“Torque wrench set to ninety Clover-meters.”

The golden stallion withdrew the prescribed tool from the box, twisting the bar a few times until the dial was lined up with the proper setting, before holding it out in the direction of the rose-tuffed tail attached to a brown-scaled posterior. He only wished that his heart was truly in admiring the finely-toned flank being dangled before him. Unfortunately, his mind was elsewhere.

“So how do you and your sister manage to do it?” He asked as the kirin mare’s magic gripped the torque wrench and drew it up inside the chest wall of the Rainbow Dash that she was currently working on. They’d be landing on Canis in less than twelve hours. It’d take a day or two for the parts that they needed to get the Rainbow Dash functional to arrive after that, but that didn’t mean that the pair of mechanics and their teams couldn’t get a head start by first stripping off everything that would need to be replaced and fixing what they could in order to expedite future installations. As a result, the two had spent nearly every minute since getting the go-ahead from Squelch buried in the internals of the ancient BattleSteed.

If there was one dark cloud hanging over their heads, it was that the budget didn’t quite allow for the kind of weapons systems that a ‘Steed like this truly deserved. They would have to make do, in the interim, with spares that they’d had in storage for his and Valkyrie’s ‘Steeds.

Until they came up with the finances for some heavier firepower, this ‘Steed’s bark was going to be a lot worse than its bite.

“Do what?” Came the mechanic’s muffled response.

“Unless you were just blowing smoke that night, the two of you are, like, the heiresses to House Kiso or something aren’t you? They’re supposed to be pretty big players in the Kirin Confederation, last I checked. You can’t tell me that your family is okay with you guys tagging along as wrench wenches in a small-time merc outfit.”

“Oh, Mom’s in an absolute snit about it,” Tig called out from where she and another tech were currently tearing out what was left of a particle projectile cannon from the mount in the ‘Steed’s oversized right canard. The gauss rifle in it’s left canard was theoretically repairable, but it would still need to be removed and effectively rebuilt from the ground up over the next few weeks. Not that the kirin didn’t absolutely relish the opportunity to do so.

“She’d have Squelch hunted to the end of the Sphere if she knew what company we were with,” Mig agreed.

“And she’d have you drawn and quartered for ‘tarnishing her precious flowers’,” the cyan kirin mare said with an annoyed expression as she made what was obviously a crude imitation of their mother’s voice.

The stallion perked up in surprise. “Wait, what.”

“Which is why we don’t tell her anything beyond that we’re both still alive...and especially that we’re happy,” Mig carried on, seeming to ignore Slipshod’s comment.

“The former to reassure her, and the latter to piss her off,” Tig added with a snigger before returning her full attention to her work.

“Incidentally, the latter is also why we let you take us to bed that one time, and why we made sure to send Mom the vid of it,” the rosie kirin floated the torque wrench back out and passed it to the earth pony. “Eight gauge blade connectors and crimpers.”

Slipshod passed the electrical tools to the mare’s waiting telekinetic field as he processed what she’d just told him. “Wait, you only slept with me to piss off your mother?” The stallion wasn’t sure how he felt about that revelation. It felt so...tawdry...somehow. Also, “...can I get a copy of that vid?”

“Oh?” Tig peaked back from over the canard, “and what will you give us?”

The stallion frowned, and waved his hoof at the ‘Steed, “I literally found this for you. You’re telling me that wasn’t worth anything?”

“He’s got us there,” Mig’s muffled voice called out from inside the torso. Followed shortly by an electrical crackle and a sharp, “ow!” A moment later, “I’m okay!” Slipshod reached out and delicately smoothed out the now frizzy tuft at the end of her tail, “...thank you, Slip.”

“Fine, we’ll send you a copy,” the cyan mare sighed, going back to work for only a second before she peeked back down at him. “Why are you suddenly so interested in our pedigree anyway?”

“It’s not that, so much,” the stallion said, “I was just curious how a pair of ponies that were sort of ‘famous’, in a way, managed to get about without being noticed by somepony that would be interested in finding you. I mean, I’m sure your mother has ponies―or kirin, rather―on retainer with orders to report back to her the moment they spot you somewhere, right?”

“Oh, without a doubt,” Mig agreed.

“Why do you think we never leave the ‘Steed Bay?”

“I assumed it was because you really liked working on ‘Steeds,” Slipshod offered sheepishly.

“While true,” Tig admitted from her perch, “it also means that nopony sees us who we don’t want to.”

