Author's Notes:

Edited- 29 Dec 2015

Shining Armor blinks tired tears out of his eyes and scans the ballroom of the royal palace. The ballroom has probably close to two hundred ponies in it, all in their own enclaves. Politicians in one area, talking like they know how businesses operate because the visited a restaurant. Celebrities in another, thinking they know everything about politics because of an opinion article. Businessponies drifting between the groups, trying to lobby for favors or strike up endorsement deals. And finally, the military personnel, staying in their own happy corner and rejecting anyone who tries to get them to support their campaigns, buy from them, or convince them to come to their next show.

Through the clumps, Shining Armor can see the tables of food and beverages lined up along the walls, and beyond the enormous windows are the silhouettes that is the Canterlot skyline and the glowing zeppelins that float around them.

Shining Armor looks around a little bit more and easily spots the batpony Night Guards watching the party from the second level and their patrols on the ground floor. As he inspects the area, he hobbles between the enclaves, picking up bits of their conversations.

“I did meet the Vigilante! He's totally a dude with throat cancer,” says a passing Night Guard.

“Uh, no, the Vigilante can't be a stallion because the body structure is clearly a female unicorn between 180 and 190 pounds, making her somewhere in her late twenties or early thirties,” says the Guard's partner.

“Bullshit. Next, you're probably going to say she's a unicorn or something stupid like that.”

“She has a horn!”

The two bat ponies pass and Shining Armor passes a drink table where a reporter is talking Major Fuller, who is wearing his uniform and nursing his freshly poured fruit punch. Though, his eyes are not on the reporter, but at a table where Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Soarin are sitting and talking.

“How did you survived the League's attack on Ponyville?” asks the reporter.

“Luck,” replies Fuller.

And then the Major leaves and nods politely to Shining Armor when he passes him, and he returns the favor and continues limping along, investigating the scene. The next notable area Shining Armor passes is where a goat is talking to the Flim Flam Brothers and Brisk Wind.

“Seminars to weapons and armor seems to be quite the change, though,” says Brisk Wind.

“Self-help seminars are not pulling in the income they used to,” says the goat. “Plus, his father died and he had to take over the family business.”

“We can always use an expansion in Bernese. Maybe Iron Will and his family can help convince your government to let us in since they're so influential,” says Flim or Flam. Shining Armor can never tell who's who with them.

But, conversations aside, Shining Armor keeps on walking, and is about to inspect another area when a hoof suddenly grabs and turns him, making him jump and his heart spike. He relaxes when he sees that it is only Case Study, though.

“There you are. Cadence has been looking for you,” she says.

Shining Armor blinks a couple of times and looks her over. Case Study is wearing her military dress uniform with her blue blazer and skirt, white blouse underneath and blue tie, and like every mare in uniform, she looks good. However, as good as the young mare looks, a question lingers.

“Where did you come from?” says Shining Armor.

“You told me to come here so you can have help with the reporters, remember?” says Case Study.

Shining Armor scrunches his brows. “I did?”

“Yeah, and you seem to be quite popular with them, for some reason. I must have intercepted a dozen by now.”

Another hoof grabs Shining Armor and spins him, and once again he jumps and is old heart is put into a beating frenzy as he is brought face to face with Mi Amor Cadenza. She is smiling and wearing a light pink, flowing dress with a blue collar and a gold heart pendant.

“There you are! I've been looking all over for you,” says Cadence.

“You have?” says Shining Armor.

“Yes, and I had to get your secretary to help me find you.” Cadence smiles at Case Study and extends her hoof. “Thank you for your help.”

Case Study returns the smile with some nervousness and presses her hoof against Cadence's. “It was my pleasure, ma'am.”

“Excuse me, Captain Armor!” says a stallion with a nasally voice suddenly.

The trio turn and see a unicorn with a trench coat and stetson approaching them quickly, levitating a pen and notepad.

“Scribble Scrabble of the Manehatten Courier. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time,” says the stallion.

“Uh,” starts Shining Armor, his eyes darting in every direction it can possibly go in hopes of finding a distraction.

Luckily Case Study butts in and gently turns the reporter away and escorts him away in the opposite direction.

“Captain Armor is a bit tired, so I can answer some of your questions,” says Case Study.

“Well, gee whizz, that's mighty swell of you, miss. I can probably move out of my intern level with this interview,” says the stallion.

