A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 90: Sheep’s Clothing Is Off.

*Point of view: Third person*
*Location: The manor of Brex*
*Time: Seven in the morning*

With the outside being that of a cloud filled day and temperatures coming down to just enough to make one want to grab and put on a coat. Breakfast was being served by all three of the maids that now comprised the staff for the residence. Instead of Brex sitting at the end of the table. The guy was now on one side with a female Griffin and Pegasus sitting dangerously close while Rory watched with an obviously shit eating grin from across the table. Without any utensils in his own hands, the Roegadyn was being fed with a set of forks that were coming in from both sides. The first one obviously had a strip of what could only be bacon with juices dripping down and onto his plate. While the fork on the right side held a piece of fried sunny-side up egg.

There was just one loud thought that shot through his mind as he had an embarrassed expression underneath his mask and being sent right towards Rory. “Why? I'm getting The Grinch Stole Christmas vibe here. *Sigh* At least they're not force feeding me fudge.” He was creeped out with the drastic change in personality that was now coming off of Gilda and Rainbow. The tomboys were nowhere to be seen as they were replaced with a couple of lovesick puppies that went right to work with feeding him before the guy could even reach for his own knife and fork upon sitting at the dining table.

From what he knew, the two were just fine when they woke and freshened up. But they practically jumped to cling on to him at the very moment they saw that he was walking out of his room and down the steps. Clearly not wanting to leave his side for even a second only led to their current seating arrangement and entertainment for the girl in red. When it came to the Changeling maids, they watch with a mixture of both fascination and annoyance at how clingy the two girls were getting with their Lord. The silver one only giggled as the dark haired one only watched with a cold and unmoving expression.

As for Ebony Rain, the bat pony showed no signs of caring whatsoever and waited diligently for her next task along with the others. However, what she thought on the inside was a completely different matter. She was ready to pull her own ears due to frustration. Almost racing with one theory after another to come to a logical conclusion was pulling on the threads of her sanity. Especially as she prided herself with being able to come up with an accurate assessment of another person’s personality within a short amount of time.

Even after going through the trouble of having a customized made outfit that she found utterly embarrassing and taking on the position for additional help at a private residence for a cover. Taking orders from those that she clearly saw to be inferior to her in terms of the social hierarchy by the other maids. The Ebony Rain kept a close watch on all of the doings when it came to both the inside and outside of the building on a daily basis and sent reports back to Princess Luna through the Dream Realm on a regularly scheduled set of times.

Such things as the fact that the one called Gambit was obviously not sleeping at all would come up on multiple occasions. Noticing that the mysterious male was always busy with one task or another and only sat still long enough to be with the female called Rory Mercury in their private chambers. There was also the odd behavior that she picked up on when it came to both of the senior staff members. No matter where she went or what she did, one of them was always nearby when she was about to go into one of the restricted sections.

Even the Chimera that suddenly showed up one day was now a permanent residence outside. The first time she saw the monster triggered a fight or flight response that almost sent her flying into the clouds so fast that it might have left an after image if she did not control her impulse. There was just no getting over the fact that such a beast was completely under Rory Mercury's control and wearing a bright red bow that rested on the back of its lion head as though it was a common house cat. There were also the unexplainable mountains of papers that would be stacked up in his office that would always be taken away by either Rin or Lin and disappear.

No matter how hard she tried, the bat pony could not get close enough to peek at what the documents were due to one of the maids always being near and needing to keep up her disguise. It almost made her believe that she was looking at a mirror image of Princess Luna whenever she needed to take care of matters regarding the state of her subjects through the late nights back when she was working under the Princess. Although. The clear amount he had far eclipse the younger sister in terms of the workload. This made it apparently obvious that her target was a workaholic of the highest degree and it was only a matter of time until the eventual collapse that she herself witnessed Princess Luna succumbing to on more than one occasion.

In some cases, it would not take too long for her to get an ample amount of info after taking on a new undercover assignment. This would mainly be brought around thanks to the talkative nature of the employers she was working under. Unfortunately, the bat pony ended up with an assignment with the first male in her memories that did not talk her ear off and kept things strictly professional. It was pretty much a blow to her own ego when she was fully prepared to be called into his chambers for the usual servicing that she was psyching herself up for Since before starting her assignment.

This was taken as both a blessing and a curse as she could not come up with a clear picture of his personality aside from his actions within the mansion. Espionage and intelligence gathering on many different levels was a specialty of hers. Strategies in regards to self-defense, military operations, education that could rival those with noble backgrounds, techniques used in both torture and lovemaking where the tricks of her trade over the many years of service.

Speaking of the mansion. She found the design to be quite appealing with the dark nature. The bat pony gathered before showing up that the structure was erected fairly quickly and showed no flaws that she could pick out from a strategic point of view. The materials used were both durable and of the highest quality. Just looking at the front doors alone conveyed how sturdy it could be if she found herself to be in a situation where monsters would be pounding to get in. The strange set of locked doors at the far end of the place turned out to be the only area that she was unable to get through thanks to the magical lock that she herself could not pick her way around.

Ebony Rain even informed Princess Luna of the other hired made that came into the mansion out of nowhere a few days after she started. It was strange how she was never really around for all that long and only showed up for a small handful over the week. Most of which was spent in the office with her current boss. Yet there was no sign of her the day prior when she brought in some tea. What she found also peculiar was that she never managed to see when the new made would come and go. This led her to believe that the girl was being sneaked into the mansion and wanted to look into it for anymore possible leads.

Normally she would do a thorough investigation is to find out who she was, but her princess gave her a clear order to leave that maid alone and to conduct herself as usual. But not before displaying some discomfort and a small blush before doing so. As for right now. The bat pony was silently judging and reassessing her previous understanding of the Griffin and Pegasus that she had seen around. For her, there was no force in Equestria that could have such an effect as to turn them into mush and act the way they were. One strong set of words resounded in her mind as she had to hold back a cringe. “Have some pride as females already!”

Over with Rory. The girl was playfully stabbing at her food and eating it as she recalled last night before after separating from her Master so that he could meet with the queen. Once the pair were placed in the bed with the help of the other maids and left alone. Rory snuck inside and turned on one of the crystal lamps to give some small illumination before sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs playfully dangling so that the two girls were behind her as she spoke to what seemed like no one in particular. “Hmm, hope you both got all of it.”

Two sets of shifting mounds wiggled underneath the sheets before Gilda stuck her head out with a huge blush on her cheeks and eyes averted from the girl. She then responded with an unfamiliar voice that came out meeker than anything else. “Yeah. Came in loud and clear.” Rainbow soon joined in as she did the same. However, she turned her head in the other direction as she spoke up. “I won't lie. I was getting a little mad at the beginning when he finally got around to talking about me. *Huff* Why am I the only one that gets this sort of treatment? First, he gets me all angry and then I have to go and feel all warm and fuzzy. It's totally not cool.”

