~Day 5~
In Canterlot Castle...

The halls of the castle have been ignited with the sounds of debate and talk of the upcoming selections. While ponies wandered around the halls in excitement over what was to happen now that their captain of the guard was perceived to be dead. A few of the maids expressed disappointment in their lack of getting to know the captain, others appeared to have dismissed him in saying that he was too engaged in political grandstanding to be proficient at his job. There were also rumors of how his connections to the royals were the cause of his early demise, and even anxiety felt for the guard Flash Sentry, who was rumored to be Princess Twilight's next choice in the line of suitors.

It was a possibility that disheartened many of the maids, as they saw the stallion as a young heart throb.

But not all conversation throbbed about the state of the guards, as there were a few politicians who saw this moment as a victory to their purpose. And the usual suspect was at the center of three other stallions, who colluded with the senator with boastful remarks. "I cannot believe your idea worked! It's like the gamble you paid managed to show dividends." One such senator stated while smoking a cigar.

Count DuMoneé only showed an air of superiority as he wrapped his foreleg around the back of his unicorn assistant. "You don't get anywhere in business or politics without playing the table. It's necessary to create the best result. You want something done, you have to be willing to make a sacrifice."

As they walked, the other senator continued to speak. "I know your career has taken a hit since you've recommended Rainbow Dash, an element bearer, to be on the assignment, but I can assure you that his death will do nothing but further our agenda."

"And with one less human, we will be seeing our nation slowly falling back to more traditional and healthy outlooks on personal relationships. And with him out of the way, I believe the royals have lost their primary playing piece to keep them in the game. This will be more than enough to remove their current attempt in amending Processu Approbati."

The three stopped in their tracks as the politician whispered to Count. "In speaking of royals, I see a disgruntled one approaching our direction."

Count took a few seconds to quickly groom himself and check his breath. After confirming that it didn't smell out of place, he proudly marched up to the distressed royal with a bright smile on his face. Going so far as to planting himself directly in her path, causing two guards nearby to step forward, he outwardly bowed to her. "Princess Celestia, why the sun you've raised on this beautiful day is so bright and warm!" He greeted loudly. "I almost thought it was spring. Though that comes of no surprise when you call in a three-day emergency torrent to 'counter the drought set upon Canterlot'."

The other senator gave Single File a nudge and a wink while whispering. "I'd say a drought of hope."

Celestia's face showed surprise and then a polite smile while her inward emotions were vastly different. She wore her mask as she spoke. "We are overdue for some rain, wouldn't you agree? Much of my garden has been dried and I thought it would be appropriate to revitalize the greenery throughout the city."

As she tried to walk around him, he raised himself up and trotted beside her. "Revitalizing the greenery? It's autumn, your highness. Have you not forgotten that your sister's moon is slowly claiming the balance of the sky?"

"It is an opportunity we've agreed upon that would allow for other to appreciate her night." Celestia replied with a faux smile.

"I also noticed that the moon has seemingly been concealed with clouds lately. Overcast to reflect her mood of the current situation? She could never really hide her emotions when things didn't go well for her."

The alabaster alicorn slowly became indignant, though her face showed the same smile. "That's is Princess Luna's personal business. I do not interfere with that."

The senator then cut his voice into a low murmur as he tickled her ear with his words. "Your majesty, let's cut the charade. We know you've been casting these clouds because you've lost hope. Over eight hundred years of record do not lie when it comes to your mannerisms and the weather."

"I am feeling quite fine today." She responded through the clenched teeth of her fake smile.

"Are you? Or are you upset in realizing that keeping the rain up would cause for significant flooding of certain districts? I read the reports of the second day. Here we are in day three, and the world seems to be a bright and happy place. Thought to be honest, I'd be upset too if I couldn't have the world brood with me whenever I felt down in dismay."

"That has nothing to do with it. I decided that it would be sunny." Celestia said in a sing-sung voice.

The senator chuckled as he continued to pester her. "You are most amusing, your highness. However, I truly appreciate the day you have given me. It makes me feel like I've climbed the mountain and shouted to the lower peaks that I've conquered them all."

"Well, I am happy you feel that way. Unfortunately for me, I have important business to attend to." She said, her dialog becoming more forced as the conversation carried along. She continued to trot forward.

"Such as finding a replacement captain?" He said, chasing her down again. This time she stopped as he barred her from walking past him. He then held out a manilla envelope and levitated it towards her. "Don't think we haven't noticed that either. So today at 1 this afternoon? I do have quite a few pieces lined up who are ready to take the position if given the word. And I should bring up the fact that our nation's security is at stake."

As Count's white magical aura was engulfed by Celestia's own, she stepped around him once more. "...I may consider it."

This time, he took a few steps to match her. "Thank you for your cooperation. With this we shall truly move forward as a nation."

While her lips didn't move, her mane did. Though it's flow was continuously slow, it sped up for the fraction of a second, showing a slight tinge of red where her pink was. She looked down to the senator with glowing lavender eyes. "Piss off." The senator heard as her voice echoed through his head, causing him to stop in his tracks. The sudden intervention of guards also prevented him from going any further with the princess. He walked away and returned to the two stallions with a laugh in his throat.

"Well this is truly one of the best days of my life. Princess Celestia telepathically sharing her vulgarities, my newest adversary dead, the hopes of the royals completely dashed, and soon to be one fresh cadaver on the dissection table with the Princess of Friendship to hold the scalpel."

The other senator gave him a slow nod in response. "Quite a combination, sir."

"Indeed." Single File murmured to himself.

As the infuriated princess walked down the hall, she continued to feign her smile for the others to see. Though one figure caught her eye as he walked down the hall with claws filled with folders and paperwork. Spike crossed paths with Celestia, neither of them maintaining eye contact. However, her words were spoken to him in the similar manner which she used to send away Count. "You brought this on yourself, Spike." She said harshly, causing the young dragon to stop in his tracks.

But he wouldn't have the chance to reflect on her words. "Spike, what are you doing? Get over here with that paperwork now!"

"Yes sir..."

"Nothing? You went around the forest and found nothing?"

Rainbow sat quietly in the bar they gathered in just a few days ago. Every seat was taken as others in the venue continued to ask Flash questions as if they were nothing more than the press itself.

"It's believed that his body may have been moved to somewhere within the mountain. All evidence suggests this as there was a trail of blood leading to that direction and the paths ahead were deemed too dangerous to walk. We checked the area the photograph portrayed, there was no sign of a body. Blood, plenty of that, but no physical body or remains to be collected."

Along with the contingent sat Spitfire and Soarin on the other side of the room. Soarin groaned with disgust as he whispered into his glass of apple cider. "They're toying with him. How fucked in the head do you have to be where you start playing with a dead body."

While the others grew somber, Private Humbreeze screamed loudly into the air with hopelessness. "Those monsters are a plight on ponykind!"

Spitfire, who was equally downtrodden, got off of her stool and walked out of the bar. "Call it what you want, it is still their territory. And I do expect for them to pull this kind of stunt considering the reports from five years ago."

Soaring followed suit, with Flash Sentry accompanying him. Downburst was the first to ask anything else since the revelation. "So... does that mean we head home?"

"You'll get your orders sometime tomorrow. For now, just be on the lookout for any sudden tributes sitting on the top of a hill." Spitfire answered, seeming a bit angry over the situation.

When the trio of officers left the bar, Humbreeze slammed his head into the table in submission, causing his glass to rattle from the impact. "I sure can't wait to see that... again."

An occasional cough sounded from the back of the room, only to quickly die off. No music played over the old loudspeakers or even on the player piano beside the old rickety stage. No one drank from their mugs, even as they were paid in full by Flash. Rainbow was the only one to do so while remaining somewhat levelheaded. After a long period of sustained silence, one voice came out from the middle of the room. "So... Captain's dead."

"I don't get why we're acting like this is new to us. We knew this was the case from two days ago. This isn't news to us." Another voice muttered.

"It's still a bummer."

"How?"

"Dude, we just lost the one who took the brunt for us. I'm feeling kinda shitty for not volunteering to go with him. And I'm sure Staff Sergeant Rainbow Dash feels the same way."

At last, the train engineer placed his input. "I felt he was gonna live. I knew he would, I saw him fight."

"He's not fighting anymore. Don't you get it?" One of the guards responded.

"I don't believe it. He's not dead to me." The engineer replied.

Sunny Skies shook her head with pity for the engineer as she spoke. "First stage of grief: denial."

"I wanna believe he's alive." The engineer said, firmly placing his belief in something that seemed to everyone else as very unlikely.

But his words didn't reach the others, who already resigned themselves to the worst. Downburst approached the stallion and gave him a firm shake on his shoulders. "Stop. It's time to stop. We need to start getting our shit together so we can head out in the morning."

While the others started to slowly down their drinks and file out of the bar, Rainbow gritted her teeth in frustration. She felt as if she wanted to share with the others that he was alive, but knew that it would put the entire operation in jeopardy. Yet the sight of her comrades trudging off in defeat was something she felt was too cruel to put them through. So she offered a bit of optimism in the favor of the train engineer. "I think we should stay around."

All of the guards froze in place for a second to look back at the cyan pegasus as if she had finally lost it. Sunny Skies walked up to her and spoke softly. "Staff Sergeant, with all due respect, the higher ups have classified you as 'unstable and inconsolable'. They said that you would probably hold out for any hope of there being a chance he'd come back because of your personal relationship with the late captain. Warrant Officer Soarin will come by and give us our shipping orders tomorrow once he returns from the visit to Canterlot."

Again, she knew of the gag order on the details, so she continued to play the role she was given, no matter how much she didn't want to keep dragging things out. "So I'm being ignored? So that's it? I'm just here to be a talking dummy for everyone to ignore and push aside? That's how it is? I was given this position to be over all of you by Nondis. Why can't you recognize my word as his?"

"Because it's been almost four days, and there hasn't been word." Downburst stated. "We've been following his orders, and it's confirmed that he's long gone. It's time for us to start pulling out."

Rainbow, who knew the truth and couldn't speak on it, grew all the more frustrated with the contingent's attitude towards her. Before she could refute his statement, another guard who left the bar not too long ago came bursting through the doors, panting breathlessly. On his back was a heavy box of equipment and a large antenna, his neck was covered with wires and sweat as he strove towards the bar. "Hah... Trans... Agh... Chest hurts... Huff..."

Rainbow Dash sighed as the word 'finally' was mouthed in silence. She pushed aside her argument and answered the distressed guard. "Corporal Low Drag, what's wrong?"

The pegasus stallion groaned as he tried to get his words out. "Somepony's... hailing... the comm link."

"What?" Said one of the guards. The others froze momentarily as they felt a bit of hope, but opting to carry on as their thoughts had already been set on going home.

