//------------------------------// // The Rainbow's New Home? // Story: Twilight's Kingdom of Steam // by Darthvalgaav //------------------------------// Twilight stood there, utterly baffled, as her friend remained still in front of her. Her mind was still busy trying to process that her rainbow colored friend was here, in Thunder Valley. That it was her who had entered into the country at super speed, slipping past the patrols and putting the General on the warpath. It was because of Rainbow that Twilight had ordered civilians to head down to shelters in order to keep them safe from the unknown. That is was her that had just performed a Sonic Rainboom in order to blow away all the foul air that surrounded the place so that she could breathe. Normally, Twilight would be more than a little angry at Rainbow Dash for all of this. This was certainly worse than the time she had snuck into her library in order to steal a book, pulled a prank, or just crashing into a window and knocking down every book on her shelves. Yet seeing her tired friend as she did her best to hold back a yawn made Twilight forget all of that for a moment. It was nice to see her again, even under the circumstances. Two shots rang through the air, hitting the space between Twilight and Rainbow. Both backed up with the guards moving in on both of Twilight’s sides as well as hanging above her. The other guards began to swarm the sky, painting in red from their uniforms. Many were landing all around the two with their weapons aimed at Rainbow Dash who only looked confused. Most likely due to the fact that she had no idea what their weapons could do or how they worked. Finally, landing in between Twilight and Rainbow Dash on her hind legs was Overkill. In both front hooves she held her hoofheld blunderbusses, the ones that most likely took those first shots. Twilight couldn’t tell where they were being aimed, but she felt sure that their aim would be both true as well as fatal. “Stand down and put your wings behind your head or get shot down,” growled Overkill as Rainbow Dash looked around. “You will be taken in for questioning before being put on trial. This is your only warning!” “And what do you think you can do with those,” asked Rainbow Dash, her voice rising as she gestured to Overkill’s weapons. “They’re not sharp enough to cut me. Most you could do is bludgeon me. That is…if you catch me.” “Oh?” asked Overkill in a tone that made Twilight image her guard grinning behind her mask. “Sort of hoping you’d be dumb enough to think that.” “Bring it on!” snapped Rainbow Dash as she got into a stance Twilight had seen a million times. It was the one Rainbow always went into whenever she was going to go into a reckless aerial dogfight. Her legs were spread out, ready to help spring her into the air really quickly. “Enough!” shouted Twilight as she regained her wits. Using her magic, a purple glow appeared on the exposed ear of Rainbow Dash. At once she began to pull on it causing Rainbow to break out of her stance as she moaned painfully, constantly repeating ‘ouch’ over and over again as she failed to pull the magic off with her hooves. “Your Grace,” whispered Count Raven. “I believe I saw that one before we departed for Equestria. I believe she is one of Your Grace’s friends.” As he spoke, the guards looked at each other. While their faces were still hidden behind their masks, the tension in the area began to quickly fade. Many began to lower their weapons upon seeing their new princess handling the threat in such a manner. Others kept their weapons trained on the target but there was a bit more lax in their stance. As for Overkill, she put one of her blunderbusses away while the other was fixed on Rainbow Dash as she backed up until she was standing next to Twilight. Twilight sighed as she nodded. “She is,” she said over their cries of her friend. Calmly, Twilight began to march back into the castle while dragging the pegasus behind her with Overkill by her side. Both Spike and Count Raven gave her some distance as they did not want to be her next victims. “Count Raven, please inform all the guards and military to stand down while I deal with this. Be sure to let them, as well as the General, know that this is a misunderstanding and not an invasion. One that I will be dealing with so that it will not happen again. Please also make sure that the public knows it’s safe to return home or go to work. If there were any damages caused by the Sonic Rainboom, make sure I am told.” “…A Sonic Rainboom?” echoed the Count, his voice puzzled as the unfamiliar words left his lips. However this confusion lasted him only a moment. “It shall be done Your Grace.” Taking only a moment to turn and nod her thanks to the older stallion, Twilight’s horn began to glow brightly. A moment later she, Spike, Overkill, and Rainbow Dash