Canterlot Academy Trials

Chapters

Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Chapter 158
Chapter 159
Chapter 160
Chapter 161
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164
Chapter 165
Chapter 166
Chapter 167
Chapter 168
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189
school 190
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9: The First Mission
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35: The Truth Behind Zesty Gourmand
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 39
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 54
Chapter 55: Blue Blazes vs Kuno Itami
Chapter 56
Chapter 57: Grimrose Orcus vs Thiasus von Solis
Chapter 58
Chapter 60
Chapter 61: Atomic Nebula vs Noptera the Changeling
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66: Jun Fang vs Sha'Beel
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69: Atomic Nebula vs Luster Dawn
Chapter 70
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 38
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 48
Chapter 53: The Exams Begin
Chapter 59: Moeta Bi-Ju vs Dewdrop Mistwalker
Chapter 62
Chapter 71
Chapter 80
Chapter 83

Chapter 87

While everything was going on down below, a dragon in dark onyx armor that had witnessed the situation had taken off…

Meanwhile, as if right on cue, the remainders of their team would arrive. Rufus would jump in across from Fang, and they now all had the dragoness surrounded on all sides.

“Looks like you’re outta luck,” Rufus snarked, “Best stand down now.”

“Who are you working for?” Spear asked, “And why are you selling vials of dragon blood to an Abyssinian?”

Hooktail scoffed as she spread her wings. Since none of them could fly like her, she figured it’d be easy to escape. “Hmph. I don’t have time to play with some dumb kids like you.”

As she prepared to fly off, a rope could be seen spinning around from her finger with a bladed tip.

“Hang on. We aren’t children,” Fang insisted, “We simply want to know what sort of customers you’ve been dealing wit--”

Hooktail hovered off of the ground, “Good luck with that. You’re not getting shit out of me!” And she tried to take off…

FWIP!

But as soon as she tried to leave the area, Lee flung out a rope dart that pierced one of Hooktail’s wings, preventing her from flying away. Then, Lee would pull on the rope, forcing the dragoness down to the ground where she’d be tied up in the rope as Lee placed her foot on her back.

“Rrgh!” Hooktail screeched upon hitting the dirt and finding herself tied up in rope that not even her fire could break through. “What the hell is this?!”

“Talk, serpent,” the primate commanded in a low tone, “You have no other options.”

“Fuck you!” she hissed.

As the team started to interrogate the dragoness, Uziel had been snooping through Hooktail’s shack the entire time. While there, she would find documentation that included a record of everyone she sold her wares to…as well as a seller’s permit?

“Hrm…” Uziel glared at it with suspicion as her pointed ears flopped downwards. It was entirely plausible that some of these documents could have been forged, so she made extra care to take them with her. “What else does she have in here…?”

Eventually, she’d look underneath one of the floorboards…and find some well-made plans for what seemed like a staged attack on the Dragon Lord. “...what in the hell is this?”

Back outside…

By this point, their efforts of interrogation hadn’t exactly worked the way the team had wanted. Hooktail refused to give up any further information which left them dry as far as what to do next. Lee made sure to keep her tied up so that she couldn’t escape.

However, what would happen next was enough to temporarily relieve them of their stresses.

“So my scouts did pick up suspicious activity near our borders after all,” Smolder bemoaned as she landed in front of them all with a pair of armored dragons next to her while smoking from a cigarette she held in her claw. “And it had to be goddamn Hooktail.”

“...M-Ms. Smolder!” the red dragoness nervously squealed upon seeing her leader.

“Lady Smolder,” Fang walked up to the orange dragoness, “You know this criminal?”

“Eeeeeyup,” she replied after blowing some smoke from her lips. Given that dragons were made of 10% smoke, cigarettes caused them no ill health effects for them. In fact, it was considered a stress reliever for them. And given Smolder’s position as the current Dragon Lord… “She and her brothers have been causing a pain in our asses for months. But it looks like you guys have managed to take care of her.”

“We did what we could,” Spearklip added, “We wanted to make sure we took her down without severely injuring her so we could interrogate her. Though…we haven’t had the best of luck so far.”

Smolder squatted down next to the tied-up dragoness, and blew some smoke in her face, causing the latter to flinch. “Hmph, Yeah, don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of her.”

Just then, Uziel exited the shack with a stack of documents that she handed off to Smolder. “Hey lizard lady. I found some shit on her you might wanna look at.”

Smolder took hold of the documents, and did a double take once she realized a goblin had handed them off to her. “...well that’s something you don’t see every day,” she commented before skimming through the documents. “...gooddamn. You must be some kinda crazy to think this would work, Hooktail.” She scoffed while teasingly waving the documents back and forth in her claw, “Do your brothers even know about this?”

“...” Hooktail fell silent, turning away from Smolder. It seemed as if the Dragon Lord’s presence had caused her to clam up. However, since she was in her most vulnerable state, she’d mumble something, “...dojo at the edge of the border…”

“Figures,” Smolder muttered while shaking her head. She handed the documents off to the black-armored dragon on her left, and snapped her claw-fingers. The armored dragon on her right immediately grabbed up the restrained Hooktail as she lit up another cigarette with her flame breath.But what she was tied up in caught her attention, “...huh. What’s this material made of?”

Lee would speak up, “Wukong Rope. Strong enough to restrain even the gods themselves. Don’t worry, I’ve got more.”

“...Impressive,” Smolder muttered as she rugged at the rope, and prepared to take off with her guards. “We’ll be sending you kiddos a reward back at Canterlot fairly soon. Thanks for your help.”

As the Dragon Lord left with her guards and the criminal, Rufus was simply gazing in pure amazement.

“Yooooo…we just met the damn Dragon Lord, guys! The actual Dragon Lord!” the yak squealed.

“Wasn’t a very big deal,” Spear added with a shrug of her shoulders, “She seemed as if she wanted to be treated casually. The smoking was a bit of a surprise, but makes sense given that she’s a dragon.”

“In any case, I think this solves one part of our problem,” Fang brought the conversation back to their objective, “We’ve successfully cut off Odu’s source of stimulants. Now we just need to deal with the tiger man himself.” He paused, then glanced at the goblin, “Smart of you to check out her building, Ms. Uzi. Thank you.”

Uziel cracked her knuckles with a toothy, shark-like grin. “No problem. I’m just ready to start kickin’ some more cat ass so we can go back living in peace. Anyone catch what that dragon hoe said before she took off?”

“...I believe it was something about a dojo,” Lee added, “Near the edge of Abyssinia. We may be in for a rough battle ahead of us.”

Rufus would scoff at this as he started walking back the way they came, “Nothing the Invincible King of Grappling can’t handle.”

“Damn right,” Uziel added as she hopped onto Rufus’ back, “Nobody can get through him.”

“Again with that? We’re on a mission, Rufu. Not a wrestling match.” Spear rolled her eyes as she followed them, “Being on this team feels more like babysitting by the minute.”

“How so?” Fang asked.

The zebra mare snickered. “A deluded yak who thinks he’s a pro wrestler, a foreign exchange student primate, and a diamond dog with the visage of a coffin-dweller.”

“...it’s like she is team’s big sister,” Lee giggled as she fell in line behind them as Fang stuttered.

“I--wh…” He sighed, realizing the zebra had him verbally cornered. “...I suppose I could use more sleep, yes.”

“Exactly,” Spear snorted and beckoned him, “C’mon, fearless leader. We’ve got a job to do.”

All the while, as Team Sigma chatted away, a certain tigress was watching their every move from the shadows within the sand across the border.

“...Master must know about this.”

Chapter 88

At the dojo near Abyssinia’s border…

“...so they’ve cut off my supply line, have they?” Odu grumbled in response to Sha’Beel’s report. “For a bunch of annoying children, they’re certainly smarter than they look.”

“I’m prepared to intercept, Master Odu,” the tigress replied with a bow, “They will not interfere with your plans for usurpation.”

However, this time, the tiger man was looking to take matters into his own paws. “Good. Although, I intend to meet them down there on the battlefield myself. All you will have to do is back me up and ensure my plans come to fruition, Sha’Beel.”

“Understood. I won’t let you down, Master. Allow me to take the dog myself. I intend to put him down.”

“You had better not fail, then. You know what happens if you fail me…” Odu muttered as he sipped from the vial of dragon blood…and immediately coughed while clutching his chest…

Later on…

Nightfall had eventually descended over the Abyssinian border. Fang and his entire team prepared themselves outside the dojo that the dragoness had described in her final moments before being taken away.

“That the place?” Rufus asked as he glanced at the dojo with Uziel upon his back.

“Indeed,” Fang replied, “This is the only dojo here on the Abyssinian border. At this point, we’ll need to be cautious of our surroundings if we want to make it out of here alive. Is everyone ready?”

“I am,” Spearklip replied, “I’ve got a few enchantments ready to go if necessary. I’ll patch you guys up too.”

Lee would give a salute as she pulled another rope dart from behind her back. “I am ready to fight for us all.”

The dalmatian diamond dog leader cracked his knuckles and approached the dojo down the road of cobblestone that led into a dirt path where the dojo was located within a forested area. Since it was nighttime at the moment, everything was tinted in Luna’s dim blue hue thanks to the moonlight.

There were also no students or guards of any kind around. As far as they could tell anyway. For the moment, the group followed their leader but kept their wits about them with their ears open.

In particular, Fang was the first to hear something as noted by his quivering ear followed by his nose twitching. “I can sense movement. We’re currently being observed, so don’t--”

SHOOM!

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Fang was pounced upon, and tackled by a blur of black and orange that sent him tumbling towards the other end of the dojo’s exterior courtyard.

“Fang!” Spear yelped, but it was for naught. Once she realized what was happening, the rest of the group was confronted by Odu himself.

“I figured I’d find you scum here,” the tiger man commented as he walked down the steps of the dojo’s front entrance to greet them. “A little birdie has informed me that you’ve decided to stick your noses where they don’t belong. Children these days have no respect for their elders, honestly…”

“Hey, fucker!” Uziel screeched at the top of her lungs while pointing her mace at the Abyssinian, “I’m a fully-grown adult goblin with a yak boyfriend! Don’t you fuckin’ forget it, ya hear me?!”

"That's right." Rufus would also step forward, “Enough runnin', ya old bastard. Let’s end this.”

“...but what about Jun?” Lee asked in a concerned tone as she noticed what had happened to Fang from afar. As it turned out, the one who had tackled him was Sha’Beel herself. The two were then locked in a heated hand-to-hand combat scenario.

“...” Spearklip tossed away her concern for the moment and stepped forward as well. “...he’ll be fine. That’s his fight and he needs to finish it. We’ll do our leader a solid and handle this man ourselves.”

“Okay…” Lee replied with a nod, “...then his tainted heart will not leave this field today.”

“Alright already, dammit!” Uziel hissed once more, “Any last words before we turn you into a goddamn throw rug ya pussy?!”

The tiger man scoffed as he flexed his muscles, causing his suit to bulge forcefully before it tore itself off of his body. Thanks to the corruption and enhancements from the blood of a Dragon Lord he had ingested, his physical prowess was enhanced with a demonic-looking aura that surrounded his body…

“...you want my heart? Then come and get it.”

Chapter 89

With Fang and Beel…

The dalmatian diamond dog and abyssinian tigress were locked in a fierce battle. So much so, that it made their previous battle seem rather causal in comparison.

To be specific, each blow that was connected or blocked caused a rippling impact in the air around the both of them.

Sha’Beel threw a punch that Fang quickly blocked with his paw. While his feet were staggered in the sandy dirt beneath him, he had stopped her strike in an instant, which caused the air around them to vibrate from the impact. In no time, his claws came out, and he slashed at her abdomen which she narrowly avoided with the skin of her fur receiving only minor scrapes as she leapt to the side. It was so fast, that only a slow-motion camera would realistically be able to capture their movements.

But in a split-second, Sha’Beel dodged to the left, and swung her right leg to deal a devastating kick to Fang’s body. Her muscular tiger leg was almost like hardened steel, and could break the bones of an average combatant.

However, Fang was not an average combatant.

As soon as he was flung backwards from the kick, he took a tumble, but quickly flipped himself upright to where he was on all fours like a feral beast. For a moment, he crawled along the path, circling Sha’Beel and looking to get a feel for her movements.

Unfortunately, there was no such luck. Sha’Beel kept herself calm, almost frozen with her breathing kept to a minimum. Her tail swished about, indicating that she could pounce in almost any direction without a moment’s hesitation.

But Fang knew this. Hence why he kept his own movements deliberately slow for a moment as he gathered up dust in his paws from crawling around.

“Just give up,” she finally broke her silence, “When you’re gone, no one will remember you. That is the way of the untamed world. If you aren’t prepared to die, then go home to your mother.”

“I won’t have to,” Fang muttered under his breath with a forced chuckle to conceal his pain, “She’ll be dead soon.”

And in a split-second, he dashed towards her like a speeding bullet of black and white. The feral diamond dog seemingly prepared to slash at her with his claws again, and Sha’Beel primed herself to dodge…

FWOOSH!

But at the last second, before Sha’Beel could even think to move, the entire area was covered in a sea of dust from the ground, causing her to cough and almost choke from breathing it in.

“Grrrgh!” she hissed, then purred angrily as she rubbed her eyes, now unable to pinpoint Fang’s position due to the small sandstorm she was caught up in. Both her vision and sense of smell were thrown off by the sheer amount of dust in the air.

‘That’s why he took his sweet time crawling around in the dirt. The mutt is smarter than he looks.’

And before she could formulate another thought--

SLASH!

The diamond dog struck her with his claws from the shadows. Once, twice, three times. Four. The front, the back, and the sides. Sha’Beel was repeatedly knocked around like an aimless pinball, staggered by the repeated strikes from Fang’s claws. The wraps that held her breasts in place had been shredded as well, exposing them to multiple sets of diagonal claw wounds.

“RRGH!”

Once the dust had settled, Fang stood away from her with a maniacal grin on his face as he taunted her in a low tone. “...don’t underestimate me…”

“Ptoo,” even with her chest vulnerable, and bleeding from several sets of wounds on her body, Sha’Beel merely spat out some blood onto the dirt next to her. “...I’ve newfound respect for you as a combatant. Unfortunately for you, that doesn’t change what you are.”

“And what might that be?”

“...an emotionally stunted mutt with no sense of self that can’t escape his mother’s teats.”

“...”

Meanwhile…

The fight with Odu was…rather unbalanced…in his favor. Somehow, someway, the blood of the Dragon Lord had pumped him full of so much power that he was able to handle the entire squad of college students alongside an angry goblin. Then again, having been in the Abyssinian military and trained in martial arts…

Made this fight exceedingly difficult for them.

Rufus tried his best to match him blow for blow, his yak hooves barely able to withstand the tiger’s overwhelming power before he was sent flying by a punch.

Spearklip would jump in and, with a quick utterance of a zebra chant that caused her stripes to glow, modified her physical speed to match Odu’s, but it wasn’t enough. Even though she dodged a good deal of his punches, she was grabbed and headbutted so hard that she saw multiple of the tiger’s face before tumbling backwards.

Lee had fired multiple rope darts, tying them around his legs as the daggers jammed into the ground. The material was tough enough that not even Odu’s claws could pierce them, so he retaliated by yanking his foot towards him, pulling the primate woman by force and preparing to deal her a deadly clothesline…

But she was quicker.

With her swift monkey legs, she jumped and flipped over his head, acrobatically dancing above him before flipping around to where her thighs were locked around his neck. To which, he tried to immediately reach up and grab her.

But Uziel saw the opportunity and slammed her mace into his kneecaps, swinging it like a baseball bat. She dealt a blow so strong that it managed to actually pierce through his aura and damage him directly!

“GAHK!”

Uziel took notice of this and cocked an arrogant smile before she was suddenly hit with a sweeping kick that sent her flying into a nearby tree trunk, blood shooting out of her nose as she hit the ground shortly after.

After that, he jumped up, and flipped Lee over before breaking her back over his knee as he slammed her down with a hefty crack!, after which he threw her on the ground and kicked her over to the group. The end result was an emotionless monkey girl with empty eyes as her fingers twitched. Her entire back had been broken in an unnatural arched angle…

“Spear! Lee! Uzi!” Rufus barely managed to recover, and started limping towards the tiger man. “You think you’re hot shit, asshole?!”

“Ruf…” Spearklip was still recovering from the headbutt with her ears ringing and skull damaged. She could barely stand before falling to the ground again. “Rufus…you damn idiot! You can’t do this by yourself!”

Odu had taken a knee as he placed his paw on one of his blooded joints. “Hmph…I’ll admit, the little green menace…was stronger than I expected. But this is why her kind should have been eradicated…I ought to turn her into a paste.”

With a guttural roar, Rufus screamed, “You shut your mouth, cocksucker! She’s not some animal you can crack a whip around! She’s a living being!”

“Hmph…” Odu managed to stand back up, folding his arms, then beckoning Rufus with a wide, almost sadistic grin, “...then prove it to me, yak. Show me that bleeding stubborn heart of your kind, then!”

Chapter 90

The fight between Fang and Beel would rage on. The two continued to punch, slash, and strike each other. Both were covered in various pained wounds that bled into their fur, turning the former black, white, and red all over while the latter was a mix of orange that turned into red across her body.

Eventually though, Sha’Beel would take the upper hand, and manage to grasp Fang’s leg before swinging him over her head and slamming him into the ground. Before he could react or say anything, she pounced upon him with one of her paws pushing his neck into the ground, threatening to crush his throat.

But all Fang did was reply with a haggard, manic laugh. “Hehehe…ahahaha!”

“...what are you laughing about, dog?”

“You’re…you’re full of shit,” he muttered through a pained smile as he glared at her, “Pieces of shit like you think you’re better than everyone else all because of the garbage you’ve been spoonfed to you by some fool in martial arts attire.” He coughed, and continued, “...let me tell you something…you don’t know what true pain is.”

“...how…how dare you?!” she roared in return, baring her fangs in his face, “Of course I do! I’ve had no one to take care of me from birth! The Master is the one who’s cared for me and enrolled me into that Academy curriculum.”

“Exactly…you have no emotional attachments that will affect you in your lifetime,” he coughed again, and his smile waned as he thought about his family, “...my mother will be dead soon. That will leave many parentless children in my household…including myself. Think about how we’ll feel. Think about someone other than your-fucking-self for once in your life.”

“...” Sha’Beel froze with an uncertain expression on her face. For the first time, she actually gave thought to someone else’s perspective instead of her own. The pain this diamond dog man was set to feel for his mother and family; pain he had no choice but to accept despite continuing…did that make him stronger than her?

And just like that…

SHINK!

The tigress abyssinian’s eyes widened as she felt a shooting pain in her body….

Fang had sunken the claws of his left paw directly into her cleavage, clawing through her flesh which loosened her grip on his neck.

He then yanked his claws upwards, slashing through her chest, neck, and up to her chin with enough force to throw him off of her and cause her to tumble about before flopping on the ground nearby as a husk…barely breathing.

Fang would then stand up, and glare at her over his shoulder. “...do yourself a favor and get a life.”

With that, he left her alone, a defeated husk of a person as he looked to arrive and assist his teammates with Odu.

Unfortunately, it was absolutely not going well.

Rufus screamed at the top of his lungs with each punch he threw from his hooves. His yak biology allowed him to essentially force himself to utilize reserved strength that he carried within his body for emergencies. The blood vessels in his head and neck popped as he cocked a sadistic smile on his face as he stared at the ground…

And the very next punch that Odu threw at him…

BLAM!

The tiger man’s eyes went wide, gasping as he witnessed his fist collide with the yak’s much smaller hoof. By some miracle, Rufus had actually stopped Odu’s fist dead cold. It resulted in such a harsh impact that all of the trees in the surrounding area had been forcefully blown away from, and outwards in all directions from the impacting wind.

Odu, stunned and only able to utter small breaths from his lips, glanced at the yak who was now wearing an almost slasher sort of smile with his body noticeably thinner with his muscles now pushed tightly against the skin beneath his fur akin to that of a minotaur or centaur.

“...I’m the King of Grappling,” he muttered in a low tone through his smile, exchanging his usual boisterous tone for a more unhinged, cold one, “...don’t fuck with me.”

Before Odu could react, Rufus twisted the tiger man’s arm and forced him to the ground where he’d snap it in the wrong direction and break the limb at the elbow joint, followed by a quick roll into a spin and throw in which he let go of Odu and flung him into the dojo, sending him crashing through several walls.

“GRGH!” Odu hissed and rebounded once the dojo had collapsed in on itself, to which Rufus had spring into action as well, leaving a crater where he once stood.

Meanwhile, as Spearklip was healing Lee’s body damage with a zebra chant, Uziel managed to walk up to her and ask a question.

“...What…what’s Rufus doing?”

“...Yaks store a lot of spare fat in their muscles that they can tap into at any given time,” Spearklip explained, “...they call it their ‘Body Force’ essentially.”

Uziel watched as Rufus would trade blows with the tiger man. The yak’s ‘Body Force’ had taken the form of a solid white aura that was the result of his sweat burning off of his body at an alarming rate, causing him to emit a cloud of steam that made it appear as though it was magic.

“...he’s amazing…” the goblin muttered as more blood gushed from her nose that she covered with her hand. “Ergh…but this is bad…he’s gonna hurt himself at this rate.”

At last, Fang arrived on the scene and asked, “...what’s going on?! What happened to the dojo?! Where’s Rufus?!”

“...Up there!” Spearklip called out, pointing her hoof at what looked to be two figures fighting in the sky!

“What the devil!?”

Chapter 91

In reality, it was more of a quick mid-air clash than a full on fight in the sky. Both Rufus and Odu had jumped off of the roof of the collapsed dojo and into the air, the tiger man cackling the entire time.

“Aha! I’ve not had a battle this fierce in ages! Finally, a worthy opponent!”

Rufus replied with nothing as he grit his teeth and blocked the tiger man’s oncoming punches before grabbing his arm, and flinging the abyssinian down towards the ground like a meteor. His overclocked body and heart pumping blood forcefully to every inch of himself rendered him unable to speak.

With a heavy THUD!, the tiger man hit the earth and left a crater behind as a result of the impact. Rufus reeled one of his hooves back, balling it into a fist as he fell towards the tiger like a speeding bullet, ready to strike…

BLAM!

And as soon as he did, Rufus managed to split the earth itself apart, creating a ruptured crack that went on for about a 100 yards…unfortunately though…

“...Hm?”

The yak felt nothing under his body. His target had disappeared. Did Odu manage to dodge in the nick of time--?

SLASH!

With a quick swipe, Odu’s claws cut through Rufus’ outer skin layer as he grabbed the yak and tossed him aside into the nearby fence, causing it to collapse under a hefty clatter of wood.

“...you’re strong, but lack experience,” he muttered as he paused to catch his breath for a moment on bended knee.

“Rufus!” Uziel squealed and ran over to the yak who had collapsed nearby from Odu’s throw, now bleeding profusely from his head as his enhanced ‘Force’ mode wore off. “Come on, talk to me, Rufus!” she yelped as she pushed and tugged against him with her little hands.

“D…Dammit…” Rufus let out a small chuckle, “...guess this is it, huh? I put everything I had into that and it wasn’t enough.”

“N-no…you did plenty,” Uziel added as she placed her hand on his cheek to console him while looking into his eyes, “But everyone’s pretty hurt. I think we’ll need to back outta here and regroup…”

Rufus looked over at her and noticed the stream of dried red that ran down from her nose and onto her green body. “...you’re bleeding. You struck me as tougher than that, Uzi.”

“S-stop joking you, dummy! I'm worried because…” she insisted with tears in her eyes as she playfully nudged him with her fist. “I…I love you, you know that?!”

“...” Rufus paused and turned over to smile at her. His vision was hazy, but he could see Uziel clearly. He stopped to take his hoof and wipe away some of her tears. “...Don’t cry. You look cuter when you’re smiling, Uzi. And…I love you too…”

“...Y-you fucking idiot!” Uziel blurted out before smooching him on the lips, “L-let’s hurry up and get--!”

“Excuse me,” Odu spoke up as he cleared his throat. “I don’t believe we’re…quite done yet.”

“You gotta be fucking shitting me!” Uziel roared as she grabbed her mace, “You’re still standing?! Motherfu--there’s more than one way to skin you, ya know!”

Odu chuckled at the old adage before coughing up a bit of blood into his paw. “Hmph! Cheeky…but you should know the battlefield…” And he suddenly started running at them, charging full speed on all fours! “...is no place for emotions!”

“Asshole! We’re having a moment here!”

“...U-Uzi, what’re you--?!” Rufus gasped, but before he could say anything else, the goblin girl had pushed him out of the way as she wound up her mace to strike the tiger charging at her.

“RRRRRAAAGH!”

Odu jumped into the air at the last second, priming his elbow for a hard drop upon the goblin who was ready to strike back…

CRACK--SQUISH!

“...U-Uzi!” Rufus sputtered as he coughed blood onto the ground as soon as he heard what sounded like bones breaking.

Once the dust settled, Odu was limping away from the scene with an open wound in his head from the mace striking him. “...I think that shall be enough for one night. I’ve seen what I’ve had to see. That feculent green scum of the earth got what she deserved...”

“Wh--?!” As much as he wanted to call out the abyssinian, Rufus immediately turned his attention to Uziel…or rather, what was left of her. “...Uzi?! UZIEL!?”

The end result? Uziel was lying there with half of her body broken and fully exposed. Oozing blood through her ribcage and staring blankly into the air.

“UZI!” Rufus whimpered in disbelief as he knelt next to her. “N-no…it should’ve been me…IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME!”

Using the last of her energy before all of her senses went dark, the dying goblin turned her head to Rufus ever so slightly. “...Ru…fus….”

“U-Uzi?!”

As she lost the last of her blood, she’d reach her hand in his direction, grasp his face, and gave her final words. “T…ake…me…to…Eq…ues…tri…a….”

“...I…” Rufus’ body turned cold, staring at the dying goblin with tears welling in his eyes that he forcefully held back to keep his body from shaking as he lowered his voice to a whisper. “...I will…I promise…”

“...”

And with that, Uziel died right before his eyes, her expression going blank, and her heart stopping.

“...Uziel…” Rufus but his lip as he shut his eyes, repeating his newfound lover's name to himself...

Having witnessed the aftermath, the tired Jun Fang would scream in Odu’s direction, “...You…we have a score to--!”

“...Fang,” Spearklip interrupted him as she herded the broken monkey woman onto her back, “We have to leave. Now. You’re in no condition to keep this up.”

“Spear, we have to finish him off!” Fang argued, “This is our chance! We can’t let him escape.”

“Look at us,” the zebra commanded as she rubbed the side of her broken head, “...we…we’re out matched. We’d all just die here if we kept going…we have to pull back, Fang. We have casualties now.”

“...” The dog man looked over at the dead goblin, and noticed that the sun was rising. Odu was no longer in sight and chasing him down would prove to be near-impossible in their current state. Fang knew this, so he eventually had to concede.

“...Fine. We’re getting out of here. Fall back, Sigma. This mission was a failure.”

Chapter 92

The entire team left the scene at which their battle had taken place. The next day would come about and the sun would rise as Odu recovered from his wounds with the remaining members of his mafia near the wreckage of the dojo.

“...so we’re headed out that way, huh?” a lioness asked, then nodded, “Very well, sir. I shall accompany you.”

“What about her?” a cheetah man looked over at Sha’Beel, who had her entire abdomen bandaged up after she recovered from the aftermath of her battle with Fang. “Looks like she’s not as tough as you thought she was, sir.”

Odu, who had also been bandaged after his battle upon his abdomen, arms, and legs, assured his assistant, “...I’ll deal with her. The rest of you prepare our vessel to travel along the water.”

With a nod, the lioness, cheetah, and a few other cat gangsters all left the scene to carry out Odu’s orders. Essentially, they had to get a boat in order to travel across the ocean to Odu’s next objective. Where was that exactly? They would find out soon enough…

For now though, the tiger man turned his attention to the tigress who had stood up to greet him with a bow.

“...Master Odu…I’m sorry I failed you. I--”

But Odu cut her off with a paw placed on her shoulder, “...relax. You’ve done more than enough, Sha’Beel.” He replied before going in to give her a hug, causing the tigress’ eyes to widen as her mouth went agape from the surprisingly kind gesture.

“Y-you…?” she muttered quietly as the tiger man let go and looked down at her. “...I don’t understand. I thought you didn’t tolerate failure…”

“I don’t,” he shook his head, and spoke in a rather calm tone, “...but that doesn’t mean I’m angry with you. Go on home and study for your exams, hm? You’ve done enough for me for a while.”

Delighted with her master’s amicable response, Sha’Beel flicked her tail and purred with relief. “R-right! Thank you, Master!”

And with that, she immediately started walking home. Her sheer excitement over her master’s kind words dulled her senses. Sha’Beel thought she was on top of the world from how gracious his words were towards her.

‘...He was so kind. That foolish dogman doesn’t know a thing about--!”

Pew.

SPLISH!

“AGHHH!!!”

Her thoughts were interrupted when a bullet was fired from seemingly nowhere and lodged itself in the back of her left knee, forcing Sha’Beel to fall to the ground. “W-what…what is…how…?’ her lips quivered as she looked down at the bleeding wound in her knee. “Who…who did--?!”

Before she could even attempt to get up--

Pew.

SPLISH!

“GAAAAGH!”

There went her right knee. With both joints now blown out from high-caliber gunshots and bleeding on the ground, Sha’Beel could only scream and cry for help that never came.

“SOMEONE HELP! MASTER?!”

But that's when she noticed other members of the feline gang leaving the scene. Sha'Beel essentially had figured out what she had been put through as she lied on the ground while writhing in pain.

'Master…why have you forsaken me?'

Meanwhile, in a tree overlooking the path that led away from the dojo, a jaguar woman sat with a silenced sniper rifle. Smoke left the barrel as Odu approached her.

“Is it done?” he asked, ignoring the tigress’ distant wails as he lit up a cigar.

“Yes,” the jaguar woman answered, “Want me to put one through her head and finish the job?”

Odu breathed out some smoke and shook his head. “Nah. Let her bleed out. Even if someone tries to help her, she’ll be long dead before then.”

“I see,” the jaguar purred as she holstered her gun over her back, “You wish to make an example out of her. Very devious, sir. You never cared that much for her anyway, did you?”

“Hmph. I’ve got more capable people such as yourself and the others,” he rolled his eyes as he started walking towards the port, “Surprised she didn’t die to that mangy mutt. Can’t have that in my line of work.”

“No…you absolutely cannot, Odu. By the way, where are we heading?”

“To the Serpent City. An autonomous region near the Wukong Territory.”

“...that’s where the Triads do their dirty work and run drugs and other illicit substances through, correct?” the jaguar woman asked hesitantly.

“Correct. Don’t fall behind,” Odu muttered before walking over to the small, all-white crew boat that he had sanctioned just for this. “...lest you end up like that dying one down the road.”

Meanwhile, back at the underground home of the goblins…

“...I am so sorry, ma’am…my team and I…we should’ve…” Fang muttered as he watched Sariel, Ziwa, and their mother bury Uziel’s body along with her mace. The solemn frowns, and drooped ears of the goblins indicated a gloomy tone for them all.

However, the old goblin woman refused to accept Fang’s words. “...don’t say such things, boy. Uziel died the only way our kind should: In the heat of battle for those she cared for.”

“...that’s right, Sariel added between a sniffle as she put her hand up to her face to wipe away her tears, “Don’t…don’t take this away from her, okay? I’m…sure she went out like a champ.”

“...she saved me,” Ziwa joined in, “...I won’t ever forget it.”

The rest of the goblins gave their parting words as they left the buried corpse of Uziel next to the others in their makeshift cemetery in their little grotto before heading back up to their main living quarters at camp. There, Lee could be seen bandaged up with her back snapped back into place as Spear looked over her.

“...where is Rufus?” Fang asked. He also had some bandages around his neck and legs.

“...somewhere deeper in the cave I think,” Spear answered with a sigh, having bandaged her own head from the damage she suffered, “I…think he wanted to be alone for now.”

Fang sighed into his paw…and punched the nearby wall. “God…dammit. They don’t deserve a bunch of tears. They deserve that tiger bastard’s head on a pike!”

“Fang,” Spear glared at him, standing up to meet his eyes with hers. “Calm down. Now’s not the time to get angry. I told you we were in no condition to keep going. You know that, right?”

“I know but…fucking…shit…he could easily be rebuilding his potential right now. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Spear nodded, “I’ve already sent a letter back to Twilight in Canterlot. We need extra support if we wanna see this through. I know you want to end this, Fang…but don’t be a jackass about it.”

“Tch…” Fang scoffed under his breath, knowing he couldn’t argue with Spear’s protective nature. “...fine. I…sorry…”

“It’s alright,” she placed a hoof on his shoulder, “Just…you know how I am. Ever since my childhood in the Congo I’ve always wanted as little death as possible…”

“...I know…I’m sorry.”

Chapter 93

Back in Equestria…about one day later…

It didn’t take long for Spearklip’s letter to arrive. Marked with the urgent color of red, the royal mailpony would know it was urgent as she sped over to levitate it to the Princess who was currently at a desk sifting through paperwork as Flash Sentry stood guard nearby, stoic as always.

“Princess Twilight!” the cyan unicorn mailpony mare squealed upon pushing the door open to Twilight’s study. “We have an emergency in the Abyssinian Region!”

“...the mercenaries we assigned?” Twilight spoke up, remembering the students from Dorm Block Sigma that were sent there. “What’s going on? Do they need support?”

“P-pretty much,” the mailpony yelped as she levitated the letter to the alicorn who promptly started to open and read it as the carrier continued, “...it seems as if the Abyssinian gangster they’re trying to take down has managed to escape and even killed one of the goblins that sent the report to us in the first place.”

Once Twilight had finished reading the letter, she sat back in her chair and put her hooves together in front of her face with a defeated sigh. “...damn it all. I didn’t think things would get this bad. Looks like friendship really is off the table here.”

“P-permit me to speak, but…” the unicorn mare mumbled while tapping her hoof nervously upon the velvet carpet. “What are we going to do?”

Twilight simply sighed as she recollected some wise words from her mother. “...’Don’t point your horn at someone unless you’re prepared to go in for the kill.’”

“...Um…?”

“Oh, sorry,” the princess shook her head, “Something my mom used to tell me fairly often. She used to run her own little gang geared towards helping people who couldn’t help themselves when she was younger.” With a sigh, she rested her hoof against the side of her face, “...it’s how she met my dad too…”

“Oh…I see…” the mailpony mare mumbled, not sure what to say next, so she shot a pleading gaze towards Flash Sentry’s direction.

The orange pegasus conceded, and broke his silence.

“Princess, if I may speak freely,” he spoke up, “If cordial public relations are officially off the table, then I suggest we strike the proverbial hydra at its heart. No use trying to take down the heads when we have a chance to kill the source of the problem.”

“I’m listening, Sentry,” Twilight replied, allowing her guard the floor.

“Send…you-know-who,” he added with a smirk, “Your favorite little pupil that doesn’t have the capacity for friendship anyways.”

“...I’m not sending Luster Dawn alone, you know that, right?”

“It’ll be a chance for her to work with others,” Sentry continued, “Hoof-pick her a team that’ll go out there.”

While his idea was sound, there was simply one problem with it. One that Twilight immediately resolved. “You do it, Sentry,” she granted him permission to select the formation, “This needs to be dealt with as discreetly as possible.”

She got up from her desk, and the mailpony backed out of the way so she could exist.

“Excuse me,” Twilight said to the carrier as while passing her by; the princess had a devious grin on her face that she always got when she got into her mental state of planning something, “But I have to inform some of my esteemed soldiers that they have a new mission.”

“...soldiers?” the mailpony muttered curiously.

“Trust me,” Sentry added as he followed the princess, “This is about to get much more deadly than you’re prepared for. I’d recommend letting us handle it.” The guard captain then looked up at Twilight and asked, “Shall I inform Smolder, Ember, and the rest of the dragons? They’re near Abyssinia.”

“Quick on the uptake, huh, Sentry? We need to inform the Abyssinian King and Queen as well. I need ears and tails on the ground as the situation develops, understand?”

The stallion saluted with one of his wings. “Of course, Princess. Now who are we sending down there alongside Luster Dawn?”

Meanwhile, with the students of Dorm Block Sigma…

Fang and the rest of his team had agreed to leave the goblins for the time being in order to give them time to grieve over the death of Uziel. As a result, they took shelter at one of the nearby inns near the middle of Abyssinia itself. For the moment, all they could do was wait for support from their home base in Equestria as they got cleaned and settled into beds there. It was an awkward time for the four of them, as they remained silent between each other for the most part, avoiding speaking to each other due to the hefty amount of emotions they had to process.

However, it wouldn’t be long before things slowly had to pick up yet again.

Soon enough, a yellow Abyssinian arrived at the inn looking for them. She spotted Fang traveling back to his room and called out.

“...are you with the group who’s dealing with the Tiger Mob, sir?”

“I am,” Fang confirmed, “What is the matter?”

“Whenever you’re ready, I would like you and your team to come with me to the parliament building. The Royal Family wishes to speak with anyone that can help.”

Chapter 94

Meanwhile, across the ocean and practically on the other side of the world…

From an overhead view on a map, the location that Odu and his gang were headed was known as Shé Chéng or the ‘Serpent City.’ An autonomous region near the Wukong Province that was relinquished to the ponies of Trottingham for a time before they left and allowed it to be independent. Since then, it has operated in many illicit substance rings that make for easy passage of pretty much anything someone desired.

Hence why they were here.

Once the boat stopped, Odu and some of his crewmates left it and started walking through the rugged port city that was filled with various creatures. Ponies, griffons, abyssinians, diamond dogs, monkeyfolk--they were all rough-looking gangsters and ruffians that you’d get into a fight with simply for gazing at someone improperly.

“...Seems like a safe place,” the panther man of Odu’s group commented, “So what are we looking for here, exactly?” He was dressed in khaki pants, a red suit, and had a beige fedora on his head.

“It’s simple, dear Gwin,” Odu responded to the leopard, “We’re here to gather more materials. Since our previous base of operations is now destroyed, we need a new supplier to aid us in exchange for a…rather hefty sum.”

“Sounds fun to me for sure,” the black jaguar she-cat commented. The sniper who carried her gun on her back; she wore a white bomber jacket and furred collar that clashed heavily with her black fur. “Just gimme the word and I’ll set ‘em straight, ya hear?”

“That won’t be necessary, Irina,” Odu chastised the jaguar’s lack of tact, “We’re simply here to gather support for our cause. Not to cause unnecessary bloodshed.”

Gwin simply chuckled as he pulled on the collar of his suit. “Now that we can agree on. Let’s get this done smoothly, yeah?”

Irina rolled her eyes, lamenting the fact that she wouldn’t get to shoot someone again. “...Fine. I’ll wait outside and keep watch over everything. You lot handle the chit-chatty stuff, yeh?”

The jaguar left the two tomcats and climbed on top of one of the nearby buildings. Gwin simply sighed as he gripped the top of his fedora.

“Dammit, man…do you really think she’ll be alright?” he asked with a hint of concern.

“Don’t worry yourself about such details,” Odu patted Gwin on the back and kept going, “We have more important things to worry about.”

Soon enough, after walking down the beaten cobblestone sidewalks filled with villagers of various species carrying fruit or selling food from stands, the two tomcats would arrive at a stereotypical club. Since it was daytime, it was rather empty for the most part. Only a few straggler patrons were there and either playing cards, smoking, drinking, or all of the above at various wooden tables throughout the room upon a soft, yet dull purple carpet. A stage was seen near the end of the room but it was closed off with a red curtain since there were no scheduled shows.

“Guess you made the right call to get us down here today,” Gwin commented, noting how it was a Sunday morning. “Not a lot of traffic here thankfully.”

“Of course,” Odu continued forward towards the other side of the building beyond the stage. Interestingly enough, nobody seemed to mind how far he was going and the fact that he was headed to a location that was marked for employees only.

Gwin reasoned it out rather quickly, “...been here before?” he asked with a flick of his tail.

“You catch on fast,” Odu noted as he led his partner into the door which let to a private showroom. “Indeed. I’ve shown my face around here once or twice in the past as I considered my options.”

“Aaaand…we’re out of options,” Gwin purred dismissively under his breath, “Well that’s just great, I suppose.”

Odu ignored the leopard’s comment as they both took a seat on one of the couches in the showroom. It was a small room with the same purple carpet as the main floor with four red velvet couches and a coffee table in the middle of them all.

Soon enough, a primate man--a gorilla in a teal tropical beach shirt and brown shorts--appeared from one of the nearby doors, and stood to the side with his arms folded. Moments after, a much smaller, more average-sized primate came out to greet them.

An Albino Capuchin man with a rare set of all-white fur. All he wore was a green camo-patterened tank top over a rather slim, but muscular build, as his fur covered up pretty much everything else. His voice was rather light, but still forceful in tone.

“...Odu, my man,” the albino monkey greeted the tiger as he dropped jumped over the couch to sit down. “Looks like you’re in need of my help, huh?”

“Of course Mr. Kim,” Odu took out a small list of items on a piece of paper, “...first--”

“At-tut-tut! One sec,” Kim interrupted him, “Sorry but I’m gonna stop you right there. I’ve got another customer who’s ahead of you.”

The tiger man tilted his head. “...excuse me? Who exactly?”

Just then, a young griffon woman came in through the door with another female griffon at her side. “...yo, Kim. Got my shit?”

“Yeah, Gaea hang on…” the monkey held up his hand and looked at Odu. “Gimme a bit, wouldja?”

With no other option, Odu simply sighed to himself. “...very well.”

Chapter 95

“You sure you know what you’re doing, huh?” Kim asked the griffoness, “I’ll admit, I’m impressed you’ve caught on so quickly for someone so young.”

“Pfft,” she scoffed and waved a claw, “You know how we are, we invented the concept of gangs back in Griffonstone. It’s second nature to us.”

“...right,” the primate muttered in response as he retrieved a small, wooden box from behind the nearby couch, and tossed it over to the griffoness. “Anyway, get on outta here. I got other customers I need’ta take care of. Too many heads in one place will draw attention to us.”

Gaea checked the contents of the box and closed it before anyone else could see what was inside. “Thanks, pal. I’ll be sure to bring you a couple of pony balls after this is over. Ever since Klugetown abolished the body trade, I’ve had to go elsewhere.”

Kim rolled his eyes and waved her off as he sat back on the couch in front of Odu. “Yeah, yeah. Sure. Now go.” As the griffons left, he’d turn his attention back to the abyssinian tiger. “...sorry about that. She’s got a real bad fuckin’ habit of showin’ up unannounced.”

“I see,” Odu replied as Gwin shifted his eyes towards the griffon behind them. The leopard man kept tabs on their surroundings while his tiger boss continued speaking, “...anyhow. I need something that will make Diamond Dogs psychotic. Not too many of course, just looking for a reason to cause chaos.”

“Ah, I see you’re interested in the suspiciously rare shit,” Kim replied with a grin as he lit up a cigar and began to smoke it, “...I may have something like that. What’re you willing to offer in return?”

“Gwin?”

The leopard man scoffed, “Sorry but he’s not my type.”

Odu glared at his partner with narrowed eyes, causing Gwin to laugh.

“...Heh. Hey, just lookin’ta ease the tension around here, yeah?” with a snicker, he reached into his suit, and pulled out what looked to be a small business card with contact information to someone in Abyssinia.

The albino primate took one look at it and asked, “...the hell is this?”

“We know you’re rather deep in the pockets of some of the other Wukong nobles,” Odu explained with a rather excited smile, “...but what if we could get you connected with some from Abyssinia as well? I’m sure you’d love to have more business partners, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh now we talkin’,” Kim replied with a smile as he folded the card, “I’ll getcha whatcha lookin’ for. Gimme a sec.” And with that, he left with his larger ape bodyguard.

Meanwhile, Gwin was chuckling under his hat with one of his fangs protruding out from his top lip. “...got ‘em hook, line, and sinker, boss.”

“Don’t get funny or show your paws too early, Gwin,” Odu replied, “We need to keep things civil for now as we plan our next stages of attack.”

Even still, Gwin was purring to himself in a satisfied manner as he flicked his tail, “Ah what’s a bit of fun gonna hurt, yeah? Let’s see if these cobbers can back up the shit they’re peddling. That’s the only way to know for sure if we’ll have repeat business.”

Not in the mood for antics, Odu shook his head in defeat. “If you wish to frolic about with estranged drug runners, do so in your off time. For now, focus on my plan.”

“Alright, alright,” Gwin held up his hands and sat back against the couch. “Fair enough, boss.”

Meanwhile, outside…

Irina was on the rooftop across the street, overlooking the highly congested, and corrupt city with her sniper scope. Many homes were in tatters and no better than shacks the further she looked away from the shore. Along with that, the population wasn’t exactly the friendliest of sorts…

In an alley, she could spot a zebra stallion mugging a helpless yellow dragon for all he had.

Outside an adult film store, she could see a group of diamond dogs with weapons and guns made out of scrap metal waiting outside for a few moments before walking in.

Lastly, she would spot a church on a hill way off in the distance. However, as she zoomed further in on her scope, she’d find movement upon the rooftop. Upon further inspection, she found that an Ornithian, eagle-like man was engaging in some rather…ravenous intercourse with a minotaur nun woman.

“...Hot, but not what I wanted to see today,” Irina licked her lips and disengaged from her scope. “Queen’s beans this is gonna be a rough one…” But before she sat back to relax, she spotted the griffoness, Gaea, who met up with the rest of her griffon companions near a farmer’s market to rest at a table. “...Oi?”

“...we take their balls and their pelts,” Gaea said to the other griffons at her table, “Any questions?”

“None,” another female griffon replied, “Can’t believe this place has essentially become the new Klugetown, huh? Wonder if I could find myself some little boys to play with…”

“Sate your lust later,” a male griffon added, “We need to get ourselves some hostages if we want to have a leg up on Equestria.”

“They’ll be sending them soon,” Gaea added with a smirk as she glanced at the gun on her hip. “...I can feel it.

Chapter 96

Meanwhile, in a nearby bar on the same street as the farmer’s market, just one door down from that club…

A certain, golden-brown monkey man was drowning his sorrows in an alcoholic beverage that he was sipping from a hollowed-out coconut.

The bartender, an abyssinian lynx tom with an eyepatch and a voice that was nearly gone, would speak to him while drying a glass, “...you usually order that particular blend when you’re upset. Want to talk about something, Mr. Zi--”

The primate merc cut him off, “...Bullet is fine. Call me that instead.”

“Ah, I see,” the lynx man replied, “Looking to keep yourself on the down-low, huh? Fair enough. What’s on your mind today…Mr. Bullet?”

“Nothing important,” the primate replied as he ran his index finger around the rim of the coconut-cup. “Just…thinking about what I want for myself. And my future.”

“You’d do well to act sooner rather than later,” the lynx man went on, “Unlike me, you’ve got a fairly lengthy life ahead of you. Me? I’ve given up my entire life back home just to end up here in this dump. Don’t end up like me, son.”

Bullet scoffed at the bartender’s words. While they were nice to hear, a part of him was visibly annoyed at how the older tomcat leapt at the concept of him having a “lengthy life” ahead of himself. For all intents and purposes, Bullet considered his life over, as noted by the defeated look in those hazelnut eyes of his.

“Argh…” he sighed after taking a sip of his cocktail, “...you wouldn’t understand the shit I’ve gone through, old-timer.”

“...I believe I can kinda make a guess or two. I’ve seen your posters in the Wukong Territory, kid.”

Another scoff as Bullet looked off to the left. “...gonna rat me out, then? You could probably use the money to fix up this trash, anyway,” he quipped off-handedly, causing the abyssinian to laugh.

“Well that’s not very nice,” said the bartender after a quick chuckle, “Nah. Not my circus, not my monkeys. Literally. What those corrupt noble dickheads want ain’t got nothing to do with me. Don’t worry, son.”

“Fair enough,” Bullet finished his drink and started to chew the inner white flesh of the coconut. “I just…one part of me wants to go back to her and see her again. But the other part of me is fully aware that I’ve got no place in a society like that. It’d be a waste of time for me to go back.”

“Hrm…” the lynx paused for a moment. As he figured, their situations were in fact rather similar to each other.

‘He knows what it’s like to be cast out from a place that treats him like trash. Guess I judged him too quickly.’

Just then, a jet-black changeling mare with holes in her hooves would take a seat next to Bullet at the bar and make an order. “The Blackhawk, please.”

“Mm-hm. Lemme see if we have any left,” the lynx man would stop for a moment and leave behind a nearby door to the storeroom.

With the bartender gone, the changeling mare sought to make her move on Bullet. “Oh hey you…come here, often?”

“No.”

“I see…hey, I think I’ve seen your face before,” she went on while leaning over to get a better look at him, “...yeah you’re one of those merc guys I’ve been hearing about. I’d love to get a taste of you.”

If it was a plot, Bullet wasn’t about to fall for it. “I thought changelings didn’t need to hunt love anymore. Or are you one of those rogue ones that still force themselves onto people?”

“...let’s not get into semantics,” she dodged the question as she turned into a voluptuous female monkey lady, “I could show you anything you want. Maybe a bit of this…” She then morphed into an abyssinian puma she-cat, a diamond dog Labrador girl, a well-endowed minotaur woman, before returning to her neutral changeling state.

“Not interested. One-night stands aren’t my thing,” he muttered through mouth filled with coconut.

“Ah, I see…you’ve got someone back home that you’re worried about cheating on, huh?” she leaned over and put one of her holey hooves on his thigh. “...she won’t know, whoever she is~”

Click.

With a flick of his left hand, he aimed the gun at the rogue changeline’s forehead, tapping the cold steel of the barrel against her. “Don’t.”

“...I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Click-click-click.

Just then, a rag-tag group of similarly colored changelings would morph into anthropomorphic versions of themselves, dressed as suit-wearing gangsters with their own handguns raised and pointed at Bullet, causing the other patrons of the bar to simply roll their eyes as if it was just another Tuesday.

But when the lynx bartender came back to witness the scene happening before him with the bottle of Blackhawk, he simple sighed as he set it down, and picked up a shotgun. “...ah shit, here we go again.”

Chapter 97

Meanwhile, in Abyssinia….

As soon as Sha’Beel finally awakened, one of the nurses took a moment to check her vitals. The tigress would explain what happened to her.

“...and the next thing I knew, after being shot, I was here,” she explained as she glanced at her now bandaged knees.

“I see,” the white abyssinian nurse noted everything down as she was given the information. “For the moment, you need to rest and relax yourself, Ms. Beel. You’ve been through quite a lot of blood loss.”

Hence the IV drip that was connected to the tigress and feeding blood into her arms.

“...I understand,” Sha’Beel replied as she rested her head back down on the pillow. “...can I have a moment to rest, please?”

The white she-cat nodded, “Of course. We’ve run all your tests and we’ll let you know if we need anything else from you.”

As the nurse left the room, she would be able to see her superior doctor, a yellow abyssinian she-cat, approach the hospital with Fang’s team from outside.

Though, Rufus hung behind the group at the very end with a solemn expression on his face. Something that Spearklip was quick to notice and decided to pull him aside to speak with him privately for a moment just outside of the hospital.

“...Rufus, I…well, to ask you if you’re alright would be a bit facetious, wouldn’t it?” the zebra mare explained with a sigh.

“...I’m…I’m--” the yak bull simply sat down on the ground. “To be honest, I’m not really sure how I feel. Things are…difficult for me to process. But more importantly, I know her family’s probably way more upset than I could ever be. They knew her her entire life after all.”

Spear sat next to him and went on, “Yes, while that may be true, it doesn’t take away from the fact that you were her first love, Rufus. In fact, it would appear to me that goblins on the whole didn’t really understand the concept of love between people at all. But you…you were her first.”

“And she was mine,” Rufus added with a sigh, “...Never before has someone like that made me feel that way, Spear. To have her taken away from me so soon after…it was pretty painful honestly. Not sure how I…”

Spear put a hoof around his neck, “...you don’t need to figure it out right now, buddy. Your emotions are complex right now and there’s no direct way to answer how you’re feeling. All I can do is be here for you as much as I can. Anything you need…I’m right here for you.”

The yak bull shed a few tears before wiping them away with his hoof. “...thanks, Spear. I…I’m glad I have you guys. Back home, I was never really allowed to get like this. Show emotion, express discomfort…I think this is the first time I’ve ever really felt something, ya know?”

“...I see. I completely understand what you mean though,” Spear replied, “It’s…a bit difficult for me to put it into words but….I know your pain, Rufus. That’s all I can really say for now.”

“...hearing you say that puts me at ease already,” Rufus replied with a smile as he stood up. “I think I’m gonna be fine for now.”

“Alright,” Spear nodded, and accepted him at his word for the moment. “Let’s see what we can do to help these people, yeah?”

They caught up with the rest of their group and was escorted by the doctor towards the emergency room where the tigress was located.

“...she’s in critical condition,” Doctor Mona spoke up, “But if you can get any information out of her that would help you, it’d be beneficial. I have a feeling something’s going on.”

“...what do you mean, madam?” Fang asked.

“The bullet wounds we found on her knees are from weapons of such a high caliber that they aren’t legally sold in Abyssinia. The weapon that fired those bullets was not from here,” she went on to explain, “That’s all I know. At this point, you’d be better off asking her yourself.”

“Will do,” Fang replied with a nod and was about to approach the hospital room until the doctor interrupted him.

“Ah--wait. I highly recommend that only one of you go in at a time,” she warned, “We don’t want to stress her out with a large crowd.”

Lee took a look at Fang and gave her input. “It should be you, Jun Xiānshēn,” she addressed Fang formally by his given name in her language, “You both have an equal, and opposing desire to fight each other. This is your chance to get through to her, yes?”

“...yes. You have a point,” Fang replied, knowing full well that this was on him to finish. “I have to see this through.”

Lee would give him an encouraging pat on the back. “Go for it, Jun. We’ll be out here.”

“Alright, if your minds are made up…” The doctor cat lady opened the door to the room where the tigress was being treated, and allowed Fang to go in.

The diamond dog dalmatian stepped inside, and glanced at the tiger abyssinian, but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off. “...Hell--”

“Why are you here?”

Chapter 98

Back at the Serpent City bar…

BANGBANGBANG!

With several, well-timed shots from Bullet’s guns, he took down one of the changeling gangsters as the rest of the patrons casually left the building through the back door.

“God--mother of--!” the lynx man hissed at Bullet as the primate flopped down behind his bar counter. “The hell did you do this time, Yin?!”

“Hey I didn’t start this one, I told you that,” the monkey merc insisted, “As usual, it’s some smeg-stains who can’t take a hint. Seems like we’re about to have even more trouble in this bitch than usual!” he shouted as he fired back over the barstand.

The changeling gangsters simply refused to give up, continuing to fire what appeared to bejade green pistols--the very same kind that Bullet had made use of. Something the monkey man was quick to notice. Weapons with that sort of plating were only made in his hometown of the Wukong Province--specifically the Peking region.

‘Those guns…just where did they--or rather who did they get those from?’

But there was no time to deliberate that since he could figure that out later. In the meantime, Bullet simply wanted to put an end to this battle with those five gangster changelings as quickly as possible. After all, should this bar get destroyed, where else would he get his coconut cocktails?

“You just watch your ass, Mr. Lionel,” Bullet muttered before jumping out into the fray.

“Wait, what--?!” the abyssinian yelped as he watched the primate take over.

With a quick slide, Bullet dashed out and fired both of his guns to take down one of the changelings that had been firing in his direction. In an instant, the first gangster went down with a shot that hit their throat, followed by a quick roll in which he swapped to using his guns with his feet. The finger-like appendages allowed him to fire perfectly and take down two more as he performed a quick thomas-flare-like spin on his hands which allowed him to avoid most of the oncoming fire.

“Dammit!” one of the remaining changelings hissed behind a table that they had flipped over and made use of for cover, “No wonder his bounty’s so high. He’s good!”

“Then it’s time for my trump card.” The female changeling that had tried to seduce Bullet earlier had taken cover next to one of her goons and held up a bound and gagged border collie diamond dog lady that was squirming for dear life. “Poor gal didn’t make it out in time so...we’ll make him surrender.”

“...Good idea,” her other gangster replied.

As soon as everyone needed to take a moment to reload, Bullet called out to them.

“You can stop embarrassing yourselves now,” he scoffed with a cocksure grin on his face as he pulled the hammer back on one of his pistols, and holstered them before shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “I’ve dealt with stronger enemies with my eyes closed.”

“You haven’t dealt with…this, have you?” the leader changeling rose from behind the table with her pistol aimed at the sobbing dog woman’s head which immediately caused Bullet’s expression to drop. “Now what’s it gonna be? You gonna let an innocent lady die, or are you gonna do what I say?”

Bullet felt his heart skip a beat as his left eyelid twitched involuntarily. Witnessing a hostage situation like this brought upon painful memories of his past; memories that caused him to avert his eyes and grit his teeth.

“Looks like banana boy is trippin’ out!” one of the other changelings taunted him, “I bet he’s scared! He ain’t nowhere near as tough as his bounty made him out to be!”

Bullet pulled his hands out of his pockets with his hands balled into shaking fists. “...l-let her go,” he huffed with an jittery, low tone as he tilted his head down, keeping his eyes out of view from the shadow cast upon them. “...before I tear your face off.”

The bartender, Lionel, immediately backed away and into the storage room with his hands raised in complete silence with an unconcerned expression on his face, as if he knew what was about to happen.

“How ‘bout I shoot you first?” the leader changeling offered as she pointed her gun at him instead, “We’ll see how much shit you can talk with an extra hole in your face!”

“...go ahead,” Bullet dared her with his hands opened and a neutral expression on his face; the primate flexed each one individually as he engaged in the standoff, “Try m--”

BANG!

With a quick pull of the trigger, the changeling mare fired her gun and the force caused Bullet to recoil and turn his head as they chuckled…until they saw him turn his head back in their direction…with the bullet between his teeth!

“Wh-what?!”

“H-h-how did he--?!”

The changeling’s goons panicked as the ringleader herself stood in paralyzed shock, frozen with a stunned look on her face as Bullet spat out the 9mm round from his lips and onto the floor. The state of everyone’s shock allowed the dog woman time to escape, slipping out of the changeling’s grip and running out of the bar.

Bullet stared at them…and his maw folded back to reveal his perfectly unharmed set of dagger-like primate teeth. With a beastly, almost demonic roar, he leapt at them and--!

"HRRRAGH!"

CRACK!

From outside the bar, passersby would hear the roaring along with what only could be described as flesh ripping apart and bones breaking.

Chapter 99

When it was all said and done, Lionel came out of the storage room to see the damage left over from the situation. The aftermath was three changelings with their faces bitten into, skinned, and their faces and lips ripped off, exposing their squishy interior beneath their exoskeletons.

“...guess you made good on your promise then, huh?” Lionel commented with a snide tone, then sighed as he looked over the sheer amount of damage that had been caused in the ensuing battle.

“Rrgh…” Bullet let out a small growl as he spat out some of the changeling’s flesh from his maw. Once he glanced at the carnage that he had committed, he froze and started to shiver in place as he backed away. “...again…? I…I can’t believe I just did that…”

“...I’ve only seen you get like this once before,” Lionel explained while offering Bullet a glass of water. “...are you alright, boy?”

Bullet accepted the water, and could barely bring it to his lips as his hands jittered, causing him to spill a bit of it before finally taking a sip. “...No. I…I don’t think so. Just…wish I didn’t get like that.”

“They had a defenseless lady in their clutches,” the lynx man muttered while walking around the counter to assess the damage at the front of the building. “...I don’t blame ya for doin’ whatcha did.”

“S-still…” the primate placed the glass down and rubbed the side of his head as he winced, teeth clenched, “...that’s not something I particularly enjoy about myself. My kind…we have a burning fire within us that sets us apart from most other races. I’m sorry you had to see me that way.”

Lionel had gathered up the weapons from the fallen gangsters and had taken them apart piece by piece before offering the entire lot to Bullet in a duffel bag. “Here. Dispose of these for me and we’ll call it even. You’re a good kid, ya know? In fact, I hope my son turns out to be like ya one day,” he encouraged Bullet with a pat on the back before walking around behind the counter. “...poor boy is damn near scared of his own shadow.”

That’s when Bullet took notice of Lionel’s fur pattern. The same exact brown spots with stripes and extended ears of a lynx akin to the same younger one that he had rescued from abyssinian gangsters not too long ago. His curiosity got the better of him and he’d ask.

“...Mr. L. Do you happen to have a son?” Bullet asked, “Named Laurent?”

“...no? I have a nephew named L--” his tail flicked and with a purr, he turned to the primate and snarled, “...how do you know about him? You better not be wrapping him up in your crazy shit, boy!”

Bullet shook his head, “No sir. Just…wondering. You both look a bit similar so I figured I’d ask. To be quite frank I…” he rolled his left hand while scratching the back of his head with his right, “...ran into him once and got him out of trouble once, let’s say.”

“Hmph…” the lynx man relaxed, and took a seat behind the bar counter, “...so you’re the one that my brother told me about. Good on ya. Now I know I can trust ya more than anyone.”

As it turned out, Laurent had blabbed the entire story of how he was rescued by a primate mercenary to his parents who had subsequently told his uncle of it all. That very uncle was indeed Lionel himself.

“...I see,” Bullet muttered with an insecure tone as he grasped the red t-shirt beneath his jacket. “I…thank you, sir.”

‘Maybe I’m not so bad after all? But would Lee still accept me after all this?’

Lionel had lit up a cigarette and waved him off as he took a hit from it. “Yeah yeah now go on. I gotta get a cleanup crew down here. Go rest your nerves, yeah?”

“I will…I promise.”

And with that, Bullet left the bar, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed someone peculiar leaving the club across the street...

Meanwhile, at the club…

Odu and Gwin had left the club with a small wooden box of some kind. It looked big enough to hold a horn such a trumpet.

“...so this is what we’re using?” Gwin asked, “I have to admit that it almost seems a bit inhumane…almost.”

Odu scoffed as he noticed Irina following them along from the nearby rooftop. “You both don’t even realize just yet. The Diamond Dogs will, quite literally, be brought to heel for what they did to us in the past. If drastic measures with mind-altering pheromones need to be taken…then so be it.”

Chapter 100

Back at the hospital in Abyssinia…

“...To make a long story short, I’m here because I want to help you, miss. You…your master was someone who ultimately only cares for his own ambitions. Based on what we know from your situation. It sounds to me as if Odu didn’t care for you whatsoever.”

“I…” the tigress wanted to take offense to that statement, but winced upon realizing how much she strained herself just to sit upright. “Dggh…!”

“Admit it,” Fang went on as he took a seat in a chair in front of her hospital bed. “You know deep inside that he had led you astray long ago. You desperately want to cling to him.” He glared at her with a disgusted frown on his face, “Sounds a lot like what you said to be when we fought.”

“...!” Sha’Beel gasped under her breath as her eyes went wide. She started to recall exactly what it was she said to him…

“...an emotionally stunted mutt with no sense of self that can’t escape his mother’s teats.”

Fang noted her reaction to his words and scoffed. “...seems as if your insecurity resulted in a bit of a projection. How unbecoming of a warrior.”

“...”

Having her words thrown back at her caused Sha’Beel to look down at herself in shame. That’s when she realized--she was the attached one who couldn’t let go. After all this time, Odu was simply an…obsession. A thing she was simply bound to by her desire for emotional attachment.

“Do you realize it now?” Fang went on, looking to drive the point home further, “...you’re nothing. A mere lemming. A moth to a flame with no sense of self. And that is, quite frankly, why I despise you. People of your ilk are pretentious, acting as if the world revolves around you.” He shook his head, “...in reality, you’re just a pitiful fool whose life has no worth.”

“...okay! Fine!” she yelled back with tears flowing down her face, “I get it already! I’m…I’m worthless! I’ve got nothing to offer this world! I should just kill myself, then, huh?!” She glared at Fang with a fierce roar, “Is that what you want?! Will that make you happy?!”

Fang didn’t react at all to her emotional outburst. Instead, he simply continued with his usual, low tone of voice. “I’m not much for condolences, no. Instead, how about logic: Why throw your life away when you can stand to improve it?”

“...what…what do you mean?” she muttered with a shaky breath.

“I mean that you should have more respect for yourself by taking control of your own life,” Fang suggested, “If you don’t do so now, then you’ll never improve. You’ll simply stagnate like the wretched vermin that you’ve been raised into being.”

His words were…unorthodox to say the least. A therapist Fang was not--the dog man simply told it like it was from his perspective the best he could. Then again, given Sha’Beel’s blindness thus far, Fang wanted to be as straightforward as possible to hopefully, finally, get through to her.

“...so what shall it be?” he asked, “Will you rise up and take control of your own life, or will you remain a puppet of someone else’s?”

“I…I want to follow my own path,” Sha’Beel explained at long last, “I wish to carry out my own goals and further my own life.”

Fang nodded, “Very well. You can figure out what you want to do with your life in the meantime. For right now, I need to know everything you know about Odu so that we can put a stop to his plans.”

“...He intends to go to the Serpent City,” she explained, “To supply something for his war on the Diamond Dogs. That’s all I know…honestly.”

“I see…very well then,” Fang accept her words for the time being. “I’ll take my leave so that you may rest. I just hope you can truly sever your attachment to him once this is all over.”

With a sigh, Sha’Beel lied back down in the medical bed. “...I suppose I have no choice.”

“Thank you.”

Now that he had his answer, Fang would leave the room, but Sha’Beel would continue to glare at him even as he left.

‘...you…you’re so frustrating.’

Fang arrived in the hallway where he’d see Lee meditating via sitting on her tail that was coiled into a spiral. “You’re done, I take it?”

“I am, Lee,” he answered as he took a seat on the nearby bench, “It seems as if we’ve found our information. Now all we need is the assistance of the troops Twilight is sending us.” His ears twitched when he realized he didn’t hear Rufus nor Spearklip’s voices. “Hm? Where are those two?”

“Rufus went to the bathroom,” Lee explained, “I believe Spear went to make sure he was okay in there.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I’ll go over the details of everything Ms. Beel told me once we’re all gathered,” Fang replied, “...but I wonder who exactly will be joining us out here…”

Chapter 101

Meanwhile, a certain group of soldiers and personnel would arrive in Abyssinia by train…

First, Luster Dawn and her teamteam--She was accompanied by the blind seer minotaur Kuno Itami, the body-morphing changeling Noptera, and the water-horse earth pony Dewdrop Mistwalker. This newly formed team was created on the spot to accompany Luster Dawn as a liaison between Equestria and Abyssinia. And already, the princess’ pupil was trying her best to keep to plan. With Professor Hassium taking point and leading them, heir objective was to have an audience with the rulers of Abyssinia so that they could discuss what to do about their impending problem of a rebellious uprising that could get multiple nations involved.

Across the continent…

In the Dragon Lands, another group would be arriving mainly to further investigate the situation regarding the dragon known as Hooktail as well as her role in supplying Odu’s uprising. Who was it exactly?

Nebula’s team which included himself, Grimrose, Mei, and Blue--who demanded to go in particular in order to find out what his ex was up to.

Accompanied by Tungsten Wolfe, this team was looking to get as much information from the Dragon Lands as possible so that they could work with Abyssinia in order to quell this uprising. This officially had become an international conflict.

At the hospital…

But with the mercenaries from Block Sigma, they had finally managed to regroup. The group then decided to leave the hospital for a different change in atmosphere so that they could relax themselves away from the stressful environment of the hospital where other patients were being treated and newborns were being brought into the world.

Now at an outdoor table at a cafe, the team would discuss what information they had gathered thus far.

“So from what I gather, he’s gonna use whatever crap he gets from that drug city to make the diamond dogs start killing each other,” Rufus mused based on the information Fang gave them.

Spear would then add, “Sounds to me like it’s more than that. It’s possible he wants to use some of his own people as sacrifices just to make his case appear more legitimate.”

Lee nearly spat out the tea she was drinking, and coughed as she gulped it down. “Ack! Ahem…w-wait…you’re saying he may have the potential to do something that careless?”

“...it doesn’t sound out of the realm of possibility,” Rufus added, noting just how ruthless Odu’s actions had seemed thus far. “That guy seems like he’d do anything to disturb the peace, even if it meant a few of his own people dying in the process.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Spear bemoaned as she leaned against the table with her hoof resting against the side of her face, “They have it relatively good here. Sure, nothing’s ever gonna be perfect, but Abyssinia’s in a pretty good spot right now. Yet…he wants to drive things towards more chaos and strife. I just don’t get it. People like that make me sick…” she grit her teeth and slammed her hoof down on the table. “Grrgh!”

“...are you alright, Spear?” Fang asked. His worried expression noted just how off-putting her anger was. “...You don’t tend to get like this.”

“I just…sorry,” Spearklip replied as she she took a sip of her water through a straw, “I just…I know what it’s like to live in constant fear within my own home.” She paused for a moment and glanced off to the side…

In a nearby park, she’d see several innocent cat-children playing through a jungle gym and a slide, running around and playing tag as well. On the benches, a few elderly catfolk--likely their grandparents--were the ones watching over them as they played.

“...I don’t want that for these people here. There’s loads of innocent people and children living here. They deserve to live a good life where they don’t have to worry about some war forced upon them.”

“Got that right,” Rufus replied, “Back home, fighting was one of the main things we yaks even bothered caring about. Only recently have I been able to think about what I want for myself. So trust me, Spear--we’re not gonna let that happen.”

“Thanks, Rufus,” the zebra mare replied with a smile.

Lee would then speak up, “Alright. What shall our next move be?”

“We wait for our signal,” Fang gave the order, “We shouldn’t act until we have full disclosure from Command--which is the castle in this case.”

Just then, they’d be approached by an abyssinian lioness woman in a military uniform. A blue officer’s suit with multiple badges on the right side and long beige pants to go with it.

“Are you the ones from Equestria?” her deep voice with a thick slavic accent.

Everyone turned to look at her, and Fang answered, “That we are, ma’am.”

“Report to parliament building immediately,” she commanded, “You’re formally summoned by the king and queen of Abyssinia themselves.”

Chapter 102

The group was led to the parliament building in Abyssinia--a long white complex built around several layers of gates with a massive green garden with many feline topiaries scattered about. Several guards in uniforms--similar to the one that the she-cat escorting the team--could be seen standing around with neutral, flat expressions on their faces.

“...This place is intense,” Rufus muttered as he followed the group while he looked around the garden. “But I guess they’re on high alert after all the reports, huh?”

“Very similar to emperor’s castle back home,” Lee commented as she walked with her back straight and her hands behind her back, “Be professional and careful.”

“...not my kinda style at all,” Spear commented under her breath as the group followed the officer she-cat into the parliament building itself. Her balance was noticeably tripped up by the velvet carpeting of the interior. “Blech…gimme a sandy beach or rocky mountain any day.”

“Yeah I’m with ya,” Rufus added with an uncomfortable shudder as they were led down a hallway that was a bit isolated from all sides, “Places like this are too high-strung for me.”

Fang tried to keep the group in line, “Be that as it may, we need to remain strong and mentally sound if we want to see this through. Stay alert and make sure we’re as presentable as possible for the royal family.”

“Gaah…I hate this part,” Rufus bemoaned as he tried his best to slick the fur on the top of his head back, “But I guess we don’t have much of a choice.”

Soon enough, the guardcat led them into the main office where Luster Dawn’s team had already arrived. Once there, the door was closed and the king and queen of Abyssinia--two black cats with yellow eyes--would begin to inform them all about what had been going on.

“...alright. So it stands to reason that we have a major threat brewing in our midst,” the king--Mau would start first, “We’ve only recently taken Klugetown back under our control thanks to the help of our adopted son.”

“Because of that, we want to keep things as civil as possible,” the queen--Bombay--added, “Hence why we’re asking for outside assistance.”

Luster Dawn had her suspicions confirmed. “...I was honestly wondering why we were here instead of Abyssinians.”

Mau nodded and went on, “We don’t want to alarm the public. We have many of our agents working to keep everything in order throughout the city. But if a war breaks out, then we’ll have no choice but to announce a full-scale lockdown.”

“Something we want to avoid if possible,” Bombay continued, “That’s where you all come in.” She looked at Fang’s team first. “...Mr…Fang, correct?”

“Mhm,” Fang regarded the queen with a nod, “At your service.”

“We need you all to head to Caninia and explain the situation to the queens there. They need to be made aware of what’s happening and it’ll matter more if it comes from one of their own.”

Fang’s eyes shot open for a moment. Not only was this a chance for him to return home, it was also a chance for him to see his family as well. His teammates glanced at him for a moment, wondering if that’s what caused his hesitation, but he quickly shrugged it off in order to answer.

“Of course. That is the best course of action,” Fang replied, “As a Diamond Dog myself, I’m utterly appalled by his actions. I know the Abyssinians are a good people, and I’m sure they’re just as ashamed of him as you are.”

Mau rolled his eyes and folded his arms. “Tch. Don’t even know the half of it, young man. The Abyssinian Civil War already did a number on us nearly a century ago. We don’t need more armed conflict.”

“Now as for you…” the queen spoke towards Luster Dawn and her team sitting on the other side of the office, “We want you to set sail out with some scouts from our Royal Navy in order to potentially intercept this ‘Odu’ individual. We’re still looking for any information we can find on him. For now, we need you to bring him down as he makes his way back from the Serpent City.”

With a confident smirk on her face, Dawn replied with a sense of assuredness. If there was any time to prove that she was more than capable to function without Princess Twilight’s teachings, it was now.

“Yes Your Majesty,” the unicorn mare replied, “I--er, my team and I will do everything in my power to ensure that we come out on top and bring this criminal to justice.”

The rest of her teammates nodded in agreement, and Professor Hassium would add, “Of course. I’ll lead them to make sure they all work together properly. Abyssinia is too valuable as an ally to ignore.”

The king would continue, “Alright…with that in mind, meet with our son near the port. Whenever you all are ready, move out immediately.”

Chapter 103

Just as the members of Dorm Block Sigma left the parliament building and were prepared to take their leave of the city, they were stopped by the yellow abyssinian doctor from the hospital.

“Excuse me! Mr. Fang…and everyone else?” she called out as everyone gave her their undivided attention, “I would like you to know that Sha’Beel has managed to make a full recovery and will be released soon.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Fang replied with a nod, “Hopefully she’ll be able to walk again soon and begin working on herself.”

Lee placed her hands on her hips. “I would like to see how she’s doing when we get the chance.”

“Ahem,” Spearklip interrupted them, “Thanks, doc. But guys, we need to rest up in preparation for taking our leave tomorrow. We should stop by the inn for one more night.”

“Good plan,” Rufus agreed, then let out a yawn, “After all we’ve endured…I need to recharge before I get myself into anymore battles.”

The doctor cat flicked her tail, and nodded. “Of course…sorry, I didn’t mean to impose upon you. Please take your time, and I wish you all luck with your upcoming mission.”

Rufus would then ask, “...wait, how did she--”

“Let’s go, guys,” Spear interrupted everyone to make them focus on resting up. They all followed her back to the inn where they’d remain in their respective rooms for the rest of the day.

But before Fang could get back to his room, Lee stopped him for a chat.

“...Jun. Can I speak?”

“Can you?” the dalmatian man snarked back.

“...yes, I can,” the primate lady answered earnestly with a tilt of her head, “I am speaking to you right now.”

Fang let out a small wheezing laugh and changed the subject. “...nevermind. What is it you wish to speak about, Lee?”

“I notice many similarities between yourself and Yin--er, Bullet as he calls himself,” Lee explained and gave him a warning, “...don’t allow yourself to feel like you’re alone. We’re all here for you through this.”

“...thank you, Lee. Indeed, I’ll do my best to ensure I don’t end up a wandering homosapien like your spouse,” he joked once more, though Lee’s response was completely unfazed.

“Please. It’s already bad enough that my love is emotionally unstable; I don’t need that for my friends either.”

Fang accepted her words with a grateful smile. “Thank you, Lee. I’m certain Bullet will be grateful to have a woman like you at his side once everything is all said and done.”

Lee smiled in return with her hands behind her back as she skipped off to her room for the night. “...oh he will. Anyhow, sleep well, yes?”

Once she had gone to her room and shut the door, Fang prepared himself to enter his own room for the night, until…

“...Fang,” a familiar female voice called out to him.

The dalmatian man turned around and found the abyssinian tigress standing in the wooden hallway of the inn. She had been bandaged up from her leg wounds and was able to walk--a detail that impressed Fang as he glanced down at her knees.

“...Beel? How are you…?”

“Thanks to the medical magic I was placed under, I was able to get back on my feet much sooner than I expected. I’ll be sure to return if anything goes wrong, though that’s not why I’m here.”

“...oh. I see,” Fang leaned against the wall with his arms folded, “Well then? What do you have to say?”

“Just that I’ve thought long about what you’ve told me…” she hissed under her breath with a flick of her tail, “And…you were correct. I was a fool to follow someone else’s way of life so heavily. So thank you for opening my eyes.”