"Probably an emergency transmission." Another one of the guards said, writing off any hope that was left.

Rainbow didn't waste any time as soon as the equipment landed on the counter. She yanked the receiver off of the comm device and started hailing. "This is Staff Sergeant Rainbow Dash, come in." A long trail of static was her only response. "Come in, do you read?"

While the machine whirred and whistled, the transmission was far too junked for anyone to understand. The engineer stated the obvious. "It's too garbled up."

"I'm trying to adjust it now, shut up." Rainbow said as she frantically turned knobs and sliders. "Repeat, do you copy?"

The stallion who carried in the equipment finally caught his breath and sighed heavily. "Jammed transmission. Can't get a signal to come in."

While Rainbow was adjusting the volume, she continued to hail at the receiver on the other end. But her attempts to do so all came back with a tattered sentence or a gargled set of words. This continued for a little while until...

Most of everyone in the immediate area placed their hooves over their ears as the loud sound caused the device to feedback. But when the noise subsided, a transmission finally rang through.

Every guard who hadn't left the bar had their jaws drop from the voice they heard on the other side. Rainbow, who was already aware of his current situation, faked a dramatic cry of concern. "NONDIS!?"

"Captain! Holy fuck, you're alive!?" Low Drag exclaimed.

"A whole lot. Is everything okay down there?" The engineer responded.

"How about we get you out of there for starters?" The engineer asked with a brimming smile.

"I thought that was implied in my statement, but yes. Fucking please get me out of here."

"On my way, sir!" The engineer said before galloping off towards the train.

A few murmurs and even some cheers came after the transmission ended. Everyone in the bar started to become optimistic while Humbreeze, who stayed behind to finish his drink, jumped for joy at the news, shouting it throughout the tavern. "Captain's alive! CAPTAIN'S ALIV─" Eventually, Rainbow's hoof was planted in his muzzle to silence him. She then announced to the guards who were still in the pub.

"Uh, let's try to keep this tidbit of information on the quiet for now."

Celestia sat at the center of the chamber, presiding over the affair while she looked at the five stallions standing below in full ceremonial dress. Upon their uniforms were a series of medals and ribbons that would have the human look terrifyingly inferior. Though she wouldn't openly admit it, their résumés were almost ostentatious in comparison. Their years of dedication did permit them to service the country to the extent that their accolades were terrifyingly too great to overlook. And they weren't that old either. Each of them seemed to be in their early-to-mid thirties. They had experience, and they had a lot of training. They were solid choices to lead, and yet the princess felt she would betray herself to select any of them.

And what made matters worse was the fact that each of their names carried a strong approval from military families, including that of Shining Armor's. And yet twice she snubbed them for the younger assignees, Shining Armor and Nondis. Each of them presented their longing for the position numerous times, but she would hold out because of political interests. However, she found it harder and harder to justify her reason for doing so. And with the latter of the young appointees declared as dead, she knew that there could be no refuting their proposals.

"Your majesty, I would advise against going against our picks." One of the senators stated firmly.

"They are capable commanders and level-headed strategists who would be more than capable of defending this nation should danger arrives." Another argued in favor of the heavily-decorated guards.

Celestia continued to look at the folders of the five guards, while Luna tried to debate the matter. "I do not believe it would be fair to dismiss the humans so─"

"Princess Luna, Prince Shining Armor's pick has shown much in the department of weapons and the ability to handle equine-sized opponents, which still bode as a significant challenge for him. We can no longer afford a non-magical being to be perpetually trumped by the most elementary of spells." Count DuMoneé proclaimed.

"Which is why we're vying for a new legislation that would bar any non-magical being from ever taking the captain's position again." Another senator claimed from just a few seats below Count.

"He is shortsighted, no strategic planning or levelheadedness. He's constantly just barging in and doing what he likes while showing off his toys. I do not believe this is the future of our nation's security." Heckled yet another senator.

"I agree. We must take a vote on the replacement now." The right side of the hall started to become noisy before Princess Luna motioned for order. The room calmed down as the night princess made her statement towards her sibling.

"Sister, I'm afraid that this has ended with nothing that would allow for a search party for the possibly deceased captain."

"He's dead, carry on." Count stated without a care of sensitivity.

As he said those words, one guard walked from his post and stood behind Celestia. She then leaned her ear towards the guard who offered her a newspaper. "What's this?"

"New headline from Appleloosa, your highness." The guard replied before bowing out.

Placing the selection on hold for a bit to read the headline, a few of the senators grew angry from her actions. The newspaper hid her expressions from the mass of politicians who would try to force her into yet another decision. "Hmm... I see..."

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Count screamed violently, rapidly losing his calm with the royal.

"Senator, under no circumstances would you be permitted to disrupt the order of this meeting in such an inappropriate manner." Luna chided vehemently.

"Forgive me for my impatience. I grow weary of all this procrastination." He said while pointing to the presiding royal, who appeared to be casually reading for the weather.

With a light hum, she folded the newspaper back into it's presented shape. She took a deep breath and looked at the five guards with reverence. "Well, thank you all senators of the parliament. But in my judgement, I believe that the one who is most suited for the assignment is the one who is most qualified for the position, one who has truly shown the qualities of a leader, who is able to overcome any obstacle in his or her way. And they are to be a highly decorated guard of significance, to both the constituency and the international community at large."

Four of the five guards looked down at their accolades and saw that one of them dramatically outranked each and every one of them. One unicorn mare stepped forward with a proud smile and a salute. "Your highness, it would be my ho─"

"The captain has already been decided. Thank you, my most esteemed guards, but your qualifications would be better suited for another office." The others didn't seem to budge as the rejection came down. The mare who stepped forward, however, had a soul-crushing expression written all over her face. She then quietly swallowed her words and gave the princess a final salute before galloping out of the room from the embarrassment.

The whole right half of the room were incredibly livid at Celestia's decision. "YOU'RE ELECTING TO NOT APPOINT A CAPTAIN WHEN OUR COUNTRY'S SECURITY IS AT RISK!?" Count shouted.

"ORDER!" Luna called out, continuously banging the gavel on the desk to call for order. It took several seconds for the arguments to disperse before Celestia carried on with her statements.

"I have already decided who it will be, Senator Count DuMoneé."

The senator rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat. "Then would you politely introduce us to your choice?"

Celestia then wore the same smile she wore earlier, only this one was far more sincere. "It is with honor and tremendous privilege that I declare the captains's seat officially filled, with all powers to be given to office. Although he is unavailable to attend this proceeding, I still present to you, the official Captain of the Royal Guard."

The mention of availability caused Senator Count to stop leaning back in his seat and had him edging to the end of it. "...No."

Celestia chuckled lightly as she proudly stood before the gathering. "Captain Nondis P. Haines, who has shown exemplary valor in the face of adversity.... Whom I will also mention..." She raised the newspaper to show the image of the human standing beside a few of the other guards with gold draped around his neck, over his shoulders, resting at his feet, and with bits pouring from his hand. The entire room gasped as their eyes met with the image. "Left alone to the mountain, and returned from the mountain... with prize."

Even the guards who stood on the floor, who once waited for their selection, had raised eyebrows and applauded the accomplishment with nods of approval. The left side of the room cheered loudly with applause. A few laughs and taunts were exchanged through the senators. Then entire right side of the room were silenced, with the resounding exception of a senator slamming his hoof into the desk, cracking the wood.

"NO!" He screamed, repeatedly slamming his hoof into the desk and shaking his head wildly as if he were a foal throwing a temper tantrum. "No! No! No! No-no-no-no- NAUH!!!"

The entire room was silenced by the outlandish display of the senator, who's appearance took a significant drop. Strands of his mane covered parts of his face while he huffed and puffed. His eyes were filled with unparalleled hatred as he stared at the Princess of the Sun. Veins popped up through his forehead, his neck, and even his chest as he wheezed from the rageful display. Luna wandered to her sibling's side and read the headline for herself. "Sister, is that headline a forgery?"

"Actually, it was written by the same journalist who reported on the captain's compromising position just earlier this week." Charmingly quipped Celestia towards both her sister and the disheveled senator.

"He's not alive." He said venomously. "I can assure you that he's─"

Celestia then opened the paper once more to read aloud. "His response reads, and I quote: 'I'm covered in so much blood that I feel like I've grown an extra layer of skin. But I do feel myself to be twelve-times richer than I did when I first came here'. End quotation."

As Single File ran into the chamber to his superior, the latter hissed at the ruler with an angry glare. "I do not know what tabloid you read. But all of my sources have confirmed that he is indeed─"

Before he could carry on further, the young stallion presented him with the same newspaper. "Sir... maybe you should read this."

While he started to read, the newspaper started to feed in from each of the other senators' respective assistants. Eventually, the whole left side of the room grew into a standing ovation for, not the newly-appointed captain of the guard, but for the complete transfer of power from Shining Armor to him. Count DuMoneé shook the newspaper violently before tearing it into shreds and punching the desk some more. While the others continued to cheer, Celestia called them into order to say what she wanted to say.

With a bright smile directed for the angered senator, she offered her words. "Well... I see that my beloved sun has a reason to shine so 'warm and brightly' today, though I feel sorry that your parade has been rained out."

Luna smirked as she leaned removed all the folders from the desk and moved on to the next subject of business. "It seems he's been brought to order. Let us carry on with the next order of business."

Celestia, while she maintained silence towards the stallion, her voice rang through his head in a taunting manner.

"Your cracks are showing, senator."

The local tavern seemed to have a stark contrast in comparison to the massive change in the atmosphere. Once more, it was filled with guards, but they all were drinking in celebration of the return of their captain. They were also getting drunk thinking about the perils they were to soon face, hoping the ciders, sprints, whiskeys, and gins would provide them with enough courage to run into an infested cave with a blindfold on. They stuck around this time because of an enormously huge tab left in Flash Sentry's name.

Needless to say they gave a toast to him as well.

Rainbow walked through the bar and heard the many musings of her comrades, some of it being concern, others being criticisms.

"Holy hell, he managed to get out of that!?" One said as they read a copy of the same headline that took the parliament by storm.

"I'm just as confused as you. I thought when we saw that picture, it was all over for us." Another one stated, referencing the last headline that made waves.

"Well, I guess that means we're not gonna be seeing home anytime soon."

"Honestly, I was almost hoping that we didn't have to go in there." A young guard stated with nervousness.

"Hey, if the captain managed to come out of it alive with no help, then he could get all of us in and out of there no problem."

"It's easy to look out for numero uno, but not quite so easy when you have dos a treinta."

"Aren't we giving him too little credit here? He's gotten out of a pretty nasty jam."

"Yeah, and what if we get in one ourselves?"

