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"Ugh, I hate dressing up for these fancy events," Monika groaned as she tried to slip her tail through her dress to the point where her tail could flow freely behind her. "So much restrictions that they expect us to follow, and with so much formality, too. It's almost as if they want us furries to be noticeably different from how lax human standards are these days."

"Relax, Monika," Joel replied calmly. "We've dealt with excursions like this ever since the government passed the FPA Act, which, if I may remind you, requires humans not to be judgmental about us furries. I'm sure the FPA Act will be fully enforced during tonight's dinner and reception. Now, let me help you with your tail."

"It's just...." Monika trailed off.

"It's just what?"

"It's not that I hate having to deal with all the stresses of appearance, but it's the conduct of how we're supposed to interact with humans who have pretty much abused us for all these years before the FPA Act. It doesn't feel any different than before since it was signed into law. Those upper-crust humans still view us as some sort of lesser species. I can't help it if I was born to be a red fox. You can't help it if you were born as a calico cat."

Joel said nothing for a few minutes as he helped her get her tail through the dress. To Monika, when Joel was silent like this, it silently scared her. When it came to the political and social standpoints between furries and humans, Joel was one to simply say the correct thing given how the circumstances required him to say something.

"Joel? Honey?" Monika ventured to ask, turning around to face the cat. "Is everything alright for you?" Her words hung in the air for a little while before Joel gave a slight cough.

"Look, Monika, I know we can't help the fact that we're furries. I just want us to be happy with who we are, no matter what. You know that ever since the day I married you. Besides, I've already talked with the leader of tonight's dinner, and she promises full and well that no one will say anything bad about us." Joel finished, adjusting the bow tie on his tuxedo.

Monika nodded. "I hope so."

"Anyway, shall we descend down? Our chariot awaits."

With that, Joel and Monika linked their arms together and went down the flights of stairs towards the front door. The apartment building they lived in was a bit on the small side, but it was very richly decorated that gave it the appearance of being larger than it actually was. When Joel and Monika had first moved in here a few years ago, Monika felt a bit overwhelmed, but she grew over it.

Once they reached the ground floor, Joel held the door open for her, allowing Monika to go through first. Once Monika was through, Joel swiftly followed, closing the door behind him softly as to not awake the silence of the outside world. Waiting for them was a taxi. It was a typical taxi in shape and color, but it would serve as their own chariot to and from the even this evening. Leaning against the taxi was a somewhat tall and slightly overweight grey-furred wolf who had donned a simple tweed cap and her best working clothes.

"Monika and Joel, I presume?" she questioned, her voice having a soft and charming feel to it.

"That's us." Joel answered.

"Wonderful! My name is Treat, and I'll be your driver for tonight. Shall we be on our way?"

Joel opened the taxi door for Monika, and she slid right in, choosing the seat behind the steering wheel. Joel followed shortly afterwards and taking his seat next to her. The two of them then both buckled in their seat belts.

Treat got in shortly afterwards, making sure to wear her seat belt as well. Then, after checking to make sure no vehicles were driving nearby, she began to start up the taxi. The taxi gave out a little bit of backfire, and everyone could see in the rearview mirror a cloud of white smoke billow up from the exhaust pipe.

"I have to get the engine checked out sometime soon. Flippin' wonderful. That's going to take a chunk out of this month's paycheck." Treat said to herself, mentally cursing underneath her breath at her taxi's misfortune so that her passengers wouldn't hear.

Once the taxi's engine had completely started up, Treat edged the vehicle out into the streets and began driving away from the apartment building towards the bridge that separated the two walks of life. The bridge had been built long before anybody could remember, but it showed no signs of aging, since the builders had been careful to construct it out of the strongest material on the planet that could be shipped within a reasonable project budget. The bridge was a simple four-lane one, two going in and two going out to each section of the city.

"So, Treat," Joel began, "Do you remember where we're headed?"

"The Riker-Suze Hotel, right?" Treat replied, stealing a glance in the rearview mirror as she shifted lanes to get onto the bridge.

"Correct."

"Do you know anything about it?" Monika questioned.

"Can't really say I do, ma'am," Treat replied. "My knowledge is not that great when it comes to the human side of town, but I do know that the Riker-Suze is probably the fanciest hotel anybody has ever seen, no matter what side of town you're on. If you two weren't invited guests to this dinner thing, tickets would have cost at least tens of thousands of dollars. And that's just to get inside the dang place. Way too expensive for a cabbie like me."

"Scary."

"That's possibly the least of your concerns there. Humans are pretty much stuck-up in that place. Really sets my fur on end just thinking about it." Treat gave a slight shudder as she said that, but Monika didn't know if it was from fear or the cold.

"Are you all right?" Monika questioned, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I am." Treat responded.

