Mother shows Best

by Skyeheart

Act 6: Hassle in the Castle

Twilight and her father stepped out into the orange red glow of the twilight hour. The young mare's saddlebags were filled to the brim with notes, historical documents, and law books.

"Ready, dad?"

Night Light smiled at his eager daughter. He knew it wasn't the right thing to go for in this situation, but he could not help but think how adorable his little filly looked with that scrunched pout of determination plastered on her face. "As I'll ever be. You're planning to do all the talking anyway it seems, so I doubt I really need much preparation."

"Not at all!" she said to the contrary. "Every advocate needs an associate to make sure there are no holes in their iron-clad arguments, feed legal precedents, and provide a confidant to even out the resolve of the opposing parties. It's essential fact number 86 in the 101 must knows for combating courtroom drama."

Her father turned away for a brief second to hide the smirk on his face. "Okay then, punkin. Let's get you on over to the castle before your mane bursts from enthusiasm."

"I just can't help it," Twilight said as the father-daughter pair began to canter up the road to the overlying palace visible in the distance. "I've gone over every argument I can think of, every argument she'll think of, reviewed every underlying factoid and neighboring topics. even made a list of potential allies I can use to help force my issues. There is no way Moonlight is going to have the upper hoof tonight."

"There is no way mother is going to lose tonight," Checker gloated to herself and her complacent sister in the grand foyer. "Not as long as she has your word to back hers up. Luna's going back to full power under her say so, and with it, ourselves. Makes you quiver with anticipation, does it not?"

"Yes..." her elder sister catatonically replied.

Moonlight soon descended the stairs, her evening gown attire matching the darkening sky outside. "Beatrix, it is time."

Silently following her mother's lead, Beatrix marched alongside her to the doors.

"Oh, mother?"

Moonlight stopped halfway out the mansion and turned her head to acknowledge her other daughter. "Checkmate. You have something to say?"

"This is to be our family's crowning achievement, is it not? Would it not make sense for all the members to be present for our lunar princess' re-ascension?"

Moonlight arched an eyebrow ever so slightly, as if her perfect daughter had said something completely out of character. Returning to her stoic state of mind, she replied in kind. "My daughter, you know the arrangement of the stable's caste as well as I do. Only the eldest stallion and mare of each line's generation are allowed to represent the family as a whole in the presence of the noble court, whereas protection of their integrity, proprietary, and honor fall to their youngers."

"Yes, but surely the magnitude of this occasion-"

"There will be other opportunities to revel in the glory of our princess, do not be concerned over that. Until then, keep to your duties as chevalier of our clan as you exceptionally always have." Moonlight spared a glance up at the family crest imprinted over the archway. "Remember, a dynasty is strongest when all members fulfill their designated roles, each important as parts of a whole. It is why the Lulamoon bloodline has remained standing for so long whilst other esteemed lineages have formed and dissolved to the passages of time."

Checker opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She then repeated the motion a second time, and finally pronounced, "Of course, mother. Good fortune to you and Beatrix this evening." She nodded down with a sincere smile. "I understand what needs to be done of me."

Satisfied with her response, Moonlight returned her focus on her eldest charge, and ushered her to follow again with a wordless command.

As the door shut with finality, leaving Checker alone in the grand foyer, witness only to herself, the smile quickly curdled into a glowering sneer.

"I definitely understand what needs to be done..."

Upon the drawbridge that lead into the inner keep of the palace, Twilight and her father joined the single file line of aristocrats being announced and escorted inside, some accompanied by spouse or brood. All held their heads high as they passed the archway up the white castle steps.

"Not a friendly face to be found..." Twilight said to herself, briefly remembering her isolated youth in the castle. Silent servants, impassive guards, pretentious highborns...was it any wonder the royal library and its books were the warmest source of comfort back then?

"Really? How about those two?" Night Light ventured.

Twilight looked, and sure enough, apart from the line, near the end of the overpass stood two two earth ponies who waved to her as she grew steadily closer.

"Octavia! Auntie!" Twilight sprang from her position in line while her father held her place. "What are you doing here?"

"Well you certainly didn't think we were going to simply sit around doing nothing and not offer our support, did you?" Sherbet wittily retorted.

Octavia smiled back too. "We ourselves may not be allowed audience in tonight's assembly, but you of all ponies should know the rest of the castle is open to the public at all times."

"It certainly is an exotic cup of tea to see the palace up close at this hour," Sherbet admitted. "Especially when seeing one of them up close for the first time."

Twilight took notice from where Sherbet was directing her attention and found what she was referring to, the pair of guards that stood over the entrance. Unlike the usual white-coated and gold-plated pegasi she had seen almost all the time at the gates and on the lookouts, these two bore a sleeker uniform of black and indigo-violet.

But what truly set these gatekeepers out were their yellow cat eyes, slightly elongated and tufted ears, and their leathery wings.

Twilight was stuck in awe for a moment. "Ahhh...real live thestrals!"
She had known about their existence for years of course, she had read about them. But never had she seen an actual one up close and in pony, not even here in the castle. According to her books, these bat-like ponies were supposed to be the most reclusive of the pegasi. Most of their kind had supposedly migrated outside of Equestria centuries ago, and those that had remained kept to small isolated communities that rarely had contact with anypony else save for the occasional trader.

Come to think of it, according to her research, the so called 'great exodus' of this group was predicted to have been about-
One thousand years ago...

Twilight then remembered the kirin re-emergence that happened in the city some time ago. And all at once it made sense to as why she would suddenly see this particular species of pony that preferred to hide in the night.
Because the night isn't for hiding behind anymore. Princess Luna's return has prompted them to come back out in the open too.

The longer she studied their features, the more her inner scholar was fascinated. These were ponies born for the night, ponies born for Luna. This was the true night guard.

A dismissive sniff caught her attention, and she glanced to the side of the guard to see a grey and pale olive unicorn pair eye their sentries warily with disdain, then whisper among each other as if nopony else could hear them after they passed.

"Did you get a good look at that stallion's teeth? I'm positive those were fangs!"
"And the way they've been flaunting about these past few weeks. It's like they suddenly think they own the city when the sun goes down."
"I remember a time when we could get a proper sleep without being awoken in the dead of night to such rowdy and unruly antics coming from those taverns and clubs and, whatever lowbrow establishments the more common folk enjoy, which are seemingly open 24-7 now."
"What is our princess thinking? Suddenly entrusting almost half of our entire order and security to these...batpony barbarians?"

Twilight felt her nose wrinkle. Not that she wasn't surprised some of these high society ponies didn't see the new and slightly scarier looking night guard for what they really represented. Heck, some ponies here looked down on others simply because they weren't even born in Canterlot.

It did, however, give Twilight a better understanding to the gravity of this emergency conference. Whatever reflected upon Luna tonight would ultimately reflect upon the thestrals, the kirin, and any other nocturnal denizen that was popping up more frequently under the moon princess' grace. She made a mental note that once she had secured Trixie's freedom from her stable, she'd dedicate the rest of the meeting to assuring the fair treatment of Equestria's newest nighttime demographic.

Taking her place back in line with her father, who was now only three ponies away from the front of the queue, Twilight cleared a gap in the line large enough for her two friends to be escorted in by her. "So, have you seen Trixie in this line yet?"

Octavia shook her head. "It's likely Moonlight had arrived and taken her inside before we even got here. The first to act are the first with passion, as they say."

"Oh, so did Daring and Blossomforth go ahead in too?"

Sherbet regarded Twilight's question with a peculiar tap on the chin. "Oddest thing, when we left the house, Daring actually took Blossomforth in another direction, telling us this was an opportune time to do some digging up."

"Digging?" Twilight tried to think back. There were no recent excavation sites or discoveries anywhere near Canterlot, none that she had heard about anyways. "Where could she possibly be digging?"

"Lulamoon Manor..." Blossomforth looked up at the imposing behemoth of a mansion that seemed to bolt out the starlit sky. "It looks even creepier at night. So why are we here again, Daring?"

Honey, instead of sporting her usual pith helm, now wore a detective's deerstalker cap, motioned for Blossomforth to follow her over the locked gate. "It's elementary, my dear Blossom. We're looking for clues."

The pegasi pair rounded the second story until they found an unlatched window before her assistant spoke up again. "Clues for what?"

"Remember what Twilight told us about her conversation with Checker? And how that mare knew so much about us? There's something about it all that makes me think either she knows more about this situation than she lets on or, there's something about this situation she's hiding from us." Sliding the pane open as quietly as possible, she swooped into the hallway. "And I wouldn't be much of a friend to Trixie if I didn't find out the truth!"

"Okay! I'm with you!" Blossomforth pulled herself in with enthusiasm. She stood there for a few seconds before making a cursory look from one end to the next. "So, where do we look?"

"Checker's room might be a good start."
"And where would that be?"
"Three doors down and to the left of the next corridor."

"AHH!" Honey and Blossomforth jumped into each other's hooves before the steely gray visage of Silver Platter.

"Will you stop DOING that?!" Honey exclaimed. And then there was an unsettling pause as the two trespassers' heart rates regulated. It was one of those rare circumstances in which Blossomforth was actually the first to draw the conclusion.

"Uh oh, busted."

The butler stood squarely in front of them, the dim moonlight casting a shadow over his stature. "As servant of Lulamoon stable, it is my sworn duty to protect all it members from anyone who seeks to harm or do wrong by them with every inch of my life."

Honey could feel a bead of nervous sweat form on the back of her neck. Fighting their way through the family butler certainly hadn't been on the itinerary for tonight. Could they even take him? Granted, she was an ace adventurer who tackled more traps in her life than there were days in a year, and Silver Platter did look old, no doubt. But she had met a lot of elderly in her historical treks, and she could tell this was the kind of buck-fu master old she was dealing with, much stronger and faster than at glance, and definitely not the kind you could out experience in a brawl. Plus, two-on-one, Blossomforth would likely be more of a liability than a help.

"Well...uh..."

They stiffened as he took a solidary step forward. "That said, it is also my first and foremost task to act to my mistress' most well being at hoof, even if they do not follow it themselves."

Blossomforth and Daring blinked as he walked past them. "Huh?" They turned around to him, and gave a glancing look back.

"I have served the stable since the days of the late Helena Lulamoon, and if there is something she has taught me, it is that true servitude requires more than obedience. It requires discipline, integrity, and devotion. If my mistress needs help but does not want it, it is my duty to refuse her command, not obey. If she does wrong it is my role to correct, not comply. If there is a way to guide her to becoming a better mare, conventional or otherwise, I do not impede it...I welcome it."

"Waaaaait a minute..." Honey started. "Are you saying you know-?"

"Whatever it is you hope to find, I wish you the best for all our sakes." He then disappeared from sight into the darkened corridors with the parting words, "It has been so long since I've heard actual laughter within these walls."

As Tangerine watched the last glow of maroon disappear over the horizon, she leapt from her place on the bedside windowsill to the huddled group around the rug. "Okay Crusaders, it is time. Is everyone ready?"

Featherweight held up his camera. "Polished the lens, changed the bulb, and reloaded the film!"

Firecracker stuffed one last smoke bomb into her already bulging sacks. "I've got rope, shovels, covers, night goggles, and all the sparklers I can carry!"

Babs fitted an oversized hoofball helmet over her noggin. "I'm suited up cuz, let's roll 'em out!"

The four high hoofed in excitement.
"To the castle!"
"To save Trixie!"
"Cutie Mark Crusader Castle Crashers are a go!"

