Simplified

I had a pretty ugly nightmare.

I dreamt that I was sitting in a weird room, a very cold room. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing all around me. I got up to run from where I was, only to find myself standing in an infinite space filled with darkness. I rubbed my eyes to check if I had gone blind, but I could see myself just fine. It seems that everything around me was just dark and I was standing in an infinitely shining spotlight. I look up to see what it was that was shining that light down on me, I couldn't identify it. So I walked forward for infinity, at least until I trip over something.

I grabbed at my leg, looking to check if I had hurt myself, but I discovered that my leg was gone... and so was the other. I start to scream as I start to fly on my wings, only to discover that they had been hug up on a wall that randomly showed up behind me. But they weren't big like I usually am, they were small.

"YOU MONSTER!"

As Rarity voices called out in the void, I turned back around to see the image of my smaller self hunched over in pain, my back bleeding uncontrollably. My cries were hard to listen to, so hard that I try to cover my ears. My legs were also bleeding, or rather the nubs that were supposed to be there.

"TWILIGHT!... HEEEELP! PLEEEEASE!""

"STOP HURTING HIM!" Cried out a sobbing Fluttershy. "HE'S JUST A BABY DRAGON! WHAT COULD HE EVER DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS!?"

A smiling alicorn filly, Cozy Glow, giggles as she takes joy in my pain. "You know, all of this could've been avoided if you'd just stop your stupid fight for the bell, right?" The evil filly flew down to me and lifted my head up in her magic. "Now you see that he's not doing any of that 'don't worry about me' crap that he was spouting out earlier."

Chrysalis cackled as she tossed my legs down before Twilight and her friends. "We'll let you have the bell, once we've pulled your precious dragon friend to pieces."

"Promise you'll save the head for me?" Lord Tirek asked.

"STOP IT!" I screamed out to the scene that played out, my words had the same effect as me running away at this point.

The former changeling queen starts to pull at my arm before Grogar's bell lands before her hooves. She drops me down, pleased with the outcome of her wager. Cackling as my younger self crawled away, rapidly losing blood, she recites a statement made shortly after their destruction of the castle in Canterlot. "It's just as I said, the one thing more powerful than friendship is fear!"

"And just as the little worm just showed you─" Tirek chimed in. "When you have to protect yourself, you don't have time for anyone or anything else."

Twilight levitated me over, holding me as I cried out in pain. She lurches over, issuing apology after apology, her voice trembling as her eyes flowed with tears. "Spike... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise I'll do whatever it takes to make you feel better, I swear!"

"There's no changing what's happened." Chrysalis calls out. "The only thing you've changed is how soon you all get to die!"

As Twilight held on to me, I watched as both Rarity and Fluttershy sob uncontrollably as they crowded around me. Applejack and Pinking brought themselves in over me, trying their best to comfort one another as Rainbow stood at the forefront of the impending blast. "We've seen worse. I promise you we have." The mare extended her wings and hooves, thinking to shield her friends from the initial blast. "So no matter what happens, we face it together!" She turns back with a smile, looking down at me. "All of us."

While I suddenly found myself in the middle of the pile of mares, I watched as Rainbow's face evaporated away in a blast that disintegrated her on impact. I looked to see the others around me turned to half-ash, half faces turned and warped by the horror of experiencing their end. But I also see an unfamiliar face look down on me with a smirk.

"Oh... what a terrible fate you could've met."

A powerful impact bashes against my back and I scream out in pain. "Gah!"

I lose all sense of direction, fighting while I'm still wrapped in my sheets. Before long, I fall off of the bed and pull the sheets off of me to see Ocellus looking down at me in realization. "Oh, Spike! I'm so sorry, I thought you were Smolder."

Honestly, I'm happy for that kick in the back. At least I know now that dream is good and over. "I figured." I answer as I get up and stretch my limbs.

As my sheets took off with my fall, the orange dragoness is revealed to still be hunched over her pillow. Ocellus takes aim and kicks her target in the back. "AAAAAAAH!" Smolder screams as she falls out of the bed to join me.

"Wake your scaly butt up! We gotta get to work!"

"Did you have to kick me?" Smolder growls at the changeling.

"You won't wake up unless I do." She replies. "Now get moving!"

While the pair dashes off to the bathroom to take their respective showers and the like, I make an instinctive move to reach for my back. I still feel my wings, and I obviously still have my legs. I sigh in relief over the prospect of not having myself being ripped apart for the mean trio's sadistic amusement. And to be honest, I'm sure there's some parallel universe where that happened and I happened to live past all of that. I feel sorry for that Spike more than anything. But still... it's been some time since I've had that particular nightmare.

I don't talk about it much, but some of the adventures I've endured with the others have left an impression on me, and not in a good way. I still struggle with that moment, it makes me feel like the freedoms of independence could've been taken away from me. To this day I'm still looking back at my wings each morning, thanking Faust that they're very much attached and that all of the villains responsible are cased in stone. The last thing I need to see is any and either one of them go free. I don't think my mind would be able to handle it. I mean yeah, I helped beat them, but the faces of sinister approval they had while Chrysalis was tearing at my wings ring loudly in my mind. And the mornings after I dream that dream, I find myself being very cautious of what's behind me. It's like a tingling sensation that runs up my back, across both of my wings, and deep into my cerebellum, rotating that crawling sensation without end.

My phone buzzes, showing that I have a text from Twilight. As I open it up, I see a massive wall of a message.

Dear Spike.

I hope all is well with you on today. I know you're pretty tired from this weekend and you probably don't want to hear from me at this point, but I just wanted to reach out and check in with you. I also want to thank you for everything you've given over. The information you passed along to us showed us the extent of their plans. Now we know to regulate a limit on what accounts can mass purchase fireworks and which should be held under limitation. This measure should easily pass parliament, and further regulate the actions of these underground thugs. They'll soon realize it will be much harder to maintain their operations here in Canterlot as opposed to simply uprooting themselves for Klugetown.

And per your request, we've also made it a point to offer Prince Amor Ambrosia of the Ponyland Empire clemency for their part in your rescue. They have been offered a room for the time being, however they are to remain under scrupulous supervision as we have no awareness of their reason for being here. I suspect that they are performing some method of espionage to seem as inconspicuous, possibly amorous for means of accessing our technology while undercutting all forms of legitimized trade. I do not subscribe that His Imperial Majesty is here merely for romantic intent, and he will be supervised to obtain more information of his ambitions.

