//------------------------------//
// Far Too Close 
// Story: Fortune Favors The Bold 
// by TheEquestrianWing 
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After his private meeting with Sir Haywood McCrank, Bronze Star spent most of that evening reviewing the contents of the binder General Walther had given him earlier that day. He had hoped to get all the reading done in one sitting. Had he chosen to stay up all night, he might have managed to do that. However, he had no intention of skipping out on sleep. Ultimately, he was content to read half of the binder tonight and the other half the following day.

He had to appreciate how much detail had been placed into the binder. Evidently, the members of the Firebrand Regiment were taking this matter very seriously. That was to be expected; they had to be extremely thorough so that Bronze Star would be prepared for every possible outcome in this scenario.

Once he finished reading the binder, Bronze Star swiftly began to practice using everything he had learned from it. Naturally, he could not "practice" properly without a second party, so he spent a lot of his free time the following week outside the embassy with the townsfolk. He used several of his neighbors as "test subjects" for utilizing and improving his investigative abilities. He did not do anything that would have drawn attention or made anypony suspicious of him. He made certain to be absolutely discreet.

All he did was strike up some casual conversations, and he let the pony or ponies he was talking to feel more and more comfortable around him. Once he had eased them into a sense of security, he got them to confess something about them that he did not know beforehand. They only did this once he had gained their trust. Sometimes, he would have to reveal one of his own personal secrets first. But he never shared anything that would have compromised his cover.

Part of him felt guilty for using the townspeople in this manner. But he was able to justify his actions by reminding himself that they were necessary to ensure that he was completely prepared for his meeting with Esopus Spitzenburg. In other words, he was doing these "experiments" to bring down a nationwide conspiracy, and to protect all the citizens of Equestria, including the residents of Ponyville.

Bronze Star did not try using any of these methods on Sir Haywood, or even when he was nearby. He doubted he could ever get Sir Haywood to confess anything. Aside from that, the gold stallion was certain that the indigo stallion would have recognized what he was doing straightaway. Some of the methods he used were basic undercover interrogation techniques that were employed by the Intelligence Bureau. Sir Haywood had been with the Bureau for so long that he knew ALL the interrogation techniques, and he could spot an amateur investigator on sight.

Bronze Star knew full well that he could have just told Sir Haywood what was going on, but he preferred not to involve any more ponies in the assassination conspiracy than he needed to. Plus, Haywood McCrank already had enough on his plate, what with the murder plot and its latest development.

On that subject, while Bronze Star was primarily focused on honing his capacity to conduct a casual interrogation, he could not help but wonder who in town could have been the mole for the vigilante group. At first glance, it theoretically could have been anypony in town. However, based on Sir Haywood's allegations, it had to be somepony who visited the embassy sometime after the Running of the Leaves.

That greatly narrowed the list of suspects. There was a bulletin board near the front entrance of the embassy that served as a record of the building's temporary and permanent occupants. Whenever somepony entered the embassy, he or she was required to sign in at the bulletin board, and whenever anypony left, they had to use it to sign out as well.

Of course, this could not account for anypony who had approached the building without actually going inside. Still, it gave Bronze Star somewhere to start looking. He examined the bulletin board's records, and he discovered that less than fifty ponies had come inside the embassy in the past month. That included him, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Sir Haywood McCrank, Derpy Hooves, Dapple Rhomb, Noble Edict, Copper Hollow, Dr. Sharp Seams, Rollin Fields, Almond Wheeler, Cassia Sprig, Paisley Branch, Mayor Mare, and the twelve department heads on City Council.

Bronze Star was inclined to believe that whoever worked for the vigilantes must have been somepony who was familiar with the embassy's layout and hours of operation. This in turn entailed that it could have been somepony who frequently came to the building.

The Mayor and City Council only visited once a week for diplomatic meetings, and the members of the task force visited every other day. The only ones who went there every day were Sir Haywood McCrank, Dapple Rhomb, and Derpy Hooves.

Bronze Star knew Sir Haywood was not the mole, and that was not just because the indigo stallion had brought this matter to his attention. He had known Sir Haywood McCrank for almost sixteen years; while some of his policies were unorthodox, he was a character of unquestionable integrity.

He found it unlikely that Derpy Hooves was the mole, either. That was not because of her slight disability. While it was possible that her visual impediment could have been an act to divert suspicion, Bronze Star doubted that she would go to such great length. Plus, she only came by to deliver the mail. That only took her one or two minutes every day; that was hardly enough time to know her way around the building.

Dapple Rhomb was the most likely of the three. After all, she had started working at the embassy shortly before the Running of the Leaves, and she had been in Canterlot at the same time as Spike, when the vigilantes had planted that letter in his room. She was also there when Sir Haywood mailed the three clues to Agent Dread Naught. Even so, there were a lot more factors that suggested she was innocent. For instance, she had not been present during any of the task force meetings when they actually discussed the three clues. So she never had an opportunity to learn of their existence before Sir Haywood sent them off.

As a result, the three ponies with the greatest opportunity to spy on the embassy had to be eliminated as suspects. Bronze Star was not especially bothered by that prospect. All things considered, he had to remain chiefly focused on his upcoming encounter with Esopus Spitzenburg. He could afford to wait until after Spitzenburg left to continue his search for the mole.

During his week of preparation, Bronze Star debated on whether or not he should inform Noble Edict of the situation with Spitzenburg. After all, she was the only pony in Ponyville who was aware of the assassination conspiracy. Also, if he experienced any major complications during the sting operation, he would need some backup, but he had given both the members of the Firebrand Regiment and their field operatives explicit instructions to stay away from Spitzenburg while he was in Ponyville. Subsequently, Noble Edict was the only pony he could rely on to assist him.

In the end, he decided to go ahead and tell Noble Edict. Two days before Spitzenburg was due to arrive, Bronze Star requested a private appointment with Noble Edict at her office. There he explained the whole situation to her. Basically, he apprised her of how Spitzenburg was only in town to visit family, how his briefcase had to contain files on a number of his co-conspirators, and how Bronze Star would try to look inside his briefcase when nopony else was around. Bronze Star made sure to emphasize that he would be conducting this sting operation in absolute secrecy.

He also mentioned that Noble Edict would only have to get involved if he specifically asked her to. In case the operation went south, he would need her to help him take Spitzenburg into custody. He was hoping it would not come to that. Not only would Bronze Star's cover be blown, but also according to Raoul Jowl, once the other conspirators found out that their ringleader had been apprehended, they would carry out his orders to launch a string of attacks against the most populated cities of Equestria. Also, Bronze Star would have had to tell the other Apples everything about Spitzenburg's plan to overthrow the government, and that was one unpleasant conversation he hoped to avoid altogether.

After one long week, the big day finally arrived. Applejack wanted Bronze Star to be there when her relatives actually got in, so in the early morning, he met her, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big McIntosh at the train depot. All four of the Apples seemed very excited for the next train to get in. While Bronze Star was a little excited as well, he was more apprehensive than anything else. He had spent most of the past week preparing for this meeting, but he had no way of knowing how it would go. He simply hoped it would go well.

At seven o'clock on the dot, the first train of the day pulled into the station. There were not many ponies on this one, which made it all the more easy for the Apples to spot their family members.

Soon, three mares and two stallions emerged from one of the cars. All of them were Earth Ponies, and they ranged from young adult to middle-aged. All of them were carrying saddlebags or hoofbags. Granny Smith was the first to notice the small group, and she quickly waved them over.

As soon as the five new arrivals reached the other five ponies, both groups greeted the other one warmly. Bronze Star decided to stand off to the side while the Apples exchanged pleasantries. It was almost as though they had forgotten he was there. Even so, he did not intervene.

Apple Bloom was mingling closely with the youngest stallion. He stated in interest "Let's take a look at you."

The yellow filly stood still so that the stallion could look her over. After a moment, he smirked and commented "You're just as adorable as ever, AB."

She blushed and mumbled "Aw, shucks."

"It's the truth," the young stallion proclaimed, "Still no cutie mark, though. That's a shame."

"You're tellin' me," Apple Bloom thought aloud, "But my friends an' I have a plan to fix that problem."

"Well, good luck with that," the stallion bade her.

A few feet away, Big McIntosh was talking to one of the mares. Or at the very least, she was talking to him. She gazed up at the red stallion and claimed "You've certainly built up some muscle since the last time I saw you, Big Mac."

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh affirmed.

"So, this is all you?" the mare presumed, placing her hoof on his front leg, "No steroids, no stimulants; just pure natural strength?"

"Eeyup," he disclosed.

She chuckled and perceived "Apparently, your vocabulary hasn't grown as much as your body has."

"Nope," was all he said in response.

Granny Smith seemed especially interested in the eldest of the three mares. She queried "So, how's your husband?"

"He's doing great," the other mare pronounced.

"Excellent," Granny Smith stated, "And the foals?"

"Not foals anymore," the mare stated proudly, "Our oldest just got accepted into Pranceton."

"I'm not surprised," Granny Smith thought aloud, "He's got his father's smarts and sage."

"Which I can attribute to you," the mare observed, smiling lightly.

At the same time, Applejack was being rather friendly with the last mare and stallion.

"Glad you two could make it," she said happily.

"So are we," the stallion pronounced, "We almost didn't. You see, it was surprisingly hard to find a foalsitter for Ariane. Everypony we knew seemed to have something going on this week."

"Luckily, Margil was available," the mare revealed, "He was more than happy to watch over Ariane while we're away."

"Since he and Ariane get along so well, I guess it works out for everypony," Applejack perceived.

"True, Ari IS really fond of her uncle," the stallion stated, "She's almost more attached to him than she is to us."

"Oh, that's crazy talk," Applejack contended, "I've seen how Ariane acts around you. She adores both of you, just like how I adored my own parents. You two should know that from a foal's point of view, nopony is more important than his or her parents."

"Just wait until you have one of your own, AJ," the mare cheekily proposed.

"Believe me; that's something I look forward to," Applejack asserted.

"First you'll need a 'partner' to 'assist' you," the stallion pointed out.

"Oh, I'm working on that," Applejack cockily claimed, "Speaking of which, I want to introduce you all to somepony."

That was when Bronze Star entered the scene. Applejack turned to the gold stallion and gestured for him to come closer. Once he approached the nine Apples, Applejack presented the five new ones to him. She informed him "This is our first cousin Winesap, our first cousin Topaz, our Aunt Honeycrisp, and our second cousins Jonathan Washington and Brina Washington."

As she said all that, she pointed to the stallion Apple Bloom had been talking to, the mare Big McIntosh had been talking to, the mare Granny Smith had been talking to, and the stallion and mare Applejack herself had been talking to respectively.

Bronze Star knew all these names. They had been amongst the first twenty ponies Granny Smith had given when she recited the entire list of the Apple Family, when he first had dinner with her and her grandchildren at Sweet Apple Acres. He grinned at the five ponies and nodded politely in their direction. They returned the friendly gestures accordingly, and they shook hooves with him.

Once Bronze Star finished shaking hooves with all of them, Applejack placed her front hoof on his shoulder, looked around at her relatives, and declared "Guys, I'd like you to meet my coltfriend, Gold Streak."

The five ponies all reacted differently to that, but all of them reacted positively. Winesap smirked, Topaz raised an eyebrow in interest, Honeycrisp placed her hoof over her heart, and Jonathan and Brina simply nodded in acknowledgement.

After a brief period of silence, Apple Bloom looked up at the adults and queried "Where's Great Uncle Esopus?"

"Last time we saw him, he was at the back of the train, near the baggage car," Winesap recounted, "We picked him up last, and he sat by himself for pretty much the entire trip here."

"How come?" Big McIntosh inquired.

"He brought along a certain piece of luggage that was too big to be stored overhead or underneath," Topaz explicated, "He was unwilling to have it checked, and the staff told him that his only options were to leave it behind or stay by the baggage car for the duration of the trip. You can probably guess which one he picked."

"Knowing him, he must've picked the latter," Granny Smith hypothesized.

"Yeah, he did," Honeycrisp confirmed. She sighed and uttered drily "You'd think that briefcase was an appendage of his or something."

"It may as well be, considerin' his reluctance to part with that thing," Applejack wryly commented.

Those last few remarks intrigued Bronze Star. It appeared as though the members of the Firebrand Regiment were not the only ponies who had noticed Esopus Spitzenburg's strange fixation with his briefcase. As such, it would probably be difficult for him to get his hooves on it.

"Should we go find him?" Bronze Star suggested.

"No, we needn't bother," Jonathan asserted, "Since he was sitting so close to the baggage car, he offered to go ahead and gather up our bags and bring them to us once we got in."

"That's why we've only got hoofbags and saddlebags with us right now," Brina revealed, "We're waiting for Esopus to get our suitcases. He should be along shortly, though."

"Okay," Applejack avowed. "We'll wait."

The ten ponies stood idly by for a couple minutes. As they waited, the crowd of ponies at the depot slowly decreased in size. By the time everypony else had either gotten on the train or headed into town, a stallion exited from one of the last cars. He was pushing a cart loaded with about a dozen suitcases, and a leather briefcase was balanced on his back.

As soon as the other ponies saw this stallion, they made their way over to him. He grinned at them and slyly pronounced "Thanks for waiting up for me."

"If it weren't for the bags, we probably would have been long gone by now," Winesap sarcastically proclaimed.

The others snickered at that remark, including Esopus Spitzenburg. He cleverly responded with "That's the advantage of staying near the baggage car, 'Winey.'"

Winesap seemed slightly irritated by that statement, but everypony else found it somewhat amusing.

"The important thing is that you have the bags," Honeycrisp uttered, "And that you're here. Even though you might have taken a little long."

"Fine; I'll try not to keep you waiting so long next time," Spitzenburg proposed, "Either that, or you could all sit with me on the ride back."

"Maybe," Topaz said, shrugging lightly, "We'll see."

As the ponies retrieved their suitcases, Esopus Spitzenburg went over to the Ponyville Apples and greeted all of them. Soon after, he realized Bronze Star was there, too. He approached the prince and enquired "And who might this gentlestallion be?"

At this moment, Bronze Star was within reaching distance of Esopus Spitzenburg. He managed to abstain from sweating, shaking, or doing anything else that would give him away. He stayed totally calm and composed, and he was able to remain totally casual. There was a short pause, and then Bronze Star took in a deep breath, smiled as widely as he could, and extended his front hoof, saying cordially "My name is Gold Streak, sir. I'm Applejack's coltfriend."

"Her coltfriend, huh?" Esopus Spitzenburg stated in fascination, shaking hooves with the younger stallion. Once he lowered his hoof, he grinned again, looked over at the orange mare, and observed "Well, Mr. Streak, you certainly have good taste."

"I most definitely agree, sir," the gold stallion coincided.

The older stallion nodded his head, and then he grinned deviously and added in "However, I'd say Applejack has even better taste."

That remark took Bronze Star by surprise. He looked to Applejack, and she appeared to be just as stunned as he was. She just shrugged in bewilderment. Bronze Star then turned back to Esopus Spitzenburg, who was snickering in amusement. He claimed assuredly "I'm just messin' with you, son."

"Oh, okay," Bronze Star acknowledged. He smiled and pronounced "At any rate, I'm delighted to meet you, Mr. Spitzenburg. Applejack's told me a lot about you."

"That so?" Esopus remarked in interest, a little jokily, "Anything good?"

"Yes, sir," Bronze Star affirmed, scoffing a bit, "She speaks very highly of you, and she claims that you and I have a lot in common. In fact, she wanted to personally introduce us to each other."

"I'm glad to hear that," the elder stallion thought aloud, "I look forward to getting to know you better, my good sir."

"I feel the same way," Bronze Star candidly disclosed.

Before anypony could say anything more, Applejack interceded and advised "What say we wait until we get to Sweet Apple Acres to continue this conversation?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Spitzenburg stated in approval.

"I concur," Bronze Star pronounced.

Everypony else simply nodded in agreement. They resumed unloading their luggage from the cart. They were not allowed to bring the cart with them, since it was property of the railroad company. Despite this, not everypony there was as adroit as Esopus Spitzenburg was at balancing large objects on their backs. However, there were a few who actually were that skillful.