“We aren’t exactly ‘night on the town’ mares anyway,” Mig reminded him. “Give us a ‘Steed that needs a little TLC and we’re happy as a New Nipone harpy with its talons full of fugu!”

The stallion quirked a brow and glanced up at the cyan sister. She nodded her head. “They are quite happy.”

“Right. So, the takeaway here is that: if you don’t want to be found, then just keep yourself out of sight.” He sighed. “Not quite the revelation I was hoping for, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Mig pulled herself out from the Rainbow Dash’s torso, floating the crimpers back to Slipshod before reaching up and smoothing out her still-frazzled mane. The rosie kirin glanced at the earth pony with a quizzical expression. “What’s going on? Did you just remember that you overstayed your welcome on Canis and have enemies looking out for you there too?”

“Cuckolds, more likely,” Tig snorted. “Whose relative did you bork this time that you shouldn’t have? The planetary governor?”

“It’s occurred to you that you could just...not bring home a mare every night, right?”

“This isn’t about me,” the stallion snapped a little more irritably than he’d meant to, earning a pair of sniggers from the kirin, “and who I ‘bork’ is none of your business.” He paused, thinking for a brief moment. “Unless you feel like making a sequel vid to antagonize your mother. I picked up a book on Ambrosia that has all sorts of ideas for things that’ll send her into outright apoplexy!” The scaled sisters exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. “But anyway,” he hurried on, “this is about...somepony else.”

“The alicorn?” both asked in unison.

He frowned. Perhaps he’d been a little too optimistic about his ability to obfuscate on a ship this small. If not himself, who else on board might not want to be recognized, after all?

“Look, it’s hardly going to matter any time soon. She won’t be awake for weeks yet. I’m just..trying to think ahead here.”

“She’s a Disciple, isn’t she?” Mig asked. Slipshod nodded. “So then what’s the point? I thought Squelch was going to hoof her over to the authorities the moment we landed?”

“Hard to go under the radar when you’re downrange of a firing squad,” Tig chimed in.

“Yeah...I’m going to talk with Squelch about that.”

The pair of kirin exchanged shocked expressions. When they looked back at Slipshod, Mig gawked. “You’re going to try to talk Squelch out of turning over a Disciple?”

“Screw the sex tape, I want to see a vid of that!” Tig said.

“It’ll never happen,” Mig agreed matter-of-factly.

“Because Squelch isn’t stupid enough to cross ComSpark.”

“Granted, I’d’ve assumed that you weren’t that stupid either,” Mig frowned at the stallion, joined by her twin. “So maybe we’re wrong and both of you are certifiable.”

The earth pony rubbed at the back of his head. He knew full well that this was just a preamble to the conversation that he’d be having with the emerald unicorn later. Her reaction wasn’t likely to be much different. It wasn’t like what they were saying weren’t legitimate concerns. ComSpark had very clear directives on the books about what anypony, anywhere, was supposed to do with captured Disciples of Discord. The last thing that any merc outfit wanted was to be branded as Disciple sympathizers by the Mercenary Review Board. None of them would ever work in the Harmony Sphere ever again, either as mercenaries or anything else for that matter.

Regardless, “that mare hasn’t been an active Disciple for over five hundred years,” he pointed out. “That’s got to put her outside the statute of limitations or something.”

The pair of mechanics exchanged glances, still very obviously unconvinced.

“Look, I’m just saying that she might not even have done anything wrong, okay? Can either of you tell me exactly what year that whole ‘kill all Disciples’ order was put out by Queen Twilight?” Both mares frowned again, but then reluctantly shook their heads. “So, for all we know, she went into stasis before anything she did was technically illegal!”

“Slip, we’re not the one you need to sell this to,” Mig pointed out.

“Which is lucky for you, because I don’t think I’d be buying,” Tig added.

“I know, I know,” the earth pony sighed heavily. It was going to be an uphill fight getting Squelch to see things his way, he knew that much.

“Just please tell us that you’re not trying to keep her alive just so you can bork her,” Mig glared at him.

“That’s not it at all,” he scowled.

“Uh huh.”

Slipshod took a deep breath and shook his head. He could hardly fault the pair for adhering to the reputation that he’d spent so long building for himself. “Look, she’s...she’s a good ‘Steed pilot, right?” He gestured to the mostly dismantled Rainbow Dash. “You’ve seen what this thing’s been through, but it’s somehow still salvageble. Even I couldn’t have pulled off something like that.

“Probably,” he added as an afterthought in an attempt to not downplay his own abilities so harshly.