As for this week, I've cleared your schedule, take the time you need to recover from your ordeals, I hope you get back to breathing fire like you normally do. As you can tell, I've taken that into consideration while writing this letter in the unusual format to which it is being sent. And with the method, it should not only find you well but also find you in the minute I've sent for it, as well as being private. There are still some things I need for my number-one assistant to do, and one of them is to send letters through dragonfire should the means of a phone are inaccessible. And I can't have you not being yourself while undergoing meetings with dignitaries, you'll need to be in prime health.

So do what you need to, recover, and then if you can help Starlight with covering the costs of Smolder's outburst, that would be great for the long-run. I know your place won't have that much space to keep so many sleepover guests. And dragons eat heavy, as you may know from experience. The sooner they're out of your fins, the better. Hopefully Gabby's situation will improve and she will also be out of your fins the sooner. Try to stay out of trouble, eat well, get plenty of rest, and try to not do anything that will compromise yourself.

Respectfully yours,
Twilight Violet Sparkle

P.S.: I've noticed your growing situation with the girls in Ponyville. We'll discuss the matter of your 'open' relationship upon a later date.

"It's always something, isn't it?" I mumble as I put my phone away, hoping that Twilight doesn't feel the need to intervene in my relationship because of her personal opinions. The last thing I need is to go through a whole spiel about how I should dedicate myself to one figure, or who I should look to foster a relationship with. Then again, I guess it would be fair since I already do enough of that with her. Still, I wanna be a total hypocrite about this and keep my growing cluster of four to myself.

I walk down to the kitchen, seeing Gabby getting finished with a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit. She seems to be in really high spirits today, turning my way to greet me. "Good morning, Spike!" She's always been a morning griffon, not my personal preference, but any bit of her is good enough to wake me up in the morning. And she's that much better than a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Gabby. How are you feeling today?"

Her eyes are glowing with enthusiasm, it's like she went back to her teenage self. "Oh let me tell you, I had the best sleep since the last time I was over. I really like these beds you got for the guest rooms. Where'd you get them from?"

"I got them from Quills-N-Sofas." I reach into the fridge for some milk to pour me a bowl of cereal for my own self.

"Really?" She seems surprised by the revelation. "They hardly have anything when I go there."

"To be fair, they are custom made." I reach in the cabinet to pull out a bowl to put my milk in. Gabby snorts at me before she looks away with a whistle. "Oh don't judge me."

"I can't possibly judge you, Spike. It's not like psychopaths with a murderous tendency likes to pour their milk before their cereal."

I roll my eyes at her and humor her logic. "Fine. I'll pour the cereal first."

"Thank you." She says cheerfully while I sit across from her. She watches silently as I chew my first spoonful before popping another question. "Soooo... those two, Ocellus and Smolder, where do they sleep again?"

"I have rooms for them as well." I inform her.

She rises from her seat, walking over to me as she speak. "That's cool and all, but I can't help but notice that none of the other rooms weren't as noisy as the master bedroom this morning."

"That's because they were sleeping in my bed instead." I simply answer.

She politely shoves the bowl away from me, making sure that she has my full attention. "So let me get this straight, they both slept in your bed, but I sleep in a separate room. But doesn't that leave you without a bed? Like where do you go to sleep?"

"In my bed." I deadpan.

"Oh!" She seems a bit annoyed at my answer, not so much of the way I respond but the context of what's taking place. "So they can sleep with you!? That's just so interesting!"

"Do you want to join us on tonight?" I know she's annoyed over that fact, but now she can't say that I haven't presented her with the offer.

She sits herself not next to me, but rather on the table. She props herself right beside me, planting her talons in the location where my bowl once rested. "Well, I don't know if I can get away with that one."

"Just make sure you don't steal Smolder's pillows, and we'll be just fine." I warn, the last thing I need for her to do is flame my room out of spite.

Gabby shrugs in response. "No promises. I'm a wild sleeper who's more of a griffon in that sense. Guess it's a subconscious thing I have where I get griffon greedy in my sleep."

I roll my eyes as I warmly reminder her of our own nature. "You forget that dragons get greedy too."

She places a hind leg on my lap, her paws resting warm on my lower abdomen. She flexes her paws, letting her pads expand and compress in the area she's suggestively coaxing to life. "Oh I'm well aware of how greedy dragons can get. You forgot that I had you for a year and some change."

"Not like this, you haven't." I lean in, grabbing her leg and pressing my pelvis into it.

"Mmm..." The griffon smirks as she leans into me, being inches away from my lips. "Then let's make up for lost time."

"AHEM!"

The two of us stop dead in our tracks, caught in the act by both Ocellus and Smolder. The latter taps her foot with dissatisfaction, while the former uses her magic to grab the griffon from off the table. "You better not forget you got a job to do, Ms. Feather-butt!"

Gabby looks back at herself. "Actually, griffon's hindquarters are much more akin to li─"

"I don't care! Get moving!" Ocellus orders. As she's doing that, Smolder meanders over to my side and coils her tail around my leg. The changeling quickly notices. "Smolder!"

"Alright, fine." Says the dragon who forces herself to shove me away.

While the other two leave the room, Ocellus grumbles over the two trying to have a bit of morning interaction with me. I know she's a jealous one to deal with, but the manner of how she addresses her jealousy manifests in devious ways. She quietly pretends to be angry while I make a brief comment. "I see there seems to be some competition taking place."

She turns to me with a scowl on her face, but her magic yanks me in to mere inches away from her. "Of course, now that I got you for myself a bit..."

Before she can do anything, an orange set of claws pinches her magic clean out. Smolder drags the changeling by her horn to deny her the claim of being the one who gets her morning goodbye kiss. "Come on, bitch."

"Damn." I say to myself as I watch how both Ocellus and Smolder force each other out the door and towards their designated direction of work.

Gabby flies off for a moment, I wave goodbye to each of the three. I shake my head before walking back to the kitchen to get to my bowl of cereal. At least that would be the plan if there wasn't the knock at my door. I open the door to see Gabby's claw forcefully yank me by my throat before sinking herself into me for a quick french kiss. "See you after work. I should be getting off a little early, so make sure you get the board ready."

She darts off once more to go to work as I call out to her. "Fly safe and be safe!"

She hollers back at me. "Oh I know you're not the one talking!"