were in her office. Twilight had managed to teleport herself, Spike, and Overkill on one side of her desk where her chain was. As for Rainbow, she landed on one of the chairs situated in front of the desk opposite of Twilight. The chair whined and shook from the sudden weight dropped on it but held up. Knowing that this might be a while, Twilight did her best to get comfortable before releasing the magical hold on her hot headed friend. “Geez Twi, what’s the big deal?” complained Rainbow Dash as she rubbed her now free ear while shooting a nasty look in Twilight’s direction. “This is what a mare gets for coming over to see a friend? “Rainbow, as happy as I am to see you again, do you have any idea what you just did?” asked Twilight as Rainbow continued to slowly rub her ear. “I have a nervous General who thinks this might have been the start to an attack on Thunder Valley. Ponies panicked because they had no idea what was going on!” “Since when is it a problem to fly over to a friend’s house?!” demanded Rainbow as she rose. As she did, Overkill reached for her weapons again but was halted when Twilight raised a wing. Rainbow seemed to get the message and sat back down. “Rainbow, this country has had no visitors in over a thousand years,” said Twilight slowly. “Nopony here is used to having ponies or other creatures flying in unannounced like that. Their world is changing and having you just flying in faster than any zeppelin on the market made them fear the worse. And it didn’t help that you never stopped to say why you were here as well as getting past a blockade around this city.” Twilight then let out a sigh before shaking her head. “You could have at least written a letter saying you were coming. All you had to do was hoof it over to Princess Celestia and she would have sent it to me right away. I would have had a zeppelin waiting for you at the border ready to pick up if I had known you were coming.” Now Rainbow was looking rather sheepish. “Well, to be honest, this was sort of a spur of the moment sort of thing. We got your letter about not being able to make to the Equestria Games. So I thought maybe I should come and see you. Maybe make it a surprise?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m surprised,” she said in a rather flat tone. Then she let out a sigh as her face softened. “I’m sorry Rainbow. I am happy to see you again, it's just that your timing isn’t all that great right now.” Rainbow tilted her head. “Why? What else is going on?” she asked. “Oh nothing much,” said Spike. “We just found out that Overkill here has been spying on us for the General. Not only that, a bunch of the nobles want Twilight here to let this big scumbag go because of who his daddy is. So having them think that they might be under attack or this being the beginning to an invasion didn’t help matters.” Twilight bit the bottom of her lip as Spike spoke up. Quickly she glanced behind her to see Spike had his arms crossed, briefly looking over at Overkill while the Specialist stood there facing Rainbow, almost as if she wasn’t paying any attention to the smaller creature. While that was all true, she really wished Spike hadn’t mentioned the bit with Overkill. Twilight had allowed her a second chance due to the fact that she understood Overkill had been following orders. It seemed, however, that Spike still hadn’t gotten over the betrayal. “Princess,” said Overkill, gaining Twilight’s attention. The purple alicorn turned to look at her protector whose gaze had not left Rainbow. “Are we sure this is your friend?” “What?!?” shouted Rainbow as she got to her hooves. Rearing on her hind legs, Rainbow made a motion to slam both her forelegs onto the desk but was quickly stopped. Not by Twilight’s magic this time but by the blade of Overkill’s axe which she quickly whipped out. Instantly recognizing the danger of this weapon, Rainbow shrinked back. “Overkill, put that away,” said Twilight. Overkill did not obey right away, slowly pulled the weapon back to her side yet keeping it in hoof. “What makes you think this might not be Rainbow Dash? You’ve never met her before.” “The information I received on Changelings,” said Overkill in a matter of fact voice, causing Rainbow’s eyes to widen. Spike, meanwhile, clenched his tiny fists. “Twilight, you’re not going to let her accuse-” began Spike but was cut off as Overkill spoke up louder. “According to what I’ve learned, they can not only take on other ponies appearances but can also do feats of magic. I don’t pretend to completely understand how magic works and all that, but I don’t think a single pony could create a shockwave that powerful or that colorful. Not without the aid of some device. Or perhaps magic. Considering that, we should not rule out the possibility of infiltration or assassination by them.” “What? The Sonic