Cessily walked out of the interrogation room and removed her mask, "He was ordered to fire, but he wanted to anyway. It was this Hiriboshi guy Luna mentioned. He's the one issuing the orders and he's the one using the mind magic. This guy has magic, but Hiriboshi forbade them from practicing with it. It sounds like he initially wanted them to explore their magic, but he later changed his mind. He probably doesn't want anyone but himself to have that kind of power and I think he might be afraid of anyone else being able to do what he does. There's more though. They captured a red Changeling who escaped and they killed it." She shook out her hair and fixed Captain Joyner with a hard look, "So, when are we going after this asshole?"

Mike sucked on his teeth briefly before answering, "Not yet. This is huge. While De La Crus gave us permission to read his memories, she also asked to be informed of what we discover. I need you to write a report about what you learned. No assumptions, no guesses-"

Cessily waved her hand, "I gotchu, Captain. Facts only. This ain't the first report I've written." She paused for half a second then said, "I can transfer the memories to whoever you want, no problem."

"Let's not spread this around yet. We need to wait for Mayor De La Crus to make a decision. She'll tell Celestia and Luna for sure. After that," Mike crossed his arms and lowered his head, "It's going to get super complicated. This concerns Equestria, New Humansville, America, and China. This is an international incident that could start a war." He raised his head and fixed Cessily with a hard look, "And there is no way New Humansville could ever stand up to an entire country. The four guys with the AA-12s were wiping the floor with us. If it weren't for a lucky turn of events, I have little doubt they would have killed all fifty of us. We cannot take on this Chinese General by ourselves." He groaned, "Aww crap, Cynecia is going to be pissed."

* * *

Artex sat in Oriana and Danielle's room silently watching his two loves sleep and recover. Oriana's surgery had gone perfectly, though it was likely that Danielle would have a limp for the rest of her life and maybe have to use a cane to walk. Vaiawa was sleeping on the couch in the room, having stayed up all night talking to the Human and Zebra women as they woke up sporadically. Artex had taken the time to send a telegram to Razor's family. They deserved to know.

Sitting there in Danielle and Oriana's shared room Artex' mind was in utter turmoil. He sat in a plush chair with his hands over his mouth, 'Rosey is gone. Razor is gone. Who else am I going to lose?' The loss was only just starting to truly sink in. He loved Rose Thorn. But now Rose was gone and he would never see her again.

He blinked back helpless tears, 'It was my responsibility to keep my family safe! It was my responsibility and I failed at it! I failed and Rose is dead! I failed and Razor...' he clasped his hands over his nose and mouth to keep from speaking out loud and waking his remaining loves.

He rocked back and forth in his chair, tears of rage clouding his vision, making tracks down his cheeks. He tried to sniff back the snot running down his face but there was too much of it. The tickle of the mucus tweaked his emotions even higher. His anger boiled over and he frantically wiped his face. The wiping did little good and it angered him even more. That tiny bit of helplessness he felt over his snotty face pushed him ever farther.

In order to not wake up his loves Artex left the room. He closed the door and bolted to the closest bathroom on the floor, ignoring anyone else who may have been close by. He slammed the door behind him and lunged at the sink. He sank to his knees then plugged a nostril and blew for all he was worth. He repeated the same action on the other nostril until his nose was clear.

'I can't even clear my own fucking nose! Goddamnit! I am NOT powerless! I should have just killed that guy last night!' Once the thought manifested, Artex paused. The thought made sense to him so he entertained it, pursued it, 'Not just could have... I SHOULD have. He's evil. All of them are. Every one of those fuckers who are in on it!' He breathed easier as he sustained the thought. It gave him something to focus on, something he could do something about, 'I had the perfect chance to kill that fucker last night - why didn't I do it!? He's part of it! He's one of them! They murdered Rose! He deserves to die! They all deserve to die! They all deserve to die!'

He panted for breath as he became more and more worked up, 'I almost did it last night - I could do it again! I CAN do it again! I NEED to do it! I failed Rose and Razor and Oriana and Danielle! If I let these evil people live when I can stop them, I'll be failing everyone else!' The thought was galvanizing, 'If I don't stop them - if I don't KILL them, they'll do it again to someone else! How many more will they kill!? I can stop them! I HAVE to stop them...' a stray thought entered his mind, '... and I'm gonna make it hurt.' It felt good to think that thought.