Big McIntosh offered to carry some of the bags, and his relatives gladly accepted his offer. However, he was only able to take half the bags. Any more and the stack would have been too tall. Luckily, Bronze Star was also willing to help them out. Initially, the Apples were a little skeptical about giving as many bags to the gold stallion, but he just smirked and told them "Trust me."

So they did. To their surprise, Bronze Star was able to balance even more on his back than Big McIntosh. An ordinary stallion would have buckled under that much weight. Of course, Bronze Star was not an ordinary stallion. While he was not as large or stoic as Big McIntosh, he was stronger and more graceful. He could balance all those suitcases on his back with ease.

After the six new arrivals recovered their suitcases from the cart, there was still one box left behind on it. Nopony seemed to claim it at first. It was marked "Volatile," its sides were made of metal, and there was a moveable slot on the top of it.

"The Tartarus is this?" Topaz questioned.

"I have no idea," Jonathan pronounced.

"Maybe it got sorted with ours by mistake," Brina conjectured.

"Oh, no, no, it didn't," Esopus Spitzenburg hastily declared as he approached the cart and removed the metallic box. As he placed it on his back with the briefcase, he notified the others "It's a gift for a friend. I plan to give it to him after our trip here. I just brought it along so I wouldn't forget about it."

"Alright then," Applejack bluntly remarked, "Considering how well you take care of your own luggage, I doubt you'd forget about this one, Uncle Esopus."

"Why do I get the feeling there's a punchline somewhere in that statement?" Esopus Spitzenburg asked rhetorically.

"Probably because there IS one," Applejack elaborated, "It's about you and that briefcase of yours, Uncle Esopus. You're practically inseparable from that thing."

"My entire career is regulated through this briefcase, Jackie," Esopus Spitzenburg illuminated, "Anything happens to it, and everything I've ever worked for gets thrown out the window. Surely you can understand my desire to keep it close-by at all times."

"I suppose that's fair," Applejack admitted. There was a momentary pause, and then she suggested "Let's head to the ranch."

The eleven ponies swiftly departed from the train depot and made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Bronze Star and Applejack trotted at the front of the group.

After a bit of silence, Bronze Star leaned over to his fillyfriend and whispered "'Jackie?'"

She blushed slightly and murmured "Oh, pipe down."

"Whatever you say," he muttered straightforwardly, smirking in amusement.

Fifteen minutes later, the group arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. Once they were all gathered in the clearing in front of the house and the barn, Winesap, Topaz, Honeycrisp, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, and Esopus Spitzenburg reacquired their own suitcases.

Once they all had their luggage, Bronze Star announced to the six newly arrived Apples "I would love to stick around and get acquainted with all of you, but I have to go to work. Plus, I figure you'll need time to get settled before you… interact with the locals."

"I get what you're saying, son," Esopus Spitzenburg asserted, patting the gold stallion on the back, "Still, I hope to see more of you during our stay."

"Oh, you shall, sir," Bronze Star contended, "I work every day from the early morning to the late afternoon, but I'm typically available in the entire evening. So I can swing by any time after sunset. I could even have dinner with you one night. If you'll have me, that is."

"Of course we will," Granny Smith proclaimed.

"Indeed we shall," Esopus Spitzenburg conceded, "One thing you should know about the Apple Family, Mr. Streak: we always treat our friends with the finest hospitality."

"That's definitely true," Bronze Star pronounced, "I learned that long before Applejack and I started dating. She and the others welcomed me as though I actually WAS a member of the Apple Family. I didn't know if it was just her part of the family that did that or the entire clan as a whole. Now that I've met more of the Apples, I'm fairly certain it's the entire clan as a whole. At the very least, I would be a fool to doubt your claim, Mr. Spitzenburg."

"How perceptive," Esopus Spitzenburg stated approvingly, "I'm rather pleased to hear you say that. Like you, I tend to make various observations about ponies I meet, as well. For instance, I've known you for less than a half-hour, and I have already come to the conclusion that you, sir, are no fool."

"Well, what a relief," Bronze Star commented in satisfaction. There was yet another brief pause, and then he looked around at the Apples and told them "Unless something comes up, I'll see you all tonight. Say, sometime between six and seven."

"Sure," Applejack verified, "We'll wait up for ya."

Bronze Star swiftly made his way back to the front of Sweet Apple Acres. As he left, he looked over his shoulder and waved at the ten ponies, and they eagerly waved back. Once he was out of sight and out of earshot, Bronze Star smirked wickedly and thought You're right, Esopus. I'm no fool. I can see right through your act. If anypony here is a fool, it would have to be you.

Bronze Star's first encounter with Esopus Spitzenburg had gone far better than he thought it would. It was surprisingly easy to keep up his charade. While Spitzenburg did seem to be a relatively kind and pleasant individual, Bronze Star did not let those aspects sway him. He reminded himself that Spitzenburg was an expert at withholding secrets and misleading ponies. So no matter how likable and compassionate he may have seemed in person, Bronze Star would not forget that Spitzenburg was responsible for putting together one of the most appalling conspiracies in Equestrian history.

By the time Bronze Star got back to the embassy, Dapple Rhomb had already clocked in. Yesterday, he had told her that he would be going to the train station in the early morning to greet Applejack's relatives. Because of that, he had mentioned to her that he might not be at the embassy when she arrived. Fortunately, his role on the welcoming committee was not as time-consuming as he assumed it would be. He and Dapple Rhomb arrived at the embassy at approximately the same time.

At this time, Sir Haywood McCrank was in the kitchen eating breakfast. Since Bronze Star and Dapple Rhomb had already eaten, they were able to get to work straightaway. They started by updating some of their files with the latest information they had received from the capital city.

As Bronze Star prioritized the information and Dapple Rhomb organized the files, the purple mare looked up at the gold stallion and queried "So, what are the other Apples like?"

"They seem like a pleasant bunch of folks," Bronze Star explicated, "I didn't spend very much time around them, but if they're anything like Applejack and her immediate family, then I'm certain I'll come to like them."

"Well, that's good," Dapple Rhomb commented, "It's always nice to see new faces, learn new names, make new friends. That opportunity is always prevalent in this town."

"Oh, I agree," Bronze Star remarked earnestly, "I've been here for eight months, and it still seems like I'm gaining at least one new friend every week."

"I could help you keep up that streak, Mr. Streak," the purple mare offered.

"How so?" the gold stallion enquired.

"My husband Rough Rider will be here in a few days," Dapple Rhomb enlightened him, "For the past month, my only correspondence with him has been in the form of letters. I've told him all about you, and he'd like to meet you."

"I'd be happy to oblige," Bronze Star proclaimed, "By the way, what line of work is your husband involved in?"

"He's a traveling salesstallion," Dapple Rhomb disclosed, "Specifically, he's a traveling sales representative. That's why his job involves moving around so much."

"What exactly does it involve?" Bronze Star queried.

"Quite a lot," Dapple Rhomb expounded, "You know how sometimes, a company is not very successful in making a profit from some of its products? Typically, there is nothing wrong with the product itself; the company just has difficulties with advertising it properly. In order to improve their sales, they would call on my husband to effectively promote their product for them. Rough Rider is one of the most versatile in his field. He's helped sell furniture, insurance, clothing, produce, real estate… just to name a few. If he works his cards right, he could convince you to buy pretty much anything."

"Intriguing," Bronze Star noted, smirking, "Did he use those same convincing skills to win you over?"

Initially, Dapple Rhomb seemed stunned by the suggestiveness of that question, but then she chuckled lightly and pronounced "Perhaps he did. Let's just say that when he and I first started dating, he was VERY persuasive."

"So I see," Bronze Star muttered, "Well, I look forward to meeting him. If you want, you can have him come by the embassy when you're working. As long as his presence won't distract you, that is."

"I don't think it would," Dapple Rhomb assured him, "I haven't seen him in several weeks; I don't really care where I see him next, as long as I actually GET to see him. I'll think about bringing him here. He doesn't delve into the world of politics very often, but he might make an exception in your case."

"Oh, good," Bronze Star said in response, "Are you going to introduce him to Sir Haywood, too?"

"I might," Dapple Rhomb supposed, "I just hope Sir Haywood doesn't greet him in the same manner that he first greeted me."

"Then you're sadly out of luck," Bronze Star slyly declared, "Whenever Sir Haywood meets somepony for the first time, he almost always greets them with a kiss on both cheeks, regardless of their age, gender, or marital status. The only exception to this is when he meets a large group of ponies all at once."

"In that case, I'll tell Rough Rider to bring along a bunch of his work buddies whenever he visits the embassy," Dapple Rhomb cheekily proposed.

Bronze Star snickered at that, and he stated frankly "Whatever pleases you both."

The conversation about Dapple Rhomb's husband more or less ended here. She and Bronze Star stayed focused on their work for the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon. They stopped only once for a lunch break. On their way to the kitchen, they encountered Sir Haywood in the dining room. At that time, the indigo stallion was sitting in a chair, eating his lunch and going over some papers. He looked up at the gold stallion and the purple mare when they entered, and he lightly nodded in acknowledgement. After that, he looked back down at his papers and kept his gaze locked on them for the entire time Dapple Rhomb and Bronze Star were there.

At least, he appeared to. Every now and then, Bronze Star happened to look in Sir Haywood's direction, and he noticed that the indigo stallion momentarily turned one of his eyes towards Dapple Rhomb. It was as though he was studying her without her knowing it. It was highly likely that he was, as his behavior was one of the strategies that had been mentioned in the binder Bronze Star had received from General Walther. At first, Bronze Star was perplexed by Sir Haywood's actions, but it quickly dawned on him that he was simply following up on their new lead. Specifically, the lead about the vigilantes using a mole to infiltrate the embassy.

Although Bronze Star was fairly confident that Dapple Rhomb was not the guilty party, he decided not to ask Haywood McCrank to cease his observing of the purple mare. Sir Haywood was very methodical and efficient as an investigator, and he performed best when he was allowed to carry out his investigation by using his own approaches. As such, Bronze Star figured he was entitled to be suspicious of everypony.

After lunch, Bronze Star and Dapple Rhomb returned to the latter's office and continued working until five o'clock. That was the usual quitting time for the purple mare. After signing out at the front of the building, she swiftly left the embassy.

Bronze Star had nothing else going on that evening, so he thought about heading on over to Sweet Apple Acres. However, the Apples typically ate dinner at around this time, and he did not want to interrupt their meal. So he decided to wait a while before he went to the ranch.

Ultimately, Bronze Star arrived at Sweet Apple Acres at about 6:45. He brought his knapsack with him, as he had come to do this habitually whenever he left the embassy. When he knocked on the door, Applejack had answered it, and she told him that he had gotten there at the perfect time.

The Apples had just eaten dinner and were in the process of cleaning up. Applejack told her coltfriend to wait in the front room while they finished this task; he complied with this request. Apple Bloom kept him company while the mares and stallions worked. Once all the dishes were washed and put away, the Apples retired to the front room.

Granny Smith rested in her rocking chair, Honeycrisp sat on the ground by her side, Esopus Spitzenburg, Topaz, and Big McIntosh took the couch, Winesap and Apple Bloom spread themselves out on the floor near the back of the room, Jonathan and Brina leaned against the far wall, and Applejack and Bronze Star sat on a couple of stools opposite the couch. Once everypony was comfortably settled, they started mingling with Bronze Star.

Bronze Star decided to open up a conversation. He looked around at the six new arrivals and inquired "How's your stay in Ponyville been?"

"So far, very pleasant," Honeycrisp pronounced, "Sure, we've been here less than twelve hours, but this is not our first trip to Ponyville. Trips to this town are very enjoyable."

"I gathered as much," Bronze Star commented. "So, are you all from the same city?"

"No, we all live in different parts of Equestria," Jonathan disclosed, "With the exception of Brina and I, of course."

"Outside of the occasional letter, we don't really see each other very often," Winesap added in.

"Then, if you don't mind me asking, what made you decide to come here together?" Bronze Star enquired curiously.

"Well, we were unable to attend the last Apple Family Reunion," Brina expounded, "We wanted to make it up to Granny Smith. So a few months after the reunion, we all wrote to her, asking if she would have us over some other time."

"I was quick to respond," Granny Smith informed Bronze Star, "I told 'em that I'd be happy to have 'em visit us. All we had to work out was when they would visit. At first, I thought about havin' 'em over at different times. But schedulin' five separate visits in the near future with little prior notice proved to be a bit of a challenge."

"Then Uncle Esopus suggested that we all come at the same time," Topaz revealed, "That solved the problem."

Bronze Star raised an eyebrow, turned to the oldest stallion, and stated "So this was your idea, Mr. Spitzenburg?"

"Yes, Mr. Streak," Esopus Spitzenburg confirmed, "Since we all missed the Apple Family Reunion, I figured we may as well have ourselves a mini-reunion."

"I suppose that's as logical a reason as any," Bronze Star thought aloud. There was a short period of quietness in the room, and then Bronze Star leaned back in his chair and enquired "So, are all of you apple farmers, too?"

"Some of us are," Topaz answered him, "The rest are involved in… other industries. Take me for instance. I live in Mareami, a city that's known for growing tropical fruits like pineapples, papayas, and mangos. Not a lot of apples grow down there, though. Instead, I own a jewelry store near the shoreline. That's actually a very ideal location; in my city, people who love the water seem to love valuable metals, as well. My shop is one of the most highly-rated, and I get more customers per week than any other jeweler in the city. Every now and then, one of my customers is a celebrity."

"Sounds like a very lucrative business, Topaz," Bronze Star remarked. After a little more silence, he looked around at the other five Apples and asked "What do the rest of you do?"

"My husband and I are real estate agents in San Horsé," Honeycrisp expounded, "While we don't really have any celebrity clients, we are very good at convincing ponies to buy a piece of property in the city's subdivisions. Most of our own neighbors have moved into that area because of us. It proves to be a very profitable enterprise. We've made enough money that we can afford to send all four of our children to college. In fact, our oldest son will be going to Pranceton next fall."

"Then he and I will have something in common," Winesap disclosed, speaking mostly to Bronze Star, "A college education, that is. Currently, I live on-campus at Harlem University in Stalliongton, where I'm majoring in corporate financing and accounting. Right now, I'm a junior, and I'll be graduating in a little over a year. Once I have my Bachelor's Degree, I plan to move back to my hometown of Manephis, so I can help my parents expand their fruit sales. I've also got a part-time job as a delivery colt. The pay isn't anything glamorous, but it's still nice to have something on my résumé."

"My older brother Margil owns an apple plantation in Vanhoover," Brina Washington pronounced, "While he and his staff do most of the harvesting, Jonathan and I handle most of the sales. He and I are grocers at the town's largest supermarket. That's a very effective system we have. Margil and I grew up in the country, whereas Jonathan was brought up in the city."

"Although I talked Brina into giving an urban environment a chance, Margil still prefers the humility of a rural lifestyle," Jonathan continued for his wife, "So it works out for everypony. Margil does all the work in the fields; Brina and I manage all the labor in the city's markets. We also like the city more because we feel it's a better, safer place to raise Ariane."

"Your daughter?" Bronze Star assumed.

"Correct," Brina affirmed, "We would have brought her along, but she's very young, and she doesn't like to travel very much."

"Fortunately, Margil is very fond of Ariane and vice versa," Jonathan explicated, "So while we're here in Ponyville, he's taking care of her."

Bronze Star lightly nodded in acknowledgement. Then he turned his attention towards the oldest stallion in the room and proclaimed "So, what about you, Mr. Spitzenburg? You strike me as a very… ambitious stallion. You must be an executive of a large organization or something the sort."

"Close, Mr. Streak," Esopus Spitzenburg elucidated, "Like Granny Smith, Margil, and Winesap's parents, I run my own apple ranch. Mine is in Chicacolt. However, my orchard is by far the largest one in Equestria. In terms of size, it's almost as big as this town. It yields so much fruit every year that I've been able to mold my business into an empire."

"An empire?" Bronze Star repeated in fascination.