The fillies and colt then sprinted for the door.
"Not so fast!"
Only to ground their hooves to a skidding halt when a little purple dragon jumped in front and barred the way.

"We all had a feeling you might try something like this. So I've been left in charge of you four! You're staying put here, and that's that."

Firecracker took point, her eyes blazing with idol worship. "There is no way, no how, we're going to be sitting here knowing the Great and Powerful Trixie is up there being pushed around willy-nilly!"

Spike backed against the doorway, slamming it shut and blocking it with arms outstretched. "Nopony's gonna get past this dragon!"

Babs cracked a mischievous smile, ushering the other three to surround their opponent on all sides. "Is that a challenge?"

"Just try it! I've handled the girls when they got foalified, and they did far worst than anything you four could think of!"

"Oh yeah?" Babs plucked a feather from Featherweight's wings. "Did they think of this?"

"You wouldn't dare..." Spike warned.

But she did. Spike dug his claws deep into the frame to avoid losing his footing as the peals of laughter erupted from his mouth from the filly's tickle torture. The struggle didn't last long as Featherweight introduced another game changer into the mix.

*click* *FLASH*

"AHH! MY EYES!"

Spike fell backward, his arms now crossed in a makeshift face guard. His backside barely had time to touch the floor when Firecracker pulled the rope from her bags and jumped on top of him.

"Get him!"

The other three jumped into the fray without hesitation. And though the cloud of dust that soon kicked up obscured the view, the cacophony alone could tell you which side was winning, and how one-sided it was.

"Ack! No! Ow! Leggo! Stop! That doesn't bend that way! HEEEEEEELP!! MRS. TWILIIIIIIGHT!!!"

Twilight looked from the second row, fifth seat on the left, around huge circular ring of court benches that encompassed the royal courtroom. It was actually the very fist time in her life she had been in this part of the castle. Despite its imposing size, the room seemed quite plain. Aside from any personal belongings the various nobles brought to their own seats like plush cushions or table matting, there were no decorations whatsoever. A clean white wall with marbled corner columns and only two small circular windows on each side, with the exception of the large tall one behind the stand in the back where the princesses would sit were all that could be ascertained from the many benches.

While she suspected that the majority of the delegation would be unicorns, she took note that ratio to pegasi and earth ponies was not as lopsided as she thought. Apparently many of the provinces outside of Canterlot weren't heavily unicorn populated. And was that a griffon she saw in one of the seats above Cloudsdale's? It must have been a ruling representative from one of the territorial colonies. Every inch of Equestria and then some was turning out for this meeting.

Then she saw who she was looking for, across the room, third row, and seven right from the central stand. Her eyes locked with Moonlight's as she gazed back differently in expression, already sizing each other up. Twilight knew she already figured out why she was here, and knew what she would try to do.

She may think that I only think I'm ready, but she's going to be thinking again soon enough!

The clamoring came to a dying fade as the doors to the back opened. All eyes focused to the two that strode in. Princess Celestia took her place upon the high white seat at the center. Trailing behind her came Luna, who took the second seat in black. Both seemed professionally composed, but an expert could see the shy anxiety Luna hid, and the disheartening concern it gave Celestia. As she gave a surveying look over the parliament assembled before her, Twilight could see the faintest smile from the corner of her mouth be directed at her.

I'm glad I'm here too Princess. she thought back.

The cream unicorn stallion in red near the base of the bristled his mustache as he prepared a long scroll for the meeting notes. A white bespectacled unicorn with a matching tie and collar, and her mane and tail tied in a bun accompanied him with a quill and numerous blank parchments on hoof. "*Ahem* All rise for our benevolent rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Everypony rose from their seat in customary reverence. "You may be seated," Celestia answered in turn, she then addressed the attendant who announced her. "Kibitz, you may continue the proceedings."

Clearing his throat yet again, the stallion read from his scroll once more. "This evening's emergency council under the pronouncement of her majesty, Princess Celestia of Equestria, shall now commence. As tonight's clerk of the court for the proceedings, I ask all manner of conversation and ruling to be civil and unequivocal. Her majesty shall now begin with her opening."

Celestia stood up to address the nobility. "My little ponies, as you all know, there has been much strife as of late regarding the speculation and determination of my sister's role ever since her return from exile to our lands. As ruling class, our actions set the example for those who follow and look to us for guidance. Unrest of this level will surely project negative influence upon the denizens of our nation, and breed disharmony among ourselves if this continues on. For that matter, I have convened you all here tonight so that a resolution will be agreed upon by the end of this court. I sincerely wish for Luna's resumption as ruler of our night to be as peaceful as possible."

A short silence reigned as the ponies of the council waited for who would have the boldness to speak first. Twilight saw Moonlight look from the corner of her eye to a light grey unicorn and moderate tangelo earth pony pair, both wearing some exotic headdress that set them apart. The mare noticed Moonlight looking to her too and rose to speak.

"The court recognizes Duchess Ice Mirror of Maretonia," Kibitz announced.

Of course, thought Twilight. Moonlight isn't going to exhaust herself trying to fight the whole court from the very get go. She'll have her allies throw the opening salvos and take the brunt of the opposition to begin with.

"Princess Celestia," the duchess began, "you say that you wish to place Princess Luna in a position equal to yours, but the duties of night and day are vastly different. To what order can you guarantee the balance of importance in these tasks you plan to delegate? We have discerned that an imbalance of power is what drove your sister to rebel against Equestria and, in turn, our world to begin with. I know I speak for all of us when I say we do not wish to bear witness to a second Lunar Rebellion."

Almost everypony could see Luna irrevocably stiffen. Celestia wordlessly consoled her with a look, and nodded politely to the duchess. "Your concerns are understandable, but I assure you Luna and I have spent much time these past months reconciling and discussing our objectives in the best manner possible."

She looked to Luna, knowing the rest would best come from her. Her sister did not disappoint. "Celestia and I have long since come to an agreement, for which I am grateful and elated in. We only ask that you as our confidants and proxies to agree as well."

Mutters and murmurs were already starting to circulate around the members of the court as a second official raised his hoof to speak.

"The court recognizes Sir Shooting Star of Stable Orion."

"Perhaps a more relevant matter, if the question of your sister's stability is moot. If I am to understand your reasoning, you two alone have already made a ruling of the plan at hoof without conferring to even one of us in the entirety of your judgement. Does that not make this assembly a mere formality at this point? The Stable Lords exist for this very reason your majesties. To circumvent their collective assessment as whole by bringing them this late into such a world shaking decision can be interpreted as a clear attempt to undermine the very authoritative system you created to preserve our nation's integrity and equality."

A young, light pastel blue mare rose three seats over from Twilight to contend with the white stallion.

"The court recognizes baroness Diamond Mint of household Brilliant-"

Kibitz barely finished his sentence when she spoke up. "Your statement is completely derogatory and presumptuous, Shooting Star. It's because Princess Celestia called this council together in the first place that she is not trying to subvert our voices in this decision. Lest you forget, all legislation, including the bestowal of peerage, can only be finalized by her majesty's personal seal. We would know if such actions were performed beforehoof. The fact that she has asked us to weigh in prior to it only signifies if we want additional changes to be made, they can be made. This doctrine is not yet ironclad and she wants us to be just as satisfied with it as she and her sister are."

Twilight nodded to herself. Diamond Mint had been on her list of potential allies. Recently titled from her father Brilliant Cut, only three generations running, she had a long standing preposition for social programs as one of her best friends, Lemony Gems, was only able to make it into Canterlot Academy on a scholarship.

In fact, going over the information she was able to dig up from the royal archives with her father, Twilight realized most of the nobles she would likely be able to rally behind her without difficulty were fairly new and young to the political circle. An unfortunate minority in this case, but battles like these were won with strategy, not size.

"Oh, really?" a brown earth pony with curly cream hair of lighter coloration spoke up immediately. "I was unaware a complete overhaul to our armed forces and homestead security, including its financial distribution and funding, was no longer considered within legislation's purview. Because I certainly didn't hear of any decree allowing the conscription of foreign immigrant batponies into our armies! Last I checked, only Equestrians were legally allowed to enlist."

"Sealed Scroll, please wait until you're acknowle-"

Kibitz didn't even get to finish that time when a grey, leathery winged mare Twilight could only conclude was the elusive Countess of Gallopvania shot to her hooves.

"The thestrals, Baron of Connecticolt, have, are, and always will be rightful citizens of this nation. And as for integration into the guard, such matters require the consent of the court's military officials only, which Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arranged at the last Cloudsdale summit. Am I not correct, Governor-General Bora?"

The grizzled and aged brick yellow pegasus sitting in one of the seats at the Cloudsdale bench did not even turn the slightest in the direction of the icy, accented voice directed at him, but simply nodded with a stone-faced expression. "I can attest that the words Countess Nightshade speaks to be true. All Four Winds of the Cloudsdale Congress signed their consent to make the aforementioned changes to the Night Guard on the Nineteenth of February, shortly after the annual Young Best Fliers competition."

A muscular older stallion with a gray coat and midnight blue mane, every bit Bora's size, then took the stand. "That may be well and all for these so called ponies of the night that suddenly decided to return along with their Princess, but what of the other inequine monsters that decided to follow as well? I've been receiving numerous reports from my squires of statues coming to life, strange glowing lights in the nearby woodlands and harbors, mass vivid dreams with strange amalgamated creatures suddenly appearing before my residents, sightings of green, ruby eyed cats and white rodents with hammers wandering the edges of towns at night! My provinces are on the edge of hysteria, worrying what new thing is going to pop out at them in dark next!"

This prompted a series of agreements as others began to try and voice their concerns over what a few them even started to claim as a 'nighttime invasion'.

"Calm yourself, Earl Blue Wave of Baltimare."

The room grew deathly silent again as the stoic, controlled tone rang clear through the murmurs and killed the rising volume of the courtroom. The only thing that could be distinguishable was the smoking quill of the stenographer next to Kibitz who was taking advantage of the lull in the arguments to catch up. First to recover, Kibitz took full advantage reigning in the proceedings.

"The court recognizes Duchess Moonlight of Stable Lulamoon."

All ears and eyes were trained on the one mare they had been waiting for to speak, especially Twilight.

"I know of all the creatures you speak of, and if you bothered to simply observe their behaviors even without prior knowledge, you would know none of them hold reason to sow needless panic among your denizens. The living statues you depicted are either gargoyles or kirin, sentinels of stone born from pony hooves. Their presence, if anything, is actually an additional security to your cities. The balls of lights you've seen are will-o-wisps, a nocturnal type of fay that, like all of their species, love to play harmless tricks on passing travelers. The put-together 'monsters' in your subjects dreams are baku, denizens of the astral plane. They actually eat the real nightmares that haunt ponies' dreams. And the cats and rodents you speak of are undoubtedly carbuncles and moon rabbits, creatures that actually represent fortune and charity respectively, and therefore can only be good luck if sighted.

Regardless, their reemergence was inevitable along with Princess Luna's, for her powers act like a beacon to these creatures, guiding them back like a moth to a lantern. We can only hope to gain from the night now that its steward has retaken her place, but that will not happen until we stop putting our doubts in front of each other and help her to help us."

She looked to her daughter as if to direct a cue, that she had saved the most important part for the Element of Laughter to say.

Beatrix stood up from her seat, monotone eyes staring straight ahead. "Much has transpired in the wake of our Lunar Princess' absence, so as we must learn again from her, she must learn from us. Therefore we would like to propose an addendum to this evening's intended purpose, the reinstatement of the Lunar cabinet, and its officials appointed through nomination from the Stable of Lords and decided by Princess Luna."

