Fortune Favors The Bold

by TheEquestrianWing

Conflict Resolution

Although most ponies preferred to travel by train in modern times, there were certain days of the year when carriages were the more ideal method of transportation. The day of the Grand Galloping Gala was perhaps the foremost example. From any time between midnight and twilight, hundreds of carriages would traverse the roads in the country's vast wilderness. countryside. Throughout the day, no fewer than a dozen carriages had departed from every major city. Regardless of their origin, almost all of them had the same endpoint: Canterlot.

Despite all that, not every carriage in Equestria was utilized for passage to the capital city on the night of the Gala. Aside from taxis and military cars, there were a few privately-owned carriages that were only used every now and then.

One such carriage had left Chicacolt at around the same time that Bronze Star and his companions reached Canterlot Castle.

This particular carriage had a driver and two pullers. They were carrying three passengers: Sir Raoul Jowl, Lord Ambit Dexter, and Esopus Spitzenburg. The carriage was Spitzenburg's; the driver and pullers, too. The other day, their employer had notified them in advance that their services would be needed that night. The driver and pullers had been there to greet the three stallions when they arrived at Chicacolt's main train station.

Less than ten minutes elapsed between the instant when Spitzenburg, Lord Ambit, and Sir Raoul stepped off the train and the instant when they climbed into the carriage. Once they were settled, the driver instructed the pullers to head out.

Spitzenburg's office was located in the northwestern corner of the city, and his house was near the northern border. Normally, whenever Spitzenburg returned to the town by train, his carriage would bring him to one of those two locations.

That night was an exception. The driver and the pullers knew they were not going to either of those places. All Spitzenburg told them was that he had business in the east. Spitzenburg did not have to tell them where exactly they were going; they already knew that, as well.

As the carriage exited the city through the eastern border, the paved street turned into a dirt road. The pullers followed that road for about five miles. This carriage did not have a roof; the three passengers were out in the open. They could not speak of confidential matters without running the risk of being overheard.

They could hardly complain about that, though. The regions outside of Chicacolt were surprisingly calm and peaceful. Stars glittered brightly in the sky above them, and a gentle early summer breeze flowed through their manes. They passed the trip in almost total silence. The only sounds to be heard were the rotating of the wheels and the hoofsteps of the pullers.

Soon they came to their intended destination: a large plot of land.

This plot of land was owned by Spitzenburg. It covered an approximate area of ten acres by ten acres. Its perimeter was marked by a ten-foot brick wall. The top of the brick wall was lined with barbed wire. Every couple hundred feet, a security guard could be seen patrolling on the exterior. Nothing and nopony got even close to the wall without any of them noticing.

The only entrance into the vicinity was provided by an iron gate on the western border. At one point, the dirt road broke off into several other pathways; one of which ran through the gate. When the carriage got there, Spitzenburg's driver directed the pullers onto this pathway. As they drew nearer to the area, they heard a strange humming sound. It started out faint, but as they got closer, it became much louder.

A large shack had been built just outside the wall, right by the gate. It served as an outpost to the security guards. This outpost was manned by no fewer than three ponies at all times. A large window that covered the top half of most of its southern wall; against this wall were three electronic panels. The first panel opened and closed the gate. The second panel monitored the vicinity's motion detector system. The third panel supervised all other activity that occurred on the premises. A movable chair was positioned in front of each panel.

When the carriage was within fifteen meters of the shack, one of the on-duty security guards stepped outside and moved onto the dirt road. Esopus Spitzenburg opened his steel briefcase and removed a laminated sheet of paper.

The pullers brought the carriage to a total halt once they reached the security guard. Esopus Spitzenburg waved her over and showed her the laminated paper. She studied it up-close for a few seconds, and then she handed it back to the jade stallion. She grinned up at him and declared "Welcome back, Mr. Spitzenburg."

"Thank you," Spitzenburg rejoined. When the mare's eyes fell upon his fellow passengers, he gestured to Raoul Jowl and Ambit Dexter and disclosed "These two genlestallions are with me."

"Very well," the security guard acknowledged. She called over her shoulder "Open the gate and shut down the grid!"

Her two colleagues were stationed at the first two electronic panels on the south side of the outpost. Both of them made a few adjustments to the settings, and after that, the gate's massive iron doors slowly swung open, and the humming sound faded away. As long as that sound was off, it signified that the motion detector system was offline.

"Has everypony arrived?" Spitzenburg queried.

"Yes, sir," the security guard responded as she gave him back the laminated paper, "All sixteen. The last of them got here just ten minutes ago."

"Was the last one by any chance an onyx mare?" the jade stallion assumed.

"Actually, yes," the female security guard affirmed, "Interestingly, she came from the east, not the west. That means she must have trotted here from wherever she came, but there isn't another settlement in that direction for at least thirty miles."

"I can't say I'm surprised," Spitzenburg pronounced, "If she can, she tries to avoid being in public places. That's why she didn't come to Chicacolt by train or carriage. She likes to interact with as few ponies as possible."

"I believe that, sir," the female security guard wryly stated, "She seemed reluctant just to speak with us."

The other two security guards murmured in agreement. During this exchange, Ambit Dexter sat silently in his seat. Raoul Jowl, however, was beginning to feel a little impatient; this casual conversation was preventing them from continuing onward. Luckily, Spitzenburg did not keep it going.

"I'd like you to leave the gate open and keep the motion detector grid offline for now," Spitzenburg instructed the security ponies. He pointed out the driver and the pullers and proclaimed "These three are just dropping us off. Wait for them return, and once they're back on your side of the wall, reseal the gate and reactivate the system."

"Understood, sir," the female security guard asserted, saluting her employer.

Spitzenburg's carriage began to move again, and it passed through the massive gate. The pullers quickened their pace so that they could arrive at their final destination faster. Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl studied their surroundings as they pressed on.

At first glance, one would not think that this piece of property belonged to a member of the Apple Family. After all, nearly every rural establishment owned by the Apples contained vast fields of strong, healthy trees.

Whereas here, there was not a single tree to be seen anywhere within the area bounded by the brick walls. That was especially odd when considering that there were plenty of trees to be found just outside the perimeter. In addition to that, this land was green, flat, and fertile; very ideal for planting and growing.

In actuality, this patch of land had once been covered in apple trees just like Sweet Apple Acres. However, those trees had become a complication once Spitzenburg installed his new motion detector system. The system was so sensitive that even the slightest changes in space and density triggered the alarm. That included the rustling of leaves, the snapping of twigs, and the falling of apples. As such, Spitzenburg had decided to uproot all the apple trees within that area and relocate them to his other orchards in Chicacolt. Now nothing grew there, even though things still could.

In the very center of the vicinity, there was a large three-story mansion. This was Spitzenburg's private retreat. He only came here on certain occasions, such as when he needed a break from the stresses of work or he needed some solitude. Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl would later find out that this was the very same building where Spitzenburg, Raging Tempest, and Sparker Blare had first formed the assassination conspiracy.

In less than five minutes, the carriage arrived at the front door of the mansion. There the driver helping Esopus Spitzenburg, Lord Ambit Dexter, and Sir Raoul Jowl climb out. Once the three passengers were on the ground with their belongings, the driver had the pullers turn the vehicle around and headed back the way they came.

Once the carriage was out of his line of sight, Spitzenburg directed Lord Ambit and Sir Raoul towards the building. Many of the windows on the ground and second floors were illuminated with the artificial light of lamps and chandeliers. On each side of the mansion, there was a thick wooden door. Spitzenburg now stood in front of the door on the western side of the building; this was the foundation's primary entrance and exit. He pounded his front hoof against it three times, and it was promptly answered by an onyx mare.

All three of those stallions knew this mare, and she knew all of them.

She first gave her attention to Ambit Dexter. She saluted the moccasin stallion and remarked formally "Commodore."

The Royal Guard was not one of the five branches of the Equestrian military, but they still held the War Council in very high esteem. Lord Ambit had been the Chairpony of the Council long before the onyx mare enlisted in the Royal Guard.

"At ease, Commander Crest," Lord Ambit muttered solemnly.

Clear Crest lowered her front leg and bluntly stated "I haven't gone by that title in a long time, sir. But if you wish, you may continue to address me as such."

The Commodore merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anything to report, Clear?" Raoul Jowl inquired.

"Nope, nothing," Clear Crest revealed. She was a little more informal with the cerise stallion. That was hardly surprising, considering their history. "Then again, I just got here, Raoul. But according to the others, there's been no unauthorized activity around here all day."

"Good; very good," Esopus Spitzenburg murmured in approval. He balanced his steel briefcase on his back and proclaimed "Then let's get started."

"Very well, Mr. Spitzenburg," Clear Crest coincided. She stepped aside so that the three stallions could enter. Once they were all inside, she closed the door and bolted it shut.

By then, the driver and the pullers had gotten the carriage back to the vicinity's entrance. Subsequently, the gate swung shut and locked back in place. At the same time, the humming sound returned, meaning that the motion detector system was back online.

So apart from the nineteen ponies inside the mansion, there was now nopony else on the grounds of Spitzenburg's retreat. That was how it appeared, at least.

A minute after Clear Crest shut the front door, there was movement on the roof of the mansion. If one looked closely, they would have seen the silhouettes of ten ponies up there. They were all clad from muzzle to tail in black. On their foreheads, they wore a type of mask. When they trotted around the roof, every step they made was very soft and graceful. Their hooffalls could not even be heard by anypony who may have been in the mansion's attic.

These ten ponies were the members of the Firebrand Regiment.

The Regiment had gotten to Chicacolt several hours earlier. Getting to the city and out of it had been simple. Getting onto the grounds of Spitzenburg's retreat had been the real challenge. Fortunately, they managed to find a solution through their resourcefulness.

Ruger had been one of the engineers who designed the prototype of Spitzenburg's motion detector system. Her team had tried their hardest to perfect the device, but even the final optimal product had a number of flaws. Spitzenburg's model was a little more up-to-date than the original, but it still had some of those flaws.

Ruger had been able to discreetly acquire the blueprints of the newer system. She had shown them to the other members of the Regiment and explained the flaws in detail.

The most noticeable flaw was that when the system was used on a very large area (such as an area of three acres by three acres or more), the system's generator could not extend to its immediate surroundings. In other words, the larger the area the system was programmed to cover, the less space it could cover in close proximity to the generator. Since Spitzenburg's retreat was ten acres by ten acres, Ruger estimated that all the space within a twelve-meter radius of the mansion would be left untouched by the motion detector system. That meant that once the Regiment got that close to the building, they could move around freely without fear of being detected. They just had to remain within thirty-six feet of the mansion at all times.

Of course, they had to cross the monitored area first. That was the truly difficult task. Flying and teleporting directly over were not viable options; the system could register wind and magic as easily as any physical mass.

Fortunately, Ruger knew another flaw that they could exploit. The system could keep theoretically remain online in perpetuity, but the generator needed to reset itself every now and then to continue running. Thus, every couple hours or so, the generator had to reduce its power so it could switch frequencies. Every time it did this, a few pockets opened in certain parts of its network. While the generator was resetting, these pockets would be momentarily untouched by the system, and anypony who knew how to find them could use them to get to the generator.

By observing the system that encompassed Spitzenburg's retreat, Ruger had been able to determine when and where one of those pockets would open up. She had the Firebrand Regiment move as close as they could safely get to that spot. They made certain to avoid stepping too close to the brick wall, lest they get spotted by Spitzenburg's security guards.

From that location, Ruger suggested that once the pocket opened, the Unicorn members of the Regiment would teleport themselves and the other members to that spot, and then they would teleport to the roof of Spitzenburg's mansion. The other nine members had no objections to her proposal.

In the time leading up to when the pocket opened, Ruger had repeatedly emphasized that they would have to be quick, as the pocket would only be open for about five seconds. If they were still in it when it closed, they would immediately be discovered.

They worked out the arrangements for teleportation in advance. They would have two trios and two pairs. Peacemaker would teleport himself, Heckler, and Ruger. Beretta would teleport herself, Walther, and Glock. Carabine would teleport himself, Koch, and half of their equipment. SIG Sauer would teleport himself, Caracal, and the other half of their equipment.

They waited patiently for their window of opportunity, and once it arrived, they hastily teleported to the coordinates Ruger had specified, and then they teleported to the roof of the mansion. Once all ten of them were up there, they rapidly gazed in all directions for signs of activity.

Much to their relief, the iron gates stayed locked, the security guards remained at their posts, and the atmosphere was as quiet and still as ever. Evidently, the Regiment had not triggered the alarm.

It had been over two hours since they had teleported to the roof of the mansion. They had been lying motionless on the roof for that entire time. Occasionally, one of the conspirators arrived at the gate and was allowed entrance by the security guards. Every time that happened, the motion detector system was deactivated long enough for the conspirator to reach the mansion.

It had occurred to the Regiment that they could have simply teleported onto the premises when the system was shut down for one of the conspirators to cross the land. Be that as it may, they were unwilling to teleport onto the vicinity whenever somepony else was outside the mansion whilst on the vicinity. The risk of being spotted was deemed too high.

At any rate, now that all the conspirators had arrived, the members of the Regiment no longer had to remain still as statues on the roof of the mansion. As soon as Clear Crest sealed the front door, SIG Sauer rose to his full height and softly announced "Alright, everypony; this is it. We're officially past the point of no return. We are to carry on at once."

That last statement marked the exact moment when the final stage of Bronze Star's plan was put into motion.

…

At that very same moment, hundreds of miles away, Spike had just been ditched by the Element Bearers. The baby dragon was still sulking about being unable to spend the evening with six of his best friends. Fortunately for him, he was still in the company of nine of his other acquaintances.

"Cheer up, Spike," Haywood McCrank bade the baby dragon, "There's bound to be a few ponies here who will be happy to socialize with you sometime tonight."

Spike rose back to his feet and smiled, saying "There must be if you say so, Sir Haywood. I've never know you to make an inaccurate deduction."

The indigo stallion scoffed and candidly uttered "I doubt anypony ever has."

Bronze Star was approached by Billow Health and Cashew Lane. The two stallions were smirking deviously at him, as if he had just made a very cunning joke. Since this was the first time they had been this close to him whilst he was in his Alicorn form, he could imagine what was going through their heads.

"I suppose I surprised you, gentlestallions," the young prince conjectured.

"Oh, quite so, Your Highness," Billow Health confirmed, "But truthfully, we were expecting to receive more than a few surprises tonight."

"Reasonable assumption," Bronze Star commented, "The Grand Galloping Gala is full of surprises for everypony."

"Then we can just consider yours as the first one," Cashew Lane contended.

"Well, it would certainly be fitting," Bronze Star concurred, "I'm just glad you two are taking it so well."

"Why the Tartarus wouldn't they?" Copper Hollow cheekily murmured, "They got to be chauffeurs for one of the most powerful ponies in the country without even realizing it."

"He has a point," Verse A. Till remarked, "Who wouldn't be in awe after doing something like that?"

"You got me there," Bronze Star stated. There came a short pause, and then he thought aloud "Well, we could spend the whole evening like this, just standing around and talking. But if we wanted to do that, we could have just stayed in Ponyville. Come on; I'd like to show you the overhyped phenomenon that is the Grand Galloping Gala."

"'Overhyped?'" Dapple Rhomb repeated, perplexed.

"Forgive me my sarcasm," Bronze Star drily said in response, "Now follow me, if you please."

The gold stallion then placed his strongbox on his back and allowed Spike to climb onto him. Once the baby dragon was sitting comfortably between his wings, Bronze Star led Noble Edict, Rough Rider, Verse A. Till, Billow Health, Cashew Lane, Copper Hollow, Dapple Rhomb, and Haywood McCrank down the wide corridor that intersected the castle's eastern gate.