Rainboom?” asked Rainbow Dash. “That’s not an attack. It’s a flying trick. One that only one pegasus on the planet can do wow the crowds. Guess which pegasus that is? This one!” “Trust me, I don’t think it's possible for a Changeling to reproduce it,” said Twilight to Overkill. “Not without me noticing if something was off. I’ve seen it plenty of times to understand how it works. She even did one for my brother’s wedding to make it extra special.” She then turned to look at Rainbow. “But I do understand why it could be considered an attack. Rainbow, why did you do something like that?” “Because the air here is impossible to breathe!” shouted Rainbow. “I tried flying in, but the air here just sucks. I had to fly back a bunch of times to get another lungful before trying to figure out where you were. Plus with those zeppelins shooting at me I really didn’t have a whole lot of options in front of me. What is with that anyways?” “It was like that when I got here,” said Twilight with a sigh. “One of many things I need to figure out how I’m going to fix once I get the time.” “Well it’s a good thing that I’m here then,” said Rainbow as she sat back in her chair, looking rather pleased with herself as she crossed her hooves in front of her barrel. “Because I can help you cross something off that long list I’m pretty sure you have written in several places.” “You are?” asked Twilight and Spike at the same time. “How?” “With your sports team obviously,” said Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “Look, you said you couldn’t make it to the Equestria Games because you didn’t have a team ready. Well that and you missed the deadline. The thing is: you can’t let this stand. Next year you might qualify to host the games. How embarrassing will it be if you get rejected because you still don’t have a team of elite athletes and sports ponies? The answer: so badly you don’t want to know. Which is where I come in. I’m willing to help start up and train a team just like the Wonderbolts to help Thunder Smelly win the gold.” “Valley!” growled Overkill. “It’s Thunder Valley! Not smelly!” Rainbow smirked at that. “Not from where I’m smelling,” she said. “Applejack’s pig pen combined with the locker room at the Ponyville gym is a field of daisies compared to what I’ve smelt out there. It’s like you ponies have gone nose blind or something.” “But Rainbow, what about your dream to become a Wonderbolt?” asked Twilight. At the sound of her words, Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened a bit as she looked away. “Yeah, about that,” began Rainbow before she turned to look at Twilight. “I’ve been doing some thinking after you left. As awesome as being a Wonderbolt would be, it’s starting to look like a boring job after everything we’ve been through. I mean, how many bad guy flanks have we kicked together since we became friends? How many times I had an excuse to travel from one end of Equestria to the other? How many times have the Wonderbolts been able to claim to do any of that? The last time they tried to help they ended up getting stuck in a water tower jammed into the side of a mountain. Not really as epic as they used to be. “So, I started doing some thinking and what I came up with was a real no brainer. I’ll create a team that can rival the Wonderbolts here in Thunder Valley. That way I’ll be here if we ever have to go on another wild, crazy adventure or if you just need somepony as awesome as me to hang around with. Plus I’ll be starting up the very first group of thestral elite fliers that are sure to give the Wonderbolts a run for their money.” Twilight nodded at that. It did sound like it would work. Sure, they couldn’t compete in the Games this year but at least they could start working on next year. It would be good for them to get a little more exposure as well. Perhaps before the games they could do some shows in other countries. The only thing she was worried about was how the team would possibly feel about being led and created by a pony from another country. Then again their current ruler was from another country so maybe that would be a mute point. But then again… “This all seems good,” began Twilight. “But, what about the rest of our friends? And those back in Ponyville?” Once again, Rainbow looked away for a moment. “Yeah, I thought about that,” she said. “I’ve talked about this with Pinkie and the squirt a bit. They’re not too thrilled about the idea but they understand it’s what I want to do. Right now they’re keeping things on the down low until I talked to you. See if it were ok before I packed my bags. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of crying and other sappy stuff when I do decide to tell them, but I think it’s for the best. Besides, Ponyville has gone from being the Chaos Capital of Equestria to snooze city. Plus there are plenty of pegasi ready to take over my weather duties. Not as fast as me of course but they can manage. And it’s not like I’ll never see them again. If there is trouble I’ll just triple book it back to Ponyville, help stop whatever is going on, and be back in time for dinner. Easy peasy.” Despite herself, Twilight let out a chuckle while shaking her head. “It won’t be that simple,” she said. “But, I’m not going to turn down a friend who is willing to help out Thunder Valley. So if you’re sure about this I’ll be glad to have you on staff. I’ll speak with the General to let him know you’re going to be helping us and try to calm him down. I’m pretty sure Steel Trap wasn’t happy with the way you made all his trained soldiers look. You may be looking at some jail time as well as community service depending on how much damage you caused. But if nopony was hurt, I’ll do my best to make sure it isn’t too long.” Rainbow grinned as she stood up. Quickly she spat on her hoof before holding it out to Twilight. “You won’t regret this Twi.” Twilight, for her part, shied away from the offered hoof. “We…don’t do that around here,” she said. Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on her door. After giving permission for the pony to enter, a stallion entered the office. Dressed in a pinstripe shirt and vest, the thestral stallion pulled in a cart full of papers that swayed back and forth behind him. “Princess, here is the first group of documents on business contracts that you requested,” he said in a dull voice. “I thought you were going to give her the abridged version or something,” said Spike causing the stallion to eye him evilly. “This is the abridged version,” he said stiffly as he unhooked himself. Once freed he bowed before the Twilight who looked at the documents with a look of awe on her face. “By your leave, I shall go and acquire the other four carts that we have prepared for you. Hopefully you find what you are looking for.” With that said, the stallion left. Twilight wasted no time getting to her hooves and walking over to the documents. “Wow,” she said as she eyed the stacks of documents with an almost hungry expression. “For a moment, I was worried all they would give me was a few pieces of paper with most of the juicy stuff taken out! Looks like I was worried for nothing! Now we can have fun while we deal justice!” “Well then,” said Rainbow Dash as she spotted Twilight levitating several documents with her magic. “I can see you guys are going to be busy for a while. Guess I’ll head back to Ponyville and start packing.” As she leapt from her chair, the speedy pegasus made her way to the door…only to be stopped by Twilight teleporting in front of her. Wearing a smile that made Rainbow cringe. “There’s plenty of fun to go around,” said Twilight. “Plus we could use all the hooves we can get.” Rainbow looked at the documents floating around Twilight with apprehension. The alicorn had known Rainbow Dash for a good length of time; well enough to know that her friend only read Daring Do, the book series that she had introduced her to. Still, it surprised her that her friends weren’t more open to the idea of expanding their minds. Sure, these documents might not have the same amount of action as Daring Do. Far less jungle fights at least. But there would be hidden traps and loopholes just waiting to be found! A chance to learn about another culture's legal dealings. How could anypony in their right mind turn that down? Rainbow Dash looked from side to side, sweat appearing on her muzzle as she gave a forced smile. “Ah, well,” she began stumbling with an excuse to get her out. Twilight just sighed. “We could just call this the start of your community service,” she said. -x- At the same time, Lady Gray walked into her apartment. She was an elegant mare with a grey coat, her mane of silver and white tied to one side of her head with a gear spider mane clip keeping it together. The mask she wore was white instead of black or red with yellow lenses that dripped soot onto the carpet. Perhaps there was even more soot on the black and grey dress that she wore, hidden by their colors. Finally, in one of her hooves, she held a long thin box which she placed on the floor near the closet. Without a word, the mare opened her closet door and began to undress. First came her mask which was placed on a hanger along with three other masks the colors gold, silver, and red. Next to the masks were six other fine dresses as well as an empty hanger for the dress she was currently wearing. Each one looking like they had been made by the best seamstresses in Automahollow. Which, in fact, they were. And considering the amount of grits she had paid for them they had better show it to the world. For a moment, Lady Gray stood there with her head hanging low before finally she removed her dress and placed