28 May 2021, 0749hrs, Drake Manor, Spike’s Bedroom

“Last week, on 21 May, at approximately 2320hrs, zookeeper and Rainbooms band member Fluttershy Breeze and Canterlot Zoo veterinarian Dr Fauna were abducted from the carpark while leaving their workplace after staying back late and nearly raped by a criminal gang known as the Canterlot Ravens, led by this man, Rogue Wave.

“However, the entire group was quickly subdued at their hideout in the abandoned Sunshine Flats complex in a successful rescue mission by 5 members of the mysterious militia who call themselves ‘The Demons of Vigilance’. Commanding this squad was the organisation’s leader, the equally mysterious figure known only as The Emerald Dragon. Although their true motives remain unclear, The Demons of Vigilance continue their devotion to enforcing the law and safety of Equestrian citizens to this day, ever since they first emerged 2 years ago.

“All members of the Canterlot Ravens will face charges next Thursday for attempted rape and multiple accounts of smash-and-grab robbery from various arms dealerships across the city. More news coverage will begin at 0830. This is Dateline, reporting live for the Omega News Network.”

*Click*

Spike lowered the remote to the top of his sideboard after turning off his bedroom TV monitor, smiling inwardly at the fact that the recently apprehended thugs would soon face justice for their crimes against the city. Walking over to the large floor-to-ceiling window, he slipped his hands between the curtains and spread them open, allowing the bright morning Sun to fill the room with its light. Once he had finished tying the curtains to the adjacent walls, he turned to inspect himself in the mirror.

He had decided to settle for more straightforward attire for work that day: a plain, light grey long-sleeved shirt with a chest pocket and sleeves neatly rolled up to his elbows, coupled with sleek black pants held up by his black leather belt. On his feet were cotton socks to match his pants. His shoes were waiting outside the door to the basement carpark.

Spike took a few more seconds to pat his collar down and pull down on the front of his shirt to straighten it out. After turning around to check that all of his clothes were in place, he grabbed his phone, wallet, and car key and slipped all of them into his pockets, slung his bag containing his laptop over his back, and stepped out into the expansive corridor, turning in the direction of his mothers’ room to check if they were ready to head to work as well. Upon reaching the large white door, he reached out with his fist and knocked 3 times.

“Come in!” came Barbara’s muffled response from the other side.

Without further prompting, Spike pushed down on the handle, opened the door and leaned inside the room. “Hey, Moms,” he began. “Are you ready to‒?”

His question cut short as his eyes widened, his face flushed, and his brows rose towards his hairline at the image he saw before him. Barbara was standing at the bed's footboard, laying out the business attire she was planning to wear for the day, while Pyra was doing the same thing from her usual side of the bed, right next to the window. However, this wasn’t the reason for Spike’s shocked expression. It was the fact that both of his mothers were going about their morning business dressed in nothing but their lacy thongs, their topless forms laid bare for their only child to see.

And Barbara had just permitted her son to enter.

The 2 women had already donned their human disguises before Spike entered the room. The daylight caused Barbara’s fair skin to glow while giving Pyra’s slightly tanner skin a golden sheen. Barbara had picked up her bra, her huge breasts jostling as she shook it open in preparation to put it on, when she noticed that Spike had frozen on the spot.

“Spike? Are you alright?” the green-haired bombshell asked.

That question was enough to pull Spike back to reality as he shook his head vigorously to focus. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he answered before rephrasing his original question. “Will you both be ready to go soon?”

“Give us 5 more minutes, Honey. We still need to get dressed,” said Barbara with a loving smile as she slung her bra straps over her shoulders and clasped the hooks behind her back. Her expression held some visible amusement at her son’s chagrin.

Spike simply sighed and replied, “At least put a few more clothes on before letting me in,” before quickly slipping out the door and shutting it before the situation could get any more awkward. Giggling lightly, Barbara turned to see Pyra with her hands on her hips and shaking her head despite the big smirk on her face.

“You’re enjoying this too much,” she remarked. “You know that?”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same, Pyra,” Barbara defended. “Besides, he’s my son. And that means I can tease him. However. I. Like.”

Pyra walked up to her wife, wrapped her arms around her waist, and yanked her close, her still-bare tits mashing against Barbara’s covered ones. The fiery Plasma Dragoness gazed into her eyes. “He’s our son, Babe,” she corrected. “He may not share my blood, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean that I can’t be his mom, too.”

The green Succubus Dragon returned Pyra’s gaze with a lusty smile and said, “You’re right.”

With that, Barbara leaned in and locked mouths with Pyra, bringing her into a deep kiss like they had done thousands of times before. They tilted their heads side to side to change angle as they ground their lips together, their tongues lashing and grappling as the 2 Demonesses made out. Half a minute later, they reluctantly broke apart to resume dressing up, slipping all their remaining clothes on in under 2 minutes.

0755hrs, Drake Manor, Living Room

Spike paced slowly around the polished black marble floor as he waited for his mothers to finish dressing for work. The image of his mothers’ near-naked forms still lay fresh in his mind. He thought both of them needed to tone down the teasing they inflicted on him so often. While Spike loved both of his mothers deeply, it didn’t make the scenario any less embarrassing for him.

Barbara, his birth mother, would tease him by talking too much about sex around him, casually walking around the house in various states of undress, or, like in the most recent case, she would allow Spike to enter the room while she was changing her clothes. Spike couldn’t honestly blame her, though, for he understood that she was born a Dragon-Succubus hybrid, so part of the reason was that she was simply indulging in her Succubus nature. He silently thanked her for indirectly teaching him how to put up with the likes of Aphrodisia, whose lustful behaviour was far worse by comparison.

As for Pyra, he wasn't sure what to feel about her other than that Barbara had rubbed off on her, literally and figuratively. He had initially thought that full-blooded Dragons weren’t as sex-driven as the Succubi. However, the numerous times he had heard his mothers going at it like wild animals from behind their closed bedroom door told him that he had greatly underestimated a Dragon’s capacity for lust. In public, Pyra was the sexy but tough woman men lusted for but were afraid to approach. In bed, though, she was a wild, beastly sex demon. He could hear her literal roars of ecstasy as she did her best to rut Barbara senseless in the bedroom despite the door’s natural soundproofing. It was as if she had a switch that Barbara knew how to flip.

Though he was mildly annoyed with their antics towards him regarding sex, Spike still couldn’t stop thinking about how utterly stunning they both looked. Despite it not being the first time he had seen both of his mothers near-naked or completely naked, their figures were admittedly a sight for sore eyes. Barbara was fair-skinned, which contrasted nicely with her dark green scales. Not only that, she possessed wide, child-bearing hips, well-rounded buttcheeks, and a giant pair of breasts, all of which combined formed an astoundingly voluptuous, feminine body that had “MILF” and “Lover” written all over.

Pyra effectively had the same thing going for her. The only difference was that her body said “Athlete” more than “Lover” - a complete set of well-toned yet distinctly feminine muscles lining her arms, legs, and everything in between. She even sported a gentle 6-pack over her abdomen and a set of huge breasts, wide hips, and a matching ass to rival Barbara’s.

No words could do them any justice, for Barbara and Pyra’s bodies were, for lack of a better term, otherworldly in every sense. No matter how many times Spike had been away from his mothers for work, he would sometimes find himself drawn back to their sexy forms. It was then that he subconsciously let his imagination run.

Somehow, he could see them now, standing before him, in the nude, dancing erotically around the room, their hips gyrating while they held their hands high in the air before slowly running their hands over their bare skin, caressing their most private areas. From over and around their tits, down their waists, over their ample rumps, even down to finger their moistening folds before they would begin exploring each other, occasionally stealing passionate kisses. All the while, they would giggle like schoolgirls who had just decided to get naughty on the spot, beckoning their son with their eyes to reach out and learn just how warm and firm those 4 milk jugs would feel to his touch…

At that point, Spike had to shake his head vigorously and blink a few times to return to reality, having realised that he had let his mind wander too far.

“No,” he told himself. “I can’t. Not in my position.”

No matter how much Spike loved his mothers, he felt that he could never be in any public position to make sexual advances toward them. He needed to maintain his image for the good of them all. Incest, as he knew it, was an act now heavily frowned upon in modern human society. If the media got word that the proprietor of Drake Security was engaging in an affair with his mothers, they would never leave him or his family alone again. In addition, Spurn had already taken both of them, and Spike loved his father and respected his mothers too much to taint his memory in any way.

Spike was broken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps descending the stairs from the upper floor. Looking up, he saw Pyra swiftly jogging down the flight, fully dressed in a bright yellow low-cut spaghetti top and tapered black jeans. She had a beige-coloured purse slung over her right shoulder and a pair of sky-blue reflective shades resting on her forehead. Her smartwatch and bangles were in their usual places on her wrists.

Barbara followed close behind, wearing a tan jacket and skirt with a white blouse underneath this time. She wore her usual emerald necklace and swapped her emerald ear studs for pearl ones. Her long hair was in a large high bun, save for a pair of wavy cockroach feelers that hung off the sides of her head in front of her ears.

“Alright, Spike! We’re ready!” Pyra called as she reached the bottom step. She and Barbara took notice of Spike’s flustered expression and heavy blush. “Spike? Is everything alright?” she asked. “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, it’s…it’s nothing,” Spike lied. Unfortunately for him, both women smirked knowingly at that. Neither of them bought it for a second.

“Still thinking about seeing us almost naked earlier?” Barbara enquired.

Spike sighed in defeat. “Yeah…I was.”

Barbara’s smirk morphed into a compassionate smile as she cupped her son’s cheek. “We were just having a little fun with you, Sweetie. Being attracted to women is nothing to be ashamed of,” she assured, giving his cheek a few loving pats. “Now let’s go. We’ll talk more about this another time.”

“Of course,” Spike answered with a slight nod. With that, he led the group down the adjacent flight of stairs to the basement carpark.

0801hrs, Drake Manor, Basement Carpark

Once the Drake family reached the carpark door, Spike turned the lock handle and slid it open, the solid wooden panel sinking sideways into the wall until it was flush with the edge. Stepping out of the doorway, the 3 Dragons found their shoe cabinet standing to their right. It stood at 5 shelves high and 3m long, with all of its compartments categorised according to what type of shoe they contained, complete with polishing equipment located on the side shelf nearest to the door where they came out. Opening one of the cabinet’s 3 pairs of doors, they swiftly grabbed their shoes and put them on.

Spike slid on his usual black shoes for most of his work days. For Barbara, she had chosen her plain, covered, leather high heels, which were also a sleek black like her son’s. Finally, Pyra strapped her feet into dark gold high-heeled sandals.

After everyone had put their footwear on, Spike led the family down the last short flight of steps into the spacious carpark. A single, 2-lane road ran straight down the centre of the floor, which was flanked on either side by 2 rows of parking lots, each with enough room for 8 cars to park side by side while still leaving sufficient space for people to comfortably walk between any parked cars and open the door to slip inside without hitting the adjacent vehicle.

At the far end of the carpark was a pair of large, fully equipped garages with an open floor area for vehicle turning, where the family could take their cars to perform any maintenance, repair, or modifications. Spike didn’t like to spend extra money on hiring personnel to do the work for him, so he decided to install the garages and teach himself, and later his mothers, to do their DIY work on their cars. Although he had to set aside a good amount of cash to invest in all of the necessary equipment, he believed that whatever money they would save in the long run would be worth the time and effort.

As for the Drakes’ rides to work, 3 sleek, custom-built, low-riding supercars stood waiting in the 3 parking lots adjacent to the carpark steps. The first car to come into view was Spike’s - Its bright green gloss paint and lime green trim, which ran along the bottom edge of its body and over the wheel arches, made it glisten under the light. In addition, it had a complete sports aerodynamics kit: A carbon fibre splitter, skirts, diffuser, and wing. It could easily be confused for a racecar on the road.

Barbara’s supercar had a similar treatment. However, its paint was a darker shade of green than Spike’s to make it appear more distinct at a glance. Spike had also rounded the car at the edges and corners as he knew that his birth mother preferred curved forms to angular ones

Pyra’s car had the most daring appearance. It looked like a blend of cyberpunk and toy car design; only Spike made it more practical. One could look at it and think it was for both track and drag racing.

To date, Barbara and Pyra’s cars have been the most significant surprise gifts Spike has made for them, using the money, resources, and skill he has amassed to build his career. He would always think fondly of the day when he had finally unveiled his work before their eyes, followed by the bone-crushing hugs and smothering kisses that followed seconds after. He swore that he could still feel the lingering pain in his ribs from that moment.

Spike then turned back to his mother. " Are you both ready to go?” he asked, pulling his car key out of his chest pocket. It was a dark, rectangular metal device about 75% the size of a credit card, with a single bright green crystal embedded in the centre that glowed under even daylight.

Barbara smiled sweetly. “Of course, Spike,” she answered as she stepped forward to lean in and kiss her son goodbye on his cheek.

“See you later, kid,” said Pyra, who followed Barbara and kissed Spike as well, only on the opposite cheek. She then turned to Barbara and pulled her wife in for one more kiss before they set out for work.

As they walked to their respective cars, Pyra and Barbara pulled out keys similar to Spike’s, with Barbara’s crystal being dark green and Pyra’s light blue. Spike proceeded to open his car’s canopy and step inside. Once fully strapped into his seat, he inserted his key into a receptacle next to the steering wheel, which locked in place with a light “click”. After that, Spike had to press the crystal like a button.

When he did, the entire instrument panel shimmered brightly, and the car sprang to life with a soft hum from the engine behind him. Without further ado, Spike shifted into gear, released the handbrake, and rolled out of the parking lot towards the exit ramp, with Barbara and Pyra following close behind in his rearview mirror.

0814hrs, Canterlot City, Business District Main Road

The next few minutes were yet another uneventful drive down the road approaching Canterlot for the Drakes, who kept in single file the entire route from their home on the outskirts to the streets of Equestria’s capital city. The glass facades of the skyline glistened in the morning Sun, the bright light cascading down the skyscrapers’ walls to the roads below, where the hustle and bustle of traffic and pedestrians alike ran like rivers as people navigated the colossal city grid to get to work.

For a long time, Spike enjoyed life in the modern cities; over the decades, he had seen them grow before his very eyes. All this technology and engineering poured into their conception was made possible by human ingenuity, which Spike greatly commended. The boundaries of such only continued to be pushed further by the humans combining whatever technology they had developed with magic - magitek, as named.

On the family’s approach to the next cross junction ahead, Spike watched his mirror from the corner of his eye, seeing Pyra break away from the group first to take the adjacent sliproad on the left and enter the next main road, heading straight for Platinum’s Vanity studio for her summertime photoshoot.

Barbara would do the same once the light halted straight-line traffic and gave way to turning vehicles 2 junctions later, except that she would take a right turn to head off to her workplace at the Equestrian National Bank.

Now, all that remained of the Drake family on the busy road was Spike. Taking a few seconds to stretch out the kinks in his neck, he waited at the junction amid the swarm of cars before the stop line. Once the green light flashed, he started down the road to the headquarters of Drake Security Inc.

It did not take long for the massive complex to come into view. Standing in a wide open area at the edge of the Canterlot skyline was one of Spike’s most outstanding achievements yet: The Drake Security complex, consisting of 5 office towers, the centre one surrounded by the remaining 4 in a square configuration, followed by 4 massive factory buildings that filled the space in between. Whatever additional space for the factory floors that extended into the ground was hidden by the superstructures above. Every building was connected through enclosed, vehicle-sized passageways, forming an intricate transportation hub where people and materials could move as needed throughout every block on the property.

The entire perimeter of the complex consisted of 3-metre high walls of 1.5-metre thick reinforced concrete, which had a series of record-sized steel plates with protection runes embedded every 10 metres along the walls’ length to protect them against explosive devices. As an extra layer of security, Spike had installed a solid light barrier on top of the original wall, adding a metre of height. The barrier also angled outward by 45 degrees and would instantly zap and repel virtually anything that touched it, making the wall near impossible to climb over. A pair of entry and exit gates, each about 3 vehicle lanes wide, was positioned at the walls' North, South, East, and West faces. All manner of traffic could enter and leave from those points.