After breakfast, I take a quick jog through the neighborhood. I make a few stops to see some creatures I haven't seen since I initially moved back. Seems Pip is really serious about his campaign run for mayor, and Diamond Tiara is doing everything in her power to make sure he wins. With elections coming up in September, they're doing all they can to get their platform established.

I get hailed by a local mare pedaling insurances, she greets me with excitement before giving me a pamphlet detailing the number of options they have for home, life, and appliances. It takes a while for me to finally recognize her, but once I do, I happily embrace her. I'm glad to see Silver Spoon doing well for herself, though I notice that she doesn't make any comment or mention of Diamond Tiara. I guess the two grew apart over the years. Interesting to see, to say the least.

I catch a glimpse of Gabby on her runs, she's delivering mail while also speaking with some of the local business owners over their day. It really feels like I'm watching her revert back to how she was years ago. It's strange to see that she's happily chatting away with everyone so cleanly, all while quietly teasing and taunting me behind closed doors. Strange thoughts appear in my head, lingering on the idea of seeing her sitting beneath me with maw open and eyes lustfully locked on the grand prize. I quickly shake the thought as I realize I'm in public still.

I finally finish my run through town, starting to make my way back home. As I get closer, I notice something unusual sitting on top of my roof. "The hell is that?" I mutter to myself.

I get closer, seeing that it's a griffon perched on my roof. They seem to be looking for something with as often as they're shifting around and peering down to the streets around the area. I watch as they continue to dart their eyes around, sharply squinting to focus deep on whatever it is they're looking for.

Now naturally, I know that many homes don't have an issue supporting a few extra pounds of weight, but I know if I don't discourage this behavior, I might end up with a sink in my roof, and some unexpected rain problems in the nearby future. I fly up to meet the creature halfway. "Yo!"

The creature remains perched on my roof as they address me. "Oh, greetings fellow Ponyville resident. I hope I'm not disturbing you too much." It's a male with a very familiar voice, or at least I remember hearing it from somewhere.

"You're on my house." I politely inform the strange griffon.

"Well it is the tallest thing for some blocks. I'm just here for a while." He says as he continues his perch-a-thon on my roof.

Okay, maybe I should see why he's here before I see him to the ground from over three stories high. "So you're camping out on my house for what reason?"

"I'm just looking for someone I know." Okay, that's not creepy in any way.

"Who are you looking for?"

"A girlfriend of mine." He answers.

"A griffon, I take it?"

"Yeah, and a beautiful one at that." If I'm not mistaken, this is a serious flag. And so far, it's already added up to who this guy really is.

"Have you tried the south end of town?" I lie. "I heard there's a griffon that works that way."

"Shouldn't be the case, she works the central part of town as her route."

He's definitely going after Gabby. "Sir, why don't you try perching yourself on over to town hall. That place is way bigger than my house." I say, trying to coax him into a misdirect.

"Is my presence so disturbing to you?" No shit, Sherlock.

"Considering you're perched on my house looking for your girlfriend... I'd kinda say it bothers me."

"Well I apologize for the inconvenience. I'll be gone from here momentarily." While he appears to make his statement with the intent of trying to be nice about his refusal, I'm not taking any answer that doesn't require an immediate adjustment.

"Sir, I won't ask you again. Please remove yourself from my home."

The griffon's eyes shift to me, he promptly unseats himself and take to a high hover. "Understood. I'll perch elsewhere."

"Thank you."

The guy flies off at last, leaving me to check if anything happened since he decided to pop a squat on my roof. So far all seems to be fine, except for the fact that this guy came here to explicitly stake out for Gabby. And given that he called her his girlfriend, I can only deduce that he's the guy who she's at odds with for the time being. Still, I find it disturbing that he has the audacity to try to hunt her down after she makes a request for separation. So yeah, I'm starting to see those red flags she's been bearing with for Celestia knows how long.

I shoot a text over to Gabby, giving her a word of warning. "Hey, I know you're out and busy, just ran past you over in the town market. But you won't believe what just happened. Your guy just perched a squat on the house. I had to shoo him off."

It doesn't take long for her to answer. "How long has he been there?" I'm sure she's pretty uncomfortable with the circumstances.

"A few minutes. He's gone now."

She takes a while before she contacts me again. "I know you're usually supposed to get your mail around the noon hour, I'm gonna push that back to three. I'm just gonna overshoot my lunch break. It may extend my shift an hour, but I greatly appreciate you for shooing him away for me."

Quietly, I can't help but to think about the cheerful smile being wiped away in the instant that I texted her the news. My heart aches for her going through this, and I'm getting more indignant by the passing thought. Perhaps I should dig in more about this situation since it now involves me. "I thought you were done with this guy."

She takes a while before answering back. "I know, I didn't quite break things off with him yet. I said that I would be away for a week."

Now I'm feeling particularly odd about her, as if the moment she locked lips with me didn't register in her mind that what she's doing is wrong. While I hate to play the douche card, I feel like I need to right now. "Why don't you just send him a message saying you're done?"

She takes even longer to reply. "Because I know it's wrong for me to do it that way. I have to tell him in person."

Obviously she doesn't want to talk about this guy, it's pretty apparent by the time it takes for her to respond on the topic. And she can't use the excuse of her working, she just said she was taking a lunch break to extend her shift. I'm willing to bet she's not wanting to confront him at all, much like the relationship before this one. She wants to disappear without really going the whole way with it. Perhaps she's not too keen on confrontation, and maybe that's what's driving her to be like this.

So I offer a compromise. "You know, I'm thinking this in-person thing might have to be chaperoned."

She takes a while, but she doesn't take as long to respond. "I wouldn't mind it, if it was you."

Not that I mind it, I have the time to do it. What I want to do is make sure she's fine on being able to do this without having to bear with the possibility of getting talked back into her situation, or physically strong-armed into reconsidering. Either way, I think it's fair that I set aside the time to get this done. "Okay, what day you wanna do this?"

"Is Wednesday fine?"

And the sooner, the better. "I'd rather do it tomorrow."

It takes a long time before she texts back. It seems she's taken this situation a while to consider. But after ten minutes of an idle chat, she pops back in with three words. "Okay, tomorrow. Promise."

My response is blunt. "Good."

At the School of Friendship, many teachers have started to undergo their lunch breaks while the students are also enjoying their time in the cafeteria. As they gather, the trio of mares formerly known as the Cutie Mark Crusader's, now know for their new moniker Cutie Mark Counselors, balk at the changeling as she explains what's going on with the whole situation with them getting kicked out of the dorms.

