the French, but the circumstances were drastically different, the citizenry all replied the same. That's to name a few off the top of my head."

The stallion chuckled in a mocking manner. "Seems like violence is the only way you humans have gone about things."

"A riot is the language of the unheard, a monster bred by the neglect and ignorance of those in power." I pointed out. "If you want examples of 'peaceful' protests, I'll be happy to give you some. Of course, meaning that the protestors were peaceful does not imply the powers that used to be had any peaceful response to them. Ghandi's Revolution, a nonviolent protest to lead against the colonial rule of the British Empire─they gained that name for a reason. He successfully led the revolution, starving himself until they capitulated to the demands of the people of India. Martin Luther King Jr. was another revolutionary of this association, a pastor from the city of Atlanta who lead marches throughout the racially-segregated south of the United States for equality. Often times his efforts had been heavily contested by race supremacists that valued the lessening of their fellow man for the simple issue of skin pigmentation. His efforts had considerable successes, but not nearly the effect he pursued before his assassination. Women's Suffrage, the pro-feminism movement that sought to bring the fairer sex social, economic, domestic, and political equality in a country who still resisted the rights of those of the prior movement. My home country had a lot of fucked-up history, but that's what all I can list from the top of my head."

The senator straightened his posture as he glanced up to the ceiling. "So you're considering that protest out there 'peaceful' when they are shouting at our doors and banging around for our attention like entitled foals?"

"Those that make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." I quoted from President John F. Kennedy. "That's not just a reflection of humanity, but Equestria as well."

"We had a violent revolution in our country's history. Can you guess how that worked out for the male population?" Damper Trot questioned in response.

"So you'd justify making a peaceful revolution violent by retaliating against them, thus escalating the altercation?" I rebutted in query.

"If that's the case, then what about all of those revolutionaries you arrested during your raid on the Corrotto District? Does that not make you a hypocrite?" He asked, trying to corner me with a situation of false equivalence.

I was quick to correct him on it. "We tried the peaceful approach, we even tried issuing warnings, and violence was made into our only option. I go by a system: Shout the command, Show the weapon, Shove off all assailants, Shoot to warn, and Shoot to kill. The five S's: Shout, show, shove, shoot, shoot to kill. All they had to do was comply, we had a warrant to search, they prevented us from executing it. They interfered with small arms and so were treated as such, hostiles."

He then replied. "Well I'm sure every member of law enforcement had that same talking point in regards to those peaceful protests in your world. When they said leave, did the protestors not waive that right to remain in protest?"

"And you think that justifying the silence of a protest is going to make matters anymore peaceful for you? That's your problem, you would literally commit a crime to pose as if those against you had any right to be vacated. What good is there in trying to frame a protestor for what you did other than trying to give them a bad name in the eyes of your peers? I understand you politicians don't like the noise, but disallowing anyone from their allotted platform does not make you look good. It's a quick way to get ousted in your party's primary, especially if they are the ponies you supposedly represent."

He laughed and nonchalantly gave his response. "I don't know if you realize it, but I don't represent all ponies of Equestria, just the ones in my district. And they voted for me because I am the only voice they have in this world of rapidly degenerating causes."

"And yet you show your face in Corrotto." I tacked on, pointing out his hypocrisy.

"And? Who cares? I say what the voters want to hear, I do what my donors ask of me. I hold to my principles and I make it my job to wake up at first light, signing a bunch of papers, drafting legislation from sun-up to sun-down. Am I not entitled to some form of enjoyment for the evening? Is that not my right?"

I grew upset with his response and briefly lashed out at him. "You know what, you're right. It's your right to get sucked off by a pair of twins in your press box while ponies are getting slaughtered in the background. That's your exclusive right."

"Much like it is for you to foster in secret an amorous relationship with a royal whom you were prohibited by law from seeing." He added, very much having a valid rebuttal to my statement. "The difference between you and I is this: What I do at my own leisure has no legal ramifications. What you do in yours has every precedent lined up against you."

"Who's to say that what you do outside of Corrotto is completely legal?" I questioned in a low voice.

"And what evidence could you summon to bring me down in that regard?" He said with a smug grin.

"I'm sure after this week, I'll have more than enough for you and your friends to take that walk of shame." I warned.

"Do you think you have any power to stop what's coming down on you?" He asked, pointing at me with a smile that gave away every bit of his intent.

