Awesome Pony Rp: Reboot of the Reboot (IC)

[Frenequesta]

Axle listened. He wrote down a note and passed it to Potter. He made sure he didn't fall back asleep. He didn't, but was still silent.

Potter Black sighed and picked back up the questioning. "Now Mr. Sprinter, we already have Professor Valleyfall's testimony on how active feeding goes about, but how do you do it? Do you do anything in particular to the person you feed on or can you just stand there and suck the love?"

"Well, active-feeding usually happens through either touch, such as a hug between me and a family member, or through an out-pour in love from one pony to me, say for example if I got a gift for my sister then there'd so be a wave of love flowing to me from her. In a word I'd say both," Sky replied.

"That works out," said Potter to Axle. "Thank you."

Cherry Ranger and Butter Gun wanted to ask the same question, but Cherry got there first. "Mr. Sprinter, suppose we allow you to join the Royal Guard. You might have access to your sister or family for active feeding during leave periods but suppose you don't for some reason. Or say, you forgot to active feed for the month, and you're starting to get dizzy while on duty or even just on base. What would you do?"

Before Sky could answer, Willowshire interjected something. "Wait, Potter, may I add to Cherry's question?"

Potter shrugged. "I guess, but make it short."

"Okay. Before you answer, Mr. Sprinter, I want to also ask what you think is most likely to happen based on your experiences in not active-feeding for a time."

[Roma Byzantina]

"Well, active-feeding usually happens through either touch, such as a hug between me and a family member, or through an out-pour in love from one pony to me, say for example if I got a gift for my sister then there'd so be a wave of love flowing to me from her. In a word I'd say both," Sky replied.

"That works out," said Potter to Axle. "Thank you."

Cherry Ranger and Butter Gun wanted to ask the same question, but Cherry got there first. "Mr. Sprinter, suppose we allow you to join the Royal Guard. You might have access to your sister or family for active feeding during leave periods but suppose you don't for some reason. Or say, you forgot to active feed for the month, and you're starting to get dizzy while on duty or even just on base. What would you do?"

Before Sky could answer, Willowshire interjected something. "Wait, Potter, may I add to Cherry's question?"

Potter shrugged. "I guess, but make it short."

"Okay. Before you answer, Mr. Sprinter, I want to also ask what you think is most likely to happen based on your experiences in not active-feeding for a time."

"I'd probably try to tough it out. On prior occasions I was never far from family but in Canterlot or anywhere away from family I'd try my best to find anything with left over love energies and I'd do my best to keep myself from doing anything to anypony. By that point of time, I'd have developed some ability to tough it out at the least if I made it so far as the Royal Guard. I guess I'd also try to prevent that situation by taking as much as I could per feeding prior to coming back to duty, without harming anypony of course," Sky replied.

[Frenequesta]

"I'd probably try to tough it out. On prior occasions I was never far from family but in Canterlot or anywhere away from family I'd try my best to find anything with left over love energies and I'd do my best to keep myself from doing anything to anypony. By that point of time, I'd have developed some ability to tough it out at the least if I made it so far as the Royal Guard. I guess I'd also try to prevent that situation by taking as much as I could per feeding prior to coming back to duty, without harming anypony of course," Sky replied.

Cherry Ranger nodded, but Willowshire pressed. "So are you saying that you've never felt or acted on an impulse to active-feed when you haven't done it for a period of time?"

"Or at anytime whatsoever?" interjected Regal Trotter.

"Regal, ask next time," said Potter Black. "Ignore that last question, Mr. Sprinter." It was painful for him to have to apply the rule to suppress questions made out of turn, even relevant ones.

"Well, may I-" asked Regal.

"Wait until he's finished," said Potter.

[Roma Byzantina]

"I'd probably try to tough it out. On prior occasions I was never far from family but in Canterlot or anywhere away from family I'd try my best to find anything with left over love energies and I'd do my best to keep myself from doing anything to anypony. By that point of time, I'd have developed some ability to tough it out at the least if I made it so far as the Royal Guard. I guess I'd also try to prevent that situation by taking as much as I could per feeding prior to coming back to duty, without harming anypony of course," Sky replied.

Cherry Ranger nodded, but Willowshire still pressed. "So are you saying that you've never felt an impulse to active-feed when you haven't done it for a period of time?"

"Or at anytime whatsoever?" interjected Regal Trotter.

"Regal, ask next time," said Potter Black. "Ignore that last question, Mr. Sprinter." It was painful for him to have to apply the rule to suppress questions out of turn, even relevant ones like that.

"Well, may I-" asked Regal.

"Wait until he's finished," said Potter.

Sky nodded in thanks to Potter and answered, "I'm not saying that I haven't felt that impulse, but I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it. It's like when a normal pony goes through starvation, once you are on that desert island you have to suppress some urges that could lead to bad consequences." He hoped that the desert island analogy would get interpreted as he wished.

[Frenequesta]

Cherry Ranger nodded, but Willowshire still pressed. "So are you saying that you've never felt an impulse to active-feed when you haven't done it for a period of time?"

"Or at anytime whatsoever?" interjected Regal Trotter.

"Regal, ask next time," said Potter Black. "Ignore that last question, Mr. Sprinter." It was painful for him to have to apply the rule to suppress questions out of turn, even relevant ones like that.

"Well, may I-" asked Regal.

"Wait until he's finished," said Potter.

Sky nodded in thanks to Potter and answered, "I'm not saying that I haven't felt that impulse, but I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it. It's like when a normal pony goes through starvation, once you are on that desert island you have to suppress some urges that could lead to bad consequences." He hoped that the desert island analogy would get interpreted as he wished.

"You mean you'd eat yourself?" asked Axle Lemony.

"Well, that's a bad consequence nonetheless," said Willowshire. "But I think we all understand what you're saying, Mr. Sprinter." Most everypony on the committees nodded, although Cherry Ranger was still a little confused over the grammatical meaning of the statement.

Regal Trotter finally had another chance to ask his question. "You say you've haven't felt the impulse, Mr. Sprinter. Do you mean just when you were starving or anytime ever?"

[Roma Byzantina]

Sky nodded in thanks to Potter and answered, "I'm not saying that I haven't felt that impulse, but I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it. It's like when a normal pony goes through starvation, once you are on that desert island you have to suppress some urges that could lead to bad consequences." He hoped that the desert island analogy would get interpreted as he wished.

"You mean you'd eat yourself?" asked Axle Lemony.

"Well, that's a bad consequence nonetheless," said Willowshire. "But I think we all understand what you're saying, Mr. Sprinter." Most everypony on the committees nodded, although Cherry Ranger was still a little confused over the grammatical meaning of the statement.

Regal Trotter finally had another chance to ask his question. "You say you've haven't felt the impulse, Mr. Sprinter. Do you mean just when you were starving or anytime ever?"

"I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it when I'm starving. I never really feel it at any other time unless there's an unusual amount of emotions being poured out by a pony and even then I can keep myself from doing anything. To put it simply, I guess I'd say that I don't usually feel the impulse of it, especially when I'm not starving," Sky replied.