"Yes, that would be the most appropriate term," Esopus Spitzenburg, "Forty years ago, I was just selling apples on the streets or at the grocer's. Then one day, I got the idea to expand the range of my crops' availability. So I created my own company to increase my overall productivity. Instead of selling apples by the basket, I was selling them by the cartload. Overtime, my company grew larger in scale and wider in clientele. It's also enabled me to engage in trade with several other corporations across the nation. You'd be surprised at how useful food can be as a bargaining chip."

Bronze Star whistled in genuine amazement. "You must be one of the most successful ponies in Equestria, Mr. Spitzenburg."

"Yeah, I'd say I have to be somewhere amongst the top fifty entrepreneurs in the country," Esopus Spitzenburg conjectured, "I'm easily the richest member of the Apple Family. Probably the most prolific one, as well. Truth be told, Sweet Apple Acres is perhaps the only plantation in the country that could rival mine for that spot."

"Then it's mighty fortunate that we belong to the same family, Uncle Esopus," Applejack wryly stated.

"Indeed, Jackie," Esopus Spitzenburg conceded, smirking.

Applejack softly groaned at being called that. Bronze Star snickered a bit at her reaction, but he relented when Applejack shot him an annoyed glare.

There came another interval of quietness, and then Granny Smith turned to face Bronze Star and stated "While we're on the subject of jobs, how was work today, Mr. Streak?"

"Oh, relatively uneventful," Bronze Star drily replied, "I read four intelligence reports, composed a dozen letters, filled out a small mountain of paperwork, and updated about twenty files. The usual."

Applejack, Big McIntosh, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom just nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Topaz, Honeycrisp, Winesap, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, and Esopus Spitzenburg seemed somewhat astounded by how Bronze Star spoke so casually about doing so much work in one day.

"You did all that work by yourself?" Honeycrisp presumed.

"No, my secretary aided me," Bronze Star clarified, "It's primarily thanks to her that I got it all finished on time."

"You must be an important person to have your own secretary," Winesap perceived.

Bronze Star lightly shrugged and remarked "Yeah, you could say I am."

"What do you do for a living, Mr. Streak?" Topaz queried.

"I'm Canterlot's ambassador to Ponyville," Bronze Star illuminated.

The Apples were intrigued to learn this. Esopus Spitzenburg sat forward in his seat and asked "Really?"

"Yeah," Bronze Star affirmed, "I've held that position ever since I first came here for the Summer Sun Celebration eight months ago."

"So you weren't born in Ponyville?" Jonathan assumed.

"Nope, I'm from the capital city," Bronze Star explicated, "I've lived there for nearly my entire life. In fact, Ponyville was the first place I visited outside of Canterlot."

"What made you decide to come here?" Brina queried.

"Actually, it wasn't my decision entirely," Bronze Star claimed, "You see, Princess Celestia herself assigned me here."

That statement appeared to fascinate the Apples.

"You work directly for Princess Celestia?" stated Esopus Spitzenburg. He seemed to be more interested in that fact than any of the others. All things considered, Bronze Star was not surprised by that.

Anyway, Bronze Star nodded his head in confirmation and said "Yes, she's had me under her employ for a long time. As a matter of fact, I have a seat on her Council, and I'm a member of her inner circle."

"That so?" Honeycrisp muttered in interest, "You seem kinda young to have that much responsibility."

"Well, I started my career at an early age," Bronze Star elaborated, "When I was fifteen, I became an intern for Princess Celestia's chief of staff, Lord Bellerophon. After a couple years of that, I was given a spot in the castle's administration. Overtime, I gained more status, and now I occupy one of the most prestigious spots in Celestia's cabinet."

"That's quite impressive," Topaz observed, "However, it bids the question; if you have so much political authority in Canterlot, what are you doing here as its emissary?"

"Like I said before, it wasn't my choice to come to Ponyville at first," Bronze Star proclaimed, "It was Celestia's. Truth be told, I'm not entirely certain WHY she sent me here. She must have her reasons, though. Regardless of what they are, I'm glad to be here. I've come to love this settlement and many of the ponies who call it their home."

"Well, good for you, Mr. Streak," Honeycrisp remarked in approval.

"You still haven't told us the part we've been waiting for," Winesap claimed deviously, scooting closer to the gold stallion, "How did you and Applejack hook up?"

Applejack was stunned by how abruptly that topic had been addressed. Bronze Star noticed her surprise and lightly patted her on the shoulder. He then turned to face the others, and it was obvious that Winesap was not the only pony there who hoped to receive an answer to that question.

After taking a minute to contemplate a response, Bronze Star announced "I'll give you the short version. She and I met on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. We were both present when Nightmare Moon returned and when she threatened to cast eternal night on Equestria. Ten ponies prevented that from happening; two of them were Applejack and I. During then, she and I saved each other's lives. She also helped me out with another matter after that crisis was resolved, and in return I helped her out with something else shortly after. It was then that we really started developing stronger feelings for each other. As time went on, we came to look past our differences and embrace the qualities we had in common. Two months after I moved here, we shared our first kiss. We've been together ever since then."

The Apples absorbed that brief recollection of the origin of Bronze Star and Applejack's relationship. By the time the gold stallion was finished, all of them seemed intrigued to a certain degree.

"That's quite a story, Mr. Streak," Honeycrisp commented. The others lightly nodded in agreement.

"I know you're Applejack's first coltfriend," Topaz pronounced, "Is she your first fillyfriend, too?"

"Yes, she is," Bronze Star affirmed.

"Six months, and you're still an item," Winesap perceived, "That's impressive. I only had MY first fillyfriend for three weeks. After that, I caught her with another stallion."

"Perhaps you should be more selective about who you associate with, Winesap," Jonathan cockily remarked.

"Either that, or be more mindful of how 'outgoing' your friends are," Brina leered.

"Yeah, sure; whatever," the young stallion mumbled. He propped himself up off the ground, looked over at Bronze Star, and stated "At any rate, have you enjoyed your time here, Gold?"

"Oh, absolutely," Bronze Star asserted, "Ponyville is very different from the capital city. While it's not as large and prosperous, it is much more tranquil and amiable. When I was in Canterlot, I was so busy that I rarely had time for a social life. My work here still keeps me busy, but to a much lesser degree. I've been able to make time for myself, and – more importantly – for my neighbors. Truth be told, I've made more friends in the past eight months than I have in the rest of my life combined. And I've experienced romantic love for the first time in my life, thanks to somepony in this room."

At that, all eyes were focused on Applejack. The orange mare blushed and tilted her hat over her eyes a bit. Bronze Star chuckled and lightly patted her on the back. Then he placed his left front hoof on the back of her neck and gently turned her head towards his. Once he was looking her in the eye, he told her sincerely "Sorry if I overstated that last part. I was just speaking my mind."

"Hey, no worries," Applejack asserted, "After all, I of all ponies have no right to criticize you for being honest."

Bronze Star smiled at that. He pulled Applejack in and kissed her on the lips. Even though she was sitting in front of nine of her family members, she did not protest this. She closed her eyes and accepted the kiss willingly. The other Apples just watched and grinned at that display of affection. None of them had any doubt that the gold stallion and the orange mare really were deeply in love with each other.

Bronze Star and Applejack soon pulled apart from each other. They continued to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Then they remembered that they were not alone, and they hastily turned back to the others.

Bronze Star took a moment to check the time. He saw that it was already getting pretty late in the evening. He needed to get back to the embassy so he could eat dinner and prepare for a couple meetings he had the next day.

Before he left, there was one thing he needed to find out He had not forgotten the main reason he had familiarized himself with the six new Apples in the first place. He needed to get his hooves on that briefcase of Esopus Spitzenburg's, and he needed to do it when nopony was around.

Currently, Spitzenburg did not have the briefcase with him, which seemed to validate the observation General Walther had made: the only time Spitzenburg did not keep the briefcase closeby was when he was mingling with his family. However, Bronze Star found it logical to assume that Spitzenburg was hiding the briefcase in the room he would be sleeping in during his stay in Ponyville. Of course, that was what he needed to find out.

"So, will this house be big enough for all ten of you?" Bronze Star queried.

"Yeah, we've already worked out those arrangements," Apple Bloom disclosed, "Winesap is stayin' with me in my room."

"Honeycrisp and I will be sleepin' with me in my room," Granny Smith revealed, "I have the largest bed in the house; it's big enough to split."

"Topaz and I are sharin' mine," Big McIntosh illuminated, "My room, I mean. Not my bed."

"Jonathan and Brina will be holdin' up in my room," Applejack specified, "I'll take the couch down here."

Bronze Star nodded in acknowledgement, and then he asked the oldest stallion "What about you, Mr. Spitzenburg?"

"I'll be taking the second-floor room that faces the entrance of the house," Esopus Spitzenburg enlightened him, "It's the room directly above our heads."

"That used to be my parents' bedroom," Applejack informed her coltfriend, "Now we use it as the guest room."

"Oh, alright," Bronze Star avowed. He paused for a few seconds, and then he smirked and slyly proclaimed to Esopus "So you're the only one with their own room, huh? Looks like you really ARE the aristocrat of the family."

"I guess so, Mr. Streak," Esopus Spitzenburg coincided, smirking back, "Let's just say I'm a stallion who cherishes his privacy."

"I understand what you're saying," Bronze Star pronounced candidly, "At any rate, I hope you're all comfortable here. You sound as though you have a good setup already. However, if for any reason you ever feel as though you need more space, I'd be happy to accommodate you at the embassy. Only one other pony is staying there apart from me, and all of you would be able to have your own bedroom. Including Jonathan and Brina."

"That's a very generous offer, Gold," Topaz commented gratefully. The others murmured in agreement.

"Even so, I think we'll manage here," Applejack declared, "But we'll keep your proposal in mind."

"Great," Bronze Star proclaimed. There was yet another period of quietness, and then Bronze Star sighed, picked up his knapsack, and stood up out of his stool. Then he announced to the others "Well, I better be getting back to the embassy. I have a meeting with the Mayor and City Council in the morning. Thank you for having me over."

"Anytime, Gold," Granny Smith asserted, "Feel free to swing by whenever you'd like. We'll keep our door open to you."

"I'll remember that, Granny Smith," Bronze Star assured the green mare.

After biding the ten Apples a good night, the young prince exited the building and departed from Sweet Apple Acres.

On his way back to the embassy, Bronze Star thought about everything he had just learned from the six new Apples. All of them had arrived from one of the major cities in Equestria. That was one thing that separated them from their Ponyville kin.

Another thing that distinguished them was their dialect. They tended to use more modern vocabulary, and they did not speak in riddles as much. While Honeycrisp, Topaz, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, and Winesap all sounded as though they came from an urban setting, there was a bit of a country accent in all of their voices. However, there was no trace of a country accent anywhere in Spitzenburg's voice. At first glance, one might never have guessed that he was involved in the agriculture industry.

In a strange way, that made Bronze Star's job seem a bit easier. It did not obscure the fact that he was spying on a member of the Apple Family, but since the pony he was spying on bore little resemblance to the Apples he already knew, he felt that would take some of the pressure off.

All the same, he had to formulate a plan for investigating the briefcase. Although he knew where the briefcase was being stored, he needed to know where exactly it was. He could only go near that briefcase when nopony else was nearby, and he could not remove it from Esopus Spitzenburg's room. As soon as he opened it, he would have to read the cover page and first inner page of all the files. Assuming there were as many files as General Walther had said, that would take a half-hour at the very least. The most efficient way to do this would be if he read all the files in one sitting. Most of all, he could not afford to be interrupted by anypony when he was examining the briefcase. Clearly, he had his work cut out for him.

After he got back to the embassy, Bronze Star ate dinner and got ready for the meetings he had the next day with the task force and the heads of City Council. He spent the rest of the evening putting together a number of strategies for how he would obtain and examine the briefcase. He made sure to account for every possible detail of every possible scenario that could result from this affair.

Over the next three days, Bronze Star worked at the embassy from the early morning to the late afternoon. With the exception of the task force, City Council, and the Mayor on the first day, the only ponies he corresponded with over those days were Dapple Rhomb and Sir Haywood McCrank. After Dapple Rhomb went home, Bronze Star would head over to Sweet Apple Acres and mingle with the Apple Family. As he spent more time with them, he came increasingly fond of them, too. He still never forgot about Esopus Spitzenburg's dark secrets, and he always kept his eyes open for an opportunity to sneak a peek at the briefcase.

On the third night, he finally got one. At one point when Bronze Star was in the front room of the Apples' house, Topaz excused herself to the bathroom for a few minutes. Bronze Star knew there was one bathroom on the house's first floor, and there was another one on the second floor. A minute after Topaz left the room, Bronze Star got out of his seat and claimed that he needed to use the bathroom as well. Then he made his way upstairs.

As a precaution, he actually did stop by the bathroom to turn on the sink. After that, he silently tiptoed to the room on the second floor that faced the front of the house. Unfortunately, it was locked at that time. He did not have any training in picking locks, but he did have something better: magic. Bronze Star momentarily turned back into his Alicorn form, used his magic to turn the door's lock, and slipped inside.

Esopus Spitzenburg's room was modest, but fitting for an ambitious pony like him. Bronze Star briefly searched through the bedroom, and after a few minutes, he found the briefcase underneath a wardrobe. It had been very cleverly concealed.

Bronze Star had already seen this briefcase when he first met Spitzenburg at the train station. Just to make sure it was the same one that General Walther had told him about, Bronze Star removed the photograph of that briefcase from his knapsack and held it over the actual briefcase to compare. Sure enough, it was the very same one.

Bronze Star then noticed something he had not seen before. The briefcase had a six-digit numeric combination lock on the handle; it currently read "000000." Luckily, the latch was not silent, and Bronze Star had excellent hearing. If he placed his ear against the dials as he rotated them, he would be able to hear the locks as they became unfastened. Once he discovered the combination, he would be able to open up the briefcase, and the files would be his.

He would not do that now, though; he would need to allot a larger period of time for that. For now, he just returned the briefcase to its hiding place. After taking a moment to ensure that everything in the room was in its exact place from before, Bronze Star stepped out of the room, relocked the door with his magic, and transformed back into his Earth Pony disguise. Then he went over to the bathroom, switched off the water, and returned downstairs to where the Apples were gathered.

Bronze Star managed to remain totally casual throughout the duration of his stay there. None of the Apples suspected he had been poking around in Spitzenburg's bedroom. For his sake and theirs, he was determined to keep it that way. Still, he wondered when he would find time to be alone with that briefcase long enough to examine all of its contents.

Luckily, it did not take him long to spot his chance. Shortly before Bronze Star left the farm that night, Granny Smith pointed out that they still had not had him over for dinner, and she asked if he might come over tomorrow night.

Granny Smith told him that the only reason she had not invited him over sooner was because there was only room for ten ponies at their table, and the Apples preferred to sit all at the same table when they ate. She had suggested coming by tomorrow night because only nine of the Apples would be present.

Apple Bloom was able to elaborate on that. She informed Bronze Star that she planned to have a sleepover tomorrow night with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Since there were already so many ponies at Sweet Apple Acres, they would be sleeping over at Carousel Boutique. Somehow, Sweetie Belle had managed to convince Rarity to let her friends stay the night. With Apple Bloom spending the evening somewhere else, there would be an empty seat at the dinner table. Granny Smith was hoping that Bronze Star would take that seat.

Never one to turn down a fine meal or an opening, Bronze Star happily accepted Granny Smith's offer. As a sign of his appreciation, he offered to bring some wine to the banquet. With Apple Bloom gone, everypony there was old enough to drink. That included Applejack; she had turned twenty-one a few months ago.

Initially, the Apples were a little tentative about having wine at their table. Not that they had anything against alcoholic beverages. All of them had a fondness for cider, both the alcoholic type and the nonalcoholic type. However, they preferred to steer clear of other, harder forms of alcohol. While the belief that farmers tended to drink on a regular basis was somewhat true, that stereotype did not apply to the Apple Family. They liked to be careful with their intake. Sometimes having just a little caused them to become somewhat lightheaded.