Spike swiftly drove towards the South gate, stopping just behind the line. A security guard emerged from the booth and leaned through the car window with a scanner.

“Pass, please,” he asked.

Spike reached into his wallet, pulled out his security pass, and showed the guard its barcode. The guard raised his scanner’s laser to it. A second later, the indicator light flashed green with a “Beep!”

With a satisfied nod, the guard holstered his scanner and greeted with a smile, “Welcome back, Mr Drake.”

“Thank you,” Spike returned in kind as the massive steel panel in front of him sank sideways into the adjacent wall, allowing him to drive through and enter the borders of his workplace. Soon enough, he was down the entry ramp into the basement carpark under the central tower, also known as Tower 1. After rolling off the bottom of the ramp and onto the landing of Basement 1, he drove deeper into the carpark, approaching his reserved parking lot, which, aside from the accessible parking area, was next to the door to the lift lobby.

The (relatively) young Dragon took just over a minute to park his car in its designated space before opening the canopy and stepping out of his seat, remembering to remove the key from the port. Pressing the crystal button in the centre once more caused the car’s canopy to close and lock with a barely audible “click”, followed by a series of 3 “beeps” quickly. With that done, Spike pocketed his car key and strode through the door to the lift lobby to call the next available lift that would take him to his office.

0823hrs, Drake Security Inc, Tower 1, Lift 5

The lift ride up to his office’s level at the top of Tower 1 was yet another silent, uneventful ride. Spike stood alone inside the large metal box for the entire journey, with his only company being the ambient music that the built-in speakers played to break what little silence they could.

In the meantime, Spike took the opportunity to relax, leaning back against the lift wall as he began to let his thoughts trail back to what his mothers told him about starting a relationship.

“Aww, don’t be such a prude, sweetie,” Barbara replied, giving her son a brief hug. “You’ve been a grown man for quite some time now, and it’s high time you got yourself hooked up with a pretty girl or two. Surely you’d like to finally experience what happens between a man and woman after putting it off for so long?”

“Your mother has a point, you know,” Pyra explained, causing Spike to pause mid-step. “You’ve been working so hard for us for centuries on end. First, as a mercenary, followed by small businesses, your company, and now The Demons of Vigilance.” She couldn’t help but beam inwardly with pride as she mentioned the latter two parts. “Yet despite all that, you’ve never set aside even a little time to mingle with any of the girls in the city, let alone the entirety of Equestria. Sex has been a big part of our nature and culture, and all of those years of repressed sexual tension can’t be good for your health or your sanity, even if you’ve done a pretty good job of doing just that. All Demons have their limits when it comes to inhibition, and Tartarus forbid that you go on a lust-fuelled rampage from holding it all back a moment too long.”

Spike did tell them that he would think about it, but now that he was, he wasn’t even sure where to start, especially since he had never taken any time to mingle with any girls in the millennium that passed since The Purge. While a few stunning women caught his eye as he walked through the ever-evolving streets, and many more drawn to his handsome facade, those cases never grew beyond distant eyeing and short conversations.

Time slowed around him as Spike pondered his mothers’ words from the previous week. “I guess they’re right. After spending so much of my life in singlehood, it’s about time I started hooking up with a girl or 2,” he thought. “But…how could I possibly start? Maybe if I talked to Aph about it later, she could give me a few tips.”

He paused for a moment at his choice of source for dating advice. “Yeah, knowing Aph, she’d probably want to get started on getting laid as soon as possible, but there’s still a chance that I could be surprised. Whatever she may have in store on dating girls, it’s better than nothing.”

*Ding!*

“Level 70. Doors opening.”

Just as Spike concluded his thoughts on the matter, the lift’s announcement snapped him back to reality. Once the doors opened wide enough, he stepped into the floor’s lift lobby and quickly turned to his right toward his office.

The entire place was relatively quiet, partially because it was still morning and only some had arrived at their desks. There was also no reason to talk outside of work-related purposes or break times. As Spike navigated through the grid of cubicles, his employees greeted him individually, with most women doing so with light blushes and a somewhat dreamy tone.

Quickly returning each gesture, he continued walking briskly until he finally reached the wall at the far end of the floor, with a large pair of double frosted glass doors in the centre. A single pair of plaques adorned both doors, inscribed with the following names and appointments:

Spike Drake - Proprietor

Aphrodisia - Secretary

Pushing one side open, the wealthy Dragon entered the spacious secretary's office. The floor and wall trimming of the room were covered entirely in deep red marble to give the place a warmer look. Sitting snugly against the inner side of the wall surrounding the door were 2 long teak tables carrying various photos of Spike and his family, a montage of pictures of Aphrodisia striking several sexy poses (in human form, placed at her insistence), wearing different outfits that covered just enough to be safely displayed within office premises, and an A3-sized commemorative plaque dedicated to the establishment of Drake Security Inc.

On the opposite wall stood another frosted glass door leading to his office. To its left stood a large, fully equipped rosewood desk with a rack for stationery, a folder shelf, a triple-decker document tray, and a desktop computer neatly arranged on top.

Aphrodisia was sitting on the front corner of her desk, wearing an ivory blouse with a wine-red blazer and skirt, which entirely covered her figure to comply with attire restrictions. However, she reluctantly did so (“Bunch of prudes,” she pouted). Over her legs were a pair of lacy black stockings that she had decided to swap her pantyhose out with, which had rose patterns woven into the trim and over the surface, capped off by ivory-covered high heels to match her blouse. She was texting on her phone while having one leg crossed over the other and the side of her skirt raised, revealing a good portion of her thigh and the garter that held her stocking up, the metal clips glistening under the ceiling light.

She had perked up at the sound of the opening door and smiled broadly at the sight of her boss. Pocketing her phone, Aphrodisia stood up and sashayed over.

“Ah, welcome back, Mr Drake!” she warmly greeted as she approached, throwing her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug and planting a kiss on his cheek. She even did a toe pop, which made Spike roll his eyes in slight amusement.

“Good morning to you too, Aph,” he replied, evoking a giggle from the Succubus.

Aphrodisia gestured to the door of Spike’s office. “You can go right in,” she said.

Without hesitation, Spike nodded and broke away and took precisely 2 steps towards the door before he felt something swat his right buttcheek. He turned quickly to glimpse Aphrodisia’s tail slipping behind her back.

“And have fun, Tiger,” she added with a titter, a wink, and a flirty wave of her fingers.

“Thanks,” Spike answered with a bemused expression. “I will.”

With that, he turned and continued his way into his office. It was similarly decorated to the one in The Den, albeit with darker colours for a more formal aesthetic while retaining the sense of futurism. Spike’s work desk stood against a glass curtain wall that gave him a spectacular view of the skyline, overlooking the rest of the complex below.

Spike paused for a few seconds to drink in the scene that had welcomed him back to the office so many times before, even cracking a small smile when he did so. Once done, he moved over to settle down in front of his computer and pressed the power button on his CPU, booting up the device in under half a minute.

“Now let’s see, where was I yesterday…?” Spike thought to himself as he scrolled through the folders in his file window. A few seconds later, he stopped at one file in his slides folder.

“Ah, there it is. The Drake Security Military Branch: Combat Vehicles. That reminds me - I still need to fix a few bugs in the Tumbler’s program later…”

0835hrs, Equestria National Bank, Customer Service Centre

The echoing sound of heels clopping against the cold, hard floor accompanied Barbara as she emerged from the lift door into the lobby and turned to her right, heading straight down the diorite-lined corridor into the expansive area that was the Customer Service wing of the National Bank.

The facility's centre began with a vast open floor area, which served as the waiting lounge for customers as they awaited their queue numbers. It was divided into an orderly grid of rectangles, marked by appropriately shaped patches of black marble tiles, all outlined by shiny brass floor trimming. In addition, the floor had red velvet carpets and dark grey sofas where customers could sit to make their waiting time more comfortable. The monitors that would show their queue numbers were either mounted on all faces of each column or suspended from the ceiling over the waiting lounge. Beyond those columns lining the main room's walls were 30 long service desks, each operated by a staff member or 2. Soft chatter rang across the facility as each desk took calls or spoke to their customers about their enquiries for the occasion, and waiting customers engaged themselves with the screens of their laptops or mobile devices, periodically glancing up at any of the screens when the announcement bell rang.

Barbara paused and slowly scanned the room until her eyes fell upon her empty seat at Desk 17. With an unwavering smile, she strolled towards a large, reinforced steel door in the corner leading to the faculty area. Posted on the front of the door was a sign written in large, bold red block letters:

STAFF ONLY.

NO UNAUTHORISED PERSONNEL BEYOND THIS POINT.

Off to the side was a small touchscreen monitor about the size of a calculator that controlled the locks to the door. Barbara tapped the screen with a finger, causing the monitor to spring back to life as it flashed a short text box in the top centre of the screen with the accompanying keypad and automated voice prompt, “Please enter the password.”

The green Dragoness typed in 8 characters for the password and clicked the “Enter” key.

“Please scan your thumbprint,” the voice spoke again as the scanner box to the left of the touchscreen flashed yellow.

Barbara placed her thumb flat against the small glass pane. A split second later, a bright yellow beam of light ran from top to bottom under her thumb, taking under 2 seconds to finish.

“Barbara Drake identified. Access granted.”

The heavy door slid gracefully into the wall, allowing Barbara to enter the faculty room. Passing through the printing section, where a colleague was retrieving a stack of freshly printed hardcopies, she approached the row of lockers on the far wall of the faculty room. Reaching for the inner pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a small key. After that, she inserted the key into the locker’s keyhole and turned it 180 degrees clockwise, opening the lock with a muted “Click.”

When she opened her locker, Barbara saw her usual sight: a single wireless headset neatly folded up and placed flat on the locker's floor. Wasting no time, she grabbed her headset, shut her locker, and walked out the counter door towards her work desk.

She grasped the top of her swivel chair’s backrest and spun it around before daintily settling her large, voluptuous ass into the seat and turning back into place. Next, she slipped her headset over her ears, started up her desktop computer, and pressed a button next to her monitor to signal that her desk was open.

*Ding Dong!*

The announcement bell rang again to alert the next person waiting for their appointment. That was when Barbara’s first customer for the day arrived at her counter. He was a relatively young man who appeared to be in his early 20s, with short, slightly unkempt black hair and a confused, slightly worried expression on his baby face. He was dressed casually in a plain teal T-shirt and beige pants, complete with white sneakers with dark blue accents stitched over the sides. He set his backpack down at his side as he sat in the chair provided.

When the young man saw Barbara, a light blush formed on his face as he beheld her radiant beauty. “Um…good morning, Miss,” he began. “I’d like to enquire about an SMS I received from the bank yesterday. Y-you see, I’m a new customer, and I just opened a fresh account 3 months ago. According to the message, I still had an ‘outstanding bill’ that I had yet to pay off, but when I checked my account a few minutes later after reading the message, none of the bills I had for the month were unaccounted for, so I don’t know what could have warranted this.”

Barbara listened intently, giving the occasional nod as the man described his situation. When he finished, she asked, “Do you still have the SMS?”

“Yes, right here,” replied the young man. He fished his phone out of his pocket, unlocked the screen, and opened his SMS app before handing it to her.

As Barbara carefully read the message in question, her eyes widened slightly in realisation. She returned the phone to the counter and looked up at her customer. “Sir, the associated number is not registered in our contact list. The message that you received is a scam.”

The man went wide-eyed in shock at the revelation that he was almost duped into giving away his bank account details. “R-really??” he asked.

Barbara nodded in response. “Yes,” she answered. “While scam messages each have little tricks to look professional and authentic, they always do one thing that banks would never do over an SMS or any other messaging platform: Ask you to leave your bank details directly in the chat.” She shifted in her seat and leaned forward before continuing, her clothed breasts pushed up by her desktop. “It’s good that you brought this matter to our attention. Otherwise, you could have lost hundreds to thousands of dollars from your bank account once the scammer accessed it by obtaining your account info.”

Just as she finished, Barbara noticed that the customer’s eyes had seemingly dropped down to her desk, his face flushed red, and his jaw hanging slightly. She raised an eyebrow at this. “Sir?” she called. “Is everything alright?”

The young man snapped back to reality as he hastily shook his head to focus his mind. “Umm, y-y-yes, I’m fine!” he answered frantically. “Y-you were saying?”

Not wanting to stress the poor soul further, Barbara decided to proceed with her advice. She pulled a small card from a nearby stack and handed it to him. “Here’s a contact card. It contains all numbers registered to the Equestria National Bank. You may refer to these whenever you’re in doubt about the next unknown phone number to send you a similar message in future,” she explained. “Alternatively, you may refer to the associated website for further information on our contact addresses. In addition, you can report any suspected scam messages through the website’s reporting system. All you will need to do is attach a screenshot of the suspicious message, clearly showing the number of the person who sent it. We will put any reported contacts in the queue for investigation and use them to track the suspects down.”

“Of course I will!” replied the young man as he stood up. Thank you so much for your help!” He took his phone and the contact card and slung his backpack over his shoulder before walking out of the centre with a broad smile.

Barbara shook her head in amusement as she watched him leave. “Boys will be boys,” she thought to herself. With the appointment settled, the Dragon Succubus spent another minute filing the case in the system’s database before the phone on her desk started to ring. Without hesitation, she took her hands off the keyboard, reached for the answer button on the side of her headset and pulled the microphone down over her mouth.

She opened with the standard greeting, “Equestria National Bank Customer Service Centre. How can I help you?”

“Hello,” came a female voice from the other end of the line. However, the woman’s greeting did not sound polite in the slightest. Instead, it sounded irritated. “I’d like to enquire about a problem I have had for some time now.”

Barbara’s smile faltered at the caller’s somewhat hostile tone. It was one of those people again. “Could you describe this ‘problem’, please?” she asked politely.

“Over the past 4 weeks, I‘ve been receiving emails claiming that I owe credit card bills overdue by over a month! A month!” the woman barked over the phone. “You’d better confirm that this shit was from you, or a complaint won’t be the only thing you should worry about!”

Barbara sighed quietly. “Could you give me your email address, please?”

Once the woman gave her email address, Barbara quickly searched the bank’s email history. When she keyed the address in, her answer flashed clearly on her screen. The woman had received numerous email warnings that her credit bills were long overdue for payment, as she claimed, so it made even less sense why she would complain about such a thing.

“Alright, Ma’am, I can confirm that the emails you claim to have received are authentic,” Barbara explained. “You indeed have a credit bill that you have yet to pay from last month. You will need to make the required transaction as soon as possible, or you will face an additional $100 in lateness fees should you refuse to pay off your credit by the end of this month. If you refuse to comply after that expires, we will still have no choice but to press charges against you for debt evasion.”

“You dare threaten me with charges, you smug little bitch!?” the woman spat. “I knew it! I’m being targeted by the fucking bank! Why should I be required to pay my bills within a time limit, huh!? I’ll pay my bills when I feel like it! What part of that sentence do you retards not get!?”

The woman’s unruly ranting over the line made Barbara’s eyebrows furrow in irritation. Yet, she kept a level head throughout the ordeal, as she did many times. No, she was not about to stoop to that level just to get back at a rude customer after years of tolerating such behaviour. It would only allow them to win the fight.

“You know what?” the woman continued. “Redirect my call to the Management Office now! We’ll see how much you’ll laugh once I’ve made my point to them!”

“If you insist,” Barbara responded. “However, do keep in mind that the charges mentioned will still apply if you do not make the payment soon, and Equestria National Bank will not be held responsible for the consequences you face in challenging the system. Please hold while I transfer your call.” Her voice then turned deadly serious when she spoke her final sentence.

“You have been warned.”

With that, Barbara dialled the number on her phone to make the transfer, and a second later, the call had finally ended. She took the time to take a deep breath and compose herself before she prepared to receive the next customer to make a physical appointment.

After a few seconds of performing her breathing exercise, Barbara heard another female voice coming from her right. “Hey, Barb,” it asked. Thankfully, the voice was a lot less shrill and much more friendly. Turning her head to meet the source, she smiled at the sight of her long-time colleague, Topaz Pearl.

