//------------------------------// // The Buildup // Story: Con of the Ages // by Silvermyr //------------------------------// Sweat was dripping down her forehead, barrel and sides. Each of her legs burnt with exhaustion, though her hind legs felt particularly bad. Applejack gulped down a mouthful of air and swallowed down the phlegm. She stopped in front of the tree, turned around in one fluid motion and kicked as hard as she could. She had to clench down her jaw for the jolt of pain that flowed up her legs as the hooves connected. She did not, however clench her eyes. Instead she looked up into the branches to track the falling apples. In a flurry of motions, she had caught most of them and wobbled back towards Granny Smith. She could not remember working this hard for at least fifteen seasons. Every bone and muscle in her body felt like awash in acid, her sight was blurred and every mouthful of air she breathed seemed like a hundredth of what she could normally breathe. Big Mac was not in a much better shape, even with Apple Bloom reassigned to help him switch out filled barrels for empty ones. He was frothing and running with his head practically touching the treadmill. Applejack drew another insufficient breath and got back to her apple trees. She would do her part, she would never give in. Never. ”Just another tree,” she mumbled, though it sounded like a wheeze out of her throat. ”Just one more tree.” She bucked another three, wobbled on her hooves and missed more than half of the apples. ”Clumsy Applejack,” she berated herself. ”This is nothin’ to you. An Apple does not get tired when there is work to be done. Are you an Apple or are you an Apple?” She managed a sidelong glance towards Mayor Mare and the hourglass. While she could not see well for the sweat and mane in her eyes, it did not look like there was much time left. She purposefully did not see the ironwork monstrosity and the two unicorns controlling it that stood behind the mayor. ”Mayor Mare, are you okay with honorary family members helping out? Since I am responsible for the weather on the farm I kinda work here.” Somepony asked. Applejack knew it must be Rainbow Dash, but the voice seemed so far away. Had her heartbeat always been that loud? ”Well, I… I don’t know,” Mayor Mare said hesitantly. ”Flim? Flam? Would you object to honorary family members helping?” ”Ah, well, Mayor Mare, of course we would not…” one of the smarmy unicorns said. ”…But the competition is between the Apples and us FlimFlam's…” the other one continued. ”…So, for the sake of the integrity of our competition, we will have to insist on it all being kept between the six of us,” the first one finished. ”I… see,” The Mayor said, no doubt disoriented with the fact that the unicorns continued each other’s sentences. ”I’m sorry, Rainbow…” Just one more tree. Just one more. There was not much left now, she just had to buck one more tree. She would be done after just one more tree now. Her eyes stung with tears just barely held back. Again and again her hooves smacked into the bark, ever time with a little less vigor, until not even her determination could keep her up. She bucked one last tree, shaking down only a few apples, before her forelegs buckled under her and she was sent sprawling on the ground. She choked forth a sob as the dam that had held back the tears finally broke. She could not even muster the power to cover her face with her hat. A bright ”ding!” sounded somewhere, followed by Mayor Mare’s voice. ”Time is up! Both teams stop producing cider!” Applejack doubted her family needed to be told. An endless timespan passed as Mayor Mare counted the barrels. Applejack did not bother to get up. After all, she did not need to get up to send her prayers to Celestia. ”Flim and Flam wins!” Mayor Mare called. Applejack slumped forward even more and buried her face in the soft grass as she cried. Sweet Apple Acres grass. Grass that she no longer had the right to. She forced the tears away from her eyes and swallowed her sorrow down into her stomach where it settled into a cold hard knot. She staggered up and went over to the unicorn twins. They both hugged one another, nodded contently and preformed an intricate hoof bump. ”Congrats, you two,” she mumbled. Every word stung like a whiplash on her tongue. ”You’ve won, fair an’ square.” ”That we have, eh brother of mine?” The shaven one said. His voice was like oil, fat and slippery. "Indubitably,” his twin answered. ”Now, what do you think about evicting the riffraff so we can have some real progress and profit here?” Splendid idea brother of mine. And without the Apples here, we’ll need a new name. How about… FlimFlam Fields?" ***** One moon later ***** Filthy Rich stood in his office and chewed on the end of a pencil. He was faintly aware of the irony of his situation. Any time he got the question he always made his collages jealous with the wonderful view from this room. He could see all of Sweet Apple Acres while they only had the neighboring facade to look