This gave Bronze Star an idea. He assured the Apples that he would not bring any strong wine to the meal. On Hearth's Warming Day, he had brought a crate of wine from Canterlot. He had been keeping them in the cellar at the embassy. There was one bottle he thought the Apples would like. This particular wine had a notable tint of apple in it. Bronze Star had been saving it for a special occasion, and he figured this occasion was as good as any.

Believe it or not, the Apples had never heard of apple-flavored wine before. Even so, they were more than eager to give it a try. So they chose to take Bronze Star up on his offer. The young prince was very pleased with their decision.

Bronze Star left Sweet Apple Acres shortly before eight o'clock. By the time he returned to the town, he had already put together a plan for searching through Esopus Spitzenburg's briefcase. However, he had concluded that he would be unable to carry out the plan without some assistance. So before he went back to the embassy, he stopped by the barracks and asked Noble Edict if he could speak privately with her. Naturally, the red mare granted his request without hesitation.

Bronze Star explained the whole situation to Noble Edict. He informed her about how he had already gained the admiration of the six new Apples, and how he had managed to learn the whereabouts of Spitzenburg's briefcase, as well as the difficulties he would face in getting to it. He also informed her that he had a plan to search the briefcase, but in order for this plan to work, he needed her help.

He told Noble Edict that the Apples invited him over for dinner the following night. Obviously, he would be going. But not just because he enjoyed their cooking or because he wanted to be gracious.

Granny Smith had asked Bronze Star to arrive at 5:15 or earlier. Dinner would be at 5:30, and it would be over in roughly an hour, including the time it would take to wash the dishes. After they ate, the Apples and Bronze Star would do what they always did after the evening meal: retire to the front room for dessert and some family bonding.

This was where Noble Edict came in. Bronze Star said that her role in this matter was a minor one, but an important one, all the same. All she had to do was come by Sweet Apple Acres at roughly six-thirty and knock on the front door. Once it was answered, she would enter, approach Bronze Star, and claim that something that required his immediate attention had come up. The subject itself did not matter; he would let her decide what it would be. At any rate, Bronze Star would go along with her, but not before assuring the Apples that he would be back later that evening.

The two of them would leave Sweet Apple Acres together, but they would not go any further than past the gate. Once they were there, Noble Edict would keep a lookout while Bronze Star changed into his Alicorn form. After that, he would teleport into Esopus Spitzenburg's bedroom. Then he would get out the briefcase, crack the combination lock on its handle, and get his hooves on the files inside. From there, he would read the cover page and front inner page of all the files. Here he would have to rely heavily on his photographic memory and his ability to read quickly.

Once he managed to browse through all the files, Bronze Star would put them back in the briefcase in the exact reverse order he had removed them. Then he would return the briefcase to its hiding spot underneath the wardrobe. After that, he would approach the window in the room and gaze outside.

The ranch's front gate was not visible from the first floor, but one could get a clear view of it from the second floor. Bronze Star took advantage of that fact. He would have Noble Edict remain at the front gate for the entire time that he was conducting his operation. She would stand where he could see her at all times. If at any point Noble saw somepony coming towards the ranch, she would casually wave in that pony's direction. That would signal Bronze Star that it was not safe for him to come outside yet. If she was just standing still, that would mean the coast was clear. He would then teleport back to her and switch back to his Earth Pony disguise. Then he would simply head over to the house and rejoin the Apples as though he had just gotten back.

Bronze Star had done all the calculations in his head. He estimated it would take five minutes to dig out the briefcase and discover its combination, forty-to-fifty minutes to read through the files, and five minutes to put the briefcase back and return to Noble Edict. He also had to account for the possibility of needing extra time, in case Noble Edict had company when Bronze Star was ready to leave. Altogether, he would need at least fifty minutes to carry out this operation; maybe as many as seventy. Of course, he would be doing this under the assumption that the Apples would not leave the front room, or at least, not go upstairs while Bronze Star was in Spitzenburg's room.

For the past four nights, Bronze Star had visited the Apples immediately after they finished dinner. All of his visits had lasted longer than an hour, and his activities with the Apples were confined to the front room on the first floor. With the occasional exception of going to use the bathroom or get a glass of water, none of them ever left the room for anything in all that time. So there was already a strong possibility that they would all remain in the front room while the gold stallion was upstairs.

Just to be safe, Bronze Star took another step to ensure that the Apples would stay put. This step was the bottle of wine he would bring to the meal. He had no intention of drugging the wine or lacing it with anything that would induce lethargy; he would never stoop that low. However, if the Apples consumed alcoholic beverages as rarely as they had claimed to, Bronze Star was certain that his wine would make them feel too cozy and mellow to leave the room. That would pretty much guarantee him total privacy while he examined the contents of Spitzenburg's briefcase.

Noble Edict had to admit that Bronze Star had a very excellent and expertly-crafted plan. As usual, he had accounted for everything. She was more than willing to play a part in it. She also told Bronze Star that she would stay close to the ranch even after he reentered the Apples' house, just in case he needed her help again later on. Bronze Star was alright with that, as long as Noble Edict stayed out of sight. After all, they only had one shot at this. If they bungled it in any way, the entire operation would be ruined.

Once they finalized all the details of the plan, Bronze Star left the barracks and headed back to the embassy. The first thing he did when he got back was go down into the cellar. The day after Hearth's Warming Day, Bronze Star had taken that crate of wine he had brought from Canterlot down to the cellar and assorted its contents. It took him a whole day to organize the bottles, but he managed to find an arrangement he was pleased with.

Thanks to his excellent memory, he remembered exactly where he had put that bottle of apple-flavored wine. It was near the center of the second rack. Interestingly, he also found a second bottle of that wine right next to the first one.

That struck him as odd; he could have sworn he only brought one bottle of this particular wine from Canterlot. If he had brought more than one, he would have certainly remembered doing so.

Then again, while Bronze Star had been the one who decided which types of wine he would bring and how many bottles of each would be included, he had not been the one who loaded up that crate. It occurred to him that perhaps the wine steward had given him a few extra bottles as a special treat, or something similar may have transpired. He was fairly certain that that was the case.

He also hoped it was. Because if he really HAD asked for two bottles of the apple-flavored wine and forgotten about doing so, then he would have reason to question his ability to remember everything he saw. Considering how he planned to memorize forty faces and pages in as many minutes tomorrow, this would have been the worst possible time for Bronze Star's supposedly flawless memory to fail him.

The next day started out like any other day. Bronze Star got up at six o'clock like he normally did. He took a short, ate breakfast, and bed Arthur like he normally did. He met Dapple Rhomb and gave her the agenda for the day like he normally did. He accomplished those tasks with her over a period of seven hours, pausing only once for lunch like he always.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Bronze Star started to deviate from his typical routine. He saw to it that he and Dapple Rhomb finished all their work by then. Once they were done, he told her she could take the rest of the day off. The purple mare was a little surprised by that. Generally, if they got all their work done early, the gold stallion would propose that they get a jumpstart on the next day's work. But she decided not to question her good fortune, so she gathered her things and went home.

Once his secretary left, Bronze Star grabbed his knapsack and the two bottles of apple-flavored wine. By 3:30, he was signing out of the embassy and stepping out the door.

He stopped by the barracks to check in with Noble Edict. He briefly went over the plan with her, and he asked her if he needed to clarify any part of it. Luckily, she did not need any elaboration; she had gotten a firm grasp of how the plan would be carried out. She assured him that she would fulfill her part of it, and she guaranteed him that she would be at Sweet Apple Acres at 6:30 sharp.

After this, Bronze Star promptly made his way to Sweet Apple Acres. He got there by 3:55. Applejack was surprised to see him there so early, but she had no complaints. Neither did the other Apples. They were thrilled to have him over, regardless of what time he arrived.

Scootaloo had come by a few hours earlier to see Apple Bloom, and the two of them had presumably gone to meet up with Sweetie Belle at Carousel Boutique.

Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Topaz were in the kitchen, working on dinner. Big McIntosh, Jonathan Washington, and Brina Washington were bringing in some apples from the cellar. Winesap was setting the table.

Bronze Star offered to lend a hoof, but Applejack assured him that he had already helped enough by supplying the wine. She told him that all he had to worry about was sitting down and relaxing while she and the others got everything else ready. He complied with his fillyfriend's suggestion.

Applejack then went into the kitchen to help Granny Smith, Topaz, and Honeycrisp.

Other than Bronze Star, Esopus Spitzenburg was the only pony who was not preoccupied with anything at this moment. The two stallions sat by themselves in almost total silence for a while. They did little to acknowledge each other's presence, apart from giving a polite grin or a slight nod.

After about twenty minutes of this, Applejack reentered the room. She was carrying an empty basket on her back, and she was moving towards the front door. Before she reached it, Bronze Star asked her "Where are you going?"

"To the barn," Applejack elucidated, "We're out of parsnips. We've got more out there."

"I could get them," Bronze Star offered, rising out of his chair.

"You sure?" Applejack enquired.

"Definitely," the gold stallion asserted, "You've already got enough to do. I have too little."

"Still, you needn't trouble yourself, Gold," Esopus Spitzenburg remarked.

"It's no trouble," Bronze Star proclaimed. Then he smirked and added in "Esopus."

The older stallion chuckled, leaned back in his chair, and commented "If you say so."

Without another word, Bronze Star took the empty basket from Applejack, exited the house, trotted over to the barn, and stepped inside. He looked around for a minute, and then he spotted a barrel labeled "Parsnips." He made his way over to the barrel, opened it up, and proceeded to fill the basket with them.

Once the basket was full, Bronze Star replaced the lid, picked up the basket of parsnips, and prepared to leave the barn. However, before he took one step towards the door, something caught his eye. A ray of sunshine was peering in through a hole in the roof of the barn, and the light beam was focused on the far corner of the barn. The light flashed at just the right angle to reveal a large object in the corner. Bronze Star could not tell what it was, but it looked oddly familiar.

He trotted over to the object to get a better look. He quickly realized it was the metal box Esopus Spitzenburg had brought from the train station. Esopus Spitzenburg had claimed that the box was a present for a friend.

Bronze Star wondered why Esopus would chose to keep the box out in the barn. Granted, he had heard of more unusual places to hide gifts for one's friends. But it would only make sense to go to such extreme lengths if the intended receiver of the gift was nearby. Bronze Star recalled that this friend of Spitzenburg's was in another city. That bid the question; what was the box doing out here?

Normally, Bronze Star did not make it his business to pry through other people's possessions. But seeing as how he would be doing that in a few hours anyway, he decided to go ahead and investigate the box.

Unsurprisingly, it was locked. However, the slot on the top had not been fastened. Bronze Star looked over his shoulders to make sure the coast was clear, and then he slid the slot open and peered inside.

Despite the fact that he was standing in a ray of sunlight, the box's interior was too dark to make out. As a result, Bronze Star could not get a clear glimpse on the inside. However, he could plainly see that something was inside it. Of that much he was certain. He had no idea what it was though; only that it was long, thin, and tightly compacted.

A moment later, the thing on the inside appeared to change its position. Bronze Star had not shaken or disturbed the box in anyway, and nothing had happened that might have caused the contents of the box to shift in place. That only meant one thing: the thing inside was moving independently.

Bronze Star then suspected that maybe the thing inside was a live animal. He leaned in a little more to get a closer look. A moment later, he saw the thing move again. When it stopped moving this time, Bronze Star became a little unsettled. He did not know why, but he felt as though he was being watched. A moment later, he felt something else: a strange, freezing sensation in his lower body. It was as though his back hooves had gone totally numb and solid, and he was gradually losing all sense in them. The sensation was slowly rising through his hind legs. Bronze Star tried to avert his gaze from the inside of the box, but he found himself unable to move away from it or divert his attention elsewhere.

Out of nowhere, he heard Applejack yell "Hey, Gold! You got them parsnips or what?"

That sudden interruption was enough to snap Bronze Star out of his trance. He quickly pulled himself away from the box and backed away from it. He took a moment to compose himself, and then he approached the box and slid the slot shut again.

By then, he had regained most of the feeling in his hind legs. He shook them a bit so he could regain all of it. After that, he brushed himself off, picked up the basket of parsnips, and casually trotted out of the barn. He came face-to-face with his fillyfriend.

"Sorry, Applejack," the gold stallion stated apologetically, holding out the basket of parsnips, "I was searching through the barrel so I could pick out the best of the lot."

"Oh, alright," the orange mare acknowledged, taking the basket from him, "I appreciate the effort. But next time, feel free to just grab the nearest specimens, regardless of how fresh they look."

"You got it," Bronze Star declared.

The two of them went back into the house. Applejack returned to the kitchen to help the other mares cook, and Bronze Star sat back down at his chair across from Esopus Spitzenburg.

As before, the two stallions just lounged around, doing pretty much nothing as they waited. Bronze Star was still keeping his mind at work, though. He was curious as to what the creature in that box might have been. Obviously, he would not ask Esopus Spitzenburg directly, and he was currently unable to take another look at the box. So all he could do now was speculate. He found it unlikely that it was a coincidence that he had lost all the feeling in his back legs at the exact same time that he had peered inside that box. Whatever was in it must have been what triggered that sensation. Bronze Star knew of a few things in Equestria that could do something like that, and only one of them was capable of movement and small enough to fit into that box.

A sudden thought occurred to Bronze Star. Whatever was in that box was probably something that was meant to further the assassination conspiracy. Maybe it was not really a gift for a friend; maybe it was actually a weapon of some sort. When this theory crossed his mind, Bronze Star realized something else: he was sitting in a room alone with the ringleader of a conspiracy. He had not forgotten Spitzenburg's role in the conspiracy or what he would be doing upstairs later on, but the irony of his situation did not sink in until that very moment.

By 5:30, the meal was finished and the food had been transferred from the kitchen to the dining room. The ten Apples took their place at the table. Esopus Spitzenburg and Granny Smith sat at the two ends. Winesap, Applejack, Bronze Star, and Honeycrisp sat on one of the long sides. Brina Washington, Jonathan Washington, Topaz, and Big McIntosh sat on the other long side. After taking a moment to admire the spread, they dug in.

Needless to say, the meal was fantastic. Of course, Bronze Star was expecting it to be; Granny Smith and Applejack were two of the best bakers he knew. However, this time, he had contributed something to the meal, too.

Bronze Star's apple-flavored wine was a hit with the Apples, much to his delight. He made sure that everypony had at least two glasses. He managed to talk Esopus Spitzenburg into having three. To avoid suspicion, he had a glass, as well. He was not worried about getting drunk; Alicorns did not become inebriated as easily as the other pony races.

About a half-hour into the meal, Esopus Spitzenburg picked up his glass and raised it into the air. He announced "I would like to propose a toast: to Mr. Gold Streak. Even though most of us have only just met him, I feel as though his deeds here and his relationship with Applejack have earned him his spot at this table."

The other eight Apples lifted their glasses as well, and they pronounced "To Gold Streak!"

Bronze Star was actually a little touched by that declaration, despite the fact that it came from the last pony he would have expected to hear it from. Wanting to appear courteous, he picked up his own glass, raised it up, and proclaimed "I'd like to raise a glass to you as well, Esopus. I am honored to call every pony here my friend, especially you."

"To Esopus!" the other Apples reiterated, holding their glasses high up.

The oldest stallion grinned at that. When the other ponies lowered their glasses, he looked to his own glass and professed "This wine is heavenly, Gold. Probably the finest I've ever had."

"Glad to hear it, Esopus," Bronze Star commented, "If you want, I could get you more of this wine."

"Actually, I think I'd rather try my hoof at making my own," Spitzenburg thought aloud, "My company makes a wide host of apple-based foods and beverages. We have apple bourbon, apple soda, apple martini, apple liquor, and more varieties of apple cider than you can count. However, we never once considered apple-flavored wine. Mostly because wine is primarily made from grapes, and unless it's fruit salad, we tend to avoid using other fruits in any of our products."

"It never hurts to diversify your options, Esopus," Bronze Star perceived.

"True," Esopus Spitzenburg conceded, "Well, I have been working on a formula for a new species of apple. This particular breed is meant to take very kindly to liquidation. Once the formula is approved by my chemists, I'll have fields of that apple grown. They'll be harvested almost exclusively for making beverages. Who knows; perhaps they can be used for wine."

"Sounds like a hot idea," Bronze Star declared.

A few of the others mumbled in agreement and eagerness. For some reason, Granny Smith seemed a little displeased by that proposal. She stated "Esopus, you mean to tell us you've been experimentin' on apples with them chemicals again?"

"Yes, I have," Esopus Spitzenburg affirmed, "What's wrong with that?"

"Apples are a product of the Earth, not of science," Granny Smith proclaimed, "I've told you that many times before, yet you seem to either forget it or ignore it. The land already provides the fruit; we just need to harvest it."

"Granny, I know you've always been adverse to my policy of using stimulants and other chemical compounds on fruit," Spitzenburg contended, "I'll be the first to admit it; genetically-engineered apples are not as good as naturally grown ones. Still, that does not mean we are not entitled to take what has been given to us and improve upon it. The chemicals are meant to enhance the apple, not diminish it."

"I get what you're sayin'," Granny Smith remarked, "There is nothing wrong with doing some tests. But you should think more of the customer than the apple itself."

"Granny, I can assure you that none of my engineered apples are unfit to eat," Esopus disclosed, "My chemists never approve the creation of any apple that would make the consumer sick or worse."

"I'm not talking about potential health risks," Granny Smith clarified, "I'm talking about sticking to tradition and to your values as a stallion of the land. Those are the very qualities that separate the Apples from every other family in the farming industry."

"If you're worried that I'll ultimately forget my roots, then you should relax," Esopus Spitzenburg countered, "I promise you that that will never happen. No matter how many experiments I conduct or how many engineered species of apples I create, I will never lose sight of my principles. I've always been a stallion of the land, and I always will be."

Those last statements seemed to set Granny Smith's mind at ease. She smiled and told the elderly stallion "Alright, I trust I can hold you to that."

"You can," Esopus maintained. There was a bit of quietness, and then he smiled and added in "After all, it was because of those policies that I was able to create an entire company with nothing but my head and my two front hooves."

"You mean you built your whole company all by yourself?" Bronze Star presumed.

"Indeed, I did," Esopus confirmed, "Sure, I always had plenty of subordinates working under me as staff and laborers. But before the company became what it is today, I did all the executive transactions and business relations by myself. I and nopony else."

Bronze Star whistled in amazement and said "That could not have been an easy task."

"It wasn't," Esopus guaranteed him, "It took years to build up my company to that level, and I had to spend almost every waking moment keeping it organized. But after almost a decade of sweat and toil, I formed my company into a bona fide empire. I don't think I can properly express the feelings of accomplishment I felt once I achieved that objective."

"I can imagine it must have been extremely satisfying," Bronze Star theorized, "Still, I don't think I'd ever try my hoof at a project of that magnitude without any assistance at all."

"Well, nowadays, my company has its own board of directors," Esopus revealed, "I leave them to handle the bureaucratic material, but I am still the CEO, and they answer to me. I have the final say on every deal the company makes. And before that, I had the ONLY say. I actually found that when I was building up the company, working alone was much more efficient than working with assistance."

"That so?" Bronze Star remarked.

"Yes," Esopus Spitzenburg elucidated, "Let me put it this way: When you try to climb the ladder of success, you can never count on other ponies to help you up the rungs. In this day and age, if you want to get something done, you can only rely on yourself to do it. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, Gold."

Bronze Star raised an eyebrow and claimed "Actually, I can't say I do."

"In that case, allow me to enlighten you," Esopus Spitzenburg proposed. He rubbed his chin for a few seconds, and then he explicated "A few days ago, you told us about how you and Applejack came to be in a relationship. During it, you mentioned the fact that you and she had witnessed Nightmare Moon's return. You also brought up how you and she had been two of the ten ponies who stopped her. I was a little intrigued by how you spoke so casually of that affair."

"Well, that did happen over eight months ago," Applejack pointed out, "While we were amazed at the time, it doesn't seem like such a big deal now."

"That isn't my point," Esopus Spitzenburg stated candidly, "I read several newspaper articles that recounted the events of the Nightmare Moon incident. While the stories differed in a few ways, all of them failed to account for the whereabouts of a certain mare throughout that ordeal. I am, of course, referring to Princess Celestia."

Bronze Star had been waiting for Spitzenburg to say something like that ever since he first shook hooves with him. Even so, he was not exactly thrilled to hear that statement. He looked over at the older stallion and queried "What do you mean?"

"It was rather strange how she was nowhere to be found in that whole affair," Esopus Spitzenburg explained, "I know she reappeared almost immediately after Nightmare Moon was defeated, but where was she while you, Applejack, and those other eight ponies were out risking your lives to make that happen?"

"Princess Celestia was… incapacitated at the time," Bronze Star revealed, "Nightmare Moon had imprisoned her in a mystical sphere of stable energy."

"So I see," Esopus Spitzenburg commented, raising an eyebrow, "Once she was released from captivity, did she ever explain how she had been captured?"

"No, she preferred not to reflect on that matter," Bronze Star informed him, "From what I gathered, Nightmare Moon simply managed to take her by surprise and trap her in the energy sphere without anypony noticing."

"Sounds as though she barely even put up a fight," Esopus Spitzenburg professed. He gave a deep sigh and uttered very sarcastically "What a surprise."

Bronze Star leaned closer and murmured "I beg your pardon?"

"Have you ever noticed how whenever Equestria is faced with a massive threat, Princess Celestia herself does absolutely nothing to stop it?" Spitzenburg expounded, "And I mean absolutely nothing."

"That's not true," Bronze Star countered, "Whenever there's a crisis, she's very quick to respond. She sends the best of the best to resolve the conflict as soon as possible while ensuring the survival of everypony involved. You can hardly call that 'nothing.'"

"No, I cannot," Esopus coincided, "So Celestia does employ thousands of other ponies who are expected to keep the country safe. But how often does she step in to resolve a conflict directly?"

Bronze Star thought about this, and he had to admit that Spitzenburg did make a decent point there. He ultimately replied with "Only on certain occasions. However, you must understand that Princess Celestia is a very busy mare, Esopus."

"Is she too busy to protect her country and her people?" Spitzenburg asked rhetorically.

"That would depend on the nature of the danger facing them," Bronze Star responded, "Regardless of that, the armed forces exist for a reason, Esopus. They can do a fine enough job of defending this country without any direct involvement from the Princess."

Esopus Spitzenburg leaned on his front leg and perceived "This only furthers the point I made earlier. If you need or want to accomplish something, you cannot rely on the higher-ups to aid you. Not even the supreme leader, the highest of them all. Case in point, if the citizens of a certain city in Equestria were in mortal peril, Princess Celestia would send in the military or somepony else to resolve the matter, but she would not go herself. Take Hoovston, for example. She was nowhere to be seen when the electricity network went berserk."

Bronze Star felt a flash of anger run through him. How DARE Esopus Spitzenburg bring Hoovston into this. He of all ponies had no right even talking about that disaster. Even so, the gold stallion managed to remain calm, and he answered that question with another question: "If one of your apple trees withers and stops producing fruit, would you go into the field to examine it yourself?"

The Apples were stunned by that remark, but they all looked to Esopus to hear his response. The elderly stallion shook his head and said bluntly "No, my workers could handle that."

"What about two trees?" Bronze Star inquired.

"No, they still wouldn't need me," Esopus claimed.

"Three?" Bronze Star spat heatedly, "Four? Five? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? A thousand? Tell me, Esopus. How many of your trees would have to become barren before you got out of your comfortable CEO chair and paid a visit to the fields? How many? In fact, when was the last time you even went out into the orchards and harvested any apples by yourself? You criticize Celestia for not bothering to get her hooves dirty, yet you don't seem willing to get yours dirty either. What does that say?"

Bronze Star did not bother to continue appearing emotionless here. If he remained as stoic as he had been up until this point, he would not have portrayed his disagreement as effectively as he wanted to. Here he needed to convey some anger so he could get Esopus Spitzenburg to see the hypocrisy and naivety in his accusations. He knew that that would definitely not be enough to change Esopus's mind and call off the conspiracy, but Bronze Star would at least be able to deliver a strong counterargument to the elderly stallion's harsh critique of his mother.

The prince and the nine Apples sat in an uncomfortable silence for a whole minute. Bronze Star eagerly waited for the elderly stallion to attempt to refute his points. It looked as though he had backed Spitzenburg into a corner, much to his satisfaction.

Eventually, Esopus Spitzenburg sighed and commented "You're quite right, Gold. I can hardly criticize Princess Celestia's decision to let the armed forced keep the country safe when I myself leave all my company's most difficult tasks to its laborers."

"I'm glad you see if from my perspective," Bronze Star pronounced, "Just because Princess Celestia rarely settles a dispute by herself, that does not mean she is uninterested in what happens to the people of Equestria. I've worked for her for ten years, and if there is one thing I've learned about her in all that time, it's that she loves and cares for every citizen of this country."

"Nopony's denying that, Gold," Esopus Spitzenburg disclosed, "I apologize if I sound as though I have a strong dislike for Princess Celestia. You must believe me; I don't. However, I AM a little adverse to some of her methods for running this country."

"Now that I can understand," Bronze Star claimed, "Everypony has their own ideas on the best ways to run the government. I'm sure you have your own share of views."

"Yes, I do," Esopus affirmed, "But now would not be an appropriate time to talk about them."

"Why's that?" Bronze Star queried.

Spitzenburg smirked and cheekily professed "There are two things you never discuss at the dinner table: your sex life and politics."

Everypony there snickered at that, including Bronze Star. When the laughter ended, Bronze Star looked back over at the elderly stallion and told him "Can't argue with that, Esopus. I wouldn't even have anything to talk about in one of those two subjects. Since Applejack's my first fillyfriend, you can probably guess which. However, I AM a very politically-active pony. I'm always open to sharing my own political views with others and listening to the political views of other ponies. Believe it or not, so is Princess Celestia."

That statement seemed to interest Esopus Spitzenburg. He enquired "She is?"

"Yes, certainly," Bronze Star confirmed, "She's been on the throne for more than a thousand years, and she is very much aware of how the country is constantly changing. She has acknowledged that the average citizen's cultural mindset is constantly changing, as well. Because of that, she has developed a keen interest in what other ponies are thinking. In addition to that, she often debates politics with ponies outside of her cabinet. Occasionally, she even considers incorporating some of their ideals into her own."

"Intriguing," Esopus Spitzenburg muttered, rubbing his chin, "How does one actually make one of these appointments to discuss politics with the Princess?"

"Well, there are a few criteria," Bronze Star disclosed, "Anypony who sees her must be of a sound mind, have excellent credibility, be highly respected in the community, and have the time and resources to visit the castle. In other words, somepony like you."

"Oh?" Esopus uttered, leaning closer to the gold stallion "So, you're saying we would actually hear somepony like me out?"

Bronze Star firmly nodded and explicated "She would be very interested in knowing what's on your mind. If you truly believe Celestia's methods could be improved, why not have an audience with the princess herself?"

Esopus Spitzenburg seemed to find that offer rather appealing. He sat in silence to think for a minute, and then he said to the gold stallion "She would really want to speak with me?"

"Of course," Bronze Star asserted, "If you want, I could even arrange the meeting for you."

That remark really caught Esopus's interest. He raised an eyebrow and presumed "You have the ability to make that happen, Gold?"

"Yes," Bronze Star guaranteed him, "I send her more than weekly updates of what happens in Ponyville. She's willing to hear me out on things like this. All you'd need to do is file a request and send it through the appropriate channels. With me as your reference, she's sure to grant your request."

Esopus Spitzenburg took another minute to contemplate this proposal. Ultimately, he looked up at the gold stallion, lightly nodded his head, and pronounced "Alright, Gold. Your offer is too appealing to refuse. Could you tell me how I would go about submitting one of these 'requests?'"

"You just need to fill out a certain form," Bronze Star answered him, "As luck would have it, I have that form on me."

The gold stallion was still wearing his knapsack. He picked it up, opened the main pocket, and pulled out a small stack of papers. He leafed through the papers until he found one with the title "Interview Bid." He removed that one from the others and held it out to Esopus Spitzenburg, who eagerly took it in his front hooves.

Bronze Star did not notice that when he pulled out the stack of papers, he inadvertently pulled out something else with them. It was a small, square-shaped piece of paper. It was a little thicker than most paper and much firmer as well. When he searched through the larger papers, he accidentally dropped the small square paper. It slid underneath the table without anypony noticing.

Esopus Spitzenburg took a moment to look over the form. Bronze Star returned the rest of the papers to his knapsack and closed it up, and he disclosed "Now before you can see the Princess, they'll need to do a background check on you."

The elderly stallion seemed a little startled by that statement. He remarked "May I ask why?"

"It's merely protocol," Bronze Star informed him, "With all the crazy stuff that goes on in the world nowadays, one can never be too careful. When I first applied for a job at the castle, they ran a background check on me, too. It was very uncomfortable, but very much worth the job."

"Son, look at me," Esopus Spitzenburg bade him, "Do I look as though I'd be capable of harming anypony?"

"No, you don't," Bronze Star claimed, "That just implies that you have a greater chance of passing the test. The Royal Guard can usually tell the bad ones just by their appearance. You don't have anything to hide, do you, Esopus?"

"No, of course not, Gold," Spitzenburg insisted, "I just don't like being probed and questioned like a terrorist suspect."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the background check is mandatory," Bronze Star adamantly declared, "It's not really that big of a deal, Esopus. We just need to make sure you're not a deranged idealist who's scheming to overthrow Princess Celestia's reign."

Esopus Spitzenburg was astounded by that last statement. He was not the only one; the other eight Apples appeared to be just as stunned. Bronze Star had said that remark as if was meant to be interpreted as a jest, but even he was not amused by it. After all, unbeknownst to the Apples, that observation applied perfectly to Esopus Spitzenburg.

After some unpleasant silence, Bronze Star stated apologetically "I'm sorry; that was a bad joke. A very bad joke, as a matter of fact."

"It's alright; I've made much worse jokes, Gold," Esopus Spitzenburg assured the younger stallion. He gazed down at the form again, and then he set it aside. After that, he thought aloud "I'll need some time to think about this, first. Would you mind if I waited until later to fill it out?"

"Not at all," Bronze Star responded, "After you fill out the sheet, you can deliver it to me at the embassy at any time. Or you could mail it to Canterlot Castle directly. The forwarding address is provided at the bottom of the form."

"Okay, I'll keep all that in mind," Spitzenburg acknowledged.

Fifteen minutes later, the meal was over. Everypony helped clear the table and clean up after. Most of them went to the kitchen to wash and put away the dishes. Applejack stayed in the dining room to sweep the floor. After clearing the visible parts of the floor, she swept underneath the table, as well.

The broom came into contact with something other than dirt, dust, and food residue. When she pulled the broom back out, Applejack spotted the object. She picked it up and took a moment to study it. It was the square piece of paper Bronze Star had dropped during the meal. She did not know what to make of the piece of paper or where it had come from, but she realized it had been right in front of Bronze Star's seat when she came across it.

For some reason, Applejack was compelled to hold on to the piece of paper instead of giving it back. She simply chose to tuck it underneath her hat and not speak of it for now.

Ten minutes later, the Apples and Bronze Star gathered in the front room. Bronze Star looked around and saw that the others were relieved to be settled down. Evidently, the Earth Ponies were already experiencing some of the intoxicating effects of the apple-flavored wine. Since Bronze Star had less to drink and a stronger liver, he was still entirely sober. That was fortunate; he needed to have a clear head for what he was about to do.

A couple minutes of relative silence passed. Bronze Star patiently waited for something to happen. Sure enough, right at 6:30, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Big McIntosh proposed. He got out of his chair and slightly stumbled towards the door. Then he opened it and came face-to-face with a certain red mare. He grinned down at her and greeted her with "Evening, Noble Edict."

"Hey, Big Mac," she returned cordially, "I'm looking for Gold Streak. I stopped by the embassy to see him, but Dapple Rhomb told me he came here. Did he?"

"Yes, he did," the large red stallion affirmed, "He's in here with us. Come on in."

Big McIntosh held the door open for Noble Edict, and she passed through the doorway. When Bronze Star saw her, he got out of his chair, grinned at her, and asked "What's up, Noble?"

"Forgive me for interrupting your evening, Mr. Ambassador," Noble Edict uttered hastily, "But I need you to come with me straightaway."

"Is everything alright?" Bronze Star enquired, trying to sound concerned.

"I can't say for sure just yet," Noble Edict explicated, "This is about that energy sphere in the Everfree Forest. It's… changed."

She had clearly been practicing that line, but the Apples seemed to buy it. Bronze Star proclaimed "Alright, just give me a minute. I'll be along shortly."

Noble Edict nodded her head and stepped back outside. Bronze Star turned to face the Apples and told them "Sorry to cut our time short, but I have to go."

"Okay," Granny Smith asserted, "Will you be coming back later?"

"Yeah, I'll probably be free again in an hour or so," Bronze Star decreed, "So until I get back, you guys stay put. I want to find you right where you are when I return."

The nine Earth Ponies lightly chuckled at that statement, but they seemed to have no objections to it. Right now, none of them felt like doing much of anything other than relaxing.

Bronze Star left the house and carefully closed the door behind him. Then he and Noble Edict headed down the path that led to the plantation's main entrance. As soon as they passed through the front gate, they stopped trotting.

The gold stallion looked to the red mare and commented "Flawless timing, Noble."

"Thanks, Bronze," she said appreciatively, "So, how was dinner?"

"It was pleasant," he apprised her, "The food was, at any rate. The talk during the meal, not so much. Spitzenburg managed to bring his opinion of my mother into the conversation, and he all but admitted that he's behind the conspiracy against her."

"Then he's either very daring or very complacent," Noble Edict theorized.

"No, I'd say he's just plain eloquent," Bronze Star perceived.

"Maybe," Noble Edict remarked, shrugging. After a few seconds of silence, she said to the young prince "At any rate, are you ready for this?"

"More than ready," Bronze Star asserted. He removed his knapsack from his shoulder and held it out to the red mare, saying "Could you hold on to this?"

"Won't you need it?" Noble Edict enquired.

"No, all I need is this," Bronze Star replied, pointing to his temple.

"Okay," Noble Edict coincided, taking the knapsack into her front hoof. After making sure that nopony was in the area, she then closed her eyes so Bronze Star could transform into his Alicorn form.

The prince took a minute to stretch his wings and give his aura a workout, and then he announced "Alright, this is it."

"Hold on a moment," Noble Edict requested. She pulled a knife out of the side of her belt, gripped it by the blade, and held the hilt out to the gold stallion. She suggested "You might want to take this."

Bronze Star smirked and shook his head. He stated "Noble, I'm not breaking into the headquarters of an extremist splinter cell. I'm conducting reconnaissance on an elderly stallion in my fillyfriend's house."

"I know, but it never hurts to be prepared," Noble Edict notified him.

"There's only one pony in that house that I would be willing to use that knife on," Bronze Star illuminated, "And if anything happens to him, we're the ones who will pay. If I encounter any setbacks, I'll handle them accordingly."

"Very well," Noble Edict agreed, albeit a little reluctantly. She returned the knife to its sheath on her belt and bade the prince "But please, be careful in there."

"You got it," he said reassuringly. He then turned to face the house in Sweet Apples Acres and concentrated on it carefully. Once he was properly focused, he told the chief of security "If all goes well, I'll see you in an hour."

"I'll be waiting here," she proclaimed. She would have asked how long he might have needed it all did NOT go well, but she figured he did not need any more worry or stress. So she stayed silent.

Bronze Star spread his wings and rose a couple feet into the air. Then he teleported to a spot a couple meters above the roof of the Apples' house. He gazed down at the building and stared intently at the roof, as if he was calculating the distance between his current position and the ground of the second floor. Once he worked that out, he teleported again. This time he arrived right in Esopus Spitzenburg's room, just as he had planned. He was still hovering in midair. Once he confirmed that nopony was there, he gracefully landed on the floor.

He could faintly hear the Apples talking below him. They seemed to be engrossed in a conversation.

Bronze Star crept over to the wardrobe, reached underneath it, and pulled out Spitzenburg's briefcase. He set it down in front of him, rested his ear against the lock on the handle, and placed his right front hoof on the combination dials. He carefully rotated the dials, one at a time. Every time he heard a faint "click," he moved on to the next dial.

When he found the number for the sixth dial, the lock became unfastened. The combination turned out to be 679345. There was nothing significant about it; it was just a random number.

Bronze Star placed his hands on either side of the briefcase and gradually separated them. Once the briefcase was fully open, he gently set it down on the ground. Inside the briefcase were dozens of files. Bronze Star removed the files and put them in a pile on the floor.

Now Bronze Star began the actual investigation phase of his operation. He picked up the first file and examined its cover page. It held the picture of a middle-aged stallion. Bronze Star studied the face closely so that it was etched into his memory. After that, he opened the file and read the top inner page. This page contained a summary report of this stallion's life and occupation. According to it, he was the director of a transportation network that delivered goods across the nation. Bronze Star figured that Esopus had struck a deal with this stallion to distribute his company's products to the cities in Equestria. As such, it was unlikely that he was one of the conspirators. Even so, he made sure to memorize this stallion's name, face, and personal information.

Bronze Star set that file aside and turned his attention to the next one. This one had the picture of another pony imprinted on the cover. He proceeded to commit this pony's face to memory as well. After that, he opened the file and read the first page inside of it. Once he was finished, he put it off to the side and moved on to the next file in the pile.

He followed this same sequence with every other file in that stack. He tried to limit himself to no more than one minute per file. He spent fifteen seconds memorizing the faces on the covers and the remaining forty-five seconds memorizing the first page on the inside of each of the files. A lot of these ponies did not seem like they were involved in the conspiracy. They simply appeared to be executives, merchants, or tycoons. However, every now and then, Bronze Star came across somepony who seemed out of place amongst the other ponies.

When he had looked through about half of the files, Bronze Star felt a tingling sensation in his legs. He had been kneeling in the exact same position for over a half-hour, and he was starting to get uncomfortable in that stance. So he shifted his legs to a more tolerable position. When he did that, he accidentally caused the floorboard beneath him to creak.

Bronze Star immediately froze in place. He hoped that nopony heard that. To his dismay, he was not so lucky.

"What was that?" a voice asked.

"What was what?" said another voice.

"I thought I heard something upstairs," the first voice clarified.

Bronze Star wanted to swear in frustration, but he dared not do anything that would generate more commotion. He did not move a muscle or make a sound. He remained perfectly still and waited for something to happen.

Ultimately, he heard somepony else say "Probably just a floorboard. You know how the place was rebuilt a few months ago? Well, some of the floorboards still haven't been broken in yet. Every now and then, they give off some noise without even being disturbed."

"There you have it," yet another voice muttered, "No cause for alarm."

"Oh, alright then," the first voice remarked.

Bronze Star silently breathed a sigh of relief. Then he went back to work studying the files.

When he was about three-quarters through the files, Bronze Star heard somepony below him say "Excuse for a moment."

This was followed almost immediately by somepony else saying "I'll be right back, too."

Bronze Star stopped what he was doing to listen. Two sets of hoofsteps could be heard moving throughout the house. The first set was not going towards the staircase, much to Bronze Star's relief. However, the second set sounded as though somepony was heading directly towards it. He soon heard the back door open and close, and the noise of the first set of hoofsteps disappeared. In the meantime, the second set of hoofsteps could clearly be heard going up the stairs.

Once again, Bronze Star held his breath and stayed totally motionless. The hoofsteps gradually got closer and closer to the front room of the second floor. As they approached, Bronze Star desperately whispered "Don't be Spitzenburg, don't be Spitzenburg, don't be Spitzenburg…"

Soon the hoofsteps reached the door, but they did not stop there; they went right past the bedroom. Bronze Star was immensely relieved, but he still did not move. When the hoofsteps reached another room further down the corridor, they stopped. Even then, Bronze Star stayed still, and he decided to remain that way until that pony went back downstairs.

He waited for a few minutes, but apart from the chatting in the front room, he heard nothing. He wondered if the pony who had come upstairs had fallen asleep or something. He kept his gaze on the files, but he had his senses focused on the door.

A few minutes later, the noise of the hoofsteps returned, but they sounded as though they were already at the top of the staircase. That struck him as odd; he had not heard anypony else come upstairs. It must have been the pony who had come up earlier. He or she must have either taken the longer way to the staircase, or had been a lot quieter than he or she had been when coming up.

Whatever the reason, Bronze Star was just glad he had not been discovered. The hoofsteps made their way down the stairs and returned to the front room. A few minutes later, he heard the back door open and close again, and whoever had gone outside returned to the front room, too. Once they did, Bronze Star swiftly went back to examining the files.

From this point onward, Bronze Star experienced no more hitches. He examined the last one-fourth of the files without interruption. Once he was done, he placed the files back into the briefcase in the exact same order and position that they had been in when he first opened the briefcase. After that, he carefully shut the briefcase, refastened the lock, and rotated the dials so they read "000000" again. Then he carefully slid the briefcase back underneath the wardrobe.

Bronze Star approached the window and peered outside. He could see Noble Edict standing outside the front gate. She was facing the house, but she was not waving. That meant the coast was clear. Bronze Star took a minute to concentrate, and then he rose into the air and teleported to above the roof of the house. From there, he teleported to the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres.

He managed to materialize right next to Noble Edict. He took the red mare by surprise, but when she realized it was him, she eased down. She looked to him, gave him back his knapsack, and said expectantly "Well?"

"Mission accomplished," he proudly announced. He quickly changed back into his Earth Pony disguise.

"Outstanding," Noble Edict stated in approval, "So, you going back in?"

"Yeah, but I'll only stay for about a half-hour," Bronze Star apprised her, "You can go back to the barracks now, if you'd like."

"I don't mind waiting here," Noble Edict assured him, "Plus, there's something else I want to talk to you about. But it can wait a half-hour."

"Alright, I'll see you then," he declared.

Two minutes later, Bronze Star was back in the front room of Sweet Apple Acres. He had retaken his spot next to Applejack. For some reason, the orange mare seemed somewhat distant and aloof. He just assumed she was tired or that her mind was elsewhere. So he did not talk with her a lot, but he talked plenty with the others. He talked with Esopus Spitzenburg more than any of the others. Now that Bronze Star knew the names and faces of everypony in that briefcase, he felt much more relaxed and laidback around Esopus Spitzenburg. In a way, the young prince felt as though he had already beaten the elderly stallion.

Bronze Star stayed with the Apples until 8:30. Then he bade them all a good night. He would have given Applejack a good-bye kiss, too, but she did not appear to be in the mood for that. So he just said good-bye and left.

By now, it was already quite dark outside. Noble Edict was still waiting for Bronze Star at the gate. When he reached her, he proposed "Should we head back into town?"

"I would prefer if we talked here," she remarked.

"Alright," the gold stallion conceded. After a brief pause, he queried "By the way, did you see anypony while I was inside?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Noble Edict illuminated, "There were about three or four ponies who came down this path while you were up in that room. They did not seem suspicious of me, and there was nothing suspicious about any of them. However, about thirty-five minutes after you went inside, I saw Esopus Spitzenburg leave the house through the back door."

Bronze Star became intrigued by that. "Did he see you?"

"No, I managed to stay out of sight," Noble Edict explicated.

"What was he doing?" Bronze Star inquired.

"I saw him enter the barn and reemerge a minute later with some sort of package," Noble Edict recounted.

"Like a metal box?" Bronze Star presumed.

"Yeah, just like that," Noble Edict affirmed, "He took the box out into the orchards. Before long, he disappeared from my field of vision. I would have followed him, but I wasn't going to leave my post while you were inside."

"You made the right choice, Noble," Bronze Star assured her, "Did anything else happen?"

"Not much," Noble Edict informed him, "Spitzenburg came back into my sight a couple minutes later. He put the box back in the barn and reentered the house through the rear door. I didn't see him again after that. However, shortly after you went back inside, I did see something else. I don't know what it was, but it was very fast and very agile. It came from the same area that Spitzenburg had been in, and it bolted right through here."

"Did it go near you?" Bronze Star inquired.

"No, it didn't seem to notice me," Noble Edict replied.

Bronze Star gazed off to the side and rubbed his chin. He thought aloud "Spitzenburg told me that he was keeping a gift for a friend in that box. A friend from another city."

"He must've lied," the red mare conjectured.

"I'm sure he did," the gold stallion concurred, "I also managed to get a glimpse of the box's interior. I'm inclined to believe that a live animal was in it."

"What sort of animal?" she queried.

"I don't know, but it must have been a deadly one," he proclaimed, "You see, when I looked inside, it was as though I was unable to look away or feel my hind legs at all."

"What could have possibly done that?" Noble Edict muttered.

"I have a theory," Bronze Star pronounced, "It's not a very probable one, though. Regardless, I don't think we can afford to ignore this."

"You're right," Noble Edict said in agreement, "We'd better take a look around."

Bronze Star nodded firmly, and he remarked "You said the creature went past you?"

"Yes," Noble Edict affirmed, "It was moving to the southeast when I lost sight of it."

Bronze Star's eyes widened in shock and he mumbled "That's in the same direction as Fluttershy's cottage."

"Then there's no time to waste," Noble Edict decreed, "Let's go!"

The red mare and the gold stallion galloped as fast as they could to the southeast. About five minutes later, they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. All the lights in the house were off, and the front door was locked. However, the back door had been left wide open. As a precaution, Noble Edict drew a knife from her belt and armed herself.

She and Bronze Star silently crept inside and scouted around. With the exception of some upturned pieces of furniture, a strangely-constructed wooden sculpture, and a pile of soot at the base of the fireplace, the house looked totally normal. However, apart from some of Fluttershy's animal friends, no one else was there. The yellow mare was almost always home at this time of night.

When they went back outside, Bronze Star and Noble Edict saw something they had missed before. A few meters away from the back door of the cottage, there were five sets of tracks in the ground. One of them had been made by tiny webbed feet, and it started at the chicken soup. The other four began at spot beyond the fence that marked Fluttershy's property. Those four tracks had been made by ponies, and three of them were considerably smaller than the freshest tracks. All five tracks headed directly into the Everfree Forest.

Bronze Star figured that the trail of tiny webbed feet had been left by one of Fluttershy's chickens, and the largest hoofprints must have been made by Fluttershy herself. He did not know what to make of the three smaller trails of hoofprints. The only possible explanation was that three preteen foals had been out here as well, and that was extremely unlikely. Unless…

Bronze Star looked over at Noble Edict and asked her "Have you by any chance seen Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom today?"

"Actually, yes," Noble Edict revealed, "This afternoon, when I was out on my lunch break, I saw them running through the town square. Fluttershy was with them; she appeared to be watching over the fillies."

"Maybe she still is," Bronze Star hypothesized, "Or was, at any rate."

"One way to find out," Noble Edict recommended, "We better go after them."

"I agree," Bronze Star thought aloud, "The Everfree Forest is already dangerous enough, but with that… that thing lurking around, nopony is safe."

"Precisely," was all Noble Edict said in response.

The two of them took a minute to examine the tracks. They were quite fresh; they could not have been made more than twenty minutes ago. Upon further inspection, Bronze Star and Noble Edict managed to find a sixth trail. This one was barely visible, mostly because it had not been made by feet or hooves. It looked as though it had been made by a snake.

Bronze Star turned to his affiliate and stated hopefully "Noble, about that knife you offered me earlier…"

The red mare promptly pulled another knife out of her belt and held it out to the gold stallion, beckoning him "Take it."

Bronze Star accepted the weapon and gripped it tightly in his front hoof. Then he announced "Let's move."