They had reached the bridge by this point. It always amazed Monika how tall the bridge was. Every time she looked over the railing of the bridge, it made her realize how tall they were from the bottom of the support pillars. That mindset of feeling so high up from everyone else made Monika slightly shiver. Here she was, invited to one of the most prestigious dinners she had ever been to, to discuss about furthering an amendment to the FPA Act to include all furries on all equal levels to the humans. That first dream of pioneering equal rights to everyone put butterflies in Monika's stomach. She felt like she was so much higher than all the other furries that lived in their sector of the city to help lay a foundation for equal rights.

"Joel, are we sure about this?" Monika asked.

"Sure about what?"

"This.......equal rights for us furries..........Shouldn't we have every furry on board to discuss this? The ramifications of just our own decisions with a possibly unknown number of humans seems like we don't have an advantage." Monika continued.

"You do have a point, dear." Joel responded.

"But having such a major decision lie on just the two of us without any input from our side?"

"I'm sure we can handle it. After all, this would mean that the FPA Act would protect all us, no matter what. Besides, we can handle it. We've been through far worse, and it turned out better for us in the end, no matter how hard the circumstances were."

"I hope your right this time, Joel." Monika said.

They soon crossed the bridge and entered into the human side of the city. Monika had never fully seen anywhere in this zone, so it amazed her how different everything was. The first thing she noticed was how much cleaner everything was. True, the furries did their duties to keep their side clean, but it appeared that the humans went above and beyond. She did not spot a single piece of trash anywhere along the road or the sidewalk. Even the roads were particularly clean.

The three rode in silence for a few more minutes until Treat pulled the taxi close to the hotel. She parked as close as she could get to the sidewalk. "Here we are," she said, turning off the engine, "safe and sound."

Joel and Monika soon got out and made their way up towards the hotel's front door. The door looked like it was made from solid gold from what Monika could tell. She thought it was fancy and intimidating all at the same time. She stopped outside the front door for a bit, to which Joel soon noticed.

"Monika, are you all right?"

Monika looked down towards the ground. "I am....."

"You don't sound like you are."

Joel made his way back towards her and put his arm over her shoulder. "Is something the matter, honey?"

"No......"

"Which means yes." Joel said worriedly, lightly scratching the back of Monika's fur. "You can tell me what's eating you up."

Monika said nothing for a few seconds. She needed a little while to gather her thoughts. The implications of tonight's dinner and amendment addition had paralyzed her with fear. Here she was, about to make a very important decision on a political battlefield, and she had no idea what she could even do. The implications had paralyzed her with fear.

"Monika?"

No reply came from the fox.

"Monika?"

Still no reply surfaced.

"Monika?" Joel repeated.

"It's just........even after all you told me about not having to worry about tonight......I'm still scared. I'm scared so much."

"It'll be okay, honey." Joel replied, still scratching Monika's fur. "I promise that it will be as perfect as it can possibly be. I promise from the bottom of my heart."

Monika relaxed some. "You sure?"

"As sure as I can ever be."

"I'm gonna hold you to that statement."

"And I'll uphold it to the best of my ability. Now, shall we enter?"

Having been reassured, Monika followed Joel into the hotel, and the two of them made their way up to the receptionist's desk. All Joel had to do was mention their names, and the two of them were led into a very fancy dining room that looked like it could have come out of a storybook about an old king and queen and their fancy castle. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and it seemed to take up the entire top half of the room given how big it was.

There were only two other people in the dining room when Joel and Monika entered. One of them soon came up to them. "Joel, right?" she asked, sticking her hand out as an invitation.

"That would be me." Joel replied, offering out his paw as a reply, to which a hand shake was performed.

"And you are?" she questioned Monika.

"Monika. I'm Joel's wife."

To this, the woman pulled out a small list of invitees. "Monika.....Monika.....Monika...." she murmured to herself, using a finger to scroll down the long list of names. "Ah! There you are, ma'am." she added, stuffing the list rather hastily back into her pocket. "My apologies for that, by the way. It's the first time I've ever ran an event like this, and I'm just so worried about everything."

"I know how you feel." Monika said. "Especially from our own standpoints."

"Oh, sorry! I never introduced myself to you! Silly me!" the woman said, lightly smacking her forehead. "Anyway, my name's Kammy, and I'll be running everything as smoothly as I possibly can. I'd like to thank both of you for showing up tonight." She then pointed to the other person in the room. "That person over there is Marcus, our head of security for the event. He should be able to handle any problems that may arise during the discussions."

Marcus simply nodded, not saying a word.

"Anyway," Kammy continued, "let me show you two to your seats. We'll start in just a few minutes, so if you two would please wait until then, we can start."

Monika and Joel obliged, taking their seats at one of the tables. Soon afterwards, a crowd of people began pouring into the dining room. Monika felt a little claustrophobic as the multitudes of people crowded around trying to find their seats. Once everyone had settled down, she felt like she could breathe again.

Kammy made her way up to the microphone on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen," she began, "it is my great honor to thank you all for attending tonight's dinner. I also thank you for helping to break the political divide between humans and furries, to where everyone can be recognized without fear of judgment."

Polite applause echoed throughout the room, seemingly bouncing off every surface in the area and amplifying the sound to where it sounded like a thunderstorm was starting, before it settled down and became quiet again.

Kammy continued. "Tonight makes a momentous occasion that will shape the history and politics of both our worlds. With the new amendment to the FPA Act, there will be no divisions between us."

More applause rang throughout.

Monika began to feel somewhat relieved. It appeared to her that there was just more than her and Joel making this groundbreaking decision. To hear the thunderous applause from all around made Monika feel more comfortable about what actions would occur.

Kammy's speech continued on for several more minutes, and each pause caused the thunderous applause of the invitees to amplify in volume to the point where it sounded like a giant thunderstorm had appeared in that dining room.

Then, Monika heard it.

Her ears had picked up a small group of people hurtling insults and other derogatory yells out. It was definitely coming from more than one person. It sounded like there were at least several people who were downgrading Kammy's speech. The yells began to drown out the applause. Kammy paused and looked out over the crowd to find where the sound was coming from. Out of the corner of her eye, Monika saw Marcus get up from his position and make his way into the crowd.

The yells began to get louder and louder.

"We don't want to be associated with those furry freaks!"

"I'd rather burn in hell than be known with those idiots!"

"Furries should be kept on the lower level!"

"We don't want anything to do with them!"

Monika's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach. Her fears vibrated loudly in her head.

The yells continued, showing no signs of stopping. Marcus and his security team had advanced to where the noise was coming from. It was originating from one of the tables in the back of the room. The table was almost hidden from sight from the front, making it a veritable stronghold for the opposition.

"Furries will always be a lower class than humans!"

"We don't need equal protection for furries!"

"Furries will never be the same as humans!"

Marcus and his security team had made their way to the table. Despite the obvious presence of security, the opposition showed no chance of being stopped any time soon.

"Calm down, buddy. That's enough. Now, you and your little gang can pick up your things and leave the premises. Understand?" Marcus coldly stated to a member of the rowdy group.

"Never, old man!"

Marcus grabbed the member by the shoulders. "All right, you had your chance. Now leave. I'm not taking no for an answer here."

The member broke loose from the hold, backing up to the other people as if to send a threatening invitation to fight.

Before she even had realized what she had done, Monika had stood up and made her way towards the group, baring her fangs and her claws towards the group. She let out a series of very angry snarls in increasing volume the closer she got. Behind her, Joel looked ready to pull Monika out of danger if necessary.

"Listen here, you idiots." Monika growled. "This is a very important meeting we're in the process of here. I'm giving you a few minutes to leave before my claws and fangs bury themselves into your skin. Understand?"

"So what?" a member tauntingly confronted. "Like you even know how to fight."

"Oh, yes I do."

One member began to shudder and fear. "She looks like she's serious, man. Fighting her may be a bad idea."

"Quit being such a wimp and stand up for yourself." another group member commented.

"Nope. I'm out." With that, one of the members practically bolted out of the building in fear.

"See what I can do without fighting?" Monika snarled, trying her best not to smirk in accomplishment.

"Furry freak!" the member Marcus had warned shouted at her.

"Now, don't call me that, sweetie," Monika said, the light from the chandelier reflecting off her razor-sharp fangs, "I more prefer the term equal."

"Honey, don't do this." Joel commented nervously, shaking somewhat with fear.

This set the group off. They plowed off into a brawl against Monika, Joel, and the security crew. It became very tough to see who was winning due to the giant cloud of dust that quickly arose. Arms and legs could be seen flying through the dust in every which direction, showing no signs of stopping.

The fight ended seemingly as quickly as it started. When the dust finally settled, all of the protesters were out cold. There was also some down on the security force. Monika's fur had been ruffled up; her dress was slightly torn in some places; her tail fur was fuzzed out in a multitude of directions; blood was coming out of her body due to a few cuts and scrapes she had acquired, but she was proud of herself. She had stood up for what she believed in.

There was a long minute of silence before applause broke out amongst the spectators. It started out with just a few people before it erupted into a full out reverb of clapping filled out the dining room.

"Monika. Joel." Kammy started.

It was then Monika realized what she had done. 'Oh, shoot.' she thought to herself. 'I most likely ruined tonight's event.'

"I'd say we heard what the furries have to say for this equal rights amendment, have we not? It appears that furries have full out decided not to be treated like garbage and are extremely willing to stand up and defend themselves." Kammy continued, her voice striking a happy chord.

Joel escorted Monika out into the hallway while Kammy continued on in her impromptu speech of praise.