She was yet another stunning beauty as a human, despite being a mother of one on the brink of her 40s. Her shoulder-length blaze orange hair was in a bell-bob cut where her locks flared outwards towards the end before curving inwards toward her neck, leaving the ends virtually invisible from the outside. Her flamenco-coloured eyes matched her hair analogously, while the pastel brown lipstick she wore complemented her fair skin. She wore a similar attire to Barbara’s, the only difference being that it was dark orange. It appeared to fit snugly over her 209cm bust, 56cm waist, and 100cm hips, almost like a second skin. Anyone could see the curvature of her body from all angles.

Barbara’s mood lightened a bit at the sight of her friend. “Hi, Topaz. How are you holding up back home?”

Topaz’s face fell when she heard Barbara’s question. She took off her blazer and draped it over her chair’s backrest before taking her seat and pulling her headset over her ears. “Same as always - as much as I can, anyway,” came her answer. “My husband still rarely comes home for dinner, if at all, and still acts distant when he does. I’ve been raising my daughter Citrine myself since she turned 16. At best, Legal Tender acknowledges us with little to no enthusiasm. At worst, he comes back from his job too tired to speak to us, let alone spend quality time. ” She shook her head and sighed. “It’s a far cry from the man I fell in love with so long ago.”

Barbara’s expression changed to concern, but she still tried to assure her colleague. “Don’t worry; I know you’ll figure something out to pull things back together. Given your situation, I know it’s not much for me to say, but it’s still better than nothing.”

In response, Topaz nodded with a bittersweet smile. “I'm Avoiding the subject of my husband further…” she began. I saw that look on your face from your last call. Did another Karen get you down on your first hour?”

“I’d be lying if it wasn’t,” Barbara answered with a sigh. “I swear, those people are everywhere, no matter where you work.”

“That’s life, Honey,” Topaz shrugged. “Luckily, we know how to deal with them when needed.” Her face then lit up. “Plus, with that last call you got, we’re tied! If you get one more by the end of the month, you’re buying lunch this Sunday.”

Barbara snorted at that remark. “Don’t get cocky, Topaz,” she said. “It’s the last working day of the month.”

That was when Topaz’s phone rang. Pressing the answer button on her headset, she made the usual Customer Service greeting. 2 seconds later, her brows quickly knotted in irritation. Barbara could tell that another Karen had reached her phone line.

Smirking victoriously, the green-haired Dragoness leaned in towards Topaz’s ear. “I could go for a nice steak lunch this Sunday,” she whispered. “Thanks for the treat.”

As Topaz quietly glared defeatedly at her, Barbara returned to her seat to continue taking customers. “Well, this day just got off to a bumpy start,” she thought. “I wonder if Pyra’s having any more fun than I am.”

0846hrs, Platinum’s Vanity, Studio 1

*FLASH!*

“Lay back! Kick your leg high!”

*FLASH!*

“Now, on your belly! Blow a kiss to ze camera and wink!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!*

“Stand up! Hips to ze side! Push up your breasts! Show your lady lumps to ze vorld! Yes, yes! Zat’s it!!!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

Pyra, dressed in nothing but a super-skimpy, gold-embroidered, sky-blue sling bikini with just enough material to cover her nipples, areola, and groin, combined with a pair of matching platform high-heeled sandals, effortlessly struck pose after pose after pose as she followed the rapid-fire instructions barked out by her photographer, Photo Finish.

She was also a stunning if overenergetic beauty in her own right, with sleek, Catskill white hair that she wore in a straight, shoulder-length bob. Her 169cm breasts, 56cm waist, and 92cm hips were mainly covered by a thick, poofy black-and-white striped designer dress, one of her favourite clothes to wear on the go. As she stood in front of the studio set, her red violet sunglasses sat high on top of her head. At the same time, she kept her matching eyes trained on Pyra through the camera lens, constantly shifting, squatting, kneeling, or standing as she did her damnedest to capture every possible angle of Pyra’s almost nude form she could.

The camera flashes each turned the room white for a split second every time Photo Finish took a picture. Even the mildest epileptics would have launched into a seizure after a few seconds of exposure, yet Pyra remained utterly unfazed by the dazzling light. Still, she danced wildly on the spot, working her hardest to deliver the juiciest shots that the Chique Chicks magazine’s annual Hot Summer Daze season would have to offer to any daring reader to grace their pages.

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

Photo’s camera maniacally clicked and whirred as she continued the photo shoot at full speed, with Pyra keeping up the pace. What little sweat she produced formed over her bare skin, but the Dragoness never slowed down as she switched her poses at lightning speed. Her huge breasts, barely contained by the swimsuit she wore, flailed about like wrecking balls from the resulting momentum. Pyra's only expression throughout the ordeal was a bright, unwavering, and sometimes lewd smile that she held for the camera and her audience.

“On your knees and arms behind your head! Flaunt zat figure! Now, on all fours! Turn around and flaunt your buttocks! And look back to ze camera! Yes, yes, YES!!! Zat is vat I vant to see!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

“AND DONE!!!” Photo Finish finally bellowed.

That was the cue for Pyra to stand up and stretch herself out. She had powered through a workout session of non-stop posing before Photo’s camera for 20 minutes straight, barely breaking a sweat. Swinging her arms back and forth, she let out a satisfied exhale before stepping off the set to the side. Once her feet had left the stage, Photo walked over.

“Wunderbar! Wunderbar!” the pale-haired photographer applauded, clapping her hands in joy. “You vere magnificent!” Her thick Germane accent accompanied every word of praise she spoke. “Such energy! Such beauty! Such sass! You burn like ze fire, a sign zat you truly know how to show…ze magicks!” Photo Finish punctuated the last phrase with a dramatic wave of her hand.

“Thank you, Photo,” Pyra replied with a chuckle as one of Photo’s assistants quickly stepped forward to hand her towel, which she used to wipe her face and neck before draping it behind her shoulders. She then shook her head amusedly. “That was quite the workout you gave me, even for your usual sessions,” she continued. “Are you sure you don’t want to be a fitness instructor?”

Photo tossed her head back and laughed. “Ohohoho, no, no, no, no, fraulein!” she answered with a dismissive wave. “If I vanted to be a fitness instructor, I vould have left zis job long ago! Fashion photography is an art zat I have come to love far too much to give up, and I vill never, ever stop loving it!” she proudly proclaimed with a wide grin, her eyes burning and fist raised with pure determination.

Pyra couldn’t resist a short laugh at her photographer’s antics. “Alright, I admit it was a dumb question. Point taken.”

“And let’s keep it zat vay,” Photo stated with a smile and a firm nod before her expression turned serious. She spun around and tapped the frame of her sunglasses with her finger, which caused them to fall back down over her eyes, obscuring them from the world again. Her hands shot up into the air, and she clapped twice loudly.

“GIRLS!” she barked to her 5 assistants as she strode to the set. “Start rearranging ze props for ze next model! SCHNELL!!”

As the assistants ran onto the stage to begin their work, Pyra walked off to the side of the large room. There were 11 young women with her, each drop-dead gorgeous in her own right. Pyra walked off to the side of the room to join the rest of the models called in for the photoshoot that day.

To Pyra’s far left, standing confidently with a hand on her hip, was Taffy Shade. She was a stunning 180cm tall, with a goldenrod blonde mane of fully permed back-length tresses that framed her lightly freckled cheeks and half-lidded Malibu yellow eyes made up of light gold eyeshadow to match her hair. Taffy's tantalising figure was clad in a pink gold 2-piece microkini, with a pair of Dorito-shaped patches making up the top that barely covered the area over the nipples of her 159cm breasts, which were held in place by spaghetti strings. The bottom had the same treatment, with a Dorito-shaped patch that only just covered her crotch, while the strings that held it in place wrapped around the top of her 89cm hips before meeting at the back, right over her tailbone, and completely disappearing into the crack of her large, peach-shaped butt. Her 54cm waist was left bare. To complete the outfit, she wore glittery gold “Fuck Me” heels that glistened with every subtle movement she made in her step.

On Taffy's immediate left was Garden Grove, who was as tall as Taffy. Her long, wavy, turquoise blue hair stood in a high ponytail, with two more locks framing her face. Her Malibu blue eyes complemented her gentle, almost seductive smile as she watched Pyra walk towards the group. Garden shared the same height and asset measurements as Taffy and wore a bright, lime-green 2-piece bikini. The top wrapped around her back and tied off with a ribbon that was so narrow it showed off plenty of inner and outer sideboob. The bottom was a thong that rode high over her bikini lines and was translucent at both ends, leaving an opaque, diamond-shaped patch to cover her crotch. It tied off over her hips with the same thin ribbon knots as the top. For her footwear, Garden stood on a pair of lime green high-heeled platform sandals trimmed with highlighter yellow pinstripes along the base of the soles and over the straps.

Standing to the far right of the group was Cold Forecast, the third woman in the ensemble to share the same height and asset sizes as the previous two. Unlike Taffy and Garden, she wore her waist-length hair down in almost straight locks that bowed outward slightly before curving back inwards at the ends. Her heliotrope eyes and face carried a welcoming smile as she watched her senior colleague at work on set. She donned a dark chrome green, asymmetrical one-piece suspended by a single strap over her right shoulder and held together by a sturdy metal clip behind her upper back. The twist on her swimsuit was that it had two large elliptical cutouts, one on the front that exposed the underside of her breasts and her flat belly down to the top of her crotch while leaving just enough material to cover her intimate parts, and the other behind that left her entire back exposed before closing off at the bottom, leaving her Dimples of Venus and about 3cm of her butt crack visible. She completed her look with matching chrome green, knee-high stiletto boots with diamond-patterned cutouts that gradually increased in size from the ankle up.

The third woman standing to Pyra’s left and Garden Grove’s was Varsity Trim, who stood at 178cm tall with slightly smaller assets than the previous two, with a 155cm bust, 53cm waist, and 80cm hips. Her eminence-coloured, amethyst-highlighted hair was in a high, poodle-permed, shoulder-length ponytail. Despite her efforts to remain confident for her upcoming turn in the photoshoot, Varsity still had a light blush on her face from the embarrassment of wearing a skimpy swimsuit that showed off more skin than she was comfortable with. Occasionally, her Casablanca eyes would glance at random corners of the studio to check for any signs of peeping Toms who might have sneaked in, despite the studio’s private booking to prevent such interference. She was one of the few who kept her robe on, though she left it open for her cue to step on stage, revealing a cream-coloured, strapless 2-piece bikini with violet roses embroidered over the surface. The top consisted of two 6cm wide bands of waterproof fabric that wrapped around her breasts, just covering her areola and nipples. They were held together from behind by a metal clip like Cold Forecast’s 1-piece while being joined at the front by a single gold hoop that showed what little cleavage Varsity had left to hide. Her thong had a G-string that was buried in the crack of her heart-shaped butt and a small triangle of fabric to cover her crotch, the side strings held together above her hips by a pair of gold hoops to match the top. She wore glittery white "Fuck Me" heels like Taffy.

To the right of Cold Forecast stood Orange Sherbette, who was in the same height and measurements group as Varsity Trim. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she stood with a bright smile and wide, heliotrope eyes. Her tango hair was completely down and neatly curled at the ends. She wore a custom-made, orange 1-piece slingkini with spaghetti straps over her shoulders, each splitting into two to hold up circular fabric patches that covered her nipples, each embroidered with a marigold flower. The bottom halves of the patches were joined by a Y-string that converged over her navel, joined by a silver hoop, before expanding into an oblong diamond over and under her crotch. As the fabric narrowed once more into a string and travelled up her buttcrack, it diverged at her lower back, connected by another silver hoop before finally returning to the straps that started at her shoulders. She wore platform sandals similar to Garden Grove's, but hers were yellow with orange cross-straps that ran up her shins, ending just below her knee.

Continuing from Varsity’s left was Ginger Owsleye. With the exact measurements as the former and Orange, she possessed straight, waist-length purple heart hair with bangs that completely covered her eyebrows and bright turquoise eyes that bore a reasonably neutral expression despite the light blush on her face. Her arms crossed under her ample breasts, which were covered only by a single strip of waterproof fabric secured at the back and front by two silver hoops, similar to Varsity’s. Still, it was part of a one-piece swimsuit that also had another long strip of fabric that descended vertically down over her crotch and under her buttcrack before climbing up the centre of her back and joining the back hoop. The front ring was suspended by a spaghetti halter strap wrapped around the back of Ginger’s neck, making the entire swimsuit resemble the “Ankh” hieroglyph from the front. In addition, it was coloured bright turquoise to match her eyes, with small, highlighter blue owl's eye flowers (her namesake) dotting the surface. Ginger’s footwear was a tad more modest than what the rest of her colleagues wore: simple purple stiletto sandals.

The 4th woman joining the measurements group with Varsity Trim, Orange Sherbette, and Ginger Owlseye was Diwata Aino, who stood with her hands on her hips to the right of Orange, with a smile that was just as bright. Her cerise red and cranberry-striped hair was tied into a high ponytail, much like Garden’s, except it was curled upwards at about shoulder length, leaving no visible ends. Her eyes were purple to contrast her fair complexion. Over her voluptuous figure, she wore a 1-piece like Cold, Orange, and Ginger for the photoshoot. However, hers was raspberry red and consisted of a spaghetti halter strap that wrapped around the back of her neck, crossed over the front of her collarbone while cascading down and expanding slightly to cover her nipples, and then converged just at the top of her buttcrack before going in and under her crotch, only to diverge again at the top of her lower slit and finally loop high over her bikini line to join with the section that initially travelled round to her back after passing over her breasts. Diwata wore knee-high stiletto platform boots whose colour matched her swimsuit, with highlighter yellow straps securing them.

4th in the exact measurements group as Taffy, Garden, and Cold was Crystal Lullaby, who stood on Ginger’s left, tall and feminine, with her hands clasped in front of her. She had done her electric violet, medium purple highlighted hair in a high, shoulder-length ponytail styled into a single octocurl that spiralled down to the end, complete with a parted fringe that showed off her slender eyebrows. Her emerald eyes were half-lidded in a serene expression with a small smile. Crystal wore a glossy, silver-trimmed, strapless 2-piece bikini, where the top was a stretched infinity symbol that covered her nipples and areola while leaving the rest of her breasts exposed above and below. 2 strips of waterproof fabric extended out of either end of the front to wrap around her upper back before being joined at the centre with a matching silver buckle. Meanwhile, the bottom consisted of a singular patch of fabric covering her slit that was rounded at the top and narrowed into a string as it passed under her crotch and up through her buttcrack before splitting in a “Y” pattern high over her hips. The front and back of the bottom were connected by a set of strings joined by a pair of silver hoops at the peak of the hips. What little surface area of fabric on Crystal’s bikini had glossy, sand blue sequins that sparkled whenever her breasts jiggled and her hips swayed. She wore the same platform sandals in satin silver as Orange Sherbette.

The 5th woman in the measurements group alongside Varsity, Orange, Ginger, and Diwata was Melon Mint, who stood to Diwata’s right as a bold, sassy individual with straight, waist-length, mandy-coloured hair and bangs that were slightly shorter than Ginger’s, complimented by her lipstick eyes, which closely matched her hair. Her swimwear was a strapless, mint green-trimmed, watermelon pink 1-piece vaguely shaped like the letter “I” from the front. The top was a narrow band of fabric covering her areola, which wrapped around the front and back. Another strip of fabric stemmed down the front to connect the top with the bottom, which had enough material to cover her crotch as it narrowed over the hips and into a G-string down her buttcrack. Her feet bore the same “Fuck Me” heels as Taffy and Garden in mint green to match her trim.

Standing on Crystal's left side was Alizarin Bubblegum, the group's youngest member. She stood 169cm tall with radical red hair, green-yellow eyes, a 140cm bust, a 54cm waist, and 80cm hips. She embarrassedly held her arm, wearing a revealing swimsuit underneath her open robe. The two-piece microkini was the same colour as her eyes, featuring heart-shaped patches of fabric that barely covered her nipples and slit. The microkini was held in place by spaghetti strings tied off in bows behind her neck, back, and hips. She wore platform sandals on her feet that were also radical red with additional heart patterns running across the sides of the soles.

