//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 - Abdication // Story: Further Tales From Day Court // by Blade Star //------------------------------// “Sorry, Tia,” I said, not quite fully processing what I’d just heard. “Run that by me again?” Celestia chuckled at my bewilderment, as did Luna who was sitting next to her in her own throne. “Luna and I are retiring, Roger,” Celestia repeated. It was a good month or so down the line from the incident with Sombra vanishing from Tartarus. Things had settled down into relative peace and quiet. Twilight’s school was still on break and court had finally settled down into a steady pattern of nice, easy cases. All had seemed right with the world. And then my bosses decided to drop a sodding great thermonuclear weapon into the mix. “What?!” I exclaimed. “You...you’re abdicating?! Are you are insane, Tia?!” The pair of alicorn smiled indulgently at me. “The two of us have talked it over,” she went on. “Twilight and her friends are more than capable of taking care of Equestria. Thanks to them, Equestria is experiencing an unparalleled age of harmony. It’s time the two of us step aside.” “Step aside? You’re immortal alicorns, you don’t step aside. Tia, this is going to cause a constitutional crisis. There’ll be riots in the streets!” “I think you might be a tad overreacting,” Luna suggested gently, but I was now borderline panicking. “Your sole purpose on this planet is to raise and lower the sun and the moon. It’s your destiny! Twilight doesn’t have nearly enough power to do that. And are you seriously suggesting we put the mare who has so many near mental breakdowns that the term ‘Twilighting’ now appears in the Oxcolt Ponish Dictionary as an actual word? She can protect Equestria, sure, but she’s no politician. I mean, can you see her running court?” “We weren’t perfect when we first took up this role, Roger,” Celestia replied. “I’m sure Starswirl could tell you many entertaining stories of our early adventures. I can assure you, Twilight will do just fine. I wouldn’t be giving her the job if I didn’t think that.” “But why?” I exclaimed in frustration. “Equestria might be in an age of harmony, but since I got here there’ve been at least five near world ending disasters happen. Do you really think now is the best time to step down?” “As much as it pains me to say it,” Luna replied. “You’ll find that my sister and I were somewhat sidelined during many of those events. Our presence, or lack of it, did not have a great deal of an effect on the outcome.” “We still need you though,” I replied, fearing for my friends’ self-esteem. “You two are the reason Equestria has existed for so long. You’re both an institution. Removing you from power will cause a vacuum to form that could be filled by who knows what. You’re talking about transitioning from diarchy to monarchy.” “Equestria was a monarchy for a thousand years in my absence,” Luna countered. “And I have no doubt that a similar conversation took place when it was decided that sister here should rule alone.” “Equestria has been run by the same two ponies, in one way or another, for over a thousand years,” Celestia continued. “Stagnation is fatal to any society, and Equestria has been at a standstill long enough.” “But...but...” I spluttered, trying vainly to come up with some other argument to try and change their mind. I couldn’t think of anything. Well, there seemed to be no swaying them. The two of them had obviously thought long and hard about this. And over the years I have learnt to trust both princesses. I can recall a number of times Tia’s political manoeuvrings seemed to be sending us over a cliff, when they actually concluded quite nicely in her favour. And it did make sense in the long term. It was pretty clear, looking back, that Celestia was preparing Twilight for a future role. She turned her into an alicorn for a reason, not just so she could confer a title on her. And I suppose after a millennia, it was time for a change. Still, that didn’t make it any less of a shock. It was like world had fallen out from under me. I’d always assumed that I’d keep at this job until I retired, and Celestia would still be running the show when I was called. The pair had made their decision. If I really did have any respect for the diarchy, the least I could do was respect it. “So how long before you step down?” I asked, admitting defeat. Celestia smiled as she saw me calm down. “I’ve just sent a message summoning Twilight and the others,” she said. “After we explain things to them, and Twilight stops Twilighting, we’ll start preparing for the handover. It will be just a simple ceremony, and we should be ready by the end of the week.” “The end of the week?” I asked with no small amount of surprise. “That’s a little