Opening his eyes, Louis let out a groan as he saw something bobbing up and down under the bedsheets.

Damn, forgot Delilahs an early bird. Never understood how the woman gets so worked up in the mornings. He thought as the bobbing lump kept its pendulum like pace.

Questioning, but not complaining about the stress relief he was getting at the moment, the Butcher leaned over and grabbed his cleaver off of the desk next to Delilahs bed, tracing his hands across the markings that were now etched into the knife.

I wonder if I'll get any new animals today...if not, that spring brat is locked up in the basement still, and it would be wrong of me to not pay her a visit.

Tensing up as the changeling reached the climax of her efforts, Louis pulled the covers off and looked Delilah over in her post-blow glory.

"Did ya get your fill, partner?" The man asked, getting a slurp from the changeling as she drained what was left from him, making the Butcher hiss out a pleasured cry in response to sudden action.

"Of course I did!" Delilah answered, releasing Louis from her maw with a loud pop. "Gotta make sure I'm all filled before heading out to the rich district, gonna need that love buzz to deal with those snobs."

Letting the changeling roll off of him, Louis got up and entered Delilahs bathroom through a blue door a couple feet from the bed.

Entering the rather plain bathroom, which only had two sinks, a toilet behind a door, and a shower that was beside a closet, Louis grabbed a towel off of the side of the counter and wiped himself clean with it, throwing it in a basket that was nearby.

"Damn, she got nippy last night too?" The man grumbled as he leaned into the mirror that stood over the sinks, looking over the bite marks that trailed all the way across his exposed body, literally from neck to toe. "She better not have pumped any of that changeling magic shit in me."

Shaking his head, the man relieved himself in the latrine before heading back into the bedroom, finding no trace of his companion but instead finding his regular clothes alongside a scrawled out note.

Donning a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt, Louis looked over the note as he made his way out of the bedroom and down the hall, making sure to grab his cleaver on the way out.

Hey, Stud!

Sorry to dine and dash, but its a bit later than I had thought (I was supposed to be gone an hour ago, whoops!) so I had to dip out before saying goodbye. Report to the boss whenever your ready to head out and he'll give you the grant needed to get the inside job at the school.

Remember, complete this, and we're one step closer to reviving our moon goddess in her full glory!

~No Pressure, Your lovebug.

Crumbling up the note and throwing it behind him as he made his way to the main room of the hideout, the Butcher couldn't help but chuckle at the antics of his friend.

"I swear, she's gonna be the death of me one day." Louis whispered as he walked past the changeling guards and teleported to the basement, making his way over to the cell holding the filly inside with a smile.

"Rise and shine, Spring!" Louis sang out joyfully as he clanked his cleaver against the bars of the cell, causing the lump of fur in the corner to begin to shake as a tear stricken face turned towards him. "Aw, there's a good pony."

Taking the keys off of their handle, Louis unlocked the door and walked over the the filly, looking down on the stained shirt he had wrapped her in the night prior before heading to Delilahs quarters.

"Damn, how are the roaches supposed to eat if your all bundled up like that, huh?" He asked her as he squatted down to the filly, his face inches from hers as the Butchers smile grew wider.

"T-T-They C-Caaaaaaa-" The filly started to say, but began to bawl as she curled up and rocked back and forth inside the shirt.

Sighing, the man stood up and walked into his kitchen, grabbing his boots and a pair of socks and putting them on before returning back to the filly, who had only gotten louder with her crying.

Delivering a swift kick to the foals ribs with his steel toes, the man exited the cage and locked it up, shaking his head at the miserable mess of an animal in front of him.

"And I've got to go to a school full of these fucking pests? This had better be worth it, or I swear..."

Letting the threat drop unfinished, Louis turned from the cage and walked down the hall towards the exit.

Oh well...could be worse I guess. Besides, its not like anyone at that schools gonna stop me from doing the job anyway.