[Frenequesta]

"You mean you'd eat yourself?" asked Axle Lemony.

"Well, that's a bad consequence nonetheless," said Willowshire. "But I think we all understand what you're saying, Mr. Sprinter." Most everypony on the committees nodded, although Cherry Ranger was still a little confused over the grammatical meaning of the statement.

Regal Trotter finally had another chance to ask his question. "You say you've haven't felt the impulse, Mr. Sprinter. Do you mean just when you were starving or anytime ever?"

"I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it when I'm starving. I never really feel it at any other time unless there's an unusual amount of emotions being poured out by a pony and even then I can keep myself from doing anything. To put it simply, I guess I'd say that I don't usually feel the impulse of it, especially when I'm not starving," Sky replied.

"So tell me this, Mr. Sprinter," said Regal Trotter. "If you don't know that much about your fellow changelings, why haven't you looked more into them?" Cherry Ranger gave an embarrassed look. She wondered if Regal Trotter was actually interested in the information Sky was giving.

[Roma Byzantina]

"I've been able to keep myself from acting upon it when I'm starving. I never really feel it at any other time unless there's an unusual amount of emotions being poured out by a pony and even then I can keep myself from doing anything. To put it simply, I guess I'd say that I don't usually feel the impulse of it, especially when I'm not starving," Sky replied.

"So tell me this, Mr. Sprinter," said Regal Trotter. "If you don't know that much about your fellow changelings, why haven't you looked more into them?" Cherry Ranger gave an embarrassed look. She wondered if Regal Trotter was actually interested in the information Sky was giving.

Sky sheepishly replied, "I never really trusted the books nor had the interest to read them. I was entirely fine with living the lie." Not to mention the fact that he never had a good resource for aquiring them in them in the first.

[Frenequesta]

"So tell me this, Mr. Sprinter," said Regal Trotter. "If you don't know that much about your fellow changelings, why haven't you looked more into them?" Cherry Ranger gave an embarrassed look. She wondered if Regal Trotter was actually interested in the information Sky was giving.

Sky sheepishly replied, "I never really trusted the books nor had the interest to read them. I was entirely fine with living the lie." Not to mention the fact that he never had a good resource for aquiring them in them in the first.

Regal squinted his eyes at Sky. "You never trusted the books," he said. "And your mother told you after the Canterlot attack that there will never be peace between ponies and changelings. Did she ever tell you that changelings were the superior race? Did she warn you about these books?"

[Roma Byzantina]

Sky sheepishly replied, "I never really trusted the books nor had the interest to read them. I was entirely fine with living the lie." Not to mention the fact that he never had a good resource for aquiring them in them in the first.

Regal squinted his eyes at Sky. "You never trusted the books," he said. "And your mother told you after the Canterlot attack that there will never be peace between ponies and changelings. Did she ever tell you that changelings were the superior race? Did she warn you about these books?"

"She did warn me about the books," Sky admitted, "She always said that ponies were overly excitable, easy-to-panic, and irrational. However, she also said that ponies were true to their values, friendly, and prosperous."

[Frenequesta]

Regal squinted his eyes at Sky. "You never trusted the books," he said. "And your mother told you after the Canterlot attack that there will never be peace between ponies and changelings. Did she ever tell you that changelings were the superior race? Did she warn you about these books?"

"She did warn me about the books," Sky admitted, "She always said that ponies were overly excitable, easy-to-panic, and irrational. However, she also said that ponies were true to their values, friendly, and prosperous."

"And one more question, Mr. Sprinter--"

"Make it the last, Regal," said Potter.

"As you wish," said Regal, sighing. "How did you react when you heard that Chrysalis was defeated at the Canterlot attack?"

[Roma Byzantina]

"She did warn me about the books," Sky admitted, "She always said that ponies were overly excitable, easy-to-panic, and irrational. However, she also said that ponies were true to their values, friendly, and prosperous."

"And one more question, Mr. Sprinter--"

"Make it the last, Regal," said Potter.

"As you wish," said Regal, sighing. "How did you react when you heard that Chrysalis was defeated at the Canterlot attack?"

"I was happy that she had been defeated and saddened by the invasion itself. I couldn't have imagined myself being in this position when I heard of her defeat," Sky replied.

[Frenequesta]

"I was happy that she had been defeated and saddened by the invasion itself. I couldn't have imagined myself being in this position when I heard of her defeat," Sky replied.

Regal wanted more, but Potter shook his head. "Very well, Mr. Sprinter."

The two committees' members, for the most part, felt a little disappointed. They thought that Twilight had picked up an enthusiastic witness to her cause, or at least one able to vividly elaborate on the state of changelings with a first hand experience. Some, of course, didn't care, but those who voted for his inclusion really wanted to hear such things. Most of the Royal Guard Committee had actually been absent at the time because they were never included in the vote to bring Sky in, and those who did come felt especially disappointed. But Butter Gun, Cherry Ranger, and a couple of others also knew that it wasn't a complete waste of time. They, as well as the others, just thought that there would be more to gain from Sky.

"I take it that we're done with Sky?" Potter Black asked. He looked around and found a few tired nods. "Good." He then turned back to Sky. "Okay, Mr. Sprinter, thank you very much, it's been a pleasure to hear from you." The rest of the Royal Guard Committee came back to take their seats at the head table. "So what do we all think?"

"I say it goes to the floor immediately," said Butter Gun with enthusiasm.

"Well, of course you'd say that, you drafted it," said Tar Wing.

"Tar Wing!" Cherry Ranger chided. "I'd have to agree with Butter though. If that letter doesn't mean that an attack is upon us, I wouldn't know what does. I'm also not convinced there is any good reason to not let changelings like Sky into the Guard if they can pass the physicals."

"Well, that's something I wanted to ask Cavalry Cross, actually," said Willowshire. "Professor Valleyfall said that at least some changelings are actually able to imitate the strength of the ponies they disguise themselves as, so I wonder if the Guard has anything to say about that."

"But Willowshire, having them serve and apply openly should eliminate that problem," said Cloversweet.

"She has a point though," said Felt Bundler, a Cornucopian on the Royal Guard Committee. "The bill doesn't force changelings to apply as changelings. We'll potentially have all sorts of fake ponies going through."

"I thought the Fraud in Government Act would cover that."

"No," said Felt. "The Wafflefrier Act makes species immaterial, so it wouldn't be something the Guard can rely upon. Not to mention not asked on the application."

"Felt, are you saying we should get rid of one of Wafflefrier's key provisions?" asked Fortitude.

"Actually, no, but now that you say that..."

"Well, I'm all for it," said Cherry Ranger. "That provision always struck me as too strong, and it may be hampering our affirmative action efforts."

"We ordered the Guard to stop discriminating based on coat color," said Regal Trotter. "And we didn't say anything about the applications. It hasn't stopped them from picking only white and gray ponies."