fast don’t you think, considering the ramifications and all.” “Better to rip the plaster off quickly than by degrees,” Luna replied. Well, it seemed all was in hand. And this time next week I’d have a new boss. “Alright then,” I said at length. “I guess there’s nothing I can do to change your minds?” Both mares shook their heads. “Okay, then I’ll say thank you, and good luck to the both of you,” I said, leaning in to hug the two of them. What can I say; I’m British, I keep calm and carry on, even amidst the biggest political sift since the American cabinet split after independence. “When you get back from Manehattan we can get together for a game of Mornington Crescent,” Celestia offered. “I’d like that.” And with that, I took my leave, my stomach doing somersaults. The princesses retiring? It was preposterous, almost as much as the idea of leaving purple book horse in charge. If I hadn’t been certain it wasn’t the case, I might have suspected changeling infiltration or some sort of dark magic at play. This was a fundamental shift in Equestria as a whole; a change that would shake it to its core. It would be like the day Queen Elizabeth dies, a day I’m glad to say, here in Equestria, I shall never have to see. Things would carry on but they would be so different. I couldn’t imagine how Bones would react when he heard the news; badly was my only guess. Still, I had other things to attend to today. I was once again going to leave Canterlot and head to Equestria’s metropolis; Manehattan. I was going there to take part in what the press was calling the trial of the century. Remember Marelone; that mobster I had dealings with a year or so ago? I’d caught him on tape agreeing to take part in criminal activities and exposing his involvement in organised crime. Confronted with the evidence, I’d managed to turn him into an informant, and through him, I had been able to deal a major blow to what I shall continue to call La Cosa Nostra; the mob. With his evidence and information, myself, the Royal Guard and the Manehattan Police Department had arrested, tried and convicted the vast majority of the group; the so-call Five Families. There was one though that was proving far more difficult to catch, and that was the stallion they called Capo di Capo; the Boss of Bosses; Speakeasy. The old stallion was in his early fifties now, but he pretty much ran Manehattan for a time, and where his compatriots had been caught out, he had continued to evade prosecution. Several attempts had been made to get indictments against him, but at one point or another, all charges had been dropped. The reasons had been various, procedural errors by the courts, ‘missing’ evidence from police storage facilities, and the simple fact that so many of the witnesses either at some point retracted their statements, or simply vanished. Celestia and I were both sick and tired of this blight on Equestria, and given how much energy I had put into destroying the vile organisation, I was determined to see it through to the end. Otherwise, well, they were like weeds. Give it a few months, and the criminal networks would be fully recovered, only with one pony in charge instead of five in competition. Needless to say, that would not be good. So Celestia had asked that I go up to Manehattan to aid in the prosecution, along with Wrought Steel. Speakeasy had rattled more than a few of the local boys to the point where many were unwilling to put a case up against him. And given today’s announcement, if nothing else, Speakeasy behind bars would make a nice retirement gift for Celestia. I couldn’t help but liken myself a bit to Elliott Ness. Since the local law couldn’t get the job done, it was time to get my own version of the Untouchables going. First stop, the offices of the Crown Prosecution Service. I found Wrought lounging in his office, looking rather pleased with himself. He’d just won himself a guilty verdict in the last Assizes against a rather unscrupulous huckster that had been conning poor old mares out of their retirement savings under the pretence of investing it in some non-existent venture. I’ve said it many times, but it’s worth repeating. I’ve never met a more able prosecutor in all my days. Nopony, hell no one, is as thorough in his preparation, diligent and observant of details, or as merciless when it comes to cross examination. He’s the only pony I can honestly say I’ve never won an argument with, and Celestia forbid the day I have to face him from the opposite side of Counsel Row. But he isn’t just in it to win at any cost. His moral code is equally impressive. If anypony could be called an Equestrian Elliott Ness, it would be him. Ponies have tried, and failed, to get to him. He has a strong sense of justice, and a clear code of right and