Early Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Lord Trumane’s bedroom

They were alone, Lord Trumane unconscious in his induced slumber. Iena, in disguise as Lady Trumane, calmly walked towards the Bronze Alicorn stood opposite her in the bedroom, warily looking at the pale yellow Alicorn he saw before him with distrust, wariness, even outright revulsion.
“What’s the matter? You seemed to enjoy me last night…”
“I wasn’t in my right state of mind, you know that all too well.”
“Hmm, true, my spell didn’t have the effect it usually does on stallions, or mares when I need to sway them. What’s you’re secret?”
“Self-control.” Aubelles retorted, to which ‘Lady Trumane’ visibly laughed under her breath, slowly walking over to the bed, rubbing a hoof teasingly over Lord Trumane’s slumbering face:
“Everypony has their limit, be it torture, seduction, money, everypony has those little parts of themselves that can be twisted in order to bend them to your will, magic to help or not.”
“And what was his limit? What did you do to get Lord Trumane under your thrall?” Aubelles asked darkly, the Bronze Alicorn heeding the disguised Alicorn mare before him carefully as she turned to him with a coy, but careful look of her own:
“Whisperings here and there, sweet words, truths ever so slightly altered. Outright mind melding magic shows its signs if done too strongly for me, but before Siral I had my ways. He may have ruined me to get me, but he made my talents much more effective in the end. Too bad he can’t be alive to see it now.”
“What have you done?” Aubelles probed, eyes narrowed as she seemed to slowly walk towards him, his own magic shields raising slightly to her visible disapproval:
“Come now Aubelles, we don’t want to make a scene here do we? Think of the scandal.”
As she passed, she seemed to whisper in a way that echoed in his ears:
“Think of the gossip of you being found in Lord Trumane’s bed, and MY loyal husband having found me weeping of a beastly night encounter with you. You would be carted away to the axepony’s block…”
On the bed, to Aubelles’s vision, she cast some dark blue magic. And before his very eyes, Lord Trumane transformed into an exact copy of himself, fast asleep on the bed. Yet as Aubelles looked down while Iena slowly circled him, still disguised as Lady Trumane, he transformed into Lord Trumane, his bronze fur turning white, his mane turning light blue.
As she came full circle around him, ‘Lady Trumane’ narrowed her eyes at Aubelles in challenge, as she whispered sweetly to him. Resisting, Aubelles heard her voice beginning to hum almost as she spoke, like an echoing noise in a massive hall:
“Envision it. You, an Alicorn ascended from a Pegasus, becoming the great Lord Trumane. All you must do, is give up all you are to me, and become all he is.”
“Lord Trumane is a stubborn old fool, not seeing the way things are going. If we stopped the war now, then his Nationalists will still have gained more than the Royalists, they will be victors by being more powerful. But they can only do this if the highest among their Alicorn leaders undergoes, a rather sudden change of tactics.”
“Why should I trust you? What have you done with Lady Trumane?” Aubelles asked, his words slow and slurred at first. Wheeling around to walk away from him slightly, Iena scoffed as she replied more coldly:
“You really think the real Lady Trumane would have even given you a sideways look like I did last night? She was as bigoted, if not more, to what she called the ‘soldiers’, barbarians that serve a noble cause she called them. And an Alicorn like yourself mingling among them willingly unlike others that stayed at Officer levels, she viewed you all with contempt…”
“As for her fate, she left the day after I got back from the Citadel’s downfall. The wedge I’d driven as a sultry ‘mistress’ made me look like a scarlet mare of sorts. And what I propose for you, I already did with her. The fools kicked out their own Lady Trumane thinking she was a glorified concubine, though the spell I placed on her made her think she was who I masqueraded as too.”
“And in case she did come to, it is all too common for mares in such professions to fell victim to very undesirable folks, especially if arranged with word of her reputation spreading.”