Needless to say that some of the details shock the trio. "Wait, seriously!?" Sweetie baulks at the revelation.

"Oh lordy..." Apple Bloom lowers her head. "Ah... might've burnt the cobbler on a holiday with that one."

Scootaloo turns to the yellow mare with confusion. "You did what now?"

"Ah fucked up, alright! Ah don't know no other way ta put it!" She says as she smacks her head on the desk, the others seem to show more concern for the amount of impact her forehead had on the table. "Ah can't believe she was spoken for for real. Ah thought she was jus runnin' smoke up our keisters till we ain't botherin' her no more!"

Sweetie interjects. "How were we supposed to know!? She barely talks to us these days anyhow! The only way you'd be in the wrong is if you knew she actually was in a relationship for real, had evidence that she was in a relationship for real, and then you proceeded to ignore all of that shit to put her and Spike back together again."

"With that being said." Scootaloo directs her attention to Smolder instead. "How do you feel about all of this with what's going on?"

The dragoness shrugs. "I don't really mind it. As long as he takes some time out for me, I'm pretty cool about it."

"But you've been in it for Spike since you two met." The orange pegasus responds. "I'm surprised you're not taking this personally."

"She is, she just doesn't like to show it." Ocellus adds.

"I do not!" Smolder argues. "I just want my time with him. Besides, it's normal for a dragon to have more than one partner in their lifetime anyhow. The fact that he was so hung up on Rarity is what started to piss me off. It was like he couldn't stop simping out for that bitch despite the fact that she played him so much." Smolder promptly turned to Sweetie Belle, having made the comment about her older sister. "No offense."

"My sister's a habitual whore-for-hire. You wouldn't be wrong." Replies the white unicorn mare. "Love her to death, but a spade's a spade."

"Still upset about her turning out your preteen crush, huh?" Apple Bloom snarks at the unicorn.

"She knew I liked him!" The mare replies as she folds her forelegs. "If it would've been me, he'd probably be safe, happy, and dreaming of me to this very moment."

"Yeah, he'd be dreaming of you from a jail cell." Scootaloo adds.

"Call it a crime of passion." She says before she pulls out her phone. "He still deserves better."

"He's married to Celestia of all ponies, how can you do better than THAT!?" Scootaloo asks.

The mare grumbles in anger as she quickly switches the subject, not wanting to answer that question. "Okay, whatever. Now back to the Gabby situation. How is it that her needing to find an out of her seemingly-toxic relationship turns into a Smolder burning down the dorm thing?"

"Spike got himself abducted." Smolder finally answers. "I had a dragon fit."

"How does a 'dragon fit' work?" Asks Apple Bloom.

Ocellus tamely answers the question. "Well it's when a dragon feels themselves to be in 'possession' of a person, place, or thing, then watch or hear as that thing gets taken away by force due to another party getting involved. So when she heard that Spike got snatched up, she exploded."

"You act like I won't do the same for you." Smolder comments to the changeling.

"I know you'll do the same for me." She replies, walking over to the dragon and giving her a hug. "Because I know you love me, and I love you all the same."

The dragoness grows timid over the open display of affection. "Okay... Ixnay on the ove-lay. You know how I feel about that sappy shit."

"You are literally the sappiest dragon I know. And that's even more than Spike." The changeling says with an endearing smile.

"Yeah sure, you believe that if you want to." Ocellus wraps herself around Smolder from behind, leaving the dragon to become even more flustered. "THAT WASN'T A PERMISSION SLIP TO EMBARASS ME LIKE THIS, OLLA!"

"Aw, I love you too, babe!"

Smolder's face grows redder as she starts to mutter to the mare behind her. "You keep this up, I am going to make you regret it when we get home."

"Careful, that might be what I'm going for." Ocellus warns.

"You're the worst." She grunts under her breath.

While everyone's attention is on the couple, Sweetie Belle's attention is brought to the circumstances of the dragon not present in the room. "Wait, so what happened with Spike!? Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Ocellus answers. "He's back at home, doing whatever dragon things he's doing right now."

Forty... forty-one... forty-two... forty-three...

My eyes are closed as I quietly keep myself sunken to the bottom of my pool. All I think on at this moment is the words of that damn unicorn that got the brakes beaten off of him by Mrs. Kalimba. He said we dragons are inherently water creatures by nature. Now I'm curious, if I'm a water creature by design, I should be able to breathe underwater. But that doesn't seem to be a good idea with the sodium composites in my trachea. I'm sure my neck would probably spontaneously combust, maybe even explode and take my head off. My instincts sure do tell me that much. Or maybe I'm overthinking it, since moisture is an automatic trait when we breathe out. Perhaps there is some shielding for when we do go in the water. I wonder...

....NOPE! NOPE! OUT OF THE WATER! NOW!

I surface back to the water, coughing uncontrollably as I come to the common sense answer of one truth. No shit I can't breathe underwater, no shit I can't dragon underwater, therefore I cannot live underwater. But as the winner of my lovely contest of fuck around, I get to find out. And me finding out means I get to hawk up as much water that has settled into my lungs. We love to see it, we love to feel it.

Actually, no we don't love to feel it because this shit hurts. "Okay *cough* I think... I had enough of being stupid and bored for one day."

I meander back to the den, turning on my television to see what is going on. Apparently Blue installed some unusual device called a 'Tubi' and now there's a bunch of stuff for me to watch, including some news from the human world. I flip on the channel to see what's all going on with the human side of things.

"Today, another mass shooting in the nation, punctuating a rise of─" Okay, that's pretty damn bleak. Let's see what's on the next one. "The war in Ukraine, hailed as a 'special military operation' by Russian officials, reach a fevered pitch in the lands around Kyiv. Hundreds of civilian lives are estimated─" Okay, maybe something else. "Gas prices will soon be taking a rising toll on consumers. Economists say that this will lead to a strain in the finances of Americans nationwide. Joining us today is Wall-Street columist─" Okay, that's just boring. Let's see what's going on with Equestrian TV. "Count DuMoneé, Damper Trot, Somber Spiral, those are but three of the senators whose names are all deeply involved with that of the Canterlot underworld formally known as 'Canterrot'. Were they ambitious players in the underground syndicate who's greed took them over the edge, or were they misunderstood victims of their own vices? Today we dive into the darker parts of the Equestrian Parliament, uncovering secrets that no other has yet to reveal to the public... until today. I'm Featherweight reporting on tonight's story, and this is The Hard Look."

