Author's Notes:

This chapter will make a little more sense if you read the following stories:
A Meal Fit For A King
Cooking Roach
Who Are You And What Have You Done With Diamond Tiara?

In addition:
The Lord Howe Island Stick Insect, or Tree Lobster, the rarest insect in the world. It was thought extinct at one point.

Aphids. An insect used by ants the same way that humans use cows.

"I distinctly remember telling you not to get involved with this..."

Azure Blue looked up at the speaker, his expression very carefully neutral. While the young colt would proudly boast that he feared nopony, this individual was definitely the one stallion in Equestria who could intimidate him...

Former tyrant of the Crystal Empire, and current head of the Bureau of Changeling Affairs, Sombra.

Clearing his throat, Azure said, "Actually, if I recall correctly, you told Cobalt Blue not to get involved. You didn't say anything about me getting involved." Technically correct, although Azure had been present at the time, and Sombra had used a general 'you' instead of a specific name. Still, he expected that would be enough to excuse his presence here...

With a snort, Sombra raised an eyebrow, then said, "I suppose that might be accurate, from a certain point of view. Still, you and your foster brother are as thick as thieves, so I would have assumed that telling one would be the same as telling you both." With a chuckle, he added, "I suppose I'll have to be more specific next time."

The two were currently sitting in Sombra's office in Canterlot. Azure had hoped that he, his butler Howe, and Aphid, would be well on their way back to the Crystal Empire before Sombra had caught wind of Azure's little scheme, but the former tyrant had apparently been aware of the young colt's arrival, as well as his comings and goings since then. Azure should have known better to try and get away with things when he was up against somepony with two dozen changelings on his payroll... and probably a dozen more who weren't, at least 'officially'...

Still, it had been a shock to see him waiting at the train station, a disapproving frown on his face. The colt still had nightmares about that kind of scowl, even if Sombra was reformed...

As well as Cobalt Blue's friend...

Azure cleared his throat, then said, "Well, everything worked out alright, didn't it? Nopony was hurt, a criminal was caught, and a slave was set free."

Sombra, his eyes narrowed, asked, "And why, pray tell, did you pull this little stunt, when you could have just left it to the guards? Or, failing that, had your butler play the part of the buyer, instead of taking that part yourself?"

With a small chuckle, the colt said, "Because some things call for a personal touch." More seriously, he continued, "Besides, Howe practically screams 'butler' even when he is out of uniform, so if he tried to play the role of a wealthy buyer, he'd seem really suspicious. As for the guards, setting up a good sting takes a little time, and that circus was going to be leaving today."

And both the 'Blues Brothers' (In spite of Sombra's insistence that he would handle it) and Sombra had been trying to find that traveling circus for the last three moons, practically since Sombra's return and recruitment into the bureau of changeling affairs. Prior to his revival, Sombra and Cobalt Blue had spotted the circus that kept Aphid, seeing it from the window of the train they were riding in at the time. There had been no time to stop, and no way of knowing if the treatment Aphid was receiving was legal or not. However, they had promised each other, and Howe, who was riding with them (Long story, that one), that they would try to find a way to help her once their business in the Crystal Empire was finished. Azure, after hearing the story, had been glad to lend a hoof. After all, that's what big brothers are for...

With a snort, Sombra stated, "While certainly true, you only managed to beat my agent there by half an hour... and I had another half dozen agents, and a good twenty guards from the local garrison, ready to liberate her if the proprietor proved to be reluctant to let her go." After a moment, he added, "The guards were happy to lend a hoof, both with your plans and mine: They'd been waiting for an opportunity to take Ring Master's circus apart. They suspected, and both the evidence and Aphid's testimony confirms, that he was using the cover of a traveling circus to smuggle contraband from place to place... and there were other concerns..."

Azure Blue noticed the worried look that crossed Sombra's face, and asked, "What other concerns?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss ongoing investigations," Sombra stated, formally. "Especially those conducted by other departments of Equestrian law enforcement." His tone lightened somewhat as he said, "But enough about that. How is Cobalt?"

Chuckling, Azure said, "He's happy. Up to his neck in fillies who are quietly jockeying for the position of 'very special somepony', with more appearing every couple of days... and he's still completely oblivious to it." With a shrug, he added, "Who knew that being the only non-crystal colt in the Crystal Empire would make him so popular?"

With a big laugh, Sombra said, "That colt's life is going to be painfully complicated when he and his fan club hit puberty. I wouldn't be surprised if a war breaks out before the end of that... or if one, or all, of the princesses get dragged into it. Give him my best when you get back home: It may be a while before I can sweet talk the princesses into letting me visit, but I'll see what I can manage. Ever since I told Rochelle the whole story about my return, she's been insisting on getting a chance to meet him."
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Aphid was... well, she was nervous, to be honest. While Azure spoke with the director, she was left in a waiting room with Howe. The butler was a mystery: As far as she knew, there wasn't a single commoner in the swarm named 'Howe'. That, plus his above average height, his build, and the length of his horn, all screamed that he was an aristocrat.

But why would an aristo be playing servant to a colt, even a fantastically rich one?

And he just had to be the most handsome changeling she'd ever seen, too. She had to constantly remind herself that while looking was fine, there were very strict rules against anything more than that. The kind of rules that ended with the words 'Off With Your Head' if you broke them. Still, the world was changing... right?

Not that it meant much: While she might have gotten a name, mostly due to dumb luck, Aphid didn't have any distinguishing characteristics. She wasn't athletic, or really all that pretty. In just about every category, including brains, she was more or less average. A brick would be more interesting than she was...

Clearing his throat, Howe asked, "Are you alright? I can imagine that you must still be sore, given the way you were treated."

Sore did not do the way she was feeling justice: Her neck itched abominably, and her muscles were screaming at her. The chain on her collar, bolted to the ceiling, was not long enough to reach the floor, and it had barely been long enough to reach her neck while sitting without choking her... so she'd ended up sitting, in the same position, for a year... even in her sleep. She was lucky her muscles hadn't atrophied completely...

Rubbing at the scars on her neck, born from a year of wearing a collar, she admitted, "I've felt better. I'll be fine, though. I just need a chance to work the kinks out: After a year playing statue, I'm stiff in ways that words can't possibly describe."

Nodding, Howe said, "Well, we'll be leaving on the next train out after this bit of business is done. It'll be a long trip, but the bedding inside the luxury car is quite pleasant, I assure you." With a chuckle, he added, "Then, once we get you to the manor, the other maids will help you to adjust to your new surroundings."

Surprised, Aphid asked, "But the way Azure put it, I thought you didn't have any maids?"

With an eloquent shrug, Howe said, "Well, there are a few others, but given the state that the manor was in when I first arrived, it would have required a brigade to get the entire mansion back to tip-top shape by now, especially..." For a moment, Howe seemed like he might go into detail, then shrugged and said, "But that is neither here nor there. Just rest assured, you'll have plenty of hooves to aid you while you find your way." Then he chuckled, and added, "And plenty of work to keep you occupied."

And plenty of competition, she added mentally, as she studied Howe and calculated whether or not getting a piece of that action would be worth risking an execution over...