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// Rapid Progress 
// Story: Fortune Favors The Bold 
// by TheEquestrianWing 
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Bronze Star had every confidence that his plan to end the assassination conspiracy could and would work. Be that as it may, he was not ready to share all the details of his plan with anypony just yet. He needed to ensure that it would go exactly as he envisioned it, and he believed the best way to do that would be if he explained it aloud as few times as possible. So for the present, he decided to just distribute orders to the ponies he was going to involve in the plan.

After he spoke privately with Applejack, Noble Edict, and Lord Bellerophon, Bronze Star called Arthur down from the sky. Once his pet hawk returned, the young prince had the other three ponies follow him to the embassy. There he went up to his room, sat down at his desk, and spent about twenty minutes writing three different letters. After that, he put each letter in a standard white envelope. One of them he addressed to SIG Sauer, another he addressed to Brigadier Carabine, and the last he addressed to Sir Raoul Jowl. He took all three of those envelopes and inserted them into a larger yellow envelope.

He did not seal the envelope up just yet. There was something else he needed to send alongside the letters.

Bronze Star still had those two picture frames with the built-in surveillance systems. He took one of those picture frames and slid it into the large yellow envelope, as well. After that, he sealed the envelope and gave it to Lord Bellerophon. He instructed the palomino Pegasus not to open the envelope until it reached the Compartment in Canterlot Castle. He also requested to be apprised regularly on the Firebrand Regiment's progress throughout the week. Bellerophon agreed to those commands without question, despite his curiosity as to what the prince had planned. As for Applejack and Noble Edict, Bronze Star merely told them that he would need them to come to the embassy sometime in the near future, and both mares agreed to make herself available accordingly.

After all this was done, the four ponies headed back outside and rejoined Princess Celestia's group. They spent the rest of the day with the white Alicorn as she moved throughout the town. Everywhere she went, ponies made way and bowed for their supreme ruler out of humility and respect. Celestia was pleased by all the acknowledgement and reverence, but having a tour of the town pleased her even more. Although Celestia had travelled to Ponyville several times before, this was the first time she was able to see the entire town firsthoof. It was so tranquil, serene, self-sufficient, and it provided her with an ideal break from the tiring political turmoil she experienced every day in the capital city.

Near the end of the afternoon, Celestia and the others stopped by Town Hall again. While they were there, Sir Haywood McCrank met up with them and told them of the situation with the conference.

He had spent the last few hours with the CEOs of Fabian, GrandiHorse, Landslide, MonuMarent, Radical Innovation, and Uptown Mystique. For most of that time, he had drawn up a timetable for how the investigation into their companies would go over the next several weeks. He had drafted it so that it would coincide with the task force's investigation into the Vermane. His goal was to discover the source of the foul play in their conglomerates by the Grand Galloping Gala.

He would not need any additional help or resources from the Intelligence Bureau to accomplish this goal. However, he would need something from the Canterlot Royalty.

Sir Haywood had cautioned the CEOs to be careful about who they trusted. He mentioned that anypony in their companies could have had a direct role in the foul play, even somepony on their boards of directors. When he brought that up, the CEOs were grateful for his advice, but they had become a little unsettled. None of the six stallions had been especially trustful throughout their lives, and the concept that any of their own staffers might have been involved in this calamity only gave them further unease.

Lord Ronald Grump was the first to offer a solution to quell their worries. As a member of the Canterlot Elite, he had frequently seen the Royal Guard in action, and he could confirm that they lived up to their reputation as the greatest bodyguards in Equestria. So he submitted an official request to Princess Celestia; he wished to borrow one or two officers of the Royal Guard so they could monitor and defend Lord Ronald and his fellow entrepreneurs until their investigation ended.

None of the CEOs had been very hopeful that Celestia would grant this request. The Royal Guard made their living by protecting the country's royalty, not its business moguls. Nevertheless, Celestia had decided to grant Ronald Grump's request. She claimed that she was more than happy to lend him and his associates a few of the Royal Guard for their own needs.

While that claim was true, Celestia had another reason for stationing the Royal Guard in Ponyville. This reason was bigger, and it was not for the CEOs.

Ever since Bronze Star had moved to Ponyville, Princess Celestia had incessantly been trying to convince the young prince to allow some of the officers of the Royal Guard to remain there with him. One could hardly blame her; she had merely done that as a mother looking out for her son. She had been pressing this issue on him ceaselessly for the past nine months, but despite her insistence, Bronze Star had constantly refused it. He never failed to provide her with plenty of reasons for his refusal: the Royal Guard's presence would raise suspicions, having them around him would be viewed as special treatment, he was capable of keeping himself safe, and many more.

While she was reluctant, Celestia brought herself to respect her son's bidding and kept the Royal Guard out of Ponyville. Now, however, she had the perfect opportunity to put them near him without directly disregarding his wish.