This was one of the longest corridors in the whole of the castle. Even when trotting at a moderate pace, the nine ponies took over ten minutes to travel the entire length of it. When they reached the other end of the corridor, they arrived in the castle's foyer.

On the northern wall, there was a large staircase that broke off into two separate smaller flights of stairs halfway up. Princess Celestia was standing in the center of that stairwell. She was there to greet all the guests.

Twilight Sparkle suddenly appeared under the archway of the foyer's southern wall. She galloped towards the large staircase and speedily trotted up the steps. When she reached the platform at the halfway point, she exclaimed giddily "Princess Celestia!"

"Twilight!" the white Alicorn stated merrily, "It is so lovely to see my star student."

"Oh, I'm so excited to be here!" Twilight proclaimed, "We have so much to catch up on."

Celestia grinned and muttered "Well, I want you right by my side the entire evening, so we'll have plenty of time together."

Twilight rushed to her mentor's left side and commented "That's just what I was hoping you'd say."

At that moment, Lyrica Lilac and Royal Ribbon came up the staircase to give their regards to the princess. Bronze Star waited until they were gone, and then he looked to his companions and declared "Dapple, Rough, Cashew, Billow, I'd like you to meet my mother. Sir Verse, you should probably come with us. Noble, Copper, Sir Haywood, Spike, you can go ahead and start enjoying yourselves."

"Don't mind if we do," Spike uttered eagerly. He climbed off of Bronze Star's back and went off in search of recreation with Copper Hollow, Haywood McCrank, and Noble Edict.

Once the four of them were gone, Bronze Star had his other five accomplices follow him up the staircase. When they reached the middle of it, he lightly bowed to the white Alicorn and told her "Good evening, Mother."

Celestia smiled down at her son and pronounced "It's so good to have you home again, Bronze Star."

"It's good to be home, Mother," the young prince claimed. He then moved to a position that enabled him to face the white Alicorn, the lavender Unicorn, and his five companions all at once, and he announced "There are a few ponies I'd like to introduce to you."

Princess Celestia eyed these other individuals in interest. Dapple Rhomb stepped forward first, and Bronze Star revealed "This is my secretary, Dapple Rhomb."

"Your Highness," the purple mare said respectfully, tilting her head towards the larger mare.

"Welcome to the Gala, my dear," Celestia bade her. She quickly realized that Dapple Rhomb's midsection was somewhat swollen, and she presumed "You are with foal?"

"Yes, I am," Dapple Rhomb admitted, adjusting her dress so it covered more of her abdomen, "Thank you for noticing."

"As somepony who has been in your situation before, it would have been difficult for me NOT to notice," Celestia professed. Bronze Star snickered at that. His mother continued to smile, and she said "I wish you all the happiness in the world."

"That means a lot to me, Your Highness," Dapple Rhomb murmured sincerely, touched by that remark.

Celestia then diverted her attention to the three new stallions who had accompanied Bronze Star and Verse A. Till. She hypothesized "I assume one of you gentlestallions is the father?"

Rough Rider moved next to his wife and proudly stated "That would be me, Your Highness."

"This is Dapple's husband, Rough Rider," Bronze Star apprised the white Alicorn.

Celestia nodded her head in acknowledgment. She asked curiously "So, what do you do, Mr. Rider?"

"I'm a salespony," the olive stallion illuminated, "Specifically, a travelling salespony by trade. I've sold merchandise all over the country."

"Have you been to Canterlot before?" Celestia enquired.

"Yes, we have," Rough Rider claimed, "In fact, about ten months ago, we were in one of this castle's tour groups."

"Well, I hope your second visit to the Castle is just as exciting as your first one," Celestia proclaimed.

"We're confident it will be, Your Highness," Dapple Rhomb contended.

The olive stallion and the purple mare then trotted back down the staircase and went off to partake in the festivities.

Bronze Star then presented the russet Pegasus and the shamrock Earth Pony to his mother. He elucidated "This is Doctor Billow Health, a physician from Detrot, and this is Cashew Lane, an officer on Ponyville's security force."

The doctor and the security officer both bowed deeply to Celestia. After they stood back up, she remarked "Pleasure to meet you, gentlestallions. How did you come to be acquainted with my son?"

"Well, technically, Your Highness, we didn't become acquainted with him until about a half-hour ago," Cashew Lane expounded, "Up until then, we thought he was 'Ambassador Gold Streak.'"

"How so?" Celestia inquired.

"Like most of the other guests, we got here by carriage," Billow Health disclosed, "Mr. Lane and I were the pullers on the carriage that brought Prince Bronze Star here. When he and got in, his back and forehead were bare. When we opened the doors to let him out, we found we were one passenger short."

"Then we looked up," Cashew Lane continued for him, "We discovered that the prince had teleported out of the carriage, and he was flying in the air over our heads."

Twilight Sparkle chuckled and wryly commented "I'll never forget the expressions on your faces when you realized Bronze and the Ambassador were the same pony."

"Oh, we were just as amused as you were, Twilight," Cashew Lane insisted, "Prince Bronze Star certainly knows how to pull a practical joke."

"I learned from the best," Bronze Star claimed, gazing over at his mother out of the corner of his eye. She snickered at that subtle gesture.

Celestia looked back down at Billow Health and Cashew Lane and queried "Do you stallions have anything special planned for tonight?"

"Actually, I'm hoping to shake hooves with the Surgeon General," Billow Health enlightened her, "Where might I find him?"

"Purple Heart is currently in the ball room, Doctor," Celestia informed him.

"Thank you, Your Highness," the russet stallion bowed his head again, and then he headed down the staircase and went to find the ball room.

"I think I'll just hang out with Noble and Copper for a while," Cashew Lane supposed, "Maybe she can help him and me to get to know some of the locals."

"Give them my regards, if you would," Celestia beckoned the shamrock stallion.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Cashew Lane avowed, dipping his head slightly. He then turned back to Bronze Star and suggested "We must talk again sometime later tonight."

"Alright," the gold stallion conceded. Cashew Lane trotted down the staircase and left the foyer through the same doorway that Noble Edict and Copper Hollow had gone through.

Now the only ponies left on the stairwell were Bronze Star, Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, and Verse A. Till.

The white mare finally acknowledged the glaucous stallion and pronounced "I'm glad to see you here tonight, Sir Verse. Especially since I haven't seen much of you lately. Or Lord Ambit, for that matter."

"I apologize for that, Your Highness," Verse A. Till uttered in assurance, "We've been preoccupied with a job outside of the city."

"What job might that be?" Celestia inquired in interest.

Verse A. Till had anticipated that he would be asked this question. Luckily, he and Bronze Star had composed and rehearsed a believable response to it in advance.

The glaucous stallion straightforwardly explained:

"Lord Ambit Dexter and I have spent the past few weeks in Ponyville. With all the dangers that have cropped up there in the past year – such as the Nightmare Moon fiasco, an Ursa Minor attack, a parasprite infestation, and two dragon sightings – Prince Bronze Star has developed some concerns for the town's safety. Although Ponyville has gotten through most of those incidents unscathed, he does not want the town to be unprepared if something even worse hits it. So he summoned me and the Commodore there to evaluate Ponyville's defenses."

"What did you conclude?" Twilight Sparkle inquired. She had become just as intrigued in this discussion as Celestia, and like Bronze Star, Ponyville's safety meant very much to her.

"I'm pleased to say the town does not need military enhancements," Verse A. Till revealed, "Its location and environments serve as ideal natural fortifications. In addition to that, the residents are quite capable of defending themselves and their homes if they must. That can be attributed to the spirit of community that is prevalent in the entire town. As a result, we have decided that Ponyville is secured enough in its current state."

"That's quite a relief," Twilight commented cheerily.

"Indeed," Celestia conceded, "That would explain why you and Ambit Dexter have been away these past few weeks. But tell me; why isn't the Commodore here now?"

"Lord Ambit wished to stay behind in Ponyville to deliver his report to the security staff," Bronze Star explicated, "Since Lady Noble Edict and Deputy Chief Copper Hollow are both here tonight, the Commodore is presenting our findings to Official Rollin Fields. Mr. Fields is a very methodical stallion, and he wanted to go over every last detail. Ambit Dexter knows they could have waited until after the Gala to do this, but he preferred not to stall the process."

"In that case, I can understand and excuse his absence tonight," Celestia proclaimed, "I'm also pleased to know that Ponyville is still in good hooves."

"We all are, Your Highness," Verse A. Till contended, "The prince in particular. I'm not surprised he became so concerned about the town's well-being. If I lived there long enough, I would probably come to regard it as a second home, as well."

At that, Celestia looked to her son and stated inquisitively "Is that true? You've begun to view Ponyville as a second home?"

Bronze Star lightly shrugged and professed "Canterlot will always be my hometown and the city I grew up in, Mother. But after living in Ponyville for nearly a year, I have become very familiar with the town itself and the populace. Right now, I feel just as comfortable and at home there as I do here."

He was a little worried that his mother would view that statement negatively. To his relief, she actually seemed a little elated to hear that. She smiled widely and told her son "Then be sure to thank Sir Verse. It's partly because of him that you even went there."

That sparked Bronze Star's curiosity. "How do you mean?"

"Although I was the one who advised you to go to Ponyville, Sir Verse was the one who put the idea in my head," Celestia notified her son.

The gold stallion raised an eyebrow, turned to Verse A. Till, and murmured "Is that true?"

"It is, Your Highness," the glaucous Unicorn affirmed.

"I would elaborate on this matter, but at the moment, I need to keep the receiving line going," Celestia proclaimed, "So I'm afraid I'll be a little too busy with greeting the guests to converse with you."

"I understand, Mother," Bronze Star asserted, "I wasn't planning on staying in any one place for very long tonight, anyway. I'm going to go and see how the rest of my friends from Ponyville are doing."

"Please give them my regards when you see them," Celestia beckoned her son.

"I shall," Bronze Star solemnly declared, "Oh, and before I leave, could you tell where Lord Bellerophon and Aunt Luna are?"

"Bellerophon is in the garden enclosure," Princess Celestia apprised him, "Incidentally, I believe I saw Fluttershy heading that way, as well."

"Well, the castle's indigenous plant life and wildlife are the main reasons she wanted to attend the Gala in the first place," Bronze Star drily contended, "What about Princess Luna?"

His mother did not answer straightaway. Initially, she almost appeared hesitant to give a reply. Ultimately, she sighed and revealed "Your aunt is in the observatory on the top floor of the Astronomy Tower. She told me she would rather remain there for the duration of the Gala."

Bronze Star was astounded. He perceived "I know she must carry out her royal duties as the Princess of the Night, but that doesn't mean she has to spend every single second watching over Equestria."

"Bronze, I don't think that's the reason why she isn't here," Twilight grimly contended.

Almost immediately, Bronze Star knew what the lavender mare meant. When he first met his aunt, she had been very reclusive and antisocial. In the time since she had returned to Ponyville, she had gradually improved her ability to mingle with other ponies. Even so, she still had no desire to mingle with too many ponies at one time. Since Canterlot Castle received more visitors on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala than any other day of the year, one could hardly blame Luna for choosing to opt out of it.

"If she doesn't want to participate, I'll respect her wishes," Bronze Star decided, "But sometime later – like after midnight – I think I'll pay her a visit."

"Oh, she'd love that," Celestia commented with a nod of approval.

Bronze Star then bade his mother and her apprentice a lovely evening, and he and Sir Verse A. Till trotted back down to the base of the staircase. The gold Alicorn was still carrying his strongbox on his back.

"Would you like me to hold onto that for you, Your Highness?" the glaucous Unicorn offered.

"If you wouldn't mind, Sir Verse," Bronze Star replied gratefully.

He passed his strongbox over to the older stallion. Once Sir Verse was able to balance it on his own back, he inquired "Where to now?"

Before Bronze Star could give him an answer, he spotted his cousin Prince Blueblood near the southern wall of the foyer. Presently, he seemed to be on his own. Bronze Star would have thought Rarity would have approached him by then.

Then he saw the white Unicorn enter the foyer through the western entrance. As soon as she spotted Blueblood, she gasped and squealed in excitement. At that moment, Blueblood was passing through one of the smaller doors in the southern wall. This particular exit led out into the main courtyard.

Rarity eagerly began to head in that direction. She constantly alternated her pace between a trot and a gallop, and she mumbled under her breath "Hurry, Rarity... Oh, but not too fast. But don't wanna lose him... WAIT! Have to play it cool. Oh, but don't be cold! I can't lose him, I can't! He's everything I imagined! Even better than I imagined."

Blueblood had just picked a rose from one of the bushes and struck a pose with it. To Rarity, he looked invigorating. Bronze Star, on the other hoof, knew better. Blueblood was doing that to make himself look good, not to entice Rarity.

Bronze Star hastily trotted over to the fashionista and told her "Just a moment, Rarity. Let me have a word with my cousin first."

As thrilled as Rarity was right then, she nodded her head and said in agreement "Okay, Bronze."

Verse A. Till remained back with Rarity as Bronze Star trotted over Blueblood. When the gold stallion was within earshot of the white stallion, he called out "Hey, Blueblood!"

Blueblood slowly turned around and came face-to-face with his cousin. He muttered disinterestedly "Bronze Star. Where have you been?"

"Elsewhere," Bronze Star frankly responded, "That's not important though. You see that mare behind me?"

Blueblood gazed over the Alicorn's shoulder and spotted Rarity standing in the doorway. She flushed and turned away, unable to look him in the eye. Verse A. Till scoffed.

"What about her?" Blueblood asked.

"She wants to meet you," Bronze Star revealed.

"Who wouldn't?" Blueblood smugly rejoined.

Bronze Star ignored that statement. He stepped up to his cousin, gripped him by his necktie, and pulled him closer until their muzzles were almost touching. He uttered in a hauntingly calm tone "She's a close friend of mine, and she's been looking forward to meeting you for a very long time. So I want to make this absolutely clear: Treat her with the same respect you'd treat me or my mother with. Otherwise, I'll throw you through the nearest wall."

Blueblood had five years, fifty pounds, and eight inches on his cousin, but Bronze Star was at least three times stronger than him. He knew the gold Alicorn was more than capable of carrying out that threat. Even so, if the white Unicorn was intimidated by it, he gave no indication of it. He merely nodded his head and mumbled "If you insist."

"Good," Bronze Star grinned, released his cousin's necktie, and patted him on the shoulders. After that, he trotted back over to Rarity and remarked "He's all yours."

"Thank you," Rarity murmured appreciatively.

As the white mare followed the white stallion further into the courtyard, Verse A. Till enquired "Do you think Rarity actually has a chance with Prince Blueblood, Your Highness?"

"Not at all," Bronze Star straightforwardly admitted, "But at the very least, he should let her have this night."

Just then, a small yellow and gray bird flapped past the two stallions. It gracefully landed on a bush and rested momentarily. Then it rose back up and flew away.

Having heard the bird chirping, Fluttershy hurried over. She ecstatically commented "Oh my! A meadowlark!"

She quickly trotted after the small bird. Before she could reach it, it disappeared behind a hedge. But almost immediately after it vanished, the sound of whistling permeated the air.

Fluttershy assumed that that was some sort of signal meant for her. She giddily murmured "I think she's calling to me. It's exactly what I wished for!"

She hummed melodiously, and she was answered by another whistle.

Before the yellow mare could follow the whistling, Bronze Star trotted over to her and apprised her "Fluttershy, if you're interested, the Castle's most interesting specimens of plants and animals are located over there."