“I've known him since before I could even fly properly and he's one of the few people that have actually believed that I could become an adventurer. Ok, sure I had my aunts and Einstein, but I always felt more encouraged when the words came from him whenever he visited our place in the city.” The Griffin's face heated up more as she felt the uncontrollable urge to pull the blanket to cover up half of her face before she continued. “I-I can't believe we actually did that!”

There was a small “Eep” sound that came from Rainbow before she fully covered her head in the blankets before she responded. “I drank so much to get the courage to pull off that little trick! I'm so glad that he didn't just stop and reject us. It would have been the most embarrassing thing in my life.” A small pause followed as the room became silent before the Pegasus spoke up again with an unsure tone. “Um... what should we do now?” This caused Rory to give herself a powerful facepalm before exclaiming in a loud whisper over the girl’s lack of common sense. “Hergh… How is it possible that both of you don't even have a clue and need to ask me?”

Gilda pulled the sheets down only just enough to show her whole head before she responded with a deadpan tone. “Yeah sure, us females are meant to be the ones to make the first move, but the guys are the ones that are all in touch with their feelings and know all about that lovey dovey stuff.” Rainbow nodded to what her girlfriend said with a quick jerk of the head before sitting up and moving her arms towards Gilda before speaking up herself. “That's it exactly! Show them that we're interested, give them some presents and do whatever they want to do. The whole happy husband happy life stick.”

Rory was now placing her hands on the side of her head to nurse an oncoming migraine while gritting her teeth. Going off of how she was made by him. The girl knew that the phrase was a reversal for “happy wife happy life.” Yet somewhere deep down she knew that word play did not feel comfortable and it probably would not be a good idea to mention it in front of her Master and firmly held her tongue on the matter.

She then said the next bit after giving a sigh. “Why don’t you drop your entire tough girl facade and just show him how much you care for a little bit.” This got her a raised eyebrow from the Griffin, along with a slight head tilt and one ear raised from the Pegasus as she continued to go into what was now going to be a very long discussion that would last for a portion of the night as she conveyed a possible method to use in the morning.

The scene then shifts back to the present as Rory continued to watch her little plan play out with great amusement. Luckily Spike was sleeping in for a little while longer with not having anything really to do. This meant there was no other person around to get embarrassed of seeing them in their current state. Thanks to how slow the others were eating Thanks to their attempts to feed Brex. Rory finished up her meal and started to leave as she called over her shoulder while heading to the door.

“I'll be going out for a while. Oh and don't be late for your work girls.” This got a couple of nods and see-yeah's from the two girls as she went through the doorway and heard her Master calling to her through the connection. “And just where do you think you're going? You had a hand in this, I just know it! Whatever you did I want it fixed now!” She quickly blew him a kiss and said, “Also before I forget. The rest of the girls will be coming over tonight. So have fun until then.”

Obviously, Brex was going to say something else in response to the girl’s antics. But was interrupted when Gilda began to make a few more attempts to get him to eat some of her food and allowed Rory to escape with a smile plastered on her lips and heading out of the house. Once outside, she got a good glimpse of Crystal running around the side of the building and right up to her as though she were some kind of go-cart in the middle of a race. Some bits of grass and dirt were being kicked thanks to how quickly she came to a dead stop. Not even a second later showed a black Chimera following the same path and mirroring the same type of skidding stop alongside the bird on the left.

Rory glance between the two and notice how they were covered in some patches of dry dirt to indicate that they had been playing prior to coming outside. Not only that. The Chimera's fur was not as mangy as it normally would be and she figured that it had just recently been brushed. On further inspection she had to raise an eyebrow as to how the Ram’s head was carefully groomed. When it came to the third, the blue scales along the Dragon part were even shinier after being given a good polish with what she thought was the sand bath being provided by the animal handler Be.

As the lion head came in close to rub itself against Rory to give out a loud set of purr's. The two other heads craned their necks in order to do something similar. It then allowed its body to fall sideways onto the ground and roll onto its back to expose its belly while out stretching both of its front limbs for a belly rub. During which, the scorpion tail would sway side to side along the grass and lightly whip to make a loud thud ever so often to show its anticipation.

Unlike the largest of the three back in the cavern. This one did not have the weird mutation of growing those creepy blood sucking tendrils underneath. Nor was the tail capable of splitting up. Obviously after some examinations were done. They all came to the conclusion that they were all genetically modified. Although the one that her Master fought had apparently went through a greater amount of augmentations. Even with this creature being more than strong enough to send Canterlot into a frenzy. It had become more of a house cat now that it was adjusting to being treated with more care than it had gone through before as a test subject.

When it came to daily activities concerning this creature, it could be found laying out in the sun somewhere to bathe in the warmth in the middle of the lawn. While other times one might find it sitting on top of the roof with a couple of limbs dangling from the edge as it dozed off during around the time the sun would be at its highest point. Rory then recalled that a few days after it first arrived, she had to deal with a contingency of town guards that showed up at the front gate. Apparently, they had been given some worrying news about a terrifying monster that made its way onto our property thanks to a passerby that caught a glimpse of the Chimera on the roof.

As she was explaining the situation to the guards. The Chimera came down from the roof and approached them and spooked one into drawing their sword. But before Rory even had a chance to stop the pony. Their sword was immediately ripped from their grip as the monster took it into its mouth and started to chew on it no differently than a toy and emitted the sound of screeching and warping metal along the jagged teeth. The others became scared and started to reach for their own right as Rory turned to the Chimera and pointed at the ground and said, “Drop it. You have no idea where that's been, now drop it right now.”

With a reluctant growl, the sword was spat out and tumbled a couple of feet until it laid right in front of the guard that it originally belonged to. Apart from there being a disturbing amount of drool coating the surface of the metal. The sword itself was bent and covered with multiple deep dents from the many teeth that worked on it for the handful of seconds it was in the creature’s mouth. Rory then took it by the ear and earned a whimpering cat like noise before she apologized to the guard and said that she would pay for a new one.

With nervous glances going between each of the guards. Along with clearly visible sweat drenching their faces. The group said it was nothing and collected the item before rushing off. Although they did warn Rory that the Chimera was not allowed to be in town unless she or Gambit was around. Ever since then, the Chimera would either be at their place or roaming the Everfree Forest. When it came to those that came by the mansion. Everyone kept their distance except for Fluttershy who immediately took a liking to the monster and started to play with both it, Crystal And the other chocobo’s whenever she had some free time during and in between a lesson.

The next scene shows Rory already coming out of Fluttershy's cabin and saying goodbye with the door closing behind herself and walking over the small bridge on the Pegasus’s property Just a few seconds later. She then took out of her small bag a pocket watch that she opened with a push of a button to take a look at the time while speaking to herself. “Already ten o'clock? It's so easy to lose track of time when there's so many animals to play with. Hmm, let's see. Putting aside the two back at the house and Fluttershy. I still need to find Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Applejack. Ok then, Rarity will most likely head over to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch, so I'll just wait till around then to talk to her and Pinkie then.”