As the duo walks away, Case Study looks over her shoulder and flashes a smile at the Captain, and he nods in thanks. Once they are out of sight, Shining Armor sighs with relief as some burden fades from his chest.

“That was close,” says Shining Armor.

“Yeah, it was. That Case Study is a good mare. And cute, too,” says Cadence.

“Yeah, she is... Wait, what?”

Cadence chuckles and pats Shining Armor on the back and leads him through the crowds. “Relax, honey. I'm only teasing you. But, seriously, I'm glad you have some help. Celestia knows you'd work yourself to death if you didn't.”

“Uh huh,” says Shining Armor absentmindedly, for his attention is once again on the crowd in search of trouble.

“Speaking of aunts. Have you seen Luna?”

Shining Armor shakes his head. “Nope. I haven't seen her anywhere all night.”

Cadence sighs and rolls her eyes. “Great. She's being a loner again. I guess that’s a good thing, though, since she probably would have pulled a messy prank on the party. Like last year with the balloon inside the cake.”

Cadence shudders and ruffles her feathers, and Shining Armor grins at his wife.

“Come on, you didn't think that was funny? I thought it was funny,” says Shining Armor.

Cadence frowns. “I cut the cake, remember? It exploded all over me and ruined my dress and mane.”

“Captain Armor!” calls a mare.

Shining Armor and Cadence stop, and look to the source and spot a yellow mare with a well groomed red tail and mane, wearing simple, yet admittedly beautiful, dress and a hat with a notepad tucked in it. Seeing the notepad and pen, and her eager smile and trot, Shining Armor groans and face hoofs, all while Cadence frowns at the reporter.

“Quill Pen of the New Yoke Times. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time,” says the mare.

“No, we're busy,” says Cadence.

“How busy? Scale of one to ten?”

“Cadence, don't answer her. I'll just get this over with and fulfill my interview quota for the night,” says Shining Armor.

Cadence balks at Shining Armor. “What? But you spent all night trying to avoid the reporters. You even brought your secretary as a decoy!”

“Yeah, and this one caught me, so I'm taking one for the team. Besides, it won't be too bad. It'll only be like five minutes or something. So, why don't you go hang out with Twilight and her friends a little bit and I'll catch up?”

Cadence looks at Shining Armor with an annoyed frown, and then she looks at Case Study with a bigger frown. The reporter matches her expression with a calm smile, and when Cadence looks at Shining Armor, he gently dismisses her, and she reluctantly leaves with a huff. When Cadence is out of ear shot, Quill Pen steps closer, but Shining Armor holds up his bad hoof before she can speak.

“Before you ruin my sanity, let’s move over by the wall,” says Shining Armor.

“Sure thing, Captain Armor,” says Quill Pen with a sly smile.

The two walk over by a wall that has a two pony table, and after they take a seat, Quill Pen pulls out her pen and notebook with her magic.

“So,” begins Quill Pen innocently, “the citizens of Equestria have a lot of questions and I am here to ask them.”

“You don’t say. How many questions are there?” asks Shining Armor as he strokes his injured hoof.

“Not too many. I promise they’ll be quick and seeing that your condition is a little questionable I won’t ask the hard stuff.”

Shining Armor stops massaging his hoof and glares at Quill Pen. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know, you’re hoof and horn is ruined and Director Brisk Wind said that you’re an insomniac now, which we all know insomnia screws with the brain. So I’ll try to keep them simple, starting with how you are faring with your injuries. It has been almost a year since you engaged the League of Justice, so are your wounds getting any better?”

“I had my hoof shattered and my horn almost snapped off. The pain is never going to go away,” says Shining Armor deadpanned and glare remaining.

“So, on a scale of one to ten we're looking at...?”

“You talking to me brings the pain to eleven.”

Quill Pen frowns and scribbles something down on her notepad that he can’t see and hen she is done, she forces herself to smile.

“Next question,” says Quill Pen, her tone heavier than before. “There has been reports of increased violence in the rural areas regarding locals caught in the crossfire of criminal power plays in the Macintosh Hills and the Royal and Night Guards stationed at the region's towns. Some have accused the guardponies as being, I quote, unnecessarily brutal and using lethal force, and in some cases using lethal forces against unarmed civilians. What is your response to such acts?”

“What do you want me to say?” says Shining Armor. “My soldiers have a right to defend themselves, so if they feel threatened they will act accordingly. And believe me, I am doing everything I can to stop the violence, but we can only do so much with our limited ponypower.”