wrong, hence his balanced scale cutie mark. He’s withstood offers of money, mares, power, and even threats to his life, and each time he’s brought the case home. In some cases, he’s nailed the bad guy when even I thought the battle lost. I can’t think of anypony more suited to help me bring down a pony who was bucked three trials, seven indictments, and one extradition order. Wrought Steel is as brave as a bulldog, and tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws into you. He could bring down Speakeasy, and bring him down the right way. “Well,” Wrought said with a smile. “Out of all the offices of all the prosecutors in all the world, you walk into mine, Roger.” I grinned back at him. “Hey Wrought,” I greeted. “How would you like to bring down a genuine mob boss?” The stallion was instantly on his hooves, his former languid repose forgotten. He was now like a hound on the trail of the fox. “You’re going after Speakeasy?” he asked hopefully. I nodded. “He’s the last man standing,” I replied. “But he’s proven more than a little tough to get to trial, never mind secure a verdict. I’m headed up to Manehattan now to see if I can’t finish the job. Fancy coming along?” Wrought was already grabbing his briefcase and files. “Fancy it?” he asked. “I’d give my horn just to see the look on Speakeasy’s face when he goes down. Never mind the opportunity to put him there myself.” I knew he’d leap at the chance. Still, before I took him along, I owed it to him to give him fair warning of what he was getting into. “You know this won’t be any old case,” I added. “Speakeasy’s seen off more than a couple prosecutions. He’s bribed his way out, and when that doesn’t work, he’s gone from silver to lead real fast. This is one hell of a risky job. And I wouldn’t hold it against you for backing out.” Wrought shook his head. “I’m not married, no family to speak of, and I have no interest in money. If those bozos want to do me in, they’re welcome to try. Frankly I’d be more worried about you, Roger. After all, you have a family and everything.” “Speakeasy knows what happened to the last guy who tried to get near my family,” I replied darkly. It was true. Back when I was helping to prosecute the so called Five Families after Marelone delivered the goods, an attempt was made at my house. Two earth ponies out of Baltimare had sneaked around and tried to lob what was essentially a Molotov in through my bedroom window. Luckily for Margaret, I’d been up going over some papers and caught a hint of movement in the bushes. I’d carefully dealt with the two of them, sending them back to Speakeasy with a simple message. The same message old Tito sent to Stalin. Please stop sending people to kill me. Otherwise I’ll send one to kill you. And I won’t need a second. Ever since then, the stallion had given me a wide berth, lest I tell Celestia what had happened and he incur her wrath. So I wasn’t too concerned about him trying to send somepony after anyone I cared about. “You and he have crossed paths before?” Wrought asked. “Once or twice,” I replied. “Back before we started the crackdown on his organisation. Anyway, you all set to jump on a train then?” Wrought nodded. “Sure. I haven’t got any cases due until next week, and I’m sure everypony else can keep things running here for a couple of days.” The same applied to me. Originally, Celestia had just planned to hold off on any major legal cases until I got back. But with her impending abdication, court was in a state of recess until further notice. The last thing Twilight needed when she took the reins was to have to deal with half finished cases in her court. As Wrought and I headed down to the station, I still couldn’t quite believe it. It was just all so sudden. A part of me even felt a little insulted that Tia hadn’t thought to tell me about her plans earlier. To be honest, it annoyed me more than a little the way she’d sprung things on me, never mind Twilight. If she’d pitched the idea to me a few months back ,I might be a bit more onboard. As it stood, I imagine my reaction was the same as Twilight’s and Bones’ was. And speaking of Twilight Sparkle, as Wrought and I got to the station, where the train from Ponyville was just pulling in we almost bumped into them, quite literally too. The train was just pulling in when the lavender alicorn and her friends either flew or ran, depending on their possession of wings, right past the two of us. I had no doubt that she’d run all the way from her own castle, nervously paced up and down the train carriage on the way here, and would now run straight up the hill in response to her mentor’s summons. I didn’t envy her; taking on a job it currently took two alicorns to do. Still, she would have her friends by her side. “What’s all that about then?” Wrought