The Awesome Pony Rp: Under the Shadow of War (IC)

[The Flutterlands]

OOC

Equestria

It was a beautiful late-spring morning on the 18th of June in Equestria. The sun was shining and colts and fillies were getting ready for their last day of school, and ponies everywhere were getting ready for upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. Everything seemed just peaceful.
Unfortunately, all is not well in the land of Equestria. The Fourth Pony-Changeling War continues to brew, nine months since Queen Chrysalis’ terrible changeling attack throughout the country. Manehattan and many other towns and cities are still under siege by both the Pony-Changeling Alliance and its enemy, the Changeling Empire. Ponies live in fear, never knowing when the Changeling Empire will strike next, all while keeping an uneasy alliance with their changeling allies living among them.
Nonetheless, ponies and changelings in the 'safe places', like Ponyville, Cloudsdale and Canterlot, have been taking it easy, but only just...

Crystal Tree Castle

Eleven year old, Bounty Hunt woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. Yawning, the young brown unicorn colt glanced at the clock, which stated that it was 6:00. It was time for him to get up and get ready for his last day of school.
Once again yawning, Bounty Hunt turned off his alarm clock for the summer and removed the blanket with his magic before glancing at his flank. There was his cutie mark; six small blue seven pointed stars in a circle with a bigger blue seven pointed star in the middle. Both he and his step-brother, Pitch Black, who's cutie mark is like this, got their cutie marks not too long after the beginning of their magical tutelage under their step-mother, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was happy for both of them, as their cutie marks signified great talent in magic. Interesting enough, Bounty got his cutie mark around the same time as his fillyfriend, Apple Bloom, whom he has been dating for nine months, since the day the war began and everything changed.
Bounty climbed out of bed and stretched before beginning to get ready for school. The brown unicorn combed his mane and gathered his school belongings, before leaving his room to have breakfast with his six brothers and sister. He and his siblings were an odd mixture of species: two unicorns, an earth colt, a zebra, a bat-pony, a griffin and a changeling. Aside from Bounty Hunt and Pitch Black, their names were Spot, Zing, Eclipse, Black Hawk and Olive Oil.

Meanwhile, Spot, the youngest of the bunch at age six, was also waking up. He giggled with excitement and ran into Twilight's room. He crept near her bed and climbed onto it, before hopping excitedly. "Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!" shouted Spot, "Last day of kindergarten! Last day of kindergarten!"

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel, a young former griffin mercenary was lying in bed with Apple Jack, fast asleep. For nine months she have been living together with the Apple Family and helping with their farm, ever since she was pardoned for her crimes against Equestria on the the night of the attack. Ever since then, Gretel and Apple Jack have been having a wonderful relationship together as girlfriends. Gretel has been thinking about asking AJ to marry her one day, but unfortunately, such a marriage is not quite yet legal in Equestria.
Gretel was still sleeping peacefully, holding Apple Jack in her arms, when she felt the gentle tapping of talons and stirred. There, beside the bed, was Gretel's five year old step-son, Gregory, whom she adopted some time before the Changeling Attack. "Mommy!" spoke Gregory, eagerly, "Wake up, Mommy!"
"Mph." groaned Gretel, feeling a little annoyed, "Not now, hun. Mommy and Mommy Apple Jack are still tired."
"B-but, but, it's the last day of kindergarten!" insisted Gregory, "You said that you'll be there for me when I graduate!"
"Mph, you're right hun." Gretel conceded, "Go have breakfast and get ready. Us mommies will be down there soon."
"Yay!" shouted Gregory, the little fledgling hopping into the air in joy. He then took to the air and began fluttering down towards the kitchen.
"No flying in the house!" barked Gretel, hearing her step-son's wings. She sighed and hugged her lover, Apple Jack, tightly before kissing her cheek. "Time to wake up, cutie." said Gretel softly, "Wanna hop into the tub for a quick shower with me?"

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Cloudsdale,
Lord Philip Blackwing

It was yet another ordinary, mediocre day in the pegasus city of Cloudsdale, many miles away from the rightful Blackwing home of Griffonstone. The ponies were planning a festival in celebration of some pony princess or another; it was of little interest to His Royal Majesty, Lord Philip Blackwing, King of the Griffins. Philip never had any desire to go to Equestria, nor did his servants and family members; their recent arrival in Cloudsdale was out of necessity, with the Griffin Kingdom having been lost to the forces of the Cursed King Guto II, the Blackwing Clan having no real choice but to leave to Equestria to gather the necessary resources to restart the war for the griffin throne. Indeed, the Blackwings had never once been on the soil of the pony nation in history up until their defeat and subsequent retreat at Griffonstone, Philip being the first one of the family to travel to Equestria. It was less than ideal, having to leave the Griffin Kingdom, but leaving for Equestria was still safer than hiding out in the griffin countryside; after all, Guto II's goons inevitably would have found and killed King Philip had he stayed in the Griffin Kingdom, thus bringing to an end the one griffin posing a legitimate threat to the cursed royal family.

The defeat of Philip's forces in the griffin civil war dampened spirits quite a bit in the Blackwing estate, but the King vowed to continue the fight against Guto II no matter the cost, doing everything in his power to make preparations for a second campaign to topple the Cursed King and end the plague set upon the griffin nation by his failure of a predecessor. As such, Philip and his staff had been contemplating, since arriving in Cloudsdale, how to most effectively fund the creation of a new army; after all, an army needed supplies and supplies cost money. While the war between the ponies and changelings presented a few profitable opportunities, like mercenary work and weapons dealing, King Philip did not want to get involved in foreign wars, preferring to build up a war chest through regular business endeavors; Philip certainly wasn't a coward, but he refused to lift his rapier in battle for the benefit of foreign nations. So, after a few days of deliberation since his arrival in the city, Philip had eventually come to the conclusion that the best source of revenue would be to simply set up a new branch of one of the family's old businesses from the Griffin Kingdom.

Back in the griffin country, the Blackwings' big money maker had always been the distilling of alcohol; liquor distilleries had been big money for them for many centuries. Blackwing family recipes for booze had been incredibly popular and incredibly profitable back home, before the civil war came around and Philip ordered his servants to strip the family properties of everything valuable before leaving for Equestria. With that in mind, Philip decided it would be a wise idea to start set up a liquor distillery in Equestria and start selling booze in and around Cloudsdale. The war made things even more promising; after all, war meant misery and grief, and misery and grief meant more ponies turning to alcohol, which meant more cash for liquor manufacturers. King Philip's servants had even disassembled a few stills from the family's properties in the Griffin Kingdom and brought them in carts on the trip to Cloudsdale along with other valuables from the Blackwing estates; the family had originally intended to sell the parts they had salvaged in order to buy munitions, but after some thought Philip had decided they would be put to better use setting up an Equestrian branch of the family liquor business to generate long-term profit. With the Blackwings already having much of the machinery needed, they mostly just needed to get a distilling license from the local government and buy or lease a suitable building to convert into a distillery.

King Philip awoke around nine thirty in the morning, in the quite large house he had purchased upon arriving in the city (which was surprisingly expensive for a building made of nothing but clouds) to serve as an indefinite residence for his family until Griffonstone could be retaken. Having come to a conclusion the prior day on how best to build up a war chest with which to fund the toppling of Guto II (for good this time), Philip, upon donning his standard suit of armor and his crown, set about making the arrangements for establishing a branch of the family business in Cloudsdale, heading to Cloudsdale's city hall to file an application for a licensing permit. There was nothing remotely interesting about what needed to be done; just paperwork and bureaucracy to get a license to distill liquor and some scouting around to find a suitable building to set up a distillery in. The ponies could frolic about holding festivals all they wanted; King Philip had business that needed to get done and he wasn't going to waste time merrymaking, hoping that whatever festivities the ponies were planning wouldn't delay the application process. It would take a long time, no doubt, to generate enough money to fund war against Guto's government, but, without outside assistance, there weren't any faster options.

[Amistrinal]

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel, a young former griffin mercenary was lying in bed with Apple Jack, fast asleep. For nine months she have been living together with the Apple Family and helping with their farm, ever since she was pardoned for her crimes against Equestria on the the night of the attack. Ever since then, Gretel and Apple Jack have been having a wonderful relationship together as girlfriends. Gretel has been thinking about asking AJ to marry her one day, but unfortunately, such a marriage is not quite yet legal in this part of Equestria.
Gretel was still sleeping peacefully, holding Apple Jack in her arms, when she felt the gentle tapping of talons and stirred. There, beside the bed, was Gretel's five year old step-son, Gregory, whom she adopted some time before the Changeling Attack. "Mommy!" spoke Gregory, eagerly, "Wake up, Mommy!"
"Mph." groaned Gretel, feeling a little annoyed, "Not now, hun. Mommy and Mommy Apple Jack are still tired."
"B-but, but, it's the last day of kindergarten!" insisted Gregory, "You said that you'll be there for me when I graduate!"
"Mph, you're right hun." Gretel conceded, "Go have breakfast and get ready. Us mommies will be down there soon."
"Yay!" shouted Gregory, the little fledgling hopping into the air in joy. He then took to the air and began fluttering down towards the kitchen.
"No flying in the house!" barked Gretel, hearing her step-son's wings. She sighed and hugged her lover, Apple Jack, tightly before kissing her cheek. "Time to wake up, cutie." said Gretel softly, "Wanna hop into the tub for a quick shower with me?"

Sweet Apple Acres
Applejack slowly opened her eyes, looking at her girlfriend. She had begun to stir when Gregory entered the room, and was roused further by the talking. "Yeah, just... let's make sure it's actually a quick shower this time."

She climbed out of bed and moved into the bathroom, turning the water on and waiting for it to heat up. She turned back to Gretel. "The kid's growing up fast. Feels like he only got here yesterday, and he's already graduating kindergarten. Times flies, I suppose."

[Frenequesta]

Crystal Tree Castle
...Meanwhile, Spot, the youngest of the bunch at age six, was also waking up. He giggled with excitement and ran into Twilight's room. He crept near her bed and climbed onto it, before hopping excitedly. "Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!" shouted Spot, "Last day of kindergarten! Last day of kindergarten!"

Twilight rolled over in her bed, feeling the mattress shift from the bouncing of her youngest son. "Okay, okay, Spot," she said, barely looking up at him. "Go on down to breakfast and Mommy will join you shortly."

She finally sat up, yawned, and looked out a nearby window. Celestia's sun softly illuminated the sky, a third of the way above the horizon, just about on schedule. That was a good sign. Many of the recent Changeling Empire attacks in the more vulnerable cities took place in the dead of night, and though she was confident that Canterlot would not fall any time soon (the last attack took place in February and was swiftly repelled, and it only happened because somepony had botched up a snow delivery at Hollow Shades), even she, like many ponies, could not help but fear a little that they could wake up to a delayed sun without any idea that the capital had been taken. Of course, if that were to happen, they would also wake up to Empire guards right by their bedsides, if not already stuck in a gooey green chrysalis. For Princess Twilight Sparkle in particular, though, she would not even wake up at all, and paradoxically, that especially comforted her.

She got out of bed, took a short shower, combed her mane, checked her schedule for the day, double-checked her schedule for the day, restrained herself from double-checking the double check of the schedule, remembered that she still needed to reschedule one of that day's mediations, checked the schedule again, double-checked the schedule, forgot to think about double-checking the double-check of the schedule, and descended the many steps from her chambers to the cafeteria. She saw many of her children just then filing inside, ready for their breakfast.