Naturally, Equestrian broadcasting hasn't quite hit a stride like many thought it would back when transmission of radio waves was discovered to be able to transmit visual signals. Unfortunately, with many looking to entertain themselves with the already established medium of human entertainment, market for domestic programming readily goes unnoticed. But this one channel, channel 3 of the local feed, transmits a much hazier signal to the few televisions that's able to receive the channel. In truth, it's a fairly good channel, but it's just buried under the competition of the human media.

Naturally, it's not exactly well-made to the standard that many would like to see, but it's a channel for ponies, by ponies, who want to establish some of our own media to the masses. It's not particularly interesting until the hours when no one's really at home, basically taking the same time slot as what most humans would consider to be the soap opera hours of the day. "An educator is often seen to be a paragon of guidance and instruction in the community. As such, a good educator can win over the minds of foals and parents alike. Developing a team of these well-trained or well-tenured instructors will yield more than just optimal results. But for one educator, their status in an esteemed educational facility would prove to be an early look into their depravity, but most importantly their downfall into the world of Canterrot."

A black-and-white photo of the former senator Count DuMoneé flashes on the screen with the title 'Malicious Malpractice' underlined with a red bar.

"Getting his career start in the field of magic and magic education, Senator Count DuMoneé was formerly known at the time as Count Penance, a preliminary magic instructor for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. His colleagues at the time praised him for his contributions to the field of magic development." An elderly unicorn mare shows up on the screen to give her testimony. "He was a wonderful instructor in his field, a good colleague who knew how to put his head down and press the issues to find what it was that hampered the development of young students. No one could call his methods ineffective." The voice comes back over to tell the story. "No one, not even the parents of the students who were seen as risks of being left behind, detained a grade, or even removed for lack of skill. Students had to maintain along with their colleagues, or risk remedial resignation. However, his methods would often yield questions for their strange rate of efficiency, not many younger unicorns can just suddenly know how to maintain magic control at an early age so quickly." The elderly mare shows back up again. "We all started to ask him how did he do it, where does he find the resources, what was the way he could make them learn so quickly. And even up to his final days in the school, he would always say, jokingly mind you, 'Well that's my secret to know, and I'm sure many wouldn't me to say that, but some secrets are better kept unsaid. It is magic after all'."

Count Penance... I remember that name all too well. In fact, I think I had to tell both Twilight and Moondancer at one point who and what that guy turned into. I remembered that Moondancer was pretty surprised by the revelation, while Twilight looked absolutely crushed. That same 'kind and notable' instructor had turned into a conniving, cruel politician. I always wondered what made the guy into what he was, seems this will have some answers... Now that I think about it, it'll also clue me in on what happened with Ms. Blue, being his daughter and whatnot.

"Count Penance, going by his instructor's name, was also a personal tutor, one who would use his obscene methods to coax a young unicorn into getting the optimal results. However, a shadow started to loom over his practices. And one event would truly disclose all of that." The older mare shows up on the screen again. "It's been said that he's taken a preferential look at which students he'd look to tutor. But since most of the student population were mares anyhow, that's who he'd tutor the most. And to my recollection, very few students would ever say what it was he did to get them to better use their magic. However, it took one student to reveal it all... by forgetting everything about the previous day." The narrator comes back on. "Count had a much darker secret, one that he knew would jeopardize not only his position at the school, but the administrators and the school itself. And upon discovering this secret, his wife, a billionaire real estate mogul, committed suicide. The motive for her decision: she discovered him sexually assaulting one of his younger students in his study." The older mare reappears. "We were all shocked when we heard about what happened. Then when we found out why it happened, we were even more shocked, mortified even. We didn't know how long this had been going on and how bad it really was. But I especially felt bad for not only the foals who were abused, but also the kids he had back home who had to be shuffled elsewhere, because the family on their mother's side saw him as a risk to their health and development."

Holy fuck... I didn't even know about that part.

*THUD*

I startle at the sound of something that sounded like it came from above me. I drown out the words of the television as I cautiously creep back out to my pool patio. I open one of the glass doors leading out to the balcony, seeing a few ponies below pointing up at my house. I say hello to the figures down below, who point out that there's a griffon on my house again. I quickly fly up to find the guy from earlier sitting on my roof.

Last encounter I was a little more lenient, but this time I'm going to be more assertive. "Hey!" The griffon pays me no mind. I fly up to him and give him a stern talking to. "Yo, I know we just had this conversation a few hours ago. Why the FUCK are you on my house again?"

"I told you already, your house is the highest point for some blocks. I need the vantage point."

"To find who exactly?" I ask firmly, holding myself back from getting too angry with the creature.

"It's nothing for you to be concerned over, sir." He answers back. "Once I find who I'm looking for, I'll vacate the roof and go about my day."

"You don't need to be here. Period." I warn him.

He looks back at me with a smirk. "Sir, I'm a griffon on a mission of love. I understand my position must inconvenience you, but I simply do what I must to repair my strained relationship."

"You ever thought that the things you do could only strain your relationship even further?" I question the creature.

"I do understand that my situation must confuse you to a degree. Perhaps you dragons misunderstand the complex and more nuanced emotions associated with love. I understand, your kind tends to not have a lot of attachment to anything other than your worldly possessions." Okay, who the fuck crawled up his ass and made him this high and entitled? "But I am on a journey of redemption, passion, and most importantly, long-term stability."

Guess I have to push my assertiveness just a tad bit. "Sir, the only long-term stability you might have to worry about is the stability of your bone structure in the next five minutes. I highly suggest you vacate my roof before I have to commence to issuing a firm disclosure."

The griffon smiles back at me, seeming not to care about what I've just said. "Ah, a turn to carnage. Nevertheless, I must say that I wish not to be violent. Such a response would be so Griffonstone of me. And I know I don't want to revert to that kind of living."

Okay, maybe I should really emphasize my point. "PLEASE. Remove yourself. From my home."

He tilts his head before giving me an answer. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I'll remove myself accordingly, but I'll ask you to be patient with me. This conversation is quite a distraction and I am not able to find who it is I'm looking for if I'm to be distracted."