“A good pilot with experience fighting in a heavy ‘Steed,” he amended, “that could be worth a lot to this outfit.”

“...As long as nopony finds out she’s a Disciple,” Mig finished for him, much to the stallion’s chagrin.

“As long as nopony finds out about that, yeah,” he frowned again.

“I’m sorry, Slip, but there’s no big secret to laying low,” Tig offered with a little shrug, “just think of whatever you would do when landing on a new world―”

“―and have her do the opposite,” Mig finished with a grin.

“Right. Thanks for your help,” he turned away from the pair and their team. “Have fun with your new toy.”

“And good luck trying to talk Squelch into holding on to that Disciple mare,” Mig called after him as he headed for the ‘Steed Bay’s exit.

“Seriously though: vid it for us!” Tig added.

Slipshod must have stood outside Squelch’s room for a good two minutes, rehearsing his pitch. The twins hadn’t been wrong: it was going to be a tough sell, and that was still putting it really mildly somehow. This would actually be the second time he psyched himself up for this. The first time had been at the entrance to the bridge, only for him to learn from a rather amused-looking Valkyrie, that the unicorn had retired to her quarters early for the evening.

At least he’d had extra time to practice what he was going to say. Not that it had done all that much to calm his nerves. Somepony’s life was riding on his ability to persuade a mare to do what he wanted. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal. He did that sort of thing all the time.

However, this time, the mare in question knew all of his tricks, and was completely inoculated against his bullshit. So, that didn’t help matters much.

The earth pony took a final, deep, preparatory breath, and touched the button to ring the door chime. The pause that followed felt like it drug on for the better part of an eternity. Then a mare’s voice finally responded through the speaker above the chime, “yes?”

“It’s me. Can we talk?”

Another neverending silence, eventually answered by the door sliding into the wall.

Slipshod’s eyes, out of habit, immediately locked onto the bed. That was where Squelch had usually been whenever he came back to their quarters during their time as a married couple. She very much enjoyed laying there, reading a book before finally going to sleep. The mattress was empty this time though. In fact, it didn’t even look like it had seen much use at all in some time.

The desk on the other hoof…

Squelch looked like she was surrounded by a tiny fortress built out of disposable paper coffee cups which the emerald unicorn seemed unwilling to dispose of for some reason. It might have been related to the fact that the waste bin beside the desk was already overflowing with the same cups. The stallion frowned. He’d lived with the mare for nearly a year. She wasn’t usually the messy type. That had always been his vice.

“Is everything alright?” In the back of his mind, he was slightly irritated that his whole train of thought had managed to be immediately derailed. He’d come down here to talk to Squelch about the unconscious mare in their clinic, but now that was the furthest thing from his mind. Three seconds in their old quarters, and he was already falling back into ‘married Slipshod’ mode. The stallion frowned internally at the realization. He was supposed to be better at that than this.

The unicorn mare sighed and waved vaguely around her cluttered desk. “Just my insomnia catching up with me again. I should be fine in a couple weeks.”

“You never had trouble sleeping whe―” the stallion slammed his mouth shut immediately as he realized what he was about to say. He was normally very good about not bringing up their past. It was something of an unspoken rule that the two of them tried very hard to enforce. “Er...I guess I forgot about your insomnia,” his eyes lingered on the legion of coffee cups, “...do you take anything for it?”

Squelch frowned at the earth pony for several long seconds, presumably deciding whether or not she was going to overlook his near-faux pas. Ultimately, she seemed to let it slide. This time, “sleep aides make me hazy. It only happens when I’m stressed anyway. Like I said, it’ll pass in a week.

“What do you want, Slip?”

He wanted to find out what was making her so stressed out these days, truth be told; but he had a fairly good idea how that conversation would all play out. Not that the conversation he’d come here to have with her was likely to ameliorate things either. As though he hadn’t been nervous enough already.

“I…” He took a deep breath to brace himself, “...want you to not turn over the Disciple mare,” he cringed slightly in anticipation of her predicted response.

The green unicorn stared at him with a flat, unblinking gaze for several long seconds, not saying a word. Her horn began to glow. One of the drawers on her desk took on a matching aura and slid open. A brown bottle floated out. The cap slowly unscrewed itself and the bottle was tipped into the paper cup closest to the mare. From the sound the liquid made, it hadn’t been entirely empty. The bottle was then set down on the desk, it’s opening left uncapped, as Squelch shifted her telekinesis to the cup instead.

All of this was done without saying a word, or shifting her gaze away from the stallion. Which did quite a bit to heighten his unease, if he was being honest.

