Fortune Favors The Bold

by TheEquestrianWing

Time Running Short

By the time the Sun came up that morning, nearly everypony in Ponyville had become aware of the train massacre. The overall mood of the town was one of panic, anxiety, and restlessness. Many ponies refused to go anywhere near the train depot, and a few were reluctant even to leave their houses.

The City Council managed to restore order by claiming that the attack was an isolated incident. Mayor Mare asserted that the train's staff would be taking some extra precautions from then on. Bronze Star took steps to ensure that nopony outside of Ponyville learned of the massacre without his consent. He even went so far as to have members of the task force read all the town's outgoing mail when it arrived at the post office. Any letter that so much as mentioned the massacre was returned to its owner for revision.

Bronze Star also stopped by Golden Oaks Library and told Twilight Sparkle that she must not – under any circumstances – mention this catastrophe in a letter to Princess Celestia. The lavender mare was startled by this odd request, but she agreed to it all the same.

In addition to that, he had Noble Edict issue a decree that every pony who had been on that train was not to leave Ponyville until further notice. A few passengers were annoyed by that inconvenience, but the way things stood, they had no choice but to comply.

On the plus side, Rough Rider woke up that same day. In the late afternoon, he was revived by Dr. Sharp Seams, and after he was given an hour to compose himself, the other members of the task force came to visit him.

Dapple Rhomb had been asked to linger at the hospital. The purple mare's pregnancy was still in the early stages, but since she had fainted, the staff wanted to run some tests. By then, all the victims of the massacre had been treated, so they could afford to spare somepony to examine Dapple Rhomb. Fortunately, it appeared as though everything was in order; the fetus was healthy and growing, and no abnormalities had been discovered.

Dapple Rhomb went with the other members of the task force to see Rough Rider. When they got to his room, the purple mare had practically thrown herself at her husband. He was still somewhat weak from being shot, but the olive stallion did not allow the pain to prevent him from holding his wife in his front legs again. He was overjoyed to see Dapple Rhomb. When she informed him that they were going to be parents, his joy only increased.

However, when he learned that Almond Wheeler and Dread Naught had been lost, he became visibly distraught. Of the five members of the task force that had gone to Detrot, he and Copper Hollow were the only survivors.

Bronze Star explained that arrangements had been made for their fallen comrades. Almond Wheeler's funeral would be held in three days at Town Hall, and Dread Naught's funeral would take place in eight days in Canterlot. He intended to attend both of them. He mentioned that he already had some business in the capital city the following week, so his plan would work out perfectly.

Although Shakedown's body was still being held by the Detrot Police Department, Bronze Star offered to have it delivered to the vigilante group as a gesture of goodwill. Rough Rider and Dapple Rhomb appreciated that; they told the prince where to have the body sent. Once their people received it, they would give the brownish-tan Pegasus a proper burial.

Once the matter of their late colleagues had been resolved, the task force discussed their next move. Although the file on the Vermane's next victim had been badly damaged, Haywood McCrank firmly declared that its information was not gone. He had a technique for efficiently undoing acts of sabotage to recover lost data. However, this process was long and required extremely careful attention and execution. It also depended on what form of sabotage had been inflicted.

Since the words on the file had been – for lack of a better word – melted, Sir Haywood estimated that it would take two or three weeks to restore the papers to their original quality. He mentioned that it would take much less time if he had some assistance from the Intelligence Bureau, but Dread Naught was the only pony he could trust with this affair, and he was unwilling to bring any more of his colleagues into the loop.

Bronze Star did not care how long the recovery process was; all that mattered was that it worked. So he bade the indigo stallion to take as much time as he needed on that task.

Noble Edict made certain to address how Paisley Branch and Cassia Sprig had approached her and requested to rejoin the task force. The other six members had mixed feelings on this issue. Nopony was questioning their integrity or motives, but since the two mares had already chosen family over this job, the task force had reason to question their level of commitment.

Ultimately, the choice on whether or not to reinstate Cassia Sprig and Paisley Branch to the task force was up to Bronze Star. He declared that he would reflect on this subject while he was in Canterlot, and when he got back, he would make his decision.

The last thing the task force discussed was their theory that members of the Vermane were already in Ponyville. Other than the bodies that had been removed from the train, of course. After everything that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours, Haywood McCrank advised them to be wary of everypony in town. At this point, absolutely nopony was free from their suspicions.

Luckily, they had a lead. Dread Naught had managed to kill three of the Vermane in Detrot, and Rough Rider, Almond Wheeler, and Copper Hollow had each killed another one on the train. According to Sir Haywood, this was the first time he ever had a member of the Vermane in his custody, alive or dead. The fact that they could be killed in itself was a great reassurance.

Furthermore, given how the six dead members of the Vermane had all worked for one of the six CEOs' companies, the staffers on the CEOs' boards of directors were the task force's prime suspects. Altogether, there were about five dozen staffers between the six companies. That was still quite a lot, but if correct, this notion would narrow their list of suspects down from thousands to less than a hundred.

In any case, despite how pressing the murder plot was, it was not Bronze Star's most immediate concern. The assassination conspiracy occupied a much greater part of his mind. So far, his plan to eliminate the remaining conspirators had been executed perfectly, but in order for it to succeed, he had to keep to a schedule.

Now that he had fooled Esopus Spitzenburg into believing that he would help the elderly stallion in his goal to overthrow Celestia, it was imperative that he kept up that charade.

In the next phase of Bronze Star's plan, he would set up a meeting between Spitzenburg and the ponies on his mother's War Council. He could not predict how that meeting would end, but one way or another, by the end of it, he needed to convince Spitzenburg that he had the support of the Equestrian military.

When he got back to the embassy that evening, Bronze Star composed a letter to the Firebrand Regiment. He instructed them to inform the chiefs of the armed forces that sometime in the next week, they could expect to be summoned by him. Ideally, he would assemble them in four or five days, and they would be gathering in the Compartment at Canterlot Castle. Normally, an appointment such as this would have to be scheduled a month in advance, but as a royal, Bronze Star could get them together at a moment's notice.

Over the next few days, the tense atmosphere in Ponyville gradually eased down. Of course, nopony was going to forget what had happened any time soon, and even if he did not have an impeccable memory, Bronze Star would never forget it.

On the third day after the train massacre, Almond Wheeler's funeral took place. Her service had a fairly large turnout. Most of the security staff was present, along with all six of the Element Bearers, the seven remaining members of the task force, the whole of the City Council, the majority of the survivors of the massacre, and a number of the townsfolk.

It was open-casket; the upper part of Almond Wheeler's body was on display for the congregation. She was wearing a dress that Rarity had designed for her. It was her favorite outfit; she loved it so much that she considered the idea of being buried in it. Ironically, she had made that decision just in time.

She did look beautiful in the gown. Its red and black pattern complimented her grey coat rather nicely, and it did an adequate job of concealing the stab wounds on her abdomen.

Before the service began, several ponies approached the casket and knelt before it. Most of those ponies stayed for less than a minute; a select few lingered for much longer. Almond Wheeler's parents and her cousin were in the latter category.

Unsurprisingly, the three of them were hit the hardest by this terrible loss. Her mother and father were overcome with grief, but Cashew Lane was downright devastated. He appeared to be virtually inconsolable, as though he refused to acknowledge that his cousin was really gone. Until he was able to cope, everypony would give him some space.

Mayor Mare gave the eulogy. Noble Edict and a few other security officers came up to say some words about their late colleague. Once everypony had their turn, the casket was closed, and it was carried to the town cemetery. There final farewells were spoken, and then the casket was gently lowered into the ground. Most of the attendants left then, but Bronze Star and the rest of the task force lingered until every last shovelful of dirt had been deposited into the hole. Only then did they depart.

When Bronze Star got back to the embassy, he began preparing for his trip to Canterlot. He did not bother with packing; all he needed to bring was his strongbox and his knapsack. He would also bring Arthur, as he did not wish to leave his pet hawk alone. Once he had all his belongings together, he informed the six CEOs that he would be out of town for that whole week and perhaps most of the following one, as well. After that, he went around town and shared this news with everypony else who needed to know, namely Mayor Mare, the three officers of the Royal Guard, and each of the Element Bearers.

Once he was done with that errand, Bronze Star spent most of the remainder of that day with Applejack. The prince was going to cherish his time with his fillyfriend, as this would probably be the last time they would be together for the next ten days. She did not wish for him to go, but she understood his reasons. She wished him the best of luck for when he met with Esopus Spitzenburg in Canterlot.

The next day, Bronze Star gathered the six members of the task force and told them that while he was away, they were to keep the investigation going. Basically, they had two priorities: recovering the information on the damaged file, and monitoring the behavior and activities of the CEOs' staffers. Currently, that was all they had to concern themselves with.

After this, Bronze Star grabbed his knapsack and his strongbox, called Arthur over to him, and made his way to the train depot. He got there an hour before the train to Canterlot was supposed to depart, and he saw other ponies having their bags searched by the security staff. Due to the train massacre, Noble Edict and Copper Hollow had implemented a number of regulations to ensure the safety of the railroad. Baggage inspection was one of them. These precautions were temporary but mandatory. Luckily, since Bronze Star had his government credentials on hoof, he did not have to have his luggage checked.

Once it was confirmed that none of the passengers were carrying weapons or any other hazardous materials, they were allowed to board the train and take their seats. Bronze Star noted a couple of the town's security force were on the train as well. Another precaution, evidently. He was not expecting any trouble on this short trip, but having the security officers around was comforting and somewhat reassuring.

Before long, the train was underway. A few hours later, it pulled into the main depot at Canterlot. Bronze Star had passed the time by reflecting on upcoming events. These events included the Grand Galloping Gala, his plans to eliminate two of the biggest threats to the country, and a particular weather phenomenon.

At any rate, when the train reached its destination, the gold stallion gathered his strongbox and his knapsack, and he swiftly disembarked. Arthur D. Hawkins flapped alongside his master as he trotted through the streets and towards the Castle.

When he got there, Bronze Star was allowed entrance into the Castle straightaway. Although he had not written a letter to anypony outside of the Firebrand Regiment recently, his return had been anticipated. This was because the young prince had aimed to carry out a certain item of business in the capital city at this time (apart from Dread Naught's funeral and the meeting with Esopus Spitzenburg), and he had already known about this business for months in advance.

In approximately ten days, there would be a meteor shower. It occurred once every hundred years, and it passed directly over Equestria. Bronze Star was the prince of stars, but it had been debated by many that meteors technically counted as stars. As such, he had expressed some interest in supervising the meteor shower when it came. His mother had agreed to this proposal long before Bronze Star moved to Ponyville, and he still had every intention of going through with it. After all, the meteor shower would be a great opportunity for him to practice reasserting his domain in the sky, and it would provide a great distraction from all the tension he had been under lately.

Once he was admitted into the Castle, Bronze Star headed to his bedchamber. There he transformed back into his original Alicorn form and got dressed in his regalia. He put away his strongbox and his knapsack, as he would not be needing anything else in them yet. However, he did take a small ornament in the drawer of his nightstand and tucked it into his vest.

Bronze Star allowed himself a few minutes to go over his itinerary for the following week, and to absorb his surroundings. While he did that, he stepped out onto the balcony and enjoyed the view of the city. Although the image of that view was permanently ingrained in his memory, there was nothing like witnessing it firsthoof. As much as Bronze Star enjoyed living in Ponyville, he was relieved to be in Canterlot again. It was and always would be his first home.

Be that as it may, he did not have time to get comfortable. He would be in town for less than two weeks, and he had much to do in that time.

Bronze Star looked over at his pet hawk and told him "If you'd like to hunt, Colonel, go right ahead. I'll be back by the early evening."

Arthur screeched in acknowledgement at his master's statements and soared out of the bedchamber. After that, Bronze Star closed the doors to his balcony, trotted out of his bedchamber through the main entrance, and locked those doors as well. The two guards posted there saluted him, and he saluted back. Then he made his way through the many corridors.