A malicious grin slowly spread over his face, 'They made Rose suffer. They made Danielle suffer. They made Oriana suffer... I'm going to make them suffer.' With those final thoughts his grin grew in size as he suddenly felt completely calm, unable to see the flash of green in his eyes, 'Really they have no one to blame but themselves. They dictated the rules. I'm just going to follow those rules. What rules? None.' He gripped the sink as he stared at his own reflection in the mirror, eyes normal again, "All is fair in love and war."

* * *

Mayor De La Crus steepled her fingers together as she sat behind her office desk. Celestia and Luna both sat on the floor on the far side of the desk. Each female had a copy of Cessily's report and findings as well as the physical evidence found at the scene.

"He's not going to stop, is he." Celestia stated.

"Not likely." The Mayor said, "He's done it twice now, even after we identified him to the Chinese President who mysteriously killed himself for no obvious reason shortly thereafter." She let her hands drop, "Mind control can make a person do that. Right?"

Luna nodded, "Indeed. It is one of the reasons that Mind magic is so strictly controlled. With enough power and control behind the spell the caster can force the victim to do literally anything."

"So this General has command of the best soldiers of Earth, the greatest scientific minds on Earth, the country with the largest population on Earth, the scientific and military means to do almost anything, and the ability to control the minds of everyone around him. And finally, he has possession of the only technology on Earth which can control the only mobile portal on Earth, making him capable of sending his soldiers anywhere on our world almost instantly." Celestia listed.

Mayor De La Crus dropped her hands onto the surface of the desk, "Don't forget he kidnapped then murdered one of Cynecia's Changelings. Other than that, yeah, it seems correct. The problem is bigger than that though. If we take any action against this General, the other nations of Earth may see us as the aggressor. We have no news crews here to record the events, we have not had enough time to establish good relations with any country except America - anything we say is subject to disbelief and unfounded conjecture. Most countries on Earth don't like each other and are always scrambling to gain an edge over all the others. China has few allies, however if we make the accusations that we know Hiriboshi is guilty of, other countries will support him if only because he is Human and you are not. Once that starts the other countries will fall in line as a show of solidarity. I don't know if Equestria could stand against the might of even one country going to war. To fight against the world would be suicide, no matter how you look at it. Your only chance for survival would be to block or turn off the portals and while we can do that with the one King Chris made, the one that Hiriboshi controls is out of our reach."

Mayor De La Crus crossed her arms and huffed, "And it's even worse than that. Humans fear what they don't understand and we have not revealed that we have magic yet. Once they learn about it the conspiracy theorists are going to go crazy. People are going to be scared and I guarantee you a lot of countries will agree. All they are going to see is a weapon that they don't have and don't have any defense against. They will either do ANYTHING to get it, or eliminate the one who does." She sighed and laid her head back, "We are backed into a corner here. Our only possible advantage is that we have a tenuous non-aggression agreement with America and believe me, that could change in less than an hour. I'm not afraid to say this is way above my pay grade."

"What if a gathering of individuals, publicly condemned by Equestria and her allies of course, were to attack the General? We, as Equestrian leaders, make statements that we were attacked by a military force but we do not name and names. We state that we have information that we are not acting on, but we know who attacked us. Would the other countries be able to do anything about it?" Luna asked.

Mayor De La Crus arched her eyebrows, "So name these unspecified individuals as terrorists? Perhaps... it has been done before. That would be a risky move however. Then again, once Cynecia hears about her Changeling I have no clue how far she'll be willing to go. She has a lot of people, both Ponies and Changelings and she forged the peace treaty with Free Run. She has a lot more resources now and she already secured the safety of her hive. Given what we know of her, I could see her dedicating a lot to get Hiriboshi. She's unpleasant, no argument, but I think she really cares a lot about her people."

"That she does." Celestia agreed, "We should tell her today. She may become angry if she thinks we withheld the information from her. Once she knows I have no idea what she'll do. She may demand to move quickly." Celestia took a steadying breath, "We have to have a plan in place in case she does something foolish. Discord?"