At that, he gestured to a pair of finely-trimmed hedges that formed a barrier between the garden enclosure and the rest of the courtyard. The whistling sound appeared to originate from the other side of the hedges.

Fluttershy grinned at the gold stallion and told him "Thanks, Bronze. I'll go check it out."

"I hope you like what you see," Bronze Star proclaimed, "Be very gentle with the animals, though. They're not used to other ponies fawning over them."

"I can be gentle," Fluttershy softly declared.

Verse A. Till smirked and murmured "We know."

As Fluttershy stepped between the twin hedges, a tall palomino Pegasus stepped out from behind them. When he saw the gold Alicorn and the glaucous Unicorn, he gradually approached them and stated cordially "Hello, Your Highness. Greetings, Sir Verse."

"Evening, my lord," Verse A. Till saluted Princess Celestia's chief of staff, "What have you been up to?"

"I was just admiring all of the gardens' exotic forms of vegetation," Lord Bellerophon responded.

"Yeah, they're quite a marvel," Bronze Star conceded, "But they can wait. The meeting between Lord Ambit and the conspirators must have started by now."

"When will the Regiment report in?" Bellerophon queried. The palomino stallion was one of only sixteen ponies who knew all the details pertaining to the assassination conspiracy.

"Soon enough," the young prince claimed, "Sir Verse will be in charge of our correspondence with them. I've allowed him the use of my blackboard for the duration of the operation."

"Would you like to get it out, Your Highness?" Verse A. Till proposed.

"No, let's move to a secluded location first," Bronze Star recommended.

The three stallions thought about going back inside. Just then, Applejack came out into the courtyard. Her trunk was now on wheels, and she was nudging it forward with her head. She stopped in front of a huge pair of decorated stone pillars. She deemed this to be the most strategically ideal spot to open her booth.

The orange mare gave her trunk a swift buck with her hind legs, and it automatically transformed into a makeshift stand. Once it was up, Applejack moved behind the stand. Almost immediately, she was approached by a male Pegasus.

This stallion was Soarin, an officer in the Wonderbolts. He served as First Lieutenant under the command of Captain Spitfire. Like all other Wonderbolts who attended the Gala, he was in full uniform.

"Howdy, partner!" Applejack greeted him, "You hungry?"

"As a horse!" Soarin pronounced.

Applejack was pleased to hear that. "Well, what'cha hankering for? Caramel apple? Apple pie? Apple fritter? Apple fries?"

"I'll take that big apple pie!" Soarin told her jubilantly.

He deposited two bits into the bucket at the base of Applejack's stand, and in exchange, she gave him the whole apple pie. As he took it in his mouth, she stated "Well, thank you kindly, sir!"

After Soarin headed back inside, Applejack yelled joyfully "Yee-haw! In the first minute, I made my first sale. Just like I expected."

Bronze Star and his two associates trotted over to his fillyfriend, and he commented "Impressive. Most first-time merchants rarely manage to pull that off in this city."

"Well, it ain't beginner's luck," Applejack cheekily declared, "I've been getting ponies to buy this stuff for years."

"Then either your products are exceptionally good, or you are very persuasive," Verse A. Till theorized.

"Probably both, Sir Verse," Applejack alleged.

When Lord Bellerophon rejoined the other two stallions, Applejack gazed up at him and suggested "Can I offer you something, my lord?"

"Actually, I haven't eaten all day," Bellerophon disclosed, "I'll take two packs of apple fries."

"Very well," Applejack coincided. The Castle's chief of staff deposited four bits into her bucket, and she handed over two packs of her apple fries. Verse A. Till had decided that he was quite parched, so he paid her another three bits for a jug of fresh apple juice.

Bronze Star smirked and observed "At this rate, you'll be bringing in some hefty profits before midnight."

"That's what I'm shootin' for," Applejack muttered eagerly.

Her coltfriend lightly nodded his head in acknowledgement. After that, he professed "In the meantime, the Firebrand Regiment is working diligently to accomplish an objective of their own. You needn't worry yourself with that, Applejack. Sir Verse will be communicating with them all throughout the night."

Applejack somberly nodded her head and enquired "When will they send their first progress report?"

"First they have to check in," Bellerophon apprised her, "Then they'll send a report."

"In any case, we should be hearing from them very soon," Bronze Star disclosed. He then removed the key to his strongbox from his wing and held it out to Verse A. Till. As the glaucous Unicorn took the key, the prince stated "Go ahead and get out the blackboard, Sir Verse. If you are uncertain about how to use it, Lord Bellerophon can aid you."

"I'm confident that I can manage, Your Highness," Sir Verse A. Till assured him.

Bronze Star did not doubt the older stallion's claim. He looked around at the three ponies and informed them "As you know, I cannot spend the whole evening here; I'm expected to pay royal homage to the guests. So while I'm gone, Sir Verse, I need you to be ready for updates from the Regiment at all times. Make a note of everything they tell you, and then write them back to acknowledge that we have received their notice. If they ask for instructions on how to proceed tactically or if something urgent has transpired, send Lord Bellerophon to find me and bring me back here. Otherwise, you don't have to bother with seeking me out. Applejack, you don't have to do anything but sell your products. But if you're curious about the Regiment's progress, just ask Sir Verse and he'll tell you."

Verse A. Till, Bellerophon, and Applejack agreed to those terms. Once he had assurances, Bronze Star muttered "I'll be back in a bit."

The gold stallion swiftly made his way to the VIP section of the Gala. That area and the pathway leading up to it were marked off by rows of gold stanchions connected by red rope. Around half of the ponies in the VIP section were Wonderbolts. Most of the other half appeared to be members of the Canterlot Elite, but there were a few notable exceptions.

Noble Edict, Copper Hollow, and Cashew Lane were standing at one table in the back. Noble's status as a Lady had earned her VIP status, and Copper and Cashew had been allowed entrance to the VIP section simply for being in her company. Presently, the three of them were chatting with two of the Wonderbolts.

Bronze Star could have gone into the VIP section if he wished to, but he felt the non-VIPs deserved some attention, as well. So instead, he spent some time shaking hooves and exchanging introductions with the ponies gathered outside the VIP section. Every pony he spoke to was very courteous to him.

Before long, Soarin showed up. In his mouth, he still held the apple pie Applejack had sold him. When he reached the edge of the VIP section, his superior officer – Captain Spitfire – landed in front of him and cockily observed "Always hungry after a show. Eh, Soarin?"

"Heh. Yeah!" Soarin bluntly affirmed. When he talked, he opened his mouth just wide enough for his pie to slip out. He gasped and shouted in despair "My pie!"

Luckily for him, Rainbow Dash was very close-by. She flew through the air with her front hooves extended. She dove in front of Soarin and caught his pie just before it could touch the ground.

As the cyan mare rose back up into the air, Soarin grinned at her and uttered gratefully "You saved it. Thanks."

"Hey, no prob," Rainbow Dash asserted, giving him back the pie.

Bronze Star was quite amused by how melodramatic that scene had been. He gazed around at the crowds and humorously yelled "It's alright, folks! No cause for alarm! The crisis has been averted!"

That earned a number of laughs from the ponies in the vicinity. Rainbow Dash snickered a bit, as well. As she set back down on the ground, she remarked sardonically "Very funny, Bronze."

Spitfire then stepped closer to the cyan mare and proclaimed "Hey! I know you. You're the pony that saved us in Cloudsdale and won The Best Flyer Competition."

"Hay yeah!" Rainbow proudly confirmed "Name's Rainbow Dash."

"Well, Rainbow Dash. Looks like your skills saved us again," Spitfire perceived, "Oh, well, at least they saved Soarin's apple pie."

Soarin had set his pie down on the ground in front of him. Now he was greedily scarfing it down. Between his large bites, he mumbled "Yeah..."

"Lovely," Bronze Star commented, a little disturbed by the Wonderbolt's etiquette. Or lack thereof.

While her lieutenant was gorging himself, Spitfire asked Rainbow Dash "Wanna come hang out with us?"

"Sure," the weather maker casually responded, "Why not?"

As Spitfire, Misty Fly, Fleetfoot, and a few more members of the Wonderbolts passed into the VIP section, Rainbow Dash followed them close behind. She stood at the entrance of the section and whispered elatedly "I'm... hanging... with the... Wonderbolts!"

She squealed like a fangirl and galloping into the VIP section, giggling all the while.

Bronze Star lingered in that area for a few minutes more. At one point, he noticed Haywood McCrank was at another table with Iron Claymore, the director of the Intelligence Bureau. The two stallions seemed deeply engaged in conversation. Every now and then, Sir Haywood marginally turned his head towards another direction. It was as though something other than his boss had caught his attention.

Bronze Star soon realized what it was. The six staffers who had been selected to represent the six companies of the Manehattan-based and Canterlot-based conglomerates were gathered around another table. They did not appear to be demonstrating any suspicious behavior. Even so, Bronze Star knew Sir Haywood was not going to stop watching the staffers until he was absolutely certain they were not working for the Vermane. The gold stallion just hoped the indigo stallion would not obsess over that theory or drive himself mad with it.

Since the merger between the conglomerates would not be made until after midnight, Bronze Star felt he could wait until later to speak with the staffers.

About five minutes later, the prince went back inside the Castle. He decided to stop by the ballroom next. On his way there, he encountered Dapple Rhomb and Rough Rider at the buffet table. The purple mare was treating herself to a bowl of pickled beets, a block of parmesan cheese, and a strawberry éclair. Even more intriguing was the fact that she was eating all three at once.

The olive stallion was just a few feet away from her. He was in the middle of a conversation with three ponies whom Bronze Star recognized as local entrepreneurs. Evidently, Rough Rider was trying to convince those ponies to allow him to sell their goods in other cities. Based on their facial expressions, he was very close to getting them to agree to a deal.

Bronze Star went to the ballroom next. Dozens of ponies were in that room. Most of them were in pairs or trios. A lot of these ponies, Bronze Star was acquainted with.

He spotted Billow Health speaking with Purple Heart. The two physicians could have been discussing medicine, their favorite cases, or their personal lives. Whatever the subject of their talk was, they were both quite engrossed in the conversation.

The five chiefs of the War Council could be found in various parts of the ballroom. In one spot, there was Haute Cuisine, the Castle's head chef. In another spot, there was Wood Reaper, the royal carpenter. Several of the Royal Guard were present, as well. Those included Comet Frost, Hammer Shaft, Swiftdrive, Stone Cracker, and Blade Bearer.

In the very back of the room, Bronze Star saw his cousin, Princess Cadence, sitting with Shining Armor, the Captain of the Royal Guard. If one looked closely, one could see that the two of them were holding hooves.

At the far end of the room there was a stage. On it there four musicians playing calm, gentle music that nicely complemented the formal ambiance of the Gala.

Frederick Horseshoepin was on the piano, Parish Nandermane was on the harp, Beauty Brass was on the sousaphone, and Octavia Melody was on the cello. Together they formed perhaps the most acclaimed classical quartet in Equestria.

It was rumored that Octavia was just as fond of modern music, as well. This was primarily attributed to her friendship with Vinyl Scratch, a renowned disc jockey from Ponyville. Some suggested that the two mares were more than just friends, but again, that was just a rumor.

Nopony was dancing yet. Bronze Star found that odd; the aura was very ideal for slow dancing. Then again, the night was still pretty young. There would be plenty of time for dancing later on. For now, he figured that the guests could just enjoy the other forms of merriment the Gala had to offer.

Bronze Star chose to stand near the door and listen to the music for a while. At the same time, he observed the other guests as they interacted with each other. The setting was very soothing and serene.

A couple minutes later, Pinkie Pie sauntered into the ballroom. Bronze Star grinned and muttered "Hey, Pinkie. I was wondering when I'd see you. Where have you been?"

"I've been looking for the ballroom, Bronze," the pink mare illuminated, "I don't suppose you can tell me where it is?"

"You just entered it," the gold stallion slyly notified her.

Pinkie Pie examined her surroundings, and her mood instantly shifted from curious to enthusiastic. She uttered through barely-contained elation "The shiny dance floor... The pretty party ponies... Ooh, the fancy band... Shiny! Pretty! Fancy!"

Unable to hold back her glee any longer, she shrieked "GOTTA DANCE!"

As the pink mare bolted into the ballroom, Bronze Star mumbled anxiously "Oh, dear."

Pinkie Pie bounced all over the room as she sang in delight:

"I'm at the Grand Galloping Gala,

I'm at the Grand Galloping Gala,

I'm at the Grand Galloping Gala,

It's all I ever dreamed.

It's all I ever dreamed, woo hoo!

It's all I ever dreamed, yippee!

I'm at the Grand Galloping GalaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

When she finished that high note, she realized that nopony else was behaving as rambunctiously as she was. She had drawn a large number of stares from the other guests. Most of them were glaring at her in annoyance or fury. A certain few pitied her for making a complete fool of herself in public.

Pinkie Pie nervously slunk over to the side of the ballroom and quietly uttered "It's all I've ever... dreamed?"

Normally, Bronze Star would have cringed in discomfort at such a display. But he felt the Gala could use some of Pinkie Pie's spirit. It would certainly liven things up. Even so, he was compelled to intervene on Pinkie's behalf. Once the pink mare was out of the ballroom, he announced "Please excuse her, everypony. She's very drunk."

Again, the prince produced a large amount of laughter from the guests. Moreover, that statement made most of them view Pinkie's actions as more comical than disturbing. They could actually understand and even somewhat excuse her behavior if she was inebriated. After all, it was likely that many of them would be more than a little wasted by the end of the Gala, as well.

"Nice save, Your Highness," a husky voice addressed Bronze Star from his side.

Bronze Star turned his head and saw that he had been approached by Blade Bearer. He smirked and remarked "Thanks, Blade. I just hope Pinkie won't get 'drunk' again."

"If you'd like, I could watch her and ensure that she doesn't 'drink,'" Blade Bearer proposed.

"I appreciate the offer," Bronze Star contended, "But Pinkie's tougher to control than you might think. No, you can let her be. Just make sure she doesn't hurt anypony."

"I will," Blade Bearer assured him. There was a short interval of silence, and then the light brown Unicorn leaned closer to the gold Alicorn and mentioned "While I'm here, I must have a word with you, Your Highness."

Bronze Star turned to face the Royal Guard and queried "About what?"

"A certain event that happened in Ponyville," Blade Bearer clarified.

Bronze Star frowned and uttered crossly "Blade, I thought we agreed never to speak of the train massacre outside of Ponyville."

"I'm not talking about the train massacre," Blade Bearer apprised him.

Now Bronze Star was intrigued. "Then what are you talking about?"

Blade Bearer cautiously gazed over his shoulders, as though he was worried that somepony may have been eavesdropping. When he was certain that nopony was listening, he told the prince "It's Sir Haywood. He may be hiding something."

…

Back in Chicacolt, the fifth and final phase of Bronze Star's plan to purge the assassination conspiracy was well underway.

After Esopus Spitzenburg, Ambit Dexter, and Raoul Jowl entered the mansion, the members of the Firebrand Regiment busied themselves with securing the building's exterior. Each one of them handled a different task.

Firstly, Ruger distributed communicators to the others. These were the communicators that were the size of a thumbtack and could be inserted into one's ear. Although the earpieces could be locked in place, they could be removed from the ear without any difficulty, as well.

Once everypony was wearing his or her communicator, SIG Sauer ordered everypony to carry out their duties. As they dispersed, Ruger reminded everypony that they could safely move everywhere within twelve meters of the mansion. But it was imperative that they did not stray any further than that, lest they be picked up by the motion detector system.