The room suddenly erupted with fervent exclamations and varying degrees of shock, both for and against the audacious political reformation proposed.

A royal cabinet solely for Luna, so that's her plan. Twilight couldn't help but give kudos to how well timed and cunning Moonlight implemented her tactics. A ministry of several nobles that carried extra titles and duties already existed under Celestia's sovereignty, but it was mainly nonfunctional as she shouldered most of the final decisions and they handled the paperwork. The hierarchy of it however, was not properly structured to cater to two Princesses, and it was too soon for implemented adjustments to include Luna to take effect.

At this point, it would actually be smoother and easier to duplicate the existing administration and form a separate second one altogether. Two Ministers of State, two Attorney Generals, two Grand Veneurs, two Ministers of Defense, and of course, two Chancellors. There's no doubt that was the position Moonlight aimed for her family to take, especially if the final decision was Luna's and she was using Trixie to advocate it. Plus, with more than just one extra position of power made available through this proposal, it was likely she would be able to rally other members of the court eager for a piece of the pie to her cause.

But given the phrasing used to back up this proposal, Twilight could use Moonlight's own words as ammo for her own goals.

Celestia rapped her hoof like a gavel on her stand. "Order! My little ponies, please. Let there be order." It took a full two minutes of her pounding to quiet the agitated court, but she finally managed to calm the atmosphere to a point where she could personally address Moonlight. "Duchess Lulamoon, this is a very radical proposal your family brings to our state of affairs, and is not to be taken lightly. There may be unintended consequences to such a dramatic change if not fully thought out."

"I am glad you express caution, your majesty. Introducing new ideas often meets resistance and backlash of some form, but that is why we're here now. Princess Luna needs to reintegrate into our society after an absence of 1000 years, such a transition cannot possibly be achieved alone. A ministry of aides individual to her needs, a direct line of communication and buffer to her as she comes to terms and adapts to the changes that have occurred within this immense gap of time, will ensure her restoration to the throne brings as little upheaval to our working government."

"And I suppose you expect us to nominate you as head of this so called private Luna committee?" a Canterlot earl Twilight recognized as Black Marble stood to point an accusatory hoof. "Making it so that if any of us here want anything to do with Luna, we have to go through you first?"

Moonlight didn't even raise an eyebrow in retort. "I seek only the safest and wisest course of action to keep order for the sake of our Princesses, both of them. Princess Luna would be overwhelmed if she were to be fully immersed in a millennium's worth of revised dogma, magical and technological advances, and evolved social customs. Somepony must be there to act as her confidant and counselor when Princess Celestia cannot. I simply ask that pony most suited for the job be that one."

Twilight judged this to be prime time to make her first move. She stood up to address the court.

"Moonlight is absolutely right."

That bought the silence of everypony in the room, and Celestia raised an eyebrow at her faithful student, wondering what Twilight could be planning by going along with Moonlight.

"We shouldn't be looking at this as a scale of power and influence that's being tipped, but as a chance to make some long overdue updates to how we do things. Princess Luna is entering our world with a fresh start, what better time could there be to make a fresh start of our own? There's a lot of outdated concepts and archaic systems in our bureaucracy that have been put aside, but not updated. Ancient traditions that while forgotten by all but parchment today, were the norm for Princess Luna. If we're to make this process as smooth as possible, we have to remove the clutter from our governing body so there is no ambiguity for our Princess as she becomes more actively involved in the affairs of the modern world. Which is why I would like to propose an addendum of my own to the proceedings, the official annulment of all unused, outmoded, and retired laws of this nation's constitution."

She looked directly at Trixie and Moonlight as she spoke her next words. "Starting with noble matriarchy rules!"

"Anything yet?"

Blossomforth crawled out from under Checker's bed to answer Honey. "The only things she hides here are dust bunnies and empty potion bottles."

Honey slammed another dresser drawer shut. "Nothing! Not even a stationary! She's got to have some place for keeping papers and notes. How else would she know so much about us?"

After fishing through her closet for a fifth time, she sighed in defeat. "Maybe she really isn't implying anything by her attitude after all. Maybe she's just that arrogant and obnoxious."

She made a motion towards the door. "Come on Blossomforth, let's try the study next."

As Blossomforth scooted out to join her friend though, her hoof clicked a particular spot on the hardwood floor.

"Huh. I didn't know wood could make that sound."

Honey quickly pushed her aside to feel the area beneath. "That's cause it's not wood! It's petrified carbon!" Rubbing it carefully, she peeled off the flooring to reveal a circular ring with strange markings. "A rune lock! This is definitely some kind of safe!"

"Can you crack it?" Blossomforth asked.

"Well...it appears to be Mareabian sigil sequence code," Honey then gave scoffing 'puh-leeze' laugh, "from the 5th century! This will be just a sec."

With a series of taps and tones, the circular lock widened to give access to a small compartment. Honey reached her hoof in to feel. "Hmmm...traces of pigmented crystals, a dust outline, cellulose residue...no doubt about it. This is where she kept her secret info! Huh, but it looks like she cleaned it out just recently, must have taken it with her for something."

"What about that one in the nook just above the hatch?"

Honey reached behind where Blossomforth specified, and sure enough, she felt a solitary piece of parchment there. Pulling it out, she scanned the contents of the paper. Upon finishing it, she lowered it to chest level, a perplexed frown growing on her face.

"Huh? But this doesn't make sense."

Blossomforth squeezed her head in under Honey's foreleg, trying to look at the paper too. "What is it? What does it say?"

"This is an acceptance letter for Princess Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns."

Now Blossomforth seemed confused. "How's that not make sense? Didn't Checker say she graduated from there at the top of her class?"

"What doesn't make sense is that this letter is addressed to Trixie!"

"HUH?!" Blossomforth jerked forward, completely flipping over her friend from above as she read out loud.

"To Beatrix Lulamoon,

It will please you to know that after heavy consultation with our superiors, we have decided to rescind our initial notice of rejection and extend an invitation to our prestigious academy under the direct recommendation of Princess Celestia. We look forward to hearing back from you on your decision to accept or decline our gracious invitation.

Sage Whitehoof
Headmaster of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

She pursed her lips as she tried to make sense of the impossible document. "But...Trixie always said she never got into Princess Celestia's school."

The gears in Honey's head finished turning, and her eyes narrowed in grim realization. "Yeah, and Moonlight thinks the same thing..."

"Why would this letter even be in Checker's room anyway, locked in a secret compartment nopony but she probably knows about?"

Removing her hoof from her face, Honey snatched the letter back from Blossomforth. "Because she is the only pony who knows about this! Come on!"

".........Ohhh! Checker knew Trixie got in by reading this letter, but she hid it away so no one else could read it, so no one else could know. I get it now!" Blossomforth then noticed her more intuitive partner was no longer in the room, but out the window and shrinking into the night sky. "Huh? Hey Daring, wait!"

It wasn't until she was halfway across the uptown area and had the palace coming up in her vision that she was able to get back within earshot. "Daring, where are we going now?"

"To tell Trixie she's been living a lie within a lie since she was age six!"

Off in a little corner of the eastern edge of the castle gardens, a hedge rustled as three fillies and a colt head popped out from underneath the leafy shrubbery, their faces slightly smeared with dirt and tiny shovels and picks in their mouths.

"See? I toldja we could dig in through under the walls!" Babs proudly proclaimed.

"I just do not understand why we could not go through the front gate," Tangerine said.

"What, and be noticed by the guards? We don't want to lose the element of surprise!" Firecracker hissed.

"Snappy! What a view!" Featherweight took the moment to get snapshot keepsake of the brilliant topiary and marble statues that decorated the gardens.

"This isn't a field trip, Featherweight," Firecracker fussed at her camera happy friend. "This is an S-class cutie mark search and rescue mission to save the greatest magician in all the land!" She stuffed the shovels back in her bags and took the lead. "Now come on, we've got to find that royal hall and get the Great and Powerful Trixie out of there!"

She then hugged the edge of a stone pedestal, shimmying on her back hooves. "And remember, use the utmost stealth. A patrol or sentry could be right around every corner!"

"Really? Every corner?" Tangerine wondered.

"Hey, these are the royal guards we's talkin' about," Babs stated. "They only choose the best, brightest, and most serious to serve in their ranks!"

Positioned at the east tower, just a few hedges off, a snow white pegasus stallion in gold plated barding stood at attention, vigilant for any danger, at least that's how he considered it.

His name was Hoplite, a newly inducted private of the royal guard, and tonight was his first night of active duty. Half his inner self was practically giddy with excitement at the chance to prove himself, while the other half was half anxious to death his so called assigned partner was over an hour late for their shift.

Still, he kept his wings folded and his visage neutral. Remember your training. The royal guard is the symbol of our nation's security. Our actions reflect upon the citizen's well being and trust. To preserve your dignity is to preserve your-

"Hey statue boy."

And gone was all his poise as he yelped at the upside-down gray smiling face that suddenly obscured his entire field of vision. practically muzzle to muzzle with his.

The grinning thestral mare donned in black and purple barding flipped over in the air and landed right beside him. "Ah, so that expression isn't painted on! Good to know I'm not dealing with a complete stick-in-the-mud."

Hoplite remained stunned for just a second longer at the blatant frivolity this soldier was displaying. He had been informed by his captain that he was likely to be paired with a newly integrated rookie of the new night guard, and that there may be some cultural differences at first, but he didn't didn't expect something as foalish as this attitude!

Straighten up again, he poised to address her. "Are you my assigned partner for this round?"

"Yepper doonie roonie," she answered with a flick of the hoof.

"Private Hoplite of the regimental 106th day guard," he greeted with rank, name, and unit in standard order as per regulation. "And you are an hour late."

"Ooooh, we got ourselves a fancy-pantsy Westhoof Academy cadet, don't we?" the mare replied with a bobbing of her neck. "Well you can just call me Lethe, and I'm so sorry I missed out on 60 minutes worth of watching grass grow with you."

"What? That is not all that happened!"
"Yeah, Sergent Stickler? What happened while I wasn't here?"
"Um, uh, one of the rabbits in the gardens passed by."
"Oh no...you think he might have been an assassin sent by the lords of Tartarus to annihilate our Princesses?"

Hoplite could feel his cheeks starting to warm from indignation despite his best efforts to stem it. "That is besides the point! A true soldier always considers the what ifs."

Lethe just responded by ribbing him gently. "Get that stick out of your rear and chill, newbie. No need to get all strung up on your night on the job."

"This is your first night too. And this kind of behavior is completely unprofessional, regardless of rank and experience!"

"You want me to be serious? Alright, here's a serious topic for you." Lethe leaned in close as she pulled a flask out from her armor and waved it in front of him. "You seriously need to loosen up. How about I lend you some of my happy juice?"

"You're actually thinking of drinking on the job?!"

Lethe chuckled at her flabbergasted rookie counterpart. "It's just cherry fizz, workaholic! Whajya think was in here? Fyi, I already took a sip earlier this evening so..." she gave a little lick on her lips, "you might get a little bit of an aftertaste, if you know what I mean."

Hoplite sputtered, took a deep breath, and gently pushed her foreleg away. "I wonder if Comet Burst is having as much trouble with his new partner as well..." he muttered.

"Aw, come onnnn," Lethe draped a wing over his withers as she leaned into him playfully. "We're friends now, right? Bosom buddies, comrades in arms? We can enjoy each other's company, have a few laughs, party on the weekends, say it's all in good fun?"