"There's a good reason for that, you know," said Tar Wing. A few members rolled their eyes, knowing he was a member of the Royal Guard a while back. A couple nodded in agreement.

"Never mind that," said Cherry. "Even the Wafflefrier Act hasn't increased earth pony participation much relative to the Equestrian population as a whole. And I said that in reference to affirmative action efforts... Actually, I don't think we've ever had an affirmative action program for the Guard, even for the poor."

"By the way, I'd like to ask Twilight about what Franklin raised about the competing precedents for undue discrimination," said Mauve Legato. "One said that the standard for appropriateness is for something urgent, others say that it can be based on an uncontroversial and non-environmental based characteristic of the species at issue, others say it just has to be uncontroversial and narrowly tailored to the circumstances."

"I'd like to know how Twilight would respond to the Guard's stories of the love-sucking," said Diamond Waltz.

"And I still don't think that letter is enough," said Mauve Legato. "Our declarations of war have usually been based on something more concrete. Besides, is it proper to rely on what is essentially hearsay?"

"We're not a court," said Butter Gun.

"No, but the Inquires Clause applies all the procedures and rules of the court to legislative hearings."

"I think the courts have interpreted that clause to apply only to protections to ponies and not to anything about statements themselves," said another member, Swift Gear.

"Well, that's only because those are the only things that ever got raised," said Mauve. "If we pass this thing I wouldn't be surprised if the districts start suing us."

"Oh, Mauve, did you have to?" sighed Cloversweet. "This is all going in the record."

Some members joined in Cloversweet's complaint. Others continued offering their questions and their responses. The voices soon became jumbled and Potter tried to quell them. "Hold on, hold on! One at a time. Cherry, I think you wanted to say something?"

Cherry Ranger nodded, clasped her hooves, and looked about the table. "Okay. We all have a bunch of questions and the Princess are expecting a decision from us soon. We can't let this thing dally for long. Now, I think Swift is right about the hearsay but just to be safe we need something more from Razor Wing. Here's what we'll do. We'll write down the five most pressing questions we have and give them to our witnesses. They'll have an hour to answer them in writing. We'll meet again after an hour and a half, the last 30 minutes to read over the answers. Then we'll vote on a recommendation to the floor and the suggested amendments. Is that fair?"

"That sounds good," said Potter.

"I'm fine with that," said Axle Lemony.

Most of the others nodded. "Motions adopted," said Potter. "So what should we ask?..."

---

After a few moments of debate, the committees settled on its five. "Alright, so we have the Chrysalis Evidence question for Prince Razor Wing, the Precedent and Guard stories question for Princess Twilight, the Fraud question for the Guards and Franklin, and the validity of Wafflefrier's no-race-on-applications clause to Twilight and Franklin. You have them, Mauve?"

Mauve put down his quill and looked over the paper. "Yep." He passed them around to the members of the committee, who all nodded to its language.*

"Good," said Cherry. "Butter, get Carbon Copy to make question-and-answer forms unique to each witness."

"Yes, Cherry," said Butter.

"Very good," said Potter. He then addressed the audience as a whole. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Prince Razor Wing, Colonel Cavalry Cross, Brigadier Holster Spur, and Franklin should expect a request for written testimony very soon. And now, the Royal Guard and Social Justice Committees will take a 90-minute recess. We shall reconvene at 4:20." He then banged the gavel and the audience started to talk among themselves and file out.

---

After five minutes Carbon Copy had transcribed, sorted, and copied the questions for each witness. Twilight got hers first, being the closest to the front door of the Pomegranate Room as she took a seat in the back to study over her notes. She looked over the paper and took out a quill.

"Hmm... 'what line of precedents do you believe states the correct rule in deciding changeling discrimination issues and why?' Culpepper line, Hawk Line line, Crap Shooter line... I haven't read all these cases... but I'll say that Culpepper and Crap Shooter tend to create more consistent results and the Culpepper line is really a special case of the Crap Shooter line..." She wrote down a couple of paragraphs, referencing back her notes for legal references. She then continued to the next: "'What do I think of the Guard's stories...?' Well, I think the questioning did reveal that perhaps the fears may be misplaced but I can't say for certain, but I think the research does indicate that the love-sucking is not that big a problem on morale..." She also wrote a few paragraphs for that. "And last... Wafflefrier? Well, it's odd that it's pretty much the only statute that explicitly disallows asking about species on applications, and I don't see any reason why there is any good reason not to prevent it on there, but I don't think that it's affected the outcome of any ordinary discrimination claims..." She wrote down a few paragraphs for that.

She finished fifteen minutes before the answers were due and turned them in to Carbon Copy. She then sat back down next to Pitch.

*

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to write down the exact language of the questions as the general gist behind them should be apparent from the dialogue here. If anyone really wants to know or thinks we should I'll be happy to TG them to you. I really just want to use this break to allow a little reprieve from politics for a while.

[The Flutterlands]

"Besides the letter you had earlier presented to us, do you have any evidence, direct or circumstantial, that Queen Chrysalis or her hive is plotting an attack on Equestria? We strongly prefer that you not rely upon the words of anybody else."

Razor Wing read the question written to him and thought about it for a moment. Then he got an idea, remembering some of the papers he brought with him. The changeling princs opened up his briefcase and took out several papers, before stapling it to his response.

"These are reports from Colony Intelligence who monitor the hives around Equestria. This monitoring began when my father ordered The Hive Monitoring for Equestria and other Allies Act for the safety of our colony and our allies. I hope that these reports will provide as suitable evidence."

Razor then looked at Twilight and smiled before whispering in her ear.
"This is suitable tp be evidence, right?" he asked, giving the alicorn princess the papers, "It's suitable in the colony."
Meanwhile, Pitch Black was reading his Daring Doo book, not interested and too young to understand the grown up talk of politics and law.

[Frenequesta]

..."This is suitable to be evidence, right?" he asked, giving the alicorn princess the papers, "It's suitable in the colony."

Twilight looked at the report. It appeared as official as any government document, with Colony Intelligence's seal at the top left and many paragraphs of a formal font. She read it for a minute and then gave a tentative nod. "Hold on for a minute," she said, and left the Pomegranate Room, taking the documents with her.

She took a left and started looking around for a room she thought she saw the first time coming into the Parliament building. "I thought I saw a law library somewhere..." She then spotted a door flanked by two Ionic columns supporting a horseshoe arch. She looked up to the arch and saw the words "Starlight Oath Memorial Law and Reference Library." After a gleeful squee she trotted into the room.

She saw one of the aisles labelled "Rules of Appellate Procedure -- Rules of Civil Procedure -- Rules of Criminal Procedure -- Rules of Evidence" and started toward it, but a pony at an unnoticed counter stopped her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, may I see your identification please?"

Twilight stood still, embarrassed for a few seconds, and then turned to the right and walked toward the unicorn mare. She took out a card with her picture and name on it and waved it over to the librarian.

