"Ambassador, this is an outrage!"

The anger in Ambassador Rarity's voice was clear, just as it was in the glower she now gave Cadence. Sitting opposite each other in the main chamber of Ponyville's town hall, the two diplomats could not have looked more different right now. Rarity, bearing great indignity, while Cadence seemed both stressed and even somewhat apologetic. Beside the former stood Captain Aurora Dash, who seemed no less upset than her companion. As for Cadence, as usual, she was beside both Twilight and Captain Shining, the latter of which now glared right back to the Lunar delegation. Cadence, for her part, was clearly trying hard to avoid any further incident right now, as shown in her tone when she eventually spike up.

"Ambassador Rarity, I understand that this was an unfortunate meeting, but..."

But the alabaster unicorn scoffed at this.

"Ha! Unfortunate? Your people directly tried to assault one of ours! And after you'd assured me that they would be granted safety during their time in the town!"

Before Cadence could respond, Shining intervened, his voice loud and angry.

"Your guard refused to vacate the premises when he was instructed to! Our people had every right to remove him!"

To that, it was Captain Dash's turn to add her voice to matters.

"Your so-called soldiers tried to force him out over nothing!"

Shining frowned to his counterpart.

"Nothing? His presence was making everypony else in that tavern uncomfortable!"

Aurora rolled her eyes, speaking back in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I had no idea that simply drinking a glass of water near you Equestrians was something that bothered you so much!"

Shining stood from his chair, clearly furious.

"Are you seriously telling me that he couldn't have gotten himself some water at the Embassy?!"

Aurora pointed to him.

"Are you seriously telling me that it's somehow unreasonable for our guys to have their drinks somewhere other than their place of work?!"

"CAPTAINS!!!"

The unexpected shout from Cadence caught everypony off guard, and soon, all eyes were upon her as she raised both hooves to her temples, rubbing them in a clear sign of stress.

"We came here today to resolve an issue, not start up another one!"

Hearing that, both Shining and Aurora turned to stare at one another. It took a few moments, but eventually, they both sat back down in their chairs, leading to Rarity looking once more to her Equestrian counterpart.

"As passionate as my colleague is, she does raise a good point. This incident was sparked by no fault of our guard."

Cadence and the other Equestrians looked to her, prompting her to continue.

"Or have you conveniently forgotten the fact that the drunkard who approached him was one of yours?"

Embarrassment now covered Cadence's face, and she coughed in a nervous manner.

"Yes...well..."

But, yet again, Rarity cut her off.

"Those guards of yours were out of line. Did the guard's presence make the other Equestrians uncomfortable? Perhaps. But even so, to ask him to leave without him actually doing anything wrong is very much out of order."

After a pause, she continued.

"It's quite clear to me that this guard, whatever his name is, was far too eager to paint our stallion as a criminal. Too aggressive, itching for a fight."

Those words, naturally, prompted Shining to stand once more.

"You're wrong! I've known that stallion for years. He's one of the best!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't really say much about the rest of you, now does it?"

Shining's eyes widened with anger, but, he soon felt something take hold of his foreleg, prompting him to look to his side. There, Twilight looked up to him, almost pleading with him to calm down. And, as was so often the case, his sister's influence shone through, and he sat back down. But, with this involvement, Twilight herself now fell under Ambassador Rarity's gaze.

"Miss Twilight, you were there the whole time? You witnessed the incident first-hoof?"

Though she hesitated, Twilight soon nodded.

"Yes, I did."

Rarity nodded back.

"Then tell me... do you believe that our guard should be held accountable for this matter...or yours?"

Twilight paused, looking over to both Shining and Cadence. The way they looked at her, it was as if they already knew what she was going to say. As one would expect, this left Twilight feeling more than a little concerned. But, in the end, she knew in her heart that honesty was the only real way forward, and so, after hanging her head, she let out a long sigh.

"Our soldiers...treated him unfairly. He was minding his own business."

Rarity looked to her for a few moments before then looking back to Cadence, her expression very business-like.

"Well then...I'd say that's that matter decided then. All that remains is proper...reparations."

Cadence turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Meaning?"