"This is not supposed to be fun, this is supposed to be a matter of national security!" Hoplite argued, pulling out from her playful embrace. "And tonight of all nights, when the entire Stable of Lords is convening here to ultimately decide the fate of our newly returned Princess Luna, who, I may add, is responsible for you even having this job in the first place! Aren't you concerned at all how your performance will reflect upon her as a whole?"

Lethe put on her first serious expression Hoplite had seen all night. "Hey, if there's anything I do know, it's how much Luna being back means to the thestrals. Believe me, the whole reason I signed up for her night guard is the same as why you signed up for Celestia's day guard, I'd do anything for my Princess." And then it was instantly gone as she switched her gears of thought back to joking. "Of course, unlike you, marrying her would probably be where I draw the line..."

"I do not want to marry Princess Celestia!"

Lethe's sultry smirk only widened as she pressed harder. "Don't you? Every armored stallion I've met here so far looks her way out the corners of their eyes, with the occasional mare too." She then winked as she wiggled her hips. "Or perhaps you wanted something more down to earth and a bit more exotic?"

"Private Lethe!"

The thestral guard fell on her rump in a fit of giggles at her partner's more red than white face. "Oh, you are just too easy, Hoplite! Yeah, I'm going to enjoy working with you. Secondly, that big assembly thing you're going on about? It's all the way in the central hall, nowhere near our post. We're pretty much stationed in Uneventfulville, population: you and me."

"All the more reason to remain vigilant and take this duty seriously. If somepony were to try and infiltrate the castle and disrupt the proceedings, it would most likely be through the least guarded and unexpected of areas!" Hoplite huffed.

"Yeah? And you expect one to come waltzing out of say...that shrub right there any minute now?"

A sudden rustle from the bush she pointed at had the teasing Lethe jump back with a start. Hoplite tensed, gripping his spear tightly. And out from the foliage popped...a little light orange unicorn?

"I keep telling youse guys, we passed that bush three times already!" Another filly entered the clearing, this one a brownish, robust earth pony. "How're we ever gonna get in the castle and get to that super important meeting, if we can't even get outta these gardens?"

"Maybe we could ask somepony for directions?" another earth pony filly, this one pale orange, came out and suggested to the other one.

"Swell cuz, are you forgetting we're supposed to be in-cog...whachacallit now?"

"And besides," the unicorn said, "who would we ask out here?"

"We could try asking them."

Filly and guard eyes met each other in silent showdown.

"Uh oh."
"Caught already."

Hoplite took a step forward. "What are you doing here? This area is off limits to all unauthorized personal."

Lethe put a hoof ahead of her comrade, obviously riled up by her antics and about to misdirect some of that tension to the wrong ponies. "Easy there, big guy. They're likely just some noble's foals who obviously wandered off bored and are lost."

"They're trespassing in restricted territory."
"The gardens are public at all times."
"They're trying to crash the assembly, they just said so!"
"Probably looking for their parents!"

Babs leaned over to Firecracker and whispered, "Looks like they're arguing, this could be our chance to slip away!"

Firecracker nodded and oh-so-subtly fished into her saddlebags. "Where's that smoke bomb? Ah! Here!"

Unfortunately, the white pegasus guard's eye was still slightly trained on them. And while its focus wasn't enough to see the objects dug up detail, he could definitely tell the shape of the object, as well as the red ones with the fuses underneath.

"BOMB!" he suddenly exclaimed. "They ARE assassins!" He fumbled with his spear to ready defensive positions.

The thestral beside him was able to get a better look though. "Huh? Hoplite, that's just a fire-"

That's when a fourth assailant popped his head out of the bush. "Oh, wow! A real bat pony!"
*click* *FLASH*

Lethe's nighttime sensitive eyes saw pure white as she cried out while a dazed Hoplite dropped his spear.

"Now Firecracker!"
"Cutie Mark Crusader escape artists!"
*POOF*
"Come on, Featherweight!"
"Hey, wait for me!"

Coughing through the smoke, Hoplite tripped two times in the direction of scampering hooves. By the time he was fully reoriented, the smoke cloud was gone and so were the mini-sized hit ponies.

"Lethe! Hurry! After them! We can't let them get to the royal court!"

Lethe, finally done rubbing her eyes out, lifted a hoof to protest, stopped, pulled her eyes to the corner to have a little brainstorm, grinned like an imp, then plastered a sense of alarm on her muzzle.

"Right! Who knows who those four hoodlums are trying to attack in the dead of this sacred night? Only we can stop them now!"

Maybe I had her pegged all wrong, Hoplite thought to himself as the pair began their pursuit. When the situation calls for it, she does take her duties seriously.

Lethe on the other hoof, had a completely different thought on her mind as she followed from behind.

Oh, this is going to be so much fun...

Moonlight regarded Twilight with a detached look of skepticism. "And how, Twilight Sparkle, would such omission on an indefinite scale be contributory to the objective of this court?"

Twilight tensed herself, preparing for a long, drawn out argument as she expected Moonlight to usher her associates to join in the debate. So Twilight would mount an assault first. "As you stated earlier, and as I affirmed afterwards, Princess Luna is still mired in an outdated law system due to her absence. Helping her to adjust to the changing times at a steady pace is an ideal strategy, but ineffectual if we do not remove the old while introducing the new. In fact, this sort of reform will prove to be beneficial to all ponies of Equestria, not just Princess Luna."

Twilight pulled out a stack of reports from her bags. "I have done research prior to this session, and the findings back my claim. Ignorance of the old customs have made ponies unaware to newer changes in the legislation. Census Bureau Survey #13847, taken by Clear Counter in year 965, C.R., clearly states that 82% of the current Equestrian population did not know about the Regency Subsidiary act, which allows residents to waive a total of 10% off their federal tax in favor of a 5% increase to their state tax in order to promote infrastructural growth in smaller towns and proportional maintenance in larger ones."

There were perhaps more relevant examples Twilight could have selected from her findings, but she needed a strong opening that would appeal to everyone in this room. And every noble knew the federal tax went straight to the royal treasury whilst state/providence taxes were handled in joint decision by the local bureaucrats and governors(i.e. themselves). Twilight was basically translating to them that their citizens weren't even aware there was a tax bylaw that could give their own coffers more money that would otherwise be filling the already overstuffed royal treasury.

"What I'm suggesting isn't just a reformation, it's an enlightenment. The average pony needs to be educated on what rules there are to follow and what shouldn't be considered law anymore just as much as Princess Luna does now, so why not include them while we're at it? It would certainly do the public good to know their Lords and Ladies have their best interests at heart as much as the Princesses and can be trusted."

There were murmurs and whispers among the court again. More seemed to leaning towards Twilight's notion than before now. Moonlight was far from done though as she shifted gaze to another of her close compatriots.

"Well then, answer us this," the pink-magenta unicorn mare accompanied by a bluish-gray earth pony stallion started. "Sir Pony Moore and I were wondering, why the emphasis on the matriarchy laws that mainly apply to the nobility when you say it is the common pony you use as the basis for your approach? Surely there are other obscure mandates that could take higher priority to this annulment clause of yours, like the gemstone tariffs in intercontinental trade? They haven't been utilized in centuries ever since Zebrica discovered their own diamond mines. In fact, the removal of such export/import limitations would draw incentives from other nations to practice more free trade with us. Everypony in Equestria would benefit financially from that."

Twilight inwardly frowned. It made sense any strategy she could up with, Moonlight could mirror. Now she was trying to use her words against herself like she had done. Under the circumstances, if she managed to make her movement appear personalized, which to an extent it was, it would draw out a flurry of more arguments from the rest of the court that would ultimately leave her issue deadlocked.

Fortunately, Twilight knew the best way to counter this tactic. She had to get others to speak up so this wouldn't appear to be a stand alone issue. This is where more of her research came in.

"If you wish to speak of trade, then look no further than the peers of your court, who possess more than three-fourths of the economic market's influence, yet none of its holdings. Not a single one of you here can make make a capital venture without first using a licensed business owner as a middlepony. This is because the Commerce Coalition Amendment that first formed the mercantile class clearly states a titled mare or stallion is forbidden to practice a professional trade. Do you realize, however, as long as those matriarchal rules exist, that same restriction will apply to all extended members of the nobility? Removal of them could create hundreds of fresh jobs for ponies who can do nothing but live off their family's money!"

She counted backward from ten, and by the time she got to six, a golden brown, ginger maned, earth pony rose to agree with her. "She has a much valid point. Before the Harvest clan gained their Stable, we were once the most prominent growers and sellers of wheat, oats, and barley. Now, for five generations, we could do nothing but watch the other farmers of our hamlets tend to the fields we used cultivate ourselves, hooves tied to even lift one to help. "My own daughter from Ponyville writes to me often, telling how she grows the most amazing carrots in her garden, and wishes she could sell them from a stall of her own instead of having to trade or give them away on a daily basis."

A dark blue stallion with an combed orange mane interrupted her from going any further. "Great Harvest, you're quibbling on trifling matters personal to you, and furthermore, diluting the topic on hoof. I'm fairly sure none of the inner circles of our court here have any problems with family pulling their own weight."

A white stallion with a wavy blue coif and monocle answered him in kind. "Now now, Perfect Pace. The frontier nobles have a voice too. And to address your other argument, I myself have had thoughts that there are other among my group that could prosper better without such hidden limitations weighing them down."

Twilight couldn't help but smile. That was Fancy Pants, one of the few senior members of the court that she knew would sympathize best with her. Despite being only a viscount, or perhaps it was because he was as low as a viscount, he garnered much positive attention to both the Canterlot public and nobility. What further set him apart was that his wife belonged neither to a noble or merchant class, meaning he either married for beauty or for love. And as gorgeous a mare as Fleur-de-lis was on the covers of those model magazines Twilight saw, she suspected a pony of his personality focused more on the latter.

"You, Fancy Pants? But you have no brothers, sisters, or children!"

"But I do have a wife. A wife whose modeling career was put into early retirement when we shared our vows on the altar. She's also quite the storywriter too, mind you. And it certainly disheartens me to see her sacrifice one passion for another when she could just as easily have both. In addition, as perhaps the most active investor in Canterlot, I perhaps know what Dame Twilight speaks of better than most here. While it's true that any successful company I give my money to returns it to me tenfold, any licenses, credits, or rights to the finished product are kept by them. Call it whimsy, but I would like a revolutionary idea I thought of to actually have my name on it just once."

"So there are additional benefits to a more loose nobility, but that also means there more additional problems," Sir Pony Moore commented. "The corporate unions we do our investments with would soon turn on us, claiming we are trying to use our relatives to monopolize their markets. New regulations to the nation's business sector would have to be drawn up, outdating more laws in the end. It's a vicious cycle that only wastes time and money. There are always going to be rules that don't fit in some way or form, so why focus on them when the solution could be just as problematic as the issue?"

"Because that's our job," a petite, older pegasus mare answered beside a tall gentle blue to almost white earth pony stallion with a muzzled, square jaw.

Lady Providence, and her husband Lord Snow Drift. Twilight thought. Another one of her few potential powerhouse allies. They were one of the governors of the Neigh York area, e.g. the Baron and Baroness of Manehattan.

"You're quick to forget the body of governance, like all machines, is in a state of constant change. That is why rules and rulemakers like us exist, to maintain the change so that it does not become stagnant and brittle when new cogs and pieces try to fit into the mechanism, like Princess Luna here."

"That's right. Let's not forget, in the end, this policy is ultimately for helping to create a setting in which Princess Luna can readjust to life as a ruler of Equestria."