asked curiously as he watched the six ponies and one dragon go tearing hell for leather up the hill towards the castle. “Don’t tell me there’s another bleeding monster attack. It was annoying enough being locked up in a cage for three days last time.” “Oh nothing like that,” a familiar voice replied. Pivoting around, I found that Discord had joined us, prompting Wrought to jump in fright. “Hey, Discord,” I said with a wave. “What brings you here?” “Why the chaos of course,” he replied with a grin, rubbing paw and claw together in anticipation. “Any minute now, dear Celestia is going to tell Twilight that this time next week, she’ll be ruling Equestria.” “What?!” Wrought exclaimed in surprise. Running over, I reached up and grabbed Discord by his snout, holding his gob shut, lest any more news ponies weren’t yet supposed to know come tumbling out. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony resisted for a moment before giving up. “Shut up, you twit!” I hissed. “She hasn’t even told Twilight yet. Now isn’t the time to spring all that on the public.” Snapping his talons, Discord teleported out of my grip, reappearing a few steps away. “Well they’re going to find out sooner or later,” he replied a little huffily, folding his arms. “Yes, but from the princesses,” I replied. “Not you.” Rolling his eyes, the draconequus snapped his talons again and vanished. Wrought was instantly on me with questions. And it was all I could do to get him to calm down and keep the news under his hat for the time being. A moment later, the train’s whistle caught our attention, and we quickly boarded the Manehattan carriage on the express service. As we stepped up, I flashed my rail warrant to the guard. It certainly makes travelling easier, and cheaper. As we bustled ourselves into a free compartment, Wrought was still going on at me about what was happening with Celestia and Luna. As I suspected, he wasn’t taking the news all that well. Particularly the notion that it would all be said and done by next week. As the train pulled out of the station, I reflected on the fact that at least this and Speakeasy would be all I’d need to deal with this week. But you know what they say; it never rains, but it pours. And by God were we in for a downpour. The two of us spent the train journey going over the case as it stood. After I’d turned Marelone, a higher ranking soldier in Cosa Nostra, I’d slowly began to build a case against the so-called Five Families; five criminal organisations that collectively controlled the area around Manehattan. While not as violent as their human counterparts, they still operated in racketeering, money laundering, trade unions, and contract work to name just a few of the pies they had their hooves in. Ordinarily, it would be difficult if not impossible to get insider information due to the organisations code of silence, the omerta, and those outside weren’t willing to talk due to fear of reprisals. But I managed to get Marelone on tape, admitting his involvement with a criminal enterprise. Remember, officially, the members of Cosa Nostra are legitimate businessmen in the construction and waste disposal businesses. His effective confession, along with the promise of getting his wife and daughter into witness protection, gave me enough leverage to turn him. His position meant he was able to serve as a star witness and help bring down all the major players. The result was a series of raids by Manehattan PD and the Royal Guard the dismantled Cosa Nostra wholesale. A series of trials later, and Speakeasy was the only one still standing. He’d been clever, very clever. While we could prove links to organised crime, that was all we could prove. Despite his position being weakened, he still wielded a considerable amount of power in the city, and was able to bride or intimidate witnesses. He’d even come close to nabbing Marelone, to the point where we’d had to completely relocate him. Even I didn’t know where he was now. He might have been our best witness, but he was no use to us dead, and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to his family. The case against him was solid enough, it was just a case of bringing it home through a trial. Like I said before, both evidence and witnesses had been known to disappear, and it was an unfortunate truth that Speakeasy had people inside the PD working for him. Hence why Wrought and I were going in. We were outsiders, and we could neither be bribed nor intimidated. As Celestia is my witness, I was going to get him found guilty. The best approach we decided was to start from scratch; a new investigation leading to a new trial. It would be a much smaller operation, working with uniform we could trust and limiting our contact with others in Manehattan