//------------------------------//
// Destinies Entwined 
// Story: Fortune Favors The Bold 
// by TheEquestrianWing 
//------------------------------//

After waking up, eating breakfast, and getting clean the next morning, Bronze Star prepared to head outside. Since Sir Haywood had emphasized the severity of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' well-being, the gold stallion decided to bring along one of the Royal Guard with him. In the end, he chose Comet Frost, as he was the youngest, liveliest, and friendliest of the three.

Bronze Star decided not to head out until Dapple Rhomb arrived. She showed up at the embassy at nine o'clock like she always did, but there was something different about her. She looked tired and a little ill. When Bronze Star pointed this out, the purple mare assured her employer that she was fine.

Immediately after that, Dapple Rhomb rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door. Bronze Star heard what sounded like retching coming from the other side.

Bronze Star trotted over to the door, knocked on it, and asked if she was sure about being "fine." She insisted that she was alright.

Bronze Star was starting to become worried for Dapple Rhomb. Recently, she had been exhibiting a lot of strange behavior. It had not impacted her work performance or her competency, but it seemed to be affecting her health and mannerisms.

The gold stallion agreed to let the purple mare be, but he asked if she would stay at the embassy until the late evening so they could talk. He also asked her to tell Noble Edict to come back to the embassy at around five o'clock if she planned to leave it before that time. Amidst the retching sounds, Dapple Rhomb accepted his requests.

Bronze Star and Comet Frost signed out at the front of the embassy, and they swiftly left the building.

Before they did anything else, Bronze Star had them swing by Bon Bon's house. Comet Frost waited outside while Bronze Star went inside to speak with the beige mare. A minute later, he came back outside. She called out after him "I'll bring it by later."

Comet Frost did not ask what that was about. If he really needed to know, Bronze Star would have asked him to go into the house with him.

At any rate, after they made that detour, the two stallions started their search for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Initially, that task was a little difficult. They were not at Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres, or their treehouse.

Luckily, as an officer of the Royal Guard, Comet Frost had been trained to be aware of everything around him. His exceptionally perceptive mind proved to be an asset here. When he and Bronze Star were on the outskirts of town, he spotted three small figures climbing a very tall tree in the distance. They appeared to be carrying a long rope up with them.

By the time Comet Frost teleported himself and the prince to the base of the tree, the three figures had reached a platform near the top of it. They had tied one end of the rope to the highest branch. The other end of the cable had been tied to a smaller tree on the ground a mile away. The cable was slanted downwards at roughly a forty-five-degree angle. Also, the three figures were wearing helmets and harnesses which had been fastened to the cable. By focusing on them closely, Bronze Star was able to identify the three small ponies.

"There they are," Bronze Star commented, "But what the hay are they doing?"

"Zip-lining is my guess," Comet Frost perceived, "Either those fillies are fearless, or they've taken leave of their senses."

"Probably both," Bronze Star supposed, "Must be their latest attempt to get their cutie mark. In that pursuit, they know no bounds."

"Well, that rope does not look very durable," Comet Frost proposed, "Maybe we should stop them before they hurt themselves."

Before the younger stallion could reply, Scootaoo jumped forward off the platform. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were promptly pulled down after her, and the three of them started rapidly descending across the zip-line.

"Too late," Bronze Star drily remarked.

"To stop them," Comet Frost countered, "If we hurry, we could still prevent them from getting hurt."

"Right," Bronze Star concurred.

The aqua stallion teleported himself and the gold stallion again; this time they materialized below the lowest-hanging section of the rope. Apparently, the Crusaders had underestimated the length of the rope, as it sagged near the center. When they reached that part of the rope, they greatly decelerated. However, during their descent, the metal clasps from the Crusaders' harnesses had generated quite a bit of heat due to friction. That heat was so intense that it caused the clasps to burn right through the rope.

Within a few seconds, the rope snapped and all three fillies screamed as they went plummeting to the ground. Bronze Star and Comet Frost hastily moved to intercept them.

Luckily, a large pine tree had been beneath the fillies when they fell. Each of them passed through its branches, and then they promptly continued to fall.

Right before they reached the ground, the two stallions appeared directly below the fillies. Bronze Star caught Apple Bloom, and Comet Frost caught Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

The three fillies were a little shaken after that, and they were surprised that Bronze Star and Comet Frost had shown up so suddenly. Once they regained their bearings, they smiled at their rescuers.

"Thanks," Apple Bloom said gratefully as Bronze Star set her down. He nodded in acknowledgement

As Comet Frost placed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on the ground, he advised them "Girls, when you go zip-lining, you should use a metal cable, not a rope."

"The rope was all we could find," Sweetie Belle claimed.

"Never mind that," Apple Bloom declared, "See anything?"

Since the fillies had fallen through a pine tree, some of its needles and sap had stuck to them. Luckily, Comet Frost and Bronze Star had managed to avoid touching any of the sap when they grabbed the fillies.

Scootaloo gazed at her flank, and she was not pleased with what she saw. She dismally announced "Tree sap and pine needles, but no cutie mark."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle seemed equally disappointed. Then Sweetie brightened up and proposed "Plan B?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo responded, grinning, "You know where we can find a cannon at this hour?"

That prospect seemed to frighten Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"There might be one available in Canterlot," Comet Frost slyly muttered, "The naval base in Nanbucket will certainly have some. But I'm pretty sure you'd need some type of license to loan one."

"And even if you had that license, there's no way they could ship a cannon here within a day," Bronze Star bluntly revealed.

By now, Scootaloo had already given up on her idea with the cannon. She removed her helmet and her harness and solemnly declared "It's no use! No matter what we try, we always end up without our cutie marks. And, surprisingly often, covered in tree sap."

"Girls, if you keep going about it like this, you might not even live long enough to get your cutie marks," Bronze Star pointed out.

"Maybe we should do something less dangerous," Sweetie Belle suggested as she got out of her helmet and harness, "Like pillow testing or flower sniffing."

Apple Bloom had already gotten undressed. She had thought ahead and brought three buckets of clean water. She bucked two of them over to her friends, and she started washing up with the third one. As the fillies cleaned themselves, Apple Bloom remarked "This town is full of ponies who have their cutie marks. Why don't we ask them how they did it?"

"That's a great safe idea," Sweetie Belle uttered approvingly.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo agreed, "And we can start with the coolest pony in Ponyville."

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom exclaimed

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shrieked.

"Me!" Bronze Star interjected. The three fillies and the Royal Guard looked at him in astonishment. He chuckled and stated "Just kidding."

"Come on, guys, I said 'cool!'" Scootaloo recounted.

"Well, if you mean that literally, Comet Frost is right here," Bronze Star disclosed, placing his front hoof on the aqua stallion's shoulder.

"Hilarious, Your Highness," Comet Frost commented sarcastically.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and started maneuvering around the area as she told her friends "You know who I'm talking about. She's fast. She's tough. She's not afraid of anything!"

When she stood on her hind legs, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle momentarily looked at each other, and then they guessed "Pinkie Pie?"

"Noble Edict?" Bronze Star conjectured.

"Those criteria all apply to Commander Swiftdrive, too," Comet Frost contended.

"No!" Scootaloo snapped impatiently, "The greatest flyer ever to come out of Cloudsdale."

"Fluttershy?" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle presumed.

"No!" Scootaloo refuted, "Rainbow Dash!"

Bronze Star had actually figured that out straightaway; he had just been having a little fun with Scootaloo.

"Oh!" Apple Bloom murmured, "Yeah, that makes much more sense."

"Of course!" Sweetie Belle conceded.

"Let's do it," Scootaloo pronounced, raising her front hooves, "Let's find out how Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark!"

"YEAH!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle yelled as they bumped their front hooves with Scootaloo's.

Unfortunately, Scootaloo had not washed all the tree sap off her front hooves. So when her friends bumped their hooves against hers, they got stuck together. Soon it looked as though Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were playing a game of tug-of-war with Scootaloo.

After about five minutes of fumbling around, the fillies finally managed to pull apart from each other and cleanse themselves of the remaining sap. After that, they decided to head back into town. Bronze Star and Comet Frost mentioned that they would like to accompany them, and the fillies did not protest.

Scootaloo had brought her scooter with her. A wagon had been attached to the back of it so that she could pull Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as she rode it. After the three fillies donned their helmets, they were rolling back into town. Bronze Star and Comet Frost could easily gallop fast enough to keep up with the fillies.

Since they were reentering the town from the west, the five ponies had to go near Sweet Apple Acres on their way back to Ponyville. They followed the long path that ran all the way to town through the forest.

At one point, three bunnies hopped onto the path about fifty feet in front of them. Scootaloo spotted them in time and gasped. She was able to screech her scooter to a halt just before she reached the bunnies.

Bronze Star noticed that each of the bunnies was carrying an apple. As they began to hop away, he heard a familiar voice shout "Get back here, you thievin' varmints!"

The five ponies turned to their left, and Apple Bloom uttered in perplexity "Thievin' what now?"

A moment later, Applejack lunged through the shrubs. She realized too late that her sister and her friends were directly in front of her. Before anypony could stop her, Applejack collided with the Crusaders' wagon, causing it to overturn.

When the dust settled, the Crusaders and Applejack were sprawled out on the ground, but Bronze Star and Comet Frost were still on their hooves.

Applejack was lying flat on her back, and Apple Bloom was lying on top of her. The orange mare gazed over her shoulder and mumbled "Apple Bloom?"

The yellow filly looked at her sister in surprise. Then she looked in the other direction and saw the three apples on Applejack's flank. That gave her an idea. She turned back to the orange mare and stated eagerly "Hey sis! How'd you get your cutie mark?"

Applejack seemed a little surprised by the question. She uttered in bewilderment "I never told you that story?"

"Hey!" Scootaloo interjected, "I thought we were gonna ask Rainbow Dash."

"We need all the help we can get," Apple Bloom debated.

"Besides, I'd like to hear this myself," Bronze Star proclaimed. In all the time he had known Applejack, she had never told Bronze Star how she got her cutie mark. Neither had any of the other Element Bearers, for that matter. "Now would be as good a time as any to find out."

"Ugh." Scootaloo groaned, "Fine."

Despite Scootaloo's apparent reluctance, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood at full attention. As Bronze Star helped Applejack to her hooves, she happily began her tale with "Why, shoot. I was just a little filly. Even littler than y'all."

She thought back to her fillyhood and continued with "I didn't want to spend my life on a muddy old apple farm. I wanted to live the sophisticated life, like my Aunt n' Uncle Orange. So I set out to try my luck in the big city, Manehattan! The most cosmopolitan city in all of Equestria."

Bronze Star found it hard to believe that a country mare like Applejack would have had ambitions such as those, but he was eager to hear more.

"I knew I'd find out who I was meant to be in Manehattan," Applejack professed, "My Aunt n' Uncle were more than happy to take me in. They also helped me 'adapt' to city life. They had me do up my mane in elaborate styles, wear expensive clothes everywhere I went, and even got me to speak in this posh accent. If you painted my coat white, dyed my mane purple, and gave me a horn, it would have been impossible to tell me apart from Rarity."

Bronze Star tried to imagine his fillyfriend behaving like Rarity. Just the thought made him smirk.

Applejack then spoke a little more somberly with "However, despite my new behavior, there were a few things I was unable to change. Such as my dialect, my sleepin' schedule, and my appetite. Overtime, I came to realize that the city life was not as glamorous as I had thought. One morning, I looked outside the window to my bedroom. I could see Ponyville in the distance, and I thought about what Mom, Dad, Big Mac, and Granny Smith were doing. It made me remember how much I missed them, and how much I missed the taste of farm grown apples."

She paused for a moment, and then she recalled "I never felt so homesick in all my days as I did right then. But then… there was this huge explosion… and a rainbow appeared out of nowhere. It was amazin'! A rainbow pointin' right back to... home. In that moment, it all became clear. I knew right then just who I was supposed to be."

"What happened after that?" Bronze Star queried in interest.

"I galloped all the way back home," Applejack gladly reminisced, "Granny Smith and Big Mac were welcomed me back with open front hooves. The three of us embraced at the front gate. That's when this here appeared."

When she said that last remark, she gestured to her cutie mark. She finished with "I've been happily workin' in the farm ever since."

Bronze Star smiled widely and stated in fascination "That's remarkable."

Applejack grinned back at her coltfriend. All of a sudden, the three bunnies from earlier reappeared and blew raspberries at her. The orange mare grimaced furiously and yelled "There they are! Get back here, ya thievin' varmints!"

Comet Frost placed his front hoof in front of her and told her "Allow me."

As the aqua stallion trotted after the bunnies, Sweetie Belle commented giddily "Aw. That was such a sweet story!"

"Sweet?" Scootaloo mumbled, making a gagging sound, "Try sappy."

"Speak for yourself, Scoots," Bronze Star drily mumbled.

Just then, a gust of wind passed through the area. It was so abrupt and so cold that it had to be artificially-produced.

A few seconds later, Comet Frost rejoined the other ponies. He was carrying the three bunnies on his back. All three of them were encased in a block of ice. They still had the apples in their paws.

The aqua stallion calmly dropped the block of ice in front of Applejack and proudly announced "Here you go."

"Thanks, Commander Frost," Applejack remarked, snickering in amusement. She then became a little uneasy and asked "They aren't dead, are they?"

"No, they'll thaw out in a few hours," Comet Frost informed her, "Once they do, you can do whatever you want with them."

"Too bad I didn't bring Arthur; he could've had lunch," Bronze Star cheekily muttered.

"At any rate, I'll make sure they don't try to swipe my crop again," Applejack pronounced.

"Good," Bronze Star professed. After a short pause, he hastily added in "By the way, Applejack, could you come by the embassy at five o'clock tonight? I need to discuss something with you."

"Sure, I'll be there," Applejack coincided. She did not even ask the gold stallion what he wanted to talk about; she just knew that it must have been important, and that he would not waste her time.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to the ranch," Applejack declared as she picked up the frozen bunnies, "Take care, girls. See you later, Bronze. Good to see you again, Comet Frost. Say hello to Blade Bearer and Swiftdrive for me."

"I shall," Comet Frost conceded.

By the time the orange mare left, Scootaloo had set their vehicle upright again, and she had mounted her scooter. She urged her friends "Come on! We've got to find Rainbow Dash and hear the cool way to get a cutie mark."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hopped back into the wagon. Once they were secure, Scootaloo rapidly flapped her wings and zoomed down the path. Bronze Star and Comet Frost were able to keep up with the fillies, but they had to gallop a little faster than before.

Before long, they passed Sweet Apple Acres and came within sight of a familiar cottage. As they approached it, Bronze Star and Comet Frost noticed Fluttershy was hovering in the air a few meters ahead. However, the Crusaders did not spot the yellow Pegasus until she abruptly landed on the ground ten feet in front of them.