Obviously, Bronze Star planned to spend some time with his mother and his aunt while he was in Canterlot. It was nearly midday, so Princess Luna must have gone to bed a couple hours earlier, but Princess Celestia was undoubtedly in the throne room. Before he went there, he had to speak to somepony else.

Five minutes after leaving his bedroom, Bronze Star arrived at an office on the fifth floor. The caption "Homefront Safety" was written on the door, which was slightly ajar. Bronze Star lightly tapped his hoof on the doorframe, and he heard a shrill voice call out "Enter."

Bronze Star opened the door and passed through it. On the other side was a small space occupied largely by cabinets, clipboards, desks, and numerous stacks of papers. A Unicorn stallion was seated at one of those desks. He was in his late thirties, he had a glaucous coat, a honeydew mane, ginger irises, and a picture of a blade wedged onto the surface of a table for a cutie mark. Around his waist, he wore a belt that held a short sword.

When he looked up and saw Bronze Star was there, he grinned, rose from his chair, and bowed to the prince. Bronze Star smirked and stated "Rise, Sir Verse."

Sir Verse A. Till was the assistant to Lord Ambit Dexter, the chairpony of the War Council. Whenever the ponies on the Council needed to be assembled, Sir Verse was the one who notified them. Although he did not have any official authority on the Council, he sat in on all the meetings and offered military advice to the royalty just like the chiefs did.

The glaucous stallion raised his head and remarked "Always a pleasure to see you, sir."

"Likewise," Bronze Star rejoined. He stepped into the office, shut the door, and muttered "I assume you know why I'm here."

"Of course I do," Sir Verse pronounced, "SIG Sauer stopped by the other day and instructed me to 'discreetly' prepare the War Council for you. I apprised Commodore Dexter myself."

"And the others?" Bronze Star inquired.

"They've been informed, as well," Verse A. Till disclosed, "They're still awaiting your orders."

"Does my mother know that?" Bronze Star enquired.

"No, as per your orders, Princess Celestia is totally unaware of all this," Sir Verse replied, "If you don't mind me saying, I'm a little surprised you wished to keep her in the dark."

"I still do," the gold stallion proclaimed, "I'll explain why later on. Just tell me; could you bring the entire Council together before noon?"

"Absolutely," the glaucous stallion affirmed.

"Then tell them to be at the Compartment in two hours," Bronze Star uttered.

"Very well, Your Highness," Sir Verse avowed. He then raised an eyebrow and murmured "Apart from myself and Commodore Dexter, none of them have ever been in the Compartment before."

"I am aware of that," Bronze Star calmly asserted.

"This must be a matter of extreme precedence for you to allow them into there," Verse A. Till speculated.

"It is," Bronze Star candidly said in response.

Without another word spoken, the gold stallion left the office. He knew he could expect the War Council to be ready in exactly two hours. Until then, he had time for other things. So he made his way to the throne room.

As he expected, Princess Celestia and Lord Bellerophon were there. They were both delighted to see him, as he was to see them.

Bronze Star spent most of the next 120 minutes talking with his mother and her chief of staff. Most of their conversation focused on two forthcoming events: the meteor shower and the Grand Galloping Gala.

Although it had been several months since he last practiced using his power over the stars, Bronze Star was confident that he would be able to oversee the meteor shower without incident. He was grateful and honored that his mother was giving him this much responsibility in one night. They both knew very well that he would not let her down.

The Gala would be in slightly more than a month. Already, it was the talk of the town. The Canterlot Elite had the most renowned tailors in the city design their tuxedos and gowns. No expense had been spared for the decorations, food, and music. It had been rumored that the whole Royal Family was going to be there this year. That remained to be seen; Princess Luna had neither confirmed nor denied that she would make an appearance at the festivities.

In any case, Bronze Star was looking forward to the Gala like everypony else. Usually, the Grand Galloping Gala was the most overhyped occasion in the country, but he was certain that this one would be much more interesting and exciting.

At a quarter to noon, Bronze Star bade Celestia and Bellerophon a good day and departed from the throne room. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the door to The Compartment, and he gave the secret knock. In response, the slot in the center of the door slid open, and a pair of teal eyes gazed back at him. Bronze Star reached into his vest, pulled out the ornament, and held it up high. Immediately, the slot was shut, locks were unfastened, and the door was opened wide to reveal SIG Sauer standing on the other side.

"Your Highness," the pine green Unicorn muttered, dipping his head a bit.

"Hello, SIG," Bronze Star commented, sauntering into the Compartment. He waited for his trainer to seal the door off again before asking "Are they here?"

"Yes, sir," SIG Sauer disclosed, "And they're demanding answers."

"Then I'll give them some," Bronze Star professed.

SIG Sauer nodded in agreement and trotted over to the steel door on the wall opposite the entrance. As a respectful gesture, he pulled it open and held out his front leg. Bronze Star smiled at that and passed through the door to the lounge of the Compartment. There he found the War Council resting on the couches and chairs.

There were six ponies on the Council: the chiefs of the five branches of the military, and the chairpony.

The Chief of the Army was an Earth Pony stallion named General Whetstone. The Chief of the Navy was a Unicorn stallion named Admiral Littoral Clout. The Chief of the Wonderbolts was a Pegasus mare named General Duster Helix. The Chief of Special Forces and the National Guard was an Earth Pony mare named Captain Regency. The Chief of the Military Enforcement Corps was an Earth Pony stallion, the aforementioned Commander Hard Hull.

All of them had been wearing a uniform for more than thirty years, and they were regarded as the pride of the armed forces.

Workwise, Bronze Star knew all five of them rather well. However, other than the meetings and special occasions, he did not interact with them fairly much. He barely even knew them enough to refer to them as his friends.

All the same, he viewed the head of the Council as a close and personal affiliate. That very pony was seated closest to the entrance of the lounge, and Sir Verse A. Till was standing directly behind him.

The chairpony of the War Council was a Pegasus stallion named Lord Ambit Dexter, known by his peers and colleagues as "The Commodore."

Commodore Dexter was a seventy-nine-year-old war veteran. He had a moccasin coat, a khaki mane, aquamarine irises, and a picture of Equestria's flag surrounded by half a dozen outward-pointing swords for a cutie mark. An accomplished leader, a seasoned fighter, and a practiced legate, he was one of the most respected and longest-active ponies who worked at Canterlot Castle. He was distinguished by many of his achievements, primarily the fact that throughout his lifetime, he had served in all five branches of the military. There were fewer than a dozen ponies in the history of Equestria who could make that claim, and Lord Ambit was the only one who was still living.

As soon as Bronze Star entered the lounge, all heads turned towards him, and everypony got to his or her hooves. Lord Ambit Dexter approached the prince with a wide grin. He tilted his head a little, and he muttered cordially "Your Grace."

"Commodore," Bronze Star said in reply, smiling back.

The two stallions warmly embraced each other, like grandson and grandfather. Indeed, while he had never known what it was like to be somepony's grandchild, Bronze Star thought of the Commodore as the closest thing he would ever have to an actual grandparent.

By the time they came apart, the five chiefs had returned to their seats. Bronze Star proclaimed "It's been quite a while since we were all together in one room."

"Yes, it has," Ambit Dexter coincided, sitting back down, "But I suppose that's a good thing. After all, this is the War Council. We only convene when there's turmoil."

"You are quite right, my Lord," Bronze Star confirmed.

"Then perhaps you can enlighten us on what form of turmoil has brought us together this time, Your Highness," General Duster Helix proposed.

"Well, that is the purpose of this meeting," Bronze Star contended. He moved a vacant wooden chair to the middle of the room and sat down. He faced the War Council and announced "Before we begin, I should make it clear that nothing we discuss here is to be discussed elsewhere or with anypony else. Do we have an understanding?"

The five chiefs, the Commodore, and his assistant all murmured in agreement.

"Why all this secrecy, Your Highness?" Admiral Littoral Clout queried, "Why didn't we gather in the council chambers? Moreover, why aren't Princess Celestia or Lord Bellerophon here?"

"Firstly, this area is much more secure than the council chambers," Bronze Star disclosed, "As it turns out, Lord Bellerophon already knows of this affair, but my mother does not. It must stay that way. Of course, you already know that, assuming Verse A. Till told you."

"Sir Verse only said we'd be meeting here and that we were not to tell anypony else of it, including your mother," Captain Regency recounted, "Aside from that, he's told us nothing, Your Highness."

"Truthfully, I don't know any more than the rest of you," Verse A. Till claimed, "I could only give you what little information I had."

"We're even less pleased with what SIG Sauer has given us," Commander Hard Hull mumbled, glaring at the pine green Unicorn.

"What has he given you?" Bronze Star questioned.

"Nothing but silence, Your Highness," Hard Hull answered grimly, "He hasn't spoken a word since we got here."

"Mr. Sauer is under orders not to disclose anything without my leave," Bronze Star expounded. He turned to his trainer and remarked "I'll take over from here, SIG."

SIG Sauer nodded and exited the lounge through the door on the wall left of the entrance.

"He won't be joining us, Your Highness?" General Whetstone presumed.

"No, he already knows everything we're about to discuss," Bronze Star explicated, "He has other responsibilities to see to. He'll be with us next time, though."

"'Next time?'" Commodore Dexter repeated, intrigued.

"Yes, today is just a debriefing," Bronze Star notified them, "The real work will be at next week's meeting. For now, all you have to do is listen."

The seven ponies were a little perplexed, but they agreed to hear the prince out. He spent a minute looking around the room, and then he began with "Equestria and my mother are in danger."

If he did not have the Council's full attention before that statement, he certainly did at that point.

Bronze Star proceeded to tell the War Council all about the assassination conspiracy. He shared absolutely everything and excluded no details. He started all the way back at the very beginning, when he and the Firebrand Regiment had identified Lavender Dazzle as a potential terror suspect. He then recalled how from there they had established a connection between her and Material Study, and how that in turn led them to arresting both Study and Sir Raoul Jowl.

He also mentioned how the Firebrand Regiment did not become wholly aware of the magnitude or purpose of the conspiracy until Bronze Star had interrogated Sir Raoul Jowl.

The bulk of his explanation was composed of everything that had transpired after Sir Raoul had switched sides. He described how the Firebrand Regiment had managed to identify each of the conspirators overtime, and how the Regiment's field operatives had been closely monitoring each conspirator ever since his or her identification. He also made certain to emphasize how important it was that they not arrest any of the conspirators, lest the others launch an attack against the country in retaliation. At the same time, the Regiment had taken steps to ensure that none of those attacks occurred.

Bronze Star told the War Council how the Hoovston disaster was not an accident; it was the result of one of those attacks. Worse yet, the conspirator responsible for it – Livewire – had only inflicted a fraction of the destruction he had intended to inflict. In other words, the remaining conspirators all planned to cause more destruction on a much larger scale.

Bronze Star did not even leave out anything about his civilian life in Ponyville or his romantic relationship with Applejack. He revealed that the orange mare had been instrumental in helping him identify Clear Crest as the final conspirator, and how she assisted him in his efforts to locate the former Royal Guard. He seemed somewhat proud when he brought up the fact that she had made the suggestion that gave him an idea on how to permanently eliminate the threat posed by the conspirators.

The whole explanation took well over an hour to cover fully. The very last thing Bronze Star covered was the conversation between him, Clear Crest, Sir Raoul Jowl, and Esopus Spitzenburg at the embassy. He went over everything that had been said in that encounter. He talked about how he had tricked Spitzenburg into believing that he would help him overthrow Princess Celestia. Bronze Star revealed that if he was to continue his plan to end the conspiracy, Spitzenburg had to go on thinking that he would be backed by most or all of the Equestrian military.

By then, the War Council had begun to grasp a fundamental idea of why the prince had summoned them without Celestia's knowledge. Bronze Star confirmed their suspicions by informing them of the next stage of his plan.