society. We wouldn’t just be fighting Speakeasy, but a corrupted version of the Equestrian justice system. As the train pulled into the station, we prepared ourselves to cut the puppeteer's strings. Arriving in Manehattan’s Grand Central Station, the pair of us stepped down onto the platform. I was a little surprised when two official looking earth ponies in suits came over to greet us. “Mr Owen?” one of them asked with a thick Hocklyn accent. “Yes?” I replied in a guarded tone. The stallion reached out to shake my hand. “Detective Marelow. This is my partner Detective Spade.” He reached into his jacket and flashed a badge. Wrought and I looked at each other in surprise. “The commissioner sent us to escort you to City Hall. He’d like to give you an overview on the case against Mr Speakeasy.” On the face of it, nothing seemed amiss, but my gut said otherwise, and I could tell Wrought felt the same way. For one thing, as far as I knew, nopony had told the police commissioner we were coming. And Marelow had been awful quick in flashing that badge, certainly not enough time for me to check it was genuine. And if nothing else, their suits were very nice; too nice for a pony living on a detective’s salary. Still, there was no sense kicking up a fuss just yet, so I played it cool. Reaching out, I shook Marelow’s hoof. “Pleased to meet you, gentlecolts,” I replied congenially. “This is my associate Wrought Steel of the Crown Prosecution Service.” Wrought too shook hooves with the pair. “If you’d like to follow me, please,” Marelow went on. “We have a carriage waiting out front.” As the four of us strolled across the marble floor of the station’s great hall, I couldn’t help but be astounded by Speakeasy’s arrogance. I mean, here we were, being met by what were clearly two wise guys disguised as cops, who were going to bundle us into a carriage and presumably drive us out into the middle of nowhere to take us out. He must be scared if he’s getting this desperate. Surely he knows what will happen if it doesn’t work. Well, there was no way I was letting either of us into that cab, so as we made for the exit onto the street, I made my move. There was a little newsagent stand in the station, selling papers, magazines, as well as other odds and ends you’d find in a corner shop, including cigarettes. Time for an old standby. Patting down my jacket for a moment, I feigned a sigh of annoyance. “Oh dammit all,” I exclaimed crossly. “I knew I’d forgotten something. I must’ve left my smokes on the train. Marelow, I know we have places to be, but do you mind if I just grab a pack from that stall over there.” Marelow and Spade looked at each other for a moment before coming to silent agreement. “Sure, knock yourself out,” he replied with a shrug. Oh the irony! Heading over to the stand, I fished a couple of bits out of jacket pocket and bought a pack and a lighter. Smoking is somewhat rare in Equestria. Most who do tend to prefer pipe tobacco or cigars. Cigarettes are a fair bit rarer, but still commonplace in cities. In contrast I can’t think of anypony in Ponyville who smokes. And I do include myself in that. So why was I buying a pack? Well, wait and see, eh? After paying the stallion behind the counter, I rejoined our little group. Opening the pack, I pulled one out, stuck it between my teeth and quickly lit it. And of course, prayed to whoever might be listening that I didn’t turn green or cough, showing that I wasn’t really a smoker. Luckily, it was quite mild and I managed to bluff my way through. “Want one?” I asked Marelow. The stallion considered for a moment before nodded. “Sure. Thanks,” he replied with a nod. Tossing the pack to him, I watched him pull a cigarette out with his teeth. Leaning down, I offered him a light. “Here, let me get that for you,” I said in a friendly tone. I shot a knowing glance to Wrought. He’d done enough assault cases to know what was coming. See, there’s no such thing as a fair fight, and you need every advantage you can get. Getting your opponent to lean forward, leaving themselves exposed, is a great way to get a sucker punch in. And that’s precisely what I did. As Marelow leaned forward, with me holding the lighter in my left hand, I gave him a solid thwack on the jaw with my right. He didn’t see it coming and the impact sent him sprawling across the floor. Wrought quickly joined in, but it seemed that Detective Spade wasn’t much of a fighter, for he quickly bailed and took to his heels. There was no point chasing him. Marelow on the other hoof… Well, for starters, it seemed he had quite the glass jaw. My one solid thump had knocked him woozy and given him quite the bloody nose. Honestly, I’d have thought a mobster would be able to spot a cigarette punch coming. That trick had saved my neck