The librarian only looked at it for half a second before she hoofed it back. "Sorry miss, we're supposed to limit this facility to Parliament members and their staff--" and then another librarian nudged her to a poster behind her -- one labelled "Other Ponies Allowed to Use This Facility" and that had Twilight Sparkle's photograph, along with the other Princesses and a few other important-looking ponies. The librarian at the counter took a closer look at the card. "Oh right," she whispered, and then turned to Twilight. "I'm sorry about that, Princess Twilight, go ahead."

Twilight nodded and took the card back. "No problem, miss," she said. In truth, she almost expected it.

She went back to the aisle of court rules and found at the far end a fairly large book titled "Equestrian Rules of Evidence -- Annotated Edition 1009." She flipped through the book to the chapter on hearsay and saw Rule 5-103(6):

The following are exceptions to Rule 5-101, even if the declarant would not qualify as unavailable under Rule 5-102...

(6) Any public record, where

(I) the document explains the office's activities,
(II) it is on a matter the office has or had a legal duty to report (except if reported by peace officers), or has facts of a legally authorized investigation, and
(III) neither the judge or opponent has any evidence that such document or its source is untrustworthy.

She looked back at the document. A few moments of reading and she nodded. "Okay, this looks good..." then she found the annotations on the side, a series of topics and case citations with parenthetical holdings. One Supreme Court case (Loverly Bones v. Charcoal, [977] 1 S.C.C. 280) involved and approved of a "reliable" intelligence report, deferring to the agency's own assertion of its trustworthiness. Not wanting to rely on a potential misstatement of law, she went to the next aisle over that held the Supreme Court Compendium reports, found the case, and read through it. "It checks out," she said, and then looked at the next case in the Rules book...

After ten minutes, she realized that she might have been doing a little too much research. She put the books back and rushed back to the Pomegranate Room, carrying a piece of paper with the rule, case citations, and case summaries. "It's good," she said to Razor Wing, giving the paper and documents to him. "I even found a case on all fours in case they question it."

[The Flutterlands]

Razor Wing nodded, happy that his evidence are suitable in court. The changeling prince got up from his chair and gave his papers to Carbon Copy.
Pitch Black, meanwhile, shut his book with bookmark in place and looked up at Twilight. The meeting seemed like it was taking forever.
"Mom." he said, "Is the meeting almost over? I'm getting bored just sitting here."

[Roma Byzantina]

Razor Wing nodded, happy that his evidence are suitable in court. The changeling prince got up from his chair and gave his papers to Carbon Copy.
Pitch Black, meanwhile, shut his book with bookmark in place and looked up at Twilight. The meeting seemed like it was taking forever.
"Mom." he said, "Is the meeting almost over? I'm getting bored just sitting here."

Sky had spent the last five minutes shifting through various forms, mostly just various ponies from Ponyville. He then had an idea while not paying attention to Twilight's re-appearance and took on Twilight's appearance. "Still strange," he said to himself, with Twilight's voice, regarding the feeling he got whenever he took on a mare's form.

Rainbow Dash Earlier that morning
Rainbow woke up feeling pretty refreshed and energized. She meant to only take a short nap on that tree but instead she managed to sleep all night there, but to be honest that tree seemed almost made to be slept on. After a quick yawn, she decided to munch on a nearby apple before her attention moved to the sleeping bird near her. "Strange day yesterday, I wonder if I should go check on Tank though?" she said to herself.

Stardust Sprinter Around lunch
Stardust's work took her attention away from her brother's trip to Canterlot until around lunchtime when she had some time for herself. "I wonder how's he doing over there? All he did was leave a note about travelling with the Princess to some changeling hearing," she said to Green Blitz who also had some time during lunch away from his work.

"I'm sure he's fine, he's gotten this far hasn't he? If he could live his whole life without any of us figuring him out, then I'm sure that no matter whatever's going on there, he'll make it," he replied before taking a bite of a hay sandwich. Stardust herself had some hay fries and a good 'ole fashioned salad.

[Frenequesta]

Razor Wing nodded, happy that his evidence are suitable in court. The changeling prince got up from his chair and gave his papers to Carbon Copy.
Pitch Black, meanwhile, shut his book with bookmark in place and looked up at Twilight. The meeting seemed like it was taking forever.
"Mom." he said, "Is the meeting almost over? I'm getting bored just sitting here."

Twilight looked down at Pitch. "I don't know, Pitch, but if you'd like to go back to the nursery I can take you there. I'm sure you've met some nice new friends there." Pitch nodded and Twilight ushered him out.

Sky had spent the last five minutes shifting through various forms, mostly just various ponies from Ponyville. He then had an idea while not paying attention to Twilight's re-appearance and took on Twilight's appearance. "Still strange," he said to himself, with Twilight's voice, regarding the feeling he got whenever he took on a mare's form.

Twilight came back from the nursery seeing first a flash of light and then herself standing where the light was. "Uh, not here, Sky, please. Suspicion can be quite strong here."

---

Twenty minutes passed before everypony (plus a cow) on the Royal Guard and Social Justice committees gradually filed back into the Pomegranate Room. Most of them had their muzzles in the responses, though not all read them with the same interest. No one was more interested in them than Cherry Ranger, of course. Her eyes were rapt in Razor Wing's intelligence report, detailing the communications of Chrysalis' hive, speaking of, like the letter, a need to "oppress" the ponies of Equestria to assert "their rightful place." Mauve Legato was also impressed, but for different reasons.

"Razor Wing's got a good lawyer by his side," he said to Cloversweet.

"I'll say," said Cloversweet. "Though I am kind of surprised the Supreme Court would be so deferential."

"Well, you have to trust the government sometimes," said Mauve. "It can't function in a perfect fishbowl."

"There you go again, Mauve. I mean, why here? Why are intelligence reports so special?"

"They're especially screened for reliability, that's why."

"Because it's got its stamp on it? I think you're making me dizzy, Mauve,"

"You're spinning the wheels too fast," said Mauve. "I think what the Court said in Loverly is that--"

A gavel banged. "The Royal Guard and Social Justice Committees are now in session." Potter Black called out, and the members and the audience quieted down. "I take we we all have read the responses by our witnesses?" Everyone nodded. "Very good. Is there anything we need to address before we vote?"

"I do," said Mauve. "I was thinking about the bills and I think we can all agree that there's still not enough to convince the Senate to call for war just yet. Nopony has been attacked and there have been no direct threats against us."

"Well, that's not our problem," said Cloversweet.

"Well, the point is that all we're doing is setting aside money for the war," said Mauve. "And we can't have all that money being spent for nothing. What we haven't done is tell the Defense Bureau under what conditions that money will get spent." A few members were discomforted at that statement, and Butter Gun blushed. "So, because of the Single Subject clause, I had to draft and submit a third bill on that."

"I'm pretty sure conditions for appropriation are within the subject of appropriation, Mauve," said Cherry Ranger. She suspected that Mauve was trying to hijack the bill's passage. "I've been in Parliament for thirty-one years and I don't remember conditions ever being part of a separate bill."