Although she was sure that the cooks had gotten more efficient with their foodstuffs, she still always feared a shortage. Ever since the Grain Burning of Brindlefarm the Equestrian government had been rationing food and other basic supplies, and buying up surpluses when they happened. Even though she qualified as a "distributor" under the Rationing Act and therefore was not quite as affected by it as other ponies, she still was not buying as much as usual. Sugar would especially run out quick--she remembered the one time Sugarcube Corner was out of flour near the end of January and Eclipse's birthday was coming up. So she got her own cooks to make a cake. Though the cooks had the flour, they only had enough sugar for the cake itself and no icing, much to Eclipse's--and many of the other kids'--disappointment. She had wearily, sadly, and resignedly sighed as she told the kids it was the price they paid to maintain Equestria's sovereignty and its citizens' freedom.

Breakfast that morning was relatively light--mostly English muffins with strawberry jam and butter, some fruit, and milk. Still, the English muffins were fresh, the fruit was sweet enough, and the milk was cold. Twilight took her portion from the kitchen and sat down next to Bounty. "Good morning, Bounty. Were this any other year I'd have a much bigger breakfast for you all for your last day of school, but... well, I'm sure you're used to it by now."

Sweet Apple Acres

..."No flying in the house!" barked Gretel, hearing her step-son's wings. She sighed and hugged her lover, Apple Jack, tightly before kissing her cheek. "Time to wake up, cutie." said Gretel softly, "Wanna hop into the tub for a quick shower with me?"

Applejack slowly opened her eyes, looking at her girlfriend. She had begun to stir when Gregory entered the room, and was roused further by the talking. "Yeah, just... let's make sure it's actually a quick shower this time."

She climbed out of bed and moved into the bathroom, turning the water on and waiting for it to heat up. She turned back to Gretel. "The kid's growing up fast. Feels like he only got here yesterday, and he's already graduating kindergarten. Times flies, I suppose."

Apple Bloom got up, excited for the last day of school and the start of summer vacation. She quickly left her room for the bathroom, hoping that she could finally beat her sister and her new girlfriend to the shower.

It didn't happen. She saw the door closed, heard the water rushing, and felt the steam seep out from the room yet again. "Y'two better be done soon y'know! I gotta have my hot water too!" It was the thirteenth variation of the thirtieth straight day she had to express her impatience over Applejack and Gretel's long morning showers.

[The Flutterlands]

Cloudsdale

Little did Philip know that he was being watched while he was on his way to Cityhall. Several pegasi looked at the griffin and began to silently follow him. These pegasi have had an interest in Philip Blackwing for a very long time and upon seeing their chance one of them, an emerald green stallion, ran up and 'accidentally' bumped into him. "Oof!" grunted the pegasi, "Excuse me, sir." The pegasus nodded and took to the sky, hoping that Philip would find the note he so sneakily slipped into his pocket. The note was cut and paste, most likely from a magazine, and it read:

We know of your insurrection in the Griffin Kingdom, Lord Blackwing
Meet us at the abandoned warehouse in Cloudsdale's industrial area to the east, tonight at 10:00
We have lots to talk about, including your rise to power.

---

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel chuckled and followed Apple Jack into the bathroom. She smiled and giggled when her lover turned on the water. "Me and Gregory have only been here for nine months, Cutie." she said, "But, yes, time does fly. Oh I'm so proud of my little guy."

Gretel then cocked her head to the door upon hearing Apple Bloom's voice. "Don't worry." she said, "We'll be out before you know it." True to Gretel's word, the shower went rather quick. She and Apple Jack quickly and intimately washed and rinsed each other's bodies, all while kissing and nipping, before stepping out of the tub. They exited the bathroom, wrapped in towels and Gretel smiled at Apple Bloom. "Your turn Sport." she said, before looking at Apple Jack, "So what do you think Granny's making for breakfast, cutie?"

---

Crystal Tree Castle

Spot giggled and nodded before making another hop in bed. The little earth colt then jumped out of bed and went downstairs to join his step-siblings, grabbing his portion of breakfast.

The children were indeed disappointed over the past nine months of the predicament they were in due to the rationings. Black Hawk, especially, as he was quite a big eater. Nonetheless, they tried to make the best of it, accepting that this was indeed the price for protecting the freedom and stability of Equestria.

Bounty smiled when Twilight spoke to him. "Why yes I have gotten quite use to this mom." said the young unicorn colt. Not that his own birthday party, which was in November, was disappointing for him. Instead of a traditional birthday cake, they had to have simple brownies that day, which was exactly what Bounty wanted. He wasn't much of a fan of big pastries like cake and would only have a small piece when he can.

"Anyway, I have been studying Wizard Wheat Grain the Feeder, Mom." said Bounty, "I've been wondering if they could find a way to recreate his food multiplier spell. Too bad Wheat Grain only used the spell once and the spell went to the grave with him when he later died of illness. Such a spell could be quite useful in this day and age, not to mention simply just end world hunger. ...Also, I've noticed that it's getting close the anniversary of the day we ran away from the orphanage and began our little... misadventure."

Meanwhile, the zebra, Zing was sitting beside Spot, eating his breakfast quietly, while the rest of his siblings chatted amongs themselves. The zebra was considered to be the most quiet and even shy of the bunch. Zing rarely spoke, only saying his hellos, and talking strictly and yet softly with his siblings. Truly, he felt different from Bounty, Pitch, Olive Oil, Black Hawk, Spot and Eclipse. Not because he was a zebra, but in a different manner. Zing liked having his mane long and found dresses to look more pleasing than tuxedos, as well as liking dolls and other toys that were considered for fillies. Not to mention the young zebra always felt uncomfortable when using the colts' bathroom. Nonetheless, Zing has been keeping these feelings to himself, but wants to change that today, but only to one. "Mom, can I go to Zecroa's after school?" asked the zebra softly. Ever since he met Zecora, the zebra mare has been like a mentore to him, in the same way Twilight Sparkle has been a mentore to Bounty and Pitch.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Cloudsdale,
Lord Philip Blackwing

If King Philip had said he was surprised to have one of the local ponies decide to bump into him, he would have been lying. Philip expected no less from the ponies of Equestria; he'd heard rumors about how the ponies in the big cities were rude and disrespectful, stereotypes and rumors being among the few things he knew about pony culture. Completely unsurprised about local disregard for the personal space of nobility, Philip simply continued his trip to the city hall, not even bothering to turn and watch the pony fly off; he had more important things to worry about than making scenes over disrespectful peasants. Philip figured he'd probably have nine hours worth of paperwork to go through to make the preparations for setting up revenue streams, anyway, and didn't have time to make a big fuss over ill-mannered little peasants. So, with that in mind, King Philip continued walking to the city hall, arriving there after another twenty minutes or so of walking.

Cloudsdale City Hall was, unsurprisingly, not very well staffed; perhaps because the local secretaries had been conscripted into the army, perhaps because half the staff was off preparing for whatever festival was in the works, or, perhaps, because the ponies just didn't care enough about their bureaucratic system to actually hire enough employees to manage it efficiently. Either way, thankfully, nobody else seemed particularly interested in going to file forms; Philip was, as far as he could tell, the only one at the time who needed to talk with the local bureaucrats. After Philip entered the building, the obviously bored looking secretary pegasus perked up when she realized she actually had someone coming to do business. With a pretty easy to spot fake-cheerful accent thrown on, the secretary, a brown pegasus mare, greeted the large griffin who had come to city hall.

"Welcome to Cloudsdale City Hall; how may I help you, sir?" The secretary asked, her face showing a bit of visible surprise at seeing an armor-clad griffin wearing a solid-gold crown coming to the least interesting place in town. The surprise wasn't unexpected; Cloudsdale wasn't exactly famous for having griffins around every corner. With a face completely unreadable, conveying no emotion whatsoever (a skill that he was taught from childhood; as a noble, he was expected to be able to conceal his true feelings, a skill which would be valuable with regards to diplomacy), Philip answered, speaking in a deep voice with a pretty thick upper-class griffin accent.

"I am here to apply for a license to distill liquor and a zoning permit to establish a distillery on city grounds." Philip responded, the secretary proceeding to pull out some forms and a pen.

"Just a zoning permit, not a building permit?" The secretary asked.

"That's right. I was planning on converting an already existing building for industrial uses, not building an entirely new facility." Philip answered.

"Alright, which property would you like to apply for rezoning?" The secretary asked.

"I haven't actually found a suitable building yet, I'm afraid; I was hoping you could provide a list of currently for-sale properties in the city." Philip said, the secretary mare getting out yet more papers from her filing cabinet.

"Okay, if you're looking for a building to convert into an industrial site, I think I know of a suitable property you might be interested in purchasing. There's a pretty large old storefront on the east side of town, on Hoofdale Avenue; used to be a supermarket, went out of business about three years ago. The owner has been trying to sell the place for quite some time. The building's in a part of town where it shouldn't be difficult for industrial zoning to be approved, and it should be about the right size to set up distilling and bottling operations." The secretary mentioned, providing Philip with a sheet of paper providing the details of the property and the contact info of the owner.

"Well and good. I'll look into purchasing the building; then I'll come back to see about getting a zoning permit. Now, in the meantime, I still need a distilling license." Phillip responded, taking the paper and stuffing it into an unremarkable bag he had brought with him.

"M'kay, I'm just going to need you to fill out these application forms and then I'll file them to be reviewed by the city council." The secretary said, giving a large stack of forms to Philip along with a pen. The griffin proceeded to spend the next three hours carefully filling in the many, many forms he was given. Once all the details had been filled in, King Philip returned the stack of forms to the secretary, who proceeded to file them for review.

"Alright then, sir; the city council will look over your application sometime soon. Within the next two weeks, you should receive notice in the mail of your application's approval or denial." The secretary told Philip.

"Thank you, madame." Philip said to the secretary before leaving the city hall. With his application for a distilling license filed, Philip decided that, next, he would go talk to the seller of the property the secretary had told him about; he'd still have to wait to be accepted for a license before he could legally start operating, but it would nonetheless be helpful to get a head start on acquiring a suitable building to set up shop in. Reaching into his bag, Philip pulled out a sheet of paper, looking over it only to find that it wasn't the one he was looking for; it was a foalish looking note made out of magazine letters. Philip proceeded to read over the contents, feeling entirely un-impressed by the letter which someone had put into his bag at some point.

You know of my "insurrection", do you? Well, guess what; so does the entire Griffin Kingdom. You're hardly unique in that regard, author...Now, let's see here...You want me to meet you at some damn abandoned warehouse in the industrial district? I see that the art of holding meetings at offices is clearly lost upon these damn ponies; that, or they just want to look sinister. Hard to tell with this country...Oh, and what do you mean by my, "rise to power," author?! I've already been officially crowned King of the Griffins; I even held a formal coronation ceremony in Griffonstone! I've already risen to power, and the crown upon my head is proof of that; all I need to do is retake my country from that vile plague of a griffin, Guto II. Are you truly ignorant of griffin history, author, or do you simply refuse to recognize my ascension to the throne as being legitimate? Or, perhaps you just have an insatiable desire to use incorrect terminology; knowing ponies, I wouldn't be surprised.

King Philip internally sighed as he stuffed the note back into his bag and started flying back to his house in Cloudsdale, having to wonder when the art of proofreading ominous letters died. Still, in spite of the kind of laughable tone emitted from the letter which had been given to him at some point, which looked like it was written by a foal trying to look tough, he couldn't help but be somewhat curious about the letter. It could be from anyone; agents from Guto II, trying to assassinate the true King of the Griffins, perhaps. Getting together with his family and thwarting an assassination attempt from Guto II would certainly reinvigorate his supporters in the Griffin Kingdom, and serve to remind the griffins that their true King will never relent in his righteous campaign to force Guto II off the throne for good. Or, perhaps, the author of the letter could be someone trying to help the cause; one of the other aristocratic families of the Griffin Kingdom, perhaps, wanting to support the toppling of Guto II, sharing his sentiment that regime change is the only way to end the economic crisis in the Griffin Kingdom. Or, perhaps the letter was just a giant joke, a prank meant to waste the King's time; Philip would expect nothing less from ponies.

