It wasn't for another two hours after sending the letter to Celestia that Ponies had started coming Noblesse Oblige's throne room. First was Apple Bloom's family, not really surprising seeing as their jobs was a family run business that could stand to be dropped for long period of time. Next came Dame Rarity, Noblesse's sources couldn't exactly confirm why Sweetie Belle's parents were gone so often or even where they went.

Next was Scootaloo's father and Dinky's parents and aunt. Noblesse noted that Dinky's mother and aunt were identical right to their cutie marks. Finally was Ruby Pinch's rather young mother. Berry Punch was still crying at her daughter's injuries. Unfortunately, Ruby Pinch suffered fairly severe injuries considering that she was only shoved a long distance away. Grant it that Ruby Pinch was sent through the skeleton of what will eventually be a wall, but having your horn broken off is a much less serious injury than being turned into ash.

Lieutenant Echo Location, the the Bat-Pony guard Noblesse Oblige had put in charge of retrieving his friends' families, had made a point of showing their families the crime scene. Noblesse doubted that many of the parents were angry with him for hurting their children considering the possible outcome, but he couldn't gauge Berry Punch's feelings seeing that she was still crying into her fore legs.

Now that all of the families had been seated at his long table for at least ten minutes, Noblesse Oblige decided to speak, “Thank you all for coming, I have some matters to discuss with all of you.”

“First, I would like to apologize for-” Noblesse was interrupted by Berry Punch's angry yelling.

“You think you get to be sorry!” Yelled the mare, Noblesse noticed that she was almost a photo copy of her daughter.

“Because of you! My baby is not only unconscious, but her horn is broken! Do you even realize how much you hurt her?”

“Given that I wove an anesthesia spell with my shock wave, she felt no pain,” Noblesse Oblige spoke with a matter of fact tone of voice, “Your daughter and her friends will not awaken until Monday morning. And given that her horn wasn't completely destroyed in the conflict, your daughter's horn will be fixed by the time she goes back to school next week.”

Berry Punch didn't know how to respond. She was a first time mother that had just visited her daughter in the ICU she needed someone to blame, but this colt had done everything in his power to keep her child safe and out of pain. Even though he had directly hurt her daughter, he did it to reduce the possibility of her daughter being put in more severe condition. The only sounds that Berry Punch made from that point on were quiet sobs.

“Do you know why these Ponies would try so hard to kill you?” Asked one of the gray Pegasi mares, Noblesse Oblige didn't know them well enough to differentiate Ditzy Doo and Derpy Hooves from one another.

Noblesse sighed, “Yes, that is actually another matter I wanted to discuss with the lot of you. Though I will be the Count of Everfree Province, I will also be inheriting the County of Vanhoover. That includes the city of Vanhoover, five other prosperous cities, and several towns that are all bigger than Ponyville currently is. This makes the County of Vanhoover a very valuable province, so it is likely that one of my relatives sent assassins to kill me so they could inherit Vanhoover.” Noblesse knew that there was a more likely reason for these particular Ponies hunting him, but revealing that information could be detrimental to him at this point in time. If he ever became popular enough without Ponies knowing that he was a noblepony, they would most likely overlook that particular aspect of his life.

“Speaking of my ancestry, I must demand that you all keep the fact that I am a noblepony a secret,” Finished Noblesse with a serious tone.

“And why is that?” Scootaloo's father was a Pegasus with a reddish purple coat, a similar color to beets. His eyes were a stone gray and his mane was a deep green much like the trees of the Everfree. Noblesse also saw his Cutie Mark before he sat down, ornate scales with bits in one scale and a large multicolored gem in the other.

“It is my great aunt and great dam's will that-” Noblesse was interrupted by Time Turner.

“I'm sorry, but your damn what?” Time Turner was surprised that a noblepony would use swears so casually with so many Ponies in the room.