it with the other. With her attire removed, she reached down for the box with a blank expression on her muzzle. Slowly she opened it to see that the gift she had been given by her best client was a bottle of wine. A twenty eight year old vintage and one very popular by the current upper middle class these days. Something about its more fruity flavor or something like that. For several minutes she stared at the bottle, paying no attention to anything else while her eyes slowly narrowed. Then, with a furious and sudden scream, Lady Gray took the bottle with both hooves on the neck and began to smash it over and over against the wall. The bottle shattered after the third blow, its red liquid splashing against the wall, floor, and a bit of her face. But it didn’t stop her. A few more blows were given until all that remained of the bottle were shards of glass, leaving a panting mare to stare at the liquid as it stained her carpet. “A right waste that,” said a voice in her apartment, causing Lady Gray’s eyes to widen. Her heart began to beat ever faster for she knew nopony else lived with her. Not even a mouse was allowed to stay with her for too long. Slowly, Lady Gray turned her head to look around her apartment for the intruder. The adjacent living room was large, with lime green wallpaper that had cost her extra grits to have installed. The hardwood floor shined in the moonlight as did the fake diamond (in reality just cheap glass) chandler in the middle of the ceiling. The furniture was simple, a long sitting couch and a few chairs surrounding an elegantly crafted bronze table in the middle. All of this for entertaining what few ponies were allowed in her home. Everything had been mostly how she had left it when she had departed for her appointment the previous evening. All but two things. One was the glass of wine on the table, half drunk. The other was the stallion laying on the couch with both his forelegs behind his head. As if on some sort of cue, the stallion righted himself before getting off the couch. Now with him looking at her, Lady Gray could see who had dared enter her pitiful home. She had never seen the stallion face to face, but she knew him instantly. She had wanted to meet with him, on her terms. Clearly, it was not to be. “Mr. Dandy,” said Lady Gray as she quickly morphed her expression into the most pleasant and charming one she could muster. There was still a chance she could make this work. Her plans for the city would be greatly helped if she had a stallion like him unwittingly helping her. “What an unexpected surprise.” Dandy didn’t say anything at first, simply picking up the glass on the table before taking a sip. Lady Gray almost flinched as the crystal glass touched his lips but managed to keep herself in control. When the stallion finished he gently placed the glass on the table. “Been meaning to have a little chat with you for some time now,” said Just Dandy as he licked his lips. “As have I,” said Lady Gray as she strode over to him. “Please, allow me to freshen up a bit before we talk business. Perhaps I can find us something more refined to drink.” “Oh, sorry there love,” said Just Dandy, his voice icy cold enough to caused Lady Gray to freeze in mid trot. Only for a moment allowing her to move back a bit. “I ain’t here to get into bed with you. Neither for business or pleasure. Just here to give some good advice.” Lady Gray took a quick breath at that, her eyes focused on him. “Now, there’s no need to be like that,” she said sweetly as she moved forward again. “There’s always plenty of room in bed for both. You just need to keep an open mind. Just think of all the grits we could make if we pooled our resources.” Now close enough, Lady Gray reached out with one of her wings to stroke Just Dandy’s cheek. It was a gesture she had used to calm down and placate even the most hardened clients. None of them could resist her charm, her soft touch. Imagine her surprise when Just Dandy swatted her wing away with his own. “You’ve been in this town for a couple of months now,” hissed Dandy as he moved a bit closer. “Got yourself a fancy office for them upper class blokes to rent a mare, tail raisers walking the streets, and even rented a couple of buildings for the middle blokes to come to you. Now you’re trying to get the mare’s in the slums with promises that they’ll have a good life. I don’t like that much.” Lady Gray’s ear twitched a bit, but did her best to stay calm. “I’m just making them a better offer than anything they could ever make in the back of the city,” said Lady Gray as she kept her eyes on Dandy. “Some of them were probably tail raisers already.” “Perhaps,” said Dandy in a cold tone. “If they wanted to come and work for you, I wouldn’t have anything to say about it now. But, when your mares are making veiled threats or if their