Last but not least, the eldest of the Crystal Prep supermodels stood in the centre of the row, Fleur des Lis. She shared the same measurements as Taffy, Garden, Cold, and Crystal but stood taller than them at 188cm. Her French lilac hair was rich and silky, with tutu highlights reaching her waist and gradually curling upward. Her beautiful face wore a stoic expression, and her purple heart-shaped eyes seemed focused on the floor before her as if deep in thought. She had her arms crossed under her large breasts, slightly pushing them up. Her swimsuit was a glittery, light silver slingkini with a string hoop around her neck fastened from behind by a single gold buckle. Two more strings in front held up leaf-shaped fabric patches that were just wide enough to cover her nipples and areola before converging over her crotch and continuing up her buttcrack. They then split in 2 just as they emerged to meet with either end of the neck strap. Fleur wore dark purple platform-heel boots with two elongated strips of latex running up the front and back of her legs, ending halfway up her thighs. These were held together by silver cross laces, leaving plenty of skin exposed down the sides.

The supermodels stepped forward to gather around Pyra as she continued to wipe the rest of her upper body down from the ordeal. Their heels clopped against the hard floor, and the cold white studio lights reflected off their skin and swimwear, causing both to glisten tantalisingly.

“I must say, Pyra, Photo Finish has been on fire this week, and so have you!” Garden Grove began. “I haven’t seen her this lively until you came along.”

Taffy Shade rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “Oh, please, Garden, when is she not lively?” she asked, playfully elbowing her friend’s arm. “Photo’s the kind of woman who works her models until they drop to churn out all the pictures she can get. Sure, it’s difficult, but we look great doing it. Just look!” she gestured to a framed portrait of herself among the others on the far wall, sitting on a ledge in skimpy black lingerie, striking a seductive pose with a hand lifting her hair and a stocking-covered leg crossed over. “It’s like no matter how tired or flustered we get in the process, she always manages to make us photogenic!” Taffy finished, wrapping her arm behind Garden’s bare shoulders.

The other girls chimed in with enthusiastic agreement, their voices filling the room, except for Varsity, Ginger, and Alizarin, who simply blushed harder at the memory of the last lingerie photoshoot they sat through.

“W-well, antics aside…I’ve been wondering about something,” Alizarin said as she returned to Pyra. “You’ve barely broken a sweat after how much Photo Finish has pushed you over the past few weeks. Anyone aside from us would have dropped dead after 3 days, so how do you do it?”

Pyra smiled down at the young redhead. “It’s simpler than you think, sweetie,” she answered. “I’ve had a long history of working out during my free time in my youth, and I’ve had lots of free time.” She giggled briefly at the last part. “But seriously, it’s helped me greatly through Photo’s sessions, which are a workout in themselves."

Pyra raised an affectionate hand and laid it on Alizarin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about Photo Finish. She may be wild and eccentric, but she takes her job seriously. You’ll get used to it. Besides…” She ran her free hand over her shallow six-pack with a smirk. “...her photoshoots do wonders for your figure. Isn’t that right, Fleur?”

Pyra had turned to Fleur, but to her surprise, the woman in question hadn’t joined the group during their conversation. Instead, she stood back from the other supermodels, eyes on the floor, arms crossed, and face slightly flushed as she was distracted by her thoughts. Raising an eyebrow, Pyra walked over in front of Fleur as the other women watched in confusion.

“Fleur?” the disguised Dragoness called, even patting the pale supermodel on the shoulder, but still, no answer came.

“Hello, Equestria to Fleur des Lis! Come in!” Pyra called a little louder, raising her hand before Fleur's face and repeatedly snapping her fingers.

“Huh!?” Fleur yelped as she jumped back slightly, finally having been yanked back to reality. “Wh-what is it?”

“You haven’t moved since Pyra’s photoshoot started, and you looked pretty spaced out, too,” Orange Sherbette explained with a hint of concern. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes, yes, I’m fine,” Fleur almost stuttered her answer as she looked away awkwardly, her face still flushed. “I was just…thinking, that’s all.”

Crystal Lullaby raised a sceptical eyebrow at her reply. “About what, Fleur?” she asked. “It certainly can’t be the photoshoot. You're much too confident about those.”

Now, the pink-haired Prenchwoman began to feel cornered. “Umm…w-well, I was th… I was th-think-”

“Oh, I think I know just what she’s thinking about, girls,” Pyra said, her smirk widening as she crossed her arms. “I’ll sum it up in two words: Fancy Pants.”

Everyone in the group who wasn’t Pyra or Fleur gasped, and their eyes widened at the revelation.

“Wait!” Cold Forecast began. “Fancy Pants, the businessman? That Fancy Pants?”

“The very one,” Pyra confirmed.

The girls slowly turned back to Fleur as she stood frozen to the spot, her face bright red the moment Pyra uttered Fancy Pants's name. The initially shocked expressions on the faces of Taffy, Garden, Cold, Melon, Orange, Diwata, and Crystal were quickly replaced by massive, amused grins.

Orange ran over to Fleur. "Hey Fleur, come to think of it, you and Fancy have talked quite a bit lately. Are you 2 dating now?" she asked, her tone curious and friendly.

Melon Mint stepped over to Fleur's side and put her arm around her shoulder. "It's so nice to see you interested in someone, Fleur. You've always been so focused on your career and studies that we were starting to think you weren't interested in dating at all," she said with a warm smile.

Fleur blushed at the attention but shook her head. "N-no, we're just friends. We enjoy each other's company and have some common interests," she explained.

Cold raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Just friends with a handsome guy like Fancy? Come on, spill the tea, Fleur," she joked.

Taffy giggled, but Pyra cut in before anyone else could ask more questions. "Alright, that's enough, girls. Let's give Fleur some space and respect her privacy," she said firmly, and the group nodded.

Sensing more attention from behind her, she turned around to see the slightly disturbed and concerned expressions of Photo Finish’s crew alongside Photo’s confused one, all of whom had been interrupted by the commotion.

“Don’t worry, we were just discussing Fleur’s little crush,” Pyra assured them.

To that, Photo simply shrugged before telling her crew to get back to work.

Pyra then walked over to Fleur and continued. “Seriously, Fleur. All teasing aside, I’ve been in love myself for long enough to know all the signs. From what I’ve gathered, you’ve just about ignored every boy who has tried to court you until Fancy came along. When I see you talking with him from a distance, I’ve never seen you happier. You smile whenever you’re in his company, you laugh with him, not to mention you’re blushing all the while.” A few of the other supermodels giggled at that last point. “And when he needs to leave, you walk away as if floating on air, practically giddy with joy from the ordeal.”

A few seconds of silence followed, and Fleur took a deep, shaky breath before exhaling hard and hanging her head in defeat.

“Oh, alright, I confess,” she groaned. “I do have a crush on Fancy Pants.”

Fleur then clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for even more teasing. Instead, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw Pyra’s compassionate smile.

“Chin up, young lady. We were just joking around,” Pyra spoke. “If you’re truly in love with Fancy Pants, then we’re all happy that you are.”

“Of course!” Varsity agreed. “By all means, don’t stop going after your man! He will be honoured to date a supermodel like you.”

“You got that right,” Taffy chimed in. “And you know what else comes with dating a supermodel?” she asked Fleur with a sly grin. “Free sexy photo albums! All. Year. Round.”

Somehow, Fleur found herself chuckling at that remark by her blonde companion.

Ginger Owlseye decided to give her input as well. “You’ll even have another source of motivation to continue modelling. Not just because you enjoy it, but also because you’ll finally have someone to continue your passion for!”

Ginger’s encouragement earned another round of agreement from the rest of the women in the group.

Fleur looked at them all with a heartfelt smile on her fair complexion. “Thank you, girls,” she answered with sincerity. “Truly.”

“Fleur!” came Photo’s call right at that moment. “You are up next!”

“Oh, that’s my cue,” Fleur remarked, stepping forward as she looked back at her friends. “I’ll talk with you later!” With that, Fleur strode onto the newly rearranged stage, posture straight as an arrow, head held high as she put on the confident front for which she had become famous.

The remaining models watched as Photo began to drill Fleur through several different poses quickly. She flashed her camera repeatedly, smiles adorning their faces for Fleur’s newfound love. Pyra had the biggest smile among them, for she had grown to like Fleur as a close friend despite being hundreds of generations apart. At that moment, she silently wished that Fleur’s and Fancy’s love would grow to bloom just as brightly as hers did for Spurn when they first hooked up.

1126hrs, Drake Security Inc., Spike’s Office

“Hmmm…maybe if I try rearranging the resistors, then placing another transistor here…”

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

“ERROR: Excessive Resistance - No voltage in the following components,” came the program’s voice reading out the verdict of the simulation test.

Taking a deep breath, Spike took the mouse and keyboard in his hands and tried again.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

“ERROR: Voltage detected in the ground - Circuit overvolted.”

There was a pause as Spike’s brow began to furrow in his growing frustration with his inability to correct the circuit layout in the control system for one of his latest projects. Once he collected himself, he made another attempt to fix the layout.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

…

…

…

“WARNING: Output sensitivity is high, which may result in excessive speed from affected servos.”

Spike let out a long, agitated groan as he propped his elbows up on the desk and clutched the sides of his head. For the past 2 hours, he had tried to resolve the same issue of configuring the circuits in the program before transferring the configuration to the hardware down inside the Ordnance Facility. Yet, the Emerald Dragon had not yielded any positive results. He glared at his computer screen again, eyeing the digital electronic diagram in the centre with mild anger and great confusion.

“This software’s been giving me nothing but negative feedback messages every time I try something different!” he silently vented to himself. “What am I doing wrong!?”

*Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!*

Spike was jolted back to reality when he heard knocking at his office door. After taking a second to compose himself, he called out, “Come in!”

The door swung open to reveal Aphrodisia, wearing her usual sultry smile in her boss’s presence, as she stepped through the frame with her tablet cradled in her arms. Shifting her grip, the Succubus freed a hand to reach out and shut the door behind her. The tall slab of ebony wood swung shut with an audible “Click!”.

Spike blushed ever so slightly as he saw the tablet his secretary held press against the lower half of her left breast through her blouse. The large, fleshy orb was pushing so hard that it threatened to burst through the soft fabric. Still, the seemingly delicate material held under such pressure that Aphrodisia reached the front of the desk.

“The HR department has just finished assessing the interviews following the latest batch of applicants for the ‘Robotics Engineer’ role,” Aphrodisia relayed. “However, we only have 1 outstanding applicant from the 22 who applied.”

Spike raised an eyebrow at this. Many high-scoring graduates have had close competition when hunting for jobs at Drake Security over the years in which the company existed. Hence, it was unusual for him to see only 1 candidate for any job past the interview phase.

“Really?” he asked. “Which one was it?”

Aphrodisia opened her tablet’s folder and navigated to the “Private Interview Shortlist” section. “It’s a 22-year-old Canterlot University Graduate who goes by the name ‘Micro Chips,” she answered as she sent a copy to Spike to read for himself on his desktop monitor.

The document of Micro Chips’s resume opened up with his photo in the top left corner of the page, which presented a skinny young man with short blue bayoux and waikawa grey hair that stood wavy and high above his brow. In addition, his eyes were black under his thick-rimmed glasses, and his jawline tapered. In the photo, he sat facing square to the camera, wearing a calm smile. Below his photo lay the rest of the details on his resume:

MICRO CHIPS

Executive Summary:

• Open to new challenges.
• Values teamwork and independence.
• Able to solve problems.

Contacts:

• Mobile No.: +XXX XXXX XXXX XX
• Telephone No.: +XXX XXXX XXXX XX
• Email: microchips@eqmail.com

Education:

• Canterlot University (Mar 2017 - Feb 2021)

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical & Robotics Engineering
  • GPA: 4.8/5.0

• Starswirl Polytechnic (Jun 2014 - May 2016)

  • Diploma in Computer Engineering
  • GPA: 3.91/4.0

Work Experience:

• Academic Internship Programme (AIP) - Hyper Dynamix Pte Ltd, Assistant Robotics Programmer (Intern) (Mar 2020 - Aug 2020)

  • Assisted in programming the AAS (Advanced Augmentation System) 2000 Series industrial robots.
  • Assigned to a project to debug the processing codes for the AAS-2400 robotic arms before shipment.
  • Performed hardware and software troubleshooting during the robot’s testing phases.
  • Designed electronic circuits for the AAS 2000 series CPUs.

Skills:

• Computer programming
• Electronic circuit design
• Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

Spike spent a moment in thought as he read through the resume’s details a few more times. He had to admit that the high GPA scores were impressive, while not impossible to achieve for anyone. He then looked back up at his secretary.

“He appears to have a significant educational and work experience background,” Spike commented. “More surprising to learn that he’s the only one in this batch to make it to the shortlist.”

“Indeed,” Aphrodisia agreed, her sultry tone slipping through her supple lips. She then leaned closer and propped her hands on the edge of the desk, her clothed mammaries now squished between her biceps. “So, stud, when shall we schedule the next interview?”

Spike’s blush deepened at the little show Aphrodisia was putting on, but answered her question. “We’ll need to find a time slot next month for that. It will give both sides more than enough time to prepare everything. We’ll discuss the exact date at a later time.”

Aphrodisia’s smile grew at his answer. “Consider it settled, then,” she replied before straightening herself and slowly sashayed around the desk to join her boss from behind. The sound of her shoes clopping against the hard floor rang throughout the soundproofed room in the 10 seconds she took to reach the chair. She slipped a hand behind Spike’s back and planted it on his far shoulder as the monitor screen caught her eye.

“How’s your big presentation coming along?” Aphrodisia asked sweetly. “You’ve been pretty eager to get everything right lately for when the Aetheris sisters come to visit next week.”

“That’s the thing. For the most part, everything in the presentation slides has been completed and proofread, and all of the prototypes involved have been assembled and debugged,” Spike sighed as he pointed to the screen. “Except for this one: The Tumbler’s weapons control system. I’ve been trying to rewire the entire circuit for half the morning to ensure that everything receives optimal power with no risks of overloading or underloading. Still, the program’s been giving me nothing but errors and warnings throughout.” he slumped against the backrest of his chair, wiping his face with his hand as a gesture of frustration. “I just can’t see how I can’t resolve this problem.”

Curiously, Aphrodisia looked up at her boss’s monitor, which displayed the simulation program window and, within, the circuit diagram in question. She only needed a few more seconds before asking, “Hmmm…did you try arranging them like this?”

The dark-skinned Succubus took Spike’s keyboard and mouse into her hands and adjusted the components’ positions throughout the circuit and their respective functions. A few clicks of the keyboard and mouse later, she hit the “Run Simulation” button.

“Simulation running…”

“Simulation complete. No excessive/insufficient loading detected in the circuit; no voltage detected in the ground; circuit performance is nominal.”

Spike’s eyes widened as he studied the configuration his secretary had developed before him. “Of course!” he exclaimed, mentally kicking himself. “Why didn't I think of doing that?”

Aphrodisia smiled as she turned and sat on the edge of Spike’s desk to face him and crossed her legs over. “The best solution to a problem is often the easiest one, Stud, and even the best people overlook such things.” She slowly leaned closer to him. “That’s why no one can truly work alone without a sliver of help to nudge them in the right direction.” She punctuated her sentence by cupping the far side of Spike’s face and pulling him in to kiss his cheek, which he quietly accepted. Aphrodisia couldn’t suppress a lustful giggle when she pulled away a full second later.

"Aph, I have to admit, despite being somewhat used to your flirtations, you do bring up a good point," Spike said with a small smile and a shake of his head. "I appreciate your help, even if I sometimes don't need it."

“Ohoho, stop it, Spike! You’re making me blush!” Aphrodisia giggled, fingers pressed to her lips in mock suppression of her laughter.

*Ding!*

That was when the duo were interrupted by the notification bell on Spike’s laptop, signalling the start of lunch break. Spike quickly reached for his mouse to acknowledge the alarm and close the adjacent pop-up before locking his computer and rising from his chair. He then turned back to Aphrodisia.

“Would you care to join me for lunch?” he asked politely.

Ever wanting to be close to the handsome young Dragon, Aphrodisia grinned at Spike’s invitation. “Of course,” came her answer. “When would I not?”