As he chuckled, I nodded my head and replied. "I might not. But I have a good clue of what I'm facing. And I don't mind seeing the mountain of corpses he has in store for me." In that moment, he stopped laughing and wore a significantly weaker smile. "And your face just gave it away."

"Gave what away?" He asked, trying to assume innocence.

"You know what he has going on, don't you?" I asked.

The senator threw his hooves in the air, feigning ignorance. "I wouldn't know. As if I would even tell you if I did. I don't even know what all he does or have planned. I just meet up with him in the lounge. You think the Inner Circle knows what all he does? He hasn't called a session in weeks, so all of your sources are all flying blind. Do you think Alabaster or Blue will be able to tell you what he has planned? I sure as hell can't tell you because we haven't met since you got involved. And if you think you are going to find something, let me be the first to tell you that you won't."

While I suspected that he wouldn't be a willing participant on the first day, I still had six others before I could get him to spill on what he knew. All I had to do was find ways to keep him detained for longer than the initial week. And if I found out anything on Friday, I could easily do just that. "You're gonna be in here for at least a week. You might as well open up before the walls start closing in." I suggested.

"On who exactly?" He said with confidence.

I grabbed my phone and shrugged. "You know what, I'm gonna let you find that one out." I said as I hit the stop icon on my recording app.

The senator chuckled once more before issuing his own warning. "I would be careful, if I were you."

"Why?" I asked as I gave him a glance.

"Because he has a way to hit you, especially in someplace important."

Later that Evening...

After the day he had, Somber Spiral tiredly meandered through the halls of the castle, especially after having drafted a number of bills for his party to put on the floor in response to the increasing protests in the halls. As he walked, he recounted the moments he had after that phone call with his daughter.

Shortly after staring at his pendant, he walked outside to get some fresh air and to refocus himself. In the process of that, he was bombarded with protestors all looking for him to make a statement. However, in contrast to the other senators, he proudly stated how he agreed with the motive behind the movement, speaking with some of them over what ideas they wanted to see implemented. He inquired about a current-standing law saying that royals were restricted from those same accesses. They debated in deep discussion over whether those restrictions should be lifted, particularly in favor of lifting them. He then explained the reasoning for the Approval Process Law still in standing, but they were firm in every pony being free to love whom their heart desire.

With those interactions taken place, the senator canvassed many of the other protestors along with his assistants to see what he could draft up for them. And as the suggestions came in, they pointed to a direction of unrestricted access that would protect younger citizens from predatory individuals, strict practices against discrimination, and sweeping changes to the current breeding standards. It would also implement some programs for victimized ponies who were heavily abused by family members that were more traditionalist-leaning or religious. Shelters would be established for those who have run away from home to escape their abusers and assist in their seeking justice against said abusers. There was even a proposed doctrine to remove all forms of unsanctioned sexual trade from all cities, towns, and municipalities. Those that were to be licensed would have mandatory surprise inspections of the workplace to ensure the safety of all ponies involved. Those that sought to privatize their industry must be verified of the legal age.

After the canvasing, and with so many ideas put into form, the senator headed back into his office and got to work along with his assistants. Each section was drafted carefully and written with the absolute attention to detail. The nearly three-hundred page bill was at last drafted into it's final phase by the end of the evening. All of the proposed measures, as well as others that his associative party sought to implement a number of times were neatly ordered and stored away for finalization of the draft. A job well done in his eyes, he left the castle and headed home to his family.

As he arrived, the gate was shut and secure. He unlocked his gate and walked through the front door with a sigh of relief. "I'm home!" He called out.

No one answered.

The stallion simply assumed that everyone had probably gotten to sleep already. Though he was hungry, he opted to check on his family instead. He walked to the bedroom of his mother, knocking on the door to hear no signs of snoring. "Mother, how was your day?" After a period of silence, he grew worried and opened the door, only to find no one there. "Hmm... another night at the bingo hall? I hope she's not putting her weekly stipends into the pot again."

He walked further down the hall, looking to possibly check in on his wife in the master bedroom. He cracked the door open, only to see a neatly made bed and an undisturbed room.

"Dreamer? Honey you in?" He called out around the house as he walked back down the stairs. He started to search the various rooms. The living room with the grand piano sitting in the back corner. The warming room, filled with it's many books and liquors, the kitchen where not a single plate waited for him upon his arrival.