Although Lord Ronald Grump had specifically asked for only one or two officers of the Royal Guard, Priness Celestia decided to give the CEOs three. Since more than twenty officers were currently in Ponyville at that time, she figured it would be ideal to pick those three from that lot. So she gathered the twenty-plus officers in Town Hall and asked if any of them would voluntarily offer themselves for this special assignment. Almost straightaway, Blade Bearer, Comet Frost, and Swiftdrive stepped up and volunteered to take that job.

Princess Celestia was a little surprised that the three of them had been the first to come forward. They were three of the top ten highest-ranking officers at Canterlot Castle. To them, guarding half a dozen businessponies should have seemed as mundane, effortless, and tedious a task as foalsitting. Then again, they were also closer to Bronze Star than most of their colleagues, and they had already been in Ponyville for the past few days. In the end, she decided that they were the perfect choices for watching over the CEOs. A little later, she had a word with the three of them in private, and she instructed them to try to watch over Bronze Star as well, but without violating his space. Naturally, they obeyed her command.

An hour before sunset, Princess Celestia went back to Canterlot with Lord Bellerophon and the other twenty Royal Guard. The white Alicorn gave a fond farewell to everypony who saw her off, Bronze Star and Twilight Sparkle in particular. Philomena and Arthur shrieked their good-byes to each other before the former flew off beside Celestia's chariot. The phoenix and the hawk had always gotten along very well. Maybe it was due to the relationship of her mistress and his master. Regardless, Bronze Star was just glad that his hawk had at least one non-equine friend.

The ensuing three days were rather busy for Sir Haywood McCrank. He passed much of that time in the conference room at the embassy with the six CEOs. He had asked each of them to bring along a different pony from their boards of directors to each meeting. He did that for two reasons: so he could control how all the information was distributed, and so he could personally observe the staffers to determine if any of them might have been working for the Vermane.

Since the CEOs had accepted Sir Haywood's condition of allowing him to include anypony he chose in the investigation, he was able to bring Bronze Star, Dapple Rhomb, Noble Edict, and Rollin Fields to the meetings, as well.

The CEOs were somewhat perplexed by the indigo stallion's selections. That was to be expected, as from their perspective, Sir Haywood seemed to be consulting two local security officers, Canterlot's ambassador to Ponyville, and the ambassador's secretary. Those were hardly orthodox prospects for conducting a federal investigation.

Luckily, the gold stallion, the purple mare, the lime green stallion, and the red mare were able to convince the CEOs that they were qualified to assist the investigation. Rollin Fields had been preventing crimes for as long as their companies had been in business, Noble Edict had been made a Lady of Celestia's court, Dapple Rhomb had loads of experience in following money trails, and even in his disguised form, Bronze Star represented the Canterlot Royalty.

It did not take long for Sir Till Dates, Sir Cleave Cobs, Sir Lore N. Budget, Sir Red Burner, Lord Cycle Geyser, and Lord Ronald Grump to concede that Bronze Star and the others were more than capable of helping them with the investigation. Once they had that realization, they finally began it.

Each meeting over those three days was attended by Bronze Star, Dapple Rhomb, Haywood McCrank, Noble Edict, Rollin Fields, the six CEOs, and six of their staffers, one from each company. Swiftdrive, Comet Frost, and Blade Bearer were in the room at the time, as well, but they were always positioned against the wall. They just stood guard, never actively contributing to the meeting.

Sir Haywood McCrank started the investigation by asking the CEOs for a personnel list from all six companies. He emphasized that he would need the whole anthology of their workers, including former employees who were deceased or retired.

His goal was to take the lists and narrow them down to a distinct few ponies. He would remove most of those ponies by using a variety of factors, such as who had been away when one of victims had died, who had stopped working before a victim's death, who had started working after a victim's death, and who had never risen very high in the companies' ranks. Anypony who met one of those criteria would be eliminated from the list.

A number of ponies would still be on those lists at the end of that process. Those ponies would be marked as suspects. Sir Haywood was certain that somewhere amongst those remaining ponies, they would find the masterminds behind all this foul play, and by extension, they would find the Vermane.

The CEOs were willing to bring the federal investigator a compendium of their companies' employees. However, they informed him that it would take about two days to assemble six lists of such large size. After all, hundreds of thousands of ponies had been employed by their companies throughout the past few decades.

Fortunately, Sir Haywood was a patient stallion, and he was willing to wait a couple days. He proposed that while they waited for those lists to arrive, they could discuss what they already knew.

Sir Haywood was willing to share certain details about his investigation into the Vermane with the CEOs. Firstly, he revealed that he was not entirely new to these cases of "foul play." He admitted that the Intelligence Bureau had been keeping track of most of those cases, but the Bureau had never connected those deaths together, and that they had written those cases off as unsolved or closed.

That much was true. Officially, the Intelligence Bureau had filed all those cases away, but Sir Haywood McCrank and Agent Dread Naught had continued investigating them in secret for the past nineteen years.

Sir Haywood also apprised the CEOs that he believed that the foul play in their companies was not the work of a few ponies hoping to make some quick profit. He explained to them that an organization had to be behind the deaths. That was how they had managed to keep the killings going without getting caught or exposed until now.