"Then the captain would get us out like he did himself. Have some trust in him, for Celestia's sake."

"Like he trusted us to go out there with him?" As one of the guards said that, Rainbow couldn't help but to feel apathy for the guards that served alongside her.

"We all know why he did it, but..."

"But what?" One guard questioned, causing Rainbow to stop walking up the stairs to the second level. She turned to the crowd of guards on the floor below and listened.

"I wonder if he really thinks of us as a burden."

"I hope not. We need him as much as he needs us."

"But he got it done on his own."

"Yeah, but there's still the matter of carting off the gold. He can't do all of that by himself."

"So our purpose is hard labor instead of protecting each other? Are we really so insignificant?"

Rainbow let her mind wander on the words that were spoken and felt herself becoming unsatisfied with her role. She groaned in frustration and started to make her way towards the next level before a familiar face caught her attention. "I take it that you're not completely inconsolable, huh?"

The cyan pegasus rolled her eyes at him and spoke. "So... you managed to write your way out of a massive fail in your career. How does it feel to be the puppet master of the masses? Is our emotional response so amusing to play with that you want to get any sort of reaction from the readers?"

While he offered Rainbow to come closer with a bottle of unopened apple cider, he gave a sarcastic reply. "That's my job, missy. You want me to not do my job?"

"Why are you here?" Rainbow snatched the bottle away from him and scowled.

"I'm a journalist. I collect the truth."

"And you lie to the world about what you see." She said as she opened the bottle to down the contents.

The reporter then smiled a little while biting his lip, watching the mare gulp down the drink without hesitation. As the bulge in her throat bounced up and down from the drink, lewd thoughts came to mind. "Have you ever heard of this nice little concept called plot development? Or maybe you heard of rising action? Perhaps you'd be interested in a little cliffhanger?"

"This isn't some fucking game." She hissed at him.

"Actually, it is. It's a game to garner enough buys to line my pockets with as many bits as possible. Who knows, I might even get a few gems thrown in."

Rainbow scoffed with disgust as he got up from his seat and stood beside her. "When everypony finds out─"

"About your little operation?" He whispered directly into her ear, causing her to shudder with disgust.

"You're here for more than just money, you're here to push an agenda."

Dream Star backed away and brought out yet another bottle of cider to entice the pegasus. "Look, it's called an angle, sweetheart. You tell the story as you see it, you omit the details but hint at the specifics of what transpired, you give out a nice hitpiece here and there, then you break this big son-on-a-bitch, and you keep milking the story for what it's worth, which happens to be every bit in all of the world. It's not just Equestrians who are buying."

"And I'm not one of them." Rainbow said as she shoved the bottle out of her face.

Surprised by her sudden refusal of the drink, he opened it and offered it to her once more. "Lady, your boyfriend's fine. Pretty sure he's doing great now that he's cleaning all that blood off of him."

"Fuck you." She responded, enunciating every consonant and vowel.

"You've got a nice ass, you're just throwing it out there?" He joked, pointing at her.

Her response to the joke was not laughter. Instead, it was violence. She grabbed the reporter by the foreleg, feigning the tiniest bit of affection. Just as she watched the stallion lick his lips she gave him a half-lid stare before sending her right hoof directly into his muzzle almost at the speed she could fly. Pulling the hoof she grabbed, she then yanked him towards her and flipped him onto the ground. While he lied on his back, she let her eyes wander lower and saw the stallion's endowment revealing itself a tiny bit. She gave a quick nod of approval before stomping her left hoof into his balls.

While he howled in pain, causing the whole bar to take notice, she planted her hoof on the side of his face before pushing it towards the floor. "Drop dead."

As she took off towards the stairs to the upper levels, he wormed around from the pain. His eyes remained clinched for quite some time as his forehead started to show sweat. He breathed as if he was in labor, trying to pant off the pain. Finally opening his eyes, he rolled over and tried to stand up.

"Feisty. Little too tangy for my taste, but maybe she's got something going on with the captain. Wonder if Zephyr knows anything else about her back at the office... I'll ask him when I get back.... Fuck, my balls."

Rainbow, at last, managed to reach the floor of the penthouse suite, grumbling and complaining about the reporter that teased her. With each step, one certain phrase he spoke remained stuck in her head. Her frustration showed all the more, her hoofsteps were as heavy as her temper. However, her face had a light blush as she chanted to herself over and over again.

"Boyfriend, who the hell does he take me for? He's a human, why the hell would I even remotely have an interest in him? And plus he's with Twilight, what the hell would he want to see in me? I'm not─" She stopped herself, realizing what had just escaped her lips. Her blush increased. "Ugh! What the fuck! Why am I even thinking about this? He's totally different from what I am! He's a fucking human, and he's with Twilight." More thoughts started to roll off the tongue, bringing up arguments against herself. "But then again, Twilight's gonna break up with him when this is all over with.

Eventually, she started to argue with herself.

"But then he'll go with Rarity. He'll probably sleep with her."

Again and again, she threw words towards herself.

"Rarity might not even be that interested in him. She's a hopeless romantic. She doesn't do relationships too well. She's always breaking up with somepony after a few months of being bored with them. Just like she thought Spike's crushing her was cute at first, it's grown a little creepy to her. She'll probably have her way with him and kill it off when she gets bored."

Once more, a scenario played out.

"Then he'll probably go with Pinkie. I can see that happening since she already spilled guts for him in front of everyone. Even Twilight was pissed because of that. No way he turns her down for the rebound."

And again, a point was brought up to shoot it down.

"He didn't do it already. And it's not like he and Rarity didn't have plenty of chances to knock horseshoes. If sex was all he cared about, you would've been fucked him."

When she realized where her mind had went, she slapped herself and scrubbed her tongue for the thought that left her lips. She gagged with revulsion and shook herself straight. Afterwards, she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts.

"Protocol, Rainbow Dash. Protocol. Just go in and get the update on our assignment."

When she approached the door, she noticed that the door was cracked open, letting out a small draft. She initially thought there was something wrong, and broke past the door to see what was going on.

"Hey Nondis, you okay in he─"

When she broke in, she heard me hollering back at her. "HOLY SHIT, DUDE! C'MON!" I hollered out, reaching for a towel to cover up my crotch. Meanwhile, my bare ass was shown to her as I tried my best to censor everything I considered to be intimate.

"Agh! Sorry!" She said, covering her face with her wings with a deep red blush.

"Could you knock sometime!?" I chided.

"Or you could not leave your goddamn door open like somepony had walked in here and just offed your stupid ass!" She yelled.

"It's not my fault that this fucking place ain't got a lick of some damn cool air!" I complained while tying multiple towels together in an attempt to robe my crotch. "It's like a fucking sauna when I get out the shower. I had to crack the window, then open the door to get a draft going. Otherwise, I'm sweating like a damn cup in a hot-ass car."

Rainbow, who continued to peek through her feathers, stammered through her words. "A-anyways, d-don't you have something that covers up a little more than... that?" She pointed out.

"I'm pretty covered up now, no thanks for you just busting in."

"Yeah, but it's like whenever you turn around, I see... those."

...You know, for someone who's trying to hide behind her wings, she sure got her eyes locked on the prize. Damn towels don't do no kind of service. "Well how about you stand outside, and we'll talk through the door, that thing you were supposed to do AFTER knocking."

"Whatever, your balls are weird and wrinkly anyways." Can't say that I wasn't embarrassed when she said that. But she did oblige in the suggestion and walked outside before carrying on with the conversation. "I came here to get a briefing for the next phase of the assignment."

I gave her a long and drawn out groan. "Rainbow, I just got my balls clean, can I get one day to recover from this shit?"

"But what if─" While her head poked in to speak, she remembered that I was still trying to conceal myself and popped back out. "But what if they dig out that rubble to the vault?"

"They won't be able to." I said, walking into the bathroom to get my still-wet boxers from out of the sink. Had to improvise on doing my laundry since I forgot to pack clothes.

"How are you so sure?" She asked from in the hallway.

"That cave is already in bad condition. Anymore sudden movements might cause a cave-in and that would be bad for both parties involved." I answered while I shuddered from the coldness of the boxers laying on top of every flaccid inch.

"You mean it will be bad for us."

While I didn't have my boxers dry, I did manage to get my shirt and pants out the way. I didn't mind them too much since I was gonna get them dirty again. But the boxers, I had to pay extra attention to because Rarity instructed these to be hand-washed only. "In the context of our not being able to get the goods and get the hell out of dodge, yes. But even worse because it will be guaranteed casualties."

"But you're giving them a day to work around all of that." She argued.

"They will be spending a day to recover their wounded and dead. The rebuilding effort comes later." I stated.

"How are you so sure─"

"You saw their means of waste management." I reminded her.

While she did pause for a few seconds, she gave a response. "Yeah, but that just means they'll be dumping them off in some room on the other side of the mountain."

"True, but I've noticed something significant." I started to explain. "What I've managed to gather from my being around them, I noticed that the amount of gold they wear on their bodies are a strong hint to their social status. Now given the example of the one arimaspi who just walked right by us on his way out, he didn't have any gold on him at all. Why is this?" I inquired.

"Well, he's leaving the mountain. I guess he must've got booted out."

I said as I thought about putting on the rest of my outfit, but ruling against it due to my disdain for needlessly wearing clothes all day. I wasn't going anywhere, nor did I have any intention to do so until much later. At least my clothes would be unsoiled until then. "Exactly, if he's getting excommunicated, then his status would be stripped from him to show that he's not one of them. So now let's apply that to the fact of the fresh stack of bodies we left on the way out, including all of the ones who got buried when we blew the caves shut."

"...The dead can't hold a position in society, they're dead." She answered.

"Precisely." I said as I grabbed a pillow off of my bed. "This means that they'll be collecting their guys and girls, stripping them of their goods, and dropping them off in their local cemetery. And to add to it, they seem to have some capacity to mourn their losses as they would show sadness in dealing with their own social issues. Safe to say that these guys will be trying to search for survivors to keep their defenses up and running. And even then, casualties would be so massive that they wouldn't be able to tend to the wounded as well as giving their deceased some final rites. By the time they'll be finished with all of this, it will be three days down, and that's the estimated time before a reconstruction effort can be established."

"So we're walking in while they're still dealing with the mess you've made?" She quickly summarized.

I then punted the pillow through the door, hitting the wall outside while raising my arms. "And the kick is good." I said as I walked outside to talk to Rainbow Dash. "That is exactly how this is going to go. Even if they were to be ahead of schedule, it would be a whole eight hours before they could find us and mount a full-blown counter-strike. They can't ambush us if we've already sabotaged their numbers and infrastructure. We have a clean path to the gold and a quick way out."

"Huh, I didn't think you had all of that in mind when you did all of this."