He then checked the dining room, seeing his youngest daughter sitting in front of the fireplace. He walked in, seeing how close his daughter was to the fire. "Gala?" He called out to her. She shifted her head, looking back to the source of his voice. She started to whimper and whinny. "Gala, get away from there! That fire is going to singe your pretty coat if you're too close."

But as he walked to her in the room that was only lit by the fireplace, he started to see the face of his daughter, but not as he remembered it. Her face was cut and sliced, her eyes was terribly gouged, his expression reflected terror for what has been done to his daughter.

"OH FAUST ABOVE! Oh my baby girl, what─" But before he could finish, he turned around to see the cruel images of his mother pinned to the right side of the doorway like a trophy to be claimed. On the left side was his wife, who was pinned with the two rapiers that were originally situated above the fireplace. He let out a trembling cry of grief and terror. He quickly ran to his mother, crying as he saw the deep gash in her neck. He reached out to his wife, who had a small hole burrowed into her forehead. "Who did this to you!?" He called out in grief.

"Hello." Umbra answered softly from the side of his wife. He walked out to reveal himself from within the shadows of his wife's body.

"You!?" The grief-stricken senator called out. Umbra giggled as he took out the small dagger he used to cut at his daughter, still stained with her dried blood. "CRETIN!" He called out as he was about to throw a chair at the intruder. But before he could Umbra teleported next to Gala and started stroking her mane.

"Some soft words from a guy coming home to find his mother and wife waiting on the walls. I have to say I expected a much more extreme choice of words."

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER!?" He cried out angrily.

As if he was showing a tender side of himself, Umbra gently caressed the young foal. "We just played a game together, that's all. She lost and had to pay the consequences. And we kept playing until you got home. Obviously she lost quite a bit, she's not very good at hiding, the poor thing."

Overwhelmed with emotion, he started to beg for the stallion to leave his home. "What do you want? Money! I'll give you whatever you want, just please leave us alone!"

Showing disgust, Umbra stepped away from the young foal and walked towards the stallion. "Ugh, it's always you nouveau-riche types. When it all goes to bad, resort to money to buy out the issue."

The grieving stallion ran right past Umbra, hoisting his daughter up to his back. "Honey, we are going right now."

"No you're not." The cruel intruder replied as he levitated the young filly off of her father's back. "Look, I can get one of you leaving, but I don't just let two of you go all willy-nilly. That's just no fun."

"Honey, I know it's hard, but I need for you to find your way outside. I got this in here, get outside however way you─"

"NOOOO!" The little filly cried out in a stomping protest. "I don't wanna! Daddy please!"

Seeing the horror his youngest daughter exhibited made him cold to the core. The intruding Umbra walked towards the deceased young mother. "Oh yeah, her mother said the same thing before I made quick work of her. Too bad, she was pretty." Raising a hoof to her cheek, he admired the body that hung before him. "Though with some fixing up, you'll look the fair part of your youth, my dear."

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Somber angrily pleaded, instinctively placing his daughter behind him.

Umbra smirked while he continued to taunt the bereaving senator. "Do you really love her? Or was she just the replacement for what you've lost? Was she the one your dearly departed mother sort you with to make good on your social appearances?"

"SHE'S MY WIFE!" He replied firmly.

"Your second wife, of course. Whatever happened to that first one you had?" He asked before pointing to him with his trademark carefree demeanor. "Oh that's right, we did process her a while back. I guess that was a little over years ago. Funny thing about time is that if you live long enough, you start to sort things like decades in rounded numbers."

He looked back to address his youngest daughter. "Honey, I know you don't want to leave us here, but you have to."

"I don't wanna! I want mommy, I want daddy!" She replied, sniffling through the pain of her tears running across her wounds.

"Mommy's..." The stallion looked to the body of his wife and grimaced painfully before turning back to his daughter. "Mommy's home, sweetheart. D-daddy's here too. But we're gonna get you a new home, something bigger and far prettier! Don't you want that, something big and pretty?" He asked, deeply saddened that he had to speak to his daughter comforting words in juxtaposition to the hell they had found themselves in.

"You don't have to lie." Umbra said with a groan. "I mean what good is there in lying to your second daughter about her new home, just like you did your first?"

"You leave her out of this." Somber replied, backing his daughter closer to the door.