Rory began to put the watch away and continued while tapping her chin in a thoughtful gesture. “Applejack’s on the far end of town. Guess my next stop is Twilight's.” It did not take too long before she found herself standing in front of the Golden Oaks Library and started to knock on the door a few times. After several attempts with no signs of anyone answering. Rory went around to the back in order to try her luck at the door that connected to the kitchen.

But before she could even go all the way around, the girl noticed some movement above and spotted Twilight as she just came out onto the balcony with a serious case of bed hair and in the middle of rubbing her eyes. Rory gave a quick whistle after bringing a couple of fingers to her lips to gain the bookworms attention and eventually was let inside after a couple of minutes past. When the girl entered the library, she was taken aback by the messed-up state that it was now in without there being a Drake around to tidy up.

This consisted of nearly every book being taken off all the shelves and stacked randomly in almost every corner. Scattered plates filled with half eaten vegetables were on the tables and chairs to show that she had been binge eating while apparently reading the many books and just leaving them to sit and go bad overnight. With only a cursory glance from just a couple of paces from the door was able to give her a decent view of the kitchen thanks to the open wall. Even that place was ransacked and covered with half eaten dishes along with the refrigerator door being left wide open.

Rory was left with no other choice than to carefully lift her leg and place it back down where she was sure that she would not be standing on anything other than the floor while coming inside further to where she was now standing at the center and watching Twilight frantically using her magic to clean up as best as she could with nervous stuttering and laughs every now and then. After giving the purple Unicorn sometime to tidy up enough to where it did not resemble a landfill. Rory finally spoke up while arching a single eyebrow that clearly conveyed a mixture of concern and judgment.

“Wow. My Master was right after all. Spike really needs a boost to his allowance if you can't even go twelve hours without this happening. And before you start with trying to explain... I already know.” Twilight's face turned beet red as she scurried off into the kitchen for a few minutes before coming back out. After making a few adjustments to her outfit and giving a small cough into a fist, did the unicorn finally respond. “Suppose I should say thanks for taking Spike in last night. Especially with it being on such short notice.”

Rory answered back after giving a dismissive wave of her hand. “Nothing to it. Us girls tend to have our nights that we... find that keeping control can be rather difficult. Anyhow, back to the reason I came by. I'm going around and inviting the girls over to our place later today. Think you’ll be able to make it?”

“Huh, what's the occasion? It's not as if we won't see each other again in a few more days once the heat cycles completely out of our systems. Although last night may have been my last with how severe it became.” At that point, Twilight realized what she had just blurted out and looked away rather sheepishly and gave Rory a embarrassed toothy smile.

“Hahaha! Seriously! That last night was probably nowhere near as bad as the couple of days that I finally had a chance to be with Master. We were a pair of overly horny rabbits~. Hardly left the bedroom for anything aside from eating, sleeping and getting cleaned up before going at it again. Remember when I told you about how we nearly went at it for close to a full day? Now that was an intense week! Wow, I can still feel the shivers when I recall what we did.” By now Rory was biting her lower lip and having a dreamy expression as her tail was lightly swishing back and forth along the freshly cleaned up floor.

Her thoughts were only broken when Twilight made an obviously desperate attempt to change the subject. “By the way. Wasn’t it yesterday that he was supposed to go on a date with Gilda and Rainbow? How did that go?”

“About as good as I expected it to get. Which is one reason why I'm inviting everyone over.”

Twilight paused in place to give a few blinks before her expression turned to that of a confused look as she replied. “Okaaay... Um, not really sure what that has to do with the rest of us, but sure. What time should I head over?”

“Probably around three-thirty would be a good time. Especially with this being short notice and all.”

“Sounds good. It’ll give me a chance to clean this place up a bit before Spike comes home.”

“That would be for the best. Wouldn't want him giving you another one of those lectures about cleaning up after yourself.”

“Uhg... those are just the worst. Makes me feel like I’m back with my parents. It's humiliating to have your little brother be the one that has to lecture you. I think he got it from my dad.”

“Okay then! I'll be going now. Oh yeah one last thing. Recently I came back with some tonics to use in the bath. Maybe we can all take a dip later on with everyone else.” And with that Rory ran out to head to her next destination. But not before catching Twilight confusingly asking herself the following as the door was being hastily opened and closed again on her way out. “Take a dip, where exactly?” After Twilight’s place. Rory made her rounds over to Sugar Cube Corner and gave the invitations to both Rarity and Pinkie Pie when the fashionista came in for her lunch and was waited on by the pink pony.

Next came Sweet Apple Acres where Rory found Applejack right as she was beginning to finish up with her chores for the morning. The mare was working up a sweat and wiping it off from her brow when she saw Rory coming up to her from between the rows of trees. The farmer then waved and said, “How ya' doing there Rory? Didn't expect to see your hindquarters over in these parts today.” Just then a set of whirling mechanical gears could be heard not too far away before something bulky came from around one of the trees.

This turned out to be a Stone Golem that was slightly taller than Applejack herself. On its back was a carefully fitted wicker basket that was in the middle of being filled with apples as the automaton bent down and picked up some fallen fruit and tossed it over its head and into the container. The right arm was slightly larger to show it was meant to strike objects while the other one turned out to be much more dexterous for handling the apples. There was even an icon that resembled a red apple and a single green leaf sticking out at the top that had been printed onto its back and on both of its shoulders.

Rory took a closer look and found that there was also a set of numbers underneath the print that said, 0-0-5. A second later Applejack called out to it and pointed towards the general direction of the barn. “Okay number five. One more tree and then head back to the barn for offloadin’ and will be done.” This got it to turn its head towards Applejack and give a salute with the bulkier arm before heading over to the next tree and giving it a firm punch that cause the apples to fall to the ground and get picked up by it only moments later.

Rory gave a smile and said, “Glad to see the set of new hands are doing their part.”

“You're darn tootin. Took a little convincin' on Granny's side to give em a chance. And it's all thanks to Gambit helpin’ with gettin’ us that contract. Now that we're shippin’ a good portion of what we pick over to the train station for those fella’s at Eco Growers, we won't have to worry about having the leftover go and spoilin’ In the barn. No more relying on Filthy Rich's store as much as we used to make enough to pay off the bills. The deal even came with a bunch of these fellas. No more having to break our backs to make our weekly quotas and it puts my parents at ease. Especially with one family member being bedridden for a little while.”

Rory had a thoughtful expression as she slightly tilted her head before asking the following. “I don’t mean to be too nosy. But has the Apple family been having some financial issues?”

“Huh? Hahaha~. No no no no-no! Nothin’ like that! Well... it's not as if we were makin' a whole lot of bits to begin with. Just enough to keep everythin' running and a little extra for a rainy day. I don't even want to think of how bad it would all be if the whole family weren't here. Really makes one grateful that we were saved from those Timberwolves who broke into the orchard a while back.”