In response, all three fillies screamed. Fluttershy held up her front legs to get them to slow down, and Scootaloo struggled to apply the brakes on her scooter. She applied them so quickly that the scooter detached itself from the wagon, and the Crusaders went flying through the air. They landed painfully on a small pile in front of Fluttershy.

Bronze Star and Comet Frost rushed to the fillies' aid. As they helped them back onto their hooves, they saw that Fluttershy was leading a family of ducks across the dirt road. She beckoned them softly "All right, little ones. This way. This way."

As the ducks waddled to the other side of the path, Fluttershy turned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and cautioned them "You really should be more careful. Somepony could get hurt."

"Maybe if they were as perceptive as the prince and I," Comet Frost suggested drily.

Fluttershy giggled at the aqua stallion's blunt observation. Then she looked around at the group and queried "Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"We're trying to find Rainbow Dash, so we can hear how she earned her cutie mark," Scootaloo enlightened her.

"Oh, that would be interesting," Fluttershy declared happily, "You know, I wouldn't have gotten my cutie mark if it weren't for her."

"That so?" Bronze Star murmured in interest, raising an eyebrow.

"Rainbow Dash?!" Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly, "Really?!"

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy affirmed, "It all started at Summer Flight Camp."

The quiet mare thought back to her own fillyhood, and she began her account with "You'd never guess, but when I was little I was very shy."

"Really?" Comet Frost uttered sardonically, "I never would have guessed."

"Comet, we don't need any commentary," Bronze Star mumbled, a little annoyed.

"Yes, sir," was all the aqua stallion said in response.

Fluttershy paid that interruption no mind. She continued with "And a very weak flyer. One time, I needed all my strength just to fly through a single ring. Right after I cleared it, I tripped, slid down a large incline, and collided with a flag. As I tried to recover from the fall, two colts came by and teased me. You may remember them from the Best Young Flyers Competition; 'Dumb-Bell' and Hoops."

Bronze Star gravely nodded his head. He did not have many memories of those two stallions and their silent friend Score, and most of the ones he did have were not pleasant. In fact, the only good one he had was when they apologized to Rainbow Dash for being so rude to her. Of course, that was probably attributed to the cyan mare's victory in the Competition.

"Anyway, they said some really hurtful things," Fluttershy recounted sadly, "They called me 'Klutzershy,' suggested that I be grounded permanently, claimed that a foal could fly better than me… It was the most humiliating moment of my life. And then, out of nowhere..."

She paused for dramatic effect, and the Crusaders eagerly leaned in closer. Fluttershy went on with "Rainbow Dash zipped through the air and set down between 'Dumb-Bell,' Hoops, and me. She told them to stop bothering me. When they refused, she threatened them. They got the idea to get her to prove her capabilities, so they challenged her to a race. Somehow, I agreed to be the flag waver. After we found an ideal place to hold the race, the three of them stood at the finish line. I was standing on a very small cloud in front of them. I waved the flag once… and they flew past me so fast that I lost my balance and fell off the cloud. The next thing I knew, I was falling… and falling… and falling…"

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo held their breath there. Comet Frost seemed somewhat unsettled as well. Bronze Star was a little perturbed, too, but since this story was about Fluttershy, and the yellow mare was telling it, he could imagine that it would not have a grim ending.

Fluttershy soon resumed with "I must have fallen for miles and miles. I struggled to move my wings, but the only appendages I could control were my legs. I thought I was going to go down in history as the first Pegasus to die of a descent. But just before I hit the ground… a swarm of butterflies broke my fall. It was as though they had seen me in trouble and wanted to help me."

The fillies all breathed a sigh of relief, as did Comet Frost. Bronze Star just grinned in fascination.

Fluttershy apprised them "I had never seen such beautiful creatures. Butterflies don't fly as high as my cloud home. And I'd never been near the ground before. It only got better after that. They carried me through the woods, and I encountered so many animals that I had only read about in books. I was so overcome with such amazement that I… I started singing."

The yellow mare then closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and sang melodiously:

"What is this place

filled with so many wonders?

Casting its spell

That I am now under

Squirrels in the trees

and the cute little bunnies

Birds flying free

and bees with their honey

Hooooonneeeeeeey!

Oooh, what a magical place

and I owe it all to the Pegasus race

If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve

I'd have come here sooner, and never leave

Yes, I love ev-er-ythiiiiing!"

Bronze Star, Comet Frost, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle thought that to be a beautiful song. However, Scootaloo seemed less than enthralled by it.

Fluttershy opened her eyes again and stated "At any rate, after my song, there was this loud explosion. It appeared to originate somewhere in Cloudsdale, and there was this large rainbow that shot through the sky. All the animals promptly ran for cover. I was so concerned for them that I went to comfort each and every one of them. My words were enough to convince them that everything was alright. Somehow I had the ability to communicate with the animals on a different level. Once they all came out… I was rewarded with this."

She gestured to the pink butterflies on her flank, smiling proudly. Bronze Star and Comet Frost nodded in acknowledgement and amazement.

By now, Scootaloo had climbed back onto her scooter. She murmured inquisitively "Wait, wait, wait. What happened to Rainbow Dash? What about the race?"

"Oh," Fluttershy straightforwardly avowed, "Well, I wasn't there, so I don't really know what happened."

Evidently, that did not please Scootaloo. She beckoned her friends "Come on, Crusaders. We've gotta find her.

As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle climbed back into the wagon, the orange filly added in "Besides, I can't take any more singing."

"Maybe my sister knows where she is," Sweetie Belle conjectured.

Scootaloo smiled at that proposal. As she proceeded down the path again, Bronze Star and Comet Frost continued galloping on either side of the vehicle. Sweetie Belle looked back and called out "Bye, Fluttershy!"

"Bye, girls!" the yellow mare rejoined. She hastily added in "And Bronze and Commander Frost."

As they neared the border of Ponyville, the prince looked to the Royal Guard and proclaimed "I thought that song was pretty good. What about you?"

"Absolutely, and I'm always up for a musical interlude," Comet Frost disclosed, "Too bad the Royal Guard only burst into song every once in a while, and Swiftdrive and Blade Bearer aren't especially most tuneful."

"Yeah," Bronze Star conceded, "Imagine Blade Bearer trying to sing Fluttershy's song. I suppose he would just shout the lyrics without any emotion or indication of sanity whatsoever."

"Now that's an amusing thought, Your Highness," Comet Frost remarked, scoffing.

Ten minutes later, the five ponies were in the back room of Carousel Boutique. Somewhere down the line, Rarity had talked the Crusaders into volunteering as models for her next clothing line for fillies. She also tried to convince the prince and the officer to model her next clothing line for stallions, but Bronze Star did not have the time, and Comet Frost would not remove his armor while he was on duty. So the gold stallion and the aqua stallion just stood off to the side and watched as the white Unicorn designed some costumes for her sister and her friends.

Scootallo appeared to be even more irritated than before. As Rarity adjusted her fabric, she grumbled "How did we get roped into this? Oh, we'll never hear Rainbow Dash's story."

Rarity smirked and stated knowingly "Are you girls still obsessing over your cutie marks?"

"Of course!" Sweetie Belle confirmed, "Most of the fillies at school already have theirs."

"Mmm, I know how you feel," the fashion designer asserted "For the longest time I couldn't figure out why I didn't have mine."

"How so?" Bronze Star enquired.

So Rarity thought back to her fillyhood, and she recounted "When I was about your age, my school was putting on a production of a certain play. I don't quite remember its name, I'm afraid. Anyway, I signed up to be the costume designer. I made them complex, elaborate, radiant… but overall unimpressive. My teacher claimed they were 'nice,' but I was not content with 'nice.' I was determined to make them extravagant and memorable. I tried every trick I could think of, but nothing seemed to work. The costumes just weren't right. And the play opened that night."

The white mare released a faint sigh, and then she resumed with "I even doubted if I really had the aptitude to be a fashionista. Then right in the midst of my crisis of conscience, my horn started to glow, and I was involuntarily dragged outside my house and out of Ponyville. That went on for quite a while. It took so long, in fact, that by the end, I was more bored than curious."

She briefly paused to think, and then she carried on with "I had no idea where my horn was taking me. But Unicorn magic doesn't happen without a reason. I knew this had to do with my love of fashion and maybe even my cutie mark! I knew that this was... MY DESTINY!"

By now, everypony except Scootaloo appeared to be captivated by Rarity's story. Comet Frost raised an eyebrow and inquired "So, what was your destiny?"

"At first, it seemed to be a giant rock," Rarity candidly professed.

Bronze Star had to suck in his breath to prevent himself from guffawing. He stammered "W-what?"

"Yeah, strange, I know," Rarity acknowledged, "At the time, I myself was very aggravated and annoyed. I thought that my horn had purposely misled me there. I spent a few moments venting my anger and frustration at the rock, and then… out of nowhere there was this frightful explosion. It was so powerful that I thought I would go deaf. Right after the explosion, this huge rainbow glided over my head. After it passed me, the rock began to crack, and it split open. Inside were dozens of beautiful, valuable, sparkling gemstones. That was precisely what I needed. So I took the gems back to Ponyville and sewed them into my costumes."

After another short hiatus, she wrapped up her story with "That night, the play had its first performance. It was a hit with the townspeople. Every aspect of the play was worth their attention, but the things the ponies seemed to admire the most were the costumes. I could tell that everypony in the audience was in awe of the wardrobe. My teacher and I saw their reactions from backstage. Just before the final curtain was drawn, I received this."

At that, Rarity placed her front hoof on the three diamond-shaped diamonds on her flank. Comet Frost whistled in astonishment, and Bronze Star, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were clearly intrigued.

Scootaloo, predictably, was not. As she and the other two fillies undressed themselves, she muttered agitatedly "Ugh! These namby-pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to our cutie marks! They're all about finding who you really are and boring stuff like that."

"Boring for her, maybe," Comet Frost whispered to Bronze Star. The gold stallion nodded, agreeing with the sentiment.

Rarity merely smiled and professed "Yes, Scootaloo, that's exactly..."

"Come on, girls!" the orange filly interrupted, pushing the yellow filly and the white filly out of the store, "We need action! We need Rainbow Dash!"

Bronze Star and Comet Frost bade Rarity a good day and promptly headed out after the Crusaders. As the group continued going around the town, Comet Frost looked to Bronze Star and uttered "Isn't it strange, sir?"

"Isn't what strange, Comet?" the gold prince queried.

"So far, all the mares' stories have involved an explosion and a rainbow," Comet Frost pointed out "It's as if all of them are somehow connected between those two objects."

"That's a fascinating observation," Bronze Star contended, "Now that I think about the timing of their stories, I might actually know what rainbow they are talking about."

"Truthfully, I might know, too," Comet Frost disclosed, "I was still living in Fillydelphia at the time, but as I recall, the explosion could be heard and the rainbow could be seen all over Equestria. It was a rather mesmerizing event. But of course, I already had my cutie mark at the time."

"Yeah, I figured this was well after your blizzard," Bronze Star cheekily stated.

It was close to noon at this time, so Bronze Star proposed that they break for lunch. He, Comet Frost, and the Crusaders went to the café and sat outside. Within an hour, Savoir Fare had brought them drinks, taken their orders, and served their food.

Shortly after their plates were collected and Bronze Star paid the bill, Twilight Sparkle entered the premises. Comet Frost spotted her and called her over. The magic student was more than happy to join the group.

When the Crusaders mentioned that they were trying to find out how Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark, the lavender mare was compelled to recount her own tale. This cutie mark story was one that Bronze Star already knew, as he was there when it happened. Nevertheless, he still enjoyed hearing it.

Bronze Star, Comet Frost, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom all gave Twilight their undivided attention. So did Scootaloo, albeit reluctantly.

Now Twilight thought back to her fillyhood and revealed "As a young filly in Canterlot, I always wanted to go to the Summer Sun Celebration, where Princess Celestia raises the sun. And I saw the most amazing, most wonderful thing I've ever seen. It was all so incredible: the trumpet fanfare, the princess rising slowly into the air, the Sun's rays peering over the horizon… it was breathtaking."

Although Twilight really wanted to emphasize how awe-inspiring the Summer Sun Celebration truly was, Bronze Star felt as though her words did not do it justice. Then again, he could hardly blame her; you would have to be there to see the Celebration yourself in order to truly understand its magnificence.

The lavender mare continued with "I poured myself into learning everything I could about magic. In the beginning, the most I could do was turn a page with my aura. Overtime, I read dozens and dozens of books, and my efficiency at magic only became stronger and better focused. Of course, research only got me so far. My parents decided to enroll me in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was a dream come true! Except for one thing... I had to pass an entrance exam!"

"What kind of exam?" Comet Frost inquired curiously.

"She had to hatch a dragon egg," Bronze Star recounted, "A rather unusual test, I might add. Most other applicants just had to do something practical, like demonstrate a levitation or transformation spell."

"Well, I didn't think it was my place to question them," Twilight Sparkle declared, "Regardless, the test was anything but easy. Under the watchful eye of my parents and four judges, I carried out my assignment. I was straining to crack the egg open with my magic, but it was as though my stomach and my horn had both been tied in a knot. Nothing I did seemed to work. I knew it was the most important day of my life, that my entire future would be affected by the outcome of this day, and I was about to blow it!"

Bronze Star looked around at the others. Judging by their facial expressions, they were a little nervous about what direction this tale would go. Luckily, Bronze Star knew that it would have a pleasant ending.

Twilight Sparkle went on with "I was just about to throw in the towel, when all of a sudden there was this powerful explosion. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rainbow gliding through the sky. Both of them took me completely unawares, and I released a burst of magic that cracked the egg open. That was how Spike was born."

"However…" she pronounced tentatively, "That was not all that happened. I was suddenly immersed in a potent field of magic, and I was expelling it uncontrollably. I levitated the judges in a cloud of energy, I transformed my parents into a potted plant and a cactus, and I caused Spike to grow into a fifty-foot beast. I probably would have done worse. Luckily… somepony intervened."

Bronze Star knew what she meant. At that time, he and his mother had been in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle. They had heard the explosion and seen the rainbow, as well. Shortly after, they had seen the head of a giant dragon break through the roof of a nearby tower. The two Alicorns hurried to investigate the scene. When they got there, they had found a young lavender Unicorn filly caught in a field of magic.

Princess Celestia had calmly trotted over to Twilight and placed her front hoof on her shoulder. That was all it required to bring the filly out of her trance. The magic field quickly dissipated, the judges dropped to the ground, her parents were transformed back into their usual pony selves, and Spike returned to his newly-hatched form. Bronze Star had then approached Twilight Sparkle and helped her to her hooves.