Moonlight slid her eyelids down half an inch at Twilight. "The setting you suggest is ultimately a limitation on the number of representatives and advocates from the peasantry to the Princesses. Given that scope, it is actually your family that would hope to gain more than even Princess Luna, what with your brother's betrothal to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

"Yes, well your idea would also-"

Twilight's train of thought suddenly jumped the tracks as it hit the proverbial coin. "WAIT, WHAT?! SHINY'S ENGAGED!?!?"

"What marvelous architecture," Sherbet noted as she and Octavia wandered down the east wing of the palace. "They certainly don't make them like this back in Manehattan."

"When it comes to functionality, individuality is usually the first to be sacrificed," Octavia quoted. "It's sad in a sense, but practical that our apartments are built squarely into a grid."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean you're limited to uniformity. There are other ways to-"

Sherbet suddenly found her lips being held shut by Octavia's hoof. She noticed the intense, far off gaze her friend held, and the occasional twitch of her finely tuned ears.

"...there's somepony there." Her ears swiveled in the direction of an unmarked hall. The cellist had performed directly at the castle enough times to know the general layout of the area. The only thing that lay down that direction were a portion of the archives, along with an administration room for ledgers and bills in the middle of processing. Like all areas of the castle, it was unrestricted. But at this time of night, the notaries and commissioners that normally worked there would be at home. In fact, it was a weekend, that office shouldn't have even been open all day. Which meant...
"...where somepony shouldn't be."

She made a silent motion for Sherbet to stay put, then slyly slunk across to the last door on the right, where her gifted sense of hearing was trained on. The door was open just a crack, and she could now see a faint incandescent glow. Squeezing through without a sound, she found a hooded figure rummaging around the cabinets, pulling out select folders and papers into her bags.

Fortunately, her back was turned towards the entrance, so Octavia could easily approach her without being noticed. When she was within a hoof's reach, the figure stopped and perked its head up, as if it sensed something. Too late! With a flick of her hoof, Octavia grabbed the cowl by the scruff of the collar and yanked it off to reveal-

"Checker?"

The deep azure unicorn whirled around on her, her forelegs tensed low in a defensive crouch. "What the hay are you doing here?" she curtly demanded.

"That's what I should be saying," Octavia calmly countered, but with force. "Last I checked, only authorized notaries were allowed to freely redistribute administrative records. What exactly have you been looking for here?"

"It's none of your concern!" she snapped. Octavia noted the pitch her voice, and the vividness her eyes held. This was not the omniscient, always in control chessmaster demeanor Checker so often boasted and loved to portray, but more like a wild eyed foal ready to break another one's favorite toy out of spite. "And furthermore, you're lucky I don't have you reported for unsanctioned meddling in the affairs of-"

Octavia knew she'd only have one chance to catch her by surprise, so she took it. With a swift sweep of the leg, she knocked Checker over and sent her bags up into the air. Without a moment's hesitation, she scanned the contents of the sacks before Checker could regain her footing.

There weren't just documents from this office, but notations from banks, various companies and establishments, even unpublished journalist records and personal excerpts. Octavia then noticed they all had something in common, somewhere along each of them there was a noble's name or two mentioned or signed on them. Alone, each of these papers would mean nothing by themselves, they were simple monetary transfers, articles, and conversations. But together, they would connect some transactions, imply circumstances and prior knowledge, and ultimately draw the conclusion of...

"Bribery, extortion, blackmail, prejudice, espionage, sabotage, embezzlement, falsification, even affairs! Checker, this collective information could incriminate just about every member of the royal court!"

"Exactly, and just what do you think is going to happen when I bring it before the Princesses, with every one of those nobles gathered there tonight, and then tomorrow the public?"

Octavia did not even want to imagine, although she could see it all too well. Almost every little thing these documents were trivial at best, but it would give a greater underlying message: Every pony under the Princesses direct trust and supervision had done something worthy of gaining a criminal record. A scandal of such proportion would turn their entire society upside down. Every lord and lady would literally be at each other's throats, trying to drag them under the proverbial chopping block first. And the other ponies, they'd be in a complete frenzy, believing they'd been lied to about everything from their superiors, and robbed by the very industries they worked for. It would be a domino effect of one accusation after another, most of them greatly exaggerated. The entire noble hierarchy would collapse from both within and without, and everypony would suffer the rippling effects afterwards.

"How did you even get all these secrets? Surely many of these notes have been kept safely by the others..."

Checker only grinned a wicked smile at the cellist. "You'd be surprised how loose the tongues of kowtowing nobles can be to a Lulamoon ever since the return of Princess Luna. So long as they think we'll be giving them a slice of the metaphorical cake in the end, they'd be willing to divulge as many small tidbits as possible."

Octavia then noticed one parchment in particular, a letter of sanction that prevented a certain company on another lord's territory from obtaining the required materials for a certain project that was also in the works for an industry in Canterlot. Granted, the business in name was well known for their worker safety inadequacies and shoddy production, but it was still an indirect violation coercing suppliers to be choosy. And this particular letter was signed by-

"Your own mother? Even her?" Octavia just looked at Checker in disbelief before asking her the only word she could think of. "Why?"

"Why? Why?! Why else?!" Checker suddenly shouted. "It was supposed to be me! I was the worthy one! I was the better one! All I ever did, all I ever accomplished, was so that she would acknowledge me...ME! As the true heir to the Lulamoon Stable, the one to take her place.

But she just HAD to be stubborn! Not willing to bend even a SINGLE rule! Just because that...nag of a sister was born before me, because I wasn't the bucking firstborn, it had to be her! I thought I finally had a chance when she was gone, that mother would finally see I was the only one who could fill her horseshoes. Fifteen years I waited, excelling spell after spell, beating adversary after adversary, making connection after connection, waiting for her to look my way. But no, she STILL wouldn't choose me, all because of her stupid, antiquated traditions! And then she just had to become an Element of Harmony, she just had to save our Princess Luna, she just HAD TO COME BACK!!!"

With that final yell, she forcibly yanked her bag of evidence out of Octavia's hooves. "Well fine. Mommy dearest wants to keep the captain's hat out of my reach? She can have it, as she and Beatrix pilot the S.S. Lulamoon to the bottom of the ocean! Let's see what kind of court my sister gets to inherit when this one bursts into flames!"

"The noble class may not be the most scrupulous herd ponykind has to offer, but the governing system we live by depends on them to act as a medium for the Princesses' guidance. Destroying Equestria's trust in the gentry would destroy their trust in them!" Octavia protested. "It will be anarchy, total chaos!"

"Sometimes in order to win, one has to clear the board..." the maniacal chessmaster philosophized.

Octavia stood her ground, closing the door behind her and blocking it. "If you think I'm going to just let you ruin everything everypony has worked so hard to achieve just to satisfy your own ego, I suggest you think again."

"Oh, how droll..." Checker smirked as her horn began to light up. "You actually believe there's still a chance you can beat me."

Before Octavia could stop her, the malicious mare melted through the wall and into the hall, breaking into a sprint. Quick as a whip, but still losing precious seconds reopening the door, Octavia was hot on her tail. At the intersection where the passage fed into the main corridor, Orange Sherbet turned her head in surprise towards the sound of galloping hooves.

"Checker? What on Equus is going-"

"Auntie! Stop her!" Octavia came barreling in sight right behind the unicorn. "She's going to sabotage the talks!"

Still a little confused to what was going on, but nevertheless clear on the big picture, the Orange matriarch ran to tackle the incoming mare. Checker was more nimble for a unicorn than she appeared though, as with a quick feint to the left, she darted right around her incoming interceptor. And as she turned into the main passageway, she lit her horn again, creating a dark blue barrier that sealed off the way she came from, trapping the two earth ponies inside.

She laughed at the pair, who were pounding as hard as they could against the wall of magic. "As I said before, it's my job to know everything about my opponents, their strengths, their behaviors, and their limitations. Ta ta, little pawns. I've got a legacy to destr-"

*CRASH*

Papers went flying as Checker suddenly found herself the victim of a high speed collision with two pegasi. With her concentration disrupted, the barrier soon went down, leaving Octavia and Sherbet to help up Honey and Blossomforth.

"Ugh, anypony get the number of that chariot?" Blossomforth moaned.

"Huh? Octavia? Auntie?" Honey shook her bearings straight. "What's going on here?"

"Never mind that, grab as many of those papers you can and run!" Octavia cried, bundling up the scandalizing documents.

Checker, flat on her stomach and sporting a lovely bruise on the side of her right cheek, blearily blinked her eyes open to find a scrolled up letter dropped right in front of her muzzle.

It will please you to know that after heavy consultation with our superiors, we have decided...
"Hey! That's MY letter! You little thieves!"

Honey then finally noticed Checker was in front of them. "You mean Trixie's letter you thief AND liar!" She threw an accusatory hoof at her while Blossomforth made a nab at it.

Checker however, already had a good grip on it with her magic though, and a childish tug-of-war was soon underway.

"Give it back, you big bully!"
"No, you give it back, meddlesome scamps!"
"GANGWAY!"

Checker went flying up in the air as a quartet of little foals smashed through her legs. The sudden change in momentum had both sides lose their grip and the letter went sailing across the room.

"Children?!" Sherbet exclaimed at the Crusaders in surprise.
"Trixie's letter!" Honey exclaimed at the free-falling acceptance letter.
"TRIXIE?!" Firecracker exclaimed, and by instinct jumped a meter high to catch the object in question.

"Everypony run!" Octavia and Babs simultaneously cried as the last of the scattered documents were snatched up and more hooves could be heard approaching.

But nopony managed to scatter far before a burst of wild and dark violet aura lifted them all up helplessly into the air. Checker stood beneath them, her eyes white and her mane completely frazzled, several bruised patches on her body and rips in her suit could be seen as the result from multiple crashes.

But worse of all was her heavily breathing, teeth fully bared, evil eyed look of pure rage. "Insolent plebeians!! I will not sit idly by and be made a fool of! Has it not sunk into your thick skulls yet? It doesn't matter how many you try to impede me! I am CHECKMATE MONARCH LULAMOON!! And I...never...LOS-"

A turkey was scored in the bowling for Lulamoons tourney by Hoplite and Lethe, mostly Hoplite as Lethe managed to brake with her wings beforehoof, and soon there was a crushing ponypile on top of the 'unbeatable' Checker.

"Cleanup on aisle ten," Lethe sniggered.

The crusaders were the first to wriggle out of the mess. "Oh, dear. This doesn't look good," Tangerine said looking back at the pileup. Her legs trotted in place as panic set her into full filly mode. "We're in big trouble now, what do we do?"

"Split up!" Firecracker exclaimed. "They can't catch us all!"

With that they scattered, each pausing just a second to grab one or two of the scrambled papers. "These look important!" Featherweight remarked.

"Oh great, the foals on the loose in the castle. Like we need more problems right now!" Honey groaned as she watched them disappear around the corner.

"They do have one thing right though," Octavia said as she nabbed the remaining papers and flung divided portions among the four of them. "Split up!"

Scrambling in both pursuit and retreat, the four mares followed their youngsters' example. Throwing the remaining guardspony off her back, the completely disheveled Checker roared after them, all subtlety and decorum long since used up. "GET BACK HERE WITH MY PLANS YOU CROOKS!!!"

"Crooks?" Hoplite sat up out of his dazed complexion.
"Yeah, looks like we got burglars and spies too," Lethe struggled not to snicker between breaths. "Better sound the alarm..."