So, curious enough to head to the little meeting he had been invited to (which was about eight and a half hours from the time when Philip got back home), Philip flew back to his house and asked his servants to scout out the industrial sector to find the abandoned warehouse in question; Philip sure as Tartarus didn't know where to look, and wasn't about to strut throughout the city searching all day, so he put his staff to work finding out about warehouses in eastern Cloudsdale. Buying a building to start up a business venture could wait another day, as far as Philip was concerned; he was more interested in finding out who wanted to meet him, and why. His servants would, hopefully, be able to find out the location; Philip, in the meantime, would wait around at home.

[Amistrinal]

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel chuckled and followed Apple Jack into the bathroom. She smiled and giggled when her lover turned on the water. "Me and Gregory have only been here for nine months, Cutie." she said, "But, yes, time does fly. Oh I'm so proud of my little guy."

Gretel then cocked her head to the door upon hearing Apple Bloom's voice. "Don't worry." she said, "We'll be out before you know it." True to Gretel's word, the shower went rather quick. She and Apple Jack quickly and intimately washed and rinsed each other's bodies, all while kissing and nipping, before stepping out of the tub. They exited the bathroom, wrapped in towels and Gretel smiled at Apple Bloom. "Your turn Sport." she said, before looking at Apple Jack, "So what do you think Granny's making for breakfast, cutie?"

Applejack thought for a moment. "Well, considering how it's the last day of school for Applebloom and Gregory, Granny probably wants to do something big and fancy. Well, maybe not fancy, but certainly big."

They went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Big mac was removing a tin from the oven. Granny was at the counter, chopping up apples. She turned and smiled when AJ and Gretel came downstairs. "Mornin' you two. We're having apple muffins for breakfast, should be all ready by the time Apple bloom finishes up with her shower."

[Frenequesta]

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel chuckled and followed Apple Jack into the bathroom. She smiled and giggled when her lover turned on the water. "Me and Gregory have only been here for nine months, Cutie." she said, "But, yes, time does fly. Oh I'm so proud of my little guy."

Gretel then cocked her head to the door upon hearing Apple Bloom's voice. "Don't worry." she said, "We'll be out before you know it." True to Gretel's word, the shower went rather quick. She and Apple Jack quickly and intimately washed and rinsed each other's bodies, all while kissing and nipping, before stepping out of the tub. They exited the bathroom, wrapped in towels and Gretel smiled at Apple Bloom. "Your turn Sport." she said, before looking at Apple Jack, "So what do you think Granny's making for breakfast, cutie?"

...They went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Big Mac was removing a tin from the oven. Granny was at the counter, chopping up apples. She turned and smiled when AJ and Gretel came downstairs. "Mornin' you two. We're having apple muffins for breakfast, should be all ready by the time Apple Bloom finishes up with her shower."

Apple Bloom rushed in as soon as Applejack and Gretel opened the door and went into the tub. She got only three minutes of hot water before it turned lukewarm, but it was at least the most she got in the last month or so.

After a couple more minutes washing her mane, she dried herself up. She looked proudly at her new cutie mark as she dried it. She remembered when she got it with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, helping, of all ponies, Diamond Tiara realize her own purpose. But most of all, she remembered Bounty's hug and kiss when he congratulated her. She returned it when he got his own cutie mark not too long afterward. He was such a handsome colt...

She went back to her room to put on her pink bow, and then trotted to the kitchen, smelling the apple muffins that Granny Smith cooked up. She took one from the platter in the center of the table and bit into it. As usual, it wasn't quite as sweet as it would have been before the war. And it certainly had less apples per cubic inch. Even though Sweet Apple Acres had a bumper crop of apples last harvest, her family could not just sell whatever of it they wanted anymore. The Equestrian government had put civilian supply ceilings on everything apple after a week-long moratorium on sales, and whatever was in excess of those supplies was condemned through eminent domain. She remembered when a bureaucrat from Canterlot came to the farm to load up the apples in excess of the quota, and remembered Applejack sighing when the family only got just 90% of the revenue that they would have gotten on the market.

"Mmm," she said. "Good stuff, Granny."

Crystal Tree Castle

..."Anyway, I have been studying Wizard Wheat Grain the Feeder, Mom." said Bounty, "I've been wondering if they could find a way to recreate his food multiplier spell. Too bad Wheat Grain only used the spell once and the spell went to the grave with him when he later died of illness. Such a spell could be quite useful in this day and age, not to mention simply just end world hunger. ...Also, I've noticed that it's getting close the anniversary of the day we ran away from the orphanage and began our little... misadventure."

Meanwhile, the zebra, Zing was sitting beside Spot, eating his breakfast quietly, while the rest of his siblings chatted among themselves. The zebra was considered to be the most quiet and even shy of the bunch. Zing rarely spoke, only saying his hellos, and talking strictly and yet softly with his siblings. Truly, he felt different from Bounty, Pitch, Olive Oil, Black Hawk, Spot and Eclipse. Not because he was a zebra, but in a different manner. Zing liked having his mane long and found dresses to look more pleasing than tuxedos, as well as liking dolls and other toys that were considered for fillies. Not to mention the young zebra always felt uncomfortable when using the colts' bathroom. Nonetheless, Zing has been keeping these feelings to himself, but wants to change that today, but only to one. "Mom, can I go to Zecroa's after school?" asked the zebra softly. Ever since he met Zecora, the zebra mare has been like a mentor to him, in the same way Twilight Sparkle has been a mentor to Bounty and Pitch.

Twilight nodded. "Mhm. I don't think I would have ever thought then I would have adopted seven children so soon after getting my castle, and I don't think you would have ever thought that you would be adopted by royalty." She took another bite of her English muffin. "As for Wheat Grain's food multiplier spell... that's going to be very tough. Ponies have been trying for centuries to recreate it. The Foalsome energy-environment threshold for it is very, very high, and the resistance points on it are inconsistent if not almost contradictory. And if I recall the reports correctly, he only was able to triple little more than half a barn full of wheat. Actually, Professor Boltlog, before he developed his fertilizers, worked with a couple of wizards to try to recreate Wheat Grain's spell, but they only got a 150% yield and came close to breaking the local stability nodes. Of course, they had trouble streamlining the quanta steps... but anyway, if you're able to pull off that spell, you'll become a very rich and decorated colt."

She then turned to Zing. "Oh, of course," she said. "I'm sure Zecora would love to hear of your graduation. Just be sure to be back before dinner like usual."

[The Flutterlands]

Cloudsdale

It wasn't until after several hours that Philip's servents returned home. They all had confident looks on their faces. "Your majesty." one of them said, bowing his head, "We believe to have found the warehouse your note speaks of. It looks abandoned, but we've noticed what seems like activity inside. Shall we escort you there tonight?"

---

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel smiled and sat down with Apple Jack beside her step-son. They waited and true to Granny Smith's words, by the time Apple Bloom finished her shower, breakfast was served. Gretel grabbed two apple muffins. One for herself and one for Gregory, before also pouring two cups of apple juice for them.

"Mmmm!" said Gregory, taking a bite out of his muffin, "Thank you, Grandma! These are very good!"

---

Crystal Tree Castle

Bounty nodded. Truthfully, the brown unicorn still found it surreal that he and his step-siblings were now royalty. Bounty himself found it better not to advertise his status. However, that still didn't stop the annoying paparazzi from getting onto his tail every now and then. He noticed that his siblings were going through the same problem as well. Still, royalty wasn't a bad thing in Bounty's mind as he did enjoy the many blessings that came with it, but there were just some things that he found to be an annoyance.

Bounty and Pitch Black also nodded at Twilight's lecture, all while the other younger children looked at each other confused as they ate. Only Pitch and Bounty understood Twilight's fancy words about magic. For example, the Foalsome energy-environment is the amount of magical energy necessary to bend the "normal" laws of physics in order for a particular spell to work at a given time and place. Both Bounty and Pitch were quite talented, but even despite their cutie marks, they both had quite a lot to learn.

Bounty then blushed when Twilight spoke of him possibly recreating Wheat Grain's spell. The brown unicorn was quite humble about his magical talents, unlike Pitch Black, who seemed to have gained a thirst for power the moment he began to unlock his potential under guidance of Twilight. "Thanks, Mom." said Bounty, taking a bite out of his apple, "But I'm sure that such a stunt would take decades to figure out."

Zing smiled when Twilight said that he could go to Zecora's. Zing really liked Zecroa. She was indeed the only other zebra Zing has known his entire life and that made it very easy for the two of them to bond. Though, Zing did found it odd, and at times somewhat annoying, how Zecora always spoke in rhyme. Nonetheless, Zecroa was like a heritage to Zing, a link to the distant land from which he came. "Thanks Mom." said Zing softly, but just loud enough to be heard, "I'll be back before supper." Zing took a sip of his milk before returning to his muffin.

[Turmenista]

"Prologue - Yang vs. Rex"
Flashback - 9 Months ago

Diamond Dog Stronghold, Diamond Dog fields

Optional Soundtrack - Future Club

"Hold your ground!" Growled Rex's Father, tightly holding the spear in his hands. Even though the entire defense was basically destroyed by the joint force of two dragons and a gun-wielding Pegasus, they still had one defense left up their sleeves- the defense of the hoard, and the gun. The gun- A modified Hay-Kay 47 with a large drum magazine, was mounted atop a swivel turret by a bolt, and was manned by none other than Rex, excited to use the weapon. "Just point and shoot" were his only instructions, but Rex knew how to use it. It was his destiny to use it, and he had his sights right on the wounded white serpentine dragon, cornered up into the wall with the red dragon and the silver Pegasus.

"I swear I'm innocent. Heh heh.." He heard the Pegasus say, and only chuckled. "Hah! Then why would you come down here?" Snapped Rex.

"Shut your mouth, pup!" Rex's father replied. "You foolish dragons- you may have gotten away with our loot once. Doesn't mean you can do it again!"

"Tell him, father!" Rex barked on.

"Listen to your pops, Dog." The white dragon, Frost, hissed, a ball of magical ice in his hand. "And, you're wrong, Sparky. We will get away this time."

"And why is that?" The Diamond Dog boss growled, twirling his spear hungrily.

"We had an Escape Plan." The dragon grinned.

-----

"It's now, or never, dragon. Come on!"

Above ground, Indiana Colt impatiently snatched the TNT detonator from Yang, who hesitantly pulled on his mask. The unicorn pulled the handle up, then pushed it down with as much force as he could, grunting loudly.

A millisecond later, several areas above rumbled and detonated, spraying the area with fragments of rock, wood, and mud, and exposing the open cave area that they were all in. Almost immediately, the unicorn bounded up from his prone position and sprinted up, opening fire on the nearest Diamond Dog with his lever-action rifle. This left Yang to do Melee Combat with his Naginata, prompting him to dive down into the cave, screaming a battle cry.

He was coming in for landing right on top of the nearest Diamond Dog to Frost, and dug his foot claws into his neck. Using the force from the drop, he slammed the Dog's face into the dirt and bounded off of his neck, growling in the face of the incoming rifle-wielding dog.

-

Rex felt the ground rumble and saw dust falling from the sky. Initially assuming It to be a quake, he was about to yell for everyone to get to high ground, when he saw the ceiling of the cave give way to the bright outside.

Then, he yelled for everyone to scatter.

Chunks of rock the size of houses and larger fell from the ceiling, effortlessly crushing the Diamond Dogs who had little to no time to react as the massive shadows fell over them. Rex rolled to the side, taking The Gun with him as he landed roughly on the floor, watching as the large chunks of rocks buried the platform The Gun was previously mounted on. Rex looked to the left, watching in horror as more rocks plummeted from the sky, a certain large shadow being cast above his father, who stood, unable to move in fear. Rex had no time to shout out to his father a final goodbye, before he was crushed, in an almost comical fashion, by the gigantic piece of the Earth.