She wrapped her arm around his elbow as they made their way to the door and out of the office, briskly making their way to the nearest lift to take them downstairs.

1132hrs, Bistro Junction, A few blocks away from Drake Security Inc.

Spike and Aphrodisia arrived at Bistro Junction, a few blocks from Drake Security Inc. They walked together along the wide, slate-paved walkway that led 150m towards the large fountain in the centre of the junction, surrounded by 3 more walkways that joined at the fountain's position in a radial pattern. Only a few people occupied the otherwise empty aisles, including pairs or groups of people sitting on the benches along the sides as they chatted, couples walking hand-in-hand while drinking in the scenery or searching for a suitable restaurant for lunch, and the occasional parent bringing their children for an eventful outing.

As the name implied, restaurants of all varieties lined the entire ground floor on either side of each of the main strips, with a mixture of restaurants, bars, and shops filling the remaining space above throughout the 4-storey, 4-building complex. Above the ground spanned a system of bridges that connected the upper floors of each building, providing convenient access to all shoppers who crossed back and forth in their search for the next hottest item on the market.

It was around this time when the Food and Beverage hub remained especially quiet on the weekdays, as Spike and Aphrodisia took this opportunity to take a walk to one of their usual places to eat before the lunchtime crowd could come flooding in to fill the outlets to bursting point. A few more seconds of walking later, they arrived at one of the restaurants in question.

To their left, occupying the 1st and 2nd floor, was a reasonably sized bistro named “Brewed Delights”. The entire facade of the restaurant block was a dark, earthly green with alabaster accents framing the windows. The windows comprised wide, untinted panes that spanned from 60cm above the floor and stopped at the same distance from the ceiling, allowing plenty of natural light to enter the spacious interior. Only a few tables had been occupied at this hour by fellow early birds who wanted to beat the crowd to a nice, leisurely meal, eating and conversing under the warm LED light that illuminated the restaurant floor. Combined with the sweet aroma of freshly prepared food, Brewed Delights had a cosy, welcoming atmosphere that could draw in hundreds to thousands of customers for years.

Spike and Aphrodisia glanced at the queue line, marked by matching earth-green belt stanchions. They saw the empty line and headed straight for the reception counter. A staff member was operating the computer and the cash register, and as both Boss and Secretary approached, they could hear the soft tapping sounds of the waiter typing away at the keyboard. The waiter looked up and noticed their footsteps approaching from his peripheral vision.

“Welcome back, Mr Drake! It's great to see you again,” the waiter said with a smile. Would you like a table for 2?”

“Yes, please. On the second floor, next to the window, if possible,” Spike replied politely.

“Certainly, right this way,” the waiter responded, pulling out a fresh box of cutlery and serviettes from under the counter and gesturing towards the stairs.

Spike and Aphrodisia saw the restaurant's interior as they followed the waiter up the stairs to the second floor. The area was decorated in the same style as the ground floor, with neatly arranged rows of laminated rosewood tables occupying the centre. Dark brown leather-lined dining chairs with brass-plated stainless steel frames surrounded them. Against the wall were more rosewood tables, each bolted to the floor through a single post that acted as their stem. They had wraparound dining benches with leather upholstery, standing side by side in a neat line to the extreme corners. The tables adjacent to the window, Spike and Aphrodisia's destination, were of similar construction but smaller, with straight, back-to-back benches on either side. All the chairs, benches, and tables wore the same upholstery.

Once the waiter had placed their cutlery on the tabletop, he stepped away to allow Spike and Aphrodisia to take their seats facing each other. Spike reached toward the tablet on the table by the window and pressed the button to unlock it. As soon as the menu flashed onto the screen, Spike turned to his secretary and said, "After you, Aph," gesturing to the tablet.

Smiling at the offer to go first, Aphrodisia reached for the touchscreen with her finger and spent the next minute browsing the sections until finally settling on Bangers 'n Mash. After she finished, Spike took his turn to do the same, eventually deciding to order the beef stew. With both dishes confirmed, Spike clicked the "Place Order" button, sending their orders straight to the kitchen.

Aphrodisia took the next few moments to carefully scan the rest of the room that they were in. Since it was still early in the lunch period, no one else was seated on the same level as them, at least not within earshot. Having confirmed that it was safe to start their discussion, the orange-haired Succubus turned back to her boss.

Aphrodisia lowered her voice as she remarked, "Isn't it funny how I've known and worked with you for so long, yet I've never seen you mingle with any women, whether inside or outside the company or your little militia? I guess I'm your closest thing to a girlfriend, and I'm just your secretary."

Spike suppressed a heavy sigh, anticipating where the conversation was heading. "Come on, Aph, do we have to talk about this now?" he replied dryly. "It's bad enough that my mothers have been teasing me about it for years. I don't need you adding to the stress."

Aphrodisia pouted, saying, "I'm just saying, Spike. You've been a bachelor for over a millennium, so it makes some sense that Barbara and Pyra are trying to encourage you to hook up, even if you don’t completely agree with their current methods. Even I can see that it's time you broaden your horizons."

Spike's gaze drifted down to the table as he considered his words. After a few moments of thought, he looked at his secretary and said, "Alright, as much as I don't like to admit it, I have to agree with you. But as much as I would like to talk with more girls, please understand that I want to fulfil a promise I made to my father: to make him proud."

Seeing the serious expression on Spike's face, Aphrodisia nodded sympathetically; she knew what Spike was talking about. To this day, it still pained the young dragon to recall Spurn's final words to him before he gave his life to save his family from The Purge all those centuries ago. However, Spike remained determined to honour his father's last wish for him.

"And to make him proud, I want to achieve what failed so long ago," Spike continued. "I'm going to earn their trust back by protecting their people in places where they can't do so themselves. Their knowledge of demons has now been reduced to mythology, making it much easier for me to prove that our races aren't so different from each other and that they were wrong to assume otherwise."

Aphrodisia's smile returned when she placed a comforting hand on her boss's wrist. "I know you will succeed," she replied. "And I know that no matter what else you do in life, you could never stray from your goals if you tried. Besides, having a lover or more will bring you more support. Speaking of which..." She leaned closer to him across the table, her clothed breasts pressed against the edge in the process. "Despite all the flirting, teasing, and free kisses I've given you, I'm amazed that we're not an official couple by now. If you'd like a kickstart to your love life, I could be your first," she added with her usual lusty titter.

Spike remained stoic towards Aphrodisia’s antics, but inwardly, he was amused by her offer. “I won’t lie, Aph, I am tempted by your offer, but we need to remember that you are my secretary at work,” he explained. “If we were to try to advance our relationship beyond now, I’m afraid the rest of my employees may not take it well. At best, they’ll think I’m giving you special treatment whenever we’re alone. At worst, rumours could spread to our competition, who could use them to slander my image. I’d rather avoid any potential legal issues from that.”

“They don’t need to know about what we do privately,” Aphrodisia assured him. “Even if they did find out we were together, we both know that we have no bad intentions. But I'm not your only option if you want to pursue a relationship. Why not start with someone else, like a pink-haired zookeeper you recently met?” She smirked slyly, nodding in the direction of the stairs. “Just a thought.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and turned towards the staircase to see who Aphrodisia was referring to. To his surprise, he saw Fluttershy, the young woman he had rescued from the Canterlot Ravens the week before. This time, however, she wasn't accompanied by her colleague, Fauna, but instead by a group of 7 other gorgeous women who followed her closely to a table in the back corner. Spike recognised them all immediately from The Den's database and social media.

Fluttershy had dressed modestly for the day, wearing a plain white cotton T-shirt with a cartoonish teal green cat's head printed on the front and back. However, the size of her bust caused the shirt to stretch tightly over her chest. She paired the T-shirt with coral pink shorts that extended halfway down her thighs, offering comfort and freedom of movement without showing too much leg. Her feet had white shin-length socks and teal flat-soled shoes that matched her shirt. A single azalea pink butterfly barrette pinned back the left side of her hair, which flowed down her back in gentle waves. Despite her friends closely escorting her to the table, Fluttershy's nervous expression revealed the lingering trauma of her recent near-rape experience, reminding Spike of her need for a safe and supportive environment for her recovery.

Accompanying Fluttershy’s left was her childhood friend and Rainbooms lead guitarist, Rainbow Dash, a young officer and one of the youngest pilots to become a member of the Wonderbolts, an elite branch of the Equestrian Air Force. Spike noticed Rainbow had just returned from camp, still wearing her standard-issue military field uniform. The base of the uniform was light azure, with random patches of sand and navy blue in a pixellated camouflage pattern. Rainbow had neatly folded her sleeves inward above her biceps, with the cuffs flat over the rest of the material. The uniform had numerous pockets sewn in every possible location on her shirt and pants. Above her left chest pocket, 2 military award patches stood in place: the first patch, rectangular and navy blue, had a satin silver shield with a gunmetal grey lightning bolt in the centre, wrapped in a silver wreath with wings on both sides. The second patch was identical in design but in satin yellow gold and placed on top of the first. On her right sleeve, a square velcro patch held her Wonderbolts formation badge, which was sand blue and bordered in light azure. The badge displayed the Wonderbolts logo, a large winged lightning bolt embroidered in satin yellow gold, encircled by a sky-blue ring overlaid by a yellow gold wreath with a matching ribbon at the bottom, bearing the Wonderbolts' slogan, "Altius Volantis," in black block letters. On her right thigh pocket, her yellow wool beret peeked out with the Equestrian Air Force logo clipped in place, featuring a flat gold disc with a reared-up silver alicorn, embraced by a pair of silver wings, all sitting in a flat gold wreath cradle. Rainbow's black military boots, also standard-issue, were well-polished. She held a protective arm around Fluttershy when they came up the stairs.

Spike couldn't help but notice that Rainbow had the smallest measurements of the entire group, with a 150cm bust, a 55cm waist, and 70cm hips. Even so, her figure would still look impressive by human standards, especially under her uniform, which radiated discipline and athleticism as she moved.

Accompanying Fluttershy on her right side was Sunset Shimmer, the rhythm guitarist and oldest member of The Rainbooms. Sunset's waist-length hair was a fiery pomegranate red, with Portica yellow highlights flowing down her back and shoulders in shallow waves. Her vibrant, spray-green eyes, alert for potential threats, scanned the room with focus. She wore a teal-coloured T-shirt that hugged her 164cm bust, featuring a single spinning, flaming wheel printed in the centre. Sunset wore a black leather jacket with red and orange accents on the shoulders to complete her outfit, left open to reveal her shirt. Her lower half had form-fitting, dark charcoal-grey cotton pants held by a black leather belt with a shiny yellow-gold buckle that emphasised her 55cm waist and 79cm hips. Bright orange shin-high socks and thick black ankle-high trainers with orange accents completed her ensemble.

Following closely behind Fluttershy, Sunset, and Rainbow were the remaining members of the girl group: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Pinkie Pie, Rarity Belle, and Starlight Glimmer.

In the middle of the group walked Twilight Sparkle, an Archmage and backup guitarist of the Rainbooms. She held the distinction of being the second oldest member of the band and the third oldest among their circle of friends. Her waist-length, straight hair was a striking shade of astronaut purple, with perfectly flat bangs that grazed her eyebrows. Two skunk stripes, one in eminence purple and the other in French rose, adorned the right side of her head. Her eyes matched the eminence purple skunk stripe. Twilight's attire was more modest compared to Sunset and Rainbow. She wore a baby blue blouse with short, poofy sleeves that delicately covered her shoulders. The blouse's single chest pocket bulged slightly, accentuated by Twilight's 164cm bust. Her 55cm waist and 76cm hips wore an eminence purple knee-length skirt secured by a custom-made dark purple belt with a 6-pointed star buckle in French rose. French rose ankle-high socks and polished black leather buckle shoes completed her outfit.

Walking to Twilight's left were Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Applejack, the bassist of the Rainbooms, had a slightly tanned complexion compared to the other girls, with a few freckles adorning the peaks of her cheekbones. Her Texas yellow-blonde hair featured an upward-swept fringe at the front, while the rest cascaded straight down to the top of her waist. The last few centimetres tied off with a red band to keep the strands from flying in the wind. Perched atop her head was a Tusson brown Stetson, a trademark accessory rarely seen off her head. Her mantis green eyes glistened under the restaurant's light, revealing a neutral expression as she followed the group. A red and white plaid shirt, with the top button undone and sleeves rolled up to her elbows, concealed her 167cm bust. She paired it with skintight blue jeans that hugged her 55cm waist and 75cm hips, held in place by a maroon belt with a silver buckle. Completing her ensemble were ankle-high Tusson brown cowgirl boots, matching her Stetson.

Pinkie Pie walked with a subtle bounce in her step and a cheerful expression in her spray blue eyes, bringing her energetic presence as the band's drummer. Her French rose hair bore large, poofy curls resembling cotton candy. It cascaded freely over the front and back of her head, reaching the top of her bubble-shaped posterior without any knots. Her top revealed a bit more skin compared to her friends' outfits. She wore a pastel pink off-shoulder blouse with short puff sleeves, resting low over her 169cm breasts and accentuating her deep cleavage. Pinkie opted not to wear a bra, adding to the allure of strapless tops. The blouse followed the contours of her 55cm waist and ended just above her navel. Her 83cm hips filled out the form-fitting, azure blue booty shorts she had chosen for the day. Unlike the others, Pinkie didn't wear a belt. Her feet had shin-high pastel yellow socks, emerging from azure ankle-length sneakers with flat soles and white trim.

Walking to Twilight's right were Rarity and Starlight Glimmer. Rarity, the Rainbooms' keyboardist, was widely regarded as the band's most beautiful member, drawing admiration from both men and women on social media. Her butterfly bush purple hair was meticulously curled at the ends, featuring a long side fringe that gracefully hung just above one of her sparkling Boston blue eyes. The rest of her hair cascaded down her back, reaching past her waist. Her eyes bore her favourite blizzard blue eyeshadow, complemented by long, curly eyelashes that fluttered with each blink. Rarity's outfit showcased her signature style, starting with an asymmetrical satin white blouse. It had one long puff sleeve that encased her right arm, extending halfway over her forearm. She accessorised with seven silver bangles adorning her right wrist and a silver-plated smartwatch on her left. The blouse covered her 165cm breasts, displaying no sign of a bra from the bare shoulders. It hung loosely above her navel, leaving more of her 55cm waist exposed compared to Pinkie's outfit. Rarity wore dark blue ankle-length tights that hugged her lower body, accentuating every curve, from her 72cm hips to her peach-shaped derriere and long, slender thighs. The tights ended at her ankles, just above her black open-toed stilettos. Alongside the two side pockets in her tights, Rarity carried her belongings in a matte silver purse, gracefully slung over her shoulder as she walked with her friends.

Last but not least was the only non-Rainboom member of the group, Starlight Glimmer. Her studio purple hair, adorned with water leaf green highlights, was elegantly styled in a neat beehive, with the ends flowing in shallow waves down to her upper back. Not tied back, a small section of hair formed an upcurled side fringe that framed her portage purple eyes. Starlight wore a simple aquamarine T-shirt embellished with a glossy, yellow-gold meteor shower print, accentuating her 169cm bust. The fabric contoured to her breasts as she moved. The T-shirt ended just above her navel, revealing a similar amount of midriff as Pinkie's attire. Complementing the top, Starlight donned a pair of charcoal grey skinny jeans that hugged her 77cm hips and were secured around her 54cm waist by a black leather belt. The belt featured a custom buckle resembling Twilight's, with a wisteria purple 4-pointed star overlaid on a white 4-pointed star. Her feet had charcoal grey platform sandals that matched her jeans, and she sported a black smartwatch on her left wrist.

Spike observed in silence as the girls swiftly approached their table in the corner and took their seats. Fluttershy occupied the centre spot on the wraparound bench, flanked by Rarity, Twilight, and Sunset on her right and Pinkie, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow on her left. Pinkie and Rarity sat right beside Fluttershy, while Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack positioned themselves at the ends of the bench. Spike deduced that they decided the seating arrangement to ensure Fluttershy's safety, with the table as a barrier against potential threats and her friends forming a protective shield on either side.

He turned his attention back to Aphrodisia. "How did you know they would come here?" he inquired.