Although there were only ten of them, the Regiment was able to effectively surround the mansion.

Beretta stood at the westernmost point of the safe zone. There she assembled her firing apparatus, and after loading a projectile into the chamber, she glimpsed through the scope and aimed it at the mansion's front door. From that position, she had an excellent view of the entire western side of the building. She was primarily focused on the front door. Although the plan was to make the conspirators' deaths look like accidents, the Regiment could not afford to take any chances. If the situation called for it, Beretta was prepared to shoot anypony who came out that door. Unless, of course, it was Lord Ambit Dexter or Sir Raoul Jowl.

Glock circled around the building and visually examined all the first-floor windows. He was able to verify that each of them could be blocked from the outside. Heckler flew in the air above him, and he studied the second- and third-floor windows in the same fashion. He concluded that those windows could be forced shut from the outside, as well. This meant that if the conspirators attempted to escape the building by jumping out a window, the Regiment would be able to prevent them from doing so.

Koch, Peacemaker, and Carabine stood in close proximity to the mansion's side and back entrances on the northern, southern, and eastern walls of the building. At that time, they were merely standing guard at those doors. Each of them would have another, more crucial job to do later that evening.

While everypony else was focused on the actual assignment, Ruger was instead concentrating on what would happen afterwards. Once the operation had been accomplished, the Regiment would need to make a clean getaway. Presently, Ruger was pacing the boundaries of the safe zone. She was using a device to monitor the fluctuations of the motion detector system. Once the device contained enough data about the system's rotating frequencies, she used that information to determine when the next pockets in the network would open up.

The lounge Clear Crest had spoken of earlier was in the center of the mansion's second story on the western wall. It was the largest room in the building, and the meeting between Ambit Dexter and the conspirators was taking place there.

Caracal was flying just outside the window to that room. She had taken out the device she used in Hoofington to overhear the interaction between Material Study and Raoul Jowl; the one that resembled half a stethoscope. She inserted the eartip into her right ear, and she pressed the chest piece firmly against the lower right corner of the windowpane. Then she hovered to the left of the window so that nopony on the inside would see her.

Walther flew a hundred feet over the mansion. He had a fantastic bird's-eye view of the entire retreat. From that vantage point, he could see everything and everypony for miles in every direction. If anypony else entered the vicinity, he would be the first to know. Since he was clad in black like the rest of the Regiment, none of the security guards around the perimeter could see Walther, but he could see all of them.

SIG Sauer was the only one who was still on the roof of the mansion. From there, he monitored the activities of his colleagues and the advancement of the operation. He had the Regiment's blackboard with him, and he used it to send reports of their progress to Bronze Star's blackboard often. Luckily for him, the Moon provided just enough light for him to clearly write and read messages on the blackboard.

In the lounge, there were two couches, three recliners, and a comfortable chair crowded around a coffee table. The only one of them that faced Caracal's window was the comfortable chair. Ambit Dexter had made sure to sit in the chair so that nopony else would be apt to notice the chest piece of Caracal's listening device.

Of the twenty original proponents of the assassination conspiracy, only Livewire and Material Study were unaccounted for, and both of them had been killed. All eighteen remaining conspirators were gathered in that room with Lord Ambit.

Sparker Blare, Raging Tempest, and Esopus Spitzenburg sat on the couch to the moccasin stallion's right. Lavender Dazzle, Clear Crest, and Raoul Jowl sat on the couch to his left. Wayward Woods was resting his front hooves on the back of the latter couch. Dreamcatcher, Focal Point, and Trace Amount were leaning back in the recliners. Metal Gears and Luminous Lush sat on the floor on the side of the coffee table opposite Lord Ambit's chair. Shuffleboard was pacing behind Spitzenburg's couch. Alabaster Glaze was resting against the side of that same couch. Earnest Ides, Full Throttle, and Quicktrip were standing against the walls. Gloss Vale was leaning against the mantle on the fireplace.

The meeting between Commodore Dexter and the conspirators had already been going on for over an hour and a-half. So far, the majority of their conversation had been composed of formal introductions, and overviewing the outline for how Bronze Star's "uprising" would occur. Lord Ambit had spent the past week drafting summaries for how each of the conspirators would aid Bronze Star once he took the throne. Each of the conspirators represented a different industry, so each one would be responsible for overseeing the productivity and loyalty of his or her respective industry. They would also be given the authority to ratify and uphold certain laws on Bronze Star's behalf.

All of Lord Ambit's summaries were fake, of course, but they made Bronze Star's plan seem all the more believable. Even so, none of them would ever be enacted.

At the start of the meeting, most of the conspirators were uncertain of the concept of an alliance with Bronze Star. In fact, only Sparker Blare, Raging Tempest, and Esopus Spitzenburg were totally willing to listen. The other conspirators decided to follow the ringleaders' example and hear the Commodore out.

Metal Gears, Gloss Vale, Shuffleboard, and Focal Point had served in various branches of the military. Their enduring respect for Commodore Dexter won them over easily. The others, however, needed more persuading.

Luminous Lush, Alabaster Glaze, Dreamcatcher, and Earnest Ides were uncertain about the concept of serving on Bronze Star's council; all of them had always been much more socially active than politically active.

Full Throttle, Trace Amount, Quicktrip, and Wayward Woods had been secretly involved in illegitimate activities for a long time. They were concerned that if their illegal doings became public, they would risk hurting both themselves and Bronze Star's new administration.

Lavender Dazzle and Clear Crest were definitely the hardest to convince. The former was widely recognized as an outspoken opponent of Celestia, and the latter had been a fugitive from justice for nearly eight years. To both of those mares, the idea of this sort of change almost sounded too good to be the real deal.

Raoul Jowl was the only real ally Lord Ambit had there. His contribution to the conversation garnered a lot of support from the other conspirators. If it was not for him, the Commodore might not have been able to earn their trust.

Every now and then, the cerise stallion removed his metal canister from his sling, opened it up, and took a swig of brandy. Some of his colleagues were perplexed that he had taken up drinking. Esopus Spitzenburg had already informed the other conspirators that Sir Raoul had been in Bronze Star's protection for the past nine months, and he only had three federal marshals for company. Sir Raoul claimed that the drinking had helped him deal with the feeling of loneliness.

As strange as that may have sounded, the other conspirators did nothing to protest Raoul Jowl's new habit. After all, he only drank enough to ease his nerves; he never consumed enough to become intoxicated. What really mattered was that Spitzenburg and the others had allowed Sir Raoul to hold on to his canister. There were a few things besides brandy in that container, and later on, those things would be vital to the completion of Bronze Star's plans.

By the time the meeting reached the end of its second hour, Ambit Dexter had managed to sway the opinions of all of the conspirators in his favor. Clear Crest and a couple of the more cautious ponies were still a little skeptical, but they decided this would be a chance worth taking.

Although all of the conspirators were now on the same page as Lord Ambit, they all still had their guard up. While the Firebrand Regiment was responsible for ensuring that the conspirators did not leave the mansion, the Commodore and Sir Raoul would be personally responsible for ensuring that the conspirators would perish that night. Until they lowered their guard, that would have to wait.

Fortunately, Ambit Dexter still had plenty of subject matter, all of which was somehow relevant to the topics they been discussing throughout the meeting. For the past two hours, he had been doing most of the talking and answering of questions. There were a few questions of his own that he wanted answers for. One issue in particular had been bugging him since he first learned of the assassination conspiracy's existence.

Ambit Dexter sat up in his comfortable chair and announced "There's something that's been on my mind for a while now. For the sake of my curiosity, would you mind telling me what inspired you to begin this conspiracy in the first place?"

Although he had not been looking at any specific pony when he made that query, it was clearly directed towards Esopus Spitzenburg. Interestingly, more than half of the conspirators seemed to share Lord Ambit's inquisitiveness.

Shuffleboard ceased his pacing and pronounced "I'd like to know that, too, Esopus."

Ambit Dexter raised an eyebrow and assumed "You don't know?"

"Well, I don't," Luminous Lush commented.

"Neither do I," Full Throttle disclosed.

"I doubt any of us do," Metal Gears supposed.

"That may be the case," Raging Tempest coincided. He turned to the jade stallion and remarked "Ever since this thing began, you've kept me and Sparker in the loop on everything else, Esopus. Yet even we don't know what led you to begin this scheme."

"You know my motivations and intentions," Esopus Spitzenburg contended.

"Yes, yes, you wished to instill some type of change on Equestria," Sparker Blare recounted, wrapping his right front leg around his side of the couch, "But you never told us how you got the idea to bring about that change through those attacks. I think you owe it to all of us to explain that much."

"I concur," Wayward Woods remarked. Many of the others murmured in agreement.

Esopus Spitzenburg was astonished at how all of his colleagues had suddenly developed such a keen interest in a topic that they had never expressed much interest in before. Given how adamant they were, he could not avoid addressing this issue. After about a minute of silence, he sighed and declared "Now would be as good a time as any to tell you. Truth be told, I wasn't the one who first thought of this conspiracy. It was originally Clear Crest's idea."

With the notable exception of Lavender Dazzle, everypony else seemed stunned to hear that. All eyes were on the onyx mare.

"It was?" Raoul Jowl muttered in bewilderment.

"Yes," Clear Crest candidly confirmed, "But only the idea was mine. Esopus was and always has been in charge of everything else."

"I think they want a more thorough explanation than that, Clear," Lavender Dazzle hypothesized.

"'They?'" Gloss Vale noted, "You don't share our curiosity, Lavender?"

"I already know," the electric violet Unicorn revealed, "Like the rest of you, I was instrumental in making Clear Crest's idea happen, but only she can take credit for its inception."

Wayward Woods placed his front hoof on Clear Crest's shoulder and proposed "Then perhaps she can explain how her thoughts led us to where we are now."

Clear Crest gazed around the room at her colleagues and Ambit Dexter. She looked at Raoul Jowl last. She could tell that even her former flame yearned to learn the truth.

Ultimately, the onyx mare merely shrugged and stated "Alright. I'll enlighten you all."

She paused for a minute, and then she elucidated:

"As you all know, I've been on the run for the last seven years. My training as a Royal Guard enabled me to take care of myself. I was able to survive whilst totally independent from society. But I could do little more than survive. The wilderness was the only place I could go without fear of being watched. Sometimes I was forced to go to a public place, and every time I did, I ran the risk of being apprehended by the authorities. You must understand; in the eyes of the common people, I was nothing but a renegade and a criminal. Based on popular opinion, you would think I was a terrorist. I could put up with it for a while. But three years ago, I made it to my hometown of Nanbucket. I asked a few of the locals about my family, and based on their accounts, my parents were telling their neighbors that they only had two children: my younger brother and sister. I asked those neighbors if they were certain my parents did not have a grown daughter, and they told me they were certain of that. That was how poorly I was viewed; even my parents wanted nothing to do with me.

"When I realized that, I was overcome with tremendous rage. All I had ever done was protect the Canterlot Royalty and the people of Equestria. In exchange, they treated me like dirt. Less than dirt, actually. At least normal ponies are mindful of when they stand on dirt. When my name was trodden on, nopony gave a mule's flank. But I digress. After I discovered how low I had become in status, I felt a tremendous thirsting for blood. I wanted to kill everypony who I believed had wronged me. Of course, if I did that, only foals and felons would have been left. Before I could harm anypony, I realized that the true injustice was in how I had been treated before I escaped from the authorities. I considered the possibility that there would be a better solution to my predicament in remedying that problem.

"Eventually, I overcame my desire to murder a significant percentage of Equestria's population. However, I did not turn away from that thought altogether. I speculated that if the right number of ponies died under the right circumstances, the damage that had been done to my reputation could be undone. Moreover, nopony else would ever be a victim of that same injustice. Theoretically, the entire country could be reformed into a better place. That's when I developed my philosophy: sacrifice a few so that the many can prosper."

"That was when she sought me out," Lavender Dazzle took over for the onyx mare, "Even back then, I was universally recognized as one of the most eloquent critics of Princess Celestia's rule. During her exile, Clear Crest had come to share my beliefs, and her newfound outlook on life made her believe that I could help her with her new goal. When she first approached me, I was hesitant. Although I have always been a very controversial person, I didn't have any warrants for my arrest. Whereas she did. However, I was impressed by how much risk Clear Crest took to reach out to me. That alone spoke volumes about how committed she was to her objective. It didn't take her long to gain my attention and my trust."

"Once I had them, Lavender and I started devising various strategies for how we would work towards this goal," Clear Crest disclosed, "Needless to say, she and I did not have the means to accomplish it by ourselves. We were just two mares. One of us was being observed by the government; the other was hiding from it. So we decided to increase the size of our group. Even though we had laid the foundation for the conspiracy, neither of us felt qualified to lead it. As such, the first thing we focused on was finding an idyllic leader. Lavender really proved her resourcefulness there; she knew just about every pony in Equestria who shared our principles. From them, she drew up a list of prospects for potential associates. Out of all of them, we deemed Esopus Spitzenburg to be the most favorable individual to lead us."

"Now's when I finally entered the picture," Spitzenburg announced, sitting up in his chair, "They scheduled an appointment with me at my office. At the time, I only knew Lavender Dazzle and Clear Crest through their reputations. Like she said before, Lavender's ideals have always been quite similar to mine. I had been interested in meeting her for a long time. Clear Crest, however, I was uncertain of. I'm sure you can imagine why. Anyway, despite my skepticism, I agreed to speak with them.

"When they first came to me, I admit I was astounded by their proposal," he continued after a brief pause, "Their objectives were very practical and appealing, but the concept of attaining them through mass murder were not. However, it was not the concept itself that unsettled me. It was the policy of going through with such a thing. I mean, plotting to commit genocide was one thing. It was another entirely to actually do it. All the same, Clear Crest made some very compelling arguments. Deep down, I myself already knew that the most effective way to reform the country was to reset it. In other words, we would have to inflict a small amount of damage to the country in effort to preserve the larger majority of it. That would be the best way to eliminate Princess Celestia. Clear Crest did nothing to influence my opinion on that issue; she just helped me to admit it."

"By the end of that discussion, Esopus had coincided to be the conspiracy's leader," Lavender Dazzle disclosed, "Everything gradually fell into place from there. We knew we would need enough ponies to keep our schemes strong and alive, but we had to avoid bringing in so many ponies that we would be unable to safely keep track of everything. In the end, we settled on twenty."

"Lavender and Esopus selected Raging Tempest and Sparker Blare to be the secondary heads of the conspiracy," Clear Crest remarked, "The four of them picked out most of the other members. But there were a few names that I put forward."

"Was I one of them?" Raoul Jowl presumed.

Clear Crest smirked at the cerise stallion and muttered cheekily "Yes, you were. You were actually my top recommendation. After all, I know what you're capable of. In every capacity."

That statement drew a number of chuckles. Raoul Jowl narrowed his eyes at his ex-lover, sipped a bit of his brandy, and remarked "I hope you're not saying my 'prowess' was the only reason you brought me into this affair."

"Relax; it wasn't," Clear Crest asserted, "Even so, I didn't hide our old relationship from Esopus. That's the reason why you didn't have one of those magic poster boards like the rest of us. He didn't want to risk causing an unpleasant encounter between you and me."

"That makes sense," Raoul Jowl thought aloud, "However, from what I recall, Material Study didn't receive a poster board, either."

"Well, he was different from the rest of us," Lavender Dazzle debated, "I don't think he ever truly believed in our cause. He was just looking to earn some profit."

"Then why did you recruit him?" Raoul Jowl queried.