He told the War Council that Esopus Spitzenburg would be coming to Canterlot in about a week. The prince planned to include Spitzenburg in the War Council's next meeting. At that meeting, he was going to convince the entrepreneur that in the event of an uprising, the majority of the soldiers in Equestria would follow him instead of Celestia.

In order to do that, he required some aid from the War Council. He needed each of the chiefs to draw up a comprehensive roster of all the units in his or her respective branch of the military. They were to gather the psychological profiles on every active soldier in the country and compare them to the prince's. They had to determine the top seventy-file percent units who were most similar to Bronze Star. Once they managed that, the chiefs were to archive the names of those units under a classified file, and they would put those files away until the next meeting.

Bronze Star claimed he did not need them to find whole battalions, whole crews, whole platoons, or whole contingents of ponies who were "loyal" to him. All they had to do was sort out roughly three-quarters of the military; the three-quarters most likely to choose the prince over his mother. Then he would give Spitzenburg those files as proof that Bronze Star was overwhelmingly backed up by the military.

Between the files of the alike units and the War Council's presence, Bronze Star was totally confident that by the end of the next meeting, Esopus Spitzenburg would believe beyond a doubt that the prince had the military behind him.

He knew his plan was extremely risky. In fact, unless the War Council cooperated, he would no longer have a plan. For a few minutes after his explanation, that almost seemed to be the case.

Most of the Council was uncomfortable with the concept of creating files that divided the loyalties of the military around one particular pony, even if those files were inauthentic. If their actions were discovered, they ran the risk of being charged with conspiracy themselves.

Ultimately, it was Lord Ambit Dexter who persuaded his colleagues to see things from Bronze Star's perspective. He argued that they should go along with this plan in spite of the risks. After all, based on the prince's testimony, they would all have a lot more to lose if they did NOT give his plan a chance.

In the end, the chiefs promised Bronze Star that they would do what he asked of them, and that within one week, he would have the names of the top seventy-five percent of the armed forces who were the most akin to him.

Bronze Star adamantly expressed how grateful he was for their collaboration. In turn, the chiefs and Lord Ambit assured the prince that they served at the pleasure of the Canterlot Royalty. In other words, they were simply doing what they swore to do: fight for their country, protect its leaders and inhabitants, and follow the orders of their superiors.

After two whole hours of questions, answers, and thorough elucidations, the meeting reached its end. Bronze Star wished the chiefs good luck on their assignments, and he thanked Lord Ambit for his assistance in the matter. Then they all left the Compartment and continued about their days like normal.

The first thing Bronze Star did after that was go back to his room and compose a letter. He addressed it to Esopus Spitzenburg's office. In the letter, he extended an invitation for the elderly jade stallion to come to Canterlot Castle in exactly seven days. As a precaution, he avoided using any terms or phrases that directly referred to what they would be doing. The gist of his letter was that he was looking forward to "doing business" with Spitzenburg whenever he arrived.

Once the letter was finished, Bronze Star had it sent out into the mail. Then he went to carry out one last task.

Normally, whenever a pony visited the castle for the first time, he or she had to undergo an extensive background check at least a month in advance. There were only two ways to be exempt from this: one came in a tour group, or one was personally invited by the Royal Family. After a few words with the senior officers of the Royal Guard, he had all but secured Esopus Spitzenburg as one of the latter.

By then, everything had fallen into place for the current stage of Bronze Star's plan to wipe out the conspirators. All he had to do was wait for Esopus Spitzenburg to arrive, and then he could begin the next stage.

Although it occupied a large portion of his mind, Bronze Star gave little thought to the conspiracy over the next week. Regardless, he was kept rather busy for those seven days, but he was able to find ample opportunities to relax and set his mind at ease.

He spent a fair amount of time working out with SIG Sauer in the lower levels of the castle or the Royal Guard's training grounds. He concentrated primarily on exercising his horn and his wings, as it had been a while since he last made use of those appendages. He was glad he had adapted to a fighting style that did not rely on magic or flight, but he did not underestimate how valuable either of those assets could be in a hostile encounter.

Shining Armor offered to introduce him to the newest recruits, and Bronze Star giddily accepted. He was always eager to meet new faces. Especially when they belonged to ponies he and his family would depend on for one reason or another.

He was not very impressed with what he saw, but he was by no means disgusted either. He was quite pleased, to say the least. He thought many of the recruits would make excellent officers, and there were even a few who had enough potential to attain the rank of Captain.

To test their prowess, he challenged the five best recruits to spar with him. When they fought him individually, the toughest of them lasted almost two minutes. When they fought him altogether, a full ten minutes elapsed until the last combatant was flat on his back.

Bronze Star bade the recruits not to be discouraged by how he had defeated them singlehoofedly. He claimed that if they gave their training as much time and devotion as he had, they could be just as skilled in combat as he was.

When he was not training, outlining plans, or carrying out his royal duties, Bronze Star could be found with one or more of his peers. It had only been two weeks since Princess Celestia's last visit to Ponyville, but she and her son had barely interacted on that occasion. Her brunch had been overshadowed by the conference between the six CEOs. Bronze Star was determined to make up for that.

As a result, he ended up passing a couple hours every morning, afternoon, and evening with his mother. He also stayed up a little later than usual so he could mingle with his aunt. Princesses Celestia and Luna were glad enough that Bronze Star had come home much earlier than he originally planned; they were absolutely delighted that he was spending so much time with them. After a few days of this routine, the three of them finally started to really feel like a family.

On the fourth day after Bronze Star arrived in Canterlot, Dread Naught's funeral was held. True to his word, Bronze Star attended it. For his protection, he was accompanied by half a dozen of the Royal Guard.

Dread Naught's service was different from Almond Wheeler's in multiple ways. For one, his was invite-only. More than half of the ponies in attendance were off-duty agents of the Intelligence Bureau. While some of those agents had been friends of Dread Naught's, most of them had only been business associates of his.

In addition to that, the aura of Dread Naught's funeral did not seem as somber as Almond Wheeler's. There was a larger congregation, but there were much fewer tears. This funeral seemed strangely formal by comparison. Bronze Star could imagine why.

Ponyville was arguably the only crimeless settlement in Equestria. When somepony died there, it was a tragedy. Whereas Canterlot was the heart of the country's military. When somepony died there, it was not so tragic. In a way, it was just "business as usual."

Furthermore, Dread Naught had a closed casket. Since he had been garroted, the markings on his neck were deemed too gruesome for public viewing. Even so, Bronze Star was very disappointed; he was hoping to get one last look at the greenish-blue stallion. He felt Dread Naught deserved that much for giving his life in the line of duty.

The eulogy was given by Iron Claymore, the director of the Intelligence Bureau. He spoke with a very stiff and stern voice. Still, his rigid appearance did not betray his emotions. Like everypony else there, he was saddened by the loss of one of the Bureau's finest, and he went on for a good five minutes about Dread Naught's many positive aspects.

All throughout the service, Bronze Star felt as though his attention was elsewhere. Even after Dread Naught was buried, his death would leave a whole bunch of unanswered questions.

Normally, whenever an agent of the Intelligence Bureau was murdered, a committee would be formed to investigate the circumstances of his or her death. Luckily, Bronze Star had already taken steps to forestall the creation of that committee. Until the Vermane had been located, he did not need the Bureau poking around in his affairs. Regardless, he knew the Intelligence Bureau would eventually want to know who killed Dread Naught, why he had died, what he was doing in Detrot, and who had sent him there. There was no way to prevent that from happening; all he could do was delay them. He just hoped they would be willing to wait a few more weeks to receive their answers.

Bronze Star sat in the front row for the service. When the casket was carried away at the end of the service, he spotted three particular ponies in the very back. One of them was a middle-aged mare dressed in black with a veil over her face. She was sitting in-between two ten-year-old Unicorn foals; one colt and one filly.

The mare was Dread Naught's ex-wife; the colt and the filly were their twin children.

Bronze Star had never met Dread Naught's family in person; he had only seen them in photographs. It had been five months since Dread Naught had separated from his wife. The divorce had been very bitter; she had fought hard in court for full custody of their children. She and Dread Naught had once been a great couple, but his work had taken up too much of his life, and she could not continue to put up with it.

At least she cared enough to show up for the funeral. That proved that in the end, she still had some feelings for her ex-husband.

After careful consideration, Bronze Star decided to approach Dread Naught's ex-wife and tell her how deeply sorry he was for her loss. Initially, she appeared to be emotionally indifferent to his words. Then she burst into tears and threw her front legs around the gold stallion.

At that, the Royal Guard stepped forward to intervene, but Bronze Star gestured for them to stay back. He wrapped his front legs around her and comforted her as best he could.

Then he turned to her children. He knelt down to their level and took them in his front legs, as well. He wished he could say that he understood their pain. Alas, that would have been a lie. He did NOT know what it was like to lose a father; he did not even know what it was like to have one. All he could do was tell them that their father had been a valiant pony, and that he had died defending the ponies he loved. Strangely, that seemed to bring the twins a small amount of relief.

The cemetery was located just outside the walls of the city. After the final sermon was given for the departed stallion, his casket was lowered into the ground. Once more, Bronze Star did not leave until every last bit of dirt had been deposited into that hole. Only then did he go back inside the city and return to the Castle.

The following two days went by in a fairly straightforward manner. On the seventh day after Bronze Star came home, he woke up very early. In the span of a half-hour, he ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and got dressed. After that, he had Verse A. Till assemble the War Council in the Compartment. In under an hour, Sir Verse, Commodore Dexter, the five chiefs, SIG Sauer, and Bronze Star were all in the Compartment. When they were all together, it was no later than nine o'clock in the morning. The meeting with Esopus Spitzenburg would not be until three o'clock in the afternoon, but Bronze Star wanted to make certain that they were totally ready.

For the next few hours, Bronze Star examined the files that the chiefs had put together. There were hundreds of thousands of names altogether; approximately three-quarters of the armed forces. These were the top seventy-five percent of all military units who were most similar to the prince in terms of personality and mindset.

Bronze Star was pleased to see that Mauser Sauer was in the top ten percent. Interestingly, Commander Hard Hull had labeled Mauser as one of his best soldiers. Bronze Star knew that relations between SIG Sauer and Hard Hull had not been pleasant ever since the former had refused the latter's offer to join the Constabulary Contingent. It was somewhat reassuring to know that the Commander and SIG's son got along well enough.

At any rate, Bronze Star was quite satisfied with what the War Council had given him.

Five minutes before three o'clock, there was pounding on the front door of the Compartment. SIG Sauer went to answer it, and he returned a minute later with Lord Bellerophon and Esopus Spitzenburg. Bronze Star had instructed the palomino Pegasus to receive Esopus Spitzenburg at the main entrance of the Castle and bring him into the building without any delays. Since they had arrived early, Bronze Star supposed that they had experienced no inconveniences.

As Spitzenburg got settled, Bronze Star introduced him to the War Council and vice versa. The chiefs did an incredible job of masking their disgust when they shook Spitzenburg's hoof. They were all tempted to attack the jade stallion on sight. But Bronze Star had given them explicit orders to treat Spitzenburg with courtesy. So they would keep up the friendly act for as long as he was there.

Once introductions were out of the way, Spitzenburg immediately proposed that they talk business. Clearly, he did not wish to waste any time.

One-by-one, the war chiefs presented their files to Spitzenburg. Over the next hour, he carefully looked each of them over. Initially, he seemed to be unmoved. But overtime, his facial expression changed. Before long, he appeared to be quite amazed by what he was reading. Most of the finest and most famous officers and officials of modern day were in those files.

When he finished reading the files, Spitzenburg reflected over them for a while. It was as though he was debating whether or not they were sufficient to validate Bronze Star's claim that he could rally enough of the military to his cause. Ultimately, he decided that they were.

Spitzenburg then announced that he believed an alliance between his people and Bronze Star's could be possible. The way he saw it, Bronze Star had the strength to usurp the throne, and Spitzenburg had the means to help him hold on to it afterwards. He stated that whenever Bronze Star rose to power, he would see to it that the gold stallion had the support of the industries behind him.