"I didn't," the Succubus secretary shrugged nonchalantly. "However, while you were conversing, I sensed their auras when they entered the restaurant." She shifted slightly in her seat. "Poor little Fluttershy still carries so much fear within her," she sighed, shaking her head. "And her friends exude an air of caution."

That's when realisation hit Spike like a wall. "Damn it. That reminds me - I haven't checked on her well-being since I rescued her last week," he said, preparing to stand up, annoyed at himself for being so consumed by his work in the militia and the office. "I need to ask her about it before I forget again."

However, before he could take a step away from the table, Aphrodisia firmly grabbed his forearm, causing Spike to look back at her in confusion.

"No need to rush, Boss," Aphrodisia assured him gently, her usual flirty smile in place. "Remember, Fluttershy has been through a lot that night last week, and she's just starting her recovery. So, approach them with care and gentleness."

There was a brief pause as Spike processed his secretary's advice, contemplating the best approach. After a moment, he nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry, I will."

Aphrodisia's smile widened in response, and she released her grip on Spike's forearm, granting him the freedom to make his way toward the Rainbooms' table in the far corner. As he approached them, his enhanced hearing effortlessly caught snippets of their conversation.

"Chin up, Flutters!" Pinkie cheerfully tried to reassure the young zookeeper. "After what happened to you last week, you deserve to have a good time. That's why we're here, to have a fun Friday outing, just the eight of us!"

Fluttershy mustered a small smile, though her voice trembled with nervousness. "Thank you, Pinkie," she replied. "But I'm not sure about eating in a place like this right now. I don't feel very safe."

Rarity frowned sympathetically, placing a comforting hand on Fluttershy's lap. "Darling, I understand your concerns," she responded gently. "What those brutes tried to do to you and Fauna that night was horrendous, but it's in the past now. You were rescued by the Emerald Dragon himself! If he had arrived just a few seconds later..." Rarity shuddered at the thought. "...you would have left that abandoned building in a far worse state."

"They're right," Sunset chimed in. "What happened to you both was horrifying, and we're here to support you and help you move forward. If anyone dares to harm you again, they'll have all of us to deal with."

Just then, Sunset saw Spike approaching their table from the corner of her eye. Her expression shifted, and a hint of protectiveness crept into her gaze. "Speaking of which..."

As Spike reached their table, Sunset rose from her seat to take a protective stance in front of Fluttershy. Rainbow and Applejack, having followed Sunset’s gaze to whoever had earned her ire, quickly assumed defensive positions to her left, with Rainbow in the centre and Applejack further left.

Spike immediately halted, seeing 3 Rainbooms forming a protective barrier before their table. Peering over their shoulders, he observed the now-terrified expression on Fluttershy's otherwise gentle face as she pressed herself against her seat. Rarity and Pinkie wrapped their arms around Fluttershy, prepared to shield her from potential harm. While Twilight and Starlight remained in their original positions, their intense gazes locked onto Spike, and he noticed a faint glow emanating from their hands, poised to cast spells at a moment's notice.

Despite the unmistakable signs that these girls wanted to defend their friend from any potential threat, Spike maintained a sympathetic expression. While he knew that resorting to violence in a public place was extreme, he could empathise with their protective stance given what Fluttershy had been through.

Rainbow was the first to speak, her anger palpable yet controlled. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Spike quickly reassured them, raising his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Don't worry. I'm not here to harm any of you, especially not Fluttershy," he said calmly. "I just wanted to see if she's okay."

Rainbow snorted sceptically, clearly not convinced. "Yeah, right. A guy walks up to us claiming he just wants to talk, less than a week after our friend here was almost raped by a whole gang of them in the middle of the night," she retorted, her fists clenched tightly. "So why should we believe you won't try anything funny first?"

Spike let out a sorrowful sigh. "I understand your concerns, and I don't blame you for being wary," he replied earnestly. "Fluttershy went through a terrible ordeal, and you all want to protect her. I respect that. But I assure you, I have no intention of causing any further grief. I just want to talk."

He emptied his pockets one by one, revealing his phone, wallet, keys, and handkerchief in his hands. He turned them inside out to demonstrate they were genuinely empty before returning them to his pockets. Spike then awaited the girls' response.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Nice try," she admitted. "But your keys could still be used as weapons, and let's not forget that your fists can be dangerous, too."

"Rainbow, dear," Rarity interjected from behind her, still shielding Fluttershy. "While you have a valid point, it has only been a week since Fluttershy's abduction, and I highly doubt anyone else would be foolish enough to attempt the same thing so soon. Besides, this man has shown nothing but respect towards us thus far, and we have confirmed that he has no lethal weapons. So, let's at least hear what he has to say before passing judgment."

The Wonderbolt pilot, Applejack, and Sunset Shimmer turned their heads back as soon as Rarity spoke. Her words had initially shocked them, but they couldn't deny the truth in what she said. Although it hadn't been long since Fluttershy's traumatic experience, the likelihood of a repeat incident was low unless they were incredibly unlucky. After exchanging hesitant glances, they all redirected their attention to Spike.

"Fine," Rainbow addressed Spike with a strained sigh. "We'll let you talk. But if you make any sudden movements to attack us, we won't hesitate to throw you out of this restaurant."

"Fair enough," Spike nodded, adjusting his stance and allowing his arms to hang at his sides. "Let me start by introducing myself. I'm Spike Drake, the proprietor of Drake Security Inc."

Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes widened in surprise.

"W-wait," Fluttershy managed to stutter, her voice filled with disbelief. "You're S-Spike Drake?"

Spike turned his head towards Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow. "You know about me?"

Fluttershy gasped, quickly turning away. "Um, well... I've seen your face and name a few times on the internet," she said sheepishly, staring down at her lap with a flushed face. "So I thought you looked familiar, but I... I didn't think you were the same person."

"I suppose you've also heard about me?" Spike inferred from Rarity's comment.

"Business articles, Mr. Drake," Rarity answered simply.

Spike stroked his chin in thought. "Hmmm, it sounds like I'm more famous than I thought," he mused aloud before returning to the Rainbooms. "But please, just 'Spike' will do. I've never been one for formalities outside of my workplace."

"Anyway, before I get too sidetracked..." Spike continued, his voice filled with sympathy. "I wanted to offer my sincerest condolences to you, Fluttershy." He turned his gaze to the girl in question, his expression gentle. "I read about the horrific incident where the Canterlot Ravens kidnapped you and Dr Fauna from the zoo and attempted to harm both of you. I am truly sorry that you had to endure such a traumatic experience, and I am immensely grateful that The Emerald Dragon intervened before they could inflict any further harm." Spike paused, his eyes filled with concern. "How have you been holding up since your rescue? Are you coping as best as you can?"

There was a moment of hesitation in Fluttershy as she slowly turned to Rarity, which earned her a silent nod of assurance. She then turned back to Spike to answer his question.

"Umm... w-w-well... yes," Fluttershy stuttered slightly, her voice soft and hesitant. "I've been on compassionate leave since Monday, and I've been trying to attend as many counselling sessions as possible in addition to spending time with my friends here." She paused for a few seconds, her gaze fixed on the table. "But I don't know how much more it will take to recover fully." Her vulnerability was palpable, and Spike couldn't help but feel compassion for her.

"Just keep going at your own pace for as long as you need to," Spike replied earnestly. "You're already on the right track to overcoming whatever trauma you've experienced since that night. And remember, you have the support of seven amazing, beautiful ladies who will always have your back, no matter what happens." His gaze shifted to the other Rainbooms, giving each of them a reassuring nod as he spoke.

All the girls in question blushed slightly at Spike's compliment (Pinkie giggled lightly in her case) except for Rainbow Dash, who crossed her arms and snorted. Yet, she couldn't help but be somewhat amused, if not flattered, by his words. "Are you sure you didn't come over to our table just to try flirting with us?" she asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“Rainbow!” Sunset interjected with a roll of her eyes. “He was just complimenting us for being good friends!”

“Uh-huh. Then what about the ‘beautiful’ part?”

Spike raised a hand to wave Sunset down. “No, no, it's fine,” he assured the redhead before turning to Rainbow again with a raised eyebrow. “As for your question, do you believe that a company owner can’t simply walk up and comfort a near-rape victim before and give genuine compliments to her friends? I’m only speaking the truth about your beauty; Fluttershy is no exception.”

It was Fluttershy’s turn to blush at Spike’s sincerity. Meanwhile, there was another pause as Rainbow processed Spike’s words. She then took a deep breath.

"Alright, touche," the Wonderbolt Officer answered. "But we also haven’t had many businesspeople approach us just for a friendly chat, so we can't know your intentions, especially after only talking for a few minutes."

"She's got a point there," Applejack chimed in. "There's a whole bunch of shady folks out there who might want to rope us into whatever messed-up scheme they're running, and we sure as hell don't want to be one of their cash cows."

"Don't worry, I completely understand," Spike replied just before he heard Aphrodisia calling his name from their table. Turning around, he saw his secretary waving to him with a smile, which he acknowledged, and their orders sitting on the table, freshly arrived from the kitchen. He shifted his attention back to Fluttershy. "Before I go, I'd like to give you something."

Spike pulled aside his lapel and reached underneath with his free hand, retrieving two small slips of paper. "These business cards contain the contacts for my office and the Customer Service department at Drake Security." He stepped forward and gently placed them on the table, pushing them towards Fluttershy. "If you'd like to keep in touch or explore our protection services and hardware, simply dial or message any of the numbers listed," he continued. "Alternatively, you can scan the QR code for a one-month free trial of our protection software and a complimentary home/personal security starter package. No obligations whatsoever."

Fluttershy slowly reached for the contact cards, hesitating to accept the young businessman's offer. As she examined them, her friends gathered around her to get a closer look.

"You don't have to decide right away," Spike added, redirecting the Rainbooms' attention. "Take your time to think over everything I've mentioned. Even if you choose not to accept, remember that my doors will always be open to you in the future. Being part of a band makes you both famous and vulnerable. The risk of another attack isn't a matter of 'if,' but 'when,'" he concluded. "Just consider it."

With that, Spike turned to return to his table. As he walked away, he overheard the Rainbooms murmuring among themselves.

"That went surprisingly well," Twilight remarked. "And as much as I hate to admit it, he's right about the possibility of another attack, Fluttershy. Taking this offer could potentially save your life."

"I'm not so sure," Rainbow argued. "I've heard plenty of stories about shady businesspeople, both fictional and real. A guy coming up to us and offering his services without any strings attached seems too good to be true."

"Oh, come on, Dashie!" Pinkie chimed in. "Let Fluttershy decide. Although, I'd take up Spike's offer without hesitation. If anyone tries anything, the authorities will know right away! Plus, you'd get to talk to Spike Drake again," she sang softly, casting dreamy eyes at him as he walked away. "Can't blame you, though. He's quite the catch."

Fluttershy blushed even more profoundly at Pinkie's words.

"Pinkie!" Starlight hissed, her face tinged with red.

"What? It's the truth!"

"We've only talked to him for a few minutes!"

As Spike's steps carried him back to his table, he listened to the fading voices of the Rainbooms. He couldn't help but blush slightly at Pinkie's comment while also agreeing with Twilight that the conversation had gone remarkably well. Given Fluttershy's recent ordeal, he had approached them with care, and the girls had tentatively responded.

Upon reaching his table and retaking his seat, Spike noticed Aphrodisia's amused smirk as she rested her cheek on her hand.

"So, Mr. Drake, was it so challenging to talk to girls outside of family and work?" she asked, her tone flirtatious.

"Honestly, no," Spike sighed, a mixture of mild annoyance at his secretary's teasing and relief over the success of his first real conversation with unrelated women. "My mothers were right. I've gone far too long without a relationship. Maybe it's time I took their advice and started putting myself out there, no matter how long it might take."

Aphrodisia giggled briefly. "That's the spirit, babe," she said. "I'm sure you'll find a way to relieve all that built-up stress once you have a few girls in your arms." She reached for her utensils and began cutting into her sausages. "Now, let's eat. We don't want to keep your projects waiting."

With a nod, Spike picked up his fork and started enjoying a large beef cube from his stew. The rest of their lunch continued in silence as the minutes passed by.

1242hrs, Drake Security Inc., Basement Sector, Military & Ordnance Facility

Lunch had come and gone all too quickly for both Demons. Before they knew it, they found themselves back at the company’s headquarters, descending several wide flights of stairs, with a tablet each in hand, into the basement levels of Drake Security, where the Military & Ordnance facility was situated.

After a few minutes of descent, Spike and Aphrodisia arrived at the final landing of the staircase. This landing gradually expanded into the main entrance hall of the facility. Since only a select few were permitted to visit this area, Spike placed more emphasis on decorative elements. The room maintained a functional aesthetic, with plain grey granite tiles covering the floor and white plastered walls stretching upward.

However, the true centrepiece was the imposing door on the wall opposite the stairs. This door was the barrier between the valuable hardware concealed within and the outside world. It consisted of two sliding halves crafted from thick, reinforced super-steel. Further enhancing its strength, Spike had secretly infused the door with potent shielding enchantments, aided by his militia. These enchantments rendered the door nearly impervious to any form of breach. It was a formidable defence, ensuring that no human weapon could hope to breach it within any reasonable amount of time.

Flanking the door were 2 rows of security terminals, tall cylindrical structures constructed from thick bulletproof glass panels encased in gunmetal grey steel frames. These cylinders were spacious enough to accommodate a person standing within and allow for ample movement. They served as the primary means of authentication for accessing the most heavily fortified section of the entire complex.

The sound of footsteps reverberated across the room as Spike and Aphrodisia approached the two terminals immediately to the imposing door's left. When they placed their right palms on the small tablets mounted beside the terminal doors, a thin white light traversed the screens from top to bottom. This quick scan of their handprints lasted a second before the screens flashed green, prompting the terminal doors to slide open in unison. Stepping into the centre of their respective chambers, they turned around to face the doors, positioning their arms at their sides in readiness for the upcoming biometric scan.

Without delay, a group of scanners descended from the upper part of the terminal chambers, releasing brilliant blue beams of light that danced around Spike and Aphrodisia's bodies. This process created a spectacular light show, a mesmerising display of luminescence.

Within a mere 10 seconds, the machines completed their scan. Subsequently, a deep and authoritative computerised voice resonated, intoning, "Access granted."

Shortly after the terminals had opened and both Demons had exited, the main door's actuators emitted an audible hum, causing the door to gracefully part. What appeared before them was a transparent blue energy barrier that extended across the entire door frame, a secondary line of defence designed to thwart any unauthorised entry. Yet, for Spike and Aphrodisia, this barrier posed no hindrance. They passed through it effortlessly as if it were an insubstantial veil.

Once they were beyond the barrier, the view within the Military and Ordnance facility, initially distorted by the energy field, became crystal clear. The sprawling factory floor buzzed with activity. Robust, heavy-duty robot tractors transported a diverse range of cargo along the designated pathways that crisscrossed the aisles. These loads included vehicle-mounted weaponry, firearms crates, and various tools. Adjacent to the tractors, mechanics huddled around tablets, taking notes and exchanging ideas. Meanwhile, a separate group worked to lower a gun turret onto the roof of an armoured offroad buggy using an overhead crane. Hundreds of assembly robots collaborated with human workers, cutting, bolting, welding, and lifting every last part into place, leaving little to no deviance.

Sticking to the marked footpath, Spike and Aphrodisia made a left turn around a corner. As another robot tractor transporting a car-sized artillery gun rolled quietly by, they headed toward the locker rooms, indicated by a walled-off section a short distance from the main entrance. In the middle of the front wall, two doorways beckoned. The left led to the men's locker room, while the right led to the women's. Spike took the lead, walking ahead of Aphrodisia. Before parting ways, he turned to her one last time.

"I'll meet you back out here," he informed the orange-haired Succubus. In response, she offered a sultry smile and a graceful wave of her fingers as they parted into their respective changing areas.