Almost immediately after that, Rex looked to the light, watching as the silhouette of a dragon fell from the sky, screaming a battle cry of rage and hunger. The black Dragon's wings folded back in as his leg contacted with the nearest Diamond Dog's, sending the dog's face planting right into the floor, where he promptly stopped moving after. The black dragon looked at Rex briefly, bringing up his Naginata.

"You!" Rex shouted out in anger, pointing the Hay-Kay 47 at the young black dragon. "You did this to me- you killed my father- now you'll pay for doing this!"

The black dragon spun the bladed staff, as if he welcomed the Diamond Dog to the fight. "Yang will be the last name you'll remember before I kill you." He said.

"As will the name Rex be when I chop you into pieces." Rex hungrily growled, barking out as he charged first, using the Hay-Kay as a club as he ran into battle. The wooden weapon met with the cold steel blade, still slick with blood from Rex's fallen comrades. Yang swung the bladed weapon down, disconnecting the weapon from the arms of the dog. The Gun fell to the floor of the cave, partially covered in dirt- and there it would be left, where Rex would left, defenseless, and without a weapon, as he was kicked to the floor. Or so Yang thought.

Yang dodged the blades of two other Diamond Dogs, allowing Forge to scorch the group with his fire, and Silver to mow them down with some Riot Grenades. Yang took the ball of ice that Frost was currently charging up, and lobbed it into the incoming group of Diamond Dogs, who had small explosives attached to the ends of their staffs. The ball of ice exploded, turning the group into solid statues of ice, where they were easily broken down by a few swipes and kicks.

While Yang was doing this, Rex slowly pulled out a Scimitar, growling as he charged Yang with the curved blade. "Die, Dark One!" He shouted, bringing his blade down towards Yang. The two metal blades clashed with each other, sliding across one another as sparks came from the two blades. Yang brought the blade down, leaving Rex wide open for a swipe with the handle section of his staff. Rex simply pawed the staff away, and rolled for his scimitar, currently lying on the floor, bringing it up and digging it into the wooden part of the staff. Yang shrugged him off, and flipped the Naginata back, holding it like a spear in the direction of Rex.

Then, came Forge's voice from the entrance.
"Yo! Silver! Yang!" Yang saw that Forge was struggling to carry not only Frost's pack, full of the Diamond Dogs' riches, but the dragon himself. "We're bugging out! You coming?!"

"Working on it!" Yang snapped back.

Yang swiped in the direction of Rex, who dodged and simply brought his scimitar into the wooden section of the Naginaga again. Yang used this to his advantage. Keeping his eyes shut so the slobbering drool of Rex wouldn't get into his eyes,face, Yang twisted the weapon to the side, thus taking the Scimitar off and also taking the Diamond dog off. Rex's back roughly hit the rock wall, exposing his unprotected belly to Yang, open and ready for a stab or slash. Rex shook his head for mercy. "Please- we can work out a deal! No need to do this, dragon..!"

"No mercy." Yang simply said. "You brought this upon yourself, and you mortally wounded my brother. Now you pay the price.

"No, no, no, no, no, wait-"

Too late. Yang adjusted his grip on the Naginaga's black, scar ridden wooden section, and brought the blade downwards as he cut a slash deep down Rex's chest, down to his belly.

---

"Reality Check"
Present Day

Silver Sword's shop
Yang/S.S

As if he awoke from his terrible dream, Yang shot up, suddenly and abruptly, from the terrible flashback that he had just experienced. He could've sworn Rex's painful screams were still audible, even after he flashed back to the real world.

Silver sword stopped what he was doing and placed the flaming hot metals into a bucket of water. "Something troubles you?" He asked.

"No, it's just-" Yang sighed. "I had another flashback. That dog I slashed- he's still alive, and he's angry about me. I know it. Just that one heist- the one Frost died in, keeps getting to me."

Yang's mentor reassuringly patted him on the back with a hoof. "Be of good mind. You are a good student. Always remember that the past is behind us- the future still awaits for you to conquer. I know it may sound like something you listened to for hundreds of times, but if you take the time to listen to it, then you'll understand what I am trying to tell you."

Yang nodded. "Okay. I understand." He said.

"Good." Silver sword said. "Continue your work. The guards will need as many swords as they can."

Yang took what he was working on out of the bucket of water, placed it on an engraving stone, and began to go to work on the sword. As he did about finishing his blade, he began to think to himself- thinking about the future, and what lay ahead for him in the future.

He's right. These guards will need all
the help they can get in this war against the changelings. At the same time I have to figure out what I'm going to be doing- fighting's in my blood, and I can't waste all this skill making swords with Silver Sword. I should've gone with the whole "fight for the highest bidding pony" thing, but who knows? I might come across a dragon mercenary- on the other side. I know he's training me to fight and all, but...

He sighed, audibly, taking a look at his marvelous final creation, the light of Silver Sword's shop making the blade seem like it was producing its own light, under the glowing light. He glanced over his creation, running a claw over the engraved seal of Silver Sword embedded into the blade, and thought about a finish to what he was originally thinking.

The time has to come, some day, where I have to choose which side I'll be fighting for.

He took the blade up by its hilt, allowing his mentor to see the finished blade, and, as demonstration, brought it straight down through the solid block of wood.

--------------------------

Diamond Dog Fields
Rex

"I'm done with this."

Rex stood up from where he was busy mining, stomping into the main area to give his speech. The entire area, built into an existing resource mine, was captured by the Dogs led by Rex nine months ago as a replacement to the original Stronghold, which was completely raided and ruined by a certain group, consisting of three dragons, and two ponies. They'd lost almost everything back there, be it their loot, Arsenal, and a large lot of dogs to the falling rocks from the explosion above and ensuing bloodbath. But, at least damages like these were recoverable, Rex thought. The mine, built into a rare earth deposit and above plentiful ores and jewels of all sort, provided the dogs with enough materials to rebuild, alongside the resources scavenged from above ground. This allowed the dogs to essentially rebuild their Stronghold, tunnels and all, and, while it wasn't as massive as the mine raided and destroyed, was complex itself, and held a large number of homes for the dogs- something they weren't used to. The large, spacious, main area was far more protected, with easily accessible escape routes, and tunnels for the Guards to get into quickly.

Even after nine months of living in relative prosperity below ground, the dogs still felt uneasy over another possible invasion by the dragons, especially by the Frost and Co. Group, which took virtually everything from the stronghold, and killed off a large number of the population. However, Rex thought otherwise. He, and a large group of the other Dogs, felt that the attack was simply a way for the Dogs to develop and adapt to the situation. Most importantly, they felt that all they needed was a simple motivation, to get them up and running and back on the grind.

Which was exactly what Rex was going to do.

Rex clambered up to the main speaking podium, planting his Pickaxe repeatedly on the wooden platform to gain everyone's attention. Pretty soon he had amassed a large group of Diamond Dogs, all waiting to hear what their leader had to say.

"Many of you are wondering why I'm here to speak with you." He said. "Im not here to give you all another boring speech about how we must work together as one for the benefit of the stronghold." He paused, looking over the Dogs who had gathered at the base of the stage. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to give each and every one of you a chance- a chance of redemption, and revenge for what some ponies have done in the past."

The dogs looked and talked among one another for a second, before looking back at their leader. "Many of you may remember the devastating raid on the Old Stronghold by a certain group of dragons, and a pair of ponies, which led to the destruction and abandonment of our new home. While we have rebuilt greatly off of the damages we sustained in the past, we have lived in a life of fear and hatred for the dragons ever since. That ends today."

With that being said, Rex pulled from his back what appeared to be a firearm- an ancient one, but very familiar to the others. A Hay-Kay 47, with an almost recognizable broken swivel mount, and unmistakably familiar drum magazine. The other Dogs looked upon one another with confusion, but also with surprise, as if meeting up with a very old friend. One spoke out loud, above the others. "Is that-"

"Yes. This is The Gun." Rex said. "Used by us during the attack on the stronghold as our defensive fortification. As diamond dogs we have the capability to make more of these powerful weapons, and improve on them! Look around you! We have the materials! We have the factories! The weapons, the Dogpower! For the first time in forever, we, as Diamond Dogs, have come together as one unified species in the time of crisis. We've grown from small huts in caves to full on towns, and have established our own organized guard." He looked over the ranks, spotting a guard who was hastily putting on his armor. "Well, we've begun to. Either way, we're getting there. My point to make to you all is simple: We work together as one, and accomplish things that we dogs have previously thought impossible. So what I ask of you all, is your paw, in battle. A war over Equestria is happening in the background, and soon, both sides will be coming to us Diamond Dogs for support in battle, as our lands hold the most riches out of anywhere in Equestria. We need to make it known, to both Changeling and Pony alike, that we are not to be taken lightly. Our resources are for ourselves, and not for others. We are not to be pushed around and worked like slaves- not to be taken advantage of like work horses. We are looked down by the Ponies for various reasons- so let's make them look up to us in fear, and respect."

When the Battle cries and cheering died down, Rex looked over his roused up crowd once more, lowering The Gun down to chest level. "And for those dragons who led to the downfall of the Old Stronghold...." He paused, and raised The Gun once more, finishing his speech off in one final cry, and gestured to the long scar running across his belly and chest.

"Yang, The Dark One! He did this to us! He brought the downfall of the Old Stronghold onto us, and he's going to pay for it! Know
This, to all of the dragons out there: The Ranks of our Dogs will spread like a great plague across all of Equestria! Every dragon.. Will Feel. My. Wrath. They wanted a fight, so we'll give them one."

---

1. Dogpower: Diamond Dog way of saying "manpower"

2. Hay-Kay 47: A firearm, and an ancient one, at that. A selective fire rifle that can be easily wielded and picked up by a pony, Dragon, or Diamond Dog. Known for being powered by regular machinery and firearm systems rather than, say, magic. Play on words for AK-47.

[Doom Legions]

Southern Everfree, Aganir's house
Aganir and Boris

The sun was already up high in the sky when Aganir was awoken by the sound of his alarm clock. Groaning, he smacked the thing to snooze the darn thing. Instead of getting up however, he dozed off again but was woken up again ten minutes later by his clock. This process repeated four times before he finally got up.
Aganir yawned, he was still feeling tired, once again he was busy deep into the night studying one of his many books, taking notes for an experiment he wished to carry out once he had the necessities.
He stretched and rubbed his eyes, tiredly staring around his room. It wasn't very tidy, random notes littered the place everywhere and his desk was covered in books and used drinking glasses. He had some shelves in his room, filled with trinkets and the like. Pretty gems, dragon teeth, he had collected a great many souvenirs.

He stood up and shook his head to fix his mane, then levitated over a casual robe and put it on. He always liked to wear something, not feeling all that comfortable being 'naked'. He left his room and went downstairs, not even bothering making his bead or opening the curtains. Downstairs he found Boris already up and about making breakfast.

"Morning boss! Slept well? I made some breakfast, you like eggs right?" Asked Boris. He'd been up far earlier than Aganir, and already had breakfast himself.

"Yes, yes, thank you Boris." Mumbled Aganir, as if not really all there yet as he sat down at the small table in the kitchen.

Boris put a plate in front of him, two eggs on a piece of bread. "Here you go, enjoy." He said with a smile. He then left Aganir and went outside, Boris was starting a little farm again, he had his own vegetable garden and recently built a henshouse and got some chickens. Something Aganir approved of, since growing their own food would mean they'd have to buy less, reducing the amount of times they'd have to go all the way to town for shopping, it was also convenient considering the strain the war put on things, the two didn't feel much of it's effects due to Boris' exploits.