Afterwards, Rory conveyed the same plan to Applejack as she did with all the others. At first the farm mare sounded reluctant as she would have to put in a little bit more effort into her chores to get off on time for that day. But the mention of a pie made from Mirror apples being there got an enthusiastic reply from Applejack before Rory turned around to head back. But before she was more than a couple of steps away. Rory kept on walking and waved over her head and called out. “Don't overwork yourself Big Mac.” A second later Rory could hear the loud thud of a pony falling out of one of the nearby trees and elicited a set of giggles from the girl when she heard him saying Eeyup in a dazed voice.

When Rory was passing through one of the residential areas. She caught a glimpse of a trio coming right for her from down the street. This consisted of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom as they were riding a single scooter altogether. And almost badly if one might add with how they were wobbling all over the place. But before they could get within a few meters of Rory. The group suddenly hit a rock that stopped the scooter and caused all three to come flying in her direction with a mixture of yells of panic.

Rory then said the following as she got into a twirling motion with her body and effortlessly snatched up all three in the air with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle under her right arm and Apple Bloom being held in her left hand by the neckline of their shirts. “I know I'm gorgeous and all, but aren't you three a little too young to be falling for me? My lover is going to end up getting jealous~. Okay, what exactly are you all getting into today?”

As if Rory was completely ready for it with the way she quickly put them down. Then flattening her ears down on the sides of her head and placing a set of ear muffs from her bag onto them within a second. All three took in a deep breath of air and screamed the following at the top of their lungs. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, Stallion Hunters!” Rory removed the ear coverings and blinked a few times in disbelief as she carefully eyed all three of the girls before saying the following in a confused tone. “I'm not sure I follow. Mind explaining exactly what you're trying to do.” Right as they were about to scream again, she added, “Just without the screaming please!”

Scootaloo was the first to answer as she pushed herself into the front and began to explain excitedly. “Miss Cheerilee talked about it in class today. I don't really remember the whole thing, but I think it goes like this. A long-long time ago there was this group of mare’s that would actively hunt down stallions for some reason I don’t understand. Again, I wasn't really paying attention.”

Apple Bloom pushed herself to the front this time and continued the explanation. “Yeah! Seems that it was a real popular thing to do back then but not anymore. So we thought, why not do something that would make a stand out! Go on Sweetie Belle, show her the book.” That was when the last member Sweetie Belle took out a dusty old book from her backpack and quickly handed it over to Rory to examine. After opening up the pages. Her eyes went wide after flipping through a portion of the book quickly before slamming it shut and glancing down to the girls with a nervous look before she stuttered the following. “A-And, and is this material being taught in your class?”

Sweetie Belle answered while giving a firm head shake. “No. The history book only has like a page on the subject. We found this one outside of the school. Shows a bunch of tricks we could use. Apple Bloom said we could try a few of them out on Big Mac to see if they work.

And in one quick motion, Rory grabbed the bag on her waist and push the book into the opening until it began to shrink to fit inside as she said the following to the fillies. “I'm sorry to say it but, what you found was a very bad book. These Stallion Hunters were very-very bad mare's. Even outlawed by the princess. And I don't want to see either of you get into trouble by using any of these tricks.” She brought a hand up to her nose to pinch the bridge before continuing in an exhausted tone. “And you really should know not to do this to someone like Big Mac with his problem.”

All three looked down casted after hearing about the Stallion Hunters. Wanting to change the subject. Rory looked at Scootaloo and said, “Say Scootaloo. How's it going at home? I can't help but notice that your clothes are just a little cleaner now.” This brought out a confused look from all of them as Scootaloo replied while tilting her head in the same way as a confused puppy would. “I... guess everything's okay. My parents are getting a little annoying though. Always asking me how my day was all the time. Even Dad’s doing laundry almost every other day. It's getting a little weird. Can you believe I have a curfew now? Totally not cool.”

Rory gave the most innocent smile as she began to think the following in her head. This turned out to be how she got to watch her Master pay a little visit to Scootaloo's parents while the kid was in class immediately after coming back from the golden saucer. At first, both parents stood their ground and kept saying that they did nothing wrong. Even though her Master laid out in front of them everything that they were doing wrong in terms of caring for their daughter's well-being and lack of concern with how she was just up and gone one day without so much as calling the guards.

The father was not as hard-headed when compared to his wife. But when she pushed back and made a rude comment about Scootaloo's wings and the outright disappointment of not giving birth to a stallion turned out to be what ended up in pushing her Master over the edge. The next thing Rory knew was that she was watching him beating the mare into a bloody pulp and using healing magic to bring her back to a pristine condition before re-commencing the thrashing several times over the course of nearly half an hour.

This consisted of punches sent to her lower abdominal area that caused a spray of blood to shoot from her mouth and nose. He even grabbed onto her right arm just below the elbow hard enough to break the bones underneath in two places before tossing her over his own head and on to the floor with a resounding crash that broke the coffee table in the living room in half. More beatings were thrown in whenever she was fully healed and tried to fight back, but to come up with one dead end after another with continuous failed attempts due to her pride as a female until even that eventually shattered.

Sure, he might have been holding back a substantial amount of strength. But the mare was sent flying across the room a couple of times and broke a number of furniture in the process. By the end he was holding them both by the necks and off the ground as he said the following in a hushed whisperer that even sent chills down Rory’s own spine. “You will not... and I mean WILL NOT say those words about your daughter ever again. If I so much as catch a whiff of you uttering a single syllable such as those... I-.”

There was a slight pause as he lowered them back on to the ground and gently fix their clothes with his hands and patted them on the head before giving them what she could only assume could be a genuine smile before he said the next bit in the most innocent and chipper tone that he could possibly muster with the amount of anger being held back that she could feel through the connection and causing all of the hair’s on her body to stand stiff as a board in response.

“Haha-hehe~. It would take me far longer to explain just what I would end up doing to you in comparison to the amount of time it would take for me to do the act. But I could assure you that the lingering effects for both physical and mentally will stick with you for the rest of your life even after all the healing was done. Just give me a small nod if you understand.” Of course, he got a set of shaky nods from the pair before they collapsed onto their tails due to their legs giving out underneath them and Rory left with her Master once all the mess was cleaned up with magic.

After that little flashback was done. Rory gave Scootaloo a little smile and said, “I think they're maternal instincts finally kicked-in. Anyway, I need to go. Just promise that there won't be any more of this stallion hunting business and I'll keep my lip sealed so you don't get into any trouble.” Scootaloo gave a little humph and acknowledged it with a nod. Meanwhile Apple Bloom looked disappointed as Sweetie Belle showed signs of being both embarrassed and possibly relieved that they were not going to act on their original plan.

After her run-in with the Cutie Mark Crusaders was finished. Rory passed by the candy shop and saw the mare through the window. Knowing that she was putting on a brave front and still worrying over her mare-friend caused Rory's left hand to idly reach over and down to touch her outfit at the bottom of her stomach with a thoughtful expression on her face before thinking of the following as she moved on. “Maybe I should have a word with Master about his thoughts on this matter. Lyra still resides in custody and no one is trying to get to her yet.”

