I step onto the grey pad and get whisked back to the entrance. The purple unicorn from before watches me and raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. A small smirk sits on her mouth. Her eyes are always narrowed, as if she knew everything you were up to. I make no acknowledgement of her existence and leave the room. As I turn left down the hallway, the same black pony guard from before still stands at the entrance, with his back to me. I walk straight through him.

Lucretia and Emeris still wait outside the throne room. I motion with my head to the left, into a small side chamber. Many of the tiny rooms had been fitted with panels that Celestia assured us would prevent any type of magical spying. I hold the door open for both of them and motion to two of my soldiers to guard the door as we talk. Lucretia and Emeris both eye me suspiciously.

I take a deep breath and try to stand up perfectly straight.

“The reason Zaran hasn’t done anything, is because he’s infiltrated us with a few high-ranking changelings.” Lucretia’s eyes bulge and she recoils a bit in annoyance.

“Do I even want to know how many?” I lower my head.

“Four. Umbra was one and a second was impersonating Luna when we first got her back. They’re both in the dungeon.” Emeris sits on the table and faces the wall, rubbing his hands slowly in thought.

“Don’t suppose you found out how they somehow juggled impersonating Luna while also letting her rest do you?” I shake my head and narrow my eyes.

“That’s the issue. Their group is called Z7, Zaran’s Seven for short. Only four of them survived his...final trials. He’s seriously damaged them with his mind games to where they don’t know what’s real anymore. Umbra was highly cooperative, but her little friend named Pharynx is the exact opposite. I think he wants to help, but has no idea what’s real. Zaran mentally tortured them for weeks and did it for longer on his more promising recruits. He projected endless scenarios in their heads to test their loyalty. He also made them watch their fellow changelings get vaporized when they gave even the slightest amount of info up, even going as far as to let them live in peace for a few days, then having them wake up and get destroyed by Zaran.”

Emeris recoils in disgust.

“So, this dude jumps from realm to realm, creating Og Nag and destruction and tortures his spies? What a multi-dimensional asshole!” Lucretia looks over at him and snorts in amusement. I place my hands on my hips and give them a stern expression.

“It gets worse. The best unit out of all four of them is named Farax. He’s apparently extremely smart, borderline worships Zaran and-” Emeris groans.

“Wow, it really can’t get any worse, can it?!” I look at Emeris until he meets my gaze.

“And apparently Zaran has a 24/7 psychic link to all of them. Presumably only when they’re not in rooms with magic blockers like this one. I’d like to repeat that is just an assumption. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough resources to cover the entire palace in blockers.” Lucretia stares at me horrified then turns to Emeris.

“How the hell do we find the other two?! How can we trust literally anything? For all we know, any of us in this room could be a changeling!” Emeris and I look at each other and shrug. Emeris turns and faces Lucretia.

“I doubt they’d attempt that. We know each other way too well and a spy would likely know that. They’d probably hide as someone who would be understandably quiet.” Emeris plants his hands on the table and slides himself off the edge to his feet. He pulls a dagger from his forest green boots and tosses it into the air over and over, catching it without even watching the dagger fall. He twirls it between his fingers, as he squints at the ceiling in thought.

“Alright so...here’s what I’m thinking. If I was a spy...in a foreign army...surrounded by magical creatures, there’s certain personnel I wouldn’t risk impersonating. High profile characters that someone would easily notice a duplicate of them running around. Someone no one would really talk about seeing in a hallway. So, I think the Royal Family and us three are safe. Unfortunately, it becomes a balancing act of being in a position where you can gain intel, but not have to know much about protocol. There’s a chance they’re a guard of some kind...probably nearby the throne room.” He motions with his head to the two guards outside the door. I look over and see that the guard on the left is clearly leaning closer due to his shadow under the door. I slowly pull out my sword. Emeris motions for me to stop. Lucretia has both hands on the side of her head and she’s on the brink of tears. She takes a seat at the table and hunches over. Emeris looks over at her, then walks over and starts rubbing her back with his left hand. He looks up at me.