“Dear, he's speaking in Classical Equestrian,” Explained his wife, “The phrase used for one's mother is 'dam' in Classical Equestrian, without the 'n.' So his 'great dam' would be Princess Luna in this case.”

Several Ponies in the room adopted understanding looks as Noblesse Oblige tried to stifle giggles.

“Yes, Ms. Doo is correct. That's a habit I'll have to break eventually,” Noblesse took a moment to get control over his laughter before speaking again, “But the Diarchs have enacted an Executive Order, demanding that I attend school at the Ponyville Foalhood Education Center and make friends. Few Ponies would try to be my friend if they knew I was a noblepony.”

“Wouldn't that make them try harder to be your friend?” Asked Scootaloo's father.

“The problem is that they would try too hard and for the wrong reasons,” Explained Rarity, she was in the know as the Princesses of Day and Night explained their plans and worries concerning the young noblepony.

“Alright, but what is an Executive Order?” Asked Cheerilee. Her years in teaching school only covered general education. So while she had a basic understanding of how the Equestrian government worked, she knew very little about specific legal procedures and established contingency plans.

“Allow me to explain that,” Offered Time Turner, “An Executive Order is a procedure that the Diarchs can enact that allows them to enforce temporary commands over the Equestrian populace without consulting the over branches of the government. Not even the Parliament can supersede an Executive Order, of course they have the power to take the Diarchs out of power should they have reason too.”

“The Lieutenant is correct,” Said Noblesse after Time Turner had finished his explanation, “I should also mention that defying an Executive Order is considered an act of treason, you'll be lucky if you get a cell with a window,” The young noblepony had to hold back laughter at the fact that his great aunt had personally designed prison cells specifically made to break a convict's spirit.

While Noblesse Oblige was a long shot from his arrogant self-superior cousins, he still found humor at how vindictive their Sun Princess could be when she was angry.

“Neither of you will have to worry about medical bills, I have more than enough money in my coffers and your children were hurt in part because of my presence here. It's only fair that I do this much at least,” The tone of Noblesse's voice made it clear that this wasn't an offer that anypony in the room could reject, “I will also be apologizing to them personally as soon as they are conscious.”

At that moment, a thought came to the mind of Dinky's mother, “Do our children know who you really are?”

“Dinky and Ruby have no idea that I am a noble at the moment,” Answered Noblesse Oblige, “And I intend to keep that way until my fifteenth birthday in mid Spring, the fewer Ponies who know my secret the better.”

The parents of the current Cutie Mark Crusaders started to leave the Everfree Palace and head back to their various jobs.

Cheerilee was helping her sister home while doing her best to consul her. Despite her job revolving around foals, Cheerilee was good with Ponies in general. Rarity and the Ponyville branch of the Apple family (minus Apple Bloom) headed back to their homes as well, seeing as they worked from home.

Dinky's parents and aunt were headed back to their jobs as well, when they noticed their Pegasus friend staring at the ground deep in thought.

“Is everything okay Exchange?” Asked Time Turner.

“Huh, what?” The beet colored Pegasus turned to his long time friends, realizing that they were speaking to him.

“You look like something's bothering you,” Derpy Hooves spoke without hesitation, “What's wrong Quiver?”

Equivalent Exchange thought about lying to his friends, at least for now. He didn't want to insult the colt that had just saved his daughter and her friends, especially not so close to his home. But at the same time they were all involved as well, Exchange also had a very demanding job and didn't know when the next time he'd be able to talk to them would be.

Exchange decided to tell them here and now, “Something's bothering about the situation with the lord.”

“You know that it wasn't his fault that our kids were hurt, right?” Asked Ditzy Doo, concerned that her friend was holding something against Noblesse that he had no control over.

“I know, but that's part of what's bothering me,” Exchange still wasn't sure how to phrase his concerns.

The beet colored Pegasus had to readjust his position to not fall over. It was this behavior that had earned him his nickname. Whenever he was nervous or thinking really hard about something, Equivalent Exchange would start to lose his hoofing because he was shaking so much. So the name 'Quiver' just stoke, it was a nervous habit similar to how Fluttershy lost control of her wings whenever something scared her.