at. Now, however, the large apple orchards were the root of his worries, and having to watch them made it impossible to concentrate. It was not exactly the economy he was worried about. Flim and Flam proved to be just as good business partners as the Apples. A small part of Filthy knew that they, from an economic standpoint, actually were even better, as they immediately had sold him fifty barrels of cider for his store, something the Apples had always refused. No, his problem was a creeping feeling of dread. The Apple family orchard had always been a stable business. Not the most profitable, but always stable. Yet they had lost everything over night. No, not even that, it had just taken an hour. While Filthy knew it was foolish of the Apples to bet their entire farm, it still did not change the fact that they had lost everything. Their homes, their work, their legacy, everything. Merely thinking it sent shivers down his spine. He turned away from the orchards, where the ironwork monster just appeared, and instead turned to the wall in his office. Three ponies stared back. Furthest to his left, Stinking Rich looked at him from a full-sized photograph. Filthy could practically feel the frost blue eyes drill into his own. His grandfather would roll in his grave if Filthy lost the family company. Generations of ponies had worked their entire lives to give Filthy this company. He could not be the Rich to loose it; that could not happen. To his right hung a similar full-sized photo of his wife, Spoiled Rich. She looked happy, even blushing slightly on that photograph. It was from their wedding day, the second happiest day of Filthy’s life. He still loved Spoiled just as much as he had when this photo was taken. As scared as he was of loosing the company from the tradition standpoint, loosing it and not being able to provide for his mare was even worse; it was nigh unbearable. Then there was the middle picture. This was not a photograph, but an oil painting of his dearest Little Diamond, commissioned on his daughter’s sixth birthday. With that painting, he always had a way to remember the ultimate reason he worked so hard. His face settled in a firm, if pained, grimace. He knew what he had to do. His wife and daughter as well as his parents and grandparents all trusted him to keep his company running. He had to make sure it did, no matter what. ”Randolph?” Filthy asked. The elderly earth pony poked his head into the office. ”I need you to invite Mr. Stripes over here as soon as possible.” ”The Manehattan real-estate mogul?” Randolph asked. ”I am certain that can be arranged.” ”Perfect,” Filthy said. He hesitated. The butler must have read his mind, because he entered with a glass of Mull McTrot whiskey from 955 already poured up. Filthy nodded his thank and took a measured sip. ”I also need you to contact an old acquaintance…” ”Who?” ”His name is Fading Night… a kidnapper,” Filthy could swear the painting of his grandfather glared at him. He swallowed. ”Ah, I see,” Randolph said as if he had been asked to prepare a pick nick basket. ”I presume there are some further instructions for Mr. Night?” ”Yes,” Filthy mumbled. He drunk the rest of the whisky to buy himself a few more seconds before he had to commit to this plan. ”Plaid Stripes. I need a stronger negotiating position.” ”Naturally,” Randolph said. ”I will see too it.” Filthy dismissed his butler with a shaky wave of his hoof. ”I had to do something,” he mumbled more to himself than the paintings. He continued in an ever quieter voice. ”Better Mr. Stripes than my family. If something happens to the company… can’t take the risk. Can’t gamble with Diamond's and Spoiled’s futures. Must do something…” He dared a glance towards the wall. The three most dear ponies in his life towered above him like the judge and the jury. ”I have to. I’m doing this for you. The larger my business becomes the safer it gets.” The court did not seem impressed. ”I promise I will make this a good thing; I will make the houses in Manehattan cheaper,” Filthy promised. ”It will be better for everypony when I own them.” It may have been the whisky, but Filthy liked to imagine the glares softening ever so slightly. ***** One moon later ***** With a huff Rarity magicked her heavy saddlebags off her back and put them next to the door. She closed her eyes and took a slow breath, just standing there in the doorway. A small smile graced her face as she opened her eyes again. She looked around the empty hall, her lips continuing to curl upwards as she took it all in. Sure, she had seen the exact same thing just a few days earlier, but there was one key difference between now and then. Now, the apartment was hers. She reached out with her magic, opened her saddlebags and levitated up the keys. They jingled happily, and as they did, Rarity tittered to herself and tapped her hooves in place as if preparing to run. She could not help it; she was filled to the brim with energy! Everything had fallen into place! She could hardly believe everything had worked out