The scene then shifts back to the mansion around the appointed hour. By then all the girls aside from Applejack were outside and doing various activities to relax as they waited for their final member to arrive. While laying on fold-out chairs with a couple of umbrellas to shade them from the sun, were Rarity, Gilda and Rainbow. Of course, the last of that list was sound asleep and snoring in an awkward pose with a couple of limbs dangling over the edge of the chair. Twilight was making some vain attempts to reassure Spike that everything was fine. Whereas the Drake continuously sent some cautionary glances towards his older sister and arms being firmly crossed.

A flock of chocobo's were even rushing back and forth and playing with a large round ball made of rainbow stripes with both their beaks and lakes hitting it back and forth as if they were playing a game of soccer. Pinkie Pie with her overly abundant energy coursing through her veins in the shape of pure sugar was miraculously keeping up with the swift land-based birds without any problems. The pink pony was even wearing a costume that consisted of a paper mache helmet and a set of boots that gave her the head and talons of a chocobo.

Rory sat on the ground along with Fluttershy to give the Chimera some affection. While the girl lazily ran her fingers through the fur underneath the lion's head. Fluttershy took out from a basket a small piece of fish and offered it to the monster who instantly licked it from her hands and swallowed it in a single gulp before giving the Pegasus a wet lick across her own face in appreciation. Almost fifteen minutes past by the time Applejack arrived and all the girls followed Rory into the mansion and found Brex to go into the dining hall where some dishes were already placed down.

It did not take long before the seating arrangements drew in multiple eyes when Brex became surrounded by the same set as earlier that morning. Although it seemed as if the pair had turned back to normal and were not exhibiting the lovey-dovey persona now that there were additional witnesses. Eventually, one of them finally asked the question that laid on their minds since being invited over, which turned out to be Rarity. “Thank you so much for having us over. Hard to believe it's been a full week since we all got to meet up again. But I cannot help but to feel that there is more to this little soiree.”

Obviously, they all knew the reasons with needing to keep their urges under control by various means of distraction. Especially since none of them really had a partner to work through their seasonal issues. This was made only more apparent by a couple of them looking a little nervous. Meanwhile Spike gave a quick glance towards Twilight and earned him a nervous giggle before each of them realized what Rarity was saying right then and shifted all of their senses towards Rory for an answer.

Now this was where Rory started to put her acting skills to the test and shifted her happy-go-lucky attitude towards the spectrum of a person that was deeply concerned. The girl threw in all of the signs that she was having some issues when it came to courage by avoiding direct eye contact and flattening her ears. She already recalled the intentional revealing of her true body as to set up this moment back at the Golden Oaks Library and knowing full well that all the girls there were keeping it a secret about finding out.

She then communicated through the connection to Brex the following as she shifted herself nervously in the chair for a couple of seconds. “Master, I know that this is rather sudden and all. But I made a decision and I want to take off my disguise for them to see me.” On his end, the Roegadyn went rigid as his throat closed up tightly with genuine concern about Rory's decision to discard her Pony façade. He would have stood straight up in his chair and slammed both hands onto the table hard enough to probably break it if it was not for his self-restraint. After taking in a quiet intake of air and releasing it slowly through his nose did he reply.

“If… If this is what you really want... then I won't interfere.” Brex new that Rory would not have made such a hasty move if she was not ready for it. But for him an anxiety attack was primed and set to kick in as his eyes quickly darted to each member within the room. But then he spotted his three maid’s and quickly said to Rory, “I can understand Rin and Lin, but what about Ebony Rain? We already established that she's the same one who was following me and is reporting straight to Luna. Give me a second and I'll just send her-.”

Rory prevented him from doing something and quickly responded with a gentle and reassuring tone through the connection as she gave him a quick glance. “It's all right. I really don't care if either of those two find out. Besides, you got them pretty much wrapped around your fingers and I doubt that they'll try anything that would get you angry at them.” Internally Brex wanted to shake his head while covering his face with his hand out of a sense of mental exhaustion before he said, “Fine I get it. Just wish I was told about this ahead of time so I could mentally prepare myself.”

Back on the outside world. Rory lifted her head and gestured towards both the Griffin and blue Pegasus quickly as she spoke. “After last night. I believe it is time that... I...” Rory closed her eyes and caused her body to give a convincing shutter before continuing and reaching up to lightly tug at her choker. “I already mentioned that I'm a hybrid. However, not one part of me is a pony. What you're seeing now is not my true appearance. But a spell for my protection.”

There were a number of reactions across the room as soon as Rory said those words. Both Lin and Rin went wide-eyed after realizing what was about to happen. Ebony Rain raised an eyebrow and gauged everyone else's reaction with a great amount of intrigue. Spike only scratch the back of his head and shifted his eyes from left to right as he was completely out of the loop. The rest of the girls seemed worried while Applejack had an anxious smile and started to sweat so much that she had to take off her hat to fan herself. However, Gilda and Rainbow seemed almost unaffected because Rory gave them a quick heads up that she wanted to tell everyone something important about herself the night before.

Rarity nervously laughed as she brushed a stray hair that fell in front of her face and said, “Oh come now darling! So what if you use some more convincing make up. I for one use some all the time.” Rory took in a big lung full of air before releasing it and giving a weak chuckle before she continued. “This goes a little beyond simple makeup and I believe it's about time that I finally showed my friends. Especially after being warmly welcomed into your town. But for the moment, could I ask that this is just keeped between us in the room before I try for the public?”

The curiosity, apprehension and concern within the room practically evaporated as many gave their own variations of promising to keep what was happening in there a secret amongst themselves. Pinkie let out a loud gasp and did her Pinkie Pie signature promise with the hand motions thrown in. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” As Rory began to tug on her choker a little more to where it was about to pop off from the clasp. Both of the Changeling’s had sparkles in their eyes with anticipation. The girl closed her own and gave the final tug to remove the choker to start the unraveling of the spell.

Brex was now sweating bullets as the features belonging to a pony fell away with a shimmer running down from the tips of her ears and all the way down to her feet. The next few seconds that followed were filled with only silence as not a single person moved even an inch aside from their eyes following the effect. But before Brex could even register it happening. A pink blur shot across the table to stand next to Rory and hovered around while pointing and asking so many questions that it came off as one stream of words that even he needed the chat function box to keep up.

“Eeeeeee! I don't know what you are, but you look absolutely gorgeous! Why don't you have as much fur as the rest of us? Wow your ears are long and pointy! What a beautiful tail, what kind of conditioner do you use! I don't think I've ever met anyone that has a nose as small as yours! Kind of thought it would be bigger with how good you could smell things! Ooh~. Pointy nails! Must be really good whenever you get an itch! Are your eyes redder now? Cool, you even have some pointy teeth!” That last part came about when Pinkie stuck a finger into Rory's mouth along the side and pulled just enough to expose the girl's teeth long enough to get a good glimpse at her canines.