5 days ago
April 10th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, lower docklands

The Pegasus mare ran for her live, her wings having had their feathers cut off, along with her dress. Running for her life, she dove into a nearby alley, only to see a dead end. Desperately trying to fly, she flapped her clipped wings hopelessly, as the noises behind her caught up.
The first rock hit the wall as she turned to try and block the rest, but she saw angry ponies coming around the corner, the same ones chasing her, rocks hurled by hoof or by magic coming at increasing numbers. More rocks flew, and more hit her on the forearms as she backed up, eventually too many hitting for her to properly protect herself.
The pained screams came from the alley as the angry mob continued stoning her to death, but given her reputation, nothing was to be done by any authorities that heard.
Watching from afar, Iena gave a small smile in satisfaction, before she flew off from her perch, her changeling/snakelike body shifting to a green Pegasus as she did.

Present
Early Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Lord Trumane’s bedroom

“But now, my need to keep Lord Trumane in the dark can end. If you join me…”
“Why would I join you?”
“To be at the top of the social ladder, to have the position a Stallion of your quality truly deserves, unlike the silver spoon borne lumps that call themselves Alicorns that still regard you as lesser than they. Aubelles the Mighty… Aubelles the strong… Aubelles the War Hero. What have any of them done besides dictate and parade about while hard-working, strong ponies like you and others, Alicorn or less, suffer for their gain? Even when you became an Alicorn they regard you by your origin still…”
“You don’t know me demon…” Aubelles growled to Iena, at which she put on a mock-hurt look, while she seemed to slowly move around to his side, tilting her head while putting on a playful smile, though he could see a hint of the cautious dark blue in her eyes:
“I can see it in your eyes… Underneath your glamour, your reputation, you are just as bitter as any pony who works hard, rises up, only to still be regarded as less then you feel you should be… I understand that feeling too well. I manoeuvred the courts, the nobility for my family. I brought them great sway, and when the time came that Siral secretly outed me for my manipulations, they used me as a scapegoat despite knowing I did it for them.”
“But now, now I can be what I wish, do what I wish. And I wish, to entrench myself and those I feel deserve to be as well, in places where we are safe, secure and powerful. But…”
As she stopped, she came up to Aubelles’s side, her hoof ever so slowly touching his broad shoulder while he stood rigid, watching her carefully, his bronze horn still glowing strongly as he warily regarded the advances she made. But she could see it, his stern expression faltering ever so slightly.
“Only if I have what I need. I have placed myself, but now I need another, as I have seen that my ‘Lord’ cannot be what I need as he is. He must be replaced, and only I and as I feel is best, you would know.”
“And what of your friend? The other like you who is in the kitchen staff?” Aubelles rumbled, as he slowly turned to her, his expression softening ever so slightly. With a small smile, she remarked offhandedly:
“He is more of a backup, content where he and I stand. Besides, what I need, what you can do with me, cannot be done by him. His new form makes my magic less effective on him, he is too different from normal beings to alter, to disguise, unless he does it himself.”
“So why not ask him to do it?” Aubelles asked suspiciously. As she hovered ever so slightly, she came to hover right I front of his face, her now clearly dark blue eyes growing wide in their pupils, staring into his own as she spoke:
“I need someone who has ambitions, somebody not so easily pleased. He is a dear friend, but he is simple in his wants and needs. While endearing, it is not, suitable.”
“So what would I be? A trophy? A slave?”
“No… You would be my Lord, a worthier lord than the one lying asleep on the bed right there.”
“I see you for what you are, who you are, who you deserve to be. You are more of an Alicorn, nay, more of a Stallion than any of the gelded mules who parade about the ballrooms too often.”
“Stay with me, become Lord Trumane, and I your Lady. We can rule the Nationalists, stop the war while they are ahead and still make sure they are the more powerful faction. We can live powerful, rich, full lives.”
“Stay with me, love me, and together we shall become the greatest Lord and Lady that Equestria has ever known. The Royalty shall be made redundant in our presence, by our name being uttered. Be with me, and I shall make you the greatest Alicorn Equestria has ever known, unquestioned and sung about for centuries.”
“It would be easy. Seeing your wife almost fall victim to one as ambitious as Aubelles, would galvanise Lord Trumane, and after this experience, he would become a far greater Lord than he was before. All you must do is accept that you would give up all you are, and accept all you would inherit and become.”
“But I made myself, my reputation would be gone, tarnished.
“You would be somepony else, and it would no longer be your concern. Why hesitate?”
“My pride, my honour.”
“Nopony would know but I and my other friend… And we would have no gains from outing this whole scheme. It would be easy… And all you would need to do, is be yourself, while under a new identity. Lord Trumane would be a changed Stallion after this incident I could so easily arrange, so you would not change your beliefs, your ideals.”
“Only betray them to supplant my way into power…” Aubelles remarked, to which Iena frowned slightly, her disguise of Lady Trumane flickering slightly as she drew the curtains of the room now, casting the room into a slight darkness.

