I stepped off of the royal carriage, followed by the girls. Blackthorne had seated herself upon my shoulders and merrily chewed away at my hat. Better that than my head I suppose. Ponies and Cervi waved at me, and I smiled tiredly and waved back. It was good to be home. Gwrtheryn came rushing out of my house and shoved a fat load of paperwork into my arms, grinning like a madman, before the massive Cervi Ran off screaming “Freedom!” at the top of his lungs. I looked down to the piles of paperwork and sighed. I looked over at Greta and Milly.

“If I quietly make my way to the everfree and set all of this on fire, would anyone notice or miss it?” I asked.

“That wouldn’t be wise uncle” Said Aderyn from right behind me. Rarity had apparently gotten to him, judging by the frilly dress he wore with disdain. Before I could say a word he pointed at the child gnawing on my skull “What is that?”

“This is Blackthorne. She’ll be staying with us from now on” I replied keeping my face neutral. If I played this right, I may end up avoiding paperwork for today.

Addy was silent for a moment, apparently fighting back against his emotions before they boiled over. “D’aaaaaaw! She’s so wittle!”

Blackthorne apparently took offense, as she bit down harder on my abused scalp. She still hadn’t said a word. Before either of us could react though, Addy used his powerful deer-like legs to hop up and snatch the surprised child away. Seeing my chance, I used the paperwork as a makeshift ninja smokebomb and beat feet, shooting an apologetic look at Blackthorne who stared daggers at me as Addy carried her away. I found myself in the training yard near my manor, and the sound of combat reached my ears. When I found the source, I couldn’t help but smile. Daring was training the two bumbling adventurers I’d captured. Gaius and Xenith. At the moment, she had both hands tied behind her back, and was sparring with both at the same time. Xenith tried to use a flame attack, but was kicked in the face, causing him to snort fire and singe Gais’ tail. Daring then roundhoused Gaius into a wall before calling a stop.

“Easy guys. Break time. You’re learning pretty fast! a week ago Xenith, you’d have burned off Gaius’ tail, and it took a lot more force to send you flying guy!” she said. The other two just groaned in reply

“Hit the showers guys. We’ll continue tomorrow!” Daring said, deftly untying her hands before watching as the two battered trainees crawled towards the exit.

“Are you training them or using them as punching bags” I say with a grin as I lean against the doorframe.

Daring smiles brilliantly. “A bit of both I guess. Hey big guy, how was your first royal mission?”

I grimaced, the memories of yesterday still fresh on my mind. “....Bad. Necromancer with a doll fetish.”

Daring’s face fell as she saw the emotion flash across my face. “I’m sorry B. I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright Daring. Nobody saw it coming. Not even the princesses.” I said as we walked out of the small dojo and back towards the main manor. Daring looked like she wanted to say something then, in the sunset, but she was interrupted by Aderyn fly tackling me with blackthorne in tow

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SHE BITES!” he shouted as he tried to remove the Thestral from his hand “OW OW OW OW OOOWWWW!”

I sighed and offered my arm to Blackthorne, who gleefully chomped down. “She only bites when she likes you.” I told Aderyn. He stood, and with a sadistic gleam in his eye grabbed my earlobe. “You’ve got paperwork to do uncle. No running this time”

As I tried to claw my way away from the torture known as beaurocracy, the doors to the manor slammed shut, sealing my fate.

*****Several Hours later*****

I stand and take my medicine, Grimacing at the taste as I look around. My outbox is finally full, while my inbox is once again empty. Nearby, my monster-maids are slumped in various positions of defeat. Addy was one helluva taskmaster, forcing each of us to work on the buildup. Just as I was about to wake everyone up and head to dinner though, something caught my eye.

It was an ad for a music festival, in nearby Troughton next week (damn these horse pun names). On the back was a note from Vinyl.

“Wassap your Countship? Hope to see ya at the show! Got somepony I want you to meet. Bring that awesome shit you got….Or maybe we could convince you to play for us? (Or maybe with us lol) -Vinyl”

I blushed a bit at the last part, but the idea Intrigued me. Hell, It was time to introduce some of my shit to the masses. I could only smile as I began to put a playlist together in my head.

“For those about to rock, we salute you”

Author's Note

Alright ladies and gents, I want song ideas. stuff that's funny, stuff that fits Brandon's situation, and any random shit you want to hear. Also, Kind of wondering if anybody wants to do a spinoff with Gaius and Xenith.