Sir Haywood never implied that the "organization" was a bloodthirsty organization, a greedy organization, a vast organization, a covert organization, or even a longtime organization. All he said was that it was an organization.

From the way he presented this theory, one would have thought that he had just formed it on the spot. That was actually the point; he did not want the CEOs to know that he had already known about this organization's existence for a while. So he fooled the CEOs into believing that he had arrived at that conclusion exactly when he shared it with them. Of course, Bronze Star, Dapple Rhomb, Noble Edict, and Rollin Fields knew better, and they simply played along with Haywood McCrank's approach.

One may wonder why Sir Haywood did not merely chose to come forward and tell the CEOs everything about the Vermane. He actually had a number of sound reasons for choosing not to. For one thing, the CEOs did not need to know that their companies had been plagued by a guild of unscrupulous killers for the last four decades. Apart from that, while he personally would have wanted to know if one or more of his colleagues actually was one of those killers, he currently had no means to identify which ponies in the conglomerates really was working for the Vermane. So by giving such a grim revelation without any form of reassurance, Sir Haywood would risk generating further mistrust and apprehension amongst the CEOs. Additionally, if he confessed that he had already been aware of these murders for so long, the CEOs were not likely to look kindly upon that disclosure. Worst case scenario, they might accuse the indigo stallion of trying to cover up those murders, or even playing a part in them. Most of all, he had to be careful about who he trusted with his knowledge of the Vermane's existence, as any pony on the companies' boards of directors could have been one of them.

So for the present at least, he was not going to say anything about the Vermane. Overtime, he would gradually share more of that information with the CEOs, but he would only tell them the bits they really needed to know. The main reason he had agreed to participate in this investigation in the first place was so he could dig up some useful information that could accelerate the progress of his investigation into the Vermane. In other words, he was looking out for his own interests more so than the CEOs'.

On that note, Bronze Star and the other members of the task force were inclined to wonder what the CEOs' interests actually were. The gold stallion addressed that issue at the first meeting.

At that meeting, the task force and the conglomerates spent several hours exchanging information and connecting the main points. During that time, Sir Haywood McCrank and the CEOs did most of the talking. After all that was over, Bronze Star sat up in his chair and cleared his throat to get everypony's attention. Once he had it, he gazed around at the six businessponies and announced "I must mention that I admire how committed all of you gentlestallions are to locating the source of this foul play and stomping it out. I would be just as determined if this type of dilemma was to arise in Celestia's administration."

"That's good to know, Mr. Ambassador," stated Sir Till Dates.

Somepony else muttered in agreement. After a brief pause, Bronze Star leaned forward and pronounced "Regardless, there is one aspect about this matter that needs some clarification."

"What might that be?" inquired Sir Red Burner.

"I'd like to know what compelled you to start this investigation," Bronze Star replied frankly.

"I'd have thought that'd be obvious," Sir Lore N. Budget muttered drily, "Dozens of our clients have been killed for profit, and more could die soon. Sir Haywood confirmed our suspicions that the culprits are our own employees. They are using our companies to get rich. As the companies' founders, we are obligated to seek out the guilty parties and stop them."

"That's your only motivation?" Bronze Star presumed, unconvinced "You just wish to bring the guilty to justice?"

"What other possible motivation would we have?" Sir Cleave Cobs refuted.

"How about regaining your losses?" Bronze Star conjectured.

The CEOs were a little baffled by that statement. Lord Cycle Geyser queried "What are you talking about, Mr. Ambassador?"

"Although this foul play has been going on for decades, you only became aware of it fairly recently," Bronze Star noted, "In fact, based on what you said at Town Hall yesterday, the only reason you discovered the foul play's existence was because of the Hoovston disaster."

"That is true, Mr. Ambassador," Sir Red Burner affirmed, "Had the disaster not taken place, we might never have decided to examine our companies' archives."

"Refresh my memory; what exactly did you hope to accomplish by studying your past cases?" Bronze Star murmured inquisitively. His voice had a slightly sardonic tone to it, but the CEOs did not seem to mind.

"When the disaster occurred, all our companies witnessed a drop in shares, stocks, and overall productivity," Lord Ronald Grump explicated, "Since we never experienced a loss on that scale before, we had no precedent on how to repair it. So our only option was to review all our previous case files and use them to devise a proper course of action."

"I will admit that your logic is sound," Bronze Star professed, a little skeptical, "But tell me; how much would you have lost if you were unable to fix the damage left by the Hoovston disaster?"

"Approximately one hundred million bits," Sir Till Dates expounded, "Apiece."

"One hundred million bits…" Bronze Star commented, giving a slight nod, "So the whole reason you looked over your records was so you could save one hundred million bits each?"

"Intrinsically, yes, Mr. Ambassador," Sir Cleave Cobs confirmed.

"So I see," Bronze Star remarked softly. He slowly eased back in his chair and thought aloud "Now, the perpetrators of this 'foul play' have amassed an estimated total of… how much, Sir Haywood?"

"Nearly ten billion bits between all six companies," Sir Haywood McCrank revealed, looking over his notes.