I walked over to the pillow and grabbed it off of the ground. "You honestly expect me to run in the fray without a purpose? My grandfather would probably find his way to this world from beyond the grave and drag me back with him if I did some shit like that."

"Well to be honest, you do that most of the time." She responded in deadpan.

I gave her a shrug as I thought about it. "That's only when I have weapons as a primary advantage. With the arimaspi, I realized that I had to change up my plan a bit. Admittedly, some of what I do is improvise. But in terms of the results given and the opportunity given to us outright, I have to plan accordingly. I got lives riding on me for this, can't afford my usual spray-n-pray method." I said while giving her a glance, knowing that this nation couldn't afford to lose her.

"Now I'm really starting to question your tactics." She said as I walked back into the room, keeping my door cracked open.

"Don't. It's an opportunity given to us by fate, not taking it would be tempting fate itself."

The sound of papers being scattered across the room appeared to be the befitting soundtrack for the moment, in the accord of one extremely disgruntled politician. Single File leaned against the wall as he watched his superior bashing his hooves against the desk, swiping papers left and right to the ground. Spike sat beside the fireplace, reading the very newspaper that set off the senator. Even as he walked, he trampled over important documents without a concern for what they were. Along with the sounds of papers rattling around the room, grunts and yelps of anger were apparent.

Count DuMoneé was incredibly livid.

"We were so CLOSE! So close that we TRIPPED the finish line! Why in all Faust's creation should I be so close in tasting my victory that it becomes so disgusting when it enters my mouth!? Oh, I know why, BECAUSE THE WAITER GOT MY ORDER WRONG!"

While the senator continued to play golf with his paperwork, his assistant just stared at the mess being made. "Quite an analogy to summarize the situation, but wouldn't it be something foreseeable if it were as simple as your metaphor makes it out to be?"

"You're right. It's more of an allergy being set off when I instructed them to not give me peanuts."

The young assistant rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I suppose that change-up works. Still, he's alive and he's probably figured out a way to get to that treasure with minimal casualties."

As the senator rose from his tantrum, he took several breaths to regain the oxygen he lost. Without much else to knock down or rip apart, he looked at the young drake who stood beside the fireplace. "SPIKE!" He hollered as he used his magic to snatched the newspaper away from the young dragon. He then threw it into the fire as he quickly approached him. "You, you did this, this is all your fault!"

"I don't think he's to blame here." Single File responded, earning a nasty glance from his superior.

The senator bit his lower lip, drawing a tiny bit of blood while he pointed his hoof at the dragon. "You had one job, one task I gave you. The moment he embarrassed me, I knew that you were the perfect one to fulfill my task. You did everything to get to him, but you CHOKED! You let the royals get to him. You could've slit his throat, but you just had to put your own little twist to the deal. Instead, this happens."

Spike, who was personally relieved that his human adversary persevered the daunting task of the mountain, he felt himself become defensive of his criticisms. "It's not my fault that he made it out alive. He's the one that didn't die. Don't take this out on me!"

The older stallion produced a fake laugh before snapping back. "Oh, don't think that I'm unaware of your little photo of you and your friends. I know you're probably so lost on thought that you can't dedicate yourself fully to me. What have I told you, huh? I said that things of the past are weights to drag you into your grave. I told you that leaving that childishness behind was going to help you further your goals for your future. Instead, you let that mare get in your head. Since then, you've never really served me, even after that monkey turned your face into a paintbrush!"

"You mean the same human that bit a piece of your ear off?" Spike asked with an angry scowl, causing the stallion to raise his hoof at the drake.

"So help me, I will... I will..."

As his words slowed, his balance was thrown off. Stumbling to keep himself from passing out, the senator held his head and clenched his eyes shut. It appeared that he had a migraine of some sort. Seeing the senator in such distress, Single File acted accordingly. "Sir, do you need your medicine?"

The senator hobbled to his desk and opened a drawer, closing it with disdain, and leaned back in his seat. "Medicine. Ibuprofen. Whiskey. That order please."

While the young stallion did what he could to fulfill the wishes of his superior, Spike took notice of the orange bottle of prescription drugs. The senator opened it, followed by a white bottle filled with painkillers, and then poured himself a glass of whiskey. He grabbed three of the prescription drugs, two of the aspirin and popped them down his throat before chasing it down with the whiskey. Spike grew concerned. "That stuff will kill you, you know?"

After taking another swig of whiskey, the senator dismissed the young dragon's show of concern. "I've been doing this for nine years. You don't know what I'm capable of enduring. I'm stronger than you think."

"Well your body's still gonna shut down if you keep drinking with your meds." Spike rebutted, causing the senator to swirl his glass.

"Spike... You just... don't get it, do you?" He asked before downing the whole glass and looking at the freshly emptied bottle with irritation. "I take you under my hoof, you fail me once. I let you back under, you fail me yet again. I still persist, and yet you fail me all the more in trying to keep your little friend circle happy. Where's the loyalty in the one who covers for you?"

Spike grew bewildered as he tried to make sense of the senator's argument. "So my telling you that your drug habits are bad is somehow a show of disloyalty?"

Groaning from the lack of alcohol in his bottle, the senator got out of his seat and walked over to the dragon. "Spike, I can easily say that this is not an environment you are ready to embrace. But I will break you into it no matter the cost."

While Count attempted to place his hoof on Spike's shoulder, Spike brushed off the false display of affection. "But what if I want to be true to my friends?"

The older stallion chuckled. "What friends? Those mares you think of as your friends? They know you're a killer. Nopony wants friends like that, especially a sensitive group of fillies who can't bear the thought of a guard losing his life. And that especially goes for a backstabbing traitor such as yourself."

"They wouldn't know if you didn't tell them!" Spike replied angrily.

"But I thought friends were honest to each other that they were accepting of you no matter the grievances placed against you, a friend like me. I must say that I am hurt that you would never consider me to be so close to you." The senator said, teasing the dragon of his decisions, dangling them as if he were holding the keys to his redemption.

With a snort of smoke, the young drake stormed towards the door. "I'm leaving."

While the senator didn't budge when the smoke lightly thumped against his face, he didn't let him leave without a threat. "Don't leave for too long... unless you'd prefer the guards to look for you." He then used his magic to hold the door shut before Spike could walk out. "And I'm sure that you'd be comfortable in a cold isolated room, separated from all of the nation."

"It doesn't matter to me." Spike answered coldly.

"Extra, extra! Princess Twilight to have her wings removed effective immediately." The senator said with a smile.

Spike growled as his voice deepened by several tones. "If you─"

The doors swung wide open behind the dragon, nearly hitting his tail. Spike looked behind him to see the hallway filled with politicians, guards, and maids. Count called to him before he telekinetically shoved him out of the room. "Be sure to bring back a nice bottle of scotch while you're away. And don't tarry on for too long, I would sure hate it if that got around too soon."

"...I'll keep that in mind." Spike answered before the door was shut on him, leaving the distressed senator to rub his head from the massive headache.

"I'm not sure you should've peeved him off like that." Single File stated, appearing to be worried for the safety of his superior.

"He's not cut out for what's next. I can't involve him or else he might try to bring me down."

As the senator showed that he was calming down, Single File removed himself from the wall and offered the aspirin once more. "I take it you have an alternate plan to make your life simpler?"

Count rejected the aspirin this time as he spoke. "It is imperative that the monkey does not come back to Canterlot alive. He has to be eliminated before he even gets close to the front gates."

"It's unlikely that he'd be killed by an arimaspi when he's managed to survive on his own. I suppose a secondary trip would probably yield the factor of less supplies to work with, but still..." He paused, thinking of the reinforcements the human would have.

After rubbing his head for quite some time, he stopped. His eyes opened as his health appeared to be almost normal. His body language in general changed from frantic and stressed, to calm and calulative. Even the look in his eyes shone as they did under normal circumstances. It was almost like a switch that was hit, he was back to his self. He motioned for the young stallion to come closer as he whispered in a low voice. "I am removing my problem, and I will do it in a way where it eliminates any chance of a detection."

Single File's eyes grew for a second before he showed a neutral expression. "Then you must be doing something for cheap." He muttered.

"I think I know where to hit, but cheap won't be in the dictionary for this to work." Count said as he opened the drawer, pulled out a mirror, and quickly slammed it shut.

"What do you have in mind?"

While the politician held the mirror up to his face, he summoned a brush from thin air and restyled his mane. "I need a... worker. I need a worker to trim the hedges and know what he's dealing with in a greater detail. I'm looking for an artist."

"You must have someplace special in mind."

As he finished with his mane, he placed back on his monocle and cleared his throat. "It will take eight hours to get there by express airship. I will need to brush off my passport."

Single File, who was not new to this side of the senator, remained discreet in his statements. "I see, you're going to see a specialist that knows how to deal with the locals and the rouge element?"

"It doesn't matter how rouge the element is, as long as steel prevails against the bush."

"You do realize that such a trip would be very costly."

The senator paused for a moment to reflect on the potential cost, drawing a heavy breath before he concluded that the ends were worth it. "I know what my risks are. It shouldn't be too costly where it starts to delve into my monthly deposits."

"You can never be too sure, sir. Their kind happens to be just as greedy as the locals of the hedge." The young assistant said, referencing the arimaspi.

Count lightly smirked as he replied. "I can haggle my way through most anything. You'd be surprised of what you'll see."

Senator Count looked at his pocket watch, observing the time and the engraved image of griffon patrols proudly circling the town of Griffonstone. After confirming the time, he flicked his pocket watch to see a drastically different image. It was the same place depicted in the picture, yet there was no semblance of the majesty or strength the kingdom once had. Instead, buildings looked ransacked, ran-down, or completely desolate.

However, the state of the properties didn't stop griffons from living there. Albeit there were significantly less than what legends had accounted, there was a still sizeable population that kept whatever was left of it occupied. The locals seemed to clash with one another, some fought over scraps of gold they'd see in the street. It was an unpleasant sight.

While they walked, they saw another griffon getting brutally mugged for their gold, it's wing being cut off for the negotiation of it's gold. Upon hearing the refusal of the victim, the attacker sliced the former's wing and flew off with it's new trophy. While the victim howled out in pain, they clenched on to their gold as if it was the last thing they had left in this world.

It was the very image of what was left of this society: A gathering of wounded natives that desperately clung onto their former glory.

"This place is absolutely terrible." Single File stated as he watched the griffon writhe in pain.

The count continued to turn a blind eye to it and walked forward. "Precisely. Here will be the best location to hire our ruffian to do our bidding."

Single File caught up with his superior and expressed concern for the plan Count had in mind. "Are you sure this is a good idea? This could possibly cause an international incident."