"Had Princess Celestia and Prince Bronze Star not come along when they did, I don't know what else might have gone wrong," Twilight Sparkle disclosed, "Needless to say, I was extremely apologetic. However, neither of them were angry or displeased. In fact, Celestia voiced her amazement over how strong my magic was, even in its untrained state. She proposed that I study hard to improve my abilities, and she offered me a full scholarship to the school as her apprentice. It did not take me long to realize just what she was offering, and I quickly accepted it. Best part of all… Celestia pointed to my flank, and I found this."

The lavender mare widely grinned and placed her front hoof on the six-pointed star on her flank. She giddily muttered "I was so overcome with happiness that I could not contain it. It was probably the most triumphant moment of my young life. I started jumping around the area and chanting 'Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes...'"

Before long, she seemed to be very caught up in her recollection. It was as though she was perfectly imitating her younger self. Twilight seemed to have forgotten that Bronze Star, Comet Frost, and the Crusaders were there, and she haplessly jumped around the table, yelling "...yesyesyesyes..."

"Okay, okay," Apple Bloom snappily remarked.

"We're happy for you, Twilight," Sweetie Belle bluntly claimed.

"Yeah, thrilled," Scootaloo mumbled in annoyance. She hastily proposed to the other fillies and the stallions "Let's get out of here while we still can."

None of them protested that suggestion. They slipped away whilst Twilight was in the middle of her bout of ecstasy. Eventually she came out of it, and when she did, she was in an extremely awkward position. Fortunately, she managed to get out of that, as well.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Bronze Star, and Comet Frost were soon underway again. Scootaloo was clearly becoming very impatient. She thought aloud "Ugh! Why don't we ever smash into Rainbow Dash?!"

"You're looking for Rainbow Dash?" uttered a familiar high-pitched voice. The five ponies turned to its source and saw Pinkie Pie sitting in the back of the wagon behind Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She was wearing a helmet of her own. She merrily professed "If I was her, I'd be at Sugarcube Corner. Of course, if I was anyone, I'd be at Sugarcube Corner. Hey! I have an idea! Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner?"

She almost fell out of the wagon after that last remark, but Apple Bloom grabbed ahold of the pink mare's hind legs and Comet Frost held his front leg behind her back to push her upright.

Once the pink mare was stable, Sweetie Belle apprised her "Well, we're sort of looking for Rainbow Dash, so we can hear how she got her cutie mark."

"Cutie mark?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed giddily, "Come with me and I'll tell you how I got mine!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked to Scootaloo, as though they were waiting for approval. The orange filly sighed and sardonically remarked "Why not?"

Bronze Star and Comet Frost gave the pink mare their attention, as well. However, they were more interested in the circumstances of when and where Pinkie Pie got her mark, rather than how she actually got it. They suspected her tale would have at least two things in common with the others'.

"Alright!" Pinkie Pie professed. Here she thought back to her fillyhood and reminisced "My sisters and I were raised on a rock farm outside of Ponyville. We spent our days working the fields. There was no talking. There was no smiling. *sigh* There were only rocks. We were in the south field, preparing to rotate the rocks to the east field when all of a sudden..."

She made a noise that sounded like a landmine going off. That gesture perplexed the fillies, but Bronze Star and Comet Frost could guess what it meant. Pinkie Pie enlightened them all with "There was this huge explosion, and a rainbow was forming in the sky above me. The first rainbow I ever saw. It was so pretty, so colorful, so wonderful… all I could do was smile. I'd never felt joy like that before! It felt so good I just wanted to keep smiling forever! And I wanted everyone I knew to smile too, but rainbows don't come along that often. I wondered, how else could I create some smiles?"

"So I went into town and bought a few things," Pinkie Pie happily continued, "When I got back, I spent several hours in the silo, setting things up. I was up all night, but I was just as lively and energetic the following morning. When my family came out to harvest the rocks from the south field, I urged them to come into the silo. So they did, and I showed them what I had done. I had organized my first party ever. At first, they seemed to be upset, frustrated, or something. I was worried that that did not like it. But then… my Mom, Dad, and sisters were smiling just as brightly as me. They really did like it. As we partied throughout the morning, I felt so happy I can't even describe it."

Bronze Star and Comet Frost surmised that that was the moment Pinkie Pie received the yellow and blue balloons on her flank, even though she did not explicitly say so. Instead, she concluded her account with "And that's how Equestria was made!"

Comet Frost raised an eyebrow in confusion, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, Bronze Star leaned over and quietly advised him "It's best not to question her."

That did not stop Scootaloo from jerking to a halt, gazing over her shoulder, and saying "Wha... huh?"

"Look!" Apple Bloom declared, pointing upward, "We're here!"

Sure enough, they had arrived right at Sugarcube Corner.

Pinkie Pie had already climbed out of the wagon and removed her helmet. As she trotted towards the entrance of the sweetshop, she proposed "Maybe on the way home I can tell you the story of how I got my cutie mark. It's a gem!"

Bronze Star and Comet Frost figured they may as well follow Pinkie inside. Scootaloo appeared to be quite unwilling to do so. Sweetie Belle told her assuredly "Oh, come on. She's just being Pinkie Pie."

Scootaloo was beyond irritated by this point, which was evidenced by the loud groan she produced. In spite of that, she agreed to enter Sugarcube Corner with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Comet Frost, and Bronze Star.

Once she stepped inside, her mood almost instantly improved. Apart from Pinkie Pie, five other mares were there, and one of them was Rainbow Dash. The other four were Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle.

The orange filly was just glad to see the cyan mare. The moment she spotted her, she joyfully pronounced "Rainbow Dash! You're here!"

Bronze Star smirked and thought aloud "Fancy seeing the rest of you here, too."

"Mrs. Cake had a doctor's appointment," Twilight Sparkle illuminated, "You know, what with her pregnancy and such. Mr. Cake wanted to go with her, so we volunteered to look after the shop while they're out this afternoon."

"Oh, alright then," Bronze Star avowed.

Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the Crusaders and muttered "I hear you're looking for my cutie mark story."

Scootaloo had the widest grin and largest eyes on her face at that moment. She sighed and wryly commented "You have no idea what I've been through today to hear that story."

As the orange filly sat down on the ground, Comet Frost leaned over to Bronze Star and observed "I know Scootaloo's just a filly, and fillies are not often very patient, but she said that as though today was one of the most arduous days of her life. I can think of plenty of things worse than being forced to listen to some mares recall the proudest moments of their foalhoods."

"So can I," Bronze Star conceded. After all, the whole reason he had spent the day with the Crusaders in the first place was because Sir Haywood McCrank had been concerned that the fillies might have been in danger. So far, the most danger they had experienced was that of their own zip-lining routine, and they had emerged from that with barely a scratch.

In the end, it appeared as though Sir Haywood had been needlessly worried for the Crusaders. Right then, Bronze Star was inclined to just head back to the embassy. But before he left, he figured he may as well stay for Rainbow Dash's story. He was just as curious to hear it as Scootaloo.

The cyan mare thought back to her fillyhood and elucidated "It all happened during the race at Flight Camp where I stood alone against all odds to defend Fluttershy's honor. Hoops, 'Dumb-Bell', and I tensely faced each other off. From the moment the race began, I put all my effort into it. I was so caught up in my flying that I barely even paid any attention to my opponents. Dumb-Bell was knocked out of the race in less than a minute. Hoops tried to keep up with me, but I stayed ahead of him for a while. Soon, I was engrossed not only in the race, but also in my flying. It was… hypnotizing, in a sense."

There was a brief silence, and Rainbow Dash pressed on with "I've never flown like THAT before! That freedom was unlike anything I've ever felt! The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in my mane... I liked it... a lot! I was so caught up in my flying, that Hoops managed to catch up and knock me to the side. Luckily, I recovered fast enough to pass him and throw him off course. Turns out the only thing I liked more than flying fast... was winning! Soon I was going so fast that everything around me seemed to be going in slow motion. Finally… it happened."

Everypony was mesmerized by this point. Rainbow Dash smiled at their eagerness and resumed with "That was the moment when I penetrated the sound barrier for the first time ever. The explosion was so loud and powerful that I'll bet everypony in Equestria heard it. But that's not all. I looked over my shoulder and noticed a huge rainbow traveling in all directions. I was also leaving another rainbow in my wake. Most people thought that the sonic rainboom was just an old mare's tale. But that day... The day I discovered racing... I proved that the legends were true. I made the impossible happen!"

Rainbow Dash smirked smugly and gazed at the rainbow-colored lightning bolt and cloud on her flank. She finished up her tale with "And that, little ones, is how you earn a cutie mark."

"Whooooaaaa..." the Cutie Mark Crusaders mumbled in unison.

Bronze Star and Comet Frost were astounded. So it turned out that the explosion and the rainbow from the other mares' stories had actually been produced by Rainbow Dash. Moreover, it appeared as though she may have had an indirect role in each of their stories. The mares noticed this as well.

"Wait a second," Fluttershy pronounced softly, "I heard that explosion. And I saw the rainbow too. Rainbow Dash, if you hadn't scared the animals, I never would have learned I could communicate with them and gotten my cutie mark."

"I heard that boom!" Pinkie Pie disclosed, "And right afterwards, there was this amazing rainbow that taught me to smile."

"When I got my cutie mark, I saw a rainbow that pointed me home," Applejack revealed, "I bet it was your sonic rainboom!"

"There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my cutie mark." Rarity expounded.

"This is uncanny!" Twilight Sparkle proclaimed in amazement, "If that explosion didn't happen when it did, I would have blown my entrance exam. Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn my cutie mark too!"

If Comet Frost and Bronze Star were astonished before, that was nothing compared to how they felt now. The aqua stallion muttered "There's coincidence, and then there's… this."

"No, I'd say there's coincidence, then there's fate, and then there's this," Bronze Star observed.

Without warning, Pinkie Pie jumped onto Rainbow Dash and hugged her. The weather maker shouted in alarm "Whoa!"

The pink mare gazed down at the cyan mare and exclaimed "We all owe our cutie marks to you!"

"Do you realize what this means?" Fluttershy muttered cheerfully, "All of us had a special connection before we even met."

"We've been BFFs forever and we didn't even know it!" Rarity commented giddily.

"Come here, y'all," Applejack beckoned the others, trotting over to them.

The six mares then had a massive group hug. They said altogether "AWWW!"

"I'm so glad we're friends!" Fluttershy uttered merrily.

"I love you, guys!" Pinkie Pie murmured jovially.

While Bronze Star and Comet Frost could both regarded as two prime examples of masculinity, the two stallions were touched by this huge display of affection. They could not help but smile at it.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched the mares in adoration and went "Awwww..."

By contrast, Scootaloo grumbled "Ewwww... Gimme a break. Come on, Crusaders! Maybe we just need to try zip-lining again."

The orange filly turned to trot back outside, but before she could go two steps, the white filly and the yellow filly seized her and pulled her into a group hug of their own. She just sighed dismally at that.

Bronze Star scoffed at that scene. Suddenly, he felt a front leg wrap around his throat. The gold stallion looked out of the corner of his eye and realized that Comet Frost was embracing him from the side.

"Comet… what are you doing?" Bronze Star queried, bewildered.

"Just thought you didn't want to be left out, Your Highness," the aqua stallion stated jokingly.

"Um, thanks," Bronze Star mumbled awkwardly, patting the older stallion's back.

Comet Frost quickly released the prince and took a step back, saying "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, sir."

"Oh, no worries; you didn't," Bronze Star asserted, smirking.

A few moments later, the six mares pulled apart from their group hug. Although they had seemed to be focused on each other, they had not forgotten that Bronze Star and Comet Frost were there. Needless to say, they were beyond amazed by their new discovery. It made them wonder about the seventh and final member of their group, the eldest and the only male.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle looked around at one another, and they could all tell that each one of them was thinking the exact same thing. They collectively stepped up to the prince, almost as though they were going to surround him.

Rarity was the first to speak: "What about you, Bronze?"

Bronze Star looked to the fashionista and raised an eyebrow. He queried "What about me?"

"What's your cutie mark story?" Applejack specified.

Bronze Star was surprised he had not seen that coming. He had spent the whole day learning how six of his closest friends earned her special talent, but he had never breathed a word about how he had earned his own. Now that somepony had finally addressed that subject, there was no avoiding it. Based on the stares the mares gave him, they were very eager to be receive some enlightenment. All three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders – including Scootaloo – seemed especially curious, as well. Comet Frost was giving him a hoping glance, too; even the aqua stallion did not know all the details surrounding the prince's cutie mark.

Bronze Star passed the next minute by silently gazing around the room at the other ten ponies. After that, he asked rhetorically "You really want to know?"

"Of course we do," Twilight Sparkle affirmed.

"I can't think of one reason why we wouldn't," Rainbow Dash contended

"Nor a reason why you shouldn't share your story," Fluttershy added in.

"C'mon, Bronze," Pinkie Pie bade him, "Maybe you're somehow linked to us."

Bronze Star scoffed and held up his front hoof. He uttered in slight amusement "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. You don't have to twist my hoof."

He gradually rotated his body until his side was totally visible to the others. He stood so that everypony got a good view of the cluster of stars imprinted on his flank. He placed his hoof above his cutie mark and announced "Interestingly, my cutie mark has two meanings: a symbolic one and a literal one. I'll discuss the symbolic meaning first. Notice that all of the stars in my mark are dissimilar. Some are large; some are small. Some are bright; some are dim. Some are bunched; some are isolated. Regardless, you'll notice that no two stars are identical, and when put together, all of them form another shape: one huge star. That symbolizes my proficiency in politics. I have a natural ability to lead, direct, and advise any pony through any dispute, crisis, or complex situation. In another light, the small stars in my cutie mark represent the many different politicians I routinely do business with, and the larger star formed by them represents the prosperity and congruence the politicians are rewarded with when they follow my guidance."

The ten ponies were clearly intrigued to learn that complex tidbit of information.

"That's fascinating, Bronze," Fluttershy professed, "But it doesn't really explain how you got your cutie mark in the first place."

"I'm getting to that," Bronze Star explicated. He rubbed his chin and thought aloud "Let's see. All of you got yours like… what, nine years ago?"

"Yeah, about that long," Applejack affirmed.

Bronze Star nodded in acknowledgement and perceived "So, when you all got your cutie marks, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were nine, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle were ten, Applejack was eleven, and Rarity was twelve. I was sixteen at the time, and as Twilight could tell you, I already had my cutie mark."

"So when did you get it?" Rainbow Dash enquired.

"Just three years earlier," Bronze Star disclosed, "Believe it or not, I didn't get my cutie mark until I was thirteen."