Mauve blinked, then blushed. "Well, I suppose we can just merge the two bills." He took out a piece of paper and crossed out a few words and added a few more. "Labeled as amendments. Now, Franklin and Holster Spur have agreed that an anti-fraud provision would reduce some of the problems with introducing changelings into the Royal Guard. I've drafted a few clauses on that as well." He took out another piece of paper and gave both to Cloversweet, who looked at them and nodded, and then gave them to Diamond Waltz, who likewise nodded, and so on until nearly everyone had a chance to read it.

Felt Bundler produced his own piece of paper. "And I've drafted language repealing Section V of Wafflefrier." He hoofed it to Fortitude, who gave it to Butter Gun.

"Hey, I haven't even looked at Mauve's amendment yet..." she said. She looked down at Mauve's first paper. "Wait, you want to remove almost all of the funding now? It's called preparation for a reason."

Mauve grimaced. "I thought I told you we can't spend that money for nothing. We don't know whether Chrysalis is really going to attack or not."

"Mauve, you know the Royal Guard's already underfunded as it is," said Tar Wing. "And if anything, the pay increases in this bill are too low. I'd go for a 15-25% increase right now."

"Well, that may be, but why do we need 280 billion bits for research? That practically increases its R&D budget tenfold."

"I'd say we always need more money to figure out how to defeat the changeling menace," said Regal Trotter.

"But 280 billion?" asked Diamond Waltz.

"It's a very unusual number," said Potter Black.

"They're dangerous creatures! We haven't done enough!" replied Regal.

Cherry Ranger sighed. "Everypony, please. Mauve, I understand you all in the Blue Party are worried about the expense. Even then I'd have to take Pebbleshort's assurance's seriously that there's nothing wrong with the levels as they stand. And nothing in this bill forces the materials to be used in this war, so it's not a loss if a war is never declared. We can always just devote less for next year's defense budget. I'm just not convinced that it's a serious problem."

"I think Pebbleshort underestimated the crowding-out effect of all this."

"So you don't agree with his projected rise in interest rates?" asked Cloversweet.

"This would be a problem if we just raised income taxes a bit..." said Regal Trotter.

"Not our problem!" barked Mauve.

"So why do you care about where the money's coming from, anyway? I thought you were concerned about the levels," said Butter.

"We can't realistically fund this level of stuff without borrowing," growled Mauve. "I was talking with Lopesy Neigh in Appropriations, and it's a mess in there with Public Finance! They've started their own bill on how to finance this thing and they can't agree on what to cut or what to raise! I'd rather just save Parliament this trouble..."

"But we can't just do nothing to this problem," said Cherry. "In my thirty-one years I've seen much hardship come about because we didn't spend enough at the right time. If we make the same mistake here... we might not have Equestria for much longer." Several deputies nodded worriedly in agreement. Butter whispered something to Cherry, who nodded. She addressed the two committees with a soft smile and wide eyes. "I'll tell you what. Would you agree to allow a quarter of the funds here to be spent before a war is declared?"

"I think that's fair," said Potter.

"Me too," said Diamond.

Mauve thought for a moment. He realized that Cherry was right. More was at stake than just the economy. And the more he thought about it, the more he thought an attack would strike at any moment. But the expense still bothered him. "How about 20%?"

"I can agree to that," said Butter.

"I like it," said Fortitude.

"It'll do," said Tar Wing.

"Twenty it is," said Cherry, adding a few notes to Mauve's first paper.

"Wait," said Butter. "How are we distributing that 20%?"

"Oh, silly me," said Cherry. "I take it we'll agree on 20% of everything from 1(a) through (h)?"

"Not (g)," said Butter. "Even if we don't get war, that amount for transition would still be necessary."

Cherry wrote down another note. "Do we agree?" Most everypony nodded. "OK."

By this time Felt's amendment had reached Cloversweet. "This looks good, Felt." Several others agreed with him.

Axle Lemony, who actually had been listening the whole time, finally spoke up. "I move a vote on C.D.R. 272-21 and related amendments."

"Seconded," said Cherry Ranger.

"All in favor of recommending C.D.R. 272-21 to the Chamber Floor?" Twenty-eight ayes from the Royal Guard Committee, including Axle's, rang out. "All opposed?" Two neighs. "The ayes have it; all in favor of approving the Recommended Amendments to 272-21?" Twenty-six ayes, four neighs.

Potter Black then took up C.D.R. 272-24 to the Social Justice Committee. He counted twenty-three ayes for the main bill and seven against, and the same number approving the amendments. He then addressed the audience as a whole. "As the purpose of this session is now finished I hereby adjourn this meeting." He banged the gavel and the room let loose.

Soon Carbon Copy was back to work again, certifying the bills' approvals and making copies of the recommended amendments for the two bills. She went to Luna's office, submitted the documents, and left. She was tired. "I wish my sisters were with me..."

C.D.R. 272-21

---

AN ACT

to appropriate funds for preparation of war against Queen Chrysalis and her hive.

---

I. Short Title

This act may be referred to as "Royal Guard Special Appropriations Act of 1009."

---

II. Findings and Preamble

WHEREAS the security of Equestria is recognized as our nation's number one priority,

WHEREAS Queen Chrysalis and her hive have been recognized as a major threat to Equestria's security since the Canterlot Wedding Attack and the passage of P.J.R. 270-03,

WHEREAS reliable evidence suggests that Queen Chrysalis is planning an even larger attack since her defeat at Canterlot, as revealed in the intelligence reports of Prince Razor Wing's colony,

WHEREAS reliable evidence suggests that Queen Chrysalis has taken substantial steps to carry out her plan, by conquering one-fifth of changeling colonies and hives in Equestria, including that of Prince Razor Wing,

WHEREAS this information does not warrant a declaration of war, but still warrants increased measures to prepare for an inevitable attack on Equestria,

WE, the Chamber of Deputies, approve of this legislation for the reasons above.

---

III. Appropriation of Funds

1. 647,000,000,000 bits* of the Treasury shall be additionally appropriated to the Royal Guard for preparation of war against Queen Chrysalis, broken down as follows:

(a) 280,000,000,000 bits for research and development into new weapons against Chrysalis and her hive,
(b) 104,000,000,000 bits for the increase of all existing Guard salaries and benefits as detailed in Table A,
(c) 80,000,000,000 bits for the manufacture or purchase of weapons,
(d) 45,000,000,000 bits for the manufacture or purchase of armor,
(e) 70,000,000,000 bits for the purchase of essential services as needed by the Guard,
(f) 50,000,000,000 bits for projected Guard expansion, distributed as consistent with Table A,
(g) 15,000,000,000 bits for measures as necessary under C.D.R. 272-24,

(i) Should Parliament fail to pass, or the Principality Office fail to approve, C.D.R. 272-24, this amount shall be added to the amount in Clause 1(f).
(h) 4,000,000,000 bits for recruitment campaigns.