“Aubelles, if you did this, while you would be supplanting another, you could be yourself. In the end, you would still have stronger morals than any of those noble Alicorns and ponies who look down upon you.”
Slowly approaching Aubelles’s, his bronze glow dimming slightly as her own dark blue magic dimmed to match his, Iena’s form shifted before his eyes, to reveal her origin. A light green Pegasus mare with a complimentary figure.
As she strode up, Lord Trumane shifted in his deep sleep, rolling onto his side with a snore. Ignoring this, advancing on Aubelles in the dimly lit room, Iena slowly came up to stroke Aubelles’s glowing bronze horn in a longing manner, her expression a mixture of pleading and temptation:
“Be with me, Aubelles. And you and I can become greater than either you, the Trumanes, or even my old leacherous master Siral could have ever envisioned. That, I promise…”
As she slurred the last word, Aubelles’s resolve broke, his bronze magic fading as he saw Iena transform one more time before his eyes. Her dark blue eyes remained, but her head grew a pair of siren ear flaps, and her body became serpentine with changeling armour atop its back, two forelimbs with clawed, webbed hands extending out before the naga shaped creature.
The Being of Lust slowly slithered to come level with Aubelles’s taller head, as she lightly gripped the back of his neck and mane in one hand, while stroking his chin with the other:
“That, I swear…”
“And, what of your friend? What does he gain from this?”
Slightly giggling at this, Iena pulled Aubelles closer to her head, remarking coyly as their heads drew closer:
“He is content with what he has. Though I see why he wouldn’t be. He has all he wants while remaining low key, a backup, somepony else who worked hard and was ruined by life’s unfairness as well.”
“But, he will have to learn to share, from time to time…”
Aubelles’s eyes widened at this slightly, as he whispered drunkenly as his bronze magic finally faded:
“You two are-?”
“As if it would surprise you. Promiscuity is an unspoken commonplace among the nobility, they are just hypocritical of it.”
He could feel her breath on his lips as she whispered slowly to him, the room growing dark as her deep blue eyes filled his vision and dreams.
“Monogamy is easy to manipulate, which is why I see it as a weakness…”
Aubelles shut his eyes at last as she slowly moved them to the bed, this time not bothering to disguise herself at all, slithering herself with Aubelles in her grip. On the bed, Lord Trumane was hovered in a dark blue hue slowly over to a large couch beside a dressing screen, still deep in slumber.
As he was pulled onto the bed, Aubelles’s horn flared a slight green, as he began to encompass Iena in a seemingly comforting glow, which seemed to cause her pleasure of some sort.
“Finally holding up your end are we?”
“In a way…” Aubelles remarked, as they pulled together into a less disguised session than last night’s. He pulsed her body with subtler flashes of green, while she worked her own magic on him in body and otherwise.
He only hoped the spell, as many times as he subtly used it, would work.

1 hour later
Morning
Baltimare, port district
Waterfront

“-and then they figured I would be best as one of their bakers. They said they’d rather end up with more than they need anyway.”
“And you knew that was a veiled insult at your size?” Chack asked, an eye ridge raised as Satio sat beside him on the Waterfront edge, throwing a few mouldy bread bits into the water below for some fish that had gathered. Sighing slightly, Satio gave a small smile as he gazed down at the fish, remarking:
“Yes. But I don’t really care. I’m happy as I am, and as long as there are ones out there that do accept me, few or many, I can live with it.”
“Is there anybody out there who accepts you?” Chack asked probingly, his webbed fingers stroking the green handled tool hidden inside his robe inner pocket. The brown furred Minotaur’s orange eyes flickered slightly as he gave a small smile:
“One. She’s in the city, and what a beauty… But she and I can’t really be together as much as I’d like. She’s in a higher position than I am.”
“Do tell…” Chack asked, intrigued as he turned to face Satio slightly now, the Minotaur throwing some mouldy crumbs down to the fish, who swam about as they fell in the murky water. Out in the harbour, merchant, fishing and a few naval sailing ships still lay moored.
“Well… She’s a little less, laid back then I am, and more easily insulted. But by gods can she read you like an open book… Guess that was why she could see past all of, this to begin with.”
As he grabbed his fat belly, jiggling it slightly for emphasis, Chack gave a slight huff at this display, remarking loudly:
“Looks can be deceiving, too often true…”
“I’m not sure exactly why you came out here and were willing to sit with me, talk a bit, but thanks. I don’t really have many friends, not ones who will talk with me one on one. Thank you, but I think I should get back to home now.”
“Why, will she be waiting there?” Chack remarked coyly with a smile.
With a slight self-deprecating chuckle, Satio turned to leave, remarking back with a wave goodbye as he got up to begin walking down the waterway wall path:
“I doubt it, she’s likely busy.”
Chack’s next sentence came out much less humorous however.
“Manipulating noble ponies while disguised, I’d wager. Which makes me wonder how you tie into what you are both doing here…”

His back turned to Chack, Satio’s orange eyes widened suddenly as he stopped, as he heard Chack stand up himself, the Salamander still staring out at the harbour and not him from a few metres away.
“Forget the last hour of conversation I endured to find out anything I could about you… Let’s not waste any more of my time or yours. What are you really doing here? Why did Siral ask you and the other, the female, here?”
“How much do you know?”
“Start talking, and you’ll know if I didn’t already know by how patient I am with this.” Chack warned, as he visibly pulled out his normal katana, magically hidden away and shurken until now. Turning to see the Salamander wielding the sword, Satio gave Chack a blunt look of reluctant anger, replying calmly:
“You don’t want to do this, it won’t end well.”
“I faced down one of your friends at Tartarus, and others. Others more inclined to try to kill me than you seem to be. Don’t doubt my will.”
Looking at Chack, Satio kept his calm, though Chack noticed a nervous shiver building in Satio. He was no combatant by nature, nervous, easily stressed, which explained his gluttony to an extent. The Salamander threatening him couldn’t be any more different.
“I didn’t want to do this myself, much. I only wanted to help her, I, I made her a promise when she helped me become comfortable with who I am, and when I did the same when she changed, as I did.”
“Then talk. My goal and Starswirl’s only needs one of you, among seven, to work. One, that is all.”
“Starswirl? Of course, it had to be this whole thing. You aren’t going to even give whoever it is a chance, are you?”
“They’re innocent, exploited by Siral. Why are you doing this, what did any of them do to deserve execution?”
“They became too powerful to be left alive as a collective.” Chack replied calmly, sword still lowered, but ready.
“If you say that about all of us, why not try and take us all out?” Satio gestured to the sword with his forehand, the fur on his body visibly turning a shade of orange as he finally began to drop the façade.
“Truth be told, I feel that would be best, if you are all anything like I’ve already seen from the others. Teal Quirt, Odi-Viscer, Golmov, Gaudium, if I recall correctly. You are simply one of the easier targets.”
At this, Satio asked in a soft tone, the Minotaur sighing as he asked:
“I, I don’t know where those four are, nor another, Ave-Dol. But, the other here, Iena… I can’t tell you. I won’t. I promised to help her, and to remain undercover. I won’t break that promise.”
“Even if it involves killing two kitchen staff ponies, at the same time as a Noblepony’s wife, Pearlhoof’s, was drugged and lost her child, shortly after eating their food.”
“Iena asked me. She said, it would mean no new Alicorns to worry about until things were better secured. The staff took the fall, but they were bad ponies anyway.”
“That is why you are dangerous. Because she is, and you follow her like a lovesick cow.” Chack remarked, filling in the last gap he needed in judging Satio’s true character.
“I won’t let you kill her.”
“I already have somepony looking for her, turning her wiles against her, with magic to help him enough. She may already be cornered if he finds her fast enough.”
“You can’t! I won’t let you harm her!” Satio loudly exclaimed, advancing on Chack as he turned a brighter orange, some of his fur turning into a jelly-like skin as he stopped short of Chack, who pulled out his other green sword as a few distant onlookers saw the strange confrontation turning more violent on the docks.
“Tell me where the others are, even just a suspicion, and I’ll let you and your whore be left alone!” Chack hissed to Satio. The Minotaur paused, as he weighed his options, wracking his mind hard.
“I can’t…”
“So tell me why I shouldn’t have her killed by my friend or me to ensure one of seven dies, given how harmless you are?”
Satio was quiet, the Minotaur turning a full bodied orange now, though still Minotaur in shape:
“Because I am one of seven, and you can kill me. Just not her…please.”
The orange skinned, portly Minotaur dropped his stance, turning to face away from Chack, towards the harbour. Chack meanwhile, stared at Satio, as he looked down at his green, enchanted blade, among the two swords he wielded.
“You are dangerous because she is dangerous.”
An audible slash was heard as Chack’s green blade seemed to rip into the air itself, a rip in the air revealing a glistening green portal, and what looked like a bird’s eye view of Baltimare.
Right as he turned to try and seize Chack, he saw the Salamander give a satisfied grin as green magic sprung from his sword, enough to engulf Satio’s Minotaur shaped form, and hurl him through the portal.
“She’ll know of your offer when her time comes!”
The portal snapped shut, right as a few onlookers gazed on puzzled or fearful, Chack charging off into a nearby alley in a bid to make a set of elaborate moves to blend back into the public, hiding his weapons and reverting to his kitchen staff attire as he began to make his way towards the palace.
As Chack ventured through the city, he placed a hand on his enchanted sword, with a single calling spell.

1 minute later
Nokotaford, outskirts

Starswirl teleported yet again, knowing he had a lot of ground to cover very quickly, and he drank a stimulus potion for good measure.
The magical message Starswirl had Chack send whenever needed had all but shot him out of bed.
“I can end this nightmare before it begins…”
The Wizard made his way frantically to the East, having left without word or warning from inside his quarters that morning.

Meanwhile
Baltimare Harbour

The Natioanlist naval ship, a caravel class, hoisted the anchor in beginning to make preparations to set sail for the usual patrols of the harbour mouth. The crew of pegasi and earth ponies worked hard, the cool morning air refreshing to them.
But on high, an orange glowing figure seemed to be falling from high above, higher than any birds seemed to fly, as a green flash from up on high seemed to spit it out from the sky itself.
Looking out in the distance, the faintest scream could be heard as whatever it/he/she was, as its shape seemed to morph into a more bloblike form, before crashing into the sea waves like a massive boulder.
Shrugging at the odd sight, the sailors made the choice to begin their patrol by heading out to the landing area and sending down search spells from the crew’s one Unicorn, their captain.
But underwater, the orange creature that fell was recovering, already beginning to move along through the water, shifting and growing as it made its way unseen back towards Baltimare’s city docks.

Author's Notes:

Aubelles confronts Iena and her schemes, her methods, and she knows what buttons to press. Though him entirely falling for her methods is yet to be seen, despite her luring him to bed for the second time, the same morning he just woke up from her disguise giving herself to him.
Meanwhile, Chack takes the more direct approach with Satio, though makes short work of getting him out of the way at least. He’s not the bigger danger in intent, clearly. Satio is a willing slave to Iena, and Chack knows enough tactics to know which to go for.