The mares and Comet Frost were apparently surprised to hear that, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed to be somewhat delighted. It gave them hope that they were not the only ponies who had not gotten a cutie mark at their age.

"This is where the literal meaning comes in," Bronze Star professed, "You see, my affiliation with stars is not limited to my name and my cutie mark. The actual stars in the sky mean a great deal to me. Just as my mother is the Princess of the Sun and my aunt is the Princess of the Moon, I am the Prince of the stars."

Pinkie Pie cocked her head in interest and queried "Really?"

"Yes," the gold stallion confirmed, "You see, one night when I was very young, my mother and I flew high into the sky. We ascended so greatly that at our highest altitude, the clouds were closer to the ground than to us. We did not stop until we were twenty miles above Canterlot Castle. Once we got there, my mother beckoned me to study my surroundings. At first, I was confused, as there was nothing but air around us and clouds below us. Then I realized our 'surroundings' included everything above us. So I looked up, and I saw the stars. I spent a good long while studying them. I had never seen the stars up-close before; I was amazed by how beautiful and expansive they were. My mother asked me if I was impressed by what I saw, and I replied that I was beyond impressed; I was mesmerized. She told me she was pleased by that, as all of those stars would someday be mine. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled by that prospect."

"Wait, how exactly would the stars be 'yours?'" Rarity inquired.

"Well, like the Sun and Moon, the stars do not really move on their own," Bronze Star elaborated, "They are controlled by Alicorn magic, as well. For the past thousand years or so, they've been under a long-lasting spell that causes them to merely come out during the night and disappear during the day. However, it is not quite the same as the old ages, when the stars all moved independently of each other. For centuries, Princess Celestia had been hoping to restore that feature to the stars, but being a full-time guardian of the Sun and the Moon impeded that goal. So she chose me for that duty."

After a brief pause, he continued with "However, my mother told me that before I could claim my title as Prince of the stars, I had to prove I was capable and worthy of that honor. She gave me only one demonstration on how to properly control the stars with magic, and after that, she put me through a number of trials to test how well I could supervise and arrange the stars by myself. Say, for example, she had me organize the stars into certain patterns or adjust the brightness of a few particular stars. I did fairly well on all her exams, but that was not enough. I needed to convince her beyond a doubt that I could manage and keep track of each and every star in the sky. Shortly after my thirteenth birthday, I did just that."

"Go on, please," Twilight Sparkle beseeched him. She and the others were absorbed in this story.

Bronze Star smirked and declared "Twelve years ago, I was in the Astronomy Tower, conducting my daily inspection and exercises on the stars. I always did that work from the Tower, as it's the tallest part of the Castle. The only ponies with me were my bodyguards, Clear Crest and Swiftdrive."

Most of the other ponies nodded in acknowledgement, and Applejack and Comet Frost appeared to be a little stunned. Considering what they knew about Clear Crest, that was to be expected.

Bronze Star soon went on with "Now Swiftdrive preferred to stand off to the side and stay out of my way; she just kept an eye on the entrance to the Tower to ensure that nopony entered without my leave. Clear Crest, on the other hoof, was not as withdrawn. She often talked to me during my work, and she commented on my activities. Before that night, she never interfered with anything I did. But on that night, she stepped up to me and told me that she had a suggestion. Always one to hear another pony out, I let her speak, and she said 'Every night, all you do is monitor the stars and reorganize them in certain ways. Why? Because Princess Celestia instructed you to do so. There must be more to the stars than that, sir. Why only do what your mother suggests? Why not see what you are capable of by your own volition? While I personally would never disobey the Princess, you are free to go beyond the rules she established for you. I propose you take the stars and improvise. For all you know, that could very well be the true test your mother made here. Even if it is not, you have nothing to lose.'"

There was a long interval of quietness there. Then Bronze Star heartily pronounced "Those words changed my life. They inspired me to test my own capabilities on the stars. I started by taking a dozen of them and sending all of them in different directions. Then I took another group of stars and had them swirl around. I made them go so fast that they appeared to form an actual circle. I formed all different patterns with the stars. I relocated many of them, brought some of them closer, pushed some of them further away, increased or decreased the brightness of many more, and switched them around. Within a half-hour, every single star in the sky was maneuvering through space. By then, I could hear a lot of commotion on the grounds outside the castle. The entire city had gone outside to witness all the marvelous action in the sky. Those ponies were just as engaged in my work as I was. They admired it for its beauty, its uniqueness, and its element of wonder. I admired it for all those things, as well, but even more so, I relished in the feeling of dominance and the thrill it brought me. Having all those stars under my control, being able to do anything I wanted with them, seeing all of them scatter but knowing they would only go where I made them go... words cannot express how gratifying that was. It was at that moment when I realized just how important the stars really are in this world. They are as vital to us as the Sun and the Moon, and like the Sun and the Moon, we could not afford to be without the stars, either. I felt so empowered in that one moment that I thought I could keep the stars moving forever.

"Of course, that moment had to end eventually," Bronze Star apprised them, becoming a little more serene, "Eventually, my mother looked outside and noticed what was going on. Then she came to the Astronomy Tower and confronted me. Initially, I feared that I had upset her. In actuality, it turned out that Clear Crest was right; there had been another test. My mother revealed that she had been waiting years for me to do something like what I did that night. Now that she had seen what I was truly capable of, she firmly believed that I had earned the right to be recognized as the Prince of the stars. As you can imagine, I was quite proud of myself when she told me that."

"However, the stars were still greatly disorganized," Bronze Star recounted, "My mother requested that I 'fix' them before I left the Astronomy Tower. For anypony other than an Alicorn, that would have been an impossible task. Luckily, I have a flawless memory. So I was able to return each and every star to the same position, brightness, and proximity it had before I began my 'experiment.' In the end, the sky looked as though nothing had changed at all. Nonetheless, two things had permanently changed. One, my mother had deemed me worthy of being the Prince of the stars. And two, when I turned to leave, Swiftdrive and Clear Crest beckoned me to look at my flank. I peered over my shoulder, and sure enough, right there, on my own flank, this showed up."

Bronze Star looked back at the cluster of stars imprinted on his flank and patted them thrice. Then he gazed around at his friends, smiled, and wrapped up his tale with "And there you have it. I have the stars to thank for my own stars."

To say that the other ponies were amazed would have been an understatement. They were astounded, flabbergasted, transfixed, entranced. There was total silence all around.

Bronze Star ultimately broke the silence with "Some of you may actually remember that episode with the stars from twelve years ago. You may only have fading or fuzzy memories of it, but I still remember it as though it only occurred a few seconds ago. As I recall, it made the front page of every newspaper in the country the following day. The press simply referred to it as an unprecedented instance of magic in nature. Nowadays, they call it the 'Night of the Dancing Cosmos.'"

That last statement evoked a collective gasp from all six of the mares.

"That was you?" Rarity stated in shock, "The Night of the Dancing Cosmos was your doing?"

"That's correct," Bronze Star validated, a trace of smugness in his tone, "I was responsible for one of the most memorable events of the last century."

Rarity grinned widely and stepped up to the gold stallion. She disclosed "Bronze, the Night of the Dancing Cosmos was unlike anything I had ever seen. Seeing all those bright lights scatter in such a wondrous manner… that was what sparked my appreciation for flashy things, mainly gemstones. If I did not have that interest, my horn might not have brought me to that giant rock."

Bronze Star was stunned by that discovery. However, the five additional discoveries he made straight after stunned him even more.

"I never realized just how beautiful the environment was until the Night of the Dancing Cosmos," Fluttershy reminisced, "Seeing it led me to develop my love for nature and all the creatures in it."

"The Night of the Dancing Cosmos was the most amazing display of magic I ever saw," Twilight Sparkle revealed, "It strengthened my fondness for magic, as well as my desire to attend the Summer Sun Celebration."

"When I was younger, I rarely went outside unless it was to do my chores," Pinkie Pie expounded, "The Night of the Dancing Cosmos was so incredible that it encouraged me to spend more time outdoors."

"I never felt as thrill as big as the one I felt on the Night of the Dancing Cosmos," Applejack proclaimed, "That was what awakened the spirit of adventure in me, which – in turn – was what ultimately led me to Manehattan."

Everypony gazed at Rainbow Dash, as though they were expecting her to contribute to the conversation. Soon, she grinned and pronounced "The Night of the Dancing Cosmos had an impact on me, too. When I saw all those stars zooming through the sky, I felt an overwhelming urge to rise up and join them. Of course, I was unable to do that, but that didn't stop my urge. If anything, my love for flight and speed only grew because of that urge. In fact, I'd say it's safe to say that that urge was the main reason I signed up for Summer Flight Camp."

All six mares gradually turned her head in Bronze Star's direction. Initially, he could not tell what any of them was thinking. Then, without any warning whatsoever, the mares rushed towards the gold stallion and engulfed him in another firm group hug. It was so sudden and so strong that they accidentally knocked Bronze Star to the ground. Even on the floor, they continued embracing him.

"Girls, girls, settle down, please!" Bronze Star yelled, surprised.

"Bronze, surely you must realize what this implies," Applejack contended, placing her hoof on her coltfriend's cheek.

"You set in motion a chain of events that led to each of us getting our cutie marks!" Fluttershy declared.

"Not only that, but that chain of events also resulted from your own struggles to gain your cutie mark," Rarity noted.

"We're indebted to you for what you did," Rainbow Dash claimed.

"This entails that not only do we all have a special connection, but the seven of us were always supposed come together," Twilight Sparkle thought aloud, "We may have earned our cutie marks by following different paths, but it was through Bronze Star's actions that we were ultimately united.

"So it was destiny that brought us together, not chance," Pinkie Pie debated, "We were always meant to be friends."

Bronze Star could not deny how absolutely incredible this revelation was. However, he currently felt more edgy than astonished. After all, he was practically buried under half a dozen grown mares, and they were holding him so tightly and so close that he hardly had any freedom of movement. He doubted he had ever received this much physical contact in his life. Even though it was given from his closest friends, he could not help but feel uneasy.

"That's nice, girls," Bronze Star mumbled uncomfortably, "Really nice, truly. You can let me go now."

"Oh, just a few more hugs, Bronze," Applejack teased him.

"Yeah, come on," the other five stated in unison.

Clearly reasoning was not an option. Bronze Star looked up at Comet Frost and begged him "Comet… help me…"

The aqua stallion appeared to be amused by what he saw. He snickered and remarked "I would, sir, but I think you should enjoy this moment. How often are you able to share such strong affection with your best friends?"

Bronze Star stared at the Royal Guard officer in disbelief, but after a few moments, he decided to take his advice and try to get some enjoyment out of that moment. Then he grinned and cheekily commented "Oh, what the buck."

He hugged all six of the mares back at once. They were delighted that he was returning their friendly gesture, and the seven of them remained entangled on the ground for about another minute. At one point, they could hear Scootaloo making a fake retching sound from across the room.

When the seven ponies finally got back onto their hooves, Bronze Star smirked and pronounced "I stand corrected. There's coincidence, then there's fate, then there's surrealism, and THEN there is this."

"I don't care what 'this' is," Twilight Sparkle muttered, "What matters is that it proves that true friendship transcends the choices we make in everyday life. I can't wait to write Celestia about this later."

"That'll make for a Tartarus of a letter," Applejack hypothesized.

"Hey," Fluttershy calmly interjected, "How about a song?"

The other mares all gave cries of approval, as did Comet Frost.

"Definitely!" Pinkie Pie yelled in agreement.

Scootaloo screamed at the top of her voice "NO!"

The song was sung, anyway. Everypony but Bronze Star and Scootaloo partook in it. After the song was over, Bronze Star and Comet Frost bade the fillies and the mares a pleasant afternoon, and they departed from Sugarcube Corner

As they headed back to the embassy, Bronze Star reflected on the day's events. It turned out that Sir Haywood's concerns about the Cutie Mark Crusaders were unfounded. Even so, Bronze Star did not regard spending the day with the fillies as a waste of time. After all, he had just made one of the most amazing discoveries of his entire life. Through his actions, he had indirectly helped the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony gain their cutie marks. That was a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself. He could not wait to tell his other friends about this, later.

When the two stallions got back to the embassy, the meeting between the task force and the CEOs had already been concluded. Dapple Rhomb was in her office, the CEOs were in their rooms, and Swiftdrive and Blade Bearer were in the lounge.

After Bronze Star gave Comet Frost his leave to have some rest and relaxation, he checked in with Sir Haywood McCrank. The federal investigator informed the prince that they had made quite a bit of progress at the last meeting, and he wished to go over the report with him. Bronze Star claimed that he had other business to attend to first, but he would be willing to discuss the investigation later.

Sir Haywood McCrank also mentioned that Bon Bon had visited the embassy earlier that day with a package, which she planned to deliver to Bronze Star's room. At first, Swiftdrive and Blade Bearer were unwilling to let her do that, especially since she would not let them look inside the package. Nevertheless, the beige mare had insisted that Bronze Star himself had asked her to bring that package to him personally, and she showed them a sheet of paper that had been signed by him to prove it. The gold stallion had given her that paper when he visited her that same morning, as he had predicted that the Royal Guard might have given her trouble. Fortunately, his signature ended that trouble.

Bronze Star headed up to his bedroom and found the package on his bed. After closing the door, he tentatively approached the box and lightly tapped it with his hoof. A few seconds later, the package shook itself. Arthur spread his wings and shrieked menacingly in response, but his master raised his front hoof and assured him "It's alright, Colonel. Everything's under control."

At five o'clock, there was a knock on the door to his bedroom. When he answered it, Bronze Star found himself face-to-face with Applejack and Noble Edict. He wordlessly beckoned the mares inside, and right after they entered his room, the gold stallion shut the door again and locked it tight. After that, he trotted over to the window and drew the curtains over the glass. Next he did a quick survey of the room to ensure that there were no orifices that he had failed to account for, anything that might have been used by a hidden eavesdropper. Ultimately, he confirmed that his bedroom was secure.

Once that was accomplished, he briefly updated the orange mare and the red mare on the situation. He told them that Sir Raoul Jowl would be meeting with Clear Crest in about an hour. Less than one hour after that, Sir Raoul was going to contact Bronze Star using the special picture frame he had given the cerise stallion, and that the prince would communicate with Sir Raoul using the other special picture frame.

He did not tell them what would happen after that, partly because he himself was not entirely certain how things would go. While he was hoping for one certain outcome, he could not ignore the possibility that a different one would result instead. Regardless, he assured the mares that they would not have to bother without anything, and that he could do all the talking. He said there was only really one thing that he needed Applejack and Noble Edict to do: he needed them to go along with and agree with everything he said or did. He meant everything, no matter how strange or outlandish it may have seemed. Both mares were a little baffled by this order, but they trusted that Bronze Star knew what he was doing, so they complied with it all the same.