Squelch spun her chair around so that she was facing the earth pony ‘Steed pilot and reclined back, folding her hind legs over each other as she made herself comfortable. She took a long sip of her coffee―which was honestly now mostly bourbon, Slipshod guessed. “Well, go on. Get to the punchline…”

The golden pony winced, “look, I kn―”

“Because I assume there’s a punchline coming,” the mare interrupted in an icy tone that was matched by her cold eyes. “There had better be one coming, because I know this is a joke.

“For your sake, there’d better be one tartarus of a twist in it too, because it’s not sounding particularly funny right now.”

Slipshod swallowed. “I know th―”

“No,” she cut him off again with her curt denial, “no, I don’t think you do ‘know’. Which is weird, because you used to help me run this operation. What, did you leave your sense running down the inside of some mare’s thigh along with your jizz? Did you fuck your own brains out?” She let out a derisive scoff, taking another sip of her bourbon-coffee. “Wouldn’t surprise me, honestly.”

The stallion closed his eyes, deflating visibly beneath Squelch’s cutting remarks. “This has nothing to do with us. It’s―”

“Oh, it has everything to do with ‘us’!” The unicorn snapped abruptly. Up to this point, her tone could have been generously described as: ‘cutting’. Now she sounded properly outraged. “As in: the kind of future that awaits ‘us’ if ComSpark ever finds out that we gave aid and comfort to a Disciple!”

“We’ve already treated her injuries,” Slipshod pointed out, trying to take back control of the conversation, but his employer wasn’t having it.

“What happens in that clinic is Doc Dee’s business. I have an actual contract to that effect, in fact. Legally, I can’t actually stop him from tending to anypony that makes it through those doors. Not without paying some hefty fines. I’m insulated on that front. Dee’s the one who’ll have to answer to ComSpark for that on his own.

“Though he can just say that he wanted to make sure she survived long enough to be interrogated and they’ll probably pay him a fucking bonus for it,” she added with a wan smirk that lasted for only a second before melting away the instant she shifted her attention back to the stallion.

“What I can’t explain is why I failed to inform the local system government about having a Disciple in my custody. Part of the agreement between myself and ComSpark is that all Disciple activity is reported to the nearest local authority as soon as possible.” She paused for a moment as she took a third sip. When she was done, the bottle floated back over and refilled the cup. “Actually, the letter of the agreement is: ‘as soon as practical’.

“Pretty sure that’s some sort of legalese to keep assholes from skirting the letter of the law in order to look the other way on Disciple activities. After all, it’s ‘possible’ to report terrorist activity by making a radio transmission right then and there at the point of contact. But, depending on which system you’re in, it could take decades to actually reach anypony who’s responsible for doing anything with the information,” she shrugged, “regardless: I am bound by honor and the law to let the authorities on Canis know we found a Disciple at the earliest ‘practical’ opportunity.”

Her cold eyes locked on Slipshod once more. “If I don’t,” she said through gritted teeth, “then the Steel Coursers get blacklisted by the MRB and ComSpark puts out a bounty on us.”

The stallion felt himself deflate. “So you’ve already commed about her?”

The unicorn was silent for several seconds, her magic swirling her cup, “...I have not.” Slipshod raised a surprised brow. “The techs have the comm array down for maintenance. I want to be sure that it’s in perfect working order when we need to speak with the Canis Landing Authority. Getting stuck in orbit because of a bad comm system wouldn’t help anypony.

“In fact, it would even delay our ability to turn over our prisoner.”

Slipshod narrowed his gaze at the mare, not entirely convinced by her explanation. “Are you...having second thoughts? About turning her in?”

“No,” came her easy reply, “I fully intend to turn the mare over to ComSpark. However,” she added with a deep inhalation, “I first want some idea of how exactly she fits into their organization―or, rather, how she used to fit into their organization.

“Whether she’s a real alicorn or not, she was important to them,” Squelch pointed out, “and being important to the Disciples means that she could be valuable to ComSpark. Valuable enough that she might be worth more than the standing bounty being offered.”

The earth pony’s eyes were wide now. “You’re planning on negotiating a higher bounty from ComSpark?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” the mare sneered, “there’s no ‘negotiating’ with ComSpark. However,” she then amended, “there is such a thing as taking what could be a one-time bounty and turning it into a many-times bounty.” She saw the stallion’s confused expression and allowed herself the first expression approaching a smile that she’d worn since he stepped into her room. “If she really was some sort of big-shot with the Disciples way back when, there’s a chance that she knows things: cache locations, bases they might still be using today, the exit coordinates for whatever JumpShips that the Disciples must be using in order to conduct their raids.