Within the next 5 minutes, Spike emerged from the locker room carrying his tablet, now having changed out of his business suit and into a dark grey, 1-piece industrial-grade jumpsuit adorned with yellow high-visibility stripes and bands stitched over the sleeves, chest, back, and legs, as well as a pair of black safety shoes and a polished white hardhat strapped to his head. A few more seconds passed before Aphrodisia emerged from the women’s locker room, fully dressed in the same outfit, except that it was slightly smaller to accommodate her figure without too much material hanging loose. When Spike looked her up and down, he couldn’t help noticing that the thick fabric of her jumpsuit was pushed outward at the chest and rear by her bountiful assets, cracking a small smile in the process.

“Do you see something you like, handsome?” she asked with a knowing smirk.

“Just my faithful secretary ready to work,” Spike answered respectfully.

“As always.” Aphrodisia’s smile widened. While it wasn’t the direct answer she hoped to hear, she could still tell he occasionally enjoyed admiring her voluptuous body. “Shall we?” she asked, gesturing towards their destination on the factory floor.

“Let’s,” Spike replied with a nod. The duo began walking once more along the marked footpaths, heading straight for the Vehicle Sector, which, in the vast open space of the facility, was a 3-minute walk from the locker rooms, its borders marked with high reinforced concrete partition walls. Upon reaching the sector, Spike and Aphrodisia found themselves approaching one assembly station in particular.

In the centre of the large square work area, surrounded by assembly robots, stood a heavily armoured vehicle that could only be described as a truck built like a tank. Its foundation consisted of a thick, reinforced alloy steel space frame. On this frame, iridescent, high-strength enchantment runes occasionally glowed. Inside its central cavity rested a blocky energy crystal reactor, roughly the size of a small rectangular aquarium. It emitted bright yellow light from its internal crystals through integrated observation windows. These windows were constructed from solid, 5cm-thick tempered glass and featured the same glowing enchantments as the frame.

At the front, a robust forged steel bumper with headlights at each end and a faceted canopy constructed from bulletproof and blastproof glass covered the cockpit. Most of the vehicle, including its armour plating and wheels, lay dismantled nearby. All of its wheels were also detached and stacked in the corner of the workstation, leaving the core of the combat machine to stand on a hydraulic jack mounted on a turntable beneath it for workers to rotate the entire thing at their convenience.

As for the workers themselves, there were 6 in the total present at that moment - 3 of them were moving around the armour plates with flashlights and scanners, performing last-minute inspections of the heavy steel panels before assembly. 2 were at the manual control panel of the reactor fine-tuning the power output settings of the core crystals before starting it up. Spike looked up to the last one, kneeling on the vehicle's roof with protective goggles over his eyes, tightening the bolts that would hold down the dummy turret mounted there with a pneumatic torque wrench.

“Rivet!” Spike called out to him.

Rivet looked up from his work to see his boss approaching. “Mr Drake!” he responded, smiling before holding his finger. “One moment, please!” He looked down again to continue torquing the last bolt into place with his wrench, holding the trigger down as the power tool slowly continued to whir for 5 more seconds, until at last, the wrench’s monitor sounded a “Beep!” and the side LED flashed green, signalling that he reached the required torque.

Breathing a sigh of satisfaction, he grabbed the pneumatic hose, tossed it over the side, and then shuffled over to the ladder to climb off the roof back down to the floor. Spike and Aphrodisia continued to wait patiently as Rivet quickly bundled the hose up before setting it and the wrench on top of the tool cabinet off to the side before dusting his hands off and returning to Spike.

“Did you finally figure out how to fix the control system?” Rivet asked as he pulled his goggles off, revealing his dark brown eyes.

“Sure did,” Spike answered. “Well, technically, my secretary figured it out.” He nodded to his left, where Aphrodisia was standing.

Having just realised that his boss’s secretary had joined him on the factory floor upon seeing her more closely, he hastily turned to face her and bowed. “Milady,” he greeted, to which Aphrodisia smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I had to rearrange quite a few parts in the main circuit,” she explained. “The poor thing would keep failing under Mr. Drake’s input, no matter what he did.” Aphrodisia looked towards Spike and flashed him a smirk.

“Aph, not now,” Spike protested. “We have work to do here.”

“Oh, lighten up, Spike! I’m just messing with you,” Aphrodisia pouted, slapping his upper arm. “Can’t you have at least a little fun on the job?”

"Yes, but now that we’re close to finishing the Tumbler for when President Aetheris arrives, it will have to wait," Spike explained. "Don’t worry; we’ll discuss this further when we're back in the office."

Aphrodisia’s smile returned at his reassurance. "I’ll look forward to it," she said with a wink before strolling off to inspect the Tumbler and its still-unassembled parts.

Spike turned back to Rivet. "Sorry you had to see that," he apologised. "My secretary can be a tease often, both in and out of the workplace."

"Oh, no-no, it’s fine," Rivet responded. "My wife does that sometimes, too, especially when we’re alone. But I wouldn’t trade her for anything else." He shook his head in amusement before turning back to Spike. "Are you ready to get started, Sir?"

To that, Spike lifted and unlocked his tablet, which contained the amended program codes, and answered, “Always.”

Needing no further invitation, both men strode over to the cockpit of the Tumbler, where the main computer lay. It was a simple, sturdy, angular black box with a HUD monitor above the steering wheel. Spike opened the panel off to the right, revealing a grid of nine USB ports to the right. Plugging the tablet in, Spike booted up the HUD screen and navigated to the “Import Programme” menu.

“Please select a programme to import,” the monitor read.

Spike swiftly selected the program Aphrodisia had devised earlier in the circuit design software and clicked the "Select" button.

"Importing…" the monitor displayed as the computer began its task. A few seconds later, the computer's following message appeared.

"Import successful. Perform a dry run now?"

Spike didn't hesitate; he immediately clicked "Yes."

"Dry run in progress…"

Spike held his breath as the computer processed the program, making corrections to the circuitry in the weapon controls, debugging, and conducting virtual calibrations within the next minute until…

"Calibration complete. Circuit integrity normal. Weapon control system nominal. No errors found."

"Yes!" Spike quietly cheered. Relief washed over him as Aphrodisia's assistance put the remaining part of his projects back on track for the upcoming presentation. With a long exhale, Spike turned to his secretary, who had followed along as he ran the program. "Hey, Aph? Thanks again for your help," he said.

"The pleasure's all mine," the dark-skinned Succubus replied with an appreciative smile.

Fully satisfied, Spike disconnected his tablet, powered down the Tumbler's computer, exited the cockpit, and went straight to the tool cabinet to place the tablet inside. He grabbed a toolbox before returning to the Tumbler.

"Alright, everyone!" he called out to all station personnel. The control program's resolved! Let's assemble the rest of the Tumbler and activate the reactor before the day is out!"

All the people on the scene complied and hurried over to the robots and cranes to lift every remaining part from the floor and secure them onto the heavy vehicle, marking the final preparations for its test and its place in Spike's presentation to the President of Equestria.

2159hrs, Canterlot Suburb-City Border, Near Fluttershy’s House

The moonless night sky shimmered with starlight while the lampposts illuminated the roads leading in and out of the central city area. A few cars still traversed the streets, their occupants heading home for the night or venturing into the city for relaxation. Meanwhile, the Rainbooms chose to accompany Fluttershy on foot, maintaining a close-knit group as they chatted animatedly on their way out of the city, carrying the spoils of their gaming adventure.

"Ugh, I've been trying to win something from those Faust-damn claw games for years!" Sunset groaned, turning to Pinkie, who cheerfully carried a bag full of plushies she had won from the games. "How the hell do you do it every time!?"

Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully and glanced at the sky as she contemplated her response. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I just can. And since I've never lost a claw game before, I don't see the point in asking how."

Sunset shook her head, a tinge of envy in her expression. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but smile at the girl with cotton-candy-colored hair. "Always managing to do the impossible, Pinkie," she sighed. "Sometimes I wish I had your power."

Starlight snorted in amusement. " 'Wish'? More like 'Pray to Faust Almighty to bestow it upon you'," she jabbed playfully. "We've all seen your rage after a few losses to any of us on gaming night."

"H-hey, I can handle a few losses against other people!" Sunset fired back, visibly flustered. "It's just that I can't stand losing to the game itself."

"Yeah, no shit," Rainbow interjected with a laugh. "The last time that happened, you almost threw your controller at your screen on livestream. The viewers were losing it in the chat!"

"You try speedrunning a Bullet-Hell platformer without dying once! At least I don't turn off the console when I'm about to lose a match!"

"Damnit, Sunset! It was just one time!"

"And we haven't forgotten, Rainbow!" Applejack added. "That was still a low blow!"

Twilight decided to mediate between Sunset and Rainbow before the banter could escalate into a fight. "Alright, girls, that's enough," she spoke firmly. "We've all just had our fun for the day, so let's not spoil the evening by arguing over who's the worst loser at video games, especially since Fluttershy's still here with us." She gestured to the woman in question, walking at the back of the group between Rarity and Starlight. "We can discuss this another day."

Rarity could only shake her head in annoyance and amusement at the exchange between Sunset and Rainbow. “Don’t worry about them, Fluttershy,” she assured the introvert without turning to her. “They’ll let it go…eventually.” A few seconds passed before she realised that Fluttershy wasn’t responding out of the corner of her eye. Concerned, she finally turned to see what was wrong with her friend. “Fluttershy…?”

Fluttershy paid no attention to the exchange in front of her. Instead, as she clutched a bag holding the giant teddy bear Pinkie had won for her, she bowed her head, lost in thought from the memories of what happened earlier that afternoon. Staring down at the contact cards that Spike had given her, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rainbow, for all of the scepticism she demonstrated, actually had a point - Why would a businessman like Spike directly approach her and offer his personal and unconditional aid? Any other honest businessperson would be far more concerned with their work and the problems involved, yet he decided to set aside time for her. The stories she had heard and read about those doing the same thing for sinister purposes did not help either. It was all so gracious, yet somewhat confusing. However, to be fair, he did seem reasonable and genuine in his gestures, at the very least. Not to mention that he was also, admittedly, incredibly handsome-

“Fluttershy!” Starlight called. Fluttershy jolted back to reality a split second later.

“Oh! U-um…yes?” Fluttershy asked, startled by the half-shout.

“Oh, thank Faust, you’re still awake!” Starlight huffed in relief. “I almost thought you were sleepwalking!”

Rarity gently placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder as they and the rest of the Rainbooms, having overheard the commotion, stopped in the middle of the walkway. They all shared concerned looks when Rarity spoke up. “Fluttershy, darling. Are you feeling alright? If something’s bothering you, you can always talk to us.”

“Oh, no-no, nothing’s bothering me!” Fluttershy hastily assured, fidgeting with the cards in her hand. “I was j-just…t-thinking…that’s all…” She looked away, her face retreating halfway into her long, silky locks. Her face sported a noticeable blush.

Rarity raised an eyebrow as her eyes trailed down to the cards she was holding in her hand. “This is about Spike Drake, isn’t it?” she inquired.

Fluttershy could only manage a soft “Yes” to answer the purple-haired fashionista’s question, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment.

Rainbow stepped forward to address her childhood friend, her arms firmly crossed. “Flutters, I won't stop you if you’re seriously considering his offer. But please, think hard about what you might get into with people like him. Your abduction only happened last week, and you’re still recovering from that ordeal. For all we know, Spike Drake could just be using this as a way to get closer to you, so how will any of us know he won’t try the same thing as the Canterlot Ravens and rape you at the first opportunity?”

“We’ve only talked to him for less than 10 minutes, Rainbow,” Rarity countered. “That’s hardly enough evidence that he’s trying to make perverted advances to Fluttershy.”

“I’m just as suspicious as you are, Rainbow,” Sunset joined in with Rarity. “But Rares here has a point. Even with what little time we had in that conversation, Spike’s been nothing but cordial with us. He didn’t make lewd remarks towards any of us; he kept his distance, and he didn’t get aggressive once. So I’d say that we give him more room to express himself the next time we run into him before we can make a more concrete judgement.”

Pinkie skipped up to Rainbow’s side. “Come on, Dashie. I know good emotions when I see them, and Spike was no exception,” she affirmed. “Even if you don’t believe the others, you can always check in with me! Or…” She whipped out her phone faster than anyone could follow and opened Spike’s social media feeds before holding the screen in front of the young Wonderbolt’s face, scrolling through the comments as she spoke. “...Spike’s followers on PageOne, SnapGap, KonneKt, and VideU can testify instead. He’s gained quite the fan club in only a few years.”

Rainbow remained sceptical. “You do know that among those people are looney gatekeepers who can’t take any criticism of their favourite user and will violently shoot down anyone who tries, right?”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie answered, rolling her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any real admirers who can accept a couple of his flaws. I wouldn’t worry about the crazies online because what can they do besides mash their keyboards and yell mean words?”

“Anything we see of Spike on the Internet is debatable at best,” Rainbow continued. “For all we know, his talk with us could just be a distraction to trick us into letting our guard down before he strikes and does some real damage to any of us!”

“Now, hold on just a minute there,” Applejack interjected. “I understand your concerns, Rainbow, but not every corporation and business has a greedy, sleazy, overentitled, string-pulling varmint who takes anything and everything he wants on sight. I mean, have you seen my family? Or our biggest client, Filthy Rich?”

“AJ, those are the only honest businesspeople we know for sure here in Canterlot, and they’ve been around for years!” Rainbow argued. “Spike’s still a new player in this whole game of business, so we still can’t tell what he wants from us!”

“And we won’t know who or what he is unless we give him a chance! What kind of people will we be if we deny him that!?” Applejack countered. She then took a deep breath before continuing. “Look, I don’t know how much bad news you read about business affairs, and I’m sorry if it’s damaged your trust in them, but you can’t let it be the reason you can’t trust any others in future.”

Silence fell upon the Rainbooms as Rainbow stared at Applejack, who continued to stand her ground, unsure of what to say next. That was when Twilight decided to step forward and break the silence.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I’m with Applejack on this,” Twilight spoke gently, grabbing Rainbow’s attention. “If we want to know more about Spike before coming to an objective conclusion, then all we can do is give Spike some leeway to talk more about his feelings, as Sunset said earlier.”

Rainbow turned to Starlight, silently asking for her opinion on the subject. “If it were up to me, I’d say let him talk as well,” Starlight said with a shrug. “You can’t make new friends if you don’t allow them to communicate their intentions.”

Realising that it wouldn’t be worth trying to drag this argument any further out, Rainbow could only look away and manage a long sigh of defeat before saying, “Alright, I’ll give Spike the benefit of the doubt, but that doesn’t mean I’ll trust him. Not yet, at least.” She turned back to her friends, her expression turning dead serious. “However, if he tries anything funny with any of us, I’m dealing with him myself. Now, let’s get Fluttershy home. We’ve stopped out here in the dark for long enough.”

The rest of the journey to Fluttershy’s house was in complete silence. Approximately 2 minutes and 5 blocks later, the group had finally arrived at their destination. There was nothing unique about the exterior of the 2-storey detached house that distinguished it from the others in the neighbourhood, except for the soft, earthly shades of green painted over the walls and the dark brown sloped roof that topped the building, which was made barely visible by the peripheral light from the street. In contrast, it was brightly lit by a single overhead porch lamp, illuminating the plain white door against the darkness - a welcoming sight for Fluttershy.

Making their way up the brick steps, the Rainbooms escorted their friend until they reached the door, where Fluttershy reached into her pocket to pull out her keys and open the lock. Once she had stepped inside and turned around, Pinkie stepped up to present the overloaded bag of plushies she had won at the arcade.

“Here you go, Flutters!” she chirped. “Some friends to accompany your teddy bear with!” She nodded to the bear in Fluttershy's bag beside herself.

Fluttershy gasped softly. “Oh no, please, I-I couldn’t,” she tried to protest. “I only need one.”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s all on me,” Pinkie replied, her smile unwavering. “After everything that happened last week, you need this gift.”

After a little more hesitation, Fluttershy smiled and accepted the bag. “W-well, in that case…thank you, Pinkie.”

“Don’t mention it!” Pinkie said with a wink. “Oh! I almost forgot!” she quickly reached about elbow-deep into her poofy hair, rummaging for a few seconds until she felt what she was searching for before pulling it out and handing it to Fluttershy. “Lavender-scented candles to sweeten the air in your room!”