"We believed his expertise in chemical warfare would be invaluable," Sparker Blare illuminated, "It's almost a shame he didn't survive; his skills could have benefited the new Equestria's defenses."

"Well, according to what Prince Bronze Star told Esopus, Material Study tried to rat us out," Raging Tempest recalled, "So I suppose it's for the best that he died."

"I couldn't agree more," Raoul Jowl pronounced, lifting his canister of brandy up to his lips again. As he took another drink, he grinned wickedly. Nopony else there knew that Sir Raoul had been the one who got Material Study to stop breathing.

There came a short interval of quietness, and then Ambit Dexter turned to Clear Crest and uttered "This is all extremely fascinating. There is one aspect of your explanation that perturbs me. You are basically saying that this whole conspiracy is the product of a fervent longing for murder?"

"No, Lord Ambit," Clear Crest refuted, "The conspiracy stemmed from a 'fervent longing' for vengeance."

"Vengeance for what?" the moccasin stallion inquired.

"The way I was treated after I was arrested," the onyx mare bitterly clarified, "I hadn't even been convicted yet, but everypony acted as though I had been. Even my fellow officers of the Royal Guard – people who had previously regarded me as a close, personal friend for many years – had turned their backs on me. I wanted them to pay for that."

Lord Ambit raised an eyebrow and murmured "You wanted them to pay for doing their jobs?"

"I wanted them to pay for doing their jobs wrong," Clear Crest glumly expounded.

"What did they do wrong?" Ambit Dexter asked in bafflement.

"They apprehended the wrong pony," Clear Crest proclaimed.

Ambit Dexter rolled his eyes and mumbled "I suppose you're going to insist that you were innocent of that crime?"

"I am," Clear Crest pronounced, "We're not hiding any secrets here, Commodore. What would I have to gain by lying to you about this?"

"That story would make your motives for beginning the conspiracy seem more understandable, and you could make other ponies more sympathetic to your cause," Lord Ambit contended.

Clear Crest inhaled and exhaled very deeply. Then she commented sternly "That is a rational perspective, my lord. However, consider the following: I have just admitted to being the mind behind this entire conspiracy's existence. I will not deny the role I played in organizing so many terrorist attacks against Equestria. I will claim responsibility for the Hoovston disaster. I will even confess that I was the first one to suggest assassinating Princess Celestia. But this I will swear until the day I die: I was not the one who sent those thugs after Shining Armor."

"Then who was?" Ambit Dexter enquired.

"I don't know," Clear Crest firmly murmured, "But I promise you; I had nothing to do with it. Please don't question my word."

Ambit Dexter reflected on everything the former officer of the Royal Guard had just told him. He gazed off at the wall for a couple minutes, and then he turned back to Clear Crest and stated "As strange as this may sound… I believe you."

The Commodore was not alone. Every pony there was wondering if Clear Crest actually had been framed for the crime that had ruined her life. That included the pony outside the lounge's window.

Caracal had been listening to the entire conversation. Like the rest of the Firebrand Regiment, she had always been certain of Clear Crest's guilt. Now, even she was beginning to doubt it. So much so that she decided to voice her apprehension to SIG Sauer later on.

…

Whenever Bronze Star was given very secretive information, he always handled it very carefully. However, the way he handled it varied by how sensitive the information was. Sometimes he could share the information with everypony who worked at Canterlot Castle. More often than not, he could only share it with Lord Bellerophon or the Firebrand Regiment. On certain ocassins, he could only trust himself to keep the information safe. There were also times when he did not know who could be trusted with the information.

His last encounter with Blade Bearer was one of those times. The light brown stallion had some rather intriguing news to share with the prince about Sir Haywood McCrank. It was neither enlightening nor definitive, but it was somewhat accusatory. It made Bronze Star wonder if Sir Haywood had been withholding something from him all along, despite everything they had been through.

Haywood McCrank had always been something of an oddity; his flippant behavior, capricious mannerisms, and unconventional techniques had distinguished him from everypony around him. Not all of these distinctions were favorable.

All the same, Bronze Star never doubted that regardless of how mad Sir Haywood may have seemed, there was always a method to his madness. Now, he had to wonder if at times, his madness had no real meaning. What if Sir Haywood was just plain mad?

Initially, Bronze Star refused to even consider that as a possibility. He had known Haywood for more than half of his life, and every time the Superintendent was summoned to investigate a case, he had never once placed his own interests above anypony else's.

Ultimately, he looked to Blade Bearer and declared "I understand that you have… reservations about Sir Haywood's actions, Blade, but I don't think this is any cause for alarm. After all, we all got out of that dilemma unharmed."

"I trust your judgement, Your Highness," the light brown stallion proclaimed, "All the same, perhaps we should confront Sir Haywood about this matter."

"If it would set your mind at ease, I'll do it," Bronze Star coincided.

"Then whenever you approach Sir Haywood, I would like to join you," Blade Bearer requested.

The gold stallion raised an eyebrow and presumed "You actually think Haywood would try to hurt me?"

"No, but I would hate to risk it," the Royal Guard officer contended, "Whatever the situation, your safety is always my top priority."

"Very well," was all the prince said in response.

Bronze Star lingered in the ballroom for close to an hour. He spoke with almost everypony there. Those ponies included Wood Reaper, Haute Cuisine, Purple Heart, Billow Health, Hammer Shaft, Comet Frost, Stone Cracker, Swiftdrive, and the Chiefs on the War Council.

Before he left, he noticed Pinkie Pie had reentered the ballroom. She was sitting by herself at a table on the side of the room. She seemed depressed. That was mostly due to the fact that the Gala was not as thrilling as she had expected it to be.

Bronze Star decided to just let her be. Maybe the pink mare would eventually come to appreciate the Gala's version of having fun, even though it was a much more mellow form of fun.

When the prince left the ballroom, he revisited the other areas of the Castle that had been reserved for the Gala. He passed through them in the reverse order that he had first gone through them. Blade Bearer accompanied him for his protection. Not just because of Sir Haywood, but because there were always plenty of unpredictable individuals at the Gala.

Dapple Rhomb and Rough Rider were still at the buffet table. The purple mare had managed to appease her cravings. At least for then; she predicted it would not be long before her unborn foal's appetite returned. The olive stallion was no longer trying to do business with the other attendees. Instead, he was conversing with some fellow salesponies. However long they had been talking, the others must have come to like Rough Rider; they had invited him to join their guild. Membership in that guild would enable him to enhance the quality of his products and optimize his profits. He claimed he would need some time to consider their offer, but he already felt obligated to accept it.

Bronze Star was pleased to see that his secretary and her husband were enjoying the Gala.

Sadly, some of his other friends were not.

When he reentered the foyer with Blade Bearer, he saw that Princess Celestia was standing on the large stairwell, and Twilight Sparkle was still by her side. He observed them for a full ten minutes, and in all that time, the magic student tried to talk to her mentor. Alas, Celestia was so preoccupied with the receiving line that her apprentice was unable to find an opportunity to even say three words to her. Because of that, the lavender mare was visibly disgruntled.

Bronze Star then headed back to the VIP section; Blade Bearer followed him close behind. From what they could see, Noble Edict, Copper Hollow, Cashew Lane, and Haywood McCrank were deriving plenty of pleasure from the Gala's festivities, as well. When he remembered what Blade Bearer told him, he avoided stepping into Sir Haywood's field of vision. He also noticed that Copper Hollow was gazing intently at the representatives from the Manehattan-based and Canterlot-based conglomerates. Apparently, the copper stallion had come to share Haywood's qualms about the staffers.

At any rate, regardless of how restless the security officers or the federal investigator may have been, they were clearly enjoying the Gala, too.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was not. She was experiencing the same problem as Twilight; she had been unable to speak with the individuals she had come to see. The Wonderbolts were much too busy interacting with the other VIPs to give the cyan mare their attention. That was not to say she made no efforts to gain their notice; she certainly tried. But she failed all the same.

When Bronze Star returned to the courtyard, he discovered that the three remaining Element Bearers had encountered their share of disappointments, too.

Rarity had made contact with Prince Blueblood, but his behavior towards her was by no means courteous. She was still patiently waiting for a gallant Unicorn prince to arrive, not knowing that prince would never come.

Fluttershy had been unable to get even close to the animals in the garden enclosure. Every time she went near them, they scurried away in fear.

When he last saw Applejack, she had nine bits in her bucket and an optimistic grin on her face. Now when he came back to her, she had nine bits in her bucket and a dismayed frown on her face. In the time since her coltfriend had left, she had been unable to make even one more additional sale.

Sir Verse A. Till and Lord Bellerophon were still near the orange mare. Verse A. Till had Bronze Star's strongbox by his left side; it was slightly ajar. He also had the prince's magic blackboard on his lap, and he was using it to communicate with SIG Sauer. In spite of the fact that Chicacolt was hundreds of miles away, it only took seconds for a statement to be passed between those two blackboards. Sir Verse was using his magic aura to rapidly write down the words, phrases, and sentences for each message. After thoroughly reading the response to each message, he swiftly erased it and began to compose the next message.

Sir Verse had been sitting against one of the two stone pillars that Applejack had set up her booth in-between. Lord Bellerophon was leaning against that same pillar to the right of the glaucous stallion. He was standing in such a way that he could read over Sir Verse's shoulder, but he could also ensure that nopony else got close enough to sneak a peek at the contents of the blackboard. Every few minutes, Applejack looked over at them, as though she was hoping for some huge update on the Firebrand Regiment's progress.

When Bronze Star got to within ten meters of the three ponies, he turned to Blade Bearer and told him "Please remain here, Blade. I must speak with Lord Bellerophon, Sir Verse, and Applejack about a private affair."

"As you say, Your Highness," the light brown Unicorn avowed, saluting the prince and holding his ground.

As Bronze Star approached Applejack, Bellerophon, and Verse A. Till, all three ponies demonstrated a change in their posture. The palomino Pegasus stood up straight, the glaucous Unicorn rose to his hooves, and the orange Earth Pony stopped slouching and even became a little gladdened by her coltfriend's reappearance.

When the gold Alicorn was within reaching distance of the three of them, he inquired "What news from Chicacolt?"

"Your plan seems to be goin' smoothly," Applejack apprised him, "Not a single hitch so far."

"Lord Ambit and Sir Raoul made contact with the other seventeen conspirators shortly after you went inside, Your Highness," Bellerophon elaborated, "The Firebrand Regiment has the mansion completely surrounded and blocked off. Based on their reports, Spitzenburg and his associates do not suspect a thing."

"Excellent," Bronze Star mumbled in approval, "How long until they'll be able to execute the last act of my plan?"

"Strictly speaking, they've been ready to do so for nearly a half-hour, Your Highness," Verse A. Till proclaimed, "They're just waiting for two things: the best opportunity to strike, and your authorization to proceed."

"Tell them they have it," Bronze Star firmly declared, "As soon as the most ideal opportunity presents itself, they are to implement the final part of my plan. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

Verse A. Till gravely nodded his head and used the blackboard to write a very concise and unambiguous message to SIG Sauer. Not ten seconds after that statement vanished, SIG Sauer sent back a response confirming that the Regiment had received the order, and that they were about to carry it out.

There was nothing more Bronze Star or anypony else in his company could do to further his plan. The outcome of this scenario was left entirely in the hooves of Ambit Dexter, Raoul Jowl, and the ten ponies of the Firebrand Regiment.

Although Bronze Star, Applejack, Verse A. Till, and Bellerophon were far away from Chicacolt, they felt as tense and apprehensive as Sir Raoul, Lord Ambit, and the members of the Regiment must have felt. Even so, they were unwilling to wait in silence until they heard back from SIG Sauer. As such, they decided to talk to each other.

Verse A. Till looked to Bronze Star and pronounced "Your Highness, I don't mean to pry, but when I opened your strongbox to get your blackboard, I found this in it, as well."

At that, he leaned down to Bronze Star's strongbox, opened the lid, and removed a length of cloth. It was actually a type of cloak, similar to the one Bronze Star was wearing right then. However, this cloak was much more unique. Its outside was between light tan and yellow, and Its inside was greyish-black. Its lining was white, and its collar could be fastened with a platinum brooch.

"Would you mind telling me what this is?" Verse A. Till requested, "It looks so familiar, like I've seen a picture of it in a book."

Bronze Star smiled, stepped forward, placed his hoof on the center of the rare cloak, and proudly informed the sword-bearing stallion "That, Sir Verse, would be the Shroud of Valor."

Verse A. Till seemed astonished by that revelation. He gazed at the garment in fascination and murmured "I have heard of this. It's a legendary artifact from the old days of Equestria. How did you come to acquire it, Your Highness?"

It was Applejack who provided the explanation: "When we put Nightmare Moon down, the Elements of Harmony were mainly to thank for that. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and I were the ones who wielded them and harnessed their power. However, the Shroud of Valor was what made that possible. If it was not for Bronze Star, the six of us would have burned to death. His act of bravery summoned the Shroud of Valor, and it saved seven ponies, including Princess Luna."

Verse A. Till rubbed his chin and professed "I already knew the Elements of Harmony were back in Equestria. I was unaware The Shroud of Valor had returned, as well. If I was not actually seeing it and holding it myself at this very moment, I would never have even believed in its existence. Right now, I'm nothing short of amazed."

"Feel free to fawn over it as much as you'd like, Sir Verse," Bronze Star wryly commented, removing his cloak from the Shroud of Valor, "Just be sure to return it to me by the end of the night. Oh, and don't forget to continue checking the blackboard for any further reports from the Regiment."

"Understood, Your Highness," the glaucous stallion conceded, acknowledging all of the prince's commands.

As Verse A. Till became absorbed with examining and studying the Shroud of Valor, Bronze Star shifted his attention to Applejack.

He smirked, leaned against the front of the farmer's booth, and sardonically asked her "So, how's the apple-selling industry?"

"Business ain't exactly boomin', if you know what I mean," Applejack answered with a grimace, "But I'm not going to let a minor setback discourage me. I just have to find a way to attract more customers."

"Maybe this will help," Bronze Star conjectured. He took in a deep breath, placed his front hooves around his mouth, and shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice "OH MY, LORD; THESE APPLES ARE TASTY!"

Applejack, Bellerophon, and Verse A. Till barely had enough time to cover their ears. Everypony else in the vicinity had no time at all. Even those of them that were hard of hearing could discern all seven of those words.

Bronze Star had expected that that declaration would send everypony galloping. It did, but not in the direction he had intended. Everypony moved away from the booth, not towards it.

Applejack was both irritated and amused by her coltfriend's exclamation. She turned to him and cockily stated "Well, at least they've all noticed my stand. Now I just need to convince them that what I have to offer is worth the possibility of going a little deaf."

"What if I brought Rough Rider out here?" Bronze Star proposed, "He could sell your products for you."

"No, using a middlepony is too complicated and expensive," Applejack professed. She then developed a devious smirk on her fact, and she muttered "Actually, I have a ploy that may work. Watch this."

A few meters away, Star Gazer and Fine Line were talking and trotting at the same time. They did not seem to be watching where they were going; their eyes were mostly shut. They were headed directly towards Applejack's booth, but neither of them seemed to be paying it any mind. When they reached Blade Bearer, they split up. Fine Line turned to her left and went to speak with another acquaintance. Star Gazer continued towards Applejack's stand.

She ducked behind the booth and waited until Star Gazer got a little closer. Then she shoved a bunch of apples onto the ground in front of her stand. When Star Gazer reached her booth, he stumbled over the apples and tripped. Applejack hastily helped him to his hooves, and as she did so, she drew his attention to her products. Unfortunately, Star Gazer did not seem the least bit interested in any of them; he was too aggravated by having been tripped. He scolded Applejack for her carelessness and promptly continued on his way.