2. Any procurement made pursuant to Clause 1 shall take place in competitive bidding, except where:

(a) the Royal Guard identifies a specific need without which it cannot carry out its strategy against Queen Chrysalis and her hive,
(b) it shows that only one person is able to satisfy this need,
(c) it certifies that that person did not influence the Guard's strategy, and
(d) it reports to the Senate and Chamber Royal Guard Committees in writing that it has met requirements 2(a-c) above.

(i) The Committees shall presume that the Royal Guard's assertions in the writing are true, and may not institute any action relating to it against the Royal Guard, unless a third party petitions to the Committees to investigate the claims and circumstances behind the contract awarded pursuant to the Equestrian Rules of Civil Procedure.

3. The Royal Guard, under the supervision of the Senate, the Defense Bureau, and the Domestic Bureau, shall write and deliver to Parliament a semiannual report of its use of the funds between the approval of the bill by the Principality Office and the end of the war against Chrysalis and her hive, or, if the Senate declares no such war within two years of this bill's approval, the end of the two years.

---

IV: Definitions

1. "Weapons" shall include all items normally used in war individually equipped to soldiers, such as spears, guns, machine guns, magic blasters, and grenades, plus those items equipped to the Royal Guard as a whole, such as cannons, landmines, conventional bombs, magic bombs, and magic artifacts.
2. "Essential Services" shall include all services needed for the maintenance of troops on and off the battlefield, including medical services, rations, laundry, maintenance of weapons, and hygiene....

---

Table A

[OOC: The table, not reproduced in full here, calls for a 5-15% increase in salary for all Royal Guard pay grades, inversely proportional to the rank (so the lower scale Guards will get a higher raise by percentage than the upper-scale Guards.]

Recommended to the Floor by the Chamber Royal Guard Committee August 22, 1009 P.D. 28-2

*OOC: Remember that a bit is worth an eighth of a dollar, so this is equal to about $80.88 billion -- approximately one-quarter of the amount the U.S. eventually spent on WWI, adjusted for inflation. I imagine that as the war goes on, the Royal Guard will request more money, but I think this is good as a starting point, especially as war has not really been declared yet.

Recommended Amendments to C.D.R. 272-21

After Clause 3 of C.D.R. 272-21, the words "or, if the Senate declares no such war within two years of this bill's approval, the end of the two years" shall be struck, and the following amendments shall be added:

5. No more than 20% of the appropriations individually listed in Clause 1 shall be spent before a Senate declaration of war, with the exception of the following:

i. Clause 1(g) shall remain unaffected.

All references to "Table A" shall have added to them "or Table B while Clause 5 controls the appropriations."

Add after Table A:

Table B

[OOC: Like Table A in the main bill, this also documents the pay raises for each grade, but reduced by 80%.]

Recommended to the Floor by the Chamber Royal Guard Committee August 22, 1009 P.D. 26-4

C.D.R. 272-24

---

AN ACT

to remove all barriers and disincentives for loyal changelings in serving openly in the Royal Guard.

---

I. Short Title

This act may be referred to as "Royal Guard Changeling Integration Act."

---

II. Findings and Preamble

WHEREAS Equestria has long had a de facto policy to discriminate against changelings, even those that pose no demonstrable threat to the nation,

WHEREAS modern research on changelings have shown that changelings are fully able to live among ponies without always actively feeding on love,

WHEREAS modern research on changelings have shown changelings to be as individual as any other sentient species, and that changeling culture and values are not wholly incompatible with those of Equestria,

WHEREAS changelings have been either excluded from the Royal Guard or dishonorably discharged and stripped of their awards of valor solely on the basis of their species, often under the pretense of subversion,

WHEREAS we believe it is a violation of both the Equestrian Constitution and fundamental principles of harmony and fairness to exclude any sentient creature from anything on the sole basis of species,

WHEREAS we have found no convincing evidence of reduced effectiveness or morale that would justify retaining the Royal Guard's policies,

WE, the Chamber of Deputies, approve of this legislation for the reasons above.

---

III. Integration of Changelings in the Royal Guard

1. No decision, policy, or regulation of the Royal Guard shall discriminate against any changeling on the basis that that being is a changeling.
2. Any changeling, or representative of the changeling, alleging a violation of Clause 1 shall have standing to file complaints against the Royal Guard in court or to any appropriate agency responsible for enforcing Equestrian civil rights laws.
3. Persons with standing under Clause 2 shall have full access to all possible relief defined in C.E.C. 24-3891.
4. The Royal Guard shall, upon the application of any changeling to the Guard, conduct a good faith search of that changeling's employment records, school records, criminal records, or other records as necessary to verify the information stated in the application and to determine the changeling's loyalty to Equestria before accepting that changeling's application.

i. Any unverifiable or false information claimed by the applicant changeling shall be grounds for rejection of the application.
ii. Every changeling applying to the Royal Guard is presumed loyal unless a search suggests otherwise.
iii. Past affiliation with Chrysalis' hive, or any other hostile hive or colony, shall not in itself constitute insufficient loyalty to Equestria.

5. The Domestic Bureau Committee on Interspecies Relations (DBCIR) shall, with the Senate, supervise Royal Guard compliance with this Act.
6. The Royal Guard shall, within 60 days of the passage of this Act, alter all policies and regulations that are contrary to this Act, unless the DBCIR has granted the Guard an extension.

---

IV: Definitions and Interpretation

1. The terms "Royal Guard" and "Guard" shall mean "Royal Guard" as defined in C.E.C. 4-05.
2. The term "hostile hive or colony" shall mean any changeling hive or colony whose government is at war with Equestria, was at war against Equestria or had attacked Equestria in the past, or is taking, or has been taking, substantial steps to be at war with Equestria or to attack Equestria.
3. The term "discriminate against" shall not preclude any voluntary affirmative action policy implemented by the Royal Guard within the limits of C.E.C. 43-195, nor require revision should Parliament pass an affirmative action policy for the Royal Guard.

Recommended to the Floor by the Chamber Social Justice Committee August 22, 1009 P.D. 23-7

Recommended Amendments to C.D.R. 272-24

After Clause 4 of C.D.R. 272-24, Clauses 5 and 6 shall become Clauses 7 and 8 respectively, and the following amendments shall be added:

5: C.E.C. 4-806 shall be repealed.
6. Any being who, in applying to the Royal Guard, represents herself* to be a different species than what she actually is shall be fined up to 100,000 bits or imprisoned for no more than five years.

i. The Royal Guard shall impose its own punishments for this offense within its court-martial jurisdiction and powers under C.E.C. 4-330 through 4-340.

Recommended to the Floor by the Chamber Social Justice Committee August 22, 1009 P.D. 23-7

*OOC: Not only does the term "herself" rather than "himself" better represent Equestria's matriarchal society, it's also become fashionable in legal circles to use the feminine as a gender-neutral pronoun. I'll ignore the fact that the Guard seems to be male-dominant for now.

[Roma Byzantina]

Razor Wing nodded, happy that his evidence are suitable in court. The changeling prince got up from his chair and gave his papers to Carbon Copy.
Pitch Black, meanwhile, shut his book with bookmark in place and looked up at Twilight. The meeting seemed like it was taking forever.
"Mom." he said, "Is the meeting almost over? I'm getting bored just sitting here."