“Oh, thank you, Pinkie,” Fluttershy replied, accepting the bundled candlesticks from the hyperactive party planner. She turned to the rest of her friends. “And thank you all for being here for me. Good night, everyone!”

“Good night, Fluttershy!” the rest of the girls chorused and waved before returning to their homes. For a few more seconds, Fluttershy watched her friends leave for the night before retreating into the living room, locking the front door behind her before pulling her shoes off and slipping them under the adjacent shoe cabinet.

After reaching for the nearest switch and flicking it on to light up the living room, she picked up the 2 bags of plushies and quickly moved them over to the coffee table for the time being until she could decide what to do with them in the morning. She breathed a sigh of relief at finally arriving home before hearing a faint pitter-patter sound from the upper floor. As she turned to check, the pitter-patter subtly grew louder as it descended from the darkness of the upper floor down the stairs. Initially resembling a small black shadow, the source quickly rounded the bottom of the railing. As it reached the living room's light, it turned out to be nothing but a small white rabbit.

It stopped a metre away from Futtershy and stood up, its large, black eyes full of concern.

“Oh! Hello, Angel,” Fluttershy sweetly greeted as she knelt and held out her arms, allowing her beloved pet rabbit to jump in and nuzzle her ample chest affectionately. “Did you miss me?”

Angel’s response was a series of squeaks and clicks as Fluttershy listened intently. “Oh no, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Fluttershy assured with a titter. “Have you behaved yourself while I was out?”

Angel gave an exasperated twitch of his nose and squeaked out his umpteenth “Yes” to his owner’s question - one she would ask him almost every time she came home.

“Good,” Fluttershy acknowledged, smiling down at her pet. “Is everyone else asleep now?”

Angel nodded silently.

“Very good,” Fluttershy acknowledged again. “Now, let’s get ready for bed ourselves. It’s already late.”

After switching off the living room lights, she carried Angel up the steps to her room on the second floor. Once she reached the top landing, she turned to the open doorway to the bedroom. Reaching to her left, Fluttershy found the switch on the door frame and flipped the one for the wall lights. The warm yellow light was bright enough to illuminate the room enough for her and Angel to see their way around it, yet dim enough not to wake the rest of the animals.

Much like the rest of the house, the main bedroom had modest decor: The bed, which stood next to the window, had a low-profile light oak frame with a matte finish, topped with a plain white mattress, bedsheet, and 2 pillows laid at the head. A teal green blanket folded at the footboard added a touch of colour. To the left, along the window wall, was a matching oak desk, where her laptop, lamp, and a bunch of books stood out in the open. The desk's drawers held various items out of sight. The vanity was opposite the bed against the wall to the right of the door, flanked on either side by a pair of identical dressers. Occupying the adjacent wall was a built-in wardrobe that blended seamlessly with the paint.

Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling, where 5 wall-mounted birdhouses housed her sleeping bird companions. Smiling at the scene, she walked over to set Angel on the desk before emptying her pockets onto the desktop. She first retrieved her wallet and house keys from her left pocket and placed them on the desk before reaching into her right pocket, pulling out her phone and the contact cards Spike gave her.

Fluttershy took a moment to examine the cards’ contents again, pondering the young businessman’s offer to help her protect her home and herself from future assailants. While the offer was tempting, she couldn't disregard Rainbow's warnings about accepting services from a man she had just met earlier that day. The best compromise for her would be to take a cautious approach, but she would need more time to decide.

She could think it over in the bathtub. Her skin had become sticky from the day out in the city, and she needed to clean up before she could go to bed.

Fluttershy left the cards on the desk before approaching the door on the left of the bedroom entrance and opening it up to reveal the bathroom, with Angel following closely behind to accompany her. It was half the size of the bedroom but was still spacious enough for a single person to move around comfortably without accidentally hitting anything. As with most bathrooms, every surface was either tiled or painted white. The sink, mirror, and open shelf were mounted on the left wall, holding all the essential toiletries, while the toilet and cupboard stood to the right. On the opposite end of the bathroom from the door, the bathtub had a single-handle, stainless steel tap over the tub's rim, a detachable showerhead, and a set of watertight glass slide doors that stood open. All of this surrounded the frosted glass window above the tub that would let natural light into the room while preserving the occupant’s privacy.

Once Angel had passed the door frame, Fluttershy shut the door and locked it in place before flicking the water heater switch on. Wasting no more time, Angel scurried across the bathroom floor and lept onto the bathtub ledge, reaching for the tap handle and pulling it upwards to begin filling the tub. Water began flowing steadily into the polished white vessel as Angel watched over, occasionally sticking his paw in the stream to check its temperature to see if it was too hot or cold.

Once satisfied, the rabbit briefly left the tap running to retrieve the bubble bath solution from the window ledge. He had to carefully shuffle along the tub's rim to ensure he didn’t slip and fall in - an embarrassment he’d rather not deal with at night, even if Fluttershy was the only one in the room with him. When he had safely reached the bubble bath, he grabbed the bottle by the top, tilted it towards himself, and popped the cap open with his teeth before turning it over and shaking some of the contents into the rising water. The lavender-coloured goo took a few minutes to diffuse as the bath water began to foam.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had preoccupied herself with undressing. Sitting down on the closed toilet lid, she lifted her feet, one at a time, to pull both of her socks off before stretching and wiggling her dainty toes, allowing the skin of her feet to breathe fresh air once more and be relieved by the cold, hard surface of the bathroom floor. Tossing her socks into the corner, Fluttershy stood back up and undid the button on the fly of her shorts, after which she pinched the zipper handle firmly between her finger and thumb before pulling it straight down and open, revealing a pair of white panties that she had decided to wear for the day. All that was left for the zookeeper to do now was push her shorts down her legs and off her body.

Tucking her thumbs under the waistband, Fluttershy braced her arms and began to take her shorts off. When the waistband had reached her hips, she met some resistance as she felt the fabric start to tighten over not just her hips but her derriere as well. Putting a little more effort into removing her shorts, she pushed down further with a soft grunt. She could feel the back of them dragging her glutes down until they finally slipped off, and her magnificent ass bounced free from its confines.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Fluttershy took a second to stand up and gently rub away the strain in her lower cheeks while she tossed her shorts into the corner to join her socks. After that, she crossed her arms over her front, grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt, and slowly pulled it up over her head. Like her shorts and butt before, she felt her vast breasts get briefly dragged up by the tight fabric before slipping free and bouncing back into place, now only covered by a matching white bra that barely restrained them.

At this point, her underwear was the only thing covering her, so taking a deep breath, Fluttershy reached behind and opened the clasp that held her bra in place. Once she felt it slacken completely, she reached for the shoulder straps, pulled her bra off, and tossed it in the clothes pile, her panties following seconds after.

After spending half a minute undressing herself, Fluttershy was now completely denuded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling contently, enjoying the cool night air as it settled on her bare skin. She raised her hands to her breasts and gently rolled her palms over their firm flesh, gently massaging away any soreness they may have sustained, if at all, from within the confines of her clothes. A low moan escaped Fluttershy’s throat as she felt the relief in her pillowy mammaries sink in.

Satisfied with the feeling, she slid her palms down over the sides of her waist and then behind her back to give her posterior the same treatment. She could feel the shallow marks that her shorts left on the skin of her glutes. Thankfully, they would go away within the next hour if she didn’t wear any more tight garments. She would have to make a new plan down the road to save some money to buy a set of custom-tailored clothes and/or underwear for her assets.

Seconds later, Fluttershy opened her eyes and turned her head over her shoulder to see her reflection in the mirror. Her long, flowy locks covered most of her back, cascading down and over her rump like an azalea-pink waterfall. Reaching up with one hand, she hooked her fingers under her hair at neck level and pulled it aside to check her body over.

Her entire back had silky, smooth skin and was almost flat, tapering into a slender, hourglass waist as it descended until it reached her hips. From there, it expanded outward into an amazingly round, peach-shaped ass that jiggled with each step she took. The only blemishes there were a few faint bruises from that fateful night the week before when the Canterlot Ravens had abducted and tried to rape both her and Fauna. Running her fingers over the still-healing bruises, Fluttershy could feel the horrific memories bubbling back to the surface, cringing as they replayed through her head - The feeling of complete helplessness, the humiliation of being stripped naked and chained up for a gang’s sick amusement and pleasure; Her and Fauna’s screams and cries of distress; The Canterlot Ravens’ deranged grins of lust as they jerked off to their nude forms - No matter how much she tried to fight them down, she could still feel their hands groping away at her bare flesh as they all but invaded her most private areas, most of all from their leader, Rogue Wave.

She had told herself many times that he was in custody with the rest of his goons awaiting trial, far away from her, but the mere mention of his name continued to make her blood run cold. She eventually turned her body around to face her front to the mirror, revealing the same faint bruising on her breasts, stomach, and crotch. Looking down from her reflection, Fluttershy brought her hands over the affected areas to touch them, still feeling a slight sting, but it was nothing serious. It would still take a while for the contusions to disappear completely without a trace, so all she could do then was wait.

Grimacing at the view of her injuries, Fluttershy raised her head again to face the mirror, only to find Rogue Wave standing right there, staring back at her with that same twisted, lust-ridden grin he wore back at that abandoned flat complex.

“Miss me?” he asked.

Fluttershy let out a scream of horror and stumbled backwards, landing on the closed toilet lid with a loud “Clunk!”. In addition, she had reflexively clasped both of her arms over her breasts and crotch in a desperate attempt to shield her body from her assailant’s view.

“NOOO! STOP!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Angel, who was preoccupied with filling the bathtub, had jumped at Fluttershy’s scream and turned around in time to see his mistress land on the toilet. He hurriedly turned off the water and rushed over to console her, leaping straight up onto her thigh and shaking her arm to snap her out of her freakout, squeaking loudly.

Fluttershy turned her head sharply and yelped when she felt something fluffy on her lap, realising that Angel had rushed to her aid. Panting heavily from the scare, she quickly looked back at the mirror to see that her reflection had returned, sharing the same look of terror she wore. After a few more seconds, the Zookeeper stared down at her pet rabbit as her breathing began to calm. Angel could only stare back, his face full of fear and concern, before slowly squeaking out one last question to ask his mistress if she was alright. That was when Fluttershy immediately picked him up and hugged him as tightly as she could.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Angel!” she apologised, tears welling up in her eyes and her voice shaking. “I thought I s-saw…s-something horrible! I-I thought…R-Rogue Wa-ave was…in h-here…some-somehow…”

Angel nuzzled Fluttershy, silently assuring her that no one was in the bathroom but them. He eventually pushed himself off to face her and asked his next question.

“Y-yeah, It’s been a long day for me…” Fluttershy agreed, nodding. “Maybe the bath might take my mind off of this.”

That was when they both heard tapping from inside the bathroom wall. Turning their heads, Fluttershy and Angel looked to see a small, circular hatch open up in the wall before 3 birds came hopping through into the bathroom: A peach-coloured bird, a Bluebird, and a tiny, bright green Hummingbird. The last of which shut the hatch behind them before zooming through the air to land on Fluttershy’s knee. They must have heard the commotion and decided to come in to investigate.

“Constance? Gilbert? Hummingway?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “What are you all doing here? Did I wake you up?”

Constance, the peach-coloured bird, landed on Fluttershy’s shoulder and began twittering into her ear. She explained how her scream had woken the others up and that the 3 of them had volunteered to check on her while letting the other animals in the bedroom go back to sleep.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, guilt beginning to wash over her. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to hear that. I just had a terrible scare.” She ran the back of her finger over Constance’s head. “I was so terrified.”

An even higher-pitched tweet caught Fluttershy’s attention. She looked down at her knee, where Hummingway the Hummingbird proceeded to ask if she would like some friendly company in the bathroom.

Fluttershy looked away for a moment, contemplating her answer. Once it became clear, she looked down at the Hummingbird with a warm smile.

“Yes,” she replied softly. “I’d like that.”

Fluttershy stood up from the toilet and walked over to the bathtub, not wanting to waste any more of her time. She lifted one leg over the ledge and carefully lowered it into the foaming water, feeling a rush of relief wash over her as soon as the inviting warmth of the bath touched her skin. As soon as she felt the bottom of the tub and got a sound footing, she shifted her weight and lifted her other leg into the bath. Once she had fully stepped in and Angel hopped in to stand by on the ledge, she turned around and shut the bath door before propping her hands against the rim and lowering the rest of her body into the water. Constance, Hummingway, and Gilbert perched on top of the bath doorframe to watch over their mistress in case she had another breakdown.

Any stress that Fluttershy had felt from the brief panic attack she experienced moments before had slowly begun to melt away in the warmth of the bath water, if only temporarily. She then got to work, scooping up handfuls of the soapy mix and rubbing it into the skin of her arms, shoulders, neck, and breasts, washing off the sweat and grime she had accumulated from the long outing with the Rainbooms.

Feeling a little refreshed after the self-rubdown, Fluttershy reached for the shower valve handle and pulled it outward, allowing the showerhead above to rain down warm water over her face and hair, soaking her long tresses thoroughly. When she finished that, Angel shuffled over to hand her the shampoo bottle, which she accepted with a “Thank you” before she popped the cap open and poured a large dollop into the palm of her free hand. She then set the bottle aside to spread the shampoo between her hands and over her head and hair, working up a thick lather through her pink tresses to clean it up.

2242hrs, Fluttershy’s Bedroom

The rest of Fluttershy’s bath had been uneventful. Before she knew it, she opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the bedroom, rubbing the excess water from her hair with a towel, having already dried her body a minute before. She was still completely nude, as she preferred to sleep as such. Although she was the type of girl who didn’t like to show her body off, she had found bedtime nudity oddly liberating ever since she turned 20.

She had bid goodnight to all 3 of her bathtime bird companions, who returned to their respective birdhouses to settle in for the night, as well as Angel, who had quickly jumped into his basket and conked out as soon as he landed, not wanting to miss another minute of sleep. As Fluttershy continued to dry her hair, she again noticed Spike’s contact cards out of the corner of her eye, lying undisturbed on her desktop. She paused where she stood, staring at the slips of paper. The debate to call for Spike’s assistance began to take over her mind again.

Draping her damp towel over her shoulder, she slowly walked over to her desk to pick them up and reread them. Meanwhile, her memories replayed the conversation with her friends from earlier.

“Flutters, I won't stop you if you’re seriously considering his offer. But please, think hard about what you might get into with people like him.”

“Come on, Dashie. I know good emotions when I see them, and Spike was no exception.”

“Anything we see of Spike on the Internet is debatable at best.”

“I understand your concerns, Rainbow, but not every corporation and business has a greedy, sleazy, overentitled, string-pulling varmint who takes anything and everything he wants on sight.”

“You can’t make new friends if you don’t allow them to communicate their intentions.”

Fluttershy had to admit they all had points on befriending someone like Spike Drake. While Rainbow had a right to be cautious about his actions, the rest had agreed that pushing him away now would simply be an unfair move on their part. So, after a few more minutes of thinking, Fluttershy finally decided.

Steeling her nerves for what could come next in the near future, Fluttershy picked up her phone, punched the numbers in, and saved them to her contact list. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she walked to the bedside table to plug her phone in to charge for the night and returned to the bathroom to return the towel to its rack before exiting again, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Sitting on her bed, Fluttershy spent the next few seconds running her fingers through her hair to help it air-dry faster in the cool air, which took about 5 minutes to complete. Once she had confirmed that her hair was fully dry, she reached out and pulled the blanket over her bare form and laid her pillow flat before finally shifting to lie down on her side. As her eyes slowly closed, her thoughts drifted again to the young businessman’s face and personality before she fell fast asleep under the dim starlight of the night sky.

Author's Note

*Phew!* It's finally done!

This chapter honestly took a lot longer than I expected, and the word count was much higher than I intended, but lo & behold, I've finished it!

I'm deeply sorry that you had to wait for so long after the last update, but my job and personal distractions kept getting in the way, & I had no time over the weekdays to continue writing Chapter 2, & I will likely continue to face this same issue for future chapters.

All that I ask of you now is to please continue being patient as much as you can, because sooner or later, Of Humans & Demons will see new updates, and I'm not about to leave it hanging for more than a year like many other stories on this site. So stay tuned!😉