more than once back in Belfast. But there was little point now recriminating on the failings of equine organised crime. Speakeasy had just committed himself. He’d tried to take me out. Now the gloves came off. Marelow came around a couple of moments later and our struggle began anew. But the ground is the worst place to be in a scrap, particularly when you’re outnumbered. Between the two of us, were able to get a hold of all four of his limbs. Earth pony or not, he was no Applejack. We were also quickly joined by a couple of legit transit cops who were on patrol through the station. After a minor disagreement about what was going on, they helped us take Marelow into custody. It might be tricky, but this guy might be somepony we could turn, particularly now that he was looking an two attempted murder charges. As things settled down again, I left my new prisoner with the two cops and went to check on Wrought. He looked more than a little shook up by what had just happened. He currently sitting in a cafe across the plaza, nursing a strong black coffee. I sat down opposite him on the little table he was sitting at. “How you holding up, Wrought?” I asked, with a note of genuine concern in my voice. He took another sip of coffee. “I’m fine,” he replied, a little shakily. “Although I doubt I would be if you hadn’t clocked that guy. How did you know they weren’t real police anyway?” I smiled. “They were dressed way too nicely,” I replied. “You show me a single detective in all of Manehattan who can afford a beautiful Sifillyan suit like that and I’ll eat my hat.” “Wow,” Wrought replied. “I’d have just trusted them and gotten in the carriage. Hay, by now I’d probably be somewhere out in the woods.” “Like I said, Wrought,” I said. “This isn’t your ordinary case. We don’t have the luxury of trusting local law. There’s crooked cops, fake cops, and good cops who’ll turn on you to protect those they love. And believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg.” “I certainly see what you mean when you said Speakeasy had friends. So what now?” I smiled. “You want to get Speakeasy? Okay, listen.” I put on my best impersonation of Sean Connery “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That’s the way things work in this city, and that’s how we get Speakeasy.” And so, the two of us set out to do precisely that. Our first stop was indeed city hall. Those two cronies had at least been right about that. Our visit however, was not an expected one, we’d be dropping in quite unannounced to ensure that Speakeasy’s trial progressed smoothly to a satisfying conclusion. If nothing else, I wanted to see for myself just how far Speakeasy’s reach extended. We knew there were crooked cops and judges. It wasn’t that big a leap to assume that Speakeasy had a politician or two in his pocket. If we were going to make any progress on this, before we did anything else, we needed to identify the good guys and the bad guys. Climbing into a cab together, I related the store of the famous Untouchables to Wrought. That was pretty much what we’d need if we were going to get this case through. It was certainly more than your normal job for a legal advisor and a prosecutor. I honestly expected that we would be here for at least a week or so, if not longer. It takes time to land a big fish. Or at least, that was what I was planning on doing. All day long, my thoughts had been about this case, Speakeasy, and Manehattan. I tend to tunnel vision a bit when I’m working on a case, I must admit. I’d put all other thoughts to one side, and one of them was about to jump right back to the forefront. We were just passing through Manehattan’s version of Times Square when it started. Bones has told me a bunch of times how he keeps track of all the important incidents involving Twilight and her friends. Despite the fact that this whole world is real, he still believes that it is in some way connected to the TV show he remembers. Critically, he has found, after a couple of attempts, that by counting off these events, he can determine when we’re due for a major incident, like another villain cropping up. Cozy’s attempt marked a finale as he put it, so we were now due for another major event. Understandably, I’d put this down as Celestia and Luna announcing their retirement and Twilight assuming the throne. Turns out though that was only the half of it. There was trouble brewing. In fact, trouble had been going on since not long after we left Canterlot. Only now had it reached a point that all of Equestria got to hear about it. The news was already flashing across the telegraph wires. As our cab pulled onto the main drag, I did my best to block out the noise of the city. Canterlot is busy enough, but Manehattan is something else. I guess I’ve gotten