“Many don't think you are doing enough, though. In fact, your approval rating is barely breaking the double digits in every category. Including Ostentation Fair's looks and charisma categories, making your approval rating matching Blueblood's before his passing.”

Shining Armor's jaw and muscles tightens. “Why don't you sit in my chair for a week and see how easy this job is?”

Quill Pen chuckles and scribbles on her pad. “No thanks. I love my job too much.” Quill Pen turns to a fresh page on her notepad. “Last question, and then I'll let you go.”

Shining Armor slides off the chair, grunting from the uncomfortable feeling on his injured hoof. “How about I go, right now?”

“No, this will be the last one, I promise,” says Quill Pen, her hoof extended and pen still in her mouth, and when Shining Armor sighs and reluctantly stays put, she continues. “You made it public that you oppose the Equestrian Investigation Bureau and its sister agency, the Civilian Defense Agency. Care to explain your position?”

To help himself think of an appropriate response, Shining Armor scans the crowd and and he sees that Brisk Wind is still talking to the Flim Flam Brothers, but the goat is nowhere to be seen and the Director's eyes are at Twilight’s table. He moves his focus to the table and sees Fuller standing in front of Twilight, saying something to her that is making her giggle and blush, and Rarity and Cadence seem to find the scene cute while Dash is rolling her eyes. Soarin is too busy enjoying his pie to notice.

“Captain Armor, you still there?” says Quill Pen.

Without breaking eye contact from his sister, Shining Armor replies: “I oppose the EIB because of their violations to basic pony rights, and I oppose the CDA because it is an organization that would make fascists proud. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.”

Before Quill Pen can respond, Shining Armor marches towards his table, but then Brisk Wind just happens to take a sudden gravitational attraction to him and bumps against his shoulder. The impact sends pain like crystals splintering under his hoof. Tears swell instantly in his eyes, and he grinds his teeth as he turns from her, stomping his good hoof as his heart speeds up.

“Motherbucker!” yells Shining Armor through his teeth.

Ponies around the two stop talking and look at Shining Armor, and while he is looking down, growling, Brisk Wind merely smiles calmly and places a wing on his back and looks at the patrons.

“Nothing to see, here. The good captain just hurt himself,” says Brisk Wind.

“You hurt me, you damn psycho,” says Shining Armor.

Brisk Wind starts to escort him away from Twilight’s table, and the other guests resume their conversations.

“Let's get some fresh air. You look like you can use it,” says Brisk Wind.

As they walk through the crowd, Shining Armor notices that Quill Pen is talking to Case Study, and his assistant is frequently averting her eyes or rubbing her hoof with a slight blush on her face. He can only imagine what questions are being asked, but any attempts to think beyond the pain are futile since every step is an agonizing throb in his hoof, and he finds himself sweating from the pain, too.

“I saw you talking to that lovely reporter over there,” says Brisk Wind when they reach an entrance to the balcony.

“You mean the one you sent to me?” says Shining Armor.

Brisk Wind chuckles and leads Shining Armor outside, cooling him on the outside with the gentle night breeze, but it does nothing for the fire inside him.

“I thought Ms. Pen was a lovely mare when she interviewed me,” says Brisk Wind as she closes the door, and she continues when she turns to look at Shining Armor, who is glaring at her. “Believe me, if I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have allowed her near you.”

Shining Armor scoffs. “For some reason I think you’re lying through your teeth.”

Brisk Wind smirks and walks uncomfortably close to Shining Armor, forcing him to crane his head back when she is nearly touching him and looking up into his eyes.

“Captain, you and I are on the same team,” says Brisk Wind, her hoof brushing his uniform and her feathers fluffing. “We need to trust each other if we are to fix Equestria.”

Shining Armor quickly pulls away from her. “How can I trust you when you won’t give me the files?”

“I did give you the files.”

“Ruined files.”

“Just like you gave me what you had.”

“What you gave me was covered in coffee stains and black bars!”

“Did I mention how grateful I was for those files?”

Shining Armor shakes his head. “You’re evil. I’m starting to wonder where your loyalties lie.”

Brisk Wind frowns. “My loyalties are to Equestria and the principles of Harmony, Captain.” Then Brisk Wind smiles again. “But I can understand your concern, my methods are strange in the eyes of a pony such as yourself.”

“I have this thing called ‘morals’, you should try getting some. They’re free and easy to use.”