"Aww, don't be sour to me. I've gotten to know both your little girls very well." He said with a chuckle. "Kalimba especially... I've gotten to know quite intimately. Her body is very welcoming. Her legs are so long, her lips so soft to the wrap, if only you could experience the warmth your daughter could give you, it would be just like your first wife back in her prime."

"Gala... Get out and run." The stallion lifted a chair and threw it to the intruding stallion, who caught it just inches before it could hit his face. The senator turned back to see that the young filly was still clasping onto his hind leg, tightly gripping him with the desire to hold on to what she had left. "Gala Galleria, I said run!"

A cruel cackle sounded from beside the two victims, Umbra closed the door and taunted the pair even more. "She knows she can't run from me. She's already smarter than her zebracorn older sibling. Trust me, I've made myself known to your little Gala, she's especially aware of me."

"Who are you!?" Somber asked as he threw yet another chair in hopes to blindside the intruder.

"I am who I was made to be. Nothing more." He said as he took the blow without so much as flinching, instead gently lifting the chips and splinters of wood from off of him. "Nothing less."

"Is that so!?" Somber hollered as he stood proudly, his horn illuminating with magic.

Umbra took note of the stallion's posture and grew unimpressed with what he saw. "You know, I don't recall you having any strong resource of magic knowledge. That's probably why your stance is so... weak. You try to pass on as strong, but you're completely unbraced. What good is that for you when you cast?"

"I might not be strong, but I will defend my home!" He said as he sent a blast of magic at Umbra, who tilted his head to avoid the blast. The senator bemoaned the idea of disturbing his wife's body to grab a sword to defend himself, but as he pulled it, the tip of the weapon found itself lodged in the stallion's flank, pinning him to the ground beside his youngest daughter.

"Little late for that, don't you think?" Umbra replied as his magic dissipated from the hilt of the sword. "Somber Spiral, ever the pushover, never the force behind so much as a feather."

As he shrieked in pain, the stallion tried to dislodge the weapon from his flank. After a few attempts to free himself, he managed to succeed with a great amount of pain dealt to him. He forced the blade of the weapon to break with his magic and then toppled over as the sword still stuck within him. His daughter hunched over him, hugging him tightly. "Daddy, please don't leave me. I can't hear mommy's voice anymore, please don't let it be you too."

"Oh, I don't know if it's sweet or boring at this point." Said Umbra.

The stallion, realizing that he was vastly outmatched and in dire straights quietly looked to his daughter as she plead in desperation to him. Seeing no escape, he feared the worst and simply hugged his daughter back. "I'm gonna be right here sweetie. I'm not going anywhere without you." He said, his voice labored with immense pain and grief.

"Okay, boring it is." Umbra replied as he yanked the other matching sword from his wife's body, causing her to crumple to the ground with a resounding thud. "So I'm about to take your wife and do things to her, make her every last bit of the doll she is. But I want you to answer one simple question before I go." He raised the tip of the blade to the pair and asked his question. "You... or her?"

Somber felt his jaw tremble as he held his daughter, feeling that it was the end for them both. "Look all you have to do is─"

"YOU... or her?" Umbra shrieked impatiently. "Simple one-word answer, either one or the other. Choose."

The stallion closed his eyes as he couldn't bear to hear the sound of his own daughter dying before him. So with a sorrowful mewl, he kissed his daughter and held her close. "Me."

Umbra smiled warmly, satisfied with the senator's choice. "Now that's a good answer."

The Next Day...

I woke up in the morning and walked out of my room to the silent halls of the castle, a vastly different atmosphere that seemed to be prevalent for the day. What was supposed to be the sounds of chants and singing taking place during protest was absolute silence. The guards had lined the halls as they normally did in times of reverence. I looked around and saw not a single soul speaking to one another, everypony's discipline at the highest level.

Something wasn't right.

I walked over to one of the guards and returned their salute as I casually questioned them of what was taking place. "Private, I need to know what's going on this morning."

"Sir, the halls have been cleared to observe the death of one of the senators last night." The private answered.

"Oh shit, a senator died last night?" I asked, actually surprised of hearing it. Though it could be assumed that some would have health issues or passed from old age.

"Murdered in his own home. They found him this morning with his daughter. She's in pretty bad shape too."

That bit of news completely turned my head. "Damn!" I quickly started thinking, finding ways to put together what could be a motive for how this happened.