used to the peace and quiet of Ponyville, because the din of this place was damn near deafening. But as I tried to block up my ears, I became conscious of a new sound, a strange warble that slowly rose in tone and volume, before falling again. As the sound repeated, now much clearer than before, my blood ran cold. I heard the eerie wail of the civil defence sirens; that horrid rising and falling tone that signalled only the most dire of emergencies. Wrought heard it to and looked at me in alarm. Our cabbie meanwhile, in accordance with the law, pulled over to the side of the road. “Sorry, fellas,” he called back to us. “I gotta drop ya here. Roads have to be kept clear until the alert ends. I’m goin’ out of service. If ya need to get somewhere desperately ya can still walk it, but my advice is to get inside pronto. That’s what I’ll be doin’.” And with that, he unhitched himself from the yellow dog cart and hurried off, leaving us stranded where we were. After a moment of indecision, the two of us got out of the cab. I took a moment to reflect on the fact that our trip was at least free, since the cabbie had bolted without asking for the fare. The sirens continued to wail across the city and ponies were beginning to panic. A two tone siren and flashing blue lights shot past as a police wagon sped past us on the now clear main road. Ponies were running hither and thither in alarm at the danger signal. But as yet, I could see no cause for alarm. No enemy airships or warships, no dark looming clouds, no tidal waves or earthquakes. Everything seemed peaceful apart from the state of utter pandemonium that seemed to have gripped the city. “What in Celestia’s name is going on?” I asked, turning to Wrought. He looked at me with just as much confusion. A moment later though, his eyes fixed on something and pointed with a hoof. “Look!” he exclaimed. Following his hoof, I found he was pointing at the famous news ticker that constantly ran breaking news stories in a short format across one of the buildings. It took but a moment to read the message. ‘King Sombra attacks Crystal Empire. Canterlot under siege.’ “Oh my God,” I muttered. “But he’s...he’s dead!” Wrought exclaimed. “He was destroyed by the Crystal Heart!” I hated to do it to him, but I bit my tongue and kept quiet about my own knowledge of Sombra. It would hardly be of much help and only cause him more fright. “Evidently not,” I replied. “Come on, we need to find a way back to Canterlot. We might be able to help.” Wrought was dumbfounded. “Help?!” he exclaimed. “That’s King Sombra they’re talking about. The only thing that could stop him was the Crystal Heart. And from what that ticker is saying, it seems pretty clear he’s beaten it. We need to run.” Grabbing Wrought roughly, I tried to calm him down and talk some sense into him. “What? Did you forget the last few years or something? The Elements will deal with him, or the princesses. They stopped him before, remember. Now calm down and get a hold of yourself. Besides, where do you plan to run to.” Wrought slowly came back down. He was still frightened, but to his credit, he seemed to get a handle on his initial panic. “Okay,” he said. “So, any ideas on how we can get to Canterlot, or what we can do when we get there?” I thought for a moment. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have a sodding clue. The last time this had happened, during the invasion by the Storm King, I’d been in Canterlot itself. I’d gotten involved in some pretty desperate street fighting and done my best to hold the line, rather ineffectually I might add. Wrought was right. If Sombra was back, there was little I, a magicless human, would be able to do. At worst, I’d potentially be giving him the chance to use his sick mind control magic on me. “Fine, you’re right,” I admitted, coming down from my own panic. “But we should at least try to get back to Ponyville. Twilight and the others will be there. We might be able to lend a hoof that way.” Oh God. Margaret and kids… I pushed that thought out of my mind as best I could. If I followed it, I’d be a panicking wreck in seconds. And so the pair of us took to our heels and headed back towards the train station. With any luck there’d at least be some services still running. If not, screw it, I’d hijack an engine if I needed to. If Sombra was attacking Canterlot, he’s probably go after Ponyville too. That meant my family was in danger. I was getting back there by hook or by crook. As we legged it, the news ticker flashed up another piece of breaking news. ‘Everfree Forest growing out of control. Ponyville threatened.’ “Sod it!” I snarled as we ran for the station. And to think, this morning I was worried about something as trivial as my boss retiring and busting some two bit mobster.