so well. She had decided to leave Ponyville a while ago. There was nothing for her there, and with Filthy’s Barnyard Bargains holding so low prices she did not know if she could compete. It did not matter though; she wanted to make it in the big city, not sleepy little Ponyville. Manehattan. Oh, what a beautiful name for the beautiful city where she was going to make her future. This was the city where she would conquer the entire fashion world! They would call her the  Neighpoleon of fashion, so bold, dashing and epic would her conquest be! With a spring in her step, Rarity strode past the empty hallway and into the apartment proper. It was not large, but still much better than expected when she had envisioned her first Manehattan apartment. She opened the door to the bathroom. It was small and sadly lacked a bathtub, but she would make do with the shower. She already had her toiletries and the most essential makeup packed in the saddlebags. The mirror was not as large as she would have wanted, but she would make do. She nodded happily. The kitchen too had all the essentials: fridge, some odd plates and silverware, table, a sink and an old mircowave. No dishwasher, but that was no problem. She would wash the dishes herself and save a few bits on water too. The bedroom was the only room she was somewhat displeased with, but it was a small price to pay. It was too small for two separate beds, so she would have to make do with a double instead. It should not be a problem, but she had never slept in the same bed as another pony before, let alone a mare. She was a little nervous. Still, sleeping together with a friend could not be so bad. Especially when it was their pooled savings that made this dream possible. All years she had worked in her boutique came down to this. She continued into the heart of the apartment, to the room that would make or break her. Two sewing machines stood there. Hers was slightly more modern than the other. There were two pinboards on the wall for sketches and ideas, and some drawers for fabric and other sewing supplies. There was a window too. One could not be inspired without a window. She stood in the room and simply watched it all. ”This is my home, this is my home, this is my home.” The thought repeated in her mind over and over and over again until she realized her face had bloomed into a full grin once more. This was the happiest day of Rarity’s life. ”Hello? Are you here?” Somepony called from the door, causing Rarity to startle before she recognized her friend’s voice. ”In here darling!” She called back. ”Just taking it all in!” Hoofsteps approached and Rarity went to the side so her friend could stand beside her. The other mare came up, stood still for a moment and then broke into a smile just like Rarity had. ”We are really here, aren’t we?” her friend asked. ”We are darling,” Rarity all but danced into the room and placed herself in front of her friend. ”Watch out Manehattan, two new stars have arrived!” She giggled, as did her friend. ”To think I would travel here with you,” her friend said softly. ”The unicorn I met at Ponyville knitter’s league. Who would have thought, back then?” ”I couldn’t be happier,” Rarity said and hugged her friend. ”To think I have such a great friend to conquer the fashion world with.” ”Yea,” Suri Polomare said and hugged back. ”Come on, m’kay! The fashion world isn’t gonna throw itself at our hooves!” The two friends laughed heartily and went to their respective sewing machines. None of them could wait to get started. ***** Three years later ***** FFF’s main office was located in Canterlot, just as any self-respecting company’s. FlimFlamFood’s two CEOs however only rarely visited their headquarters, preferring to let a staff of consultants run the day-to-day needs of their business. Instead, Flim and Flam could be found spurring on their R&D  department with the next magitech project or, more often, in one of the many clubs around Equestria. This evening though, they were not at either of those places. This evening they spent in their luxurious, three-story apartment located in one of the highest buildings in the city that never sept, Manehattan. In particular, one of the two brothers stood and looked out over the bustling city harbor from the window that covered the entire east wall. Water always had a calming effect on him, as had counting the ships that moved in and out. It was uncommon that he was anxious. He was a pony who thought everything through before he acted and then did not reflect more over what could have been. Anxiety was a waste of his creativity. Still, this evening he was dealing with ponies he did not know, and the venture he and his brother had cooked up was uncertain at best and ruinous at worst. So Flam was anxious, and then he counted ships. His brother, meanwhile, had other methods for staving of anxiety. Methods that involved doing immoral things with a chocolate colored pegasus mare in the bedroom. Flam knew that his brother was just as serious about their venture