Hoplite was off like a shot, rounding only once to call back to his lax, annoying, but eager to fend off villainy, partner. "Lethe, get to the barracks and rally whoever you can find! we've got to stop this invasion!"

Lethe rubbed her hooves together as her hilariously misled meatsack of a personal butt monkey sprinted off to apprehend his 'criminals'. "Oh, I'm definitely getting the other guards all right. They're not gonna want to miss a moment of this!"

Featherweight fled the near psychotic Checker as she pursued him around a corner, only to find him nowhere to be found in an empty hall with suits of armor lining the walls. As she passed one, she stopped as a tiny epiphany struck her, and she opened up the helm of the armor closet to her.

*Click* *FLASH*

Down she went as well as the entire suit of armor. As she crawled out from under the metal, she could see a metal helmet with four skinny legs galloping out of her sight.

Hoplite ran through the marble pavilion in the courtyard, passing by a glorious fountain with pony statues pouring water into it. Had he bothered to look closer at it as he ran by he would have noticed one of the figures had a hot pink and green mane, and had he bothered to double back, he would have seen that particular statue put its pot down, wipe its brow, and fly off in the opposite direction.

Firecracker popped her head out of particularly large vase to see if the cost was clear. Seeing that it was, she gingerly attempted to pull herself out...and ended up wobbling a bit too much.

Lethe's highly trained and tufted ears picked up the crash, and she decided to take a detour on her way to barracks finally get to straightening this thing out. After all, it was all fun and games until property damage was taken out of her stipend!

Seeing the incoming guard, Firecracker rushed up the stairs next to her and into a private bedchamber. Uh, oh. No way out except the balcony, and she wasn't a pegasus! Thinking fast, she grabbed the bedsheets and tied them to the nearest post to the window, then jumped off with her mouth gripping the other end.

In her rush, Firecracker failed to notice that the post she tied the sheets too wasn't a post at all, but a stand for a gilded birdcage. Lethe entered the room just in time to see the makeshift rope pull taut and bring the stand crashing to the ground. She grimaced as the flaming inhabitant emerged from its broken doors, gave her foxy grin and a catty wink, and vanished over the balcony with a flap of its wings.

Oooooh boy, now we have a real problem. Last time Philomena got out without her majesty knowing, every bun in the northwest neighborhood got hot and crossed. And the bakeries got their rolls well done too.

Octavia and Sherbet galloped in a circular pattern from the left entrance of the grand ballroom to the right and back again from the hallway as Checker dogged their heels.

At some point around the fifth repetition, the cellist broke away with her back to the grandfather clock in the hall, and the chase continued on without her. After watching the chase a few more times, she reached for the pitcher on the serving tray next to her. Raising it up high over her head, she waited for Sherbet to by her once more, counted to two and then-

*SMASH*

Spinning stars went quite well with the fresh limeade scent and broken porcelain in Checker's mane as she went down for the count yet again tonight while the two Manehattan mares wasted no time opting out for the second round.

"Awful, awful, AWFUL! Ah wouldnae e’en scrub th' outhouses wi' this slop!"

The corn chowder the teary eyed mare had worked for the last half hour on was knocked out of her hooves by the cloven foot of the head chef. Oh, if only she had known who was in charge of the fabled Tartarus' Kitchen, she would have never jumped at the chance to become a royal chef. Not if she knew her new boss would be...Chef Ram Sea.

"B-bu...but-but-"
"Are fo' wipin'! Which Ah wouldnae be doing wi' it either! Now clean'up 'at mess an' do it all over again!!"

She very well near dashed out in tears right then and there had not the hotheaded Coltish sheep walked past her to address the rest of his mediocre by his standards staff.

"Dinna' is within th' 'our, you half baaaaaked swine! We 'ave th' entire royal court ta' feed, an' not one a ye stock pot maggots 'ave given meh som'thin that wonnae make 'heir stomachs churn bile an' flip 'ike a little circus poodle!!"

With that said, he approached the station of one of his more seasoned chefs, Copper Kettle. The burnt orange unicorn had taken the brunt of many of his head chef's slings before, so he didn't naturally flinch at the sudden pair of eyes boring in from over his shoulder.

But of course, with a temper like Ram Sea's, levels of immunity could only take a pony so far.

"Copper Kettle, might Ah ask whit you are doin'?"
"Stir-Frying the vegetable medley, head chef."

Ram Sea took a look at the ingredients laid out across the stove. Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds.

"Flame is at medium-high, veggies have been properly cut into half-inch portions, and seasoning has been applied five minutes after allowing the dish to cook. I am doing everything flawlessly this time."

But the steely smile of the sheep was all Copper Kettle needed to know he said the exact wrong thing at the end.

"Yes, you are doin' it acceptable so far, which is why Ah have tae ask ye, when are ye plannin' tae add th' noodles?"
"The...noodles?"
"Oh, are ye goin' tae be usin' rice instead?"
"Uh, well...no. This all that I'm-"
"IMBAAAAACILE!!"

Copper Kettle nearly flipped the skillet on himself at his boss' sudden outburst.

"You are usin' soy sauce as a seasonin' baaaase! That alone will make a dish of pure vegetables far too salty 'less ye add a starch component tah the mix tah absorb th' excess!!"
"Well, Silver Whisk said I could serve it alongside his dinner rolls."

"Hey!" the light grey unicorn at the neighboring station exclaimed at his coworker, "Don't you go throwing me under the carriage!"

Too late, as Ram Sea paraded over to have a look in the oven.

"Top shelf..." he muttered. "You're usin' the top shelf again...'ow many times must Ah tell ye!? Top shelf is fah brownin', not bakin'!! Put yer racks in the center slot fer th' love o' yeast!!"

A tap on his woolen shoulder was felt as he furiously watched Silver Whisk try to save his bread from being unevenly heated. Whirling around, he came into contact with the smiling, freckled face of his current exchange chef, Beignet.

"This had better be good," he demanded.
"But o' course dearie!" she lightly answered with her southern accent. "Just wanted to let ya know my desserts are ready!"

The youthful, tan earth pony pulled a trolly up with her namesake pastry on the serving dishes. Ram Sea gave the latest cooking prospect a thorough examination. Dough consistently, levels of powdered sugar, eating temperature, things seemed to fit into his judging so far. Then came the final test. Pulling a flake off one of them, the critical sheep inserted it into his mouth.

A moment later he turned to the rest of the kitchen and bellowed out to them. "Take a note, simpletons! It speaks volumes 'bout the quality of food 'ere if'n a wee lass from the backwater boonies of Neigh Orleans can cook better than the lot o' ye combined!"

"Great," Copper Kettle muttered to Silver Whisk. "Now the temp is outshining us on what's perhaps our most hectic dinner this year. Can it possibly get any more degrading?"
"Has our current streak of luck ever taught you never to say something like that?"

As if on cue, the doors burst open to make way for two earth pony fillies being chased by a white pegasus.
"Stop! In the name of the crown!"
"He's gaining Babs! What do we do?"
"There're ponies ahead! Duck and weave, cuz!"

The pair whisked right under the legs of a unicorn holding a souffle. Hoplite attempted to leap over her, only to get a face full of baked egg whites. Without being able to see where he was landing, collision with the pegasus carrying the cherries jubilee was inevitable. Flaming fruit filled the air and landed in the toques of several chefs. It didn't take long to guess what happened next. Heads ablaze, the cooks abandoned their stations in a panic, desperately looking for a source of water.

"My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire!" one in particular yelled at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Tangerine and Babs continued to scamper with no particular direction in mind except away from the pursuing guard. Cutting a corner around a sink, they were forced to split when a large earth pony lugging a pot as big as him suddenly came into view. Babs veered left, and Tangerine went right, which was also right into cleaning lockers. Bouncing back the other way, she accidentally tipped over a bucket of soapy mop water all over the area. Another unicorn chef levitating a stack of dishes happened to step on a wet patch, and was sent careening into the wall that hung the knife rack. Dishes smashed and clattered everywhere as an outline of falling knives pinned the unicorn down.

With the increasing amount of pandemonium taking everypony, more and more stations were left unattended, leaving more and more dishes to burn or boil over. Needless to say, Ram Sea's wool would have taken a shade of red if it could after he got over the initial shock.

"Not in my kitchen! Git a'hold of yerselves lambs, and-"

A lemon custard pie cut him off. Silver Whisk looked at his cream-stained boss and then glared at Copper Kettle. "You do realize he's going to somehow find a way to blame us for this?"

Babs hopped on to the lower rung of the dessert trolly and waved to Tangerine, who was busy dodging a series of falling cooking sheets. "Cuz! Over here!"

Tangerine ran over to the vehicle her cousin had commandeered and jumped to her side. The force of the landing caused them to propel across the kitchen with the treats in tow.

"My beignets!" cried Beignet.

Like a battering ram out of control, the cart knocked aside any unsuspecting cook who didn't get out of the way in time or any crate of fruit that just happened to be placed there, until it finally whisked itself out the rear entrance with the fillies screaming in tandem. Hoplite finally managed to pull the bowl off his face to see the little invaders make their impromptu escape.

"You won't get away so eas-"

That's when he reached the wet floor area. Forgetting he had wings in the heat of the moment, he skidded headfirst into head chef Ram Sea. Grunting in discomfort as he untangled himself from the mess of wool, Hoplite's eyes widened to see his crash associate lift a large skillet and aim it squarely at his head.

"You...MUTTONHEADED LUMMOX! Out! OUT! OUT!! GIT OUTTAE MEH KITCHEN!!!"

A series of six doors lay at the end of the hallway Honey, Blossomforth, Octavia, and Orange Sherbet ran down, three on each side. They immediately went through one as Checker came up right behind them in pursuit. The following sequences happened next in the order as shown:

Honey went from left 1 to right 1.
Blossomforth went from right 3 to left 2.
Octavia and Sherbet went from right 1 and left 2 separately to right 3 simultaneously.
Checker went from right 2 to right 1.
Babs and Tangerine went from right 2 to left 2 while Octavia went from left 3 to right 3.
Firecracker went from left 1 to right 3, only to double back when Checker came out after her, and Hoplite coming out of left 3 saw them and trailed after.
Tangerine rode atop Blossomforth's head as she looped from right 2 to left 3.
Lethe chased Honey from right 2 to left 2 while a band of angry chefs chased Sherbet from left 1 to right 3.
Checker ran, her tail ablaze from Philomena, right 1 to left 1 while Firecracker came from right 3 to left 3.
A galloping helmet with a camera careened from right 2 into the wall, and then into left 1.
Checker went from left 3 into the speeding desert cart Babs drove in from right 3 back to left 3.
Philomena evaded Lethe from left 1 to right 2 while the chef mob ran after Hoplite who ran after Blossomforth from right 3 to left 2.
Featherweight, riding atop of Octavia's back from right 1 to left 1, snapped a blinding shot behind them into the pursuing Checker's eyes as she then tripped and rolled into left 2.
A cross-eyed mailmare?...loop-de-looped from left 3 to right 2.
A parade in the progression of the CMC, Checker, Philomena, the Manehattan mares, the two privates, and Chef Ram Sea with his entourage went from left 1 to right 1, right 2 to left 2, and then left 3 to right 3.
Honey, Octavia, Blossomforth, and Sherbet all came out of separate doors and crashed into each other in transit, and barely had enough time to get their bearing together when Checker came out the far end door and ran them all out of the corridor.
The Crusaders had a mirrored action with the Hoplite and Lethe.
The chefs and phoenix came out from opposite ends, stopped at each other, looked around to find only themselves left in the hallway, shrugged at each other, and then raced out of the corridor as well.