"They need annexation anyhow. They have no commerce, no economy, no government, no structure whatsoever. An Equestrian takeover is a more than welcome boost for the local economy." He responded with nonchalance before a loud crashing sound distracted them both. Just up ahead of them was a green female griffon running away with claw marks on her side, on her face were tears. Trailing her was a brown male griffon with a series of scars on his face, presumably from another griffon.

He threw a rock at the retreating female, missing as he he screamed loudly. "AND SCRAM!"

The griffon fell to his face and rolled around in the dirt before he laughed wildly. The show of absurd lunacy caused the younger stallion to become perplexed. "He looks... off."

"He's suppose to. It's a cover for what he actually is." The senator stated.

"No, I mean he looks more off than last time."

"He's giving it his A-game."

While the two appeared to know him from a previous circumstance, they were all the more cautious of their approach. The griffon who rolled in the street caught glimpse of the two and hopped up wildly to heckle the visitors. "Damn ponies! What the hell do you want!?"

The two looked to each other for a second before Single File nervously spoke. "Good day to you sir, I was wondering if this was enough to buy a few minutes of your time." He said while holding up a small bag of bits. Just the sound of the bag rattling caused a bit of a stir within the locals. Five griffons seemingly poked their heads out from underneath the very cobblestone that lined the streets. The brown griffon then snatched the bag and hollered to the top of his voice.

"You crazy ponies keep coming here expecting a tour! Well how about you having a tour of my feathery ass!? I got a place where the food is always fresh!" He said as he turned around to lift his tail and present himself, causing the two to back away in disgust.

Single File shuddered at the imagery he was given. "Such vulgarity."

"I suppose you don't mind a little incentive?" Count added with yet another bag before the griffon sliced the bag open with his sharp talons.

"Get the hell out of my face you stupid, mule-faced bastard!" He screamed as several bits rained onto the ground. By that point, every griffon that watched the whole transaction, they jumped at the opportunity to obtain some of the spilled bits. At the sight of the raucous, the two ran away, being chased by two other griffons for their belongings before they stopped their pursuit. They looked back to see three griffons fighting in the street where they once stood. The others gathered around to either watch for the victor or joined the fray. The two stallions quickly abandoned the town and took to the safety of the mountain.

Single File looked back at the town and grimaced. "That was a waste. He seems genuinely disinterested."

Now frustrated, Count sat on his haunches and tapped his chin for thought. "Dammit. That's one hundred bits for an insult. Could've hired locally with that money."

The two shook their heads and carried on down the mountain, navigating their way to the airship they used to get there. Single File watched as his superior continued to remain enveloped in deep thought. "So, what do you have for plan C?"

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure, I never really thought this would fail." He responded with a groan of complaint.

"You're always a sucker for my act, you need to wise up a little." A voice called out from behind them, causing the two to jump and look back at who followed them. It was the same brown griffon who chased them out of town just earlier. Though he was dirty in his appearance from the previous antics, he did seem to be mentally competent. He tossed the first bag he received up into the air repeatedly, proudly showing his acceptance of being an audience to their request.

"Oh, so you're bothering to listen?" Single File asked quizzically.

"Are you kidding, I had to drive you out of town somehow. As you saw for yourself, griffons there are starting to get chippy over just a single bit lying on the ground. Can't let them see more than five or else you'll be getting the whole town's attention."

"Poverty seems to be a strong selling point of his argument." The young assistant stated.

More than relieved that his time and money didn't go to complete waste, he put his game-face on and started with negotiations. "Then I'm sure that you're willing to take a price worth it's weight in gold?

"Depends, what's the weight you're putting on me?"

"My good friend Gaston" He said with politeness. "I need this ape here to meet with it's maker to answer a few questions." He said while giving him a copy of the newspaper from Appleloosa. He pointed at the human in the picture. "He's not that hard to find in a crowd."

Though he was unaware of how the creature looked, he was familiar with the references often thrown out by a local dedicated newspaper that reported on the findings of the international community at large. Being a heavy donor to the cause, it helped him remain in the know of certain changes in the political climate. It was one of the very few working systems left throughout the ruined kingdom. "Oh, so this is that 'human' creature I've been seeing? Yeah, we've been hearing about that one for a month. How is he still alive, by the way?"

"That's a question I no longer want to ask myself. I need you to put an end to that voice in my head." Senator Count said with a growl of hatred.

Gaston finished reading and gave the two ponies a slow nod. "You're asking me to do some pretty heavy landscaping. This might be a good stroke for a war, if it weren't for the fact that the griffon army is only five-hundred strong now."

"I trust that five thousand would be a pretty bit to hold." Count said with a coy grin.

Gaston laughed. Loudly. "Five thousand bits to show up at your filly's birthday party? Sure."

Count knew that his number was far too low, and then decided to double the amount to see where he would stand. "Ten thousand?"

"Oh, so I get to STAY at your filly's birthday party?"

By that point, the stallion's demeanor changed from a smile to a moderate frown. "Twenty thousand."

"So I'm providing entertainment for the party then?"

His face started to slowly turn to a scowl as he closed his eyes. "...Fifty thousand."

"So am I killing your next door neighbor again? I don't go further than Canterlot for less than one-fifty grand."

The senator choked up as he stumbled forward. The asking price ended up being far greater than where he was initially comfortable with. Seeing the older stallion visibly perturbed, Single File confronted him. "Sir, that's eating into your deposits."

With a groan of desperation, he swallowed whatever was in his throat and succumbed to the griffon's price. "...One fifty then?" He knew that this was already going to be expensive, but had secretly hoped that the finances wouldn't break him to the point where it caused a disturbance in his economic ecosystem. But he considered it to be a risk worth taking for the sake of his career.

Gaston smiled as he brushed the dust off of himself, cleaning up his image. "Okay, now where am I going?"

"Arimaspi Territory." Single File answered for his superior.

The griffon looked at the two, seeming to be taken aback by the suggestion of where the assignment were to take place. "Joage mea buniko ja mejugu. (You're three kinds of crazy.)" He muttered in Maspian.

"What now?" Count asked, very much confused over the strange language that was spoken to him.

"I said that'll be two-fifty." Gaston lied, upping the price for his participation.

At that point, it was Count's time to take a dive into the dirt for some incredibly wild rolling around. "But you said one-fifty! You agreed on it! Both of you agreed! Wasn't that the deal!"

The griffon the grabbed the young stallion and scowled at him fiercely while flicking a hidden blade from out of one of it's wings and firmly placing it against his throat. "Considering where I'm going, the equipment I'll need to survive, and the profile of the hit in question, I'm not sure if I can take anything less than that."

Count stopped his wild flailing and intervened for the sake of his subordinate. He pleaded with Gaston. "Ol' chum... Please... I can't give you that much. I can't do that, my monthly deposit─"

The griffon removed the blade from Single File's throat and pointed it at Count. "Would you rather take a month in the red or a whole career of it? Apparently you want this guy dead and bad. So it's obvious that he's a problem for your political career. In other words, you want him dead so you can keep him out of your business. And your profits will only take a dive just this once. Consider the possibility of eliminating your opposition and then making up your lost earnings over time."

Senator Count gritted his teeth as he stomped his hoof into the ground several times to express his frustration. After he finished, he hissed at the griffon. "I could always find somepony else."

"Oh please, other than your son, who else knows all your deep dark secrets?" He whispered in a low voice, causing the senator to become silent. "And even you said it yourself, your relationship with me is keeping that little twink of yours out of the picture. Or..." He paused for a moment, walking around the stallion with a teasing grin. "Should it be that third party you don't want nopony to know about? Oh yeah, I'm sure if that one comes right out of the gates─"

"Two hundred." Count said, succumbing to the pressure of Gaston's taunts.

Single File looked at the senator with complete disbelief as he watch him cave so easily. The griffon, however, patted him on the back with yet another price. "Two twenty-five."

"Augh, two fifteen!" Responded the defeated senator, knowing that there would be no way of winning the transaction.

Gaston took a few seconds to mull it over, but inevitably agreed with one additional perk. "You're buying my ticket to Zebrabwe after."

"Why not, I'm already swimming in red." Grumbled the senator.

Flipping the knife into the air, the griffon's wing flared outward, absorbing the knife without any harm to his self. With a proud smile, he playfully nudged Count and laughed. "Blood's not that bad to swim in, the metallic smell is pretty soothing once you get used to it. See you in Canterlot, ol' buddy. You just paid me twice the amount of Griffonstone's GDP."

While the griffon took to the sky, ultimately to stole away on the airship, Single File stared at his superior. "Sir?"

Meanwhile, Senator Count was stunned beyond comprehension. He was left utterly slack-jawed and significantly lighter in the pockets. Everything he had planned had backfired on him so quickly that he couldn't even walk towards the airship. Instead, he dropped his head.

"I feel sick."

Back in Ponyville...

Alex nervously marched to Twilight's room after receiving word that she was still located in her room with Melanie. In his mind, he could think about nothing but the status of his younger brother. His teeth chattered and squeaked as they ground against one another. Upon his arrival, two guards gave the human a nod before allowing him to enter into the hallway. He didn't have to knock on the door as Melanie opened the door, catching him by surprise.

"Hey Mel, what's going on?"

Also caught by surprise, she opened the door to let him in. "Alex, surprising to see you here today. Didn't you have to go to work?"

Alex winced with embarrassment as he responded. "My wife is getting a little testy about that, but she understands that this is a family matter. I'm starting to realize how stressful these trips are on my life and relations back home."

Melanie sighed, expressing empathy for the man's struggle. "I'm just lucky most of my shit can be submitted online, otherwise I'd be getting F's across the board."

"Yeah, too bad Stanton doesn't go to the same school. His commute is too damn brutal to make these trips, not to mentioned he got benched for his next game for not showing up to practice." Alex explained as he entered the room, Melanie closing the door behind him.

"I never knew how hard it was on you guys, much less Nondis." Twilight said, greeting the human.

"Nondis got it easy." He said, noticing the party of ponies in the room. "All of his friends know where he is, two of his brothers can vouch for him, his alibis are solid, and he's friends with a chimera-like dragon who can run through dimensions like a sharp knife to hot butter." Blueblood, Vanity Charm, and Twilight stood in the room as Melanie sat down before a slew of scrolls scattered around. He joined her as she unfurled one of the scrolls.

"Seriously?" She asked with an expression of bewilderment. "He's friends with a creature like that?"

"Now that I think about, you've never met Discord, have you?" He asked, point to her.

"I would say no." She responded slowly.

The doors then swung open behind them. Alex watched as Twilight ran to greet the visitor. Both her brother and Flash had returned. "Shining! You're back!"

Feeling a bit queasy from the sensation of his heart dropping to his gut, he crumpled over and held his head with anticipation of bad news. "Oh jeez."

