Shining Armor explains to the Interviewers how the Hooviet-Dragon war went. He heard it from a meeting between Princess Celestia and Dragon Queen Tiamat. When dragons started nesting in Hooviet territory, the Hooviets demanded that they submit to Hooviet rule. Since Tiamat considers all of dragonkind her treasure, she refused and rallied her brethren into battle. Although the dragons easily massacred them and wiped out entire cities and fortresses, the Hooviets refused to give up, relying on their superior numbers to overwhelm individual dragons. When Tiamat joined the battle personally, it all but sealed the dragons' victory. She entered the Hooviet capital and demanded a king's ransom for every dragon slain in the war. Once it was paid, she was satisfied and she and her brethren left Hooviet territory for good. However, the Hooviets claimed in their history books that they were the ones who won the war by "forcing" the dragons to "retreat". They also claimed that the dragons had attacked them unprovoked and that they were valiantly repelling invaders, instead of them trying to enslave the dragons and the dragons retaliating. Shining Armor and the Interviewers agree on how messed up that is, and he is worried that the Hooviets have rebuilt their nation and seem stronger than ever.
Cadence's fleet arrives in Liberty City, which is similar to Manehattan, but bigger. There is bit of air traffic because the Hooviet Supreme Marshal of the Imperial Armed Forces, General-Admiral Solomon Azure Raven Makarov, demanded a grand entrance, and his battleship is absurdly huge and seems to be made of gold, causing Cadence to joke that he may be Compensating for Something. Shining expresses concern for the Interviewers and requests that they leave their Earth Pony filly member on the ship as it may be dangerous, but they insist they all go. The Princess and Misfit Actual leave the ship and head to the embassy, meeting with Ambassador Lady Warm Greetings. The Ambassador explains Makarov invited them to a party, and relays Celestia's request that they keep Princess Luna's return a secret for the time being.
At the party, Shining and his teammates feel a little awkward because they couldn't get dress uniforms on such short notice and the best they could do was polish their armor. A Deer named Commissar Chevov greets Cadence and Warm Greetings but snubs Shining and the others. When they notice some of the Deer performing telekinesis, Thunderchild comments that he thought Deer were similar to Earth Ponies. Shining chats with two business deer, Alexi Mason and Victor Reznov, who trade wood to the Hooviet Empire and have nothing but praise for Makarov.
Makarov makes a grand entrance into the room, strutting in like he owns the world and several servants chanting a theme song. His uniform is covered with an absurd number of medals. He is a Unicorn-Deer hybrid and his Cutie Mark is huge and elaborate. A golden human skull shedding a tear of blood and holding a rose in its mouth, with a dove and bat wing and two crossed swords. Neither Shining nor the Interviewers can figure out what it means. A bald being in black stands next to Makarov, but seemingly disappears before Shining can identify his species. A voice says, "What many Ponies and even Deer forget is that the first tribe the Hooviets enslaved was their own." Shining seems to be the only one who heard it and he can't tell where it came from. Shining gets confused when everyone else in the room starts fawning over Makarov, though Cadence snaps out of it after a few seconds, wondering why she reacted that way.
Makarov greets Cadence and kisses her hoof, then shocks them by revealing he already knows about Luna's return. As he walks away, Commander Bond speculates there may be an information leak, so Private Gag returns to the ship to warn the others. Makarov comes back and says he knows all about Shining Armor, and he's sure Shining knows about him, asking which of his great accomplishments impressed him the most. Shining apologizes and admits he only heard about him a few hours ago, so he doesn't know what he has done. Incredibly insulted, Makarov yells at him and stomps away. Shining and Cadence wonder about his overreaction.