"Auntie," the white unicorn dandy whispered from his seat which was closest to the center dais, "how much longer is going to take? I'm already late for my own dinner party..."

Celestia regarded her nephew Blueblood with a subtle smile. "Considering all your guests are too, I would say you're right on time," she whispered back. Her main focus, however, was on her faithful student, who had been struggling to regain control of the argument for awhile ever since she temporarily lost her composure over the apparently new news of her brother's engagement.

And I was so sure she would've been the first one they told...

Twilight, doing her best not to make an accusatory look towards her father, continued to rally against Moonlight's latest argument. "Even with my brother's engagement to one of the Princesses...to which I'm only now being made aware of...it would not place the Stable of Twilight in any more favorable a position. In fact, annulment of the matriarchy rules would negate the potential benefits you imply, seeing as that it would render every member of the household independent of one another. Having a Princess in the family line would not matter!"

"That seems to raise a question for all ponies marrying into our class," Moonlight countered. "If the ties of peerage remain independent to in-laws, would not their prestige remain the same as well, to both the peasantry and the gentry, whether they are entitled or not?"

More murmurs circled the court as Twilight tried to piece together the meaning behind her statement. Of course, she realized. It all comes back to the money. With extended family being nobles mostly in name only, the nouveau riche would have less motivation to marry into their ranks, and bring along their huge bank accounts as dowries.

It was starting to get complicated to rebut as Twilight was beginning to run out of coherent reasons to pursue her targeted goal. But she still had a few more cards up her sleeve, albeit it took a little longer now to pan them out. There was more than one way to get money from the corporations and industries, after all.

She could fall back to her previous explanation of increased professions among the existing families, and imply their connections would influence more lobbying to their local mayors and city executives, whose money would be budgeted by none other than them. Why benefit from one rich family when you could be receiving bits from hundreds? It might end up causing more problems later on, letting the policy-making become more money influenced by implication, but Twilight was sure she could also trick them into passing strict regulations on their statesponies' campaigning by playing them against each other in a competition to see who could get the most money if it came to that.

But before Twilight could speak, Moonlight calculatingly shifted her gaze to her daughter, who spoke up instantly. "Twilight Sparkle, your logic shows merit, but there are too many unknowns to be accounted for when you think of the number of ponies to be directly involved. I would highly suggest retracting your amendment until a later date, when the state of affairs surrounding this court are less volatile."

"Trixie, why are you purposely siding against me on this!? Can't you see I'm trying to help you?" The words flew from Twilight's mouth before she could bite her tongue.

"You seem to be on rather informal terms with my daughter, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you can enlighten this court as to what your plans to reintegrate Princess Luna will accomplish for Beatrix, specifically."

"I-I well-"

Moonlight clearly seemed to know Twilight's mind was still partially confuddled, and just how to provoke her further into losing her cool. Celestia wanted nothing more than to speak up and try to guide Twilight's words, helping her collect herself. Not to mention the debate was beginning to steer itself in a direction she didn't want to be pursued. She knew though, if Moonlight didn't call her out on favoritism in this equal ruling, somepony else would. All she could hope for was a chance to use her authority to quiet the court and create a lull in the conversation, buying precious time to level the playing field for Twilight and perhaps even herself. It would have to be something that could force an escalation of the nobility's tension, an interruption of sorts that would send the court into near chaos.

The reason chaos is called what it is though, is because it always comes in a way you never expect it to.

The doors burst open with an echoing bang as the other Bearers of Harmony barreled in, skidding to a halt when they saw what was up ahead. The entire royal court's eyes fell on the intruders.

"Daring? Blossomforth? Octavia? Auntie?" the other two of the Elements spoke in synchronization.

"Uh oh, the one place we didn't want to end up running to!" Blossomforth exclaimed.

"Double back! On the double!" Honey ordered in a panic. But a burst of teleportation had them trip over each other as well as send a magical shockwave that overturned the nearest desks at the entrance.

"YOU LOSE!" screeched the ragged and heaving Checker. "YOU ALL LOSE!!! YOU PRECIOUS ELEMENTS OF HARMONY HAVE FAILED! YOUR CRIMES ARE EXPOSED ROYALS! AND ABOVE ALL-" she whirled on her Stable's bench, hoof pointed in fanatical triumph. "I BEAT YOU AGAI-"

The beignet cart came rocketing right up from behind, and sent her flying across the room, and smashing out the window above the Princesses. The four foals sitting on top screamed at the top of their lungs, obviously not about to get their cutie marks in driving as they inadvertently steered the rogue pastry wagon directly into the side of the court benches. Startled nobleponies shouted and shrieked as they fumbled over and collided with each other to get out of the way of both the incoming cart, and the flying debris of broken chairs and tables that followed in its path.

As it then wheeled in at full speed towards the stand where the Princesses were seated, Celestia prepared to catch it with her magic. As she probably would have stopped it then and there and not another interruption come into the room. The two rookie guards bounded in, one making a direct beeline for the center podium, the other chasing a fiery phoenix into the other side of the stands with a huge net.

"Protect the Princess!!" Hoplite cried as he lunched himself in a saving tackle at Celestia. With an oomph and a thud, Celestia was knocked flat on her rump off the dais, where the fervent stallion took her place just as the cart smashed into his side, painfully. The impact sent sugar powdered treats, foals, photos, papers, and firecrackers from a certain filly's saddlebag flying all over the room.

"Gotcha!" Lethe knocked over a hairpiece with her lunge as she cast her swing directly over the mischievous bird on the fly. Her victory was short lived though, as a little colt landed directly on her face with camera unintentionally exposed.
*click* *FLASH*
"GAH! Not in the eyes again!" Lethe reeled back as she let go of the net, her catch taking the opportunity to flap out, and give a teasing raspberry right before she flew out of the broken window.

Everypony was now running around as the firecrackers began to go off in a series of mini explosions. The final blow came in the form of a cherry bomb that landed right between the four Manehattanettes, sending them, and the rest of the documents flying.

With the last of crashes and banging done with, the members of the royal court began to take note of all the papers scattered before them and on them. It only took a few moments of skimming the contents before a new series of explosions of an entirely different type began to go off.

"I KNEW IT! Frazzleberry, you unscrupulous cur! You did rig the Coltcinnati elections in favor of that wretch you call a niece! Land thief!"
"Oh, and you had no hoof in that as well, Huffy? This requisition paper about your so called required dam you forced onto her council's budget clearly shows your private investors were the ones who were supposed to foot that hundred thousand bit bill! I only took back what you stole in the first place!"

"Rook, who is this Fine Line?!"
"I-it was a fleeting relationship dearest, I hadn't met you yet!"
"And yet this hotel reservation is dated two months before our wedding!"

"You framed my cousin?! Rosary, I thought we were friends!"
"It was his fault! He was about to expose my sister's sea salt addiction during her first role as an ambassador just because I wouldn't help push his logging project past those tree hugging moose in Antlerta! If anything, it was you who failed to keep him in line!"
"I testified against my own flesh and blood because of you! He's under five years of house arrest for some privateering scam that never even happened! Why, why I ought to-"

"Ponies, please, please! This is not how we conduct ourselves in-"
A powdered pastry smacked Kibitz right on the muzzle.
"Afph! No, my allergies! Processed sugar makes me break out in a rash!"
With a snort and an undignified sneeze that blew off his spectacles, he blindly felt around the floor for his missing eyewear, only to hear a crack after the fourth step.
"Mother of- #@&%!"
He then turned to the other court assistant, he face slightly flushed. "Uh, Raven? Please strike that last comment off tonight's record, could you?"
The white unicorn secretary wiped the pastry flakes off her glasses, her quill and parchments lying dead on the ground. "In all honesty, I stopped trying to keep up ten minutes ago."

Some of the more incensed nobles were already beginning to resort to hooficuffs as schemes, backstabs, and accusations were revealed and flung at each other, one after another. Luna helped Celestia back onto her hooves, and the sisters only balked, taking the entire scene in before them. The courtroom was in shambles, not a single table or chair lay unturned. The most dignified and respectable of their ponies were squabbling and scuffling with each other immaturely like a group of schoolyard foals.

Celestia gave an inwardly sigh. As much as she hoped against it, it would seem it would have to come to her throwing some weight around after all in order to settle this whole dispute about her sister, among a few other things. Hoping her Royal Canterlot voice wasn't too rusty, she straightened up, unfurled her wings, and opened her mouth.

The booming voice drove everypony to freeze in place, including Celestia. She looked to her left at Luna. No, that had not been her either, the equally stunned composure confirmed that. Then who...?

She quickly found the answer, standing atop her bench's table. Moonlight Meridian Lulamoon, matriarch of the Lulamoon stable, and a duchess of Canterlot, looked down upon the masses that had shamefully reduced themselves to petty insults and accusations wearing the first genuine expression other than her stone-faced mask of indifference that night, and it wasn't a pleasent one.

"Disgraceful, the lot of you! Falling apart over frivolous feuds and scandals! It is little wonder that many of the citizens we reside over fail to show the proper adoration and respect befitting our station to us if our reactions to conflict are as base and abject as theirs! We are supposed to be leaders, the best and brightest among our species, treating every situation that arises with the utmost dignity and wisdom. I see none of that here now, and hold nothing but disappointment for every single one of you here tonight!"

Like a child that had been caught by his mother breaking her favorite vase for playing ball in the house, every mare and stallion started to wither under her icy glare, deep grimace, and domineering voice. Only her daughter seemed to be spared the brunt of her admonishment as she watched from behind, her eyes never drifting away from her mother as she stepped down and then marched across to the foals in the room.

"Undisciplined, unsupervised, and unruly. These children are the perfect example of what happens when there is no structured order for a nation, a clan, or even a family! Leaving them to run about with no idea of their role or place in society will only lead them to impede and mar the work of others. Tell me, little ones, do you think you are supposed to be here?"

The four crusaders huddled together shakily, and shook their heads.

"And do you think that this calamity and disarray you see before you would have befallen this court if you weren't here?"

Guiltily, and halfway to tears, they shook again. Beatrix started to feel an aching in her chest as she continued to watch in silence.

Moonlight approached the Manehattan mares next. "And you, you call yourselves the Elements of Harmony. What harmony do you bring to this court, interrupting our proceedings, defacing the decorum of this forum, and unnecessarily igniting tempers amongst ourselves with your antics! You clearly do not realize just how important an example you are to our nation, how heavily your actions weigh upon us and the Princesses and influence the public! If anything, your actions must be reprimanded and perhaps even supervised lest you cause detrimental damage to our order and render the very elements that define you useless!"

A fiery sensation bubbled in the pit of Beatrix's belly as she looked at the ashamed faces of Honey, Octavia, Blossomforth, and Orange Sherbet.

Moonlight then towered over Twilight, who literally backed herself into a corner. "And you...you should be the most shameful of them all, being the root of this mayhem! These are your friends, they are your responsibility! Are you not the link that holds them all together? Do you think you can do as you please and in turn, let them do as they please because so many special circumstances surround you? Not in here, where even the Princesses themselves must remain impartial and give favor to those who have earned it! If you, the next head of stable, fail to realize that, then perhaps the stable of Twilight would be better off no longer participating in the affairs of the royal court!"

Beatrix's hooves clenched as she saw Twilight's lip trembling before Moonlight's indignant might. Then she a whisper or two from the back of the room, from the some of the less notable nobles. "Yeah, it's not our fault." "We can blame her." "Princess Celestia would go much easier on her than us." "Let's blame Twilight Sparkle for what happened tonight."
"Blame Twilight..."
"Blame Twilight..."
"Blame Twilight..."