“All of the information that ComSpark will want to wring out of her, I’m hoping that we can get her to give up, and then sell that to ComSpark piecemeal, finding ways to explain away how we got so ‘lucky’ as to learn about it.

“She tells us about a cache, I find us a contract on that world to do some random job, and then we just happen to stumble across the Disciple cache and turn it into ComSpark for the bounty,” her smile broadened slightly into a predatory smirk. “That mare could become our Golden Cockatrice.”

Comprehension spread across the earth pony’s face now, though there was one possible hangup that he saw. “And you think she’s just going to give up that kind of intel because we ask her to?”

“If she doesn’t, oh well,” the unicorn shrugged, “we’ll just turn her in like we were supposed to. That’s her decision to make.

“She can tell us voluntarily, or she can tell the ComSpark interrogators while they’re teasing her intestines out through her belly button an inch at a time. It’s no fur off my fetlocks.”

Slipshod shuddered briefly at the image that was conjured in his mind. It honestly probably wasn’t all that far off from what the Queen’s Royal Inquisitors would do with the mare they had in Dee’s clinic. One way or another, the Queen’s captives told her exactly what she wanted to know. That much he knew for a fact, at least.

“So,” Squelch began again, finally setting down her cup of bourbon, “as for your ‘request’ that I not turn our mystery mare over to the Canis authorities...it’s not necessary.” Her tone had softened somewhat from what it had been earlier, but her demeanor remained considerably on the ‘cool’ side. “Lucky for her, our financial situation is such that I am encouraged to seek...creative C-bit-earning opportunities,” she waved a hoof at her desk, and the pile of pads which all displayed various accounting spreadsheets. The stallion couldn’t make out any specificas, but he did note the abundance of red numbers they contained.

“I didn’t realize that things were that bad,” he admitted.

The unicorn sighed, her posture deflating more noticeably. “It’s not ‘bad’ so much as...tenuous,” she corrected. “We’re not spec’d to maintain a heavy ‘Steed. Not on short notice like this. Repairs, weapons, servicing...that Rainbow Dash is going to need a lot of expensive care and parts compared to your’s and Val’s ‘Steeds. Most commander’s in my position would have just sold it.

“However, I take a longer view of things, and I’m wagering that ‘Steed will be able to recoup its costs, and then some, given enough time,” she paused for another moment, considering, “and assuming that we find a pilot for it.”

Slipshod hesitated a moment, then ventured, “aside from the one in the Med Bay?” Squelch didn’t respond immediately, which was honestly a pretty good sign, all things considered. It wasn’t an outright denial, at least. She was frowning though. “Nopony in the galaxy knows that she’s a Disciple, aside from us.” Still no response. “She’s a damn good pilot, Squelch. For her ‘Steed to take the kind of hits it did, and still make it out of the fight in one piece?

“You’re not going to find a pilot like that who’s willing to work for whatever you could afford to pay them.”

The mare’s frown deepened briefly into an outright scowl that made the earth pony wince, but it faded quickly as she was forced to acknowledge the accuracy of his statement. Though she certainly didn’t do so out loud. “...If ComSpark ever found out…”

“Who’d tell ‘em? She’s certainly not likely to go around advertising it!”

Squelch began to shake her head slowly. “If one of the crew―”

“The crew that you hired, and that you pay?” He emphasized. “These ponies respect you a lot more than they respect ComSpark. I promise you that.” He smiled at the mare. “Nopony knows the mares and stallions on this ship better than I do, and I know that not a one of them would go against you.”

There was the briefest of glares at his mention of knowing the mares, but it waned quickly in the face of her appreciation of the compliment. Another small smile tugged at the emerald unicorn’s lips. “Thanks for that. I’ll...think about it.”

Slipshod smiled. “Thanks a lo―”

“Ah ah ah!” She waggled a hoof at him. “That wasn’t one of my old ‘I’ll think about it’ yeses,” she insisted with a hard look at the stallion. “That was a real ‘I’ll think about it’! I might still say ‘no’. I mean it!”

The earth pony quashed his smile and made himself look properly cowed, though it certainly took quite a bit of effort to do so. She could obfuscate all she wanted, but he knew that she’d already decided to go along with his suggestion. He still played along though. “I understand. Whatever you choose to do though, I know it’ll be the right decision.”