"Damn," Applejack uttered in frustration.

Bronze Star was partly compelled to make a witty remark, but when he saw how upset his fillyfriend was, he decided to hold his tongue. So he just stayed silent as he helped her gather up her apples off the ground and return them to their original places on her stand.

After that, Applejack retook her position at the back of the stand. She rested her front legs against the surface of the counter and let out a heavy sigh. For several minutes, she hardly made any other movements; she merely remained in that stance.

Bronze Star stood idly by on the other side of the stand. He watched as the other ponies in the courtyard mingled with each other. Many of them seemed to be on a date. That was not surprising; the Grand Galloping Gala was regarded by many as the epitome of great dates. In a way, Applejack was Bronze Star's date, even though they had not done anything to suggest that they were there as a couple.

At least not yet.

After he got his fill of observing the other guests, Bronze Star turned back to the booth. Applejack was still bent over it, her face conveying an expression of insecurity and uneasiness. At first, Bronze Star assumed that was attributed to the poor luck she had been having with her sales.

"It'll be alright," Bronze Star said in assurance, "Somepony's bound to buy another of your products. And if worse comes to worst, I'll purchase your entire inventory."

Applejack lightly smiled at her coltfriend for a moment, but then her smile dropped, and she lowered her head and uttered "No, I don't want you to feel obligated to do that just so I can make some cash. Besides… I wasn't thinking about my sales."

"Then what were you thinking about?" Bronze Star inquired in interest.

The orange mare slowly looked up at the gold stallion, and she revealed "I was thinking about what Lord Ambit said earlier. You know, about a certain title, and the likelihood of me acquiring it in the future."

"Oh…" Bronze Star muttered in acknowledgement. After an awkward pause, he looked up at the sky and quizzically commented "You're still fixated on that, huh?"

"Yeah," Applejack bluntly affirmed, "I realize that I'm probably overreacting again. But the way Ambit Dexter implied how things between us would ultimately turn out… He kinda freaked me out."

"You're not saying you would hate it if our… affiliation ever got that far, are you?" Bronze Star asked in concern.

"No, of course not," Applejack disclosed, "It's just… the Commodore sounded so certain that you and I would end up in a committed relationship. It was as though he thought that there would be no other outcome for us."

"Well, the Commodore isn't well-known for having excellent foresight," Bronze Star apprised her, "However, he is not one to make premature assessments, either. If he seems genuinely confident that something may happen, there is a strong chance that it may occur."

That statement seemed to make Applejack a little more restless. That did not go unnoticed by her coltfriend. Bronze Star queried "Does that bother you?"

"No, but…" she tentatively began.

"But?" he beckoned her to go on.

Applejack released a heavy sigh, and she stated "You remember the day our relationship began? You directly addressed all the possible ways it would turn out. That included the possibility of commitment. As I recall, you did not sugarcoat anything; you told me how things would be. You even had me put on your crown, and you asked me if I would ever be willing to wear one of my own."

"If memory serves, you told me that you would," Bronze Star recounted.

"Yes, and that was the truth," Applejack proclaimed, "However, when our romantic relationship took off… I never really imagined it would bring us here."

Bronze Star seemed a little perplexed by that statement, and when Applejack noticed that, she hastily added in "I'm not saying I didn't think our relationship would ever last this long. I'm just sayin' I had no way of knowing that it would."

"That's a good argument," Bronze Star contended, "At the time, I couldn't have known, either. All the same, right now, you and I are probably as close as two ponies can be without becoming lovers. Before we cross that line, I would prefer it if we were in a more definite relationship. Do you really think there could be that sort of future between me and you?"

Almost straightaway, Applejack responded with "Yes, I seriously do. And if I have to accept a title I never wanted, then so be it. It would be worth it if it meant I got to spend the rest of my life with you. That's how much I love you, Bronze."

Bronze Star could not help but smile when he heard that. He extended his front hoof and placed it on his fillyfriend's. She smiled back and placed her other front hoof on his.

She then muttered enquiringly "What about you? Would you wish for us to wind up together?"

"Absolutely, and not just because I love you, too," Bronze Star enlightened her, "I'm twenty-five years old, AJ. In a few weeks, I'll be twenty-six. SIG Sauer was younger than that when he got married. When he was my age, Mauser had already begun to speak in complete sentences, and Alpine was on the way. SIG taught me plenty about the joys of having a family. Of course, given the longevity of my race, I'm not in any huge rush to start one any time soon. But that doesn't mean I can't. Because I want to. I really want to. I especially want to do it with somepony I love, and somepony who loves me back. I'm lucky to even have that option. Long ago, tradition would have dictated that I should marry a royal from a foreign country to strengthen the bond between our two nations. But those days have come and gone, and Equestria has no further need for such unions. Now, the law says I am allowed to wed whomever I please. That works out for me and you."

Applejack was overjoyed by that. Her gloom over her lack of sales had practically faded away. She raised her front hooves, placed them on the sides of her coltfriend's face, and pulled him in to kiss him full on the mouth. Bronze Star offered no resistance. He closed his eyes, placed his front hooves on her shoulders, and savored the sensation of her soft lips on his.

Up until then, Bellerophon, Verse A. Till, and Blade Bearer had allowed the gold stallion and the orange mare to have their personal conversation without any interruption. Now that they were making some conspicuous physical contact, Lord Bellerophon found it ideal to intervene.

He stepped forward and quietly uttered to Bronze Star "Your Highness, I must urge discretion. You're surrounded by ponies who have never seen you and Applejack together before."

Normally, Bronze Star would have heeded the palomino Pegasus's words of caution. Applejack would have typically exercised a little more restraint, too. However, at that time, they were too caught up in the moment to pay any mind to anything else.

Without even diverting his eyes from Applejack's, Bronze Star murmured "Let them see us, my lord. I don't care what they think."

"Neither do I," Applejack professed. A wicked grin appeared on her countenance, and she suggested "How about you come behind the booth?"

"I like that idea," Bronze Star said approvingly.

The gold stallion removed his hooves from his fillyfriend long enough to trot around the booth and join her. Then he wrapped his front legs around her upper body, and she wrapped her own front legs around his waist. Before either of them did anything further, Bronze Star turned to his mother's chief of staff and stated "Lord Bellerophon, would you mind…?"

He did not need to say any more. The palomino Pegasus already surmised what the prince was about to ask of him. Although he was still somewhat unsure, in the end, he just smirked and pronounced "I'll make sure nopony disturbs you. Just don't let things get too far."

"Don't worry; we're not that irresponsible, my lord," Applejack asserted.

After that, she and Bronze Star focused exclusively on each other. Then they simultaneously closed their eyes and passionately pressed their lips together. They were locked in that position for a while, but before long, they were using more than just their mouths to get intimate.

…

When SIG Sauer was informed by Verse A. Till that the Firebrand Regiment had Bronze Star's clearance to fulfill the finishing step of the prince's plan, the pine green Unicorn had performed swiftly and accordingly. He had set the blackboard aside, crept towards the edge of the roof of the mansion, bent his head downwards, and generated a very small orb of energy with his magic aura.

The orb sailed twelve meters to the west until it was directly above Beretta's head, just before the expanse that was monitored by the motion detector system. The orb was level with the windows on the mansion's second floor. It remained in that position for about ten seconds, and then it dissipated.

Inside the mansion, very little was going on. The meeting had officially ended about twenty-five minutes ago. Dreamcatcher, Full Throttle, Trace Amount, Focal Point, and Raging Tempest had decided to turn in for the night. The five of them had retired to the guest bedrooms on the third floor, and they had already fallen asleep.

Everypony else was still assembled in the lounge. There was little talking amongst them; most of them were just relaxing and meditating on the situation. A few of them were considering going to bed soon, as well.

Ambit Dexter had still been sitting in the comfortable chair that faced the window to the lounge. When the orb of energy appeared outside, he was the only one who spotted it. He had been waiting three hours for that orb to appear. It was the signal to move on.

After the orb dissolved into the air, Ambit Dexter cleared his throat and announced "This has been a most fulfilling discussion. I am glad to have become affiliated with all of you. But at the moment, I am famished. Would you mind if I made myself something to eat?"

"Not at all, my Lord," Esopus Spitzenburg remarked, "The kitchen's downstairs. It's well-stocked. Help yourself to anything you'd like."

"Don't mind if I do," the moccasin stallion uttered in approval. He gathered up his files, rose out of his chair, and exited the room. The conspirators could hear his hoofsteps fade away as he trotted down the hall.

Fifteen minutes later, Raoul Jowl got up off the couch and held up his grey canister, saying "I'm going to need a refill soon. I don't suppose you have any brandy around here, Esopus?"

"There's some in the wine cellar," the elderly jade stallion apprised him, "But don't you think you've had enough, Raoul?"

"I'll compensate you for whatever I drink," Raoul Jowl proposed

"Money's not the issue," Spitzenburg murmured, "I'm more concerned for your liver."

"Oh, don't worry yourself with that," Raoul Jowl said, "I'm a social drinker at most; I know when to stop. I haven't been full-out inebriated since before I was knighted."

"Very well," Spitzenburg decided, waving his front hoof, "Go ahead and get another drink. Just make sure that whenever you go to bed, you're not staggering there."

"Okay, I will," Raoul Jowl conceded. He then placed his canister back in his sling and stepped out of the lounge. He made his way to the staircase and trotted down to the first floor. The entrance to the wine cellar was on the eastern end of the mansion. However, the cerise stallion did not go that way. Instead, he headed down a corridor that led to the northwestern corner of the building. There he stopped outside a certain door, and he lightly tapped his hoof against it three times.

The door was slowly opened by Ambit Dexter. The moccasin stallion wordlessly gestured for the cerise stallion to enter. Once Raoul Jowl was on the other side of the door, Commodore Dexter closed and locked it. Then he flipped on the lights.

The two stallions had rendezvoused in a bathroom. It may have seemed like a peculiar place for two ponies to secretly meet, especially when they were of the same gender. However, this bathroom was a strategically important location for Bronze Star's plan.

Once the lights were activated, Raoul Jowl upturned his grey canister, revealing two very tiny cylindrical devices attached to the bottom of it. These two objects were two more of the communicators that the Firebrand Regiment used to communicate. Sir Raoul and Lord Ambit each took one of the communicators and inserted them into their right ears.

Once the communicators were locked in place, Ambit Dexter uttered softly "This is Catalyst-1. Can you read us?"

Since every member of the Firebrand Regiment used an alias during one of their assignments, they had decided that Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl should temporarily have one, as well. Ambit Dexter was Catalyst-1, and Raoul Jowl was Catalyst-2. Whenever Verse A. Till was mentioned, he was referred to as Catalyst-3.

"Omicron-10 here," SIG Sauer replied, "We read you well, Catalyst-1. Is Catalyst-2 there?"

"I'm here, Omicron-10," Raoul Jowl bluntly uttered, "I assume Catalyst-3 gave us Omicron-11's permission to go on?"

"Indeed, he did," SIG Sauer disclosed, "Are you both ready?"

"Yes, we're in position," Ambit Dexter reported, "We'll proceed at your bidding."

"Noted," SIG Sauer avowed. He then announced to his colleagues: "Omicron-6, pull back. Omicron-2, Omicorn-8, be prepared to act. Omicron-3, Omicron-7, stand by. Omicron-1, Omicron-4, Omicron-5, Omicron-9, watch the building very closely."

The other nine members reacted thusly. Caracal removed her listening device from the window of the lounge and flew back up to the roof. Carabine approached the northern side of the mansion and tilted his head towards the wall, and Koch held his front hoof to his ear. Ruger and Peacemaker stood close to those respective ponies. Heckler and Glock monitored the mansion's windows very closely, Beretta concentrated her firing apparatus on the door, and Walther hovered a little closer to the ground so that he could concentrate better on the mansion.

Once everypony checked in, SIG Sauer muttered "Omicron-2, you may begin."

Koch acknowledged this command, and he articulately spoke into his communicator "Alright, Catalyst-1 and Catalyst-2. I need you to follow my instructions exactly as I give them. Is that clear?"

"It is," Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl stated in unison.

"Good," Koch avowed. After a momentary pause, he pronounced: "First, dump out whatever's left of the brandy."

Raoul Jowl held the canister over the sink and unscrewed its cap. Less than half a cup of liquid remained, and all of it flowed out of the container. Raoul Jowl was not upset to see the remnants of the brandy go down the drain; he was actually pleased.

"Done," Raoul Jowl proclaimed.

"Alright, now; there's a small button on the bottom of the canister," Koch disclosed, "Press it firmly while continuing to hold the canister upright."

Raoul Jowl turned the canister downside up so that the opening was back on top. He did not bother to reattach the cap this time. As he held the canister at leg's length, Ambit Dexter reached under it and steadily pushed his hoof against the button.

Immediately, the secret compartment in the bottom two-thirds of the canister slid open, and a metal spoke shot out of the canister's mouth. There were three objects attached to this spoke. Two of them were oxygen masks fixed with bags of breathable air. The third was another, slightly larger bag, but this one was not filled with oxygen. Instead, it was filled with a very deadly toxin.

This toxin was the key to eliminating the conspirators. Originally, it had been one of the chemical compounds that Material Study had sold to Raoul Jowl. When the Firebrand Regiment had arrested those two stallions, they had confiscated all of those compounds. Many of them had been disposed of; the rest had been employed for other purposes. Back then, the Regiment never would have thought that they would ever use one of the lethal compounds.

Then Bronze Star had presented Applejack's suggestion that they make all the conspirators' deaths appear accidental. After considering many other possible solutions, Peacemaker had suggested using chemical warfare. Eventually, the Regiment had chosen to examine the contents of their impounded goods, and they had discovered the toxic compound.

The exact elemental and molecular structure of the compound was unknown, but its effects were easy enough to profile. It worked on the equine body similarly to methane gas. Merely being exposed to the compound was not fatal, but prolonged exposure to it was.

The compound was odorless, colorless, tasteless, and invisible. Couching was its only real symptom. Coughing was also a telltale indication of the compound's progress in the victim's body.

Once the subject started coughing, it was a surefire sign that the compound was at work. A minor cough did not ascertain that the subject would die, though. If the minor cough developed into a violent fit of coughing, the subject would be in danger, but they could still survive. However, if the subject ended up coughing so hard that it was as though they would hack up a lung, their fate was sealed. They would be doomed to succumb to the compound.

In its original form, the toxin could still have killed anypony, but it would have had to have been breathed in for hours before the victim could die. However, Koch and Peacemaker had modified the compound to make it much more potent. In its new, altered state, they had deduced that nopony would be able to survive exposure to the toxin for longer than twenty minutes.

The amount of time it would actually take for the toxin to kill the victim depended on quite a few factors. All of those factors pertained to the actual victim. They included the victim's age, height, weight, gender, race, and even physical well-being. Peacemaker had estimated that the average required time for the toxin to work was between seven and twelve minutes.

Of course, all that meant nothing if the Regiment would be unable to make the conspirators' deaths seem unintentional. Luckily, the compound would manage that for them. Once the conspirators' bodies were found, they would bear no external indications of what killed them. Furthermore, the autopsies would reveal nothing out of the ordinary. Death would appear to have been induced by exposure to natural gas. With all that said, nopony who stumbled onto the retreat afterwards would be impelled to believe that these deaths had been a result of anything other than a horrible accident.