“Not a problem,” Fang replied before standing upright and turning back towards the door to his inn room, “If that’s all you came to say then--”

“...one more thing. I…my home was destroyed in that battle. The dojo, I mean…” she explained with a rather nervous tone as her face dropped. “...I have nowhere to go for the moment. May I bunk with you for this one night at least?”

Fang paused and thought it over. The battle that was waged on Odu’s dojo was a result of his team’s actions and why she didn’t have a home to go to for the moment. Ultimately, in the pursuit of being polite, Fang acknowledged her request against his better judgement.

“...very well. I don’t have a problem with that. It is our fault that your current home is in ruins…” As soon as he opened the door, he beckoned her inside, “Come, Beel. This way.”

Sha’Beel’s face lit up as her whiskers twitched. “...Oh…thank you!” But with Fang’s back turned, she smiled to herself…

‘...we’re gonna have some fun tonight, dog.’

Chapter 104

Later on that evening…

At the Abyssinian port town of Siam, a certain adopted son of the king and queen was on a small boat and preparing to smoke a cigarette. He was a black-furred abyssinian breed with yellow-green eyes that were behind a pair of red half-rim glasses. His most notable feature was the open blue suit he wore as the only article of clothing on his body since his fur covered up pretty much everything else.

However, just before he could light up, he was greeted by a sultry woman’s voice as she landed down via flight.

“...you shouldn’t play with that by yourself. Let me handle it for you, dear.”

“Hm?” the tom stood up, and found himself face to face with a red dragoness who pressed her lips against his, and blew some flames into his throat which not only didn’t burn him at all, but successfully lit up his cigarette and left him breathing a waft of smoke from his lips and nostrils afterwards. “...mmph…Spitha…how have you been today, love?” he asked while removing the cigarette from his mouth with two fingers on his right paw.

“Oh I’m doing rather well, Mio,” the dragoness replied. Spitha was a tall, muscular dragon woman with red scales that accentuated her figure. With large thighs that converged into a wide waist and an ample bust, she looked like the peak of mature dragonhood. “My bookstore is making quite the sales. Hoping to open another one in the Dragon Lands soon so they can start reading more interesting types of fiction.”

“Not just from you, but from everyone, I take it?” the tom purred with a flick of his tail, “Pretty much what I expected from you, Spith. You’re always working so hard to improve yourself.”

“Well, I have to,” she commented while folding her arms below her chest, “My mother would absolutely have a field day with me if I were to slack off even a little.”

“No kidding,” he agreed from what little experience he had with his birth mother. “I can feel that. Anyhow, I’m preparing to set sail in order to intercept this ‘Odu’ individual. He’s quite the character from what we’ve managed to dig up on him all things considered.”

Spitha hissed which pushed smoke out of her nose. “Grrgh…he’s starting to sound like my ex. That bastard hid his entire life of a gangster from me and thought I wouldn’t notice.” She placed her claw on her forehead and sighed, “...but I guess for every one of these assholes we take out, another one will pop up in its place.”

“Best we can do is work to deal with the ones we can at each time,” he put a paw on her shoulder, “I hear the Wukong Province and the Dragon Lands are also working towards catching criminals that participate in that sea. Naturally, Equestria is going to oversee as much as they can as well.”

“Well that puts me at ease I suppose,” Spitha replied with a shrug, then cracked her knuckles, “In the meantime, I’ll be joining you.”

“...you’re serious?” the tom sighed and shook his head, knowing full well that he couldn’t stop a motivated dragon like her. “...you know what? I’m not even gonna argue. Let me explain to you what the plan is…”

Meanwhile, back at the inn…specifically in the room Fang had for the night…

Out of politeness, Fang allowed Sha’Beel to make use of the room’s shower first. Though, he couldn’t help but notice that she had left the door partially open.

“Erm…Ms. Beel?”

The tigress would reply, “...Fang, could you come here for a moment, please?”

With a twitch of his ear, Fang hesitantly approached the bathroom before poking his head in. “...yes?”

The bathroom had brilliant maple-colored tile floors that led up to a rather wide and open walk-in shower area with a tub separate nearby. The room was mostly covered with steam which made it difficult to see for the moment.

That is, until the tigress opened the walk-in shower door, releasing the steam as she essentially revealed her completely nude body to him. There were healed scars along her abdomen all the way up to her plump breasts. The full width of her hips and orange and black, thunderous muscular thighs were on display as well. Being about a foot taller than him, she was classifiable as an amazon.

“...” Fang froze and tried his best to look away but Beel quickly called him out.

“Come on. I want to show you an…Abyssinian custom,” she purred with a rather suggestive grin on her face as she spread some soap across her abs. “The act of two rivals showering together…unless you’re still afraid of me that is. In which case, I’d understand,” she added specifically to coax him.

Which worked; the dalmatian man’s tail wagged as he grit his teeth. “Grrgh…witch. You won’t taunt me in such a way and get away with it,” Fang hissed as he approached her, and entered the shower. Since his fur covered nearly all of his body, he didn’t have to undress himself at all.

They both started cleaning themselves off before Sha’Beel offered, “...want me to catch your back, little pup?”

“...what are you playing at, pussy?” he grumbled while cleaning off his chest with the soap.

“Nothing at all…just looking to give you an experience…and an apology,” she added with a regretful tone, “...I want to atone for my actions towards you and your group. This is how I figured I could start.”

With that in mind, Fang couldn’t exactly refuse her. After all, if she truly wanted to repent for her actions, the least he could do was place some faith in her.

“...alright then,” Fang answered as he turned his head forward, “You may proceed.”

Sha’Beel flicked her lips. ‘Fell for it.’

And without hesitation, she approached him and started applying the sponge to his back…while pressing her breasts against his body. “...Gotta get all the kinks and knots out…”

Feeling her hot breaths and purrs against his neck, and her breasts upon his back caused Fang’s body to warm up as he felt himself become aroused from her touch.

‘Grrgh…what is this feeling…?’

All the while, the tigress was smirking over his shoulder. “...what do we have here?”

Chapter 105

Fang’s canine member had risen to a rather girthy erection of red hot flesh that rose out of his foreskin. Sha’Beel stared at it for a moment, then smirked as she continued to wash his body with the soap.

“...I didn’t know you were hiding an absolute monster like this…” she purred in his ear, which only caused Fang to growl from frustration.

“Arrhg…f-fuck off…just…continue to wash me, you litterbox runt,” the dogman grumbled, but allowed her to continue washing his body with her paws.

Eventually, once she reached down, Sha’Beel would grasp his throbbing canine member. “Now…to clean this filthy thing…~” With the soap all over her paws, she’d grasp his shaft and gently pump it back and forth, stroking--or rather ‘cleaning’ him with a smug smile on her face as Fang leaned against the wall of the shower.

“G-god…damn you…” he cursed her as he placed his paws on the wall in front of him. The problem was that he couldn’t deny how good the handjob felt. “You’re…so desperate that you’d seek out a mutt like me? How…pitiful…aa-agh…” he snarked between moans.

‘...Good lord, why does this feel so great?’ he wondered to himself, confused by his own emotions.

Meanwhile, Sha’Beel more or less felt the same way the longer she glanced at his member. ‘...why do I feel…attracted? This is…n-no…I hate him…don’t I?’

Despite this, she kept up her seductive persona as she stroked his throbbing shaft with her paw. But eventually, she forced herself to stop. “...aaand…done….” she turned away and sniffed the musk from her paw ash she continued to wash herself and tried to hide how aroused she herself had become with fluids leaking from her nethers. “...mmmph…”

Unsatisfied with being brought so close only to be stopped, Fang took deep breaths as he continued to wash himself, but eventually, he threw her words back at her. “...Ms. Beel? I’d like you…to continue washing me if you don’t mind.”

“...!” her tail flicked as her eyes shot open with a nervous expression on her face. She was being invited to wash him further?? “...”

Fang put on a dark smirk and continued, “...I guess you’re afraid, then. Was washing me a bit too much for you?”

“N-no!” Beel hissed as her tail frizzed up. But she started to panic mentally. ‘...this mutt boy is the bane of my existence.’

“Nevermind,” Fang scoffed with a shrug, “I guess you’re just that much of a coward after all--”

All the sudden, Sha’Beel raced around in front of him and got on her knees before resuming the act of “cleaning” Fang’s erect member with her soapy paws with an angry glare on her face. “...silence you mangy, flea-bitten bastard. I’m not afraid of you in the slightest. I will finish you.”

“A-agh…” Fang moaned as she cleaned his cock with both hands, “A-are you sure about that? Y-you seemed rather…enamored by my penis, were you not?”

“Shut…shut up!” she hissed once more while tightening her grip and continuing to stroke him. Beel then leaned forward, and swirled her rough, scratchy cat tongue around the tip of his cock to ‘clean’ him further.

“G-gaaagh…~!” Fang huffed and moaned from the roughness of her tongue as she continued to ‘clean’ him and lapped up the smegma that was around his tip..

At this point, the tigress’ state of mind was focused entirely on him. No longer was she focused on her own selfish motives. All she wanted was this diamond dog’s meat.

‘...what the…why am I…his musk…his taste…I need more…’

Before Fang could blink, the tigress was now actively sucking him off. Her entire head bobbed back and forth as she forced his cock all the way down her throat while swirling her tongue around it.

“Sh-shit…f-fuck~!” Fang groaned while thrusting his hips back and forth to add to his own pleasure from her soggy, moist mouth and throat. The knot at the base of his cock had forced Sha'Beel to gag upon him and nearly choke.

"Urk...!" With one hand grasping Fang’s balls, and the other hand actively fingering herself, Sha’Beel continued to suck him off with ferocity, even grazing his foreskin with her sharp feline teeth which only further made his orgasm hard to resist while her face was being smashed by his girthy member and knot.

“I…argh…f-fuck you…~!”

Just as he was nearing climax, Sha’Beel released his cock from her mouth with an audible, wet, pop noise and aimed to finish him off by rapidly stroking him towards her open mouth. “F-fuck you too you mangy--eegh!”

“AGH~!”

Multiple ropes of hot semen flew out of Fang’s cock and onto Sha’Beel’s face. The rest dripped down, landing upon her breasts as she finished him off.

“Grrgh…stupid…stupid….” she muttered between heavy breaths as she licked his seed off and tasted it. “...idiot mutt…”

“...lousy…worthless…bitch cat…” he shot back between moans of his own, “...are you giving up already~?”

The tigress glared at him once more and grabbed his cock between her massive breasts, squeezing him with her deep furry cleavage while swirling her rough tongue around his tip to tease him into staying erect, “Mmm...get on the bed and we’ll see who gives up first.”

Chapter 106

Sha’Beel pushed Fang onto the bed and shoved her vaginal lips against his face with her clit rubbing against his nose as she faced towards him. “Agghh…n-now it’s your turn to clean me you dog!”

“I’m more than capable of handling small surface areas,” Fang teased her which caused the tigress to grit her teeth until her started eating her out. His soft, wet canine tongue was able to cover her entire internal area and fill her with pleasure, as noted by her expression softening…

“Rrrgh…y-you…” she started to grind herself upon his face, purring from the pleasure shocks that were sent through her body.

Each time Fang ate her out, and rubbed his nose deeper against her clit, Sha’Beel would moan and purr louder. Her pussy was actively leaking her female ‘precum’ into Fang’s mouth.

Smack.

“AUGH!”

The tigress felt Fang’s paw smack the back of her firm, yet jiggly ass beneath the outer later of orange and black fur. His fingers sank into the fat of her ass as she let out continuous purrs of pleasure while grasping the headboard of the bed.

“F-fuck…god…damn you, you mutt!” she hissed, and began to caterwaul from the sheer force of the pleasure.

Below, Fang had gotten his entire tongue buried deep into her pussy, actively digging out her fluids while nuzzling her clit even faster to finish her off. And eventually…

“RRRGOW~!”

With a loud roar, Beel dug her claws into the wall as she climaxed all over Fang’s face, squirting upon him while the diamond dog drank down what he could.

“Aggh….haggh…” Beel huffed with exhausted moans as she rolled over to the other side of the bed.

Fang sat upright, and licked her lady-cum off of his face. “Mm…not bad for a pathetic kitten. Now tell me, what do you plan to achieve by doing all of this?”

“Grrgh…I…I want…” The tigress muttered to herself as she sat upright, genuinely unsure as to what to think. ‘...what DO I want exactly?’

“It appears to me that your desperation to attack me personally has been overtaken by your arousal,” Fang commented with a snarky grin on his face, “And now you’re having second thoughts once you acquired a taste for my body.”

“...you…has anyone ever told you that you’re annoying as all hell?” she hissed over her shoulder.

Fang then genuinely put a thought to it, “Hrm…creepy, odd-looking, cryptic, vampiritic appearance…but no, ‘annoying’ isn’t an adjective that I’ve heard used against me before. But that aside, you’re dodging the question, Beel: What is it that you want out of life?”

“I…I want to feel like I belong somewhere,” she muttered under her breath, “...like I matter to someone else. I suppose it’s entirely due to the teachings of my Mas--er,...Odu. Because of him, I feel as if I’m overly dependent on the validation of others and can’t think for myself.”

“...I see,” Fang replied with a more concerned tone. It seemed as if their little sexual encounter had broken down her proverbial defenses and rendered her vulnerable enough to speak openly. However, he couldn’t exactly provide her with an answer to solve her problems right away. “To be quite frank, I still don’t quite trust you just yet. If you wish to find somewhere to belong, you must instill trust and confidence within the people you wish to be around. Until then, you won’t get anywhere.”

“...Trust…I see…” Beel muttered under her breath as she processed what Fang told her. “...I’ll have to figure that out on my own I suppose.”

“You will,” the dogman replied, “Until then, I can only help you so much. We all have our own problems that we each have to deal with, Sha.”

“Hmph…” she folded her arms. “As much as I hate to admit it…you make a point, Jun.”

“Now see? Was that so hard?” he heckled.

Sha’Beel grit her teeth, which only caused Fang to snicker, “You…quit acting so smug like you’ve got everything figured out!”

“I never said I did,” Fang replied with his hands behind his head, “You merely assumed I did. Which therein shows your lack of--”

“GRRRGH!” with a roar, Sha’Beel grabbed Fang’s wrists and forced him to grope her breasts “Enough…I know how to make you shut up,” …before shoving his entire face deep within her cleavage and wrestling him to the floor with him on top of her. “How do you like this, dog?”

“,,,mmph…” Fang took full advantage, motorboating her breasts before moving to suck on the left one while squeezing her right with his paw. “Mmm…”

“Grrgh…you perverted mutt!” she hissed and threw him off of her before lying down on the bed. “You’ve got a lot of nerve making me--” But then she paused mid-rant when she noticed his canine member once more.

“Hm?” Fang stood upright and walked over to her, standing over her with his erection pointing directly at her, “...something you want to say, Beel?”

She stared at his physique, bit her lip, and turned her head to the side. “...f...fuck me you dog,” she mumbled lowly.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I said…make yourself useful, quit wasting my time, and fuck me you insinificant--RRROW~!”

Chapter 107

Meanwhile, at the Royal Parliament Building, in an underground room hidden by the Royal Tailor's shop…

Several of the King’smen were working to figure out the truth behind the identity of ‘Odu Eransa’ and what he intended to do next.

King Mau had entered the office where his agents were at work. It was essentially a war room with a massive table with documents placed upon it. At the table, several tom cats were investigating the information they had on file. The leader of the operation was a lynx tom in particular.

“Have you found anything?” the king asked the group of agents while sipping from a teacup.

“Yeah, we have actually,” the lynx man spoke up--his ears twitched in the direction of the king. A middle-aged tom with a rather calm, almost stoic voice wearing a black suit akin to his fellow agents at the table. “Our sources have shown that it’s more than likely one of our own former colleagues.”

“...you’re kidding,” Mau muttered in disbelief with a flick of his tail, “A former agent that somehow managed to go AWOL and is trying to stir up trouble in both nations? How is that even possible?”

Another agent, a maple-furred Somali she-cat, would answer, “From what we’ve found, apparently, he’s been on the ‘scenes’ of several crimes around the different regions including Siam and Tabbytown,” she added as she tossed the dossier towards the king’s direction, “We only recently managed to put together just how bad it likely is.”

“...what exactly are we looking at?” the king opened the file and began to skim through it.

The Somali cat woman let out a nervous cat trill. “Rrrr…you’re not going to like what you find, but it’s still something you need to see for yourself, sire.”

King Mau looked through the file and looked at the lines of text that were highlighted by his agents…

“...murder-rape case on Month 6, Day 12, three years ago…solved by Odu.”

“...molestation-battery case on Month 9, Day 8, two years ago…solved by Odu.”

“...second-degree murder-assault case on Month 4, Day 12, one year ago…solved by Odu.”

There were loads of other similar cases strewn about within those timeframes as well. The general gist was that Odu was indeed one of the king’s agents in the past and worked on rather high-profile cases involving different forms of assault and murder.

“I remember him now,” the king replied as he snapped his fingers, “But all this tells me is that he used to work for me at one point. It doesn’t explain anything in regards to what he’s…” His ears flicked as he started to think about the worst possible outcome. “...hold on--wait. Don’t tell me--”

Another she-cat would speak up. A young-looking lioness shades that obscured her eyes. “Before you jump to conclusions, sire, we need you to take a look at something else.”

“Oh?”

His attention was directed to a white-furred Devon Rex tom who could be seen typing on what appeared to be a rather primitive computer that was designed for the sole purpose of holding digital files.

“Oi, mi’lord, take a gander at this, yeh?” the young tom called out while nibbling on a candy stick, speaking in an accent similar to the one found in Trottingham.

King Mau walked over and looked at the computer screen. It was all black with green text used to convey information along with images. In particular, the tom would show the king an image of what appeared to be a tiger Abyssian citizen’s mugshot.

“...and who’s this?” the king asked.

“Right, now look at the name, yeh?” the tom pointed at the top of the screen while suckling on his candy, “It’s the fookin’ same surname, innit?”

King Mau looked and found the mugshot of the individual they were looking at indeed had the same surname as Odu. To be precise, the name of this individual was ‘Alwood Eransa.’

“‘Alwood’? Wait…I remember hearing about that guy in my youth,” the king muttered in a sense of amazed horror as he recalled the news articles that he had heard from when he was younger. His green eyes darted across the computer screen as he read the reasons for why Alwood was convicted. “...now…now I remember,” he muttered as he coughed into his paw, “...this man was arrested for molestation towards his own child.”

“Yeah…and execu’ed,” the white tom cat muttered under his breath, “...but this is probably what’s led Odu down this path. Takin’ his own trauma from bein' a victim of his nonce father out on others.”

“Sickening explanation…but no excuse for doing what he’s doing now,” the king hissed, “We need to inform the Royal Navy immedia--”

The tom interjected, “...one more thing, mi'lord.”

Back to the lynx man who would speak up once more. “Our investigation team has found evidence at that martial arts dojo outside of the city…apparently, Odu
had taken one of the children of the victims of his crimes into his own custody without formal approval.”

“...he what?!”

Chapter 108

“Seems to be the case, mi’lord,” the Devon Rex commented, “We have very limited information on the subject, but given the case, it’s highly probable that whoever that Odu has involved has also picked up some of his traits. We should be wary of anyone else who exhibits similar values.”

The king sighed and mentally noted down everything that he had just heard. “Alright…I need to think this over. Thanks for the explanation, everyone.”

With that, Mau left his agents and everyone else would subsequently leave the war room and head to their respective quarters for the night. Mau in particular would arrive in his bedroom where his wife was reading a book in bed.

“Grrgh…well this has put quite the strain on us, hasn’t it?” the cat king asked his wife as he lied down next to her.

“...I spoke to some of my own agents as well,” his wife, Bombay, replied as she closed her book, “They’ve all pretty much told me the exact same things that your agents have told you. This Odu individual was treated poorly by his own father and was even molested…I can’t believe it.”

“Yes…” Mau sighed as he lied down, “While it doesn’t excuse his actions, I think it paints a better picture as to what exactly his purpose behind all of this is.”

“And what do you think that might be, hun?”

“...he’s doing this not just as a way to take control of his own life, but as a twisted way to keep this from happening to anyone else…” he paused for a moment and shrugged, “Or at least, that’s my hypothesis. I don’t know the man personally so I can’t make any snap judgements about his character or his intentions.”

Bombay sighed and lied down with her husband, “...still. Looking to incite a war is a bit drastic. It’s almost as if he’s looking for a reason to be put down.”

“...it’s a thought I had also. Maybe he’s doing this as an elaborate ruse so that he can fall to suicide by the authorities. Whatever the case, we can’t allow him to live on like this. I’m sure it’s eating away at his mental state. Putting him down might be the only sort of release we can give him at this point--he’s beyond saving.”

“I see…” the queen mumbled with a purr, “Well, at any rate, we know what we need to do. Mio already has the information he needs and they’ll likely intercept him by tomorrow. I guess with his horrific father dead, he’s had no one to aim his anger at except the diamond dogs…which is likely a scapegoat now that I think about it.”

Mau noted that with a twitch of his whiskers. The feud between the Diamond Dogs and Abyssinians had ended quite a while. Was it possible that Odu had genuine animosity towards that race, or was it just a massive cover-up for an elaborate suicide attempt?

Unfortunately, as Mau had said, there was simply no telling for the moment as they simply couldn’t comprehend the way Odu thought nor did they know him well enough to make a judgement call. At this point, the tiger man was an enemy to their nation and had to be dealt with accordingly. Nothing would ever excuse the act of taking his anger out on innocent people through an act of war.

“...whatever the case, there’s no use mulling over it right now, my dear,” Mau advised his wife to relax for the time being, “All we can do is simply focus on what’s important regarding the safety of everyone in our kingdom. That’s what leaders should always do after all.”

“You’re right, yes…” Bombay agreed as she snuggled up to Mau, “We shall continue to work towards building a proper future for the next generations after us. For now, let’s get some rest, hm?”

“Indeed…we have a lot to do starting tomorrow…”

That’s when the queen got ready to present an idea that would take their mind off of things for the time being and clear their heads. “...why don’t I help you relax, Mau-Mau, dear?”

“...if…if you’re willing, then allow me to do the same for you, BB…”

Meanwhile, back at the inn, in the room Fang was staying in…

Sha’Beel was lying next to Fang while sobbing heavily, burying her face in the dalmatian’s chest for comfort.

Fang reciprocated the desire for affection by running his right paw alongside her head to keep her close to him while smoking a cigarette in his left. “...there now,” he muttered, “I’m sure it’s been a rough time for you.”

“It…it has…” Beel mumbled between sniffles, “I thought I knew everything that I wanted in life, but really…I was just lying to myself while following his lead. At this point, it’d be best for me to simply slit my throat and drown myself!”

“...don’t speak such things,” Fang coughed up some smoke as he held her against his body, “...you can still give your life meaning even now, Sha.”

“Easy for you to say…” she purred weakly against him, “...you have a family and friends that love and adore you no matter what. Your life is perfect, Jun.”

Fang froze, then looked off to the side as he contemplated what she had just said…and considered everything that he had worked for his entire life up until that moment, including his dying mother. The revelation caused him to crush the cigarette in his paw as he grit his teeth with a pained grimace on his face.

“...you…you don’t know what you think you know, Sha.”

Chapter 109

“...what do you mean?”

“I have a family, yes, but it comes with its own fair share of trials and tribulations, Sha. You have it much easier since you don’t have to worry about the well-being of anyone but yourself. People like you are lucky. No care in the world aside from one’s own skin…”

Sha’Beel thought about it for a moment as she looked up, then away from Fang. “...Oh…”

“That’s why I fight so hard,” he continued, “I tried my best to work to find a solution for my mother’s sickness, but there’s not much that can be done…so I’m still working so I can provide and send money back to my folks once she’s gone. My aunt will have her paws full dealing with all of her nieces and nephews. Do you understand me now, Sha?”

“...I do…she spoke up, “You don’t need to go into detail…I…I’m sorry for being so callous and uncaring before.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes, “Not like you can do that much to help me anyway. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

“...at this point, I’d be a fool not to,” Beel countered as she rolled on top of him, “...I realize now that at the very least…if I can help you be happy then I can give my own life some sort of meaning.”

Still not quite convinced, Fang turned his gaze aside. “Hmph. So you’ve decided to drop the act of intent to kill via seduction, then?”

“...I’ll admit…I…fell for you,” she purred angrily and flicked her tail, “As much as I hate to admit it.”

“BUHAHA!” Fang cackled aloud.

“...shut up!”

“Sorry it’s just…rather hilarious,” Fang went on and coughed, “I’m honestly shocked that I’ve managed to get through to you in such a way. Is my personality really that charming?” he teased her with a sarcastic smile.

“...Rrr…” Beel purred ever so slightly out of defiance. “...you’re lucky that you’re sexually attractive. But I suppose it’s my own fault for falling victim to the charms of your…extra leg.”

“Uh-huh. Well I’m glad you’ve figured out what you’ve wanted for yourself. It’s up to you to decide your fate. Not be a vessel for someone else’s. Understand?”

The tigress accepted his words, with a grateful smile. “...I do. I know what I intend to do now. Thank you for helping me, Jun.”

“...don’t sweat it.”

The next morning…

By sunrise, Sha’Beel had left Fang’s room and presumably gone her own way. The diamond dog man and the rest of his team met up downstairs in front of the inn building where they discussed what to do next. As instructed, the team got on the next train that left Abyssinian and would take them to Caninia. Even if the king and queen of Abyssinia knew that they were going to intercept Odu in the ocean, it was important for Fang’s team to inform the queens of Caninia to let them know of what was going down.

Any number of variables could come to pass. Variables that they couldn’t afford to take any chances on. Because of that, the mercenaries of Dorm Block Sigma were on their way…

“...are you okay, Jun?” Lee asked Fang as she sat next to him on the train, “You look somewhat worried.”

The diamond dog’s fluffy tail was wagging involuntarily as he nibbled upon the complimentary peanuts the train offered. “...is it that obvious?”

“I know we’re headed to your home where your family lives,” she commented with an intrigued flick of her tail as she sat cross-legged upon the seat. “I’m very interested in meeting your family if I’m being honest with you.”

“...they’ll…be happy to meet you all,” Fang muttered with a small smile on his face, “But given that it’s a day’s train ride…I’d rather rest until we get there.” He lied back against his seat and covered his face with one of the pillows. “...wake me when we’re almost there, yes?”

“...of course, Jun,” Lee accepted his terms and allowed him to rest. For the moment, she’d simply head over to Rufus and Spear’s seat on the train to have a conversation with them instead.

Meanwhile, back in Abyssinia…

In the Great Sea which lied South of Abyssinia, Mio, his dragon wife Spitha, and the rest of the Royal Navy had set off to intercept Odu based on the coordinates they had been given. On the main deck of their boat, Mio himself stood as he looked out over the aquatic horizon with his binoculars. Alongside them, about four other boats had rode out onto the open water with them.

“Alright. Looks like we’re officially in unregulated territory,” the blue-suited tom commented as he lowered his binoculars and looked to his left to address someone else, “Rudy. You ready?”

The white-furred Devon Rex tom from before had been typing on what appeared to be a sonar-tracking laptop of sorts. He was also now wearing a black tank top, a pair of ripped jeans, and a black beanie over his head with holes that allowed his ears to pokethrough. “Bruv. Ain’t a mat’er of whether we’re ready. They’s gots to come to us, ya reckon?”

“We’ll need your tech to let us know when to launch the torpedoes and mines,” Mio replied as he looked out on the water and saw the other allied Naval vessels, “It’ll be on your mark, so don’t let us down, alright?”

“Pfft,” Rudy scoffed as he munched on another candy stick, “My mates Tango and Kabuki are in position. As is Luster Dawn's team from Equestria. You just give word when you see the buggers.”

“Actually, it’ll be Spitha that gives us word,” Mio pointed upwards where they’d both see the red dragonness flying and scouting the waters, “Her eyes are keened for this sort of thing. But good. Glad to have assistance from Equestria as well.”

Rudy patted Mio on the shoulder, “Right, then. Guess we’re in good claws, innit?”

“They’re here,” her voice called out from above, causing both toms to stand at attention and move into position, “Get ready!”

Chapter 110

It wasn’t long before the hostile boats would appear on the horizon. However, Odu wasn’t yet visible on any of the vessels so Mio had to give a command of caution.

“Everyone, be careful,” he spoke into a radio which went out to all of his fellow allied boats, “Currently no visual on our target. Be sure to engage cautiously as we need him alive for questioning. I repeat: Excessive force is not recommended here.”

“Right then, let’s get these buggers capsized,” Rudy snickered as he bit down on his candy stick and crunched it, “Weapons free, boss!”

“We’re just looking for a bit of a scare. Fire when ready!”

Meanwhile, on one of the nearby boats…

Luster Dawn looked out over the side of the boat she had been placed on with her team and squinted her eyes. Sure enough, once Mio’s radio signal came through, their professor gave them a command.

“Alright, everyone. You heard him,” the unicorn stallion called everyone over to the main deck, “We’re looking to disable them as efficiently as possible to find the culprit. The abyssinian man is very dangerous and supposedly slayed a goblin.”

“...Oi, am I hearin’ that right?” Dewdrop commented out of amazement mixed with fear, “...I thought they were just a myth!”

The blind minotaur bull, Kuno, simply scoffed with his arms folded, “Hmph…and here I thought they were rumored to be indestructible. If that’s the case, then we’ll need all the power we can get.”

Noptera, the changeling stallion, eyeballed the ships from where they were approaching. “...about 40 knots left. What’s the plan, Luster?”

“Already got one,” Luster replied with a smug smile as she created an astral projection of the water via her magic in front of them. “We’re here. The enemy vessels are out that way. Dewdrop, we’ll need you to make a storm if that’s possible. Make it hard for them to navigate.”

“Yeh. I ken!” With that, the water-horse earth pony mare saluted and jumped into the water, disappearing below as she swam towards the other side of the sea like a speeding bullet with a seapony-like tail.

“Noptera, Can you take the form of a giant--”

The dark changeling had already taken off into the air, “Please. That’s foal’s play for me!”

“...that leaves us, Kuno,” Luster looked at the blindfolded minotaur, “We’ll be boarding and dealing with the agents of each vessel. Twilight sent us here because she knew we’d be able to handle this, let’s not let her down.”

“Let your concerns stay off the battlefield,” the bull cracked his knuckles which made the air around his hands explode with a small bit of gale force. “It’s time to act.”

“...Professor, you can sit back and watch,” she commented to Hassium, “Let those old bones of yours veg out as we handle this.”

The elder unicorn grumbled as he furrowed his brow, “Excuse me, young lady? I dare say, I’m merely forty years--”

BOOM!

All the sudden, a massive thunderstorm was kicked up which formed into a set of small, yet unpredictable waves as lightning struck. Everyone’s attention was stolen as the enemy vessels were all rattled by the sudden storm.

“Aha!” Dawn triumphantly called out upon the storm’s rise. “Now in three, two…”

With a magical POOF!, a dark-blue, changeling colored leviathan appeared from within the water! It was Noptera taking the form of one in order to cause disarray among the hostile boats. The sounds of gunfire and torpedoes being fired off could be heard, but Noptera’s rough exoskeleton allowed him to withstand the damage at least for a time.

“Move us in closer!” Dawn called out to the Abyssinian Navy commander piloting their boat. With the order received, their vessel was piloted directly into the waves where they’d be able to see two other boats--one on each side. “Kuno! You take the left one!” she smirked with a flash of her horn as she glanced at the boat on the right side of theirs, “This one’s mine…”

Without a word, the minotaur bull leapt onto the opposing boat. As expected, there were a few Abyssinian gangsters aboard. A few started firing off bullets from handheld SMGs, but they were somehow avoided by the minotaur’s astonishing speed for someone of his size.

CRACK!

With a swift dodge and a single punch to the gut that broke nearly every rib in the puma woman’s body, Kuno put the first one down, followed by a lion man who leapt out behind him, nearly swiping him with his claws--

But Kuno dodged this as well. Using his enhanced senses, he avoided the strike, and sent the lion man tumbling with a singular palm strike. Nearly every other cat beastman aboard wouldn’t stand a chance against the bull either, however, he immediately noticed something peculiar…

‘...Odu isn’t here. Perhaps he’s present on one of the other vessels?’

Well, on the boat that Luster Dawn had boarded…

The unicorn mare had conjured her pair of magical, hard-light axes and spun them at such high velocity that they were able to deflect the bullets they fired at her. Then without even looking, she flung one axe at the snow leopard to her right, cutting her tail in just the right place to throw off her balance and force her to drop to the deck of the ship, followed by slinging the other at the serval man to her right, slicing his knees just right to incapacitate him as well.

She then trotted up to the serval, and aimed one of her axes directly over his head with a cold, uncaring glare in her eyes, “...where’s your leader? Answer m--”

CRACK!

But before the cat man could answer, they’d be interrupted. Dawn was punched hard and took a tumble to the deck.

With a grunt, Dawn weakly looked up in their direction, and found that it was another gangster. However…it wasn’t an Abyssinian at all.

“...wait…a Diamond Dog?”

Chapter 111

Meanwhile, on one of the other boats nearby…

Mio had already boarded one of the enemy vessels with a simple 1911-style handgun. Once aboard, he dodged the gunfire of the rifles fired by the crewmen with his swift, cat-like reflexes. He hid behind one of the machine gun turrets on the boat’s rear before poking his head out to take a quick, single shot--

Bang.

The caracal who had been firing at him went down from the well-placed shot Mio sent to their shoulder. He then ran up to the gangster and kicked their weapon aside before ducking under a shot from a sniper rifle!

“Yikes!”

It was fired from Irina from on top of the ship itself. The black jaguar she-cat smirked and called out to him. “Heyo! Looking for someone?”

“Yeah!” Mio hissed as he pointed his pistol at her, “I need to see your boss! Where is he?!”

“...who? Ooooh! You mean Odu!” she snickered with a snort, “Yeah, he’s not here. Sawreeee!” she apologized with a patronizing tone.

“Wait what--?!” Mio flicked his tail, “Are you kidding me?!”

Irina cackled, nearly falling off the side of the boat as she held onto her rifle. “Haaaah! You think we were actually gonna bring you our leader on a silver platter? How dumb do you think we are?”

“...if he’s not here, then where is he?” Mio asked, narrowly closer to pulling the trigger.

“...If you can beat us, I’ll tell ya,” Irina snickered as she raised her gun again, “But I have a feeling you won’t like the answer, Crown Prince!” She fired off a shot which forced Mio to take cover behind the turret once more. “Come out and plaaaaay~”

Mio gave another hiss, then a purr of frustration as he counted his ammo. ‘...12 left. I need to make these count. If Odu isn’t here, then we need to find out where he is as soon as possible. They played us like a goddamn orchestra.’ His thoughts were interrupted with a twitch of his ears towards the sounds of heavy blows landing. “...Hm?”

On the boat next to the one Mio was on…

Rudy could be seen engaging in a fierce fistfight with a panther man--it was Gwin. Irina’s partner and the commander of that particular vessel!

Specifically, the panther man was actually making more use of knee and leg strikes akin to Muay techniques learned from the Siamese region whereas Rudy had a rather unconventional style reminiscent of Savate from Prance.

The end result was a strong, beefy-looking black-furred cat man slinging slow strikes at a younger, yet speedier white-furred one.

CRACK!

Gwin dealt a swift knee to Rudy’s midsection which sent him flying across the deck of the boat until he recovered and extended the claws on his paws to grip himself into the wood of the deck With a savage hiss, he sprang to action and blitzed towards the black panther on all fours before curling himself up into a ball, rolling, then exiting the curled form with what appeared to be a sweeping kick move that Gwin was prepared to block until--

FWIP!

Rudy flipped onto his hands and wrapped his legs around Gwin’s neck, flipping him over onto his back. The young tom restrained the older tom’s arm by pulling it behind him and and putting Gwin in a textbook arm-bar style wrestling hold.

“Grrrgh…” Gwin grumbled under his breath as he hit the deck of the ship. The sensation of his arm being twisted by the younger tom had hurt his pride as much as it was hurting his shoulder. “You’re stronger than you look. I’ll give you that, boy…”

“You’re off your rockah if you think I’m gonna let you do as you please you git!” Rudy hissed in return while twisting the panther’s arm further and stomping his foot against Gwin’s head. “Now tell me where your boss is!”

“...I can tell you where he isn’t,” Gwin reported with a grunt as he was pushed down.

“What’re you playing at?”

“He’s not here,” Gwin continued, “That’s what I mean. You goody-paws and your bleeding hearts have been played like a fish in a barre--DAGGH!”

CRRRACK!

With a fierce twist, Rudy dislocated the panther’s arm to disable him for the time being. Then he got up, and noticed that Mio was under heavy fire thanks to Irina’s high-caliber sniper shots.

“Shite! Hang on, bruv!” With a single bound, Rudy leapt from one boat to the other…

All the while, Irina was cackling to herself while closing in on Mio’s position. The jaguar lady purred with amusement, “Yourrrr’re not getting anywhere by hiding, little pussyb--!”

The wind was knocked out of her by Rudy entering the fray by kicking her in the face so hard that her neck contorted and twisted from her left to her right as a trail of blood and a few teeth were dislodged from her lips as she fell into the water.

Rudy landed on the deck and looked over at Mio’s position. “Oi. You alright, mate?”

“No worse for wear,” Mio commented as he peeked out and took a breath of relief as he adjusted his glasses, “But apparently Odu isn’t present with this fleet at all. We need to apprehend everyone here and take them back for questioning immediately.”

With a confident purr and a flick of his tail, Rudy tapped his fist upon his chest, “Not a problem, mate. I think we’ll--!”

SHINK!

“AAARGH!”

Rudy screamed as a harpoon’s spear was lodged through the back of his right shoulder. The source was from the nearby boat and the harpoon device used to take down large fish was being operated by Gwin with his undamaged hand.

Mio had tried to grab ahold of his fellow soldier, but he was pulled backwards by the harpoon’s rope, barely hanging on with his claws dug into the wood of the ship’s deck.

“RUDY! Hang on, I got you!”

“FFFFUCK! This smarts!” Rudy cried out from the pain as blood spilled below him thanks to the spear shot through his shoulder, the flesh of his arm squished along the bone as the boat Gwin was on started to turn away from them, threatening to pull Rudy off the boat entirely!

“Son of a bitch, he’s trying to pull you off!” Mio hissed as he tried to dislodge the harpoon from Rudy’s arm, but it slowly ripped away at the Rex tom’s arm to the point of no return. “No…no I’m not letting this happen!” Mio took a few shots at the harpoon’s steel rope, but to no avail. He then tried clawing and biting through the cable, but nothing came of that either. It was seemingly indestructible…

“Grrgh! Spark it! Don’t worry about me!” Rudy insisted as he was dragged further and further off the boat with a panicked mewl as he grit his teeth and looked at Mio in the eyes, “It’s not coming out, dammit! Finish the mission!”

Mio grabbed ahold of Rudy’s shoulders, “I’m not letting you suffer this! What would your little sister say if she--?!”

“Abandon me or we both die!”

Chapter 112

“I refuse! Where is…where…” Mio hissed as he looked into the air for answers, and screamed to the heavens, “SPITHA!”

Just as Mio yelled, Rudy was pulled into the water, dropping into the sea with the steel harpoon spear weighing him down and preventing him from swimming back up. All Mio could see were air bubbles as the cable was reeled in, the tom’s eyes darting repeatedly in a breathless panic as he stared helplessly.

Nearby, on Gwin’s boat, he snickered as he watched the Rex tom cling for dear life to the boat while speared with the harpoon the former fired off. “Looks like your time is up, little brat…”

SNAP!

In a near-instant, the harpoon’s cable was snapped in twain by a blur of red that swooped down from the heavens. Gwin’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he clutched his right arm.

“W-what?! How --?!”

Moments later, the red dragoness, Spitha, had landed on the deck and spat out the cables that were used to pull Rudy into the water.

“Surrender now and I might resist cooking you to death,” she huffed with smoke coming out of her nostrils.

“...well fuck me,” Gwin grumbled as he got down on his knees, “...you’re already too late anyway. Our boss has already gotten what he wanted from us…and you.”

Spitha picked up the panther man and blew smoke in his face with a snarl, “We’ll see about that.”

Back on the boat Mio was on…

The tom had removed his suit and glasses and dove into the water to save his friend, swimming as fast as he could with his breath held. Through the empty, white noise of the ambient water, Mio dove deep and eventually bypassed some fish on his way to see Rudy who had continued to sink further and further into the depths of the water.

“...!” With a panicked flinch, Mio hastily swam deeper, ignoring the force that the water put on his body, nearly grabbing the rex tom…but narrowly missing him as Rudy sank beyond rocks into the depths of an underwater trench.

“...”

His breath threshold had run out and Mio couldn’t withstand it any longer. The tom swam back up to the surface with a regretful sob as he wiped his face. “...god…dammit. How could I let this happen?”

But just then…

“Yer friend here needs help!” a Trotland-accented voice called out from behind Mio.

The tom turned around to find that Dewdrop had swam underneath and recovered Rudy from the depths, but the harpoon spear was still lodged in his body along with the fact that he was unconscious.

“...thank you, miss. However, we’re at a bit of a crossroads here,” Mio explained as he took hold of Rudy from the water-pony, “Odu isn’t present among this fleet at all. We need to round up whoever we can and hurry back to the City Hall immediately.”

“Oi! I can push us all back to the harbor!” Dewdrop proclaimed proudly.

Mio raised a brow. “...you what?!”

“Get back on that vessel, laddie. I got this!” And with a backflip, the glashtyn-pony dropped back down into the water with her seapony tailfin allowing her to dash through like a speeding bullet.

Mio climbed back onto the nearest boat and placed Rudy on his side to avoid harming him further with the harpoon lodged in his shoulder. “...dammit. We need to get you back to the infirmary as soon as possible. No idea how they’ll get this thing out of you, but…”

“Archk!” With a mewl and sniffle, Rudy coughed up a fish and shook his head, indicating that he was alive…but the blood rushing from his arm continued to make him weak.

“Here,” Mio clawed the arm of his suit off in order to make a quick splint to stop the blood from leaking out. “That should buy you some time until we can get back. Just gotta hope that that water-pony knows what she’s doing…”

At the same time on another boat nearby…

“Why are you working with them?!” Luster Dawn yelped as she rose to her hooves and got a better look at the diamond dog man. “This gang is trying to eradicate diamond dogs! Your own kind! What’s wrong with you?!” she stomped her hoof, unable to comprehend what his idea was.

It was a dalmatian to be exact. Dressed in casual jean shorts and a camo tank top, he pointed to his forehead and snickered with an unhinged tone in his voice. “...Nyheh! You think you know us all, eh? Likes youse some kinda expert on all things friendship just cuz youse the Princess’s puppet.”

Such a thing caught her off-guard, and caused the mare to stutter, “...w-what? I am…” Dawn cleared her throat and spoke coldly. “I am no one’s puppet. I’m in charge of my own life. Nobody else. But that doesn’t explain why you’d turn traitor to your own kind!”

“Guess I may as well let youse in on a secret,” the dalmatian man leaned forward with his hands in his pockets, “I’m lookin’ta cause a bit of a revolution let’s say. Caninia is ruled by bitches--”

“...how could you say that about your rulers?!”

“Uh, no, theys literally bitches,” he deadpanned as he scratched the top of his head, “Don’tcha know what the word means? Caninia’s ruled by queens ya dope. Bitches, dames, ladies--same thing.” He rolled his eyes, “I’m sick of ‘em. A real man needs’ta take charge’a that place. I’m simply expeditin’ the process.”

Dawn raised a hoof and turned her head before faux-gagging out of disgust from what she had just heard. “...so you’re just sexist. Blech…I don’t even know how to tackle that.”

“Pfft,” the dalmatian scoffed and waved his paw dismissively, “Not like youse understand. You ponies are ran by dames.”

“Now hang on a second!” Dawn snarled as she stomped up to the spotted canine who continued to stare at her with a smug grin on his face, “Not only is that incorrect, but you’re also disgustingly incorrect!”

And yet, the dog man simply shook his head in a patronizing manner with a sigh. “Ah, you guys are pitifu--!”

FWOOSH!

The entire boat--and all of the other boats on the water--started to rock as Dewdrop manipulated the waves to push everyone back to shore. Both Dawn and the dalmatian were flung across the boat until the latter grabbed ahold of one of its flags

“What in the fresh hell is--?!”

“...the failsafe!” Dawn yelped as she teleported away with a magical pink poof!

Which left the dog man to deal with a giant wave that loomed over the boat he was on as it was forced to the Abyssinian coast. His blank expression pretty much said it all…

“...fuckin’...”

Chapter 113

With a loud crashing of water akin to a bomb dropping, the tidal wave kicked up by Dewdrop would push absolutely everyone in the immediate area back towards the coast of Abyssinia. Friendly and enemy alike. Soon enough, everyone would wash ashore akin to castaways on the nearest beach.

As soon as Mio came to, he looked around and noticed that all of the gangster cats--and the dalmatian diamond dog--had been piled into one neat group which he immediately point his gun at.

“You’re all under arrest!”

All of the beachgoing Abyssinians and other assorted creatures immediately stopped playing volleyball, building sandcastles, and suntanning in order to give the crime scene some room to breathe.

Meanwhile, Luster Dawn had crashed headfirst into a sandcastle. “OOF!”

Kuno crawled his way off of the rocks of a coral reef onto the shore. “...well that was certainly a plan.”

Noptera had taken the form of a bottlenose dolphin and swam to the shore before turning back into his default changeling form. “...glad that’s over.”

Lastly, Dewdrop had settled the waves and casually pranced onto the beach, turning her tail back into a regular pony. “Well now that put some kick into the knickers, didn’t it? Who’s up for more?”

Dawn had picked herself up and spat out some sand. “Plegh! Can ya warn me next time before you activate the last stage of our plan, Dew?”

“Hey, it ain’t my fault ye weren’t ready,” Dew teased Dawn, the latter furrowing her brow as the water horse continued, “Sorry, sorry. I’ll make sure I do better with warnin’ ya next time….ya pansy”

“Please. Ugh, I’ve got water in my ears now too,” Dawn complained as she tapped the side of her head which released a whole fish from her body, which she gazed at in complete silence for a moment before levitating it back into the water.

“Heh. Come on, what’s the matter with a bit of fun on the job?” Noptera added as he joined the group, “Haven’t had a dip like that in years.”

“See? Noppy knows what’s up!” Dewdrop chirped as she leapt up and put a hoof around the changeling, who reacted with a cough as he felt the wind knocked out of him.

Dawn flicked her tail to shake the water off of it and scoffed at the changeling with a horse-like snort, “Hrrgh. Easy for you to say. You can literally turn into anything you want, so don’t gimme that.”

“Hey, I’m just being honest,” he added with a chuckle as Dew let him go, “That aside, guess we need to get these guys apprehended and see what they know, huh?”

“They’re already on it,” Kuno commented from behind, causing everyone to flinch ever so slightly at the minotaur bull’s surprisingly stealthy presence.

“...jeebus, Kunoi, how long have you been…?” Dawn muttered as she looked over and saw the gangsters apprehended by police officer Abyssinian cats. “I see. I guess that part’s partially taken care of. Come on, everyone.”

With that, Dawn’s team would follow Mio back to the station where criminals would be held until further notice.

Meanwhile, at the hospital…

Rudy had been taken in thanks to the help of several Abyssinian EMTs who had arrived on the scene earlier. The rex tom was taken in and given a major surgery where the harpoon was carefully dislodged from his arm, but left him with a permanent, tree-shaped scar along the side of his arm and limited use of it.

Eventually, the tom would get a visit from a small white-furred Devon Rex she-cat with brown patches of fur mixed within who appeared to be no more than 14. She was restrained to a wheelchair, though she seemed to be able to roll it herself quite easily.

“...brother, are you okay?” her feminine voice called out in an accent like her brother’s.

Rudy eventually opened his eyes and saw his sister sitting next to his medical bedside. “...sis. Why are you here? I told you not to leave the house. Isn’t Mrs. Watson watching over you?”

The young she-cat folded her arms with a determined frown on her face, “You know I couldn’t stand by when I heard the news. What do you take me for, ya muppe’h?”

“...thanks,” he replied with a smile, “I’m just glad you’re alright more than anything. It’s why I’m out here fighting you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t get yourself killed,” she insisted with a pout, “You know you’re all I’ve got left and I don’t want to lose you, Rudeaux.”

Her words struck him deeply. Rudy fell silent and closed his eyes as he clutched his fist to his chest. After a moment, he opened them and glanced at her with a more understanding tone, “...you’re right. Sorry. I won’t throw away my life out there, Deidre. I promise.”

“Good. Now let me fetch your supper, hm?” the little she-cat then turned and rolled herself out of the medical room.

"Wait, Dee!" The tom tried to call out to her but to no avail; she had already left. Rudy simply lied down and relaxed instead for the time being. "...Bugger it. There's no stopping her when she gets focused on something."

Chapter 114

Within Abyssinia’s courthouse, the interrogation would take quite a while considering that none of the criminals wanted to fess up about who committed the atrocities on that day. Even the lone diamond dog refused to speak, so they’d have to take some time to employ more…convincing tactics in order to get them to squeal. For the time being though, Dawn’s team would take a rest within the nearby local inn until everything was sorted out.

This was something that would have to be returned to at a later date.

Meanwhile, in the Dragon Lands…

At the same time, Nebula’s team was investigating their situation on the other side of the river in the Dragon lands. Most notably, helping Smolder investigate and figure out the location of Hooktail’s brothers, Gloomtail and Bonetail.

Eventually though, Smolder would have a breakthrough once she dunked Hooktail into another bucket of cold water.

“Talk.”

“PBBBHT!” Hooktail sputtered while shivering on the cold floor of the cave they were currently in with her arms tied by ice-rope which restrained her power, “F-fuck you…g-g-god….f-f-fine…w-we were giving Odu our blood to power him up in exchange for his help to overthrow you…”

Smolder casually took a hit from another cigarette and placed her foot on Hooktail’s face, pressing her into the dirt floor of the cave. “Uh-huh. You know under Dragon Code that’s grounds for execution if you fail your usurpation attempt, right?”

“Grrgh…” Hooktail grumbled, unable to speak with the dragon lord’s foot on her head.

Smolder leaned forward, resting her arm on her bent knee with a devious smile. “Here’s what’s gonna happen, Hooky. You’re gonna tell us where your brothers are, and I won’t have you mutilated. Everybody wins,” she added with a sinister trill.

“...D-do whatever you want!” Hooktail yelped, “My brothers will-!”

“Ugh, you’re boring me with this,” Smolder rolled her eyes and took a step back, “I know how strong Gloomtail and Bonetail are. You don’t have to remind me. All I want to know is where they’re located.”

“...son of a bitch!” Hooktail huffed with a whine. Unable to fight back, she knew she had no choice but to comply, “...fine. Gloomtail is in Scalebound Wildwood last I checked. Bonetail is in Kobold Canyon.”

“...are you sure?” Smolder took another puff from her cigarette and looked over her shoulder at the criminal dragon, “...you better not be lying to me, Hooky. If you don’t wanna become a dragonsicle up on Capri Peak~”

“I-I swear I’m telling the truth!” Hooktail hissed, “I-In fact, I’ll do you one better, that’s where the last of the ice dragons are located!”

Smolder’s tail flicked and her wings spread wide upon hearing such a thing. “...no shit, huh? And here I thought those guys were extinct…”

“I-it’s true! I know because Gloomtail can breath ice and poison.”

“...squealing on your last legs, huh?” Smolder muttered with a shrug. Her dubious tone indicated that she didn’t quite believe that last detail considering that the ice dragons were an extremely rare and supposedly extinct breed. But for the time being, she had to use what she was given. “Whatever. You’ll stay here until we decide what to do with you.”

“...one more thing,” Hooktail commented, “...tell Blue Blazes he’s a loser limpdick who's terrible in bed…!”

Smolder simply rolled her eyes and started flapping her claw like a duck's bill, mocking how Hooktail went on and on…

"...and he's a pathetic little fag--!"

BLAM!

Smolder's eyes grew wide, and in an instant, she kicked Hooktail in the face, causing her to tumble into the nearest wall. “...I fucking hate dragons like you.”

And with that, Smolder left the cave to be watched over by two dragon guards who stood at attention at the entrance. From there, she’d fly to her recently-built fortress that rested on a stereotypical mountain of fire and brimstone. With spiky ramparts and pillars surrounding the gray cobblestone castle, it looked like your stereotypical “evil overlord” castle. Ironic given Smolder’s true nature.

The orange dragoness would fly into her castle through a window and arrive in her throne room, then step into her banquet hall where Nebula’s team was waiting for her as they ate plates of quality food including meats, fruits, and cheeses. The banquet hall itself was adorned with red carpeting in the middle of an orange and blue-tiled floor with suits of dragon-shaped armor along the walls in between the stained glass windows of past Dragon Lords.

“Okay…got the info out of Hooktail,” Smolder called out to Nebula’s team as she took a seat, “Apparently Gloomtail and Bonetail were also involved in this blood-selling nonsense. Can’t believe this shit…”

“So what, we just find them and deal with them, right?” Nebula called out from his seat. “Seems simple enough.”

“Still…” Smolder leaned against the table with her elbows resting upon the pink tablecloth, “I feel bad for getting you guys involved in my mess.”

Blue would speak up, “Don’t worry about it. Any chance to improve my folks’ home is a chance I’ll take. Assholes like these are out here tainting our reputation when we’ve worked our tails off just to improve it.”

“I’m with Blue,” Mei added, “Dragons deserve better and I won’t let some bad apples ruin the entire tree.”

Lastly, Grimrose would add, “...hey as long as we get some dragon pelts--”

Everyone stared at her in concerned silence.

“...That…that was a joke,” she droned with a neutral expression, “It’s supposed to be ironic because it’s something I’d normally--” She shook her head, “...nevermind. Just know that I’m in.”

Smolder snorted, “So long as you focus on flaying the bad guys, yeah? Anyway, you guys’ first objective is the Scalebound Wildwood.”

“I’ve heard of that place,” Nebula spoke up, “Isn’t that a forest-like jungle region that exists on the outskirts of the Dragon Lands on the ocean border with Kirin and Mistmane village territory?”

“...yeah!” Blue proclaimed, then paused for a second, “...I think. Been a while since I’ve been out that way. But if that’s where Gloomtail is located, I should be able to guide you guys there until we find him.”

“Seems simple enough,” Mei commented as she got up from the table, “We’re heading out tomorrow, yeah?”

“That’s right. You’re gonna need a boat in order to get there, so I’m gonna have someone join you guys tomorrow,” Smolder nodded as everyone would follow Mei, “Get some rest, alright guys?”

Everyone bid her goodnight, but Smolder called out to Blue before he left. “...wait a second, Blue. Got a minute?”

“...what’s up?” Blue asked as he turned around.

“...Hooktail was talking about you behind your back,” Smolder explained, “...everything okay?”

“...yeah,” Blue dodged the question while turning his head, “...we stopped seeing each other a while ago so…don’t worry about it. Besides, I’ve…I’ve got Mei now, so…yeah.”

Smolder chose not to press the issue further and gave a compassionate reply as he placed a claw on his shoulder. “...alrighty. As long as you’re sure, Blue. Come to me if there’s anything wrong. I know you’re alone otherwise, so…let me help however I can.”

“...thanks Lord--er,...Smolder.”

Chapter 115

Later on that evening…

“So you’ll help us out, right? You can keep whatever treasures you find on the way there, but they really need you to take them to the Scalebound Wildwood which is located on the Fragmentation Islands South of here,” Smolder would explain the situation to someone that was standing in front of her.

The individual in question was only about 4 feet tall, but their head was covered by what appeared to be a pirate’s hat, rendering their face hidden from view for the moment as two other much taller, bipedal figures stood next to them.

“...does that work for you?” Smolder asked, tilting her head.

The short individual with the hat nodded, before turning to leave with their bodyguards.

“...jeez,” Smolder bemoaned as they left, rubbing her face, “Why do they always have to be so mysterious?”

Meanwhile, in the guest rooms of the castle…

Everyone was allowed to settle down for the night in the rooms that Smolder allowed them to use. Regal little abodes with soft beds and orange carpeting to match her scale color in addition to purple cobblestone walls to match her horns.

Blue was resting upon his bed with a nervous thumping in his chest from his heartbeat. Visibly disturbed and unable to shut his eyes, the dragon stared up at the ceiling as he mulled over what Hooktail had said about him.

His state of moping would soon be interrupted by Mei calling out for him, “...Blue, are you alright?”

“...huh? Y-yeah, I’m fine…” the dragon replied hesitantly, snapping out of his stupor, “You can come on in if you want.”

The kirin mare trotted inside and closed the door behind herself. “I…noticed you were a bit antsy earlier. Did Smolder mention something to you about Hooktail?”

“...kinda,” he went on as he sat upright, “...I told you that we used to date, right?”

“Ah…and I’m assuming that things didn’t go too well, huh?” Mei asked as she sat next to him.

“...not really, no,” Blue answered, “It’s…she was a bit too aggressive for me, honestly. Even by dragon standards.”

“...yeesh,” Mei whistled in awe. “Then again, I can relate. We kirin can get a bit…too angry at times as well. So I feel you.”

Thanks Mei but I...just wanna relax for now. Until the mission starts anyway,” Blue lied back down and turned over. “Don’t worry about me, alright? We need to get ready to carry this out tomorrow.”

“...” Mei hesitated, but ultimately respected Blue’s wishes with a sigh. “...alrighty, Blue. But if something really starts bothering you, then please don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?” And with that, she left the room and headed back to her own for the night, leaving Blue alone…

The dragon would bite his lip out of frustration, and sob to himself to sleep quietly…

The next morning…

The mercenary students of Dorm Block Epsilon would follow the directions that Smolder had given them and would walk away from the volcanic brimstone-laced castle towards a less fiery port where a traditional wooden pirate ship had been resting. Smolder could be seen speaking with the captain of that very ship, and turned to Nebula’s group once she was done talking with them.

“...alright, so before you guys head out, lemme just tell you something: Apparently a griffon pirate and her posse’s been causing trouble in the Southern Ocean as well. If you see her, be sure to bring her in for me, alright?”

“No problem,” Nebula replied with a nod, “We’ll keep it in mind as our secondary objective as we look for Gloomtail.”

“Noted,” Grimrose added as she wrote Smolder’s warning down in her tome.

Meanwhile, Blue was focused entirely on the pirate ship in front of them. “...sweet jeebus, we’re gonna ride on that to get there?! This looks awesome! Haven’t been on one of these before!”

“Lucky you,” Smolder added with a grin, “The captain just fireproofed it with some wax, so you guys shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“...that’s…pleasantly surprising, and smart of them. Speaking of which, who is the captain anyway?”

Smolder spread her wings and took off into the air, leaving the group with one final word of caution, “You’ll know them when you see them!”

“Guess we better approach,” Nebula encouraged them as they all walked up to the ship.

It was a large, typical buccaneer’s vessel made of mostly wood with cannons placed on both sides. Its main sail was currently folded and its anchor was weighed down into the water for the moment.

But as soon as they got close, a folding wooden plank incline would shoot out from the ship down to them and they’d hear the voice of what sounded like a young woman.

“Avast landlubbers! Are ye prepared for yer mission?” The 4ft tall individual from before would call out to them, much to the group’s surprise.

Blue would speak up first, “...yeah, uh--hey we’re looking for the captain. So if you could like, go get ‘em for us, that’d be--”

“Oi! What poppycock! Ye already be in the presence of the captain of this here vessel!” she tilted her head up to reveal herself fully as she drew her cutlass with her left hand. A mutated mouse-woman who appeared to be from Klugetown. She had gray fur and wore a red pirate captain’s suit with a matching red hat that had a golden feather sticking out of it. Her two bodyguards also revealed themselves as dull-blue colored warthog beastmen who were also from Klugetown. “Now, show me what weapons ye intend to fight with!”

“...weapons?” Nebula tilted his head and looked at his team, “...is she serious?”

“May as well entertain her,” Grimrose muttered with a roll of her eyes as she stepped forward and showed off her tome. “I fight with a spellbook.”

“Not bad, not bad at all!” the mouse lady approved, “A mage is important on a team.” She then pointed her cutlass at Blue, “Dragon. You next.”

Blue blinked his eyes out of surprise before showing off his usual weapon of choice, a two-sided spear made of fire. “Uhhh…fire spear I guess?”

“Good for close range and long range!” she pointed at Mei next, “You next, fire-horse.”

Mei gasped, her glasses nearly falling off of her face, “Oh uh…I fight with my body mainly when I’m in nirik form. Guess you could say I’m a…CQC specialist?” she made it up on the spot, hoping the captain would buy it.

Thankfully, she seemed to. “You can take the front then, lassie! And how about you, freckled pony-man?”

Nebula cleared his throat and stepped forward, revealing his Ivory Recorder. “...I fight with this at a distance and support my team. Musical magic is my forte…literally and figuratively.”

“...”

Everyone stood in silence as the mouse woman glared at Nebula for what seemed like an eternity…

Eventually, the unicorn stallion would speak up, “...Um…is there something wr--?”

“Ohohoho!” the mouse lady laughed at him with the back of her hand up to her mouth akin to how a noblewoman would laugh, “You cannot be serious? You mean to tell me a lowly bard is the leader of this crew? What folly are you trying to pull over me, lad?”

“...what?” Nebula tilted his head out of confusion.

Blue was the first to come to his defense. “Hey. Don’t mess with Nebula’s tunes. That shit’s powerful.”

“There’s things he can do that no book can show you,” Grimrose added with a fierce glare behind narrowed eyes.

“And that’s a bit rude to boot,” Mei added, “You just met us, ma’am.”

“Forgive me…agh…ohoho….” the captain muttered in between laughs, “I’ve never met a useful bard in all me time sailin’. Nobody who plays music for a livin’ has been able to hold their own in an all-out battle before. Are ye sure you don’t have an actual weapon, lad? Something that might actually help us? What are ye gonna do? Shanty our enemies to death?”

Nebula paused for a moment with wide eyes that darted ever so slightly as the insults to his skillset that he worked on for so long cut rather deep. But he took them in stride for the time being. With a flick of his tail and a horse-like whinny, he replied, “...Hey…you’ll see.”

And yet, the captain regarded him with an uninterested groan as she looked at her pocketwatch, “Ugh…if you’re certain.Ye can play us a ditty or two, but don’t get in me way, bard. Come on up. Time’sa wastin’.”

Chapter 116

Everyone followed the captain’s orders and followed her onto the deck of her ship where the anchor was retrieved by one of the hog men as the other hog trimmed the sail and set it down. A large, black sail with a piece of cheese depicted upon it.

“Everyone, welcome to the SS Apodemus!” the mouse woman called out from atop the crow’s nest before sliding down to meet with Nebula’s team, “Me humble crew shall meet with ye and discuss our plans.”

Just then, a few other assorted beastmen from Klugetown would appear. In addition to hogs, there would also be a few capybaras, beavers, and porcupines among them. The tallest of which was a badger man who stood at around 6ft. They all wore tank tops of red and white horizontal stripes and red headbands with white polka dots.

“I am Captain Pollux! But ye can call me Paulie fer short,” she pointed to the honey badger man, “This here’s me First Mate. Eastman.”

The badger man simply tilted his head upwards and gave a neutral, “Yo.”

“You need anything, ye come to us. Our first stop’s the Scalebound Wildwood just South of here. Any questions?”

The entire group gazed at the captain and hew crew. Taking in the fact that they were now in the care of rugged-looking Klugetown beastmen as they sailed away from the port and out into the open water.

“...think we can trust them?” Blue muttered.

“I think so,” Mei added, then looked at Nebula, “But it’s your choice, leader.”

“Agreed,” Grimrose spoke up, “You should have the first word here.”

Nebula nodded and stepped forward. “Alright, then. First I’d like to--”

“Ah-bup-bup--wait a moment,” Pollux interrupted him with a chuckle, “...do ye really think I’m gonna listen to some lily-livered bard? Ye’ve got barnacles in your ears if you think that’s what’s about to happen.”

Nebula narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, then continued, “I understand that we have…creative differences regarding how we choose to fight our battles, but I’d appreciate it if we could put that aside for now and not let that come between us if you would be so kind.”

Pollux looked over Nebula’s shoulder at the dragon, kirin, and demonic pegasus. Of which, the dragon was looking at her with his left fist balled into his opposing palm. “Hmph. I suppose I have no choice given that ye be the leader of this crew.” With a sigh, she rolled her eyes, “Go on then. State yer piece, boy.”

Nebula’s expression changed with his ears turning upwards, “Thank you. First of all, I’m grateful that you’ve decided to accommodate us. This mission is important as it could determine the outcome of the safety of your trade routes among many other things in this world. Gloomtail and Bonetail are making things worse, as does whoever this griffon is…of which I have a pretty good idea as to who they are.”

“Oh ya do, do ye, matey?” she continued with her body language still conveying a sense of apathy, “Then enlighten me whydon’tcha?”

“I have a feeling that it’s Gaea who’s in charge. She’s a griffon who opposed me in the past, and it’s likely that we’ll run into her again.”

“Uh-huh…I see,” she rolled her eyes yet again with a bored chitter, “Very well. You can take the first strike and deal with her if ye spot her.” She then turned and started walking off. “...and if ye die playing music, that’ll be ye own fault,” she muttered under her breath.

Blue was the first to comment as soon as the rodent beastwoman left their sight. “...what mousetrap crawled up her ass?”

“Don’t mind her,” Eastman called out in a gravely voice, “Just make sure your friend here stays out of trouble with the captain,” the badger man commented before walking off to join the captain below deck.

“Well that’s just great,” Mei let out a bit of snark as she adjusted her glasses, “Is everyone on this boat completely judgemental?”

“...I don’t know,” Grimrose commented with a flick of her tail, “But I’ve got some curses I’ve been looking to test and I’ve just found some--”

Nebula cut her off. “Nah. None of that, please. We’re here on a mission first and foremost. Don’t let your emotions get in the way over disagreements, guys.”

“...he’s right, yeah,” Blue admitted with a shake of his head, “Just gotta tough it out and focus on the dragon guy we’re after and keep a lookout for the griffon guy.”

“What should we do for now, leader?” Mei asked, looking at Nebula.

The unicorn stallion looked around the deck of the ship where various members of Pollux’s crew were hard at work either moving supplies or navigating at the helm. In order to make things go smoothly between groups, he decided it was time for a bit of socializing.

“Why don’t we split up and talk to the members of her crew?” he suggested, “It’ll help us get to know them better and hopefully put us on better footing with them.”

“Good idea,” Mei replied, “The rest of them seem to be fairly reasonable. Let’s give it a try.”

Grimrose rolled her eyes at the idea of talking to others so quickly. “Ugh…well, it’s an order from you, Atomic. I can’t refuse that.”

Blue cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. “Any of them give you trouble, lemme know.”

“I don’t think it’ll be that serious,” Nebula gave a casual chuckle as he patted his friend on the shoulder, then started trotting off in a direction. Soon after, everyone else started walking around the deck to chat up some of the ship’s crew members.

Mei had managed to strike up a conversation with a porcupine beastwoman who had similar issues regarding her temperament not unlike a kirin.

Blue had managed to speak with a rather slow-talking capybara beastman who took his time with every word, causing the impatient dragon’s eye to twitch.

Grimrose had managed to speak with a beaver beastwoman who was into wood carving, and asked her about her creations.

But most notably, unlike his friends, Nebula was actually approached by one of the crew members first.

“...Hello, matey. I…I would like to speak with ye.”

Nebula paused as he glanced down at a young rat beastman with brown fur and a pink tail. “Oh, sure. What’s your name, bud?”

“Ye may call me--oh forget this crap,” he dropped the pirate accent with a squeak, and started to speak with a southern accent instead, “Ya’ll can call me Marrow. Nice’ta meetcha. I’m…actually kinda glad ya showed up. See…I like makin’ music too.”

“...oh, do you?” Nebula tilted his head, “What do you play, Marrow?”

“Fiddle and harmonica. They’s two’a mah favorites,” the rat squealed with happiness before sighing, “...but she don’t let me do nothin’--my cap’n. She thinks I’m useless just ‘cuz I like’ta play.”

So it turned out that some of Pollux’s crew didn’t agree with her sentiment after all. Maybe this could be a chance for Nebula to prove her wrong alongside tackling their main mission?

The stallion gave an encouraging smile, "...I see. Marrow, man, take me to your stuff. I wanna hear what you’ve got.”

“...R-really?”

Nebula replied with a nod, and the mouse-man squealed before scampering off.

Chapter 117

Nebula followed the rat man to his quarters--a small, basic wooden room on the ship with a single window to look outside, a bed, and a desk where some books were located. The chair next to the desk is where Marrow would have his fiddle and harmonica hooked up to a one-man-band system. Marrow grabbed it up and started playing a few notes while reciting a little poem…

“O there was once a pony from out West…”
“Whose deeds would ring out among best…”
“Cold as ice…”
“Adventure was his vice…”
“For nothing would surpass his…er….”

Nebula tapped his hooves along to the tune, but once the rat man stopped, he offered some assistance with the rhyme. “...How about ‘nothing will stop his quest’ maybe? But it’s a good one!”

“Thanks, Neb,” Marrow replied with a happy chitter, “I’m glad ya like it. Still working on ways I can improve mahself so Cap’n Paula will take me seriously.”

“...she really doesn’t want music to be played at all, huh?”

“Nah. She only wants us to play when she specifically asks,” Marrow replied with an annoyed flick of his tail, “Which is fine I guess, but that means we can’t play during raids to help with morale.”

‘We’ and ‘us’ meant there were more of them than just Marrow. Naturally, Nebula was curious and asked, “...I see. Hang on, are there more of you who are bards among the crew?”

“Oh yeah, there’s a couple others,” Marrow added with a nod, “But I won’t name anyone. I don’t want the cap’n to get an idea that you tryin’a start stuff.”

Given that her reception towards him was already fairly lukewarm to begin with, Nebula figured it’d make sense if he kept his distance at least for now.

“...yeah, I understand,” he replied with a sense of understanding, then sighed, “But it doesn’t sound like much fun. Being a part of a crew whose captain doesn’t allow you to enjoy yourselves when you aren’t harming anyone.”

“Have you considered joining someone else if it’s that bad?”

But such a thing never crossed Marrow’s mind for one simple reason. “Oh naw, man. We can’t just up and do that. In spite of her…rigid tendencies, Cap’n Pollux is good to us. I mean she kinda saved us…all of us.”

“...tell me more,” Nebula asked as he took a seat on his haunches, eager to know more about the history of this crew.

“Long story short, it was durin’ Klugetown’s era of chaos where we beastfolk were just killin’ each other thanks to the previous Abyssinian King’s ways before Mau came in and fixed things. Testin’ shit on us and lettin’ us rot. Pollux saved us by gettin’ us outta there around 20 years ago. And we’ve been on the open sea ever since…”

“And that’s why you won’t go against her word, huh…” Nebula muttered with a sigh as he was now starting to understand just why they valued her so much, “She saved you from a life of being guinea pigs so you could be free.”

“...yeah, that’s about the long and short of it.”

Nebula nodded. “I see…though this doesn’t quite explain why she hates music so much.”

“From what I gather, she don’t hate music as a whole,” Marrow went on, “Just when when we try’ta play to hype each other up. She only allows us to play after missions and raids are completed. Not before or during.” He threw his little hands into the air with a confused shrug, “As for way, ya got me on that one. I ain’t got no clue why she’s so anal about this.”

Even if it wasn’t all the info he needed, Nebula still had more info now than he did five minutes ago which put a grateful smile on his face. “Don’t worry yourself, Marrow. At the very least, I’ve managed to figure out a bit more about her, and all of you guys. I think I’m gonna like working with all of you.”

“Really?” Marrow squeaked which caused his little nose to twitch happily, “...I’m super glad’ta hear you say that, sir!”

Moments later, there would be a knock at the door of Marrow’s quarters before it was opened up by Pollux. “I hope ye aren’t goading him into playing in a band,” she chittered in Nebula’s direction as the stallion got up and turned to look at her.

“Hm? Oh no, we’re just having a chat,” Nebula replied with a smile to keep things mellow, “Marrow was just telling me about the interesting history of the SS Apodemus and how you guys all ended up here.” He looked at the rat-man and nudged him with a hoof, “Isn’t that right?”

Since it wasn’t technically a lie, Marrow went right along with it. “Oh! Uh…yes! Yes we were, Madam Paula!”

Pollux eyed Nebula with suspicion and a small, judgemental squeak before continuing, “Hmpm. Landlubber…anyway, get ye arses in gear. We’re about to make port on the Fragmentation Islands where the Scalebound Wildwood is located.” She glanced at Marrow, “Go on and man the cannons just for good measure will ye, matey?”

“Aye-aye, cap’n!” Marrow saulted before scurrying out of his room.

“Guess I’ll go get ready too,” Nebula spoke up as he started to trot out of the room…but not before, he was interrupted by the mouse woman.

“Oi. Look at me, lad,” she snapped her fingers, demanding his attention.

Nebula took a brief moment to mentally exhale, as he knew this was about to become stressful, but did his best to stay calm as he looked directly at her. “...hm? Yes, Captain?”

“If ye deliberately sabotage me raid with music, I’ll throw ye overboard. Don’t test me boy. Savvy?” she squeaked in his face, glaring at him with a scowl. “I don’t need lily-livered sissies like that in me crew.”

Nebula grit his teeth behind his lips, and forced a smile on his face. It was one thing if she kept her stance neutral, but to go out of her way to insult musicians directly is what ground his gears. But in order to keep things civil, as they were allies here, he obliged without question.

“...yes, captain. Savvy,” he uttered through frustration as he pranced past her and out towards the main deck.

Immediately, Blue could tell something was off by how forced Nebula’s expression was behind a fake smile and closed eyes. The dragon flew over and asked, “...ey bud? You okay? You look a bit…too happy.”

“...I’m fine. Juuuuust fine,” Nebula replied with as much ‘happiness’ as he could muster, but it only came across as passive-aggression as the vein on his neck bulged. “Don’t worry about me. We have a mission. Let’s go, Blue.”

As Nebula pranced on towards the bow of the ship, Blue grit his teeth with a worried, taken aback expression, “...yikes. Yeah nah, you look like you’re about to explode, dude…”

Chapter 118

As everyone prepped to make port on the Fragmentation Isles--a small series of heavily jungled islands off the coast of the Dragon Lands formed by volcanic eruptions in the past--Blue would gather Mei, and Grimrose into a quick, buckball style huddle on the deck.

“...guys, something’s wrong with Nebula,” he muttered to the girls with his arms around each of them, “...I think this is the first time I’ve seen him angry like this.”

“...wasn’t he angry when we dealt with Gaea?” Mei asked.

Grimrose shook her head, “...that was more like vented frustration. From what I can see, Atomic seems to be genuinely angry. Like his rage is building up from all of the nasty comments that Captain Pollux has made to him thus far.”

“...it’s strange,” Blue went on, “...I’ve been angry at a lot of stuff. But this…this is like…something scarier.”

“...That happens to me all the time too,” Mei commented in reference to how her kind would turn from kirins to niriks, “...but you’re right, this isn’t normal for Nebula at all. You two have known him longer than I have--have you ever seen him like this before?”

Even Grimrose had to admit this was new to her. “...no. I…I haven’t. I know what it’s like to feel emotions such as anger. But…well there’s an old saying in my family, ‘Beware the fury of a patient stallion.’”

“Yeah you’re right,” Blue agreed with a shudder, “We’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t fly off the handle. I think we’re about to make port in a bit, so let’s get ready.”

The three of them broke the huddle and joined Nebula up on the bow of the ship where they could see the jungle-infested island grow nearer with each passing second. Once close enough, the ship would stall, and the anchor would be weighed to hold it in place.

Pollux would exchange her captain’s hat for what appeared to be some sort of armored mask as she readied her cutlass with her sheathe on her hip as she flicked her tail.

“Avast. Let us be off, landlubbers. Yer target should be somewhere around here,” she commented as she jumped down onto the sandy beach of the island alongside Eastman, and Nebula and the rest of his team would follow.

The unicorn stallion in particular looked a bit more calm now, having been able to relax a bit since he had time to clear his head. However, before he could get very far, he was joined by a familiar face.

“Hey Cap'n, I’m comin’ with,” Marrow squeaked as he scampered up to them.

“...are you sure?” Nebula asked.

“Can this guy fight?” Blue muttered out of confusion.

“Heck yeah I can, but more importantly, I’m worried about Madam Paula,” he spoke in reference to the rodent captain, “She seems a bit on edge since we started and I wanna come along’ta help her feel comfortable. I’ll watch over her while ya’ll handle what yer after.”

“...well…” Mei weighed it for a moment before agreeing, “...he knows her better than we do, so it’s probably a good idea. We need to focus on Gloomtail, guys.”

Grimrose nodded in silence as she flipped through pages in her tome.

“Alrighty,” Blue added, “No sweat off our backs, then.”

“Ahem,” Pollux called out from where she stood, “Get a move on, maties.” The mouse woman flicked her tail and began to saunter off into the woods with her hips swaying and rear bouncing from the swagger in her confident step as her badger first mate followed.

“Go on, buddy,” Nebula encouraged Marrow, “You got this.”