Exchange bit his lip in thought. He couldn't find a way to put this subtly, so he was blunt, “Why would the Princess order us to keep her grandnephew's identity a secret?”

This confused his three friends, “Uh, because he wouldn't be able to make real friends if they knew?” Answered Ditzy.

“Right, but why would she use an Executive Order?” Asked Exchange, hoping his friends would catch on so he wouldn't have to be insultingly plain.

“So we wouldn't tell our kids,” Said Time Turner, not understanding where his foalhood friend was getting his concerns, “I can only imagine how many parents would tell their kids who he was in secret and give them instructions on manipulating him. Why does this have you so worried?”

Exchange sighed in defeat, “It's too mundane.”

“Insuring that a colt has real friends is 'mundane' to you?” Derpy was shocked that her friend would so much as suggest such a thing, let alone flat out say it.

“Considering that an Executive Order is an emergency procedure reserved for only the most drastic of circumstances? Yes, it is very mundane and unnecessary! Celestia could've simply asked for our discretion, I certainly can't think of a single Pony that would even think of not doing the something the Sun Princess asked,” Explained Exchange.

Ditzy Doo was about to speak when she realized what her friend was on to. It was strange that their wise and benevolent princess would take such drastic means of achieving this particular goal, when her little ponies respected her word as law.

“Another thing,” Continued Exchange, “The Parliament has the power to remove the Alicorns out of power, and we've already established that this is a rather mundane reason to take such precautions. So why would the Parliament be allow such a common reason to issue such an order? Then we must consider that members of the Royal Guard came here to kill him, despite the fact that he kept his real identity a secret. How did they know to come here for the colt, why not look in Vanhoover or Canterlot? Those places have multiple safe houses for the nobility, and especially the royalty. Those guardponies should have been protecting Noblesse Oblige, not hunting him down like a dog.”

Dinky's family started to see Exchange's point of view. There were multiple ways for a noblepony to lose their inheritance, and all of them were much more discrete than murder. It would also be easy to catch the assassins sense they were members of the Royal Guard, it would also be a simple matter to figure out who sent them after the poor colt.

Exchange took satisfaction at the looks of revelation on the faces of his friends, “You see? There's more to this than we know, hay! There might even be more to this than the lord knows. I think he knows exactly why those Ponies came to kill him, and I doubt that has anything to do with inheritance.”

“But if Ponies are looking to end his life, then Dinky could-” Time Turner was interrupted by his wife.

“Honey, no. Now that they've made such a public display, it's unlikely that whoever is after the lord's life will try again so soon,” Ditzy was trying her best to stop her husband's train of thought, “Besides, it's not like we can keep Dinky from being his friend without breaking the law. And we shouldn't keep that poor foal away from potential friends because Ponies are going so far to kill him.”

“I'm sorry to leave on such a sour note,” Exchange started to speak again, “But I have to get back to work, I'll see you three next time.”

After Exchange flew off, Ditzy and Derpy flew off to the post office as Time Turner trotted back to the Ponyville Guard Station. Time Turner didn't like that his daughter could be in danger just by being associated with the noblecolt, yet he neither wanted to control his daughter's life or deprive a lonely colt of friends.

The four Ponies who were just talking didn't see the Bat-Pony that was carefully hidden in the treetops of the Everfree Forest, despite the fact that half of them flew right by his face. The Bat-Pony waited until the four Ponies were long gone before he so much as moved. The Bat-Pony took flight and headed back to the Everfree Palace, this was all information that his master would want to know.

“Are you serious?” Asked a distorted voice.

“I'm afraid not milady, some of our Canterlot agents got wind the colt's presence in Ponyville and took action themselves. They failed rather spectacularly and caused civilians to be wounded in the process,” The messenger was worried about how his mistress would react to the news.