Twilight looked down at Pitch. "I don't know, Pitch, but if you'd like to go back to the nursery I can take you there. I'm sure you've met some nice new friends there." Pitch nodded and Twilight ushered him out.

Sky had spent the last five minutes shifting through various forms, mostly just various ponies from Ponyville. He then had an idea while not paying attention to Twilight's re-appearance and took on Twilight's appearance. "Still strange," he said to himself, with Twilight's voice, regarding the feeling he got whenever he took on a mare's form.

Twilight came back from the nursery seeing first a flash of light and then herself standing where the light was. "Uh, not here, Sky, please. Suspicion can be quite strong here."

Having not been paying attention, Sky squealed a bit before changing to his native form. "O-oh s-sorry," he said blushing.

[Frenequesta]

Having not been paying attention, Sky squealed a bit before changing to his native form. "O-oh s-sorry," he said blushing.

"Aw, that was amusing!" said a spectator.

Twilight nodded and sat down. It was slightly amusing.

---

Later

Potter Black shuffled up his papers at the head table and flew over to Twilight. "Hi Princess," he said. "I take it we're still going to have dinner at your castle tonight?"

"It's your decision," said Twilight. "Why? Is Parliament going to stay late tonight?"

"Well, I never know," said Potter. "Although I'm betting on maybe an hour ahead. What is it, 4:30? Celestia and Luna apparently want a decision today... and I think we all kind of want to get home, I mean, we usually don't work on Saturdays."

"No," Twilight shrugged, with a slightly embarrassed but sympathetic smile. She wondered, though, why Parliament would try to speed up something so controversial just so they could go home.

"I think we'll be done by six. But I never know."

Twilight paused. "Hmm... I never said when we were going to have dinner, though. We can have it later... although Pitch is probably going to get hungry soon."

"Where is he, anyway?"

"He's at the nursery."

"I see. I've got a few minutes, why don't you bring him back so he can see that photo? I'll be in my office waiting. It's Room 355. Tell the secretary that I wanted you to see me."

"Alright," Twilight said, and the two parted ways.

---

The Main Hall started to bustle with legislators again. Several legislators there were reading the bills and their amendments, debating amongst themselves of their merits and exchanging ideas for new amendments. A few of them talked directly to their author and her party's leadership.

"Butter, I've been consulting with Blossoming Fortune about 272-21," said Robert. "She says she's not likely to endorse the bill unless the essential services portion is cut by ten billion. The Cornucopians are all for Generosity but we're still worried about waste -- and I'm sure you remember the 100-bit toilet paper roll disaster."

"Well, I actually don't remember that..." said Butter.

"I do," said Thunderstorm. "Yeah, that was an embarrassment for the Agrarians. I don't think that will be that big of a problem, don't you, Butter?"

"I suppose not," Butter sighed.

"Wonderful," said Robert. "I'll tell Fortune right away." He then left the two alone together. Next was a face that Butter had not seen in a while.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend that meeting the other day," said Ashy Smith, "But Mosscleaner had to catch the 10:30 train to Fillydelphia for a family emergency and we couldn't have a quorum without him, so we had to reschedule that meeting at the last minute. But anyway, I couldn't help but notice something in the preamble of 272-24, it says changelings have been stripped of their awards of valor. I don't remember that ever being mentioned either on the floor or in committee. Where did you get that?"

"Oh that?" asked Butter. "Trilby wanted that in there. He said that during the last Pony-Changeling war there was a changeling who had fought bravely for the ponies and was awarded the Royal Celestial Medal of Honor and two Gold Supererogatory Medals among other things. After he died in battle the Royal Guard found out he was a changeling and revoked every single one of his medals."

"Oh, I see," said Ashy. "How come I hadn't heard of it?"

"Well, it was a couple hundred years ago," said Butter. "I think the public's mostly forgotten."

"That is sad," said Ashy. "If any changeling can fight for Equestria with such valor, it's injustice to take those awards away just because she's a changeling."

"But to be honest, Butter," said Thunderstorm. "I still think you're pretty foolhardy for trying to push this changeling Guard integration bill through. This goes through and we'll soon have all sorts of changelings coming out of the cave-work, multiplying like flies, demanding every other right left and right, wanting representation in the Senate, and mooching off our land and working their deceit on us. And we'll have to accommodate them because that's their species! Next thing you know we have to give all the mute animals full rights."

"They're only 'deceiving' insofar as they have to pose as ponies to live in Equestria to begin with," said Constellation in the chair behind her.

"Who asked you, Constellation?"

"Nothing disturbs me more than a slippery slope," she said. "And I think it's unfair to equate lying just to get by in Equestria than the deceit that Chrysalis used to get into Canterlot. The changelings that live outside the hives rarely ever actually imitate other ponies. That's mostly a strategic tactic of the hives."

"Well, I don't see the difference," said Thunderstorm, and returned to his own seat in a humph.

"You're not going to change him," said Butter to Constellation. "He's--"

"I know," said Constellation. "Dense. Like some in my own party; I don't know what's gotten into them lately." She looked up and saw Princesses Celestia and Luna take their seats at the rostrum. "But hay, I think the meeting's starting soon."

[The Flutterlands]

Pitch was playing with action figures in the nursery along with a deep green colt when Twilight came to pick him up. When Twilight told him that it was time to go see his father in his office the black unicorn smiled and followed her. As they arrived at Potter Black's office, Pitch smiled at his biological father.
"So where's that picture you wanted to show to me?" asked the unicorn colt curiously.

---

Meanwhile, Luna entered the Parliament room and called for order and for the attention for the ponies in the room.
"Attention." she said, "I would like to call for everypony to direct their ears and eyes on Miss. Muckraker."
"Ponies," said Muckracker, stepping forward, "It pains me to confess that I lied about finding the weapon in the refugees' tents. I have, in fact, bought it myself on the black market for my own use. I apologize for my deception and ask for forgiveness."

[Frenequesta]

Pitch was playing with action figures in the nursery along with a deep green colt when Twilight came to pick him up. When Twilight told him that it was time to go see his father in his office the black unicorn smiled and followed her. As they arrived at Potter Black's office, Pitch smiled at his biological father.
"So where's that picture you wanted to show to me?" asked the unicorn colt curiously.

"Come inside," Potter said, and he led the two into his room. He went behind his desk, opened the drawer, and rummaged it for the photo. He found it and showed it to Pitch. "Here she is," he said. The picture had a white-coated, green-maned unicorn with a pine tree cutie mark walking shyly by a creek under a setting sun. "I always felt I was looking into forever whenever I saw her."

Meanwhile, Luna entered the Parliament room and called for order and for the attention for the ponies in the room.
"Attention." she said, "I would like to call for everypony to direct their ears and eyes on Miss. Muckraker."
"Ponies," said Muckracker, stepping forward, "It pains me to confess that I lied about finding the weapon in the refugees' tents. I have, in fact, bought it myself on the black market for my own use. I apologize for my deception and ask for forgiveness."