"Ten billion bits," Bronze Star acknowledged, "Even when you divide that number by six, it's quite a lot more than one hundred million. Eleven digits instead of nine."

"We know how to use mathematics, Mr. Ambassador," Sir Lore N. Budget uttered edgily, "We're all grown ponies; you can be forward with us. What point are you trying to make?"

"If you were so determined to hold on to one hundred million bits, I imagine you would be hard-pressed to recover a hundred times that amount," Bronze Star perceived.

All six of the CEOs could sense the accusation in the gold stallion's words. They seemed either offended or disgusted by the implication.

Lord Ronald Grump gradually rose to his hooves and mumbled through gritted teeth "Mr. Ambassador, are you suggesting that we asked for this investigation simply because we want that money back?"

"That could be one of your motives," Bronze Star theorized, "After all, ten billion bits is enough to create a whole new conglomerate."

"It's also a fraction of our companies' individual annual income," Sir Red Burner disclosed, "The money is not the issue here, Mr. Ambassador. I can understand why you would think it is, but we are not so ambitious that we would let our profits cloud our sense of morality."

"He speaks the truth," Sir Till Dates coincided, "Ten billion bits is a significant loss for us, but the fact remains that that money was earned through murder and deception. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we want no part of this… this… blood money."

"I agree," Lord Cycle Geyser crossly declared, "I, for one, find it insulting that you would even imply that we would be so greedy."

"I apologize if I gave you that impression," Bronze Star sincerely stated, "I just needed to ensure that your intentions for this investigation are good."

"You have a right to be suspicious, but it was unnecessary for you to question our honor, Mr. Ambassador," Sir Cleave Cobs contended.

"Indeed it was," Bronze Star solemnly agreed.

"He does raise a good point, though," Rollin Fields declared, "Let's say for a moment that once the killers are apprehended, you managed to recover all the money they acquired from your companies. What would you do with it then?"

"What should have been done with it in the first place," Lord Ronald Grump professed, "We would send it to the surviving family members of the victims. That's the least they deserve after what they've been through."

"That's certainly a respectable resolution," Noble Edict muttered, "However, it might not be an effective one. Regardless of the circumstances, money is a poor substitute for a life. No amount of it could ever buy back a soul."

"She's right," Dapple Rhomb remarked, looking around at the CEOs, "Apart from that, I don't think the survivors would want the money any more than you would. In the long run, that money is the very thing their loved ones died for."

"That is true," Sir Red Burner admitted.

"So what would you suggest we do with that money?" Sir Till Dates enquired.

"We can worry about that later," Sir Haywood McCrank recommended, "For now, we should stay focused on finding the ponies who took the money in the first place. They are the real threat here."

Nopony had any objections to that.

Within twenty minutes, the meeting finally ended and everypony went their own ways. Interestingly, more than half of the meeting's attendees were currently residing in the embassy. Last week, the only ones living there were Bronze Star and Sir Haywood McCrank. Now the six CEOs were staying there as well, along with Blade Bearer, Swiftdrive, and Comet Frost.

All in all, not very much had been accomplished that day with regards to furthering the investigation into the Vermane. Sir Haywood McCrank was confident that the progress would speed up once the lists of the six companies' employees arrived. Until then, he just had to pass along enough information to the CEOs and their staffers to keep them content.

Bronze Star received a letter from Canterlot that night. When he saw that it was sent from Lord Bellerophon, the young prince locked himself in his room and read it straightaway.

In the letter, Bellerophon informed Bronze Star that he had given the large yellow envelope to SIG Sauer (the one with the three letters and the price frame with the surveillance system), and that SIG had read the letter that had been addressed to him. That letter had contained two things: a very brief, very vague summary of the gold stallion's plan to end the assassination conspiracy, and a set of instructions.

According to the letter from Lord Bellerophon, SIG Sauer was already in the process of carrying out those instructions: he had given the large envelope (which still contained the other two letters and the picture frame) to General Walther, and he had ordered the General to fly directly to Manephis, stop by Sir Raoul Jowl's safe house, and give the large envelope to Brigadier Carabine. SIG Sauer had also told Walther to inform the Brigadier that he was to notify Bronze Star as soon as he read the letter that was meant for him. Bellerophon told Bronze Star that he would ideally receive another letter at the same time the following day.

Overall, Bronze Star was pleased by the letter. His plan had only just begun, but it was being done right on schedule. He hoped it would stay that way, but it would do him no good to worry about it at this time. All he could do was wait until he heard back from the Firebrand Regiment.

The next day went by much the same as the one before it. Sir Haywood McCrank and the CEOs discussed more of their own findings with each other for a few hours. As they worked, Bronze Star observed how the CEOs interacted with each other. Sir Red Burner, Sir Cleave Cobs, and Lord Cycle Geyser managed to get along with Sir Till Dates, Sir Lore N. Budget, and Lord Ronald Grump and vice versa. That fascinated the young prince. Ever since their conglomerates had been established, the CEOs had always been at each other's throats. They had constantly been fighting for control over the best clients, customers, and interests in the land. At a glance, one might think they were incapable of cooperating.