{At Manehatten Intermediate School, about two hours later.}

"Heeeey! Long time no see, Babs!" A lime green pegasus colt exclaimed happily as he closed his locker turning to his neighbor as she flashed him a smile.

"Tell me about it. Why'd you leave town for the summer again, Fall Back?"

Chuckling nervously, the colt looked around before returning his lavender eyes to the earth filly in front of him.

"My mom finally married that unicorn I told you about, the one she had been dating for most of my foalhood?" At Babs nod he continued. "Well, he proposed, and they celebrated the following yes by heading to canterlot...with me and my sister in tow."

Moving a tuft of licorice colored hair out of her face, the filly could barely keep from squeeing in joy as they began to walk down the hallway, passing by several bulkier colts as they engaged in a shoving match with the chess teams magic shield bubbles.

"Get out from behind there and fight like a real stallion, Einstein!" The lead one barked as the tallest of the chess crew smirked.

"Only if you back off, lest I be forced to E=MC square you away right here, right now." The nerd popped off as the two kids picked up their pace to get away from the two groups.

"Yeesh, they both need a chill pill." Fall Back snorted out, causing Babs seed to nearly face-plant from laughing.

"I've never seen such idiots...except for one time when I visited my cousin." Babs stated as she shuddered slightly, remembering that day she had first visited Applebloom and her friends.

Dark times.

Shaking off those memories, Babs calmed herself down and returned her gaze to her friend, who was currently trying to give his mane a pompadour look with his wings.

"Say, how's Spring been doing anyhow? I haven't seen her today."

Suprisingly, the happy expression and the chill vibe he had vanished immediately, the lime green colt stopping in his tracks as a flash of worry graced his face.

"What's wrong?" Babs asked her friend, now beginning to worry herself. Fall Back almost never looked worried, let alone THIS out out of shape.

"It's about Spring...She's missing."

"MISSING?!?" Babs exclaimed in shock before getting a hoof in her muzzle.

"Shhh! It's not something to be screaming about, dang it!" Fall Back snapped before removing his hoof from her face and looking at the floor. "It's so weird, she was at home the entire day. About halfway through the afternoon she decided to go out into the apartment hallway and get the mail from outside, but then she never came back in."

"But ponies dont just disappear, Fall! Somepony had to have seen or heard something!" Babs Seed argued, getting a head shake from her friend as he blinked back tears.

"Every tenant and nearby ponies on the street say no fillies of that description were seen leaving the complex, and no one even saw her exit the apartment. It's like she was snatched away by the shadows themselves." Sighing to himself, the colt returned his gaze to Babs. "I'm scared, Babs. What if whatever got my sister has been hurting her? She's not even six years old, what if she doesn't come back?!?"

Reaching forward, Babs Seed bonked the colt on his head, snapping him out of his panicking state and returning his attention to her.

"Cut that out! Worrying yourself to an early grave ain't gonna help anypony!" Babs Seed told Fall Back as her ears pinned against her head. "I'm sorry to hear about your sister...maybe after school we can round up some other ponies and begin a search party!"

Smiling slightly, Fall Back sniffled and nodded his head as the two foals continued their way through the hallway.

"Um...not to sound silly or anything, but where are we going again? I maaaay have forgotten, heh heh." Fall Back laughed hesititanly, earning a face-hoof from Babs.

"To the gym for the student meeting, silly. The principal hired on some new staff for the year and wants to familiarize us with them." Babs explained before cringing. "That, and he probably found another pair of ponies in the bathroom making out again and wants to gripe about it for an hour."

That sparked a chuckle from the two as they turned a corner and entered through two large red doors, allowing them entry into one of the biggest rooms on campus.

The gymnasium had always been a place of refuge for Babs. Thanks to her earth blood, she was one of the best runners in the school and even had a couple of medals on display at home for it. While she was unable to sit still in classrooms (Causing her to not only fidget a bunch but to gain the ire of her classmates for doing so...earning her a dose of bullying for it), she was a free pony at Physical Ed.