“I’ll show you what I can do, ya’ll,” Marrow squeaked and sneakily showed them his harmonica before scampering off after his captain.

After that was established, the group members of Dorm Block Epsilon would venture forth into the Scalebound Wildwood. True to its name, it was a vast, wide open jungle that had been overtaken by luscious, green vegetation and various creatures such as malwurfs, tatzlwurms, manticores, and chimeras. Any unlucky adventurer would perish within mere moments just from entering this place, but the group’s combined skill and presence kept most of the monsters at bay for the time being.

“...alright, we’re in,” Nebula commented as he took point, leading the party through a rather damp floor of leaves and vines. Everything crackled and squished underfoot as they jogged through, “Place looks just like how I’ve seen it in the books…amazing…”

“Yeah, this is the place alright,” Blue replied with a less than enthused tone, indicating that he had more than likely seen this place before as he followed along closeby. “Way more monsters than I would’ve guess though…”

The group watched as a tatzlwurm would rise out of the ground and snap up several cockatrices in its maw.

“...metal,” Grimrose muttered with a chillingly excitable tone as she galloped along, “I’d love to see how many natural deaths could occur in this place in a single day. Oh the possibilities…”

Mei would give a nervous chuckle in response and adjust her glasses with her magic. Thre group had officially entered the wildwood, and were now crossing a mossy path that carved its way between two ponds on either side. “...uhh…let’s focus on the mission please. I can’t comprehend why a dragon would wanna have their base of operations here of all places…”

“...isn’t it obvious?” Blue scoffed as he took flight, and started to fly ahead. To their right, in a pond that led to a river, they’d witness a swarm of bite-acuda fish tear a giant bufogren to shreds, “No sane bastard would come here. That’s why.”

“...yeah you got a point there,” Nebula replied with a shudder as he witnessed such horrors of nature, but quickly shrugged it off.

“Think those little pirate rodents will be okay?” Grimrose muttered.

“Wow, you actually care about them?” Blue teasingly retorted, “I’m surprised you even have the capacity for it.”

“Shut up.”

The dragon snickered, and then gave a reply, “Eh I think they’ll be fine. They’re tougher than they look. I can tel--” Suddenly, he stopped on a dime, and hovered in midair for a moment where he started to sniff the air…

Everyone else stopped next to him in the middle of the crossing they had been travelling upon.

“What’s going on?” Nebula asked, “Do you have something, Blue?”

“...sorta. I smell shed dragon scales. We’re close. I’m feeling it.”

Chapter 119

Meanwhile, deeper within the island…

Pollux, alongside Eastman, and bushwacked their way into a small clearing in the midst of the jungle where a series of small shacks and sheds made of wood were hidden from view under the overgrowth of the surrounding area.

“Alrighty,” the rodent captain muttered as she looked up at the series of buildings. They matched the exact location of the map scroll she was holding. “This is exactly where we need to be. Apparently some griffons are here hoarding a copious amount of stolen goods. It’s on us to make sure they don’t use them for selfish means.”

“Aye,” Eastman replied with a nod as he sharpened his claws, “Though…I do recall the pony man talking about griffons when we met him. Do you think these situations could be related?”

Pollux scoffed and rolled her eyes behind her mask, “Hmph. That scallywag lacks the stones to properly deal with them. I’ve made the decision to take control of this situation myself.”

Eastman raised a brow. It would seem that Pollux was actually fully aware of the looming griffon threat that was present in the nearby area. However, she simply ignored Nebula’s earlier concerns regarding them so that she could handle it herself.

The badger man, while skeptical at first, didn’t wish to defy his captain’s wishes. “...are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should’ve asked them for help and help them with their objective in exchange.”

The mouse woman narrowed her eyes and flicked her tail. “Are ye questioning me judgement? This situation is best handled by experienced raiders. Not some green landlubbers.”

“...”

Eastman paused for a moment, and reconsidered his perspective. Pollux had never led him astray before and there wasn’t any reason for her to start doing so now, right? Against his better judgement, he decided to go along with her.

“...sorry. You’re right, Madam Captain. It’s probably best if we go about it as swiftly as possible then.”

Satisfied, Pollux would squeak affectionately. “That’s better. Come now, Eastman. We’ve been on the sea together for at least 20-odd years or so. Tweren’t nothin’ that could stop us then, and ain’t nothin’ gonna stop us now.”

Her words reinvigorated his confidence. The badger would flex his claws with a proud snarl, “Let’s take care of this together then.”

Meanwhile, not too far behind…

Marrow had scampered up to some bushes where he peeked out and could see Pollux enter the series of shacks. The rat man chittered to himself as he sniffed the air.

“...what the--what is she doing? If there’s griffons in there, they’re gonna tear her apart!”

With haste, and his harmonica at the ready, the bard-rat scurried on through the clearing and into those buildings where he heard fighting had already begun! They were in a small room which appeared to be an run-down, bar with nothing left on its shelves and filled with rotting old stools and tables. Within, Pollux and Eastman were already engaged in active combat.

The captain mouse was engaged in a fierce swordfight against a griffoness, standing on the bar’s countertop to match her height, while the badger was busy fighting off the others with his bare claws.

“...I guess ye aren’t willing to compromise are ye?!” Pollux squealed as she dodged a sideways slash from the griffon’s broadsword.

“You come in my place and try to make an offer like that?! No way! I don’t even know who you work for!” the griffon hissed back as their swords clashed with a CLING!--the mouse lady’s cutlass causing sparks to fly against the griffon’s broadsword as they pushed against each other by force. “Grrgh…how is this possible…?”

Behind her mask, Pollux smirked, as she figured that the griffon must have underestimated her strength for a rodent beastwoman. “Didn’t expect me to be this strong, did ye?!” With a swift twirl, she took advantage of the griffon’s lapse of weakness and knocked her sword out of her claw before punching her dead in the neck which caused her to soar across the room, and hit the nearest wall with a thud!

“Oof!”

And as soon as she landed, Pollux was standing there with her cutlass pointed at the griffon’s neck.

“Now if ye could do me a favor…Gaea, was it? Would ya mind givin’ up all yer shite? That would be rather dandy.”

Gaea blinked, and glanced over Pollux’s shoulder. There, she could see several of her fellow griffons still fighting Eastman, but one of them had slipped behind Pollux where the rodent woman couldn’t see him. She used this opportunity to fake a surrender.

“...fine,” she raised her claws, “...what do you want?”

“First, I’ll need--”

THUD!

With a quick leap, the griffon behind Pollux used the nature of his lion-half in order to pounce upon her without being noticed. After a quick tussle, and a thud consisting of lots of squeaking and squawking between the two, Pollux had been pinned beneath the griffon’s claw and into the wooden floor.

“...Nghh! Bugger it…!”

Gaea snickered with a confident grin as she stood up. “Looks like your plan failed this time, Paula. You won’t be getting shit from us. But me?” She leaned over and ripped the mask off of Pollux’s face, earning an angry glare from the rodent. “...I think some nutria would do nicely.”

“Ye wouldn’t dare!” Pollux yelped out of desperation, “Ye’ll catch scurvy from me, so don’t even try it!”

“Pfft. Shaddap--I’m not gonna do that. I’ve got plenty of other things to eat. Nah…nah, you’ll…” She paused to light up a cigarette and held it up to her beak. “...I think you’ll be a good info source.”

Just then, a muscular purple dragon man with icy blue horns would step into the building. Standing at about seven feet tall, this dragon was clearly an adult-aged one.

“Well it looks like things are finally done around here…” he spoke with a rather cryptic, yet friendly tone. As if you could read into what he said with extra meaning, yet still come out unsure… “So this is the famous Captain Pollux, huh?” he commented as he squatted down to look at the enraged rodent woman.

“Aye! Don’t count me out yet. Ye never know what I may have up me sleeves,” she spoke confidently to hide how afraid she actually was.

“...Huh. Funny. Looks to me like you’re the one trapped here. Oh and your first mate has already been dealt with,” he snapped his fingers, and watched as the badger man was tossed across the room with a thud, while bound by rope. “Aaaand there he goes. Like a sack of rocks.”

“Grrrg….” Defeated, Pollux chittered to herself, unable to speak against the dragon. Was this the one whom Nebula’s crew was after this whole time?

“What’s next, boss?” Gaea called out as she blew smoke from her beak. “If she’s here, there’s likely gonna be more of them.”

The purple dragon shrugged his shoulders, “Meh, let ‘em come to us. I don’t wanna waste my energy. They’re gonna know who I am once they realize how badly they screwed up by detaining Hooktail.” He then snickered, “Then we’ll all have a laugh over a cup of some of your finest tea.”

Chapter 120

“...shit…shit…that ain’t good at all…!” Marrow squeaked to himself as he watched his captain and first mate get captured by a purple dragon man and a bunch of griffons. “Were they the targets that Nebula and his friends were after? Dagnabbit man…”

With his options limited, Marrow knew he couldn’t exactly charge in and play hero all by himself. Even him and his trusty harmonica couldn’t accomplish that alone. What he needed was something that his captain was so stubbornly against: Some help.

The rat man scampered off on all fours, hurrying away from the shacks until he heard sets of footsteps and wings flapping nearby. His ears twitched in response, and he quickly scurried up a nearby tree to see who it was. Once there, he narrowed his eyes to find Nebula and his entire team on their way to the very same location that he was headed towards.

“This way,” Blue called out, “I can smell dragon scales not too far from here.”

“Alrighty,” Mei replied as she galloped after Blue, then glanced at Nebula, “What’s the plan, leader?”

Using his knowledge from many strategy meetings and siege simulations while training under Royal Guardspony Tungsten Wolfe, Nebula would seek to apply that to a practical situation with variables.

“Alright, first we--”

But before he could even speak out about his plan, the group was interrupted when a small rat man appeared in front of them.

“Mr. Big Pony and friends…wait a second!” he squeaked to get their attention, causing them all to stop on a dime.

“Marrow? What’s going on?” Nebula asked.

One quick explanation later…

“Tch. Well no shit,” Nebula grumbled and rolled his eyes. Having officially lost his patience with Pollux, he was more than prepared to give her an earful when this was over. “Color me an unsurprised bronco.”

“...fuckin’ hell,” Blue groaned while leaning against a tree, “So the stubborn-ass mouse got herself captured because she refused our help.”

“And it seems that griffons are here working with Gloomtail,” Mei reasoned out rather quickly.

Grimrose had stayed mostly silent as she read from her tome to get potential curses ready for the ensuing battle.

Mei then had an idea, “Nebula, I think it’s time we show this rodent chick what a bard can really do.” She commented, pointing to his holstered recorder.

“...are you certain?” Nebula glanced down at it apprehensively, “Would she even appreciate such an effort?”

Grimrose finally spoke her mind. “There’s no time to worry about that, Atomic. You can’t win battles worrying too much about what others are thinking.”

“She’s right,” Blue agreed as he stepped forward off of the tree while rolling his right shoulder, “We need to strike while the scales are hot and see what we can do for them. Gotta act fast, and you’re really the only one with any tactical skill here, brother.”

Marrow would add, “Please. Ya’ll gotta help. However ya can. I wanna show Madam Paula that I can perform under pressure!”

“...” Nebula whinnied, and flicked his tail upon hearing the word ‘perform’. That’s what gave him an idea as to how to formulate a plan. “Hrrm…Rose. Can you recreate our disguises from the Mindscape?”

“...I can try?” she muttered out of confusion as she tried to remember their costumes and codenames. Though she was unsure of how it’d work in the real world, she was more than willing to experiment. “You want to use them so they have no idea who they’re up against, right?”

“That and so that frickin’ ungrateful rodent won’t know who we are when we show up,” Nebula added with a scoff, “She’ll see just how effective we can actually be, right Marrow?”

Marrow gasped and flicked his tail with an excited squeak when he realized he was being included in this plan. “O-oh…y-yeah! I’m ready when ya’ll are!”

Meanwhile, within those shacks, in a cellar beneath the upper floor…

Gloomtail casually walked down to a dark cellar that was only lit by a rather dim bulb. The dragon glanced at the bound badger man who was in a nearby chair as well as the bound mouse woman who was hung from the ceiling by rope. In one of his claws, he held a small case…

“I mean…goddamn that was just disappointing, really?” Gloomtail casually started up a conversation without any input, “I mean, the so-called great ‘Captain Pollux’ outsmarted by just a few griffons? Come on. I was expecting an actual fight like something out of one of those novels about the little pirate beasts. But you? That was just awful.”

“...shut ye trap!” she squealed from where she hung, “I was merely caught off-guard. Me crew will be here before long. Ye’ll see!”

Gloomtail would idly scratch under his chin, as if he wasn’t listening to a word she had to say. “...right. Yeah. This is what happens when you let your past continue to consume you even to this day.”

Eastman would call out. “What are you playing at?! My captain has nothing to hide from me or the rest of us!”

“...she doesn’t, does she? Really?” Gloomtail glanced over at Pollux. The mouse lady was stunned into silence and broke eye contact with the dragon. Immediately, Gloomtail started to cackle. “OH…waitwaitwait…hol’up…don’t tell me…” he continued to laugh for a moment with a claw on his head as he leaned backwards. “Ah…this is priceless! Don’t tell me that the legendary Pollux has kept her secret from her own crew!”

“...Ye…ye know nothing about me…!” Pollux stammered with her eyes darting around the room, and eventually chose to look down.

“...Madam…?” Eastman muttered in confusion, “...what is he talking about? You trust me…and the rest of us…don’t you?”

Pollux would continue to hide her face in shame as she looked down.

And then Gloomtail would continue with a snarky tone. “This bitch here is hilarious. You wanna know the truth, ‘first mate’? Well a long time ago, Pollux, like the rest of you, used to live in Klugetown. As the story goes, someone paid her an assload of gold to take up the flute. See there’s a specific tune that only works on rodents and it can actually screw with their minds.”

“...no…” Eastman muttered in horror as he realized just what Gloomtail was referring to. “...the ‘Theme of the Piper’. It’s real?!”

By now, Pollux was gritting her teeth out of shame.

“Yessir,” Gloomtail continued, “I don’t have all the details, but she actually herded a bunch of rodent beastmen onto a ship solely just so they could shower her with attention and praise her as her the best in the world while also lining her pockets with bloody gold as she reported to her benefactors.” He lowered his voice and gave a disgusted trill, “...when all she is is a talentless hack. An actual pied piper. That’s why she hates music. It reminds her of how utterly shit she is. She didn’t save any of you. She merely placed you under new management. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm a greedy, selfish asshole myself, but the difference is that I'm honest about it.”

“You…no…” Eastman looked between his captain and the dragon, “...you lie…I-I don’t believe you.”

Gloomtail scoffed as he walked around behind Pollux. “Pft. You don’t have to believe me. I’ll show you.” From that case in his claws, he opened it…and retrieved brilliant flute made of shining silver. “Play.”

“...” Pollux remained silent.

“Wanna do this the hard way, eh?”

SLAP!

With a quick swipe of his claw, Gloomtail smacked her ass, causing her entire body to jiggle as she fell to the floor.

“ARGH!” She squeaked as she took a tumble, only for Gloomtail to walk over to, and squat in front of her where he placed the flute case down.

“Pick it up.”

Chapter 121

“...”

Pollux grasped the flute in her little hand, and brought it to her lips before playing a quick 12-note signature that caused Eastman’s mind to fluctuate and become a slave to its rythym. The badger man had become a mindless drone ready to follow her at a moment’s notice, though he couldn’t quite do that since he was still tied up, but the colored circles in his eyes indicated that the song had worked on him. It seemed to include mustelid beastmen as well…

Do-do-re-mi-so…

“I knew it!” Gloomtail snapped his fingers, “You can play it. So all this time you’ve been pocketing money from the slave traders in Klugetown so you could keep a bunch of slaves to yourself while writing letters back to them every so often. Isn’t that right?”

“...I…” the mouse woman huffed, “...I did it to survive. Klugetown was a cesspool of mess and slavery and I wanted to get out of it. So I did what I could with what little I had.”

“Holy shit!” Gloomtail cackled, “Now we’re pulling out that excuse, huh? Here’s an idea: If survival was so important to you, then why not use the power of the Piper against them and fight back? Or maybe just run away with the crew? Or how about coming clean and letting your buds know what’s wrong?!”

“...” Pollux didn’t have an answer for that, which only caused Gloomtail to sigh in defeat.

“Wow…just wow,” he shook his head dismissively, “I can’t believe you honestly. Like I said, I’m a conniving asshole myself, but I at least treat my own crew with enough respect to let them know how I’m feeling. You’re supposed to be the ones stopping us and you can’t even do that?” He grabbed the bridge of his face between his eyes, “Can you even call yourself a ‘hero’ with that mentality?”

“...fuck off ye bilge rat!” she screamed at the dragon, “Ye are the rascals who are running ye blood as illicit substances! It’s on us to bring ye in!”

Gloomtail rolled his eyes. The dragon obviously knew selling his own blood was illegal given that Smolder had outlawed it, hence why he operated on such a remote island with the griffon gangsters and a few other dragons acting as his muscle.

“...yeah. I know. But yikes, you’d think the bastards coming to arrest me would have some sense of morality and care about their own people. In reality, you’re pretty much no better than me. Hell you seem worse. Lying to your own people like that and not giving a damn about them…” He huffed, letting out a bit of icy steam from his nostrils, “People like you are why I do what I do. There aren’t any good people in this world. All of you pieces of shit that claim you want to help people are just doing it for yourselves. It makes me sick…” he turned and started to walk away out of disappointment.

“W-wait!” Pollux squealed as Gloomtail started to leave, “...please don’t tell anyone about this. If that gets out, then…”

“Seriously?” he grumbled out of annoyance, “Can you be anymore pathetic?”

“I’ll do whatever ye want!” she begged while on her hands and knees while sobbing. “Anything…just don’t tell anyone about me secret! Not ye crew or any of me own!”

Gloomtail walked up to her, and picked her up by the scruff of her neck. “...anything, huh?”

“Y-yes! Even…that,” she continued to plea with a helpless tone, fully accepting how pitiful her position was as Eastman watched her with a disgusted look on his face. By now, the Piper’s tune had wore off and he was completely lucid as to what happened.

SMACK!

Gloomtail smacked her again, sending her into the nearby wall. “...quit being a little cowardly bitch and grow a pair.”

But then, she quickly got up, and clung to his leg. “Please! I’m on me last legs here…this can’t go public or I’ll be ruined!”

“Oh my god you’re pathetic…”

Meanwhile, outside and above them within the jungle’s clearing…

A brawl had ensued. Team Epsilon and Marrow had engaged in battle against several griffons and dragons that had come out of the woodwork to protect their boss Gloomtail. Or rather…it was the costumed alter-egos of this team.

“Archsage, to your right!” Wyvern called out as he flung a fellow dragon over his shoulder and i into a nearby tree.

Archsage blew into his recorder and created a wall of musical notes that slowed down the griffon that was about to attack him. “What the--?!”

“You…” Archsage realized that it was Gaea--the griffon who had dealt him a disgusting ‘prank’ in the past. While she was slowed from the aura of the notes, Archsage would run forward and leap at her with a dropkick that sent her flying across the jungle’s wilderness!

With another toot of his recorder, he cast a buff spell that granted his allies armor.

This came in handy just as Mei--or rather, Trickster--quickly turned into a nirik, and brute-forced through an attack from a griffon’s axe, blocking it with her bare hoof before countering with a blast of multi-colored fire from her mouth, frying them to a crisp!

Priestess would cast several paralysis spells around herself, shocking any dragons that came near before extending magical puppetry threads from her wings into theirs. With a simple flex of her individual feathers, she forcefully controlled the two dragons that had tried to attack her and made them slam into each other, knocking them out immediately.

However, that wasn’t all.

As it turns out, the spell had extended to Marrow as well, giving him an alter-ego alongside the others. What was once a timid-looking mouse, had become a determined archer with a green soldier’s helmet, leather armor, and a green cloak that covered half of his body alongside a quiver that held his arrows.

With a shrill note from his harmonica, he diverted the attention of several griffons who glanced to their left, only to be picked off by explosive, musical arrows from their right! The arrows were empowered further by notes he played form his harmonica that enchanted them before they landed!

“Hoo-wee!” he squealed upon landing his shots, and ran out to join the rest of the team while firing off multiple arrows in quick succession, “I knew I was good at this…but not this good!”

“Welcome to the team, Barbarossa,” Archsage complimented the rat man’s skills as he headbutted a griffon into oblivion before sending them flying with a high-pitched note from his recorder that ruptured their eardrums with powerful soundwaves! “Shouldn’t be long before we make it to where your captain’s being held.”

Soon enough, the group had defeated all of the gangsters that were present in the area. With the current threat disabled, their costumes would disappear and Nebula would play a small tune on his recorder that would serve to heal his team as they traveled through towards the final shack in the swamp of the jungle.

“So you can do all of that with just a few notes?!” Marrow squealed with excitement. “That’s so cool! I wonder if I can learn more from you and start doin’ stuff like healin’...”

“Meh, I’m no expert so don’t sweat it,” Nebula replied amicably, “I’m just glad that our mission is almost done. Speaking of which,” he looked at Grimrose, “Rose. Mind detaining Gaea for me, please? I think she’s over there with her head stuck in one of those trees. Blue, you take point, and Mei, watch our backs.”

“Yes sir,” the pegasus mare flew off towards that very tree where she’d restrain her with magical threads used for her puppets.

“No one behind us,” Mei called out as she snickered at the sight of their latest battle, “Well, except for all the half-dead bodies.”

“On it!” Blue called out as he flew ahead and took a breaching position near the door to the shack. “Open up, fuckers!” he screamed before kicking it in.

Where he’d see Gloomtail standing there with a hopeless frown and a claw on his face, “Get me out of here now. Please..”

Chapter 122

“Where’s the captain?” Marrow called out.

“Oh you’re gonna flip shit at this…” Gloomtail, sighed as he watched Pollux sneak out of the cellar, having reclaimed her sword, and grabbed her by her neck and threw her onto the ground outside, “Your captain’s an absolute phony.”

“NO PLEASE--!!”

“What?!” Marrow yelped and pointed his bow at the dragon, “Say that again, I dare ya!”

Blue glared at Gloomtail, and noted how the purple dragon didn’t seem to be hostile nor did he prepare himself to fight. Given Pollux’s reaction to Gloomtail’s statement, he was curious at the very least.

“...hang on,” Blue called out, “He doesn’t seem to be looking for trouble. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“...if you’re sure,” Nebula commented, then glared up at the dragon, “Speak.”

One explanation later…

“...and that’s the long and short of it,” Gloomtail glanced over at the pitiful-looking mouse woman, “She’s a complete hack that never cared about you, rodent boy.”

Marrow glared up at Pollux with tears welling up in his eyes. “...ma’am…is that true?”

“...that’s why you hate music?!” Nebula yelled aloud, “Are you…you fucking insane, woman?!”

“I did what I had to do to survive!” Pollux screeched back at him, “Ye wouldn’t understand! All of ye ponyfolk are born into the cushiest of lifestyles by comparison! Ye never knew what it’s like to be under someone else’s thumb and serve them! I only did it so I wouldn’t--”

“Oooh I’m about to hurt this bitch--” Nebula tapped his hoof on the ground as he muttered obscenities under his breath. “You what I think? You’re--”

“...tell me something,” Marrow interrupted everyone with a heartbroken voice as he glared down the ground. “...and be honest with me, Pollux. Did you ever care about me, Eastman, or any of our crewmates at all?”

By now, Eastman had broken free, and crawled out of the cellar to join the group, silently awaiting Pollux’s answer like everyone else. “...go on. I’m listening.”

“...” Pollux glanced between the badger man and the rat man, unable to come up with an answer as she avoided eye contact as much as possible. The problem was, she’d be lying if she outright said she never grew to care for them even a little bit. However… “...I…I never wanted it to be like this--”

CRACK!

Marrow grabbed Pollux by her neck, slamming her into the side of the shack with a sense of anguish mixed with hatred in his eyes as he stared her down. “YOU’RE FULLA SHIT!” he yelled with a sob in his voice as tears fell from his eyes. “I thought…I thought I could trust you, Paula. I thought…I thought…I thought you brought us here for a reason!” he muttered through a broken voice as he held her there, “...but you just used us for your side hustle?! Were we just bags of money to you?! Tell me: If I died tomorrow, would you be sad because you lost a crew member or because you lost another bit of gold to line your pockets with?!”

“...”

Pollux fell silent and bit her lip. That question had pierced her down to her soul. A question that she had never thought she’d be faced with in her life.

“...Do you hate me, Marrow?”

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“...At first I didn’t care about you, I’ll be honest. But…over time, I started to think more and more about you, trusting you all.”

Eastman then chimed in, “Is that why you never told us about any of this? You say you trust us now, yet you never bothered to try and explain how you felt. Is it because you were scared of how we’d react, or because you wanted to keep everything to yourself?”

“...That’s…” Pollux looked off to the side, then sighed, “I’m sorry…I should’ve spoken up sooner. Please forgive me, Marrow. I-I’ll do what I can to--hrrk!”

Marrow grabbed her jaw in his hand, “Quit it with yer shit! Yous only sorry cuz we caught yo lyin’ ass redhanded!”

Which was also true. Now that Pollux had been caught, she had run out of excuses. With no other options, she slowly reached for the sword at her hip….

Blue was the first to notice, “LOOK OUT--”

BLAM!

Before she could even grasp her blade, Marrow decked Pollux in the face with a swift punch. Once, twice, three times, while letting out angry squeals. “I trusted you! And you treated us like this?!”

“Argh! Grrgh…” she hissed as she spat out one of her teeth, “...ye’ll never be as good a captain as me. On the open waters…you do what you have to do to survive, boy.”

“Fuck you…you’re the worst…I hate you,” Marrow simply punched her one last time, and grabbed her by the arms with Eastman following close behind, “...you’re gonna tell this to everyone. Then they’ll decide what to do with you.”

“...N-no! Please!” she begged helplessly as she was dragged off, “D-don’t do that! I-I need them!”

As Marrow dragged her off, Nebula’s entire group stared at the ensuing chaos alongside Gloomtail.

“...poor kid,” Blue commented, “His whole life has been a lie…”

“Yeah…” Mei added, “I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.”

“At the moment, we need to make a decision,” Rose commented as she looked at Gloomtail, “...we still need to kinda take you in. Along with your gang.”

Gloomtail scratched the top of his head as he glanced at all of his defeated assistance. With nothing left, he opted to not make the situation worse for himself. “...you know what? I’ll come along quietly. If only so I can see the outcome of that rodent chick getting what she deserves.”

“I’ve checked the entire area,” Mei spoke up as she levitated some documents over to Nebula, “All I’ve found were plans to sell off more of his blood. Nothing really crazy. He hasn’t done much else besides that.”

“Weird, then why hire mercenaries for something so minor?” Blue asked. “Couldn’t Smolder just send her own guards?”

Nebula then glanced at Gaea’s unconscious body. That’s when it hit him. “...or maybe she wanted us to take down someone else.”

“Yeah I don’t follow,” Blue commented.

“Me neither, admittedly,” Grimrose added, “What are you thinking, Atomic?”

Nebula put his brain to work and started to rationalize what had taken place not too long ago as well as their purpose for coming here. After a bit of thought, he chuckled to himself as he glanced at Grimrose. “...I’ve already thought three steps ahead, Rosie. Follow me. Gloomtail, you’re coming with us.”

“Alright. Like I said, not like I got much better to do,” Gloomtail then looked at Blue, “...and hey I’m not sure how Hooktail’s been treating you, but I wanna apologize on her behalf. She’s…a bit of a bitch sometimes.”

Blue flicked his tail, eyes shot open. That was the last thing he expected to hear from Gloomtail. “Er…thanks, I guess. But what about your eldest brother, Bonetail?”

“Pfft. Yeah, he’s crazy too. Might wanna deal with him soon.”

“Alright, everyone,” Nebula started to dole out orders as he used his magic to levitate the various dragon and griffon bodies into a pile, “On me.”

Chapter 123

When the group arrived at Pollux’s ship, they found that the mouse beastwoman had actually come clean and admitted to her entire ploy. Their entire time on the sea together for the past decades had been nothing but a way for her to line her pockets with extra gold while they weren’t her priority.

The end result? Beaten within an inch of her life.

“I can’t believe you!” a hedgehog beastman yelled.

“You’re no better than the ones who sold us off!” a porcupine beastwoman yelled.

“I wish I never followed you here! I can’t believe this…” a capybara beastwoman started to sob.

“There’s nothing you can do to make up for this,” a possum beastman screeched. “I hope ye rot in Davey Jane’s locker!”

Pollux coughed as she was bound by rope on the side of the deck with bruises in her eyes. “...you all are nothing without me! I’m the one who made ye into this crew! You can’t just toss that away! No matter how hard ye try!” she said with a hysteric cackle, trying to fight off how much pain she was in.

Eastman would then have something to declare. “...I vote for Marrow to be our captain.”

“W-wait, me?!” the rat man squeaked with his ears quivering. “A-are you sure that’s a good idea guys?”

The badger first mate would nod, “Of course. You were the one who risked your life for us. Came for us even before you found out the truth.” He then glanced at the rest of the rodentfolk who were all nodding in agreement, “I cannae think of no one better to lead us than the Barbarossa himself. Who’s with me?!”

“AYE!” the rest of the crew raised their swords and shouted in agreement.

“...O-oh! Well…if you insist…” Marrow got his fiddle and started to play a few notes, smiling once he noticed Nebula and the rest of his team board. The stallion would nod back at him, and Marrow felt a fiery passion burn in his heart as he got ready to play. “On the first order of business as the new captain…I’m makin’ music completely acceptable full time!”

“ORRAH!” everyone on the crew cheered in unison, then the capybara woman would appear next to Marrow, standing at three times his size with a shy look on her face as she held a horn in her paws.

“...Mind if I join in C-captain Marrow?”

“Oh not a problem, Layna! And-a one, and-a two…!”

As the ship set sail away from the Fragmentation Isles, Marrow would start up a song that the rest of the crew immediately knew the words to and joined in on.

“O ye faces of the sea…!”
“Calming waves and storms as violent as can be!”
“We fight for our lives!”
“And from here, we’ll thrive!”
“Soldiers of fortune are we!”

Blue started clapping along to the music, and snickered as he watched Pollux seething nearby. “Pffft. What a fuckin’ loser.” He then nudged Nebula with his elbow, causing the stallion to flinch ever so slightly--

“Ow, hey--”

“Dude, you should totally join in!”

Nebula shook his head in a modest manner. “...Yeah I don’t think so. This is their moment of liberation. Let them have it, Blue.”

Gloomtail then thought of something rather important. “Oh yeah, by the way. I think you should hold onto this.” He offered Nebula the case that contained the flute that Pollux had played on a bit earlier. “Don’t worry, I cleaned it. But I think you could get more mileage out of this than anyone else could.”

Grimrose glared at him for a moment. “...this isn’t some sort of ruse is it?”

“I don’t really have much of a reason to try and deceive you guys, honestly,” Gloomtail replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “But I can understand.”

Nebula accepted the flute case in his magic, and felt it resonate with his recorder. “...this is…”

“...something wrong, Nebula?” Mei asked as she glanced at the instrument from over his shoulder.

Just then, in a flash of white magic, his recorder and the flute floated into the air involuntarily, and fused with each other, creating a carbon-fiber silver-ivory flute that was more fit for his pony-sized lips as a result.

“...what the f--” Blue muttered as he watched the two instruments fuse, “...that’s on some funky shit right there.”

“It’s a performa,” Mei corrected with an upward tilt of her glasses, “Magic that’s granted to highly skilled performing artists. Duh. Was I the only one who was awake during the Arts class?”

“...shuddup,” the blue dragon coughed.

“I’ve heard of this,” Nebula muttered as he fit the new flute into his leg’s holster, “I wonder what sort of symphony it’ll create…”

Eventually, when they arrived at the dragon lands, the group would arrive at Smolder’s castle where the respective criminals would be imprisoned and await further trail as their charges were calculated.

“...holy shit,” Smolder chuckled from her throne, sitting in it sideways with her legs hanging over the arm of the seat, “So the person I thought was helping you guys out turned out to be a bigger sleaze than the guy I sent you after.” She changed her tune to a more sympathetic one as she glanced at Nebula’s team, “Sorry about that. I…had no idea.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mei replied, “We handled everything swiftly and accordingly. Even found a few treas--”

Nebula bumped the side of her body with his hoof to cut her off, “Ahem…we took possession of certain objects that we found to be of no use.”

Mei huffed, “...bruh--”

“Hey that’s fine by me,” Smolder replied with a shrug of her shoulders, “Seems that Gloomtail had no idea what was going on either. Pollux is going away for a long time though. You can trust me on that.”

Marrow smiled proudly, “Good. From now on, the SS Apodemus will be under the control of my paws for the sake of everyone, not just myself.”

“Hey, so what about Gloomtail?” Blue asked, “He didn’t seem to be all that bad once we got to know him.”

“Yeah funny you mention that,” Smolder went on, “We placed some of those griffons in prison for what they did, but the dragons working with him didn’t really do anything wrong except fight you guys. So we’re letting him off with a supervised warning, assuming he works to use his blood for medical purposes instead of personal profit.”

“Sounds like everything’s in order then,” Nebula replied with a nod, “We’ll need to rest for a bit before we head out for Kobold Canyon. Where’s that located again?”

Smolder reached behind her throne and pulled out a map that was imprinted on a scroll. She squinted at it before realizing it was upside-down and flipped it around. “Ah. Let’s see…there it is. Yeah, now I remember. Kobold Canyon isn’t actually part of our territory.”

“It’s not?” Nebula raised a brow.

Blue snapped his fingers, “That’s right. It was a joint owned location with Trotsylvania.”

That’s when Grimrose finally looked up from her book and spoke aloud. “...my hometown?”

Chapter 124

“Oh sweet, you’re from there?” Smolder sat up, then got off of her throne, “Then that’s gonna make things way easier for us. If you can take care of Bonetail for us, that’d be a massive help. Might wanna ask the griffons you captured if they know anything. Gloomtail should be nearby too.”

“...yes, it should,” Rose replied with a nervous inflection in her voice.

“Got it,” Nebula replied with a nod, “We’ll see what we can find out.” He then glanced at Marrow, “Think you could take us up there? If it’s not too much trouble of course.”

“Another opportunity to sail with ya’ll?” the rat man happily saluted with a squeal, “Count me in! It’d be my pleasure!”

“Alrighty then,” Smolder called out with a yawn, “Everyone go get some rest and clean up. I’m sure you’ve had a rough day so take as much time as you need. Oh and feel free to ask my chefs to make you anything you want for dinner or whatever.” With that, she flew off, “I gotta go write a letter to report to Twilight Sparkle.”

“Pfft, casual as ever, huh?” Mei scoffed with a grin as she watched Smolder fly away, “Hard to grasp that she’s the Dragon Lord.”

Blue would agree, “Yeah she’s somehow more loose, yet more strict than Ember. It’s a weird dynamic but it keeps most of us in line and from being overbearing asshats. Anyway, we should get to our resting areas for now.”

As the others engaged in conversation while walking through the castle to their guest rooms, Grimrose would slip into silence as usual, contemplating to herself the idea of returning to see her parents at this stage in her life.

‘...will I finally have impressed them enough? What if they don’t like Atomic Nebula? I really don’t want to be put through another set of arranged marriages. And will he like what I really am?’

Suddenly, she was snapped back to reality by the voice of the stallion in question.

“...Rose? Rose? Hey you there?” Nebula called out as he waved his hoof in front of her face, “You zoned out for a second there.”

“H-huh? Y-yeah…” she flicked her tail as her wings spread wide, “I’m just…nervous about heading home is all. I actually haven’t seen my family in a while.”

Nebula blinked and came to a realization. “Oh yeah…come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve met your parents, Rose. What are they like, anyway?”

Grimrose rolled her eyes with a flat expression on her face, “They’re completely and utterly embarrassing. I don’t think you’d like them, honestly. My mom is a believer of Vodu and does weird witch doctor stuff.”

Yet to her surprise, Nebula’s heart started to race when he heard such a thing. “...w-witch doctor?”

“Yeah, I don’t think you want--”

“She could take out my soul and stuff, right? Does she have those creepy dolls too?”

“Totally. You wouldn’t like--”

Nebula’s tone became excited as he pranced in place with his hooves pattering the floor in excitement, “That sounds awesome! I wanna meet her and have my soul ripped out! Oooh, think she could rip out my heart too? Maybe snap my neck with one of those dolls?”

Rose paused and stared at him in silence for a moment as she remembered just how…inclined Nebula was towards the dark arts. “...Oh yeah. You’re into that stuff, aren’t you?” she asked with a soft smile, “I sometimes forget how much of a degenerate you can be, Atomic.”

The stallion tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders, “Eh, what can I say? I just have a type I guess. I’d also like to see if you guys could summon demons and other ghosts through my body! Ooh and maybe have me get possessed so I can get exorcized?!”

“...Atomic, you really are the one for me,” Rose muttered with a smile as she returned to thinking about her parents. “But then there’s my dad. He’s a bit less on the creepy side but still…”

Blue would call out, “Yeah I don’t think this guy cares,” he added with a smirk, “Nebula’s the kinda guy to jerk it to zombie mares.”

“I--I…” Nebula tapped his hoof on the floor as he thought about it, “...well I mean you aren’t wrong, though ghosts are better material than zombies. So are ghouls actually.”

“Pffft! Then again, I can’t talk,” Blue scratched the back of his head, “I didn’t exactly have the best luck with my first relationship either--”

“Okay that’s enough,” Mei called out as she took ahold of Blue with her magic, “Get on the bed.”

Blue yelped as he was caught in the gold aura of Mei’s magic, “Hey wait--! I’m down but--”

“Well I guess they’re off,” Nebula watched as the kirin took the dragon to her room.

“Are you gonna join me, Atomic?” Rose asked.

The stallion shook his head, “Maybe later. Right now though, I need to pay a visit to some of those folks we captured.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. You go get some rest, okay? Plus, we’ll be entering your home territory soon, so I’m sure you have a lot to think about.”

Which was entirely true. Rose was still worried about how her parents would react to her at this stage of her life. “...fair enough,” she replied flatly.

Nebula kissed her on her lips and started prancing down the hall, “I’ll be back later, okay? I shouldn’t be long.”

“O-okay…” her wings fluttered up yet again, “...see you soon, Atomic.”

Chapter 125

Nebula pranced on down to the dungeons where Gaea was being held alongside the other gangsters.

“...you,” she grumbled upon seeing the stallion, “The fuck do you want? Here to gloat about your victory? Rub your sweaty horse dick in my face?”

He chuckled at her response and shot back, “Nah. You and I both know you couldn’t handle it. It’d be like shoving a turkey baster in a tiny hen,” he added with a gentle smile as he stuck out his tongue with a wink, which only enraged the griffon further.

“Grrrgh! Fuck off you….”

“I will, just as soon as you tell me what I wanna know,” he went on, “Why were you working for Gloomtail? What was your purpose? Do you know anything about his brother Bonetail?”

Gaea hissed under her breath as she leaned against the wall of her cell. “Fuckin’...we were working with him because we’d figure we’d get some easy money with the occasional slave. And we’d figure we could make some of them go psycho with some drugs we picked up.”

“Hrm…sounds very similar to some reports I’ve been hearing about on the other side of the continent…” Nebula muttered with a flick of his tail, “Did you happen to run across an Abyssinian tiger that was doing something similar?”

“...how did you know about that?” she muttered out of amazement, then caught herself as she grit her teeth. “...dammit-”

“Having a network of contact information has its benefits,” Nebula continued, “I appreciate your cooperation. Hope you enjoy your stay here. Just be thankful that Smolder didn’t have you roasted on a spit for what you’ve done.”

As Nebula pranced off, sticking out his tongue once more, Gaea would seethe as she flopped down on her prison bed. “...stupid…stupid fruity-ass horse…”

With some more knowledge than he had before, Nebula was on track to understand more about what had been going on. But he still needed some more information. That’s where Gloomtail would come into play next.

At the moment, Gloomtail was placed under a probation watch, being held in the infirmary of Smolder’s castle surrounded by guards where the doctors could take his vitals and examine him so they’d properly understand his reasoning behind selling his blood. A fairly realistic outcome, given that he had lost a lot of blood irresponsibly over time.

Eventually, Nebula was allowed to enter and would ask the purple dragon a question, “Alright, let’s make this simple: What’s the deal with Bonetail?”

“...oh yeah, my older brother,” Gloomtail muttered from a hospital bed that he lied upon, “...yeah, he kinda eats people. But like, not just eat them, he eats their souls just to stay alive.”

“Wait what?!” Nebula gasped, “...wasn’t he a normal dragon like you guys?!”

“...used to be. Until he started messing around with some weird stuff. Black magic I think. Yeah…there’s a reason why I don’t talk to him much anymore. Dude’s a bit…loopy.”

“...Loopy how?”

“Well he turned himself into a wraith of some kind?” Gloomtail scratched underneath his chin as he thought about it, “Yeah it’s…a bit weird. Apparently, he’s lost all of his skin and organs so he could live forever. It’s…mega creepy.”

Nebula blinked for a moment. As cool as that sounded, he knew it was also dangerous. But maybe it was a good thing that Grimrose’s parents would be in close proximity to the situation? After all, who better to deal with someone who merely adopted the darkness? Someone who was born into it. Molded by it.

“...I think we’ll be fine then,” Nebula replied with a nod, “Thank you for your cooperation. You gonna be good here?”

“Yeah I think so,” Gloomtail yawned, “Smolder said she wants me to do something as soon as I’ve recovered. So I’ll be here for a while. Probably some community service stuff.”

“Understandable. Just don’t go selling your blood anymore, alright?” Nebula warned before turning to leave the infirmary, “Stay out of trouble, alright?”

“Yeah yeah…”

Soon enough, after Nebula left, Gloomtail would be cleared for his vitals. However, Smolder would enter the infirmary not long after with a proposition, and a contract on a scroll in her claws.

“Sign here, G,” she offered the parchment and a pen to him.

“Guess I have no choice,” Gloomtail quickly skimmed it over before signing his name. It was a basic community service contract to serve time for his illegal selling of dragon blood. “What am I to do first?”

“Follow me.”

Smolder would lead Gloomtail to one of the dungeons beneath the castle. There, they’d find the mouse woman and former captain locked behind one of the cells with a steel ball and chain around her left leg.

“Her,” Smolder quipped, “She’s your assignment.”

“...wait, seriously?”

“Yup,” the orange dragon lord smirked at Gloomtail with a devious grin on her face, “Show her what happens when you betray the trust of a dragon.”

"You want me to--?"

"Yes."

"With my--"

"Uh-huh."

Gloomtail sighed, then rolled his eyes. “If I must. Since it’s the only way to work off my sentence, anyway.”

“I can hear ye fuckwits chattin’ shite,” Pollux squealed angrily from her cell, “Are ye done, or do ye wanna waste yer time somewhere else?”

“...yeah, nevermind, I’m down,” Gloomtail’s tune changed in an instant.

Pollux would glance up as her cell was opened, “...eh?”

Chapter 126

Meanwhile in Blue’s room…

“AUGH! That’s right…slap my fat ass….fucking cum inside me, Blue!”

“G-goddammit…M-Mei!”

Mei was viciously riding Blue in the reverse cowgirl position with anal, giving him full view of her massive, jet-black nirik ass as she caught fire and repeatedly slammed herself onto him, driving his erect dragon cock deeper and deeper into her ass with every slam of her body.

“RRGH~!” Blue yelped aloud as he felt his pelvis creak under the weight of Mei’s ass. With his cock throbbing, he knew he couldn’t last much longer as he gripped both of her cheeks in his claws. “M-Mei…you’re gonna make me…EEEGH~!!”

“DO IT ALREADY!” she demanded in a demonic voice as she increased the speed of her thrusts, bouncing repeatedly on Blue’s cock to throw him over the edge as the two moaned together. “FUCKING CUM INSIDE ME!!”

“MEEEEEI~!!”

“BLUUUUE~!!”

And cum he did. In fact, they both came together. Mei squirted from her pussy as her tight kirin anus constricted his shaft and milked him for all he had, forcing all of his hot dragon spunk out of him to fill her guts as he slapped her jiggling ass with his claw.

After which, Mei leaned back and returned to her kirin form as she lied on top of Blue. She snuggled up to him and passionately made out with him, locking their lips together in a quick kiss.

“Mmm…feel better, Blaze? I know you’ve been having it rough ever since you heard what Hooktail had to say about you?”

“Mmm…” Blue shook his head as soon as she broke the embrace between them. He immediately wrapped his arms around her to hold her close in a tight hug. “...I don’t give a shit about her anymore. You’re all I’ve ever needed, Mei.”

“R-really?” Mei blushed with her glasses nearly falling off her face as she nuzzled underneath Blue’s chin, “I…it makes me so happy to hear you say that, Blue.”

“I mean it, Mei. Dragons like her are why I’m turned off of my own species,” he went on, “She was annoying, abusive, and made me feel like garbage while simultaneously making me feel like my life had no worth without her.”

Mei gasped quietly as she realized what this meant. “...sounds like she was a grade-A emotional vampire. Not to mention a gaslighter.”

“...yeah. Something like that I guess. She really did try to make me feel worthless without her,” Blue shuddered at the thought of his past relationship, “It’s part of the reason why I moved away in the first place.”

“...what about your parents?” Mei would ask against her judgement. “...do they know about this?”

“Pfft,” the dragon scoffed at such a thing, “My folks kicked me out of our cave when I was little. Why? No clue. But I never had anyone to rely on but myself.”

“...sounds like a shitty way to force you to toughen up faster,” Mei reasoned, “Good god, this species is just full of toxicity.”

While some dragons would be offended at such a statement, Blue was in full agreement. “Yeah nah…you’re right. I’m glad Smolder is starting to slowly turn things around at least. It’s not gonna happen in an instant, but at least we’re not just being bred to be angry and bitter assholes.”

“That’s good…I’m just glad you were able to communicate that to me, Blue,” Mei complimented him with a smile, “Trust me, you’re nothing like those mean dragons. And I don’t see you ever becoming one. We’re your family now, okay? Not just me, but Nebula, Grimrose, even the professors at the academy. We’re all here for you, alright?”

Her words put a smile on Blue’s face as he gave her a quick peck on the nose. “...thanks, Mei. I feel better knowing I’ve got you all at my side.” With that, he rolled over so that they could sleep on the bed together. “For now, we gotta rest up to make sure we’re ready for tomorrow’s mission.”

“That’s right,” she replied as she smooched him on the neck in return. “...And Blue…I love you.”

“...I love you too, Mei.”

“Mmmeeeek! It makes my hear thump when you say it!” she squealed and buried her face in his chest, “You’re so goddamn hunky, Blue I can’t take it--”

“I am?” he replied with a grateful smile, “...well I try my best, anyway. You’re hella beautiful too you know? With that massive pear-shaped badonk of yours,” he teasingly stuck out his tongue.

“Don’t call it thaaaaat!” she protested with her face turning red as her cheeks puffing out from the sides of her face, “I’m bottom-heavily challenged!”

“...but it’s a good badonk though--”

“Hrrrmph,” she grumbled playfully and forcefully pushed Blue over to cause him to flip beneath her weight, “W-whatever…we need to get some rest like you said.” Her tone changed as she thought about their next mission, “Hey aren’t we going out on the Apodemus again with Marrow?”

“Yup,” Blue answered, “Why?”

“...wonder what they’re gonna do to Pollux.”

Meanwhile in the dungeon…

“ANH! EEEK! EEK! EEEEK~!!!”

“That’s right…mmph…keep squeaking you little bitch…~”

Pollux was having her pussy rammed by Gloomtail’s massive dragon cock. He thrust so hard that each time it caused her fat rodent butt to jiggle and clap against him as he gripped her arms from behind. Her pussy, despite her size, was rather stretchy thanks to her beastwoman biology.

“Mmph…so fuckin’...tight,” Gloomtail moaned ever so slightly as he thrust. Her wet pussy allowed him to shift his hips back and forth with ease as he fucked her up against the nearby wall of her cell. “S-so close…submit and I’ll make it good for ya~!”

“OKAYIGIVEUP!” she squeaked in between little moans as her eyes rolled back, “FUCKMEGOODPLEASE~!!”

Gloomtail would increase his speed, slamming his thick dragon cock into her and spreading her rodent pussy so hard that her ass and entire body jiggled and rippled like an accordion with each thrust he made. He had officially broken her mind, and this was her punishment for breaking the hearts of her crew.

“Fuck…fuck…fuck…”

The dragon was close, twitching inside of the mouse’s pussy. He grabbed ahold of her abdomen in both of his claws and started to use her shortstack body as a fleshlight, casually using her body to get himself off with heavy, powerful thrusts deep into her womb that started to break her bones each time her gelatinous, flabby asscheeks rippled against his pelvis!

“AAAAUGH~!!” Pollux squealed as she reached climax, squirting on his cock with her pussy throbbing and actively squeezing Gloomtail dry.

“YES~!!” he screamed as he orgasmed as well, firing off cold ice dragon cum into her tight pussy, holding her body against him so that he could fill her until the excess leaked out beneath them onto the floor. Gloomtail hooked his claws into Pollux’s breasts, squeezing them tight as he rode out his climax.

Eventually, he tossed her aside, into the nearest wall, with her fat ass red from the hard fuck she endured and her pussy leaking out his seed.

Gloomtail exited the cell, and looked at a satisfied Smolder. “...was that good?”

“Heh, not as good as my own boyfriend,” Smolder teased him with a cheeky smile, “But you’ll do. Congrats. This is your new community service job, Gloom. Criminal rehab~”

With a flick of his tail, all he could say was, “...it’s better than having my wings ripped off. I’m in.”

Chapter 127

The next day…

Dorm Block Epsilon had its next mission: Sail out to Trotsylvania and make contact with Grimrose’s parents so they could possibly locate Bonetail in the Kobold Canyon. The reason why it was so important was due to the fact that, not only was Bonetail a high-level threat to everyone’s safety, but he also was the only one who knew how to counter Odu Eransa’s newfound power thanks to ingesting dragon blood. Fitting that a lich dragon would know such a thing.

But in order to reach the Kobold Canyon in the first place, they had to sail out on the water. Trotsylvania was just northwest of the Dragon Lands and halfway across the world from where mainland Equestria was located. Just north of the Zebrican continent to be precise.

So with the help of the newly christened Captain Marrow of the SS Apodemus, they’d be on their way. The rat man was still getting used to the concept of being captain though, and had acquired some books from Smolder on how to be a proper leader to a rag-tag group.

“Hey Marrow,” Nebula called out to the rat beastman who was on the upper deck with a book in his paw, “Everything going well?”

“Hm? Yeah, pard,” he replied with a happy chitter, “With Pollux gone, I’m finally able to come into my own and think about what I want for our future.”

The unicorn stallion raised a brow, then shot the rat a knowing grin, “You’re not gonna turn to random raids are you?”

“What? No of course not!” Marrow squeaked in protest, “First off, I’m going to make sure every member of the crew is aware of what’s going on, and put our tasks to a majority vote before we do anything.”

“Good. So you’re only gonna commit a bit of thievery here and there then?” Nebula asked, wondering how these rodent pirates would get along, “Maybe hunt for treasure?”

“Honestly, yeah!” Marrow squealed with excitement at the prospect of hunting for highly valued treasure and artifacts. “If there’s somethin’ me and the crew can find and split the spoils on, I’d be happy to venture out for it!”

“Well considering where we’re headed next, you just might find something,” Nebula added with a smile, “The Kobold Canyon is basically a mining town where kobolds…mine for materials like magic crystals.”

Marrow’s rat ears twitched at the mention of kobolds. “Oh! Those are the wingless dragons, yeah?”

“Yup,” Nebula nodded, “Though they’re more like lizards or gator-folk. From my studies, their outer scale layer is much thicker and more hardened akin to armor. It’s an evolutionary divide since they don’t breathe fire and can’t fly like dragons can.”

“Oooh…” Marrow’s tail flicked as he listened to the stallion enlighten him with his knowledge of the race, “Tell me more, pard!”

Nebula gave a sheepish chuckle, “Well I’m flattered, but I really only know so much from my time with history books. Never met a real one I’m afraid. But I think we’ll have a chance once we’re there. Who knows, we might even get a chance to find some treasure while we’re there too.”

“Dadgummit I hope so!” Marrow squealed, “If I’m gonna be a good cap’n, I need’ta get us into some treasure!”

“Well first we’ll need the permission of Grimrose’s parents to enter,” Nebula replied as he stood up and trotted down the steps of the upper deck to the main deck, “I’ll come back to you if anything comes up.”

“Gotcha, pard!”

Nebula trotted down where other rodentfolk were hard at work either prepping cannons, weapons, or taking supply numbers. It seemed that Marrow had, so far at least, managed to rally them together under an organized banner.

‘Good to see. Hopefully it stays that way…’

Soon enough, he’d see Grimrose looking out over the ocean from the port side of the ship. He’d trot up to her and ask, “...hey, everything alright, Rose?”

The pegasus mare had her usual neutral expression. “...yes. We’ll need to get my parents’ approval to enter the Canyon.”

“Mind telling me more about it?”

“The Canyon is actually an old mining town that dates back centuries,” she continued, “Kobolds have been living there forever and have been granted protection by my family--the Orcus Family--in exchange for their cooperation in mining the materials that exist there.”

Nebula nodded with an interested expression in his eyes, “Hrm…okay, I follow so far. What do they mine exactly?”

“Power crystals,” Grimrose droned, “Crystals that are used in everything from currency and scrolls, to more complicated things like enchanted armor, and even magical technology like firearms.”

“Pheeeeew. Woah…that shit sounds valuable,” Nebula replied with an impressed whistle, “I guess that’s why it’s so rare, huh?”

“Pretty much,” Grimrose confirmed his statement, “You’ll see when we get there. But it can also be used as a fuel source. Hence why only a certain amount of territories have laid claim to the mines and its exports. Trotsylvania, the Dragon Lands, and Saddle Arabia have a massive stake in these mines for instance.”

“Yikes. Hopefully it doesn’t result in a boiling pot due to encroaching power imbalance,” Nebula muttered concerningly.

Rose shook her head, “Don’t worry. All the parties involved have to agree to a contract. Breaking it wouldn’t do much good for anyone. But what I’m worried about is…”

“Your parents, right?” Nebula supported her with a hoof on her shoulder, “...don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll treat us right. We’re your friends and family too, Rose. You know that.”

“I…” She was unable to respond. Nebula’s confident smile had caused her to smile as well. “...you’re right. Maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic about it. I’ll…try and stay positive.”

“That’s the spirit!” Nebula continued to encourage her with his proud tone, “We got this, Rose. There’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Rose would continue to smile for him on the outside, but on the inside, she couldn’t help but think, ‘...but can I handle my own self-hatred…?’

Chapter 128

Soon enough, our group would arrive in Trotsylvania: A quaint little village city with rather archaic architecture. Angular buildings with wooden doors and stained glass windows, a chapel that rest on a hill, and paved roads of brick that littered every path. The ponies here were dressed in yesteryear style clothing as well. The stallions wore rather well-made suit-jackets while the mares tended to wear short dresses that accentuated their figures.

Captain Marrow made port at the city and the entire group would exit the ship. Given that this was where Grimrose grew up, they decided to let her take point so they could follow her.

“Alright,” she commented as she turned to her team, “Just follow me and try not to get swept up in all the hype. This place has almost a thousand years’ worth of history, but we’re not here to sightsee.” She raised an eyebrow at a certain unicorn stallion, “...that means you, Atomic.”

And she had caught him as he was gazing off into space. The stallion flicked his tail and stuttered, “H-hey! I’m not gonna get distracted! I mean, it’s not like I want to know more about a place with almost as long of a history as Trottingham!”

Grimrose glared at him with a neutral, bored expression, as if she knew full well that Nebula would still find a way to sneak off to study the place regardless. “Ugh…just don’t cause a nuisance while we’re here.”

“So which way are we headed?” Mei asked, “This place has an interesting layout, but we’re here to see your parents, right? Do they have some kind of authority over Trotsylvania, Grim?”

“Something like that,” Grimrose replied as she turned and started walking ahead, leading her team through the open streets of the village, “The Orcus Family--my family, is in charge of many things here, but chiefly of which, the management of their section of the Kobold Canyon which grants this city most of its Power Crystals, or PCs for short.”

Mei sniffed the air as she caught a whiff of what smelt like freshly baked treats layered with honey. Indeed, it was just as they passed a bakery.

“Mmm…what’s that smell?” the kirin asked, “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled something like that before.”

“Baclava,” Rose replied on the dot without missing a beat, “It’s a layered pastry soaked in honey. You might also catch a whiff of chocolate salami.”

“They have salami made of chocolate?” Mei’s jaw nearly hit the ground as they walked, “We totes gotta try some.”

Along the way, they’d notice quite the population of vampire batponies. In fact, the deeper they got into the city, the more of them they’d start to see. Slitted eyes, protruding fang overbites, and bat-like wings too.

“Woah hey,” Blue commented as they entered a town square and walked past a clocktower. “There’s a lot of bats here. Is this where most of ‘em live?”

“Yup,” Grimrose confirmed, “This is where they were born if memory serves. You’ll find the greatest number of batponies here for that reason.”

Just from beyond sight, a bat-like creature with a pair of beady yellow eyes took notice of Grimrose’s presence and immediately flew off to one of the castles in the distance…

Meanwhile, as the group got further into Trotsylvania itself, a few of its citizens started to recognize Grimrose. Some muttered and mumbled, wondering why she was back home when she had supposedly gone off to college. Others were ecstatic, happy to finally see her make her grand return. Of course, they were all too timid to actually approach Duchess Orcus herself.

Nebula was first to notice the murmurs though. “...I think you’ve got quite the fanclub, Rose,” he joked as they continued along the path past an elegant stone water fountain in the middle of the square. “Lots of folks are looking your way--”

“Ignore them,” she shut out such a thing immediately, “We’re not here to engage and fraternize with the citizens. We’re here on a mission.”

Nebula’s expression flattened, but he knew she had a point. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted over frivolous ordeals when the future of multiple nations were at stake.

“Fair enough,” he replied with a roll of his eyes, “In that case, which way to your family’s place?”

“It’s right up there,” she pointed a hoof up to a small castle that looked as if it was untouched by time on a nearby hill deeper within the city itself. Nearby, other castles could be seen, which indicated that the nobility must live separately from the commonfolk down below. “Mother and father live there. As I said before, we’ll need to get their permission to even enter the Kobold Canyon in the first place.”

Blue punched his right fist into his open palm and proclaimed, “Alrighty then. Let’s get on up there and meet the Orcus Family.”

Meanwhile, in the castle itself…

That bat creature from before? As it turned out, it was an imp familiar demon capable of shapeshifting that was bound to serve the Orcus Family. It landed through the window of what appeared to be a study where a pegasus stallion was seated behind a desk. With a quick poof of magic, it turned back into its normal form, a short, stocky individual whose body was covered by mage robes and their face concealed by a rather large witch-like hat.

“They’re here, sire,” it spoke with a low voice and an accent akin to its fellow Trotsylvanians, “What shall we do?”

“Bring my daughter to me,” the stallion replied, “Immediately.”

Chapter 129

Soon enough, the group would arrive at the castle on the hill where Grimrose’s family resided. They came upon the castle’s gray exterior with its various pointed, conal towers and ramparts that had ballistae stationed upon each one. The path up to it was rather bare save for a few flowers and gravestones strewn about, as well as a few leafless trees that stood tall and blew effortlessly in the wind.

They’d arrive at a grand set of double doors with gilded ring knockers, but Grimrose simply tapped her hoof on the door a few times…

And eventually, they’d open. The group would be met with a large, curvaceous goat woman with white fur and large, red, demon-like horns on her head which gave her the appearance of what was commonly known as a krampus. She had dark brown fur, beady yellow eyes, and wore absolutely nothing on her body. Her fur was thick enough to cover everything up from prying eyes. That aside, she also wore what appeared to be a medallion around her neck that was attached with colorful beads. But the most standout feature was her height: Easily the size of a minotaur, she stood over them all with an imposing stance with her hands on her hips.

“Hello, mother,” Grimrose greeted her, “I’ve returned on business from work--hrrk!”

“Oh, Bebe-Rose!” the goat lady picked up her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly, causing Grimrose to squeal from the sudden grip. Her voice was in a rather thick southern drawl due to growing up in Neigh Orleans and picking up the accent that was commonly spoken there. “It’s so good’ta see ya child. How’ve ya been?”

“Hrrk…I’m…fine, mother,” Grimrose groaned with a pained tone. Her shrunken pupils indicated just how much air she had lost before her mother let go. “Ahem…I’m fine, thank you. Like I said, I’m here on a job with my friends and we need permission to enter the Kobold Canyon.”

“Mm. I see. Dat’s up to ya fatha, ya know?” the goat woman answered, then glanced at her group, “Bonjour, bebes. Wouldja like’ta come in? I’m sure ya’lls hungry.”

“...mother, we’re not here to mess around,” Grimrose protested, but she’d be outvoted.

“I could eat,” Mei replied.

“Same here,” Blue added. “We kinda had to sail a long way over to get here and our captain’s busy probably looking for wares around the port.”

“It’s important to stay properly fueled with nutrients, Rose,” Nebula tilted his head at the pegasus mare who now had a defeated expression on her face.

“...ugh. Fine. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if we stopped for a second,” she replied with an indignant pout.

“Ya pops is busy workin’ right now, child,” the goat lady replied, “Just give him some time and I’m sure he’ll come see ya soon. Follow me, bebes.”

Grimrose’s mother led them into the castle. Once inside, they were greeted with the visage of a rustic foyer of a manor. Gray stone floors covered with purple carpets that led up to gilded gold staircases that went to the upper levels of the castle.

Nebula in particular glanced around in awe, “Amazing! The materials used to make this castle have to date back to the Pre-Nightmare Moon Era.”

“Ah, yous a sharp one ain’tcha?” Grimrose’s mother complimented him, “Yea, you right. Dis here place been around for quite some time now. My hubby’s the latest in the line of da Orcus family to take hold of it.”

“Each noble family commands their own territory of Trotsylvania,” Grimrose added, “My family controls the Western-most portion. But we’re not here for a history lesson.”

Blue shrugged his shoulders, “I mean, I don’t mind learning more about places. May not retain half of what I’m bein’ told, but I’ll manage.”

“While that’s all well and good,” Mei interjected, “How about we get some of that food, please? I feel like I’m dying here.”

“Chère, don’t you worry,” the goat lady replied, “We got plenty of stuff for ya. Go on and wait in the banquet hall while I get it ready. Bebe,” she glanced at Grimrose, “Couldja show ‘em where it is?”

“Yes, mother,” Grimrose took point once more as her mother turned and left down a hallway to what could be assumed was a kitchen. The pegasus mare took her group to the right, “This way. Mother and father usually share meals with guests in here.”

“She’s pretty sweet,” Blue commented, “But I gotta be honest, you look…a bit different than your mom.”

“I take more after my dad,” she commented with an annoyed set of narrowed eyes, “He’s a pegasus, I’m a pegasus. That’s all there is to it.”

“...”

Blue, Mei, and Nebula all turned their heads and glanced at Grimrose’s mother as she walked off. The goat woman was extremely curvaceous and had a rather plump backside that transitioned into a wide waist, hips, and of course, a massive rump that jiggled and swayed with each step that led into rather large thighs and hooved legs that seemingly went on forever.

“...daaaaayum,” Blue remarked, “Your old man has tay-ste!”

“I’d like to agree,” Mei commented with an astute tone, “It’s nice to see that figureheads in the nobility aren’t above keeping themselves well-fed. The commonfolk looked just as healthy as well. Don’t you agree, Nebula?”

Nebula blinked and shook his head, having been snapped out of a stupor. “H-huh? Yeah, for sure. Now I see where she gets it from. Wonder how Mr. Orcus managed to get in--”

“Anyway,” Grimrose cut everyone off as she pushed open the door to the banquet hall. A room with rustic wooden floors, and various paintings along the walls. It was lit by a candle lit chandelier that hung above the table. “Have a seat. I’ll go help out mother.”

The pegasus left swiftly, flying out of the room and leaving the rest of her friends confused.

“...think she’s nervous?” Blue asked.

“Probably excited since it sounds like she hasn’t been here in a while,” Mei added.

“...I’m worried for her,” Nebula muttered, “But she’s smart. I have faith in her.”

Just before they could take their seats, a small voice would squeal out to them, “Buna ziua, losers!”

Everyone looked around, but couldn’t locate the source of the impish voice.

“...uhhh…” Nebula mumbled, “Hello?”

“Who the f--?” Blue scratched the back of his head.

“We can’t see you,” Mei answered, then looked in the direction of one of the large wooden chair with red cushions at the end of the table. That was the source of the voice. “...are you a cursed chair?”

“No you idiots! I’m not a chair! I’m behind the chair!”

Everyone simply looked at each other in confused silence, wondering if they were being pranked or not.

Chapter 130

With an exasperated groan, the source of the impish voice would hop onto the table. It was the same tiny mage with a massive witch hat that had brought the news of their arrival to Grimrose’s father.

It spoke up. Its voice now a bit louder than before, “I am the Orcus Family’s premiere familiar. The best magical servant in the entire nation of Trotsylvania! You’d do well to remember zat!”

The robes and hat made it hard to tell who was speaking. To be exact, the robes were a rather muted violet, and the hat was equally so. But nobody could tell what exactly was under it.

That is, except for Grimrose.

“Oh, it’s you, Seven,” said the mare with a neutral tone, “Everyone, this is Șapte--or Seven in our language.”

“A floating hat and robes?” Blue commented as he tilted his head to get a better look, “Wicked. I wonder what its deal is.”

“It strikes me with the vibe of a wraith…or maybe a spectre?” Mei mused about what it could be.

“Close,” Seven replied before it finally settled on a physical form. An imp demon woman with horns protruding out of her forehead. She had blue skin, and her horns were the same color as her body. Beneath the robes, she wore a pair of black, panty-like underwear to serve as coverings for her lower half while her upper half was covered by nothing by the robes themselves. “I’m a demon from Tartarus. I was summoned here to serve the Orcus Family and that’s what I intend to do.”

“Oh…uh…that’s neat?” Blue replied with an unsure tone.

“Do you possibly know the theme to Dante’s Inferno?” Nebula asked, “I’ve been trying to perfect it for a while now ever since I got this flute here but--”

“What the--” Seven sputtered as she glanced at Nebula, “Are you trying to summon Paimon you fool?! Don’t mess with what you aren’t prepared to deal with!”

Nebula rolled his eyes, “No faith, I swear…”

“Seven,” Grimrose interrupted, “Is my father available? I’d like to speak with him as soon as possible. We need to gain permission to enter the Kobold Canyon so we can find a dangerous criminal that’s been rumored to be lingering around.”

“Bonetail is his name,” Mei added, “We suspect that he’s a lich dragon that’s able to walk around as a mere skeleton and nothing else. No flesh, no organs.”

“What they said,” Blue spoke up, “We dragons don’t want anymore trouble made for us so we need to take him out.”

“Your old man will be down soon,” the imp lady replied, “But there’s been far more work on his plate ever since you left for university dear Trandafir. I hope you appreciate all he’s done for you.”

Grimrose paused and took a moment to process what Seven told her. Her father being busy with extra work was all due to the fact that she had left for school. But it was thanks to her mother’s support that she was even able to go in the first place. The pegasus admittedly felt a tad guilty the more she thought about it.

“...I’ll…thank you, Seven,” she replied under her breath, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hmph. You better,” and with that, the imp snapped her fingers and teleported out of the room.

Blue would then comment, “...’Trandafir’?”

“It’s my name in our language you dope,” Rose grumbled as she leaned back in her chair. “Sorry…just feeling a bit off today.”

“...let’s take a moment to relax,” Nebula suggested, “We just arrived here and I’m sure coming back to your home must be a bit mentally taxing for you. Some food will really do us good. Shouldn’t be much longer now, yeah?”

“Hmmmph…” the pegasus mare gave a defiant huff.

About 20 minutes later…

Soon enough, Grimrose’s mother would return with bowls filled with what appeared to be a gumbo-like stew levitated with magic that she’d set down in front of them all.

“Here you are, bebes,” she called out as she set down the bowls in front of them, “Eat up. You ain’t had nothin’ this good before, I’m sure of it. And for desert, we got some sweet potato pie afterwards.”

“...thanks, mother,” Grimrose replied with an anxious sigh, still concerned over whether or not her father would show.

Everyone else had decided to eat--Mei and Nebula levitating their spoons and Blue eating with his spoon by claw. Almost instantly, smiles would creep onto their faces from the taste.

“Mm…this is amazing,” Nebula complimented Mrs. Orcus’ cooking, “I’ve had stews before but nothing like this!”

“Damn straight!” Blue added as he picked through and slurped a bit of crab that was in his bowl, “Stuff like this is rare where I’m from.”

“Is that a hint of andouille roux?” Mei commented, “I need to write this down…”

The goat woman smiled and clapped her hands. “Oh thank ya, child. Don’t worry, if ya want more, there’s plenty.”

“Ugh…” Grimrose rolled her eyes with the side of her face resting on her hoof. “Any day now, father…”

Soon enough, her prayers would be answered. A regal-looking pegasus stallion with a cool indigo body color and a jet black mane that was slicked back would enter the room. His eyes were red and he wore a black suit with a red undershirt on his upper body with his lower half exposed--showing his cutie mark which was a swarm of bats. Interestingly, he had a small overbite complete with vampire-like fangs, suggesting that he was only partially batpony.

“Sorry I’m late,” he spoke straight to the point with a deep voice, “Welcome back, dear daughter. I hear you and your friends need my permission to enter the Kobold Canyon, yes?”

“Yes, please,” Grimrose replied with a nod, “As soon as you can.”

“I’m afraid I won’t allow it.”

“WHAT?!”

Chapter 131

“Mind ya manners, child,” Mrs. Orcus scolded her daughter for her outburst, “Listen to what ya father’s sayin’.”

“Hmmph…father, please--this is important.”

“I know,” Mr. Orcus replied, “I’m already fully aware of Bonetail’s presence. I’ve got my top mercenaries on the task. It’s no place for a bunch of children.”

Grimrose’s wings spread wide as she gasped, “Uh--childre--father, we are adults. We can handle a mere dragon lich ourselves!”

“Even if you think so, this is someone you haven’t dealt with before,” her father chastised her for even suggesting such a thing, “I didn’t raise my daughter to start making such foolish decisions.”

“Father--!”

Mrs. Orcus would interrupt, “...wouldcha kindly give us a minute, child?” She then looked at her husband, “...honey, can we talk?”

The krampus woman and pegasus stallion would leave the room, causing Grimrose to throw her head back with an emotional huff. “Uggggh…”

Outside of the dining hall…

The goat lady would speak with her husband about what had just transpired.

“....honey, I think we should let ‘em go,” she suggested, “I think they can handle it. Our own guards ain’t done much on they own.”

“Pfft,” the stallion scoffed, “Do you really think some inexperienced younglings can really step in and succeed where our highly trained soldiers have failed. Love, this isn’t a comic book or some heroic underdog sob story. This is reality.”

“Cher, you got a bettah idea?” the goat woman replied, “If you ain’t, then you bettah at least let ya daughter prove herself, ya hear?”

“Hmmmph…” the noble stallion sighed, and eventually gave into his wife’s wishes. “Very well, Jesmonda. If you’re certain about her ability, then I won’t doubt you.”

The goat lady--Jesmonda--picked up the stallion and hugged her close to her chest. “Aw, thanks, Venin-honey! I knew you’d come ’round. Ya can't resist it when I make a good point, can ya~?”

Once the stallion was in the firm grip of his wife’s fluffy arms and rather…sizable chest, he knew he had no real room to complain at that point. “Argh…just don’t make me regret this, Jess. Grimrose should be focusing on finding a potential suitor at this age.”

“I won’t, hun,” she let him go and set him back down, “...and I think our daughtah has already found herself someone.”

“...don’t tell me it’s the commoner in her group within that very room…” Venin lamented Nebula’s status. “I don’t have any personal qualms against him, but he doesn’t appear to be someone who can help our family thrive.”

“Honey you’d be surprised,” Jesmonda replied, “If that boy’s as close to her as you think he is, that means he’s done somethin’ right don’tcha tink?”

Venin sighed with his hoof on his forehead. Then again, this might have been the perfect opportunity to judge the young stallion’s worth as Grimrose’s suitor. “...if he’s as capable, then he might prove useful after all.” And with that, he turned back to the dining hall’s room and trotted on through the doors, much to the chagrin of his wife.

“Cher…”

“Alright,” he called out to everyone in the room as they all turned to look at him, “We will permit you to enter the Kobold Canyon.”

Grimrose paused for a moment and blinked. She was surprised to hear her father turn around rather quickly on the subject. “I…” But she chose not to dwell on it. After all, they had a mission to complete. “...not gonna question it. Thank you, father. We will depart soon. Get ready, everyone.”

Once everyone was finished eating, they retreated to the guest rooms near Grimrose’s portion of the castle. And once they were alone, the krampus woman would lament her husband’s decision.

“...You gonna watch over ‘em from afar, ain’tcha?”

“As usual, you see right through me.”

The next day…

It was a quick sail over to the Kobold Canyon thanks to the SS Apodemus. But now, Grimrose was standing on the deck with an apprehensive glare in her eyes as she looked at her home grow more and more distant as they sailed out.

“...Rose?” Blue called out to her, “You look like you’re gonna throw up. Everything alright?”

“I’m just suspicious is all,” she replied with a hint of animosity in her voice, “Wondering why my father changed his mind so quickly.”

Blue put his claws on his hips and huffed, “...well. We can’t exactly stand around playing the game of wondering what’s gonna happen next now can we? All we can do is complete our mission, Rose.”

“...yeah, you’re right,” she sighed and shook her head, “Sorry. I…I want to keep myself from getting worked up as much as possible because--”

“...I know why,” the dragon cut her off, “...I can see it in your eyes, Rose. You’ve got some fangs you’re hiding. I’m just wondering when they’re gonna come out…”

Chapter 132

Eventually, our party would sail down to a smaller landmass connected to the continent in which Trotsylvania was a part of. There was a port located there that opened up to a wide crevasse that transitioned into a canyon made of orange-ish brown rock that was split into a wide path.

On that path is where the Kobold Canyon itself was located. And with that, came the kobolds that the region was named after. Small dragon-like creatures with stocky bodies and no wings. They looked extremely similar to dragons and to the untrained eye, outright identical…

“And here we are!” Marrow squeaked as they made port at the canyon, “I’ll join in and look around for any treasures we can bring back.”

“Alright,” Nebula replied with a nod as they walked down the loading plank and onto the port’s dock. “We’ll call out for you if we need your help.”

“Right-o, mateys! I’ll be here whenever you need me!” Marrow replied as he set off with a few of his rodent crewmates in tow.

With that, Nebula’s group would split off from Marrow’s. The stallion, kirin, dragon, and demon-pegasus would jog in the direction of the canyon where they’d funnel into the Kobold civilization. On both sides of the canyon, they’d see lots of wingless dragonfolk selling items at various stalls for tourists. To their left, there was a stall where a female kobold was selling necklaces made of their very shedded scales. To their right, a male kobold was selling various weapons made with the crystals they mined here in the canyon.

Beyond those, there was a stall that sold pottery, musical instruments, local foods, parchments, mining equipment, and more. Somehow, the desert landscape of the canyon was perfect for them.

“Huh…” Blue muttered as he took a look around, “I didn’t think this place would actually be this populated.”

“I know, right?” Nebula agreed, “But it looks like it’s working out for them just fine, huh? Oh how I’d love to engage in their culture. Those instruments look amazing…”

Grimrose would interject, “Except we’re not here as tourists, Atomic. We’re here on a mission. Bonetail is lurking around here somewhere and we need to find him.”

“You’re the leader,” Mei spoke up as she glanced at Nebula, “Where do you think we should go to get our start? Should we split up, stick together…?”

Both were ideal options and Nebula knew this. However, he wanted to take care of this with as much precision and care as possible since he also knew that Grimrose’s relationship with her parents was at stake to some degree.

‘If we do well here, maybe she’ll be less annoyed by the time we get back. This is important for her.’

Before he could make a proper plan though, he was interrupted by what appeared to be an elderly kobold with large glasses over her eyes. She had green scales, walked with a cane, and wore purple robes over her body, giving her the appearance of a wise elder.

“Excuse me…” her low, yet caring voice called out to the group. “Would you perhaps be the group of adventurers here looking for a certain…criminal?”

Everyone glanced at the elderly kobold and Nebula spoke up first. “Yes ma’am. We’re here on a mission to find an individual named--”

“...Bonetail I take it?” she raised a brow and coughed, “Argh! Ahem…look around, sonny. We’ve been trying to locate him with the aid of Count Orcus’ soldiers to no avail.”

Nebula’s group would pause and take a look around the canyon. True to the elder’s words, there were various batpony guards dressed in jet-black armor located at the edges of the canyon’s peaks and stationed around the inner canyon itself. They all were on the lookout for any sign or information on the lich dragon known as Bonetail.