As I thought to myself, I heard two passing maids make a few mentions of it as well. "I wonder who they pissed off in the guild over in Canterrot."

"It could be a hit. I mean he was speaking with those protestors just yesterday."

"It's too bad, they were really engaged with those protestors. A good voice gone too soon, I suppose."

Looking to gain a little more information, I jumped into the conversation. "Morning, ladies."

"Oh, Captain?" One of the maids replied with some excitement. "I didn't think we were even of note for you."

The other mare giggled. "So how are you doing this morning?"

I walked alongside the pair, being nice to them and prodding for more info. "I'm fine. I just couldn't help but to overhear your conversation. Something about a senator getting murdered."

"Oh yes." The first maid confirmed. "Found him and his daughter back in his home. Not much that can be spoken about the scene, but I did hear that it was pretty bad."

"Aw... Well my heart goes out to the family." I replied.

"I mean what's left of them. The little girl said something about her mother getting taken away." The second maid added.

"Wait, did she witness who did it?" I asked.

"She doesn't know who it was, Plus whoever did it gouged her eyes out." The first maid explained.

"Augh!" I shuddered with a deep disgust. "Okay, that's rough."

The second maid then said. "I heard they're looking for a next-of-kin to identify the bodies they found. They supposedly found one member of the family here in the castle this morning."

I paused for a moment and thought about that statement. The only senator I knew that had family in the castle was Somber Spiral. I wasn't sure, but I had to know for certain. "Do you know the status of this family member they found?" I inquired.

"They say that she was in the cafeteria before she was escorted to the medical wing." The first maid replied.

The second then said. "Strangely enough, she's a horned zebra."

That was what solidified my fears. The first thing that came to my mind was the one they sought out. "Kali!" I briskly made my way towards the medical wing. As soon as I showed up, I asked the receptionist at the front desk. "You already know who I am. Where are they having the ID for the senator's body?"

"Fourth hall further down." The young receptionist replied as she pointed towards the direction of the royal morgue.

As soon as I got that information, I had quickly walked over to the lobby of the fourth hall. As I arrived, I called out to the lobby. "Kali!" But instead of seeing the zebracorn, it was both Alabaster and Blue who was present. I instead asked them if the had run into her recently. "Guys, have you seen Kali?"

"She just went to the bathroom. We were with her this morning for breakfast. Then two guards just walked up to the table and said that they needed her to follow them. We were waiting with her." Alabaster briefly explained.

Almost on time, the aforementioned mare stepped back from her trip to the restroom. She seemed visibly distraught and confused over what was going on. "I do not understand why I am here! Why do you have me here!?" She kept repeating to the medical staff.

Also in the room was Solemn Oath, who appeared to have escorted her over. The guardsmare tried her best to explain the situation. "Please ma'am, just try to be calm! There is something important we need to tell you."

Kalimba looked over to me and voiced her concerns. "I do not know what is going on, why am I here? You must know something."

"I'm really trying to find that out myself. That's why I'm here. But I need a moment with Solemn before I can tell you what's going on." I said, not wanting to tell her something that I couldn't completely confirm for myself. I motioned for the guardsmare to follow me further down the hall where I could whisper to her. "Solemn, what's the sitrep?"

The guardsmare appeared mortified as she started explaining what she had encountered this morning. "It's horrible! The senator, his mom, his wife, his young daughter! Her eyes!" She said, still trying to gather her thoughts properly.

"Okay, okay. Deep breaths." As she tried to calm herself, I looked to the zebra further down the hall. Celestia also walked into the area, escorted by a minister in robes. My stomach immediately sank as I asked her the question. "Is it him?"

"We're going by DNA evidence. Unfortunately, she's the closest thing that can give visual confirmation before we can make a public address. The only reason why it's gotten out is because of how this came out to that community this morning. The scene's been whispered around the guard since the dawn shift. I was one of the ones who was called in to lead the effort. That poor little filly's been wandering the street blind, trying to get help." Solemn's voice started to break as she explained what she saw. It was probably her first time being on a murder scene.

As she fanned her self, trying to calm herself down, I looked down the hall to see a nurse clad in white walk past us. "Is there any way I can go in there and ID the guy? I just spoke with him yesterday morning." I said, still piecing it together in my own head from the disbelief. Everything was happening so fast for me.

Solemn held her own chest as she breathed. "You can accompany her to see if she can identify him. But not by yourself. It's protocol."