Most of the hall couldn't believe it. Everypony started talking to each other expressing their shock, which continued for a minute before Luna called the room back to order. Smoky Topaz stood up and Luna recognized her.

"Miss Muckraker," she said. "Of all the ponies in this room I am the most shocked and surprised. You came to me first because you knew I would be a natural ally, and I trusted you because of your reputation as an investigative journalist. Your books were all well-researched, and now you came to me, and this Parliament, on a lie. And in doing so, you've stirred up fear where none was necessary, and worse, engaged in criminal activity to do so. Why? Why would you take advantage of your position and reputation like this? There's no excuse for what you've done. Such behavior is unbecoming not only of a member of this Parliament, but of anypony.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts of this Parliament, I move that Miss Muckraker be censured for her deception and crime."

"I second it," said Thunderstorm. "But I would like to say a few words myself before we vote. As the leader of the Agrarian Party, I find it painful to have to reprimand a fellow Party member, but I believe it is warranted here. The Agrarian Party was founded on the Element of Honesty. We strive to make government more honest, business more honest, and everypony else more honest. And this makes a mockery of that ideal. Miss Muckraker, you have not only tainted the reputation of Parliament, but the Agrarian Party as a whole." Several other members of the Agrarian Party nodded.

But not Cherry Ranger. She stood up and Luna recognized her. "Though I am ashamed of my colleague for lying to Parliament, I don't think censure is really warranted here. Many of us here have lied before -- and committed crimes -- and at most we were just reprimanded. And I think there is a difference between what my sister Muckraker has done today and what I did a year ago. I defended my solicitation of funds and inaccurate financial statements when I knew full well it was out of line. And mind you, those are specific violations of Parliament ethics. Muckraker here has come to us fully repentant. Nopony reported her to Ethics. I think before we force her to listen to the censure resolution we need to establish that she deserves no sympathy regardless of her repentance.

"So, Miss Muckraker, why specifically did you do this? You told us you bought it on the black market for your own use. What does that mean?"

Smoky turned to Muckraker and sent her a message. Go on, answer truthfully. Show your selfishness.

[Roma Byzantina]

Having not been paying attention, Sky squealed a bit before changing to his native form. "O-oh s-sorry," he said blushing.

"Aw, that was amusing!" said a spectator.

Twilight nodded and sat down. It was slightly amusing.

After Twilight had left to pick up Pitch, Sky wasn't exactly sure what to do. He stood for a moment before a nearby pony asked him to continue on with what he was doing. Some other ponies, mostly building staff, asked the same and after a minute Sky aquesisted and shifted into the form of a pony who suggested that Sky try him.

[The Flutterlands]

Pitch looked at the picture of his biological mother, Everheart and smiled. She was a pretty pony and could see why Potter liked her. Still, though, he had mixed feelings about the fact that his father cheated on his own wife with Everheart.
"C-can you tell me more about Everheart and your wife?" he asked curiously, "It feels... odd knowing that you cheated on her."

---

Muckraker grinned internally. She had another chance to complete her mission and she was going to give it her all no matter what. For the glory of the Changeling Empire.
"I did what I did for the good of ponykind!" she said boldly, "I was willing to do whatever it takes to prevent those love-sucking parasites from invading our military, police and society! How can you possibly allow yourselves to be deceived and seduced by this creatures just like Twilight?! I assure you, these changelings are nothing but trouble of the worst of kind and integration will only lead to our downfall. I implore you, don't allow these creatures to have the chance to overthrow us!"

[Frenequesta]

"Aw, that was amusing!" said a spectator.

Twilight nodded and sat down. It was slightly amusing.

After Twilight had left to pick up Pitch, Sky wasn't exactly sure what to do. He stood for a moment before a nearby pony asked him to continue on with what he was doing. Some other ponies, mostly building staff, asked the same and after a minute Sky acquiesced and shifted into the form of a pony who suggested that Sky try him.

The staff, and whatever spectators were left in the Pomegranate Room, began to crowd around Sky. None of them ever saw a peaceful changeling before today, and they looked with fascination as he changed forms on request.

"Ha-ha," said one janitor. "That's so awesome. I thought you changelings were all kidnappers, but this is just too funny!"

"Do me next! Do me next!" said an indigo-coated, orange-maned unicorn.

"No, no, do Princess Luna!" said a cerulean-coated, light-brown maned earth pony. "And do that Royal Canterlot Voice too!"

A red-coated, orange-maned pegasus in a baseball cap, on the outer rings of the crowd, wasn't too impressed. He looked as Sky shifted through forms and the other ponies laughed and hooted. They did it in Manehattan too. You're either a kidnapper or a show-stealer. Hopefully this bill will help change all that. He trotted out of the room to the Main Hall spectator balcony and entered as Muckraker was just about to speak.

Pitch looked at the picture of his biological mother, Everheart and smiled. She was a pretty pony and could see why Potter liked her. Still, though, he had mixed feelings about the fact that his father cheated on his own wife with Everheart.
"C-can you tell me more about Everheart and your wife?" he asked curiously, "It feels... odd knowing that you cheated on her."

Potter smiled at Pitch. "I'd love to, but the floor meeting's starting soon. We'll have plenty of time to talk during dinner with Twilight tonight, won't we?"

Twilight nodded. "He's right, Pitch. He needs to fulfill his duties, and we'll have all night to learn about your real mother and his wife." Potter nodded back and trotted out of the room. Twilight and Pitch followed slowly behind.

Potter's secretary stopped them. "Did I hear... something about... cheating on Mr. Black's wife?"

Twilight blushed and pondered on how to respond. "I... don't think he wants to talk about it."

The secretary nodded hesitantly. "I see..."

Muckraker grinned internally. She had another chance to complete her mission and she was going to give it her all no matter what. For the glory of the Changeling Empire.
"I did what I did for the good of ponykind!" she said boldly, "I was willing to do whatever it takes to prevent those love-sucking parasites from invading our military, police and society! How can you possibly allow yourselves to be deceived and seduced by this creatures just like Twilight?! I assure you, these changelings are nothing but trouble of the worst of kind and integration will only lead to our downfall. I implore you, don't allow these creatures to have the chance to overthrow us!"

The hall erupted in a flood of shouts and cries which Luna tiredly quieted down. Many were fired up by her anti-changeling rhetoric, but even more were shocked by the suggestion that Princess Twilight had been duped. For all their political differences, the deputies held the Princesses in great respect.

Cherry Ranger nodded and sighed at Muckraker. "Very well, Miss," she said, a little embarrassed to even say her name.

The six members of the Ethics Committee wrote a quick draft of the censure resolution and submitted it to vote. After a reading of the title by Princess Luna, the deputies began to take out their cards and submit them to the front -- green for yea and red for neigh. After five minutes and a double tabulation by the clerk, Luna read the outcome: 268-181. Muckraker's reading would take place on Monday.

Parliament could now return to the bills. Blind Justice stood up and was recognized.