“I’ll come up with more later, but I think the trial is about to continue.” Our heads snap simultaneously to the door, as we hear a large group of hooves calmly traveling into the throne room. I look at Emeris, exhale strongly through my nose and get up. Emeris holds the door open as we exit. Everyone files calmly into their respective seats. This time, several ponies who were sitting opposite of us, sit directly behind a few pews back. I catch beaming smiles as I look the Equestrians over. The moment Celestia takes her throne, Dandy hops from his seat and clearly restrains himself from running to the front.

Dandy stares at Celestia, who sips on what appears to be a cup of coffee. She meets his gaze, rolls her eyes and gives him a head nod. He spins around and scans the room with a massive smile.

“I’d like to welcome Princess Cadence, Shining Armor of the Royal Guard and Princess Luna.” The entire room stands and faces the double doors. Two royal guards open them and the members of the royal family stand there. Cadence shoots me a quick glare and takes a seat with her people. I understand Shining not making eye-contact, but Luna has an unmistakable look of agony on her face. Her head stays low as she climbs in behind Cadence. She glances at the opposite wall of me. I sit there, staring at her in silence, regardless of how awkward it would be.

Dandy’s elated voice fills the room, but I still don’t take my eyes off her.

“Well then, I’d like to call Princess Cad-” His voice goes silent. Eventually I look over at him. He studies my face with a strange eagerness in his eyes.

“Actually...I’d like to call...First Captain Raiden of the Nation of Taraska and General of the Equestrian forces to the stand.” The room goes quiet like a deer that just heard a twig snap. I button my black coat as I rise. My footsteps echo off the walls as I walk along the rows of seats and sit in the witness chair. The frame of it is made of gold, with lavish red cushions for the seat and back. The moment I’ve sat down, Dandy starts pacing back and forth.

“General Raiden. May I ask you to give a completely honest personal account of your time here in Equestria?” I know he’s hoping to find something in my words he can twist and use against me. Luckily for him, I’m all out of patience. I lean forward and let the crowd study my face. I wasn’t going to be shy, sugar coat, or even hide my emotions.

“My time here has been met with disappointment and grief. Every time we try to change things-” Dandy turns and faces me with his arrogant smirk.

“So, what you really mean is-” I stand up and give him a death glare, balling my hands so my skin turns a dark red.

“Shut up! I’ll let you know when I’m finished talking! So stand there and keep your damn mouth closed!” Dandy recoils angrily.

“Excuse me, but I represent the ponies of-” He stops talking as I get off the throne and stop an inch from his snout.

“I’m a general in your army! I don’t care who you represent! If you keep disrespecting me with your manipulative crap, I’ll have you spending the next week in a dungeon! You will wait for me to finish speaking, or you’ll be earning your meals in a cage surrounded by stone! I don’t care if I’m human! Your princess promoted me into your ranks and I won’t be talked down to by some bureaucrat!” I grab him by his fancy little vest and pull him so close so that his nose bends slightly against mine.

“Do you get me?!” He starts shaking then nods rapidly. I let his vest go and he backs up a few steps, trying to act like he’s the more evolved species. I don’t even bother returning to the throne. I stand there and cross my arms.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve put my entire species at risk for you ponies! We’ve bled for you and in a few cases, we’ve actually died for you. My entire race has been cut in half! My people have been through hell and back and now we’re doing it again just to protect you! Where I come from, your country would have been regarded as weak and you would have been left to your fate. After everything we’ve done, everything we’ve sacrificed trying to make things right, you dare question me?! You dare question any of us?! Everything I’ve done is for you! Every battle, every skirmish, you all had the luxury of cowering in a corner or behind your princess! That’s not something we could ever do! If we had, no creature would be alive today to even throw this reckless paranoia at us! You want us to leave so bad? Fine. I’ve contemplated it myself! The only reason we’re even still here, is because Canterlot is such a great vantage point! If it wasn’t, we’d happily go back to defending Taraskan Castle! Yes, we would eventually die there, but it would be better than being hold up with a bunch of ungrateful cowards!” I start shaking uncontrollably and my face feels like fire. I can’t even control my volume anymore.