The two of them swiftly galloped into the Everfree Forest. They closely followed the trails of hoofprints at all times. Unfortunately, the deeper they went, the harder to detect the trails became. Soon, the trails became too faint, and the two ponies lost them altogether. After that, they were relying solely on instinct and reckoning. They hoped that that would be enough to lead them to Fluttershy and the others.

After a while, they spotted a huge mass on the ground. Bronze Star and Noble Edict cautiously approached the mass, and they saw that it was a statue of a pony. This pony was weirdly familiar, as if it was somepony they knew. That was when they realized that the figure was not really a statue of a pony. It was an actual pony!

"Oh, my…" Bronze Star whispered in shock, "It's Twilight!"

"What the Tartarus happened to her?" Noble Edict murmured apprehensively.

"She's been turned into stone," Bronze Star noted hauntingly, "That can only mean one thing…"

"What?" Noble asked, somewhat demandingly.

Bronze Star did not answer straightaway. Instead, he looked up at Noble Edict and resolutely announced "We have to find Fluttershy and the fillies right now!"

"What about Twilight?" Noble Edict yelled, "We can't just leave her!"

"Yes, we can!" Bronze Star countered, "Until we find the creature that did this, there's nothing we can do for her! If we don't hurry, she won't be that thing's only victim!"

As much as Noble Edict did not want to leave Twilight Sparkle in this condition, she could not deny that the gold stallion was right. Aside from that, she knew that he would never abandon the lavender mare.

Out of nowhere, the red mare and the gold stallion heard screaming. Loud, high-pitched screaming. The type of screaming that would be made by young fillies. The source of the screaming sounded as though it was getting progressively closer to them.

Right then, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sprinted through the area, screaming at the top of their lungs. When they ran through a thistle bush, they tripped and collapsed in front of Bronze Star, Noble Edict. They happened to land on the other side of Twilight Sparkle, too.

When they saw what had become of the lavender mare, they gasped in shock. At this moment, a snail was crawling across her solidified face.

Just then, Fluttershy arrived on the scene. She was surprised to see Bronze Star and Noble Edict, but she did not have time to wonder why they were there. She calmly told the Cutie Mark Crusaders "See? Now we have to –"

She was interrupted by another round of screaming from the fillies. They started panicking and running around the area frantically. Right now, they were anything but calm. A moment later, Bronze Star and Noble Edict discovered why they were so agitated.

A creature slowly emerged from the thistle bush. It had the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. It also had a murderous look in its eyes. Bronze Star and Fluttershy knew exactly what it was: a cockatrice.

The cockatrice was one of the most bizarre and most dangerous creatures in Equestria. Despite its laughable appearance, it was not to be trifled with. It could turn just about any other creature into stone just by staring into its eyes. For that reason, its kind had been driven away from every inhabited part of Equestria. Whenever a cockatrice was sighted, Special Forces would immediately be dispatched to chase away or exterminate the beast.

Unfortunately, Special Forces were nowhere near Ponyville at this time. The only ponies who could do anything to stop this cockatrice were Bronze Star, Noble Edict, and Fluttershy.

The yellow mare tried to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders to calm down. She softly told them "Girls, please. Girls- now listen to me, girls, I- please!"

Obviously, she had very little luck in pacifying the fillies. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were screaming too loudly to hear her.

When Noble Edict saw the cockatrice, she felt an overwhelming desire to guffaw and cower in fear at the same time. As the creature squawked and got closer to them, she became more inclined to do the latter. She shouted in astonishment "What the BUCK is THAT?"

"It's a cockatrice!" Bronze Star announced, "Noble, whatever you do, do NOT look that thing in the eye. Or what happened to Twilight will happen to you, too!"

"Roger that!" the red mare acknowledged. She averted her gaze from the cockatrice, and then she asked the gold stallion "What should we do?"

"I'll distract it!" Bronze Star announced, "While it's coming after me, see if you can sneak up on it and subdue it!"

"You got it, sir!" Noble Edict proclaimed.

The two of them prepared to move in on the cockatrice. However, Fluttershy was standing between them and it. She saw how close the cockatrice was, but she did not seem afraid of it. She was far more concerned with the safety of the fillies.

After failing to calm them through her normally gentle demeanor, she became a little tense and demanded "GIRLS! Behind me, NOW!"

In response, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stopped screaming and ducked behind the yellow Pegasus. Bronze Star and Noble Edict rushed to her aid. Before they could engage the cockatrice, they were interceded by Fluttershy. She bade them "Bronze, Noble, stay back! Let me handle this!"

"But Fluttershy, that thing could-" Noble Edict urgently began.

"I know what it could do!" the wildlife preserver interrupted impatiently, "You need to trust me on this!"

Bronze Star and Noble Edict wanted to protest, but Fluttershy seemed reasonably confident in her ability to remedy this problem. So despite their skepticism, they brought themselves to step away from the cockatrice. They remained close-by, keeping their knives in plain sight. They were ready to defend the fillies and Fluttershy if the cockatrice tried anything.

Soon, the cockatrice was upon the six ponies, and it squawked menacingly. Since Fluttershy was at the front of the group, it focused on her first. It spread its wings, let out a piercing roar, and gazed hostilely into her eyes.

The effect was instantaneous; the yellow Pegasus' back hooves soon began turning into stone. Bronze Star was inclined to attack the cockatrice, but Noble Edict gestured for him to keep his distance.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and then she stared into the cockatrice's eyes and yelled furiously "YOU! Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?"

Bronze Star had not seen Fluttershy this angry since that disastrous episode with the dragon. Her words had a very strong effect on the cockatrice. The beast gave a dismayed squawk and backed away a bit.

At first, Bronze Star and Noble Edict were astounded, but then they realized what was going on. Fluttershy was using her unique ability to subjugate animals on the cockatrice. It was known by her and her friends as "The Stare." Basically, it involved gazing into an animal's eyes and gaining its full attention, putting it under her full control.

She crossly drove on with "You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man. Now you go over there, and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again. Do you understand me?"

Fluttershy's Stare had never failed her before, and it did not fail her this time, either. She had made the creature totally submissive. It dismally squawked again and slithered away from her. Then it flickered its eyes like a strobe light for a few seconds. In response to that, Twilight Sparkle turned back to normal, as did Fluttershy's chicken Elizabeak, who had been lying on the ground a few meters away.

The cockatrice turned around and began to slink away from the ponies. Before it got far, Bronze Star chased after it and shouted "Oh, no, you don't!"

He seized the cockatrice from behind and lifted it into the air. The beast struggled to wiggle free of his grasp, but the gold stallion had a firm grip on it. Every time the creature attempted to slip away, Bronze Star countered its attempts. He smiled and muttered sardonically "You're not going anywhere, pal!"

After a minute, the cockatrice gave up the struggle and admitted defeat. Bronze Star smirked in satisfaction and covered its eyes. He declared triumphantly "That's right; there's no escape now."

Noble Edict grinned and trotted over to the gold stallion, saying "Nice capture, Bronze."

"Thanks, Noble," he told the red mare gratefully.

Fluttershy turned to the fillies and asked worriedly "Are you girls all right? I was so worried!"

"Yeah, fine!" Scootaloo assured her.

"Thanks to that stare of yours." Sweetie Belle added in.

"You're like the queen of stares," Scootaloo commented, "You're the—"

"Stare Master!" the three of them declared in unison.

Bronze Star chuckled at that, and Noble Edict uttered in amusement "Clever."

Fluttershy just smiled lightly. The three fillies then turned a little somber.

"We're sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest," Sweetie Belle told her apologetically.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom remarked, "We'll listen to you from now on."

"We promise," Scootaloo conceded.

"Oh, you DO, do you?" Fluttershy murmured both playfully and edgily, "Well, you better, or I'll give you... the Stare!"

It was funny to see the timid mare attempt to be frightening. Bronze Star, Noble Edict, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all giggled in amusement. After a moment, Fluttershy did, as well.

By now, Twilight Sparkle had regained her bearings. She pulled herself off the ground and joined the others. She mumbled in confusion "What... what happened?"

Just then, Elizabeak hobbled through the area, squawking excitedly.

Twilight Sparkle noticed what Bronze Star was holding in his front hooves. She uttered in amazement "Bronze, is that a…?"

"Cockatrice?" the stallion cut in. "Ho, yeah, Twilight. Managed to bag a live one."

"It'd make a great trophy," Noble Edict slyly commented.

Twilight Sparkle seemed perplexed by the prince's decision to hold on to the cockatrice. She asked him "Why don't you just let it go?"

"Simple," he answered straightforwardly, "We can't allow such a dangerous creature to roam freely. We have to ensure that it doesn't harm anypony or anything else."

"I say we slit its throat and be done with it," Noble Edict proposed, holding up her knife.

"I'm not sure it even HAS a throat, Noble," Bronze Star noted, looking the creature over, "Aside from that, I'd prefer not to kill it. It's rare that people manage to capture a live cockatrice."

"If you insist, Bronze," Noble Edict drily claimed, "But it's still a danger to us all."

"Actually, it's only really a danger if you make eye contact with it," Bronze Star apprised her. He thought for a moment, and then he pronounced "I have an idea, Noble. I'll hold this thing still while you take your knife and blind it."

"Sounds good to me," the red mare conceded. She gradually approached the gold stallion and raised her knife up to the cockatrice's level. He planned to remove his hoof from the creature's face just long enough for her to plunge her blade into its eyes.

Just before they did that, Fluttershy stopped them. While she was fully aware of what cockatrices were capable of, she despised cruelty towards animals in every form. She softly proposed "Couldn't you just… blindfold it?"

"With what?" Bronze Star queried, "I'm not about to carry this thing back to Ponyville with one hoof over its face the whole time."

"Perhaps I could help," Twilight Sparkle offered. She approached the gold stallion and focused on the creature in his front legs. She instructed him "Count to three, then remove your hoof from the cockatrice's face. I'll perform a charm to cover its eyes."

"Okay," Bronze Star complied. He took a deep breath, and then he announced "One… two… three!"

He promptly lifted his front hoof out of the cockatrice's face. Twilight Sparkle instantly tilted her horn towards the creature and cast a spell on it. A thin sheet of what looked like steel appeared around the cockatrice's eyes. Whatever the substance really was, nopony could say for certain, including Twilight. However, it could not be removed from the cockatrice's eyes through any means other than the counter spell, which only Twilight knew.

"Good work, Twilight," Bronze Star stated approvingly. "Now we just have to move this creature somewhere where it can't escape."

"For now, I could keep it in a special holding cell at the barracks," Noble Edict suggested, "It's completely inescapable. Nopony gets in or out of it unless I open the door."

"That'll do until we find a more practical place to put this thing," Bronze Star decided. There was another short pause, and then Bronze Star proposed "Well, I better get going."

"I'll go with you," Noble Edict offered.

"That's what I was hoping for," Bronze Star commented. He looked over at the lavender mare and queried "You coming, Twilight?"

"Nah, I think I'll linger for a while," Twilight Sparkle informed him, "I still want to find out how this happened."

"Suite yourself," Bronze Star avowed. He tightened his grip on the cockatrice and placed it over his shoulder. He then looked over at the quiet mare and told her "Hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, Fluttershy."

"See you later, Bronze," she returned sweetly.

Bronze Star then looked down at the fillies, who – he just noticed – were wearing matching capes. They looked somewhat similar to the cloak Rarity had made him for the Grand Galloping Gala. He smiled and remarked "Take care, girls,"

"We will, Bronze Star!" Sweetie Belle pronounced

"Thanks, Bronze Star!" Scootaloo declared.

"So long, Bronze Star!" Apple Bloom proclaimed.

The prince chuckled at their enthusiasm. He then advised Noble Edict "Let's head back into town."

"Right," was all she said in response.

The gold stallion and the red mare made their way back into Ponyville. Before long, they arrived at the barracks. The night shift had just started, so everypony else was too busy to notice them bringing in a live cockatrice. This enabled them to carry the beast to the holding cell Noble Edict had mentioned earlier. Once it was secure inside, Bronze Star and Noble Edict

"Do you suppose this is what Esopus Spitzenburg had in that box?" Noble Edict asked rhetorically.

"That's the only rational expalantion," Bronze Star perceived, "Still, I have no idea how he managed to acquire it in the first place."

"I'm more interested in why he released it, Bronze," Noble Edict commented, "Why would he knowingly let such a scarce and harmful creature loose in a small town like this one?"

"Maybe this was supposed to be another one of the conspiracy's attacks," Bronze Star theorized, "Like Material Study's chemicals or the Hoovston disaster."

"That's actually a reasonable assumption," Noble Edict admitted, "It's a gravely unsettling one, too. I mean, I never thought they'd target Ponyville."

"Neither did I, Noble," Bronze Star remarked, "It's a damn good thing we were there when he set the cockatrice free. Otherwise the creature might still be running amok right now."

"You mean slithering amok," Noble Edict corrected him cheekily.

"Yeah, right," Bronze Star stated, snickering. There was a short period of silence, and then he yawned once and announced "Well, it's getting late. I should get back to the embassy. I plan to a deliver a certain list of names and faces to the Firebrand Regiment soon."

"Very good, sir," Noble Edict acknowledged, nodding lightly.

Bronze Star soon departed from the barracks and returned to the embassy at approximately 9:45. It had been more than six hours since he had last been inside that building, but he felt as though it had been a lot longer. So much had happened in that time. Still, he was able to go to bed content that night. He was very pleased with himself for how he had both acquired new intelligence on the conspirators and thwarted another of the conspiracy's attacks in the same day.

The next morning, after getting himself ready for the day, Bronze Star waited for Dapple Rhomb to arrive. Once she got to the embassy, Bronze Star went over the day's agenda with her. After that, he ordered her to go ahead and get started on it without him. He explained that he would be up in his quarters for an hour or two, attending to a "classified work project."

By that, he was drawing the faces and writing the names of all the ponies he had seen in the files of Esopus Spitzenburg's briefcase. There had been more than three dozen files in that briefcase, each one on a different pony. Even so, Bronze Star had managed to retain the faces, names, and personnel reports of all of them.

Among those individuals, there were about ten or eleven that he even remotely suspected of being one of the conspirators. Of course, only five of those ponies were actually involved in the conspiracy; six at most. He was not going to try to determine which of them were involved; he would leave that task to the Firebrand Regiment. They had the means to accomplish that in far less time and with greater efficiency. Of course, they would need the list of suspects before they began their search. Bronze Star planned to send them the list once he finished composing it.

He started working on the list at 8:15, and he completed it at 10:00. He then took another twenty minutes to go over the list and ensure that he had gotten every detail right. The list ended up covering both sides of half a dozen sheets of paper. Once he was satisfied, he took the sheets of paper, put them in a neat stack, and inserted them into a large envelope. All he had to do now was seal the envelope, address it to the Castle, and mail it to Canterlot.

Before he could do that, there was a knock on his door. Bronze Star looked over his shoulder and called out "It's unlocked."

The door was then pushed opened, and a certain orange blonde mare with a Stetson hat entered the room. Bronze Star turned around, stood up out of respect, and smiled. He greeted his fllyfriend with "Oh, good morning, Applejack. How're you doing?"

Strangely, Applejack did not seem as delighted to see him. She closed the door behind her, glared at her coltfriend, and mumbled in agitation "Bronze, we need to talk."

"About what?" Bronze Star inquired.

"I think you know what," Applejack tensely retorted.

The prince was alarmed by the farmer's tone of voice. There was a notable amount of fury in it. He asked in concern "Applejack, what's wrong?"

She did not reply right away. Instead, she slowly approached the gold stallion until she was standing directly in front of him. Then she pronounced "Yesterday, when Noble Edict came by Sweet Apple Acres to see you, she claimed that Dapple Rhomb told her you were there. That was at six-thirty, and the latest Dapple Rhomb has ever stayed at the embassy is six o'clock. I spoke with her just before I came up here. She said that you sent her home early yesterday, and she never saw Noble Edict even once. I also stopped by the barracks on my way here, and I spoke with Copper Hollow, too. He told me that that energy sphere in the Everfree Forest has been inactive since the Summer Sun Celebration. He assured me that Noble Edict would have told him if anything of the sort had happened."