Although Bronze Star retained a neutral countenance, inwardly he was smirking at that time. The third stage of his plan to end the conspiracy had been executed beautifully. Everything was being accomplished right on schedule.

After the meeting, Bronze Star offered for Spitzenburg to stay at the Castle as his guest. From the way he presented his offer, Spitzenburg had little choice but to accept it.

The prince had expected him to accept; he had already reserved a special suite for the jade stallion. He made it his personal objective to ensure that Spitzenburg was comfortable with his accommodations. Over the next couple days, Bronze Star stopped by Esopus Spitzenburg's suite to talk with him about various matters. The jade stallion was touched that the prince gave his well-being so much thought and consideration. Little did he suspect that Bronze Star was also orchestrating his downfall.

Three days after the meeting between Spitzenburg and the War Council, the meteor shower occurred. Bronze Star was very excited and a little impatient, but he managed to wait until the early evening.

While Princess Celestia was lowering the Sun, Bronze Star made his way to the top of the Astronomy Tower. He was accompanied by four stallions. Two of them were Royal Guard, Hammer Shaft and Stone Cracker. They had been assigned to guard the prince that night. The other two were Lord Ambit Dexter and Sir Verse A. Till. They had been asked by Bronze Star himself to join him.

Bronze Star had also asked his aunt to join him. Princess Luna needed to raise the Moon first, but once it was up, she flew directly to the Astronomy Tower. She arrived just in time; not two minutes after she got there, the first meteors began to appear in the sky.

In the city below, large crowds had begun to gather in the streets. Everypony marveled at the wondrous sight above them. Bronze Star could hear the shouts of excitement even from the Tower.

The young prince concentrated all his attention on the shower. Anytime there was an irregularity, he used his magic to remedy it. Whenever one of them became too luminous or too dim, he adjusted its brightness. Whenever one veered too far off course, he returned it to its original trajectory.

The first ten minutes were passed in relative silence. After that, Bronze Star muttered over his shoulder "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Majestic," Sir Verse A. Till commented.

"I quite agree, Sir Verse," Princess Luna remarked.

Bronze Star nodded in agreement. Then he looked over at Ambit Dexter and asked "What do you think, Commodore?"

"It's lovely, Your Grace" the moccasin stallion observed, smiling, "Truthfully, I never thought I'd live to see this meteor shower. The last one occurred only twenty years before my birth."

"Was it worth the wait?" Princess Luna queried.

"I believe so, Princess," Lord Ambit replied, "I've seen plenty of meteor showers before, but none were as… spectacular as this one."

"That could be because I'm overseeing it," Bronze Star cheekily conjectured.

"Could be," said Ambit Dexter, chuckling.

After a few more seconds of silence, Bronze Star thought aloud "It's an incorrect label, you know."

"What is?" Sir Verse asked in interest.

"The meteor shower," Bronze Star clarified, gesturing to the objects in the sky, "Those aren't meteors."

"They're not?" Ambit Dexter murmured.

"No, they only become meteors when they enter the planet's atmosphere," Bronze Star illuminated, "While they're in space, the appropriate term would be meteoroid."

"What about when they strike the surface of the planet?" Verse A. Till enquired, "What are they called then?"

"Meteorites," Bronze Star disclosed, "It's fascinating how an object's location can change its proper name, isn't it?"

"Quite so," Commodore Dexter concurred. He stepped forward and uttered "Most people wouldn't even bother to make that distinction, Your Grace. You must know a great deal about objects in space."

"I take my duties as the Prince of stars very seriously, my Lord," Bronze Star proclaimed, "Astronomy is both a science and an art to me."

"That doesn't surprise me," Luna forlornly pronounced, "Your mother told me about the Night of the Dancing Cosmos."

"Yeah, that was probably the most fun I've ever had," Bronze Star recounted, "I don't suppose you managed to witness it, Aunt Luna?"

"Of course I did," Luna affirmed, "It was probably the most excitement I had in the past millennium. Like you, I've also developed an interest in activity in space."

"You have?" Bronze Star said in interest.

"Indeed," Luna remarked, "After all, for the past thousand years, I had little to do other than study the stars. They were the closest thing I had to company."

Bronze Star, Verse A. Till, and Ambit Dexter became a little concerned by that statement. Luna had rarely spoken of her stay on the Moon, but whenever she did, she always seemed miserable. Given what she went through, that was very understandable.

"Princess Luna, may I ask you a question?" Verse A. Till queried.

"Certainly, Sir Verse," the blue Alicorn affirmed.

The glaucous stallion chose his words carefully, and then he asked the regal mare "How much do you remember of your time as Nightmare Moon?"

"Everything," Luna promptly replied, "Even though I was… not myself back then, I still had the memory of an Alicorn. I was in total solitude for ten centuries, and I remember every moment of it. Every single, solitary, torturous second. If I hadn't gone mad already, I most certainly would have."

"Forgive me," Verse A. Till beseeched her, "I did not mean to unsettle you."

"No need for apologies; all you did was ask a question," Luna reassured him, "However, I'd like to ask you a question in return, Sir Verse."

"As you wish," the glaucous Unicorn conceded.

The tall mare looked down at Verse A. Till, and she questioned him with "What does the 'A' stand for?"

At first, he was baffled. Then it dawned on him that she was referring to his middle name. He smirked at the princess and told her "I can't say, but you're welcomed to guess."

Luna raised an eyebrow and muttered "Excuse me?"

"He's never told anypony his middle name, Aunt Luna," Bronze Star disclosed, "Nopony knows it."

"Really?" Luna said in bewilderment.

"Yes, indeed," Lord Ambit confirmed, "It's not even on his birth certificate. Verse A. Till's middle initial is one of the biggest mysteries of modern times. So much so that he's promised to grant a special favor to the first pony who guesses it right. Because of that, he's had everypony guessing what his middle name is for years."

"How peculiar," Luna thought aloud, "In my day, it was rare for anypony to have more than one name. Yet nowadays, it's not too uncommon to have a middle name."

"I know it must seem strange to you," Bronze Star declared, "There's also the fact that some people prefer shortening their names. Did you know that SIG Sauer's full name is actually Stalwart Inkling Graham Sauer?"

"Oh?" Luna mumbled in astonishment.

"Now you know why he abbreviates it," Bronze Star drily stated.

"There's also the CEO of that insurance corporation," Ambit Dexter interjected, "MonuMarent, it's called."

"I believe you mean Sir Lore N. Budget," Bronze Star remarked, "Everypony knows his middle name is Nay."

"That's because he doesn't keep it a secret," Sir Verse pointed out, "That's his folly, though. I, on the other hoof, find it somewhat thrilling to have a middle name that nopony else knows. It's a way to keep other ponies wondering about you."

"And you're concerned that once your middle name is uncovered, ponies will stop wondering about you?" Luna supposed.

"Not necessarily, Your Highness," Sir Verse claimed, "I just appreciate the effort other ponies make to guess my middle name. Especially when some ponies refuse to give up."

"I've put forth half a hundred words beginning with 'A' already, and all of them were wrong," Bronze Star revealed, "At least with my memory, I never have to worry about submitting the same name twice."

"I'm confident you'll get it right eventually, Your Highness," Sir Verse proclaimed.

"So am I," Bronze Star concurred, "And when I do, I'll expect you to honor your part of the bargain."

"Oh, I shall," Sir Verse insisted, patting his front hoof against the sword strapped to his belt.

Luna noticed that action, and then she stated "If you won't answer my question, could I ask you another?"

The glaucous stallion nodded, and the tall mare queried "Why do you always carry a sword around?"

This time, she got a more thorough reply. Sir Verse explained "Before I became Lord Ambit's assistant, I was in the National Guard for fourteen years. In that force, melee weapons are standard issue for us. They're also our primary means of protecting the country's populace. In addition to that, we have the opportunity to learn over a dozen fighting styles, all of which are centered around blades."

"How many did you learn?" Luna inquired.

"All of them," Verse A. Till responded. He then drew his sword, held it up high, and pronounced "If you're asking whether or not I know how to use this, Your Highness, I assure you I do."

"If you're not in the National Guard anymore, why do you still wear it?" Luna questioned, intrigued.

"It's mostly a symbol of strength," Sir Verse apprised her, "I'm the assistant and advisor to the chairpony of the War Council. In an unofficial capacity, I'm also his bodyguard. I carry this sword to demonstrate my ability to do my job. But I promise you; the sword is not just for show. If need be, I'll use it."

"And I pity the sucker who forces him to," Ambit Dexter remarked, "Sir Verse is best known for two things: his middle initial and his skills with a blade."

"Very true," Bronze Star agreed, "Even I can't best him in single combat. He's beaten me two times, and he never fights anypony more than twice. But I've had a lot of time to practice since our second duel. I'm determined to find out his middle name. When I do, I expect us to have a third duel. Then we'll find out if he's still the better swordspony."

"You plan to take away the two things I'm famous for, Your Highness?" Verse A. Till uttered in mock astonishment.

"Yes, and I'll take pleasure in both," the gold stallion jokingly responded.

The glaucous stallion snickered, sheathed his sword, and said cockily "Then good luck with both. You'll need it. You'll also need a blade and a mind that are equally sharp."

"I'll be sure to have both," Bronze Star asserted.

A couple hours later, the meteor shower ended. Once the sky was devoid of meteors (or meteoroids, as Bronze Star had pointed out), Princess Luna returned to her tower so she could watch over the land for the rest of the night.

After his aunt departed the Astronomy Tower, Bronze Star asked Hammer Shaft and Stone Cracker to leave him alone with Ambit Dexter and Verse A. Till for a few minutes. The two Royal Guard officers obediently complied and stepped out into the stairwell, shutting the door behind them.

Once Bronze Star was alone with the two older stallions, he told them "I was wondering; do either of you have any special plans for the immediate or near future?"

"Well, there is the Grand Galloping Gala," Verse A. Till thought aloud, "But that's not for another three weeks. Until then, I have nothing going on, Your Highness."

"My schedule is considerably free as well, Your Grace," Ambit Dexter revealed, "I'm not even bothering to attend this year's Gala; I've been to enough galas to last me a lifetime."

"I know what you mean, Lord Ambit," Bronze Star muttered bluntly, "In any case, since neither of you are preoccupied with other tasks anytime soon, do you suppose you would be willing to take a last-minute out-of-town trip?"

The glaucous Unicorn and the moccasin Pegasus were stunned by the suddenness of that proposal.

"A trip to where?" Sir Verse inquired.

"Ponyville," Bronze Star informed him, "Think of it as a vacation. Though I'd need you to do a bit of work on this vacation."

"Tell us more, if you please," Commodore Dexter requested.

"My plan to end the assassination conspiracy has hit a slight roadblock," the gold stallion elaborated, "I made a lot of progress in the past week by getting Spitzenburg to believe that I am his ally and that most of the military will support him. The next phase involves bringing the other conspirators out of hiding. That's proven to be even more difficult than I thought it would be."

"How so?" Verse A. Till queried.

"Unsurprisingly, Esopus Spitzenburg is reluctant to tell me where the rest of his companions are or where they'll be in the future," Bronze Star clarified, "He's still every bit as cautious as he was before. I've tried to talk to him about his colleagues through both subtle and direct conversations, but he always manages to avoid the subject of their locations. Obviously, he doesn't completely trust me yet, and if I press him too hard, he'll realize what I'm up to. Luckily, I've devised another strategy to determine the whereabouts of his colleagues. In order for it to work, I will require some assistance from both of you."

"What would we need to do?" queried Verse A. Till.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Bronze Star professed, "The main reason my plan has worked so far is because I haven't shared any pertinent information about it with other ponies prematurely. For now, all you need to know is that I've convinced Esopus Spitzenburg to come to Ponyville in four days' time. As far as anypony knows, he'll be staying at the embassy at the invite of 'Ambassador Gold Streak.' At the behest of his friend and doppelganger the prince, the 'Ambassador' will also be extending an offer for Equestria's most prominent military figure and his assistant to stay at the embassy, as well. The only question is: will they accept the invitation, knowing full well that he would not waste their time with trivial matters?"