as he was, but it was becoming increasingly hard to believe when the guests would arrive in half an hour and Flim was still (probably) undressed. Just as Flam decided to go and subtly knock on the bedroom door, said door opened and Flim went out with that kind of careless grace only he could manage. His mane was even more tousled  than usual, his breath slightly labored and a thin layer of sweat covered his body. The mare too went out behind him, though she cowered slightly at Flam’s displeased look. In short, this was not a pony Flam wanted to bring to any occasion save for a bachelor party. ”Say, brother of mine, do you know what time it is?” He asked his brother without taking notice of the other pony. ”Twenty-seven minutes past ten in the evening,” Flim answered casually. ”And do you perhaps recall that we have a small get-together scheduled for tonight?” Flam asked. ”I would very much like it if you could try to look presentable.” Flim rolled his eyes. ”That is a whole thirty-three minutes away, brother. You know I could look representable in five minutes flat. Besides, don’t you think our guests will appreciate this pinnacle of masculinity?” He struck a highly revealing pose. Flam groaned. ”Okay, fine,” Flim said in a resigned voice. He turned to the mare. ”Seems like Mr. Stick-in-the-mud wants me somewhere. Sorry, sweetheart.” ”No problem at all,” the other pony said. ”I didn’t mean to intrude on you when you were busy.” ”I think it’s safe to say I did most of the intruding,” Flim quipped, causing his brother to groan even louder and the mare to blush. ”Just… take a shower,” Flam said tiredly. Thirty minutes later, Flim stepped out of his room, dressed in the same tailored marine blue suit as Flam, who subtly studied his brother and wondered for the thousandth time just how Flim could change from the indolent, reckless pony he had been half an hour ago to the polished, well-spoken gentlecolt he was now. A series of measured knocks on the door roused him from his rumination. He went to open. ”Good evening, Mr. Rich,” Flam said with the familial tone reserved for ponies he wanted to make an impression on. ”I am most pleased you could join us tonight. I know how busy you must be.” As he let Filthy inside, Flam noted the neat suit jacket and fetching tie. Filthy had a professional, yet relaxed aura to him; not to flamboyant and not to subdued. ”Well, I just so happened to be in town,” Filthy said. The two sat down at a stylish glass table just in front of the window wall. ”Besides, if I had not come, then I would never stop thinking about just what the three of us might have talked about here. Surely you must have something extraordinary to discuss to call a meeting far from the cameras and journalists.” ”I won’t even bother to deny that there might be some… hypothetically unconventional dealings tonight,” Flim said as he came up to join his brother. ”Can I tempt you with a few drops of Mull McTrot from 953?” ”If you don’t have any 955 I suppose it will do,” Filthy sighed and took the glass of amber liquid. ”but I did not come here to drink. Please tell me, just what would the two of you want with an old business stallion like me?” ”You will have to wait just a little while longer before we tell you that,” Flam said. ”You see, you are not the only pony invited here tonight. Though you seem to be the only one with a sense of punctuality.” ”Au contré! It is called being fashionably late!” ”Miss Rarity,” Flim said with his cocky smile. He strode up to the door and respectfully kissed Rarity’s hoof. ”Enchanté.” He meant it too, Flam could tell. Rarity was dressed in a light, airy dress in pale blue and a golden hem. She looked very bit the fashion queen she was. Her companion looked equally stunning with a whisky amethyst dress, likewise accented with gold. ”Rarity Belle, Suri Polomare. I am most pleased to see you,” Flam said with his measured, professional voice. He shook hoof with the both of them and guided them back to the table where Filthy sat and looked towards The Pony of Liberty in the harbor port. ”Now, if I have done my homework correctly…” Flim produced up two wine glasses and two bottles wine, one red and one white. ”Chenin Blanc from Raisin Coeur’s plantation, aged for two and a half year and served with just the tiniest hint of… rosemary,” he said as he poured and put the glass in front of Suri Polomare, after having sprinkled a few leaves over it. ”Unusual, but your favorite, correct?” ”What a gentlecolt,” Suri remarked and swirled the glass around in her hoof. She studied the liquid with a critical eye. ”And quite correct, m’kay.” ”That makes me happy,” Flim replied and uncorked the second bottle. ”Pinot Noir from Princess Celestia’s personal garden, one of three such bottled auctioned off five years ago. They say Celestia saves the first rays of sunlight every morning for these grapes and that the taste is imbued with the warmth and tenderness of the princess herself.” He paused for effect. ”Of course, there are also those who just calls it ’sex in a glass’. Not the place I prefer it, but…” He set the glass down just in front of Rarity and then swiftly sat down next to his wide eyed brother. ”You are absolutely right dear. This is my favorite,” Rarity said, somewhat coy. With a glint in her eye, she added. ”And about your risqué comment, I am not drunk yet.” Flam released a breath he did not realize he had been holding. His brother’s way with other ponies, especially mares, never ceased to amaze him. ”Now, then,” Flam said and stood up, immediately grabbing the attention of everypony in the room. ”Seeing just how expensive your time is, I think we should get down to business. You see, my brother and I discovered a downright fabulous fact the other week.” ”A rapturous revelation, I’d say,” Flim elaborated. ”A spectacular stratagem, you might call it.” ”Doubtlessly, a dazzling disclosure.” ”But after having triple checked, there was only one conclusion: Together, the five of us are really, really rich!” Flim and Flam both said loudly. The room fell into a dumbfounded silence. A cricket could be heard somewhere in the apartment. Somepony coughed as the silence stretched into uncomfortable levels. Five pairs of eyes followed a dustball that somehow blew over the clean floor. ”Okay then…” Filthy Rich said tentatively. ”I… uh…?” ”I could have told you that, m’kay,” Suri said with a sigh. ”And for a moment there I thought you had something interesting to show us. Now, if you are done wasting our time, Rarity and I have someplace we could be.” Flim cast a sheepish look towards Flam. ”Well I have something else I could say, but it’s not that interesting really…” ”Same here brother of mine, but I think it’s worth a shot, don’t you?” ”Ah, well, I guess it is. Since we actually have the richest ponies in Equestria here we might as well try.” Flim and Flam both took out two stacks of papers from a drawer by the table and slid them to their guests. One stack for Suri and Rarity, and another towards Filthy. As one they looked at each other with dubious glances, but after Filthy shrugged and started reading, Rarity and Suri followed suit, thought they did not look very interested. The further into they got into the reading, the more the ponies’ eyes dilated, until Filthy looked like he had seen a river flowing uphill. ”How did you find out…” he mumbled before something dawned on his face. He suddenly looked afraid. Quick as lightning, he spun towards two equally chocked Rarity and Suri and snatched a paper from their pile. ”Allow me to save you the trouble,” Flim said without acknowledging that Filthy looked like he was reading his own obituary. ”Those are records of all your land ownership, both of what you own privately, is held by a decoy, or is owned by your daughter companies. There are also notes about some… clandestine dealings of yours.” ”What clandestine dealings?” Rarity asked curiously. ”For example Mr. Stripes once tried to have the Canterlot guard arrest Mr. Rich some years back. Five days later Plaid Stripes is missing,” Flam elaborated. ”She has never been found…” ”…Which makes sense, considering somepony has bribed the guards to drop that specific case,” Flam concluded. ”H-how did you find out all this?” Filthy sputtered. It was clear this was a strike below the belt for his part. ”Oh, don’t look so grim, Mr. Rich,” Flim said and patted him on the back. ”After all, you are in good company with us.” ”One simply don’t get to where the five of us are without daring to step on a few hooves,” Flam said. He glanced towards Rarity. ”As Coco Pommel learned.” The white unicorn choked on the wine she was drinking. She coughed and sputtered while Suri flinched as if she had sat on a live wire. ”I don’t know who that is,” Suri said with a surprisingly believable tone while her friend was still catching her breath. ”No? Well, let me tell you then. Eight moons ago, Coco Pommel, who was an up and coming fashion designer and one of your last rivals, lost everything she owned when she came down with a sudden case of clothing moths…” ”…In her fashion week collection…” Flam continued. ”…While out on the runway…” Flim went on, never acknowledging that Rarity squirmed with discomfort. Suri was blushing, but whether in shame or anger was impossible to tell. ”…just in front of the judges.” They both finished together. Rarity took a deep breath and smoothened out her expression. She took a sip of her wine and gave Flim a cutsy smile. ”Well, haven’t the two of you been studious? But I can’t help but noticing, you don’t seem judge us too harshly.” ”Oh, we don’t,” Flam said in a casual tone. ”I think it was pretty clever actually. A neat little way to remove her without getting your hooves all dirty. Nicely done.” ”And such cute hooves should never have to get dirty,” Flim chimed in. ”I’d take that as a compliment, but you will forgive a mare for being a little guarded around a pair of stallions who apparently holds a Damerecles sword over her head.” Rarity said with the same disarming smile. ”Not that you gentlecolts