"Kalimba Mavembe?" The nurse who walked past us earlier called out to the lobby.

Celestia and the pastor both stood behind her as she confirmed her name. "Yes?"

"The medical examiner will see you now."

Every part of my stomach was turning itself into knots. I was already unprepared for the news as it is, there's no telling how she's going to take it. Either way, I had to be there for her in case she had an episode. It was too late for me to preemptively discover it for myself so I could tell her, so I at least owed it to her to be a source of comfort. As Kalimba walked closer, I left Solemn to process. "Hey, I'm coming with."

"Sir, this is a private issue." The nurse informed me.

"He comes with me." Kalimba insisted, grabbing my hand in her magic as we walked. "I don't feel good, Nondis, why is dis happening?"

"I'm here for you, we all are." I assured the stressed mare.

When we turned the corner, there was a medical examiner and a doctor tending to a young little filly in the hall with bloodied bandages all over her face, both of her eyes gauzed with bloodstains over them. Celestia turned her head at the harrowing sight, unwilling to come closer without a moment to mentally set herself. The pastor stood with her as Kalimba and I approached the group. "Ms. Mavembe." The medical examiner confirmed.

"Sir." The mare called out nervously before seeing the state of the young filly standing next to him. "Sweet Celestia! What happened to you, child!?"

The little filly whimpered repeatedly as she shook in the hooves of the doctor that cared for her. "...I wanna go home... I wanna go home... I want mommy... I want daddy..."

While even I had my experience with comforting young foals to the afterlife, I wasn't mentally equipped to handle seeing an abused foal with such wounds. I quietly said a prayer. "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

The little filly was greatly startled by my voice and started squirming, making it harder for her doctor to hold her back. "Who's there!? GO AWAY!" She shouted.

Celestia finally approached as she started to speak to the young victim. "It's gonna be okay, missy. I am Princess Celestia, I'm here with a few others, and we're gonna help you, okay?" She said as she leaned down to gently caress the young mare, who only trembled more at her touch. Celestia quickly withdrew her hoof, realizing that her attempt to comfort her would only be harmful for the time being. "You poor thing... I know you can't see her, but this is your big sister, okay?" The princess calmly announced to the filly.

"Big sister?" The filly squeaked.

Seeing the face of her younger sibling for the first time and in such close proximity, the zebra started to lash out painfully at the medical staff. "I am not here for dis! I am not here to identify anypony!"

"Ma'am, please." The doctor pleaded, trying to get her to calm down.

As of the moment, it seemed that she had finally come to the realization of what was going on, at least if she hadn't figured it out earlier. But she was very upset with the way she had to find out. I comforted the silently grieving mare. "I'm with you. Just hang on to me if you need to."

"Who's that? I'm scared!" The little filly called out in terror.

I knelt down and spoke in a soft reassuring tone. It was very difficult for me to look at her directly. "Hey little one. I know you don't know my voice, but I'm Captain Nondis. I came here with your big sister to help you. When it's all done, we're gonna go get you some ice cream, some chocolate, whatever you want. Okay? We're gonna do whatever we can to make you feel comfortable, to make you feel safe. We're gonna make to that the bad guy doesn't get to you anymore, okay?"

"I'm scared." The little girl replied. "I don't know where to go. He keeps following me."

"Who keeps following you?" I asked.

"Sir." The doctor intervened, probably because I was asking the young filly questions that she was probably not in a good mood to answer.

I elected not to push it further, offering the filly reassurance. "Don't worry, I'm gonna come right back to you and get you all of what I said. And we're gonna make sure you're okay." As soon as I rose and turned away, I couldn't help but to feel somewhat nauseous and upset over how she was treated. I had to give myself a moment to recollect my thoughts. "Oh Lord in heaven."

Kalimba watched as her younger sister was escorted to another room in the medical wing. "What is going on?"

The medical examiner finally approached us and read off of a clip board his information. "Ma'am. Are you Kalimba Mavembe?"

I held the mare close as she answered his question. "Yes, I am." Her voice trembled.

Seeming relatively unbothered by what we were doing now, he nodded and flipped through his charts. "Okay. I understand today is a very hard day for you, ma'am. But I need to confirm some things before we continue." He pulled out a pen and went right to work with the first question. "First, who are you in regards to Somber Spiral."

...Goddammit. As much as I didn't want to hear that name now of all times. "His daughter, from his first wife." She confirmed, trying to keep herself stead.