Knowing that his work was done here, the stallion turned to leave, but paused as he caught sight of the unused bed. He looked back at the unicorn mare. “I’ve got some chamomile tea in my quarters. The real stuff. I can have Cookie bring you a cup?”

Squelch started to shake her head, but paused as she regarded the earth pony. With a resigned sigh, she silently nodded her head in the affirmative. Slipshod left without a word, saving his smile for when he was out of sight.

After dropping off a couple bags of tea at the galley with instructions for them to be steeped for two minutes and served with a slice of lemon on the side―Squelch didn’t actually add the lemon to the drink, she preferred to suck on it after finishing the cup―Slipshod returned to his quarters. The next thing he did was review his rota to figure out who he was supposed to meet that evening and send them a message on the ship’s internal system that he was going to have to cancel. He cited a meeting with Squelch―which was technically true―and promised to make it up to them next time.

The truth was though that his mind was simply too occupied with the mare that they’d found for him to be properly relaxed with anypony right now. He’d arguably crossed one of the bigger hurdles in his path―keeping her out of ComSpark’s reach for the time being―but that was hardly the end of his troubles.

After all, getting Squelch to keep the alicorn aboard only served to beg the question: now what? He was making this all up as he went, and improvising wasn’t his strong suit. That was a revelation that would probably have shocked most who knew him to their core. After all, he was Slipshod; the stallion with the magic tongue who somehow seemed to know exactly what to say in order to make any stranger he’d just met into that evening’s adoring lover.

However, that was essentially the limitation of his ability: he was able to almost immediately work out how to succeed with strangers. What he was about to walk into now was a very unfamiliar realm. Honestly, what was brewing in him now wasn’t something that he’d have thought he was even capable of: revenge.

Perhaps that notion wouldn’t have surprised too many ponies, honestly; that he was interested in righting a personal injustice. That was a thing that most ponies would do, after all. His past even made for the picture perfect motivation for such a thing: his immediate family had been killed while he’d been away at the ‘Steed academy on Equus. Murdered on the orders of Archon Dominus Blueblood of the Pony Commonwealth. He was sure that the expected cliche would have been for him to go out, rally together a band of similarly antagonized allies that would relish the chance to have a hoof in putting a gun to Dominus’ temple, and overthrow the Archon.

However, the reality was that Slipshod could actually care less about his former family members. It had been their own faults that they’d been arrested and executed. What exactly did they expect was going to happen when they were caught conspiring with Dominus' neice, Victoria, in an effort to install her as the Commonwealth's new Archon? Death was the usual outcome when a pony was caught committing treason. As far as the earth pony was concerned, those family members of his were justly punished for breaking the law. He didn’t hold a grudge against Dominus in the slightest.

Besides, if he could have gotten his hooves on the money, soldiers, and BattleSteeds that it would take to unseat the Archon, he’d be better off just setting himself up as the ruler of his own little star cluster out on the Periphery and not have to worry about all of the Harmony Sphere’s petty politics.

So, no, it wasn’t Blueblood he wanted to antagonize.

Though, some grudges did need to be kept up for appearance’s sake. Hence his little trist with Regina Blueblood, who he’d known full well was the Archon’s wife, despite his claims otherwise. An absolute ghoul of a mare, if he was being honest. Part of him actually pitied Dominus for marrying that viper. No wonder they didn’t have any foals. Whatever political advantages that union had earned the Archon, Slipshod sure hoped they’d been worth it. That was about as far as he was going to take things where ‘revenge’ went in that regard though.

He’d long since written off being able to do anything that would stick in the craw of the true target of his animosity. He’d considered that possibility right out from day one. There were few creatures in the Harmony Sphere’s political landscape that could be described as being genuinely ‘untouchable’, but she was certainly one of them. So it was that the golden earth pony had resigned himself to always possessing a particular itch that would remain forever unscratched.

And yet...here was a chance to actually do something about that irritation! He wasn’t sure exactly what that something was, but that mare in the clinic had to be useful somehow!

Until he managed to figure that out though, he had to do what he could to keep her safe, as well as a secret from the rest of the galaxy. If he could do that long enough, and manage to come up with a plan…

A smile began to worm its way across his lips as he lay back in his bed.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he, of all the creatures in the galaxy, would be fortunate to stumble across Princess Twilight Sparkle! It was nothing short of a gift, honestly; beautifully wrapped and topped with a glistening bow.

Slipshod flashed a vicious grin into the darkness of his quarters.

And he knew just who to give it to...

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