Then something inside snapped.

"This night," Moonlight directed her statement to Twilight Sparkle solely, "was meant to symbolize Luna's glorious return to power along with her followers. Do not expect me to inactively stand idly by while you have your companions turn this courtroom into a three ring circus!"

"Oh, it's not a circus yet."

Moonlight then expressed her first look of actual surprise tonight as she saw her daughter take a place in the center of the room for all to see.

"Everypony knows the real show doesn't start until-"

With a tremendous rip and a smokescreen poof, her noble ensemble was torn off to reveal a purple star studded cape and hat.

"-the MAGIC act!"

A collective gasp filled the room, some much more happy than others.

"Beatrix," Moonlight nearly hissed. "WHAT. ARE YOU. DOING?"

"The one thing no one in this entire kingdom but grandmother has ever had the nerve to do. Stand up to you, and just say 'NO'." She then whirled about giving her cape a flourish. "And for future reference, while performing, call me by my stage name...the GREAT and POWERFUL TRRRRRRRIXIE!"

Her name flashed in neon lighting at the mini-fireworks she poofed up under her cape. The foals cheered and applauded, as the did the rest of the Manehattanettes, whilst the rest of the room just stared on in a state of confused shock.

Moonlight march straight at her, her eyes glazed in an icy fury. "Beatrix Midsummer Lulamoon the Second, I order you to-" She suddenly stopped three steps away from her, hoof catching her neck as she started to gag.

"Sorry, couldn't hear that last part. You must have a frog in your throat!" Trixie forced her hoof into her mother's mouth and pulled out a green amphibian that gave a deep ribbit. "There it is!"

"BWA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"

The jaws of the nobles dropped even lower as they looked to see who was laughing. There, trying to keep herself from rolling off onto the floor in full belly laughs, was a clapping Princess Luna. "Brava, brava! Oh, Tia, and here you told us the court jester was an outdated profession!"

"Not outdated," Celestia said, clapping along more mildly with a shrewd, yet approving, smile. "Merely...redefined. Brava indeed, Great and Powerful Trixie. Show us more."

"Yaaaay! Yeeeeah! Yaaay!" shouted the foals. "Show us more Trixie!"

Twilight and her friends clapped for Trixie too, then Night Light joined in and, to Twilight's delight, some of her more friendlier nobles like Fancy Pants and Great Harvest were smiling and clapping too.
A domino effect soon followed. More and more nobles who weren't cheering with the Princesses, the children and their peers started to feel like the odd one out. A lot of weak claps and still confused smiles soon filled the room.

"Um, uh...yes! Bravo!"
"Y-yay...show us...more?"
"Please, more magic...tricks?"
"Great and Powerful Trixie..."

"Excuse me, but this is completely unorthodox!" Kibitz started. "As this court's clerk, I feel it my duty to remind you ah-ah-ahckpth!" he sneezed on some remaining powder on his muzzle.

"Goodness me, sir! You sound like you could use a good hoofkerchief. Let's just see if you've got one in that coat pocket of yours." Trixie reached underneath his red coat and pulled out and equally red square piece of cloth...tied to purple one that was tied to a green one that was tied to a blue one...

"My you certainly are wary of hayfever season, aren't you?"

With a long drawn out plucking sound, she finally came to the end of the chain, which was not a sheet, but a bright red pair of flannel pajamas!

"Whoopsie! One layer too many! Hope you don't mind being a little chilly when you go to bed tonight!"

Kibitz sputtered, his face growing a shade of pink as Raven giggled uncontrollably behind him. The rest of the hall also seemed to be sporting a few more real chuckles.

"Don't fret, good sir. For being such a good sport, allow the Great and Powerful Trixie to make it up to you." Trixie whisked up the pair of stepped on spectacles and covered it with one of the cloths in her hoof. "And presto, chango, rearrango!"

She lifted the cloth up to show it had disappeared. Her unwilling volunteer was clearly not amused. "What the-? THAT was my great-grandfather's! How is vanishing it doing me a favor?"

"Check your back pocket."

Kibitz did as he was told, and paused when he felt something other than the satin lining. What he pulled out were a pair of glasses in the very likeness of his own, with one key difference...

"Why, they look just like new! But that's impossible! The material of this frame and lens would have cost at least a thousand bits to restore! How-?"

"A magician never reveals her secrets," Octavia recited the old proverb on cue.

"Well said Octavia. By the way, the Great and Powerful Trixie's could do with a little music accompaniment to spice things up. Perhaps you could provide for her?"

"But, my cello is back at the Twilights..."

"Oh don't worry about that. I'm sure we can scrape up something for an expert like you so long as you-" Trixie reached into the musician's ear. "-play it by ear!" With a sucking and pop, Trixie produced Octavia's almost as big as her trademark instrument from the pinhole sized canal.

Octavia blinked, then grinned, then without so much as an instruction of direction, raised her bow and began to fill the room with an awe inspiring atmosphere.

"And now the Great and Powerful Trixie will need another volunteer. How aboooooooooout...you!" She pointed to a random mare in the noble audience.

"M-me?" the pale and light gray purplish earth pony with the rose sash and pearls asked. Before she or anypony else could say anything she was whisked directly in front of the the magician with her aura.

"It's easy-peasy," Trixie explained as she poofed up a large circular board. "All you need to do is stand perfectly still while strapped against this. Simple, no?"

Uneasily and unsurely, the volunteer was locked into place by the metal straps as Trixie walked some distance away.

"And now, fillies and gentlecolts. The Great and Powerful Trixie shall display a feat of dexterity unheard of by any pony." She lifted up her hat, give a few tap on it, and it conjured out a blindfold and a set of throwing knives. Needless to say, the mare strapped in suddenly found herself sweating bullets at what the implications were.

"With nothing but her hoof, Trixie shall strike the board with her knives, a guarantee not to miss a mark, nor hurt the mare in question. What's that you say? Blindfold not challenging enough? Then how about a moving target as well?"

With that her magic sent the board into a spin. A whimpering could be heard from the spinning mare as Trixie engaged her blindfold, and raised the first of many knives.

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

And with the last one thrown, the wheel came to a slowing halt, and there was a collective gasp. Not only had the mare been untouched, but the knives formed a perfect outline just a centimeter around her. Genuine clapping resounded as the noble mare opened her squeezed eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
There was then a quick turnaround to laughter as while being unstrapped, it became apparent her tall, fancy curled mane was caught against one of the knives when she came down...and it didn't! Feeling a little breezier then usual, she reached up and felt her bare scalp, and with a beat red 'EEP!' she immediately retrieved her not-so-natural hair and clamped it on tightly. Surprisingly though, her embarrassment quickly dissipated into laughs of her own before she retook her seat.

"Next up, the mystery box!" Trixie announced as her knife set disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a large windowless booth took its place. "Would you like to try, little filly?" She motioned for Firecracker to step up.

"Would I!" the little filly exclaimed at her hero. She scampered right through the door Trixie held open and into the empty room.

"As you can see, there is only single solitary foal in this empty box. Now watch closely!" Trixie slammed the door shut and with forelegs raised, waving in a mystical motion, she lit up her horn and spun the box in place. "Round and round and round it goes, what comes out, NOPONY KNOWS!!"

With a sudden halt she tapped the box lightly and the door swung open to reveal...a house of cards.
"Ooooohh..." everypony awed.
She spun it again.
The head of a giant red dragon popped out and roared loudly.
*GRRRrrOOooOOAAaRR*
Everypony jumped back a step in a surprised panic.
Another spin.
"Huh? What the-?" Honey looked around the four blue starred walls that surrounded her. "But...I was just over there!"
Round and round once more!
"Ta daaa!" a second Trixie posed behind the open door.
"HUH?" The audience looked from one Trixie to the next.
A wink and one last spin later...
Firecracker stumbled out, her eyes spinning and her mouth in a goofy grin. "That was fun, can I ride again?"

With each passing act, the ponies in the room smiled wider and brighter. With the Linking Rings, Trixie had the Czar of Stalliongrad cheering for more. One Endless Bottle later, and the delegates from Saddle Arabia expressed the utmost enjoyment. Even the no-nonsense Germaneic Baroness of Mareseilles cracked a smile after seeing the Sands of the Neighal.

All the while, Moonlight sat in the obscurity of the shadows of the benches, wordless, motionless, and watching.

"And now for my final act, I will require the assistance of my friend, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight stood at attention by her side. "And what do you need me to do, Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"Just stand riiiight over there, and look pretty for her, will you?"

Twilight moved to where Trixie pointed, and the magician gave a quick whirl around to the audience. "For your brilliant adoration tonight, let this finale be a gift to you all!"

As she closed her eyes and concentrated, Twilight took notice of a faint circular etching expand from her friend's hooves. As the edges lined up with her, she felt a slight tingling sensation draw from her horn to her hooves. Trixie opened her eyes for a moment to wink at Twilight, and she smiled in tandem.

The arcane circle, you read my book after all.

Wordlessly knowing what to do next, she let loose a deep breath and opened her reservoir of power up, letting it pool into the outlet like a cascading waterfall. As she did the circle filled with a white glow. Trixie started to hover just a bit as she began her second spell. Ribbons of white light flooded from her horn as they began to wrap themselves around her. Twilight however, felt the circle's pool starting to ebb.

The spell, it's consuming more mana than both Trixie and I can put out. What kind of variation is Trixie doing to require such a high rate of flow? It wasn't an issue of magic reserve now, but rather a rate of magical output. A single river could only feed an ocean so much at a time. We need a second conduit, fast! Or whatever Trixie's trying to do is going to peter out before it's finished...

She suddenly felt another presence in the circle, and it was powerful. Powerful, and warm. Somepony else had joined the grid and was helping Trixie. Instinctively, she looked to the side. Princess Celestia? No, even somepony as mighty as her would still need to be in direct contact with the circle to transfer any of her magic into it, and she was still in her stand with Luna watching. Her father? No, he was out of reach behind her, plus she knew his magic wasn't nearly this strong. Then who-?

Her gaze fell to the opposite side of the circle past Trixie. There on the edge, stood Moonlight, her eyes fixed solely on her daughter floating just above her. It was her, it was Moonlight. She was the extra source of magic.

Moonlight was helping Trixie cast her spell.

The ribbons of light suddenly burst forth from the cocoon encasing Trixie, enveloping the whole room. When the light finally faded and everypony's vision cleared, Trixie could be seen fluttering in place with the glistening swallowtail wings she once wore back in Cloudsdale. But it was not just her as Twilight soon saw. Standing plain in her line of sight, Moonlight was adorned in a pair of majestic monarch butterfly wings. She then looked to her own backside to find a pair of beautiful blue morpho wings.

Everypony in the room had pair of beautiful gossamer wings! Auntie Sherbet donned an aged viceroy, Octavia had a pair of great southern whites, Honey and Blossomforth sported a western and eastern tiger swallowtail respectively, even the foals had a collection of four different metalmarks.

The entire noble ensemble marveled at each others various and colorful new accessories, and then at their own with ooohs, ahhhs, and smiles. There was no doubt each and every one of them thought they looked lovely with their new wings.

It started with one voice, but the effect soon crescendoed.

"Bravo!"
"Good show!"
"Encore!"
"Trixie!" "Trixie!" "TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE!"

The applause was deafening. And Celestia could only smile as she watched her court come together, in one harmonious voice.