The Draconequus in question poked his head out of Celestia's nose, "Did somepony say my name?" Wriggling free and ignoring Celestia's expression of disgust, he dusted himself off and stretched back to his full size, "Ooh! That's better. So, what boring statesmanship are we discussing now?" He asked as a powdered wig and orange colonial coat appeared on him.

Collecting herself, Celestia became serious once more, "We have a developing situation and we might need your help. One of Queen Cynecia's Changelings was taken and killed by Humans. We are going to tell her today and we're afraid she may do something drastic."

Discord held up his lion paw, "Before you go any farther let me remind you that I gave up messing with minds and unless something drastic happens I don't plan to do it again. Now, please continue." His unusually serious tone surprised the mares and woman.

Nevertheless Celestia continued, "We were hoping you could subtly work to delay her if she does decide to take action."

Discord shot her a flat look, "Really Celestia? Subtle? MEEEEE? My dear, I'm about as subtle as a flaming tornado. Chaos is never subtle." He crossed his arms and turned away, nose held high, literally elongated and touching the ceiling, "Sometimes I wonder if you know me at all."

Shrinking his nose back down he turned back to them, "I can delay her, yes. But please don't ever ask me to be subtle. You'll always end up disappointed. I'll be watching when you tell her and I'll slow her down, but there is only so much I can do. She's powerful, Celestia. Almost as powerful as you or Luna. She has over a million Pony citizens who love her and have loved her for years. Chrysalis had the love of ONE Pony for a few weeks, Cynecia has had the love of more than a MILLION for a lifetime. Now I fully comprehend that you could not unleash your full power in a crowded room to fight Chrysalis. Your Ponies would be charred to a crisp, but Cynecia is powerful. Granted she could never rival ME, but do the math for yourselves. If she has her mind set on destroying someone, she can do it. And let's not forget the million plus Changelings who have been soaking up love for their entire lives. Remember what she said at the meeting? Her Changelings are protectors for their Ponies. A million juiced up Changelings all capable of just under half of what Alana or Vaiawa can do? I feel actual pity for their enemy. Where Chrysalis failed Cynecia would win. If she chose to, she could take Equestria and I promise you... she would win. While she may be grumpy and crotchety she really does want peace and prosperity and not just for her own subjects. I looked into her mind, Celestia. You and she are very much alike. You're just the prettier face. I can delay her, but that's it." Discord disappeared as soon as he finished speaking.

* * *

Visceral Slaughter and Mason stepped off the sky carriage on the roof of City Hall. While Mason openly looked sad, Visceral looked nothing short of enraged. She trotted down the stairs and presented her passport as necessary then continued on. Mason struggled to keep up with his wife, "Slow down!" He said, "You still haven't explained what you plan to do!"

Visceral was kitted up in her armor and had her signature weapon, her metal ribbon, wrapped around her right forehoof, "I'm going to find out what happened and I'm going to get our daughter back, Mason. And nothing is going to stop me."

"It wasn't his fault, dear." Mason said trying to sooth his wife.

"Wasn't it!?" Visceral asked with a snarl, "Her safety is his responsibility, he said that himself. I'm going to hold him accountable and we are going to get Razor back and then I'm going to make sure she never leaves his sight ever again! I'll tie her down if I have to!"

A raspy voice called out from City Hall where Slobber Chops had just received his passport, "Angry Momma Pony, wait! I not know this place!"

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen," President Seviston addressed the assembled members of the United Nations, "Today we have received word that an unnamed military force has taken violent action against Equestria and illegally taken citizens. While they state they are fully aware of the identity of the culprit, they have stated they have no plans at present to take hostile action. They ask that the responsible parties return their citizens, both the living and the deceased. These aggressors have means to access Equestria and Queen Luna has declared that any military force not invited will be seen as invaders and will be dealt with harshly. Until this situation is resolved she says that Equestria will not be sending their Emissaries or making any trade agreements with anyone. It is their hope that the situation is resolves as quickly as possible."

Next Chapter: Chapter 69: Reverberations Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes