"Is this operating?" The crowned canine frowned at the camera. A new device. The humans had brought so many new devices.

"I can see you," replied President Rason, his own face displayed on another screen. He was a bit hazy, the angle poor between the one satellite they had, but it was all they had. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes! Yes, I did." He brought down his royal staff with a bang. "Your soldiers spilled blood in my country! How can we see this as anything but a naked attack? You killed people, and even took prisoners."

John leaned forward towards his own camera. "Your people held allies of ours, Sequestrians, hostage for over a year. You should have better policed your country."

He barked, literally devolving into a moment of senseless barks at the camera. "You have ignored our sovereignty! You will return the prisoners, now!"

"The prisoners have already been turned over to the Seaquestrians to face punishment for their crimes against them. You're asking the wrong person." He pointed at the camera and through it, at the dog. "You seem quite unbothered by such crimes taking place under your watch."

"I am very bothered right now." He grabbed the camera as if he was somehow grabbing Rason through it. "You will not get away with this!" He threw the thing at the ground, terminating the feed from himself.

"Have a good day." John Rason more calmly ended his side of the call.

Flash woke up with a perked ear. Someone was knocking on his door. He stumbled from bed, sleepily calling, "be right there." He half-tripped down the stairs and got a wing on the handle, pulling it open to reveal a human, a specific human. He was suddenly very awake. "Ah! You? I mean..."

It was the human soldier he had watched over. The same that had escaped explosively. "Hey... I'm not here to fight, promise."

"Oh, you learned Ponish." Flash perked an ear. "But I think you always... maybe knew it?"

The soldier frowned faintly. "You're speaking English."

"Ponish. Does it matter? Uh... so... what's up?" He ran one hoof up and down the other foreleg, examining the human. He was dressed in the pony clothes they had given him so long ago. "I figured you'd be back to your guard clothes."

"I'm not on duty... Can I come in?" When a nod was given, he stepped inside carefully and closed the door. "Look, wars are weird, and I was doing my job, but I heard you... You never did me wrong, but I had to run. I'm glad you're alright."

"I'm alright," he echoed, glancing back at where a chunk of metal had skewered him. "Barely feel it anymore... So... uh, you didn't plan that?"

"No." He sat down on the chair he could find, even if it was lower and wider than normal. "I specialize in making things explode and not exploding at me. Everyone else I usually tell to get away. That wasn't... much of an option right then, and, sorry, again. I know that isn't much."

"No, no, I mean... hay, thanks for comin' all this way just to apologize." He smiled a little as he walked over towards the soldier. "I see you made it safely. That's good, we were worried you'd be caught out in the snow and get hurt."

The soldier looked baffled a moment. "I had just finished breaking out of your jail and hurt you, and you were still worried about me?"

Flash shrugged lightly. "I thought we were getting along pretty good... Wars are stupid, why let that get between people?" He offered a hoof up towards the soldier. "I'm Flash Sentry, which you know by now. What's your name?"

He took that hoof in his fingers, shaking it rather than bumping it. A thing humans did sometimes. "Nice to meet you, Flash. I'm Don."

The tension was ebbing away. Flash went to get some drinks, so they could talk over things over some cold beers.

Novo had a spear in her mouth. She did not normally wield such weapons, but it felt quite right to brandish it at the prisoners that floated limply in the water, bubbles over their heads to keep them breathing. "You have dared to hold my subjects against their will!"

"I'm sorry!" squealed one of them, a trembling fox. "I was just following orders."

Suddenly his neck was caught between two tines of Novo's spear. "Tell me whose orders and we may find some shred of mercy for you."

"It was an Abyssinian," stammered out the fox, trembling fitfully, his eyes darting between the two sharp points that were on either side of his precious throat. "Please don't kill me!"

Novo drew the two-pronged spear back with an angry snort of bubbles. "We see... And does this cat have a name?"

"She spoke with money, and ideas..." He tapped his claws together, though his paws were secured behind his back. "I can give you my name?"

"Get a full description out of him." She turned with a swish towards her guards. "Throw him up onto the beach when you've gotten that."

"Thank you!" he called even as he was carted away. "I'm sorry!"

Novo regarded the other prisoners; all larger and less cowardly in appearance. "He took the easy way out. Anycreature else wish to buy their freedom?" She twirled the spear slowly with only her mouth holding it, showing some skill with it. "No?" Her eyes moved from one to the next, but they were being stoically quiet. "Last chance..."

"Bring her in," barked Novo, spitting out the spear and grabbing it with the crook of a foreleg.

The seapony that had escaped and had been petitioning for the release of her friends swam in angrily, bubbles agitated from the air with her manic fin flaps. Without a word she grabbed the spear right from Novo in her own mouth and wheeled on the prisoners. "I can start?"

"You see... This is a friend of the others, the ones you hurt. She has seen the lost look in their eyes, and she is not pleased... Mmmm, that is underselling it. I am not pleased. Her fury is only in check by my presence. With barely the flick of a hoof, if I give even a hint that I would not punish her, she would stain the waters a distasteful red in her fury."

"I can start?" asked the sea mare, growling with peeled back lips.

The humans had been brutally efficient, but also mercifully swift. Those they killed were living one moment, and meat the next. The livid seapony promised no such comfort. Trembling with fury, any death at her hooves and spear promised to be an agonizing one.

One bear grunted softly before words emerged, "I know where to meet them, to get new orders."

"Take him away." Novo pointed and guards swam in to escort the bear away, leaving only three more to potentially meet an undesirable end. "What does that cat pay you, to make you think this is worth it? Just help us find her, and you can avoid so much... discomfort..."

The half-crazed mare looked between the prisoners. "Where's the fox? I wanted to get my spear into him..."

Novo set a hoof gently on her subject's shoulder. "He has given information."

With an angry hiss, the sea mare turned to her queen, only to realize she was pointing a spear at Novo. "Eep!" She suddenly dropped the spear, letting it drift to the floor. "That bastard was there! He was there when they first caught us!"

Novo's features hardened into a scowl. "Is that so...? It would seem we have more questions for him... Take them all away, we will resume this later."

"In other news, President Rason has come out swinging, signing a major economic stimulus package into law while vetoing a bill that would have declared space occupied by struggling Alaskans to not be a state." The anchorwoman tapped the edge of her papers against her desk. "Alaskans are reporting support, claiming they'd sooner drop off some of their eastern territories than give up their newly acquired western reaches."

A new window appeared, showing an Alaskan representative. "Our people are working, together. These are Alaskans working to make Alaska. We are a maritime state and telling us we can't have the ocean? That isn't going to fly. Thank you, President Rason, for pulling the brakes on this legislature."

"In other news, up and coming mobile app is gaining traction. 'Fur and Flesh' is taking app stores by storm. With us, a social psychologist."

"Good to be here." The window popped into being, showing a man in glasses. "It's easy to see what's happening. Our culture is rife with taboos and limitations. Our neighbors have relatively few, but also assume kindness more often than not. A date with a native can advance to physical intimacy easily. Where two humans have erected many walls between themselves."

"Fascinating." She hiked a brow. "What about critics that say this is just a scam to get foreigners into the US with easy green cards?"

"I'd say they never actually spoke to one of them before. Their work ethic is as strong as our social taboos. Without gainful employment, even the ones they would call 'lazy' become depressed and miserable."

"I've met some people like that." They shared a laugh.

Spring Zephyr, Stream's husband, brought a hand away with a smile, admiring his picture. "Perfect." He hit the save button, having been working on a tablet, not a traditional medium, but he had learned, just as Stream had learned. "Hey, picture's up!" he called out.

"Checking it out," came a male reply. "Oh nice!" A moment later the CEO was at his door. "That'll be what I give to the media team. Thanks for the quick turnaround."

"Always a pleasure." Spring dipped his head and spread his ear tufts. "It's been... exciting, yes, exciting working here. You have such fascinating things that need drawing." He waggled his stylus at his boss. "What's next?"

"A theoretical." The CEO closed the distance across the room. "Something we believe is there but haven't gotten secure proof of yet."

"I'm on it."

"You are not going out like that." sternly commanded the cross-armed mother, glaring at her daughter that wore way too little.

"Ugh, mom. He likes it." She rolled her eyes dramatically, clearly seeing nothing wrong.

"He likes it too much!" She suddenly snatched her daughter's phone. "You'll get this back when you're dressed decently. I don't care how much your fuzzy friend likes you half naked."

"Mom!"

Chrysalis was grinning. "How perfect..." Her agent was already winning popular support. She watched the news with a smirk. The humans were as starved for love as she had predicted... Feeding herself and her brood would be a simple matter so long as they had humans to feed from. "And they make so many of themselves..."

It was an unending food source. Even gorging herself on them, she couldn't envision snapping them all up before yet more replaced them. She reached a hoof for a phone but hesitated. Calling him was basically impossible. Any communication, any, to the president was monitored. They'd know who called him, where they were, and what was said. They'd know everything. If she called him, she would be announcing to the world everything she said, as if she were shouting from the highest rooftop.

"Damn them." For all their good parts, humans paid far too much attention at times. She would have to have some measure of... faith... in her agent; for approaching him would be tantamount to suicide.

"He'd better be preparing that reveal..." She had plans, wonderful plans... Her minions had secured some of the humans' weapons. It was only a matter of revealing it to the right people in the right way. It only needed a good and proper demonstration...

That day would be perfect.

Author's Notes:

We jumped around a lot today. Allow me to ask, is there a bit you want focused on? I know my loyal patron would like me to get to the action, so his vote is already cast, but what of the rest of you? Curious, lemme know!

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