The messenger heard his lady lord curse as she slammed her hooves on a hard surface of some kind. The mistress was so invested in making sure her Ponyville units didn't do anything rash, that she forgot to tell her agents in other provinces that they were not to do try anything with the colt.

“This complicates things,” Despite the voice masking aspect of the Calling Stones the messenger could clearly hear how upset his mistress was, “If civilians were hurt then Celestia won't bother with subtlety in her investigations, did those idiots forget that we're doing this for the civilians' sake?”

The messenger knew that was a rhetorical question and did not want to risk agitating his lady lord any further, “Orders milady?”

“Stay on standby,” Ordered the mistress, “We can't do anything until we get the Royal Guard of our backs. I will be sure that our other agents don't do anything to exasperate the situation, we probably won't get any more opportunities to get information and we can't risk further discoveries.”

“Understood milady,” Said the messenger in a drone like tone of voice, “I will see to it that our Ponyville agents stay low until you give the order.”

Noblesse Oblige was sitting in his throne room in the Everfree Palace, listening to his scout's report, “So it appears as though they have figured out more than what would be ideal.”

“Should we do anything about them your grace?” Asked the scout.

“No, not as long as they follow the law. I appreciate that you brought this to my attention, return to your post until your shift ends.”

“By your leave,” The scout swiftly left the throne room, leaving his master to his thoughts.

Noblesse's thoughts were interrupted as his horn glowed a bright yellow and a letter materialized itself in front of him. Celestia's reply came much sooner than he had expected.

While Ali/Unicorns could send each other letters with their magic, it took years of practice for it to become instantaneous. It was for this very reason that Twilight Sparkle and Celestia used Spike's magical flame to send letters to each other. While Twilight could probably send letters to Celestia faster than he could, it could still be ten to twenty minutes later, and it would cause a large amount of noise unless she spent a significant amount of time honing this particular skill.

Noblesse opened the letter without thought and began reading.

To my nephew and heir to the Counties of Vanhoover Province and Everfree Province,

While it pleases me to see that you have made friends so quickly and are willing to help them at your own expense, the Parliament and I have established Nation Emergency Funds for this exact scenario.

Regarding your suspicions about the assassins' motive, the guardponies that partook in the failed attempt on your life specifically requested that they be assigned to the patrol routes around the House Platinum Housing-Tower. It would seem that it was wise to import your personal staff from the Under-Cities. Though it troubles me that they found you so quickly, despite the precautions you took to ensure secrecy. This leads me to believe that the militant fundamentalists already had agents in Everfree Province before you announced that you would be establishing your court in Ponyville. I have personally assigned Check Mate to head the investigation him/herself, I refuse to let this act of treachery go unpunished!

Regarding your request for 'reinforcements,' I have seen it fit to grant you permission to house siege equipment and Check Mate will already be stationing spies in Ponyville to reduce any impact future incidents may otherwise incur.

P.S. The Parliament has given you the go ahead to make your own domestic trade routes between the settlements of Everfree Province and the Royal Librarians have finally made copies of all of the books for the 'Warding' spells Luna and I used for the Everfree Palace, and are all being sent to you. In short, you can realize your ambitions of having safe roads going through the Everfree Forest. Stay safe my nephew.

Your loving and trusting aunt, Celestia von Equis.

Noblesse set the letter down with a sigh of relieve. If Check Mate was seeing to the investigation him/herself, than there was no reason to so much as worry.

'Check Mate' is codename given to Equestia's Spymaster, to keep his or her identity secret. It fit perfectly seeing as ROoK was the Equestrian secret police and both were terms used in chess.

Now that Noblesse knew that he would the means and the rights to make trade roads thought the Everfree Forest, all he needed now was help ensuring that they were not in the way of the strange wildlife that called the foreboding forest home. Fortunately, Ponyville happened to have a Zebra shaman that lived in the forest and knew it's wildlife better than any other living being.