For Fall Back, it was a similar story...for different reasons. While he was good at running and constant flying drills let his stamina shoot through the roof, most of the time he preferred to sit back and watch the track team pass by as they did their laps.

Also, it didn't hurt that Babs was one of those said runners. What could the pegasus do? Earth ponies got it going ON!

"Cmon! Let's go find a seat!" Babs said, pulling Fall Back out of his daydreaming as she guided him through the sea of colts and fillies with her hoof wrapped around his right wing.

Coming to a stop near the middle area of one of the bleachers, Babs Seed and a slightly blushing Fall Back took their seats and turned their attention to old unicorn who had made his way to the middle of the gymnasium.

With a small spark and a soft yellow glow around his throat, the silver-furred stallion began to speak.

"Fillies and Gentle colts, it is my honor to welcome all of you back to another great year at Manehatten Intermediate School!" The stallion proclaimed joyfully as the spell around his throat made his voice echo around the gym. "I hope each and every one of you enjoyed your summer breaks to their fullest!"

Adjusting the tie on his green suit, the principal continued his speech while several of the older students got comfortable, knowing how their principal got during these events.

"Now, over the past few years there has been a spike in the amount of students to enroll at our school, which is great news! And to help each and every one of you get the most of your time here, I was required to hire on some new teachers and staff to make sure your learning experience stays at its peak."

Turning to the doors on the other side of the gym, the principal nodded his head as the doors swung open, letting several different kinds of ponies through.

A couple of them looked like your everyday teachers, a few earth pony stallions with slicked back hair and some pegasi and unicorn mares with eighties hairstyles...but there were also other kinds of folk too.

There was two griffons who had matching feathers and beaks, their only difference in their height where the first griffon was at least three feet taller than the other. There was an odd monkey like creature dressed in blue pants and a black shirt that Babs felt looked familiar, though she couldn't place why. And at the end of the line there was a zebra who had a blue apron on that said Stripes are the Slice of Life! on it.

With the line of staff coming to a stop behind the principal, the old unicorn turned to them and motioned to the griffons.

"First is Tweedle and Dee, two very gifted athletes from griffonia that have recently retired from hoofball. They decided to take up teaching and want to help each one of you reach your peak physically and mentally!"

Fall Back leaned over to Babs with a chuckle. "Yeah, so we're ripe for dinner."

Babs shoved him slightly, rolling her eyes at his humor.

"Buzz off, Fall. Ah don't need that silly thinking in my head right now." She snapped back, though it was hard for Babs to hide her smile.

The principal continued to drone on and on, listing off a multitude of names like Sodapop (A chemistry teacher), Louis (Newest Custodian...good luck with that job), Baul Plart (Student Resource Officer...even if he looked a little chubby on that moped thing he rode on), and so on.

However, while she was looking from staff member to staff member, Babs couldnt help but notice how angry the custodian seemed to look. It was as if he didn't even want to be there, and was only in it for the money.

Those type of adults were the worst to deal with. They ended up being the kind who snitched the most to the discipline office.

"Yo did you see that one English teacher? he had an afro, Babs! An AFRO!"

Turning to her friend once more, Babs smirked at Fall Backs silly expression and couldn't help but find her mind moving past the weirdness she felt when looking at the monkey-like thing below.

At least Fall Back looks happier now...I wonder where his sister even is? She thought as she turned her gaze back to the staff again, her eyes immediately latching onto the odd one out of the group once more.

And that guy...why does he give me the heebie jeebies?

Author's Note

Finals Week! And right after Thanksgiving too!

Hopefully, I can manage to write some more during the time I have between classes...if not, I'll just make it up over winter break.

Feel free to comment whatever you wish, as I enjoy reading what you guys think!

(Also, this chapter was more laid back since I wanted to ease into the next setting of the story. The drama and Butchery things will make a return shortly, I swear.)