This time I pull out my phone and go through a number of files, finally pulling out a set of notes in bold capital letters. I clear my throat and give my warning once more in a more state-sanctioned form. "I..." Insert name of representative and title, "Spike the Dragon, chief dignitary, and Friendship Advisor to Her Royal Majesty Twilight Violet Sparkle of the realm, hereby disclose my limitations of conflict. As you are a species protected by the Equestrian Alliance Guidelines, I shall not breathe fire upon you, nor shall I bear my fangs upon your flesh, I shall also bear no claws down upon you for risk of permanent mutila─"

He jumps into my face with excitement. "WAIT, YOU'RE THE ROYAL FRIENDSHIP ADVISOR TO THE PRINCESS!!?"

I freeze in place as I start to feel uncomfortable with his beak being in what's often seen as kissing distance. "Uh... yeah."

"Holy crap! I can't believe I landed on the house of the Royal Friendship Advisor!" He screeches. "Wow! I can't believe this! This is gonna be a huge scoop!"

"A huge what-now?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The fact that he's hovering in the air right now should be a relief, but something tells me that I shouldn't be too thrilled that he's finally got his ass off my thatched roof. "I didn't even put two-and-two together! I just thought you were some run-of-the-mill dragon that just, you know, like to be cranky and stuff! But now I know I can always come here whenever I want a scoop on what's going on in the royal echelon! This is great!"

"Uh... when you say scoop─"

He shoves a badge in my face, it reads 'The Ponyville Pauper'. "I'm a fully-recognized member of the local press! I just graduated from the School of Friendship a few years ago! I know it's been three years since I was enrolled, and probably even longer since the princess herself lead the school to what it is today, but now I get to have an inside scoop to the princess herself! My articles are going. TO SELL!"

Great... he's the press. So much for my privacy. "Uh─"

"Galefor Griff! And I love to talk about the royal family!" Yeah, this is a problem. "Oh my gosh! You, have got to tell me, about the princess. Any news about her or some of the other members of the old regime, you gotta give me a little something, that's what the ponies are starving for!"

"Uh... Can't I just give a little nugget of the human world so I can enjoy my day in peace?" I plead.

He brushes up against me, driving an eye towards me. "What do you know about the human world that we don't?"

Let me see if I can strum something up so he can get out of my face. "Well, they apparently have a road network that's nothing like ours. Theirs can tower up and cross over and give all kinds of weird accesses to travelers around the area. Like for example, say you have a road running from here to Canterlot, but that road can either dump you off there or take you directly to someplace like Manehattan, or say you want to go from Ponyville to Las Pegasus. You can make the trip and not have to wait for a switch at the train junction. You just head straight through there, passing by Canterlot and going straight west. It's like having rails stacked on top of rails, and you don't stop until you need to."

"Interesting." He mumbles. "Do you know if the princess would be willing to implement a system like that here in Equestria?"

"Sadly, I can't see that happening sometime soon because we don't have the vehicles needed for a system that complex. Over there, everyone has their own draw-less carriage, it's all motorized. You get on the road and go. We're at least a few years out from that, if not a decade."

"Wow, what an introspective look into our infrastructure compared to their world. I don't think there's any article highlighting that outside of anything to do with the world-famous Corrotto District." He mutters as he jotting something down in his notepad. He slams it shut with stars in his eyes. "GOT IT! My first serious scoop! The world will really be a new place once they figure out that we can have systems like this! I gotta type this bad boy up so I can run it to the papers!" He quickly grabs my claw with both of his, shaking violently with great enthusiasm. "Thank you so much, sir! I can't wait until I get more stuff out of you! See you again, looking forward to it!"

He darts off with the speed of an overtly-excited child wanting to tell his friends about his new birthday gift. Meanwhile I go back inside and see that the segment on the show has changed over to some guy by the name of Somber Spiral. I know he's a victim of the situation from some years ago, but I find that I don't have much of an interest in this guy. So I change the channel to one of the other programs. An animated show comes on with one guy screaming before his hair turns from black to blond. A crater deepens from where he stands. Before long, he charges into his opponent and throws a series of punches at him.

"Cool, action. I wonder what this one's all about."

I've gone into a bit of a rabbit hole throughout the day. What was once me trying to get some guy off of my ceiling and getting some much-needed rest in between, has now turned into me binging episode after episode of this one particular show where mountains get blown up, blasted through, or crumble at the might of whoever's getting their face beaten through it at the moment. It's addicting mindless fun that doesn't make too much sense, but the action and the way the characters just find ridiculous ways to outpower each other is just downright entertaining.

I don't even notice the time, I'm just binging because of the action. It takes my doorbell to bring me back to the present. The ones who show up first are both Smolder and Ocellus. They don't even think about what I'm interested in for the time being, they just want to separate themselves and sit in the silence so they can detune from the daily rush of being over a bunch of adolescent teens talking, fussing, fighting, getting intimate, and grading papers. They retire to my room before I can even ask them about their day, seems they've had a rough going. I should probably cook them a little something to cheer them up.

Yeah, it's five in the afternoon, I should probably get that going.

I go through the contents of my cookbook, seeing what ideas pop out at me to make the girls' day a bit better after a rough out. I suppose something on the sweet side should do it, maybe something a bit junky but also fun. Hmmm... Perhaps nachos and cherry crunch cobbler. Tasty and junky, with a desert that's a good combination of fruity and nutty. I know they'll appreciate that, especially Ocellus and her sweet tooth.

I start prepping the kitchen for what I'm about to put together, going in the fridge to pull out what all I'm going to use. But as I set the temperature for the oven to preheat on, I get another notification for my front door. I already do the math of who it is, and sure enough, she shows up with a shaky smile on her face. "Hey Spike."

"Hey there, come on in." I make way for her to enter the foyer before trailing back to the kitchen. "Didn't know you'd be running this late today, the other girls already made it in. Sorry I didn't set up the game, I know you probably don't feel like it today. How was work?"

She shows some disappointment over my admission of the game board being unprepared. "It was okay, I guess. Guess we'll do some game stuff next time then."

"Yeah." I say as I put the ingredients for the nachos into the oven. As I make my way over to the counter where my cherry crunch cobbler is, I comment to the griffon. "So... You never told me Galefor was a paparazzo."

"How'd you find that out?" She asks.

"He got on the roof again."

"Oh my gosh." She immediately plants her face into the palms of her talons.

"He's not here anymore. He's busy writing some paper based on infrastructure, I fed him some shit about the human world and their roads, he's going to probably be at it for a bit."

"Oh, thank goodness." She sighs in relief.