"....And here you were worried about making decisions for us furries." Joel began.

Monika looked down towards the floor. Her eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm sorry. I just.......don't know what came over me in that moment."

"There's no need to apologize, honey." Joel replied, setting out to fix Monika's fur. "If there's anyone who should be apologizing, it's me for not being able to help."

Monika lightly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Besides, it sounds like you got everyone behind this amendment with your fierce defense."

"Is everything going to be all right?"

"All right?" Joel replied. "I'd say everything's more than all right. Even as far as to venture that everything will be amazing on both ends of the spectrum."

"You sure?"

"As sure as both of us will ever be."

When Monika had finished cleaning herself off, her and Joel made their way back to the dining room. Kammy stood outside the door.

"You know, I should throw you two out for causing a disturbance, but I think we can overlook that for a long while." Kammy stated.

"I'm sorry for causing this." Monika replied.

"Well, don't be. Your tough-as-nails defense really sparked a lot of people to help you out."

"You mean....?"

"Yep." Kammy confirmed. "Everyone else in there is willing to vote yes on this amendment. I guess actions do speak louder than words."

"Sometimes in ways you don't expect." Joel said.

"My thoughts exactly."

"So, what now? Do we need to go back in?" Monika questioned, tilting her head to show her confusion.

"I'd say so," Kammy replied, turning around to open the door, "given how much of an audience you've accumulated within the last few minutes. It would probably be a letdown to your fan base."

With that, Kammy pushed the door open and went inside, motioning to Joel and Monika to follow her. Once the three of them had made their way inside, thunderous applause in the form of a standing ovation seemingly came from every which direction. It all amassed to sound as if there was just one person congratulating them, but Monika didn't know who that was.

Monika felt like she could pass out from embarrassment given the recent events, but she swallowed down her fears and gave the crowd a short little wave of congratulations for her actions. Here she was, the unintentional star of the evening, but she took the fame as best she could under the present circumstances.

Once Monika and Joel had taken their seats at their chosen table, Kammy made her way back to the microphone and resumed her speech.

"So, have we reached an agreement on this amendment?" Kammy questioned.

Monika looked around fervently. Eventually, one person stood up and began to announce the group's opinion.

"Yes, we have."

Monika gulped nervously.

The spokesperson let the silence and the tension build like a radio disk jockey would build tension about a story that would continue when the show came back on the air so that the listener would have to endure a dead-air period of silence.

"On account of all two hundred of us present, we have decided by a vote of two hundred to none...."

Monika felt the butterflies deepen in her stomach.

".....that....."

Monika gripped her chair tightly, almost breaking it out of fear.

".......the amendment to the FPA Act passes." the spokesperson concluded, earning a round of applause of his own accord. The spokesperson soon sat back down in her chair.

A huge sigh of relief escaped Monika as she felt her worries seemingly dissolve into the open nothingness. This void of the unknown had been erased cleanly to her.

Joel lightly scratched Monika's fur. "See, honey," he purred, "I told you there would be nothing to worry about. It turned out like I said in the end."

"You were right, Joel." Monika replied, sighing contently. She felt like she was on cloud nine at the moment and she was ascending upwards.

"Wonderful!" Kammy exclaimed, joy and happiness very evident in her voice.

This earned another round of applause.

"So, I'd say that, despite the interruption, everything turned out wonderful. And we have Monika to thank for that."

Out of the corner of her eye, Monika saw Marcus nod his approval towards her.

"So now, how's about we have a dinner and toast to our new found friends?" Kammy questioned.

As if on cue, a team of chefs, waiters, and waitresses entered and began to pass out the dinner to the invitees. Monika made sure to eat all of hers, since she had worked up quite an appetite that night.

Once the event had reached its conclusion, saying goodbye to everyone, and promising to inform Kammy about the furries reaction to the amendment passage, Monika and Joel descended down the hotel steps to the shining taxi-chariot.

"All ready?" Treat asked, holding the door open for them.

"I'd say so." Joel responded.

"Everything turn out as expected?"

"Beyond that. It was absolutely amazing." Monika said.

"You'll have to tell me all about it on the return journey." Treat replied, getting in and starting the taxi's engine before pulling away from the curb.

As they drove away from the hotel and watched it vanish into the distance, Monika felt really proud of herself. She had helped finalize a deal that eliminated the barriers between humans and furries, cementing her place in history in the process. She could only imagine how everyfurry would react once they heard the good news. They would all be ecstatic to hear that an unbreakable barrier had been broken.

She also realized that she had changed. She had been fearful about the whole ordeal, but she grew to overcome it. Sure, it might not have been the way she intended, but it worked out in the end. She felt like she had changed in a positive light. Here she was; she no longer was fearful about it. She was proud of what she had done.

She had become a leader of her people into a bright, new, shining, hopeful, elegant future.

And she was proud of her actions.