would actually take advantage of such dreadful things on poor little me, would you?” ”Wouldn’t dream of it,” Flim said. ”In fact, as a gesture of our good will, we have decided to even out the playing field between the five of us, haven’t we, brother?” ”Right you are, brother of mine,” Flam said. ”But what malicious misdeed should we confess too? That time when we accidentally ran over a stubborn farmer with our Super-Speedy-Cider-Squeezy-6000? His family had to sell the farm if they wanted to afford the hospital visit, I recall. Best purchase we ever did.” ”How about that time when we fooled the Appeloosans into planting their orchard right over the buffalos’ holy land?” Flim suggested. ”Ah, a good one,” Flam agreed. ”But nothing can top that time when we set loose the parasprite infestation around Baltimare.” ”Wait, that was you!?” Suri shouted in utter shock. ”But… but thousands of ponies starved after that! Half the harvests in Equestria were ruined.” ”Half, yes,” Flam said. ”But not our half. After our little parasprite prank, most farms were bankrupt, ready to be bought up.” ”Quite…” Filthy began. Then he paused, pondering the next word. His face broke into an uneasy grimace. ”Quite hideous… but I can only admit I would have done the same if my own company needed it.” ”Of course you would,” Flim said lightly. ”As we said, you don’t get to where we are by being afraid to dare a little gamble every now and then.” Rarity leaned forward with a cheeky smile. She looked a bit more secure now. ”Not that I don’t adore swapping stories with you rascals, but why exactly are we here? Might I hope you have a… proposition?” ”Oh, do we have a proposition?” Flam said with a silk smooth voice. ”I assure you, Miss Rarity, we do indeed have a proposition.” ”Well, don’t hold me on the rack any longer, m’kay,” Suri said with a ravenous look. ”Tell me.” ”Let me put it this way: What do you know about remote village-cults in northeastern Equestria?” ***** One moon later ***** Filthy downed a mouthful of Mull McTrot 955 from the small hip-flask he had brought for the specific possibility of becoming nervous. There was a reason it was called ”liquid courage”, after all. Thus feeling slightly more relaxed, he approached the large bright door. He took one final breath, just to steady himself before he opened it. This was it. After he was done, there would be no going back. After he was done, there would be no more Barnyard Bargains, and the only two endings would be with him on the throne or behind bars. An image of him in a prison garb flashed through his head, but it was soon replaced by the comforting, calming knowledge that if this worked, then his legacy, his wife and his Little Diamond would all be as safe as the sun in the sky. Then he could finally settle down, finally stop looking over his shoulder after impending disasters. He opened the door and went up to the large desk and the mare sitting there. She was an earth pony, blue of coat and with a stamp cutie mark currently obscured by the table she worked by. Filthy knew her from multiple times in the past. She looked up at his entry. ”Mr. Rich, I didn’t expect to see you this soon again. It was only last month you completed the merger with Cenbucky Salt Lickens. Surely you are not going to begin another process this soon?” ”I Am, actually, dearest Inky Stamp.” Filthy said with a practiced smile. ”I want to get started as soon as possible, as I imagine this will take some time.” ”Well, what is it then?” Inky Stamp asked curiously. ”Another merger,” Filthy said and put his suitcase on Inky’s desk. ”The largest one yet. Believe me, it was hard to get everypony to agree, but eventually I did it.” He allowed himself another smile. ”I am proud to announce that Barnyard Bargains will merge with FlimFlamFoods as well as with R&S Fashion.” The blue pony looked like she had something stuck in her throat. ”FlimFlamFoods and R&S Fashion? But… but how…?” Inky opened her mouth and closed it again. ”But does that even work? Those businesses plus yours must be the largest ones in Equestria. If you merge… don’t you…?” ”…Own more money and real estate than the crown of Equestria? Indeed we do,” Filthy said. ”But that is none of your business, is it? Your business is to help represent us in any legal matters as well as lead the discussions with the princess.” ”Discussions?” Inky asked uncertainly. ”Just in case she tries to stop us,” Filthy said casually as if he discussed whether Fleetfoot or Sorin would win the next Wonderbolt derby. ”It will undeniably be a bit awkward for her to govern if she has another fraction with just as much influence as her. If she complains, you will have to kindly remind her that we have the law on our side.” Filthy was able to sympathize with Inky’s crestfallen posture. To argue with the immortal God-Princess of the sun was probably not a job she looked forward too. Normally, Filthy would have tried to comfort her, but that was unnecessary now. When Celestia was gone, he would remember those who helped him.