Now, it appeared to Bronze Star that that was hardly the case. Although the CEOs had not seemed very receptive of each other when they first arrived in Ponyville, that had been the limit of their hostility. When they were in the meeting chamber, they proved that they could reason with each other, that they could recognize each other's worth, and that they could treat each other with respect.

Bronze Star was so intrigued by the extent of their collaboration that he was inclined to think that they might be willing to remain that compliant. Rather than just wonder, he decided to address this topic directly.

Near the end of this meeting, Bronze Star mentioned to the CEOs "Yesterday, you convinced me that you have the right reasons for wanting to end this foul play. Now I would like to know if you will continue to do the right thing once all this is over."

That statement was rather ambigious; none of the CEOs knew how to respond to it at first. Sir Cleave Cobs was the first to speak: "I'm afraid we don't quite understand what you're saying, Mr. Ambassador,"

"I shall elaborate," Bronze Star proclaimed, "You did not come here to attack each other or claim that you are superior to each other. Your aim is not to discredit each other or condemn each other's company. Instead, you wish to help each other purge the corruption that is plaguing your conglomerates. That is commendable, but what will happen once you have accomplished that objective?"

"We haven't thought that far in advance," Sir Lore N. Budget pronounced, "To begin, we would logically go back to running our companies without the burden of this foul play on our minds."

"I assumed as much," Bronze Star disclosed, "But apart from the foul play, would you do everything the same way as before?"

"That's our hope," Sir Red Burner muttered, "We would have no objections if things went back to normal."

"Would 'normal' include your antagonistic relationship?" Bronze Star speculated.

Lord Cycle Geyser narrowed his eyes and murmured heatedly "What are you insinuating, Mr. Ambassador?"

"I recall you gentlestallions saying that you ultimately plan to pass along your companies to your children so they could continue your legacy," Bronze Star recounted, "Would you expect them to continue your rivalry, as well?"

"That is something we have not yet considered," Lord Ronald Grump professed, "But it is worth debating. Once our children sit in our chairs, they will be permitted to do things their own way. As such, they could choose whether or not to improve relations between our conglomerates."

"If they are half as decent as you, that would be an easy choice," Bronze Star conjectured, "Even so, why must they make that choice? You said yourselves that you would not drop the burden of this foul play on your children. So why force them to end the enmity that you began?"

The six CEOs took a minute to ponder on the gold stallion's words. He made a very excellent argument. The status of the relationship between their conglomerates was their responsibility, and it was their duty to decide if it would improve or deteriorate. Their rivalry was not personal in any matter; it was strictly business-related. Adding that to the fact that the six stallions had managed to hold this conference without allowing their rivalry to obstruct their judgement or cooperation, and it appeared as though there was indeed hope that they could develop a better type of association. Plus, if they continued collaborating with each other, they might be able to ensure that this sort of foul play never arose in their companies ever again.

After a little more silence, Sir Till Dates leaned forward and stated "It would be difficult to end a rivalry that has lasted for decades, but we have never been one to back out of a challenge. Especially one that benefits all parties involved."

"I concur," uttered Sir Cleave Cobs, "However, even after our rivalry ended, we would still be competitors. So we could not continue collaborating like this."

"Oh, believe me; there are ways around that," Bronze Star slyly retorted, "I can think of plenty of good alternatives."

"What would you propose?" queried Sir Red Burner.

"Why not a merger?" Bronze Star suggested, "Officially bring your conglomerates together. You would have six companies instead of three. You could expand your domain even farther than you already have. Just imagine the benefits that would come with that sort of bond."

Again the six stallions reflected on the prince's words. From their facial expressions, they honestly seemed to be developing an interest in his proposal. He may have succeeded in persuading them to cast aside animosity in favor of friendship.

The CEOs constantly looked around at each other, as though they were silently communicating through their movements or thoughts. Ultimately, Lord Ronald Grump turned to the gold stallion and commented "Your recommendation is definitely worth taking under advisement, Mr. Ambassador. We will take the rest of the day to reflect on it. By tomorrow's meeting, we should have made our decision."

"Take as long as you need," Bronze Star bade them, "I know you gentlestallions will make the right choice, whatever it is."

That marked the end of the second day's meeting. While neither investigation had made much progress, Bronze Star had once more demonstrated his aptitude for diplomacy and negotiation. He had done more to strengthen the relationship between the Manehattan-based and Canterlot-based conglomerates in one hour than the CEOs had done since their rivalry began.

As Lord Bellerophon had predicted, Bronze Star received another letter that evening; this one was sent by Brigadier Carabine. In this letter, Carabine apprised the prince of everything that had gone on in the past twenty-four hours. Late last night, General Walther had shown up at the safe house in Manephis. He had flown all the way there from the capital city. Once he arrived, he had given the large yellow envelope to Carabine, and the Brigadier read the letter that was meant for him. Like the one for SIG Sauer, this one contained another set of instructions. For starters, Bronze Star had instructed him to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Sir Raoul Jowl and Clear Crest.