Bronze Star was known to be very good with words, especially when he was trying to make a point. This was one such instance. In just a few statements, he had convinced the two older stallions that he had this delicate situation under control, but he would need their help to maintain that control.

"I'll see to it that Sir Verse and I are ready for our 'vacation' within the next seventy-two hours, Your Grace," Ambit Dexter proclaimed. Verse A. Till nodded vigorously in approval.

Bronze Star smiled in appeasement and muttered "I'll hold you to your word, Commodore."

Shortly after this, the three stallions exited the Astronomy Tower and turned in for the night.

The following morning, Bronze Star got up before the sunrise. Even after he finished getting ready, dawn had yet to come. He took some time to speak to the members of the War Council and he urged them to remain quiet about the whole affair with Esopus Spitzenburg. Then he visited Spitzenburg himself and told him that they would discuss more of their business in Ponyville in three days. After that, he went to Lord Bellerophon and informed the palomino Pegasus that he and the Firebrand Regiment could expect to hear from the prince sometime in the next week. Lastly, he said good-bye to his mother and his aunt, claiming that he looked forward to seeing them at the Grand Galloping Gala.

By the time he was finished galloping around the Castle, it was already midmorning. Once he had spoken with everypony he needed to speak to, Bronze Star returned to his room, stored his regalia in his strongbox, balanced his strongbox on his back, threw on his knapsack, changed back into his Earth Pony disguise, and summoned Arthur D. Hawkins to him. He was fully prepared to go back to Ponyville. He swiftly departed from the Castle, made his way to the train station, and boarded the ten o'clock train.

An hour and a-half later, the train pulled into the Ponyville depot. When Bronze Star disembarked, he took a moment to examine his surroundings. When he had left the town two weeks prior, everypony had been very on edge. Of course, at that time, the town was still facing the aftermath of the train massacre. Plenty of time had elapsed since then, and life had pretty much gone back to normal. That was somewhat reassuring, knowing that the townsfolk were no longer living in fear of the railroad industry.

All the same, Bronze Star was aware that the danger was far from over, and he was one of only a hoofful of ponies who knew that. If Esopus Spitzenburg and the other conspirators still intended to assassinate Princess Celestia, Bronze Star knew they would not make their attempt until after the Grand Galloping Gala. Unfortunately, there was no telling when the Vermane would make their move. However much time the task force had left before then, they had to take advantage of every moment of it.

With that in mind, Bronze Star decided to bring the task force together that day for an unscheduled meeting.

On his way to the barracks, Bronze Star passed by Golden Oaks Library. He noticed that the Element Bearers were gathered outside the building, and there was a pale, light grayish amber owl perched on Twilight Sparkle's back. The mares appeared to be fawning over the plump avian.

The gold stallion trotted over to the group and greeted them with "Hello, girls."

The mares turned towards the prince and each of them smiled at him. Applejack trotted over to her coltfriend and wrapped her right front leg around his shoulders, saying "Glad you're back, sugar cube."

He grinned, pecked his fillyfriend on the lips, and muttered "As am I."

"How was Canterlot, Bronze?" Twilight queried.

"It was great, Twilight," Bronze Star disclosed. He gazed at the owl on the lavender mare's back, and he asked in fascination "Who's this?"

"Hoo," the owl mumbled

"Who do you think?" Bronze Star sarcastically rejoined.

"Hoo?" the owl murmured.

Bronze Star smirked and cheekily uttered "Kind of terse, isn't he?"

The mares chuckled as his witty remark, and Twilight pronounced "This is Owlowiscious. He flew in last night, and I offered for him to stay in the library. Now he doesn't want to leave. Which is good, 'cause I don't want him to, either."

Bronze could have sworn he heard a bitter voice whisper "Some of us do, though."

He gazed upward and noticed that Spike was sitting on the second floor window, reading a book about owls. Every now and then, he glared downwards at the scene below. He seemed to be giving Owlowiscious the cold shoulder.

Bronze Star paid the baby dragon no heed at first. He turned back to Twilight and slyly commented "How nice to see you've finally joined the noble ranks of us pet owners."

Twilight and the other mares giggled at that. Ever since they left the train station, Arthur had been flying alongside the gold stallion. When he spotted the other bird, the hawk flapped over to the owl and let out a screech. Owlowiscious merely responded with another "Hoo."

This exchange between the hawk and the owl occupied another whole minute. It was as though they were having a conversation in a secret code, and with two different languages. At the end of it, Arthur let out a more high-pitched shriek, almost as if he was laughing. Then he soared back over to Bronze Star and rested on his master's shoulder.

As Owlowiscious hooted again, his mistress snickered and perceived "If he can get along with Arthur, then he must have a way with words."

The other ponies chuckled at her joke.

"Oh, what a fantastical, flufflicious feathery little friend!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "I'm... HOOked!"

Everypony laughed again, including Bronze Star, despite the fact that he did not care for puns.

"He's just wonderful," Fluttershy perceived.

"'He's just wonderful.'" Spike uttered mockingly, just loud enough for the seven ponies to hear. As they collectively looked up at him, the dragon grinned guiltily and hastily added in "Uh, yes. Wonderful. He's quite... the charmer."

Everypony turned their attention back to Owlowiscious. Rarity took out an oversized reds bowtie adorned with tiny gems and used her magic to attach it to the owl's chest. She announced "And Owlowiscious is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you."

As goofy as the bowtie looked, Owlowiscious seemed to be appreciative of it, in spite of his neutral countenance.

At that, Spike growled angrily, crawled back inside the library, and slammed the window shut after him.

As the seven ponies craned their heads upward again, Applejack wondered "What's he all saddle sore about?"

"He's probably just jealous of Owlowiscious," Rainbow Dash theorized.

"Maybe Spike feels threatened or worried that Owlowiscious will replace him?" Fluttershy hypothesized.

"Replace him?" Twilight stated, as if the very idea was absurd, "Hah! That's crazy! Spike knows he can't be replaced."

"Maybe, but does he know that he knows that?" Bronze Star offered.

Twilight considered that statement for a minute, and then she shrugged and remarked "Good question. I'll check up on him later, but I'm sure he's alright."

"Let's hope so," Bronze Star uttered in agreement. He then balanced his strongbox on his back, looked around at the six mares, and announced "Well, as much as I'd like to stay here and catch up, I have work to do. Guess I'll be seeing you all later."

"See you around, Bronze," Twilight told the young prince.

As Bronze Star prepared to depart from the area, Applejack called out "Oh, and I just wanted to mention; the meteor shower last night was lovely."

The other mares mumbled in agreement. Bronze Star peered over his shoulder and replied with "Thanks."

The gold stallion then made his way to the barracks. There he found Noble Edict, Copper Hollow, and Rollin Fields. All three of them were off-duty, but they were willing to accompany him to the embassy for a task force meeting.

First he had Rollin Fields swing by Dapple Rhomb and Rough Rider's house to see if anypony was there. Bronze Star was fairly certain that his secretary was already at the embassy, but the salespony only occasionally dropped by to visit his wife at work.

Sure enough, when the gold stallion, the red mare, and the copper stallion reached the embassy, they found the purple mare in her office. Sir Haywood McCrank had just updating the six CEOs on the progress of his investigation, but the indigo stallion was willing to hold another meeting. Fifteen minutes later, the lime green stallion arrived with the olive stallion.

All seven remaining members of the task force were then accounted for. After they ensured that the conference room was secure, the meeting commenced.

The majority of the meeting involved the others apprising Bronze Star of everything they had learned or discovered in the past two weeks. They had amassed quite a large amount of information.

Firstly, they discussed the repercussions of the train massacre. Although some of the townspeople were still a little jittery, almost everypony had stopped worrying that another attack would occur. They actually felt safe enough to lower their guard once more. The only ponies were still uneasy were the survivors of the massacre. On the bright side, thanks to the combined efforts of Billow Health and the medical staff of Ponyville hospital, nopony other than Almond Wheeler had died. Cashew Lane was still grieving for his cousin's death, but he was not as much of a wreck as he was before.

On Bronze Star's orders, Noble Edict and Mayor Mare had taken measures to ensure that news of the train massacre would not spread to other settlements. Comet Frost, Swiftdrive, and Blade Bearer had helped them enforce those measures.

An hour after the prince left for Canterlot, the red mare and the tan mare had gone to the depot and put up a bunch of flyers. The flyers announced that anypony who allowed word of the massacre to reach other parts of Equestria would be subject to criminal prosecution by the federal government.

That all but guaranteed that nopony outside of Ponyville would learn of the massacre until Bronze Star permitted it.

Dapple Rhomb and Rough Rider also mentioned that they had been contacted by their people. A few days back, Shakedown's body had been delivered to the vigilante group. They had already conducted a funeral service for their late colleague and given him a burial. They had asked the purple mare and the olive stallion to convey their gratitude to Bronze Star for making that possible.

The task force also addressed the issue of whom in town may have been one of the Vermane. They still believed there was a strong chance that some of the staffers who worked for the CEOs may have also been working for the Vermane. Every day since Bronze Star had gone to Canterlot, there had been a meeting between the task force and the CEOs. Each CEO had brought a different staffer to each meeting.

At the meetings, each member of the task force chose one of the companies and studied the behavior and remarks of the respective staffer from that company. The CEOs had been informed of the possibility that somepony on their board of directors was responsible for the "foul play" in their organizations. so they had collaborated with the task force in this endeavor.

After speaking with and examining the staffers, the task force had met again afterwards to compare their notes and weigh the likelihood of the staffers being one of the Vermane. Through this process, they managed to eliminate seven of the staffers from each company as suspects. That brought their list of suspects down from sixty to eighteen. Only three staffers from each company remained. They were hoping to get even further than that, as they knew full well that only three of the staffers – six at most – could be working for the Vermane. It had occurred to them that there was a possibility that none of the staffers worked for the Vermane, but they had no reason to suspect anypony else in Ponyville. At that time, the staffers were still their most plausible lead.

When they finished discussing that matter, Sir Haywood McCrank took a minute to remind his associates how essential it was that they identify the Vermane soon. He voiced some concern that they were running out of time. To validate his point, he notified the others that the number three had been appearing very frequently again.

In addition to all the threes that had transpired on the day of the train massacre, there had been many instances of the number three in Detrot. Copper Hollow and the others had pursued three figures there. It had taken them three days to dig up a lead at the city's main depot. That lead had taken them to the Detrot Police Headquarters, where they had dealt with three different types of cops. The information they had acquired had brought the task force to three different parts of the city. They had spent three days apiece searching each of those three sections, and from there, they had located three major clues.

Even in the wake of the task force's flight from the city, the number three continued to occur. Dread Naught had managed to kill three of the Vermane before he in turn was killed. Only three of Copper Hollow's group had made it back to Ponyville alive, but because of three more assailants on the train, three members of the task force had been killed in total. On a side note, three of the other passengers had been critically wounded.

There had been numerous other instances of three while Bronze Star had been away in Canterlot; far too many to list them all.

In any case, Haywood McCrank had made his point quite clear. All of these threes occurring at once could only mean one thing: their deadline was nearing. The task force was acutely aware that they were getting closer and closer to the day when the Vermane finally moved in on their victim.

Lastly, they talked about the file they had found in Detrot. This matter took up a bigger part of their conversation than anything else.

Although the file appeared to be irreparably damaged, Sir Haywood McCrank had been working tirelessly to recover its contents. He used every technique he knew to repair the harm.

He had pressed the sheets against bricks to align them. He had moistened their edges with a spray can of water to make the words more legible. He had scraped a concrete block against the pages to smooth them out. He had warmed the ink with the fire of candles to reduces the smudges. When all else failed, he had rubbed the entire folder with rags soaked in various special chemical compounds.