“Think you could help us?” the elderly reptilian asked.

“Of course,” Nebula replied, “My name is Atomic Nebula. This is Mei Bi-Ju, Blue Blazes, and Grimrose Orcus. We arrived here on the SS Apodemus led by Captain Marrow.”

An exchange of information was the key to keeping things civil. If the kobold lady wanted to help them, then he wanted nothing to be hidden between them. And in turn, she would introduce herself.

“My name is Geki,” she answered, “A pleasure to meet you all. Please follow me.”

The elderly kobold led them through the opening of the canyon. As they walked, a few other kobold-folk would stop and gaze at the group. Some were glancing at Blue, curious as to the nature of a dragon and his wings. Others were interested in the pony-like creatures and wondered how they’d manage in a fight. Even some of the younger, child kobolds were interested, gazing at them with large eyes. Each of the group’s members would react in their own ways.

Nebula would smile and wave at the kobolds who glanced in his direction as he walked.

Blue would smirk and flex his wings, showing off the extraneous limbs that kobolds lacked.

Mei would push up her glasses and keep her head held high with an aura of professionalism.

Grimrose would shy away from the attention, tilting her head downwards in order to focus.

“Apologies,” Geki called out as the dirt path of the canyon they walked on turned into a brick-layered one, “They’re very curious about outsiders. Please don’t mind them.”

Along with the path change would come a scenery change. Now they had entered the residential area of Kobold Canyon complete with stony homes built into the side of the canyon itself. Some of the kobolds could be seen training with various weapons near the square. Others were gardening, playing, or heading into a nearby cave to mine crystals.

“Wow…this place is actually pretty relaxing,” Blue commented on the area, “A bit colder than the Dragon Lands but still.”

“I agree,” Mei added, “I get a nice, cozy feeling when I look at this place.”

Nebula would jump in, “It’s very nice, Ms. Geki--”

But Grimrose cut everyone off, “...can we please speak with you about Bonetail??”

“Of course,” Geki pointed her cane to a home that rested in the middle of the square that required stepping up a flight of wooden steps to access. “There.”

Chapter 133

The group would follow Geki up to her home which doubled as the local town hall building for the Canyon. It was a small building with wooden floors and an information desk where other kobolds were hard at work. Geki’s desk in particular was in the middle of the room where rows of documents sat next to a rather old-looking computer used for keeping track of information.

“Ma’am,” a gray-colored kobold man would salute her as soon as they entered. “I see you’ve found the group that intends to help us.”

“That’s correct,” she replied with a nod. “Thank you Abra, dear.” The elder kobold turned to the group and clarified who she was speaking with, “Everyone, this is Abraxas. My second-in-command.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Abraxas called out, “In that case, I’m sure you’re aware of what’s going on.”

“Bonetail,” Nebula spoke up, “We’re--”

Grimrose would cut him off with an impatient huff, “We need to figure out where he is and take him down as soon as possible. So if you could tell us--”

Geki would clear her throat as she sat down at her desk. “Now hang on, little missy. If we already knew where he was located, we wouldn’t even need your help now would we?”

“No no, I know that,” Grimrose replied as she walked up to Geki’s desk. The faint images of demonic, goat-like horns could be seen forming on top of her head as she became more anxious. “It’s just--we need any and all information you currently have on him if we’re expected to do our jobs. Respectfully, ma’am.”

“Keep your tail on, little lady,” Geki replied as she rummaged through some documentation. “We have reason to believe that we know where Bonetail will show up.”

“Where exactly?” Grimrose put her hooves on the counter, only to be urged to relax by Mei.

The kirin pulled her back via her magic. “...easy there, spooky. Let’s chill out and listen to what the lady has to say, alright? I know you’re antsy but…”

Grimrose sighed and fell silent. The horns disappeared and seemingly no one noticed them. For now.

Nebula would take over what with his position as leader. “...where do you think he’s going to show up, ma’am?”

“An investor’s party held by the elite Kobolds,” she answered as she pulled out an invitation, “The bigwigs of this place flaunt their wealth and talk about which miners they’d like to purchase for their operations,” she rolled her eyes as Nebula took ahold of the flyer in his magic. “Disgusting if you ask me.”

“...aren’t you the head chick, though?” Blue called out with a confused tone, “Don’t you have some authority over them and whatever event is going on?”

“Pfft. That’s what they want you to think,” Geki grabbed the bridge of her snout with a sigh, “In truth, we operate on a balance of power system. “I essentially manage the tourism sector of the Canyon while the actual mining operations are headed by…whoever has the most coin at the moment.”

“W-what?” Nebula called out with a disturbed frown. “But won’t that just lead to a system in which the wealthy get more and more powerful over the poor?”

Geki sighed again and shrugged with her claws raised. “That it does. Yet everyone here is so entrenched in the way it works, they don’t really see a problem with such a system.”

“Oh great,” Mei bemoaned, “A system that essentially looks to silence others. Except based on money. I kinda know what that’s like as a kirin.”

Abraxas would chime in, “Yeah it’s not very fun to be honest. We can really only do so much when it comes to what we want done for the Canyon’s Colony. Everything else has to go through a rigorous chain of command in which the final say goes to whoever has the most coin.”

That’s when Blue realized just how similar kobolds and dragons actually were.

“Huh…greed screws you guys up too, then?” the dragon muttered, “Can’t believe it…no. Actually, I can believe it and I think that’s the sad part.”

Grimrose would seek to return the conversation to the important topic at hand. “Okay, okay--back to this investor’s party, please. How are you so sure Bonetail will be there, ma’am?”

“Because the rumors state that he feeds off of the souls of others,” the elder kobold went on, “Where else would he want to feed off of a lot of souls at once than a party filled with them ripe for the taking?”

“Of course!” Nebula replied, “So what we need to do is get into that party, right?”

Mei would glance at the flyer once more. A simple poster with a pair of teacups upon it. But she’d point out a very important detail at the bottom as she held it aloft with her magic. “Erm…it says invite-only though.”

“I’ve already taken care of that,” Geki called out, and nodded at Abraxas.

The gray kobold would grab a total of four invites from out of a nearby recycling bin. “...right here.”

Chapter 134

“That’s our way in, huh?” Nebula took hold of the invites with his magic and passed them around to his teammates. “If this party is so exclusive then how did you manage to get ahold of them, sir?”

“I may or may not have…a few sources,” Abraxas commented with a small toothy smirk on his face. The implication of something sinister in play was something that Nebula and his team were ready to question at the moment.

“...right,” Blue muttered as he glanced at the invite. “So all we gotta do is sneak in and figure out where Bonetail is before he causes any trouble.”

“Sounds way easier said than done,” Mei commented with a huff, “There’s no telling what this guy will try to do when surrounded by a lot of people.”

“Meh, whatever,” Blue put his claws behind his head, “We just do what we always do, right?”

Nebula was quick to point out the flaw in Blue’s statement. “Hang on, we can’t just do that. We need Bonetail alive, remember? The other objective in this mission is getting as much info out of him as possible since he’s the only one who has any real info on Odu Eransa.”

Grimrose was simply shivering in place, panicking in silence as her friends spoke. Geki noticed this and called out to get everyone’s attention.

“...alright, youngsters,” she spoke up, “The party isn’t until this evening, so rest yourselves up in the local inn until then, alright?”

“Yes ma’am,” Nebula nodded, then looked at his team, “Alright guys, let’s go get some rest.”

With that, the entire group would leave. And once gone, Abraxas would approach Geki and ask a question.

“...ma’am. Are you sure this is a good idea? They’re awfully young, aren’t they?”

“Think for a moment, Abra,” she replied while tapping her finger upon her temple, “Bonetail is going to expect someone with a lot of experience and age to be after him. He’ll be on high alert if he sees anyone over old like me lurking nearby.”

Abraxas started to understand what she meant. “...I see. So with them being a mite younger, it will catch him off-guard before he can properly react.”

“Exactly,” Geki got up from her desk, and hobbled with her cane over to a nearby teapot on a stovetop. “Now we just need to make sure we have their backs so they don’t end up in a sticky situation, Abra.”

“Yes Lady Dengeki,” the gray kobold saluted. But then, their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Get that for me, will you?”

Abraxas heeded the elder kobold’s orders and opened the door to the town hall. “Hello--”

“Out of my way, please,” a voluptuous, well-endowed kobold woman with a crocodilian appearance stepped inside of the building. She was a tad younger than Geki, and wore a bit of jewelry on her fingers and an elegant silken-white bra over her chest. “Geki. Front and center.”

Geki grit her teeth and shattered an empty teacup within her claw. It was as if she knew who had arrived. “...what do you want, Escala?”

“Your quota is lower than expected,” she croc-like kobold woman stomped up to the front desk and slammed her claws upon it, causing cracks to ebb out from her fingers into the wood. “You’d better not be shorthanding us, woman.”

Abraxas’ claw twitched as he took a step forward, but Geki held up her own claw to let him know to stand down for the moment.

“...Ms. Escala, you’ll have to wait for your payout like everyone else,” the short, elderly kobold straighted her glasses as she glared at the much larger one that was easily twice her size. “The mining operations are a marathon, not a sprint.”

“Grrrgh…” the larger kobold woman grumbled under her breath, “If we find out you’re deliberately sabotaging us, there will be hell to pay, do you hear me?”

As Escala left, Abraxas sighed into his claw. “Ugh…I’m almost certain she’s going to be a problem.”

“All the more reason why I refuse to retire, Abra,” Geki grumbled as she flopped down in her seat, “I’m not gonna sit idle while half the youth of the canyon is trying to drive it to ruin. Not until I can say for certain that things are going to get better.”

“You know I can take over for you if you need me to, ma’am,” Abraxas commented as he started to polish out the scratches of the wood in her desk with the scales of his tail, “I’m here for you always. You know that. After all, you’re easily the prettiest ‘bold in the canyon with the strongest heart.”

Geki gave a small, happy trill. “...Abra, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were flirting with me. Aren’t I a bit old for you?”

In their age years, Geki was about in her 60s while Abra was in his late 20s. Despite that, it didn’t change how the lieutenant kobold felt.

“...it’s as they say,” he commented as he finished buffing out the scratches of the wood with his tail and shined it with a rag, “Age is a number. Only how you carry yourself matters.”

“...Ugh…quit trying to butter me up, little boy,” she groaned as she got up again and angrily hobbled over to the stovetop to get herself another teacup, “Make your young self useful and get me some teabags, please.”

“Of course,” he saluted and left the town hall building to head to the nearest stall.

All the while, Geki sighed to herself as she grabbed the teapot again. “...these old saggy things of mine could never attract a man. Boy needs a lady his age. Someone with actual cushion…”

Chapter 135

Our heroes would stay at the inn until nightfall arrived over the Canyon. The investor’s party was to take place in a grand hall that overlooked the rest of the village. With beaming bright torches and lights cutting through the darkness, it would serve as the largest light source of the village for the time being.

Grimrose would make use of her spell to grant everyone their usual combat disguises. Blue would become Wyver, Nebula would become Archsage, Grimrose would become Priestes, and Mei would become Trickster. However, since they weren’t looking for a fight just yet, they elected to use their usual names for the time being.

“Alright,” Nebula called out as he trotted up to the building in his armored mage attire, “Everyone ready?”

Blue had pulled down the hood of his ‘Wyvern’ outfit so that he’d be visible to everyone else. “Yeah. I honestly didn’t think these fits would have much use out of distractions yet here we are.”

“Well duh,” Mei snarked as she tilted her feathered tricorne hat upwards, “We gotta look like professionals or whatever. Can’t just waltz up into a party without a proper style, right Rose?”

Grimrose had lifted back the veil of her outfit and took a deep breath to calm herself down. “H-huh? Yeah…you’re right, Mei. If we want to find Bonetail, we need to be discreet and fit in with the rest of the…nobility here.”

“Well we’re around a bunch of schmaltzy cabbage-patch horses in Canterlot,” Blue commented with a shrug, “This should be easy enough if we just use what we know from there.”

“For now, I guess we should split up and try to play the part, Nebula suggested, then looked at Mei and Blue, “You both take one half of the building, Rose and I will take the other.”

“Oh it,” Mei replied with a nod as she glanced at Blue, “Care to walk me in, Blue?”

…or rather, she glanced at where the dragon used to be standing, then blinked as she noticed Blue already having walked off on his own.

“Blue!”

“Eh?”

“You’re supposed to walk in with your partner on your arm,” she hissed as she pointed out other kobold couples walking in and doing the same, “Duh!”

“Nah.”

“...’Nah’?”

Blue snickered, “I’m not getting bogged down when we’re on a mission. You follow me,” he added as he sauntered in without a care.

Mei threw her head back with a groan, yet resorted to following him anyway. “Ugh! Didn’t you literally just say…?”

As their voices faded out, Nebula grinned to himself. “...they’re made for each oth--...er…” That’s when he glanced at Grimrose. The pegasus mare was shivering in place as she stood in front of the building where the ball was taking place. “...Rose?”

“S-sorry!” her voice became unnaturally deep and guttural for a split-second before she turned her head away from Nebula and coughed to conceal it. “...sorry. I’m just a bit nervous I guess.”

“Of a party?” Nebula raised a brow, wondering how someone raised in nobility could be so afraid of an event such as this, “Weren’t you raised on events like these or am I misreading things?”

“N-no it’s not that…” Grimrose shook her head. “...nevermind. It’s not important. I’m ready to go, Atomic.” With that, she started trotting forward and into the building’s ballroom before Nebula could even respond or ask her any further questions.

But the stallion made a mental note to ask her about it later.

The ballroom itself was a massive dining hall where tables and chairs were set to the right side while a dance floor was on the other where a band could be seen and heard playing light music to accompany the event. A long, red carpet cut through the cobblestone floor of the building as various reptile-folk could be seen chatting away, eating, having drinks, or dancing on the dance floor nearby. For a rugged mining village, everyone really came together for such a well-made occasion. At least, that’s what they’d have you think on the surface.

In truth, only the wealthy and elite kobolds were allowed here. Ones with shiny jewelry or watches made of the crystals found in the mines. None of the actual commoners were allowed in--including the miners themselves who made this place function in the first place.

Twas a fact that Escala was completely aware of as she entered, and sipped into the crowd. To the right of where everyone was seated, she spotted a rather tired-looking yellow kobold busboy wearing a black suit-vest who looked to be no older than 20 or so, and approached him.

“...hey, sugar,” she called out to him, “You alright?”

The yellow kobold sighed and rubbed some sweat from his brow. “...yeah, I’m just…a bit winded from all the stuff I’m doing. Washing dishes, waiting tables for annoying clients…”

“Poor thing, you must be completely drained…” Escala replied out of pity, then came up with something. “...how about I help you slip away for a bit? Your boss won’t even notice you’re missing.”

At first, the idea scared the guy, but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to deal with his annoying boss and the snooty clientele at this event. So he agreed without hesitation.

“...you know what? Screw it. I’m…sick and tired of all this. Sure, lady--oh wait, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Escala,” she answered as she grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him along through the hallway and out of the back door of the building into the village itself. “Come on. I know just the place where you can relax.”

The young man of a kobold stumbled after her initially, trying his best not to glance at her…rather bouncy assets. “Oh…thank you miss. My name is Krieg by the way.”

But she knew full well where he was looking, and shot a sultry smile from her maw. Escala reached behind herself and put both of her hands under her rather firm, and yet massive, scaly butt cheeks--her fingers sinking into the fat of her ass as she jiggled it to entice him. Each cheek alone was bigger than the guy's head! “...nice to meet you, Krieg. Now how about I give you something to take your stress out on. Come with me to my place~”

“Y-yes ma’am!” his answered with his tail flicking out of excitement, following this stranger against his better judgement…

Chapter 136

It wasn’t long before Escala took Krieg to her home. She practically rushed him to her bedroom and threw him on her bed. There, she started to tease him by grabbing her chest and making mating noises to seduce him.

“A big boy like you deserves something better. You work too hard…”

“A-are you sure this is okay?” Krieg squealed as he watched the curvaceous crocodilian woman’s body sway. “I-I dunno if I’m big enough for you….”

“Oh? Then why don’t we find out for ourselves~?”

Meanwhile, back at the party itself, specifically at a building outside of it…

Geki was watching the events of the party take place via a pair of binoculars on a second story wooden balcony outside of her home. The elderly lizard woman was prepared to jump in at a moment’s notice as she sipped some tea from a steaming cup.

Abraxas would appear moments later to speak with her, “Ma’am. I don’t think you should stress yourself out so much. I think Nebula’s team will have it under control.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” she mumbled as she set the binoculars aside, “What I’m worried about is Bonetail starting up some malarkey here.”

The muscular lizard man would scoff as he walked up to her and leaned over the balcony with her. “Hmph. While that is true, I don’t think the loss of those souls would be that dramatic anyway. The nobility here is garbage and we both know it.”

Geki glared at him and playfully tapped him upside the head with her cane which caused him to chuckle. “Boy you know damn well why we can’t let that happen.”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” he replied with a smile as he rubbed the side of his head, “But come on, let’s take a break, yeah? You need to eat more. You’re growing thinner and thinner by the day.”

“Ugh…” Geki rolled her eyes and leaned her elbow on the balcony with her chin in the palm of her claw. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to fatten me up, Abra.”

“...well that’s only partially true?” he admitted with a nervous smile on his face. “I mainly just want you to eat something so your body can still function properly. You’re not getting any younger.”

Geki sighed and glanced at Abraxas. The large, beefy kobold man stood two whole feet above her. She realized just how well he had to have taken care of himself to keep his body like that with rather toned pectorals and abs. “...argh…boy, you could win any lady over you want with a body like that. Yet you stay around this old bag of bones. Why?”

“...” He scratched the back of his head. How could Abraxas tell her that he fancied older women without coming off as strange? “Erm…you’re much more…interesting than the average kobold lady my age?”

Geki broke out into a smile, then giggled. “...you’re attracted to wrinkly old hags, aren’tcha?”

Yes. Was he found to tell her directly? Absolutely not.

“...uhm…now I wouldn’t say something so crass as that--” Abra muttered and did his best to change the subject. “Anyway, how about we at least go grab some food from the event before the night is over?”

It was a good idea to at least oversee Nebula’s team and offer them any help if they needed it. But Geki still wanted to play it safely.

“...we’ll wait for one hour, then move in.”

“Understood,” Abra replied with a nod, “I’ll get everything ready.”

Meanwhile, back at Escala’s home…

After successfully seducing the young man, Escala had managed to have him consent to engaging in a bit of…lust away from his job.

“Augh~! Yes~! You’re so good, big boy Kri~!”

Krieg was on his back, being viciously and ravenously ridden by Escala in the cowgirl position. The large kobold woman’s massive, scaly ass slammed down so hard on his pelvis that his legs flipped upwards each time she came down. Her vaginal walls held him tightly with her pussy throbbing around his equally sensitive, girthy lizardman cock.

“Augh…M-Miss Escala~!” he moaned for her as she grabbed his wrists and brought his hands to her bouncing breasts. The bed had started to creak beneath them as she picked up speed. “Y-you’re so heavy~! I love it~!”

The young lizardman groped her breasts, causing the larger lizard woman to moan as she felt his cock twitching. “I can feel ya! Are you close~?”

“Y-yes! I’m…mmmph~!!”

Before he could say anything else, Escala leaned forward, shoving his face deep into her breasts while slamming her hips up and down, looking to ride him to completion as the bed broke beneath them from the sheer weight of her fat ass. “Fill me up, big boy~!”

“AAUGH~!!”

They reached their orgasm together, Krieg’s cock expanding and spurting ropes of cum into the lizard woman’s womb as she held him protectively in her cleavage, grinding her pussy upon him and making sure his pelvis was broken. Escala would remain on top of him, gently rubbing the top of his head as she let him feed off of the milk in her breasts as they cuddled together.

'If this is his final memory, then at least he'll have something to enjoy in limbo.'

She gave him a kiss in the lips, followed by a few more, then got off of him and stepped away for a moment to smoke a cigarette.

“...that was amazing. But I just have one thing left to say…”

“Hm?” Krieg muttered through a state of stupor as he lied there in absolute bliss with his cock flaccid and lipstick marks on his face.

“Sorry.”

CHING!

In an instant, Krieg’s neck was slit by the swipe of a bony claw before his body started to dissolve into nothingness. His final words before death?

"...worth…it…"

A skeletal dragon who somehow stood tall, living, and breathing despite having no internal organs or flesh. All that he had was a blue flame inside of himself as he added the teardrop-shaped, flaming soul of Krieg to it.

“Mmm…just what I needed,” he congratulated Escala for her work. His voice was akin to that of legion: numerous overlapping vocal tones that gave off a rather intimidating aura befitting that of a lich dragon. “Once they’ve come down off of orgasmic bliss, the process is quick and quiet.”

Escala held the cigarette between her fingers as she leaned against the wall. “No problem, BT. You keep taking them down, and I get all the money I want from these pitiful commoners. It’s a win-win. As for him, his soul will retain the memory of being my boy-toy for eternity anyways. I practically did him a favor with how overworked he was.”

“How generous of you. But now to close in on the main event,” Bonetail smirked as he looked out of the window to the building where the party was taking place. That's when, having stolen the young yellow-colored kobold man's soul, he assumed the form of Krieg via shifting and manipulating false flesh around his bones. The lich Dragon was indeed capable of shapeshifting, down to copying Krieg's voice perfectly. “...this is going to be delicious.”

Chapter 137

Back in the ballroom itself…

Nebula’s team took two different positions within the building. Acting as two couples, they had a full sense of awareness around the perimeter. To be exact, Nebula was sitting at a table with Grimrose. The two would pretend to chat and sip on wine that was served there. The taste caused Nebula to nearly gag but he kept up the appearance of a snarky noble pony tradesman for the sake of the mission.

“Yuck,” the stallion muttered under his breath, “How does anyone over the age of thirty drink this stuff?”

“You’d be surprised,” Grimrose replied with a sigh as she looked around the room, “No signs of anything suspicious yet. But I guess we’ll have to wait for Bonetail to make his first move.”

Nebula activated his horn to send a mental message to Mei.

‘How’s things on your end?’

Blue and Mei were on the dance floor, slow-dancing to the band’s orchestral performance accompanied by the piano and other various string and horn instruments. The two kept their eyes open as Mei held onto Blue’s claws with her forelegs as they performed some sort of kobold waltz together.

Mei’s horn lit up as she received the message and responded mentally.

‘Nothing. Everyone’s having slow dances right now. And I see that the servers are still bringing out food as usual.’

‘Pretty much,’ Nebula replied over their magical communication spell, ‘Damn. Well be sure to report in if anything looks off. And I mean anything.’

‘Roger.’

The spell cut off, and Blue would ask, “What’s going on, Mei? Did Nebula find anything?”

Mei shook her head as they continued to dance, “Nope. I’m getting a bit concerned. Given who our target is, it’s possible he could slip through unnoticed without drawing any attention to himself.”

“If he’s really capable of walking around as just a skeleton, who knows what he’s capable of?”

Everything would proceed as normal for the time being. However, eventually, something would catch Blue’s attention from the corner of his eye as he glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

“...”

Mei would notice the dragon’s eyes peer off in a direction, so she had to ask, “Okay. What’s up? You see something, Blue?”

“...It’s…yeah,” he replied with a low tone of voice as to not draw attention to himself, “Not sure if it’s something important or not, but I just saw someone rush into the kitchen.”

“That’s weird…should we check it out?”

“...what about this area?”

Mei had already thought ahead. “Nebula and Grimrose are still watching over this part of the building, so I think it’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go check out what you saw.”

“Alright.”

The two would then slip away from the dance floor and creep up to the kitchen door where Blue had sworn he had seen someone enter. The dragon pushed the wooden door open first, and found several knocked-over pots and pans and a few chef kobolds that had been knocked out and lied on the floor unconscious.

“...they’re breathing,” Mei confirmed as she trotted over to and examined the pulse of each one via putting an ear to their hearts. “More than likely setting up prey for Bonetail to feed off of later. From what little I know about soul magic, you don’t want to kill your target. You simply subdue them until you’re ready to extract the soul.”

“I see,” Blue put a claw to his chin as he wondered who would have caused such a thing. That’s when he notice small, muddy clawprints that lined the floors and led through another nearby door. “...this way. Tracks.”

“With you.”

The pair would follow the tracks through another wooden door that led them into an outdoor storage shed just behind the building where the event had taken place. The muddy tracks had disappeared under the cover of nightfall, but Mei wouldn’t let that stop her.

“Hrm…hang on a sec.” With a flash of her horn, the kirin sent out a basic pulse spell that spread out over the area and highlighted any abnormalities or indentations in the dirt. That’s when she noticed the small clawprints that led away from the building towards a small shed nearby. “This way.”

“Got it,” Blue replied as he followed the kirin.

Eventually, the two would come upon what appeared to be a basic toolshed and they listened closely for any voices. Soon enough, they’d hear what sounded like a young man’s voice call out.

“...finally, it’s mine. No one will ever cross me again.”

From outside, Mei and Blue looked at each other…then nodded.

Blue kicked the shack’s door open and shouted, “Halt, fool! Don’t move!”

Mei lit up the shed with a light spell from her horn and they’d find…a small green kobold boy having stolen a loaf of bread to feed two other kobolds that looked to be a bit younger than him.

“I surrender!” he squealed, and pleaded while on his knees. “Just please don’t tell anyone!”

Chapter 138

“...what’s going on here?” Blue asked, arms folded.

The young kobold thief would answer, “...W-we have no food, so I took to stealing it. Our parents work day and night in the local mines and are paid horrible pittances for their efforts. We’ve no choice but to steal food whenever we can.”

“...yeesh,” Mei muttered under her breath in disbelief. “...when Geki mentioned there was an inequality of wealth and resources, she wasn’t kidding, huh?”

“So wait a minute, you’re telling me your folks do all the work around here while the rich assholes up top pretty much take everything?”

Mei bumped her hip against the dragon and raised a brow. “...language, Blue. They’re kids.”

“Hey--”

The thief of a kobold went on, “...it’s true. We’re barely kept alive as slave workers in this colony just so we can make them their profits by mining those naturally occurring crystals that appear underground.” He grit his teeth as he gazed over at his siblings who were carefully munching on the bread and savoring every bite. “...it makes me sick.”

“...whatcha think, Mei?” Blue asked, “I don’t think these guys are our targets.”

Mei activated her horn and sent a message to Nebula just as she was sending him one.

‘...hey, where are you guys? You left the dance floor without warning.’

“Sorry, boss,” Mei replied aloud as she paced the floor so Blue could be aware of what was going on, “We just found some kids who stole some bread. We’re not at liberty to turn them in, so we’re gonna ignore them for now.”

“What she said,” Blue added, “Something’s off here, but the fact that our guy could be anyone makes this shit tough.”

“Language, Blue--ughh…” the kirin rolled her eyes and looked up, “Let me know if something happens on your end. We’re gonna hang out around here for the moment.”

Back on Nebula and Rose’s side of things…

“...noted,” Nebula muttered as he ended the magical ‘call’ of sorts, then looked at Grimrose. “We have to be careful, Rose. We’re on high alert, but we don’t need to start attacking random civilians in some sort of game of whack-a-mole.”

Grimrose sighed and hung her head. She knew this would mean things would simply take longer now. “...great.”

“Hey, chin up,” Nebula smiled at her, “Let’s take our time with this, alright? You don’t wanna make a bunch of sloppy mistakes trying to impress your parents, do you?”

The pegasus fell silent as soon as she heard that from Nebula. He had a point. Getting worked up would result in a poor job. While it didn’t cause her to toss away all concerns she had, it at least got her to relax for the moment.

“...thank you, Atomic,” she replied with a smile, “You always know how to cheer me up somehow.”

“No problem. It’s the least I could--”

His ear flicked.

Nebula turned around in his seat on a dime and looked out of the window near the front of the building. Outside, he could’ve sworn he had seen a shadow-like entity running across the darkness of the night.

“What is it, Atomic?” Grimrose asked, “Do you have something?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed as he casually rose out of his seat, “There’s something out there. I’m not sure if it’s our target or not, but I’m not taking any chances. Follow me.”

“Of course.”

Without hesitation, the two ponies quickly, but casually, left their table and headed outside. That’s when Nebula spotted the same shadowy entity jump onto the roof. Due to the dim nature of the night sky, it was rather difficult to see who it was. That’s when Nebula got an idea.

“Grimrose, fly up and use your puppetry threads to box them in.”

“Hm,” with a nod, she flew into the air, and ejected her magical threads from her wings until they were wrapped around the four corners of the rooftop. This created a small wall that would block their target from escaping.

“Okay…” With a flash of his horn, Nebula teleported onto the roof surrounded by the winding aura of the purple magic threads that matched Grimrose’s mane color. There, their shadowy figure would be standing on two legs with a rather bushy tail. “Freeze. We don’t wanna bring any harm to you. Tell us who you are and we won’t have any issues, pal.”

The individual stood tall on two legs with deer-like antlers. But of course, unlike most deer, this individual wasn’t on all fours, so it begged the question of who they were.

“H-hey!” they called out in a rather feminine voice, “I’m just doing a routine roof inspection up here!”

Nebula activated his horn to illuminate the rooftop. There, he’d see a rabbit-like creature on two legs standing in front of him with deer-like antlers on their head. Which only meant one thing.

“...a jackalope? Here?” he questioned aloud.

Indeed. The jackalope was a young woman dressed in a rather sooty set of blue overalls, befitting the appearance of a groundskeeper. She had fuzzy gray fur and dull-brown horns on the sides of her head that rested just in front of her large ears.

But their numbers were exceedingly rare, which immediately put Nebula on edge as he glared at her.

“...state your name and business.”

“I’m the groundskeeper,” she explained with an annoyed tone and a raised brow, “Getting ready to clean the roof.”

“Hrm…” Nebula grit his teeth as he racked his brain. Why did this situation feel so…off?

Chapter 139

“...so you’re just a groundskeeper, huh?” Nebula asked, then decided to push back and test this jackalope woman to see if she was on the up and up. If this was a mere shapeshifter, then he wouldn’t have accurate information to reply with. “...how long have you been working here and what are the names of your bosses?”

“Lady Dengeki is the one who keeps tabs on my work,” the horned rabbit replied, “And Abraxas is the one who I report to if there’s any problems. I’m a roof cleaner and chimney sweeper and have been working here for the last five years or so.”

“Hrm…”

“What do you think, Atomic?” Grimrose asked as she landed next to the stallion, “Can we trust her?”

Based on what he had heard thus far, her information didn’t sound as if it’d come from someone who had only recently taken the place of someone else who had worked there. “Well…it seems as if she knows what she’s talking about.”

“Look, I’m not sure what this is about,” the jackalope went on as she picked up a nearby push-broom and began to sweep, “But I have a job to do here. My kind isn’t exactly common, so I’m trying to lay low so I don’t suffer anymore than I currently have to.”

“O-oh…right…” Nebula muttered, unsure how to respond now that the situation was certifiably awkward. Maybe this wasn’t who they were looking for after all. Either way, the more time they spent here was more time they spent away from making observations on the inside. “I understand. My apologies. Let’s go, Grimrose.”

With that, the magic threads would disappear as Rose called them off. The two of them would leave the rooftop and head back into the party to where they once sat at their table. All was quiet for now with nothing suspicious, but they still made sure to keep their eyes open.

Meanwhile…

At long last, Abraxas and Dengeki would move into the situation on their own terms. The lizardman was dressed in a rather dapper black suit and pants along with a pair of sunglasses to hide who he really was. Meanwhile, the older kobold lady wore a sparkly red dress that covered up how svelte she was and had encrusted her cane with fake jewels to give a sense of opulence.

“...will this even work?” she muttered under her breath as she walked alongside Abra, “They’re probably going to figure out who we are.”

“Relax, Lady Geki,” Abra replied as he walked her into the building, “They don’t really know nor care who we are. So long as they’re getting the money they wanted, they could care less about who comes in here.”

Geki hissed as she looked around the ballroom at the various wealthy-looking kobolds. “...yeah, so long as you’re a rich cunt-snuffin’--ggh…sorry, son. These kinds always make my skin crawl.”

“Don’t get yourself worked up, ma’am,” Abra assured her, “We’ll have to fake it until we make it--as the saying so happens to go anyway.”

As the two blended in with the crowd, the festivities of the event would suddenly be short-stopped and the orchestra would begin to play their music at a lower level once the sound of a fork tapping against a glass could be heard.

Everyone in the room turned towards the stage where the orchestra had been playing. That’s where Escala had appeared and spoke out to everyone.

“Glad to see that you’re all here! I hope you’re all having fun!” she called out to the crowd who muttered in agreement.

Geki balled her fist, but Abra put an arm around her to keep her relaxed as the gator-like kobold continued speaking.

“Everyone has cast their votes in regards to the shakeup for the next distribution of labor,” Escala continued as she glanced over to the rest of the crowd, “And Ms. Keebo has won the vote!”

Keebo was a pink-scaled kobold woman dressed in an elegant silver dress that approached the stage. “Thank you very much! I can’t wait. Personally, I think we need to retool our expenses towards the development of weapons. Encourage our benefactors to trade blows with each other, then we’ll have more business as they continue to buy from us!”

The crowd gave ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ of agreement and intrigue. Her idea would seek to further the divide between the ones at the top and the commoners below as well as increase spending from the companies that demanded more power crystals from them. It was foolproof!

A fact that visibly irritated Geki even more than she already was. The elderly kobold hissed at the idea while Abra tried his best to keep her calm with a nervous smile on his face. All the while, nobody knew if Bonetail was present or not. After all, he could’ve easily been anyone in that very room…

And that’s when Blue and Mei returned to the ballroom, staying out of sight to listen in closely on the announcements…

Chapter 140

The announcements would proceed as scheduled. Nobody in the room could weed anything out for the moment, however, Grimrose suddenly felt a headache which caused her to rub her hoof against the side of her head.

“Argh…” she muttered, which caught the attention of Nebula.

The stallion turned to her and asked, “...hey, are you alright, Rose? You feel something off?”

“...yeah,” she replied as she squinted her eyes, “I’m getting a bad new vibe more or less. Someone in this room is giving off lots of hostile energy…”

This was both enlightening and alarming. If Grimrose could pinpoint exactly who was the culprit here, then their team would be able to find Bonetail more easily with minimal collateral damage. However, he was also concerned for Grimrose’s general well-being.

“...if it’s too much, we can leave,” he suggested, “There’s no point in staying here if it’s causing you this much trouble.”

“N-no…” the pegasus replied as her voice dropped an octave once again. “We need to…complete this mission for everyone’s sake. Hang on…wait here, and back me up.”

“...Grimrose…”

Grimrose ignored Nebula’s warning’s for the moment as she got up and started trotting through the crowd of noble kobolds. The horns that appeared on her head once more as fangs started to appear out of her mouth. Nebula could see that something was off, but wanted to allow her to carry out whatever it is she had planned before he made a commotion.

‘...I hope you know what you’re doing. I trust you.’

From where she stood, Mei was able to see Grimrose move about through the crowd. The kirin immediately sent a message to Nebula through her magic.

“...Nebula? Nebula, what in Lord Sejon’s name is going on down there?!”

“She’s moving through the crowd,” Nebula replied, “I’m letting her act because she’s the most experienced with this weird stuff out of any of us.”

“...are you sure about this?”

“I am,” Nebula confirmed, “Standby until I give the signal. We don’t want anyone getting suspicious of us.” With that, he quickly shut his horn off to deactivate the ‘call’ of sorts. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice who he was talking to since they were all focused on listening to Escala continue to rattle off sales numbers and facts.

That’s when Geki had also taken notice as well.

“...hey, Abra.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I’m noticing the gloomy one is on the move,” she muttered to her assistant, “Do you think they may have found something?”

Abraxas looked up and noticed that Grimrose’s aura had started to become darker the deeper she went. “...oh no. Ma’am, on my mark, we take cover under this table.”

The elderly kobold tilted her head. “...eh?”

Meanwhile…

Grimrose continued wading through the crowd of kobolds. And eventually, she locked her eyes onto someone in particular: Keebo. Or rather, who the audience assumed was ‘Keebo.’

“You.”

“So you’ve figured me out, then?” the kobold woman dropped all pretenses immediately, and the crowd didn’t seem to notice. “...fine then. I’ll show you!”

Her voice would change to that of an overlapping legion, and with a snap of her fingers, not only did she cause everyone in the crowd to freeze on the spot with blank expressions with white eyes, but revealed ‘herself’...

To be Bonetail.

The outer shell of the female kobold exterior was ripped and mangled apart as Bonetail revealed himself to them. At this, Blue and Mei jumped out into the fray as well.

“A lady?!” Blue bemoaned, “Nobody told us this guy could literally become anyone!”

“We’re the ones in charge here,” Escala commented, being the only other crowd member that wasn’t frozen, “See, we actually knew the whole time you were here…”

“But how?!” Nebula called out as he ran up to the stage, “Who…” his eyes darted back and forth as he stared off into space and considered the horrific possibilities. “...no…no way. No way!”

Bonetail chuckled with his echo-y voice. “Oh…yes ‘way’ little peasant.”

His body would mangle and transform…into the very same young kobold that Blue and Mei had seen earlier with his voice altered to match.

“I had already found you out from the start.”

“You’re kidding me!” Mei screamed, and immediately turned into a nirik with multi-colored flames brewing from her jet-black body. “So you mean to tell me you were fake the whole time?!”

“Nah nah nah!” Blue yelled in disbelief as he held up a claw and shook his head, “Hold on for a second. What about those other kobold kids we saw?”

“...you mean those delicious morsels that were convinced into believing that I was their older brother?” Bonetail commented with a smug expression while in the child kobold’s form, then stuck out his tongue. “...oopsie!”

By now, Grimrose had been focused on staring at the ground as she grit her teeth. Her body slowly changed via a magical metamorphosis that started with her hind hooves becoming goat-like. Though nobody noticed through the tense emotions that were present in the air.

“What about the jackalope?!” Nebula called out with a stomp of his hoof, “Was that a--”

Bonetail immediately took the form of the horned rabbit woman and started skipping around the stage. “...another morsel that I had already consumed and taken the form of long ago? Aw…you’re starting to put it together now, huh?” He stood there in the form of the rabbit lady with his hand on his hip, “You were always one step behind. And now? Well, you’re all about to be next on my menu. It’s how I keep going after all.”

“ENOUGH!”

Everyone looked in Grimrose’s direction…and she was no longer herself.

Chapter 141

Everyone looked in Grimrose’s direction and watched as the pegasus’ body morphed and changed from her default pony form into a shape that looked a bit more like her mother’s albeit a tad shorter.

She had now tapped into her krampus blood that she had inherited from her mother. Now standing at five feet, nine inches tall, her pegasus wings had turned black to match her new fur color. There were a pair of upward-facing horns on her head, and her face was a fully-exposed skull akin to the imagery found in the Book of Baphomet.

“Well now…this is interesting,” Bonetail commented as he looked at the demonic, winged goat woman, “I didn’t even think your kind still existed. This might be a worthy matchup after all…”

“Rrrgh…” Rose growled and hissed with a voice that didn’t even sound like it was of this world. “Let them go! People like you who abuse your power have no place in this world!”

“Big talk for someone with demon blood in their veins,” Bonetail threw her words back at her, and snapped his fingers.

All of the kobolds in the room had turned hostile and were prepared to attack. The lich dragon truly did have the entire population under his thumb.

“Control their leaders, control their life,” he faux-yawned and took a seat on a nearby stool. “Tear them limb from limb, everyone.”

“Youuuuu!” Grimrose was prepared to charge at the dragon, but she was short-stopped by Escala who had come between her and him. The crocodilian kobold had a short sword in her claw at the read.

“...you wanna get to him, you’ll have to go through--”

But before that could go any further…

CHING!

“I don’t think so, ya whippersnapper,” Geki called out as she approached them all. Her cane had now turned into an energy weapon with two blades jutting out from the top and bottom to make a double-sided spear. “You’re dealin’ with me!”

Abra had joined her moments later, cracking his knuckles as he glanced at the mind-controlled kobolds. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to do this and now I get to do so without hesitation or remorse.”

“Hmph…” Escala turned her attention to the elderly lizard and scoffed. “Fine then. This won’t take me much time at all.”

“Outta my way!” Grimrose flew around them and tackled Bonetail through to the other side of the building where Nebula would join her.

“Hey wait--shit!” Nebula looked at Mei and Blue, “Operating positions, now!”

Blue had already generated his flame lance. “Don’t gotta tell me twice!”

“Way ahead of you!” Mei yelled out in her nirik form.

As soon as Bonetail was tackled, the kobolds had begun to swarm everyone in the building. They charged everyone and it was an all-out brawl amidst what was previously an extravagant party.

Blue had stabbed and slashed a few kobolds, burning them since he knew that their lives were already forfeit due to being under Bonetail’s control. One of them tried to jump him from behind and slit his throat with a knife, but he was able to flip them over his head and spin them around, throwing them into some other kobolds to bowl them over.

Mei had stomped her hooves and generated a firewall in front of herself. When they got too close, she forced the multi-colored flames to fan out all around herself to burn them all. Once of them managed to overcome this though and tackled her to the floor where she raised her hoof and kicked them in the face hard enough to knock teeth loose as she rose up and evaded the wild punches of another.

“Grrrgh!” the nirik mare hissed as she avoided a punch and retaliated with a flaming uppercut that burned the air around the kobold’s body. “These fuckers mean business!”

“No shit!” Blue yelled back as he leapt over Mei’s body to dropkick another insane lizardman that had almost ambushed her, “They’re all drones powered by some lich bastard’s sick fantasies!”

Nearby, Abraxas had been engaging several kobolds in battle at once with aggressive kickboxing techniques that required only one or two strikes at most to subdue them.

“You’re pissing me off!” he screamed as he punched one of them in the gut, and carried them on his fist as he ran them into a group of other kobolds that would all be driven into the nearest wall with their skulls cracked.

Lastly, Escala and Dengeki had been locked in a fierce battle. As their weapons clashed, the beefier lady kobold would scoff.

“Hmph…you’re much more spry than I would’ve expected from a geriatric that likely uses dentures!”

“With all the nasty malarkey you’re doing, your vagina won’t even last once you reach my age--assuming you even make it there!”

“...!” Such a response visibly annoyed Escala, causing her eyes to widen as she broke the clash and attempted to punch Geki dead in the face…

Only for the elderly kobold to not only avoid it to break through her attack, but leap onto Escala’s head, lock her feet around her neck, and twist hard to the right, causing the larger kobold to topple to the floor where she’d keep her neck in a fierce leglock.

“...I may look like I’ve got one foot in the grave, little missy…but you? You’re about to be the grave.”

Chapter 142

Nearby, at the other end of the ballroom…

Bonetail had wriggled out of Grimrose’s grasp, and turned into an eerily similar--nay, outright identical winged krampus creature to Grimrose. Apparently, he was able to even mimic the appears of those whose souls he had not yet absorbed. Even down to her voice…

“All this time, I’ve been waiting for you to show yourself,” Bonetail commented from his newfound feminine krampus form, “I’ve been wanting to show you what I can do and possibly take your hand in marriage as well. I know the Orcus Family fortune is drying up…”

“I don’t need you!” Grimrose shouted back as she leapt forward with help from her wings. In this form, she completely tossed away all of her previous sense of tactics or strategy and instead went in for the kill as quickly as possible.

From her hand, she launched a sigil that blasted forwards and released an even larger fist made of dark purple energy. Bonetail would block this with a mere grasp of his hand and retaliate by pulling her towards him with force magic and grabbing her by the neck.

But before he could take advantage of such a thing, Grimrose activated the magic puppetry threads from her fingers and launched them at Bonetail’s hooves. With a swift pull, she lifted the krampus doppleganger off its feet and tripped him, causing him to fall and let go of her.

This allowed Grimrose to grab ahold of him via the threads and with a turn so powerful, she launched him into the air and leapt after him to drop a viscous elbow upon the fake krampus as they both landed, and crashed through a nearby buffet table.

Nebula meanwhile, had to wade through a series of psychotic kobold ghouls in order to get there.

“Rose!” he called out as he headbutted one kobold, and generated a violet barrier around himself, “Gimme a sec! I’m gonna back you up!”

The stallion levitated his flute to his lips. Now that he had a flute instead of a recorder, he was able to play a more complex series of notes than before. Though, he was by no means an expert at it, he was still able to summon a greater number of magical musial notations that flew into the air within his barrier.

And upon the final note…

EEEE!

The barrier broke and sent explosive musical notes all around himself. Treble clefs and bass clefs spun around like a swirling vortex that he could control at will with the power of song. With higher notes, they flew into the air and released ear-piercing screeches that overloaded the koblod’s mental states.

Then, with a few lower notes, they exploded around the kobolds and sent them flying away from his position which gave him an opening to rush over and assist Grimrose. Unfortunately both Grimrose and Bonetail were locked in a fierce battle and it was difficult to tell who was who…

“Rose! Talk to me!”

Bonetail would take advantage of this.

One of the krampus’ looked up at him, “...I’m glad you’re okay, but don’t get involved!”

“No, don’t listen to her,” the other hissed, “I’m the real one!”

Both of them were functionally and physically identical down to their voices. Nebula raised his flute to his lips and prepared to fire off a musical spell of some kind, but he needed to be absolutely sure he knew who was who.

“...think…how would the real one respond to me…”

That’s when it hit him.

“Freeze! Both of you!” he called out as he stood in front of them, and caught their attention just as they were about to punch each other. “I just have one small favor to ask you,” he paused, and grinned at them both, “Say my name.”

“Your name is Nebula! Why wouldn’t I know that?!” the demonic goat on the left called out.

“It’s me, Atomic. You know that!” the one on the right yelled.

Nebula smirked.

And immediately zapped the ‘krampus’ on the left which successfully deactivated Bonetail’s cloaking ability, catching the lich dragon temporarily off-guard.

“Wh--HOW--?!”

CRACK!

Grimrose punched his face in so hard that his skull cracked in numerous places. Then, without hesitation, she clutched onto his ribs and flew into the air before spinning, and piledriving him into the floor--a move commonly known as an Izuna Drop--which successfully snapped his neck bones and separated his head from his body.

“Gargh! How…how did--?!”

Grimrose stomped her hoof on his severed skull, threatening to destroy him beneath the weight of her body. “Odu Eransa. His weakness. Now.”

Unable to fight back or access the rest of his body, Bonetail was at a loss. While he was powerful, he had never been in a situation where someone was able to see through the ruse of his disguise which had put him in his current position. “F-fine…his weakness is…raw plutonium.”

CRUNCH!

With that, Grimrose stomped on Bonetail’s skull, shattering it. But it would have the adverse effect of causing the decapitated lich dragon’s body to shine brightly and flicker--indicating that it was about to--!

“...!” Abraxas took notice before anyone else, and rushed over, reaching his right arm into the exposed ribcage of the bony body. “EVERYONE GET BACK!”

As soon as he gave the warning, everyone had stopped fighting the kobolds and retreated outside just as--!

BLAM!

Chapter 143

A massive explosion overtook the surrounding area, consuming everything within the prestigious dining hall as it collapsed in on itself from the sheer excess of power being released from Bonetail’s body once the souls had escaped.

“...ABRAXAS!” Geki screamed upon seeing the wreckage of the building, and quickly sprinted over to try and find him through the series of wooden planks and stones that had piled up after the explosion. “Where are you?! Boy you better not die on me, y-you hear?!” she cried out for him as she rummaged through the destroyed building.

Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to wait for too long.

“...god…” Abraxas had come to nearby, and scratched the back of his head with his left hand. “...that was more painful than I expected. Ma’am, I’m over here…”

Geki noticed him, and ran over to tackle him with a hug as she sobbed. “...Abra…what the hell…why did you do that, boy?!” When she opened her eyes, she gasped, and noticed something wrong with the right side of his body. “...your arm!”

As a result of reaching in and tearing out the souls that kept Bonetail’s body together, Abraxas’ right arm had been blown clean off. All that remained was a small stump that extended just a few inches from his shoulder.

“...” Abraxas noticed this and tried to put on a brave face, “...’tis but a scratch…”

And then he immediately passed out and fell silent on the ground….

A few hours later…

In the aftermath that followed, Abraxas was brought to the local medical tent where his arm was treated and bandaged up. Soon enough, Dengeki would arrive to check on him.

“...are you alright, son?”

“I’m fine…” he muttered as he forced a smile on his face, “But I could really use a hand, I think.”

Geki rolled her eyes and did her best to hold back a grin. “Don’t…don’t try and get funny with me. What you did was completely foolish…and I’m grateful for it. I don’t know what would’ve happened had it not been for you being there, Abra.”

The big lizardman sighed and looked at his missing arm. “Well…I’d rather be down a limb than be down a leader. Not to mention all of those kiddos that arrived here. It wouldn’t have sit right with me if I let them down.” He blinked, and realized something important. “...speaking of which…what happened to Escala? Is she still around?”

“You could say that…” Geki reached into a nearby potato sack and tossed out the kobold woman’s decapitated head. “She’s not gonna be giving us anymore trouble ever since we put her through the guillotine.”

“...yikes,” Abra let out a shrill whistle as he watched Geki put the head back in the bag, “You weren’t playing around. I admire that about you ma’am. Now, where are those kids?”

“They’ve actually been--”

Blue peeked into the medical tent. “Hey…is everything okay?”

“Of course,” Geki replied, “Come on in. I’m curious though, what happened to your pegasus friend?”

“It’s a long story,” Mei added as she walked in with Blue. “Nebula and Grimrose are currently back at the ship talking it over. He asked us to make sure everything was okay back here regarding the state of your homeland.”

“Yeah…I don’t think we’ll be exporting anything for a while,” Geki explained, “We need to take some time to rebuild this place for our own people, rather than selling out to foreigners.” She glanced over at Abra and continued, “...and I think I’ll need a bit of help getting it done.”

Abraxas smiled and replied, “Of course, ma’am. As soon as I’m healed, I’ll be right with you.”

“Hey I think I know of a way we can get that arm fixed,” Mei spoke up, catching the attention of everyone in the tent.

“...you can??” Abra replied, “How exactly?”

“...kirin magic is a tricky thing. Let’s just say I know a guy.”

Back on Marrow’s ship…

Grimrose, now in her krampus like form with pegasus wings sat on the dock of the Kobold Canyon port as she watched the sunrise. Nebula was right there next to her, with a hoof around her shoulder. The two sat in silence for a while, but the stallion would eventually break it.

“...you know I still love you, right?”

“Y-yes…of course, Atomic….” she replied with a nervous wag of her tail, “I’m just…I’m sorry I kept this from you for so long. I didn’t know how to explain it to you when we first met.”

“Pfft,” he scoffed, “I don’t care about your genetics. I care about you, Rose. That’s all that really matters to me.”

“I…” she smiled and looked away, “...you’re too good to me, Atomic.”

“I know,” he replied snappily, “It’s one of my best traits. All joking aside, as your soulmate and your leader, it’s my job. And I won’t ever hold back on that. Trust me, Rose.”

Nebula’s words put her at ease. She scooped the stallion up in her arms for a hug. “Thank you…though now I’m simply concerned with whether or not my father will accept you. My family isn’t exactly well off and he’s been looking to marry me off to some other noble for more money…”

Nebula nuzzled into her neck, enjoying the softness of her goat fur. “...mmm…don’t worry about that. I’ve already got something in mind your father won’t resist.”

Chapter 144

Back in Abyssinia…

The message of Odu’s weakness--that being plutonium--was relayed to Fang’s team in Abyssinia who were now on their way to Caninia to intercept Odu’s final assault on the diamond dogs.

Fang’s team had already taken a train ride back to Caninia and were prepared to be the ones to take down Odu. Given that Rufus had lost his newfound love interest to the tiger man…it was even more personal for the yak.

“Are you ready, Rufus?” Fang asked as the train pulled them into the diamond dog kingdom. “This will be your chance to exact vengeance for the death of--”

“Uzi. Yeah,” the yak interrupted his dalmatian friend while loosening his neck joints. “I’ll be more than ready to deal with him now that we know his weakness.”

“Plutonium, yes,” Fang nodded, “Thank goodness for dear Nebula’s team finding out that information for us.”

Nearby, Spearklip would speak up. “So do we just happen to have some raw plutonium nearby, or--?”

“I am curious too,” Lee spoke up with her primate tail flicking curiously. “I hear pluto is dangerous.”

Fang would respond with a chuckle. “That it is. But it just so happens that the royal sisters have a reserve of weapons that are considered too dangerous…unless an emergency hits.” He folded his arms and wagged his tail. “I believe this is one such emergency.”

“What?!” Spear’s ear flicked upon hearing what Fang had just said. “You mean to tell me that the leaders of your nation casually have super-powered weapons of mass destruction lying around?”

“Yes.”

“I--w--” The zebra mare couldn’t even begin to argue it. “...you know what? I’m not surprised. So what’s the plan, mister leader?”

Fang laid out a map of Caninia on the table in their train car. He pointed to the Eastern portion of it. “We’re about to enter here. From there, we’ll inform the royals through a back door in the castle so none of Odu’s associates know where we are. Any questions?”

“None,” Rufus replied, “I’m ready to end this.”

“Sounds good to me,” Spear replied with a nod.

Lee meanwhile, had become distracted as she wondered something. ‘...I wonder if he will show…’

“...ee? Lee?” Fang called out to her once more, still requiring her input. The primate woman snapped out of her stupor which put a worried look on the dog man’s face. “Is everything alright?” he asked, “You were spacing out a bit there.”

“I am fine. Just wondering if the one we call Bullet will appear once more,” she muttered with a worried tone, “There are some things I still need to explain to him.”

“I understand how you feel,” Rufus spoke up, “Don’t worry. If we see him, I’ll make sure we don’t let him get hurt.”

Given his own position with having lost someone close to him, Rufus wasn’t going to allow his new friend to lose her partner as well. The monkey woman’s ears fluttered nervously as she shook her head.

“Thank you, but…sorry. No, I need to focus on our current objective,” Lee confirmed, “We speak to your royal roundtable, and obtain pluto weapons, yes?”

“Indeed,” Fang nodded, “...I just hope we aren’t too late.”

One train ride later…

Soon enough, the train would arrive and pull them into the diamond dog’s kingdom. Fang would receive some welcomings from his fellow neighbors but had to quickly rush past them and put the pleasantries on hold as they hurried to the castle where the Caninian Queens resided.

“Alright. Preferably, I’d like to speak to Katherina. She’d get us into the vault the fastest,” Fang explained as the group followed after him towards the side end of the castle.

“Vault, huh?” Rufus asked, “Must be some pretty valuable stuff in there.”

“I wonder what nature of artifacts they’ll have…” Spear mused, “I’ll need to make a mental note to check back on it later.”

Meanwhile, Lee’s mind was elsewhere. She was more focused on keeping and eye out for anyone suspicious such as Odu’s gang members. “I’ll stay outside,” she offered, “The tiger man may already be here among your kind, Jun.”

“Very well,” the dalmatian agreed, “Keep watch from outside and let us know if you have any leads, Lee.”

The monkey woman gave a proud nod before leaping into one of the nearest trees. “I will. Don’t worry.”

As the rest of her team left for the castle, Lee would soon hear a familiar voice call out to her.

“...I know you’ve been waiting for me. But there’s not much time to talk about our personal issues, Lee. The cat gang is already here.”

“I see…” Lee replied with a sigh, “If you are certain, then why not help us, Bullet?”

The monkey man chuckled from higher up within the tree. “...yeah, you know why I can’t be seen with you in public. But I’ll see what I can do from afar.”

“Ugh…” Lee rolled her eyes and jumped out of the tree. “Fine. Be that way.”

Bullet watched her leave and shook his head. “...soon.”

Chapter 145

Once the group managed to speak with Queen Katherina, she convened with the other queens of the council. Surprisingly, they agreed to the group’s request rather easily.

“Very well,” Katherina replied from the roundtable, “I see we have no other choice. The rumors were worrisome but if there really is someone desiring to start unrest and fling the diamond dogs into a war with the abyssinians, we won’t stand for it.”

Fang was surprised at this--his tail wagging in disbelief. “...really? It was that simple, was it?”

Queen Amber--a golden lab diamond dog--would respond, “Well we know you and your family, Jun Fang. Having been sent off to Canterlot to represent our race, we know you’re trustworthy if you’ve had to come all the way back to give us a warning.”

“That’s fair I suppose--er,” Fang knelt down before them, “I mean, it’s an honor to be considered such a valuable asset to my homeland, my ladies. Thank you.”

“Ah, quit all that,” the malamute-like Queen Indy spoke up, “You and your friends have done loads of good for everyone on both sides. You’ve earned this.”

“That’s right,” Katherina added, “We will retrieve our plutonium and have our blacksmiths craft weaponry with trace amounts of it built in.”

Rufus tilted his head, “Uhh…’trace’ amounts? Will that even be enough?”

“Yes,” Spearklip chimed in, “Plutonium is a dangerous element that’s found in very small amounts in nature. It’s so powerful that no one has managed to harness its full potential. Not even alchemists.”

“You’re one smart zebra,” Queen Amber complimented her and went on, “She’s right. That stuff is deadly and would kill just about anything it comes in contact with. You don’t actually need all that much for it to be effective.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fang replied with a nod, “We’ll need the blacksmiths to work as quickly as possible for us if that’s alright. We’re not sure exactly when Odu plans on attacking.”

Rufus would jump in and proudly puff out his chest, “But rest assured, the Almighty King Of Grappling is here to make sure you pups don’t get hurt.”

The dog queens simply stared at him in confusion while Spearklip sighed into her hoof and pulled the yak back.

“Sorry about that,” the zebra mare bowed to the queens while glaring at Rufus, “Someone here is still working on his manners.”

Katherina giggled, “Oh don’t worry yourselves. We’ve been hearing a lot about the fearsome yak that can deadlift enemies stronger than himself. If that’s you, then we’ll be more than safe.”

Rufus smirked at Spear with an arrogant, knowing smile which only earned a raised eyebrow from the zebra.

Fang chose to cut to the chase. “Right then…let us go to work.”

It’d take a few hours for the plutonium weaponry to be fully created. In the meantime, Fang’s team would wait out their time at the local inn while also keeping tabs on the local population. For the time being, it didn’t seem as if anyone was starting to cause trouble, but thanks to the heads-up she received from her former lover, Lee was already two steps ahead…

“So it seems that they are here then,” Fang replied with a sigh, “That’s not good.”

“Are you sure we can trust what he says?” Rufus asked.

Lee pouted with a small glint in her eye, “I know him. He is no liar. If there is someone dangerous present in this city, then there is someone dangerous present.”

Spearklip nodded. “I can believe it. If you wanna find a criminal assassin, you send a criminal assassin. Sounds logical to me.” Then she turned her attention to their dalmatian friend, “By the way, Fang. Your family is here, correct? Don’t you want to see them?”

“...I will, yes,” Fang nodded with an apprehensive frown as he thought about his mother. “I want my mother’s final moments to be that of peace as she rests.”

The group fell silent as they recalled the fact that Fang’s mother had been slowly dying. The diamond dog man was so focused on his work that he seemingly didn’t want to think about such a thing.

Rufus quickly changed the subject. “Right, so…we get our plutonium weapons, find where Odu’s hiding, and tear his asshole a new one. Right?”

“That’s the plan,” Fang replied with a more excited tone, “Soon enough, this will all finally be behind us and we can get retribution for what was done to us.”

“He will pay for what he did to me,” Lee asserted as she recalled having her back broken by the tiger man, “The might of Wukong will crush him before he can even retaliate.”

“That’s right, you’re of the nobility there,” Spear brought up Lee’s place in Wukong, “I’m sure they’re just gonna be pleased to hear about what’s happened to you, eh?”

The monkey woman flicked her tail and hissed. “Aaaah. He is lucky we cannot start war without permission. Emperor Chang must know if Bullet is here.”

As the team conversed. An Abyssinian would be watching from outside…

‘Well…this is unfortunate. Looks as if they know what we’re about to do. No matter though. These mutts will learn what true civil unrest is.’

Chapter 146

Later that night, in a shed just outside of Caninia itself…

This was where Odu’s base of operations was located. The tiger abyssinian was already preparing himself for a final confrontation with Caninia’s royalty. Having taken hold of numerous abyssinian carcasses to present to them as a warning…

“Boss,” the abyssinian from before--a bobtail cat man--arrived to speak with Odu, “They’re here again. Remember the group that tried to stop you before?”

Odu scoffed and flicked his tail. “Them? Those whelps?” He let out a laugh, “There’s no way they can do anything against me. I already have my plan laid out to scare those mangy mutts into a full-blown panic. They won’t know what hit them.”

“Sir. Here’s the thing: I heard them talking about using raw plutonium weapons,” the gangster continued, “Is there a chance that they know how to deal with you this time?”

“...” Odu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “...there’s nothing that they can do to me that hasn’t already been done. I’m prepared for any and all outcomes.”

The gangster shrugged his shoulders. There was no way of talking down his boss at this point, so he didn’t bother trying. “Alright. Well, if you’re sure. If you think this is the best way to finally dismantle both sides and take over, it’s up to you.”

“Most certainly,” Odu looked at the various corpses he had on hand and shook his head, “No filthy primates or canids will interrupt my descent into greatness.”

“Given what happened to Sha’Beel, I’ll take your word for it,” the bobtail guy shuddered at the thought of what Odu had done to her. To them, Sha’Beel was still presumed dead and nobody was willing to cross the tiger man if he was willing to kill one of his own in such a gruesome way.

“We begin tomorrow,” Odu looked at his gangster, “Start placing these bodies around various parts of the castle and around the city itself. The mutts will immediately fall back on their feeble minds and start to point their fingers at each other which will allow us to act unnoticed.”

The bobtail picked up some of the abyssinian bodies. “Understood.”

“Good. The influence those wretched ponies have had on the population has thwarted our business…but not for much longer.”

The next morning…

Almost immediately after Fang’s team woke up, there was already a widespread unrest in Caninia. The diamond dogs were in a crowded panic around the castle where their rulers lived, demanding to know where the corpses of catfolk came from. Everyone naturally insisted that they weren’t the culprit which just made things even more chaotic…

“Why are there dead catfolk bodies around town?!” one diamond dog shouted.

“This is an outrage! Whoever did this has just set our people back by 100 years at least!” another cried out.

“If this news reaches Abyssinia, we’re done for!” one more screamed.

Everyone continued to yell and bemoan what had just happened and the state of the abyssinian bodies that were found. The queens were unable to respond as they had not quite prepared for such a thing.

“Well…this sucks,” Katherina commented from the tower above the city.

“No shit,” Indy growled, “I didn’t think it would get this bad. What’s the status on those weapons that Fang and his team needs? Anyone know?”

Queen Amber suddenly rushed into the room. “They’re done! Fang and his team are getting suited up as we speak.”

“Our blacksmiths work fast…good,” Katherina walked down the hall towards the blacksmith’s weaponry quarters, “Let me see how they’re doing.”

Down there, each members of Fang’s team now had some sort of weapon or armor that was modified with plutonium for their showdown with Odu. The metal tip of Lee’s rope dart was now fitted with it, Fang was given gauntlets infused with the chemical, Rufus was given armor infused with trace amounts of it, and Spearklip’s zebra potions were now brewed with just a hint of it.

“And you’re sure this is safe for us to use?” Fang asked the coyote blacksmith.

“Yeah of course, brother,” he replied, “You all have just enough to deal deadly damage to him with this stuff. Turns out your hides are rather resistant to such a chemical. Strange how that works.”

“That’s why we had it stored away in the first place,” Katherina commented as she entered the room, “We only use such weapons in emergencies and even then in very small amounts to avoid harming ourselves. But as he said, it should be just enough for you to deal with Odu in his current state.”

“Makes sense to me,” Spear commented, “All of that magic he’s infused within his body has made him weak to natural elements. At least, that’s the best way I can interpret such a thing with my knowledge of brews and enchantments.”

“Agreed,” Fang nodded, “Though…I hear the public is already in a state of unrest, Queen Katherina? I suspect it won’t be long now before Odu makes his next--”

BLAM!

An explosion of magic could be heard from outside the castle…

“...move.”

Chapter 147

Just outside of the castle…

Odu’s gang of abyssinians were already hard at work pillaging various homes of the diamond dogs and taking hostages. The tiger man himself would approach the castle to make a formal declaration.

“Citizens of Caninia. I’ve come to make an announcement on behalf of Abyssinia,” he boasted with a maniacal grin on his face, “We have found numerous corpses of our people scattered about your lands and can see that you have broken your treaty with us.”

The diamond dog civilians stared at the abyssinian and gazed up at their queens, wondering just who they could trust…

“Hold on a moment!” Queen Indy shouted from above, “We’ve done no such thing! These corpses have no evidence to suggest that the wounds were dog-made!”

“Allow us to perform a thorough investigation and we will sort this out accordingly,” Katherina commented.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate,” Odu hissed and snapped his fingers.

Just then, several of his gangsters had appeared, holding various diamond dog citizens hostage with knives to their necks. One of which included Fang’s mother…

“Relinquish your order to Abyssinia or we will be forced to execute your people for what they have done to us!” Odu shouted as his magical power started to flare up, causing most of the dog citizens to panic. They could tell that this tiger man was serious due to the obscene amount of power they could smell coming off of his body.

The queens were prepared to leap into action, but found themselves cornered by more Abyssinian gangsters that had them held up in their throne room. The diamond dog’s royal guard at the various posts around the nation had also been ambushed and attacked by various gangsters in a coordinated assault to keep them preoccupied. This left everything else up to Fang’s team who had already hurried down to the field where the civilians were. With their new weapons at the ready, they stood prepared to fight even harder than last time.

“You’re in my home turf, cat!” Fang barked with his eyes bloodshot, “Coming here will be the last mistake you ever make! I’ll tear that head of yours off its neck!”

“I’m simply here to reclaim what’s mine,” Odu replied, “If you wish to stand in my way and become roadkill and utterly embarrass yourself in front of your own kind, then please….” His power flared up once more as his muscles bulged out beneath his skin. Once again, he was in the same state as he was when he last fought them, which put the tiger man in a state of euphoric confidence. “...come and get it.”

But before anyone could get started with any actual fighting, one of the catfolk had a helpless dog woman hostage and threatened to stab her with a knife. Fang immediately recognized her…

“...mother? Mother!”

“Oh, you know this one?” Odu snapped his fingers and the hostage was brought closer to him. Sure enough, it was Fang’s mother. The dalmatian woman was thrown to the ground coughing as Odu stomped on her head. “That makes things a bit better…”

“...shit…shit,” Rufus muttered under his breath as he stood next to his group.

“...You…” Fang’s voice became husky as he screamed at the top of his lungs, “YOU LET HER GO RIGHT NOW YOU FECULENT MISCREANT!” He huffed as the sides of his libs turned rabid, slowly leaking more and more salivation from sheer rage alone. “Touch her again, and I’ll string you up by your own innards and turn you into a living ball of fleshy yarn.”

“...Jun…” Lee whispered painfully as she tried to turn her head towards him, but it was of no use.

Spearklip knew this and gave a sigh, “...there’s no stopping him at this point. He’s utterly consumed by his own rage now. Best we can do is make sure Odu doesn’t leave here alive.”

Surprisingly, as this was happening, Fang’s mother didn’t seem to have an ounce of fear on her muzzle. Quite the contrary. Given that she knew that she only had so long left to live anyway, her fear of death had long been thrown out of the window. From the corner of her eye, she could see the fearful faces of her pups hiding in their home..

‘If I can at least do one thing for my son and the rest of my kids before I leave here…it’s gonna be something important.’

“Hey,” she called out from below, which caught the attention of both Fang and Odu. “I’ve got something to say to you, mister.”

“Hm?” Odu picked her up in his paw, “This ought to be interesting. What do you have to say?”

“...mother? What are you doing…?” Fang breathed quietly, his lip quivered in fear.

“Smile.”

THWACK!

With a quick tilt of her head, she reeled back and dealt a nasty headbutt to the tiger’s forehead, causing him to drop her and stagger ever so slightly. “Tch!”

“Go Fa--!”

“MOTHER!”

Just as she tried to give a warning to her son and his friends, the dog woman was quickly subdued and stabbed by another one of Odu’s gangsters. Repeatedly. The back of her body gushed blood as she fell lifeless to the ground.

“...”

In an instant, Fang practically pounced on that gangster and bit into his neck to tear out the cat’s throat and spat out the remains nearby.

The rest of his team watched in awe as Fang reached his breaking point, but quickly had to refocus on their objective.

“Hey…hey let’s not lose track here,” Rufus spoke up, “We protect the civilians and drive this gang out as fast as possible. Any questions?”

“No.”

“Good. Let’s go!”

Chapter 148

Immediately after ripping the gangster that killed his mother to shreds, Fang redirected his fury towards Odu himself. The rest of his team would focus on and eliminate as many gangsters as they could in order to give the royal guard an advantage. Meanwhile, the queens were preoccupied with fighting a battle of their own within the castle itself, which left everyone to fend for themselves with civilians trapped in the middle of the fighting.

“Come at me, dog!” Odu cackled as Fang rushed at him with his new gauntlets. The tiger’s arrogance from winning their last encounter resulted in him not taking this one seriously at all.

Fang was seeing red at this point, unable to speak or think beyond ending this tiger’s life as he rushed at Odu with all he had. His gauntlets enabled him to strike constantly, but to no avail as Odu merely held up his hand and cast a magic barrier around himself. The amount of dragon’s blood he had ingested allowed him a few new abilities to defend himself with.

But soon enough, Fang would break through the defense, much to Odu’s surprise. So much so that Odu would actually find his hand scratched by Fang’s claws and realize that he wasn’t exactly invulnerable in this fight anymore.

“...so it seems you’ve got a new trick up your sleeve, then?”

Fang didn’t respond. Instead, his rage continued to drive him forward, throwing punch after punch at the tiger man. Odu found himself dodging and weaving around each attack as he realized what exactly those new claws were made of.

‘...so they figured it out.’

Odu knew that he’d be done for if a fatal blow was struck on him with those weapons. So he did his best to keep his distance. After landing a quick punch to Fang’s gut, he leapt back, but the dalmatian man was fiercely determined to not let him escape. Fang’s spotted body moved like a monochrome, heat-seeking blur that the tiger man was unable to escape from no matter how hard he tried.

Then things only got worse.

A potion flung from a certain zebra crackled upon the ground, releasing a toxin into the air that eroded at Odu’s magical enhancements from the dragon blood. From there, he was tackled into the nearest building by what could only be described as a living yak bulldozer.

“Gaagh!” he screamed as Rufus charged him through an empty pub building.

The tiger man quickly threw a punch to stagger the yak and knock him away, only for Rufus to leap back onto his hooves and blow steam from his nostrils.

“Tch…swine. Do you think we could come to an--”

CRACK!

The sound of wood splintering into dozens of small pieces could be heard as Rufus threw an entire table at Odu and charged at him once more. The table itself served as a distraction that allowed Rufus to close the gap with a quick headbutt to stun the tiger man followed by a dropkick into a nearby tree. The force of Odu’s body slamming into it was enough to send the tree falling over nearby.

“Rrrgh! How…?!”

Before he could react, the sharp edge of a rope dart was flung and lodged itself into Odu’s chest. The plutonium that the metal was infused with was enough to finally lower his power as Lee pulled him towards herself. The monkey woman was tiny compared to the beastly tiger, yet she somehow managed to lift him over her head and suplex him into the ground behind herself!

To finish it off, Fang would approach him for one final confrontation and toss away those nuclear-powered gauntlets. Now that the playing field was properly evened, he wanted to finish this off properly as the rest of his team arrived to back him up.

“Rrrgh…damn you…” Odu swore into the ground, “Outsmarted by a bunch of children with no experience…”

Fang, Spear, Rufus, and Lee said nothing. They simply surrounded him on all sides as they got ready to make their final move…

When Odu sprung into action and leapt at Fang, driving his claw into the diamond dog’s body to break one of his ribs, but Lee was quick to intervene, kicking Odu dead in the face hard enough for teeth to be dislodged as he turned and grabbed her arm, breaking it in an instant. Rufus charged in next, grabbing Odu’s tail with his teeth and flipping him over in order to follow up with an elbow drop that broke the tiger man’s midsection.

Odu could only react by scratching his claws through Rufus’s neck, causing the yak to bleed as Odu kicked him off. Just as he stood up through, Spearklip jumped in and bucked her hooves backwards, driving them into his kneecaps with enough force to shatter them and force Odu to drop to his knees. But she’d be met with a punch from his paw so powerful that she was tossed aside with her body slamming into the nearest rock.

Fang extended his own claws and sought to put an end to this once and for all. Even with a broken rib, he stomped his way up to Odu ever so slowly…

“...No matter what you do,” the tiger man sputtered in between a cough, “...someone else will take my place…your family will always be at risk. Everything you ever do will lead to pain and suffering for those around y--”

Fang sunk his claws into Odu’s neck and twisted his paw ever so slightly so that he could speak his final words to the tiger.

“...Talk all you want. But to everyone else in this world…”

He reeled his other hand back…

“YOUR LIFE MEANS NOTHING!”

With a swift punch, Fang delivered the final blow, punching Odu’s head clean off of his body before kicking the decapitated tiger’s corpse away. Before promptly collapsing on the ground with the rest of his team. As he looked into the sky, all he could do was think to himself.

‘...mother…I’m a failure who brought this all unto you…please forgive me.’

Chapter 149

The fighting would rage on, and eventually, the gangsters would realize that their leader was dead and either surrender on the spot or fought until they were killed in battle by the diamond dog soldiers. Afterwards, everyone was immediately taken to the nearest hospital where they’d receive treatment for their wounds, but unfortunately, Fang’s mother was pronounced dead. Much to the dismay of all of her pups.

But at the very least, they were happy to know that their eldest brother managed to survive. As was his aunt. They were instructed to leave to allow everyone time to recover.

Soon enough, long after Fang had awakened, he realized what had happened after they had finally managed to kill Odu. “...my mother…she’s…”

“...gone, unfortunately,” a jackal man doctor spoke to him as he looked over Fang’s x-rays. “...I’m sorry. From what I was told, she did what she could in her final moments to give you and your friends a chance to escape.”

“...so I did fail then…” Fang muttered in a broken tone as he raised his hands and looked down at his bandaged body, “...all of that work…all of that pain…and for what?”

The doctor would try his best to comfort the dalmatian. “Listen…no matter what happens, I’m sure the rest of your family is happy that you’re still alive, Mr. Fang. You’re lucky to--”

“Save it,” Fang replied bluntly with a small snarl. “I don’t need your pity.”

“...Yes. I understand,” the doctor replied with a nod before leaving the room, “Just do yourself a favor and get some rest, young man.”

As the doctor left, all Fang could do was laugh to himself in a hysteric manner. “...lucky? Lucky he says…my own mother was dying and I couldn’t find a way to save her. He has the gall to call me lucky…?” He shook his head and lied down for the night, forcing himself to try and get some sleep.

Meanwhile, in Lee’s room at the hospital…

A certain monkey man had opened the window and crawled in once the lights were out.

“...Lee? Lee I’m sorry I couldn’t be there…”

“Tch…save your breath,” the monkey woman scoffed at him. Her arm was done up in a cast and sling. “If you truly cared, you would have been there to assist us. All you care about is your reputation, Yin. It makes me sick.”

Bullet couldn’t come up with a response. There was no telling whether or not his involvement would’ve made much of a difference, but his absence was certainly felt by Lee who couldn’t help but call out Bullet for only thinking of himself and how he was perceived by others.

“...I…you’re right. Maybe I was a fool. However--”

“Yes you were,” Lee interrupted him, “The man I fell in love with didn’t allow other’s perceptions to dictate his actions. Or inactions in this case.”

“I refuse to live in a world where who I am is dictated by birth,” Bullet countered with a grimace on his face, “The nobility is a farce and you know it, Lianhua.”

Admittedly, Lee knew he had a point as well. It was because of the discrepancy between the nobility and the commonfolk that their relationship was strained in the first place.

“You’re starting to sound like your mother,” he scoffed and turned, “Unable to see things from the perspective of those that aren’t born into a life of luxury like yourself. Please…for your own sake, don’t become like that, Lee.”

Lee sighed to herself and gave it some thought. “...listen…”

“No. There’s bigger stuff than us right now, Lee. The news of your involvement in this incident is about to travel fast and your parents are going to throw a fit again. They need to be removed from their positions if things are going to get better for any of us.”

“Ah…I see…very well then. I shall have to take matters into my own hands and return to them to see that this is finished once and for all.”

“...If so, I’ll be there with you,” Bullet assured her, “I promise, Lee.”

“Hmph…” Lee turned her head away from him, “You better. Now leave so that I may rest…and be sure to get yourself some rest as well.”

“Yeah…I will…” And with that, Bullet jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night.

Later, at the autopsy room where Fang’s mother was being examined…

“...oh no…” a border collie nurse panicked upon seeing the notes regarding the body of Fang’s mother. “This…this is impossible.”

“What’s wrong?” the jackal doctor asked his nurse upon entering the room.