A few minutes before six o'clock, Bronze Star transformed into his Alicorn appearance, as he felt it would be more appropriate for what he had planned. As an extra precaution, he cast a spell on his room to make the floor, ceiling, and walls soundproof. The room was officially secure then.

At six o'clock, Bronze Star got out the picture frame with the built-in surveillance system, activated it, and put it in "Observation Mode." He thought it best to put the picture frame somewhere where it would have a good view of the entire room and where it would be totally visible by him and his companions. Ultimately, he decided to hang it on the wall that adjoined the door to the corridor.

After that, all they could do was wait. The three ponies spent the next fifteen minutes or so gazing at the picture frame intently. It remained blank for all that time. Applejack paced anxiously around the room, Noble Edict leaned against the wall, and Bronze Star tended to Arthur. Every now and then, one of them glimpsed at the clock on the wall above the bed.

Finally, at 6:15, the hidden screen in the picture frame emanated a brief shrill noise. In response, Bronze Star, Applejack, and Noble Edict promptly turned to the frame. The gold stallion trotted toward the frame and stared at it longingly. When he was within five feet of the frame, the hidden screen beneath the glass flickered on, and Bronze Star was face-to-face with Sir Raoul Jowl.

Based on how the screen was shaking, Sir Raoul just have been holding the other frame in his front hooves. The cerise stallion was lightly grinning; he was glad he managed to activate his frame's "Observation Mode" all by himself.

"Are you ready, sir?" Sir Raoul enquired.

Bronze Star solemnly nodded his head. Indeed, he was as ready as he would ever be.

The gold stallion heard a voice on the other side say "Who are you talking to, Raoul?"

"See for yourself," the cerise stallion responded. The image on Bronze Star's picture frame shuddered for a few seconds, and then another pony appeared on the screen.

This pony was an onyx mare. The moment her eyes fell upon the screen of her own picture frame, they widened in surprise and she muttered softly "What the…?"

Bronze Star just grinned smugly and uttered "Hello, Clear,"

"You… Your Highness?" Clear Crest stated in perplexity.

"Indeed," the gold stallion candidly affirmed, "It's been a long time."

The former Royal Guard continued to stare in amazement for about twenty seconds. After that, she lightly shook her head, composed herself, and remarked drily "Yes, it has."

"For what it's worth, it's good to see you again," Bronze Star claimed.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, sir," Clear Crest countered, "The last time you saw me, you could hardly even bear to be in the same room as me."

"Well, we're not in the same room now," Bronze Star cheekily pointed out, "Besides, given the circumstances of our last meeting, can you blame me for not wishing to be close to you?"

Clear Crest scowled and mumbled agitatedly "So even you think I actually conspired to have Shining Armor killed?"

"I suppose now you're going to try to persuade me that you were framed?" Bronze Star presumed incredulously.

"Would it really even matter if I told you I was innocent?" Clear Crest countered.

"No, it wouldn't," Bronze Star professed, "You offered no evidence to prove your innocence, you were the only pony who stood to gain from Shining Armor's death, and his attackers' money trail led directly to you."

"I still wouldn't call that conclusive enough for a conviction," Clear Crest debated.

"Well, add in the fact that you fled before your tribunal, and that would be enough to convince anypony of your guilt," Bronze Star contended. He then sighed and pronounced "At any rate, whether or not you were guilty of that crime is not the issue here. You're not the one I want, Clear Crest."

The onyx mare raised an eyebrow in confusion and murmured "I'm not?"

"No," the prince affirmed, "The one I'm really interested in is your boss."

"I have no boss," Clear Crest claimed, "You were the last boss I ever had, and I have not worked for you ever since my dismissal from the Royal Guard."

"Your current Boss," Bronze Star elaborated.

"I don't quite follow," Clear Crest muttered. She may have sounded bewildered, but Bronze Star could sense the deception in her tone.

"Pretending to be ignorant won't get you anywhere, Clear," Bronze Star declared, "I know what you've been up to this past year. I know what you and your new friends have been planning."

"Do you, now?" Clear Crest remarked sardonically

"Yes, indeed," Bronze Star confirmed, "Up until now, I've just been monitoring you and your companions. I've been observing all of you at work without interfering in your activities. I've decided that this would be the perfect time for me to intervene."

"This is quite a way to present yourself to us," Clear Crest perceived.

"Just wait until you hear what all I have to say," Bronze Star wryly commented, "But first, there is somepony else we should bring into this conversation."

"Who?" Clear Crest queried.

"Esopus Spitzenburg," Bronze Star answered her, "Have him join us, if you please."

"How do you propose I do that?" Clear Crest uttered, a little scathingly.

"With your poster board, I would imagine," Bronze Star frankly told her.

Clear Crest's eyes widened in alarm and she whispered uneasily "You know of that?"

"I know of that and much more," Bronze Star revealed, "Before I tell you what else I know, I need you to contact Spitzenburg on your poster board and tell him that he is being offered a special opportunity. Trust me, this will be worth his while and yours."

Clear Crest narrowed her eyes and stared at the gold stallion skeptically. She mumbled inquisitively "What exactly are you playing at, sir? What are you hoping to achieve here?"

"I'll explain everything," Bronze Star insisted, "First, bring Spitzenburg into the conversation."

"Why should I?" Clear Crest demanded.

"Because I'm giving you what nopony else gave you when you were under suspicion: a chance," Bronze Star notified her, "You may or may not be responsible for the attack on Shining Armor; I don't really care. Even if you were, that crime does not erase everything you accomplished before it. You protected me for almost ten years of my life. You saved the lives of dozen of your fellow officers. You were there when I got my cutie mark. It was because of your advice that I even earned it. Now I'm asking you to follow some of my own advice in return. It could help you just as your advice helped me."

Clear Crest listened to everything Bronze Star told her, and she suddenly found herself in a very interesting position. The prince's words seemed to have the intended effect on her, as after a short period of silence, she softly nodded her head and declared "Very well, Your Highness. I'll need a little time to reach Mr. Spitzenburg, and a little more time to prepare him. I think it would be a good idea if he knows he'll be talking to you before he actually sees you. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The onyx mare then moved away from the screen. Sir Raoul held the picture frame so that it was focused on a door on one side of the room. Bronze Star watched as Clear Crest trotted over to that door, opened it, and stepped out.

Once she was gone, Raoul Jowl held his picture frame up to his face so that Bronze Star could see him.

"You doing alright, Sir Raoul?" the gold stallion enquired

"Yes, sir," the cerise stallion proclaimed, "She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Good," Bronze Star avowed, "Let's keep it that way."

"As you wish," Raoul Jowl coincided. He gazed around the room and whispered "I'm not entirely sure where we are. Clear Crest met me outside the Ohmareha police headquarters just as she planned. After that, we entered this nearby bar, went down to the basement, and accessed the sewers through a hidden door. We spent about ten minutes roaming around the underground until we finally came to where we currently are. All I know for certain is that we are within a three-mile radius of the police station, but it could be anywhere within that radius."

"Well, there are only so many possible places you could be," Bronze Star debated, "Anyway, your location is not my concern. Just make sure Clear Crest does not back out of this conversation before I'm ready to end it. It's imperative that she and Esopus Spitzenburg hear me out."

"You got it, Your Highness," Sir Raoul asserted.

A couple minutes later, Clear Crest returned to the room. She was carrying a large poster board on her back. It looked identical to the one Esopus Spitzenburg had used to communicate with her in Appleoosa. From the way she held the poster board, the top of it appeared to be glowing.

"Sir Raoul, Clear Crest, I want you to stand at each other's side and position the picture frame and the poster board in a certain manner," Bronze Star instructed the two ponies, "Hold them away from yourselves at leg's length, above your head, and in opposite directions. That way, anypony on either side will be able to see both of you. Make sure to leave enough room so we can see whoever is on the poster board and vice versa; that's what really matters here."

The cerise stallion and the onyx mare did as they were told, and in the end, they were standing below and in-between the picture frame and the poster board. Bronze Star found himself face-to-face with an elderly Earth Pony stallion sitting in a chair. This stallion had a jade coat, a russet mane, crimson irises, and a field of apple trees for a cutie mark. It was Esopus Spitzenburg himself.

Bronze Star and Esopus Spitzenburg stared at each other in silence for nearly thirty seconds.

The elderly stallion smirked and said bluntly "Well, well, it really is Prince Bronze Star. So, you weren't pulling my hind leg after all, Clear."

"Of course I wasn't, sir," the onyx mare affirmed, "You know I wouldn't waste your time."

"I hope so," Spitzenburg sharply remarked, "I had to postpone a staff meeting for this."

Bronze Star scoffed and observed "You don't seem very surprised to see me, Mr. Spitzenburg."

"Few things surprise me anymore, Your Highness," the jade stallion proclaimed, "When you're as old and experienced as I am, it can be difficult for anything to shock you. However, I am still capable of becoming curious at certain times. Take now, for example. I'm more than a little curious about our present scenario."

"Yes, I imagine you have a lot of questions right now," Bronze Star conjectured.

"No, only a few," Spitzenburg tensely disclosed, "But I would like a thorough answer to all of them. If you have no objections, that is."

"I have none," Bronze Star conceded, "Go ahead and ask them. I'm in no rush."

The elderly stallion leaned back in his chair and placed his hind hooves on his desk. Then he queried "Firstly, what is going on?"

"Simple," the gold stallion replied straightforwardly, smirking, "We've caught up to you, Esopus."

That answer was concise, but comprehensive. Esopus Spitzenburg nodded his head and pronounced in apparent bafflement "That brings me to my next question. What do you believe I have done? More to the point, what have I done to warrant this… 'correspondence' from you?"

"You can act naïve all you want; it'll get you nowhere," Bronze Star assured him, "You know precisely what you have done."

"Let's say for a moment that I didn't, and I was totally clueless," Spitzenburg hypothesized, "Now humor me. Tell me what I've 'done.'"

"Where to begin?" Bronze Star snappily retorted, "First, you organized and launched a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Then you plotted to murder thousands of innocent Equestrians. Tens of thousands, actually. You were undiscriminating in selecting your targets; you would have killed stallions, mares, colts, fillies, foals, and the elderly alike."

"And what possible motive would I have had for all that slaughter?" Spitzenburg asked rhetorically.

"That slaughter would have helped you achieved your ultimate goal," Bronze Star disclosed, "You wished to tarnish my mother's name and turn her people against her. Your hope was that after a certain number of mass murders occurred, the public would lose faith in Princess Celestia's rule. Without the support of the people, it would have been much easier for you and your co-conspirators to finish her off."

"An assassination?" Spitzenburg muttered, seemingly shocked, "You believe that that was the purpose behind this conspiracy?"

Bronze Star grinned wickedly and pointed out "I never said anything about an assassination. I just said you'd finish her off."

Spitzenburg realized he had spoken a little too soon, but his countenance did not give off any feeling of anxiety. He chuckled and proclaimed "Well, you got me there. You got pretty much everything else, as well."

"So you don't deny my accusations?" Bronze Star assumed.

"No, I admit to the truth of them," Spitzenburg professed, leaning on his front leg, "Yes, I put together a conspiracy. Yes, I plotted to kill tens of thousands of ponies. And yes, I aimed for our final target to be your mother. But do you know why I did all that?"

"Because you have an insatiable lust for power," Bronze Star supposed.

"Wrong," Spitzenburg refuted, "Because this country needs change. It needs it desperately. If change does not come soon, this country will deteriorate and collapse. As long as your mother remains on the throne, there will be no change."

"You seem extremely sure of that," Bronze Star noted.

"Your mother has been in power for a millennium," Spitzenburg pointed out, "How much change has this country seen in the past ten centuries? I know it has greatly evolved technologically, artistically, and economically. But what about politically or socially? A thousand years have passed, and we still have the same ruler."

"That's not true," Bronze Star declared, "My aunt, Princess Luna, has returned to rule alongside my mother."

"That makes little difference," Spitzenburg debated, "Princess Luna is still a stranger to more than half of Equestria, and her sister continues to be recognized as this country's supreme ruler. Celestia may include Luna in her decision-making process, but at the end of the day, she is still the one who decides on everything. Many of her decisions can be bad ones, I might add."

"That's just your opinion," Bronze Star coolly stated.

"No, it's the opinion of a lot of ponies'," Spitzenburg argued.

"That may be," Bronze Star admitted, "But there are not many ponies who would resort to mass murder just to illustrate a point."

"I'm trying to show everypony how vulnerable this country really is," Spitzenburg alleged "You have to admit that that is a rather valuable and effective point."

"Well, too bad we keep preventing you from making it," Bronze Star mockingly rejoined.

Spitzenburg let out a slow, even breath and nonchalantly stated "So, the government is fully aware of my little scheme?"

"No, 'we' does not include the entire government," Bronze Star apprised him, "'We' is composed of me, my mother's chief of staff, and the ten ponies in my Special Ops team, the Firebrand Regiment. And, of course, the other two ponies present."

The gold stallion then looked over his shoulder and gestured for Noble Edict and Applejack to approach him. The two mares trotted over to the prince and stood on either side of him. Once they were there, Bronze Star turned back to the picture frame.

On the poster board, he saw Esopus Spitzenburg raise an eyebrow in fascination. He sat up straight again and spent the next minute contemplating the two mares. Ultimately, he fixed his gaze on Noble Edict and pronounced "I briefly remember encountering you from my visit to Ponyville. Noble Edict, was it?"

"That's correct," Noble Edict muttered through gritted teeth.

"To be precise, 'Lady' Noble Edict," Bronze Star illuminated.

That seemed to amuse Spitzenburg. He scoffed and remarked "So, Celestia made you a Lady of her court. May I ask what for?"

"I was one of the ponies who saved her during the Nightmare Moon incident," the red mare enlightened him.

"Well, then it doesn't take much to become a Lady these days, does it?" the jade stallion wryly observed.

"Nopony questioned the Princess's decision to bestow a ladyship on me," Noble Edict contended, "Furthermore, she insisted that I had earned that honor."

"I'm sure you did," Spitzenburg uttered candidly, "After all, in any case, you did help restore the Sun. What's more, you are involved in a hazardous but respectable line of work. As I recall, you are the chief of security of Ponyville."

"Yes, she is the security chief of this town," Bronze Star interjected, "The same town you released a monster in."

"Monster?" said Spitzenburg, feigning astonishment.

Bronze Star did not give a direct response to that. Instead, he turned to the red mare and told her "Noble, the package."