As a result of his efforts, Sir Haywood had been able to recover all but three pages of the file. He claimed he had every intention of mending those pages, as well. Before the indigo stallion did that, Bronze Star proposed to review everything else in the file first.

Haywood McCrank presented his findings to his six companions. They were prepared to study the file thoroughly, but surprisingly, there was not that much to study.

A great deal of the file was very vague and concise. There were only a few statements written on each page. Most of those statements were along the lines of "Subject seen mingling with peers" or "Subject working overtime." Each of those statements was accompanied by a specific date, time of day, and location in town.

Whoever the target was, the Vermane had been keeping a careful eye on him or her for a long time. There were entries in the file that dated back to well before the last Summer Sun Celebration.

None of the Vermane were referred to by name, by characteristic, or by any other designation. Although several of the statements looked as though they had been printed by different quills or types of inks, the writing style was generally the same for all entries. It was as though one pony had done all the writing. Either that, or every member of the Vermane had identical writing.

Many of the entries mentioned two specific buildings: the house of the "subject" and the barracks. The barracks was also mentioned almost every time the subject was noted as "going to work" or "leaving work." Because of that, the task force had unanimously come to the conclusion that the target was somepony on the security staff.

Every now and then, there was an entry that mentioned a place called the Tabernacle. From what the task force could gather, the Tabernacle was the Vermane's main base of operations. Unfortunately, they were unable to find any hints as to where the Tabernacle may have been located. The most they could gather was that the Tabernacle was most likely in one of the country's major cities.

There were some statements that deeply baffled the task force. All those statements mentioned a "vat." The least ambiguous of those statements were "order of vat delivered," "vat confirmed authentic," and "vat arrived on schedule." Whatever this vat was or what it contained, there was no specification. Be that as it may, the vat appeared to be vital to the Vermane's activities. Rollin Fields conjectured that the vat referred to the Vermane's equipment, research, and everything else they needed to carry out one of their jobs. That was a reasonable assumption, but they had no information that could directly validate or refute it.

Bronze Star suggested that they try to determine the relevance of the vat later on. He was far more interested in the three pages of the file that they had yet to recover.

Sir Haywood flipped through the folder, located those pages, and set them out for the others to see. While all the sheets had been badly damaged, these three had easily gotten the worst of it. Apparently, the saboteur had wished to be extra certain that the information on these sheets was absolutely unsalvageable. As such, that only made deciphering them all the more important.

Sir Haywood had done everything he could, but even with his full array of resources and expertise, he had been unable to repair those three pages by himself. He proclaimed that he was open to trying any alternative, no matter how unorthodox or ludicrous it sounded.

Bronze Star was the first to give a recommendation. He knew that Twilight Sparkle had some experience with restoring old and worn documents. As an avid reader of books, she tried her best to keep the texts in perfect condition. Back at Canterlot Castle, she had even helped fix and preserve some of Starswirl the Bearded's faded manuscripts.

With all that in mind, Bronze Star thought it ideal to seek out the lavender mare's aid.

Normally, Sir Haywood was unwilling to involve students in his investigations; he deemed such a thing too risky. However, due to the circumstances and the fact that Bronze Star had vouched for her, he was willing to accept the risks. So he gathered up the three pages, slid them into a protective plastic bag, and inserted the bag into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

Bronze Star then proposed that he and Sir Haywood take the three damaged pages to Twilight and see if she could restore them. He predicted that it would not take her more than one or two hours. Rather than disbanding the group and having to reassemble it later, Bronze Star suggested that the other five members linger at the embassy until he and Sir Haywood got back. Fortunately for him, the three security officers and the two vigilantes were willing to wait on the federal investigator and the prince for that long.

Before they left, Sir Haywood requested to bring along one of the Royal Guard for protection. He explained that after everything that had happened so far, he was unwilling to take the damaged file outside the embassy without some form of armed escort. Bronze Star understood his anxieties. He also reciprocated them a bit. As such, the gold stallion decided to grant Haywood's request.

He found the three Royal Guard officers in the study. Since they were off-duty at the time, Bronze Star did not wish to order them to join him and Sir Haywood. Instead, he asked if one of them would volunteer for the task. To his astonishment, all three of them coincided to it. Evidently, they had missed the prince while he had been away.

At some point during the meeting, Bronze Star had lost track of time. He could imagine that they had been at work for three hours or more. That did not include trips to the restroom, pauses to stretch, and a prolonged lunch break. Altogether, that added at least another hour. He had no time what time it was, but he could imagine it was no earlier than the middle of the afternoon.

Once he stepped outside, he discovered that it was actually late into the evening. At most, the day had about an hour of sunlight left. Bronze Star could tell straightaway that they would not be back at the embassy before the Moon came out. Not that he minded; he sometimes enjoyed being out after dark.

Twenty minutes later, the gold stallion, the indigo stallion, and the three Royal Guard reached the library. As they approached it, they noticed that all the lights in the building were off. That meant that either the occupants were asleep or they were not home.

The latter turned out to be the case, as Twilight showed up on the scene about a minute later. Owlowiscious was perched on her back, and she appeared to be furious for some reason.

"Hey, Twilight," Bronze Star called out to her.

The lavender mare looked towards the prince. As he and the other ponies trotted toward her, she ruefully grinned and muttered "Hi there, Bronze."

Bronze Star raised an eyebrow and asked in concern "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Twilight disclosed, "It's Spike. I'm kinda upset with him right now."

"Why's that?" Sir Haywood inquired.

"Last night before the meteor shower, I asked him to retrieve a certain book about Astronomy," Twilight illuminated, "He told me he couldn't find it. Owlowiscious, however, did. Its pages had been practically reduced to ashes."

"Let me guess; Spike sneezed at the wrong moment," Bronze Star supposed.

"It seems that way," Twilight affirmed, "The book itself is not what bothers me, though. What bothers me is the fact that he lied to me to cover up his mistake."

"While I'm inclined to take your side, I'd like to point out there is a difference between lying and concealing the truth," Haywood McCrank pronounced, "If there wasn't, I and all my colleagues at the Bureau would essentially earn a living by lying."

"Be that as it may, Spike did something even worse than lying afterward," Twilight elucidated, "He took a fake rubber mouse, mangled it, doused it with ketchup, and spread a bunch of feathers all over the library. He did all of that in effort to frame Owlowiscious."

"Now that I can't excuse," Haywood McCrank muttered, grimacing.

"Why would he do that, anyway?" Swiftdrive inquired.

"I'm guessing he really does feel as though he's in competition with Owlowiscious," Bronze Star alleged.

"That's no reason to resort to fabricating a crime and blaming it on him," Blade Bearer contended.

"My thoughts exactly, Blade Bearer," Twilight conceded, letting out a heavy sigh. After a brief interval of quietness, she turned to Bronze Star and asked "What brings you here at this hour, anyway?"

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to do a small favor for me," the young prince replied.

"For you, anything," the lavender mare avowed.

Bronze Star grinned at her eagerness. He noticed that the Sun was going down in the horizon. It would be totally dark within minutes. Aside from that, the six ponies were still standing outside, out in the open. He thought aloud "We should probably go indoors first."

"Okay," Twilight commented, "I was about to step back inside, anyway. Hopefully, Spike's gotten over his jealousy by now."

"We'll see," Bronze Star murmured frankly.

Twilight Sparkle swiftly led the five older ponies into the library. She used her magic to activate the lights in the front room. They discovered that the place was empty, with the exception of all the books on the shelves and the mauled remains of a rubber mouse buried in a pile of ketchup on the floor near the entrance.

"I see he didn't even bother to clean up his mess," Comet Frost noted.

"Talk about leaving the scene of the crime without trying to cover it up," Blade Bearer wittily stated.

"Spike, get down here!" Twilight shouted angrily.

There came no response to that demand. Everypony gazed at the top of the staircase and Twilight yelled "Now, Spike!"

Spike gave neither a verbal nor a physical reply.

Twilight grumbled impatiently and spoke through gritted teeth "Hang on; I'll be right back."

The lavender mare solemnly trotted up the staircase, opened the door at the top, and passed through it. The other five ponies simply stood by and calmly waited for her to return.

When Twilight got back, she no longer looked angry. Instead, she appeared to be disturbed by something.

"What is it?" Bronze Star inquired anxiously.

"I thought he'd be in bed," Twilight said uneasily, "He's not even upstairs."

Sir Haywood rubbed his chin, and then he offered "He be somewhere else in the building."

At that, Bronze Star turned to three Royal Guard and told them "Blade Bearer, search the kitchen. Comet Frost, go to the basement. Swiftdrive, check the second-floor balcony."

The three Royal Guard obediently went to carry out those assignments. While they were out, Bronze Star tried his hardest to comfort Twilight Sparkle.

At one point, Sir Haywood stated "I'll be right back."

He then exited through a door on the other end of the room, leaving Twilight Sparkle, Owlowiscious, and Bronze Star alone for a couple minutes.

After that, Bronze Star heard the sound of flushing and water running. Right after that, Sir Haywood reentered the front room and disclosed "Well, he wasn't in the bathroom."

Bronze Star snickered in mild amusement at that.

A short time later, the three officers returned to the front room.

"No luck," Comet Frost reported.

"He wasn't on the roof, either," Swiftdrive disclosed.

"He's not here, sir," Blade Bearer professed.

By now, Twilight's anger had disappeared. Instead, she was overcome with worry and distress. Her best friend and assistant seemed to be missing.

"Why could he be?" she wondered frantically.

"I believe I can answer that," Haywood McCrank interjected. He drew everypony's attention to the destroyed fake mouse and pile of ketchup. There were two deep impressions in the ketchup; it looked as though a two-legged creature had stepped in it. In front of the pile, the floor was stained with smaller and thinner splotches of ketchup. They formed a set of Spike's footprints, and they went right out through the front door.

"So he went outside," Bronze Star thought aloud, "Where in town do you suppose he went?"

It was then that Sir Haywood noticed a sheet of parchment had been attached to the inner-half of the library's front door. He removed the sheet and examined it. He frowned in apprehension and held the parchment out to Bronze Star, saying "This answer your question, Your Highness?"

The gold stallion took the sheet and read it aloud: "'Twilight, I'm sorry for everything. I hope Owlowiscious will be a better assistant to you than I ever was. Good-bye.'"

Twilight gasped and muttered in shock "He ran away?"

"It would appear that way," Bronze Star tensely confirmed, passing the note to her, "So he's not in town."

"Wherever he is, we better find him before he wanders too far," Twilight Sparkle advised.

"I agree," Bronze Star conceded, "He won't last two hours out there by himself, let alone the night."

"Any idea where we should look?" Swiftdrive queried.

Owlowiscious then spread his wings, flapped out the open door, and cried out "Hoo!"

At that, the six ponies stepped outside and watched the owl closely. They realized he was pointing towards the ground. From there, they discovered that the ketchup trail went outside and continued well into the distance.

"How fortunate for us," Sir Haywood observed, "He's unknowingly provided us with a means to follow him."

"Not exactly breadcrumbs, but they're the next best thing," Comet Frost perceived.

"Let's just hope he got a lot of it on his feet," Blade Bearer murmured, "Otherwise this'll be a short trail."

As luck would have it, the ketchup trail went on for quite a while. Owlowiscious scouted ahead; the six ponies followed him close behind. The footprints led them out of town and into the Everfree Forest.

Just as the group approached the border of the forest, there was a rumble of thunder. Not two seconds later, it started pouring rain. The storm came so unexpectedly that an undisciplined pony would have panicked. Luckily, Swiftdrive, Blade Bearer, Comet Frost, Haywood McCrank, and Bronze Star had received plenty of discipline throughout their lives.

Twilight Sparkle was not quite as disciplined as they were, so she did panic. But not because the rain frightened her or anything of the sort. She panicked because she was very much aware of the cleansing effect of water.

