They are going to pay for this! (Patreon)

 That evening while Luna had her meeting Applebloom for her lesson, another meeting was taking place. 

  
  Captain Firewing kept his face as neutral as he reviewed Phoenix's report and looked at the photos in front of him in my Equestria dreamscape. 

  
  For the last 36 hours he'd been running primarily on caffeine, adrenaline, snack food, a Pick You Up Potion, and about 4 hours of sleep. However the look in Celestia's eyes had done more than anything to wake him up. She looked out the window and down upon the lights of Canterlot. She stood silent and motionless in much the same way a towering thunderhead in the distance can look like a big, calm, fluffy pile of cotton but still possess the potential for terrible destruction.

 
  He finished the report and carefully set it back on table in front of him. Gingerly rubbing  eyes with the back of his hoofs he spoke after a moment. 

  "I don't doubt Phoenix's report. She's not prone to flights of fancy or hyperbole, but do we have any other sources or reports that can verify her discovery?"

 
  "An initial report from Quick Silver seems to be validating her findings and may provide information related to the original investigation. She is heading down to Pony Bay to follow up a lead of her own." Celestia turned and faced the Captain. "She said she'd send a report through an operative of ours in the area once she'd arrived."

 
  The stallion grunted and took a swig of his coffee. "I know what the final outcome of this will be, but how are we going to deal with the mess it is going to create your Highness?"

 
  The white alicorn took a sip of her chamomile tea then returned the bone china cup to its saucer. Then she spoke with a slow, deliberate tone that the she adopted whenever she was trying to rein in her anger.   

       "The City of Manehattan will be run by a steward appointed by the Crown until the investigation has run its course. That steward will report directly to either the regional governor or Luna and I. The police will be brought directly under control of the Royal Court until we've confirmed that all guilty parties have been found and charged. Only when the investigation have concluded will local elections be held again, and then only with oversight from the Royal Court." 

  She poured herself some more tea and then resumed speaking. "Same with the Exchequers Office, the Mayor's office, and the Office of the District Attorney. We're exploring to see whether any of the financial institutions in Manehattan knowingly aided the suspects in the investigations. Considering the amount money that is being handled there is most likely some laundering going on. We're going to put an end to that!" 

  The princess began slowly pacing around the room with her cup of tea levitating along for the ride. Firewing recognized it as another sign of the anger simmering beneath the surface of this mare. 

  "Any city officials who are found to have been directly involved with the investigation of the Royal Palace break-in will be charged accordingly along with any charges that this new line of inquiry discovers." 

  Firewing stomach grumbled but he refrained from eating too many of the donuts sitting in front of him. His hunger was helping him stay awake. Still he couldn't help notice that these treats were not creations of the palace kitchens, but instead had been purchased from Donut Joe's earlier this evening. Another sign of Celestia's frustration since preferred them when she was in that mood. 

  "What do you need me to do your Highness?" Firewing had a good idea, but he wanted the princess to say it.

 
  "I want you to begin assembling teams from our military forces that will be tasked with assisting the teams that the Royal Court is putting together to oversee the arrest of certain individuals in the Manehattan city government and any businesses associated with the investigation." The princess levitated some paperwork over from her desk as she said this. After a couple of seconds she returned it to its home. 

  
  The vermillion stallion raised an eyebrow. "So are we declaring martial law on the largest city in the realm?"

 
  Celestia shook her head. "No. The population with the possible exception of a curfew that may or may not be imposed will be under normal civilian rule of law. The military forces should only be needed for a few days until reserve police forces from other parts of Equestria can be brought in. There will be no censorship of the press, or suspension of civil law."

 
  Firewing flopped back into his chair and closed his eyes. "Your Highness, you do realize that this will put a strain on other cities in the kingdom?" He opened an eye and looked at her. "Also what assurances do you have that other cities, especially those close to Manehattan, are not going to have the same problem with corruption and collusion in their police forces?" 

  The princess gave the captain slight smirk. "Ah Captain Firewing. You're always look for the silver lining in any situation!" 

  
  She reached out with her levitation and grabbed a chocolate cream bar. "We are discreetly screening all of the officers we may be calling upon for this operation. Fortunately it appears this rot is so far confined to Manehattan. We have discovered a few cases of basic garden variety corruption, but they doesn't seem to be connected to our investigations. We'll deal with those later."   

      "So when do you move on them?" Firewing gave into his stomach's demands and snagged a cinnamon crumb cake. 

  
  "If I had my way we'd go tomorrow!" Growled Celestia. "But I want to make certain we don't go premature and ruin our chances of assuring prosecution of everyone of these rotten individuals! But we need to rescue these ponies as soon as possibles. Next couple of weeks max."

 
  Firewing raised an eyebrow as he chewed on his donut. He washed it down with some more coffee before speaking.  

 
  "You know your Highness, I have only seen you like this a couple of times before. You look like you're yearning for the old days of the history books when you could just don your armor and go kick some butts!" 

  The alicorn gave the captain short laugh. "Perhaps. Yes, yes I am." Her voice suddenly turned cold. "But many of these ponies have either been elected or appointed by the Royal Court to uphold the laws of this land. I attended the inauguration of the current Mayor. I oversaw her swearing into office. She swore an oath to me that she'd uphold the law and would serve and protect the subjects of this kingdom."

 
  Celestia levitated the photos and report on table in front of Firewing and then slammed them back down on the table again. 

  "And this is how she repaid my trust and the trust of the residents who elected her!" There was fire in Celestia's eyes. "She's going to pay for this! All of them who are found guilty! They are going to pay for this!"

 
 To be continued.