Based on his letter, Carabine was somewhat relieved to carry out that command. He claimed that over the past few days, Sir Raoul Jowl had often been contacted by Clear Crest through his flasher, and her messages were becoming more frequent. The subject of the messages was fundamentally the same: Clear Crest had been insisting to meet with Sir Raoul as soon as possible. Since Sir Raoul Jowl had been unable to grant her request, Clear Crest was starting to become impatient or suspicious.

Luckily, now that Bronze Star had authorized a meeting between the two ponies, Clear Crest had eased up. She still sent Sir Raoul messages. Since she wished for him to come to her instead of vice versa, Bronze Star told the Regiment that they were to let Clear Crest decide on the circumstances of their meeting.

It had only taken Clear Crest a few hours to work out all the details and get back to Sir Raoul. She had arranged to rendezvous with him the day after tomorrow in Ohmareha. She told him to be outside the police station at six o'clock in the evening.

Bronze Star had ordered Brigadier Carabine to have Sir Raoul agree to everything Clear Crest proposed. As such, Carabine informed him that Sir Raoul's meeting with Clear Crest would take place just as she wanted it to.

Bronze Star had also instructed Carabine to accompany Sir Raoul to whatever town the meeting would occur in. However, he had explicitly told him that the Firebrand Regiment was not to be anywhere near Sir Raoul when the meeting actually took place. He explained that Clear Crest was extremely observant. He claimed that she would be able to tell if Sir Raoul was being watched, and if she realized the Regiment was with him, Clear Crest would disappear again, and the Regiment would have lost their best lead.

Carabine did mention a few concerns about this part of the plan, but he assured the prince that the Regiment would keep their distance from Clear Crest and Raoul Jowl when they met in Ohmareha.

Carabine ended the letter by mentioning that he had already made arrangements for himself, Heckler, Glock, Caracal, and Sir Raoul Jowl to travel to Ohmareha that day. He claimed to have sent this letter from the train station in Manephis, and ideally, they would be in Ohmareha by the time Bronze Star received it.

Once again, Bronze Star was satisfied with the contents of this letter. His plan was still going exactly the way he envisioned it would. Now he just needed to wait for Sir Raoul Jowl to read the final letter and send him a response to it. After that, Sir Raoul and Clear Crest would have their meeting.

The following day, the meeting with the CEOs started a little later than the last two. The six stallions had taken some time to assemble their boards of directors and discuss what Bronze Star had proposed at yesterday's meeting. Those talks had lasted the better part of the morning, and it was almost noon by the time they were finished.

On the bright side, each company's employee directory finally arrived in town. In the early morning, Derpy brought all six of them to the embassy. That proved to be a little difficult, as the lists contained a record of every single pony who ever worked at one of the six companies. Derpy nearly collapsed under the weight of the lists, but as clumsy as she was, she managed to maintain her balance and deliver the lists without bungling the job.

Sir Haywood McCrank brought the lists to that day's meeting. Before he could resume the investigation, the CEOs wished to make an announcement first. Lord Ronald Grump spoke for them. He looked to Bronze Star and told him "Mr. Ambassador, we have reflected on what you suggested yesterday. After long and careful consideration, we have decided that your idea of a merger is extremely appealing. So appealing, in fact, that we are inclined to give it a try."

"So you'll agree to a merger?" Bronze Star presumed hopefully.

"Yes, we've given it some serious thought," Lord Cycle Geyser disclosed, "First things first, though. We wish to wait until after we have snuffed out the foul play. After that, we could hold another conference to discuss the details of merger."

"Excellent," Bronze Star commented, nodding in approval.

Dapple Rhomb was sitting next to the prince at the time. She raised an eyebrow and remarked to the CEOs in a somewhat sardonic tone "I'm impressed. I would have thought you'd do nothing more than acknowledge the idea of a merger."

"Why do you say that, ma'am?" enquired Sir Red Burner.

"Business rivalries are generally harder to end than this," Dapple Rhomb drily explicated, "After all, some would argue that it's in your nature to be hostile and mistrustful."

"I beg your pardon?" stated Sir Cleave Cobs.

"From what I've seen, all businessponies are motivated by a desire to triumph over their competition," Dapple Rhomb grimly illuminated, "That's especially true in the case of tycoons such as you gentlestallions. Everypony could benefit from teamwork and collaborative efforts, but cooperation and ambition often don't go hoof-in-hoof with each other. That mentality drives them to opposition so much that it almost blinds them to reason and compromise."

"Explain your meaning," requested Sir Till Dates.

"It used to be that when a company wanted to advertise, its main approach would be to convince you why you should buy its products," Dapple Rhomb sharply revealed, "Nowadays, they instead choose to debate why you shouldn't buy their competitors' products. Or to be precise, why you should buy their product over their competitors' products. That's typical cutthroat marketing in a nutshell. It's also one of the most common features of most longtime businesses. Including yours. You've been trying to discredit each other ever since your enterprises became nationwide. I'm amazed that you could be willing to make amends after all that."