Applejack had to throw a lasso over Pinkie’s waist before giving a sharp tug to send her over the table and into the chair again. The farm mare then said with a stern tone. “Dang nabbit Pinkie! How many times do I have to keep remindin' ya' to stop stickin' your hands into other people's mouths.” The pink pony began to count on her fingers as she responded to Applejack. “I don't know. I think this makes it thirty-six now. Maybe it will stick when I hit an even forty.”

Over with Rory. The girl looked as though she went through a wind tunnel with eyes slowly blinking in astonishment after being surrounded by a pink tornado before getting rescued by Applejack. It took one good shake to get everything back in order before everybody else came to their senses. On the far side of the room, all but one of the maid's were eyeing Rory with a newfound sense of lust. Whereas the Third carefully examined the girl from a distance.

Rarity was beaming with what Brex could only assume as creative genius striking the mare repeatedly with one idea after another thanks to the sparkle in the mare's eyes. Luckily Applejack, Rainbow and Gilda did not seem to be bothered by it. Fluttershy on the other hand seemed a little scared for a couple of seconds after hearing the part about the canines, but eventually calmed herself down and gave Rory a small smile. When it came to Spike. The kid had his jaw dropping hard enough to hit the table with a thud and just remain there as a statue long enough for a still flabbergasted Twilight to reach over without looking to put it back in place.

Then a couple of notepads appeared in the air thanks to Twilight's magic and started to take a number of notes simultaneously. All the while muttering through herself on Rory's physical appearance and making several hypotheses on what manner of being she was and cross-referencing between several other species for some sort of reference. This went on for a couple of seconds before all the writing quills came to a stop and she quickly turned her head towards Brex upon feeling his murderous intent being let out and directed straight towards the purple pony.

After giving a sheepish smile. Twilight put away her notes and ask Rory the following questions. “I know I can speak for the others when I say that we're happy that you're willing to show us this secret. But I have to know just what are you? The ears and tail are kind of like ours. But your smooth body does not ring a bell. You're an omnivore obviously with the diet I’ve already seen being exhibited whenever we bring Spike over. Could you be a different breed of Diamond Dog?”

The girl gave a small chuckle before answering. “Well, Diamond Dog is not too far off the mark. Hmm, let's see if I can get this right.” Rory had a thoughtful expression as she brought up her hands to begin to count on her fingers in a nonchalant manner. “A good portion of me is from a couple of variations of evolve Apes. Then there's quite a bit from a Werewolf. Then I have Dark Elf from my mother and the Vampire part from my father!”

While Rory was counting each one of those off. The girls and Drake listened intently in an attempt to understand the meaning of each of those words. A couple of them silently mouth the word Apes before Twilight stammered out the word monkey in an absent-minded tone. The mention of the Werewolf got a couple of them to shrug and give a nod as they only seemed to register the Wolf part. However, the Dark Elf went right over their heads and caused a couple of them to look a little concerned with there being the word Dark.

When the phrase vampire was mentioned. There was a small window of confusion as they mouth the words a couple of times before Spike suddenly change the phrase to Vamp-pony while playing around with the word for a bit to make sense of it. Brex absent-mindedly brought up a hand to his neck region after giving out a long sigh as he playfully remarked out loud. “Eeyup, I can vouch for the Vampire bit.”

Applejack started to stutter out a response while pointing with a weak finger towards Rory. “But but-. V-Vamp-pony's are j-just superstition! And I’ve seen yeah walkin’ in the sun.”

Rory nonchalantly shrugged and gave a playful smile to expose one of her fangs as she replied. “Suppose there's not enough Vampire for that to be a problem.” Both she and Brex noticed how Fluttershy had a hand up to her own neck before Rory went on. “There's nothing to worry about Fluttershy. I have no intentions of going after you for your blood. Hmm, unless you offer it that is. Besides, I get my whole supply directly from my Master.”

Gilda finally spoke up and leaned towards Brex and asked, “Does that make you a Vampire too?” Now everyone was staring at him and making the guy feel very uncomfortable as he said, “No I’m not a Vampire.” Rory chimed in after that. “For me to make another Vampire, it would have to involve me purposely mixing my blood directly into another person's body through a bite. Or at least that's as far as I know. You know, I've never really tried.” Pinkie started to wave her arms around like crazy before Applejack pulled them down after realizing that she was going to ask Rory to try and make her into a Vamp-pony just to see if it works.

After finally getting a little more comfortable after seeing everyone's not-so-hostile reactions made Brex throw in a little joke. “Yeah. I can only imagine how much blood I would need for a body as big as mine on a regular basis if I was to be made into a Vampire during one of Rory's feeding sessions.” Brex only stopped when he noticed how the girl was licking her lips suggestively and getting him to mentally send a signal to her saying, “Now don't you go and get any funny ideas little miss.”

“It would be so romantic. We can be like that couple from Hotel Transylvania. Just need a Mummy, Werewolf, Invisible man, Frankenstein and a sentient blob.”

“You do remember that the Vampire girl was the wife and the husband was a human, right?”

“Come on Master. We don't have to follow the script exactly. Could also spice up a couple of the scenes.”

Brex had no idea that they were both being examined by the crowd while in their little discussion before Pinkie yelled out. “Wait! I get it! Rory's using some Vampire mind powers and that's why she can talk to him without actually talking!” This caused the pair to go wide-eyed as they said the same thing simultaneously in their heads. “Oh fuck! And of course, it had to be Pinkie!” Rainbow finally came in to the conversation as she was scratching her head and looking deeply confused.

“Let me get this straight. You can go into the sun and be fine. What about large bodies of water, garlic and crosses? Oh yeah, there’s also the whole stake through the heart thing.” Rory answered with a roll of the eyes. “I have no problem with crossing bodies of water. The other stuff doesn't really mean anything. And duh! I wooden stake through the heart will kill anybody.” There was a slight pause before Rory leaned over the table a little with her eyes squinting at the blue Pegasus before she continued. “You better not be planning on trying something to take first slot in the herd. I’m here to stay little missy.”

Rainbow gave a nervous chuckle that lasted a couple of seconds before it cut out upon witnessing everybody's blank eyes looking straight at her with suspicion. She then exclaimed while waving her hands. “Oh come on, it was just a joke! Besides those were legitimate questions!” Rainbow looked at Rory again and asked, “So uh... anything we should know?”

“Nah, not really. Master always keeps me fed so there's little chance of me getting thirsty. Oh and I could be a little frisky on the night of a full moon.”

Brex actually gave himself a loud facepalm onto his mask as he dryly remarked. “There's always a full moon!”

“Teehee teehee~. There you have it. Nothing really to worry about.”

With that out of the way. Rainbow took this opportunity to fly out of her chair and hover around Brex and take a hold of his hood from the back before saying, “Does this mean we get to finally-.” But before the Pegasus could finish that sentence. Brex immediately reached up and grabbed onto her wrist tightly with one hand and securely gripped his mask and hood to keep it in place with the other. Rainbow was startled by this and tried to pull her arm away, but found it to be locked in a vice-like grip that did not allow her to gain a single centimeter.