"Mbira Nyamaropa?" He questioned from his chart.

"Yes." Kali answered, already bracing herself for the news.

"Okay then, this way please." He said as he moved his clipboard out of the way to open the door to the cold storage. There was a chill that almost pierced the bones when you walk in, mainly from the refrigerated air to alleviate the stress of the storage units. There was a table with a set of hind legs and a tail poking out from the bottom. The body was covered under a white sheet, the outline seemed to be that of an adult male. The medical examiner spoke to Kalimba directly. "Ma'am, I'm sure that you are aware of why you are here today. A lot has happened. But before there can be an official announcement made to the public, we must have consent of an immediate next of kin who is of legal age. It's mandatory to obtain consent of family to nationalize the news of your father's passing."

She started off with some rapid nodding. The first tear fell from her face, she closed her eyes in an attempt to hold them back, and that was it for her. Her chest rose and fell erratically, her eyes opened back to see the concealed figure lying on the table. She locked herself closely against me as she was made to process her father's death. "...Let me see him." She stammered, demanding to at least view her father's face.

The examiner saw the bereavement on her face and questioned her one last time. "Ma'am, I should warn you that your father is not in any way altered from the scene of the crime. Are you certain that you would like to continue?"

"Just let me see him!" She mournfully wailed, hyperventilating as the examiner took to the table and started moving the sheets from over him.

I held the zebra, trying to do my best to convince her that she didn't need to go so far as to identify her father's body. "Kali, you don't need to─"

"Let me see him!" She stamped her hooves as she shoved me aside to see her father's twisted face. I looked back to see her pause just inches before him. From there she fell to the ground with a terrible scream. "BABA!! BABAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

The examiner took his clipboard and checked off the final box to verify the identification of the body. He took no pride in doing so. I walked over to the deceased senator and grew dismayed in seeing him lie in state, especially with such a painful expression lasting on his face. I could only imagine his final moments with his daughter. "Sir?" The examiner started to question what I was doing so close to the body.

I had no want in asking this question, just an obligation to the one who has helped me throughout our time here. I felt that she needed to know what had happened to her father. "What does the report say?"

"Time of death estimated to be 11:53 last night, blood loss suffered from a stab wound to the heart. Also suffered from some other cuts in his body. There is evidence that a high concentration of magic was etched into his body as well, I'm not sure if it's a message to the family, but it's a pretty pronounced way to make a statement."

While I wasn't really in a mood to delve further, I wanted to find answers for Kalimba. So I pressed further. "Okay, let me see what you're talking about."

As the rest of the sheet was removed off of his body, I started to see letters etched into his body. From the top of his underbelly to the bottom. My jaw dropped as I saw the message that was displayed.

Kalimba was still in the throws of mourning her father's death. "BABA!! WHO DID DIS TO YOU!!? WHY!?" She pleaded to the corpse.

"Kali..." I answered, sadly but urgently trying to get her attention. "Get up."

While still trying to express her sadness, she rose up to see what it was that I was looking at. And it didn't take her long to put it together. On her father's dead body was four letters, crudely etched into his skin by means of a concentrated beam of magic burning his very skin. I could only imagine that they started this as he was still alive. That word was made very prominent in it's cruel message.

We found our culprit. "...Him.... HIM!" Kalimba's grief quickly transitioned to vengeful rage.

I stood by her, comforting her as she angrily shed the tears for her father. "Yeah... Him."

And here we are, the twelfth chapter of the year. This hits my mark of both doing more chapters in the year and also nailing the chapter-per-month deal. A lot went into this chapter that will set up the events for the next few chapters.

As far as Kalimba is concerned, I always had her never truly hating her father as much as everyone else expected her to. Instead my original intent was to make her appear that she was more angry with her father and wanting an answer for why she was one of the first things he bartered off for his happiness. But everyone else only sees the one side, and that's the anger and resentment she has for what her father did and how it hurt her.

I do want to point out that it's been well over seven years, going on eight since I started with this story. And it's been a fun (as well as sometimes frustrating) write. Of course we're in the endgame of things and it will get much darker from here. I just hope that I foreshadowed the future occurrences well enough to be plausible to the readers. But I have enjoyed interacting with you all.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Boxing Day, Happy all of that, and have a good weekend...

Oh yeah... BOMBS AWAY!