“I can see why Cadenza fell for you, you can be quite charming even when you act like an ass.” Brisk Wind then heads to the ball room entrance, and opens the door partially and looks over her shoulder. “Well, I'm going to go back inside to enjoy the party. Why don't you stay out here and cool off? We wouldn’t want your stress to ruin your night, after all.”

Shining Armor's glare intensifies at her and when she closes the door, he sighs and folds his forehooves over each other and slumps against the balcony railing, looking at the skyline of the home he no longer recognizes.

After an unknown amount of time passes, Shining Armor reluctantly heads back inside the ballroom, but as soon as he enters, he is almost knocked over by Rainbow Dash storming past him. Soarin is following her, but neither of them notice him.

“I don’t care what they are saying! I know what I heard and saw!” says Rainbow Dash furiously.

“Look, I know what it’s like to lose somepony special, but you can’t be obsessing over her like this. It isn’t healthy,” says Soarin.

Shining Armor watches the two argue as they hurry their steps and when Rainbow Dash is almost out of earshot, he hears her say: “Pinkie is not dead!”

Shining Armor scrunches his brows and starts after them, but with his injury he cannot keep pace and they leave the ballroom well before he does. He pushes open the door the two went through and steps into a polished hallway, but all he sees instead of two pegasi is another balcony door slamming shut. He walks as fast as he can that door, even though he has a strong feeling that the two will be long gone, but when he is halfway there, Cadence calls him, halting him in his tracks.

With a deep, disappointed sigh, Shining Armor turns to face Cadence and the two Night Guards by her side, and all of them are walking towards him with quick steps.

“Cadence, shouldn’t you be enjoying the party?” asks Shining Armor when she and the Guards stop in front of him.

“Brisk Wind told me that you hurt your hoof and some reporter was a jerk to you,” says Cadence, her voice heavy with concern.

“I'll get over it. Just go back and enjoy the party with Twilight and the others. I have some work I need to do, anyway.”

Cadence shakes her head. “No, you spend enough time in your office. You need to relax with me and your sister. Look, I even found the officer in charge and told him to keep the reporters away from you, so you won't be bothered for the rest of the night.”

Shining Armor huffs. “But I can't relax when drug gangs are turning the Macintosh Hills into a warzone, terrorists running around and our military outdated and shooting up unarmed ponies!”

“Well, you can't fix these problems if you work yourself to death, can you?”

“Somepony's gotta do it and that somepony is me-PH!”

Cadence shoves her hoof over his mouth, turning his words into an unintelligible, muffled mess. Once he stops talking and finishes with a deep sigh, Cadence sighs herself and walks behind Shining Armor.

“Cadence what are you doing?”

Cadence starts to push Shining Armor to the door by pushing against his backside, and the stallion’s cheeks turn slightly red as he digs his hooves into the tile. But due to how ridiculously polished the surface is, the only thing he manages to accomplish is a loud screeching noise that quickly becomes painful for the ears, and he also hurts his bad hoof again. To add to his embarrassment of getting pushed around by his wife, he can see the Night Guards smirking, and one is even fighting a losing battle to keep his chuckle in. During the ordeal, Shining Armor tries desperately to sweet talk his way out, but his words fail miserably because Cadence stonewalls every syllable.

“Shining Armor Sparkle, you will go to that party and you’ll like it!” says Cadence, annoyance seeping in her tone.

“And if I don’t like it?” asks Shining Armor.

“Then you’re sleeping on the couch.”

Shining Armor sighs in defeat and reluctantly walks the rest of the way and opens the door with Cadence by his side. “After you Mrs. Mi Amore Cadenza Sparkle.”

Cadence smirks and walks inside with a proud trot and nose in the air as a mockery of Equestria’s elite class. “Thank you, Captain Shining Armor Sparkle.”

Shining Armor can’t help but smile as he closes the door behind him, and while he’s trailing Cadence, his eyes drift to her flank, which she seems to pick up almost immediately. She stops walking and Shining Armor, being too distracted with the view, bumps into her. He blinks and tries to act innocent by humming to himself and looking around the room, but he can feel Cadence’s smile on him.

“You’ll get some if you behave,” says Cadence slyly.

“Get what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Shining Armor.

Cadence giggles and brushes her tail under his chin. “Don’t play Mr. Innocent with me.”

“That’s Captain Innocent, to you.”