Melanie looked to the hugging siblings, noticing that the stallion appeared paler than usual. It appeared that his coat was robbed of it's luster, his eyes not so shiny anymore. Twilight too took notice. "You okay, Shiny?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, I'm good. Just a lot that happened, a long conversation with our borrowed assistant, and a small detour on the way back here, but I'm fine." He explained quietly, causing a bit of concern from everyone in the room.

"You look like you've been through it again." Blueblood stated.

Shining smiled to his little sister as his horn ignited. "I'm actually doing well now. In fact, I brought you a little something."

Then from a white flash, two large black bags filled with gold landed on the floor beside the door. Everyone grew slackjawed over the massive amount of treasure that just appeared from thin air. Flash Sentry then collected off of the floor whatever had spilled out. Melanie tilted her head with amazement. "Now that's a haul worth risking it over."

"Wow, shiny." Vanity hummed with delight.

As Flash continued to clean up, Shining levitated a golden necklace with rubies and placed it around his sister's neck. "Anything for my beautiful little sis. I just want you to keep smiling."

Touched by her brother's generosity, she hugged him in return. "I think you've already given me that."

"What, what's going on?" Alex questioned frantically, standing to his feet. "You're back from the place with gold. What happened to Nondis? What happened to─"

A rolled up newspaper lightly smacked him on the top of the head. He looked over to see Melanie offering it to him with a smile on her face. "I think this should answer your question."

He took the newspaper from her, unrolled it and gasped at the front page. "Holy fuck, he looks like hell."

"Surprised he's still in working order after the way we found him." Flash responded.

Alex was too caught up by the image to read the article, but expressed some relief in seeing his younger sibling alive and well. His voice cracked as he expressed his excitement. "That's my little brother, that's the brother I used to slap around when we were kids, that's the little bastard who'd eat my damn hotpockets. The hell happened to him!?"

"He was hiding from the arimaspi, inside of another arimaspi." Shining briefly explained, causing everyone in the room to hold their stomachs in disgust.

"Goodness gracious." Vanity whispered while trying to cover her muzzle in an attempt to retain her constitution.

"Ewwie." Melanie said as she cringed.

Alex didn't seem entirely too phased by the news and just pumped his fist with pride. "That fucker's a man now. You couldn't pay me to do that shit."

"Well the good news is that he's alive, I don't think anything else pertaining to that matters." Melanie said as she recommitted herself to the assortment of scrolls at the center of the room.

Alex once again joined her. "So what are you doing here? Going through some paperwork?"

"I was looking over some of the articles that are in place here, namely to that law Nondis kept talking about."

Alex glanced over to Twilight, who didn't seem as happy as before. "I heard of some shit that got 'Bella' in trouble, this it?"

"Yup, apparently named the Approval Process Law, or Processu Approbati, reportedly signed off by Celestia herself."

"Forcefully signed." Shining clarified. "She was physically held down and made to sign it."

"On some Game of Thrones shit?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah." Melanie confirmed. "Seems that the legislature punishes royals for getting too physical outside of marriage. The problem is that the punishments are voted on by the Parliamentary branch, the rulings are then decided by the Parliamentary branch, and the execution of the punishments are carried through by, guess who?"

Alex shook his head. "Holy shit, that's bad."

"Exactly, it's checks and balances without the balances part. It's so one-sided."

He then sat down and started to go through the scrolls. Melanie passed him the one he needed to read on that was the copy of the actual document itself. He looked through the content of the text and verbally paraphrased it for others to possibly correct him. "So to run down what I'm reading, royals are at risk of losing their wings and horns as well as their positions if they just get caught having sex???"

"It doesn't stop there." Blueblood said with a mutter.

He continued to read. "It also states that any suitors who are male or female are forced to join the guard. They then have to gain the accolades becoming of a guard with high standard and discipline."

"Apparently so. Nondis is currently in that position." Melanie confirmed.

"Any suitors are given a 'saving grace' period before the finalization of the marriage; They are allotted the opportunity to express their fundamental freedoms of premarital fornication with a party belonging to or not belonging to the royal in process, but are prohibited from engaging in premarital coitus with the party whom they are betrothed. Basically saying you can fuck a stranger or even their mom, but touching them is off-limits." Alex's face started to show a bit of confusion.

"You know, Tumblr-bred feminists nowadays wouldn't know a good cause if it triggered them." Quipped Melanie.

He carried on. "To not abide by these rules would present the consequence of a punishment to both parties, the suitor and the royal. The royal, as mentioned previously, would be pushed by the means deemed necessary by the standing judicial party, a.k.a. the Parliamentary branch. The suitor will then be forcibly married to the prince or princess in question without either party retaining power. Refusal to abide by the marriage would then result in the... THE REVOKING OF THE SUITOR'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS!?" He quoted loudly, standing on his feet at the thought of losing his balls for having sex.

"Yeah, I had to stare at that one for ten minutes." Melanie stated as she watched the man express the same feelings she had when she initially read the statement.

His eyes continued to expand as he read along. "...The revoking of the suitor's reproductive rights, or they are banished to the wastelands of the Undiscovered West. Those who are found guilty of forcibly engaging in sexual intercourse with a royal without given consent are then to be sentenced to the removal of reproduction rights. This is to be followed by the capital sentence: Death by beheading or disembowelment."

Melanie groaned with discomfort. "I know rape is wrong, but they could've just left it at cutting their shit off. Disembowelment is a bit too archaic, very Dark Age of them."

Alex then threw the scroll on the ground, expressing his anger over what his brother had to go against. "This is bad. This is U.N. sanctions-imposing bad. You guys are fighting this, right?"

"It's been a losing battle for over a millennium." Blueblood explained. "There was one chance of it being overturned with the possibility of a revolution taking place, but that got wiped when Prince Fair Charity got ambushed by the arimaspi in 519 P.C.D.."

"Hence the discussion of the lost tribute comes into play, as well as the relatively few assignments that were given to retrieve said tribute." Vanity said, adding to her husband's exposition.

"What happened with the tribute?" Twilight asked.

"That's about a fifth of what was sent." Shining answered, pointing to the two bags filled with gold.

Alex chuckled lightly. "Get rich or die trying."

"This is a fifth? And Nondis brought back a bag with him, that makes it three-tenths, right?" Melanie inquired.

"My haul and that of the other guys are what Nondis considered as 'charitable withdrawals'. His tally is sitting at one-tenth of what was to be sent. I just got the important pieces of Fair Charity's work." He stated as he summoned up an old scroll, nearly in tatters and stained with ancient blood. The ink seemed a bit hazy, but it was still mostly legible.

As Melanie and Alex carefully opened the scroll, Twilight asked her brother. "What's this supposed to be?"

Shining's voice grew solemn as he watched the two humans fumble over the parchment. "This is a list of all the mares and stallions who have either lost their power, limbs, or lives pertaining to Processu Approbati. Fair Charity wanted this to be seen by the masses as a show of their corrupt parliament, hoping to spark a violent revolution in favor of the royal family."

As they continued to unfurl the list, Melanie and Alex had to walk to opposite sides of the room before the slack started to fold over their feet. Melanie's hands trembled while her eyes grew. "This... is a terrifyingly long list."

"Celestia had an eye for detail when she wrote it." Shining stated quietly. "He also carried with him a diary, detailing some of the things that happened after Celestia was forced to sign the law."

Shining watched as an expression of horror started to show on Twilight's face. "What happened?" She asked.

Not wanting to inform his younger sister of how her beloved mentor suffered, he closed his eyes and stood firm. "...Classified: Top Secret."

"C'mon, you just classified it on the spot!" Blueblood stated as he walked up to the stallion, who then froze him in place with an inertia spell. While the magenta aura surrounded the stallion, Shining walked up to him and emphasized his words.

"Classified, you're not ready to know."

As the spell was then dropped, Melanie started to roll up the list on her end as she spoke. "So just to paraphrase, it was nothing good then?"

Shining looked at her with a thousand-yard stare. "To answer your question, I might pick up where Fair Charity left off."

Inside of his office, the frustrated Senator Count sat quietly while staring out of his window. Both of his front hooves seemed glued to one another as he stared down towards the garden below with disdain. He felt as if the world had mocked him for his failure, even the light from the sun appeared to taunt him as it beamed brightly onto his face. A scowl of hatred and a growl of growing indignation was all he could produce as his assistant sheepishly walked through the door.

"Sir, can I speak with you─"

The senator didn't let his assistant finish, cutting him off before he could finish. "Half of this transaction has already eaten into my monthly deposits. I am going to lose my mind if this doesn't go well."

Looking around the room, Single File noticed that it looked even worse than when his superior threw his tantrum just yesterday. His curtains were tossed aside, his paperwork was trampled on, crumpled up, and tossed to the floor. The only thing that seemed in place was a lone glass sitting at the center of his desk. It appeared to be freshly emptied of it's contents. "Perhaps it is time to take your medication, sir?" The young stallion nervously suggested.

"No, not now. I haven't gone through the episodes quite yet. And I'll need to spare it till the next pay period."

"Perhaps you could possibly embezzle some of the funds from the next charity drive." The young assistant grimaced as he realized what he proposed.

"Can't pull that one off again." The senator said dismissively.

As he thought of a less controversial means of obtaining some financial gain, the young stallion felt himself becoming more and more nervous. "What about increasing your interest rates on some of the loans you gave out to other senators? It might not be much, but it could help with your financial situation. Soften the blow a little while you lick your wounds."

Count turned around in his chair and tapped his chin with his hoof. "Hmm... That would still leave me tens of thousands short."

"Then what do you propose?"

The senator took an exasperated breath and looked to the ceiling with a frown. "...He's got me in a corner, Sig. If he works out, I'll have to pay him. If he fails, my career is ruined. But if I pay him..."

The young assistant had been around him to know enough of his personal connections, he immediately thought of those that worked closest to him. "Then other sources get involved?"

The senator then got out of his seat and walked over towards some of the papers strewn across the floor. His magic slowly started to manipulate the pieces of parchment, organizing them into small stacks. "...I suppose I could cook up another scheme or two to line my pockets with something to help curb the blow of the second payment."

Finally, the assistant felt himself grow even smaller at the thought. "Sir?"

"The second payment, I believe the second payment is the half of what we agreed on?"

While the senator continued to organize the papers, Single File moaned with a bit of anguish and defeat. "...Sir, the payments were made in full."

As soon as he finished his statement, all the papers came to a complete stop. Those that weren't organized found themselves fluttering in the air until they hit the floor. The senator turned to his assistant with a tremble. "E-e-excuse me?" He quietly whispered.

"The payment he had received was a complete withdrawal made in advance. It would seem that somepony had made the withdrawal from the joint account you had at SoundTrust Bank."