He then said the following with an eerily calm voice that sent shivers down the flyers back. “Please do not do that... again.” Rainbow quickly knotted and flew back to her chair when he released her arm. Even the rest of those in the room aside from Rory looked at him with a little bit of apprehension at the sudden movement and gave their own nods of agreement that they would not try to pull off his hood or mask. But for him. The Roegadyn was calming down from a panic attack as his heart was beating a million miles an hour.

His right eye was twitching something fierce while a cold sweat ran across his entire body. To him, he felt as though he just went through a scare of a lifetime. All of this from just the way he had dropped his guard and allowed Rainbow to come dangerously close to being able to expose his head during this situation. No matter how much he tried, he could not even recall when he last felt this amount of dread and gave thanks for his body acting on pure reflex.

After a second or two. Brex did not feel the need to be on edge so much and eventually excused himself to go into his office in order to get away from everybody after feeling rather ashamed of his reaction towards Rainbow’s attempted stunt that he knew was only her messing around. After he left, the girls finished their meal and after some coaxing from Rory, they ended up going on to the second floor and entered the master bathroom to take a dip in their tub.

The walls and floor were lined with polished white marble tiles and light green non-slip mats. Shower heads and places to sit lined one side of the room for people to get a quick shower and wash down before jumping into the public bath size tub with a jacuzzi function built in. The back far wall was decorated with a mural of an oriental landscape that comprised of Rolling Hills and bonsai trees carved into a shiny stone slab. A number of lotus blossom shaped lanterns hungover head to give a Rosy tent with the lighting. Even a bamboo shoot was set up so it would tilt over when enough water was dripped inside by a small waterfall.

Along the back corners towards the ceiling were some speakers giving off a relaxing flute song for some background noise. The air itself was thick with steam and mist coming off of the already filled up bathtub to obscure the gathering of girls already sitting inside. Most of which were already in the tub and submerged to just pass their chest and chatting amongst themselves while a couple of them still made preparations at the side showers before entering the water.

Rarity just so happened to be the next girl that was heard from the tub after giving out a sensual moan once her entire body was submerged as far as her shoulders. “Goodness gracious Rory! You're only missing a few more amenities before this bathroom could be called your own personal spa. Add a small sauna and some massage chairs would be all that's needed my dear.” The girl that the statement was directed to was currently wrapped in a towel along with Fluttershy and rinsing off her hair and guiding the Pegasus to the tub before she answered.

“Huh? but there is a sauna. It's right over there.” She pointed over towards the mural on the right to indicate that there was a door built into the wall so that it was seamlessly apart of it that had some words etched into the decoration that said sauna. She even pointed to the other side and towards some blocky pieces of wood and said, “The massaging tables are all folded up. Lin is amazing when it comes to getting rid of those stiff sore muscles. Although for the unexperienced, she could be a little rough until you get used to her touch.”

“Oh my! I am so jealous~. Just who did the decorations? It’s so rare to see such architecture from over the sea. There's no wonder that you're always getting your picture taken and put on magazines with this much pampering. If only my Boutique had a third floor and I had enough bits, then I would do the same. Careful now Fluttershy the water is a tad warm.” The warning caused the yellow Pegasus to slowly dip her hoof into the water daintily to test it before stepping down the built-in stairway at the edge of the tub and sat right next to Rarity along the edge.

Not too far away was Applejack with her hat laying on the tiled floor nearby and she was practically turning into putty with her elbows resting on the edges as she spoke up with both eyes closed. “Whoa Nelly~. I gotta tell my folks to get one of these installed! Takes forever to get a turn at the tub back at home. And I don't know what's goin’ on with this water that’s makin’ my muscles feel like a wet noodle. Never been anywhere close to being this relaxed.” The rest of the girls gave a firm nod to this and triggered a collective sigh of relief from everyone there. Everyone aside from Rory who was just about to climb inside.

She thoughtfully tapped her chin as she glanced towards the exit and said, “Kinda feel bad that we're not letting Spike join us.” A couple of the girls inadvertently started to cover themselves with their hands even though they were wrapped up in towels while Twilight screamed from embarrassment. “Rory! He's my brother and even I don't let that happen at home! Well not since we were little.” Gilda chimed in after rolling her eyes. “Sheesh, not like the little shrimp’s actually going to try anything, so what's the big deal? Toss a blindfold and the problems fixed.”

Most of the others had a blush as they averted their eyes from the Griffin and Rory took that opportunity to carefully undo her towel and let It drop to the tiled floor while slowly stepping into the water. She had hardly gotten it down past her knees when Fluttershy made a “Oh my gosh” noise that cause the rest of them to look towards Rory. And with a tilt of the head she asked, “What is it Fluttershy?” The young Pegasus bashfully attempted to look away. But failed miserably and looked right at the girl as she spoke after less than a second passed by.

“Is… Is that where you get your cutie mark? Um… You don’t have to answer if you don’t want too.”

“My cutie what?... Oh, this isnt my cutie mark. I could have sworn I already said that I don't get those. No no this is a mark I got from my Master.” Without any real shame being present. The girl parted her legs just enough to put the entire front part of her body on display and made the blue Pegasus and Griffin stare with deepening blushes. The others had wide eyes while Twilight examined it with a raised eyebrow. The mark was situated on her tan skin and just a couple of inches above her lower lips that was void of any hair due to her shaving it cleanly.

Roughly three inches and made of a dark purple pigment was a circular tattoo that consisted of a serpent going around and biting its own tail and a pair of small wings that would protrude on the left and right as it started and ended on the top. Within was a carefully made upside down pentagram with a rose thorn design and a miniature heart at the center. The girl giggled while running her right hands index finger across it before she spoke with a small smile on her lips.

“I can still vividly recall when I begged my Master to place this tattoo on. As soon as we were finally together, I wanted him to be sure that he had nothing to fear.” Pinkie, who had been gone during this whole time erupted from the center of the tub while sporting a snorkel and asked loudly. “What's a tattoo?!” Rarity ended up standing from being startled by the excitable Pony and clutched her chest as if she were having a heart attack for a second before indignantly calling out. “Pinkie Pie! How many times have I warned you not to jump out of places!”

Pinkie giggled and responded with, “No, you said not to jump out of random places. There was nothing about splashing. You’re a silly pony.” Rainbow stared at the tattoo and simply said cool. Meanwhile Gilda nodded along with the Pegasus and added, “I kinda want one too.” The other girls were tilting their heads to show their confusion until Twilight took it upon herself to educate the rest. “A tattoo is typically used on those without fur. Some think of it as a form of self-mutilation with the needles dipped in colorful ink to make a design with various meanings. Also, it’s permanent and a lot of thought needs to be put into making the decision to even have one.”