With every sentence she said, Dapple Rhomb had sounded progressively more impatient and irritable. Bronze Star noted the purple mare's sudden change in mood. Out of concern, he leaned over to her and whispered into her ear "Dapple, is something bothering you?"

Dapple Rhomb quickly dropped her antagonistic tone, turned to the gold stallion, and muttered "No, sir. I'm alright. I just… I don't know, I can't explain it. It's like I just wanted to rant about something."

"Well, at least it was an insightful rant," Sir Lore N. Budget pronounced, "You make some rather astute observations, Dapple Rhomb."

"I'm sorry if I seemed to overstep my bounds," Dapple Rhomb uttered apologetically

"Not at all," Lord Cycle Geyser declared, "Your secretary gives wise input, Mr. Ambassador,"

"Well, her husband is a salespony," Bronze Star notified them, "A very efficient one, too."

"Everything I know about business I learned from him," Dapple Rhomb revealed.

"Well, perhaps you should invite him to tomorrow's meeting," Sir Cleave Cobs wryly suggested.

Dapple Rhomb snickered and murmured "I'm sure he'd be happy to contribute. I might bring him if he was available, but he's in Detrot right now."

Lord Ronald Grump and Lord Cycle Geyser appeared to be intrigued by that revelation. The latter of them muttered in interest "He is?"

"Yeah, he's making a few sales," Dapple Rhomb claimed.

"When will he be back?" asked Lord Ronald Grump.

"Don't know," Dapple Rhomb replied, "It might be a while."

"Well, I hope he does well with his sales," Lord Cycle Geyser uttered cordially.

"Thank you, my Lord," Dapple Rhomb said in appreciation.

Now that that topic had been covered, the investigation quickly resumed. Most of that meeting involved looking over the employee lists of the six companies. As long as those lists were, Sir Haywood McCrank was able to shorten them significantly by applying the aforementioned criteria to the employees' backgrounds.

Other than the CEOs, there was no pony that had stayed in any of those companies ever since they were founded. All the original founders had either left the company or retired long ago. Of course, Sir Haywood had recognized the possibility that the Vermane could have had multiple members in the companies' ranks. Ideally, a high-ranking employed member of the Vermane might have had the authority to get another member of the Vermane hired into the same company, and once the latter had secured his place in that company, the former could retire.

By the end of that meeting, Sir Haywood had reduced six lists of hundreds of thousands of names down to a few hundred names each. Altogether, there were about fifteen hundred names left over. All of those ponies went onto a new list: the official list of suspects for who may have been working for the Vermane.

Once he had that list, Sir Haywood suggested that they call it a day. Nopony protested; after hours of cross-examining six massive lists, everypony was relieved to end that meeting. Even the Royal Guard were glad to get out of the meeting chambers, and they had just been standing against the wall for the duration of the meeting.

That night, while Bronze Star waited for the next letter from the Firebrand Regiment, Sir Haywood McCrank came to him and requested that they speak in private. So they went up to the gold stallion's bedroom and locked the door.

Once Sir Haywood confirmed that nopony was eavesdropping on them, he nervously told the prince "I may have a theory as to who the Vermane are after."

"How so, Sir Haywood?" Bronze Star queried, becoming fully attentive at that.

"You remember that lead we picked up a few months ago?" Sir Haywood asked rhetorically, "The one involving the number three?"

"I remember that, and every occurrence of the number three I encountered after that," Bronze Star bluntly professed.

"Well, I've seen many instances of the number three in the past week, as well," Sir Haywood McCrank apprised him, "These instances are not trivial or insignificant; they are very noteworthy."

"Like what?" Bronze Star inquired.

"There are two conglomerates in town; each composed of three companies," Haywood pointed out, "Those three companies are involved in three different industries. The three CEOs are each a different race of pony, and each of them has nine additional ponies – or three times three – on his board of directors. Three officers of the Royal Guard stayed behind to protect them, and on the third meeting with the CEOs, we made our biggest development concerning the foul play in their companies. Those are only a few of the threes I have seen recently. I could go on."

Bronze Star held up his hoof and contended "You've made your point. That's quite a lot of threes. What do you suppose they mean?"

"Well, the last time we experienced an abundance of the number three, it culminated in the discovery that the Vermane were behind the murder plot," Sir Haywood recounted, "Keep in mind; the Vermane operate in groups of three, as well. Since the number three has been appearing so often lately, I'm compelled to think that we will soon witness another prominent event centered around that number."

"Such as?" Bronze Star beckoned.

"There are three assassins in this plot," Haywood McCrank declared, "For all we know, there could also be three victims."

"I thought the Vermane only killed one pony at a time," Bronze Star recalled.

"Yes, but that does not mean they can't make an exception," Sir Haywood debated, "With the Vermane, you can take nothing for granted."

"Alright, let's say for a moment that you're right and there are three victims," Bronze Star conceded, "Who do you suppose they would be?"

"Ideally, three ponies who are often together, good-natured, ambitious, and well-known by the townsfolk," the Superintendent conjectured, "And probably the last ponies you would ever expect to come to harm. There's one particular trio that comes to mind."