The senator slowly turned back to his desk before chuckling to himself. The young assistant, unsure of what to do next, joined him with a nervous laugh of his own. The two went at it for a few seconds before a powerful beam incinerated one of the stacks of papers he organized. The room smelled of burning paper, ash, and smoke as nothing was left but a black scorch mark on the floor. Cinders fell to the ground as the senator screamed. "THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS! WHO THE HELL WOULD MAKE A WITHDRAWAL ON THE JOINT ACCOUNT SO LARGE!?"

In a frantic attempt to keep the other papers from catching fire, he shoved any bystanding documents towards the unaffected areas. Following up, he shoved any scorched documents that showed signs of ignition into the fireplace. "Well that's the thing. You share that account with two other partners, usually stashed away for hedge fund purposes. The only one who would be more likely to have such power in removing that much money from the account would be the one who's currently throwing in the bulk of the funding. And that would mean..."

The senator plopped into his chair, opened the drawer, and looked through the contents. At the bottom of the drawer was the image of him standing next to a rather plainly mare, three younger attractive maids, and others who were either faded out, or their faces were distorted from an assortment of sticky items and alcoholic residue. One face stood out in the picture, causing him think about his past.

The words continued to tap into his brain, scraping and scratching at his psyche like a toothbrush inserted through his nostrils. The voice became a little louder.

He violently shut his drawer, panting and shaking his head. As he came back into the present, he realized that he forgot what he was digging around for until he realized that it wasn't there. "...Please bring me my medicine."

The young assistant grabbed his medication off of one of the bookshelves and walked over to the antique radio over the fireplace. As soon as he cut it on, the device whirred and whistled until the frequencies matched up and started to produce the soothing symphonic sounds of violins, horns, and clarinets. "Classical music?"

Count dug underneath his desk for a bottle of gin, only to remember that it had long-since been emptied. "The only music worth soothing me. Hopefully they have something nice on the airwaves today."

The young stallion muttered as he summoned a pink gift basket containing a dark green bottle, wrapped in golden foil and decorated with a red bow. "Spike brought this before going off on those errands you sent him to do this morning. Said to be a withdrawal on your tab."

"...How much did this cost?" The senator asked cautiously.

The young assistant grimaced as he quietly answered him. "Well if I'm not mistaken, that bottle alone is worth ten-thousand bits."

At that moment, the senator dropped his head on his desk, a resounding thud resonated throughout the room as he screamed into the exquisitely crafted tabletop. As his own scream rang through his ears, up until the tinnitus started to set in, he felt despair while he whimpered to himself.

"...Damn her..."

Meanwhile in Appleloosa...

"GET YOUR ASSES IN PLACE! LET'S GO! LET'S GO! MOVE, MOVE MOVE!"

Guards from various inns and motels scrambled throughout the streets of Appleloosa, appearing to ready themselves for conflict. Many residents of the town watched as the wild stampede of armored ponies trampled through across the roads, making their way towards the nearby train station.

"CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT AND ARMOR!"

"I WANT THOSE SWORDS SHARP AND READY!"

"GET THOSE WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIVES IN THE TRAIN, STAT!"

The young foals of the town watched with excitement as the guards sprang to life. Some even thought it to be fun to run alongside the guards, prompting their parents to pull them back out of the street out of fear of being in their way. But the excitement wasn't solely shared amongst fillies and colts, it was a spring well of action to cover for members of the local media. The few that stopped a guard or two scribbled at their notepads, getting words and wishes from the departing guards.

One such reporter didn't exactly find himself interested in the scrum of reporters. Instead, he had other things in mind. "Hmm... they appear to be on the move today. Guess they've already have things sorted out. I must say, a day of rest and then a push for the big finale, that would be quite interesting. Writing a story on it later would be pretty huge, but what's the fun in that?"

After he finished mumbling to himself, he looked over towards an old wooden building with a large rusty antenna sticking out of the roof. Behind it was an old windpump tower, several of it's blades missing as it creaked and moaned from the friction of the rusty parts. At the top of it was another antenna, but one that produced a much stronger signal. He rubbed his chin before an imaginary light bulb went off over his head. Without any further hesitation, he galloped inside of the building and slid a couple of feet when he braked at the front desk. Behind it was a heavyset yellow mare with orange hair and bright red lipstick, donning a brown stetson hat. "Howdy, what's your business here?" She asked with a thick southern accent.

After catching his breath a little, Dream Star proceeded to embellish on a story. "Emergency address from the captain of the royal guard! I need an emergency transmission put through to all of the nation! The matter of national security is at stake if we didn't put this message through! These directions need to be heard on every radio wave throughout the nation!"

"Whoa there, hold your horses now." She said with a kind chuckle. "You know an emergency transmission is only for actual emergencies."

Dream Star continued to pitch his story, building on it further to sell her on his idea. "I know, he sent me here! You gotta do this for us, please! The life of an element bearer is at large right now!"

The words 'element bearer' caused her ears to perk up. The image of the six national heroines ran through her mind, causing her to jump out of her seat and dart from behind the desk. "One of those girls!? Shoot, two of 'em managed to come 'round here and brought us back our magic after that thievin', no-good Tirek took it away! Well why the hay didn't you say it in the first place!? Booth is over to the end of the hall, first door to the rig─"

The journalist shook his head as he slammed his hooves into the ground. "We're gonna need a mic to be where they are now! This isn't something you can just bring into a booth! This is a once-in-a-lifetime broadcast!"

Feeling a bit confused, the mare tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you said it was an emergency."

"I beg your pardon, ma'am. But in the context of what's about to go down, it is. We're talking a possible war between Equestria and the arimaspi!"

The false words of a war stirred the mare into action. "Well shucks, no denyin' that!" She carried on from where she left off in her frantic scramble. He smiled as the mare called out to one of the booths. "TUMBLE, WE NEED THE LONGEST MIC CORD WE GOT FOR AN EMERGENCY NATIONWIDE BROADCAST!"

The journalist smiled as he mumbled to himself. "I hope your words are memorable like your performances, captain. The world is listening"

Later in Ponyville...

Shining Armor walked alongside Stanton, who carried a bunch of books and papers. Though he didn't appear to struggle with it, he didn't have much of a grasp of the loose papers that trailed him. Luckily, Shining assisted him in that endeavor by levitating the pages back to Stanton.

As the two entered Twilight's room, everyone else was already there. Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Blueblood, Vanity Charm, Melanie, Alex, Cliff, Rickey, and Flash all waited within. Stanton called out as he placed everything down on the ground. "Okay, so we came up with a few copies of our government's Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Amendments that follow. Maybe there could be some articles you could pull from in recreating the balance inside your government's structure."

Rarity grew concerned, she showed it by growing a frown. "I don't think it's impossible to change a law that stood for over a thousand years, but it will be hard to break out of the status quo."

"In China, they had rulers and dynasties for over three thousand years, and it only took a few years to completely demolish that. They are a democratic republic, with a hint of socialism thrown in, but they are pretty big in holding the world's wealthiest corporations in their boarders. They are a global superpower as a result of abandoning their former structure of government." Melanie stated, surprising mostly the other royals.

While they went through the papers, Twilight accommodated what was noted to be many of the human's study habits. Most of them couldn't go through all the paperwork without some music to keep things lively between them. Though Twilight generously disagreed with the theory, she didn't impose any opinions on them. They continued their research on the Equestrian legislature, but they bobbed their heads up and down as they did. Cliff seemed to be the more impressed. "Huh, who's that on the radio? She's got bars."

"That would be none other than the one and only Sapphire Shores. I actually got a chance to design her outfits for the tour she's currently on. She's also sponsoring my fashion show in the next two weeks." Rarity proudly stated while patting her mane, causing Vanity Charm to scoff in disgust.

Melanie, however, saw a bit of amusement in watching Blueblood's wife squirm. "Oh that's nice. Guess you've made it up in the world."

Rarity cooed brightly as she looked towards Twilight and the others. "I only have my friends to thank. Without them, I wouldn't be in the situation I was given. I can remember how excited I was."

"And how you were constantly jumping up and down on Spike's tail." Twilight recalled.

"That too..." Rarity said, trailing off into a tone of disappointment.

"Yeah..." Twilight droned, doing the same.

While the humans looked towards one another as the awkward silence ensued, the radio whizzed and buzzed before the sound of a male nasally voice disrupted the song.

Everyone perked at the words they heard. Applejack was the first to speak. "Fully anointed!? Ah reckon Princess Celestia tabbed him for the job full-time. Good on him!"

"Ah, so he was an interim. Figures." Alex stated as the broadcast continued.

Every human in the room facepalmed while Rickey shook his head. "Smooth, Nondis. Smooth."

Streets of Manehattan...

The streets of Manehattan were abuzz with the sound of the voice being sent throughout every loudspeaker in the city. In the downtown square, ponies stared at the suddenly changing lights below a few of the building's second stories. Instead of stock numbers and weather reports, words scrolled noting the captain's voice.

Many of the citizens stared at each other blankly before one stallion with a grumpy attitude muttered towards the guy sitting beside him.

"This is what's set to protect us and the princesses? Well, we're doomed."

However, the stallion's commentary didn't stop the message from being put forth.

Royal Dining Room Hall of Canterlot Castle...

Cadance, Luna, Celestia, and the other servants stopped for a moment to listen to the radio. One of the guards walked up to the console and dialed it towards a working station. As his words came through, Celestia felt herself shaking her hoof with triumph.

A few families stood quietly as they listened to the announcements over the loudspeakers. Namely, the parents of Humbreeze and Rainbow's father stood in place. They clenched onto whatever they held in their hooves, and if they didn't hold anything, they found a cloud to clutch onto.

Young students of the small school listened in as Cherilee sat at her desk, carefully adjusting the volume knob for anymore accidental profanities. Applebloom and Scootaloo seemed invested in the words he spoke. Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara were more invested in the individual speaking them than anything else.

Streets of Canterlot...

More of the families of the guards sent away to the assignments, even the families of those of the previous company sent, listened to the words of the captain. For some there was a drive for vengeance, for others it was a request for closure. But for either parties, it was something that ignited something within them.

Senator Count pulled hairs out of his mane as the words overtook the soothing docile tones of his classical music. It only enraged him the more since it was the words from his adversary, more specifically of the topic he just spoke on. He knew it was a not-so subtle jab at him and what he was doing.

While Single File continued to flick through frequencies, the same voice came on over and over again. The young assistant finally conceded defeat and looked to his superior, who was starting to accumulate a small pool of his own mane and tail hairs. "Sir?"

The senator merely knocked his glass off the desk and pointed to the expensive wine. "Give me that damn bottle."