There was certainly a great deal of irony and poetic justice in this scenario; the conspirators would be brought down by one of the very devices that they had intended to use against the country.

At any rate, once the oxygen masks and the bag of the toxin were visible, Ambit Dexter queried "What next, Lieutenant?"

"For safety's sake, go ahead and put the oxygen masks around your foreheads," Koch advised, "But don't pull them over your muzzles just yet. You're going to need every ounce of fresh air they can provide once you've released the compound."

Raoul Jowl and Ambit Dexter promptly adorned the oxygen masks. The straps held the mouthpieces firmly against their foreheads, but they could still be slid to a lower position on their faces.

"Go on, Omicron-2," Raoul Jowl bade Koch.

The purple stallion professed "According to the blueprints of the retreat, the mansion's main ventilation unit is in cupboard on the north wall of the bathroom. Do you see a cupboard?"

Sir Raoul and Lord Ambit quickly found a pair of wooden doors halfway up the wall to the left of the room's entrance.

"Yes, it's right by the door," Ambit Dexter responded.

"Open it," said Koch.

Raoul Jowl held on to his canister while Ambit Dexter approached the cupboard and pulled it open. It was virtually empty. On the ceiling of that tiny space, there was a fan that was spinning rapidly behind a grate. On the right wall, there were a few knobs that could be used to adjust the fan's modes and settings.

"We're in," Raoul Jowl apprised the others.

"Okay," Koch muttered in acknowledgement, "This next part is extremely critical. Take the compound and hold it directly underneath the fan. Wait until it's almost touching the grate; then call me back."

Raoul Jowl gently removed the bag of toxin from the metal spoke on his canister. He carefully passed it over to Ambit Dexter, and the moccasin stallion turned to face the ventilation unit. He extended his front legs and leaned forward as far as he could. He handled the bag with absolute care.

Once he was holding the bag less than an inch below the grate, he murmured "I'm ready for the next step, Omicron-2."

Koch gravely uttered "Before we continue, I would like to remind you that after you release the compound, you'll be unable to contact us for a whole half-hour. During that time, you must ensure that nopony else gets to where you are. It's imperative that the ventilation system remains online for the entire thirty minutes."

"We'll guard this room with our lives," Raoul Jowl asserted, "You just make sure nopony other than us leaves this building."

"We shall," SIG Sauer remarked. After a bit of quiet, he told Koch "Give the order, Omicron-2."

"Yes, Omicron-10," Koch acknowledged, "Catalyst-1… do it."

"Aye," Ambit Dexter mumbled.

He gave all his attention to the bag of toxin in his front hooves. As he held onto it firmly with his left from hoof, he raised his right front hoof to the top of the bag. In one swift motion, he removed the lid of the bag and broke its seal. A barely visible wisp of smoke could be seen as the compound was expelled from the bag. It flowed steadily upwards into the fan, and then it disappeared.

The compound had been released into the mansion's ventilation system. Within minutes, it would scatter throughout the entire building.

Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl slid their oxygen masks over their mouths and muzzles, and they secured them in place. After that, Lord Ambit notified the Regiment "The compound is out."

"Roger that," SIG Sauer acknowledged, "We'll see you in a half-hour. Good luck in there, Catalyst-1 and Catalyst-2."

"Same to you," Raoul Jowl rejoined as he and Lord Ambit deactivated their communicators.

SIG Sauer then declared "Omicron-8, cast the net."

Carabine had remained standing with his head tilted towards the mansion's northern wall ever since Koch had started giving instructions to Lord Ambit and Sir Raoul. Once he received that order from SIG Sauer, he used his horn to cast a spell. In response, his magic aura touched against the wall, and a wave of energy spread out all around it. Soon, the entire building was encompassed by this energy.

The energy field could intercept any electronic signal or magical streak that attempted to pass through it. For that reason, it was the Regiment's protection against Spitzenburg's tablet. It would also prevent the conspirators from raising the retreat's alarm, and it ensured that none of the Unicorn conspirators could teleport out of the mansion. This was also why the Regiment had broken off contact with Ambit Dexter and Raoul Jowl; their communicators would not get through the shield.

The shield could not prevent physical objects from passing through it, but that was beneficial. There was a chance that some of the Regiment would have to enter the building while the energy field was still up. In addition to that, the Firebrand Regiment had been able to employ other measures to ensure that none of the conspirators left the mansion.

"The net's been lowered, Omicron-10," Carabine announced.

"Superb, Omicron-8," SIG Sauer commented, "Don't raise it until I tell you to."

"Understood," Carabine affirmed.

By then, the chemical compound had dispersed throughout the entire mansion. Esopus Spitzenburg and eleven of his colleagues were gathered in the lounge. They were still calmly resting with no immediate worries or concerns. For a little while, none of the conspirators were even remotely aware that the air they were breathing was contaminated.

Five minutes after Lord Ambit released the toxin, Gloss Vale let out a single cough. She politely covered her mouth when it came, but she paid it no other mind.

A few seconds later, she coughed twice; a little more firmly this time. Even so, she thought nothing of it.

Twenty seconds later, she started coughing much more loudly and roughly.

"Are you alright, Gloss?" Earnest Ides inquired.

"I'm fine," Gloss Vale claimed, "I think I've just got something in my throat."

"Oh, okay," Earnest Ides stated. Not fifteen seconds later, he began to cough, as well.

"Wow, you already got him sick," Wayward Woods cheekily observed.

"I'm pretty sure coughs aren't that contagious, Wayward," Luminous Lush mumbled, unamused.

"I know they're not," Quicktrip confirmed. All of a sudden, he let out a cough, too.

Now some of the others became concerned.

"Must be something in the air," Sparker Blare theorized, gazing around the room.

"That can't be," Esopus Spitzenburg debated, "I just had the filters replaced."

"You certain of that?" Gloss Vale softly uttered. By then, she was unable to go six seconds without coughing.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to verify it," Spitzenburg contended, "Lavender, Clear, would you mind checking the status of the filters?"

"Sure, Esopus," Lavender Dazzle conceded. She and Clear Crest got up off their couch and exited the lounge.

Since the electric violet mare and the onyx mare were two of the few who had been to Spitzenburg's retreat before, they knew where everything of importance was. For instance, they knew that the ventilation system's filters were monitored by a panel in the basement. As such, they headed to the building's lowest level.

On the way there, Lavender Dazzle came to develop a rather unpleasant cough of her own. She assured Clear Crest that she was well, but by the time they arrived in the basement, she had begun to doubt her own claim. She was coughing so harshly that she was surprised she didn't spew any blood.

Soon enough, they found the panel that kept track of the mansion's ventilation. On it, there was a gauge that measured the status of the filters. The gauge was measured by colors. If it was green, the filters were in optimal condition. If it was yellow, the filters were not performing as efficiently, but they were still keeping the air clean. If it was red, the filters were on the verge of failing and needed to be replaced. If it was black, it meant that a harmful substance was loose in the building, and the filters had been rendered useless.

At that time, the gauge was black.

When Clear Crest discovered this, she stared at the panel in horror. Lavender Dazzle would have been just as alarmed, but she was too busy coughing to care very much. She fell backwards and weakly stammered "Clear…"

Clear Crest managed to catch the other mare before she landed on the ground. Just eight seconds later, Lavender Dazzle stopped coughing. She also stopped breathing, blinking, and moving. Clear Crest did not even have to check her pulse to confirm what she already knew.

Clear Crest forced herself to lower Lavender Dazzle onto the ground, and then she sprinted back up to the first floor. She yelled in distress "Esopus! Esopus!"

When she reached the bottom of the staircase that connected the first and second stories, Esopus Spitzenburg appeared at the top of it. Sparker Blare was with him. They seemed just as shaken as she was.

"Where's Lavender?" Sparker Blare muttered agitatedly.

Clear Crest stared up at them and stated uneasily "You're not going to believe this, but while we were in the basement, she collapsed. She's just… gone."

"I believe it," Spitzenburg tensely professed, "The same thing just happened to Gloss Vale. She damn near hacked up her last meal, and then she fell onto the coffee table and never got up. Worse yet, Shuffleboard and Alabaster Glaze have started coughing, too. What the Tartarus is going on?"

"The filters' gauge is black," Clear Crest enlightened them, "There's something harmful in the air."

"But how…" Spitzenburg began in bewilderment. Right then, the truth dawned on him. His face tightened and he murmured somberly "Lord Ambit."

"What?" Clear Crest uttered hauntingly.

"This was all a trap," Spitzenburg proclaimed, "Prince Bronze Star never intended to give us power. He just lured us out here to kill us all."

Sparker Blare grimaced and mumbled heatedly "That bastard son of a-"

"No time for that!" Clear Crest interrupted him, "What do we do, Esopus?"

"Find Lord Ambit, wherever he is," Spitzenburg pronounced, "Whatever he's doing, stop him, Clear. Sparker, get everypony else out of here. I'll call security."

The two ponies acknowledged the jade stallion's commands and went to accomplish them.

When Sparker Blare returned to the lounge, the other conspirators were all on their hooves. They were gathered around Gloss Vale's body, but they seemed more interested in the nasty coughs that almost all of them had suddenly acquired.

Sparker Blare announced to them "We have to *cough* get out of here now. Metal Gears, Shuffleboard, go wake up *cough cough* Raging Tempest and the others. Everypony else, get *cough* out of the building as fast as you *cough* can."

The seven ponies hastily rushed out of the lounge. Earnest Ides was the last to leave. His cough was so bad that he was practically unable to catch his breath. Mere moments after he exited the lounge, he stumbled against the wall and dropped to the floor.

Quicktrip was coughing so much that he could barely even trot straight. Luminous Lush had to give him a helping hoof. She got the idea to teleport the both of them out of the building. She rushed to the nearest window, gazed outside, focused on the ground, and cast the teleportation spell.

She and Quicktrip rematerialized in the exact same spot they had just been in. Carabine's energy shield had prevented her from teleporting out of the mansion. Luminous Lush was unaware of the shield; she was baffled as to why she had been unable to teleport. She tried again and again, but she and Quicktrip always reappeared on the inner side of the window.

By her tenth failed attempt, Quicktrip had stopping coughing. Moreover, he had gone totally listless, and Luminous Lush was forced to abandon him. As she desperately searched for another exit, she let out a cough of her own.

Esopus Spitzenburg, Shuffleboard, and Metal Gears made their way to the third floor. They went up together, but when they reached the top, they separated. Metal Gears and Shuffleboard went to the section with the guest bedrooms, and Spitzenburg went to his private study.

There was a console in Spitzenburg's study that enabled him to contact the retreat's security guards. Normally, whenever he used that console, the units at the outpost would respond in seconds. When the jade stallion tried to contact them this time, all he got was static.

Carabine's magic shield had prevented the console's signal from going out.

Spitzenburg then pulled a certain switch on the console. The switch was supposed to activate the retreat's alarms, but nothing happened; there was only silence outside. The energy field had intercepted that, as well.

While Spitzenburg was preoccupied with those difficulties, Metal Gears and Shuffleboard had been trying to rouse Raging Tempest and their other four sleeping colleagues.

Unfortunately for them, their efforts were wasted. The toxin in the mansion's air worked much more quickly on ponies who were asleep or unconscious. Raging Tempest and the others had died even before Lavender Dazzle and Clear Crest had gone down to the basement. Alas, Shuffleboard and Metal Gears did not even know the toxin was there, so they still endeavored to rouse their colleagues.

They went to Focal Point's bedroom. They shook her a bit, and then Metal Gears searched for a pulse and could not locate it. So they left her.

Metal Gears still had yet to cough, but Shuffleboard's coughing was progressively getting more severe.

They next entered Full Throttle's bedroom. By the time they confirmed that he too was gone and exited again, Shuffleboard felt like he was going to vomit, and Metal Gears had begun to feel a burning sensation in the back of his throat.

They came to Dreamcatcher's room after that. She had always been a heavy sleeper, but when they found her sprawled out on her bed, she was definitely not sleeping. When they left that room, Metal Gears finally coughed for the first time.

When they got to Trace Amount's bedroom, Shuffleboard had been unable to go on. He leaned against the wall of the corridor and struggled to remain standing. Metal Gears stepped into the bedroom by himself and rushed to Trace Amount's side. Just like the others, he would not wake up, either.

While Metal Gears was still in Trace Amount's bedroom, Shuffleboard's coughing abruptly stopped. It was followed by a loud thud. Metal Gears returned to the hallway and found his colleague slouched against the wall with his eyes wide open.

Metal Gears forced himself to press onward. He finally came to Raging Tempest's bedroom, but even he had perished.

As disheartening as that was, Metal Gears knew he could not linger. By this point, his cough had gotten so loud that it could be heard all over the house. He hurried out of Raging Tempest's bedroom and made his way back downstairs. He was determined not to die there.

Metal Gears made it as far as the top of the staircase that connected the second and third floors. It was then that his resilience gave out. He coughed one last time, and then he tumbled down the stairs all the way to the bottom.

Wayward Woods managed to go longer without coughing than almost everypony else. After Spitzenburg, Metal Gears, and Shuffleboard had gone upstairs, he had focused all his thoughts on looking for a way out of the mansion.

That proved far more difficult than he could have imagined. He and Alabaster Glaze had tried opened up windows on the second floor. As a Pegasus, he would have been able to fly out. Alabaster Glaze was not a Pegasus, but she was very desperate to flee, as she had already been coughing for three minutes.

Heckler had been able to clamp all of the second- and third-floor windows shut without anypony inside noticing. Glock had done the same to the first-floor windows. Furthermore, the glass in all those windows was unbreakable. Even somepony with the strength of an Alicorn could not open them. That did not stop Wayward Woods and Alabaster Glaze from trying, though.

They had tried forcing over half of the second-floor windows when Alabaster Glaze's cough became too persistent for her to carry on. Wayward Woods tried to convince her to continue, but ultimately, she just collapsed outside one of the windows.

Wayward Woods gave up on his idea of finding an exit from the second-floor. He rushed downstairs and tried the first-floor windows instead. When he got to the southeastern corner, he encountered Luminous Lush, who was still struggling to teleport herself outside. Her cough had degenerated into an uncontrollable fit of hacking. By the time Wayward Woods left her, Luminous Lush had collapsed, as well. She had given up on teleporting… and on everything else.

Wayward Woods scurried through the first-floor, looking for any possible form of escape. At one point, he came across Sparker Blare. The last time he saw him, Sparker Blare's cough had been relatively gentle. Now he was crumpled against the wall; he barely even had the strength to cough anymore. Wayward Woods knelt before his associate and tried to pull him back onto his hooves, but Sparker Blare would not or could not cooperate. Soon, a sharp gasp emanated from his throat, and he fell onto his side. Only then did Wayward Woods let him be.

Finally, Wayward Woods felt a tingling sensation rising in his throat. When it reached its pinnacle, he brought his front hoof over his mouth and coughed into it. He only coughed once, but he knew what that meant. Now he was frantic to get out of the mansion. He went to the front, side, and back entrances, but when he tried to open them, they would not budge. Members of the Firebrand Regiment were bracing them from the outside.

By the time Wayward Woods had tried all four of those doors, he was coughing so much that his face was turning a shade of purple. Then he got the idea to go to the wine cellar. He speculated that maybe there was a trapdoor that led to the outside.

Before he was even halfway to the cellar, he had tripped over a rug. He hit the ground so hard and he almost got the wind knocked out of him. That just made his cough worse. Wayward Woods tried to rise again, but he found he could not. The most he could do was drag himself down the hallway.

When Wayward Woods was less than ten feet from the cellar, he at last succumbed to the toxin. Even if he made it all the way to the cellar, his fate would not have been different. He would only have discovered that there was no trapdoor leading to the outside.