“...her body. She’s been suffering from a strain of cancer that we’ve finally managed to find a cure for…”

The jackal’s heart dropped along with the clipboard that was once in his hands. “...wait…what?!”

Chapter 150

The medical professionals deliberated on what to tell Fang or even how they would explain it to him. In essence, the fact that his mother had died not long after a cure for her cancer was found was bound to set anyone off. But they knew they had to tell him sooner or later as well as the rest of his family.

“...we have no choice,” the jackal doctor lamented, “Our scientist’s progress needs to be reported on so no one else suffers what she had to.”

“Fang and his family are more than likely going to seek reparations for…everything,” the collie nurse warned, “Whoever has to deliver that news will…”

“I’ll tell him when he’s fully recovered,” the doctor asserted, “Telling him now will only make his condition worse.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Queen Indy approached them. The husky queen was bandaged up in various spots around her body including her neck and thighs. “...no. I will. It’s my job as a ruler to bear the pain of my subjects. You guys need to make sure you keep working on keeping everyone stable.”

“I…” The jackal was hesitant at first, but couldn’t exactly ignore a direct order from one of the queens. “...very well, my lady.”

“We’ll leave it to you,” the collie nurse added, then frowned, “Honestly though…I just feel bad. Jun Fang did his best for his family and this happens…”

Indy sighed and went on. “I’ll make sure his family is taken care of no matter what happens. That young man is practically our champion at this point. He’s among the few qualified to represent the diamond dogs to the rest of the world. He deserves far better than what he’s gotten thus far.”

“...agreed,” the doctor replied, “I don’t have any issues with your word, Queen Indy.”

“Me neither,” the nurse added, “I just hope he’ll be okay once this is all said and done His family is gonna be worried sick…”

It would be about a week’s worth of time in the hospital before any of them were even able to awaken. Then it’d be another two weeks before any of them were ready to leave. But before that could happen, Queen Indy would make good on her promise to inform Fang of what had transpired…

She took a deep breath, and entered his hospital room. This was the day Fang was set to be released. The dalmatian man was sitting upright upon his bed.

“...Queen Indy?” he gasped upon looking up at her, “...what brings you here? F-forgive me for saying such a blunt thing…but shouldn’t you be focusing on the effort to repair the damage to our home?” He stuttered as he rubbed the back of his head, “I-I mean, I’m grateful that you would take time out of your busy schedule to check up on me but…”

With another harsh breath, Indy would put her hands together and sigh. “...I need to tell you something. Something we found out that…will more than likely not sit well with you, Fang. So much so that I decided to be the bearer of bad news for you.”

“...what?” he muttered in confusion, “...what do you mean, my queen? I’m afraid I don’t understand what--”

“...your mother’s disease was curable…and we’ve only just now found the cure for it. After she has already passed…”

Fang was stunned into silence as he took a moment to process what she had just told him.

“...I am…truly sorry,” Indy continued, “It’s our fault for not working to find a cure faster, Fang. Please don’t take it out on yourself. If you need anyone to be upset with, it’s me for not doing my job properly.”

But Fang simply shook his head in response. There was nothing she could say that would alleviate his pain at this point.

“...no…it’s fine…” he mumbled through a cracked voice as tears streamed down the side of his muzzle. “I have…nothing to be upset with you over. I simply have a lot to think about. Please…don’t waste your time with me here, madam Queen.”

Indy wasn’t satisfied with such an answer, but accepted Fang’s words for now. It was a highly delicate situation that she couldn’t force, so she’d back away.

“Understood…just come to me or the other queens if you need anything, alright? We’ll make sure the rest of your family is taken care of with as much support as possible.”

Fang didn’t respond. After the queen had made her case to him, Fang simply left the room…

Later…

Unbeknownst to the rest of his team, Fang had left the hospital and the inner city of Caninia. Along the way, he’d see many happy faces of various fellow diamond dogs who congratulated him and were happy for his return to save his hometown. Among which, included a pup who was grateful to him for keeping their family safe. But Fang ignore them. Their voices. Their faces. It didn’t matter to him.

Eventually, he’d walk out towards Caninia’s outskirts where he’d stop and sit at the edge of a cliff that led into a deep canyon below. All he could think about was his failure to keep his mother alive. Even despite the fact that she was caught in a situation that was beyond her control with Odu’s invasion, Fang still continued to stew in his own mind. Sobbing, gritting his teeth, and crushing a few stones in his paw, wondering if he had made a mistake along the way.

‘...everything I’ve done…everything I continue to do…was it even worth it? I don’t…I don’t know anymore. I did what I could for them. My mother. My entire family. My people. And for what? To be paraded around as some hero? No…I don’t deserve it. I’m a failure. Even now, what that tiger said was correct. Pain is the only destination no matter what path I choose. I should just…end it all…’

Chapter 151

As the rest of his team was released from the hospital, they asked the doctors as well as the queens where Fang might have gone but didn’t get an answer.

“...that’s weird,” Spearklip noted as they left the castle, “Nobody’s seen him anywhere?”

“Maybe his fam knows where he is?” Rufus asked, “Let’s check there.”

“I wonder what could have made him run off so quickly…” Lee mused.

It turns out that his team not only had no idea where Fang went, but were lost as to why as well. Their anxiety went through the roof as they rushed to Fang’s home where the dalmatian pups were still grieving over the loss of their mother.

However, the second-eldest sibling of the family, a young dalmatian woman, would answer them when Fang’s friends appeared at the door.

“...Oh. Fang? He’s probably at the Tailswipe Canyon. It’s where he always goes when he wants to be alone or think about something,” she explained with a frown.

“I see,” Rufus replied with a nod, “Thanks. We’re not sure what happened. But he just kinda upped and disappeared on us without warning.”

“I can see why,” the dalmatian sister continued, “The news about mom’s disease being curable just after she died has…shaken us all. But in the end we know she did what she could for us.”

This news shook the rest of Fang’s team. Was that why he had gone off somewhere alone? To think about what had happened? Or was there something else going on? Either way they needed to find out as quickly as possible.

“I see…um…” Spearklip would ask a question as a bead of cold sweat ran down the side of her neck, “Where is the Tailswipe Canyon exactly? I know Fang probably wants to be alone right now but we just want to make sure he’s okay.”

Fang’s sister would pull out a map and hand it to them. “Just follow the signs. It’s just South of here.”

“Thanks,” Spearklip replied with a nervous smile as they left the family of spotted dogs alone.

Lee would finally speak up. “...do you think Jun is hurting to the point of…”

“I really really hope that’s not the case,” Rufus cut her off as he started jogging, then running on ahead. He already knew exactly what mental state his friend could be in and didn’t want to see him get any worse. “We have to find him. Now.”

“Hang on. Wait up!” Spear shouted as she started galloping after the yak. “We don’t wanna get lost!”

Using her primate agility, Lee had already leapt onto one of the nearby buildings and into a tree where she’d see a diamond dog in the distance at the edge of a cliff!

“That’s Jun!” she shouted, “This way, my friends!”

They all immediately followed her word and rushed over to where Fang was. Sure enough, they’d find the somber dog man sitting at the cliffside. There, Rufus would approach him first, slowly stepping up to him with a quiet tone.

“...Fang? My dude, are you alright? Please don’t tell me you’re gonna…”

Fang stood up and turned around to face them. “No…I…I don’t want to do what you’re thinking. Trust me.”

“Then why are you here?” Spear asked as she stepped up next to Rufus. “You know the last thing your siblings need right now is to lose you right after losing their mother. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Trust me, I really don’t want this…” Fang continued, “...but that’s the problem, Spear. I genuinely don’t even know what I want anymore. Everything I’ve tried to do to keep my family safe and this still happens…do they even deserve someone like me? Do I deserve them?”

Lee would step forward and make her case. “You’re being a fool, Jun! Your family clearly loves you and cares for you!” she cried, “They see you as someone to look up to! Don’t you dare throw that away!”

Neither Spear nor Rufus could speak up on such a situation. They hadn’t had contact with their respective families in a while. In fact, Fang was the only one among his entire group that had any sort of relationship with his family at all.

“I…Lee…” Fang muttered, but was unable to come up with a response. “...your own family situation isn’t that great from what I understand. You’re trying to reason with me from experience.”

“If it means I don’t need to lose you, then yes!” she screamed as she balled her fists, “You’ve got loads of brothers and sisters who need you. I wish I had a family that gave a damn about me.” She paused for a moment and grit her teeth. “...you have a lot of nerve to give all of that up so easily!”

“Understand my perspective!” Fang shouted back, “I just…want to be alone right now. I can’t think past my own tail.”

“That’s kinda the problem though,” Rufus chimed in, “I know you need time to grieve man. While it may not be on the same level as losing your mom, losing Uzi hurt me like shit. But the only reason I was able to keep going was because of you guys. You need to realize it goes the same way for you too, man.”

“...he’s right,” Spear added with a soft tone, “That’s all we want you to understand. Please don’t hurt yourself over this, Fang. Think of how everyone else back home will take it. Come on…we’ve got your back. Always.”

All Fang could do was drop to his knees and sob into the ground beneath himself. His yak, zebra, and monkey companions gave him a moment before they approached him and brought him into a hug where his sobs would slowly deafen…

All while Bullet would watch from afar, sighing to himself. 'The calm before the storm.'

Chapter 152

In the Wukong Province, home of the gizmonk race…

“Emperor Chang!” a purple primate woman would enter the throne room and give him a message on a scroll, “Reports have shown that Lianhua has been involved in the conflict in Caninia!”

The emperor was busy with a pile of notes he had to sign upon his desk. This extra news on top of it only made him roll his eyes out of annoyance. “Oh joyous…” Chang grabbed the bridge of his nose. “Her parents are just going to love hearing about this. Just another thing to add to my already massive plate…”

“I’m sorry, my lord…” the purple monkey woman flicked her tail nervously as she placed the scroll on his desk.

“No, it’s not your fault,” he shook his head, “I just have to figure out what it is I’m going to tell them and the rest of the council.”

Suddenly, a maple-colored monkey man would enter the room. “Sir. We have a report from the Lianhua nobles. It seems that the news has already reached them before we could even react.”

“Ah, gāisǐ!” Chang swore as soon as he heard the news, “Well I suppose the cat is out of the proverbial bag now…”

“Actually sir, they intend on mobilizing their house’s troops outwards for a planned capture of their daughter according to what I’m hearing. But this is mostly just a rumor for now.”

Chang sighed once again. Their family was within their jurisdiction to mobilize troops for the sake of defense, so he couldn’t exactly force them to stop. However, knowing full well what their intentions were irked him to no end. This was on top of the already-massive set of paperwork on his desk to do with basic security and how his homeland was to deal with the affairs regarding the Serpent City.

“I have no time to deal with their nonsense. I’m already knee-deep in enough paperwork to kill a panda,” he continued, “Alright. I’ll need several hands on deck for this.”

The purple monkey woman, his secretary, tilted her head with a concerned look on her face as she watched Chang leave his desk. “What would you like to be done, my liege?”

Chang had grabbed a certain red staff that with christened with gold on both sides…that also had a trigger beneath it. “I’m going to the Serpent City myself, Ru. The rest of you are to follow the standard procedure when I take my absence. I’ve some business to attend to and I can’t afford to miss this opportunity.”

“One last thing,” the male monkey continued, “Many sources say that the one known colloquially as ‘Bullet’ has been spotted down there as well.”

“Ha! Even better,” Chang smiled widely with his primate fangs on full display, “Let him do as he pleases. He’s most certainly going to make Lianhua’s parents regret their decision.”

The secretary and soldier both exchanged worried glances with each other. When the emperor had such a menacing expression on his face, they knew that it could only mean trouble.

Back in Caninia…

Fang would eventually return to his home where he’d be greeted by his siblings and aunt who were all ready to care for him. The sheer amount of pups crowding him almost drowned him in spotted fur as he came to.

“...don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Fang spoke up with a smile, “I just needed to clear my head for a while.”

“Well you better not leave us behind!” one of his sisters squealed, “...to be honest, we knew mom didn’t have much time left, so…”

“No no, you’re right. It’s…much easier since we knew about it ahead of time,” Fang replied, “I’m just surprised and kind of guilty. You all are handling this much better than I am.”

One of his younger brothers spoke up. “Well to be fair, you’re the one that’s out there risking your life for us. Of course it’s gonna be harder on you. But that just means we need to take care of you more, right?”

Several of his siblings nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, Fang. Come on--stay home with us for a while, please?” one of his sisters begged, “Auntie’s gonna try and make dinner again…and I think you should help her.”

“...is it that bad?” Fang wondered, having never tasted his aunt’s cooking before.

“Ohohoho it’s bad…” the female dalmatian pup continued with a chuckle, “Trust me. Crusher couldn’t use the bathroom for a week after eating what Aunt Sparky made.”

“Someone needs to go to the store and buy some actual seasonings,” another male pup bemoaned, “Please.”

Fang nodded and started walking towards the kitchen. “Well let’s see what we have here then.”

Meanwhile, outside….

The rest of Fang’s friends were giving him some time to his family as they sat at a nearby cafe table.

“Seems like everything’s going alright over there,” Rufus commented.

“Good. We can rest easy for now then,” Spear added.

But just then, Lee would point out a familiar face. “...tiger woman.”

Everyone whipped their heads around to see…Sha’Beel standing nearby with a straw hat covering her face. “...seems I’ve been spotted. Hello.”

Spear reacted with immediate suspicion. “And just what do you want?”

The tigress sighed. “...clarity.”

Chapter 153

“What do you mean?” Lee asked.

“I’m here to finally rectify what I’ve done wrong,” Sha’Beel continued, “I wanted to speak with Fang now that I know my old master is dead.”

After a brief pause, the group would huddle up and hold a quick discussion.

“Okay do you guys think we can trust her?” Rufus asked, “She used to be on his side after all.”

“Maybe she feels free now that he’s dead,” Lee explained, “Maybe we can trust her now since she has nothing left to do with herself.”

Despite this, Spearklip was still a bit dubious. The zebra mare raised an eyebrow at the tiger abyssinan and looked back at her team. “...alright. I have a plan.”

The huddle broke, and Spearklip trotted up to Sha’Beel where she’d hand her a potion from within her satchel. “Here,” the zebra mare offered, “Drink this. That way we’ll know if you’re telling the truth or not.”

Sha’Beel tilted her head at the blue-colored potion. But she wasn’t exactly in a position to be difficult since that would only make things worse. “Fine,” she replied as she swiped the potion and drank it. The potion would take its effect, and Spearklip would ask another question.

“...well? Got anything to say?” the zebra asked, “Mind telling us one more time what it is you’re here for?”

“I told you…I’m here to apologize for attacking you all, and pay my respects to Jun Fang for killing Odu,” Sha’Beel spoke the truth by force of the zebra’s potion. At least now they could tell that she wasn’t lying.

“Well then…” Spear shrugged her hooves, “I suppose we can trust you now.”

Rufus let out a shrill whistle, “...damn. I didn’t think you actually had a truth serum, Spear.”

“Never underestimate zebra magic,” she replied with a flick of her tail.

“...now that that’s understood,” Lee would speak up, “I think we should allow her to see him. After he’s had ample time with his family of course.”

Once the potion wore off, the tigress would look on with a concerned expression. “...did something happen?”

One brief explanation later…

Sha’Beel looked down at the ground and nodded. “...I see. My apologies. I wasn’t aware of what happened to his family. I hope he’s doing well.”

“Well it’s likely gonna be a while before he’s ready to speak with anyone else,” Spear went on as she sat back down in her seat at the outdoor cafe table. “Better chill out for a while. Sit down. Have a bit of tea.”

“The diamond dogs have an interesting tea style,” Lee commented, “I thought we knew how to make it in Wukong, but they did something really interesting with it.”

The tigress flicked her tail with vague interest and decided to join them. “...alright then. I’ll bite. What do they have?”

Later that evening…

Fang would retire to his childhood bedroom after spending a fulfilling day with his siblings. His aunt Sparky would be there to give him a hug right before he went to bed.

“...your mom and dad wanted what was best for you, kiddo,” she sighed as she gave her nephew a tight hug. “I’m just glad you’re continuing to be there for your siblings and your friends.”

“...of course, auntie,” Fang replied with a smile as he held her close then let go after a moment. “I was honestly at a very low state of mind earlier, but thankfully my friends were there to save me from…myself, basically.”

His aunt ruffled his head and started to walk away. “...just stay strong. That’s what they’d both want for you. One day, I hope you find yourself a nice lady that will take care of you as much as you’d take care of her.”

Fang smiled and went into his room. His friends were staying at a nearby inn, so he was able to relax back in his childhood room that he hadn’t returned to in a long time.

“...here I am.”

A rather empty room with a neatly made bed. There were several boxes nearby marked with words such as ‘Toys’ and ‘Clothes’ that used to belong to the dalmatian man during his childhood. To be frank, their home was rather massive--standing at three stories tall to accommodate having so many children. Fang’s room was essentially one small room in a sea of dozens of others but with just enough privacy due to being on the third floor.

“Lots of memories here…but too many to get into right now,” Fang muttered as he glanced at the marked boxes on the floor and simply flopped into his bed. “I just hope everyone else is alright…”

Downstairs…

There was a knock at the front door. One of Fang’s teenage siblings answered it. “Hello? Oh…yeah, he’s in his room.”

The visitor would make their way upstairs, guided by Fang’s sister and there would be a knock at his bedroom door.

“It’s open,” Fang replied to the knock.

“Yeah, you got a visitor, bruh,” his sister announced as she let the individual in.

Fang looked up to find a familiar tigress standing in his room. The immediate raise of an eyebrow indicated that he wasn’t alarmed, but rather confused. “...you? Why are you here?”

Sha’Beel approached Fang, got upon her knees, and bowed. “...you are my master now.”

“...excusemewhat--”

“You killed my old master,” she replied as she looked up at him, “You set me free. I want to repay the favor by offering myself wholly up to you. Do with me as you see fit. I trust you with my life, Jun Fang.”

Fang’s tail started wagging uncontrollably with his heart racing. “...I…hang on a moment, this is a rather sudden development, Sha. I’m in need of some rest after today.”

The tigress flicked her tail and shot him a sly grin, “...allow me to help you, then.”

Chapter 154

“Wait…you mean…?”

“Yes,” she replied as she stood up and stretched her arms, making her buff abdomen and large breasts held in place by the sarashi more pronounced. “You’ve earned me, Fang. I am yours.”

“Hold on a moment,” the dalmatian man shook his head, “I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of owning someone.”

Sha’Beel continued to stretch her arms. “Don’t see it as such a thing. Think of it as me swearing my loyalty to you and allowing you to do as you wish with me.” She continued with an earnest smile, “...If I’m being honest, I don’t know what else I can do for myself other than to show you my gratitude, Fang.”

Fang thought to himself. He was rather sympathetic towards the tigress due to how much she had suffered along with him. And after all, his aunt did have a point; having someone to spend time with and unload his problems with would be beneficial. Especially since he was on more friendly terms with the tigress now than before…

Ultimately, he would eventually agree. “...alright. I accept your offer. I…admittedly need someone to lean on as well.”

“You do, hm?’ she purred, “Maybe I can help with that.” The tigress would approach Fang and sit on the bed next to him, gently leaning upon him. “I won’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with. You’re my new master, so I only do what you say.”

Fang would respond by pulling her in close for a hug, holding onto her tightly with all he had. “...thank you. I…I don’t think I could get this close to any of my teammates. They’re great, but…they’re more like family to me than anything.”

Sha held onto him, and shot him a teasing smile. “Ah? So what does that make me then?”

“I…well…” Fang stuttered and turned away from her, “H-hey…you were the one that offered yourself up to me, here.”

“I’m joking,” she purred with a flick of her tail, “I know exactly what you’re looking for, given what we did last time.” She leaned in a bit closer and brushed her chest against his arm as it bounced about. “...But only if you want it, Fang.”

“...” Fang’s tail started to wag--his heartrate increased, and he felt the blood in his ears cause them to heat up. “...M-mm…maybe…”

Sha would tease him a little, and draw one of her fingers down her cleavage, and gently tug at her sarashi bandages that held her chest in place. “...what was that? Oof, it’s a bit hot in here, isn’t it? Do you mind if I…slim down a little?” she stuck out her tongue and narrowed her eyes at him.

“I-i uh…n-no…” Fang muttered through his lips as Sha’Beel stood up.

The tigress would slowly undo her tight sweatpants, and pull them down just past her butt and look over her shoulder where she’d stick out her tongue yet again. “Is this good enough for you, Master Fang?”

“Gghgh….” Fang grit his teeth. Even though they already had sex before now, it was a bit different now they were on more friendly terms. “Yes…I mean--don’t call me master-”

The tigress’ large, striped butt jiggled as she removed her pants and bent over in front of him. It wasn’t long before his own body began to stir from arousal and she could tell.

“You like what you see, hm?” she asked teasingly.

“...did your ass grow since we last met?” he marveled as the size of her rear and succumbed to arousal. Soon enough, his erect canine member rose out of his fur and rose to until it was at a girthy length--about the same thickness as his arm.

“...did you meat grow as well?” Sha’Beel replied with amazement as she approached him. “You’re much larger than before. Not that I’m complaining….~” She purred and backed upon him with her massive furry ass until her cheeks had surrounded his shaft in the warmth of her butt. It was just big enough to render only his tip visible.

“Grrrgh…!” Fang started to drool from his lips as soon as the tigress had placed her butt upon his cock. “Damn you…”

“Would you like me to stroke you, master?” she asked with a purr.

“...go on…” he huffed tiredly.

Sha’Beel would gladly begin to raise and lower her butt, squeezing Fang’s throbbing, veiny member with her soft cheeks. As she went, she reached behind herself and grabbed ahold of his hands with her own, guiding his hands to grope her butt as she continued to stroke him.

“...Sha…I can’t…mmph…!” Fang bit his lip as he felt himself slowly approach climax, only for the tigress to pull away at the last second.

Sha’Beel got on her knees and gently started stroking him off with her paw for a moment, causing him to moan a bit more. Then she grasped ahold of her large breasts that were held back by those bandages.

“You wish to see these again, yes~?” she cooed while groping herself in front of him which only enticed him further.

“F…fuck…yes…please…” Fang practically begged.

Sha giggled and kissed the tip of his member. “...I think I’m going to enjoy pleasing you, Master Fang.”

Chapter 155

Meanwhile, at the inn…

“...Rufus, are you alright?” Spearklip spoke to her yak friend before she went to bed.

Rufus sat upon the bed with a solemn expression on his face. “...yeah, I’m just…thinking. Glad Fang has someone now, but…”

“...still hurting over losing, Uziel, huh?” Spear asked, “I know…however, I think she’d want you to be happy no matter what, Rufus.”

Rufus nodded. “Yeah I hear ya, Spear. I’m just thinking about how I could move on.”

“Well you could always try finding someone else,” Spear suggested as she idly rubbed her left hoof against her right, “...I mean, I’m not saying you should try to replace Uziel, but--”

But Rufus could already understand what she meant. It would be best for him to eventually find someone else that understood him as well as Uziel did. It was as Spearklip said: ultimately, the goblin girl would want the yak to be happy.

“No no, I getcha,” he shook his head, “In fact, I’ve made peace with what’s happened. I won’t let it get me down forever. After all, it’s been a few months anyway.”

Spear nodded and put a hoof around him to give him a quick hug. “Alright then. As long as you’re happy, Rufus. That’s what matters.”

“Thanks, Spear. And don’t worry,” he smirked as she let him go, “There’s nothing that will keep the Determined King Of Grappling down forever!”

The zebra mare rolled her eyes and placed her hoof on her forehead as she giggled in response. “...I swear--do you just come up with new adjectives to describe yourself on the spot?”

“I’m a yak-of-all-trades, Spear,” he asserted confidently while showing off his chest-fur. “You know me.”

“Oh stop--you’re not funny,” she lied under her breath in between a chuckle.

Rufus narrowed his eyes. “It’s not meant to be funny. I’m serious. You know I try to keep myself from being only one thing.”

Spearklip realized that he wasn’t joking and accepted him at his word. Due to how yaks were often perceived as a brutish kind, it made sense why he wanted to be seen as something different.

“You’re right,” she replied, “My bad. You’re easily the best yak I’ve ever met, Rufus. Don’t forget that.”

“...and you’re the best zebra,” he replied with a smile, “If there’s anything you ever wanna talk about, just tell me, yeah? This is a two-way friendship thing.”

Spearklip yawned and proceeded to trot out of the room. “Yeah don’t worry. If anything comes up I’ll be sure to let you know. For now…I’m kinda tired after all this. And I’m sure Fang will be too by tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah?” Rufus asked, “What makes you say that?”

“...I can think of a big tiger-colored reason why.”

Back at Fang’s home…

Sha’Beel had removed the bandaging around her chest, allowing her breasts to hang freely in front of Fang which only caused the dalmatian man to become even more aroused with his member throbbing and twitching.

“You look so stressed,” she purred as she held her breasts from their underside in her paws. Her nipples looked rather swollen from her own pent up desire. “...want me to help you, master?”

Fang couldn’t even fight it anymore, and decided to go along with it. “...yes…yes please.”

Without hesitation, Sha wrapped her soft feline breasts around his aching cock which caused Fang to howl under his breath. She purred and glanced up at him with lustful eyes.

“...you’re enjoying this, aren’t you~?” she teased as she began to stroke him off by raising and lowering her breasts with her paws. While his shaft was rather long, the size of her breasts made it so that only his tip could be seen poking out of her cleavage.

“Yes…yes I am…” Fang moaned as Sha continued to stroke him off with her breasts, increasing her speed ever so slightly over time.

As she went, she brought her tail around in front of herself and wrapped it around his spotted balls to prevent him from reaching orgasm too quickly. “Ah ah…I want you to give me everything you’ve got all at once, master.”

“Grrgh!” Fang growled under his breath, slowly losing his patience as he watched her tease and play with his body. It went on for what felt like an eternity as she added in the action of sucking and licking upon his cock’s tip with her rough cat tongue that only made things worse. “...fffgh…~!”

“You want to explode, master?” she asked in between licking his tip, “Shoot it out onto my face and tits~?”

“YES!” he screamed against his will.

With that, Sha’Beel removed her tail from the grip of his balls and stroked his cock with her breasts as fast as she could. Soon enough, it was too much for him to bear, and his cock twitched as he reached climax--!

“AGH~!”

Sha would be met with a face full of Fang’s hot seed as he sprayed multiple ropes of white onto her face. The tigress would purr and continue stroking him even afterwards, then remove her breasts so she could suck his cock all the way down to its base and take him into her throat. Fang couldn’t help put place his paw on her head, forcing her to choke on his canine knot until he was finished shooting his load into her throat.

After which, she pulled off, leaving the dog-man’s meat in a sheen of saliva, but would continue to jerk him off with her paw to keep him on edge. “...wanna keep playing, master Fang?”

“Sha’Beel…yes…don’t you dare stop,” he muttered breathlessly, intent on continuing.

Chapter 156

Sha had gotten on top of Fang, straddling his body with her own and sitting upon his shaft to press his meat down against his body. She teased him with her pussy, rubbing herself against him back and forth…

“Mmm…you’re eager to feel me again, aren’t you, master Fang?” she teased him as she licked her lips.

Fang couldn’t exactly deny it. There was something alluring about the tigress’ muscular body and ample features in other areas such as her bosom and behind. That, and the fact that they were pretty much equally matched physically also helped…

“Yes…I…good god…you’re beautiful…” he moaned through his lips.

Such a compliment caught the tigress off-guard for a moment, causing her to look to the side with a sheepish smile on her face. “...no one’s ever told me such a thing before…”

“You’re…serious?” he asked. That would explain her lack of self-esteem and general misunderstanding of herself. Fang decided that he’d use this experience to not only help himself, but to help her as well. “...I mean it,” he continued, “You’ve got a stunning body, and you’re the only creature I’ve ever fought in an even matchup.”

Fang’s words touched Sha’s heart. Her tail flicked uncontrollably since she wasn’t sure how to process such a thing at the moment. All she could do was resume the act of pleasuring herself with Fang’s body, continuing to tease him by rubbing back and forth.

“I…t-thank you…you flatterer…” she hissed under her breath, unable to come up with a good response. “But d-don’t worry about me. This is about you and your pleasure. Your reward for saving me!”

Sha had actually become flustered and shoved her foot-paws in Fang’s face as she reached down to gently resume jerking him off with her hand-paw.

“Mmph!” Fang was engulfed in the warm embrace of the tigress’ padded feet--unable to speak. All he could do was moan some more as he felt her hand glide up and down his member.

“Oh? You like my feet, hm?” she teased him some more, feeling more comfortable in a position where she could play with him as she put one of her paws over his nose. “P-perverted dog!”

Surprisingly, Fang started to lick at her padded feet, actively enjoying the muscular tigress’ soles that had kicked and destroyed many a warrior’s bones over the years. It was odd, but something about the taboo feeling of her feet upon his muzzle was arousing him to the point of already nearing climax.

“Ah! Not yet,” the tigress purred as she pulled her feet away from him and straddled him once more. “Your next one is going to be inside of me, master~”

Sha would lean forward and angle herself to where her dripping wet pussy lips were positioned perfectly over his cock where she’d slowly lower herself onto him. They would both moan from the sheer pleasure of their bodies colliding together ever so slowly. Fang’s size spread Sha’s inner pussy walls apart while her tightness clamped down upon him with a vicegrip. Seeking more pleasure for them both, the tigress began to bounce herself up and down at a slow pace while holding hands.

“Aaahh…aggh…how does it feel?” she asked breathlessly, “Is my body good for you, master?”

“Yes…ggrrgh…don’t…don’t stop…” Fang replied in a huff.

Sha would lean forward and push her breasts in his face. Fang would respond by wrapping his arms around her body and thrust upwards, colliding with her as her wet pussy slammed upon his thick canine cock.

“M-master…aagh…~!” Sha purred and brought his face deeper into her cleavage, “Don’t pull out…finish with in me…take ownership of me!”

Fang grunted and groaned, unable to stop himself--his hips thrust and bounced faster and faster as if they had a mind of their own. The two of them sped up, rapidly slamming into each other with wet, fleshy slaps until--!

“URRRGH!”

“MASTER~!!”

Fang’s knot sunk deep into Sha’s pussy as they both reached orgasm. The tigress squirted upon his cock and tightened hard to milk him dry as he exploded and released a thick load of seed deep into her womb.

Fang would then lie back, panting breathlessly as Sha forced him to drink from her breasts. “Mmmph…”

“Shhh…” she whispered as she continued to ride him ever so gently. “I’ll be here with you all night if need be…”

After which, they would indeed spend the rest of the night together. By some miracle, none of Fang’s siblings managed to hear too much of what had gone on within his room. Though some of his siblings close to him in age had already formed ideas in their head ever since the tigress showed up at the door.

The next morning…

Fang had left his home and prepared to set off with his team once more. Though he found that Sha’Beel was no longer present nearby.

“...hm, that’s odd,” the dalmatian diamond dog muttered.

“What’s up, brother?” Rufus called out as he walked up to meet his friend, “Looking for your girlfriend?”

“...she is not-”

“I think I saw her helping out at one of the gates nearby,” Rufus cut him off, “Apparently she’s busy fighting off any of the stragglers from Odu’s gang that have lingered around.”

Hearing such a thing sent a wave of relief through Fang’s body. His tail wagged happily. “...ah. That’s good then. Well, since we can consider this mission accomplished, I suppose we’ll need to return to Canterlot soon to explain what’s happened here then?”

“Yup,” Rufus replied with a nod, “Things are finally looking up for a change. But I wonder where the girls are…”

"I recall Lee still having some reservations about her old companion," Fang replied, "Do you think there could be something going on back at her home that we aren't aware of?"

Chapter 157

Fang’s team would eventually return back to Canterlot and report their mission’s completion to Princess Twilight. As a reward, they were paid handsomely and allowed to take a nice long break to do as they pleased until their next mission.

“Just another day at the office,” Fang commented as he retired to his dorm room, “A rather satisfying payoff to a long-fought battle.”

“Agreed,” Lee replied as she walked alongside him, “...I just hope everything is okay back home.”

“Want some help?” Fang asked.

The primate woman shook her head. “No. You’ve been more than enough of a help to me already. Besides, you’re going through your own internal struggles and it’d be selfish of me to request your assistance any further.”

“...very well. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle…

After being given a mission briefing by Princess Twilight, several of the Royal Guardsmembers had gathered around the round table to discuss the ongoing affairs between the regions.

“Alright. So first thing up, is…” Flash Sentry muttered as he opened a scroll with various details, “Ah. That’s right. There’s an upset balance going on in a place called the Serpent City near the Wukong Province.”

“I hear they’re smugglin’ stuff down there,” Royal Guard Tungsten Wolfe spoke up, “If that’s true, then the entire world’s tea supply could be at risk.”

Another guard, a pegasus mare, would join in, “If that happens, then we would have to close down our ports which would slow down all imports and exports. That’s going to make our recent trade alliance with Foenum much harder than it already is.”

“Well enough with the expository crap then,” a male griffon guard added, “I say we take down the problem at its source.”

“We can’t all go,” a kirin stallion added, “There needs to at least be some sort of balance of power here. How about we send some of the students?”

“To fight a war?” Sentry questioned the kirin, “Are you kidding? They’re still kids, you know!”

Tungsten sat back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling of the room. “Well…it’s not a bad idea. We just need to make sure they know what they’re getting into beforehand.”

“Didn’t think you’d be up for sacrificing someone, Wolfe,” the female guard snarked.

“Nah. I’m just confident in ‘em,” Tungsten replied as he folded his hooves, “These ain’t just kids no more. They’re practically soldiers already. I say we let ‘em make an impact.”

“Given that the Academy is currently housing Lady 3rd Lianhua…” Sentry continued, speaking in reference to Lee’s status among the monk race. “It’d look better if Equestria complied and was willing to help out in the operation.”

Which is where Tungsten jumped in with a smirk, “Ergo, we should send our top students on a small field trip out there to the Wukong place so they can help out. Maybe they’ll meet Ne Zha or something.”

The griffon guard laughed. “Pfft. Since when do you concern yourself with learning about other places, my guy?”

“My interests are many,” Tungsten shrugged it off, “But that’s besides the point. Sentry, who do we got available for a long-distance mission?”

Flash Sentry would then look over another scroll. “Let’s see…”

Meanwhile, the next day…

In Canterlot’s shopping district, a few new stalls could be seen being set up alongside the pony ones. There was a goblin selling various rare metals, an abyssinian selling various charms, and even a kobold selling what appeared to be spices not native to Equestria.

On this day, a few of the students were out and about. Among them were Blue Blazes the dragon and Rufus the yak.

“...and that’s pretty much what happened,” Rufus finished recounting the events of his last mission to the dragon. “Was a hard fight, but it’s finally over.”

“Damn. Wish I could’ve been there,” Blue replied with a shrill whistle. “But we had our own mission recently so I needed to rest. Seems like things are finally chillin’ out, huh?”

“Not quite…maybe…” Rufus muttered with an uncertain tone as he glanced around at some of the new shops that had appeared. But the one run by the elderly goblin woman in particular had caught his attention. “Hmm…”

“Something catch your eye, man?” Blue asked, then followed the yak’s gaze with his own eyes. “Huh. Some old goblin lady is selling stuff. Wonder if she’s got any good gems I’ve never tasted before…”

Rufus turned his head to the side and coughed nervously, unable to look directly at the goblin woman running the stall. “Uh…y-yeah…”

Blue raised an eyebrow and shot a teasing smile in Rufus’ direction. “...holy shit, dude you’ve got a type, huh? You like ‘em short-”

“N-no I just…” Rufus sighed. “...she looks like she’s someone I should talk to.”

“Riiiight,” Blue replied with a sarcastic trill, “Well let’s go ‘talk’ to her then, huh?” he added with air quotes from his claws.

Chapter 158

Rufus and Blue approached the goblin woman’s stand. The goblin herself looked rather aged with wrinkles upon her face and graying hair, but somehow had a rather curvy body with the usual short stature native to goblins--colloquially known as ‘shortstacks’ due to their large bottoms and bustlines for such small bodies.

“...damn she’s so sweet-looking…” Rufus muttered under his breath.

“Yup, you’re hooked,” Blue snarkily replied, “Try not to make the lady feel weird upon first sight though, alright? Don’t wanna give her a heart attack.”

“Yeah, yeah…you’re right.”

The elderly goblin woman glanced over at them and spoke up with a calm, sweet tone of voice. “Hello, boys. Are you interested in my wares?”

“Yeah, well mostly interested in seeing if you got anything edible like gems,” Blue commented.

Rufus stopped for a moment and took a look around the stall’s numerous shelves and displays. The metal ores the goblin had on sale made his eyes dart around. “...huh. I think I could use some of this. The local blacksmith might be able to help us.”

“That’s the idea,” the goblin lady nodded and sighed, “I used to be one hell of a blacksmith back in my own day when my hips didn’t hurt. These hands could handle so many heavy metals at once to where your heads would spin.” She chortled as she held up her small green hands that were now rather wrinkled due to age. “But that’s all behind me now…”

“Well I can def see where you got your skill from,” Blue commented as he took a close look at the goblin’s hands. “You look like you’ve been at it for years. Huh, Rufus?”

“Yeah, you might wanna be careful,” the yak added, “You don’t wanna hurt yourself, ma’am.”

“Oh don’t worry yourselves about little ol’ me,” she continued, “Anyway--do either of you need anything? I hate to be rude but I don’t want any other customers to get impatient if they see a line forming.”

Blue looked around her stall and found some gemstones that would serve as a decent snack for a dragon. “I’ll take these. They don’t look particularly valuable or useful for smithing.”

As Blue paid with some bits, Rufus shook his head. “I’m good for now--oh but by the way: What’s your name?”

“Matriel,” she replied with a smile, then tilted her head as she adjusted her glasses. “Oh wait. Now I recognize you. You’re apparently the yak boy that--”

Rufus’ eyes darted around as she began speaking. He grabbed ahold of the dragon and quickly turned away. “...let’s go, Blue,” he muttered.

“H-h-hey hang on!” Blue yelped, his eyes bulging out of their sockets from the force of the yak tugging on him as he grabbed the pouch of crystals.

Matriel looked on in confusion, then silently looked down at her stall with a forlorn frown on her face. ‘...maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that,’ she thought to herself.

Later on, the gentlemen headed back to the academy’s campus…

“...she knows me man…gah!” Rufus groaned as he slammed his head into the nearest wall of the academy building.

Nearby on a bench, Blue was lying on his back while reading a book held within his left claw as he idly snacked on gems from the pouch with his right. “Look, just talk to her. I’m sure she just wants to get to know you.”

“...it’s just…it’s kinda hard to think about, Blue,” Rufus went on, “What if the same thing happens again?”

“We got the guy who’s been causing all this shit, right?” Blue casually reasoned as he bit into a crystal, “Shouldn’t be much else we need to worry about. Not to mention this gob-lady seems to be living here in Canterlot now so you’ll be able to keep good track of her. You just got back from a mission, so don’t stress out so much, yeah?”

Rufus couldn’t exactly argue against that. “I guess so. Honestly though I need to stay behind for a while anyway. Fang’s gonna need me here.”

“Good. Do your best for him. Though speaking of which,” Blue closed his book and sat upright, “I’ve been hearing talk about something going on in the East where Lee is from. Know anything about that?”

“Oh yeah,” Rufus went and sat next to Blue, “Something about her family causing problems back home. I don’t have all the details, but I know enough to make an educated guess: She’s likely gonna be sent back home to deal with that soon.”

“Shit,” Blue shook his head and sighed, “But I can’t be mad. I know what that’s like. Though I gotta wonder who they’ll have accompany her--if anyone at all.”

“Guess we’ll find out soon,” Rufus replied, “The professors are likely gonna work with the Emperor to make a decision.”

Blue’s eyes shot open along with his wings, “Ayo for real? The Emperor of Wukong? Coming here?”

“S’possible, yeah,” Rufus shrugged. "Why--?"

No response. Blue simply took off in a hurry, darting into the air with his wings spread...

"...well okay then," the yak muttered as he watched the dragon leave.

Chapter 159

Later that day…

Professor Cayenne Anise was tasked with finding a group of students that would be willing to accept a mission to head out to the Far East. The unicorn mare was at her desk levitating various files of the soldiers she and the other teachers had molded over time here.

“Alright. The Emperor is on his way now. We’ll have to be ready to see who he’d like to accompany Lee out there,” she muttered to herself as she looked over some of the student’s dossiers.

Suddenly, one of the faculty members, an intern earth pony stallion, rushed into her office. “Ma’am! The Emperor is already here!”

Cayenne nearly fell out of her chair, “What?! How?! I thought he wasn’t meant to arrive for another hour!”

“No idea,” the intern squealed as he ran over to the mare’s desk, “But we need to have our team ready to go as soon as possible!”

“Spark my flank,” Cayenne grumbled as she leaned upon the desk, “Alright. Let me just--” she slammed her face upon the desk and waved her hoof to shoo the intern away. “Gimme a moment, would you?”

The intern would leave the room, and give Cayenne some time to think. At the same time, the Emperor of Wukong--Lord Chang himself, had arrived on the scene and had already met up with Lee to speak to her.

“Alright…” he muttered as he walked down the hallway to Lee’s dormitory, “This should be where…”

As if on cue, Lee emerged from her room and took one glance at her emperor before kneeling to him. “Lord Chang…”

“None of that, please,” he requested her to rise and continued speaking, “Long story short, I need you to return home as soon as possible. I am…sorry to say this, but it would appear that your absence as caused your parents to--”

“Do some utterly foolish things that could disrupt the balance of our home and our relationship with the Holy Realm?” Lee summarized with a narrowed pair of eyes as she idly grabbed ahold of her left arm with her right hand.

“...Yes,” Chang added with a sigh, “...that essentially sums it up. I fear Ne Zha is already going to smite us if things get any worse from here.”

Lee flicked her tail and suddenly changed to a more determined expression. “Well I won’t let that happen. Let’s head back as soon as we can.”

“Hold on, young lady,” Chang warned her, “I think at least some of your friends from the academy should join us on this mission.”

“...why?” the monkey woman tilted her head.

“Because they won’t suspect outsiders as quickly,” Chang continued as he adjusted his glasses, “It could be a great way to make this operation go over more easily. Long story short: We’re removing your parents from power.”

The worried expression on Lee’s face told all. “I see--but who will take their place, my lord?”

Chang shook his head. “No one. I’m going to effectively create a temporary power vacuum so that you will be free from your position as Third Rank. In short, your family will lose everything they’ve ever earned--”

Lee cut him off. “...No. My lord, I want to inherit my place among the nobility and repair the damage they have caused.”

“Very well,” Chang sighed, “You’ll have to see what Ne Zha says on the subject. But considering that it’s you, it’ll go over more smoothly than if it were anyone else. With that being said,” he looked around, “Is there an authority figure that I may speak to?”

SPARK!

Suddenly, Professor Cayenne teleported into the hallway where the two primates were. “Emperor Chang! I-I didn’t realize you’d be here so soon!” she squealed as she knelt down towards the monkey man.

“It’s quite alright, madam,” Chang replied, “Please rise--none of that is necessary. What’s more important to me right now is requesting the assistance of some of your mercenaries to aid us on a mission to stomp out corruption along--”

“The Serpent City?” Cayenne interjected.

“Why is everyone so jumpy today--”

“I’ve already discussed it at length with Princess Twilight’s royal guard,” Cayenne went on as she nervously shuffled her hoof on the floor, “We know the impact that the Serpent City will cause if left unchecked so this is an international issue. I’ve already got a team prepared to join you and Lee on this mission.”

“Alright. Who will it be, then?”

Chapter 160

After Professor Cayenne made her proposal to Emperor Chang on which students would travel to the Wukong Province, she’d call the students to her office where they could meet with the leader of the primate nation.

First up: Blue Blazes. The dragon peered into the office and stepped in with a confident smile on his face that served to hide his nerves as a few drops of sweat ran down his neck.

“...Uhhh…nice to meet you, sir,” he smiled nervously at the monkey emperor.

“Ah. A dragon,” Chang spoke up with a clap of his hands, “Very good. Your kind are revered where I am from. It is sure to please those in the heavens above as well.”

Blue simply blinked his eyes twice. The thought of being judged not only the leader of a nation, but the gods that the members of that very nation believed in was…very daunting to say the least.

Blue took a seat nearby and idly tapped his foot upon the floor. Lee glanced at him and tried to comfort him.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a soft smile, “As long as you be yourself, you’ll be fine, Mr. Blue.”

“...thanks,” he replied half-heartedly, and still worrying to himself about how this would reflect to Mei.

Next: Dewdrop Mistwalker.

The water-horse earth pony stepped into the room and gleefully shook the hand of Chang.

“Aye! Nice’ta meetcha!” she exclaimed loudly, “I was called in ‘cuz apparently your home is surrounded by water, innit? I think I can help out quite a bit with that!”

“Oh, very good,” Chang replied with a nod and a smile, “A water pony shall be very useful in an event such as this. Our naval forces could use the boost.”

Mistwalker would squeal in delight and sit down next to Blue--who simply awkwardly shrugged his shoulders in response. The dragon didn’t seem to be in much of a mood to talk. Then, the final member of the team for this mission would enter.

Lastly: Thiasus von Solis.

Grimrose’s opponent from the academy’s tournament a while back. A reindeer buck wearing a bright white hood as he trotted into the room.

“Hello. I believe we haven’t formally met,” the buck nodded with a smile, “I am Thiasus von Solis. You’ll have nothing to worry about with my strategy in play.”

“A legendary creature from the north,” Chang mused with wide eyes, “You are among the creatures that deliver presents during the holidays, yes? Your magic will be very useful indeed!”

Thiasus was about to correct him but instead chose to go along with it. “I…sure. But I’m not exactly personally acquainted with the likes of Vixen or Comet. Putting that aside, I’ve heard that this mission will take us to the primate territory, correct?”

“That’s right,” Cayenne called out from her desk, “Your mission is twofold: Find out the source of the Serpent City’s trafficking problem and aid them in dealing with Ms. Lee’s parents.”

“...Hm?” Thiasus muttered as he sat down next to the rest of the group he had been teamed up with, “Seems like a rather odd pair of objectives.”

“Yeah, come to think of it,” Blue sat upright and spoke his mind, “What’s one got to do with the other?”

Chang would then explain his side of the story. “Well this is something that I wasn’t able to discuss with any other party until now. I have reason to believe that they, and other members of the nobility, are causing the very issues that the Serpent City continues to have.”

“Buy why?” Mistwalker asked, “Why would they do that to their own people?”

Thiasus would add, “Also, if you’re the emperor and you’re so sure of this, why can’t you just remove them from power? Isn’t that something you’re capable of doing.”

“A distraction and plausible deniability,” Chang answered both questions in order. “Unless the public knows the true extent of their hateful acts, I won’t be able to take action with a clear conscience unless my people know the truth.”

“I understand,” Thiasus nodded, “Then in that case, we’ll work towards making sure this goes well.”

“I’m with the sleighboy,” Blue mouthed off, earning an eyeroll from the buck, “We get in there, see what the problems are, and bust shit up like it’s no tomorrow.”

“What he said,” Mistwalker added with a smile, “I’m more than ready to help ye however I can.”

Lee sighed and glanced at them with a half-hearted smile. “...thank you all. I really don’t deserve your kindness. I promise to make sure your efforts are properly repaid for all of this.”

“Alrighty,” Cayenne spoke up, “It sounds as if we have a good idea as to what we’re doing here. I’ll be sure to put a few extra teams on standby so that we’ll have some insurance. If everyone’s ready, then you can head out whenever you please.”

Chapter 161

Once they were briefed on their mission, everyone got ready to head out. Though for Blue, he was stopped momentarily by his kirin marefriend while he was gathering his belongings…

“...Don’t get sidetracked while you’re there,” Mei warned him, “You’re there on a mission. Not to sightsee.”

“I mean, I’m gonna try and focus as much as I can,” Blue admitted as he put a backpack onto his shoulder. “Apparently they’re super fond of dragons which is why the professor selected me for this mission. They’re more likely to trust me I guess.”

Mei rolled her eyes. The kirin and monkey-folk had always been at odds with each other in the background for many years, though it wasn’t a publicly discussed topic due to both nations choosing to bury their sentiment for each other away from prying eyes. At any rate, she was grateful that she wasn’t the one being sent on such a mission because she knew her presence there would only stir up even more conflict than there already was.

“...yeah, fair enough,” Mei muttered as she shook her head, “Just…be careful, alright?”

“Of course I will,” the dragon replied with a confident smile, “What--you think I’m gonna lose sight of what I’m supposed to do while I’m over there?”

“N-no…I just…” Mei grit her teeth.

Blue put one of his wings around her and pulled her close to his body for a quick hug. “Relax. You know I’m better than that.”

“...sorry. You’re right--” she put a smile on her face once she found herself next to him, unable to stay bitter so long as Blue was around. “...I’m being a bit petty. Besides, I’ve got my own mission to worry about. Gonna put on a show for a charity event in Canterlot.”

“Sick,” Blue replied with a quick smooch to Mei’s forehead. “Tell me all about it when I get back. For now, I gotta get going.”

“Got it. Good luck out there, Blue.”

“Won’t need it,” he retorted with a snort as he flew out of his dorm room.

Once they bid each other goodbye, Blue flew off to the train station where the rest of his new team’s teammates were waiting.

The buck spoke up to him first. “Nice of you to finally make it. Was silently betting to myself whether you’d be late or not.”

“Okay--and?” Blue shrugged his shoulders, “I’m here now, so what’s the big deal?”

“Nothing. You just surprise me is all,” Thiasus continued as he flipped through his book. The brown-coated buck glanced at the dragon with a curious eye. “Not to come off as rude but most dragons I’ve met tend to have…taken advantage of my kindness.”

“...ouch--yeah I feel ya,” Blue scratched the back of his head, “I’m a dragon myself and I’ve been taken advantage of by other dragons. Don’t worry--I’m cool with you though.”

“Good. ‘Cuz I have a feeling that I was brought on here for my extensive research into the Wukong territory,” the buck went on with a knowing smile, “My sense of strategy is insurmountable. And thus, I think we’ll be just fine.”

“Yeah, look--whatever you say man…”

Meanwhile, within Canterlot…

As the newly created team headed off on the train to the Wukong Province, some of the other students in Canterlot were busy with their own bits of work.

In particular, Atomic Nebula, Luster Dawn, and a few other students who specialized in magic were performing a magical exercise with Princess Twilight near the old Castle of the Two Sisters.

“...why are we here again?” Dawn asked with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

Nebula, with a book levitated in front of his face, would reply, “Apparently the magic imbued within the castle is starting to weaken. In order to preserve it, Twilight wants us to inscribe some runes on it. Right, Princess?”

“Correct,” the alicorn replied from just ahead of them as she opened the doors to the castle. “If future generations are to look back on ours and learn something, one of them should be how to maintain a strong enough connection to the world around them.”

“Does that include old castles?” Dawn commented with a huff.

“It doesn’t seem so bad,” a male griffon student commented, “I like dusty old places like this.”

Nearby, a female changeling student would add, “Right? It feels homey here. Like one of my old hives…”

“C’mon, Dawn--it shouldn’t be that hard,” Nebula added, “All we gotta do is put some runes on some rocks. Better than giving a friendship seminar at least, right?”

“...yeah, you know what,” Dawn picked up the pace and started trotting along even faster, “Fair point. Let’s just get this over with.”

Chapter 162

Meanwhile, on the train…

Blue was trying his best to make some idle conversation with the reindeer. “So. Uh…Thiasus, right? What’s it like up there? In the North, I mean.”

“Hm? Oh it’s mostly snow and caves,” the buck replied, “Nothing too substantial like all the fairytales and storybooks would have you believe.”

“But you guys do deal with present-making, right?”

“Yes, but it’s not as grandiose as you’d expect,” Thiasus continued with a roll of his eyes, “Just a few odd trinkets here and there. But you on the other hand…I’m interested in what you’re capable of, Blue. I don’t think I’ve seen a dragon in action.”

“Oh? It’s no big deal, honestly,” Blue downplayed it, “You’ve seen one dragon, you’ve seen ‘em all.”

Mistwalker would speak up from nearby. “Oi. Don’t talk about yerself like that. I fer one am eager to see what kinda techniques we can come up with when we put our heads and claws together.”

“That’s right,” Thiasus looked over at the water-pony, “You’re a type of kelpie, aren’t you?”

“Aye sorta. I’mma glashtyn. More along the lines of an aquatic goblin,” the mare replied with a flick of her shaggy mane. “Never met a deer before. Gonna be fun seein’ whatcha can do.”

As the others were talking, both Lee and Chang were seated in a nearby table within the train car.

“...they seem like a lively bunch,” Chang commented as he turned and smiled at Lee, “Are you prepared for this?”

“Hm? Oh, yes…yes I am,” Lee replied with hesitation as she glanced out of the window, “Sorry, I’m just a bit…off at the moment.”

“I suggest you go over there and speak with them,” Chang tilted his head in the direction of the group who were now cheering about their past experiences, “Best to know thyself and know thy ally, hm?”

Lee knew she couldn’t argue with the emperor’s wise words. So she took a deep breath. “...okay. I will speak with and learn more from water-horse, dragon, and deer.”

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot…

Rufus had taken some time to himself to meditate in his room in the dorms while thinking about just what he should say to the goblin woman.

“...okay, she seems nice. But…what should I…how should I…?”

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a certain pegasus mare.

“...Rufus? Hey.”

“Eh?” the yak looked over towards her, “What’s up, Rose?”

“We got an emergency,” she continued with a slightly elevated tone in her voice, “A demon was spotted near the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

“Can’t we just let the teachers handle it?” Rufus bemoaned. “Just got back from a mission, dawg.”

“They are,” Grimrose confirmed, “But I just think you should know just in case the teachers need extra heroes on deck.”

“Fair enough I suppose,” he replied with a nod, “I’ll stay awake.”

Meanwhile, near the castle of the two sisters itself…

“Which one of you summoned a demon to do your work for you?” Twilight asked the members of her class with a flat, yet annoyed tone as she tapped her hoof on the ground. As she was talking to them, the sounds of demonic screeching could be heard outside.

Everyone shook their heads in response.

“Wasn’t me,” the griffon student called out.

“Me neither,” said the changeling.

“Don’t look at me!” Luster Dawn squealed, “I was trying to do the assignment right!”

Nebula looked around, “Wasn’t me either. Probably just a straggler from one of our tests. Or maybe a bit of corruption that followed us back to Canterlot?”

“Hmph,” Twilight shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them with a gasp as she glanced at her students with a knowing smile that they rightfully feared. “Well maybe we can use this as a way to test your knowledge on battle tactics.”

“WHAT!?” all four students yelped.

“I was thrown to the timberwolves when I was your age,” Twilight continued, “Celestia always knew how to better my ability by putting me through a trial such as this. Now it’s your turn.”

Luster Dawn tried to reason with her teacher, “W-wait, hang on--”

“BYE-”

POOF!

With a flash of her horn, Twilight Sparkle had teleported away…to a few meters above the castle where she could observe them in action. “They’ll be fine,” she muttered to herself as she flew above the castle ruins with her hooves folded, “If anything happens, I’ll just step in.”

Back down in the castle itself…

The demon’s roars got closer and closer as it neared the castle walls. The impromptu team had to quickly come up with a solution on the spot.

“...did Princess Twilight just leave us alone to fight off a demon by ourselves?” the changeling mare asked.

“We better be getting extra credit for this,” the griffon bemoaned.

“That’s the last thing I would’ve expected from her,” Dawn complained, “Now I’m stuck in another assignment I wasn’t even--”

“Relax,” Nebula encouraged everyone to remain calm as he levitated his flute up beside himself, “I think we can handle this. Now huddle up.”

Chapter 163

Nebula quickly wrangled the group together with a strategy.

“I’ll take point and see what we can do to contain it,” the unicorn stallion began, “If this thing gets loose, we could possibly deal with the loss of lives or its corruption spreading.”

“You really think we can handle this ourselves?” Dawn sighed, “We’ve done quite a few missions thus far, but nothing involving demons.”

Nebula shook his head. “That’s irrelevant. We still need to give it a try. I know you’ve got plenty of power that can quell demons, Dawn. My magic is mostly focused around weakening and restraining.”

The griffon guy would speak up next while pointing both at himself and the changeling, “Then what should we do?”

“You’ve got your tomes, right?” Nebula asked, to which they nodded. “Okay then. You’re gonna serve as the offense to wear it down.” Then he turned to Dawn, “And you’re gonna banish it. You’ve got some sort of banishment spell in your kit don’t you?”

Dawn quickly adapted to Nebula’s plan and replied, “Yes. I’ve got just the thing for something like that.”

“Alright, then. Let’s handle this,” Nebula turned towards the castle entrance…

Where the demon would show itself: A multi-armed, octopus-like beast whose skin was black as coat and slimy as the sea itself. Its arms had actively begun to crush the surrounding ruins into nothingness, shaking the entire foundation of the castle itself!

“What in the cthulu-ian--?!” the griffon squawked.

“I’m up first!” Nebula shouted as he stampeded forward with his flute levitated to his lips. “You two, get behind me and attack it as soon as I give you the word!”

The unicorn stallion leapt over and ducked underneath one of the tentacles while playing various notes from his flute. A bass and treble cleft would fly into the air along with visualized sheet music that slowly wrapped itself around each of its tentacles.

Next, the changeling mare would show off what she could do with her tome. First, she transformed into a small hamster to avoid the large beast’s attacks. Being a small creature enabled her to get in close with a dagger held betwixt her teeth that she used to stab and cut at its various limbs.

The griffon would fly upwards and cast a handful of wind spells from his tome. Razor-sharp discs of green wind magic would fly out and cut through more of the demonic octopus’ arms which further disabled it.

Now all that was left was Luster Dawn’s role in the fight. The unicorn mare summoned various sigils around her body before a beam would attach itself to the demonic octopus. Before it could react, it was trapped within a small dome that fired blinding white chains that bound its limbs together.

“Get back!” Dawn shouted with a harsh grunt through her teeth.

Once her classmates got out of the way, Dawn used the chains to viciously rip the beast apart until nothing was left. It roared a painful roar until its body was in shambles all over the building--its beating heart having fallen out of itself.

“...whew…” Dawn took a breath, “That…took quite a bit out of me, I won’t lie.”

The griffon and changeling both hurried up to Dawn, followed by Nebula shortly after.

“Okay…that was a bit ridiculous,” the griffon huffed as he scratched the top of his head, “Where did that thing even come from?”

The changeling looked down at the floor, “You don’t think…”

With a flash of magic, Twilight Sparkle teleported back into the castle with them. “...you all did a great job working together. But to answer your question: No. I had nothing to do with this.”

“Wait,” Nebula stepped forward with an inquisitive tilt of his head, “You mean to tell me this wasn’t some test of our skills?”

“No. It wasn’t,” Twilight responded as she inspected the remains of the demonic creature. “This was summoned here by means of which even I’m not fully aware.” Her eyes darted around as she inspected the body of the creature with a quick flash of her horn. “...no…”

Dawn stepped forward with a hesitant frown on her face, “Wait, what do you mean ‘no’?”

“This…I can’t speak at the moment,” Twilight hastily replied, then turned to the students, “You’re all dismissed. I need to study this creature for a while.”

“Fair enough,” the griffon shrugged and flew out of the castle through one of its windows. “No feathers off my beak. We won.”

“Same,” the changeling added as she followed the griffon out, “I’m not even gonna question what happened here. A grade is a grade.”

Dawn wasn’t satisfied with this though. She wanted more answers as Twilight returned to inspecting the creature. “...princess?”

Nebula tapped Dawn’s shoulder with his hoof. “Let’s leave her be. There could be any number of reasons why this thing appeared. Let’s try and see what we can dig up.”

“...I guess…” she reluctantly followed Nebula out of the old castle, and the two would leave to make their way back to Canterlot.

Nearby in a group of trees…

A voice would mutter, “The summoning ritual worked. Inform the general.”

“Of course,” a second voice replied.

“With that being the perfect test run, they won’t have any way of supporting that group heading to the Wukong Province. All we need to do now is summon a few more…distractions,” a third voice mused with a wicked chuckle.

Chapter 164

In the Wukong Province…

Not unlike Equestria, the Wukong Territory or Province was home to, and governed by several small zones of nobility that managed its wide expanses of land. In simple terms, these were broken down and united by the residing Emperor--that being Chang in this case. From there,.the various regions within the territory were governed by members of the nobility that acted as Dukes and Duchesses.

Within one of the smaller noble palaces, in the Shu region is where Lianhua’s--or Lee’s--parents lived. The two monkeykin who so desperately wanted to lure out the commoner that courted their daughter so that they could be rid of him once and for all.

The princess of the Shu region, Lady Bai Se, awakened from her bedside and looked out of the window over her territory. The monkey woman was an albino snowflake monkey with white fur and a voluptuous body, befitting that of a motherly primate.

“Hm…” she muttered under her breath as she stepped out to her balcony. The primate woman stared at the village down below while tapping her finger irritably upon the railing.

“Is everything alright, love?” her husband, Lord Hei Se, would walk out to her. A monkey man with jet black fur. “Don’t tell me you’re stressing out again.”

“Sorry, I just can’t help it,” Bai groaned as she placed her other hand on her forehead, “Knowing that commoner filth is still out there and possibly trying to court our daughter while she shirks her responsibilities. It makes me sick.”

Hei folded his arms and nodded. “I understand, dear. All we can do is trust in our soldiers that they’ll eventually bring her back to us. You already know what they’re capable of.”

That she did. At the moment, there was no point in getting restless after putting their agents on the case. All they could do for the moment was proceed with their daily duties as planned.

“Very well,” the monkey woman huffed and stood upright before turning and walking back into their bedroom, “Our schedule is quite busy so we need to get a move on.”

“That’s right,” her husband added as he walked over to a nightstand where a set of notes rested. “Another tea ceremony and one of our shrines is still being worked on. Then our shipment from a certain port city needs to be looked into.”

“I’ll go check up on that,” Bai replied as she stepped into the bathroom to take a shower. “I’ve had plenty of tea these last few days and I don’t need anymore.”

Hei chuckled and shook his head. “Fair enough. I’ll let you take care of that other business then. One way or another, we’re going to weed out the blood of that common filth for daring to defile our daughter…”

“Why don’t you take your mind off of that,” Bai called out from her place in the bathroom--a gilded open hall with two separate showers and a tub in the middle of the room that sat upon pearlescent tile floors. “Come. Shower with me. It’ll save us time.”

Hei chuckled as he stepped into the bathroom. “Bai, love--you know this will only make things take longer.”

The albino monkey lady flicked her tail and glanced over her shoulder at him. “And yet you’re joining in anyway~”

Meanwhile, on the train headed into the province…

“Wait, so you actually don’t like bananas?”

Lee shook her head with a nervous flick of her tail. “I know it sounds strange but I mean it. I don’t hate them, but I’ve eaten so many of them that I have become bored of them.”

“Aye, that’s fair,” Mistwalker added, “Lots of folks think I must love seaweed ‘cuz I’m a feckin’ water horse. But I hate the stuff. Stereotypes suck, don’t they?”

“They do,” Lee agreed, “That’s why I’m trying to be better than my parents so I don’t get stuck with the same labels as them.”

Blue would jump in, “Yeah nah, I feel ya. The last thing I want is to be lumped in with the other dragons. We aren’t all greedy bastards, but it’s a hard thing to shake off.”

“Well you’re in luck,” Lee smiled, “Most of my kin love dragons such as you, so they’ll be interested in meeting you.”

“So long as I don’t have to sign any autographs,” he replied with a roll of his neck, “These claws were made for punching, not writing.”

The train would slowly come to a stop, and Emperor Chang would get up from his seat. “We’re here,” he said as he walked ahead and led the group off of the train and into a bustling little village in the countryside where various monkeyfolk were going about their day either tending to the land or training in combat.

“Well this place is nice,” Thiasus commented as he took in the fresh air of the village, “It’s a bit warmer than where I’m from, but still has a rather pleasant aura. Like nothing bad could ever happen.”

Blue scoffed with his arms folded. “Pfft. Famous last words. Feels more like the calm before the storm.”

“So what exactly are we doin’ first, yer monkeyness?” Mistwalker would speak up as she took a look around, “Don’t look like much danger around here, love.”

“We’re heading to a place that I know I can trust,” Chang replied, “A place that I know where we will not be spied upon by prying onlookers.”

Chang would lead them up to a chow mein and teashop that rested upon one of the village’s main roads. Both he and Lee would step inside first.

“Wait a moment,” said the emperor as he glanced at Lee, “Follow me. Let’s get everything ready, Lady Lee.”

“Of course,” she replied as she followed Chang deeper into the building.

“...aw, damn,” Blue huffed upon seeing the establishment, “I’m not good with tightly-packed quiet places like these.”

“Well you better get used to it,” Thiasus replied from next to Blue, “Who knows how long we’ll be here on this mission. Besides, don’t tell me a noble dragon such as yourself is scared of tea.”

Blue’s expression turned flat, “Oh I’ll show you, who’s scared, snowboy--”

Mistwalker chuckled as she watched them banter. “Oi, this cannae get any better?”

Chapter 165

After a few minutes of waiting, the primate-folk would invite the rest of the group into the tea house. As soon as they entered, they were offered some silken hanfu robes and escorted to one of the rooms where they were served some tea as well as servings of chow mein.

Particularly, all of the monkeyfolk were visually enamored with Blue and made sure to greet him professionally as he walked through the building.

“Ah! Nice to meet you, mister dragon!” one of the male employees spoke in a rather broken manner, attempting to speak the same language.

“Uh…hey,” Blue replied with a nervous smile, “I guess they really don’t know what we’re like, huh?”

Thiasus chuckled, “Better accept it, friend. Better not embarrass yourself as one of their idols.”

“Oh thanks,” Blue retorted, huffing smoke out of his nostrils, “That totally doesn’t apply any undue pressure onto me at all.”

The buck continued to smirk and took a seat upon the floor next to the low-resting table, “Good. That means you’ll be perfectly fine heading into this.”

Blue took a seat at the table and rolled his eyes. “Don’t patronize me.”

As the boys continued talking, Lee would lean over and whisper to the water horse. “...do you think they’ll be alright with each other?”

“Ye, it’s fine,” Mistwalker replied as she took a seat, “This here conversation be tame compared to what I’ve seen in Trotland. Can’t walk a single block without seein’ or hearin’ a bar fight.”

“Oh no…isn’t that bad?”

“Nah, mate--more like a right of passage where I’m from.”

Once everyone had their servings of tea poured for them by the monkeyfolk of the tea house, Chang would shut the door to ensure they weren’t being listened to by anyone else.

“Alright then. So our plan is simple,” the emperor began, “We need to remove Lee’s parents from power as swiftly as possible without drawing attention to ourselves.”

“I take it that’s where we come in, right?” Thiasus commented as he used his magic to levitate the teacup to his lips for a sip. “Someone without any political ties to the rest of the land who won’t be vilified.”

Chang pointed at the buck with a smile. “I take it you’re a smart one, hm? Yes. Though I hate to admit it, I am essentially using you all to make this go more smoothly. Asking for help from within would only present a greater risk to anyone the Lord and Lady of the Shu Region may already know.”

“Meh, that’s what we’re here for,” Mistwalker added as she dipped her snout in the teacup. “Besides, we’re gettin’ paid a pretty lil’ penny fer this.”

Blue elbowed the water-pony and cleared his throat. “Ahem. What she means is that we’re happy to help a foreign nation out. Lee’s been a big help in the past, and I’ve heard a ton about your own adventures out west, sir.”

Chang would put that aside for the moment. “While my own exploits are noble, that is not what we are here to discuss today.” The emperor took a seat and opened a scroll that contained a map of his entire empire and pointed to the westernmost point. “The Shu region is here. This is where we will make our entry and capture both of Lee’s parents.”

“Capture?” Blue spoke up as he slurped some noodles from the bowl in his left claw with the chopsticks in his right, “We aren’t just gonna fry ‘em?”

“No,” Chang shook his head, “We need to capture them in order to interrogate them about their connections and involvement with the Serpent CIty.”

“I see,” Thiasus replied after swallowing some of his noodles. “In that case, allow me to devise a strategy. According to what I see here on this map, it looks like there are quite a few mountains overlooking the Shu region. We could use that as our launch point for the operation--hey!”

With a shove, Mistwalker suddenly pushed her way over the buck, earning an eye roll from him as she glanced at the map.

“Oi. I see a wee bit of water down there. Is that a lake or some kinda fountain?” she asked while glaring intensely at the map.

“That is my family garden,” Lee explained, “And yes. There is both a lake and fountain there. You could take advantage of it with your water power, Misty.”

“Fire and water don’t really mix well though,” Blue commented, noting the differences between his and Mist’s power. “Not unless you wanna turn their little palace into a hot steaming hot spring.”

Chang stroked his chin, “...no, that…that is actually a rather useful idea. It may be just what we need to subdue them, young dragon.”

“...you’re serious?” Blue muttered with his eyes shot open. “Well I guess if we have to, we could always roast ‘em…”

"We're not looking to kill them," the emperor reiterated, "Just a scare and capture so we can figure out what they know. Does anyone have any questions? If not, we'll begin the operation tomorrow."

Chapter 166

Meanwhile, across the territory…

After overseeing a tea ceremony, Bai Se would arrive to the port city while wearing a trenchcoat and fedora to mask his appearance. The monkey woman knew that no one else there would recognize her. Soon enough, she’d arrive at the port where the boats were docked. This is where her ‘shipment’ was located.

Bai walked up to one of the boats--a small patrol vessel and greeted the primate that was piloting it. “Is it here?”

The brown-furred primate wore an orange floral shirt and a straw hat. “That it is, boss. Don’t worry, we got plenty of good ones that won’t squirm this time,” the gangster monkey replied as he got out of the boat and walked around to the other side of it where he’d open a hatch where several young dragons who were bound in shackles and restrained with muzzles on their faces so they couldn’t breathe fire.

“Excellent,” Bai nodded as he glanced over the dragons. In total, there were four of them who looked to be about pre-teen age for dragon maturity. “Having more of them is certainly going to boost our region’s popularity.”

“You ain’t had no idea how long it took me to find these guys,” the gangster bemoaned his experience, “These ain’t no regular dragons, boss.”

“Ooh, even better,” Bai offered a pouch to the gangster. “A little extra on top of what you’re already getting.”

With one look into the bag, the boat pilot had a smirk on his face. “Alrighty, then. Get movin’, brats.” He put the pouch away and started to tug on the chain that bound the four dragon kids together, forcing them to follow him against their will. Given the fearful looks on their faces, it was clear they had no choice in the matter.

“That’s one thing taken care of,” Bai muttered under her breath as she tugged on the collar of her coat. “Now I wonder how Hei is doing. It can’t be much longer now.”

From afar, across the street near the docks…

Bullet had watched the entire situation play out before him. The monkey woman aiding in the solicitation of child slaves. But of course, she was able to hide behind her veil of nobility so that no one would be able to hold anything against her.

‘Dammit all,’ Bullet thought to himself, ‘Guess slavery can never really truly end. Just when Klugetown finally fixes itself up, this has to happen. Utter witch and her maniacal ways. It’s almost ridiculous to think that Lee is her daughter.’

But Bullet knew that he couldn’t act on his emotions or irrationally. The last thing he wanted to do was further endanger the lives of those dragon children. Though, he knew he had to do something to at least put a dent in the actions of the slave trade, lest the population of dragons dwindle…

Meanwhile, near the Shu Region…

Having disguised himself as a regular civilian with a trenchcoat that had an oversized collar that covered his mouth. Next to him was the group of mercenaries he had hired to help him with this job alongside Lee.

“Alright. The plan is simple,” Chang began, “Lee will return home as if she is intending to do so permanently to gain an audience with her parents.”

Lee would speak up next, “I will try and get my parents into an isolated area where I can speak with them free of any guards watching over us.”

“Then we’ll basically cause a steam reaction so powerful they pass out--right?” Blue confirmed, then looked at Mistwalker.

“Aye. We mix ye fire and my water to basically knock ‘em out,” she added.

“And lastly,” Thiasus commented, “We’ll use a new spell I’ve been working on in order to get the truth out of them. They won’t be able to resist.”

Chang nodded. “Sounds as if we’ve got everything in order. We will be arriving at their palace within the next five minutes. If any of you have any questions or comments, please speak up now.”

No responses. Everyone was more than prepared for their assault on the palace of royalty.

The question now was: Were Lee’s parents ready?

Chapter 167

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot…

“Nebula, what exactly do you think is happening here? Shouldn’t we tell Twilight?”

“No good,” the stallion replied as he trotted over to his desk and used his magic to flip through a book, “You know she’s not gonna listen when she’s knee-deep in studying something.”

Luster Dawn couldn’t argue with that. “...fair point. So what exactly are we doing here?”

Atomic Nebula would levitate a container that housed a small piece of the tentacle monster’s body. “I snuck a bit of this away from Twilight and I’m gonna study it. See what makes it tick.”

“...” Dawn raised an eyebrow. “...you’ve been spending way too much time with Grimrose.”

“Oh don’t be like that,” Nebula scoffed as he placed some goggles on his face, “She’s got nothing to do with this. I’m my own brand of crazy today--”

Dawn smacked her forehead with her hoof, “Oh my--for Celestia’s sake is everyone here insane?”

“Do…do you really want me to answer th--”

“No!”

Nebula chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry. I got this. See the issue with this corrupted monster is that it feels and looks--even smells unfamiliar,” he explained as he removed the lid to take a quick sniff before recoiling in disgust.

Dawn leaned over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. “Okay genius. Enlighten me with your wisdom, if you would,” she asked with a sarcastic tone--though it wasn’t out of malice.

“Gladly--see this feels like something that was put here by an outside force. Someone who wants to cause trouble for us, don’tcha think?”

“It’s possible, yeah. But who would…?”

“Beats me,” Nebula shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back in his seat. “Best we can do is put together what we know about what’s been going on around here lately. Maybe corporate espionage or something.”

“Really? That’s your big scary theory?”

“Well let’s see you come up with one, Lusty.”

“Do not--”

Nebula simply snickered as Dawn rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” he added, “Come on. Let’s study this.”

During the afternoon when everyone had finished their tea, Lee and her newly formed team were on their way towards the Shu Region’s palace. However, what they didn’t account for was the fact that Bullet was on his way to the palace as well.

“So they’re here as well, huh? Great…may as well make use of them in any way I can,” he thought to himself as he watched the group from a tree.

From where she stood, Lee glanced over in the direction of that very tree. It was to their right within the garden of the palace. “...”

“Ms. Lee, is something wrong?” Chang asked.

Lee shook her head. “No. Sorry, my liege. Just got distracted by the wind.”

“...right. Anyhow. Is everyone ready?” Chang looked at the other members of the group.

They all nodded. From the front, Thiasus had joined Lee and Chang to pose as an ambassador to the deerfolk. Meanwhile, Mistwalker had snuck into a nearby river and had floated along until she was close enough to sneak into one of the palace’s fountains through the ground. Lastly, Blue was stationed high in the sky, flying above everyone and everything else in the city where no one would notice him.

The emperor primate then approached the palace building where he was able to bypass the guards stationed there due to his authority. It wasn’t long before Hei answered the door.

“...Lord Chang? And…” The monkey man glanced at the young woman next to the emperor--his daughter. “...Lianhua.”

“Father, I’m here to have a talk with you.”

Meanwhile from that nearby tree…

Bullet watched as Lee and Chang entered the palace and bit into a mango he held with his foot while twirling his pistol in his right hand. “Well…this should be fun. Something on the level of one of Wukong’s escapades even.”

Inside the palace…

“You…want to come back?” Hei asked with a concerned tone.

“...yes,” Lee lied to her father’s face with a convincing, shy shuffle back and forth as she held her hands together, “I’m so sorry for all the trouble that I caused you and mother. And above all else…I truly do hate that pathetic commoner that tried to force himself onto me.”

Hei patted his daughter on her back. “That’s good to know. Give me a moment and allow me to see if I can find your mother. She’s going to want to hear this as well.” The monkey man left the room for a moment…

…and Lee and Chang would exchange a knowing smirk with each other.

Chapter 168

In Canterlot…

Nebula and Dawn had taken more time to investigate the piece of tentacle they had found. But the dorms weren’t suitable enough for such a thing, so they moved their investigation to one of the magic labs located within the campus.

“Wait--hold on, so you think this was summoned here by--?”

“Yeah,” Luster Dawn replied, “Now that I’ve gotten a closer look at it. I think I can narrow it down to having calligraphy from the Wukong Province.”

Nebula leaned over and looked upon the desk, “Hold up--the calligraphy is infused within the tentacle itself, huh? Neat--”

Just then, they were interrupted by the trotting of the princess who entered the room.

“Seems you’ve both managed to figure it out. And it only took you a few hours longer than I did.”

Dawn raised an eyebrow, then felt her jaw drop. “Wait a minute--you mean you already--”

“Figured out that someone from the Wukong Territory had summoned a creature here with the intent of causing a distraction in order to throw us off as some of my students take on a mission there? Yes,” Twilight responded poignantly.