Aganir sighed and started on his breakfast, when he was done, he chugged down some water, put away his plate and left the kitchen. He went to the basement, he kept the door locked at all times, since it was the place he carried out his many experiments. He descended down the stairs into the darkness, then he cast a spell and a chandelier on the ceiling lit up. It didn't give off that much light, but enough for him to see.
Most of the basement was made up of a large ritual circle, arcane runes were written all over the floor in strange, alien patterns. At the side towards the wall stood a small brewing station, with a cabinet full of reagents next to it. Aganir often brewed up all kinds of strange concoctions he read about, sometimes even tried out their effects on Boris, which regularly resulted in hilarities.

For today he had planned to begin a new experiment and he began setting up the place for the ritual. He would be busy properly aligning and tuning magical gems and other items for hours, everything had to be just right, or else disaster could ensue, especially considering the kind of magiks he worked with. The last thing he wants is to accidentally summon a Demon or something..

Meanwhile, Boris was tending to his garden, his pa taught him how to tend to all kinds of crops when he was young, knowledge that came in quite handy now. After watering the plants he fed his chickens, and then chopped up some firewood. Aganir regularly used it for his brewing shenanigans.

Several hours passed as the two went about their day-to-day business. Then Aganir left the basement and went outside.

"Boris! I need you to do something for me." Said Aganir as he approached the large stallion.

Boris was still cutting up firewood and turned to his friend/boss. "What do ya need boss?" He asked, panting slightly.

"I need some eh.. Test subjects, yes. I need bugs, and stuff, beetles, worms, flies, spiders, anything'll do, could you go and collect some for me?" Aksed Aganir.

"Uhm, sure boss. I'm sure there's some slugs around my garden and there's always bugs in the forest.. What do ya need them for anyways?" Boris said, putting the woodaxe away.

"Oh, just a little experiment.." Replied Aganir.

Boris, not really caring that much, simply nodded. "Alright then boss, you can count on me. Bug-hunter Boris is on the job! I'll be back in a bit, boss!" He said and he eagerly trotted off into the forest.

Aganir sighed and shook his head and went back inside, hoping the oaf wouldn't get lost in the forest. He was tough and helpful, but he wasn't very bright. But that's exactly what makes him an ideal assistant.
Meanwhile, Aganir would finish setting up the basement to begin his latest experiment..

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Cloudsdale,
Lord Philip Blackwing

King Philip was less than impressed with the performance of his servants; Cloudsdale was a big city, but it really shouldn't have taken that long to find a warehouse, especially if you know the specific part of town to look in. Not that he expected any less; if you want it done right, do it yourself, after all. Maintaining his emotionless expression, outwardly displaying none of his disappointment at his staff, Philip got up from his seat and, after equipping his armor, strapped a sheathed rapier around his armored waist. Speaking to his servants as he prepared himself, Philip said the following.

"That will not be necessary. Just give me the address; the other Blackwings and I will be heading out shortly." Philip said, not really wanting his servants (none of whom had military training) to be his guards for the day. His family members living with him in Cloudsdale had all served in his army during the griffin civil war, and a couple had served in the officer corps of the Griffin Kingdom before the war, making them much more suited to the task of fighting off a threat; he trusted them with his defense much more so than household servants.

"Are you certain, your majesty?" Some servant or another spoke up.

"Your King has spoken. I assure you, my family and I are more than capable of finding an address without a guide." Philip responded, finishing up getting prepared to head out. At the insistence of their monarch, the servants shared the warehouse street address with Philip, who proceeded to gather his family to head out. Prior to the war for the crown, Philip's extended family was massive, with dozens of griffins in the Blackwing Clan; after the fighting, however, his family had shrunk down to the size of only thirteen members (Philip included), four of which had stayed behind in the Griffin Kingdom after Philip's retreat to continue instigating throughout the countryside and continue fanning the flames of discontent. The remaining eight lived with Philip in his (quite large) house in Cloudsdale along with his hoof-full of servants. Philip had (in terms of living family members living with him) two younger brothers (nineteen and eighteen years old, respectively, each having been born shortly after Philip), an uncle, and five cousins (two of which were male, three of which were female); none of them were particularly famous, with virtually nobody outside of the Griffin Kingdom knowing their names, Philip being the star of the family.

Leaving his three female cousins to guard the house while he was gone, Philip took the rest of his family with him to head to the warehouse, giving him five guards to head to the warehouse with. It was nighttime by that point, and very few ponies were outdoors, so Philip and his kin didn't have any qualms about carrying weapons with them; it wasn't like there was an abundance of ponies out and about to catch them possessing weapons without a permit. The Blackwings had illegally smuggled in a few firearms with them when they went to Cloudsdale, rifles mostly, and Philip's guards, as such, brought them on the trip to the warehouse. Philip himself preferred swords, having been trained from childhood in the art of fencing, and thus was satisfied with his rapier. Armed and prepared for a fight, the six griffins (Philip and his five guards) silently traveled to the eastern district of town, following the directions given by Philip's servants. It didn't take very long to find the warehouse.

Guns (and rapier, in the case of Philip) at the ready, Philip gave his guards the order to kick down the door and break into the warehouse, prepared for a fight. King Philip expected to find agents of Guto II in the warehouse, attempting to assassinate him to end the threat to his regime; or, perhaps agents of Princess Celestia, wanting to eliminate him to keep Guto on the throne and keep the Griffin Kingdom too poor and weak to pose a threat to Equestria. There were a lot of possibilities of who could be inside, waiting for him, but Philip couldn't help but lean a bit more on the side of expecting bad guys.

[Frenequesta]

Crystal Tree Castle

...Bounty then blushed when Twilight spoke of him possibly recreating Wheat Grain's spell. The brown unicorn was quite humble about his magical talents, unlike Pitch Black, who seemed to have gained a thirst for power the moment he began to unlock his potential under guidance of Twilight. "Thanks, Mom." said Bounty, taking a bite out of his apple, "But I'm sure that such a stunt would take decades to figure out."

Zing smiled when Twilight said that 'he' could go to Zecora's. Zing really liked Zecora. She was indeed the only other zebra Zing has known 'his' entire life and that made it very easy for the two of them to bond. Though, Zing did found it odd, and at times somewhat annoying, how Zecora always spoke in rhyme. Nonetheless, Zecora was like a heritage to Zing, a link to the distant land from which 'he' came. "Thanks Mom." said Zing softly, but just loud enough to be heard, "I'll be back before supper." Zing took a sip of 'his' milk before returning to his muffin.

"Well, that's why I'm spending so much time teaching you magic. You have a lot of talent, don't doubt yourself. I knew that the moment I first met you and Pitch on the roof of the abandoned house. I was not able to teleport at your age. You' two have already accomplished more in the past nine months than I did in my first year under Princess Celestia's tutelage. I have no doubt that you and Pitch are going to become great wizards someday. And I'm here to support that."

In truth, Twilight really was not spending as much time as she wished with Bounty, Pitch, or any of the other children as she had hoped. The growth of Ponyville over the past nine months meant she had to fit more mediation sessions in her week, and even more so when her efforts to make the procedures more efficient just led to return disputes. And for some reason, the legislators and bureaucrats in Canterlot have been increasingly looking to her for advice in setting up new laws or regulations relating to the war effort. Many of these also dealt with changelings, to which she usually responded that they were better off consulting King Razor Wing or one of the other changeling leaders, but they still kept asking her questions. As a result, she had only been giving Bounty and Pitch lessons in two thirty-minute sessions sprinkled through the weekdays and one two-hour session on the weekend.

The others were not much better. She had to miss a school play Black Hawk and Eclipse starred in because of an "emergency" petition by Parliament to testify on the state of the rationing laws, and even her bedtime stories with Spot were becoming less frequent as her opinion writing sometimes went late into the night, well after a colt like Spot would have to go to sleep. There were times that she wished she was never a Princess, just so the public would not hound her for an increasingly repetitive stream of disputes, to the point where she wanted to just tell the petitioners, even before they told her their problems, to go away and handle them themselves. But she was legally obliged to at least listen to the issues, and she did not want to deal with risking complaints with the Principality Office. She got Silver Shield to draft a new bill allowing her to listen to cases on her own discretion or at least allow automatic transfer of some of the more legally-based disputes to the district courts, although Shield had warned her that the courts were getting crowded too and in fact the elites had supported making her a Princess to help lighten the judges' caseloads.

She was thinking about just tearing up her schedule for the day just to spend some good time with her children. She would ask Shield about it later.

Breakfast soon was finished and the kids were ready for school. "Alright, kids," she said. "I think it's time to go. Have fun on your last day!" As usual she trusted them to make their way to Ponyville Elementary No. 1 (Nos. 2 and 3 were built in the first few month's of Ponyville's population boom), the new Ponyville Middle School, or Ponyville Kindergarten. With all of the work that she had though, she wished that just this once, she could walk with them.

[Amistrinal]

Sweet Apple Acres

Gretel smiled and sat down with Apple Jack beside her step-son. They waited and true to Granny Smith's words, by the time Apple Bloom finished her shower, breakfast was served. Gretel grabbed two apple muffins. One for herself and one for Gregory, before also pouring two cups of apple juice for them.

"Mmmm!" said Gregory, taking a bite out of his muffin, "Thank you, Grandma! These are very good!"

Granny Smith grinned at Applebloom and Gregory. "Oh, don't mention it. You've both got a big day ahead of you, with the finishing your schoolyear and whatnot..."

Big Mac chimed in between bites. "Eeyup."

Applejack quietly ate a muffin of her own, thinking through her daily tasks to keep the farm running, and everything else she had to do that day.

[The Flutterlands]

Cloudsdale

Before Philip's guards could attempt to open the doors, they, including Philip, would hear the loud sound of buzzing, before being attacked from behind. A scuffle occured and before Philip knew it, he was knocked unconscious. A moment after Philip, who's arms were restrained, would regain consciousness, something was torn off his head, like a clothed bag.

Philp would find himself in a dim lighted room, no doubt somewhere in the warehouse. Before him was the emerald green pegasus stallion who bumped into him earlier. The stallion was accompanied by several other ponies, all grinning at him.

"Hello, Lord Blackwing." said the stallion, "I'm sorry about all the trouble we went through to get you here. We're trying to be as discreet as possible. After all. we're playing a dangerous game and everything is at stake."

---

Sweet Apple Acres

Gregory nodded and the little fledgling happily ate his breakfast with his family. He ate his muffin and drank his apple juice. When breakfast was over it was clearly time to leave for school.

Gretel smiled as she helped Gregory gather his things. "Ready, Sport?" she asked, smiling gently. Gregory smiled broadly and nodded. Chuckling, Gretel got down onto the floor, allowing her son to climb onto her back.

Gretel then walked up to the door, with Gregory riding her back, and turned to see Apple Bloom. She smiled, seeing that the yellow filly was also ready to leave. "Bye, Apple Bloom." she said, "Have fun on your last day of school."

Gretel smiled and opened the door. The griffin left Sweet Apple Acres, taking her stepson to kindergarten.

---

Crystal Tree Castle

The children nodded when it was time to go to school. Bounty, Pitch, Olive Oil, Black Hawk, Eclipse, Zing, and Spot all gathered their things and began to proceed out the door. Before leaving, they all gathered around Twilight and gave her hugs.

Spot was very disappointed that Twilight couldn't take him to school, remembering how fun it was to ride on her back on the first day of school. In fact, all the children, including Bounty, were gravely concerned about the dwindling amount of time they were able to have with Twilight. Nonetheless, they too, begrudgingly saw this as yet another cost of the war effort.

One by one, each of the children left the Castle and began heading to school...

---

Ponyville Middle School

Bounty Hunt smiled as he approached the middle school. He reflected on the past. Bounty proved to be an excellent student over the year, getting As in all of his classes. Though, there was one class that he had some trouble in and that was Physical Education, not really being much of a fan of sports. However, he did put up with it and passed the class nonetheless.

Bounty walked around the schoolyard and smiled upon seeing his girlfriend, Apple Bloom. Bounty giggled a little before galloping towards the yellow filly. "Hi, Apple Bloom!" he shouted, hugging her, "Last day of school, huh? We're gonna have a great summer together."