hassling mares who are just pretty to pressure them into joining that’s different. That’s when they talk to their friend Just Dandy.” Dandy then slammed a hoof on the floor causing Lady Gray to flinch. In that moment, the stallion had closed the distance between them so that his face was inches away from hers. When he spoke next, she could feel every breath against her muzzle. “Now, I will say this once. A lot of those mares in the slums are good, hard working thestrals that I see every night. Some might even have a chance to break out of their lot. Stay away from them.” Lady Gray opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of her bedroom door opening caused her to stop. Turning her head to the side, she saw that there were two thestrals standing at the doorway. As she took a deep breath, another door opened up this one leading to her kitchen. This time a mare was standing there with her hooves looking a little wet with the sound of running water coming in the background. Lady Gray didn’t even need a moment to understand the direness of the threat being made. Quickly, she looked at Dandy and nodded. “Need to hear you say it,” said Dandy. “I’ll stay away from them,” said Lady Gray quickly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. For a moment, Dandy just watched her as if he were trying to figure out if she was lying or not. Then he pulled away and jerked his head towards the door. The thestrals with him moved silently towards the door leading out of her apartment where they waited for their leader. As for Just Dandy, he waited for another moment or two while keeping his eyes glued to her. She could see his lower lip twitching slightly. For a moment, Lady Gray feared he would strike at her or something. Instead the stallion muttered something under his breath before turning to depart. Soon the door to her apartment opened and closed leaving the mare alone. -x- “Princess you cannot be serious!” roared General Steel Trap as he paced within Twilight’s office. Twilight, who had been reading some of the documents in front of her before he had come, barging in, watched him as he moved. “Illegally entering the country, attacking our troops, fleeing arrest, that damned light show in the sky! And you want to give her control of some sports team!” “Yes I do,” said Twilight simply. “Rainbow Dash is willing to accept some form of punishment for her trespasses. After that-” Steel Trap never let Twilight finish, slamming his hoof on her desk so hard that it blew all of her papers away. “Her crimes are too numerous. You are allowing your friendship with this mare to blind you from your duty. This is supposed to be your country now! Your priority should be to protect the ponies here from would be invaders and maintain order! If you cannot do that-” “I am not so blinded as you might think,” snapped Twilight, her horn glowing as all the scattered documents returned to her desk. “First of all, I doubled checked our border laws…or at least I tried to. There isn’t a single law out there pertaining to entering the country illegally or under false pretenses. We can thank the barrier for that I believe. Or is it written somewhere I haven’t been informed about?” Steel Trap said nothing as he stared back at Twilight, a glint in his gaze. She could see the wheels turning in his head trying to find an appropriate counterargument to make. She knew this wouldn’t be easy for him. If he said yes, he would then have to point out when it was created, why, and why she hadn’t been informed about it when she had asked. If he said no then there was no crime to resist. Then again… “She still should have stopped to state her intentions,” said Steel Trap as he backed away from the desk and speaking in a calmer tone. “If she had done that, this whole situation could have been avoided.” “I agree,” said Twilight with a nod. “She should have realized that she was worrying us when cannons were being fired upon her.” She paused for a moment. “I read that nopony in the city was hurt by the sonic shock wave she created. The report also mentioned that there was no property damage. However, the gases within the city were pushed out to the surrounding area. Thankfully, nopony was hurt and the gases are starting to settle over the city again as we speak. We’ll probably be able to walk outside without our masks on for at least a couple of days. Maybe weeks. Were any of our forces hurt?” “Nothing major,” said the General. “Several crew members aboard our zeppelins were thrown off, but they managed to right themselves and got back on board. More shaken up than anything. As for the equipment, no major damages have been brought to my attention so far. Just dents and a loss of ammo that can hopefully be found with a search of the surface. I’ll know more soon in a few hours when the inspection has been fully completed.” Twilight couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief. Nopony was hurt by all of this. This was good. “We’ll start making preparations to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” began Twilight. “For right now, I believe we should put up several signs and set up loudspeakers to inform travelers that they are to stop for a brief inspection before they can enter. If they resist like that again, you have permission to detain them while I contact Princess Celestia. In the long term, once the budget is not so tight, we can begin building something more official and sturdy.” General Steel Trap’s eyes narrowed a tad. “That might be too late!” he all but shouted. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, even if ponies who can fly that fast are rare they still propose a danger to this country. We couldn’t keep up with one. That single mare made our army look like a joke. Imagine if-” “I will speak with Princess Celestia and ask her to inform us if any Wonderbolt level pegasus is planning on entering our country,” interrupted Twilight. “Right now that’s all we can do with what we have. If you want, we can place a few more troops around the entrance of Thunder Valley. As for Rainbow Dash, she is one of Equestria’s greatest modern day flyers and is asking for the chance to help us. If she can help train our flyers to be even closer to her level of skill, I would think that even you could see the benefits.” “But the risk,” hissed General Steel Trap. He opened his mouth to say more, but then stopped. Shaking his head he backed away from her desk. “Princess, I believe I have made my feelings clear on the matter. What will her punishment be?” “Two weeks imprisonment followed by community service up until the next Equestrian Games,” replied Twilight. “Following that, if I am still in charge, I’ll be speaking with the other Great Houses to see if anything more is needed. It will depend how her team performs and how the thestrals react.” “And you are going through with this even though you are pressing charges against Arms Dealer?” pressed the General. “Even though we might lose our contract with his father?” Twilight waved a hoof over her deck to indicate the documents. “I am working on it as we speak,” she said. “I am hoping we can find the right ponies to help us with this issue. That or try to keep Arms Maker from breaking his contract with us in some way. No matter what, Arms Dealer is a problem that has gone on for too long. We can’t allow this to continue.” At first, Twilight expected the General to argue with her. To say that the life or well beings of a few mares couldn’t compare to the safety of the nation. That she wasn’t thinking logically or something like that. But, he didn’t. The General closed his eyes for a moment while his face relaxed somewhat. Well, as much as it could when his lower jaw was made of metal. Then when he opened them again the General looked older somehow. “In principle, I agree with you,” he said softly, surprising Twilight even more with his words. “This mess shouldn’t have gone on as long as it did. The last time he did this should have been the last time, period.” Then the General shook his head. “We were in a much better situation back then. We had the barrier. We could have rationed our ammo while we sought out new vendors. If only we could have conceived that it might one day, in our lifetime, fade then maybe we would have done something sooner. But we didn’t.” The General then let out a sigh. “In practice and in the best interests of Thunder Valley, we need Arms Maker. Perhaps now more than ever. My opinion is that we wait until the contract with his company comes up for renewal so that he can’t cancel it on a whim. So he can’t use it to shield his son anymore. Or perhaps find an alternative punishment for Arms Dealer.” “I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “But in the best interests of Thunder Valley, I can’t let this go on any longer than it has. Arms Dealer will just continue to do whatever he wants like a spoiled colt. There are to be no more compromises with him.” The General nodded slowly before bowing. “Then I hope you know that you are doing Princess,” he said if he turned around. “Because, if I feel like you will be unable to keep our military running, it will be my duty to inform the other Great Houses that you have put this nation into jeopardy. Then your time as ruler of Thunder Valley will be over.” With that, the General opened the door to Twilight office. Both he and Twilight blinked when they saw Chalky standing there, looking back at them. Had he been listening at the door? Before Twilight could raise herself from her seat, Chalky began to walk out of sight. Soon the frowning General followed suit, leaving Twilight alone in her office with nothing but her papers.