The purple Unicorn scrunched up her muzzle before she asked the pressing question that was now blowing up in her mind. “How does you having a tattoo have anything to do with alleviating Gambits fear? And it's not exactly on public display.” Without there being any time for a proper transition. Rory's small smile was instantly that of a very mischievous girl that was about to tell a secret the girls all around her would not be ready for and relish the thought for a couple of seconds before blurting out the following with an alluring tone.

“Well~. It just so happens to be a special tattoo with magical properties that only a handful of people I know can even make.”

Twilight’s need for knowledge kicked in as she blurted out, “A magical tattoo! You have to explain its functions. Please oh pretty please! It must be a branch of runes. I can only surmise them to be a form of protection magic. Wait! It's most likely not to protect you if going off of the context. Hmm...” Suddenly, Twilight had an expression that conveyed that she had just started to form an idea and transform to that of shock while holding both hands up to her mouth when Rory took the chance to fill in the gaps as her wolf tail wagged excitedly.

“Hehe-hehe! Twilight gets it. This tattoo is to secure that my Master is protected from me. Once this mark is placed upon my body, I cannot go against his wants and needs if he were to give me a direct command. Lying, going against his direct wishes or trying to kill him will enforce a harsh punishment that would cause the magic stored within my body to attack my soul and inflict an immeasurable amount of pain. In other words, I have been branded with a curse slave tattoo that binds me to my Master~. Oooooh~. Just telling others about it is getting me so fucking turned on!”

The entire bathroom grew silent to wear a single drop of water resounded loud enough to be compared to that of a gong being struck. Aside from Rory who was fidgeting in place from her body getting sexually aroused and rubbing her thighs together. The rest of the girls just dumbly stared straight at the still standing girl with their mouth so wide open to wear a fly could easily fly inside for what seemed to be an eternity. However, it seemed that Rainbow’s wings started to slowly raise from the water and into a fully spread pose after a few seconds. And only to be followed by Gilda doing the same.

The scene then shifts to somewhere else in the mansion and Spike minding his own business as he was walking down one of the hallways. Rin with a stack of papers in her hand came close after coming from the opposite direction and was about to say hello when both she and Spike were scared out of their skins from hearing a collective set of girls screaming the word, “WHAT?!?!” In fact, it was so loud that the whole building practically rattled and made the Changeling throw up the papers and end up with them scattering all over the place.

Spike and Rin both fell to the ground after this happened and the young Drake attempted to help with picking up the apparently important set of papers to hand them back to the girl while speaking. “To quote Gambit. What in the seven hells happened?”

“Mistress Rory probably said something to the others in the bath.”

“Yikes! I knew I could pick out Twilight in there. She hasn't sounded like that since I had some hiccups and vaporized the report she was about to hand into the princess back in Canterlot a couple years back! Oh uh, here, let me help! Wow there's a lot.”

“Ah yes there is. Thanks by the way Spike. The Lord is back at it again.” She allowed a sigh to come out before she continued. “Seeing this much makes me worry that he's not relaxing enough.”

“I'd say! Just look at what we got here. I've gone into the princess’s office a couple of times and this looks a little bit like what she has to work with. What the heck is Gambit doing anyway? If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was running his own country. This right here is clearly a quarterly financial report. That's a request form. And just what is he paying... Oh by Celestia's... What's eighteen billion and a half bits being put towards?! I doubt the royal treasury has that much in its reserves.”

“Huh? Only that much? Oh I mean! That's clearly a typo that I'll have to bring up! Thanks again! I best get going! Bye! And with that, the maid grabbed up everything at once and went into a fast-walking pace down the hallway and around the corner to disappear in just a few seconds. Meanwhile, Spike was left standing in place with a confused expression before he turned around in the opposite way and started to mutter to himself. “Gambits got too much on his plate. Maybe I should get Twilight to lend a hand?”

He took his left fist and began to lightly bonk himself on the forehead in order to say the following so he could help himself to remember a peculiar set of names that he caught site of on some of the documents. “Cross Species Bridge, Always Away Foxholes, Renegade Brewery, Eco Growers, Tech Hex Institute of Science, Apothecary Medicinal Traders, Krispy Supplies, Endless Enlightenment and Roads and Beyond.”

*Point of view: Princess Luna*
*Location: The bed chambers of Princess Celestia*

The younger sister could be heard loudly protesting and making multiple grunting noises to indicate she was exerting herself. All the while, this was going on from behind a partition that showed the silhouette of both herself and Princess Celestia. Instead of noticing the shadowy figure of them possibly changing their clothes in private. It was instead replaced by the pair grappling with one another as the smallest of the two was trying to hold back the other who was dawning what appear to be a set of battle armor and gripping onto a spear in one hand.

“Tia!!! Please take control of yourself!”

“Take control of myself? Take control of myself?!?! Rory is a Vamp-pony!”

“No, she said it herself that she's a Vampire, not a Vamp-pony.”

“Same thing! She obviously has him under her spell! I have to save him right this instant before it’s too late!

“I knew I shouldn't have let you be there when I got the report early! He is a very capable male and I doubt that he would get swayed by some petty mind tricks!”

“She's sucking his blood for bucking sake! Let me go! Unhand my pauldron and let me finish getting dressed! To battle! Get me Shining Armor and call up the elite guards! Oh and how could I have possibly forgotten?! Lulu, you used to go hunting vamp-pony's. Get your troops too! I'm coming!”

“Dear sister, stop with your antics post haste! If the situation is not what it appears to be and you do attack Miss Rory from a misunderstanding, then what do you think is going to happen? He will not be happy with us suddenly arriving in force.”

This caused the fighting behind the partition to come to a sudden stop and show the spear being dropped just before Princess Celestia's shadow turned around and grabbed on to Luna's shoulders and started to shake the younger one so quickly that it could be heard loudly that her ears were flopping against her head quite hard. “No no no noooo! I don't want him mad at me again! Please not again!” By the end of that. Luna's body was released and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Celestia then started to cry as she crumpled alongside her sister and made a loud crash thanks to the metal that she was already wearing as she tried to talk. “I-I really don't want him to be mad at me anymore! *Sob!* By mother's name! Is he into bloodsuckers?! *Sob!* Maybe if I turn into a Vamp-pony then he'll pay me more attention! Luna! Tell me what do I need to do to become one of those! Teach me the ways of the goth! They wear dark makeup and matching clothing, right? So much in my wardrobe needs to be changed out!”

The older sister's ramblings were only cut off after Luna called out Gambit's name as a distraction and shot a beam of magic straight at Celestia’s head and she fell to the ground fast asleep with a clatter of metal. With a loud and exasperated sigh. Luna began to peel away the armor and drag her sister from behind the partition and toss the sleeping Alicorn onto her own bed. Her wings were drooping as she spoke in a tired tone.

“I fear so much for our citizens. If word gets out that my sister wants to be a Vamp-pony... Then who knows how many will follow her example… Hopefully a good night's sleep will calm her down. Uh… I hope. Er, best to be on the side of caution.” She then followed up by placing a ring onto Celestia’s horn and teleported away.