By this point, the only conspirators left were Clear Crest and Esopus Spitzenburg. Like their colleagues, neither of them were immune to the toxin; they had both started coughing, as well. However, their coughs were still relatively mild; they had time to do something about their predicament.

Neither of them was focused on escaping the building. Both of them had some unfinished business, which they were determined to finish before they too fell victim to the toxin.

Esopus Spitzenburg stomped out of his study and trotted speedily towards the staircase. Every ten or so steps, he had to pause to cough. When he reached the staircase, his cough had gone from being a nuisance to being an actual impediment. To avoid collapsing, he had to grip the banister with both front hooves as he made his descent. He almost tripped over the fallen form of Metal Gears when he got to the bottom of the staircase.

All this time, Clear Crest had been searching relentlessly for Lord Ambit Dexter. She was furious when she was unable to locate him. When she was unable to find Sir Raoul Jowl either, she was initially perplexed, but then she realized that the two stallions must have been in cahoots with each other.

When she finally made it to the bathroom in the northwestern corner and kicked open the door, she was able to confirm her hypothesis. There she saw the moccasin stallion and the cerise stallion standing near the main ventilation unit; they were both wearing oxygen masks.

Her eyes fell upon Raoul Jowl first. He muttered angrily "Traitor…"

"He's no traitor," Ambit Dexter resolutely pronounced, "You are."

Raoul Jowl slowly nodded his head and remarked "You brought this on yourself, Clear."

Clear Crest felt herself become consumed by a tremendous rage. She had not experienced this type of rage ever since she had first gotten the idea for the assassination conspiracy. She lunged towards Raoul Jowl and wrapped her front hooves around his throat.

The cerise stallion struggled with the onyx mare for a bit. He was stronger, but she was more skilled in combat.

Ambit Dexter hastily came to Raoul Jowl's aid. He gripped Clear Crest by her wings and forced her off of him. In response, Clear Crest whipped around and punched Lord Ambit in the jaw. That caused him to slip and hit his head against the bathtub. That in turn left him too stunned to fight or defend himself.

Clear Crest then spotted the grey canister on the sink. She picked it up and held it high over her head. She planned to bash Commodore Dexter's head in with it. But before she could, Raoul Jowl recovered and seized her from behind. He managed to force her away from Ambit Dexter.

The two of them struggled for nearly an entire minute. Then Raoul Jowl managed to pry the canister out of Clear Crest's front hooves. While he had that advantage, he had to act quickly, and act quickly, he did. He pinned Clear Crest to the ground with one of his front hooves. With the other, he raised the canister into the air and clobbered her in the side of the head with it. One blow was all it took; Clear Crest was rendered unconscious.

Raoul Jowl needed a moment to regain his breath. Then he stepped back into the bathroom and knelt next to Ambit Dexter. The Commodore was still alive, but he was barely awake. To Raoul Jowl's horror, there was a huge crack in the moccasin stallion's oxygen mask.

Sir Raoul did not know whether that crack had been made when Clear Crest punched Ambit Dexter in the face or when his head struck the bathtub. Either way, the damage had been done; Lord Ambit's oxygen mask was irreparably damaged.

Raoul Jowl panicked. If the Commodore died, the Firebrand Regiment would most certainly hold him responsible. Aside from that, he had come to admire the Chairpony of the War Council. He had done more for Equestria than any of the conspirators could have ever hoped to do. The way Sir Raoul saw it, the country could not afford to lose him.

For those reasons, Raoul Jowl did the only thing he could do to save Ambit Dexter's life. After a moment's hesitation, the cerise stallion took a deep breath, held it in, and removed his oxygen mask. Then he leaned down, removed Lord Ambit's mask, and replaced it with his own. After securing his mask around the Commodore's head, he sat down against the wall and pressed both of his front hooves against his muzzle and mouth. He held his breath for as long as he possibly could.

One floor up, Esopus Spitzenburg was struggling to get back to the lounge. His cough had reached the stage where there was no hope of recovery. Despite that, the jade stallion had refused to accept defeat. He vowed that if he was going down, he would bring Equestria down with him. He would make Prince Bronze Star pay for double-crossing him.

He made it all the way to the doorway of the lounge. Gloss Vale was lying motionless on the coffee table. Near the front of that table was Spitzenburg's steel briefcase. The elderly stallion limped towards it. With every step he took, he coughed incessantly.

When he got to his briefcase, he dropped to his knees. He input the combination as quickly as he could, but just turning the dials was arduous to him.

Once the briefcase was unlocked, Spitzenburg hastily opened it up. There on top of everything else was his electronic tablet. He picked it up and slammed his front hoof against all of its knobs once, twice, and thrice. But before he could press the knobs a fourth time, his endurance failed him. He dropped the tablet and fell flat on his back.

…

Bronze Star and Applejack had made out in public many times before. This was the first time they had done so in Canterlot. It was also the first time he had appeared as his true self. In addition to that, the two of them had gotten much more "frisky" with each other than they ever had before. With the possible exception of that night on that train to Appleoosa.

Presently, the two of them were lying down on a towel behind the orange mare's stand. They had been cuddling for a while, but now they were letting their hooves explore each other's bodies. They avoided making any sounds that would have drawn unwanted attention, but their arousal was obvious. It almost made Applejack not regret that she had been unable to sell more of her products. To her, this was much more pleasurable than earning money.

Alas, their excitement had to end at some point. Specifically, it ended when Lord Bellerophon approached the booth and knocked on the counter three times.

Somehow, that was enough to get the farmer and the prince to give their attention to the palomino Pegasus.

Applejack was lying on top of Bronze Star at that moment. He gently moved her a bit so that he could look Bellerophon in the eye. Then he mumbled irately "What is it, my lord?"

"Customers," his mother's chief of staff answered him.

At that, Applejack swiftly got up off her coltfriend and rose to her hooves. She needed a moment to adjust her hat and smooth out her dress. After that, she smiled at the two ponies standing on the other side of her booth and inquired "What can I get ya?"

When Bronze Star was back on his hooves, he discovered that his fillyfriend's customers were Rarity and Prince Blueblood. It looked as though they were together. In the loosest form of the word.

"Two apple fritters, please," Rarity requested.

"Two apple fritters comin' right up," Applejack proclaimed. She disappeared behind the booth for a moment and reemerged with a tray holding two large apple fritters. She placed the tray on the counter and remarked "That'll be four bits."

Rarity and Blueblood both stood still, as though they were expecting each other to move first. Then Rarity murmured softly "Ahem."

Blueblood retorted with a slightly louder "Ahem."

"Ahem!" Rarity stated in irritation.

"AHEM!" Blueblood exclaimed.

Bronze Star flashed a hostile scowl at Blueblood, but the older prince did not even seem to notice it. He was disgusted by his cousin's impolite conduct.

Rarity grimly sighed and realized "I'm going to have to pay, aren't I?"

As the white Unicorn reached for her dress's money pocket, Applejack decided to do her friend a courtesy. She held out the tray and declared "It's okay, Rarity. I got you covered."

"Thank you, Applejack." Rarity remarked, grateful. She then frowned at Blueblood and added in "At least somepony here has good manners."

Blueblood disregarded that comment. He took a large bite out of one of the apple fritters. He chewed it twice, and then he promptly spat it out. He then examined the displays of Applejack's booth and shrieked "Oh! Fritters! Dumplings! Caramel apples! My royal lips have touched common carnival fare!"

He then calmly trotted away and rudely pronounced "I'm going to the buffet for some... hors d'oeuvres."

Bronze Star felt a strong desire to enclose his front hooves around his cousin's neck. Judging by the expressions on Applejack and Rarity's faces, he was not the only one.

Rarity lingered at the stand for a minute. After Blueblood went inside, she turned to Applejack and suggested "AJ, I don't suppose you'd be interested in trading princes for the rest of the night?"

She was only half-joking when she said that. All the same, Applejack was unwilling to share HER prince with anypony.

"No way in Tartarus, Rare," she humorously replied, "But I feel for ya."

"So do I," Bronze Star disclosed, a note of aggravation in his voice, "I swear; I am going to kick Blueblood's ass all the way to Yakyakistan if he doesn't shape up."

"It may come to that," Rarity drily theorized, "If so, I won't stop you."

Soon the white mare went back inside the find Blueblood. The gold stallion and the orange mare were left by themselves once more. Despite how poorly Blueblood had regarded Applejack's products, his reaction had enlightened her as to why she was not making more sales. She professed "Well, no wonder nopony wants my food. They're fillin' up on those fancy-schmancy vittles. Well, my down-home apples are plenty good enough for this crowd. I'll just dress 'em up a bit and prove it to 'em."

Bronze Star had to admire his fillyfriend's initiative and determination. He notified her "Haute Cuisine is in the ballroom. If you need some suggestions on 'dressing them up,' he could provide a few."

"Nah, I already have a pretty good idea of what to do," Applejack uttered, "But I'd still like to talk to the Castle's head chef later on."

"I'm sure he'd like to have some words with you, too," Bronze Star professed.

Applejack prepared to take her booth inside the Castle. Just before she could, Verse A. Till approached her and Bronze Star. He was carrying the prince's blackboard on his back, and he had a very wide grin across his face.

"You're in a very good mood, Sir Verse," Bronze Star perceived.

The glaucous stallion continued to grin as he removed the blackboard from his back and held it out to the gold stallion. He muttered confidently "Once you read this, you will be, too, Your Highness."

Bronze Star took his blackboard and gazed down at it. When he looked up from it, he was grinning as widely as Sir Verse. Applejack approached her coltfriend and said inquisitively "What's up?"

Bronze Star turned to his fillyfriend and informed her "It's over. Your family's good name has been restored."

Applejack needed a moment to embrace that statement, and then she was smiling as well. She presumed elatedly "He's dead?"

"Not just him," Bronze Star responded, "All the conspirators. At long last, the country is safe."

Applejack may not have looked it, but inwardly, she was overjoyed. She then turned back to her stand and cheerfully announced "This calls for celebration. I'll bake us a cake. Course, I was already plannin' on doing that."

"I look forward to it," Bronze Star muttered in approval.

As Applejack rolled her booth inside, the prince turned back to Verse A. Till and asked him "Does the Regiment have anything special to say, Sir Verse?"

"Well, SIG Sauer claims there are a few details he would like to apprise you of before he submits a full report," Verse A. Till explicated, "He also mentioned that there's one thing in particular that Caracal would like to share with you as soon as possible. However, they're prefer to wait until they've fled Spitzenburg's retreat to go over that. We should give them another hour or so."

"Sounds good," Bronze Star thought aloud, "I'm going to go inside for a while. As soon as you hear back from the Regiment, come and find me."

Verse A. Till nodded in compliance. Then he went back over to Bronze Star's strongbox and put the blackboard back inside, next to the Shroud of Valor.

Bronze Star soon trotted back into the Castle. He was followed close behind by Lord Bellerophon and Blade Bearer. The prince spent another hour surveying the guests as they partook in the Gala's merriments. At the outset, everything appeared to be going smoothly.

Then he got to the ballroom. There he discovered that Pinkie Pie had started "drinking" again. She had set up a DJ station. She was evidently trying to liven things up. As the energetic music played, she tried to get the other guests to share her enthusiasm. She came off as a little too forceful. "Come on, everypony! You wanted a partay? Now it's paaartaaay! Yeah! Uh! Now that's a beat, yeah! Uh! C'mon, dance! Yeah, woohoo!"

"Should I stop her, Your Highness?" Blade Bearer asked Bronze Star.

"You probably should, Commander," Bronze Star recommended.

As the light brown stallion went to calm the pink mare down, Applejack entered the ballroom through its western entrance. She was using her trunk as a cart now. On it was a huge cake. It had eight layers, and it was topped with an apple.

As the orange mare sauntered inside, she called out "Okay, all you high-class ponies. Here's a highfalutin apple cake for your hoity-toity taste buds."

Several of the attendees actually seemed interested in the cake. Bronze Star thought it looked quite appetizing.

Unfortunately, nopony had a chance to taste a piece. At that very moment, Pinkie Pie had climbed back onto the stage with the DJ station and she bellowed "STAGE DIVE!"

Then she jumped off the stage. When she landed, it was on the edge of Applejack's trunk. The force of her impact sent the cake flying.

Right then, Rarity and Blueblood entered the ballroom. She had been forced to hold the door open for him, and not the other way around. If that was not rude enough, when he saw the cake coming, Blueblood pushed Rarity in front of him to shield himself.

They both screamed as the cake came hurling towards them. The cake splattered against Rarity, covering her dress in crumbs and icing.

That was when Rarity hit her breaking point. She turned to Blueblood, growled angrily, and barked "You, sir, are the most uncharming prince I have ever met! In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!"

Blueblood flinched away from the white Unicorn and groaned in revulsion "Ewww...! Uh, stay back! I just had myself groomed!"

"Afraid to get dirty?!" Rarity shouted furiously. She then shook herself vigorously, and all the crumbs and icing were transferred from her dress to Blueblood's coat.

He whimpered and stumbled backwards against a huge metallic figurine. He hit it so roughly that the figurine was in danger of falling off its pedestal.

Rainbow Dash had entered the ballroom just then. When she saw the precarious position the figurine was in, she yelled "This is my chance!"

She swooped forward and caught the figurine before it landed on the ground. She muttered happily "Yes!"

Her moment of triumph did not last long. She lost her balance and stumbled around the room, saying "Whoa!"

The figurine rammed against one of the huge stone pillars on the southern end of the ballroom. That started a chain reaction that caused every pillar in the room to crash into the one next to it and crumble on the ground. At the end of that, Rainbow Dash was standing in a huge pile of rubble. The figurine somehow remained on her back, but then it split in half and joined the other debris on the ground.

By then, Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia had arrived at the northern entrance of the throne room. Twilight surveyed the scene and she dolefully muttered "Well... it can't get any worse."

Then it did. A rumbling sound could be heard all over the ballroom. It gradually became louder and closer, and then the eastern door of the ballroom was thrown open. All the animals from the Castle gardens scampered or flew inside. Fluttershy appeared in a disheveled state behind them. She was very unstable, and she was struggling to catch her breath. Once she caught it, she screamed at the top of her voice "You're... going to LOVE ME!"

Most of the guests started screaming, too. Their screams were of terror; they fled in every direction to avoid the Castle's animals.

Twilight observed this catastrophe and muttered nervously "Um, um, uh... Eugh."

Princess Celestia leaned over to her apprentice and urged her "Run."

Twilight then gave a sharp whistle. At that, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy composed themselves and rendezvoused with the lavender mare. Together the six of them galloped as fast as they could to the main entrance.

As they went down the staircase, one of Rarity's glass slippers came loose and fell off her hoof. Pinkie Pie noticed this and proclaimed "Ooh! Rarity, your glass slipper! Now your prince is sure to find you."

She was quoting a famous fairytale. While that prospect may have delighted Rarity once, it no longer did then. She shrieked and yelled "No!"

She rushed back to the slipper and smashed it with her hoof. Pinkie seemed confused by this, but before questions could be asked, Rarity grabbed her and shouted "Let's go!"

Bronze Star and Celestia had been standing at the top of the staircase at the time. Despite how traumatic that episode may have been for the Element Bearers, the two Alicorns had been left fairly amused by it.

Bronze Star trotted halfway down the staircase and picked up the remnants of Rarity's slipper. Then he smiled up at Celestia and commented "Best Gala yet, Mother."

"I could not agree more, Bronze Star," Celestia remarked, smirking.