Nebula was actively taking notes with his magic levitating a pen in the air. “Hrm…it’s entirely plausible that whoever summoned that beast is still around. They’re likely aware that their first attempt has failed and are already scheming something else.”

“But what though?” Dawn asked as she leaned forward onto the table with her cheeks resting in her hooves. “It’s killing me not knowing what these bastards are planning.”

“Language, Dawn--calm yourself,” Twilight looked down at her student with an authoritative glare, then her expression softened to a frown. “I wish I knew myself. That’s actually the one thing I don’t know.”

“You’ve got Tungsten and the others working on it, right?” Nebula asked.

Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry. The Royal Guard is already hard at work investigating the situation. If anything pops up, we’ll be the first ones to know.

And suddenly, as if on cue, something did in fact, pop up…

“Twilight!” Spike rushed into the room, “You need to get back up to the throne room. We’ve got a problem.”

“What sort of--?”

“A summoner problem.”

Back in the Wukong Province…

Hei had arrived at the master bedroom where his wife was waiting for him.

“She’s here,” he began with a giddy expression on his face, “It seems as if she’s finally wised up and accepted our terms. We even have the Emperor here to confirm it.”

“Hrm…” Bai on the other hand was a tad suspicious of her daughter’s sudden change of heart. “Maybe…but doesn’t it seem rather…convenient? Or maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

“You think it’s possible that this could be a trap, hm? Some kind of elaborate setup?” Hei asked. “I wonder…”

Bai refused to allow this to throw a wrench into her plans though. “Whatever that fool is thinking, it won’t work. He certainly won’t have any outside assistance coming either.”

“That’s right--those mages we sent to Equestria should have done their jobs by now.”

“Correct,” Bai replied with a nod, “Our soldiers should be on standby and ready to join in at a moment’s notice. Let’s keep up our guard as we approach them.”

Hei sighed but couldn’t argue against his wife’s orders. “Very well. Just be careful, dear. We need to ensure that Lee follows the path that we have set up for her.”

“Trust me, Hei Se--I’m fully aware of how important this is for us.”

The noble monkey pair walked out to greet their daughter and Chang. Bai Se met her daughter’s eyes with her usual steeled gaze that practically bored holes into the young primate woman’s heart.

“Child.”

“Mother.”

The room was dead silent for a moment, and Chang would be the first to break it.

“...I’ll leave you all be to discuss your details amongst yourselves. Please inform me when you’ve come to an agreement.” With that, Chang would take his leave through the front door…and wait for the others to make their move. ‘It’s your turn now, everyone…’

Inside the palace…

Bai Se would glance at her husband and smile, “Love. Would you be a dear and prepare us some tea?”

“Of course, Bai,” Hei Se replied as he got up and left the room.

After which, the white-furred monkey woman would glare at her daughter once more. “I’m happy that you’ve finally come to your senses. But are you sure this is your decision?”

“What do you mean?” Lee raised a brow and glanced at her mother with suspicion. “You speak as if I am incapable of thinking for myself. I know what I want.”

“Hm…” Bai shut her eyes for a moment and nodded. “...alright then. Very well. If you’re that certain. Just know that the Bai Long Ma is always watching and knows your every move.”

‘Yes. Such as the moves you put on my lover to keep him away from me,’ Lee thought to herself. She then spoke aloud and kept her personal feelings hidden as best she could. “...I know. I just want to thank you for--”

THUD!

A sudden crash was heard from the kitchen!

“...!” Bai got up from her seat rushed over, “Gāisǐ--! What’s going on--?” Upon entering the kitchen, she found that her husband was lying unconscious on the floor. “...you harlot…”

With a quick spin, Lee was about to throw a strike at her mother’s neck, but the monkey woman grabbed her daughter’s hand, locking them in a struggle for a moment.

“...I should have known.”

“Yes,” Lee grit her teeth, “You should have.”

Chapter 169

Outside…

As soon as Chang left the palace, he looked up to see smoke coming from a nearby building where monkey children could be heard screaming for help.

“...!”

Without thinking, he rushed off to see what he could do to help…

Inside…

“You wish to overthrow me…then prove to me you’re worth my spot in this world, child!”

Bai whipped her arm around and flung her daughter by her wrist, sending Lee into the nearest wall. The young monkey woman sprang off her feet and landed on the floor in front of her mother.

The elder monkey lady revealed that she was wielding a dao--or short sword--underneath her robe, and beckoned her daughter to come at her with an open palm.

Lee would oblige and rush at her mother with her rope dart’s dagger clutched tightly in her hand. Bai would narrowly avoid slash after slash, and suddenly blocked the dagger with her own sword. The two were locked in a struggle once more until a click was heard--

BLAM!

A bullet was fired…from the tip of the sword?!

It shot straight upwards and brought down the lighting fixture that sat above them, forcing Lee to jump backwards.

“...gun weapon?” she muttered.

Bai chuckled and held the dao upwards, showing a hidden trigger located near the hilt of the blade. “...foolish girl. You think the Emperor is the only one with a weapon that can shoot bullets?”

“Grrgh…” Lee grit her teeth, but she wasn’t allowed any time to recover.

BLAM!

Bai fired off another shot from where she stood, forcing Lee to take cover behind the couch. A grand total of 10 shots were fired before Bai had to stop and reload.

“We’ve been experimenting for a while now,” she explained from where she stood, then started to shout. “You would have known that had you decided to stick around and not leave your family…you ungrateful hellspawn! Yunwang will take you!”

Throwing around the name of their lord of the underworld was no small matter. The hatred in her mother’s words caused her heart to ache as she cowered in fear behind the couch.

“Yes…” Bai Se continued, “And then your father and I will have another child. We’ll spend all year taking our sweet time to make one more suited to inherit our place than you. Then we’ll take over this wretched place and put those baby dragons up for sale…”

Lee’s heart ran cold as her eyes shot open. “...w…what did you say?”

Eager to hear herself speak some more, Bai would repeat herself with a smug smile on her face. “You heard me. Those dragons we bought off-shore will fetch us a pretty penny we can use to curry favor until we claim Chang’s throne for--”

CRACK!

Before Lady Bai could react, her daughter had dashed from behind the couched and punched her dead in the face. The blow was so severe that it sent the white-furred monkey through the wall and outside into the garden near the fountain where she took a tumble, rolling for a few meters before landing on her feet.

“Hmph…” she smiled to herself as she used her thumb to flick a bit of blood from her nose. “Shì de--That finally got her attention.”

“...why…” Lee mumbled as she walked through the hole in the wall outside. “...why are you like this?”

The monkey woman scoffed at her daughter and had a devilish smirk on her face. “‘Why?’ My dear, this is how things have always been. You either fall in line or get crushed!”

Meanwhile…

It wasn’t long before Hei Se had awakened from the stupor had had been placed in…

“Ugh…what happened…what’s going on--”

But he had found himself bound in magical chains summoned by Thiasus in the front courtyard of the palace.

“Haha! Another fool that succumbs to my power. Take a seat, old man.”

Blue landed on the ground nearby, followed by Mistwalker forming from a blob of water that had coagulated on the ground.

“Oh yeah, just talk like we ain’t here or nothin’,” the water-mare snarked.

“You’re welcome, ya know,” Blue added, “We pretty much had to combine our fire and water to make toxic steam to put him out in the first place.”

The buck regarded them with a smile, “Ah--you know I meant. You guys are important, of course.”

“Oi!” Mistwalker squealed while glancing around the palace, “Where in lord’s name is the bloody emperor?”

Blue and Thiasus also looked around. They didn’t see any sign of Chang, and before they could even think to retaliate…

CLANK!

Hei Se had broken out of those chains and casually rolled his shoulders, causing the trio to recoil with their jaws open.

“Argh…not bad. Celestial-grade restraints, huh?” he commented as he cricked his neck, “Very cute. Now, who’s first? I haven’t had a good fight in a while.”

“...this is…unprecedented,” Thiasus muttered as he looked through his tome, “How…what…”

“Look nerd, there’s no time for that,” Blue asserted as he cracked his knuckles, “Looks like we’ll have to fight this bastard ourselves.”

Mistwalker stood at the ready with half of her body turning into water, “Aye then. Should be easy enough since we outnumber the munter.”

“Three against one?” the monkey man chuckled as he summoned a guandao--a spear with a curved blade at the end--at his side, twirling it in his right hand. “...this might actually be fair.”

Chapter 170

Meanwhile, with Chang…

The Emperor had found himself busy with the emergency happening nearby. Seeing various children caught in that burning building was something that he couldn’t ignore, so he made himself useful by rescuing as many of them as he could.

‘Damn. I’ll have to hurry. Hopefully the others can handle the situation until I return…’

What he was unaware of was that it was the perfect diversion…

Back at the palace…

The battle had already ensued between Hei Se and the trio that had tried to restrain him.

Thiasus started off by casting pillars of light from the sky via his tome, but Hei was fast enough to dodge them with swift rolls to the side. The monkey man charged at the trio, only to be met with Blue who had summoned his own lance made out of flames.

Surprisingly, the two matched each other strike for strike when they crossed spears with each other. However, even though Blue was the stronger of the two as a dragon, Hei had far more years of skill on his side.

With a quick sweeping kick, Hei knocked the dragon off his feet, then sent him flying with a single palm strike. Afterwards, he flipped his spear around…and fired two rifle shots from the base!

“...!” Blue held up his arms. His scales protected him from the bullets being able to penetrate his skin, but they still broke them off of his body, resulting in a harsh sting that caused him to recoil as he stood up. “Grrgh…what the hell? That thing is a gun?!”

Mistwalker appeared from a puddle behind Hei and leapt at him with a dropkick. But the primate was faster, and was able to grab her by her hoof--though she immediately turned to water a moment later and dropped back into the ground.

As it turned out, it was a distraction for Thiasus to conjure another spell.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

Before the buck could react, the primate had charged to his position, and struck him with his palm hard enough to break his hold of his tome and send him flying into the nearest bush. Blue flew at Hei once more, and started breathing a wall of fire to block the primate’s visuals.

“Gah…” Hei shielded his eyes with his left arm as Blue rushed in to deal him a right hook, but the primate ducked just in time to avoid the attack, and rose backup to grab Blue by his leg out of the air, and slam him down onto the ground with a meaty--CRUNCH!

“Blaargh!” Blue screamed as he coughed up blood from the impact.

Using her quick thinking, Mistwalker conjured a thick fog around the courtyard that limited Hei’s vision.

“...not bad,” he muttered as he walked through the fog in search of the trio. “But you won’t last long hiding…”

For the moment, that was all they could do.

Mistwalker had found Blue and Thiasus hidden behind a hedge nearby.

“Oi. You chaps alright?”

“...my back…” Blue muttered, “...this asshole is strong.”

Thiasus was visibly shaking in place, panicking in silence until she spoke to him. “...I…I thought I knew what I was doing. This wasn’t supposed to happen…”

“...Git yerself together. We can’t beat him, but we can stall him just long enough until the emperor returns, ya ken?”

“...what’s the point?” Thiasus muttered with his eyes bloodshot wide open, “Nothing’s going to work against him. He dodged all of my fastest spells and I can’t match him in physical combat. No opponent that I’ve ever been up against has ever presented me with this much of a challenge…a-and you seriously think we can last against him?” He held his hooves to the side of his head, “...this is it…it’s over…I don’t even know why I’m here…”

The futility of it all was starting to weigh on the group. However, there was one thing they didn’t account for…

BANG-BANG!

The fog was lifted and the group could see a certain monkey man standing there with his guns pointed at Hei.

“...well toss my caber…” Mist whispered as the group looked over the hedge.

“Shì nǐ--So you’ve decided to show yourself after all, clown,” Hei flicked his tail upon glaring at Bullet, who had indeed made his entrance at the 11th hour.

“I was in the neighborhood when I found some dragon kids being brought ashore,” Bullet commented as he casually twirled his pistol on one of his fingers. “The Council of Deities already knows what you’re planning so it won’t work.”

“Hmph…foolish child,” Hei shrugged his words off, and continued to smile wickedly, “The gods can be swayed by anything. You on the other hand, won’t matter once you’re gone. No one will remember you.”

With a snap of his fingers, Hei summoned dozens of monkey soldiers with various weapons to the field including swords, spears, axes, nunchaku, maces, and other blunt objects.

“Argh…” Bullet scratched the back of his head as he noticed Blue from the corner of his eye. “Well this is gonna suck.”

“Wait, dragon kids?” Blue shouted as he flew into the air to rejoin the scenario alongside Bullet, “What the hell are you doing to my kin, you bastard?!” He screamed, letting out a newly formed purple flame as the muscles in his body started to tense and pulsate erratically.

With Bullet in the fray, Mistwalker and Thiasus had also regained their motivation and joined Blue in this battle to back them up.

Hei simply smirked and replied, “...trophies for the highest bidder.”

Chapter 171

Meanwhile, with Bai Se and her daughter…

The white-furred monkey’s tail flicked as she noticed what was going on in the front yard of the palace. “Ah, so the filth has arrived. I still don’t get what you see in him.”

“He was the only one who treated me as more than a mere object of affection!” Lee snarled, “Or some mere prize to be won! The nobility is a farce, mother and you know it. It’s not worth my time and I refuse to be held to such standards.”

Bai would remove her hood and expose her body underneath so that she could fight more easily. She was wearing gold-plated armor around her breasts and pelvis. Essentially bikini armor that allowed her to move freely.

“So you’re intent on running away, then?” she asked, “All you’ve done your entire life is avoid everything, you even ducked out and attended some academy out West so that you wouldn’t have to face us.” She folded her arms under her chest, pushing up her bosom in the process, “Sounds to me as if you don’t even believe in what you say. I may be as corrupt as you call me, but I at least stick to my ideals. I don’t quit when it’s convenient for me to do so!” She rolled her eyes and sighed, “But a defect such as yourself wouldn’t understand. You’ve been tainted…”

“...” Lee fell silent and thought about what her mother had said.

Even now, she came to the realization that she put herself before the subjects in the Shu Region as a result of what she’s done. Because of the fact that she ran away, her parents were closer now more than ever to toppling Chang’s rule with all of their underhanded tactics.

Tactics that she hadn’t been aware of until now.

“...you’re right.”

“Hm?” Bai raised an eyebrow.

Lee balled her fists and looked down at the ground with her eyes shut. “...I have been running away. Seeking to avoid thinking about anything to do with my home. I wish I never had to be born into this life…” She opened her eyes and glared at her mother, “But that’s not how things went. I have to take responsibility for my people. And protect them from you.”

Bai Se simply smirked, then chuckled in response. “So you’re finally going to grow a spine, then? Instead of merely sitting on your behind and expecting someone else to take care of you? How ironic. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it seems as if hanging around those Western commoners have ruined your ambition and turned you into a mindless, self-absorbed woman who only wants a man’s help.”

“I’ll show you!” Lee screamed, “I can stand on my own two feet with or without him! He’s not the only thing I want out of life, you callous witch!”
“Then show me!” Bai readied her dao with a crazed smile on her face, “Show me that you aren’t a coward who runs away at the slightest of inconveniences!”

It was more than a slight inconvenience, but Lee knew that she couldn’t shy away from the place she was born from any longer.

With a quick flick of her hand, she flung her rope dart and tied it around her mother’s right leg before yanking the white-furred monkey towards herself. Bai gasped and grit her teeth as she was pulled forward but used this as a chance to ready her dao and fire a few shots from its built-in firearm system.

Lee dodged the first bullet, but the second one just barely grazed her tail, leaving a small cut as she leapt upwards and kicked her mother across her face hard enough to force blood from her lips and send the primate lady flying backwards into the nearest hedge. But she wasn’t down for long.

Lee had retrieved her rope dart in the process of the kick and rushed her mother down. Bai responded with a few quick slashes of her sword to keep Lee at bay. Lee would then use her dagger to block another slash from her mother’s dao, only to be met with a fierce palm strike to her abdomen that nearly cracked one of her bones on the spot and caused Lee to crumple to the ground.

“Get up,” Bai spat coldly.

And she would. Lee grit her teeth and forced herself to muscle through the pain as she rolled over and sprang to her feet. With a spin, Bai would aim a kick at Lee’s midsection to further exacerbate the injury she had just given her. But Lee managed to block it just in time with her fist, barely able to push back against the stronger monkey’s leg as she grit her teeth with an intense expression on her face.

In a flash, Lee would stab Bai in the thigh with her dagger, and push her away. But Bai was quick to counter this by tackling Lee to the ground where she’d proceed to straddle her body and punch her in the face multiple times, leaving her daughter battered and bruised with visible blood leaking from her mouth. Her face became more enraged by the second, teeth clenched as she glared at her daughter with intense, bloodshot eyes.

But to her surprise, Lee was…smiling?

“...what are you happy about?” she muttered out of confusion, then screamed, “…why won’t you give up already?!”

“,,,because…that’s what you want me to do,” Lee sputtered in between coughs, “...and knowing that…I won’t…give you the satisfaction!”

Her daughter’s words only fueled the woman’s rage further. All she could think to do was reel her hand back for one final punch. “Tch…grrgh…DAMN YOU!”

CRICK!

As soon as Bai tried to punch her, Lee retaliated by grabbing her fist with her hand with enough force to crack all of Bai’s knuckles in the process. The white monkey lady glanced up in horror with wide eyes as soon as she realized that her hand was broken.

“...Ao Guang’s claw.”

With her other hand, she punched her mother dead in the face and sent her flying back a few paces where she’d lie unconscious on the ground as Lee stood up as the victor, clutching her sore abdomen.

“...you may have birthed me, but you are no mother of mine.”

Chapter 172

Back in Canterlot…

“So you’ve found the source of that octopus creature, then?” Twilight looked out over Canterlot from a window in the throne room.

“That’s right,” Spike replied, “Our top mages and guards are already working hard on finding the source, but we don’t know exactly when or where they intend to--”

POOF!

Suddenly, they would all see a puff of magical smoke that occurred in the middle of the city. There, several foreign demons could be seen hopping around on both feet with their arms stretched outwards. They also wore hats with paper talismans attached to them, and could be seen jumping around and absorbing the life force of various ponies and creatures not unlike Tirek once did!

“...!” Twilight’s eyes shot wide open, and she immediately turned to Spike, “Tell the Royal Guard to engage in defensive positions! Now!”

With a quick poof, she teleported down to the middle of Canterlot. Several guards could already be seen fighting off the demonic threat imposed on the city. Including--

CLANG!

A blue griffon suddenly jumped in front of Twilight and threw his shield at a demon. It bounced off, causing the demon to dissipate into particles of nothingness and the shield would return to the griffon’s claw as if it were a boomerang.

“We got this, princess. See if you can’t figure out who’s causing this, please?”

Twilight glanced over and replied, “Gallus? Well since you’re here, I guess I don’t have much to worry about.”

“Hey, quit talking about me like I’m not here!” Flash Sentry bemoaned from nearby as he impaled one of the demons with a spear before tossing it away. “But seriously, we got this.”

“Well if you’re certain…” Twilight shut her eyes and used her magic to quickly figure out where the source of the demonic magic was located. “...I’ve found it. Do what you can here while I take care of the ones responsible for this.”

As Twilight teleported away, the rest of the guards would continue to fight back against the demons that had invaded Canterlot.

“Don’t stop ya’ll!” guardspondy Tungsten shouted as he punched another demon into the sky with his gauntlets, “There’s more of ‘em!”

Meanwhile, in the Wukong Province…

Everyone was engaged in a fierce battle against the various palace guards that Hei Se had summoned.

Thiasus managed to keep his distance while firing off spells from his tome, preventing their armored martial artists from getting too close.

Blue had engaged multiple primates carrying weapons with his specialized lance made of fire to split through them with a wall of flame to separate and distract them from being able to reach the rest of his teammates.

Mistwalker had baited several of their firearm users into a trap where she was able to trap them in a floating prison of water before a giant water horse would run them over with the force of a tsunami.

All the while, Bullet was facing off against Hei Se himself. As it turned out, the lord of this palace was practically immune to gunfire which presented a unique challenge for the gunslinging primate.

“Dammit!” Bullet hissed as he fired off a few more shots, and had to leap out of the way of a punch from Hei that tore the ground asunder. “What kinda magical bullshit are you jacked up on?!”

“Oh this is no magic,” Hei replied as he raised his spear once more, “This is pure skill from how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. Unlike street rats such as yourself who feel as though you can siphon away from our accomplishments,” he growled with a fierce expression.

“Do you seriously still think that?! Even now?!” Bullet yelled from a nearby tree, “Holy cow, I knew you were old but I didn’t think you were senil--!”

BANG!

A gunshot from Hei’s spear was fired. It was so powerful that it took the branches clean off the tree, but Bullet was able to dodge it just in time and leap back down to the ground.

“I’m through listening to your incessant drivel,” Hei continued, “The gods above are ashamed of swine such as yourself.”

“Oh don’t you bring the deities into this,” Bullet folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, “I have on good authority that Ne Zha hates you. Or did you pay off Yanwang to get your way?”

Hei’s expression simply turned into a slow, sinister smile.

To which Bullet reacted with his eyes shooting wide open before he grabbed the bridge of his nose out of frustration. “...this is why the rest of the modern world wants nothing to do with us. Old bastards like you, enforcing your will onto others, thinking you have all the answers.”

“I’m sure your parents did too once,” Hei replied which instantly threw Bullet off-guard, causing the younger primate to stutter.

“...w-wait--you what?!”

Hei took advantage of his opponent’s distracted state and rushed towards Bullet with a blur. With a quick pivot and a spin, he stopped his open palm directly in front of Bullet’s chest before delivering an extremely close range, one-inch punch that instantly caused Bullet to crumple and fall to the ground.

Hei placed his foot on the side of Bullet’s head, pressing down and threatening to crack the latter’s skull against the ground. “...to the depths with you.”

But just before he could properly finish him off…

“Fùqīn! Tíngzhǐ!”

Hei turned around to see his daughter standing before him at the other end of the palace’s path as combat between everyone else took place behind her.

“Hmph.” Hei kicked Bullet away before looking at his daughter. “Háizi. So you’ve decided to come, child.”

“Face me, father,” Lee glared at the elder primate while clutching her rope dart’s dagger in her hand, “I will end our lineage before you can.”

Chapter 173

Bullet slowly opened his eyes. The primate had slowly begun to recover from the blow he was dealt but a few moments prior and was able to witness Lee fighting her father.

“Dammit…I can’t…agh…” he groaned as he tried to force himself to get up but the intensity of the pain he felt in his chest caused him to buckle over and fall to the ground again. “...what’s wrong with me…why can’t I protect her? Am I really this weak…?”

Meanwhile, as they fought…

Hei grabbed Lee in a chokehold and was about to slam her into the ground, but she managed to kick him in his face in order to force him to let go of her. After which, she dodged a slash from his spear and grabbed ahold of his free arm, twisting it until she heard it snap.

But her father was unyielding. He smacked her away with his spear, leaving a small wound on her body in the process. Once she landed, she clutched the side of her body while her father continued to taunt her.

“Bah. I still can’t believe you’re a product of my wife and myself,” he boasted with a laugh, “You’re a disgrace. I should never have allowed you to run away from home when I knew this would eventually happen.”

Lee winced as she shut one of her eyes. She knew well that she wouldn’t be able to match her father in raw strength like she could with her mother. Due to this, she knew she had to figure out a way to outsmart him instead.

As her father continued talking, Lee leapt backwards until she was close to Bullet who was still lying on the ground. Hei took note of this and fired a few shots from his staff in her direction. Lee dodged them and actually started to shoot back with one of Bullet’s handguns!

‘I can’t outmatch him in close combat. That much is certain. I’ll have to bait him in.’

“What’s wrong?” Hei shouted from afar, “Too afraid to face me? To think I raised a spineless coward!”

“No!” she shouted in return, “You’re simply upset because you failed to put me under your thumb!” Lee screamed up a rebuttal on the spot, hoping it would be enough to enrage him, “You wish you could have me as your feeble-minded puppet. But in reality, you are the incompetent one. You and that pathetic whore you call a wife!”

It seemed to work. Hei grit his teeth with his eyes turning bloodshot with rage. “What?! How dare you speak that way of her, you ungrateful insect?!”

Her words cut deep and caused her father to bum rush her without any sense of logic--even dropping his weapon in the process. Now she had only one shot to put him down or else she would be the one facing the wrath of an unstoppable, angry primate.

She readied Bullet’s handgun in her left hand and her rope dart in her right…

In Canterlot…

Various students had begun to assist the royal guard in fending off this demonic threat. Atomic Nebula and Luster Dawn in particular were near the front lines clearing out as many as they could before the demons could reach any more citizens.

“Well I didn’t predict this wouldn’t happen!” Nebula shouted as he blew into his flute to generate multiple music notes that granted enchanted shields to everyone around him so that they’d be able to fend off attacks from the hopping demons more easily.

“We spent all that time studying it and couldn’t figure it out until it was too late!” Dawn bemoaned in the midst of battle, flinging various pink axes at the demons to slice off their heads and cause them to explode into a fine mist.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Nebula replied, “Just keep fighting until you don’t see anymore. It’s just like the princess predicted. We’re being distracted from something going on elsewhere!”

Dawn gave an annoyed huff as she swung one of her axes with her teeth to stop an incoming demon from her left and used another to attack one to her right by lodging the axe into its head, and levitating it to fling it towards another group of demons to send them all flying and exploding into nothingness.

“Dammit! I hate not knowing things when they’re important!” she stomped her hoof and yelled, “What’s the plan now, maestro?”

Nebula’s ear flicked as he heard the sound of screams from a nearby home. “I’ll go check this one out. You watch my back.” With that, he galloped off before Dawn could even muster up a reply.

“Alright--wait--hang on!” she yelped before bucking another demon away.

Nebula raced into the house and heard more screaming. To his right in the kitchen, he saw a hippogriff stallion fighting off multiple demons that had invaded his home while the filly hid under the couch.

“Sir! Hang on!” Nebula shouted, but before he could react, he was met with the hippogiff filly being flung onto his back, much to his confusion. “W--?!”

“Get her outta here!” the stallion yelled. “Save her and destroy this place!”

“Daddy, wait!” the filly tried to fly back towards him.

Nebula was intent on saving them both, and was just about to play a note in that split-second the hippogriff filly flew away from him. But fate had other plans…

CRASH!

Another dozen demons had burst into the room via the back door. It was too much for Nebula to reasonably deal with at once. At best, he could have tried a paralysis spell, but it only would have restrained the demons for a few seconds before he’d lose the rest of his magic in reserve.

“...”

With a heavy heart, he regrettably made the difficult decision of leaving the stallion behind and force-levitating the filly out of the room and eventually the house.

“DADDY!” the filly screamed and tried her best to wriggle out of Nebula’s magical grip to no avail. “Let me go you idiot! My dad’s in there!”

“He gave me an order and I’m following it!” Nebula huffed in response, knowing there were far too many demons in that house by now. The stallion had most certainly perished, and there was nothing else he could do but honor his final wishes. “With all I’ve got…”

The filly’s eyes shot wide open as she noticed Nebula’s horn light up. “...no…NO! STOPPIT! DADDYYYY!!” she cried and cried, but was helpless as Nebula restrained her via levitation.

Eventually, the entire home would have the same magical aura as Nebula’s own lavender one. He shut his eyes and played a somber melody from his flute. Each note would travel through the air and cause the house to crumple in on itself as if a force from above had pressed it downwards, then crushed into flattened pieces of rubble and dust that fanned outwards in a circular radius around the house. Essentially forcing it and everything inside of it to implode.

After which, Nebula sighed and allowed the filly to go free, to which she tearfully screamed as she flew up to the house.

“Daddy…? He’s…you’re…gone…” she grasped the rubble in her claws and grimaced with a painful frown as she let the dust slip through her fingers.

Nebula simply sighed and sat down on the ground as he watched the filly grieve. After putting his flute away, he looked up and noticed her fierce gaze that was directed to him from over her shoulder.

“...I’m sorry. I simply did what he asked,” the unicorn mumbled in a low tone, unable to look the filly in the eye as she flew up to him. “I wish I could’ve saved him, bu--”

Smack.

“You weren’t strong enough,” the filly coldly cut Nebula off with a slap to his face, “...and you call yourself a hero.”

It wasn’t enough to hurt, but Nebula rubbed his hoof against his cheek afterwards. “...I was only--”

“Shut up,” she grumbled as she wiped the tears out of her eyes, “I don’t want your pity. Or your excuses. Just leave me alone and go accept the glory for saving me or whatever it is you’re supposed to do in this situation.”

Nebula’s jaw hung open as if he was about to say something, but the filly simply flew away towards the nearest hospital, leaving him alone as the dust settled.

“...What was I…supposed to do?” was all he could ask himself as he watched her leave.

Chapter 174

Hei rushed at Lee with reckless abandon, causing the earth to shake with each stomp he made. Lee had a plan in mind as she watched her father get closer and closer, and readied herself…

‘...this is it.’

Before she could even blink, Hei had grabbed her entire face with his and and flung her behind himself towards the palace.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!

Lee was sent hurtling through multiple walls of the palace; the primate woman’s body managed to endure most of the force as she crashed through the library, supply room, and the kitchen. As the dust settled, Hei would eventually storm up to her and slow to a halt.

“Look at you…unable to stand even now. The citizens are watching you fail your own dynasty, you defect.”

Indeed. Many primate citizens had begun to crowd around the palace to see what was happening on its grounds. Everyone could see the palace guards fighting foreigners as well as the nobleman exchanging blows with his own daughter…

Meanwhile, blood was running from Lee’s head down to the sides of her face as she managed to rise to one knee. She wiped some of the blood off her face with the back of her fist and took a moment to catch her breath.

‘...good. It’s in,’ she noted to herself. Curiously, her rope dart was missing from her hand--leaving her only armed with Bullet’s handgun at this point.

“The only thing they’re going to witness is the fall of this entire region,” Lee replied grimly, “I will ensure that you have no place in this country, father!”

Hei charged at his daughter once more, sending his right arm forward to throw a punch that was blocked by Lee; she grabbed his fist and threw her feet forward to kick off of his chest and used her tail as a way to keep her balance on the floor as she spun him around and threw him into the nearest wall with a loud CRASH!

But Hei was far from done. Immediately after landing, he would leap into the air above Lee and prime his elbow to crash down upon her. It all happened far too fast for her to dodge, so she could only grit her teeth and brace herself. Just before he landed, she threw a quick kick to his backside.

Unfortunately for her, as soon as she threw that kick, Hei would grab her by her leg and swing her over his head before slamming her down on the floor on the other side of him. With multiple heavy crashes, he would repeat this act, slamming the smaller primate back and forth until the wooden floors were sufficiently broken and soaked in her blood.

After which, he tossed her across the glass coffee table nearby, leaving more blood streaks in the process.

“Pfft. Pathetic,” Hei took another opportunity to boast against his daughter’s suffering. “I’d like to think that any real child of mine would be more capable. But as I surmised before, you’re nothing more than a defect.”

“...Heh…heheheh…”

“Hm?”

Lee had started to chuckle to herself, and forced herself to stand once more. Even though her face was practically deformed from the sheer number of bruises she had gained over the course of the battle, she was still able to put a smile on her face; a demented, hysteric smile.

“...they say you should dig two graves when seeking vengeance…” she paused and glanced up at him with the handgun at the ready. “I’m going to need both to fit your bloated shit-filled body!”

BANG!

Lee fired the shot, only for Hei to casually chop it out of the air with his hand. But the resulting sparks from the bullet hitting his hand ended up on her rope dart which had been lodged in his back this entire time…and had managed to light a firework rocket that was attached to it!

“Hmph,” Hei was none the wiser during his rage-filled momentum, unable to feel the pain caused by it. “I feel nothing from--”

SHOOM!

And that inability to feel pain in the heat of the moment would be his own undoing as the rocket was lit and took off forcibly propelling Hei backwards and out of the building before taking him into the sky!

“WHAT?! How did she--?!”

As he watched the earth grow more and more distant while he was propelled into the sky, Hei thought back over the course of the battle and realized that his daughter had managed to grab a firework from the supply room and keep it hidden until she got close enough to tie it to the rope dart lodged in his back which happened during their close quarter brawl. All she needed from that point was a single spark…

“...outsmarted by a defect…”

CRACKLE!

The firework exploded into a mass of red and yellow for all of the primate citizens watching to see. The fighting outside had stopped as well, leaving everyone in awe over what had just happened.

The end result was a thoroughly charred Hei that had landed upon the ground outside of the palace.

Once Lee took notice, she sighed, “...it’s over. Now there’s only one thing left for me to do.”

She put the gun up to the side of her head, her hand shaking as she felt tears run down her face.

“...I don’t belong here. I’ve failed you all,” she sobbed as she thought of the citizens of the Shu Region, “...all I can do is hope that someone else does a better job than I…”

From where he lied on the ground, Bullet could see what she was about to do. "...Lee? LEE!"

BANG!

Chapter 175

“LEE!”

BANG!

Just as the gun was fired, Bullet raced over to her and forcefully grabbed Lee’s wrist. The end result was the bullet being fired off in a random direction and lodging itself into a nearby wall.

“...Lianhua--what are you--what are you doing?!” Bullet yelled, still clutching his abdomen with his other arm, wincing from the pain he received. “Why would you try to take your own life? What for?!”

“...I…I don’t know…” Lee sobbed and looked at the ground blankly, “...no. I do know. I…simply don’t feel as if I deserve to be here.”

Bullet shoved Lee against the nearest wall and yelled, “How dare you think such a thing?! Dammit, I love you! You already have someplace to belong!”

Lee fell silent upon hearing his words and could only look down at the floor in shame. After the battle, she had been left mentally distraught over what her parents had been telling her this entire time.

“...I am sorry…” she muttered and shook her head, “...I allowed their words to take hold of me. I figured the only way I can make things right would be to end my own life for the sake of everyone else out there.”

“Argh…” Bullet sighed and let go of Lee, dropping her to the floor. He turned around and grabbed the bridge of his nose. “You dumb broad. Then again, I guess I can’t blame you for feeling so hurt after all this. Just promise me you won’t ever do that again, okay?”

Lee nodded, and managed to stand herself up. “...you’re…right. I can’t keep running. I was a fool to think that was the way to solve my problems.”

“Yeah, you were,” Bullet agreed, “But that’s behind us now. Whenever you’re upset about something or have a problem, come to me. Or those guys out there you call your friends.”

“Of course--ah…!” she gasped and glanced outside of the destroyed palace building, “I wonder if everyone is okay. I hope they didn’t get too hurt because of me…”

The end result was all of Hei and Bai’s soldiers accepting defeat as soon as they heard word of their superiors being taken out. On top of that, Emperor Chang had finally returned from saving dozens of citizens from that burning building and was cursing up a storm wondering how the foolish nobles managed to even get this far with such short-sighted methods. The citizens were confused for a moment, but started to cheer upon Chang’s arrival once they realized what had been going on.

Both Hei and Bai were beaten by their daughter within an inch of their lives so that they could be interrogated later about what they were doing in the Serpent City. Meanwhile, Blue, Thiasus, and Mistwalker were all taken to the nearest hospital for treatment of their wounds after the battle had concluded. All of the primate-folk involved with assisting the two nobles were to also be arrested for their involvement.

Lee and Bullet meanwhile were taken to the Emperor’s private infirmary where Chang could speak with them privately.

“...well, after speaking with all of the witnesses at that crazy meltdown as well as your friends and those two horrid nobles, I managed to find out what had transpired during my absence,” Chang muttered as he rubbed his glasses to get them clean, “One of their little peons had set an orphanage on fire while I stepped outside, preventing me from aiding any of you. Smart for an evil bastard.”

“Battlefield removal,” Bullet commented, “They knew you were strong enough to end this situation with little effort so they got rid of you to make as much chaos as they could.”

“What information were you able to get from my parents?” Lee asked.

“Well that’s just it,” Chang sighed, “They intend to fully disrupt the natural order of not just Wukong, but the entire world as well. They intend to use the Serpent City as their launching operation for more trafficking of creatures of all kinds including ponies, kirin, and especially dragons.”

Bullet folded his arms and sat back on his medical bed. “...figures. I knew exactly what I saw out there. Hoo boy…”

“Blue will not like this news,” Lee muttered, then shook her head, “We cannot wait any longer, Lord Chang. There are more souls suffering down there and the more we wait, the more that number will increase.”

“I understand you desire for haste, but…” Chang shook his head, “Ne Zha and the other members of the heavenly realm might not--”

“Lā shǐ!” she hollered, “Screw the heavenly realm! The gods sat idle while my parents continued to abuse their power,” she grit her teeth with her eyes narrowed, “So I won’t wait any longer either. We are to finish what we started, my lord. Better to act than to worry.”

Chang was unable to argue with someone so determined. If there was any way they could finally stamp out the corruption that plagued their territory, now would be the time. Regardless of what the gods had to say, he knew Lee was right: Better to act, than to worry.

“...and just like that, you’ve already proven yourself more capable than any of these other false nobles,” Chang complimented her tenacity. “Alright then. I think I know what we’ll do next--”

Just then, a monkey soldier in service of Chang would enter the room. “Sir! Sorry to interrupt, but I have an important message from the West!”

Chang turned to him and asked, “Yes? Speak, general.”

The soldier would offer Chang a scroll. “It’s a letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh?” Chang would open it up and begin to read it….

Lee would speak up, “What does it say, my lord?”

“Hmph…” Chang smirked with his glasses reflecting the light. “So that was their plan then. Apparently Lady Twilight has informed us that some of Bai’s spellcasters managed to infiltrate Equestria and serve as a distraction so they couldn’t aid us.”

Bullet scoffed. “It’s only natural that they’d eventually figure it out. Lady Twilight is arguably the best magic user outside of the immortals themselves. What a foolish thing to do. So what now, big man?”

“Well, those two monks are going to be held prisoner in Equestria,” Chang shrugged it off, “No longer under my jurisdiction. For now, we need to focus our efforts on the Shu Region. And with that, we’re going to need to interrogate those two nobles.”

Lee flicked her tail and had a devilish grin on her face. “You leave that to me, my lord. I know just how to get those two primates who call themselves my parents to talk.”

Chapter 176

Meanwhile, at the nearby hospital…

“...and that’s my story,” Blue had finished an explanation on who he was, “Basically don’t wanna be seen as similar to other dragons because of how most of them back home act. They’re not all bad but need to work on some things.”

“Aye,” Mistwalker spoke up just as Blue had finished talking, “I know how ye feel, friend.”

Thiasus called out from his medical bed nearby, “Wait, aren’t you a pony? What sort of discrimination would you face?”

“It ain’t over me race,” Mistwalker continued as she folded her hooves against her chest and sighed, “It’s due to where I’m from. Ye can hear it, can’t ye? I’m from Trotland. Ponies like me are often seen as bullish or what have you. But I’m honestly not that kinda gal.”

Blue thought about it for a second, “Oh yeah. I’ve heard stereotypes about ponies from there. Stuff like about how you always get into bar fights, yell at the top of your lungs, get drunk,” he extended his fingers as he listed off each set of terms, much to Mist’s visible chagrin, “play the bagpipes too loudly, cause public disturban--”

“OI I DUN DO NUTHIN’ FOOKIN’ LOONY LIKE THAT! I AIN’T NO BLOODY PILLOCK!” she yelled at the top of her lungs with the veins on her neck bulging, causing a bit of a disturbance in the hospital with some primate patients glancing at their hospital room door

“...heh…” Blue chuckled nervously, “Sorry about that.”

“Now I get it,” Thiasus nodded, “Don’t worry, I understand completely.”

Mist shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. Well anyway, I’ve always gotten weird looks in me direction cuzza me buff build. I never let it get to me though. Always kept me head up.” She then turned to look at the buck, “Your turn, Sol. What’s yer deal?”

Blue blinked and leaned forward. “Oh yeah. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve gotten to know you well, Thiasus.”

“Well…my background really isn’t all that interesting,” he tried his best to shrug off the question with a nervous smile, “I was always like this when I was younger. Studied a lot, usually kept my nose in a book. Didn’t really enjoy talking to others much.”

“Well ye seem better at that now,” Mist pointed out, “Ye seem quite fond of dealing with us.”

“Yes. Given that it’s mostly for business,” Thiasus retorted, “But back then…I wasn’t exactly all that social.”

20 years ago at the North Pole…

“Gimme the book, ya nerd!”

“Hey, stop--!” The young Thiasus pleaded against his bullies but was unable to fight back.

“Oops! Dropped it! Look at how short he is! His antlers aren’t even developed yet!”

“How’d you even manage to get into this magic school? You don’t even look like you could take on a kitten!”

“...shit,” Blue sighed sympathetically, “You were treated like that? Sounds a lot like how dragons picked on other dragons…”

Mist would also join in, “Aye. Trotland’s schools were no different. Ye either proved yerself the strongest or get bullied. Guess it’s a thing among all races of creatures.”

“Sadly so, yes,” Thiasus went on, “The bullying went on for weeks, and months even. Things started to look up for me at one point though. I’m sure you know the old tale of Rudolph.”

“So you are aware of him--” Blue snapped his fingers, earning a flat look from the deer buck in response. The dragon immediately apologized, “Sorry--yeah know we pretty much all do, yeah?” he looked at Mistwalker.

The water mare nodded. “Ye. Tale as old as time itself. A reindeer with a red nose proved himself to all and showed that he was capable of standin’ with his peers. A noble tale indeed.”

Thiasus scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Tch. Sure. You may see it as noble--and I can’t blame you for that. However, a key thing you’re missing is how and why everyone reacted the way they did.”

Blue’s eyes went wide. “...no way.”

“...ye mean there’s something else behind the story?” Mist asked, eagerly awaiting an answer as well.

“The cuddly aesop behind that tale was meant to help children treat each other as equals,” Thiasus grit his teeth with a grim expression, “But the truth is: The reindeer didn’t appreciate Rudolph’s differences. They simply accepted him only because it was convenient for them to do so after he had served his purpose. Even after guiding them through the impossibly thick snowstorms, they continued to talk behind his back and he was never the wiser. So long as he was useful to them, they never bothered him.”

“...damn,” Blue hung his head while rubbing his claw behind his neck, “So they didn’t see him as an equal after all, huh?”

“Nope,” Thiasus went on, “And the same went for me…”

15 years ago…

“Look, nerd. Just because you got us through that group project doesn’t mean you’re better than us.”

“You just got lucky. Don’t let it go to your head, runt. You’re just some rich kid from up North. You can’t force your way around with money.”

“Just stop…I get it, okay? Please stop already…”

“Or what? Gonna tell the headmaster?”

Thiasus watched as the bucks levitated his tome into one of the girl’s toilets…

“Hey! Stop! Give it back!”

And as soon as he went in to retrieve it….

“AH! It’s that snotty rich kid!” one of the female deer screamed.

The bucks from outside watched as Thiasus was levitated and pushed into one of the stalls by force. They smirked at the does--it was a coordinated effort.

“WOW dude…” Blue yelled out of disbelief, “I can’t believe some people are just that petty…”

“Yeah, well…” Thiasus chuckled as he rubbed his hoof against his antlers, “Thankfully I’ve managed to study alone in peace. But you guys aren’t so bad I guess.”

“I’m glad we could give ye a positive experience, Sol,” MIst smiled, “Ye deserve better.”

Just then, one of the hospital’s primate doctors would enter the room and catch everyone’s attention with their conversation halted as they looked in his direction. “Hello. The Emperor would like you speak with you all once you’ve recovered.”

Chapter 177

A few days later, at Chang’s palace…

“Thank you all for arriving. Please take your seat and eat.”

The emperor primate had invited Blue, Mistwalker, and Thiasus for a meal in his private banquet hall where he would explain the nature of what he wanted them to do next.

“...I’m terribly sorry for putting this onto you,” Chang continued from his seat as he rested one of his elbows on the table, “But I’m afraid I have no choice but to ask for your further assistance with this matter.”

“You want us to fight with your army and take down an entire city?” Blue asked with his eyes shooting open, “That’s outrageous! I’m in!”

Thiasus shook his head, “What he means is that we’d be happy to help, Emperor Chang.”

“Oi. But we don’t work for free, ya know,” Mist commented from her seat as she sipped from her bowl of soup. “Yer gonna have to up our pay for this.”

Chang chuckled in response. “Of course. I wouldn’t dare force you to do such a thing without compensation. With that being said, however, I would like to introduce you to the captains I will be assigning to your unit.”

Blue silently bit into another pheasant leg as he wondered just who would lead them during this fight. The last thing he wanted was a clash of personalities.

‘Dammit. I hope it’s not a hardass who’s gonna give me a rough time,’ he thought to himself as he downed his glass of tea to hide his concerned frown.

‘Ooh, I can hardly wait!’ thought Mistwalker. The water mare’s mane stood up on end as she sat patiently to see who they would be following with a neutral expression to hide her excitement.

‘Hopefully we can all learn something,’ Thiasus thought to himself with an intrigued grin on his face.

“Jìnrù, shìbīngmen!” Chang called for his soldiers in his native language.

Moments later, two monkey soldiers would enter the room. One male, one female. The male primate had golden fur and wore a black jumpsuit alongside two metallic, cylindrical gauntlets on his wrists.

Meanwhile, the female primate had black fur and wore a deep blue vest adorned with several stars. She had a pair of gloves on her hands that had two Kongese characters on their palms: 突变.

“Biānzi and Tàn Yuánzǐ,” Chang introduced them, then repeated their names in ways that would be easier for them to pronounce. “For you, you may simply refer to them as Ban and Tai.”

“...uh…hi?” Blue spoke up first with a nervous smile on his face. ‘Damn these guys look serious. Makes sense though since we are about to wage a small war after all.’

“How goes it?” Mist casually mouthed off.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Thiasus smiled through his teeth while shooting a quick glare at the water mare. “I can’t wait to learn from your expertise, Mr. Ban. Ms. Tai.”

But as soon as Ban spoke…

“Why hello, everyone!”

Everyone gasped immediately and recoiled in their seats all while Tai put her palm in her face and shook her head. The sudden outburst from what they originally thought was a hyperserious soldier had caught them off-guard as they exchanged confused glances at each other.

Ban would continue, “We haven’t had foreigners here in a while, so forgive me! I’m a little excited!” Then he laid eyes on Blue and leapt over to him to inspect his scales, “A real life Western dragon no less! That’s amazing!”

“H-hey!” Blue flicked his tail, then tilted his head at the terminology used, “Wait a second, ‘Western’? You mean other dragons live around here?”

“Yes!” Ban would meticulously comb over each of Blue’s scales then rapidly shake the dragon’s claw-hand with both of his own. “I can’t wait to show my daughter that I’ve met a rare breed of dragon!”

Blue was jostled around by the primate’s…enthusiastic nature. It wasn’t until Tai pulled Ban back that Blue would be able to relax.

“Sorry about him,” Tai cleared her throat, “He’s not very used to foreigners. Admittedly, neither am I. But we don’t have time for pleasantries.” Having stepped in front of Ban with her arms behind her back, she would continue--her tone blunt and straightforward which was a stark contrast to her partner’s more eccentric manners. “I’ll need you all to explain to me your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to combat so that I can formulate a strategy for our attack.”

“I see,” Thiasus called out, “We’ll be one of many teams that will be taking on such a task, correct?”

“Precisely,” Tai nodded with a fierce glare in her eyes as she glanced at the guests from the West, “I’ll need you all to work with me, and I’ll work with you. Don’t slow us down, understand?”

“Aye, I got ye,” Mist leaned back in her seat and rolled her eyes. ‘Ye askin’ fer our help. Don’t treat us like we pissed in yer ale.’ In spite of her annoyance, she kept her thoughts to herself for the time being.

“Yes, ma’am,” was all Thiasus had to say.

“Yeah, just…keep him calm, would ya?” Blue muttered in reference to Ban, “I’m not some prop.”

With that, they all finished their meals and would leave the dining hall for the night to have a stay in one of the guest rooms of the palace until further notice.

Meanwhile, down below in one of the dungeons…

Both of Lee’s parents had been subjected to an old torture method in which freezing cold water would drip from buckets above their heads at completely random intervals as they were tied to the chairs they sat in. On its own, this wouldn’t be much of a big deal. However, it was enhanced by the fact that they were locked in pitch-black rooms where they were unable to process time itself. A few hours felt like it lasted days upon days…

At the same time, Lee and Bullet had walked down the steps to the prison chambers together.

“So,” Bullet began, “Have you managed to recover from all of that? Not just physically, but mentally as well?”

“I believe I have,” Lee replied, “As much as I wanted to be with you, I completely neglected my own life in the process.”

“To be fair, I’m an utter wreck in the same regard,” Bullet deprecated himself along with her, “All this time, I’ve still been trying to figure out what to do with myself. I love this place. But I never really had enough time to love myself.”

“...maybe we should hold off on our relationship for a while…” Lee admitted with a shy tone as she rubbed her arm, “...at least until we have our plans for ourselves figured out.”

As much as it hurt Bullet to hear, it was ultimately the right call. Whether they liked it or not, they were still from two different worlds on the social ladder and he knew he wouldn’t be of much use to her when governing an entire region.

‘Yeah I’m far too stupid for that.’

Chapter 178

“Well for the time being, we can at least interrogate these two beasts,” Lee muttered in reference to her parents--not wishing to even deem them as such any longer. “Emperor Chang said that we can do to them whatever we wish.”

“Hmph. I’m not usually one for torture,” Bullet sighed with his arms raised in a shrug, “But the others need as much information as they can get. We’ll have no choice here.”

Lee agreed with a frown. “Yes. Part of me isn’t looking forward to this. Then again, the other part of me wants nothing more than to see them beg for mercy after all they’ve done.” Her tail flicked with a bit of excitement. “To that end, we can at least have a bit of fun in the process, can’t we?”

The guards pointed at the room would allow the noblewoman and warrior into the room where the lights would be turned on. Both Bai Se and Hei Se’s eyes were bloodshot from the inability to sleep due to lapse in their judgement from being unable to tell time thanks to the windowless room.

Both of the elder primates were unable to look their offspring in the eye. Having been defeated by her in combat, the shame on their faces was plain to see as they refused to look up from the floor.

“So you won’t even speak to me?” Lee scoffed and folded her arms, “As I expected. When stripped of your positions, you have nothing left to say for yourselves. It makes me sick.”

“What do you want to do?” Bullet felt the rage from within himself build. His fur stood on end, but he maintained his composure. “This is ultimately your call, Lee.”

The monkey woman glared at her parents, then at Bullet. Then a devious smile grew on her face as she bit her bottom lip. She couldn’t think of any better time than now to put one of her favorite idle fantasies into practice.

“Oh I know just what we’re gonna do,” she smirked and glanced at Bullet, “We’re going to show them just what we think of each other. Something they won’t be able to stop.”

“Really?” Bullet smirked back at her, then looked at her parents, “Well, if you’re certain. If they don’t wanna speak and tell us what’s going on down there, we’ll have to force it out of them.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the palace…

Thiasus had retired to one of the guest rooms where he’d be interrupted by the female primate from before.

“Hello, sir. Forgive me for asking,” Tai caught his attention and the buck glanced at her as she continued, “But you wouldn’t happen to know those responsible for the presents delivered during the holidays, would you?”

“Hm? I mean, I know a few of them,” he replied with uncertainty, then raised an eyebrow, “Why? You want me to send a message on your behalf or something?”

Tai shook her head with a nervous flick of her tail. “H-hm? No, I simply wish to confirm it so that I may put in a request. If you can, please let the factory workers know that a monkey living here would like a toy clock that she can take apart and put together.”

“...fair enough, I suppose,” the buck tilted his head, “Hold on, is this for you, or--”

“No. It’s for someone else,” she answered quickly, “I just wanted to know if I could have your cooperation on such a thing.”

Thiasus wasn’t really in a position to turn her down. He levitated a notebook and pen to write down her request. “No problem.”

Just then, they heard some screaming from down below.

“...I suppose that torture is going well,” Tai commented. “Be sure that you’re ready for when we need your help. And…thank you for listening to me, Sir Thiasus.”

The scream didn’t seem to phase the buck as he closed his book and put it away. “No problem. I’ll be here when you need me. That’s what a true noble does…”

Down in the dungeon…

“STOP THIS!” Hei screamed at the top of his lungs…

What was he screaming at?

Lee pleasuring her boyfriend.

“Mm?” she looked up from idly kissing Bullet’s member until it rose to a full, girthy erection. “Sorry, did you say something? I don’t think that’s what we’re looking for.”

“A-agh…” Bullet moaned as she started to suck him off down to the base of his shaft with her hands gently clasping his swelling balls. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was utterly enjoying the fact that he was being played with by his lover in front of her parents that originally ruined his life to begin with.

“Just tell me what we wanna know, and I’ll stop,” Lee had stopped sucking Bullet’s member and had started to jerk him off with her hand while she spoke, “We know you’re hiding something in that city. Yin told me all about it,” she spoke in reference to Bullet, using his real name. “Speak up now, or we’ll keep going until he fucks my brains out.”

“D-dammit….y-you don’t have to say it like that…” Bullet moaned quietly, but allowed her to continue making terms.

Neither of Lee’s parents said anything. They simply looked down at the ground as the water from the buckets continued to run cold upon their heads.

“Fine then,” Lee shrugged her shoulder, “We’ll play the hard way.”

Chapter 179

Meanwhile, topside…

Mr. Ban had approached Blue one last time before the dragon would lie down to rest for the night.

“M-Mister Blue Dragon, sir!” the primate called out with a camera in his hand, “I would appreciate it if I could get your picture! My daughter would love it if she could at least see what you looked like!”

Blue rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. As much as it annoyed him to be bothered so late in the day, he was somewhat flattered by the idea. Not to mention, knowing it was for the monkey man’s daughter made it easier to understand.

“Meh, sure--why not?” he shrugged his shoulders, “I keep forgetting how much you guys idolize dragons over here. Where I’m from, they’re annoying as shit.” He then glanced at the camera lens. “So do I need to make a specific pose or--”

Ban shook his head and immediately started snapping photos--the flash caused the dragon’s pupils to dilate and he rubbed his eyes.

“Nope!” Ban replied a moment later, “Just look however you want!”

After taking a few pictures, Blue would glance at the developed ones and nod. “Huh. You got my good side. And my other good side,” he flashed a smirk on his face, “Hope your kiddo enjoys ‘em.”

“Yeah! My husband is also gonna flip out over this,” Ban squealed with delight as he left the dragon alone for the evening, “Can’t thank you enough. Sleep well!”

“Yeah, I will,” Blue nodded, then sighed to himself. “He seems so…chill. Hard to imagine someone like him is in the military of all places.”

The fact that someone could be so optimistic and happy while serving as a general seemed alien to someone like Blue who grew up in a place where there was nothing but conflict over the smallest of things. In fact, the Wukong Province in general was a welcome change from the Dragon Lands.

“...then again, maybe it’s because of how chill this place is.”

Then he remembered Lee’s parents.

“...certain exceptions aside.”

Down in the dungeon…

Speaking of which--the torture upon Lee’s parents had continued. At this point, she was actively taunting them while pleasuring and playing with her commoner lover’s body.

“Agh…Lee…” Bullet huffed heavily as he felt his climax build more and more. Lee was stroking him off and casually tapping his cock against her gaping tongue.

“Now that I think about it,” she went on while removing her top, exposing her rather large breasts to him, “Given that we plan to go our separate ways for a while, this might be the last time we get to do this for some time…”

Knowing this, Bullet decided to take full advantage of the situation. He wanted to make this moment last as much as possible. He was thoroughly invested as he watched Lee reach down and finger herself--her breasts bouncing with each movement she made.

“Augh…oh god…” Bullet moaned, then forced a smile onto his face, “Your dad looks so pissed off. Why doesn’t he just give up already? Is he that prideful? Sick bastard…”

Indeed. Hei was struggling against the restraints. It wasn’t so much the fact that the two of them still loved each other (though that was a part of it), but rather, the display of such erotic affection felt utterly disrespectful after their daughter had already bested them both.

“Still not talking? Fine then,” Lee huffed and doubled down, fully engorging herself on Bullet’s cock, taking him down to the base with her mouth and bobbing her head back and forth to the point where his shaft could be seen making an outline in her throat!

“L-Lee…I…aaugh!”

With her powerful throat and tongue sucking him off, and a hand squeezing his balls, Lee would force her lover to have a powerful orgasm and shoot a load of semen down her throat while moaning loudly. As he finished, Lee pulled back and swallowed it all and released his cock from her mouth with a wet POP!

“Mm…I almost forgot what this tasted like,” she purred and glanced over at her father who had been huffing angrily. Meanwhile her mother was a different story. The white-furred monkey woman’s legs were trembling at what she had just witnessed--which only gave Lee more ammunition to use against her.

“Mother? Are you aroused by this?” she gasped in a sarcastic tone, “I’d never imagine you’d be turned on by a filthy commoner!”

“Hey!” Bullet yelped.

“Sorry, but you have to admit it’s funny,” Lee chuckled to herself. Then got an idea as she stood up and backed her ass upon Bullet’s member. “Hey, Bai Se--I bet you’re really jealous right about now!”

Indeed, Bai Se had been watching close attention to Bullet’s member in particular. The young monkey man’s size was something she couldn’t ignore…

“Don’t tell me…” Lee taunted her mother further while jiggling her voluptuous behind against Bullet’s shaft. “...he’s bigger than your shitty husband, isn’t he?”

Chapter 180

Topside…

Dewdrop Mistwalker had decided to inquire further about the nature of her next assignment directly from the Emperor’s mouth himself. So she went to his quarters--somehow managing to slip past the various guards in the process.

“Oi. Leader Man,” the water mare called out from the end of the hall.

“Mm? Miss Mistwalker?” Chang turned his head to glance at her, “Is there something that you need? I’m in a bit of a hurry, so please make it brief if you can.”

“Yeh, I goh’ a question for ya,” she spoke up, “So this city. We’re basically gonna ransack the place, yeh?”

“In layman’s terms, yes,” he replied with a nod, “Why? Is there something the matter with the plan?”

Mist flicked her tail. “Yeah, see I’m worried about civvies. There aren’t any innocent folks down there are there? Wouldn’t want them to get hurt.” Her eyes narrowed, “I’m not about to carry out ye trash for ye if that’s what yer thinkin’.”

Chang took off his glasses and rubbed them clean. “I like you, young mare. You speak your mind openly.” He chuckled and put his glasses back on, “Perhaps too openly. Regardless, you have nothing to fear regarding that. We’re currently evacuating all of the civilians there as we speak. Any remaining units there will be considered active combatants.”

“Alrighty…if ye sure about this,” Mist sighed, “Been through too many scraps to walk into another misunderstandin’.”

Chang was about to open his mouth and reply, but he knew he didn’t have much longer to spare to speak with her. Instead, he paused for a moment. “...I am rather curious, but unfortunately I do not have more time to speak with you. Please remain on standby until your objective is doled out to you.”

As Chang left for his quarters, some of the guardsmonkeys approached the water mare and urged her to return to her room for the night. She agreed reluctantly and trotted down the halls of the palace.

‘Just hope we don’t find any kiddos down there.’

Down in the dungeon…

Lee had continued to tease her lover in front of her parents, but they still weren’t speaking. Because of that, she and Bullet resorted to more drastic measures.

“Ah! Yes! Harder! Faster!” Lee squealed.as Bullet constantly rammed her, fucking her vag hard with her leg over his shoulder. She then grasped his wrist and brought his hand to her breasts, encouraging him to grope her and further put on a show to humiliate her parents.

“Ach…L-Lee!”

Before long, Bullet had reached his climax and fired off a load into his girlfriend, causing the two to moan together. After which, his member slipped out of her pussy and released their mixture of fluids onto the floor.

Even after coming down off of her orgasmic high, Lee still focused on the importance of the task at hand.

“So,” she huffed in between breaths, “Do either of you finally want to speak up? Or shall we continue?”

At last, her mother caved. “AGH! Fine…I…I can’t stand this any longer!” the white monkey squealed--the stench of arousal was painted all over her body.

Something that Lee was quick to point out with a smug expression on her face. “Ah. So you’ve finally started to see reason then? Was it the sight of my boyfriend’s beautiful cock that turned you?”

“Yes…no…yes!” Bai squirmed in her seat.

Lee walked up to her mother, and undid her chair restraints. The white monkey was still bound with her arms behind her back as she stood up with Lee removing her mother’s armor around her pelvis and chest.

“Tell us everything,” Lee held Bai by her neck, “and we just might let you live.”

“N-no…I-I won’t--agh!” Bai screamed as she felt her daughter’s palm smack her bare behind that jiggled from the contact. “I-I won’t…dare allow myself to--”

Lee took a step back and sat on the table nearby. “Fuck her, Yin.”

“What?!”

Without hesitation, Bullet approached the elder monkey and bent her over. In an instant, he shoved his swollen cock deep into her wet, heated pussy.

“Damn…” Bullet commented with a moan as he delivered a smack to her ass and groped her cheeks, “...she’s got a different texture…and that ass of hers…”

“EEGH!” Bai squealed as she felt her vaginal walls spread apart by the young monkey’s cock. After a moment or two, she eventually caved, and found herself grinding against him of her own free will and desire. The entire time, she had been subtly craving his cock. “Yes…yes…I see why my daughter loves you!”

“Oh really?” Bullet held her arms as he rammed her pussy faster, making her ass jiggle, “And here I thought…mmmph…you hated my filthy commoner ass.”

“I did…but…I didn’t know you were so much bigger than my husband!” Bai screamed as she spread her legs further, allowing Bullet to take her as much as he wanted.

All the while, Lee rubbed herself off to the sight and glanced over at her father who had started to sob quietly as he watched his wife give herself up to the very man he had fought against this entire time.

“This is what you both deserve,” Lee muttered with a satisfied smile on her face as she watched her mother lose herself to the pleasure of her boyfriend’s cock.

“Damn…sexy old bitch,” Bullet groaned as he reached forward and grasped Bai’s rather saggy breasts. “I’m…close!”

“Fill me!” she moaned with her eyes rolling back and her tongue hanging from her mouth, “I’ll be your sexy old bitch as long as you give me that thick young meat!”

With a few more thrusts, both primates would orgasm together. Bai’s pussy tightening around Bullet’s shaft as she squirted upon him and milked him for all he had. Bullet would return the favor by filling her womb with his virile primate cum.

“SHIT!” Bullet gasped loudly as he finished inside of Lee’s mother. His lover would approach him from behind and continuously push his body back and forth, encouraging him further.

"That's right, Yin--fuck this bitch good!" Lee whispered into his ear and made out with him as he tossed her mother onto the floor. She continued to kiss him while stroking his spent cock, making him cum on her mother more and more. “Yeah, I think this arrangement is going to be perfect. Now she’ll have no choice but to tell us everything.”

Bullet moaned as he smooched Lee on the lips while spurting upon her mother--the latter of which still had a euphoric smile on her face from the sex.

“Mmph…good. What about your old man?” he asked.

Lee didn’t miss a beat, “Oh him? Execution.”

Chapter 181

In an underground bunker in the middle of the city…

“Finally. These dragon kids are gonna be worth a fortune once we get them to the right buyer,” a griffon snickered as she looked at her friend, “Right, Gilo?”

A griffon--Gilo--had just finished taking various pictures of those dragons that they had brought into the city for the purpose of smuggling. Once they had developed, he kept a close hold on them. “Damn right. Been kicked outta too many places at this point. The boss is gonna pay us good money for these three.”

“Mind if I have a bit of fun with them before we ship them off?” the other griffon asked, “Sample the merchandise a little?”

“No way. Can’t have you bringing down their value.”

The three dragon kids were all huddled up against the nearest wall with blank expressions on their faces. It was as if their very souls had been sucked out of them as they watched the door close in front of them yet again with no real way of escaping.

“...”

Nearby, other young dragons who had been there for much longer had already lost most of their scales, leaving their bodies bare with several cuts and bruises all over them. This was part of the very same group of griffons that Gaea used to make deals with prior to her imprisonment.

Meanwhile, in the palace…

Just as Lee had predicted. Her mother had given them all the information they needed so that they could infiltrate the Serpent City. Chang and his soldiers would start to draft up plans immediately, and once they had everything in order, they’d discuss the exact nature of it all with their Western friends who had offered to help them out. After a bit of chatter, the emperor would point down at a map of the city on his desk and explain exactly what each group had to do.

“Long story short,” Chang finished up his explanation, “Your group will be attacking from above towards the central portion of the city after the rest of the teams have already weakened everything from the edges. Any questions?”

“None,” Blue replied casually with his arms behind his head.

“Nay,” Mistwalker muttered with a calm exhale.

“None. I’m ready to put an end to corruption wherever it may be,” Thiasus added triumphantly, “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Tai would kick off the explanation while standing to the left of Chang’s strategy table, “You are to follow us and not deviate from the path we set. The formal warning will be issued beforehand, so any and all beings you find down there can and will be considered combatants that you need to shoot on sight. Kill or capture.”

Ban would continue and explain how the plan would finish--standing to the right of the table. “Once we take care of all of the hostiles in the city, we’re going to close it off and destroy it with the power of our Liànjīn Shù squadron. You’ll have two hours before this occurs. Be ready.”

“The LJS?” Thiasus used the Western language acronym for the group as he rubbed his hoof against his chin, “So they do exist. And here I thought they were a mere legend…”

“Oi?” Mistwalker asked, “Whatcha on about?”

“How should I put it--they’re basically powerful primates that are somewhat like mages but use transmutation in order to shape the world around them and--”

“So alchemy,” the water mare interrupted him.

Thiasus chuckled and replied, “Well you certainly catch on quick. But yes, that’s the gist of it. They can supposedly turn lead into gold though they’re forbidden from doing so for obvious reasons.”

“Yeah the fuckin’ market would crash, wouldn’t it?” Blue mused next to them.

Thiasus raised an eyebrow. “Hmph. Surprised you’re paying attention.”

“Wh--” Blue sat upright and glared at the buck. “Of course I am, you ass--”

“I’m a caribou.”

“Shutyourmouth.”

Mistwalker would interject. “Can ya pillocks get back on track. I cannae recall this all-kemmie malarkey.”

“Us dragons can technically do it passively by turning our fire into stuff like weapons ‘n junk,” Blue explained his own version of the technique.

“We deer have tried to experiment with in the past actually,” he looked to his left, then right, then leaned in and whispered to them both. “...between you and us, transmutation is how the reindeer create toys and presents for Hearths Warming.”

Mist would let out a shrill, impressed whistle. “How dandy. Didn’t think that it was possible.”

“Well to be fair, not every deer can pull it off,” Thiasus replied, “I wasn’t born with the ability to transmutate like the others. But that’s a discussion for another day.” He took a deep breath and looked up at the map on the strategy meeting’s table, “I hope you all are ready for this. It may just be the most important fight we’ve had…and possibly our last.”

“Relax, big guy,” Blue consoled him, “We literally can’t die yet. I made a promise to a buddy of mine.”

“Dunno about the rest of ye,” Mist added, “But I got me own reasons fer bein’ here. So ye pansies better get yer keisters in gear. Cuz I ain’t about to leave some kiddos behind.”

Chapter 182

About ten years ago…

“C’mon, Misty! Leave those munters behind. Come hang with us!”

“Yeh, we’re gonna spook some sailors. Gonna go down in history for the senior prank of the century, love.”

Dewdrop Mistwalker looked at her friend with uncertainty. “I dunno, lads. I’m kinda busy watchin’ over the Carpenter’s foals right now.”

“We’ll be back before they even know you’re gone, love.”

“Yeah just put ‘em down for a nap or somethin’ so they won’t get into trouble.”

“Well…” Mistwalker couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cause some mischief so that she could land herself some fame. “...gimme a quick whizz and I’ll be out.”

And so, Mistwalker joined her fellow water-horse friends and managed to spook various pony sailors off the coast of Trotland. It all seemed to go well and no on managed to get hurt from what seemed to be a few harmless scares that would surely go down in history for their senior year.

That was, until Mistwalker return to the Carpenter’s home…to see their house on fire.

“OI! HELP ME, GUYS!”

Misty and her friends used their control over water to put out the flames and they quickly ran inside to find…a colt and a filly had burned to death.

“....No…no…I…”

With nothing left to do but sob in the ashes, Mistwalker’s friends called for the Trotland Yard emergency services who quickly arrived to assess the situation. Soon after, a mare and a stallion who had dressed up for a date returned to find what had happened to their home…and their children.

The mare--the mother of two, simply collapsed to the ground and wailed like a banshee out of horror as she watched her children get taken away from her in body bags.

The stallion--the father, simply grit his teeth and glared at Mistwalker. “What in the bloody hell happened here?”

Mist stammered as her friends looked on in shame. “I-I only left for a minute, sir! I didn’t think the oven would...I…I’m sorr--!!”

CRACK!

Before she could say a word, the stallion had attacked Mist and her friends. Several blows landed before the ponies could be seen flung into the street where they took a rough tumble and were left with black eyes.

“Get yer arses out of my sight,” he grumbled, seething with rage, “Before the coroners have to wheel off three more!”

By that point, the entire town had arrived to see what had happened. Mistwalker and her friends had no choice but to run away…and never look back.

In the present…

“AGH!”

Mistwalker had awakened in a sweat with her body steaming due to the nature of her biology as a water-horse. She rubbed a hoof against the side of her head as she shivered and sighed after re-experiencing the same haunting nightmare.

“Again…dammit all. Still can’t shake it off. Hopefully things go better tomorrow.”

Nearby, Thiasus had walked past her room and had heard her scream. The buck almost knocked at her door, before he shook his head and continued walking to his room.

The next morning…

With that, the plan was in motion. Every major section of Chang’s army would head out and begin their invasion of the Serpent City. The naval units made their approach first, seizing everything from the docks and preventing anything from getting in or going out.

Next, the first set of troops would make their rounds and enter the city itself, taking down most of the arms dealers who were positioned and holed up in various places around the city. It took no longer than an hour before the next set of troops were called in.

This was our main group who had been perched on a cliff overlooking the city itself.

“It begins now,” Tai glanced at them all. “Show us the might of the West.” Without another word, the monkey woman jumped down and began her assault on the city followed by several other primate soldiers and Blue Blazes.

But before Mistwalker could jump in, Thiasus spoke to her.

“Hey.”

“...och--what do ye want right now?” she rolled her eyes out of annoyance.

“I heard you screaming last night,” the buck glanced at her with sympathy in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“...” Mist opted to bury her feelings for now. “...so ye were eavesdroppin’ on me then?”

“No, I was just--”

“I didn’t ask for ye help,” the water mare grit her teeth, “Stay in ye place!”

But Thiasus had already walked away by the time she had finished speaking. The buck had re-aligned his focus and was combing through his tome. “Fine then. Prepare yourself for battle.”

Just that, Ban would give the signal from afar with a smoke signal fired off from his wrist. “GO!”

Chapter 183

The group would rush through the city and be met with immediate opposition from various creatures including griffons and other monkeyfolk who had decided to stay and fight despite the warning that was given ahead of time.

Ban and Tai had taken the lead and opted to deal with the most dangerous enemies in the middle of the street first. Despite many of them having guns and actively shooting at the pair from behind sandbags and crates for cover, Ban and Tai were able to swiftly dodge and outmaneuver the gunfire.

Ban would reveal exactly what his gauntlets could do. The monkey man aimed his left wrist at the nearest lamp post and shoot a red, whip-like rope out of it that attach itself to the post and allow him to swing into the air akin to a grappling hook. Even as the gangster monkeys fired on his position, he was simply too fast for them. Before they could react, he had aimed his right wrist on the enemy’s position and launched another whip that attached itself around one of the enemy monkey’s legs.

After letting the first one go so that he could propel himself forward, Ban would launch himself inwards and deliver a powerful kick to that first monkey knocking them down in an instant as he retracted his whip. Then he kicked the second monkey’s gun out of their hands before using his whip to pull them towards himself and knock them down with a swift palm strike to their abdomen that broke their ribs in an instant.

Tai would then reveal the exact nature of the gloves she had on her hands. She clasped them together and a magical blue aura would surge around her body before she touched a nearby crate and transmutated the wood into a massive wave of wooden logs that surged beneath her feet and rose up in front of her to serve as shield to block all of the bullets that were fired on her position before she brought out her own revolver and fired it, taking down the first few monkeys who were aiming at her.

Then she leapt off of the wooden structure and spotted some griffons who were above her. She quickly took them down by fanning the hammer of her revolver to clip their wings before they could fire any of their own guns. Just when another tried to sneak up on her from behind, she would touch the wall of the building next to her, forcing the brick to transmutate into a massive monkey’s fist that extended out of the wall and punched the griffon so hard that it sent them through the next building across the street.

With most of the stronger enemies cleared out, Ban would glance at Blue and the others. “Alright. Now you all take out any stragglers that you find. Remember: Any and all beings here are considered combatants now. Do not hesitate to kill.”

“On it!” Blue called out.

“Yes, sir,” Thiasus replied.

“Got ye,” Mistwalker added.

The group would then fan out and run through different parts of the city to search for more criminals to kill on sight.

Meanwhile, back at the palace…

Bullet was standing out on one of the balconies that allowed him to have a view of the smoke flying over the Serpent City. “...damn,” he muttered as he clutched his bandaged abdomen, “If I wasn’t so damn hurt…”

“Nope. You know very well that you cannot go out in your current state,” another voice called out to him from nearby.

Bullet looked up and watched a brown-furred primate float down to his position. He wore a set of gilded red and yellow robes with dragons going up and down both sleeves.

“Oh for fuck’s sake not you--gah!”

“Yes me,” the mystical monkey teleported to the other side of Bullet seemingly out of nowhere. “Very much me. Don’t worry, I won’t report you to the gods or anything,” he chuckled and stood next to Bullet on the balcony, “Besides, I can’t maintain this form for too long before I get unreasonably hungry.”

Bullet rolled his eyes. “Quit the ‘quirky and relatable’ act, Ne Zha.”

“Fine. Then I suppose you’re aware of what’s about to happen,” Ne Zha glanced at the smoke, “That city will fall to maintain order. Are you prepared for that? Chang’s choices as Emperor?”

“Listen--I’ve got enough on my plate as it is,” Bullet bemoaned, “Whatever he’s doing for this place has to be better than how it was before he took reign. The dynasties are actually united now.”

Ne Zha chuckled. “I suppose they are. For now anyway. Regardless, you need to have faith in your friends down there. Once that city is destroyed, things will start to get better for us in the heavens as well.” He yawned and put his arms behind his head. “Just make sure your lover continues to do her best for her people, yeah?”

“Tch. She can take care of herself, pretty-boy,” Bullet replied with a scoff, “We’ve got our own lives separate from each other. Sure we love each other, but we’re not gonna hover around each other 24/7, you get me?”

“Okay, okay,” Ne Zha held up his hands in a defensive manner, “I can see that now. But keep in mind that the heavens are gonna--”

“Judge everything we mortals do. I know,” Bullet snapped back, “But the second they try to meddle with our lives, they’ll have a problem with me. You tell them that from me.”

Ne Zha snapped his fingers and a cloud beneath his feet would appear. “Very well. Good luck with your murder mission, young killer.” And with that, he’d float back up to the heavens, leaving Bullet alone.

“...weirdo,” was all Bullet had to say as he watched the other primate zoom off.

Chapter 184

Back in the Serpent City…

The group would continue to fight their way through the city and quickly slay through any opposition that they came across. Given that this was essentially a war, they spared no time for their enemies. Each one was dealt with in swift fashion before they moved onto the next.

“These pansies ain’t putin’ up much of a fight,” Mistwalker commented while she casually flung a hostile monkey out of a building with a wave of water.

“Don’t say that,” Thiasus commented as he finished off another gangster with a pillar of light from the sky. “There could always be some other more powerful beast that we simply haven’t come across yet.”

“Ah don’t get yer knickers in a twist,” the water mare rolled her eyes, “We came here to complete and job and that’s what we’re doin’. Don’t start actin’ like it’s gonna get rough now.”

Meanwhile, Blue had just kicked another gangster into a pile of trash that he had set on fire. “Argh! Can you quit it, Misty? Now’s not the time for this,” he lamented the mare’s arrogant nature.

“Yeah yeah, I got it,” she replied with a huff.

Soon enough though, the group would find themselves at the end of a street where they could hear voices inside of what looked like an abandoned building with metal sheeting covering the windows. The trio paused and listened in closely before making their next move. Having huddled up against the side of the building, they could hear what sounded like slapping or smacking.

The trio exchanged a confused glance with each other before Blue nodded at them. The dragon walked around to the front of the building

“COME OUT NOW!” he shouted with his claws lit with fire, “We have you surrounded!”

The noises had stopped. Nothing but the sound of the wind and the occasional newspaper blowing through the street could be heard for what felt like forever. Blue was about to open his mouth and shout again, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from inside the building.

Thiasus had his tome at the ready with magic, glancing at Blue from the side of the building while Mist had taken the rear of the building and was prepared to enter that side with several waves of water at the ready to flush everything out if need be.

But the source of those footsteps…was not something that any of them could have predicted.

A young, green-colored dragon boy, looking no older than 12, ran out to Blue. He was covered in bruises and was unable to look Blue in the eye as he stood shaking in place.