The red mare swiftly trotted over to the bed, picked up the package Bon Bon had delivered earlier, and carried it over to back to the front of the room. Bronze Star gestured for her to open the package. Noble Edict did just that, and she saw a half-chicken, half-snake creature lying inside. It was the cockatrice she and Bronze Star had captured several weeks earlier.

The cockatrice was still blindfolded, and he had been in captivity so long that he barely offered any resistance when Noble Edict grabbed him. Once she had a firm grip on the cockatrice, she held it up for everypony to see. Applejack fought the urge to recoil, Raoul Jowl gasped, Clear Crest flinched, and Esopus Spitzenburg remained indifferent.

"This monster," Noble Edict angrily expounded, holding the cockatrice up high, "You knowingly unleashed this deadly beast into the most peaceful settlement in Equestria. This beast which could have turned scores of my friends and neighbors into stone. Fortunately, we managed to capture him before he inflicted any damage. I've been keeping him in custody ever since."

"Then I commend you for doing your job well," Esopus Spitzenburg bluntly remarked, "I would expect nothing less from a security chief."

"But I bet you expected a lot more from the cockatrice," Applejack cockily muttered, "Must tick you off that the cockatrice did not leave any new pony statues in Ponyville. That thing almost turned Apple Bloom and her friends into stone. Your own great niece! My little sister!"

Esopus Spitzenburg had noticed Applejack when she appeared on the screen of Raoul Jowl's picture frame. However, he had not paid any close attention to her until now. He stared at her for about twenty seconds, and then he brightly commented "Like I said before, I do not get surprised very often. Even so, it's a pleasant surprise to see you here, Applejack."

"Wish I could say it was a pleasure for me, too, Uncle Esopus," Applejack mumbled heatedly.

"Oh, don't be so glum, Jackie," Spitzenburg suggested thoughtlessly.

"'Glum?'" Applejack crossly uttered, "You think I'm glum? Glum is how I feel when one of my trees don't produce fruit for seven days straight. I'll give you a more accurate description of my feelings: I'm appalled, enraged, ashamed, horrified, and – most of all – distraught. Know why? All because of you."

Spitzenburg seemed genuinely stunned by that. He grimaced and demanded "Just what have I done to deserve your contempt?"

"What don't you ask the people of Hoovston that?" Applejack shot back.

Esopus Spitzenburg must have been either especially calm or especially confident pony, because otherwise that statement would have caused him to slip. He managed to maintain his indifferent stance, but the shock was evident in his eyes. Bronze Star was pleased to see that.

"Yes, we know the Hoovston disaster was the work of one of your colleagues," the gold stallion affirmed, "That's the only attack that even came close to succeeding. Look what it produced. Nine hundred ponies dead. Thousands more wounded. Many left without shelter or work. Smalltime businesses collapsed. Sections of the city are still uninhabitable. Countless lives have been ruined, some irreparably. Are you proud of that?"

"This is not a matter of pride," Spitzenburg coldly responded, "You think I revel in the suffering of others? I do not. I gain no pleasure from these murders. I started this conspiracy knowing full well that I would have to sacrifice my integrity, my honor, and my decency somewhere along the way."

"It seems as though you already have," Applejack contended, "What the hay happened to you? You aren't behaving at all like the respectable stallion who used to visit me every year on Hearth's Warming."

"Well, I am the same stallion, Jackie," the jade stallion insisted, "I have not lost my sanity or my ability to discern between right and wrong. My principles and ideals are still the same. The only thing about me that has changed is my willingness to go to extreme lengths."

"You certainly proved how far you're willing to go," Bronze Star conceded grimly.

"Hold on a moment," Clear Crest impatiently cut in. For the past ten minutes, she had been itching to speak her mind. Once everypony else gave the onyx mare their attention, she turned to Bronze Star and pronounced "I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn, Your Highness, but there is one thing about all this that I don't quite understand. This is something that really needs to be addressed."

"Go ahead, Clear," Bronze Star bade her.

After a short pause, the onyx mare queried "How did you learn about the conspiracy in the first place?"

"That was my next question, actually," Spitzenburg commented.

"Regardless of who asks it, it deserves an answer," Bronze Star decided, "So I'll tell you. You can thank your colleague Material Study for making me aware of the conspiracy's existence."

Esopus Spitzenburg and Clear Crest were perplexed by that statement. However, Raoul Jowl knew where this was going. Bronze Star had told him to prepare for something like this. Like Noble Edict and Applejack, he had agreed to go along with everything the gold stallion said or did.

"What do you mean?" inquired Clear Crest.

"Nine months ago, Material Study surrendered himself to the authorities," Bronze Star revealed, "He kept on raving about a plot to overthrow the government, and he went on and on about death, destruction, and the ultimate downfall of this country. The police thought he was just a paranoid, superstitious lunatic. I, however, thought his claims were worth investigating. So once I learned where he was being held, I arranged for Material Study to be transferred to the Firebrand Regiment's custody. Eventually, he calmed down and gave us a full confession."

"What all did he tell you?" Spitzenburg queried, a little tense.

"Everything," Bronze Star replied, "Or at least everything he knew. He told us all about the conspiracy's objectives, methods, and purpose. The information he supplied us with enabled us to avoid many of the attacks you planned. Material Study also named some of his co-conspirators. One of the names he gave was yours."

"So I see," Spitzenburg mumbled in frustration, "Then why didn't you arrest me afterwards?"

"Because Study also told us that if one of the conspirators disappeared, the others would retaliate on a large scale," the gold stallion revealed, "At the time, we did not wholly believe him, but we were not going to risk finding out the hard way if he was telling the truth."

"Wise decision on your part," Esopus Spitzenburg perceived. He reclined in his chair again, sighed, and murmured "I always suspected that if one of my colleagues would crack, it would be Material Study. He was only involved in this for profit, after all."

"Yet when he came forward, it was because of a crisis of conscience," Bronze Star stated.

"So, where is Material Study now?" Clear Crest enquired.

"In the ground," Bronze Star expounded, "Shortly after he confessed everything, he committed suicide. Couldn't live with himself; that's my guess."

Spitzenburg and Clear Crest seemed content with that response.

That was the only part of Bronze Star's explanation that had some truth to it. In the last moments of his life, Material Study had indeed tried to confess, but Raoul Jowl had killed him before he could. Oddly enough, Sir Raoul ended up being the one who shared all his knowledge of the conspiracy with Bronze Star and the Firebrand Regiment. Of course, the gold stallion could not let Clear Crest and Esopus Spitzenburg know that. Otherwise he would put Sir Raoul in serious danger. So he invented that story to make them think that Material Study was the traitor instead.

"Any more questions?" Bronze Star offered.

"Just one," Spitzenburg informed him, "This is the key question: how did we get here?"

Bronze Star was baffled by the vagueness of that question.

Esopus Spitzenburg could tell he was confused, and he hastily spoke "I'll rephrase that. What I want to know is how and why you decided to organize this meeting in this fashion."

"I arranged this meeting to demonstrate my ability," Bronze Star explicated, "I know full well that I could have directly confronted you about the conspiracy in Ponyville and Appleoosa. I could have even travelled to Chicacolt and spoken with you at your office. But anypony can have a face-to-face meeting. I had to ensure that you would take me seriously. So I decided to speak with you through Clear Crest because I thought it would give you an idea of just how resourceful and capable I really am."

"You did not think wrong," Spitzenburg declared, sounding impressed, "But how did you know Clear Crest and Raoul Jowl were involved in the conspiracy?"

"Sir Raoul Jowl was another of the conspirators Material Study named before he killed himself," Bronze Star claimed, "He told us that he had met with Sir Raoul recently, and that both of them had been given orders to go into hiding. With that in mind, the other conspirators would not suspect anything if either stallion went missing. As such, we apprehended Sir Raoul Jowl soon after."

At that, Clear Crest and Esopus Spitzenburg glared at Raoul Jowl suspiciously. He did not give off any sign of worry or unrest.

"Relax; Sir Raoul did not betray you, too," Bronze Star insisted, "We interrogated him extensively, but he did not tell us anything we did not already know. He mostly just confirmed everything Material Study told us. For his safety, I've had Sir Raoul kept in protective custody ever since then."

"Right," Esopus Spitzenburg commented frankly. After a short pause, he said inquisitively "What about Clear Crest? I'm one of only three ponies who has been in contact with her."

"You see the picture frame Sir Raoul is holding?" Bronze Star stated.

"Yes," Spitzenburg acknowledged, "What about it?"

"That's the same frame that held the photograph Applejack gave you in Appleoosa," Bronze Star proudly divulged, "That picture frame has a built-in surveillance system, and there are only two of its kind. She and I used the other one to spy on you. We overheard your entire conversation with Clear Crest. You also gave us a very nice look at her when you held your poster board up to the picture frame."

Esopus Spitzenburg frowned deeply at that. Clear Crest felt as though she would scream, she was so furious. Luckily, neither of their reactions involved more than a tense facial expression.

"You say that's the same picture frame you gave me?" Spitzenburg recalled in interest.

"Yeah; we replaced it with a normal frame shortly before we left the town," Applejack apprised him.

"Not long afterwards, we learned about Clear Crest's fling with Sir Raoul Jowl," Bronze Star reminisced, "I thought we could use that to bring her out of hiding. Since Sir Raoul was still in our custody, I got the idea to have him contact Clear Crest and 'reconnect' with her. That was easy enough to do. After they scheduled a rendezvous in Ohmareha, I sent Sir Raoul one of my picture frames so that he could use it to help me talk to Clear Crest directly. Once we established contact with her, I asked her to include you in the meeting. That brings us to where we are now."

"I admire all the trouble you went to," the elderly stallion declared in amazement, "I truly do. Alas, it was a waste of your effort. Because outside of impressing me, I don't see how you'd accomplish anything with this meeting."

"Oh, trust me; by the end of our talk, I will have accomplished quite a bit," Bronze Star confidently pronounced.

"We'll see," Spitzenburg murmured drily.

After a short period of quietness, Bronze Star remarked "So far, all I've been doing is answering your questions. Now I'd like you to answer one of mine."

"Alright," Spitzenburg affirmed.

Bronze Star took another step forward and inquired "How committed are you to this conspiracy?"

"Completely," Esopus Spitzenburg answered, "If this country does not change, it will ultimately fall into ruin. This is my cause, and I'm going to see it through to the end. Even if it costs me my life."

Bronze Star was hoping he might say that. The gold stallion tensed up, tightened his facial expression and proclaimed "Well, in any case, these mass murders are going to cease. I will see to it that they do not occur."

Spitzenburg looked as though he was going to laugh. He spat mockingly "How do you propose to do that? I've ordered my colleagues to go into hiding; I'm the only one you could reach. Anything happens to me, and they'll strike back hard. You have no idea what you're up against."

"I know EXACTLY what I am up against," Bronze Star countered.

"Do you?" Spitzenburg cockily rejoined, "For all you know, there could be dozens of us. Scores. Hundreds. Maybe even thousands."

"How about twenty?" Bronze Star calmly proposed, "Including you."

"Twenty?" Spitzenburg chortled, still smiling in amusement, "Would you care to tell me the names of those twenty?"

Bronze Star cleared his throat, stepped forward, and announced: "Clear Crest… Raoul Jowl… Material Study… Lavender Dazzle… Shuffleboard… Earnest Ides… Dreamcatcher… Alabaster Glaze… Focal Point… Luminous Lush… Metal Gears… Trace Amount… Full Throttle… Wayward Woods… Gloss Vale… Quicktrip… Livewire… Raging Tempest… Sparker Blare… and, of course, Esopus Spitzenburg."

By the time he heard his own name, the smile on Esopus Spitzenburg's face had dropped. It had been replaced by a nervous scowl. That sight was so satisfying that Bronze Star could not help but smile himself.

Eventually, Spitzenburg sat up straight and frankly perceived "You've been doing your research, Your Highness."

"I've identified all twenty of you," the gold stallion affirmed, "I have detailed files on every single one of you. I know all your backstories, all your trades, all your connections, and everything else about you that is worth knowing."

"Well, my congratulations," Spitzenburg snappily uttered, "But it makes little difference. Our plans will proceed nevertheless. We are all determined to change this country. We are going to better this country. Believe me when I tell you that there is nothing you can do to stop us."

Bronze Star had been waiting for the elderly stallion to say something like that. Now came the moment of truth for this part of his plan. He gradually brought a malicious grin onto his face, tilted his head up, and stated slyly "When did I ever say I wanted to stop you?"

That remark caught all five other ponies off their guard. Applejack and Noble Edict gazed at Bronze Star as though he had just made a very vulgar comment. Clear Crest and Raoul Jowl stared at him in disbelief; they looked as though they were certain they had misheard him. As for Esopus Spitzenburg, he was absolutely speechless.

After a minute of tense silence, Bronze Star cheekily muttered "What is it, Esopus? Did I surprise you?"

Spitzenburg collected his bearings and said in bewilderment "I'm afraid I don't understand. Are you implying that you want me to succeed?"

"In a way," Bronze Star professed, "I do not approve of your methods, but that is not to say I do not approve of your ideals."

"Enlighten me, if you would," Esopus Spitzenburg beseeched him.

"Oh, I shall," Bronze Star asserted, "You are right about one thing; this country does need reform, and it needs it to a great extent. There are numerous long-term political and social dilemmas that have gone unresolved. Every year for the past decade, we've had to send troops overseas to reinforce our allies in Saddle Arabia. Our treaty with Yakyakistan needs to be renewed in a few years. Trade relations with Neighway and Prance are declining. And I haven't even started on this country's problems. The upper class is riddled with social parasites. The lower class just barely get by on their own. Even the middle class is plagued by inequality and unfairness. Corruption and greed are not hard to find, either. In fact, I am currently in the same building as six CEOs. All of whom recently discovered that some form of foul play is going on in their companies."

"What sort of foul play?" Spitzenburg queried.

"Premeditated murder and money-laundering," Bronze Star apprised him, "Interestingly, it was because of the Hoovston disaster that they even found out about the foul play."

"Oh, then some good came out of the disaster after all," Spitzenburg contended.

"Not enough good to compensate for the bad," Bronze Star disputed, "Anyway, my point is that fifty years ago, all of the aforementioned issues were unheard of. I respect the fact that my mother has the most difficult job in the country, and I know that she has done it very well for over a millennium. You and I have very different opinions of her. Despite that, there is one aspect about her that you and I agree on. Like you, I believe my mother has sat the throne long enough. It is past time that she passed her rule on to somepony else. As her only child, I am the rightful heir to the throne. Who better to take over than me?"

Spitzenburg took a minute to reflect on that argument. While he did that, Bronze Star happened to glimpse at the other four ponies. Applejack and Noble Edict seemed to have gone mute, and Raoul Jowl was more intrigued than anything. Clear Crest looked downright flabbergasted.