Shining Armor follows his wife to Twilight’s table, relieved to see Fuller is no longer flirting with his sister. While he thinks about the promised treat if he behaves, he involuntarily picks up the conversation between Rarity and Twilight. They are too distracted to see him or Cadence approach them, though.

“Have you seen the sketches of the Vigilante? She is taking after our Mare-Do-Well suit,” says Rarity as she uses her magic to pluck out the cherry in her Classic Manehattan.

“Really?” says Twilight, looking pretty grumpy with her voice having a slur, which Shining Armor suspects her attitude has something to do with Rainbow Dash storming away.

“Yes, but they are using hoofball pads and leaving just about every pony and griffin they fight in the hospital with broken bones or nearly dead.”

Twilight snorts and sips her drink through her straw, which, from what Shining Armor can tell, is a Gin and Tonic. Much to his disdain, he sees multiple empty glasses of her drink and her eyes are already looking red and distant.

“It sounds like somepony has anger issues. Or a drug addiction. Or a mental condition,” says Twilight. She takes another long sip. “Heck, it might be all of the above for all we know.”

“We used to do the Mare-Do-Well stuff, but we aren't mentally handicapped,” says Rarity. “Honestly, I feel flattered that we have a copycat. I only wish they didn't nearly kill everybody they touched, though.”

Twilight takes a bigger sip of her drink, and aims her hoof limply at Rarity as she sways and blinks oddly in her spot. “The difference between us and the copycat is that we didn't wear hoofpads and snap bones like that brutish pansy. We're old school. Skin and cloth, baby! Whoo!”

Rarity frowns and levitates Twilight’s drink away. “I think you have had quite enough, dear.”

“Hey, girls, how's it going?” says Cadence as she and Shining Armor sit down.

“The evening was going well until Rainbow Dash made a comment about seeing Pinkie Pie at Donut Joe's,” says Rarity. “Then Twilight and Rainbow Dash argued, Rainbow Dash left, and Twilight got herself drunk off of tonic and gin, of all things.”

“Hey, all I said was that Pinkie would have to have been be a zombie if she was at the donut place, but zombies are fake,” slurs Twilight, and then she hiccups. “Just like the future and love.”

Shining Armor raises an eyebrow. “Uh, Twi, how much did you have to drink?”

“A liter and some ice cubes.”

“Yeah, we're cutting you off.”

“Why don't we change the subject to something more peaceful?” says Cadence while wrapping her forehoof around her husband’s neck and bringing him closer to her so that their bodies are pressed together. “Shining needs to relax, and talking about brutal vigilantes and alcohol won't help him any.”

“Thanks, Cadence,” says Shining Armor with a roll of his eyes.

Rarity gasps happily and puts her hooves on the table. “Idea! We should talk about fashion!”

The girls all voice their agreement on Rarity’s idea, but Shining Armor flat out says: “No.”

This, in turn, causes him to be the focus of three pairs of disapproving eyes that are demanding he listen to them talk about dresses. Though, one of the eyes is having trouble looking at him and the pony it belongs to is apparently forgetting how to sit in a chair. However, drunk ponies aside, Shining Armor caves in almost immediately.

“Fine,” he sighs.

Cadence and Rarity cheer and immediately get into a conversation about dresses while Twilight and Shining Armor listen, with the stallion quickly becoming bored out of his skull.

He feels lucky when a waitress walks by carrying a tray full of wine glasses with her magic, and he snatches one of the glasses and downs it one gulp with the help of his magic, caring very little of the pain. Then another waitress walks by with the same tray of wine balanced on her back, and Shining Armor repeats what he did with the previous waitress. And the same thing happens at least a dozen more times, with each glass making him more woozy, his vision more blurry, and everything becoming increasingly hilarious. But no one seems to notice the incredibly stupid smile plastered on his face or how much he’s wobbling. Shining Armor does not care, though. He is having fun being drunk, right now, and he looks at the three Rarities talking to his two and a half wives.

“So then I had to tell her that the armscye was too tight and that the midday collar was-”

Shining Armor suddenly laughs obnoxiously loud and points at Rarity, causing heads to turn to him, Rarity to raise an eyebrow, Cadence to face-hoof, and Twilight to giggle.

“Shiny's drunk, too,” says Twilight, and she takes another big sip of her drink through her straw, which she reclaimed from Rarity since the fashion pony was too distracted with the conversation.

“She said midday collar!” laughs Shining Armor.