Placing one hoof on the table, Rarity continued to speak in that professional tone of hers.

"It's quite simple. Your stallion attacked ours. Had this been one of your citizens, the guard would probably be subject to whatever punishment you deemed necessary. We only ask the same here."

Shining frowned.

"And that would be...?"

Rarity looked him right in the eye.

"Well, given the circumstances, I believe the most acceptable procedure...would be for you to turn him over to us."

Naturally, all three Equestrians seemed aghast at that, Shining especially.

"You...you just expect us to hand over an Equestrian citizen to a foreign power for them to punish?"

Aurora, for her part, seemed rather amused by this, but Rarity, by contrast, remained hard to read as she gave her response to this.

"I confess, it would be hard to swallow on your end. So..."

She placed both hooves together.

"...I believe I have an alternative solution. One that would be much easier for you to stomach."

Twilight bore a worried look as she spoke.

"What?"

Rarity took a moment to glance to Aurora before turning her attention back to the Equestrians.

"I ask that the offending guard be removed from his posting here in Ponyville, and replaced with another...less eager soldier."

Just as with the last suggestion, Shining was livid right now, but, as before, he was soon calmed. However, unlike before, this time, it was Cadence's turn to do so, as she leaned closer to him and whispered.

"I think this is the best we can hope for, Captain."

Shining, naturally, seemed to struggle a great deal with this, but, in the face of everypony else looking to him, he soon relented, sighing deeply.

"Very well...I'll sign the order."

Rarity gained a small smile at this.

"For what it's worth, Captain, if you wish to save face for this colleague of yours, you can always refer to this as a transfer in your report, rather than a reprimand."

The white stallion narrowed his eyes.

"Thank you for your...suggestion."

Rarity nodded, getting herself out of her chair.

"Well then, if that's that matter settled, then I bid you all good day."

Nopony said anything as the two of them left, and before long, the door of the town hall squeaked both open and closed, leaving only the Equestrians behind. There was silence for a time, which ended very suddenly when Shining slammed his hoof against the table.

"They got us!"

Twilight looked to him.

"Brother, do you really think this was some plan of theirs?"

The stallion let out a dry laugh.

"Oh, they might not have intended it, but they sure as Tartarus made the most of it. Now we look like the bad guys!"

Twilight frowned.

"It's kind of hard for us to look like anything else right now."

To that, Shining sighed, getting back into his chair, leading to Cadence getting out of hers.

"I need to send word to Princess Celestia about this. Goodness knows what she's going to think about all of this."

The two siblings watched her leave, heading straight for the door that led to some of the offices here at the hall. But, once she'd left, Twilight, after taking a moment to enjoy the silence, got up also.

"I need to go too. I've been away from Spike for too long."

But, she was kept from going anywhere, as Shining reached out and held her hoof. Looking to him, Twilight saw, to her surprise, a look of concern.

"Twily...that guard...who fought ours...what did you make of him?"

Twilight showed clear confusion in her face, leading to Shining continuing.

"I mean his skills. This was the first time any of ours have fought any of theirs. So...how was he?"

Letting go of his hoof, Twilight shook her head.

"I'm no combat expert, brother."

Shining nodded.

"Maybe. But even so..."

He let his words hang in the air, leading to Twilight sighing yet again. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking back to the incident at the tavern. Even now, the images were as clear as day in her mind, and as such, she started to give her brother his answer.

"He was...incredible. I've only rarely ever seen our guards fight, but...nothing they had was good enough. Every strike, every attempt to hold him failed. He blocked and dodged and weaved everything that came his way. He was just a Private, he was unarmoured, unarmed, surrounded and outnumbered, yet...yet it was as if it was just..."

Looking to her brother, her concern matched his own.

"...just childsplay to him."

Hearing that, Shining closed his eyes, exhaling deeply.

"I thought as much. When we first brought our guards here, it was decided that we should ensure to have just as many in Ponyville as we knew the Lunar delegation was bringing. One of ours for every one of theirs. It seemed good enough."

He opened his eyes again.

"But now I know..."

He looked to his sister, and for the first time in all the years she'd known him, seemed fearful.

"...we were never even close."