"Is something bothering you, Clear?" the gold stallion queried in concern.

"Am I hearing you right, Your Highness?" the onyx mare stated in astonishment, "You are seriously considering the idea of usurping the throne from Princess Celestia? When I worked at the Castle, you would never have dared such a thing."

"I've matured quite a bit since you left, Clear," Bronze Star proclaimed, "I've learned that diplomacy, negotiation, and bargaining can only get you so far in this world, even if you're of royal blood. Sometimes, when you want something, the most practical technique to obtain it involves taking it by force."

"That is certainly a realistic perspective," Esopus Spitzenburg conceded, "But it raises the question: are you capable of wanting something so much that you would resort to using force to acquire it?"

"Of course I am," Bronze Star insisted, "If you don't think I am, then you know nothing about me."

"Then you really have changed, sir," Clear Crest professed.

"You have no idea, Clear Crest," Bronze Star straightforwardly commented. He then looked back at Esopus Spitzenburg and declared "I seem to recall something you said to Clear Crest in Appleoosa. After she identified me through the photograph Applejack gave you, you suggested reaching out to me. You were under the impression that I could be persuaded to give you support for your cause. Now I am offering you my support freely. You would be a fool to refuse it."

"Maybe, but I would be an even bigger fool to accept it without a second thought," Spitzenburg countered.

"I don't blame you for being skeptical," Bronze Star muttered, "However, please hear me out. What you really want is for things to change. You've made that eloquently clear. I can get you what you want. I can help you instill change in this country. But only if we do things my way."

"Alright, let's say I agreed to that," Spitzenburg remarked, "What would 'your way' involve?"

"There are only two conditions," Bronze Star informed him, "Both of them are nonnegotiable: you will answer to me, and nopony else dies. Absolutely nopony."

"I assumed as much," Spitzenburg murmured drily.

"I mean it," Bronze Star tensely pronounced, "I do not want any more blood on your hooves. The citizens of Equestria are my people, and my people must remain under my protection. There are ways to bring about change without inflicting violence. My way will not involve as much as one additional death."

"Very well," Spitzenburg acknowledged, "Now tell me; how do you propose to get your mother to stand down?"

"I have several strategies in mind," Bronze Star disclosed, "First, I'll play the role of the dutiful son wishing to relieve his mother of her greatest burden. I'll tell her that she should not have to continue enduring the stress of being Equestria's supreme ruler anymore, and I will recommend that she let me carry that responsibility for her."

"That approach sounds a little too thoughtful," Spitzenburg observed, "Aside from that, you make it sound as though Celestia dreads her role as this country's leader. Last time I checked, she seemed quite comfortable in her throne."

"You are correct," Bronze Star affirmed, "Truth be told, I don't have much faith in that approach. So if – or when – that fails, I'll move on to my next tactic. This time, I'd apply a little force."

"What sort of force?" Esopus Spitzenburg inquired.

"I'll switch from empathy to coercion," Bronze Star expounded, "I'll attempt to persuade my mother that Equestria is long overdue for a new ruler, and that I am ready to take her place. Less than two weeks ago, she said herself that she plans for me to take her place someday. I'll just tell her that 'someday' should probably be very soon. After all, I know enough about politics, social order, economy, and every other cultural aspect to rule this country properly. I'll show her that I can maintain this country's prosperity and fix everything wrong with it."

"I'm sure you can," Spitzenburg thought aloud, "Your mother may not be as easy to convince, though. Words can accomplish plenty, but you may need more than words to prove your capabilities. I wouldn't put too much faith in that technique, either. You should go ahead and forget that one, too."

"Then I'll have to use a different kind of force," Bronze Star declared, "I'll show my mother just how powerful I really am."

Spitzenburg leaned forward expectantly and remarked in interest "I'm listening."

"As you may already know, the entire military is loyal to the Royal Family," Bronze Star revealed, "They may have sworn to serve my mother first, but in actuality, most of them favor me over her. I have trained with the Royal Guard and officers from all five branches of the military. I've frequently visited our active and inactive units, and I've made friends with many of them. I've also passed a number of laws that have improved conditions for the military in recent years, and I'm on good terms with everypony on Canterlot Castle's War Council. Those are just some of the many reasons why I am so much more popular in the armed forces than my mother."

"You needn't go on; you've made your point," Esopus Spitzenburg told him, "You're very well-liked by the military; I get it. But is there anything you'd get out of the armed forces other than first place in a popularity contest?"

"Ho, yeah," Bronze Star deviously remarked, "If you were to ask every soldier in this country which member of the Canterlot Royalty they would prefer to follow into battle, odds are three of every four would pick me. In other words, if you and the other conspirators join me, I can offer you the support of roughly three-quarters of the Equestrian military."

Esopus Spitzenburg was intrigued by that revelation. Once he fully grasped it, he grinned very widely, as though he was delighted by it. However, after about twenty seconds, his grin faded and he rubbed his chin. He cleverly observed "With that kind of strength, you could have overthrown your mother long ago."

"That is true," Bronze Star concurred, "However, just because one has an opportunity to seize power, that does not necessarily mean they should. They also need the means to hold on to that power after they obtain it. I could easily use the military to take the throne from my mother. But doing so would have been pointless unless I secured the support of the common people, as well. Because without backers, my reign would end almost as soon as it began. That is where you and your colleagues come in."

"What would you need us to do?" Esopus Spitzenburg inquired.

"You have a very straightforward task," Bronze Star disclosed, "Straightforward but crucial. By doing it, you would enable me to keep my claim to the throne."

"Continue, please," the jade stallion beckoned him.

"Once I take the throne, I will need my own council to advise me on all matters," the gold stallion elucidated, "Hopefully, most of the ponies on my mother's council would be willing to continue advising me after she has stepped down. However, even if all of them swear their allegiance to me, I should still have some of my own people on my council. Ideally, I would need ponies who are held in high esteem by the public, ponies who constantly strive for this country's betterment, ponies who can get things done, ponies who can make tough decisions, and ponies who are determined to repair Equestria's problems. Based on those criteria, I believe that you and your colleagues are exactly who I need."

At first, Spitzenburg was not sure how to respond to that. Ultimately, he just said "How so?"

"I'll explain," Bronze Star illuminated, "All of you come from different backgrounds. All of you are involved in different industries. All of you are very proficient and influential in your own fields. All of you were willing to go to extreme lengths to improve this country. Even though your techniques were gravely misguided, you are the type of ponies who can effectively reform Equestria. All you need is proper direction, and I can give you that. In return, you can publically advocate my rule once I ascend to the throne."

"And you believe our support would ensure that you keep the throne?" Spitzenburg assumed.

"If all of you were seen with me in public, you would rally others to back me up," Bronze Star debated, "You alone would gain me the Apple Family, and Sir Raoul would be able to secure the Canterlot Elite for me. I could even erase Clear Crest's criminal record and reinstate her to the Royal Guard; she would be my Captain. That's just for starters. Between the eighteen of you, I should be able to win favor with the vast majority of the ponies in this country."

"That is rather analytical," Spitzenburg admitted, "However, I hope you plan to have us do more than stand by your side."

"No, I've got a whole lot more in mind for your company," Bronze Star reassured him, "When I come to power, I will put you on my council. I will make you and your companions my closest and most prominent advisors. You will have a say in every choice I make, and I mean every choice. Nothing will be done without consulting you first."

Spitzenburg was notably pleased by that. He grinned and remarked "Now that is what I like to hear. Collaboration. A country should not be governed solely by one pony. It should be governed by a group of ponies instead."

"Although you will be on my council, I would still be the undisputed leader," Bronze Star pronounced.

"I can accept that," Spitzenburg conceded, "Now, what about your mother? By what means to you intend to use the military to take the throne away from her? You specifically said you would not tolerate any more death."

"I have already devised a strategy," Bronze Star disclosed, "I'll assemble a huge company of soldiers and bring them to Canterlot in secret. When the timing is right, they'll storm the city. Once they've taken the Castle, I'll visit my mother in the throne room and politely ask her if she would give me the throne. When she sees how hopelessly outnumbered she is, I expect she'll be quick to see the 'logic' in my request and agree to stand down."

"If I was in that position, I definitely wouldn't be foolish enough to refuse you," Spitzenburg perceived, "But Princess Celestia does not strike me as the type who can be intimidated very easily. Suppose she tries to fight back. Would you be able to defend yourself?"

"I should say so," Bronze Star professed, "My mother is an exceptionally powerful mare, but I know that it is possible to overwhelm her. During the Nightmare Moon incident, she was imprisoned in a sphere of energy by my aunt. My aunt had not been in this country for a thousand years, and she was virtually insane at the time. If a long-lost mare could subdue my mother during a bout of insanity, I'm sure I could do it with several hundred thousand trained combatants beside me."

"You're absolutely sure?" Spitzenburg enquired.

"Yes," the gold stallion pronounced, "Don't worry about Princess Celestia, Esopus. I can handle her."

"I certainly hope so," Spitzenburg uttered apprehensively, "Because if this fails, a lot of us will lose our heads. You might even lose yours."

"No, my mother would never have me executed," Bronze Star contended, "And I assure you, she will not execute you or any of your people, either. I am confident that this will work."

"Still, you must realize that you're taking a huge gamble here," Spitzenburg commented.

"I'm only taking it if you agree to assist me," Bronze Star argued, "It's your choice, Esopus. You could continue with these mass murders, or you can join me. One way or another, you'd arrive at an outcome that will enable you to change Equestria. But which scenario would you prefer to transpire? One that results in a broken country with tens of thousands of ponies dead and the survivors so shaken and disorderly that they have lost all faith and trust even in their own leaders, or one that involves as little suffering as possible and gains you the support of the Equestrian military and the Canterlot Royalty?"

Spitzenburg raised an eyebrow, scoffed, and muttered "When you put it that way, I would be a fool to turn down your offer. However, you must realize that it would be impossible to carry out this uprising without enduring some loss. You may very well gain the support of three-quarters of the armed forces. But suppose the remaining quarter refuses to acknowledge you as their leader. Some of them will be determined to resist you. Worst case scenario, it could mean civil war."

"Yes, I realize there may be a possibility of that," Bronze Star candidly declared, "However, since my units would outnumber my mother's units three-to-one, it would be a very short war."

"That's not my point," Spitzenburg revealed, "Again, I remind you that you said quite clearly that you will not allow any more deaths to result from this endeavor. Have you ever known a war that produced zero casualties?"

"The soldiers of Equestria are always willing to give their lives in service to their country," Bronze Star enlightened him, "If any of them die in my revolt, it would be tragic, but they would at least have meaningful deaths. They would die with honor and they would die for what they believe in. Most of all, they would get to choose whether or not they live or die. Your method gives none of your would-be victims a choice, and all of them are civilians. Why should their lives be forfeit?"

Spitzenburg considered those points for another minute. After that, he stated "You present a very effective argument, Your Highness. Now that I see my options from your point of view, your approach seems to be the more feasible choice."

"Does that mean you'll agree to it?" Bronze Star asked buoyantly.

"Perhaps," Spitzenburg said in response, brushing his hoof against his forehead, "I would like to discuss this with you in further detail. Maybe we could meet face-to-face."

"That's just what I was hoping you'd say," Bronze Star pronounced, "I would like you to meet with me in Canterlot. I will invite you to the Castle as my personal guest."

"The Castle?" Spitzenburg murmured in suspicion, "Why must it be the Castle?"

"There is a place there where we could talk without fear of being overheard," Bronze Star apprised him, noting his reaction, "What? You think I'm setting a trap?"

"Why else would you invite your enemy into your home?" Spitzenburg countered.

Bronze Star irately sighed and retorted with "Haven't you been paying attention to anything I've said? I don't want you to be my enemy, nor I yours. We would both seek to benefit as allies. Besides, if we took you prisoner, I know how your colleagues would respond."

"Fair point," Esopus Spitzenburg observed, "So, what would we do at the Castle?"

"We would have a meeting to discuss the details of the uprising," Bronze Star elaborated, "Only a few ponies will be present. I can assure you that after that meeting takes place, you will be allowed to leave the Castle unmolested. I give you my word."

"Forgive me if your word is inadequate," Spitzenburg mumbled drily.

"Alright, then we'll consult a second opinion," Bronze Star proposed. He turned to the onyx mare and asked her "Clear Crest, how good is my word?"

The former officer of the Royal Guard was silent for about twenty seconds. Then she looked the gold stallion in the eye and declared "Truthfully, it's better than most other ponies', sir. I know that you're a stallion of honor."

"Thank you," Bronze Star said appreciatively. He turned back to Spitzenburg and enquired "Is that good enough?"

Spitzenburg spent a long time contemplating his response. Nearly five whole minutes went by without a single word spoken between the six ponies. The silence was more tense and suspenseful than any noise could ever hope to be.

Then, at long last, Spitzenburg made eye contact with Bronze Star and announced "Very well, Your Highness. I will meet with you."

"Good," Bronze Star uttered in approval, grinning, "Sometime within the next week, I'll send you the details of our meeting. I'm not sure when it will take place; I'll need some time to make preparations first. It'll take at least a week to call upon the military, as even I cannot summon the armed forces at a moment's notice."

"Take as long as you need," Spitzenburg bade him, "In the meantime, I'll tell my colleagues to hold off on any future attacks we had planned. But I won't have them stand down altogether."

"I'll let you have that as insurance," Bronze Star pronounced, "But make sure you keep your people at bay. I don't want a repeat of the Hoovston disaster."

"There won't be, I promise you," Spitzenburg declared. There came another short interval of quietness, and then the jade stallion asked "Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

"No, I believe we've addressed everything," Bronze Star contended, "I won't take up any more of your time. Go ahead and have your staff meeting, Mr. Spitzenburg. Clear Crest, Raoul Jowl, if you'd like some time to catch up, feel free. Just make sure Sir Raoul's back on the surface by midnight. I need him to regroup with the Firebrand Regiment."

Esopus Spitzenburg, Clear Crest, and Raoul Jowl nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Sir Raoul then lowered his front leg and brought the picture frame closer to him. After a few seconds, he deactivated the surveillance system in that frame, and the screen on the picture frame in Bronze Star's bedroom went blank.

Now Bronze Star, Noble Edict, and Applejack were officially by themselves again. The gold stallion smirked in satisfaction and commented "I'd say that went pretty well. Right?"

When he got no response, he turned around to face the two mares, and he dropped his smile.

Applejack and Noble Edict looked as though they were in shock. They stared at Bronze Star as if they did not recognize him or if they did not know who he was. Given what they just heard, he could hardly fault them. Still, he was a little disappointed. He thought they might have had a little more faith in him.

"AJ, Noble…" Bronze Star spoke softly, "Don't tell me you actually bought everything I just said."