---

Ponyville Kindergarten

Spot walked into the Ponyville Kindergarten Schoolyard, frowning. He was still upset that Twilight couldn't take him to school. Spot looked around sadly, seeing all his fellow students, both pony and changeling, enter the yard with ether or both parents. However, he smiled weakly upon seeing Gretel also walk into the schoolyard with Gregory. Spot and Gregory have been the best of friends ever since they first met at school.

Spot giggled as he ran up to Gretel and Gregory. "Hi Gregory!" said Spot happily as the fledgling flutterd off his stepmother's back, "Hi Gretel."

Gregory giggled upon seeing Spot and ran up for a hug. "Spot!" cried the fledgling, "How are you?!"

"Alright." said Spot returning the hug, "You?"

"Great!" said Gregory, "Today's gonna be fun!"

Gretel chuckled. "Where's Twilight, little Spot?" she asked, glancing at the other parents in the yard.

Spot frowned and sulked his head. "Mommy couldn't come." he said sadly, "She has work to do..."

Gretel frowned but then smiled. She placed a talon on Spot's shoulder. "She'll be here soon." said Gretel, "Just give her time. Now go play with the other children till it's time to go inside."

Both Spot and Gregory smiled broadly and nodded happily. The two children then giggled as they went to join the other children in their games. Eventually, though, it got close to time of coming inside.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Cloudsdale,
Lord Philip Blackwing

King Philip had seen many dishonorable figures in his lifetime, and had witnessed many dastardly deeds; few could match the utter cowardice of skulking about in the shadows, hiding, to avoid an honorable fight. Philip, having been raised from birth to adhere to noble standards and always let honor guide his actions, felt nothing but contempt towards those who refused to fight with honor; after all, being of aristocratic birth meant Philip taught the highest of moral standards, and Philip looked down upon those who unable or unwilling to meet those standards. As such, dishonorable and cowardly behavior were among the few things that Philip truly hated; only lesser beings needed to resort to those kinds of actions, as far as Philip was concerned. Not that Philip expected anything different coming from ponies; bravery was a rare trait, indeed, to find amongst their kind.

Philip didn't hate ponies, necessarily, but he certainly looked down upon their nation and their culture. After all, the kind of egalitarian nonsense their society promoted directly violated every ideal Philip held dear; the pony philosophy of equality for all was abhorred by Philip, who was a strong believer in feudalism and the unrestricted rule of the aristocracy. The idea of allowing anyone to do whatever they want, with no semblance of aristocratic hierarchy, was absolutely ridiculous in his eyes. Not only, though, did Philip dislike pony society out of disdain for their societal structure, Philip also perceived pony society as being cowardly, with the Equestrian defeats at the hands of the changelings reinforcing the perceived weakness of ponies in Philip's mind.

"What's the matter, little ponies? Afraid of confrontation? I would expect nothing less from a culture and race of cowards. So, tell me, who sent you? Celestia? Guto? Perhaps even Razor Wing; judging from your blatant cowardice, I wouldn't be surprised." Philip said, brazenly, to the filthy little peasants that surrounded him, not feeling intimidated even in the least bit. King Philip had personally fought in his army during the griffin civil war, having been involved in countless battles, and had been formally trained in traditional combat arts; as such, it took more than a few cowardly peasants to intimidate him. Indeed, there were few things that Philip feared; ponies were not among them. Griffins, typically, weren't easily frightened, especially those who had served in the military; their race, after all, was known for being bold.

Philip was a quite large griffin, and a quite strong griffin at that; more so than the average griffin. He probably would've been able to break free of his restraints without too much difficulty; however, out of a sense of morbid curiosity, Philip decided to wait for an answer from the peasants before attempting to break out. Even if they were tight-lipped about their employer, Philip imagined he would still get some amusement from their inevitable attempts to try and intimidate him, as if a griffin could be intimidated by a bunch of little ponies. Breaking himself free and attacking the peasants could wait; he wanted to hear what they had to say. It wasn't like they were likely to try and kill him at that point, anyway, meaning he wasn't risking much of anything by waiting; if assassinating him was their intention, they probably wouldn't have tried to capture him. In all likelihood, they wanted to take him as a prisoner back to the Griffin Kingdom to be put on trial by Guto's government; not that Philip was prepared to allow that to happen.

[Frenequesta]

Crystal Tree Castle

The children nodded when it was time to go to school. Bounty, Pitch, Olive Oil, Black Hawk, Eclipse, Zing, and Spot all gathered their things and began to proceed out the door. Before leaving, they all gathered around Twilight and gave her hugs.

Spot was very disappointed that Twilight couldn't take him to school, remembering how fun it was to ride on her back on the first day of school. In fact, all the children, including Bounty, were gravely concerned about the dwindling amount of time they were able to have with Twilight. Nonetheless, they too, begrudgingly saw this as yet another cost of the war effort.

One by one, each of the children left the Castle and began heading to school...

Twilight sighed as she waved goodbye to each of the children. She turned back from the door, took out her schedule, and went back to the main meeting room near the lobby. She looked over her schedule again. Even if her schedule had become busier, she usually reserved Fridays comparatively free. That is, there would be only two or three formal mediation sessions in the afternoon and the rest of the day would just be reserved for free petition. She sat down at a lounge chaise waiting for somepony to show up.

One knocked on the door. "Come in," she said with a light smile with a lethargic undertone. The door opened and Silver Shield entered. "Ah, good morning, Silver," she said. "What's going on?"

"Very well, your highness," he said, carrying a piece of paper. "The parties for Mediation #B0308 have just gave me a letter saying that they've reached an agreement on their own."

Twilight took the letter and read it. Her mouth went slightly agape. "Gobstopper and Honeydrip...? Thank Celestia..." Her voice got strangely softer. She had actually been dreading that one. It was a fairly ordinary breach of contract case on the surface, but one of the parties had been griping about her daughter, who she thought she had divested herself of in a custody battle, and who had insisted that she help out on the farm consistent with her cutie mark, and whose perceived incompetence she blamed for getting her into her mess. Twilight, who did not want to hear any more of that since she first met with the parties two weeks ago, welcomed it.

She took out her schedule and rechecked it. "This means I've got an extra hour and a half free...that means I can go to the kids' graduations!" She whinnied with joy and almost leaped into the air.

"Whoa, Nellie," said Silver Shield. "Don't get too excited yet. You've still got a few ponies waiting outside with their problems."

Twilight blushed. "Already? Well, okay, let the first in," she said. Silver then left to call in the one nearest to the door. Two earth ponies, a stallion and a mare, came in shortly after. "Good morning, what can I do for you two?"

The stallion spoke first, after glancing at the mare. "Well, uh, your highness, we two have got a problem at home, you see..."

Ponyville Middle School

Bounty Hunt smiled as he approached the middle school. He reflected on the past. Bounty proved to be an excellent student over the year, getting As in all of his classes. Though, there was one class that he had some trouble in Physical Education, not really being much of a fan of sports. However, he did put up with it and passed the class nonetheless.

Bounty walked around the schoolyard and smiled upon seeing his girlfriend, Apple Bloom. Bounty giggled a little before galloping towards the yellow filly. "Hi, Apple Bloom!" he shouted, hugging her, "Last day of school, huh? We're gonna have a great summer together."

Apple Bloom was talking with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo when she saw Bounty Hunt come up from the north. She excused herself from the conversation, turned around and waved, and returned his hug. "Hi Bounty," she said. "I know, isn't it exciting? You and me, swimming together, exploring Equestria together, drinking malts together, making potions together, the possibilities are endless! Maybe we'll even go to the Gala together again!" The other two Crusaders giggled a little at her infatuation.

Shortly after the bell rang and everypony in the schoolyard was called to classes. Apple Bloom stayed close by Bounty as the two walked inside.

They went inside to find their teacher, Cheerilee, shuffling through some papers. The cerise-coated, rose-maned mare had been among the most affected by the changes to Ponyville in the past nine months. With the growth of the town, she could no longer be the only teacher in a small, one-room schoolhouse, teaching everything she could to fillies and colts of various ages. Last October, everything had to modernize. Even though some on the school board had some misgivings about her ability to adequately supervise the children for extracurricular activities such as the school paper, as well as finding that her curriculum in at least some parts had not been up to Equestrian standard, they nonetheless agreed to promote her to the new Ponyville Middle School, partly out of recognition as Ponyville's most experienced teacher within the system and partly because she did not want to lose teaching many of her more familiar students. There she was a social studies and home economics teacher, substituting on occasion for other subjects. She at least appreciated the extra pay and grew to feel less stressed by covering absolutely everything she could.

She called the class to order. "Good morning students!" she said in her usual cheerful voice. "I have a couple of things to pass out to you this morning," she said, and took out a stack of papers. "The first is the final exam. All of you passed, and I'm quite proud." She then distributed them out to each row. Bounty's had a big, fat, red "A+" with only one point missed. Apple Bloom's only had a "B+" on it, but from the raw score she was very close to an "A-." She was quite a bit unhappy, believing that she had done better, hoping that it would help make up for a couple of minor assignments she missed. She skimmed through the test and thought that at least one of the answers she gave deserved more credit.

"Miss Cheerilee--" said Apple Bloom, raising her hoof.

"If you have any questions about the exam I'd be happy to answer them after class," said Cheerilee, hoofing out the last exam. She then returned to her desk and pulled out a thinner stack of paper, but these were divided into a bunch of squares with the Domestic Bureau's seal and pictures of various foods and consumer goods on it. "With the Summer Sun Celebration coming up the Domestic Bureau decided to give everypony extra rations." She started to pass these sheets out. Midway she remembered something else. "Oh, I'm also supposed to give you these forms for you to fill out to certify that you've received these," she said, and went back to her desk to get the forms. She started again with those she already passed the ration stamp sheets to and continued through with the rest and returned to her desk when finished. "Turn them in when you're done. It's very important that you fill these out so the bureau doesn't suspect anypony of taking more than they deserve," she said.

Apple Bloom filled out the form as best she could but she couldn't remember her ration book number, and she did not have it with her today. "Miss Cheerilee," she said. "What if I forgot my book today? I need it for the number on page two."

"Well, I'm technically not supposed to let you have it unless you've filled out the form completely..." she said, taking out and leafing through a book of rules for the distribution program. "Just return the stamps back in to me and get your book during lunch and turn in the form to me when you're done."

A number of other students groaned a little, having forgotten their books too. Apple Bloom, along with a couple other students, dutifully turned in their forms, saddened that they could not buy a little extra candy or another hayburger for a little while longer.

After that was done Cheerilee nodded. "Any other questions before we start?"

Ponyville Kindergarten

Spot walked into the Ponyville Kindergarten Schoolyard, frowning. He was still upset that Twilight couldn't take him to school. Spot looked around sadly, seeing all his fellow students, both pony and changeling, enter the yard with either or both parents. However, he smiled weakly upon seeing Gretel also walk into the schoolyard with Gregory. Spot and Gregory have been the best of friends ever since they first met at school.

Spot giggled as he ran up to Gretel and Gregory. "Hi Gregory!" said Spot happily as the fledgling fluttered off his stepmother's back, "Hi Gretel."

Gregory giggled upon seeing Spot and ran up for a hug. "Spot!" cried the fledgling, "How are you?!"

"Alright." said Spot returning the hug, "You?"

"Great!" said Gregory, "Today's gonna be fun!"

Gretel chuckled. "Where's Twilight, little Spot?" she asked, glancing at the other parents in the yard.

Spot frowned and sulked his head. "Mommy couldn't come." he said sadly, "She has work to do..."

Gretel frowned but then smiled. She placed a talon on Spot's shoulder. "She'll be here soon." said Gretel, "Just give her time. Now go play with the other children till it's time to go inside."