Complying, the assistant did what he was ordered to do before the senator vehemently snatched it away, popped the cork off of the bottle and started chugging the contents as if it were a cheap drink of water. Streams of crimson escaped the bottle and ran down his jaw and neck while he committed himself to bottoming up the entire bottle.

The assistant hissed nervously as he cringed. "There goes ten thousand bits."

Receiving the answer to a question he long asked himself, Shining felt himself break his composure. At first, it came as a bolt to the chest, sending him into shock before the feeling started to resonate throughout his body. But the moment the shock subsided, Shining could do nothing but cover his face. He jolted a few times before his tears broke past his exterior, his hooves weakening under the weight of the words he received.

"Shining, what's wrong?" Twilight asked, seeing her brother in pain.

The others looked before Alex jumped up and hugged him from behind. The two rocked back and forth while Alex soothed him. "Hey, man. I got ya. I got ya." As the young prince started to unveil his emotions, Alex hugged him even tighter, empathetic to the stallion's struggle. "We're all here for ya, buddy. Express yourself."

While the others looked back to the grieving stallion, the broadcast continued.

...Then there was a period of silence.

"Nondis?" Rainbow called out quietly.

...It's not everyday a man gets caught up in his own speech. It's not that it's a good speech, to be frank I had started rambling because of how nervous I was. But in the attempt of giving someone an answer they wanted from me a while back, I ended up blurting out something that I needed to hear.

We fight to finish it because they believed in us, long before we were something to believe in.

I couldn't keep speaking because I had to compose myself. But reflecting on those words caused me to think about someone I lost who once thought of me to become something greater than what I thought I was. And throughout all the times I felt myself feeling like I had no purpose in life, even when I feel so insignificant to the grand scale of things...

Have you ever had someone in your life who hugged you, told you that it was going to be okay, or they pushed you to do better and told you when you were right and wrong? Have you ever felt that moment when you were younger, that you felt like you didn't quite become like everyone else, that you didn't meet the standard? Have you ever felt like a disappointment? And even after that, has someone ever walked up to you and held belief in that you would still go far, that this wasn't even the beginning?

I have... and he's looking at me being what he once was. And when it was all bad, he was there to tell me to keep going. He didn't have to get out of his grave to say that, but to have someone who actually loved you enough to be present long after they're gone... Just because you're worth something.

It hurts, but it's the good kind of hurt.

"Gramps... thank you." I whispered quietly, wiping the wall of tears from my eyes. "Even now..." I cleared my throat, trying to break out of that deep emotional hole I fell into. "They're sitting in their homes, on their jobs, in their schools, waiting for us to come back, our families and friends. The ones who left us are whispering to us not to stop for them, but to keep going. They believe in what we are and how we can move forward. They speak. I. Will. Believe."

Because they believed in us, long before we became anything worth believing in.

"So when you march forward, know that there's more than just a pretty reward waiting on us, but believers in what we are and who we are. And it's not just at home, it's right here. Each and every one who believed in me, thank you. To all of you in this room, I believe each and every one of you because you are greater than the cause you portray. You're that strong father who loves and teaches his kids, you're that mother who feeds and loves on them, you're that aspiring wife or husband who's willing to bear their faults on their chest because each one of you are significant."

Maybe I'm getting swept into my own speech, maybe I'm hitting some very deep scars in myself in doing so, and I'm probably looking red-eyed because of it.

"Turn to the one next to you." But if I could get them to feel the way I do now. "Now look at them and say, I will believe." We would become unstoppable. "Turn to the other one, and say it."

They obeyed my instructions, the guards seeming a little more enthused.

"I." I started speaking...

"I."

Not just to them... "Will." ...but to myself.

"Will."

And the more I said it... "Believe!" The more they bought into it.

"Believe!"

On their faces were the smile of guards who knew that they had more to fight for than their own lives. They looked brighter, a glare seemingly showed upon them.

"I."

"I." They looked to their future.

"WILL."

"WILL." And they screamed at the trials before them.

"BELIEVE!"

"BELIEVE!" And they were ready to give hell their best shot.

Just outside of the train station, there was a huge gathering in the streets. Every stallion, mare, and foal chanted back at the loudspeakers, in unison with the guards in the back ground.

"I!" A few of them raised their hooves. Others threw their hats in the air on each word.

"WILL!" And when they screamed, they didn't hold back anything.

"BELIEVE!" They produced a sound so great that others in the nearby towns could hear it.

But it wasn't just nearby towns who heard it.

"I!"

There were cities.

"WILL!"

And they jumped on board with the rest of them.

"BELIEVE!"

Though not everyone agreed with the message, that goes without saying who.

One such individual drank from a rather expensive bottle of wine.

He stared at the radio with a menacing glare as Spike entered the room.

Spike watched as Count completely emptied the remnants of the bottle, his face completely flushed from all the alcohol he ingested.

Wearily and halfheartedly, he chanted back. "I..."

"Will..." He called back with decreasing patience.

"Believe." He mumbled before he threw the expensive bottle at the door, shattering it into several pieces before flipping his chair and screaming at the radio. "I WILL BELIEVE YOU'LL BLOODY DIE!!!"

As we continued chanting, I finally decided to have a little fun with it.

"I!"

"I!" They responded like normal.

"I BELIEVE!"

"I BELIEVE!" This time, they were slightly caught off guard with the addition of another word.

"I BELIEVE THAT!"

"I BELIEVE THAT!" They shouted back, raising their hooves into the air.

"I BELIEVE THAT WE!"

"I BELIEVE THAT WE!" They returned, with increasing volume.

Finally, I shouted to the top of my lungs. "I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

I started to jump, giving pulse to the chant. "I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

As the chant spilled forth throughout the streets, ponies started to recite it as if they were in the room themselves. Taxis throughout the town honked along the rhythm, creating a metronome to which everyone in the streets proudly jumped to. Stallions who worked at street venues banged their hooves on whatever clear surface they had. Those who didn't jump, they danced instead.

The streets of Canterlot were jumping with ponies of every color and race. They too danced, jumped, screamed, shouted, and paraded through the streets. But it didn't stop after the castle checkpoint. Guards who held spears racked their weapons against their chest plates, producing a loud snare-like rattle as they too chanted. Inside of the castle halls, maids clopped their hooves together and cheerfully chanted. In the dining hall, the celebration was beyond a military purpose. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance all chanted with their agenda in mind. Luna danced wildly, nearly knocking over a precious vase. Celestia pranced cheerfully in place as she took in the jubilant feeling, Cadance chanted loudly along with the servants.

Meanwhile in his office, Count listened as the radio and the ponies outside of his halls chanting the words over and over again. He smiled sarcastically as he bobbed his head back and forth. His horn ignited to bring up the newspaper showing the captain's survival. When it landed at his desk, he politely grabbed a quill, flicking it back and forth, seemingly composing to the rhythm. Spike and Single File then watched as he completely lost his mind and started barbarously stabbing the image to the beat. Back and forth he went, clenching his teeth before erupting into a long scream. Inevitably, his quill broke and he was left with his hooves beating into the table. Chunks of wood splintered around him as he relentlessly bashed and mashed the paper.

Pegasi who worked at the local weather factory kicked lightning out of some spare thunderclouds to the rhythm of the words chanted in their ears over and over again. They chanted so loudly that the thunder appeared to be soft thuds in comparison. A few reserves streaked across the sky, barrel rolling past the factory and over the streets of the town. The family of Humbreeze chanted hoof-in-hoof with Rainbow's father. He proudly shouted to the world below the very same message his daughter and her company was giving to the world.

Our morale was at an all-time high. While we chanted in that tiny little room, everyone clopped their hooves, stomped, or cracked their spears to the others. I was beating on my chest in rhythm as I screamed. "We're going to fight them off!"

As the rhythm continued, I couldn't help myself but to shout some more.

"A seven nation army couldn't hold us back!"

When I realized what I was saying, I just rolled with it.

Personally, I thought it was far too appropriate. "They're gonna rip it off, taking their time right behind our backs!"

"And I'm talking to myself at night because I can't forget!" Melanie sang, as the other humans bashed their fists into whatever they could without breaking something.

"Back and forth through my mind behind a cigarette!" Cliff sang before they briefly doubled the speed of the rhythm.

"And the message coming from my eyes says leave it alone!" Alex screamed before all the other humans jumped onto their feet and started singing.

"♪Ooooh oh-oh-oh oooh oooh!♫" Over and over, they repeated that part as if it was their battle cry. Some of the ponies in the room were completely thrown off guard as the five continued to sing. But inevitably, they found harmony with it.

Throughout the streets, they did nothing different from what the other towns and cities did. They too danced and shouted in the streets, foals ran to the playground chanting it as they dismissed themselves from class, leaving Cherilee to frantically attempt to rope them back into class. In unison, the entire crowd sang and chanted.

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!"

A small radio continued to play the chant over and over again as it's own soon walked up to it.

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN─"

With a single click, it was all brought to silence, save the faint cheering heard from across the desert. Standing on the edge of the overlook was a griffon with several knives and bolts sitting on a soft blue tarp. As he looked to the small desert town to the north, he hummed proudly as he chanted in defiance.

"I believe that I will win."

The wind blew past the griffon, causing his feathers to sway and rustle. His wings pulsed twice before he walked back to the tarp. His smile didn't diminish as he rolled up his tools and safely placed them on his back. He then thought to himself out loud.

"A revolutionary, so Count's got his hooves full with this one. I can hear the cheers from Appleloosa all the way from out here. Obviously he's worth more than what I'm dropping him for. This one might actually put an end to Count's agenda and possibly his career, I'd be wanting him dead too if he was so much of a threat to all I've worked for. It's too bad, he would've been a great drinking partner."

The faint sound of a train whistle could be heard from the distance. As he turned around, he could see the smoke coming from the main smokestack of the front engine. The whistle sounded once more, indicating that the train was setting off. Noticing that the locomotive was heading towards his direction, Gaston took a deep breath before hopping into the air, hovering on his wings, and flying off.

"Oh well... Nobu jo buka jo bine. (Time to get to work.)"

Theme (whichever you prefer):

Well this took a while and dragged a lot out of me. I hope everyone is doing well and that their lives are healthy and happy. And even if things aren't going well for you, well...

There was a message for you.

I deeply appreciate all of you for sticking with me up to this point, even as things get hectic. I wanted to get this one done sometime by the 28th, but I guess I got distracted again... dammit. But I will try to push for a new chapter by sometime this month, hopefully I actually get around to doing it instead of letting distractions get in the way.

The upcoming showdown should prove interesting.
And don't even get me started on what could happen next, I wanna gush it out so bad because I'm excited for it. But that's all you'll get outta me! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, SUCKERS!

I also managed to rip that little chant from this, which is probably the better version of it.