Underneath his seemingly stoic façade, Bronze Star was starting to quiver with anxiety. Still, he managed to tame his uneasiness, and he muttered coolly "If you have something on your mind, just go ahead and come forward, Applejack. Are you accusing me of cheating on you with Noble Edict?"

"No, I know you aren't having an affair with Noble," Applejack disclosed, "But I DO know that you and she are up to something."

"And just why do you believe that?" Bronze Star enquired.

"Because of THIS," Applejack replied, pulling something out of her hat. It was a small square piece of paper. She held it up for Bronze Star to see. He took a moment to examine it, and he realized it was a photograph of Esopus Spitzenburg's briefcase. He actually recognized that photograph.

Bronze Star's eyes widened in alarm. He went over to his desk, picked up his knapsack, and hastily searched through its interior. The photograph General Walther had given him at the Best Young Flyers Competition was gone. That was the very same photograph Applejack was holding right now.

Bronze Star looked back at Applejack and demanded "Where did you get that?"

"I found it under the dinner table in my house," she explicated, "It was right where you were sitting. Based on your actions right now, I'm certain you're the one who dropped it."

Bronze Star was beginning to sweat now. He rubbed the back of his head and stated "Would you believe me if I said I admire your Great Uncle's taste in luggage?"

"No, I wouldn't," Applejack proclaimed, "I know you're not interested in the briefcase itself. I saw you snooping through it last night."

Bronze Star felt a chill run down his spine when she said that. It was getting harder for him to remain passive to Applejack's remarks. He murmured through gritted teeth "When exactly was this?"

"Last night, when I was socializin' with my relatives, I heard a noise upstairs," Applejack illuminated, "The others casually dismissed it as nothing, but I decided to check it out. So I went upstairs a few minutes later. I gave the others the impression that I was just getting something from my room. The noise sounded as though it came from Esopus's room, but since the door was locked, all I could do was peek through the keyhole. I got a good view of you shufflin' through the contents of his briefcase."

Bronze Star could almost feel the color drain from his face when she gave that recollection. He needed a minute to pull himself together, and then he questioned nervously "Have you told anypony else about any of this?"

"No, I decided to wait until I talked to you first," Applejack asserted, "But I want to know what's going on, and I want to know right now. Otherwise, I'll tell all my relatives about what I saw. Starting with my Great Uncle Esopus."

Right now, Bronze Star was in a situation that he had trying to avoid like the plague. Despite his efforts to prevent it from happening, it had come about anyway. Worse yet, Applejack was demanding an explanation from him. He certainly did NOT want her to know about her Great Uncle's illegal activities. On the other hoof, he could not afford to let Esopus Spitzenburg know that he had been spying on him. If so, then the elderly stallion would realize that he was under surveillance by the government, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

Now Applejack had backed him into a corner, and his only option was to come forward to her on everything.

Bronze Star deeply sighed, and he pronounced "Very well. I'll tell you everything. Sit down, please; we'll be here a while."

"Fine," she conceded, sitting at the side of his bed.

Bronze Star sat down next to Applejack, and he proceeded to tell her everything about the assassination conspiracy. He started all the way at the very beginning, when it the Firebrand Regiment first acquired a lead on the activities on an activist named Lavender Dazzle. Lavender Dazzle had always been an outspoken opponent of Princess Celestia, but the Regiment had reason to believe she had plans to use more than words to voice her opposition. So they elected to keep a close eye on her. Overtime, they discovered that she must have been working covertly with others to carry out her plans.

A few months later, the Regiment had picked up on the activities of a chemist named Material Study. They decided to keep a watchful eye on him, as well. The day before the Summer Sun Celebration, the Regiment had managed to make a connection between Dazzle and Study. When they uncovered this connection, they had also realized that the two of them were plotting against the government.

Nothing much happened after that until the Regiment's encounter with Material Study and Sir Raoul Jowl at the Rosebud Hotel. After the Regiment captured the two stallions, they had subjected them to extensive interrogation for three whole weeks. They were unable to get either of them to talk, and just when Material Study was going to come forward, Raoul Jowl put him down permanently.

Luckily, Bronze Star managed to convince Sir Raoul Jowl to defect, and he had decided to strike a deal with him. It was then that the Regiment finally learned of the conspiracy's goals and itinerary. Raoul Jowl had explained everything he knew about the conspiracy. While he was unable to identify most of the other conspirators, he had told Bronze Star the names of the three ringleaders: Raging Tempest, Sparker Blare, and Esopus Spitzenburg.

When Bronze Star revealed that piece of information to Applejack, she was absolutely shocked. Of course, he could hardly blame her. Regardless, he continued to fill her in on everything the Firebrand Regiment had learned about the assassination conspiracy since then.

He informed her that the Hoovston disaster was not an accident. It had been an act of sabotage committed by one of the conspirators. He told her about the matter with the cockatrice last night, and he was fairly certain that Spitzenburg was responsible for setting it free.

He also mentioned that they had managed to identify fourteen of the twenty conspirators, and how Raging Tempest and Sparker Blare corresponded exclusively with five of them. That had led them to believe that Esopus Spitzenburg distributed orders to five of the remaining six unidentified conspirators, and that the final one communicated with all three of the ringleaders like Lavender Dazzle. The Firebrand Regiment was one hundred percent certain that some of the ponies in Spitzenburg's briefcase were the conspirators. Hence, Bronze Star's interest in it. Since the Regiment's field operatives had been unable to get even close to Esopus Spitzenburg without drawing his attention, and since Spitzenburg was coming to Ponyville to visit family, the Regiment had concluded that Bronze Star was the only one who could get his hooves on that briefcase. Hence, his actions from the previous night.

After forty-five long minutes, Bronze Star finally wrapped up his explanation. Needless to say, Applejack was beyond flabbergasted by the time he finished. Once he was done, the two of them sat in a very awkward, very unnerving period of silence for five whole minutes.

After that, Bronze Star placed his front hoof on Applejack's shoulder and beseeched her "Well? Say something."

She brushed his hoof off, and she muttered in astonishment "I don't believe this."

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth," Bronze Star insisted, "When we found out that Esopus Spitzenburg was leading this conspiracy, I didn't want to believe it myself. But in the time since then, we've acquired irrefutable evidence that substantiates his role in this thing."

"That doesn't make it any easier for ME to accept," Applejack snapped, "Is this why you were so eager to meet him in the first place?"

"Yes, it was," Bronze Star shamelessly admitted, "I know that tricking him into thinking I was his friend and using him to get to his briefcase was immoral, but it would have been even more immoral if I chose to just stand by and do nothing while Spitzenburg was here."

"I can almost understand that," Applejack professed, "But I've been taking notes about everything you told me, and there is one thing about all this that I don't quite get. When did you first learn that my Uncle Esopus was involved in this 'conspiracy?'"

"You remember that day when I went to Canterlot six months ago?" Bronze Star enlightened her, "One of the reasons I why travelled to the capital city that day was so I could question Sir Raoul Jowl. After I made that bargain with him, he gave me the names of the conspiracy's ringleaders, and he identified Spitzenburg as the pony in charge of everything."

"Was this the day after the parasprite infestation?" Applejack presumed.

"Yes, it was," Bronze Star affirmed.

Applejack rubbed her chin, and then she noted "That means that the day you found out about my Great Uncle's involvement… was the day before you kissed me for the very first time."

Bronze Star had never thought about it like that. Nevertheless, that observation was entirely true. He just solemnly nodded his head to confirm that statement's validity.

Applejack turned to the gold stallion and mumbled tensely "Bronze Star, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to be totally honest with me."

"Okay," Bronze Star conceded, somewhat uneasily.

Applejack looked him in the eye, and then she harshly pronounced "Did you get into a romantic relationship with me… just so you could spy on my family?"

Up until now, Bronze Star had managed to keep his emotions in check. But when Applejack made that accusation, something inside him snapped. His countenance tightened, he jumped to his hooves, and he whispered heatedly "How dare you…"

"How dare I?!" Applejack shouted, rising to her hooves, as well, "All things considered, I think I'm entitled to ask that! Now answer me, and I want the truth!"

"Of course I didn't!" Bronze Star yelled angrily, "Applejack, regardless of what your Uncle's done or will do, that does NOT change the fact that I care deeply for you!"

"But do you really love me?" Applejack demanded.

Bronze Star just glared at her, as if he was disgusted. He then looked away from her and mumbled "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"So you don't," Applejack proclaimed.

"Yes, I do!" Bronze Star exclaimed, turning back to her, "We've been dating for six months! How could you possibly think I don't love you after all that time?"

"Up until now, I had no doubt that you loved me," Applejack disclosed, "Believe me, I certainly loved YOU. Now you've given me reason to doubt both my love and yours."

"You think I WANTED this to happen?" Bronze Star bitterly rejoined, "You think I WANTED your Uncle to be a traitor to his country? More to the point, you think I WANTED to spy on him? Well, I sure as Tartarus did not!

"I'd like to believe that," Applejack claimed, "Still, you should have told me about this long ago."

"I wanted to, but I couldn't," Bronze Star asserted, "Besides, would you have even believed me?"

"Probably not at first," Applejack supposed, "But at least you would have trusted me enough to share such a huge secret with me. I also wouldn't have had to find out about it like this. Right now, I can't even bring myself to look you in the eye without feeling betrayed."

"You should feel betrayed, but not by me," Bronze Star pointed out, "Face the facts. Your Uncle is a two-faced, conniving bastard! Everything you thought about him is a lie."

"I could say the same about you," Applejack countered, "I don't know if I feel anything for you anymore. After what you've done…"

"What I'VE done?" Bronze Star debated wrathfully, "Open your eyes, Applejack! Your Uncle is a criminal! An insurgent! A collaborator! A terrorist! He would let thousands of ponies – no, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds – die, just so he could discredit my mother! Then he would have her killed! Perhaps even by his own hoof! That is a flat fact! If you want to see the evidence, I'll show it to you."

"I don't care how much evidence you bring me," Applejack pronounced, "It doesn't obscure the fact that you've been exploiting your friendship with my family to further your investigation."

"At times, the ends justify the means," Bronze Star firmly declared, "I'm not proud of what I did, but if doing it meant I could protect my mother and the people of Equestria, then I can live with it."

"How do you even know that any of the ponies in that briefcase are actually involved in the conspiracy?" Applejack alleged, "Maybe all of them really are business affiliates of Esopus Spitzenburg. Maybe you spied on him for nothing."

"I don't think so," Bronze Star confidently told her. He went over to his desk, picked up the envelope, and removed the list of ponies from it. He held it out to Applejack and advised her "See for yourself."

The orange mare took the list and began looking through it. She muttered "So?"

Bronze Star apprised her with "Most of the ponies in that list are clients, partners, or subordinates of Esopus Spitzenburg in some way. However, there's also a munitions dealer, a gangster, a frequent participator in the black market, and several other shady individuals in there. One of them is even employed at a rival apple company. What business would Spitzenburg have with any of them?"

Applejack did not know what to say to that. This list was very compelling evidence. It indicated that her Uncle really was involved in some very extreme crimes. She looked up from the list and asked "Why don't you just arrest Esopus now?"

"Because if anything happens to him, the other conspirators have explicit orders to launch a series of attacks against the country," Bronze Star elaborated, "For that reason, we cannot afford to bring any of the conspirators in until we've identified them all."

"What about Material Study and Raoul Jowl?" Applejack pointed out, "You apprehended them."

"Yeah, but that was before we learned about the conspiracy's structure," Bronze Star elucidated, "Aside from that, the two of them were ordered to go into hiding just before we arrested them. So nopony noticed when they disappeared. As far as we know, all the other conspirators are out in the open. It would be too risky to take any of them in before we've managed to identify all of them."

"And what will happen once you HAVE managed to identify them all?" Applejack inquired severely.

"I'll have them all apprehended," Bronze Star candidly informed her, "They'll be taken to a secret location, and then they'll be executed."

Applejack was shocked by that. She uttered incredulously "Are you serious?"

"Very," he somberly affirmed, "I am determined to see to it that justice will be served."

"'Justice?'" Applejack said in disbelief, "You're talking about justice? You sound more like you have a personal grudge against these ponies."

"I do," Bronze Star professed, "They've already killed hundreds of innocent ponies in Hoovston. They plan to do the same to thousands more. Once they've done that, they'll target my mother. In other words, they're planning to commit mass murder and treason. Even conspiring to do either of those crimes is punishable by the death penalty. At this point, all of them are beyond redemption."

"What about your Aunt Luna?" Applejack disputed, "Nopony tried to charge her with a crime after what happened at the Summer Sun Celebration."

"That's different," Bronze Star asserted, "She had been driven insane by her jealousy, and she was Nightmare Moon, she had not been in control of her actions. Aside from that, she had already been imprisoned for a thousand years. I would call that sufficient sentence. Plus, she was never responsible for anypony's death. Except for a hoofful of those Nightmare Moon cultists, but they deserved to die."

Applejack scoffed in astonishment and asked him irately "Do you always advocate capital punishment this strongly?"

"Only to those who truly deserve it," Bronze Star responded, "And believe me; the ponies involved in the assassination conspiracy have more than earned it."

"Including Esopus Spitzenburg?" Bronze Star assumed.

"Yes, especially him," Bronze Star frankly confirmed, "Since he's the one who instigated this conspiracy, he must pay for his crimes like all the others."

Applejack was astounded by the gold stallion's decisiveness. She paused for a minute, and then held up the list and remarked "You need these names and faces to identify the rest of the conspirators, right?"

"Correct," Bronze Star confirmed.

Applejack then raised an eyebrow and proposed "Tell me; what would happen if I just tore these papers up right here? Would you charge me with obstruction of justice or something?"

"No, I wouldn't," Bronze Star drily informed her, "You can shred the papers if you want, but it would make little difference in the long run. I've committed all of those names and faces to memory. I'd just recopy them onto more paper later on and send them to the Firebrand Regiment."

Applejack raised an eyebrow and stated scathingly "Do you have the memory of an elephant or something?"

"No, the memory of an Alicorn," Bronze Star cheekily disclosed, gesturing to his forehead, "I never forget anything. Ever."

Applejack grimaced at him angrily, gave him back the list of ponies, and muttered agitatedly "Then you should have no difficulty remembering this next sentence: you and I are through."

Bronze Star was taken completely off his guard by that last statement. He said quietly "What?"

"You heard me," Applejack spat back, "And I don't need to repeat myself, 'Your Highness.'"

Bronze Star was totally speechless. He almost looked as though he was in shock. Applejack could tell he had gotten the message. She straightened out her hat and trotted over to the door. As she placed her hoof on the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder and proclaimed "Out of respect for what we had – or what I thought we had – I won't say a word of this to Esopus or anypony else. But only on the sole condition that you stay away. If you know what's good for both of us, you'll stay away from me."

"For how long?" Bronze Star enquired.

"Until I can bring myself to face you again," Applejack responded heatedly, "Before then, I don't want you near me or anypony else in my family. Got that?"

Amidst the overwhelming feeling of shock he felt, Bronze Star managed to bring himself to nod his head a few times. In spite of everything that had just been said, he still wanted to respect Applejack's wishes. So he agreed to give her some space.

Applejack then opened the door, exited the room, and slammed the door behind her. Bronze Star continued staring at the door for about a minute after she left.

After that, he looked down at the papers in his front hoof. Amongst the list of ponies, at least five of them were traitors of their country. If he was extremely lucky, there were six. Either way, he and the Firebrand Regiment would soon be very close to wrapping up the assassination conspiracy.

He would have thought he would be very satisfied to know this. An hour ago, he would have been.

But now, he felt no satisfaction. Instead, all he felt was hatred and malice. Not towards Esopus Spitzenburg, not towards the other conspirators, and certainly not towards Applejack. Instead, he felt those emotions towards himself. By spying on Esopus Spitzenburg, he had hurt the mare he loved, and he loathed himself for that.

After standing in silence for a while, Bronze Star growled angrily and flung the papers against the wall. After that, he slapped himself in the face and said to himself "Bronze Star, you buckin' idiot."