Both Spot and Gregory smiled broadly and nodded happily. The two children then giggled as they went to join the other children in their games. Eventually, though, it got close to time of coming inside.

The bell rang and all of the parents escorted their children (or their children's friends) inside and helped the students put their sadddlebags in the cubby holes near the doors. In the center of the room was a large, circular table with cushions all around and the students took their seats. All around them were various toys, art supplies, crafts, and posters in bright colors and warm smiles, each distributed and divided neatly into five distinct sections. The parents sat by their children, slightly to the back, and waited.

The teacher, Miss Sunnydale, a light-yellow coated, sky-blue maned pegasus from Los Pegasus, came inside with a stack of papers. "Good morning everypony!" she called out warmly.

"Good morning Miss Sunnydale!" all the children responded in near perfect unison.

"Before we begin I have a little something for the parents..." she said, and passed out the special Summer Sun Celebration ration stamps to each of them along with the forms. "One page two there's a line for the book number, if you don't have that just return the stamps back to me and send the forms back to me later." Only one parent had forgot hers, and most of the forms were quickly filled out and returned to Miss Sunnydale.

At that she formally began class. She took out a big calendar and a pointer, pointing to to various parts of the sheet. "Alright class, what's today?" She pointed to the word "Friday."

"Friday!" most of them called out. She then pointed to the word "June." "June!" they likewise said, and so on until Miss Sunnydale pointed to a bright, smiling sun. "And the weather?" she said. "Sunny!" they replied.

"Very good!" smiled Miss Sunnydale. "Now today is a very special day. Can anypony tell me what it is? Yes, Fireball?"

"The last day of school?" a red pegasus colt asked.

"Right!" said Sunnydale. "And that means we have a bunch of special activities for your parents to see how much you've learned over the past year." She passed out a second sheet* to each of the parents. "We have several stations all around the room. Station One is reading, Station Two writing, Station Three math, Station Four science, and Station Five social studies. Every thirty minutes we'll rotate to the left and then when everypony has been through each session we'll return for a larger activity. Students with names beginning with A-E will go to Station One, F-J will go to Station Two, K-O to Station Three, P-T to Station Four, and U-Z to Station Five. Have fun! Parents, if you have any problems don't be afraid to ask me." The students and their parents went to their respective stations and the parents followed the activities on the sheet.

*OOC: In particular, look where it says [Topic] Activities. I mean these activities to be suggestive only and not necessarily limited to them. Feel free to come up with different appropriate activities.

[Roma Byzantina]

Sky Sprinter; That lake near Ponyville
A changeling sat near the waters of the lake. He was lost in thought as he thought of a certain Pegasus pony and the world he lived in right now. He had mostly switched to his natural form, becoming more and more used to the idea of being without the Pegasus disguise he had donned since as far back as he could remember. He no longer cared for the false skin since he had been pretty sure that too many knew by now for it to really work.

[Pherdistan]

Canterlot, Houses of Parliament
Radiant Tapestry

---

Yawning as he got up, Radiant Tapestry smiled at the bright sun above the capital city of Equestria. And then stopped as he looked over the papers on his... desk?

"You fell asleep, dear," said a fushia earth pony, taking a few papers off his desk. The smile returned to Radiant's face.

"Thanks, Frantic, I really appreciate you helping out around the office." The Appropriations Committee* had promptly become Tartarus incarnate, flooded with the dozens of spending requests from every part of the military, which then had to be processed, assessed, and, finally, written into a bill. All of it, of course, on a deadline. A month or two into their relationship, Radiant had asked her to help out with the workload. She had been marvelous about it, he would've almost said she liked working in Parliament.

"Not a problem, sweetie," she said, handing him a significantly neater but larger stack of paper. "These are the appropriations bills you wanted drafted, with amendments. The rest of the committee is set to meet in an hour, I got you some breakfast in the meantime." He really didn't know how she managed it; he could barely keep things straight, while Frantic almost effortlessly moved everything around. "I also set aside an hour tonight for the two of us to paint," she added. Eating the breakfast, Radiant just nodded. She had insisted they paint together, to help him relax, and he was surprised by helpful it was. He was no good at painting, but it always seemed to help him.

"Well, see you for lunch, dearie," Frantic said, giving him some additional papers he had requested. Saying their goodbyes, Radiant headed to the Appropriations Committee room, while Frantic stayed behind to finish up on some other bills he planned to introduce after the lunch recess. Such a nice filly, he thought to himself, reading through the bill as he walked through the large corridors of the Houses of Parliament. Such a nice filly.

---

*Here, I'm using it as an amalgamation of the US House Budget/Appropriations committee, basically creating the budget and authorizing it at the same time.

---

Silent Thought (Frantic Spots)

---

As soon as Tapestry had left, Silent closed the door, locking it as he did, and then lowered the blinds as well. Once he was certain that everything was blocked, he finally allowed himself to change, top-down, and, after less than a minute, he was back to his old self. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time. Tapping the make-up mirror he had carried with him, a smaller version of another changeling's face appeared. After greeting, Silent's handler spoke.

"Did you insert the language we wanted into the bill?"

Silent nodded. "If he does things right, we'll antagonize the race-traitors here, no doubt. That'll teach to betray the Queen," he muttered darkly. His handler, R, broke into a smile.

"Good to hear, Master Spy. What else is there?"

"The usual. Rations are growing thinner, but their morale I fear unbreakable. I've told you before, attack the damn farms, they'll starve sooner than surrender."

R pursed his lips. "We're working on it. The Queen is... strong-willed." Code, of course, which meant that most of his intelligence reports had either been ignored or were deemed "unreliable". Somehow, it hadn't gotten any easier after nine months.

"Anyways, your work is exemplary, agent. You're by far our most accurate informant; we don't reports nearly of the quality your tell us. Just give us last week's appropriations and we'll be done."

After filling in R about the generous budget increases afforded to the Royal Guard, among others, Silent's handler seemed content, and they both signed off. The entire meeting had taken less than 10 minutes, but it had felt far too short for Silent. He needed to get back... but to what?

[The Flutterlands]

Cloudsdale

The pegasus looked at Philip before making a horrendous laugh. "Ha! Hahahahaha!" he laughed, "No we're not working for any of those losers. No, we're working for someone else. Our queen have taken a great interest in you and your skills as a military commander and we want to make a proposal with you. However, like I've said, we're playing a dangerous game and this game requires your undisputed loyalty and silence outside of this wareshouse, understand? You do want to take back your kingdom, right? After all, you're no more a king, than we're once again the supreme beings of this land the ponies call 'Equestria'. Do you need any more hints or do we need to spell it out to you?"

---

Ponyville Middle School

Bounty nodded in agreement with Apple Bloom about all the fun things they will be doing. He remembered all the things they have already done together since they're first date, which unfortunately ended with a peanut allergy attack and the invasion of changelings that begun the war. Already they went out to lunch together many times, helped out on farm, walked in the park, did homework together, as well as played in the snow during the winter together. "We're indeed going to have an awesome summer, Apple Bloom." said Bounty, blushing slightly as he gazed upon the pretty yellow filly before him.

Then the bell rang. Bounty nodded and followed his fellow classmates, including Apple Bloom to Cheerilee's classroom. Social studies was one of Bounty's favorite subjects and Cheerilee was his favorite teacher. He smiled when she entered the classroom. "Good morning, Miss Cheerilee." Bounty greeted in return.

Bounty smiled upon receiving his exam results. His smile grew broadly and filled with pride. The unicorn colt may not take much pride in his magical talents, but he does take pride in his intelligence. Bounty took the exam papers and hugged it as he could just imagine the look on Twilight's happy face.

Bounty smiled when Cheerilee started giving out the Domestic Bureau. He was glad to have remembered to bring his ration book with him and very happy to receive extra food today. Though the brown colt did feel bad for Apple Bloom not bringing in her book. Part of him wanted share his rations with his fillyfriend, but he knew that she would get still those extra rations, just a little later than everypony else. Bounty filled out his papers and got up to turn them in before sitting back down.

"No, Miss Cheerilee." said Bounty when asked for questions, "I think we're good."

---

Ponyville Kindergarten

Gretel followed Gregory and Spot into the Kindergarten Building upon the ringing of the bell. She looked around the nicely and brightly decorated room and smiled. Truthfully, Gretel was pretty jealous of Gregory having an education as she lacked one having lived in isolation with her parents.

Gretel sat with Gregory and Spot, acting as a sort of 'stand-in' for Twilight. She filled out her forms and handed them in before watching as the all little children began answering Miss Sunnydale's questions. Gretel smiled, feelimg so proud of her little Gregory for being so smart.

Gretel smiled when Miss. Sunnydale handed out the Kindergarten guides before getting up to join Gregory at Station Two where they learned writing skills together. Gretel made sure to take time to work on her own writing skills.

Meanwhile, Spot went up to Station 4 to learn science. He looked up at his fellow students sitting with their parents or even other relatives. Spot's ears drooped seeing that he was the only student who have come over on his own and sadly got to work, hoping that his mother, Twilight, would come on time...

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Cloudsdale,
Lord Philip Blackwing

King Philip couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when he realized that it was Queen Chrysalis who had set up such a pathetic excuse for a hostage situation. He'd always imagined Chrysalis as being a master of subtlety and manipulation; this kind of operation was certainly not subtle, to say the least. It didn't really take a lot of deduction to figure out what Chrysalis wanted; obviously, she figured that she would be able to turn Philip into her puppet and use him to turn the Griffin Kingdom into a satellite state of the changeling nation. Philip would have imagined Chrysalis would do something a wee bit more sneaky than trying to abduct someone and politely asking them to swear fealty to her; after all, Chrysalis had fancy magic to manipulate people, and yet she preferred ridiculous drama like this. It was a joke of an attempt, as far as Philip was concerned.

"My undisputed loyalty? You don't get it, do you? I am a monarch in exile; for me to swear fealty and pledge allegiance to a foreign leader would render my claim to the throne illegitimate. As a griffin noble, my loyalties must lie with the Griffin Kingdom and no other nation, not that I would expect a bunch of changeling peasants to understand that; it takes more than a little rope and a few drones to get a griffin to abandon his honor-bound fealty to the Griffin Kingdom. You can go and tell Chrysalis that if she wants me to become a puppet for her to control the Griffin government with, she'll need to earn my loyalty in the traditional griffin way; a duel, single combat with no magic, no firearms, no help. Unless Chrysalis herself can best me in traditional griffin combat, you'll receive no promise of loyalty from me." Philip said, understanding the deeper consequences of making a promise of undying loyalty to foreigners.

Philip wanted to force Guto II off the throne for good, but to make a declaration of fealty to the changeling nation would invalidate his own claim to the crown; after all, a vassal of a foreign monarch cannot be the monarch of an independent Griffin Kingdom. Even if nobody else would ever know about Philip's words, it would still be a disgrace as far as he was concerned, disgracing and dishonoring both him and his entire family. There would be no victory in being placed back on the griffin throne as the puppet of a foreigner; there would be no glory in being subjected to the whims of the changeling queen. Griffin traditionalism was one of the key tenants of Philip's ideology, and for the King of the Griffins to willingly submit to the authority of a foreign monarch would remove the validity of his claim to the throne as far as griffin tradition was concerned. Of course, it was entirely possible that changelings and griffins had different definitions of what loyalty entailed, but Philip kind of doubted that possibility.

[Frenequesta]

Ponyville Middle School

..."No, Miss Cheerilee." said Bounty when asked for questions, "I think we're good."

A filly in the back did have a question. "How does the Domestic Bureau determine how many rations everypony gets?"