This confused the orange mare and the red mare.

"What do you mean?" Applejack asked in perplexity.

"I told Spitzenburg what he wanted to hear," Bronze Star professed, "He thinks he's made an ally out of me. In actuality, I employed a very old wartime adage: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

"So, all that stuff about an uprising…" Noble Edict began.

"I made it all up," Bronze Star revealed, "That was all just a ploy to get the mass murders to stop. I can assure you; there will BE no uprising. For all I know, I might actually be the military's favorite member of the Equestrian Royalty. But even if I am, I don't want my mother's throne, and I would never steal it from her."

"Well, that's a relief," Applejack remarked.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before," Bronze Star told them apologetically, "It was the only way I could convince Spitzenburg that I was willing to join him. It was important that Esopus saw the surprise on your faces when I first suggested the alliance. I needed him to think that I have been secretly planning an insurrection for a very long time, and that I had talked about it with nopony else, even the ponies closest to me."

"Well, I'm sorry we doubted you," Noble Edict sincerely stated.

"Yeah, we should have known you were just misleadin' my Uncle," Applejack contended.

"What's important is that we're all on the same page now," Bronze Star observed, "Although I've fooled Spitzenburg into thinking I'm on his side, I need to ensure that he keeps believing that lie. So I'm still going to arrange a meeting between me, him, and a few others at Canterlot Castle. For that to happen, I'll have to contact a lot of ponies, primarily the War Council. I'll need to bring them into this investigation in order for the next part of my plan to work."

"So your plan isn't over?" Applejack assumed.

"No, it's only just beginning," Bronze Star disclosed, "I would go into detail about it, but trust me; the less you mares know about my plan, the better. It has to be executed exactly as I envision it."

"It must be a methodical plan," Noble Edict conjectured.

"It is," Bronze Star proclaimed, "As long as everything goes accordingly, it should succeed. I expect it will end with my mother still on the throne, and the conspirators on cold metal tables in a morgue."

"So you're still going to have the remaining conspirators killed?" Noble Edict remarked.

"Yes, they signed their death warrants when they allowed the Hoovston disaster to happen," Bronze Star solemnly declared, "Esopus Spitzenburg thinks he will live to see this country undergo some great changes. I won't let him live long enough to see the next Summer Sun Celebration."

"Sounds good to me," Applejack straightforwardly murmured. Dapple Rhomb nodded in agreement.

Bronze Star then removed the soundproof spell on his room and changed back into his Earth Pony disguise. Noble Edict returned the cockatrice to the package and sealed it up tight. At the same time, Applejack opened the curtains and unlocked the door.

Initially, Bronze Star planned to take the cockatrice back to Bon Bon in the morning. However, Applejack would pass the beige mare's house on her way back to Sweet Apple Acres that night, so she offered to deliver the cockatrice for him. He gladly accepted her proposition.

After giving her coltfriend a passionate kiss good-night and signing out at the front of the embassy, Applejack left the building with the package on her back.

Noble Edict would have left, as well, but Bronze Star asked her to stay around for a while. The red mare had nothing going on that night, so she agreed.

They found Sir Haywood McCrank and Dapple Rhomb in the lounge. The indigo stallion was sitting in a comfortable chair, reading. The purple mare was lying on a couch, resting. She appeared to be asleep, but when Noble Edict nudged her, Dapple Rhomb promptly opened her eyes. She saw the security chief and her employer standing over her, and she grinned at them.

Bronze Star noted that Dapple Rhomb looked a lot better than she did that morning, and she claimed that she felt much better, too. She admitted that she had been feeling a little under the weather lately, probably due to stress and fatigue. At that time, she felt totally alright.

Dapple Rhomb sat up on the couch to make room for Noble Edict. As the red mare settled down next to the purple mare, Bronze Star sat down in a comfortable chair that adjoined Haywood McCrank's.

Sir Haywood McCrank took a few minutes to apprise Bronze Star on the last meeting with the CEOs. They had made quite a lot of progress that day. The biggest development involved the list Sir Haywood made the previous day. That was the modified list of employees in the six companies. Every pony on that list was marked as a suspect who may have been working for the Vermane. Initially, there had been fifteen hundred names on that list. By working together, the CEOs and the task force had managed to reduce that number down to nine hundred. Even better, most of the other six hundred had been eliminated for the most obvious reasons. Haywood McCrank planned to apply several more factors to the remaining nine hundred names, and he was certain that the list would continue to get shorter overtime.

Bronze Star was very pleased by this. At this rate, within a few days, the number of names on that list would be in double-digits. Not long after that, the task force might even be able to positively identify at least some of the remaining employees as members of the Vermane.

Once he was done updating Bronze Star, Sir Haywood McCrank asked the prince about his day. The gold stallion was happy to report that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing very well. He had spent most of the morning and afternoon with the three fillies, and with the exception of the zip-lining fiasco, they had stayed out of harm's way.

Sir Haywood McCrank was relieved to discover that his fears about the Cutie Mark Crusaders ended up being unsubstantiated. This was one of the few times he had been wrong, but he was actually glad to have been incorrect this time. Even so, he apologized to Bronze Star for having him waste his time.

The gold stallion just smiled and assured the federal investigator that the time he spent with the Crusaders had not been a waste. He revealed that although he had not discovered anything new about the Vermane, he had discovered something far more wonderful and incredible.

Bronze Star spent the next hour describing that day's events to the other three ponies. He recounted the story each of the Element Bearers had told him about how she had gotten her cutie mark, and how it turned out that all of their stories were interconnected. He also recalled the story of how he had gotten his own cutie mark, and how his story tied into the six mares' stories, as well.

Noble Edict, Dapple Rhomb, and Sir Haywood McCrank had all witnessed the Night of the Dancing Cosmos. They found it fascinating that Bronze Star had caused it. What fascinated them even more was how it was through his actions that the Element Bearers had come to earn their cutie marks. It was almost impossible for them to believe; it was so amazing.

When Bronze Star was done going over everything he had learned that day, the others decided to share their own stories of how they had gotten their cutie marks, as well.

Noble Edict went first. She explained that her late uncle was once Ponyville's chief of security. He had been her predecessor's predecessor. Noble Edict's parents had died shortly after she was born, so she had been raised by her aunt and uncle. It was from her uncle that she developed her appreciation for Ponyville's security staff, and she had grown up hoping to follow in his hoofsteps One day when she was twelve, her uncle brought her to the barracks and given her a tour of it. At one point, he presented her with fifteen files of cases the security staff had handled over the years. He challenged her to read the details of those files and deduce how each case had ended. She managed to perfectly determine the outcome of all fifteen cases. She even correctly predicted how the defendant was sentenced in each case. When she finally closed the last file, a law enforcement badge had appeared on her flank.

Dapple Rhomb had her turn next. Interestingly, she and Rough Rider had gotten their cutie marks at the same time. As a native of San Franciscolt, she had spent a lot of her foalhood near the city's famous bay. She, Rough Rider, and their friends would often hang out in the marina. They would pass the time by swimming, fishing, and watching various ships enter and exit the harbor. One evening when she was ten, she and Rough Rider had snuck on board a cruise liner before it left port. The liner did not leave the city; all it did was continuously circle the bay until midnight. Dapple Rhomb and Rough spent most of that voyage at the bough of the vessel, gazing out at the waters. Rough Rider claimed that one day, he would travel all over the world, and he would make a fortune everywhere he went. Dapple Rhomb had been amused by that, and she asked if there was room for her in that dream of his. He told her she would be welcome to join him. The liner's captain had overheard their conversation, and he invited them to his cabin. He told them that he admired their ambition and dedication to each other. He said they had very mature mindsets for foals. The captain posed a lot of hypothetical scenarios to the two young ponies, and he asked what they would do in each one. In each situation, Rough Rider discussed in detail how he would make money from a certain business opportunity. As for Dapple Rhomb, she talked about how she would find the means to support herself, and she stated that she would be willing to adapt to any challenges she faced. The captain found that commendable, and he compared her to a parallelogram: she could bend, she could be flexible, she was complex, and with her resolve, she would not break or collapse. Dapple Rhomb loved that analogy; it fit her very well. By the time the liner returned to the harbor, a bag of bits on top of a map appeared on Rough Rider's flank, and a three-dimensional parallelogram appeared on Dapple Rhomb's flank.

Sir Haywood McCrank was the last to speak. He had gotten his cutie mark when he was only eight. It was rare for a pony to gain his or her cutie mark that early in life, but he had definitely earned his. As a colt, he had always been fascinated by mysteries. Even in his foalhood, he yearned to be a master detective. Every night when he went to bed, his parents would read him a well-written whodunit. They would always stop right before the culprit was identified, and they challenged him to guess who the guilty party was. The following morning, he would give them his answer, and he was always right. His parents were so amazed by their son's innate deductive ability that they enrolled him in a prestigious institution for highly intelligent and perceptive ponies. Many of that institution's graduates had gone on to serve the federal government. Like the School for Gifted Unicorns, this institution also had an entrance exam. Every applicant was given an unsolved case from the Intelligence Bureau, and they were asked to solve it. One might have thought that those who solved the case were accepted and those who failed to solve it were rejected. In actuality, it was the other way around. Every single applicant to the institution was given the exact same case. This particular case had been around for thirty years, and it had never been solved. The institution's board of directors thought the case would make the perfect test for the applicants. All the applicants who ultimately gave up and admitted their own limitations by saying that the case was impossible were allowed to join the institution. However, all the applicants who stubbornly refused to quit and were self-righteous enough to believe that they could actually solve the case were denied entrance to the institution. However, when Haywood McCrank was given the entrance exam, he surprised everypony. He noticed certain details about the case that everypony else had written off as insignificant or meaningless. Not only was he able to identify the guilty party, but he also provided a very thorough explanation to justify his argument. For their own curiosity's sake, the Intelligence Bureau decided to follow up on Haywood's reasoning, and they discovered that he was right. When confronted, the suspect broke down and confessed. Thus, a thirty-year-old crime had finally been closed. An eight-year-old colt had managed to do what scores of educated and experienced ponies could not. The moment Haywood McCrank was registered at that institution, a magnifying glass had shown up on his flank.

Although none of their stories had any resemblance to the others, Bronze Star could plainly see that all of them had earned their cutie marks through their own heart's desire, and all of those desires had resulted from the empathy they had for other ponies. In Bronze Star's opinion, that was just as praiseworthy and magnificent as a special magical connection.

It was about 7:30 in the evening when the four ponies finished reminiscing on their cutie mark stories. After that, Lord Ronald Grump entered the lounge and informed them that he and the other CEOs were about to go into town for dinner. He asked if they would join them.

Before they could reply, they heard a loud slamming sound near the front of the building. It sounded as though somepony had physically burst through the main entrance.

A moment later, Rollin Fields appeared in the doorframe that connected the lounge to the main first-floor corridor. He was breathing heavily, his face was a dark crimson, and his brow was dripping with sweat.

Between labored breaths, the lime green stallion stammered "Noble… Sir Haywood… Dapple… Mr. Ambassador…"

It was a good thing he decided to address Bronze Star last. He did not even notice Lord Ronald Grump was there until he had said the first three names. Had he failed to realize that, he might have called Bronze Star by his true name right in front of the CEO.

"What is it, Rollin?" Noble Edict asked in concern, sitting up on the couch.

The elderly security officer did not answer right away. First, he leaned against the wall and wiped his forehead. He needed a minute or two to catch his breath. Finally, he stood up straight, composed himself, turned to his associates, and announced "The others have returned from Detrot."

Bronze Star, Dapple Rhomb, Sir Haywood McCrank, and Noble Edict quickly went from stunned to pleased. All of them smiled a bit at that news.

"That's excellent," Haywood McCrank remarked, getting up from his chair.

Lord Ronald Grump raised an eyebrow and asked in bafflement "'Others?'"

"Can't explain now, Lord Ronald," Bronze Star candidly proclaimed.

Dapple Rhomb gazed past the entrance of the lounge, as though she expected somepony else to appear behind Rollin Fields. When she saw that he was alone, she looked to the lime green Earth Pony and queried "So, where are they?"

Again, Rollin Fields did not give a prompt answer. Instead, he turned to his side and stared at the wall. It was then that the other ponies realized how jittery he was. They also noticed he was trembling. They soon figured out that that was not just because he had run all the way to the embassy from somewhere across town. He looked as though he had just seen something that traumatized him.

"Rollin, why do you look so worried?" Haywood McCrank inquired anxiously.

Eventually, Rollin Fields let out a very deep sigh and responded with "Same answer for both questions. They're at the hospital."

That statement caused the gold stallion, the purple mare, the indigo stallion, and the red mare to snap to full attention.

"What?" Bronze Star uttered quietly.

"They've at the hospital," Rollin Fields softly repeated, "They've got wounded."

"Who?" Sir Haywood hastily asked, "How many? How badly?"

"I don't know," Rollin Fields responded.

"How's Copper Hollow?" Noble Edict enquired nervously, climbing off the couch.

"I don't know," Rollin Fields admitted.

"How's Rough Rider?" Dapple Rhomb edgily yelled, jumping to her hooves, "How is my husband?!"

"I don't know!" Rollin Fields shouted, "I don't know anything! Their train only just got here, and as soon as it arrived, the entire security staff was summoned to the depot. I was only there long enough to see the others being tended by paramedics. I came here straight after. Right before I left, Dr. Sharp Seams told me that they would be taken to the hospital immediately."

"Then we've got to get over there now," Bronze Star firmly declared, rising to his hooves.

"He's right," Noble Edict conceded.

They were about to file out of the room, but Lord Ronald Grump stood in the doorframe and crossly demanded "What is going on?"

"Lord Ronald, now is not the time," Sir Haywood sharply replied, pushing the CEO out of the way, "I'm willing to give you an explanation later, but for now, I must insist that you stay out of our way."

The entrepreneur was visibly displeased with both that reply and that treatment, but there was little he could do to protest.

Bronze Star, Noble Edict, Dapple Rhomb, Haywood McCrank, and Rollin Fields departed the embassy in such a hurry that they did not even bother signing out at the front of the building before they headed out.

As they passed through the gate, Rollin Fields told the four younger ponies "Before we get to the hospital, there's something else you should know."

"What?" Dapple Rhomb queried nervously.

"While I was at the depot, I took some time to look for the others," Rollin Fields disclosed, "The train had already been completely emptied by the time I got there. I searched the entire crowd, but I couldn't find all of our people. That can only mean one thing."

All four of his companions managed to grasp an idea of what that "thing" was, and it made them feel profoundly uneasy. The lime green Earth Pony confirmed their suspicions with the following ominous statement:

"Some of our people didn't come back."