"He's gonna come back tomorrow."

That relief is very short-lived. "WHY!?"

"Because he knows I'm the Royal Friendship Advisor, and apparently he wants to know more about the royal family, both active and retired."

She bypasses her palms and go for the table instead. "Ugh..."

"You need to speak with him tomorrow anyways." I urge to her.

"Do I have to?" She pouts.

After I place my cobbler in the freezer to congeal, I answer her question. "Yes, you do. Talking to him is the way to get all of this to end. If you don't talk things through with him, he's not going to understand why you're seeking other avenues, much less you living under my roof."

The griffon grumbles as she lifts her eyes momentarily. "He's not gonna let me leave him."

"Gabby, you have to be firm on this. If you don't want to separate yourself from him, I understand."

She jumps up at the moment I say that, seeming to want to take a lunge away from the situation. "Okay."

I quickly add in one more provision before she can leave the room. "But that only leaves five days for you to be here."

She nearly topples over from the sudden ultimatum. "Come on, Spike! Why can't I just stay here?"

"Because you would've made the choice to keep things going with him, and I'm not going to stir up the wrath of a member of the local press. That's suicide." I explain.

"Spike, please─"

I start to be a little firm with her. "Don't beg me for nothing. You have to be up front. I can only go with you, I cannot speak for you."

She pauses for a moment before walking over to me, trying to pull me in for a hug. "Can't we just─"

"Just what?" I say while keeping her at an arm's length.

She takes to the air, grabbing my arm and putting it on her chest. "Can't we just... move on?"

"Gabby, we can't do that until you make this decision for yourself." I politely stress to her.

She rolls her eyes. "I don't wanna hurt him."

"Too late now." I bluntly point out. "He's hurt from you texting me, I'm hurt from coming by on short notice to scoop you up. You hurt both of us by playing around like this. You can't continue to have it both ways."

She gets in closer with me, pleading in a whisper. "I promise I'll make a decision tomorrow."

"Tonight." I correct her, wanting to make sure she doesn't renege on her decision. "And you have to be sold on it."

"Alright, I'll─"

"Another thing." I place a claw on her beak, silencing her momentarily. "If I don't hear your answer by ten tonight, I'll already make plans to assume you'll be moving back in with him." She gives a sigh as I continue on. "That means no more game nights, no hugs, no texts, no kissing, none of that."

As pouty as she is, she doesn't spare a moment to give her answer once she hears how far my ultimatum goes. "Fine, I'll tell him tomorrow that we're done. Like I know I've been done with him for a while now, but I just don't want to deal with him."

"So that your final answer?" I reiterate.

"Final answer, yes!"

"I don't want you to flake out and hesitate on tomorrow." I warn her.

"I understand." She groans.

"Okay then." I say as I go back to the oven to pull out the nachos for everyone to eat. "Now let me fix you a plate, nachos just got done."

As I start to pull out the plates for the food, she tries to hug me from behind, mewling in my ear. "So you really not gonna kiss me after a long day at work?"

"I'll wait to give you that after you have your talk tomorrow."

She rolls her eyes and pushes off of me. "Ugh! So mean!"

"I'm not mean, I'm being firm. Now dig in."

The dinner proves to be a relative success, especially as I brought out the desert. Ocellus shows great appreciation for my hard work by hoarding the entire pan and disappearing upstairs with it. She doesn't even touch her nachos, but Smolder is more than happy to oblige. Gabby's a bit upset that she didn't get a slice of the cobbler, so I have to make her a personalized one and give that to her in the middle of the night while Ocellus isn't paying attention. And after I give her the little make-up desert, I swear that her eyes could light up the dimly lit hallway with the way she brims for my food.

I go to sleep with her on my mind over that moment. I'll admit that she's been seeding up my thoughts over the two currently nestled under my arms. I suppose it's the familiarity of our bond that's making me this attached, but I should try to be a little fairer about the circumstances. I guess we'll see how it runs throughout the week, but I don't think Friday can come soon enough.

Morning breaks and the others finally get to their usual routine. Ocellus doesn't have to kick the both of us out of the bed this go around, Smolder even beats her to the punch. Gabby greets me quietly, finishing up with her breakfast and immediately taking off for work. The other two get their smooches in and they also leave for their work. Once more, I'm left to an empty house with nothing productive to do. Not that I'm gonna complain, I'm just gonna go back to watching those shows I found yesterday.

Today's show is a bit of a different plot. Apparently there's some human kid who watches as this large looming giant kicks a wall in and let a bunch of smaller giants in. One of those giants eat his mom while he's running away. And shortly after, he swears vengeance on them. I watch the entire training arc, he becomes a soldier, top-ten in his class even. But as he starts to get confident in his abilities, the giant shows up and unleashes hell on the wall keeping the other giants out. At this point, I'm on the edge of my seat. Then comes one scene where the main hero rolls out into battle, only to get seriously injured by a random giant.

*THUD*

I instinctively pause my show, wondering if something had just landed on the roof. While my mind is still grossly immersed in the show's happenings, it dawns on me that I'm expecting a certain feathery visitor to pop up on today. I quietly sneak to the patio, peering up to the roof to see the griffon not even peering out into the streets, but tapping his hind leg waiting on me to show up.

I get back to the recesses of my balcony, shooting over a confirmation message to Gabby. "Okay, he's here again."

It takes a considerable amount of time before she shoots back a message. Now it seems like she's truly avoiding the conversation, not wanting anything to take place. It's a whole forty minutes later, and now the griffon is intentionally batting around my rooftop, seems he's doing whatever he can to get my attention. I'm so tempted to go up there and correct him on his persistence, but I finally get a message from Gabby. "You promised to be here." She's hesitant, but at least she seems to be putting the effort into fulfilling her obligations.

Though I wonder where she intends to meet with Galefor. "Where are you right now?"

"In the bushes like last time. I see him up there stomping around." She answers. "Are you sure you'll be here?"

I walk out to my balcony, looking down to the street below. I see her tail barely poking out from in the bushes across the street. I lift my arm to signal her after my message. "Do you see me waving?"

The bush shifts and a pair of sapphire eyes peer out as she confirms by waving back at me. She sends me another message. "So are we going to meet him together?"

"I'm here." I message back. "Now go up there and talk to him. If anything happens, I'll come up there and diffuse the situation. I'm not going to leave you hanging."

"You promise?" She asks.

"I promise."