"I've heard it's a very complicated formula that involves age, nutrition, average consumption, lifetime of products, and such," said Cheerilee. "But I really don't know exactly. Anything else?" Nopony said anything. "Alright, let's get started..." she rummaged through her saddlebag looking for something. She had only figured out what she wanted to do for the last day of school yesterday. At the old Ponyville schoolhouse she did not need to plan--she could let them play board games, frolic in the school yard, even go home early--but the middle school administration, the school board, and even the teacher's union would not accept that. Every day had to be "educational" in some sense now. So she passed out a packet of crosswords on various subjects that the students had studied throughout the year--the branches of government, the comparative politics of Equestria, Griffinstone, and the changeling colonies (the last two had finally been updated after years of biased presentations or general lack of funds or disinterest), the laws of supply and demand and other basic economic concepts, the difference between fact and opinion and other aspects of critical thinking, among other things.

"Here we go. The first three to get all of them get a prize," she said. She had a beach ball, a pail and shovel, and a kite underneath the desk. After passing the crosswords out she retreated back to her desk, waiting for the math teacher to come in for the next period.

Ponyville Kindergarten

Gretel followed Gregory and Spot into the Kindergarten Building upon the ringing of the bell. She looked around the nicely and brightly decorated room and smiled. Truthfully, Gretel was pretty jealous of Gregory having an education as she lacked one having lived in isolation with her parents.

Gretel sat with Gregory and Spot, acting as a sort of 'stand-in' for Twilight. She filled out her forms and handed them in before watching as the all little children began answering Miss Sunnydale's questions. Gretel smiled, feeling so proud of her little Gregory for being so smart.

Gretel smiled when Miss. Sunnydale handed out the Kindergarten guides before getting up to join Gregory at Station Two where they learned writing skills together. Gretel made sure to take time to work on her own writing skills.

Meanwhile, Spot went up to Station 4 to learn science. He looked up at his fellow students sitting with their parents or even other relatives. Spot's ears drooped seeing that he was the only student who have come over on his own and sadly got to work, hoping that his mother, Twilight, would come on time...

There were a lot of students (and their relatives) in Station Four. In short order almost all of them took the crayons and paper to create basic schematics of the water cycle, crowded around the ant farm to explain the colony's structure, or rolled little wooden wagons down inclined planes to observe the patterns in motion. Spot was sort of left out as the parents and relatives dealt with their own children first. Eventually, Miss Sunnydale noticed. She went over to Station Four and addressed Spot.

"Spot, I see your mother isn't here today... I understand. Tell you what, why don't you go over with Gregory and his mother in Station Two?"

---

Ponyville Elementary No. 1

Potter Black checked in fairly early at Ponyville Elementary No. 1. The original schoolhouse had been expanded several more rooms to accommodate the great population spike from the migrations and displacements from the Empire-controlled cities. Parliament had been supportive of Ponyville's expansion because of its strategic location, and had sent over aid to speed up construction and fortify the town. The town had grown so rapidly that virtually everyone agreed that Ponyville should have another parliamentary district. He was here now, amazed that in just a few months the town had cobblestones on the main thoroughfares, a real downtown commercial district, large apartment complexes, and even a tower that was about a third the height of the Crystal Tree Castle (though he heard that had been in the works for two years before a collapse at the site delayed completion).

Potter himself had no regrets about coming to see his illegitimate son on stage graduating from elementary school. His other children had their graduations the week before. Besides, he liked Pitch. He had only seen him a couple of times since meeting him by chance at the Canterlot Hospital during that fateful Gala evening, as Twilight had not tried to get him to pay child support--just allowing a few weekend meetings. At the same time, Parliament had been busier than ever with hearings on the war, the rationing system, and the old fortress in the caves beneath Canterlot. He had some time to make up.

He was used to morning graduation ceremonies back in Canterlot, and was a little embarrassed when he was told that the graduation would not take place until the afternoon. So he waited in the administrative office until the time came.

[The Flutterlands]

Cloudsdale

The pegasus grinned and laughed as he shedded his form, revealing himself to be a changeling. "Well, we don't exactly have time for a duel considering our plans. Besides that, you misunderstand us!" he said in his natural changeling voice, "The only loyalty we demand is your silence of what happens here and your cooperation. We're not talking about puppetry but rather an alliance. You help us conquer Equestria, we'll help you take back the Griffin Kingdom and we'll be done. No strings attached. You won't have to worry about us anymore. Ether that, or... for the sake of the Changeling Empire... we'll have to kill you and your friends and family. Your choice..."

---

Ponyville Middle School

Bounty smiled as he listened to the filly's question. He asked Twilight how the Bureau worked and all he got was a fancy lecture that not even he could understand half of. It was still all pretty interesting nonetheless.

When Bounty got his crossword puzzles, he found them all to be a piece of cake. He was thankful to have learned all of these things and was the first one to finish along with two others, including a changeling boy. The young brown unicorn colt happily got up and presented his work. "Finished, Miss Cheerilee." said Bounty, giving her his finished papers.

---

Ponyville Kindergarten

Spot indeed had a very sad look on his face while sitting at Station Four. However, his ears twitched upon hearing Miss. Sunnydale's voice. He turned to her and smiled somewhat at her offer. "Yes, Miss. Sunnydale." said Spot with still a little bit of sadness. Spot trotted over to Station Two, where Gregory was showing off his writing skills to Gretel. These included labelling, guessing and rhyming activities. Parents also asked their children to write out some words they've learned. This also helped Gretel learn some things as well.

Gretel smiled at Spot, "Hello, Sport." she greeted with a comforting voice, "Wanna show me your writing skills?"

Spot looked at Gretel and his smile grew some what. The little earth colt took a pencil and a labelling activity. The griffin stepmother smiled as she watched both Gregory and Spot show her how much they've learned in writing. "Good job." she said, "I wish I had the writing skills you litte guys have."

Both Gregory and Spot smiled broadly and giggled at Gretel's compliment. Throughout the day the two children did their activities together in each station while Gretel watched. At the end, Spot felt that his day have been a little better than it could have been, as he got to spend it with one of his best friends and his mother.

[Slorch]

Sky Sprinter; That lake near Ponyville
A changeling sat near the waters of the lake. He was lost in thought as he thought of a certain Pegasus pony and the world he lived in right now. He had mostly switched to his natural form, becoming more and more used to the idea of being without the Pegasus disguise he had donned since as far back as he could remember. He no longer cared for the false skin since he had been pretty sure that too many knew by now for it to really work.

Derpy was enjoying a leisurely flight to the lake in Ponyville after having sent Dinky off to her last day of Middle School she was so proud of her. As she flew she reflected over the last 9. Things had been...interesting. The war with Chrysalis continued to be an omnipresent background to everyponies daily lives. Rationing had been implemented some months ago, a general draft was being talked about, and reservists were being pulled into combat. She had been lucky to escape attention thus far, but if things continued it would only be a matter of time before she was called off to serve. Derpy shook her head. Mornings weren't the time to think over such weighty thoughts, especially not this morning.

As she neared the lake she spotted the reason for today's early morning flight to the lake. A changeling sat near the waters of the lake. He seemed lost in thought about things much to heavy for such a beautiful day. Hopefully she could change that. She thought as she descended to land beside him. "Hey Sky how have things been?" she asked as she sat down next to him.

[Frenequesta]

Ponyville Middle School

Bounty smiled as he listened to the filly's question. He asked Twilight how the Bureau worked and all he got was a fancy lecture that not even he could understand half of. It was still all pretty interesting nonetheless.

When Bounty got his crossword puzzles, he found them all to be a piece of cake. He was thankful to have learned all of these things and was the first one to finish along with two others, including a changeling boy. The young brown unicorn colt happily got up and presented his work. "Finished, Miss Cheerilee." said Bounty, giving her his finished papers.

Cheerilee was staring out the window. She had spent the last twenty minutes daydreaming of the summer ahead--taking hikes in the Smokey Mountains, repainting her house, working on her children's novel, visiting her relatives in Whinnyapolis (if the Crystal Guards were still securing it), and birdwatching with Big Macintosh. The six hours from then until the end of school seemed to take longer just by thinking about her plans. Even though she loved inculcating little foals' intellectual and social growth through teaching and empathy, she was ready to take a break.

She barely noticed Bounty waving in his crosswords, the papers fluttering down by his magic. "Hmm? Oh yes, yes, of course..." she said, as she pulled out the answer key and checked his answers. While she went through the other two students came up. The changeling boy and Apple Bloom had apparently finished at the same time, and he got in line a second before her, leaving Apple Bloom in fourth place. She sulked back to her seat, her bow drooping.

Cheerilee smiled at Bounty's answers. "Perfect as usual!" Cheerilee said. She went under her desk and took out the box of summer toys. "Take your pick."

After Bounty picked his prize, Cheerilee let the other two show their work. She looked at the second one's papers, and halfway in she shook her head. "Sorry Aster, 2 Down and 10 across on page 12 are wrong." Aster sighed and went back to her desk. Cheerilee looked around. She thought she remembered Apple Bloom rising up to turn in her work at the corner of her eye. "Apple Bloom, did you..."

"She did, Miss Cheerilee," said the changeling boy, who turned in his work. "Just a second after me."

"Okay, Apple Bloom, come on up," said Cheerilee, as she inspected the changeling's work. She nodded after going through the puzzles. "Very good, Bluewing." He took his prize and sat down, leaving only the pail and shovel up for grabs.

Cheerilee looked through Apple Bloom's paper, which was perfect until the last page. "Well, 5 Down's not spelled right... but it's still the right term," she said, and let Apple Bloom pick up the pail and shovel. Apple Bloom would have rather had the kite, but at least she won something, and it was a small victory despite the B+.

The class went on for twenty more minutes before Cheerilee had to leave. In her place came Ms. Barnstorm, who stood up on her chair, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote out fifteen rows of Pascal's triangle and the binomial theorem by the side. "Today we'll have a little preview of 7th grade mathematics..."

Ponyville Kindergarten

Spot indeed had a very sad look on his face while sitting at Station Four. However, his ears twitched upon hearing Miss. Sunnydale's voice. He turned to her and smiled somewhat at her offer. "Yes, Miss. Sunnydale." said Spot with still a little bit of sadness. Spot trotted over to Station Two, where Gregory was showing off his writing skills to Gretel. These included labelling, guessing and rhyming activities. Parents also asked their children to write out some words they've learned. This also helped Gretel learn some things as well.

Gretel smiled at Spot, "Hello, Sport." she greeted with a comforting voice, "Wanna show me your writing skills?"

Spot looked at Gretel and his smile grew some what. The little earth colt took a pencil and a labelling activity. The griffin stepmother smiled as she watched both Gregory and Spot show her how much they've learned in writing. "Good job." she said, "I wish I had the writing skills you litte guys have."

Both Gregory and Spot smiled broadly and giggled at Gretel's compliment. Throughout the day the two children did their activities together in each station while Gretel watched. At the end, Spot felt that his day have been a little better than it could have been, as he got to spend it with one of his best friends and his mother.

Eventually everypony had rotated through each of the five sections, and Miss Sunnydale called them back to create a big collage of all of the things the children had learned over the year. After they had finished, Miss Sunnydale let the parents go outside to a little makeshift amphitheater she had set up while the kids were making the collage, sitting around a square grid of chairs in the center facing a small wooden platform with a lectern. The kids stayed behind. Miss Sunnydale passed out the mortarboards to each of the children. "Now let's practice the ceremony, fillies and colts..."

Less than an hour later the children were in line in the schoolhouse and ready to be called. Spot was three-quarters of the way from the front, still wondering if Twilight would show up.

---

One parent showed up a couple of hours late, but fortunately in time for the ceremony. Many of the other parents recognized her and waved their hellos. A few even came up to her telling of their problems, to which she pointed out that she was on break and was just there for her son.

She took a seat next to Gretel. Having been down to Sweet Apple Acres several times in the past nine months for both business and pleasure, she was well aware of Applejack's new girlfriend and her son. "Good afternoon, Gretel," said Twilight. "How's Gregory doing?"