“You want to know why we have so many emotional problems?! Because we’ve never had what you’ve had! You’ll never understand the feeling of knowing that there’s no one to fall back on besides yourself and your comrades! Each battle can be your last and everything you are, the sum total of your being, can be extinguished in an instant like a dropped torch! You really think we want to rule you?! Fine, we’ll leave and when you come crawling back begging for protection, you’ll be greeted with a volley of arrows. So go ahead, have your damn trial, but this alliance is a two-way street!” I look down at Dandy who just stares at me with wide-eyes.

“Now you can talk! Or whatever it is that you call your mischievous crap!” I plop down in the throne and recline back. I prop one leg up so my boot is resting against the seat and let my right arm hang over it casually. Dandy looks around at the ponies who share his shocked expression. He looks up at Celestia who gives him a lethargic shrug. After a bit of silence, he starts pacing back and forth.

“General Raiden, during your last defense of Canterlot, do you care how to explain what lead to your suspicious victory despite impossible odds?” I raise an eyebrow and sneer at him.

“Suspicious victory? As in the entire battle was a ruse? Here’s how we did it: Princess Cadence came back with an orb full of magic. She used it to supercharge her magic reserves and her healing abilities. We held our ground because no matter how many times we had our skulls crushed in, our limbs bitten off, or our backs broken, Cadence would bring us back...eventually. We felt the pain of death over and over, something no living organism should ever have to experience. Normally our stamina would have given out long before then, but it allowed us to take out scores of Og Nag.” Dandy nods and I see the wheels turning in his head.

“And was that the only thing you did?”

“No. It lasted for a while but eventually the orb was depleted. Anticipating this, we made sure to take out the Garge’s, since there was no way we could get past them normally. After the orb ran out, we set up formations on the wall and held it, using the choke point we had created as much as possible. They started slowly overwhelming us as well as my units became fatigued. Reinforcements came from Taraska. They helped us hold out for a while longer.” Dandy stops and blinks a few times.

“I apologize if I’m missing something but...how did Taraska not only know you needed help, but showed up just at the right moment?” I slowly sit up like I’m supposed to.

“Luna teleported them in, but you’ll have to ask her for the rest of the details.” Luna’s voice carries over the crowd.

“General Versa had sent one of our flying scouts with word that they had arrived with the 4th battalion. I flew down and teleported them up, but I have no idea how they knew what was going on and how they got there in time.” Dandy lets out an annoyed sigh.

“So, the 4th battalion shows up lead by General Versa. You hold out the best you can, what happened after that?” The crowd leans forward eagerly.

“Cadence was sent on a small mission to disrupt Zaran’s control over the Og Nag temporarily. It worked so we stormed through them as recklessly and quickly as possible, knowing we only had one shot.” Dandy’s right eye twitches.

“So...you were able to break Zaran’s control over his forces temporarily. How did you do this exactly?” He stares me down. I know his trick now. He wants information. He’s put me in a position where I’ll look more suspicious if I don’t answer, or give him vital intel he needs. It was a smart move. I cross my arms.

“That information is classified.” Dandy widens his eyes and makes an annoyed circling motion with his hoof in the air.

“Oh, how shocking! The information is classified! How convenient! So, if you don’t have an excuse, you just toss out the military red tape?! What a wonderful defensive strategy you have there!” I raise an eyebrow as an idea pops into my head,

“You know what Dandy? You’re right. I’ll tell you how under one condition.” His head snaps back to me and his eyes search my face vigorously. I turn and face the princess.

“I’ll tell you if her majesty allows it.” The room goes quiet as they stare at Celestia. She pauses for a moment in shock then shakes her head,

“I’m sorry Dandy, but I agree with General Raiden’s decision to keep that information private.” Dandy narrows his eyes at her.

“Really now…” I intentionally show a bit of offense on my face. It was time for some mild payback.

“Dandy, you're not implying that you can’t trust your very own princess Celestia are you?! That would be treason!” I hear him exhale angrily as he stares me down.

“No, I would certainly never think such a thing. Very well Captain Raiden-”

“General Raiden.” I snarl. He holds a hoof to his chest and gives me more of his fake manners.

“Oh, my apologies General. Thank you for your testimony. Princess Celestia, if it suits you, I’d like to call princess Cadence to the stand next.” I hop out of the chair and sit next to Lucretia. She pats my leg and gives me an approving head nod. Cadence gets out of her seat and makes her way to the throne.

Now it was time to see what else Dandy had in store.