“...kid? Hey, kid--you alright?” Blue took a step towards him.

“...N-no…get away from me!” the younger dragon squealed while holding his arm defensively, “Don’t touch me! I…I don’t trust you!”

Blue took note of the fact that the dragon’s wings were broken and thus, unable to carry him away via flight.

“Listen kid…” Blue spoke calmly as he bent down on one knee, “...I need you tell me what’s going on so I can help you.”

“N-no…you’re all just…you’re all lying!” The dragon nervously brought out a handgun that he had stole off of another gangster. “I’m sick of this! Just leave me alone!”

“Woah…hey, kid…hang on…!” Blue yelped, eyes widening upon seeing the weapon. “...just put that down.”

Nearby, Thiasus could hear the shouting and could see the situation that was unfolding from the side of the house that he was present at. While he could have used his magic to restrain the dragon, there was a good chance that the boy’s finger could still pull the trigger which was something that he wouldn’t be able to stop if it happened.

“Blue…try and take it from him if you can,” he mumbled as he carefully approached the dragon from behind, “I’m going to grab ahold of him.”

Blue heard his teammate’s words and took a step closer to the dragon boy. “Listen, kid. We’re here to help you. Not hurt you. Don’t do anything stupid…”

The dragon boy’s hands continued to shake and shiver as he tried to rationalize what to do with nothing but fear in his eyes.

Meanwhile…

Mistwalker had breached the back door of the building. In it, she had found several dragon children whose bodies could be seen strewn about the floors. They were barely moving and were covered in various bruises and bite marks with some of them having patches of their scales missing.

“...how in…what in the bloody hell…?”

Click.

The sound of a gun’s hammer could be heard just behind her followed by the voice of a griffon. “Yeah, you like our little products? The dragon scales go for a ton of gold around these parts. Not to mention they feel good to play with.”

“...” Mist grit her teeth. “...ye really treatin’ children this way? You…” her voice turned deeper, seething with a quiet temper as she stared down at all of the bodies of dragon children, “...fucking cunts.”

Chapter 185

The griffon woman continued to speak from behind Mist, taunting her over what she and her group had been doing to those children.

“Oh it’s just been so much fun....and to think, there’s already so many of these tapes in circulation,” the griffon cackled while flapping her wings, “Even if you stop me, there’s already tons of freaks out there getting off to this shit! You’ve already lost, bitch!”

BANG!

Without a word, Mist had turned her body into a raw, thick fog that encapsulated the room. The bullet fired from the griffon’s gun went right through her as she started to choke and suffocate from the heaviness of the fog, dropping her gun in the process.

Before she could even blink, the griffon’s eyelids were forcibly filled with water and burst open, causing her eyes to bleed as they burst open uncontrollably. Then, all of the water in her body would be replaced as she was essentially drowned from the inside out.

“AAAAAAAGH…AAAAGH…!!”

Mist would reform in front of the griffon with her mane flowing with what appeared to be eels akin to that of a gorgon. She continued to manipulate the water in the air until the griffon was completely unconscious, then dead from the extreme intake of liquid in her body.

“Fuck off and die you nonce,” Mist muttered through her teeth, “Every single one of ye pedo bastards are gonna suffer for as long as I can make ye!”

A fierce jetstream of water shot from one of the eels in her hair would blast the griffon’s entire head into pieces akin to an explosive going off inside of her head.

Mist grit her teeth and stomped over her dead prey. Her true nature had been revealed thanks to the visceral reaction she had to seeing the dragon children molested and abused.

‘Not again…not again. Not ever again. I won’t let it happen…not on me life!’

Outside…

Just before Blue or Thiasus could restrain the dragon--

BANG!

The dragon boy fired the gun, and immediately started to vomit uncontrollably. Thankfully, the bullet only barely grazed Blue’s skin, but the boy’s reaction to firing the gun had caused him to collapse to the ground.

“Blue!” Thiasus yelled, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah…” Blue muttered as he rolled his neck, “Just grazed my fuckin’ nape is all.” He then glanced at the smaller dragon who had curled up into a fetal position on the ground. “Dammit…we gotta get him outta here.”

“Our mission is to kill anyone on sight,” Thiasus reminded him, “We keep going and let the generals decide what to do with him.”

Blue grit his teeth and blew steam from his nostrils. As much as he wanted to help the child, he had to put his emotions aside for the moment. “...fine. Let’s hurry the hell up. Wait--” he looked around for a certain water horse. “Where the fuck is Misty?”

Hhhhghghhh…

The sounds of an ethereal screeching could be heard from nearby. The boys immediately recognized it as Mist’s voice.

“What the hell--?!” Blue flapped his wings and flew into the air.

“Banshee squall,” Thiasus added as he used his magic to levitate himself into the air. “This isn’t good. Something must have pissed her off.”

“A what-now?”

“Water-horses like her can tap into a lot of different abilities. Including flooding an entire--”

FWOOSH!

Before he could say another word, the guys could see a giant overflow of water that had managed to flood an entire block of the city. Then another. Then another. The water was coming from a raging storm above the city that started to flood everything in sight.

Nearby, they could see Mistwalker was floating in the air and freely controlling the storm with the eels in her hair wriggling about.

“Feckin’ die ya nonces!” she yelled as she forced the waves to collapse buildings and drown anyone that she laid eyes on.

“...goddamn,” Blue muttered in awe as he watched the storm overtake the city. “...should we stop her?”

Thiasus was flipping through his book. “Hm? Oh, no no no--I wouldn’t dare think about interrupting someone that powerful. At this point, we’re better off regrouping with the rest of the military.” The buck looked down at the sea of water below. “And besides, I don’t want to get my fur wet. Blech.”

“Then we keep going…this way!” Blue shouted as he took off further north, flying with Thiasus.

Chapter 186

The fighting would rage on with both sides continuing to clash as much as possible. Mist’s flood had caused loads of damage as she had essentially washed half of the entire city away all on her own thanks to the power of the storm combined with the extra water from the ocean nearby that was at her disposal.

Meanwhile, the northern half of the city wasn’t quite in range of her catastrophic attack, so there was still plenty of mess to clean up.

Blue and Thiasus had split up to assist the two monkey generals that were in charge of the operation with the dragon going to General Tai and the buck going to General Ban.

The blue dragon would land on a rooftop and look around for a moment before spotting the monkey woman who was engaged in combat with what appeared to be a sea of other gangsters all by herself. Tai was able to quickly transmutate the wood of various nearby crates and generate fists from them that expanded combed over the entire area, punching and smashing the gangsters into the walls.

Blue joined in and called out. “Hey! I have an idea!”

“Speak.”

Blue would explain himself, then Tai would respond with a nod. The dragon lit the wood on fire, creating flaming fists that would burn everything they came in contact with, including the buildings.

“Impressive,” Tai replied stoically, “I see why dragons like you are worshiped by our people.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. There’s a lot more shit in our way.”

As they continued working, Thiasus had caught up with General Ban. The gold-colored monkey had secret bullet capsules hidden within the confines of his whip which allowed him to fire off bullets from what was essentially a whip-gun configuration. The result was a long red rope that slung out and fired shot after shot with a simple flick of his wrist that took down numerous gangsters in one go.

“That’s quite the weapon,” Thiasus commented as he landed next to the general, “Need some help, sir?”

“I’d appreciate it, yes!” Ban squealed, then pointed ahead, “Some of them are trying to make an escape in a vehicle up ahead. Think you can help me catch them, Mr. Lù?”

“I’d be happy to. Give me just a moment…”

In a flash of light, Thiasus teleported over to the boat that some of the gangsters were about to take off on. Before they could leave, the reindeer would summon a bolt of light from the sky that would explode their boat in an instant. Followed by the buck practically nuking the remaining gangsters that appeared around him from behind nearby cover. He would even assist general Ban by paralyzing the criminals so that the monkey could wrap his whip around the neck of one gang member before releasing bullets from it to shoot the others in a flurry before rolling on down to Thiasus’ position.

“Huh,” the buck commented as he glanced around at the pile of bodies. “They weren’t as much of as challenge as I thought they would be.”

“They’re no match for the force of an entire military unit,” Ban commented as he retracted his whip. “They’re so used to picking on others that are beneath them in strength, that they cannot measure to someone stronger than they are.”

Given that they had also recently stormed Hei Se’s palace, it was rather easy to deal with some lowly gangsters who could only manage to peddle children through snuff films.

“You make a valid point,” Thiasus replied, “I guess now all that’s left is to round up the stragglers who--”

Before he could say anything else, he was cut off by the sound of a bullet from nearby. Another young dragon had picked up a weapon and shot at them under the impression that they were also going to abuse her.

“G-go away…we don’t…need you!”

“Shit not again,” Thiasus grumbled and was prepared to step forward until Ban did so instead.

“Young dragon, please,” the primate pleaded with her, “We’re not here to hurt you. Do not--”

“SHUT UP!”

BANG!

Thiasus averted his eyes as Ban used his whip to shoot the dragon girl down where she stood. Once the buck opened his eyes, he choked and looked away from the dragon’s grisly body.

“...confound it all,” he muttered as he grit his teeth, “I didn’t sign up to kill children…”

Ban would shake his head. “You did not. Unfortunately…I had no choice. Some of the children here seem to be beyond saving.” He scratched the back of his head, unsatisfied with trying to justify his actions. “...You don’t…need to approve of what I--”

“It’s fine. Let’s go,” Thiasus swallowed his fear and continued running along the street with the general, “If we die now, we won’t be able to put this cesspool of a city beneath the pits of Krampus where it belongs.”

Chapter 187

The fighting continued for hours into the day until there was no more resistance. Eventually the fighting had stopped and what remaining forces existing in the failed state of the Serpent City had given up and laid down their arms.

In the aftermath of it all, the army had actually managed to find more children who were being put through a slave trade in some form. Most of them were young dragons, naturally shaken from their experience, but they were more than cooperative with the Wukong soldiers that were looking to help them get to safety.

After it was all over, the group would meet back up with each other at the edge of the city where the rescuers were escorting what children they could away from the city, with Mistwalker having sat alone and off to the side in a patch of grass with her face hidden from everyone else.

“...she looks pretty fucked up,” Blue commented from where he stood with a sympathetic frown. “...think we should go talk to her?”

“I’m not sure,” Thiasus replied while looking down at his spellbook, “Whatever it was, she ended up telling me off when I tried to speak to her, so I didn’t exactly try and pry further.” He got up and shut his book closed via magic before sighing. “Hm. Some things are just better left alone I suppose.”

Blue was unsatisfied, but knew he couldn’t force anything out of Mist if she wasn’t up for explaining it. The smoke being huffed out of his nostrils was a clear indicator of his frustration.

“Urgh…fine,” he muttered before changing the subject, “At any rate, I’m glad we were able to save a good chunk of those kids. Really pisses me off what those fuckers did.”

“It’s unfortunate, yeah. We can only really speculate as to how things would’ve turned out had we not shown up,” the buck replied with a content sigh. “...I have to say, they didn’t really put up much of a fight compared to that monkey noble.”

“Hei, right? Yeah. Guess that just shows how much stronger we’ve gotten,” Blue replied with a confident grin as he flexed his arms.

Thiasus gave a more grounded response. “Or maybe it really shows the disparity between the strength of an elite warlord and common soldiers. Honestly, I was relieved that this battle was a bit easier.” He paused for a moment to shudder. “Brrgh…fighting Hei unnerves me even now.”

“Maybe you have a point,” Blue replied, folding his arms, “That guy was so tough that I guess these randos were baby mode in comparison.”

“I suppose that’s one way you could put it,” the buck rolled his eyes as he closed his book and stood up, “Regardless, we need to get moving and make our report. Hopefully Mist will come to her senses at some point.”

The dragon looked over at the water mare with a worried look on his face. “...yeah.”

A few hours later…

Everyone had met up back at the palace and retired to shower and sleep in their respective guest rooms. Waging a war that lasted no more than a day had begun to take its toll and left everyone haggard after it all.

Thiasus in particular had rather heavy eyes as he yawned and left the showers to trot towards his room. But before he could make it there, he was stopped by Mist.

“...Oi,” she called out as the buck rounded the corner of the elegantly red-carpeted hallway. “I just wanna say that I’m sorry. It was bullish of me to speak to you like that over me own shit.”

“Huh?” Thiasus rubbed his hoof across his eyes and yawned once more. “...yeah, yeah. No problem. I figured it was probably something personal and didn’t want to bother you about it.”

“I do owe ye an explanation considering me actions at least,” she replied with a huff as she looked at the floor and flicked her tail.

One explanation later…

“...I see now,” Thiasus replied with a sympathetic tone, then looked at her with a more firm expression, “I completely understand why you reacted that way when you saw children’s lives being threatened. However, please keep in mind that the battlefield is no place for your emotions. If you don’t keep them in check, and allow your power to overtake you…I hate to say it like this: But you will likely end up causing just as much, if not more pain than you did on that day. Not just to those around you, but yourself as well.”

Mist looked down at the floor with a shameful frown. “...I know. Or rather, I know better now than I did back then. But I was a damn fool for allowin’ myself to get like that. I’m sorry.”

Thiasus shook his head. “Don’t apologize to me. While I appreciate the sentiment, you need to think about how you want to continue living and not stay focused on your past. Trust me--though my situation isn’t quite the same as yours--I know what it’s like to endure emotional trauma. You have to be strong enough to not let it control you. Especially if you want to be a soldier. Understand?”

“Yikes. Ye sure don’t mince words…” Mist chuckled weakly as she rubbed her hoof behind her head.

“No. I don’t. I can’t afford to,” the buck replied stoically, “Now are you going to grow up or continue to allow the mistakes of a child determine what you can and can’t do?”

“I…”

Thiasus cut her off, “...get some rest and think about it,” he walked onwards towards his room in the palace, “...goodnight, Misty.”

“...yeah. Goodnight, Thi,” she muttered under her breath as she heard his door close, then retired to her own room for the night.

Chapter 188

After everyone had gotten some rest over the next few days, a ceremony was held in honor of all their hard work. During which, Blue, Mist, and Thiasus were all given ceremonial robes and medals by Chang to show his and his citizen’s gratitude for all that they did.

“...god this is awkward as shit,” Blue muttered through a forced smile as he waved at the crowd of cheering primates.

“Agreed. Being showered in praise for such horrid work is a bit alien to me,” Thiasus commented with a sigh.

“That and I actually hate crowds--”

Meanwhile, Mist had a more solemn tone in her voice. “Argh...I really don’t deserve this. I laid waste to an entire city and now I’m bein’ labelled a hero?”

From nearby, Chang would offer some of his own words of wisdom. “Consider that if we did not act, more children would have been put in danger. I’m not saying that you should revel in the destruction, but you should feel proud of yourself for completing such a difficult task that I put you up to in the first place.”

“...suppose that’s true, yes,” Mist relented and agreed. The praise from the audience would still take some getting used to, but so long as she could come to terms with her past, she was more than willing to accept it for now.

Several hours later, at Lee’s family manor…

“I want to personally thank you all for your assistance,” the primate woman bowed to them, “You’ve essentially saved my home, and helped me realize what I need to do with myself.”

“We did?” Blue tilted his head.

“You did. I’m afraid I won’t be returning to Equestria with you because I have an obligation to my own kind.”

“That’s understandable,” Thiasus nodded, “You have a duty to fulfill as a noble to your people. I don’t blame you.”

“Ye…ye wanna make up for what ye did in the past,” Mist added sympathetically, “Trust me, I know how ye feel.”

Before they would leave, Lee would go around and give each of them a tight hug to show her gratitude. “I won’t forget the time we’ve spent together,” she assured them all, “And be sure to return at any time you wish. I will ensure your visits will be handled with the utmost care by my most esteemed staff members.”

“Appreciated,” Thiasus replied. “I’m more than interested in conducting more diplomatic relations between the deer and monkeyfolk.”

“Yeah uh, I’ll be making sure no more slave-trade fuckers bring anymore dragons through here,” Blue asserted with a grin, “Otherwise, yeah you’ll def see me back here.”

“Someone’s gonna hafta make sure to water the grass for ye,” Mistwalker commented with a snide tone, indicating that she knew she’d have to come back at some point to pay her respects. “I’d be honored.”

As they made their goodbyes, generals Ban and Tai would appear to see them off with bows and waving as they left.

The operation was complete.

Meanwhile, back at the university in Canterlot…

“Yo, Nebula,” Luster Dawn knocked on his dorm room door and called out to him, “I’ve received word from the East.”

“Eh? How are things down there?” Nebula answered the door and walked outside of his room, not allowing the mare to see inside.

Dawn raised a brow but chose not to question it. “Everything’s been contained according to our spies. We can officially start relaxing for Winter Break and Hearth’s Warming.”

“Good,” Nebula replied as he started trotting ahead, “I’m kinda tired after that whole Canterlot invasion. It’s a shame--had Grimrose been there, she would’ve stopped them much quicker.”

“Huh?” Dawn looked at him out of confusion. “Wait, where is she anyway?”

“Off on a diplomacy mission to a tribe of unicorns on another continent. Apparently she’s going to meet with someone named Oleander.” He sighed. “Things are way more boring with her not around, but it’s understandable. Gotta make money somehow.”

Dawn would sneer at the stallion and tease him. “Awww…looks like somepony’s missing his marefriend,” she stuck out her tongue.

“Oh piss all the way off,” Nebula replied with an eye roll, then pouted, puffing out his cheeks.

“Kidding, kidding,” she cleared up her intent. “You two seem like you’re made for each other, but I get why detaching might be a little tough.”

Nebula shook his head and had a grin on his face. “It’s fine. I know you were just playing around. Besides, I’ve been focusing my attention elsewhere in the meantime.”

‘Is that why you didn’t let me see inside your room?’ Dawn thought to herself in silence.

“Oh?” she spoke aloud, “What are you thinking about, Nebula?”

“Well ever since that incident with the hippogriff I couldn’t save…I’ve had some time to think.” His voice became rather solemn for a moment as Dawn glanced at him with a sympathetic frown.

“I see…what are you going to do?”

Nebula’s voice turned stoic and determined as he glanced ahead to the band hall of the university. “...I’m going to put on a show that this city won’t forget.”

Chapter 189

“Okay genius. What’s the plan?” Dawn playfully asked as she leaned against the wall. “The choir hall hasn’t been used in years, so I don’t think they’ll show up for just anyone.”

Nebula glared at her with a flat expression as his ears flopped downwards. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” His ears then perked up as he approached the hall of old instruments. “I’m basically going to put on a show to help everyone get over their troubles after all the crap we’ve gone through. Perfect in time for Hearth’s Warming.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “I suppose I’ll have to help you. I don’t want you embarrassing yourself in front of your marefriend.” she added with a snicker.

“You’re kidding, right? Oh by the way, how are you getting along with Star Tracker?”

“Uhh…” the mare idly shuffled her hooves on the floor. “Can we change the subject--”

“Oh now look who’s the nervous one,” Nebula teased her, causing the mare scrunch up her face and look away.

“...touche,” she muttered under her breath, then walked up to the stallion as he went through what appeared to be a closet of old instruments. “But seriously, I actually genuinely do want to help you here. I actually am not very well-versed in the art of music.”

“I know--”

“Damn, dude--”

“No I literally am aware,” Nebula levitated various instruments including horns and violins outside of the closet. “I was the top woodwind player in the Academy when I was younger. Not much has changed since then. Everyone’s always too hung up on their raw magic power that they’ve forgotten how to have fun.”

Dawn let out a small sigh. “Don’t I know it. Then again, I guess that’s why the Princess so desperately wants me to make friends.”

“Canterlot itself is also pretty stuffy. The ponies here need to lighten up a little, yeah?” Nebula had sorted every instrument by type. “Even though we’re mercs, we can do more than just go out and fulfill contracts, can’t we?”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” Dawn agreed as she levitated one of the violins with her magic. “This idea of yours doesn’t sound half bad anyway. But we’re gonna need a few more band members if we’re to make a real performance. Not to mention, where will we even play?”

“The square in Canterlot where most of the decorations are. It’ll be perfect.” He smirked as he heard the beautiful notes play off of the violin strings from Luster Dawn’s magic. “Hey, not bad at all.”

“You think so?” Dawn’s ear flicked as she opened her eyes, “I don’t really dabble in music that much.”

“I’ve heard worse, and that’s all that matters,” Nebula consoled her as he levitated some of the instruments towards the door. “Come on. You bring the strings, I’ll bring the woodwinds.”

“...Is that really all we need?” Dawn questioned Nebula’s intent, but the stallion had already walked off. There was no point in trying to stop him now when he was already deadset on something, and Dawn knew better than to push him.

Out in the middle of Canterlot’s snowy square….

Hearth’s Warming decorations were set up and lined across each home and building. Ponies and other creatures were all dressed up in coats, hats, mittens, and other articles of clothing.

Nebula had grabbed himself a black scarf and a green pair of earmuffs. With his flute prepared, he started to play a few notes with the other instruments set up nearby. “Perfect. Now we just need to see if anyone else is willing to join in.”

“This is your plan?” Dawn asked as she appeared next to him with an orange scarf and yellow earmuffs. “Drag out the instruments and start to play music in the square with the vain hope of someone joining in?”

But Nebula continued to play sweet notes of melodious nature from his flute, earning the attention of some of the passersby.

“Come on, Dawn,” he paused to glance over at her, “It’s the holidays. We need to lighten up a little, don’tcha think?”

Dawn watched as Nebula continued to play his flute, and couldn’t exactly disagree. Eventually, she found herself playing along and strumming the violin with her magic.

Nebula would eventually be proven right, as other students from the academy would all begin to show and expressed a desire to join in and play music. This in turn, would give the symphony an even greater melody with the accompanying horns and string instruments.

The result was a sweet symphony that had the ponies and various creatures of Canterlot stopping by to listen to and even dance to the beautiful music that the group was spreading through the air. It was exactly what the population needed after the devastating demonic invasion at the hands of those hostile primate summoners.

“See?” Nebula commented in between notes, “This is just what everyone needed, Dawn.”

“...yeah. You’re right,” she agreed as she continued to play along with him and the rest of the group.

Their efforts would bear fruit, as the rest of Canterlot would start to bob their heads and some would even sing along with the music. It was the perfect way to recover after such a tragic event affected the opulent city.

school 190

As they continued to play, Nebula would notice a young hippogriff filly in the audience. The very same one whom he had saved during the attack. The one who had lost her father. She had been listening to them play music and was actively humming along in the audience.

His expression softened as soon as he saw her, and he’d continue playing without a hitch.

Meanwhile…

“Seems as if the local band has decided to play,” Fang commented from where he stood in a nearby cafe. “And Nebula is the forefront of it.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Spearklip added from nearby, “But I also heard that our new friend has decided to stay behind, huh?”

“It appears so, yes,” Fang replied with a sigh.

They had recently been informed of the fact that Lee had chosen to stay behind in her home territory of Wukong. As much as they were happy for her, they couldn’t deny how they felt inside over it.

“I’ll be frank,” the dog man continued, “It’s great knowing that she’s settled her issues at home with her family, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t miss her.”

“Agreed, yeah,” the zebra mare added, “Things were pretty lively with that monkey lady around. Guess we’ll have to restructure our team before our next mission, huh?”

Fang nodded. “Correct. Though I have a feeling that it will be a while before we get a new mission.”

“What makes you say that?”

“After a major international event, I wouldn’t be surprised if criminal activity died down for a while due to both nations being on high alert. Caninia and Abyssinia are still recovering from the planned terrorist attack by Odu as well.”

“Ah, yeah that’s right,” Spear agreed, “Well in that case, I can see us getting some off time especially thanks to the holidays being a thing. Planning on doing anything special?”

Fang chuckled with his tail wagging. “Hmph. I’m not much for the festivities personally. After dealing with celebrating every single one of my sibling’s birthdays, it’s become tiresome to remember each and every date.”

“I hear that. Back home, we only really acknowledged the important ones,” Spear reminisced with her hoof on the table, “But not everyone really thought the same way when it came to that stuff.”

“Interesting…I’m curious to know more about your tribe, Spear. You haven’t really discussed it very much.”

Spear rubbed her hoof against the back of her neck. “Yeah…I don’t really feel like getting into that yet.” Then she decided to change the subject. “...oh yeah. Have you seen Rufus around lately?”

“Ah, yes. I have--he’s been hanging out with a goblin saleswoman that has recently appeared in town,” Fang signed and looked away for a moment before a smile crept onto his face. “I have a feeling that he’s spending time with her as a way to cope.”

Spear remembered the exact details of Uziel’s grisly death and how shaken Rufus was after it all. “...yeah, I get you. Hope he’s able to get along well and move on.”

“I think he’ll be fine,” Fang replied, “That yak may not wish to admit it, but he’s just like his clan: Their hearts are tougher than any weapon you can find in reality.”

Meanwhile, at the goblin woman’s stand…

Rufus had just finished helping Matriel unload the last of her materials for her that were stuffed in heavy wooden barrels.

“Here ya go, ma’am.”

“Thank you, dear. But I really can manage from this point onwards,” Matriel urged him, “Go on. Have some fun. It’s your winter break is it not?”

“Y-yeah it is, but…” Rufus looked around, desperately trying to find something else to do, but was cut short by the goblin woman putting a hand on the side of his face.

“It’s okay,” she looked at him with gentle eyes, “I know you’re still hurting, but you need to keep going, okay? That’s what she’d want…”

Rufus looked at the older goblin woman and shut his eyes before nodding. “...yeah, you’re right. I should go take some time off, huh?”

“Yes,” Matriel agreed, “The heart won’t heal unless you allow it to. Don’t force yourself to feel any differently about it, understand?”

“...I understand, ma’am. Thanks.”

With that, the yak left her alone and went on to hang out with his friends at the nearby cafe. It seemed as if everything was stable and calm...for now.

Chapter 1

Having graduated from the Canterlot General Academy--partially thanks to an amazing presentation about one of the notable Royal Guardsponies--Atomic Nebula decided to move forward and attend further, college-level schooling at the School of Magic. His intent was to learn more defensive spells so that he could further aid in the protection of Canterlot and Equestria just like his idol--Tungsten Wolfe.

But perhaps luckily for him, he’d find himself greeted by a familiar instructor from his previous classes during his Year 11 and Year 12 days once he arrived on the campus near the Canterlot Library. It was a large, regal academy built with white stone on the outside and flanked by two statues of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Once Nebula got on the inside, he'd be greeted with regal, medieval brown hallways christened with regal red carpeting.

"Amazing..." he spoke in awe upon entering the academy. "Feels like the rest of my life has already begun here..." Then he paused, and blinked as a particular pony caught his eye, "...Professor Hassium?” the young unicorn approached the elder one. “I didn’t think I’d see you here, sir.”

Professor Jascha Hassium. An instructor of arcane and runic arts whose lessons had been renowned far and wide for their ease of understanding. In spite of his age, he was a teacher that did his best to put himself on his student’s level in order to make things easier for them.

“Neither I you, young man,” the older stallion raised a brow as he looked at the younger one. “You’ve grown quite a lot since I last saw you. Look at you now--able to legally have a pint with your friends.”

Nebula shook his head while waving his hoof in a dismissive manner. “No way, sir. You know me. I’m not a drinker. But I appreciate the acknowledgement all the same.”

“I could’ve sworn you would’ve stuck with the choir,” Hassium replied as he started walking ahead, adjusting his monocle with his magic. “Are you certain this is what you want for yourself, son?”

“Of course, sir,” the young unicorn followed his former teacher dutifully, “Ponies like Tungsten inspired me to think for the well-being of myself as well as others. I can’t live comfortably knowing that his folks are risking their lives out there when I can do more, ya know?”

“Very elegant strategy, young lad,” the professor replied with a nod. “But let it be known that you aren’t forced to finish everything all at once. Take your time, and proceed with your assignments and missions at your own pace, understand? That report you gave me three years ago was one thing. If you wish to follow in Mr. Wolfe’s hoofsteps, you must act upon it.”

Nebula trotted along with a smile on his face--his freckles moving along with his cheeks. “Of course, sir. Can’t wait to learn even more from you.”

Unfortunately, Hassium had to inform Nebula of some less-than-stellar news. “Hm? Oh, I’m sorry, son. But it appears that I’m not the one leading your class. But, if you ever need help, I’ll most certainly do my best to assist you when I have free time.”

Nebula’s ears fell flat along with a small frown as the disappointment hit him. “Aw…” But, the positivity returned as soon as he realized something. “Well…guess I’ll have fun learning from someone new. Wonder who my teach is gonna be.”

“Ah, there she is now,” Hassium commented as a cherry-red unicorn mare rounded the corner.

Her mane was long and flowing with silky blond locks, which matched her curly tail. She wore a pair of half-rimmed blue glasses over her green eyes and her cutie mark was a spellbook.

“Greetings, Ms. Cayenne,” Hassium called out to her.

“Hello yourself, sir,” she replied as she approached the two, and pulled down her glasses to get a better look at the stallion next to the professor. “Is this handsome young stallion your brother? Cousin?”

“Uhh…” Nebula took a step back and rubbed the back of his head as he blushed with a nervous smile on his face. “...do I really look that mature?”

Professor Hassium chuckled and shook his head. “No, no. This is one of your new students, Ms. Cayenne.” The elder stallion turned to Nebula and explained, “Atomic Nebula--this is your instructor for your classes. This is Professor Cayenne Anise.”

The mare pouted her lips--seemingly disappointed at the fact that Nebula wasn’t a tad older. But she quickly exchanged that expression for a gentle smile. “Ah, I see now. You’re one of the new students. It’ll be a pleasure to have you. I’ve heard a lot from one of the Royal Guards about you. What was his name again…Tung…something…”

Nebula’s heart skipped a beat as he took a step towards her. “W-wait…you’re saying Tungsten spoke up on behalf of me?”

“That he did,” Cayenne replied with a nod, shooting him a snide, half-lidded expression. “I’ll be expecting quite a lot of things from you, young man. Not everyone gets a recommendation from one of the Royal Guards.”

“Y-yeah…” Nebula felt himself start to sweat as he looked upwards and to the left--still rubbing his hoof behind his head. “I um…I’ll do my best to live up to his expectations.”

Cayenne simply rolled her eyes with a smile as she walked onwards to her classroom. “I’ll be waiting for you. We start in fifteen minutes. Your dormitory is Epsilon.”

“Thanks!” Nebula took a deep breath, exhaling as soon as she was gone.

“Cat got your tongue, young man?” Hassium asked. “Or are you running a fever?”

“No, Professor. It’s just…her--”

Hassium would hold up his hoof and cut him off. “Ah. I see now. She is rather good-looking despite her age, yes? Ms. Cayenne used to be a model for Cosmare Magazine. After a while, she quit and decided to use her intellect to help mold young minds like yourself.”

With that knowledge, Nebula’s anxiety was lowered. “Ah. I see now. No wonder she’s so pretty. But I shouldn’t let that distract me from my work. I wanna become skilled enough to keep this place safe. The Elements of Harmony aren’t gonna be around forever.”

“Indeed they won’t,” Hassium agreed with a nod. “Ponies such as Pale Vestige--Equestria’s best detective--and your idol Tungsten Wolfe are prime examples of why we need to remain vigilant. After all, we don’t want a future in which all the ponies and creatures of the land have divided themselves…as is what occurred in the past,” he huffed with an annoyed flick of his tail.

In a bid to show his intelligence, Nebula brought up a quote that he figured would fit the situation. “After all, ‘Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ Right, sir?”

Hassium looked at Nebula and smiled before ruffling the unicorn’s mane with a hoof. “Ah. You remind me of when I was younger. Just remember to follow your teacher’s guidelines and don’t overextend yourself. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Nebula replied with a salute and started to strut towards his classroom. “See you later, yeah?”

“Have a good first day, my boy,” the professor waved as he left, then sighed to himself. “Such a high-spirited gentleman despite his situation at home. Very elegant indeed.”

Atomic Nebula made it to Cayenne Anise’s instruction room--a large, open classroom with multiple rows of seats that were separated by pairs at wooden tables. At the front of it, a chalkboard on wheels had its place next to the mare in question who was busy organizing documents via magic.

Most students would be nervous on their first day, but Nebula? Those butterflies in his stomach were from excitement.

But before he went inside, it wouldn’t take too long for him to find someone familiar in the hallway…

“Aw, my dawg!” a solid blue dragon in his early 20s approached Nebula as he took his seat. His raspy voice was impossible to mistake. “It’s my choir leader. This’ll make things much easier! How are ya?”

Nebula looked up at him and chuckled. “Blue Blazes? You son of a gun--”

The gentlemen gave each other a claw-hoofshake--though it came off as something more akin to an arm-wrestling match until they let go of each other.

“How ya been, man?” Blue asked as he let go, “It’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

“Yeah almost like I’ve been transferred or something,” Nebula joked in return, “Can’t wait to get started--”

Thud.

They were interrupted by the sound of someone being shoved against a wall.

“...”

The guys hurried and took a look around the nearest corner, over to see a female griffon pushing a pegasus mare against the wall.

“...and I want it done by tomorrow, understand?” the griffon hissed.

The pegasus mare, a gothic-looking pony whose eyes remained half-lidded with a stoic, neutral expression on her face replied with a droning tone, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“That’s a good bitch,” the griffon dropped the pegasus and left her be before flying down one of the halls and out of sight.

“Sonuva!--you okay?” Blue was ready to breathe fire, but quickly switched his priority to the victim of bullying.

The mare stood up and spread her wings to dust herself off. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Nebula walked up to her to get a better look, and immediately recognized her. “Wait…Grimrose? It’s you?”

“Atomic Nebula,” she replied with the same tone as before, “I’m happy to see you here. Don’t worry. That griffon was simply asking for something, and I have to make good on what I promised. I’m used to being treated that way, so don’t let it concern you.”

Blue wasn’t taking the situation at face value though. “No way,” he huffed as he blew smoke from his nostrils while cracking his knuckles. “I’m gonna kick her ass. Wait here.”

“Hang on,” Nebula held a hoof in front of the dragon. “We need to stay calm and be rational. Today’s our first day, so let’s try not to burn everything down, alright?”

“Hmph,” Blue simply huffed as he put his hands behind his head. “Whatever. I’m gonna go get ready for class.”

As soon as Blue left, Grimrose looked at Nebula.

“Thank you both for checking on me,” she droned, “But I don’t wish to get anyone in trouble on their first day.”

Nebula sighed with reluctance. “I mean…fair enough, I suppose. Still, if something’s going on between you and someone else, then don’t be afraid to speak up. I’d hate to lose you.”

“You care about me, huh?” she went on, expression still unchanging, “Thank you for that, Atomic.”

“No problem. It’s what friends are for. Come on. Our first class is starting and I have to get down to dorm Epsilon.”

“You have dorm Epsilon too?” Grimrose asked with the slightest hint of vague excitement in her voice.

“Yeah, why?” Nebula paused, wondering how that was possible…

Grimrose reached into her saddlebag and showed him her designated Dormitory Key. “The dormitories are co-educational. Everyone is together regardless of gender.”

“...”

Chapter 2

As Atomic Nebula would soon find out, some seeds of discord--not the entity--would be sewn within Canterlot itself. By whom? How? That was the question that had yet to be answered.
Everyone took their seats in the classroom and Cayenne prepared to give her first lesson by levitating what appeared to be a mason jar on her desk.

“Alright, everyone,” Cayenne called out as she adjusted her glasses, “To start our lesson in understanding nature, we shall start with a simple spell or hex to transform this simple jar into a vase filled with flowers. All non-unicorns should have the hex required to perform the spell at their desks. Begin whenever you’re ready. Remember, the basic idea of this spell is to understand that energy needs to be substituted in an equal and opposite manner. Tis the law of Equivalent Exchange after all.”

Atomic Nebula and Blue Blazes were paired up at one desk together while Grimrose could be seen sitting next to a changeling student.

“Alright. Let’s…” the gold aura around Nebula’s horn shone as he started to cover the jar in a magical burst of light. Eventually, with enough hard concentration from the stallion…

POOF!

It became a brown, ceramic vase filled with sunflowers. “Alright. I did it. How’re you getting along, Blue?”

Blue Blazes was busy rolling the pencil between his right claw, while his left claw rested atop his head. The dragon man didn’t respond until Nebula nudged him with his hoof.

“Bud?”

“Huh? Oh…sorry,” he huffed, “Just thinking about that griffon bitch and what she did to Grim. If I see her doing that to anyone else I’ll…” His claw that held the pencil clutched it with enough force that it suddenly snapped, and poofed into lead dust.

Nebula put a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder. “Something wrong, Blue?”

Whether it was due to the current nature of the full classroom, or his own nerves, Blue rejected the idea of sharing such information. “...nah. It’s fine. Let’s get this assignment done.”

“Are you boys having some trouble?” Cayenne asked in a concerned tone as she trotted up to them. “You look a tad irritated, Mr. Blazes. Are you running a fever?” She paused. “...then again, I’m not sure if dragons can catch fevers. Maybe a cold?”

Blue quickly denied her claims and refocused on the assigned lesson. “Nah, don’t worry. I’m working on this hex right now. It’s really interesting…”

With her green magical aura, Cayenne levitated some pencils onto their desk. “Okay. Well if you’re certain. Just remember, your next lesson is going to be with Professor Hassium where you’ll get assigned your Familiars. And then, Professor Bonehardt will test your physical fitness. After which, your evaluations will be calculated in terms of what actions you can perform. But if any of you experience any discomfort, report to Doctor Globin immediately.”

“Got it,” Blue replied hastily and furiously wrote down the symbols with a determined, focused glint in his eyes.

“Yes ma’am,” Nebula replied with a respectful nod.

Cayenne smiled in response and started walking away. “Good. You boys let me know if you need help. Now…anyone else?”

Nebula couldn’t help but worry for Blue. The possibility that his friend could have more trouble hidden beneath the surface, almost like a mask…

“Done,” the dragon scoffed as he wrote the hex and transformed his jar into a glittering, sapphire vase filled with venus flytraps. “That was easy. Gimme somethin’ hard next time teach.”

“You don’t really mean that, do you?” Nebula commented with an ironic grin on his face, “It’s only getting harder from here.”

Blue put on a small smile. “Yeah yeah, I’m kidding mostly. Even so, I just wanna show that I’m more than just some violent dragon dude.”

“I think you’ll have that chance no problem,” Nebula said to comfort him, “Come on. Our next class with Professor Hassium is starting soon.”

Once they finished up their transmutation class, everyone started making their way to the outdoor magic field where they would begin the summoning of Familiars.

Though, on his way there, Nebula passed by someone who looked to be in need of some help.

“Beat it loser,” the female griffon from before hissed as she stepped over what appeared to be a Kirin mare that dropped her books.

“Grrrgh…” Blue snarled and his claws twitched as he balled them into fists…

Nebula sought to help the mare by using his magic to levitate and re-organize her items. Then, he extended a hoof to help her. “You okay, miss?”

The kirin mare had a bronze body color, a grassy green mane, and a rather wide body shape that resulted in a larger rear-end than most of her kind. “I-I am…” she replied nervously as she placed her glasses on her face. The lenses were so thick that they gave off an opaque appearance, rendering her eyes hidden from view. Despite this, she was able to see clearly. “...oh, uhm…hi. My name is Mei Bee…” she muttered shyly upon laying eyes on Nebula. “...Um…w-we’re in the same dorm block together, huh? Epsilon?”

“Look like it,” he replied with a smile.

“Same here,” Blue flashed his dorm key from the index and middle fingers of his left claw.

The kirin mare blushed and started to trot in place. “Oh…g-good…I’m glad I’ll be able to see more of you. I-I mean…I gotta go!” she hurriedly ran off without another word.

Nebula rubbed the back of his neck. “O…kay then. What was that all about?”

“Pfft,” Blue scoffed as he leaned against a nearby wall, “She’s into you, brother. You’ve got those adorable-looking freckles that make girls go crazy.”

“I do?” Nebula muttered as he conjured a mirror to look into and inspected his face. “Are they not that common around here?”

“I think it might have to do with your genes,” Blue commented as he started walking again. “You must have some good facial genetics to get that much attention already. I’m almost jealous.”

Nebula scoffed and made the mirror disappear as he started to follow Blue out to the field. “Please. You make it sound as if I’m some protagonist in some Eastern comic book. Life doesn’t always work out like that. Now where’s Grimrose…?”

“Here.”

“Ah!”

The gothic mare had rounded a corner, looking as stoic as ever. “I’m excited to get my hooves on a Familiar. I hope mine ends up being a demon or some sort of hell beast. How about you guys?”

Once Nebula calmed down from the scare, he continued walking. “...honestly, I have no idea. I just hope I get something that’ll work with me and not against me.”

“I just want something cool,” Blue commented, “Like maybe a chimera, or a tatzlwurm, or even something legendary like Bastet. Imagine…”

“Your luck needs to be extremely high to summon somebody with that strength,” Nebula commented with a chuckle, “Best to keep your expectations in check.”

“...I wonder if we can summon dead historical figures to be our familiars?” Grimrose wondered aloud. “Now that would be interesting.”

Both young men simply stared at her in confusion.

Chapter 3

Once outside, the elder unicorn would present everyone with a scroll and explain their exact usage…

“These scrolls contain everything you need to gain access to your Familiars. Your familiar will be a reflection of yourself and depend entirely upon your inner strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and charms. Ensure you treat your familiar with respect and it will do the same for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” all of the students sounded off at the same time

“Good. Allow me to show you my own familiar before we begin…” With a flash from his horn, Hassium would conjure a rune from the ground in front of himself which drew the attention of everyone’s eyes…

POOF!

With a flash of gold, almost angelic magic, a giant serpent with red eyes, white scales, and feathered wings would appear and bow its head. It was easily six meters (or 20ft) long with a wingspan of about 9 meters (or 30ft) wide.

“Wooooaaaah…”

“Siiiiick!”

“Damn…”

The students expressed various reactions of excitement as they gazed upon the regal creature.

“This is a Quetzalcoatl,” Hassium explained as he petted the serpent on its head with his hoof. “One of many legendary creatures that roam the lost cities of Mexicolt. Your familiars may come from there, or anywhere else in this dimension. Just make sure you treat them with care and they’ll do the same for you.”

“That’s amazing!” Blue roared from his place in the outdoor class, “And here I thought Quetz’s hated everyone else. Guess I was wrong about that. But I’ve got so many questions.”

“Me too!” a yak student called out--a young bull. “If I can summon something like that, then I can take on all the best missions and show off how strong I am!”

“Not if I do it first,” a hippogriff mare called out from nearby as she opened her scroll. “What’s the plan, teach?”

Hassium de-summoned his familiar, sending the serpent back through the magical portal. “Just be cautious now. A familiar can take many forms. Whether it be a plant, animal, demon, or even the spirit of a pony or other creature from a long time ago.”

“So it’s possible to summon a wraith, ghost, or shadow creature?” Grimrose spoke up with a vague hint of interest in her voice. “I like the sound of that. I hope I get someone who’s vengeful and filled with spite.”

A few students glanced at her with wide eyes and shuddered before turning back to their own scrolls.

“Yeesh, what a weirdo,” the hippogriff muttered, much to the chagrin of the pegasus.

Nebula meanwhile, sat on his haunches as he took a close look at the scroll. “Hm…alright, guess there’s not much to it but to do it.”

Around him, other students had already began to summon their familiars.

The yak bull had summoned a small wyvern.

“Woah…small dragon with no wings!” the yak cheered, “I’m gonna enjoy training you. I think I’ll call you…Flame!”

The wyvern landed on the ground and bowed before the yak, to which the bull petted him on the head.

The hippogriff mare had summoned a jackalope.

“Ooh! A bunny with horns! I love it!” she squealed as it began to hop around her and jumped onto her head. “We’re gonna be the best duo here, I just know it!”

Blue observed the other two students and their familiars before taking a deep breath.

“Alright. No more Scardey-Blaze…come on…” he opened the scroll and wrote the appropriate symbols upon it…

And the result that appeared out of it--

A large, four-legged lizard with varying blue-ish-green scales It was easily the size of an alligator but with a distinct purple tongue.

“Woah…hang on…teach! This is a Basilisk, right?”

“Correct, Mr. Blazes,” Hassium called out from afar, “Known as the king of serpents, this lizard boasts deadly venom. Be careful with it now, understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Blue called out and picked the lizard up, who tilted its head in Blue’s direction. “We’re gonna run this place.”

The basilisk simply nodded its head.

Meanwhile, Grimrose had already summoned her familiar…who was lying limp on the ground.

“I think mine is already dead,” she droned in her usual, stoic manner as she prodded it with her hoof. “It’s got these weird strings attached to it.”

Hassium trotted over to her to inspect her familiar…

As it turned out, Grimrose had summoned a pony-shaped creature with no eyes and no mouth. It was a solid brown color with what appeared to be cyan strings appearing out of its back.

“Ah. This is no ordinary familiar,” the professor continued as he levitated the pony-shaped creature, “This is a golem of sorts. And these strings appear to be similar to the ones that are used to control marionettes.”

“That’s my familiar?” Grimrose muttered while staring at it, eyes still half-lidded, “A puppet?”

“It would appear to be so. Hm…” The professor placed the golem down and made a suggestion, “Try attaching the threads to your wingtips. It might react to your innate magical properties. Familiars appear before their summoners for a reason that often reflects the inner self.”

“Understood,” Grimrose leaned down and grasped each one of the strings with her pegasus wings, flexing them akin to fingers…which caused the golem to get up and start moving. “Woah…it really is a puppet,” she commented with a hint of joy in her voice.

The other students couldn’t help but watch as she controlled the golem, and eventually it started to move on its own. Turning to Grimrose and kneeling before her.

“...I like this,” she remarked, “Not at all what I was expecting, but I like this.”

Nebula watched as everyone else had already taken control of their summons, leaving him the sole one who hadn’t begun yet.

“What if it’s a chimera? A manticore? Cerberus? Orthrus? Loa? Hayataro? So many potential options…”

With a nervous, jittery glow of his horn, the indigo stallion levitated the scroll and activated the summoning ritual. The stallion kept his hoof in front of his eyes out of fear of what might appear…

POOF!

Once the summoning was finished, he removed his hoof, then slowly opened one eye. Then the other eye…

…and saw a small furry creature wearing a round, straw hat with a pointed tip similar to those found in the Far East.

“Hm?” Nebula looked down at it, and noticed it was holding what appeared to be a recorder--a wind instrument similar to a flute but held vertically when played instead of horizontally. “Hello?”

The little creature pushed the hat down onto its back, revealing the face of a badger-like creature with beady, brown eyes.

“Oooh, he’s adorable!” the hippogriff mare called out from nearby with her jackalope cradled in her arms like an infant.

“Very cute indeed,” the yak bull added, still tending to his wyvern. “Easily cutest summon here.”

“Hey, he is,” Blue approached and squatted next to the furry creature with his basilisk on his back, “Guess he takes after his summoner, eh?” he teased with a grin towards Nebula.

“Ehhh?” Nebula gasped, “Whaddya mean by that?”

“The professor said that the familiars often reflect the will of the summoner,” Grimrose added, “It’s likely adorable because you are, Atomic.”

The unicorn stallion blushed and shook his head. “Naw…you all are just screwing with me…right? There’s no way this badger thing is cute because of me…is there?”

“She’s right to a fault,” Hassium approached, causing the other students to back away, “Give him some space, everyone. Hm…though I wouldn’t say this is a badger at all. It’s actually a masked palm civet. And magical civets can only mean one thing: You’ve summoned a Mujina. Isn’t that right, little one?”

The civet nodded its head and bowed to Nebula, offering up the ivory-colored recorder to his summoner.

The stallion paused and looked at his cutie mark--a bar scale with multiple music notes. Did his familiar already know of his special talent? “Oh, for me?” Nebula accepted it with a smile, “Thanks, little Civ. Er, Mujina. What’s a Mujina, professor?”

“A Mujina is a legendary creature from the Far East,” Hassium went on, “They often appear as helpless ponies and grant fortune to those who are generous and kindhearted enough to grant them aid. While inflicting misfortune and trickery upon those who mistreat them.” The unicorn leaned over to see that the civet had already poured them both a cup of hot tea seemingly from nowhere. “Hm? Oh, thank you, friend.”

Everyone watched closely as the professor levitated, and sipped from the cup…and nothing happened.

“Quite an interesting taste,” he noted the tea’s flavor while licking his lips. “I don’t believe these leaves are native to this region. Very interesting indeed.”

Nebula took the other cup and sipped it. “Hm…really good! This’ll be great to have during wintertime when it gets cold. Thanks, little guy.”

The mujina replied with grateful little chitters as it scampered up Nebula’s body and took solace upon his back.

“I do have to admit,” Hassium went on, “It is quite the sweet little thing, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me,” Nebula agreed while petting it on the head. "

As everyone started to spend more time with their familiars…

...a certain griffoness was watching from a nearby classroom and looking out of the open window.

“Tch…not that cute. No one would be giving him that attention if he wasn’t attractive. Pony culture, I swear…”

“My my,” a male diamond dog student with white fur and black spots similar to a dalmatian spoke up from nearby, his voice slithery and cryptic with a sinister aura, “Ever the spiteful one, aren’t we, Gaea?”

“Shut it you feculent mutt,” she hissed while breaking the lead of her pencil from the force she applied with her claw.

The canid simply gave a wheezing chuckle as he resumed his assignment. “Touched a nerve there, did I?”

Chapter 4

When it was time for everyone’s mandated lunch break, the students were given a full hour to roam Canterlot in order to get lunch for themselves. Luckily, many of the local restaurants were offering deals and specials to students on behalf of the lunch program that Princess Twilight enacted.

With their familiars de-summoned, Nebula’s class headed out. The unicorn himself trotted along until he neared Restaurant Row…

“Hm…”

That’s when the smell of pizza caught his attention. “Hm. That smells nice.” Following his nose, Nebula continued until he arrived at what looked like an old-world bistro. A rustic place that gave regional scents of--

“Bitaly. Hey, I remember this place. I think Tungsten ordered pizza for us from here once,” he muttered as he walked in, and was greeted by a pony that somehow knew him.

“Oh hey. How ya doin’,” a tall, wide-bodied earth pony mare with a thick, heavy Hooflyn accent who stood behind a register next to a display case filled with various regional desserts. She had a cream-colored body, brown eyes, a brown mane and tail, and her cutie mark was a set of parsley leaves. “Ain’tcha name Nebula or somethin’?”

“...yes, that’s me?” Nebula replied hesitantly, as he slowed to a stop. “...but I don’t recall ever setting hoof in here before. How do you know me?”

“The guards routinely come around here when they off-duty, bud,” the mare went on while tapping the side of her face, “Which one…it was a silva-colored guy with these burns all ovah him.”

Nebula immediately knew who she was referring to. “Tungsten Wolfe?” he asked while stepping forward once more. “Royal Guard #74! He’s the best!”

“Yeah das him,” she replied with a nod and turned around. The mare then trotted to the kitchen and raised her voice so she could continue to speak with him as she walked off, “Said you’d be comin’ in for lunch and paid for ya ahead of time, so what wouldja like, sugah?”

“Really?” Nebula tilted his head as he looked up at the menu. “That’s nice of him. I’ll have to make sure I thank him later. And uh…huh. What’s a calzone? Looks very interesting.”

“Basically a folded pizza, hon. That whatcha want?” she asked from the kitchen.

Nebula closed the gap by walking through the place where he’d see a few other patrons enjoying their lunch at diner-style tables with red and white tablecloth. The young stallion’s eyes went wide as his nose twitched from the various smells that filled his head.

“Man how interesting…” he muttered, then looked up at the mare in the kitchen. “Oh, uh--before I continue, mind if I get your name?”

“Prezzemola, sweetie,” she replied with a smile, “But since you’re cute, you can call me Prez.”

Nebula chuckled bashfully in response. “Oh uh…thank you, Ms. Prez. Anyhow…I think I’ll try that calzone. With a sunflower salad on the side. And some cider to go with it--er, non-alcoholic, please.”

“Good choice! I’ll have that right out for ya in a bit, okay?” Prezzemola said as she scribbled his order down on paper with a pencil between her teeth. “Have a seat anywhere, ‘kay, Nebula?”

“Got it. And thank you.” He replied with a smile as he took a seat at an empty table and took a look around the restaurant, noting the pictures of various ponies and landmarks from Bitaly including the leaning tower.

“Interesting…” he muttered as he looked over everything on display, “This could serve as a good research report for an upcoming assignment I have.”

Just then, two more students from Canterlot College would make their appearance. Two mares. One, a pale-purple unicorn with a brown mane that featured small streaks of blue cutting through it. The other, a cyan unicorn mare with a reddish-brown mane. They were both wearing white and gold cheerleader uniforms--the colors of Canterlot itself.

“Hey, Ms. Prez. We’ll take our usual when you get a chance,” said the purple one with a hint of a Trotland accent in her voice.

“Gotcha. Gimme a bit, yeah?” Prezzemola shouted from the kitchen.

Then, the cyan mare noticed Nebula. “Oh hey, is that one of the new freshmen?”

“...don’t embarrass him--or yourself--”

“Heyyyyy!” the cyan mare quickly abandoned her purple friend. The latter of which slapped her forehead with her hoof out of shame as her friend left her side.

Nebula blinked while looking at the notes he had already taken thus far with a levitated pencil, noting how some of his writing felt blurry. “Hrm…gah. It’s a bad day when you can’t read your own penmanship…”

The cyan mare sat at the table with him. “Hey! You’re one of the new guys, huh?”

“Oh…” he looked up, staring at the unicorn for a moment until the blurry state of his vision went away and he could see just one of her instead of three. “Yes. My name is Atomic Nebula. Nice to meet you. I assume you’re on Canterlot’s Cheer Squad, yes?”

“We totes are,” she replied with a smug smile while looking at her friend over Nebula’s shoulder and raising her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“Hm? ‘We’?” Nebula asked, wondering who she could be referring to.

The purple mare simply rolled her eyes and followed her friend over. “Hey. I’m Lily Love and this bimbo is Sweet Curd.”

“Now that’s just harsh, isn’t it?” Sweet stuck out her tongue at her friend. “Just wanted to greet one of our new Canterlot Alumni. Is that so wrong?”

“It isn't when you’re a complete and utter numpty,” Lily sighed and looked at Nebula. “I’m sorry in advance.”

Nebula shook his head. “Oh it’s no problem.”

“So how’s your first day been so far?” Sweet asked.

“Well…had it’s ups and downs…”

“...What’s wrong?” Lily asked with a concerned tone as she took a seat next to Sweet.

Nebula would go on to explain the situation with the griffoness in regards to the way she bullied others…

“Ugh…seriously?” Sweet rolled her eyes, “That crap’s so played out.”

“You’re telling me,” Lily groaned, “Clearly that griffon chick hasn’t dropped off her bad habits from high school. It’s a joke, innit?”

“Agreed. But I’m not sure how to approach her,” Nebula sighed, “I don’t wanna snap and attack her to defend myself, but if I have to…”

“Then that’s on her,” Sweet folded her hooves and turned her nose up, “If a grown-ass lady like herself can’t treat other people with respect, then she’s gonna catch it. Just imagine your magic like an arcade game.”

“...excuse me?”

“Rated E--for everyone.”

Lily shook her head. “What Sweet means is, if she attacks any of us, we’re going to defend ourselves and fight back if need be. Then report it. Just make sure you look out for your friends in your Dorm Block, eh?”

“Of course,” Nebula replied, and realized that they were a bit older than he was, meaning that they’ve likely experienced this before.

“Oh yeah and stock up on condoms,” Sweet teased him with half-lidded eyes, “You’re in co-ed dorms, so you’ll need to protect your c--”

ZAP!

With a flash of Lily’s horn, a zipper appeared over Sweet’s mouth. “...fookin’ ‘ell. I’m sure the lad knows what a rubber is. Don’t embarrass him. This is why I never go out with you,” she muttered while shaking her head in further disappointment.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Nebula retorted with a confident tone, “I’m not remotely interested in anyone.”

Poof!

Sweet used her horn to remove the zipper from her lips and glared daggers at Lily. “Uncalled for.”

“Eat my arse,” Lily casually snapped back.

Sweet rolled her eyes and looked at Nebula. “Anyway. Famous last words. No heterosexual college boy keeps to himself with the imbalance of mares around.”

“Just be careful, yeah?” Lily added, “Don’t catch any bumps or knock anyone up. The things I’ve seen still gimme nightmares, mate.”

“Trust me, I’m more than aware of the risks,” Nebula retained his confidence, “...but I will make sure I keep some protection on standby.”

The cheerleader mares got up from the table.

“Good. Best of luck to ye,” Lily said as she trotted away.

Sweet waited until Lily was out of earshot to whisper to Nebula. “For the record, a cute guy like you is gonna score big time. Tell me all about it when you--WAGH!”

Lily force-grabbed Sweet with her magical aura while carrying two bags in her magic at the same time. “We’re leaving, mate.”

“Hey! Put me down, dammit! At least lemme get some of my sandwich!” Sweet squirmed and yelped from within the magical hold as they both left.

“...what an interesting pair,” Nebula muttered. “Still…can’t get careless.”

Chapter 5

Once he was finished with lunch--quite a delicious one at that--Nebula gave his thanks to Prezzemola’s cooking skills.

“Mm. That was amazing!” he complimented her on his way out as he passed the front counter, leaving behind a few bits for her as a tip. “Thanks a ton. I’m gonna need to eat like that more often.”

“Thanks, kiddo,” she replied as she accepted the bits, “And don’t be a strangah. Come back whenevah ya like. There’s a whole buncha stuff you ain’t tried yet. Here, take somethin’ for the road, eh?” She pushed a small brown bag of cannolis towards him.

“Ooh! Thanks!” Nebula gleefully accepted the bag via his magic. “I’ll do just that,” he smiled as he left the building, “But for now I gotta get back to class. Have a good day, Miss Prez!”

“Ey, you too, kiddo!”

Nebula began trotting back toward the Academy, marvelling at the flavors he had experienced back there not too long ago.

‘That calzone was amazing! It was like a folded pizza roll that was baked to perfection. And that salad was really great too. The olives and fontina cheese were fresh and popped like flavor bombs. Not to mention the cider was really good too. I’ll have to draft a report on that place sooner or later. And what’s in this bag, I wonder…”

Before he could reach the Academy, he was stopped by a familiar face.

“Look who it is,” an older earth pony stallion with a notably silver-gray color scheme called out to him. “How’s your first day in class, Nebula?”

“Tungsten?” he looked up and saw his role model standing in front of him. “It’s great for the most part. Aside from witnessing some immature high-school-age bullying from a griffon woman.”

“Is that so, eh?” Tungsten raised an eyebrow at such a thing. “Well. You know what to do. If someone is actin’ up, defend yourself if need be. At this stage of life, you gotta stand tall for yourself and others around you. Understand?”

“Of course,” Nebula replied with a nod. “I won’t allow her to harm any of my friends. But otherwise, I think I’m alright. Mostly everyone else I’ve come across has been rather helpful towards me, so I have nothing to worry about. We’re supposed to be getting our physical today, so I’m looking forward to that.”

“Good. Cuz once they get a feel for how strong you are, they gon’ send you on missions,” Tungsten added, “It’s how it was for me when I was yo age. Lucky for you, I might just be helpin’ ya’ll out…” Tungsten explained then shot him a smug smile.

“Wait, for real??” Nebula gasped, his eyes widening. “I might get to go on a mission with you, sir?”

Tungsten playfully ruffled the young stallion’s blonde mane with a hoof. “You never know. I’m takin’ time off from my Guard duties, but I might just volunteer to help ya’ll a few times. Just make sure you ready by the time I get down there.”

“Oh I will!” Nebula snapped back with a competitive smile on his face. “And then I’m gonna make something so epic, even you’ll be impressed!”

“Countin’ on it,” the guardstallion replied as he started walking onwards. “Now get on, kiddo. I’m headin’ off for lunch.”

“Oh hey, check out the Bitalian place down the road! Their food is great!”

“Already headin’ there!”

Meanwhile, in the Academy itself…

Several students were running laps around an outdoor field. The training exercise was overseen by a large minotaur woman whose eyes were narrowed, steeled as she watched everyone move. As soon as everyone crossed the finish line, she pressed the stopwatch, and took a glance at it.

“Not bad,” her gruff voice boomed to everyone on the field, “Dismissed. Hit the showers.”

Every student let out sighs of relief and groans of pain. After being made to run 50 laps, they all felt as if their limbs were going to fall off.

A certain kirin mare in particular was having trouble breathing.

“Agh…eegh…” Mei huffed as she stood upright. “So…painful…”

Though, one student in particular seemed to not suffer from this as badly.

“You alright, Mei?” a zebra mare with a stocky figure trotted alongside her. “C’mon. Let’s get you some water.”

Mei pushed up her foggy glasses and smiled. “You’re too kind, Spearklip.”

The zebra mare--Spearklip--would put a hoof under Mei’s body to help her walk along. “It’s fine. You know I always got your back, right?”

Inside the locker rooms…

Mei had downed an entire bottle of water and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Whew…much better. Running like that is kinda fun…until we have to do too much of it.”

“I’ll say,” Spearklip replied as she stretched her hooves out. “But it’ll get us ready for any missions we’ll have to do a lot of running in. So! On a more important note…who’s that cute guy you’ve been looking at?”

“W-what?” Mei’s glasses nearly fell off her face as a result of being startled by the question, but she used her levitation to keep them up. “There’s…way too many to count! There’s this dragon guy…he looks cool. As does that unicorn guy…”

“Greedy aren’t we?” the zebra teased her friend, “We’ll you’ll have plenty of time to review your options as we get to know ‘em better here.”

“Y-yeah…” Mei stuttered as her ear flicked….

Outside the locker room…

“I’m tellin’ ya, she’s one wrong step from becomin’ fried pussy-chicken,” Blue snorted smoke through his nostrils as he walked down the hallway with the dalmatian-spotted Diamond Dog.

Said Diamond Dog’s ‘spiked’ tail was wagging with intrigue as he let out a small, wheezing laugh. “Hmhm…she’s headed straight for the pound at this rate,” he muttered in a tone that indicated a rather eerie sense of excitement towards seeing the griffon get what was coming to her. “Bullying is such an immature thing. Something that I can’t believe she hasn’t dropped off from her younger years yet.”

“Blech.” Blue scoffed. “Clearly she hasn’t been taught how to act right. Part of me wonders how much it has to do with the way griffons are raised. But I don’t wanna sound like I’m stereotyping or anything, Fang.”

“Stereotypes exist for a reason, friend,” the dalmatian diamond dog--whose full name was Jun Fang--replied with an unsympathetic tone, “They wouldn’t exist if the behavior hadn’t been documented over a period of time. Griffons’ natural hostility has led to stagnation for Griffonstone. Only recently have things begun to improve ever since they started to accept help from the outside world. I imagine that's why she's hostile towards everyone else here--she's simply envious of the fact that everyone else gets along so well. Your friend Atomic Nebula especially.”

“Seems to be the case,” Blue couldn’t help but agree. “Us dragons were the same way. Constantly stepping all over each other until we realized that that wasn’t quite the best way to go about treating each other. Though, not all of them have come to understand it. But if she hurts my dude Neb, we're gonna have problems.”

“Misery loves company,” Fang wheezed once more. “But that’s neither here nor there. Professor Bonehardt’s instruction was quite vigorous wasn’t it?”

Blue placed his right claw on his left shoulder and rolled his arm a few times. The minotaur lady--Ms. Bonehardt--pulled no punches when it came to her teachings. “Meh. Nothing I’m unfamiliar with. Just hope Nebula and Rose can make it through the cow lady’s trials. They don’t exactly have a lot of stamina.”

“We’ll see if they make it back alive,” Fang put his paws together and faux-prayed for them. It was his attempt at humor, though his sinister tone caused it to come off as more of a threat than a jest. "I'll prepare a eulogy."

“Pfft. I think Rose would rather stay dead, honestly,” Blue snickered.

Chapter 6

Once Nebula got back to the Academy, he took a look at the recorder the magical civet gave him before placing it inside his locker. He then retrieved a sweatband from his locker along with some black gym shorts.

‘Apparently these are supposed to reduce sweat and protect the body from taking damage from the sun. Neat.’

With a flash of his magic, the shorts disappeared and reappeared on his lower half. “Sleek. Very sleek indeed.”

Once dressed for gym, Nebula left the locker room right at the exact same time that Grimrose did. She was wearing similar gym attire--a headband and a pair of violet gym shorts that covered her lower half.

“Hey, Rose,” he called out as he trotted up next to her. “Cool shorts, huh? Think they’ll be useful as the ads say?”

“I would hope,” she replied as calmly as ever, “Do they look good on me? Give me your honest opinion.”

Nebula took a glance at her backside and nodded. “You look fine, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure? I was worried my butt was too big to fit them.”

“...” Nebula took another look, and noted just how much her shapely rear swayed along with her tail as she walked, causing him to bite his lip before he shook his head. “Uh…you’re fine, really. Your…hindquarters fit into your shorts rather nicely.”

“Good,” she replied with a nod, “I feel like I’ve been putting on extra weight recently and I’ve been a bit nervous over whether or not it makes me look worse.”

“Of course n--” Nebula paused. ‘Worse’ implied that she didn’t think very highly of herself to begin with. He tilted his head and asked, “...are you alright, Rose?”

With a sigh, Grimrose continued walking--expression unchanging as they made it out to the training field. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Even though her tone didn’t change much, Nebula could still sense that something was off with the way she responded.

‘Yeah that’s…that’s not normal. Even for her. Hope she’s okay.’

Sadly, there was no time to dwell upon it. They had to head out to the field in order to start their training session with Ms. Bonehardt. Perhaps made worse by the fact that Gaea the Griffon had also been assigned to this particular class alongside them.

The grifoness scoffed as soon as she laid eyes on them. “Oh great. Look who showed up. Mr. Soft Serve and his babyface.”

Nebula whinnied in her direction, scowling, but quickly shook it off and turned his head forward to ignore her.

Grimrose, along with the other students in the session which included an earth pony mare, and a changeling stallion, would do the same. Nobody payed Gaea any real attention as they were all too focused on the upcoming assignment to care about her blabberings as they stretched their bodies.

Something the griffoness was spiteful towards. The lack of a reaction would serve to dampen her desire to continue by the time Bonehardt arrived.

“Alright, kids. Get ready and gimme fifty,” the minotaur woman commanded as she pulled out a stopwatch. “Ready? Go!”

And without hesitation, all of the students began to run around the track. Galloping, sprinting, and moving at a steady pace so as to not tire themselves out so early on.

Yet still, even during class, Gaea saw fit to try and make some trouble with her words.

As she ran next to Nebula, the griffoness would snark, “You’re not gonna get that far just by skating on your looks. Pretty boys like you don’t know what it’s like to suffer social rejection.”

Whether or not her words had any meaning, Nebula didn’t listen. He simply kept a fierce gaze forward as he made the first turn on the oval track and started to run down the other side.

“Think that makes you tough?” Gaea continued, “Ignoring me? Guess you’re just gonna stay quiet if I mention how sad it is that your dad left you, huh?”

And as soon as those words left her beak, Nebula slowed to a stop--freezing in place.

Noting how that got a reaction out of him, Gaea would further increase her sneering, “I’m impressed that you’re not crying your eyes out every day about it. Bet you and your mommy are just so heartbroken! Aren’t you tired of being nice? Don’t you just wanna unload on somebody?”

Nebula tilted his head downwards, hiding his eyes from view.

“Oh! Looks like I was right. You do feel something, don’t you?” Gaea continued to verbally harass the stallion. “Turns out you squishy little ponies can get angry. I knew it. You’re no different than us griffons.” She folded her claw-arms, and smirked in his direction. From her perspective, she felt as if she had the advantage in two ways:

If Nebula retaliated, it’d confirm her suspicions in regards to the fact that ponies were just as prone to hostility as griffons.

However, if he didn’t retaliate, then it would only add fuel to her ego and claim he was crippled by cowardice.

“Well? Gonna just let me insult your family and cry like a little filly?” she sneered, “Or are you gonna grow a pair and stand up to me?”

“Enough,” Grimrose stepped in, staring into Gaea’s soul with her neutral expression. “His family is none of your business.”

“Classic! The squishy little pony’s girlfriend has to step in and defend him!” Gaea cackled with her claw on her forehead. “What a joke!”

“You’re the only joke here,” Grimrose snapped back with her voice raised ever so slightly, “It’d behoove you to quit being a waste of talking flesh at this age. Did nobody teach you any manners?”

Gaea scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had to change myself to fit your little warped friendship cult. Want me to make a sacrifice to your pony goddess or something?”

“No one’s forcing you to follow anyone’s guidelines directly,” the pegasus’ wings unfurled as she grit her teeth. “Don’t make up falsehoods to support your flimsy arguments. Nebula hasn’t done a thing to you and yet you insist on harassing him. Why?”

“Because ponies like him have made griffons soft,” she hissed back, “With their stupidly cute faces and overly-positive demeanors. Disgusting. I’m just levelling the playing field a little.”

Grimrose stomped up to her. “And you’re going to do that by mocking him with sensitive information? How do you even know about his family situation?”

“That’s for me to know and for somebody less intelligent to find out,” Gaea said with a smirk on her beak.

While they had been talking, Nebula had resumed running the course. Their teacher had noticed the two of them stopped and called out to them.

“Get moving, ladies!”

Once she heard this, Grimrose would leave Gaea with a warning. “Leave him alone. If you dare to try and hurt him, you’re going to miss having your tongue.” With that, she turned and started to run the rest of the course.

Naturally, Gaea was unfazed by this. “Tch. Little pony thinks she can threaten me. We’ll see who has the last laugh.”

Eventually, once everyone had finished running the course…

After finishing freshening up in the male’s shower’s, Nebula closed himself off in his dorm room, sitting on his bed with a blank, thousand-yard stare into nowhere.

‘How did she know?’ he wondered, ‘My dad died years ago…how does she just know that? Does the gossip train really have no end?’

Outside the stallion’s room, Grimrose had trotted up to it, and looked around to make sure no one had followed her.

“...Atomic? Are you okay?” she asked from outside.

No answer.

“...can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied off-handedly.

Grimrose opened the door, stepped in and shut it behind herself. She then approached the stallion and wrapped a wing around him to bring him in close for a hug. In return, Nebula clung to her, resting his head on her shoulder in a grateful manner. No words were exchanged between the two. Just a sense of mutual understanding…

Gaea was going to have to be dealt with.

Chapter 7

Once everyone’s first day had come to a close, everyone’s skills and abilities would be evaluated and put to the test in order to see how they stack up as well as what assignments they should be given first.

The next day, dorm block Epsilon was in for a surprise…

“Looks like we’re gonna be taking field assignments,” Blue commented with a grin as he looked at their results on the bulletin board in the main hall.

“Ooh! Sounds exciting!” Mei chirped, prancing in place. “I can’t wait to see so many new and exotic places. I was never really allowed to leave our little kirin village when I was younger.”

“Well here’s your chance,” Blue encouraged her, spreading his wings wide. “And I’ll be there to wreck whoever we come across. I’m an apex predator.”

Mei giggled, though not to tease him. She was simply enthralled by the dragon’s bold personality. “You got that right, Blue. I can’t wait to spend more time with you guys.”

Nebula pranced up moments later, and called out what he saw on the board, “Ooh. Dorm Block Epsilon is gonna start heading out? Sweet! Can’t wait to see what our first assignment is gonna be!”

“Hey bud, you alright?” Blue asked as soon as he laid eyes on the indigo unicorn, “Rose told me you kinda had a bad time at training yesterday.”

“Oh, that? I’m fine,” Nebula shook his head, and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the blurriness once more. “...I think I’m gonna need glasses soon though. I told Cayenne about it and she said she’s getting help from Abyssinia.”

“The cat-folk?” Mei asked with a curious tone, “I guess a lot of them need glasses, huh? Isn’t their depth perception worse than diamond dogs?”

“Yes,” Jun Fang muttered as he hunched past the group to his dorm block’s place on the board: Dorm Block Sigma which consisted of himself, Gaea the griffon, Spearklip the zebra, and Rufus the yak--the same yak who unlocked a wyvern familiar.

“I guess that explains a lot,” Mei turned to look at the dalmatian and adjusted her own glasses. “Where’s Grimrose?”

“Here,” the pegasus’ gloomy voice called out from above them, causing everyone to tilt their heads upwards…

Where they sat her hanging upside down from a wooden panel in the ceiling akin to a bat. As soon as they looked up at her, she spread her wings, flew down, and folded them in upon landing. “Seems as if we’ll have an assignment that’ll take us to Somnombula near Saddle Arabia. Better prepare for desert travel.”

Blue flexed his arms. “I’m used to the heat. Hopefully you guys can keep up.”

“I’ll be fine,” Mei commented, “We kirin are no strangers to heat either. Just…don’t make us angry.”

“I’ve got plenty of sunscreen,” Nebula nodded and looked at Grimrose. “How about you, Rose?”

“I’m looking to see the effects of heat on the body,” she remarked gloomily, “Don’t mind me.”

Blue punched his fist into his open claw. “Alright. Looks like we’re gonna be working as a team for the first time. We’ll need a team name.”

“...do we, though?” Nebula asked with a sarcastic chuckle, “I think Epsilon is cool enough.”

Mei then spoke up next, “...There’s always the idea of combining the first letters of our names to make a team name…if you wanna, that is,” she idly rubbed one hoof against the other as soon as she suggested it.

“Isn’t there a comic book that does that?” Grimrose asked, “I wonder what that would sound like.”

“Hm? Never read comics before,” Nebula spoke up as he tilted his head, “What would it be like?”

“Ooh! That's a great idea, Mei!” Blue snapped his fingers, “I think I got it. So like, Atomic…that’s an ‘A’. Then ‘B,’ then an ‘M,’ and a ‘G’...GAMB…Gamb? Gamb…Team Gambit!”

Nebula put slapped his hoof against his forehead while groaning. “Ugggh…that’s so…out there,” he muttered, the broke out into laughter.

“It is a tad ridiculous,” Grimrose agreed, “But I think that’s what makes it work.”

“I like it....and thanks,” Mei squealed in response to the praise from Blue then quickly changed the subject. “I just hope our first mission goes well. Any idea what it’s about?”

That’s when Cayenne stepped in. “Settle down, kiddos. We’re not about to start fighting pirates or anything crazy. This is just a minor, overnight field trip to Somnombula where we’ll help a local village couple with their fruit stand. They’re currently sending some of their own students over to Canterlot to do the same for Restaurant Row.”

“Ah! A culture exchange!” Nebula’s freckled face lit up at the prospect, “Amazing! I can’t wait to see what sort of architecture and musical instruments they’ll have over there.”

“I can’t wait to see what kind of food they have,” Mei wondered aloud.

“Hope they got some sick weaponry,” Blue added with a grin.

“I’m hoping to get a peek inside a sarcophagus, Grimrose muttered plainly.

Cayenne giggled at their enthusiasm. “There will be plenty of time for that. But we have to stick to a schedule and help out at the marketplace first, understand? I’ll be leading you on this excursion. We leave tomorrow afternoon. Any questions or concerns?”

“I’m good,” Blue replied with a nod, “I gotta get myself ready. See ya’ll there.” With that, he spread his wings and took off down the hall.

“Me too,” Mei added as she started to trot away, “I need to make sure I take notes of everything I see!”

Grimrose started using one of her feathers as a quill to scribble something down in a journal. “I need to gather a few things.”

“Hm,” Nebula tapped his hoof against his chin. “If I have time, I might paint a picture or two of the landscape.”

“Very neat idea, Mr. Nebula,” Cayenne approved, “I’ll be eager to see what you can come up with. Now if you’ll both excuse me…I gotta make sure my hair is done right! If any Saddle Arabian stallions look my way, I need to look my best!” And with a poof!, she used her magic to teleport away.

“She seems to be in a hurry,” Nebula noted with a chuckle as he started walking down the hall back towards his dorm. “Alright, now what do I need…”

But to his surprise, Grimrose would actually join him, trotting alongside him with a concerned query. “Atomic. Are you alright? About yesterday…”

With no other options, Nebula decided to explain himself lest Grimrose be strung along in confusion. “...My dad never left us,” he explained with a low tone of voice, “He was one of the Royal Guard and he…was killed. By Queen Chrysalis.”

Rose froze, unable to process what Nebula could possibly be feeling as a result of Gaea’s teasing. “I…I see. You have my sympathies. No one deserves to lose their family like that.”

“It’s…fine,” he went on with a sigh, “Tungsten always taught me to keep my head up, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. But…being reminded that mean folks are out there that still wanna hurt you…it’s changed my perspective a bit.”

“There’s no need to listen to someone like that,” Rose tried her best to console him, “She doesn’t know you, and has no right to speak to you that way.”

“Doesn’t mean it won’t happen again,” Nebula replied with a shrug. “There’s always gonna be people out there who wanna put others down. And…I can’t let myself fall victim to that.”

“While that may be true, know that you don’t have to stand alone,” she encouraged him. “Others cast me aside, call me strange for my interests in death and the black arts. But you…you’ve stuck by me throughout highschool and even to this point regardless.”