It only took Bronze Star a few seconds to realize what the indigo stallion was implying. His eyes widened and he uttered apprehensively "The Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Correct," Sir Haywood confirmed.

"But… but they don't even have any connection to the six companies," Bronze Star pointed out, "For that matter, nopony in town does."

"A few of the Vermane's victims were not clients of those companies," Sir Haywood enlightened him, "However, the money from their deaths still came from the companies. In each of those cases, the Vermane framed a prestigious executive from one of those companies for the murder, and they made a profit off of the resulting lawsuits and fines."

"Okay, I can understand that," Bronze Star admitted "But why the Cutie Mark Crusaders? What makes you so certain that they might be the targets?"

"Firstly, the number three is all around them, too," Haywood McCrank explicated, "There three of them and each one of them is a different type of pony. They can generally be found at one of three places: Sweet Apple Acres, Carousel Boutique, or that treehouse of theirs. The three of them have a special relationship with three of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. In addition to that, each of those Bearers has at one point been involved in the events of this investigation. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were there when the Vermane ambushed you in Whitetail Woods, and it was through Rarity that Shakedown was able to have Rough Rider and Dapple Rhomb move to Ponyville. Furthermore, the Crusaders have so far made exactly three hundred attempts to get their cutie marks."

Bronze Star scoffed at that and mumbled in amusement "Really? That many?"

"Unless I miscounted, yes," Sir Haywood candidly affirmed, "As you've probably noticed, a lot of those attempts involve dangerous activities like mountain-climbing or scuba-diving. Some ponies have been expecting them to get badly injured sooner or later. If one of their attempts went horribly wrong, it would not be difficult for the Vermane to make it look like an accident. Most of all, tomorrow marks three entire months since they first met at Sugarcube Corner. By taking all that into account, I believe something big will happen on the three-month anniversary of their friendship."

Bronze Star thought about all that. The federal investigator presented a very convincing argument. Still, that did not make his hypothesis any easier to accept. Bronze Star had already concluded that the Vermane were completely unprincipled and indifferent to the suffering of others, but he could not imagine how anypony could be so vicious and heartless as to knowingly harm three innocent fillies like the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Eventually, the gold stallion turned back to the indigo stallion and uttered "So, you really think the Crusaders are the targets?"

"It's only a theory, sir," Sir Haywood proclaimed, "I'm hoping I'm wrong, but until we know for certain, we should assume that I'm right."

"What would you recommend we do?" Bronze Star asked.

"Tomorrow, one of us should spend the day with the Crusaders," Sir Haywood proposed, "Between the two of us, you'd be the better choice."

"I can do that," Bronze Star coincided, "I already have a good relationship with the Crusaders. They trust me, they respect me, and they look up to me. I doubt they would object if I decided to hang out with them for one whole day."

"That's fortunate," Haywood commented, "While you're around them, keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Even the slightest irregularity could validate my theory."

"Alright, Sir Haywood," Bronze Star said in agreement, "Personally, I think the Crusaders aren't in danger, but just to be safe, I'll stay by their sides."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Sir Haywood uttered in satisfaction, "I'll explain to the CEOs and the others that you won't be at tomorrow's meeting."

"What will you tell them?" the gold stallion queried.

"That you're out doing an important errand," Sir Haywood contended.

"That works for me," Bronze Star said approvingly.

Not long after Sir Haywood left, Bronze Star finally received the third letter from the Firebrand Regiment. This one had been sent from Ohmareha. Based on the writing, it had been drafted by Carabine, but the words were clearly Sir Raoul Jowl's. Sir Raoul must have been dictating to the Brigadier.

At any rate, in this letter, Sir Raoul discussed how he had read the final letter in the large envelope Bronze Star had sent the Regiment. Ever since last night, the Regiment had been preparing Sir Raoul for his impending rendezvous with Clear Crest. Sir Raoul asserted that he was ready for that meeting, and he would do what was asked of him.

This was where the special picture frame came into play. Bronze Star had given Raoul Jowl thorough directions on how to operate the picture frame's surveillance system. According to this letter, Carabine and the other members of the Regiment had made Sir Raoul practice using the picture frame over and over again until they were certain he could work its system by himself. That was critical, as Bronze Star expected Sir Raoul to take that picture frame to his meeting with Clear Crest.

There was not much else in the letter; just a few personal remarks by Sir Raoul. He admitted that he was a little nervous. After all, the Regiment would not even be close-by when Clear Crest revealed herself. Even so, Sir Raoul insisted that he would not back down. He was determined to pull through.

Sir Raoul also expressed how amazed he was by the amount of trust Bronze Star was putting in him. Still, he wished to guarantee the prince that his trust was well-founded, and that he would not fail him.

That, of course, remained to be seen. In less than a day, Clear Crest would resurface and meet Sir Raoul. Arranging their meeting had been tough, but that part of Bronze Star's plan was effortless compared to what would follow. Soon the first real challenge would present itself. The entire investigation – and by extension, the fate of everypony in Equestria – would hang on the resolution of that challenge.