"Oh, no, no, no!" she shrieked, "It can't rain now! It'll wash away the trail!"

"Calm down, Twi," Bronze Star beckoned her, placing his front hooves on her shoulders, "You won't do Spike or yourself any good by freaking out."

The ponies would have sought shelter, but as far as they could tell, there were no covered spots in the vicinity. They had to make do with standing under a fairly tall tree with huge leaves on its very thick branches. That at least kept them dry. Or rather, it prevented them from getting much wetter.

"Well, this is fantastic," Sir Haywood mumbled in a very sarcastic tone, examining his drenched clothing, "It's going to take me hours to dry out this suit."

"Good thing you got like nine of them, Sir Haywood," Comet Frost cockily pronounced.

"It's still a nuisance, Comet Frost," the indigo stallion proclaimed, "Of course, you three wouldn't know. When was the last time you wore anything that was made of metal?"

"There's a benefit to wearing armor, Sir Haywood," Swiftdrive declared, pounding on her breastplate, "If it gets wet, all it needs is a little polishing. A little rain never hurt it."

"That could be an advantage, but I would prefer attire that does not rust," the Superintendent countered.

"Our armor doesn't rust, Sir Haywood," Blade Bearer contended, "I don't think it does, at any rate."

"Alright, enough!" Bronze Star hastily cut in, "We can discuss the pros and cons of different types of apparel later. We could even invite Rarity to that conversation. For now, we've got more important things to worry about."

"You are quite right, Your Highness," Sir Haywood conceded.

The six ponies looked around at their surroundings. In all directions, the rain was coming down very heavily.

"Should we go on, or should we wait until the rain lets up?" Blade Bearer thought aloud.

"I say we keep moving," Twilight Sparkle debated, "It could be hours before the rain stops."

Just ten seconds later, the heavy showers became a light drizzle, and then the rain abruptly ceased altogether.

There was an awkward pause for a few more seconds. Comet Frost broke the silence with "Or seconds."

"That's literally the shortest storm I've ever seen in my life," Swiftdrive uttered.

"I'm not sure I'd even call that a storm," Blade Bearer contended, "It was like… what, three minutes long at most?"

"Whatever it was, the damage has already been done," Haywood McCrank claimed, gesturing to his sopping wet formal outfit.

"In any case, I second Twilight's suggestion to go on," Bronze Star announced, "If we're lucky, there may still be some remnant of the ketchup trail left."

Nopony had any objections to that. Initially, the trail appeared to have vanished, but Owlowiscious was able to pick it up again. Once he did, the six ponies galloped after him.

Bronze Star and Haywood McCrank were at the back of the group. As they trotted side-by-side, Bronze Star leaned over to the older stallion and whispered "I'm sorry about your suit, Sir Haywood. But I have to ask; how're the pages?"

Sir Haywood reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out the plastic bag containing the three damaged papers. After a moment of inspection, he slid the bag back inside and stated "Intact."

"Good," Bronze Star murmured in approval, "Make sure they stay that way."

"Of course, Your Highness," Sir Haywood McCrank asserted.

The six ponies went on in relative silence for about fifteen minutes. They stayed close to the ketchup trail at all times. The only sounds they heard were their own deep breathing, the fresh mud squishing beneath their hooves, or the occasional "Hoo" from Owlowiscious.

Out of nowhere, they heard a loud, booming crash. It was so unexpected that it made them stop and listen.

"What was that?" Sir Haywood quietly uttered.

"I don't know…" Blade Bearer remarked softly, "It wasn't thunder; it can't be another storm."

"I think it came from somewhere on the ground in front of us," Twilight pointed out.

"Swiftdrive, investigate," Bronze Star commanded.

The dark grey Pegasus spread her wings and ascended into the air. Once he was above the treetops, she hovered in place and assiduously studied everything below her. She kept her eyes open for any sign of movement.

After a few seconds, she called down to the others "I can see a cave about five hundred feet away! The trail appears to lead inside!"

"Could Spike have gone in there?" Blade Bearer proposed.

"Only one way to find out," Bronze Star declared, continuing down the path, "Move out!"

He, Twilight, Blade Bearer, Comet Frost, and Haywood McCrank hastily galloped towards the cave. Swiftdrive remained airborne so she could guide them in the proper direction. Owlowiscious flew ahead of them all.

When they were less than a hundred feet away from the cave, a deafening roar penetrated the quiet atmosphere, and the ground started to quiver erratically. The five ponies on the ground struggled to protect their ears and remain on their hooves at the same time.

"What is going on?!" Comet Frost shouted.

"Talk to me, Swiftdrive!" Bronze Star demanded.

The female Royal Guard gazed into the distance again, and she realized there was something moving in the cave. When she realized what it was, her eyes widened in shock and she screamed "DRAGON!"

By the tone of her voice, they could tell she was not referring to Spike. Before long, they saw what she was actually talking about. Just beyond the mouth of the cave, there was a fully grown green dragon in the midst of a rampage.

"Take cover!" Bronze Star urged the others.

He, Twilight Sparkle, Comet Frost, Blade Bearer, and Haywood McCrank each ducked behind a bush or a shrub. Swiftdrive set herself down on a wide branch on the tallest nearby tree. She stood there so she still had a decent vantage point of the vicinity. They waited for the green dragon to charge out of his cave. For whatever reason, he did not.

Swiftdrive focused closely on the cave again, and then she proclaimed "Hold on; I see another person in the cave! It looks like… oh, no… Spike's in there, too!"

"Then we've got to do something!" Comet Frost proposed.

"Hoo!" Owlowiscious uttered, as if he agreed with that idea.

The owl began flapping directly towards the cave.

"Come on!" Bronze Star shouted, jumping out from his hiding place.

Blade Bearer, Bronze Star, Comet Frost, Haywood McCrank, and Twilight Sparkle speedily galloped to the east. Swiftdrive and Owlowiscious flew as fast as they could above them. In less than two minutes, they were nearly upon the entrance to the cave. Inside the cave, the green dragon had backed Spike into a corner.

Owlowiscious reached Spike just in time. He let out a very firm "Hoo-hoo!" and he fearlessly flew towards the green dragon. He soared dangerously close to the dragon's face, hoping to divert his attention away from Spike.

This ploy worked well. The green dragon roared, looked away from Spike, and tried to swat Owlowiscious with his massive claws. The beast was either too slow or too clumsy to strike the agile owl. At one point, the green dragon swung his huge spiked tail, but he missed Owlowiscious and ended up hitting himself in the head. He wailed in agony as one of his tail's spikes punctured his scaly head.

While the dragon was preoccupied with extracting the spike from his temple, Twilight Sparkle, Swiftdrive, Comet Frost, Blade Bearer, Haywood McCrank, and Bronze Star approached the entrance of the cave. Twilight waved her front leg rapidly and shouted "Spike! Over here!"

The baby dragon did not need to be told twice. He ran as fast as he could past the green dragon. Once he reached the six ponies, he muttered in relief "Am I glad to see you!"

By then, the green dragon had rebounded. Twilight hastily presented her back to her assistant and told him "Hurry! Hop on!"

As soon as Spike was safely on Twilight's back, the six ponies and Owlowiscious hurried off to the west. Not two seconds after they took off, the dragon expelled a huge pillar of fire in their direction. They had just barely avoided getting roasted alive.

They were not out of danger yet. The green dragon promptly stomped out of the cave and chased after the group of ponies. Although they had gotten a head start, he was gaining on them very quickly. Spike was the only one who dared to look back at him. The others were too focused with maneuvering through the distorted undergrowth of the Everfree Forest.

At one point, they passed through a cluster of trees that were compacted so closely together that it rendered the ground beneath them totally dark.

"It's too dark!" Twilight Sparkle announced worriedly, "I can't see!"

"Hoo!" Owlowiscious exclaimed as he hovered in front of the ponies. He was indicating that they should follow him. As a nocturnal creature, he had perfect night vision; he was able to lead the group through the shadowy, crooked path. "Hoo-hoo!"

Fortunately for them, the green dragon had poor night vision. As he entered the darkened zone, he stumbled over a number of fallen trees. Finally, he collided with a pair that he was unable to smash through. His path was blocked off by then. Furious, the green dragon extended his wings, released a stream of fire, and roared in anger.

Right then, Bronze Star had forced himself to look over his shoulder. The image of that enraged dragon was terrible. Even worse was the prospect of what the dragon might do if he found out where the ponies lived. Bronze Star was not going to risk that scenario happening.

Once the group was a safe distance away, he called out "Hold up!"

The other five ponies hastily screeched to a halt. Once the prince had their attention, he proclaimed "We've got to make sure that dragon doesn't pursue us all the way back to Ponyville. Blade Bearer, escort Sir Haywood, Twilight, and Spike to safety. Comet Frost, Swiftdrive, you're with me!"

Most of the others were reluctant to split up, but the Royal Guard were confident that Bronze Star knew what he was doing.

As the lavender mare, the indigo stallion, and the light brown stallion made their getaway, the aqua stallion, the dark grey mare, and the gold stallion turned around and headed back into the fray.

Soon, they were within spitting distance of the green dragon. Of course, for him, that was about twenty meters. There they stopped and took a minute to view their adversary in perspective.

The green dragon was just as large as the red dragon Bronze Star and the Element Bearers had encountered months ago. He was also far more aggressive and far less reasonable. This dragon would not buckle as easily as that other dragon had, even if they had Fluttershy with them.

"Bucking Tartarus," Comet Frost muttered under his breath. His companions were thinking much the same.

"Do you have a plan, Your Highness?" Swiftdrive muttered nervously

Bronze Star nodded his head and pronounced "Swiftdrive, I need you to fly above and around his head. See if you can move fast enough to disorient him. At the same time, I'll gallop around his feet. I'll try to throw him off balance."

"Your Highness, forgive me, but I object to that proposal!" Swiftdrive firmly stated, "I'm willing to get close enough to distract the dragon, but you cannot just put yourself in harm's way like that! Our job is to protect you from danger, not to get you into it."

"We don't have a choice!" Bronze Star heatedly countered, "Your job is also to follow my orders, and that WAS an order, Commander! Is that understood?"

"Yes… sir," the dark grey mare grudgingly responded.

"What about me, Your Highness?" Comet Frost inquired, "What must I do?"

Bronze Star smirked, leaned closer to the aqua stallion, and whispered something into his ear. At first, Comet Frost looked startled or alarmed, as though he felt he had misheard the young prince. However, he knew he had not. After a few seconds of contemplating their options, he looked Bronze Star in the eye and gravely nodded his head in compliance.

Swiftdrive then rose into the sky and sailed towards the dragon. She flew precariously close to his head. He snapped his huge jaws at her every time she neared his mouth, but she managed to dodge him at every point.

At the same time, Bronze Star charged towards the dragon and ducked underneath him. He struck the beast in any region that he could touch while he kept moving. He may have been like a mouse compared to the dragon, but he could deliver some powerful blows.

While Swiftdrive and Bronze Star were all over the place, Comet Frost barely moved a muscle. He simply stood absolutely still on the ground in front of the dragon. He stared intently at him for three entire minutes.

When the dragon was in just the right position, Comet Frost's left eye changed color. The iris faded from blue to red so it matched his right eye. A terrible scowl appeared on his face, and his horn began to produce a bright red aura. The aura gradually grew larger in size and brighter in hue.

Swiftdrive and Bronze Star took that as their cue to retreat. By the time they were safely away, Comet Frost's aura was more than three times larger than his body. Finally, he released it.

At the exact same moment, the dragon expelled another pillar of fire. The flames were huge and dreadfully hot, but when they collided with the aura, they dissipated almost straightaway. The aura sailed right through the fire and struck the dragon in his chest.

In response, the dragon shrieked in anguish. Over the next minute, his scales seemed to become tinted blue and a little thicker. In actuality, a thin layer of ice was forming on his body. He tried to breathe fire again, but he seemed to have lost his ability to do so. Soon, he was struggling even to breathe; the moisture in his lungs had all but frozen over.