“Oh no,” groans Cadence.

“I fail to see the humor,” says Rarity dryly.

The crowd murmurs and watches the scene unfold while some of the Night Guards carefully approach him. Quill Pen runs closer to the scene and gleefully scribbles on her notepad while Brisk Wind walks next to her, smiling at what she’s seeing. As she stands by Quill Pen, the two exchange smiles and the Director gives each of the waitresses that passed Shining Armor a small bag of bits. Fuller arrives next to Brisk Wind a moment later and calmly watches the scene unfold with a cup of fruit punch and a plate of cheese and crackers floating next to him.

“Major,” says Brisk Wind.

“Director,” says Fuller. “What did I miss?”

“Shining Armor is trashed.”

Fuller sips his drink. “Oh.”

Shining Armor hears Brisk Wind, and he spins to face her, almost falling over in the process, and then he hobbles towards her. His eyes are having an extremely hard time focusing on his nemesis, and for reasons he cannot quite put his hoof on, the ground seems to be shifting underneath him.

“You... You. You. Youuuuuuuu,” slurs Shining Armor while pointing at one of the three Brisk Wind clones. “You’re a- You’re a bad-mean pony.”

“Shining, I think you had a little too much to drink,” says Cadence worryingly.

Shining Armor chuckles and looks at Cadence, saying: “I didn’t have too much to drink. I had too little!” He then turns back to Brisk Wind. “I have had just enough to... I have had just enough of this fine-fine-fine... fine ole... fancy cider stuff to work up the courage to tell EVERYPONY how much of bitch you are!”

The crowd gasps and Shining Armor looks genuinely confused while Brisk Wind looks amused and Fuller appears bored.

“What? We were all thinking it. Ms. Quilly Penny write that down. Director Brisk Wind is a big fat bitch!” says Shining Armor.

Quill Pen points at herself. “Are you talking to me?”

“Well duh!” Shining Armor laughs and almost falls over, thankfully Cadence, now fuming, catches him. “Thanks shmoopy doo, I’ll have to privately thank you under the covers.”

The crowd groans and quietly express their disgust with the Captain’s vulgarity. The only two who did not seem surprised and upset by what Shining Armor had said are Brisk Wind and Filthy Rich, who has made his way in between Brisk Wind and Fuller. He also appears to be a bit tipsy.

“Ooh that’s a hound dog,” says Filthy Rich. He looks at Brisk Wind and momentarily checks her out before he grins from ear to ear and extends his hoof. “Hi, I’m Filthy Rich.”

“You’re not my type,” says Brisk Wind instantaneously, her smile gone along with Filthy Rich’s. His eyes actually tear up and he looks down, sniffling, while Brisk Wind looks at Shining Armor again, her smile returning to its former smugness.

“Ya know somethen,” slurs Shining Armor while levitating another glass of wine with his magic. Cadence immediately tries to yank it away which quickly devolves into a tug of war between the two that ends in Cadence’s victory and Shining Armor scoffing in a sickly puking noise. “Ya know somethen... when I was just a little colt in the Royal Guard, I heard that the earth pony soldiers said-had this little quote thingamajiggy thingy that they would say before their little battles.”

“Okay, time to go,” says Cadence as she tries to pull him away from the table.

Shining Armor laughs and stands on his hind legs and wraps his forehoof around Cadence in a tight hug while quickly using his magic to down Rarity’s drink before Cadence can stop him. This makes the two mares gasp, horrified by what had just happened, while Twilight snickers and chugs more of her drink through her straw.

“They would say: Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die! BE MERRY EVERYPONY!”

Shining Armor then cheers and falls backwards on the table, smashing it under his weight and sending the empty glasses flying into the crowd. The crowd gasps and backs away while the Night Guards quickly pick up Shining Armor with the help of Fuller, and they carry him out with Cadence, Twilight, and Rarity trailing close behind. The group makes a hasty exit, but the crowd is mostly silent, completely baffled by Shining Armor's antics. But the silence is broken by Filthy Rich’s stomping ovation.

“Bravo! Bravo!” he exclaims, all eyes turn to him, but he is too drunk to care. “That colt knows how to party! Whoo!”

Filthy Rich then looks at an attractive pegasus mare with a yellow coat and a black mane and tail standing next to him, looking a little concerned for her well-being, and he smiles and extends his hoof.

“Hi, I’m Filthy Rich.”