She seems to gather herself up as she steps out of the bushes. Once she gets a hold of her nerves, she leaps to the air and fly past me, hovering to the rooftop above. Galefor doesn't spare a second before calling for her with extreme enthusiasm. "GABRIELLA!"

I hear the pitter patter of him hazardously running down the slope of my roof before I hear Gabby struggle a bit to breathe. It sounds like she's getting quite the hug. "Hey... Galefor."

The griffon male goes on to shower her with his brand of affection. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I was so worried about you! Are you okay, do you need anything to eat, do you need me to buy you any─"

She silences him before he can continue. "Galefor..."

He sounds concerned for her sudden tone drop. "Gabriella, what is it?"

She stays quiet for a while, the two just look at each other until she looks away. "...I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He asks in a cheerful manner. "I understand that you may need some space, and─"

"I don't need space." She clarifies with hardly an ounce of enthusiasm. "I need to stop this. I can't... It's... it's me."

"I don't understand." From his tone of voice, it seems like it hasn't clicked that she's breaking off from him. Instead, it sounds like he's still being optimistic. "I mean if it's something you feel like it's your fault, we can talk through it. I don't mind─"

"Galefor!" She hollers out, definitively reaching for his attention. "I'm done. I'm done pretending. I'm done with trying to make things make sense. I'm done trying to make someone happy... even when I know that nothing that they do relates to me, nor I to them."

"When you say 'them'..." It starts to finally click for the griffon male. What was once a dense question about to leave his lips soon turn into a realization and an expression of shock. "Oh... Gabriella─"

"That's another thing!" She screams back at him. "Seriously, I know what my name is! Sometimes I want to be called something other than Gabriella! I told you for months to call me Gabby, but did you ever do that!? I could easily say that I don't really like being cooped up in the apartment with you doing nothing, but I respect your wish to not be out in the social! And when I say I'm not in the mood for something, you don't listen too well on it! Naturally I just let you do you, but I don't feel anything good when it's all said and done! I'm tired of feeling like I'm going through the motions when I say 'I love you too'. Don't you want something that's real for a change!?"

As Gabby unloads on the unsuspecting griffon, he sheepishly chirps back a whimper. "But I thought─"

"No, we weren't! The only reason why I..." She stops herself from going any further, probably looking to spare his feelings outside of the bitter truths she just confessed to. "Galefor, I'm done. I want to live like Gabby, not cooped up in some drywall cage as Gabriella Griffonda. I'm tired of living in a make-shift jail going through a loveless relationship, pretending to reciprocate feelings just because of my own sense of pity and obligation. I can't do this anymore, and I'm not going to put you through this anymore either. So please don't ask me to pretend, don't you even start to pretend you're okay with me pretending that this is going to work."

"Gabri..." He chokes back on saying her name, his voice sounds shaken. I can only imagine the grief that's starting to manifest. "So... You've been wanting out for a while, huh?"

She sadly expresses her truth to him. "Months, I mean I've mentally checked out months ago. Now I feel like I'm ready to move on to something that's... familiar."

He tries to sound a little more upset, but the anger is more swallowed by defeat. "So BF is─"

"Literally my best friend... and also my ex." She finally admits. "And I know I told you about the one from Griffonstone, but this is the one before that. The one I said that never gave me attention or time because of his job."

"And now he has time, of all times to have it, now he has the time? He has so much time that now you've..." He gives a heartbroken sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm not good enough for you. I thought the time I had for you was good enough, but... I was wrong."

She tries to offer words of comfort, sounding just as emotionally pained as he is. "You're better than what I'm worth, especially after all of this. I wish I could tell you to not close yourself off after this, but I can't say I have any grounds to tell you to do that. I'm going back to old comforts, and you'll be alone again. I know it hurts... I'm sorry."

Galefor's voice has broken finally, I can imagine he's not too stable right now. I get a firm grasp of the balcony railing just in case he goes into a desperate mode. But he asks probably one of the most bittersweet questions in response to this heartbreak. "Well... we can still be friends, right?"

She breaks for a moment, her heart also going through it's own ache. "I can't. I'm sorry."

"...I just want want to be here for you, like we've always been." He mutters.

"I'm sorry, I just can't─"

"I just want to be good to you! I'm at least trying to be good to you, in spite of the pain! I've always been good to you! I've provided for you, I've let you in, I've covered for you, I even stood up for you! Now you're telling me that you've been seeing other creatures, like I haven't been reading those messages you've sent during our times together! Like why, why, WHY YOU DO ME LIKE THIS, GABRIELLA!?" He screams, unleashing his pain at last. "IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS! TWO YEARS AND YOU JUST DROP ME LIKE I DON'T MATTER!" He unleashes a painful shout into the town before darting off into the sky, flying as fast as he can to wherever he came from.

As he disappears into the distance. Gabby slinks back down to the balcony, her face is a tear-stricken mess. I walk over to hug her. "You okay?"

"DO I LOOK OKAY!?" She screams at me before whimpering into a ball, expressing her guilt and hurt over seeing Galefor take off like he did. "Why did I do this... I should've... I should've sent a stupid text. I wouldn't feel this bad."

I hug on her, looking to comfort her in whatever way she needs. But I also remember that she's wearing her uniform, she's supposed to be on shift. I grimace in thought, knowing that she shouldn't be exerting herself after this. So I pick her up and lay her on my couch in the den, starting the show over from the first episode. I lay a blanket over her, give her some pillows to nuzzle into, and I take up her badge. "Where's your map for your route? I'll run it for you today."

"It's in my bag, they're still in the bushes." She tearfully replies.

"You're done for today. If you want tomorrow off, let me know so I can work some things out for you. Take all the time you need. Just let me make it right." As I leave the room, I hear Gabby start to sob. I pause, wanting to comfort her further, but I also acknowledge that her mail has to get delivered.

So I go to the bushes, work past the thorns and grab her bags. I take a gander at the map with her route highlighted in red. I look at the addresses in the bag, seeing them issued in order of the numerical value of their address. The first address I see is 1201 Woodburn Place. I look up the street on the map and set my sights for there. The bags are heavy, but not overwhelmingly so by my standards. However, the weight proves to be a significant issue for pegasi in general. Even the strongest fliers wouldn't dare to carry a load like this in one go, but Gabby soldiers on like it doesn't even matter.

Yeah, she does not need to be carrying this much weight today. She's already under a lot as it is.