After three whole minutes of this, Swiftdrive and Bronze Star approached the aqua stallion, and the latter remarked "Okay, I think he's had enough, Comet."

At that, Comet Frost broke off his assault, and his magic aura slowly faded away. The dragon regained control of his movement and his breath, but he was too numb, too shaken, and too frightened to face the ponies any longer. He whimpered and slunk back to his cave.

By then, Comet Frost's left eye had become blue again, leaving him with his usual mismatched irises. He looked as though he was about to pass out from exhaustion, but Bronze Star and Swiftdrive held on to him before he could collapse.

"You okay, Comet?" Swiftdrive queried in concern.

"Yeah, I'm cool, Swift," Comet Frost retorted, grinning deviously, "Icy cool."

As Swiftdrive rolled her eyes, Bronze Star smiled and stated approvingly "Good job, Comet."

"Thank you, Your Highness," the aqua stallion uttered gratefully, "That dragon won't be pestering us anymore, I assure you."

"Excellent," Bronze Star murmured in satisfaction. After a brief pause, he proposed "Come, we better regroup with the others."

Neither of the Royal Guard protested. Comet Frost had already regained his composure, so he was able to walk independently of the others. The three of them speedily trotted back towards Ponyville.

"No matter how many times I see that, I never get used to it," Swiftdrive commented, referring to what Comet Frost had just done to the green dragon.

"You've only seen it twice, Swift," Comet Frost drily pointed out.

"Well, how come you don't do it more often?" Swiftdrive queried.

"You know full well I can only do it when I get very, very, very angry," Comet Frost reminded her, "Luckily, I learned to control my anger when I entered the force. In fact, at certain times, such as now, I have to physically make myself angry."

"How do you do that?" Bronze Star enquired.

"Simple, Your Highness; I just think of something that angers me," Comet Frost disclosed.

"What did you think of this time?" Bronze Star asked in interest.

"All the horrible things that green dragon would have done to you and Commander Swiftdrive if I failed to get angry," Comet Frost professed.

"Why, thank you, Comet," Bronze Star said gratefully, "I'm touched."

"We both are," Swiftdrive conceded.

At approximately the same time, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Blade Bearer, Haywood McCrank, and Owlowiscious had reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. When they were about ten minutes away from the trees, they allowed themselves a moment to breathe.

Twilight panted laboriously, and once she was respiring normally, she looked to the baby dragon and told him "Spike. We were so worried about you. I was so worried about you. Why did you run away?"

The baby dragon gazed at the ground guiltily and revealed "I thought you didn't need me anymore. And that you didn't love me anymore."

All of a sudden, Twilight realized what had caused this whole ordeal. She said reassuringly "Spike. Sure, I was disappointed, but you are my number one assistant! And friend. And you always will be. It's just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can't ask you to stay up late. You're a baby dragon and you need your rest. Owls are nocturnal. So I asked Owlowiscious to help. But not to take your place. No one could ever replace you, Spike. Not even when you are being a jealous numbskull."

Spike had never felt so foolish as he did at that moment. All of this had been the result of a grim misunderstanding. He brightened up a bit and uttered sincerely "I'm sorry, Twilight. I've never should have been so jealous."

"It's not entirely your fault," Haywood McCrank contended, "In my experience, it's not that rare for skilled workers to become envious of the BNG."

"The what?" Blade Bearer uttered, perplexed.

"The Buckin' New Guy," Sir Haywood clarified.

"Oh," Blade Bearer acknowledged.

Twilight ignored the two stallions and candidly told the baby dragon "And I'm sorry too, Spike. I should have been more sensitive."

Spike nodded happily at that. He then turned towards the owl and spoke softly with "And Owlowiscious... I know now that you weren't out to take my job. Forgive me?"

"Hoo?" Owlowiscious said in response.

"Me," Spike repeated, "Forgive me, Spike."

"Hoo!" Owlowiscious exclaimed.

Twilight giggled in amusement and professed "He forgives you, Spike."

A minute later, Comet Frost, Swiftdrive, and Bronze Star emerged from the Everfree Forest and reunited with the rest of the group. Twilight and Bronze Star ran over to Spike and embraced him; Blade Bearer stepped up to Comet Frost and Swiftdrive and bumped hooves with them.

"I take it you weren't followed?" Haywood McCrank presumed.

"Nope, thanks to Comet here," Swiftdrive remarked, patting the aqua stallion on the back, "He got that dragon to crawl all the way back to his cave with his tail between his legs."

"Where else would his tail be?" Spike questioned in puzzlement.

"He meant… oh, never mind; it doesn't matter," Bronze Star candidly murmured.

A thought suddenly occurred to Spike. He looked around at the ponies and asked them "Hey! How did you guys know where I was?"

"It was your ketchup-covered feet," Twilight apprised him, pointing out the tracks that the baby dragon had left, "Owlowiscious discovered your footprints and we followed them all the way to the cave."

"Oh yeah, the ketchup," Spike commented, grinning deviously, "It looked pretty real though, didn't it?"

Twilight just gave him an unamused glare, and the baby dragon let out a nervous giggle.

"It's convenient for us that the rain didn't wash away the trail," Haywood McCrank thought aloud.

"Considering how it was only a three-minute storm, I'm not surprised," Blade Bearer noted.

"In any case, I propose we go all the way back to the beginning of the trail," Bronze Star recommended, "In other words, let's head back to the library."

"Great idea, Your Highness," Blade Bearer agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, the owl, the baby dragon, and the six ponies were back in Golden Oaks Library. Twilight Sparkle decided to compose another letter about friendship to Princess Celestia, and she did something she had not done before: she had Spike write it. He did fairly well with that, but he fell asleep partway through. Twilight did not mind, though; it had been a long day for her assistant.

She carried Spike upstairs and tucked him into bed. Then she rejoined the other ponies in the front room. As she cleaned up the mess Spike had made earlier, she looked over at the young prince and muttered "Say, Bronze, didn't you want me to do you a favor?"

"Yeah, that was why I came here in the first place," Bronze Star affirmed, "I don't suppose you'd mind…?"

"Of course I wouldn't, especially since you already did a favor for me tonight," Twilight gladly told him, "What can I do for you?"

"Truthfully, the favor's for Sir Haywood," the gold stallion revealed, turning to the indigo stallion, "You should talk to him."

"Okay," Twilight avowed.

Haywood McCrank approached the magic student until he was face-to-face with her. Then he reached into his suit jacket, pulled out the plastic bag with the three damaged pages, and held it up for Twilight to see. He informed her "I'm currently conducting an investigation in Ponyville. One of the most crucial pieces of evidence is an organized file. Somewhere along the line, the file was badly damaged. I managed to restore the majority of its contents by myself. These three pages are the only ones I couldn't restore. Prince Bronze Star tells me that you have quite a bit of experience in this field."

"He told you right," Twilight confirmed, "I'd be happy to try my hoof at restoring your pages."

"Thank you," Sir Haywood told her appreciatively.

He passed the plastic bag over to Twilight. She opened it up, slid out the pages, and looked them over. She mumbled quietly "The destruction is substantial… it's as though the words have somehow dissolved into the paper. Just how exactly was that file damaged?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Haywood McCrank professed, "All I need to know is: can you fix it?"

"I believe so," Twilight disclosed, "These shouldn't take more than ninety minutes to restore. I know a spell that can repair both the writing and the paper. But the spell is a very complicated and delicate one. In order to carry it out properly, I'll have to go into the basement. The rest of you can wait up here until I get back."

"If it's all the same to you, Twilight, I'd prefer to be with you while you work," Haywood McCrank bade her.

"If you insist, Sir Haywood," Twilight coincided, "But I must urge you to be absolutely quiet. I cannot afford to have any distractions while I'm at work. If I were to lose my concentration for even one second, I could seriously compromise the integrity of the information on these pages."

"I assure you; you won't even notice I'm there," Haywood McCrank asserted, "Oh, and another thing. If possible, I'd like you to at least try to refrain from reading anything on the pages."

He had expected Twilight to be bewildered or astounded by that request. However, she merely nodded in agreement and declared "I understand. Whatever's on these pages must pertain to a matter of national security, so it's not any of my business."

"Precisely," uttered Sir Haywood, pleased that she did not object.

Twilight Sparkle and Haywood McCrank then went down into the basement. Twilight diligently worked to restore the three pages from the file. Haywood McCrank gave her plenty of space, but he kept a watchful eye on her. Above them, Bronze Star and the three Royal Guard simply lingered in the front room. They stood in nearly perpetual silence for that entire time. Bronze Star did not know what was more intolerable: the wait, the suspense, or the quietness.

A little over an hour and a-half later, Twilight Sparkle and Haywood McCrank came back upstairs. Bronze Star gazed over at the indigo stallion and said expectantly "Well?"

"It worked," Twilight proudly announced.

Haywood McCrank did not seem to share her enthusiasm. He just approached the gold stallion and proclaimed "We have to get back to the embassy. NOW."

"Very well," Bronze Star remarked, a little perplexed by the older stallion's distraught demeanor. As he, Sir Haywood, and the three Royal Guard made their way to the front door, the prince gazed over his shoulder and uttered "Thank you for your help, Twi."

"You bet," was all the lavender mare said in response.

While Bronze Star was concerned by how bothered the federal investigator appeared to be, he decided to wait until they were back indoors to ask him any questions.

Twenty minutes later, they were back in the embassy.

Bronze Star had only planned for them to be gone for about two hours. Due to the misadventure with the green dragon, they had actually been away for four. Luckily, the other five members of the task force were still there. Not long ago, they had decided to make dinner for themselves. Now that they were officially off-duty for the rest of the day, Swiftdrive, Comet Frost, and Blade Bearer were able to have dinner.

Bronze Star and Haywood McCrank still needed to eat dinner, but that could wait; they had other business to attend to first.

Soon, the seven members of the task force were assembled in the conference room once more. Haywood McCrank made certain that they could not be overheard, and then he resumed their meeting from before.

"So what's the situation, Sir Haywood?" Rollin Fields enquired.

"We now have the full file," the indigo stallion revealed, displaying the three pages. They had been restored to optimal condition. Even the paper looked brand new. "I know who the target is."

At that, everypony leaned closer, and several of them asked "Who?"

Sir Haywood did not give a direct answer right away. Instead, he placed the three pages side-by-side-by-side on the surface of the table. He slid one of them forward and proclaimed "This page contains all the details of the actual murder. We'll address it last."

He moved that sheet off to the side. Then he placed one of his front hooves on each of the other sheets, and he disclosed "These two contain the most prominent information about the identity of the victim. The top entry on one of them is dated only a few weeks after the Summer Sun Celebration. It says 'Subject has gone on vacation. Surveillance cancelled until further notice.' Then there's a five-week gap until the next entry. That one says 'Subject has returned home. Surveillance shall resume at once.' Furthermore, the other page is dated several months later. There are two entries that really stand out on that one, too. One of them is 'Subject has entered the Running of the Leaves.' The other entry has the same date, only it's a few hours later. That one is 'Subject won a medal in the Running of the Leaves.'"

Haywood McCrank paused for a few seconds, and then he announced "Put all that together with what we've already learned. There's only one pony on the security staff who went on vacation sometime in the past year and placed in the Running of the Leaves."

The answer dawned on everypony immediately. Bronze Star, Copper Hollow, Dapple Rhomb, Rollin Fields, and Rough Rider all turned towards Noble Edict. She did not even seem to notice all the attention on her. She just gazed at the sheets of paper in front of her, as though she was fixated on them.

Ultimately, she forced herself to look toward the indigo stallion, and she muttered in shock "Sir Haywood, you don't mean…?"

"I'm afraid so, Lady Noble," Haywood McCrank mumbled apologetically, "You are the target."

Comments

[Fluttertreetop]

Finally! I found this story here! OMG.

[Samellan]

A wrong name here

Twilight and Spike ran over to Spike and embraced him;