Nebula replied with a cordial tone, “Well of course. You’re my friend. I want you to be happy above all else, you know that? Besides, a little study into the arcane never hurt anyone. I actually really like that stuff. Pentagrams, candlelight, enchantments…”

“...” Grimrose glanced at him with a set of wide eyes as her wings unfurled involuntarily. “...You…do?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed with a nod, “In fact, if you’re ever free, I’d like to help you with your forays into the other side sometime. Ooh! Maybe you can even use me as a vessel for contacting ghosts!” he squealed with an excited tone--which visibly caught Grimrose by surprise.

The mare blinked once, then twice. “...You’d…like to help me?” She cleared her throat and folded her wings back in. “...meet me in my dorm later, okay? There’s a hex I’ve been looking to test out.”

“Sweet. It’ll be helpful if we encounter trouble on our little trip to the desert city of Somnombula.” Nebula replied with a toothy grin as he started to trot away. “I’ll see you then, huh?”

“...yeah. See you then,” Grimrose muttered as she watched him leave. ‘...he’s so bubbly and positive. Why do I feel the urge to protect him? Most mortals aren’t worth it…unless…’

Meanwhile, as the pale blue pegasus flew off to her dorm, a certain griffon was idly watching from around a nearby corner.

‘I’ll break him one way or another…’

Chapter 8

As promised, Nebula arrived in Grimrose’s dorm later that afternoon. The pegasus mare had set up a pentagram on the floor surrounded by a few candles as she read from a book she held in her hoof.

“Ah. You’re here,” she said as Nebula shut the door behind himself, “I’m…genuinely surprised that you want to help me out with something like this. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” he replied with a nod, “It’s possible that we could learn a whole lot from spirits and utilize their wisdom as we carve our own path. If I’m being honest, I’m still a bit rusty at the use of my familiar. So maybe we might end up speaking to the spirit of a skilled sage who’s made use of one in the past, ya know?”

Rose’s eyes went wide as she heard him say that. The idea of learning about hexes and curses from skilled wraiths of the past genuinely intrigued her.

“...That’s…a really good idea, Atomic,” she droned as her eyes returned to their half-lidded state, “I never knew you were so passionate about this stuff.”

“Eh, I try my best,” he replied with his usual smile, then tilted his head in the direction of the pentagram. “So how are we gonna do this?”

“In order to contact someone from the other side, I need a fresh body,” Rose explained as she tapped a page in her book. “But I can’t just use myself, as I need to be able to communicate with them.”

Nebula looked at the symbols on the page. “Ohhh. I get it. You kinda need someone to act as a ‘sacrifical lamb’ of sorts.”

“Yes. Though, you’re not gonna die,” she quickly addressed the rather morbid implications. “Rather, it’s gonna feel…kinda strange. Probably painful? Probably pleasurable? I’m not quite sure how it’ll feel to someone who’s never experienced it before.”

To her surprise, Nebula was already standing in the pentagram drawn on the floor. “Oh I’m already there! I love experiencing new things! Tungsten always taught me that you can only train your body to be so strong,” he tapped the side of his head with his hoof, “You have to train your mind as well. It’ll be a good challenge for me.”

“...Thank you,” Rose stepped forward, her lips quivering as if she was trying to smile. The mare was completely unable to process and explain just how happy she was that someone was willing to share her passion with her. “I’ll be sure to repay you for your time, Atomic.”

Nebula shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about all that. Just start calling on the spirits. If they see me as worth coming to see us for, then that’ll help my magical fortitude.”

“Understood,” she replied with a hint of excitement as she dug her face into her left wing, and pulled out a feather with her teeth. “Hold still. Mind if I take a bit of your blood?”

“Hm? Oh, go ahead--”

Fwip.

Nebula tilted his head, realizing that Rose had swiftly flown over to him and back to her spot in the middle of the room. “Did you do something? I didn’t feel a thing.”

“I’m skilled at moving without being noticed,” she replied as she started scribbling onto the paper, drawing symbols with the bloodied feather that now acted as her writing quill. “Now…”

When she began to write, the pentagram beneath Nebula’s hooves started to glow a blinding bright cyan.

“Woah…” Nebula marveled at the sight, “Aren’t these usually red?”

“Hold still…” Rose warned him.

All the sudden, Nebula’s body started to violently shiver in place, until…

POOF!

A translucent ghost of a pony that had an ethereal, cyan body appeared before them. While her features weren’t exactly easy to determine, they could see she was a mare with a rather curly mane who spoke with an eloquent speech pattern akin to those from centuries past.

“Dear me. I say, who hath summoned me from the beyond?” she called out as if this was a regular occurrence for her.

“We did,” Grimrose replied, “Just wanted to see if my ritual would work. And it turns out I was correct.”

“Amazing!” Nebula squealed upon seeing the ghost pony. "What’s your name, miss?”

“I am Tandoori Dahi. What are thy names?”

“Grimrose Orcus,” the pegasus mare gave her full name.

“Atomic Nebula,” the unicorn stallion added. “We’d like to ask you a few questions if that’s okay.”

“I’d be more than happy too,” Tandoori said with a smile, then a sigh, “But alas, my sister is waiting for me. Can’t keep her waiting in the afterlife.”

“Shame, but I understand,” Grimrose replied with her stoic tone, “I just wanted to make sure it worked in the first place.”

“Mind if we speak to you in a few days or so?” Nebula requested, “We have to head out on an excursion for our schoolwork, so we’ll be able to speak with you again after that.”

Tandoor agreed to those terms. “Sounds like a gay ol’ time loves. I’ll see you then. For now, cheerio!”

And with that, she floated back into the pentagram, and disappeared…

“That was amazing!” Nebula chirped as he looked at Grimrose, “I can’t wait to speak with her some more and see how this new skill of yours can be used!”

The flattery overwhelmed Grimrose, causing her wings to unfurl involuntarily yet again. “Um…yeah. But we need to get some sleep if we wanna be prepared for tomorrow.”

“Fair point. Have a goodnight’s rest, Rose,” Nebula replied with a smile as he left her room and headed to his own.

“...yeah. Goodnight,” she muttered in response as he left before lying down with her book against her abdomen. ‘What is this feeling?’

The next day…

And so, the newly named Team ‘Gambit’ followed their teacher out to Somnumbula. They traveled via hot-air balloon which made the trip take less than a day. Convenient--as it was the best way to avoid all of the perilous cliffs and magma geysers that christened the path to the desert city.

Once they landed, Cayenne led them into the desert town where many a pony was trotting around the open air market to set up and sell their wares to visitors and other locals. There was a stand that sold various types of exotic fruit, another that sold various types of bladed and chained weapons, and another that sold wraps and furs for clothing…

“Damn,” Blue commented as he walked with the group, “They really do have everything here.”

Grimrose’s eyes were caught by a stand that sold various hex parchments. “I’m interested in seeing what sort of new things I can learn from here,” she muttered in her gloomy tone with an half-interested, neutral expression.

“The food smells really good,” Mei remarked as she sniffed the air. “Are those falafels?”

“Ooh!” Nebula had sprinted over to a nearby pony blowing into a flute in order to charm a snake into slithering out of a basket. Likely a street performer of sorts. “Snake charming! This place is awesome!”

The earth pony stallion who had been blowing into the flute regarding Nebula with a grateful nod and continued playing.

“Mr. Nebula,” Cayenne called out to him in a stern tone--akin to that of a mother looking to keep track of her foals, “Stay with the group, please.”

“Oh. Sorry,” he trotted back over with a bashful smile. “I just really like snake charming. It’s an art that I’ve been meaning to get into for a while now.”

“You’ll all have plenty of time to find out more about Somnombula at your leisure once your task is complete. For now, follow me.” With her students in tow, Cayenne started trotting down the main road once more. “The nice couple we’re going to be helping has their stall set up just around this corner.”

Chapter 9: The First Mission

Indeed. They would find a pair of older--nearly elderly--ponies that were setting up a stall to sell various pieces of jewelry christened with rare gemstones. Run entirely by the pegasus stallion and earth pony mare who seemed to have been running this stall for quite a long time…

“Thank you so much,” the elder stallion muttered in a low, hoarse voice. “Safi and I have been working here for as long as we can remember.”

The mare--whose name was Safi Seas--replied, “Yes indeed. Ahmar speaks the truth. This stall means everything to us. Giving visitors and tourists natural jewelry and memorabilia of Somnombula is our passion. Even if it’s gotten more difficult lately…” she trailed off with a frown.

Noting the tone in her voice, Nebula would be the first to ask, “Wait--what’s going on around here lately?”

“Gah. Just some local bandit whippersnappers,” the stallion--whose name was Ahmar Atoll--crabbily snapped, “They think they can boss us around just ‘cuz we’re too old to fight back.”

“...well, they’re right,” Safi had to correct her husband, “You’re not as young as you used to be, dear. You can fend them off forever.”

“Rrgh…” Ahmar grumbled under his breath as he proceeded to gather up more items to supply the stall with.

Leaving Safi to apologize on his behalf. “Don’t mind him. He’s just unable to admit that we need a bit of help.”

“Wait…you don’t need help with the shop itself?” Blue asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Oh no, dear,” Safi replied with a giggle, waving her hoof dismissively, “We can run this stall ourselves just fine. What I’d like you to do is see if you can help us ward off these bandits.”

“And see to it they don’t come back,” Ahmar huffed from his end of the stall with a flap of his wings. “Getting sick and tired of their ilk hurtin’ local businesses like ours.”

Cayenne tapped her hoof on the pavement below. “Hm…so this goes beyond just your shop, then. It’s a rampant issue that’s affecting all of the nearby businesses.”

“Correct,” Safi replied with a regrettable sigh, “As a group, we Somnombulans came together and agreed to hire mercenaries to watch over us. Outsiders won’t have any ties to these bandits and will accept the coin we intend to offer. You’re the first ones on our list.”

As everyone was talking, Mei was busy taking notes on a notepad…

Then Grimrose spoke up. “We’re getting paid? Interesting. I didn’t realize an extracurricular excursion would result in earning actual money.”

“...neither did I,” Cayenne admitted with a hesitant tone. Despite being their teacher and leader, that was absolutely the last thing she saw coming. After all, the only information they were given was that an old couple needed help with their shop.

But to be called on as mercenaries? That was something else entirely.

However, seeing as they were adults, Cayenne saw fit to let the group come to their own decision.

“Excuse us for a moment…” she turned to her students and spoke to them, “...I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was what we were being called on for. If you don’t feel comfortable taking this assignment, we can turn back and head home.”

“Hey, we came out all this way,” Blue folded his arms, “May as well see it through and help our the poor folks. After all, they look so adorable together.”

“I agree,” Mei added, “Besides, we can still use our time here to gather valuable info about the region!”

“Yeah!” Nebula spoke up as well, “Can’t wait to see if my training has paid off. And I still wanna catch that snake charmer…” He then glanced at Grimrose. “How about you, Rose?”

As usual, the dreary pegasus would speak in a neutral tone, “I don’t hate it here and I want to see if I can find information regarding embalming rituals. Let’s deal with the bandits.”

“Alright! That’s the spirit!”

“Okay. That settles it then,” Cayenne nodded once she had their input. “I’ll go ahead and let the pair know we intend to stay. For now, why don’t you all walk around and see if you can find any information about banditry from the locals, hm?” With that, she turned and started trotting back towards the old couple, leaving the young adult students to their own devices.

From there, the members of Dorm Block Epsilon would break off.

“Alright,” Nebula began, “I’m gonna head over to that snake charmer and ask if he’s seen anything suspicious.”

“I’m gonna check the local blacksmith,” Blue added, “She’ll probably know something.”

“I’ll…ask the ponies running the local street food stands,” Mei uttered with a nervous smile.

“I’ll go to the stall with hexes,” Grimrose spoke as neutrally as usual.

“Good. We’ll all meet back here at their stand in about an hour or so,” Nebula suggested, “Sound good?”

“Mm-hmm,” Mei replied with a nod as she started trotting off.

“Understood,” Grimrose droned before flying off.

Nebula began prancing off towards the market. “Alright. Guess I’m headed this way.”

But before he could move very far, he was stopped by Blue.

“Hey, bud. When you get a minute, I could use your help. This is probably the best place for it since nobody around here knows us.”

“Hm? Oh sure, with what?” Nebula asked with a curious tone.

Blue scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face. “...help me hit on pony chicks.”

“...”

Chapter 10

Nebula rubbed his hoof down one of his ears to ensure that he had heard his friend properly. “...you what?”

“Help me hit on girls!” the dragon hissed rather quickly with his eyes shut, “The pony chicks around here are pretty cute and I’m a bit nervous. Plus, the local blacksmith pony is pretty smoking but--”

“Seriously? A grown dragon afraid of talking to ponies? You?” Nebula mocked him playfully, “Next I’ll grow wings and become an alicorn prince.”

Blue chuckled at the idea, “...that’d be funny--no wait, hey!” Then he quickly redirected the topic. “I’m serious. I…actually really like the pony-folk but I don’t know how to talk to them well. I figured you, as a pony could help me out?”

Nebula raised an eyebrow, then shot him a sympathetic frown moments later. He could tell by the uncertain grimace on Blue’s face that his friend was serious about how anxious he was.

So he came up with a quick solution.

“Alright. We still need to conduct as much questioning as we can,” Nebula began, “Why don’t you try and talk to her for a bit while I interview the snake charmer. Then if you need my help, I’ll come back you up. Sound doable?”

“Alrighty,” Blue replied with a nod as he exhaled smoke from his nostrils. “Just gotta…play it cool. I’ll see you in a bit, huh?” And with that, he spread his wings and took off…

‘He’ll be fine,’ Nebula thought to himself as he approached the corner of the market where the snake charmer had been playing.

The earth pony stallion had recently finished his performance and could be seen feeding what appeared to be dried insects to his snake that was now in a cage.

Seeing that he was free, Nebula took this opportunity to approach him, waving his hoof. “Oh, hello, sir. Could I possibly have a moment of your time?”

“Hm?” he turned to Nebula and nodded. His voice had a slight Arabian accent, “Ah. Of course, my friend. What do you need?”

“Love your work with that snake first off,” Nebula praised the stallion for his work while glancing at the rattlesnake, “Music is my passion and I’d love to learn more about it if you’re ever free.”

“No problem,” the stallion replied, “I love teaching younger folk my talent.”

“Cool! Though,” Nebula then changed the subject, “Do you know anything regarding bandit attacks that have gone on around here recently, sir?”

“Hm…I believe I may have overheard a few of my friends talk about it,” the stallion replied, “Something about how they tend to attack during the night when ponies are less likely to pay attention.”

With a poof of magic, Nebula pulled out a pen and notepad from his saddlebag and began writing down the details that the stallion gave to him.

“I see…so there is thievery going on,” he muttered while scribbling, “Could it be pirates, maybe?”

The stallion shook his head. “No, my friend. We’re nowhere near the coastline for pirates to attack. It’s likely a band of outlaws who seek to cause trouble during peacetime between the various nations around Equestria.”

“Hm…” Nebula gave it some thought. He had heard rumors about organized crime lords that existed and lived around places like Manehattan. Was it possible that there was more than what he had been told?

In a foreign land like Somnombula no less.

‘If things get too hairy we may need to dip,’ he thought to himself, ‘Don’t wanna risk fighting someone we know we can’t beat.’

At the very least, he wanted to see what he and his friends could for the locals while they were here.

“Alright. I’ll stand guard and make sure nothing goes wrong,” Nebula insisted with a proud smile, “You may not know this, but I’m actually the squire of a legendary Royal Guardstallion named Tungsten Wolfe.”

The snake charmer stallion gave an impressed nod. “Oh? I’m afraid I don’t know him by name, but if Princess Twilight has sent us her own mercenaries, then my concerns are at ease.”

“She did,” Nebula reaffirmed with a smirk, “And if we can’t drive them off ourselves, then we’ll have a whole army down here just to keep you guys safe.”

“I’d appreciate it, young man. Thank you for doing what you can. But for now, I must get ready to get back to work.”

Nebula put his notes away and started walking down the dirt road. “No problem. Have a good day, sir!”
Meanwhile…at the stall that sold various artifacts related to hexes and curses…

Grimrose approached the stall that was run by an elderly unicorn mare.

“Hello,” the pegasus mare called out, “I’m looking for information regarding any incidents that may have occurred around here recently. Specifically regarding bandit raids?”

The mare behind the stall spoke in a bitter tone, “Hmmm…you’re with those other kids from Canterlot, huh? Do yourselves a favor and go home. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Maybe,” Rose replied, sounding unfazed as usual, “But we were tasked with guarding this place and that’s what we’re going to do. Any information you have could be helpful, ma’am.”

“Hmph,” the shopkeeper decided to bargain with her, “If you want me to talk so bad, then buy something.”

Grimrose took a step closer to the stand and looked over what she had to offer. There were various scrolls, bottles, and charms on offer. However, Rose knew that she wouldn’t have enough time to experiment as much as she’d like given that they were on a mission.

‘I’ll just grab a scroll and use it later,’ she thought as she prodded a closed piece of parchment. “How much for this?” she asked.

“For you? 10 bits,” the mare replied.

Grimrose then made the exchange, taking the bits from her saddlebag, placing them on the counter, and put the scroll in its place. “Thank you. Now what can you tell me?”

The mare’s white levitation aura lifted the bits into a nearby chest that she opened and closed to put them away. “I’ve been hearing a lot of noises during the night,” she explained, “Might just be animals, might just be nothing. But that’s all I know, young lady.”

“I see,” Grimrose nodded as she mentally stored the information. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to do what I can to solve this problem.” She then sighed as she walked away. “...hopefully the others are doing much better than I am thus far.”

Chapter 11

With Blue Blazes…

The dragon man approached the local blacksmith in order to find out what he could regarding the bandit attacks in the area. The only problem was that the pony in question was a rather rugged-looking unicorn mare with a tied-up, braided mane that clashed with her dim gray color scheme.

She was using her magic to levitate a hammer to pound some steel into place when Blue nervously walked up to her stand.

“...Hello? Um…can I speak to you for a sec?”

“Maybe,” she replied sarcastically before rising from her seat to approach him with a friendly smile on her face. “What can I do ya for?”

“We’re looking for info on bandit attacks in the area recently,” Blue continued with a nervous smile on his face, “Know anything about that?”

“Nope,” the mare replied confidently, “Anyone try to come up and rob me’s gotta either be brave or stupid,” she chuckled while tilting her head in the direction of the various weapons she had on display which included spiked maces, bladed chakrams, and gauntlets. “But if you wanna catch some suspicious activity going on, you might wanna stay overnight to get a good look.”

Blue nodded and replied, “Yeah. That’s…that’s what me and my buds are looking to do so we can figure it out. They’ve been harassing a poor old couple just down the road recently so I wanted to find out as much as possible.”

The mare paused and took a look at the dragon. “...Huh. That’s unexpected.”

“W-what is?” he squeaked, under the impression he did something out of order.

“No, no, you’re fine,” she waved her hoof and tried to calm him down, “It’s just, I never would’ve expected a dragon to be willing to look out for others. No offense to you, sir, but they tend to be…” she turned her head upwards as if trying to search for the correct term.

But Blue was ready to cut her off with a sigh. “Selfish? Boorish? Prideful?” he folded his arms and went on, “It’s fine. I know exactly what you’re talking about. As a dragon myself, I know exactly how we can be and the poor reputation we have.”

“...sorry,” the mare rubbed the back of her neck, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that, but yeah. The last few dragon customers I’ve had have been a bit stingy with their bits and have tried to haggle me down.” She rolled her eyes. “I know they’re not all like that, but it’s hard to shake that bad first impression ya know?”

“Oh no, I agree,” Blue heartily answered with a chuckle, “It’s why I’m not really interested in other dragons myself. You ponies look squishier on the outside, but you’re actually far more pleasant to be around than the average dragon.”

“Well, thanks,” she giggled in response, “You’re certainly more pleasant than the average dragon, that’s for sure. What’s your name?”

“Blue--Blue Blazes,” he stuttered.

“Well, Blue--if you’re ever looking for a good weapon, hit me up,” she leaned forward and shot him a sly grin with half-lidded eyes, “And I might cut you a deal, huh?”

“Uh…y-yeah!” his heart skipped a beat as he took a step back. “Anyway…I gotta go. See ya!” And he flew off, leaving the blacksmith mare to herself.

“See ya…” she sighed, her expression turning neutral and bored. “At least someone approached me today…”

With Mei…

The kirin mare was the lone customer at a newly erected food stall. The pegasus stallion behind the bench was busy grilling various vegetables that gave off a powerful aroma.

“Woah…those smell great,” she commented as she approached, “Oh! Um…where are my manners. Hello, sir. May I have a moment of your time?”

“I guess,” he replied with a cynical, annoyed tone, “I’ve got all the time in the world since I’m not making any business today.”

Mei sat down on one of the stools in front of the stand. “How come, sir?”

“The rumors of bandits have driven away my customers,” he huffed, “I can’t sell a single thing if folks aren’t lining up. Usually I’d have a whole line of ponies waiting to try what I have to offer. But now? Nothing.”

“Yikes…” Mei frowned and adjusted her glasses. “I guess even the mere idea of being attacked has put people off of staying in one spot for too long.”

The chef stallion continued to chop up veggies as he used one of his wings to stir a bowl filled with what looked like dough which he’d then pour onto the grill. “It’s a shame. But if you can somehow help us figure out what’s going on, I’d be grateful, miss.”

Mei saw the opportunity and took it. “Oh! Well, mind if I ask a few questions? First off, when did these attacks start happening and do you have any idea of where the source of them could be located?”

“A few days ago and someone within Somnambula itself,” he answered sharply, “That’s all I know, miss. Sorry, but I dunno if I’ll be much help.”

Surprisingly, Mei took this info with an excited gasp. “Ah-ha! So that narrows it down quite nicely. All we’ll have to do is watch over this particular section of the town and see who strikes first. Then we’ll be able to put the curtains on their little charade once and for all.”

“...You got all that from two answers?” the chef asked with an impressed tone, “You’re a smart cookie, little miss.”

“...I try my best,” Mei replied bashfully, “I’m just trying to look out for as many of you as possible.”

“Come by when you’ve figured it out,” the stallion offered, “I’ll make you and your friends something nice for your troubles.”

Food? Free food at that? Mei’s glasses nearly fell off her face from how much she stumbled off of the stool at the prospect.

“O-oh! Sure thing, sir!” she squealed as she pranced away, burying her excitement down deep in order to maintain a calm outer shell.

‘We’re gonna do this even if it kills me.’

Chapter 12

Once everyone had gathered up substantial information, they all met up near the couple’s stand. However, in order to discuss their plans without fear of being overheard, they decided to book rooms at the local inn so that they could speak privately.

“Alright, everyone,” Cayenne stood in front of them, ready to hear what they had to say. “What can you tell me you’ve heard from the locals?”

Blue would start off first, “Based on all the info we shared, it sounds like everyone has heard suspicious activity going on at night. So that’s when we need to be ready.”

“That’s right,” Mei agreed, “Whoever’s pulling the strings here obviously knows the terrain as well as who to target in order to make a swift getaway.”

From a plush bean bag chair on the floor, Grimrose would add, “And it seems as if everyone is afraid. Whoever these bandits are, they must be pretty tough.”

“Pretty much what they said,” Nebula added, encouraging and backing up their viewpoints. “I think it’d be best if we perform a stakeout once it gets dark. That way, we’ll have a drop on the enemy position. Tungsten taught me all about that from his Royal Guard drills.”

“I’d hope so, Mr. Nebula,” Cayenne expressed concern with a worried tone, “Being trained under him and going through your own experiences are two different things. Do you understand that, young man?”

“Of course I do,” Nebula replied with utmost certainty as he got up and headed for the door. “In fact, I think I wanna take the first watch. Who’s with me?”

Grimrose got up to follow him. “I’ll go with you. Someone needs to watch over you to make sure you don’t get lost,” she said with what sounded like the faintest hint of teasing in her voice.

Nebula huffed and flicked his tail, “Hey! I have a great sense of direction! I just…need a new pair of glasses is all.”

“Alright, you two, go on,” Cayenne interrupted them. “We’ll stay here and then Mei and Blue will take the next watch in about two hours, let’s say.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mei replied.

“Got it, ma’am,” Blue added.

And with that, Nebula and Rose left the inn and trotted outside. The sun had been slowly setting on the desert village. The only source of light that remained were the handful of torches that were lit across every street corner. The level of activity had also waned, with much fewer shops open that only served a certain number of customers.

“Wow,” Nebula commented as they walked together, “Somnambula sure is different at night, huh?”

“Seems to be,” Grimrose commented with her neutral tone and expression, “I prefer it this way. Too many…folks around during the day for me. It’s much more relaxing at night.”

Nebula took a look around and listened closely. True enough, he could hear the sounds of frogs, crickets, and crows alongside the occasional pony talking.

“Yeah I think you’re right,” he replied, “This would make for a good poem. Maybe a limerick or a haiku…”

Rose’s eyes went wide as her wings unfurled involuntarily. “...you like poetry?”

“Hm? Yeah, I dabble in a bit of writing here and there,” he replied with a chuckle, then rubbed the side of his head. “I can never really dedicate time to make a whole story though. I come up with ideas for characters and plotlines and can easily add miscellaneous details to them in my head. But actually putting the quill to the page and getting them down?” He had a bashful smile on his face as he admitted his own faults, “...I tend to lack motivation to get all of it done. So I usually prefer to write poems instead. They’re much shorter and can be made in quick bursts when inspiration hits.”

“...I can empathize with you in regards to motivation,” Rose agreed as her eyes and wings relaxed, “I often find myself lacking the desire to do anything. But then, I look at you guys and remember that it’s worth doing.”

Those words threw Nebula into a state of concern again, looking at her with a frown. “...Rose. Is there something you wanna talk about? Come on, it’s just us here. Nobody else is around.”

“...Seeing you guys enjoy life has helped me remember that I should enjoy life as well,” she replied, “That’s all there is to it, really. I used to never care whether I lived or died. But now, I’m finally in a position where I’m accepted for who I am and that makes me…want to keep living.” She turned to him and smiled ever so slightly, “Especially you, Atomic. Your positivity is almost contagious.”

“It is?” he chuckled, “Well I’m glad you think so! But above all else, I want you to know that I’m here for you. That whole thing we did where we contacted a ghost? That was fun!”

“...it was?” Grimrose mumbled in disbelief, looking at him with confusion for a moment.

And Nebula smiled as he confirmed his stance, “Of course! I’d love to test that stuff more with you when we get back. I’ve always had a fascination for the dark arts but don’t really have the capacity for it, ya know? My magic is geared more towards music,” he tilted his head towards his flank and cutie mark: a music bar with two clefs. “Consider me your test body.”

“...Thank you, Atomic,” Rose gave a delayed response as she looked down at her body. She could’ve sworn that she felt her heart beat…which was abnormal as she could never usually feel it at all. “I’d appreciate it. And I’d do whatever I could to pay you back, don’t worry.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” he waved his hoof, then resumed walking, “I’m just happy to spend time with you. Now come on, we have to be diligent if we wanna catch the bandits.” His ear then suddenly twitched, indicating that he heard something suspicious. "...Did you hear that? Follow me," he ordered as he ran on ahead.

Rose paused for a moment, then smiled to herself as she let her mind wander, then proceeded to gallop after him. "Wait up."

“...If anything happens to him, I’ll kill everyone in there and then myself.”

Chapter 13

Within the inn…

Blue had been sitting in a corner of the room, meditating with his eyes shut…

“You meditate as well?” Mei asked as she sat down next to him.

The dragon opened one eye, then closed it. “Yeah,” he replied, “Dragon Lord Smolder has been teaching us how to manage our anger and frustrations in a healthier way than razing everything to the ground.”

“Oh, yeah! Smolder took over after Ember stepped down, huh? Sounds like she’s doing a good job,” Mei agreed with a nod as she thought about her own home. “Hm…come to think of it, Autumn Blaze has been trying to do the same for us.”

That made Blue recall a little important detail about kirins. “Oh yeah. Don’t you guys turn all…fucky when you get angry?”

Mei paused for a moment, then giggled at such a description. “Well, that’s certainly one way to put it. But yeah…we turn into niriks when we get angry. Thankfully we managed to get help from the ponies to sort our issues out.”

“Same here,” Blue agreed, “The ponies did a lot of good for us, but we also need to keep advancing ourselves so we don’t fall back into old habits. It’s why I make sure I keep myself calm so I don’t revert into the stereotypes that most dragons fall into.”

“I understand completely,” Mei sighed and looked at the floor, “Kirins are often seen as weirdo ‘theater kids’ which is honestly a bit true to an extent--and also our short tempers which could lead to disaster.” She then stomped her hoof as she continued, “But I wanna be more than that. Known for being more than just a ticking time bomb or something that other individuals should avoid.”

Blue folded his arms and relaxed his shoulders. “Shit if only. But that’d require everyone to change and accept everyone overnight. While things have gotten better, we don’t wanna get complacent, right?”

“Right, Blue. I’m hoping we can all get along and not have to worry about isolating again,” she shuddered at the mere thought of being stuck in her village and being unable to speak. “Brrr…having no control over myself was scary.”

“Well don’t worry,” Blue encouraged her with a smile, “As long as I’m around, you won’t have to suffer being under anyone else’s authority, Mei.”

The kirin mare nervously pattered her hooves in place. “Oh! Thank you…I’d like it if I could just live life and hang around all of you guys. Ponies like Nebula and Rose are so much fun!”

“Speaking of which, how do you think their guardsmen shift is going?” Blue wondered aloud.

Outside, in the market…

Nebula continued to run after the threat that he had thought he heard near the end of the marketplace. “It has to be somewhere around here…” The stallion kept his recorder at the ready just in case he needed the assistance of his familiar.

“Hang on, Atomic,” Grimrose landed next to him and folded her wings in, “What exactly did you hear in the first place? Slow down before you just jump into a situation,” she warned with a stern tone of voice.

“Sorry,” Nebula shook his head, and remembered what he had learned from the Royal Guardsponies. “No, you’re right. We should observe from a vantage point before we engage.”

Satisfied with his answer, Rose spread her wings once more and took flight. “On it,” she replied before flying straight up. While there, she took a close look at their surroundings. Having routinely spent a lot of time out in the dark of night, Rose’s eyes were attuned perfectly for a situation like this.

“Got something,” she relayed upon landing on the ground next to Nebula, “There’s a group of ponies surrounding a fire nearby. Not sure if they’re bandits or campers though.”

“Hm…better be careful here,” Nebula looked out over the horizon and could make out the faint light coming from the flame jutting out against the darkness of the night. “Sticks out like a sore tail. I’ve got an idea.”

“Ready to kill,” Rose affirmed in a grave manner.

At the fire…

“You sure this was the right move, boss?” a diamond dog with the colors of a dobermann asked the large, burly pony next to her. Her voice was rather deep not unlike that of zebras. “We’re gonna catch some heat from this little stunt.”

The large, stocky earth pony stallion next to her--who was actually the size of a horse rather than a pony--merely chuckling with a scoff. “They’ll be here,” his rugged, cockney voice replied, “Bet me bottom bits, love.”

The diamond dog woman got up from where she was seated and stretched her arms. She was wearing a skintight bodysuit that kept her hidden in the dark and clung to her wide hips and rear. “Hmph. Then I suppose that’s my cue to get going then, hm?”

“Move that pretty little arse of yours,” the stallion remarked with a smirk, “And you’ll get extra for your time.”

“Oh my, so devious, Mr. York,” the dog woman teased him by flicking her fluffy ‘spiked’ tail at his snout. “I’ll have to make sure I perform twice as better then~” And with that, she crouched down on all fours, and started to scamper off into the darkness…

The pony known as ‘York’ simply glanced over at a stuffed body bag that he had next to him, hidden within a log. “She’ll fetch us all the bits we’ll ever need.”

Chapter 14

Nebula’s ear flicked as he heard something approach them.

“...Someone’s coming,” he muttered, then turned to the pegasus mare flying next to him, “Split up. Rose you flank around and see what you can find at that campsite.” He retrieved the recorder from his saddlebag via magic as he gave her the command, “I’ll distract whoever’s coming up.”

“Roger.”

As Grimrose flew upwards, Nebula eventually found himself in an empty field of sand face-to-face with the doberman woman.

“You,” he muttered with a scowl, noting her leather attire, “So you’re one of the bandits, huh? Black leather for staying hidden in the darkness, huh? Smart.”

“The brat’s smarter than he looks,” she huffed in response as she stood upright and growled, brandishing her claws. “Let’s cut right to the chase, then--!”

Before he could blink, the diamond dog lady leapt at him. Fortunately, Nebula side-stepped her attack just in time to where he was at her left. Without hesitation, he blew a shrill note into his recorder that stunned the dog lady’s sensitive ears, causing her to cover them with her paws as she collapsed to the ground.

“There’s more to life than petty theft!” he shouted as he threatened to blow another note, “Surrender now and submit yourself to the court.”

“Like hell I’d submit to a brat like you,” she hissed as she stood up once more, and flung a dagger from her paw in his direction.

FWIP!

“Woah!” Nebula dodged it, albeit barely. This left him open to a hefty punch from the dog’s massive fist that sent him onto his back with a thud! “Not bad…”

But as soon as he rose to his hooves, the dog woman was nowhere to be seen. With his eyes steeled and ears open, Nebula focused hard on his surroundings to try and figure out where she went…

To no avail.

POP!

With a swift eruption of dust, the dog woman dug herself out of the sand beneath them, grabbing Nebula with a fierce grip of her paws, squishing his body in place.

“ACK!” he coughed up air involuntarily as he felt it all being squished out of him.

“Neat little whistle you got there,” she smirked as she reached up to grab the ivory recorder…

ZAP!

“Agh! What in the goddamn--?!”

But as soon as she tried to touch it, it left a burn on her paw which caused her to reflexively let go of the stallion and drop him to the sandy ground below.

“Oof!” left Nebula’s lips as he hit the sand and he quickly lifted his recorder up via magic before it hit the ground. “Let’s try something different.” The stallion leapt backwards and his horn lit up with magic to enchant his recorder…

EEEEE!

He played a sharp note that ejected hard magical projectiles. Bass clefs, treble clefs, and other notes were flung in the dog woman’s direction.

“Huh?!” she performed a quick backflip to avoid the explosive, concussive blasts that each note would leave after a short period of time. “You ponies astound me…”

“We’re more than just friendship lasers and rainbows, lady!” he called back with a smirk on his face. Nebula knew that if he could keep her at bay with ranged attacks, he’d eventually tire her out.

‘Come on, Rose. You got this.’

With Grimrose on the other end of the sandy field…

The pegasus mare had eyed the stocky stallion from afar. Within her left hoof, she held a blank book and began to write in it using a quill made out of one of her own feathers.

‘In order to pull this off, I need utmost focus,’ she thought to herself as she finished up working on her curse.

“Oi…?” the stallion’s ear flicked. His innate, passive magic-sensing aura tipped him off that something wasn’t quite right. He immediately turned to the direction of the bush that Grimrose was hiding in, and shouted, “You lot! Whoever’s out there, show yourselves!”

“Shit,” Rose cursed her plan, as she didn’t expect him to figure her out so easily. With that, she opted to go for a different strategy: Intimidation.

With a swift flap of her wings, Grimrose flew up, and landed in front of York. “By order of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Royal Guard, we hereby stake claim for your arrest under Equine Code M-6-0: ‘Banditry is illegal.’”

“...Bugger it,” the stallion grit his teeth, “S’pose I oughta cut my losses and get while the gettin’s good. C’mon out, you lazy bums!”

Moments later, several other ponies in fur jackets and bowler hats would exit their tents around the camp, allowing York to slip through and make his escape. “Tell the princess that we ain’t done yet!” he shouted as he scampered away, suspiciously leaving the body bag behind…

Which in turn, left Grimrose surrounded by four stallions that were a part of York’s gang. To their surprise, she didn’t seem fazed by this at all.

“Well this seems fair,” she quipped dryly as she stared at the bandits, “Four against one, and I didn’t bring any soul jars…”

Chapter 15

“Wot?” one of the bandits muttered in confusion. The idea that one, relatively scrawny mare could take them on seemed laughable at best. “The ‘ell are you on about?”

SHOOM!

Before any of them could react, a blur of pale-purple and black zoomed past the bandit pony that had spoken moments ago. All that was left behind was a small cut that had drawn a bit of blood.

“What the…--aaaaagh!”

The stallion convulsed and collapsed to the ground as soon as Grimrose wrote something down in the empty pages of her spellbook. It was as if he had suffered a heart attack and couldn’t bring himself to move.

“Anyone else want to try?” she asked the remaining three, “I’ve got plenty of stuff I want to show off.”

One of them quickly devised a plan, “I’ll hold her off. You two head into town and see what else you can find.”

The other two stallions hurried off before Rose could react in time, with the remaining one, a unicorn, staying behind to keep her busy.

“That’s a pretty little grimoire you got there, lass,” he said with his horn lighting up, “Wonder how much it’ll fetch on the black market.”

“This is an Orcus Family Tome,” she replied neutrally with her eyes steeled upon him, “You couldn’t handle it even if you tried.”

“That ain’t my problem if I sell it,” he replied with an arrogant, surefire tone. “Now be a good little lass and hand it over!”

ZAP!

The stallion fired a bolt of crystal shards from his horn that Rose barely dodged in time. In order to avoid them, she had to summon her familiar--the golem--to substitute and stand in place for where she once was once standing.

The pony golem essentially tanked the full brunt of the attack and, under Rose’s control, functioned like a fully living being.

‘Okay…how does this work?’

“What the bloody ‘ell…?” the stallion rubbed his eyes with his hoof out of disbelief, confused at what he was seeing. A walking, wooden pony with no eyes that stumbled after taking a few steps. “A puppet show? That’s what the famous Princess of Equestria has been teaching you lot?” he cackled as he casually trotted towards it. “Don’t make me laugh…”

In reality, Grimrose had gone back into hiding in a nearby bush and was controlling the golem with magical threads attached to her wingtips. It took her a moment to fully grasp control of it…

‘Right hoof…left hoof…now this.’

CRACK!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the stallion was punched by the golem! A swift, yet powerful right hook that sent him tumbling with a bit of blood launched from his lips as a result.

The stallion spat, visibly annoyed that he had been tricked so easily as he stood upright. “Agh! Alright…I’ll bite! Come at me, ya coward!”

In the town itself…

The final two stallions had rushed into the village, looking to pillage whatever else they could find.

What they didn’t account for though…

FWOOSH!

A wall of blue flame cause them to skid to a halt, kicking up dust as they dug their hooves into the ground beneath.

“What the--?!”

Before they could say anything else, a wall of purple flame enclosed them from the other side.

Blue Blazes walked through the blue one and casually approached them while picking something out of his teeth with his claw. “Sweet. I was getting a bit hungry for pony!” he put on his best tone for intimidation, as he didn’t want to eat anyone at all.

“Save some for me,” Mei, who had become a jet-black Nirik, appeared through the purple flames. “I love picking their flesh from my teeth!”

“...We surrender!” one of the stallions immediately dropped to the ground, squealing.

“York made us do this!” the second one yelped as he hit the sand. “We’ll tell you everything, mate! Honest!”

Blue was naturally suspicious, raising an eyebrow before he looked at Mei. “Bind ‘em, Mei.”

“On it,” she replied and with a flash of her horn, the stallions were bound by fiery, albeit harmless, chains. “Don’t try to escape and you won’t get burned.”

Moments later, Cayenne stepped out to join them. “Good job, you two. Stay here, and I’ll see if I can find their leader.”

“Got it, ma’am,” Blue replied with a salute.

“Yes ma’am,” Mei added as Cayenne used her magic to teleport away. Then she looked at Blue. “Not bad for our first mission, huh?”

“Meh, it was gonna be a bit easy since it’s our first time. These guys are straight up jobbers,” he snarked while glancing at the bound criminals with a grin on his face. “Hope we get something actually challenging next time.”

Now transformed back into a Kirin, Mei giggled in response to Blue’s confident words. “With you? That puts me at ease, Blue.”

“It better,” he replied as he folded his arms, “Someone has to keep morale up around here. May as well be me.”

‘...he’s so confident,’ Mei thought to herself, ‘I wish I could speak of myself like that…’

Chapter 16

With Nebula…

The stallion continued to make more music from his recorder, summoning notes into the air that kept the diamond dog woman at bay. Ultimately, his plan worked and he had managed to tire her out. Now on the ground, she was too winded to fight back as Nebula trotted up to her.

“Why don’t we stop all this, hm?” he asked politely, “It’s only gonna get worse the more you resist. You don’t need to continue this train of petty theft, miss.”

But the canine lady was stubborn. She grit her teeth, then came up with an idea on the spot. If she couldn’t beat him in a fight…

“Well…maybe we can make a deal?”

Nebula raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”

The dog woman unzipped, and pulled down the pants to her leather bodysuit. She then got on all fours and shook her large, furry behind at the stallion as a way to entice him with her tail wagging.

“Maybe…let me go in exchange for a bit of--?”

Nebula simply responded with a sigh as he looked down at the sand. “...You’re such disgusting trash.”

“...what?” she muttered with a sense of emptiness in her voice as she gazed at him with wide eyes. That was the last thing she had expected to hear. Despite that, she desperately tried to appeal to what she thought were basic instincts. “...Come now. You’re a healthy young man, aren’t you? I bet you haven’t even had time with a--!”

But Nebula cut her off by binding her arms and legs together with cuffs that looked to be made out of musical bars. “...You really think you’re going to tempt me with sex in order to get out of a crime you’re committing? Are you serious?” He stomped around until he was standing in front of her. “...I’m disappointed, honestly. You should have more respect for yourself.”

“Oh quit the act!” she yelped back, “You’re just like every young man! The blood rushing to your penis will overtake you as soon as you see an attractive woman! Don’t act like you’re any better than the rest of them!”

With a flash of magic, Nebula levitated the dog woman up to him so that he could look her in the eyes. “I’ve got my own little desires and kinks, sure. But drowning in a selfish act like prostitution to weasel out of criminal acts is utterly horrid. I’ve seen this happen before and destroy healthy lives. You don’t deserve any sympathy.”

The fact that he had apparently witnessed similar accounts in the past caused the dog woman to look at the ground in shame. “...Is that so?”

“Shut your mouth,” Nebula grumbled as he bound her maw shut with another music bar. “You need serious help.” With that, he carried her in his magical aura back to the entrance of the town…

Where he would find that Grimrose had already subdued the pony that had decided to fight her.

“Hmph,” she muttered as she tilted her head, looking at the stallion whose mouth had become frothy and eyes blank as he lied on the ground. “I guess I overdid it with the stun curse. Oh well. He’ll live.”

“Good job, Rose,” Nebula replied with a happy smile on his face. “These guys are gonna learn not to disturb the good folks of this town anymore.”

“I see you took her down nicely,” Rose replied as she noted the diamond dog woman in his magical grip that he had set down nearby. “Think I have time to examine her?”

Nebula shook his head. “Nah. We need to make sure we round up the rest. Where’s Blue and Mei?”

“All done,” the kirin mare in question casually quipped as she trotted out to them.

“Present and accounted for!” Blue called out as he placed down the other two pony bandits near the rest of the criminals. “This one was hella easy! But I suppose that’s how it goes for your first mission, huh?”

“I’ll say,” Nebula agreed, then took a look around when he realized that someone was missing. “Hm? Where’s Teach?”

POOF!

As if on cue, Cayenne teleported back to them with their leader, York, caught in her magical grip with his hooves tied around each other as if he was a balloon animal.

“There we are. That’s done and done,” she commented as she set him down and looked at her students. “And I see you all have managed to complete your mission with ease.”

“Yup,” Blue replied as he folded his arms, “Buuuut I think we should have a talk with the local ruler of this place. They need to start hiring more security if they don’t want this to keep happening.”

“Very true,” Cayenne replied, “But it’s likely that they wanted outside help to give them a second opinion on how bad it really is.”

“I can see that,” Nebula added, “Sometimes you don’t really know how big of a problem something is until you get an outsider’s perspective.”

Mei let out a relieved exhale. “Yeah. I know that feeling all too well. Trust me.”

As everyone was chatting though, the body bag started to rustle and stir! Whatever was inside of it wasn’t dead after all!

Grimrose was the first to notice this as she put her book away. “...there’s a life signature coming from that body bag. Whoever’s in there isn’t dead.”

Everyone whipped their heads in the direction of the moving bag and hurried over to it. Sure enough, there was movement that became more violent and restless with each passing second as if something was trying to break out of it!

Cayenne stood in front of her students and cast a shield spell. “Hang on, kiddos. This might be dangerous…”

Blue eyed up the bandits and shouted, “Hey, assholes! What’s the deal with this?!”

“W-we thought it was dead!” one of the bandits answered, “That’s all we was told!”

Before long, someone emerged out of the bag, ripping it open with what looked like a primate’s hand…

“Ack! Augh!” a female voice cried out, coughing as she exited the bag. As it turned out…it was a monkey woman from the Far East beyond Saddle Arabia. She had light brown fur, blue eyes, and a red and gold crop-top vest that barely covered her rather well-endowed chest along with nothing on her bottom half. Her prehensile tail was exposed alongside her .

“...What is that?” Blue asked as Cayenne lowered her shield.

“...A gizmonk, I believe,” the teacher mare answered as she took a step towards the primate. “They’re from the Far East and speak a different language. Hopefully I can communicate with her.” She cleared her throat and spoke to the monkey lady, “...hello?”

As soon as she laid eyes on the ponies and dragon, her face lit up as she leapt over to them. “Westerners!” she squealed with a thick Eastern accent. “You all so cool for save me! Thank you!” She went around and grabbed ahold of their hooves and claws to shake them as a sign of gratitude, leaving everyone with confused expressions on their faces…

Until she laid eyes on the kirin. As soon as she did, the monkey lady’s face dropped as she glared at her with hatred in her eyes. “Nǐ...it's you...”

Likewise, Mei returned the gesture. Although her eyes weren’t visible due to her foggy glasses, her tone indicated displeasure upon seeing the primate. “O joh-eun…of all the people we could’ve saved. It had to be one of them.”

Nebula, Grimrose, Blue, and Cayenne simply paused and glanced at each other once more while the kirin and monk glared daggers at each other.

Bad blood from the East?

Chapter 17

“Eoliseoggo hyeongpyeon-eobsneun wonsung-i,” Mei huffed in her native tongue, locking everyone else out of the conversation entirely. Her horn started to light up…

“Ruòxiǎo kělián de qílín,” the monkey woman huffed back as she grit her teeth, seemingly preparing to reach for something from behind her back…

All the while, everyone else stood there in confusion.

“...any idea why they hate each other for some reason?” Blue muttered softly.

“I read about this,” Nebula replied, “Something about how the Kirins and Monks hate each other for constant transgressions their ancestors committed against each other in the past?”

Cayenne sighed as she confirmed it. “...it’s true. There’s a long history of Eastern nations like the kirins, monks of the Wukong Province, and the ponies from Mistmane’s village being at odds with each other for the last few centuries. War, pillaging, slavery…” she shook her head. “It was only until recently when Equestria intervened and became their allies during the worldwide conflict against threats like Tirek and Queen Chyrsalis did we establish relations with them.”

Blue rubbed the temples of his head as he rationalized it all. “So…the kirins and monks both like the rest of the West…but not each other. Damn…they trust foreigners more than their own neighbors.”

“I can’t blame them,” Grimrose added, “Usually, it’s better the devil you know. Seeking aid from halfway across the world in times of need in order to appear kinder to us was a risky option for both nations that ultimately paid off in the end.”

Nebula grit his teeth as he looked at the kirin and monkey woman who continued to stare at each other intently. “Well we certainly don’t wanna start Dimensional War III up in here!” Against his better judgement, the unicorn stallion quickly leapt between the two young women. “...why don’t we settle down and sleep for the night, guys? It’s been a long day and I’m sure we’ll get answers from Miss…?” he looked at the monkey lady, hoping she’d tell them her name.

“Hm?” the monkey lady’s expression changed when addressed by the pony. She smiled and happily answered him. “Oh. Sorry. I am still learning language of the West. My name in your language is Fěnhóng Liánhuā.”

Blue would attempt to pronounce it, “Fen…fen…wha?”

Only for the monkey woman to coil up her tail like a spring and sit on it with a giggle. “Lóng man is funny! My name isn’t very easy for you. I apologize.”

“I’m--what?” Blue raised a brow at her words.

“It means ‘dragon’ in her language,” Grimrose whispered, earning an understanding nod from the dragon in response.

“I know!” Fěnhóng came up with an idea on the spot, “You can call me Li Li as a shortened version.” In ther words, she essentially repeated the first syllable of her surname twice.

Nebula tapped his hoof in the sand for a moment until he came up with a good way to transliterate it. “Ah! Lily, then. Does that work?”

“Yes! Yes!” she agreed with a smile as she performed a cartwheel towards them all and went around hugging each of them. “I appreciate your help, Westerners! But I don’t know how to get home….”

Cayenne came up with a plan. “Alright. Seeing as she’s from the Wukong Province, we should inform them that one of their citizens was captured and nearly killed. Do they understand our language, Ms. Lily?”

“Hm? Oh, yes! Emperor Chang has all schools teach us foreign language! I’m…still learning though.”

Blue gave her some words of encouragement. “You speak it pretty darn well, I’d say. Don’tcha think, Mei?”

The kirin in question was nowhere to be found.

“...Shit. Maybe have crossed a line there,” he muttered once he realized she had likely left.

“Don’t sweat it,” Nebula replied, “We’re all likely just tired from the craziness we dealt with today.” He then looked at Lily. “Miss, we all just got through a hefty battle and we need to report our efforts to the Somnambulan Council so they can decide on what to do with these criminals. Would you mind coming back with us to Equestria once we’re done?”

“Ooh!” she clapped her hands and cheered, “Seeing more Western culture? Yes!”

“Then it’s decided,” Nebula looked at Cayenne, “If that’s okay with you, ma’am.”

The mare chuckled. “I was just about to say ‘who put you in charge?’ but then I remembered that Tungsten trained you. Anyhow, it’s no problem at all.” She paused to yawn and flick her tail. “Blech…but I’m beat after all that excitement. Let’s catch some shut-eye at the inn, hm?”

And so our heroes would all retire to the inn with a new member of their party. Of course, both Lily and Mei went to great efforts to avoid speaking to each other as much as possible to avoid any further conflict.

The next morning…

York and the rest of his gang of bandits were turned over to, and imprisoned by the Somnambulan Council at the Town Hall. They were all rewarded with a rather hefty bag of bits each for their efforts. And before they left, they gave the Council an advisory letter on the type of security they should hire…before they were quickly ushered out.

“Yikes,” Blue muttered as they made their way to the train station, “It’s like they didn’t even wanna hear what we had to say.”

“That’s how it is out here,” Grimrose replied, “They ask for your help and refuse any criticism.”

As the group continued walking, Nebula couldn’t help but notice Mei and Lily speaking to each other in a hushed, yet hostile tone…

“Do not speak to me in front of the Westerners,” Lily grumbled, “I don’t want to be acknowledged with your kind.”

“Mutual. Your folks have been nothing but trouble to us in the past,” Mei spat back.

Lily refuted her statement, “Qilins are the ones who started it. Quit your lies.”

“Wonsung are the problem,” Mei went on. “But your foolish banana brain doesn’t get it.”

Lily’s eyelid twitched, “...what you say to me?”

Chapter 18

Everyone arrived back to the Academy in Canterlot to give their findings on the mission that they had just completed. Once that was done, they were permitted to rest in their dorm rooms for a while. They all stored their bits away to use for later which would certainly come in handy when they needed to buy food and better equipment for future endeavors.

On the subject of Lily (henceforth spelled on documentation as Leelee to avoid confusion with another student who had a similar name), since she was a foreigner, she had sent a letter to the Wukong Province to let the Emperor know where she had ended up. It wouldn’t be long before an emissary would arrive to check on the situation. All she had to do was wait in one of the empty dorms until they arrived.

And Mei, at the request of Blue, took express care not to get involved with or speak to her…

Meanwhile, in Atomic Nebula’s dorm specifically…

The indigo unicorn stallion had just put everything away and began to rest after a successful mission. However, as he lied on his bed, he started to smell something…off.

“What the?” he sniffed the air once, then twice followed by a few more times. It smelled like the scent of…pepper? Whatever it was, it had been coming from the other side of his dorm room door. “Hm? I wonder what that could be? Are they doing some cooking on campus?”

Nebula got up from his bed and pranced towards the door. Once he got close, he grabbed ahold of the handle with his hoof and pulled it open. “Hey what’s--?”

BANG!

“AAAAGHHHH!”

A loud explosion went off and Nebula collapsed to the floor as he covered his eyes. His screams echoed throughout the halls and caught the attention of a few of the students who were stunned in horrific confusion as they looked around for the source of the screams.

“MY EYES! MY EYES ARE BURNING!” Nebula cried out, “I CAN’T SEE! HELP ME!!”

First to arrive on the scene was Grimrose who, after opening the door to her room, flew over and immediately checked on him with a widened, and shaken look in her eyes.

“Atomic? Atomic?? What happened? What’s…?” she looked around and noticed a few other students looking her way. She called out to them and gave a command, “Get the doctor so we can get Nebula to the infirmary. Now.”

All the while, a certain griffon was at the end of the hall, scoffing to herself.

About an hour later in the infirmary…

Nebula’s eyes had been covered with bandages after what could only be described as a painstakingly delicate procedure to clean his eyes out and heal them with magic.

“His condition is stable,” an abyssinian nurse spoke to Grimrose. “To think someone would have the gall to set up an elaborate trap filled with Grim Reaper peppers…”

“...aren’t those the hottest peppers that grow naturally?” Rose asked with a hesitant tone. “I’ve heard they’re three times as strong as pepper spray.”

“Something like that,” the nurse replied with a sigh as she shook her head. “Here’s hoping the nerves to his eyes will heal. If not…then he may not be able to see ever again. For now, give him some space and come back to check on him later, okay?”

Rose looked down at the floor for a moment with her eyelid twitching as she maintained her neutral expression. “...understood.” She exited the infirmary where Mei was waiting in the hall.

“...How is he?” she asked nervously.

“Critical,” Rose answered blankly. “Whoever did this to him will pay dearly.”

“...I bet it was her,” Mei huffed. “As soon as we brought her along, something bad happened. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Rose looked at the kirin for a moment and glared at her with narrowed eyes. “Are you serious? We just saved Lily. She has no reason to do something like that. Don’t let your callous, preconceived notions overcome you, Mei. You’re better than that,” she scolded her with a cold tone.

“...” Mei recoiled from the harsh words and came to realize how foolish that sounded. “...you’re right. Sorry. I can’t let my emotions take over. We need to think carefully.”

“Exactly,” the pegasus mare looked around for any sign of Nebula’s closest friend to no avail. “Huh? Where’s Blue? I figured he’d be here for him.”

Mei rubbed her hoof behind her head. “...yeah, he went to go blow off some steam. Plus, he’s got gym right now so we can’t speak with him.”

“...fair enough,” Rose lamented, then shook her head before she began trotting down the hall with the kirin in tow. “Come on, Mei. Let’s see if we can find any evidence to figure out who did it.”

Well, someone already had an idea as to who might have committed the act…

Back in the dorm hall, near dorm block Sigma…

Two unicorns were on their way to Gaea’s room. Lily Love angrily stomped her way up to the griffon’s door with Sweet Curd close behind her.

“...Are we sure this is a good idea?” Curd asked.

“I know she did it, Curd,” Love muttered to her friend, “Nobody else hates him enough to pull a rubbish stunt like that.” Once in front of the door, she tapped her hoof upon it. “Oi! Open up, ya ninny!”

And not long after, Gaea opened her door and leaned against it with her arms folded. “Eh? The hell do you want?”

“Oh don’t play dumb you banged-up muppet!” Love ranted in her face, “You can’t fookin’ stand that Nebula so ya nuked his face!”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Gaea said with a shrug, “And even if I did, you’ve got no proof to link me to anything. Get lost before I report you for harassment.”

And with a slam!, she shut her door in the ponies’ faces.

“Gah! Hydra’s foot!” Love grumbled as she stomped her hoof. “Poor lad doesn’t deserve what happened to him…”

“I know,” Curd replied with a sigh. "I know..."

Chapter 19

In dorm block Sigma…

Jun Fang had decided to pay Spearklip a visit in order to discuss what had just happened not long ago.

“So…” the dalmatian muttered as he stepped into the zebra’s room and shut the door. “I’m almost certain that Gaea was behind this little incident.”

“No shit,” Spear spat back while casually doing pull-ups from a support beam in the ceiling. “Who else hates him for no good reason? Callous chicken shit…”

“What I want to know is why,” Fang continued with a perplexed expression on his face. “I’ve spoken to a few of our fellow alumni and they’ve come to a conclusion that seems reasonably sound. It’s entirely likely that she’s taking her ire out on ponies due to being wrong by one in the past.”

Spearklip paused her exercises and replied, “Still no excuse to cripple someone possibly for life…” she then continued her pull-ups. “Poor guy was always so happy and carefree now this happens…”

Fang nodded in agreement. “Yes…tis very unsettling indeed. Unfortunately we have no way of proving that she was the one who did it. Even now, it’s likely that she’ll remain completely silent on the subject and refuse to tell us anything.

“Aaagh…” The zebra mare grumbled as she jumped down and landed on the floor. “Listen, JF. I’m not a good strategist. I’m better off solving problems in the field as we go along, you know?”

“I’m well aware, dear Spear. Our poor yak friend Rufus is the same way. He was unable to offer me much in the way of advice either. But that’s not a problem. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses.”

“Which is why you’re the brains of our group,” Spear added, pointing her hoof at him. “So tell me: Is there anything we can do right now?”

“Think critically, Spear. Her actions are going to reflect poorly on those that sent her here. I have no doubt that her parents or guardians will be rather furious to learn of the fact that she’s been causing trouble.” He sat down in a nearby chair. “Beyond that, our team is likely going to be benched until we can acquire another member. It’s all rather vexing…”

The zebra mare leapt back onto her bed. “Again: No shit. But if it means bringing her to justice, then we should try to get her to spill the beans.”

“I’d like to figure out her reasoning to poke around in her head at least a tad,” Fang continued with a sigh, “If we could all just get along without any of this troublesome strife…”

“You figure out the hard parts, Fang,” Spear turned over onto her bed and yawned. “I need to rest up before training starts, so we’ll talk later, yeah?”

Fang got up and went to the door. “Understood. I’ll be seeing you…” And he took care to sniff a few times before opening it up and leaving…

Elsewhere in the Academy…

As described, Rufus and Blue were both taking their outdoor gym classes. Once they managed to catch a break, they sat down near some trees located a few yards away from the track and field.

“I’m gonna kick her fucking ass, Rufus,” Blue slammed his fist into the side of an oak tree with enough force to shake its leaves clean off. “I know it was her. She’s not gonna say shit, but I know that griffon bitch did it.”

“Easy there, pal,” Rufus urged him to calm down, “You’re not gonna get anywhere by breakin’ up stuff. Violence is only sometimes occasionally the answer,” he said with an uneasy chuckle.

“Get serious, man,” Blue grumbled as he crunched an empty water bottle in his claw. “This is my best friend we’re talking about here. One of my only friends growing up…”

Rufus paused and took a second to think on what exactly Blue was talking about. “...Atomic Nebula means a lot to you, huh?”

“Yeah, he does,” Blue replied as he sipped from his water. “When we were younger, he’d always watch out for me…”

About 20 years ago, in Canterlot Middle School…

“Ew…is that a dragon?”

“I bet he’s gonna set us on fire if we look at him funny…”

“Dragons are nothing but trouble. Don’t let him see anything shiny. He’ll probably steal it from you.”

The young Blue Blazes simply kept to himself as to avoid any conflict. But the rumors and bullying from afar took a toll on him. He couldn’t bring himself to make any friends.

That is, until one day…

While out on a camping field trip, none of the other students bothered giving Blue the directions needed to get back to the camp.

But a certain colt was there when he needed help.

“...Hoi! I’m Atomic Nebula. You lost?”

“...yeah. No one’s bothered to help me,” Blue replied.

“Well that’s lame. Here, lemme show you…”

“,,,and from that day onward, we were best friends,” Blue concluded his story, “I even joined him in the choir and kept bullies off his back for years. We go way back.”

“I see now…yeah, if I had a friend like that, I’d be pissed too,” Rufus agreed, “Just a shame we don’t have any proof that could actually put her away, pal.”

Just then, a certain older unicorn approached them. “...Gentlemen? If I may?”

“Professor Hassium?” Blue looked up at the stallion, “Is everything alright?”

“I couldn’t help but overhear you two speaking,” he went on, “...I want to ask that you don’t do anything reckless. The rest of the teachers and I are conducting a thorough investigation. If you do anything out of order, you might find yourself in suspension--or worse, Mr. Blazes.”

The dragon nodded. He knew full well that Nebula wouldn’t want him to do anything foolish. “Yes sir…I’ll keep myself clean. But if you find any information that could help us bag the person who did that to Neb…”

“You’ll be the first to know, Mr. Blazes. I assure you. For now, continue living your life as an honest student and don’t do anything outrageous, understand?”

“...Understood,” he muttered as Hassium trotted away. “Dammit…guess there ain’t shit we can do for now.”

“Seems like it,” Rufus replied as he rose to his hooves and stretched. “If only you could jump into Gaea’s mind and force her to tell the truth. But who has that kinda magic, right?”

Blue’s eyes shot wide open. “...”

The yak stared at him for a moment. “...that was a joke, you know that, right?”

“...yeah, heh…” Blue laughed it off as he spread his wings. “...A joke. I’ll see ya later, Ruf.”

“...Uh-huh…” As the dragon flew off, Rufus could only come up with one thing to say to himself. “...he’s gonna try something stupid isn’t he?”

Chapter 20

“Grimrose!” Blue shouted as he forced the pegasus mare’s door open. “Didja find anything yet?”

“...nnnope,” she bemoaned her lack of progress into finding the culprit behind the one who crippled Nebula. “Nobody’s willing to tell me anything. I can’t even find an inkling of a rumor.” She slumped over, and fell back onto her bed. “...Atomic would hate me…”

“Wait, for real--hang on…” Blue flew over and sat next to her. “Why would you say that about yourself, Rose?”

“I can’t even do something that simple for him…” she turned over with a frown on her face as her eyes welled up with tears. “...figure out who wronged him so he can recover in peace. Some friend I am…”

Seeing her on the verge of crying caused Blue to take a moment to himself. ‘...I’ve never seen her like this before. This is new to me.’

It had given the dragon pause as he tried to come up with some way to make her feel better. “I…well…hey. I’m sure he’d want you to…I mean he’s…he’ll get better soon…”

“I guess you’re right,” Rose replied with a sigh as she sat up and held her hoof against her abdomen. “I just…I’ve never felt like this before. Atomic is super important to me and watching him suffer like that is…it makes my heart hurt, Blue. What the heck is this…this feeling?”

Blue scratched the back of his head and tried his best to make sense of it. “Well…it’s your love for him, probably. Nebula’s important to you, yeah?”

“Important is too small a word…” Rose went on, “He was the only one that didn’t treat me differently throughout highschool.”

About 7 years ago…

“Ugh. It’s the weird goth mare.”

“Better steer clear of her or she’ll curse you.”

“I heard she comes from a family of demons who eat other ponies.”

Grimrose simply ignored these comments and with each passing day, let go of more and more of her emotions until she no longer had them. It got to a point where it was easier for her to put on a face of stone instead of confronting what annoyed her.

That is, until someone approached her. A stallion with a slightly bad case of acne who was also teased behind his back…but somehow, he didn’t let it deter the pep in his step.

“...hey, need some help?”

“Yes. I’m lost.”

“Don’t worry. I got lost when I first came here. I can help you. My name’s Atomic Nebula.”

And for the first time since she could remember, the gloomy pegasus felt her heart beat. “...Grimrose Orcus.”

“...wow, I feel bad for ponies,” Blue spoke once Rose had finished her story. “Dragons don’t get pimples. We molt, but that’s something entirely different.”

Grimrose glared at him with a small whinny.

“Sorry! Getting back on track here…it sounds like he did quite a bit for you too, huh? Guess we have that in common.”

“He inspired me to accept myself,” she replied with a sigh, “...I’m still having trouble with that, but I’ve been getting better.”

Blue folded his arms and smirked. “Heh. Me too, I’d like to think. I owe him a ton. All the more reason why figuring out who did this to him is so important.”

“...I’m still at a loss as far as that goes, unfortunately.”

That’s when Blue replied with his proposal as he snapped his fingers. “Ahaaaaa--but here’s the thing. Do you have a way to enter someone’s mind?”

“...Uh…maybe? It’ll require a lot of power but…I can try it.”

“Good. I want us to jump into Gaea’s head. She’s our prime suspect, and if we can see what she’s thinking and get her to confess from the inside…”

Grimrose’s eyes grew wide upon realizing what Blue was saying. “...then she can finally face justice for the pain she’s caused Atomic.”

“Yup,” the dragon smirked as he put his hands behind his head in a casual manner. “Came up with that one all by myself. No need to thank me.”

“No…I will. Thank you, Blue,” Rose commented with a shaky tone as she threw her hooves around him. “...but I’ll need to run a test first to make sure it’ll work.”

“Ah! Hey, it’s no problem,” he replied as he pat her on the head. “Since this was my idea, I don’t mind being the test drive for it.”

Rose let him go, and flew over to the empty space in the middle of the room. “Alright. I’m going to need a bit of your blood to make this work.”

Blue got up and followed her over. “Shit. We’ll need some of Gaea’s blood too, huh?”

“Don’t worry, I can nick some off of her no problem,” she replied as she beckoned him forward. “Now stand in the circle. Your scales are a bit thick so I won’t be able to draw blood with one of my feathers.”

“Oh I got that,” Blue stood in the pentagram symbol on the floor and bit into his thumb-claw, causing a bit of blood to leak out. “Eegh! That enough for you?”

“Yes,” Rose confirmed and caught a bit of the blood on her quill. “Now do me a favor and meditate for a bit. I should be able to activate a curse that lets me get inside your mind once you’re not fully conscious.”

“Okay…”

Blue sat down with his legs crossed and shut his eyes. It wasn’t long until he was in a sleep-like state and Grimrose was able to write the symbols down for the curse in her spellbook. From there, she shut her own eyes as well…

Poof.

And the next time she opened them, she found herself in the middle of nowhere…until piles and piles of gemstones started to appear, alongside memories of a small blue dragon and a unicorn colt.

“...I think I’m inside your mind.”

“Ho-lee-shit! It works!” Blue shouted from nearby as he flew down to meet the pegasus. “You’re actually inside my head! I guess this is what I’m thinkin’ about right now, huh?”

“Memories of Atomic…and food,” she gave the slightest, sarcastic snort, “Yup. This is your mind alright.”

“Heeeey--what’s that supposed’ta mean?”

“That it works,” Grimrose replied, “Now try and wake up.”

“Okay…”

POOF!

As soon as the dragon awakened in reality, the curse was lifted and Grimrose found herself back in her own body.

“Just as I thought. It can be broken if our target awakens.”

“Dammit…” Blue muttered as he stood upright. “Now what?”

“It means we strike in the dead of night when she’s fast asleep and less likely to wake up,” Rose went on with a more determined tone, “An intelligent rogue attacks neither the mind nor body alone. We’ll also have to attack her heart if we want to win. Just be aware of how potentially invasive and damaging this could be...”

“...sounds freaky as shit,” Blue muttered in awe before smirking once more, “I’m in. If we find that she's innocent somehow, then we'll leave her alone. Let’s do this tonight.”

And Grimrose would agree. “Tonight it is.”

Chapter 21

In the dead of night once everyone was asleep, nobody could predict what was about to happen within the hallowed halls of the Academy. Blue Blazes had returned to Grimrose’s room that night and the latter somehow had acquired a bit of the griffon’s blood that she had already began to use for her cursed ritual.

“...Lemme guess,” Blue would take a stab at just how she managed to acquire the blood, “You snuck up on her.”

“How else would I do it?” she asked rhetorically, then shifted her focus to a different part of the subject. “Alright…now we have to be absolutely sure that we’re ready for this. There’s no telling what we’ll find once we get inside her head.”

“I am, though I have a question,” Blue went on, “Won’t she recognize us as soon as we step in? It’ll create a massive hole in our plan if we aren’t careful.”

There was a rare, small grin on Rose’s face in response to the dragon’s concern. “I’ve already thought ahead and added an extra contingency to the curse. When we enter someone else’s mind, we’ll don outfits that completely mask and hide who we actually are. That way, the individual in reality can’t tell that we’ve been inside their mind.”

“Interesting…wonder what kinda stuff I’ll get to wear once we’re in,” Blue wondered aloud, then cricked his neck to loosen his joints up. “Well, we won’t find out just by sitting around. Let’s do this.”

Once they were both in agreement, Grimrose inscribed the parchment of her spellbook with the blood of the griffon, followed by Blue’s blood as well as her own. Soon enough…

Poof.

Just as it worked with Blue before, they eventually found themselves transported into what felt like another world entirely. But of course, one major difference was what they were now wearing…

Both the pegasus and dragon opened their eyes and looked at each other.

“...hot damn,” Blue muttered upon seeing what Grimrose had on.

Grimrose was now wearing a purple dancing dress and an equally purple veil over her face that prevented anyone from seeing who exactly she was.

“...If Nebula could see you right now, he’d be drooling,” Blue commented as he noted her appearance.

Rose took a look at herself and gave a satisfied nod. “Hm. I like it.” Then she took a look at Blue…

The dragon was now wearing what appeared to be an orang-ish-brown hooded cloak that gave him the appearance of a wandering nomad. His face was covered by a facemask that only left his eyes, but no other defining features, visible.

“You look really capable. Almost like a rogue of sorts. Mei would love it,” she remarked with the slightest hint of a teasing tone in her voice.

“Can you not,” Blue rolled his eyes as he looked himself over and raised his arms. “But this is a pretty sleek fit, not gonna lie. Though, before we move forward, I think we should drop the use of real names in here.”

Rose nodded in agreement. “Good idea. Codenames would probably be the best bet from here on out.”

“Oh, like spies? Siiiiick,” Blue trilled with joy as he thought it over. After a moment of looking at her, he already had one in mind. “Ah. I got the perfect one for you: Priestess.”

“Priestess…” she muttered while tapping her hoof, “I like it. And for you…how about something simple: Wyvern. The legendary dragons that are use for combat.”

“Wyvern, huh? I can dig it. Wonder if summoning our familiars still works in here…” Blue muttered then shook his head. The dragon then took time to look around and observe his surroundings. “Alright…now where exactly are we?”

That’s when the environment of the griffon’s inner thoughts started to form around them as if by magic. Firstly, they would be able to see a young griffon female grow up in a deserted shack all by herself with only occasional visits from an older one.

“I see…” ‘Wyvern’ Blue mumbled as he watched the memory unfold. “This must’ve been Gaea when she was little.”

“Let’s keep going,” ‘Priestess’ Grimrose trotted forward through the infinite expanse of the griffon’s mind.

Eventually, they’d come across another memory. A slightly older Gaea was now in school, but was actively causing fights in order to pre-emptively defend herself from being attacked as a reactionary measure from being alone. How could our duo tell this?

“...she’s shaking constantly,” Priestess said with a sigh as she watched it play out. “It’s as if she doesn’t want to do this.”

“That’s the environment they were raised in, unfortunately,” Wyvern added. “It was the same way with dragons for a while until Ember took over and got them to realize that intelligence was just as important as strength. If not more so.”

Priestess’ wings fluttered open all the sudden. “...the emotional attachment to her memories. It’s getting stronger the further we go. This way.”

The pair continued and they were now in an era of Griffonstone in which they had been visited by the Elements of Harmony and shown how to treat each other better. This was not long after Gallus had left to join the School of Friendship.

The now teenage-Gaea could be seen sulking in resentment over the fact that the griffons had warmed up to each other as they followed Gallus and the ponies’ example. No more unnecessary fights, no more pointless bickering and constant arguing…it filled her with disappointment.

It got so bad that the very next time a pony liaison visited the region…

“Outta the way, kid. I’m busy.”

“You ponies ruined our kind. You don’t deserve respect.”

“Excuse me? I don’t believe you know who you’re talking to. I have more important things to do than talk to a child. Now get out of my way.”

Overtaken by anger, Gaea then charged him down with her claws out, “Leave before I make you!”

“W-wait! I don’t even know you!” the freckled emissary stallion screamed, narrowly avoiding her and just barely escaping.

“GET OVER HERE SO I CAN BEAT YOUR ASS!”

And it was because of this outburst that the Elder Griffons sent Gaea away to Canterlot Academy College…

“...this is so unfair!” she screamed upon packing her things and leaving. “Everyone’s gone soft…”

Priestess and Wyvern watched the memory play out, remaining silent until it was completed.

“...Huh,” the dragon muttered, “So that’s why she hates ponies. Her reaction to one is what caused the Village Elders to send her down here to learn about them.”

Priestess would wax poetic. “Imagine being so pathetic and ornery that you get kicked out of your own home--a home that’s known for rather ornery and prickly individuals. She was such a bother that not even other griffons wanted to deal with her.”

“...yikes,” Wyvern whistled as he scratched the back of his head. “When you put it like that, it really speaks volumes about how shitty her attitude is. Granted, I do kinda feel bad for her since she was kinda forced to come here. And the pony ambassador could’ve been nicer. Still…doesn’t excuse anything.”

And the last memory that they viewed…

“Stupid pony with his stupid freckles on his stupid face. I’ll bring him down to my level…just you wait. We’re no different.”

And then they could see the memory of Gaea purchasing the enchanted, explosive peppers from a zebra vendor at a local market in Canterlot.

They had their evidence.

“...That’s it!” Wyvern yelped. “I knew she was behind this. But how we gonna peg her for it in real life?”

Priestess took a closer look at the memory, noting the black-and-white striped paper bag that the peppers were sold in. They matched the zebra’s stripes!

“...if we can get a testimony from that vendor,” Priestess commented, “We’ll have what we need.”

“Good eye, Priestess,” Wyvern replied, “C’mon. Let’s get outta here before--”

A familiar voice cut him off, calling out to them from beyond the mindscape’s horizon. “...Hey! Who the hell are you two?!”

“...before exactly that happens.”

Chapter 22

‘Here’s hoping she doesn’t recognize us…’ Wyvern Blue thought to himself.

Thankfully, it seemed as if she didn’t for the moment. The grifonness appeared before them wearing a crudely designed blue leather jacket, shades, and a bandanna.

“The hell are you doing in my head?!” she shouted as she approached them, “Who even are you?!”

“...what’s with her fit?” Wyvern muttered to Priestess.

“It’s likely how she envisions herself,” Priestess explained, “Given that we’re in her mind, she likely sees herself. A roughneck gangster that follows nobody’s rules except her own. It’s honestly pretty sad.”

The inner version of Gaea called out to them once more. “Hey! I’m talkin’ to you knuckleheads! Is this some kinda weird dream I’m having or what?”

“Something like that,” Wyvern decided to approach her…and immediately lost track of what he wanted to say.. “Consider us uh…” he turned to the disguised Grimrose, “Priestess?”

Priestess sighed and stepped forward. “...consider us an omen. A foreboding cognition that represents the pain and suffering you caused to an innocent pony named Atomic Nebula in real life.”

“...wait…is this a nightmare?” Gaea held her claws up to her face and started to pat herself down. “No…no way,” she shook her head in denial and yelled back, “This can’t be! I’m being pranked! You’ve got no idea what I did…if anything!”

“Like you ‘pranked’ that pony who did nothing to you?” Wyvern countered her stance, “Do you know that you may have caused him permanent blindness?”

“...” Gaea’s inner self paused for a moment, freezing in place as she looked at the empty black expanse of her mind’s floor.

Priestess would continue, “Imagine if someone did that to you just because they didn’t like griffons? How would that make you feel? I’d bet you want their head on a silver platter--”

“Shut up!” she squawked as she slammed her claw on the invisible floor, “It’s…it’s just not the same! You ponies live your highly privileged lives under the rule of princesses who do everything for you! You worship her to the ends of the fucking planet as if you can’t make your own decisions! Griffons never had that sort of luxury! We had to fight every day just to survive!” She grit her teeth and spread her wings to take flight, “So don’t you dare compare me to those pastel-colored grass-eaters!”

“Dragons had it rough too ya know,” Wyvern stepped in, “But we never lashed out and committed hate crimes over it. We never tried to inflict blindness on someone just because we didn’t like them.” He spread his own wings and flew up to her, glaring daggers as he grit his teeth behind his facemask. “...so the fact that you still continue to make excuses shows just how weak you are.”

“...what did you say to me?”

“You’re weak,” Wyvern repeated, “You’re pathetic. An absolute petty loser who’s fulla shit. No wonder the other griffons tossed you out. You’re just…insufferable.”

“Yeah well…” Now unstable, the griffon was unable to come up with a proper response. “...W-well…at least…at least I don’t worship some friendship cult! Now get out of my head!”

Priestess flicked her tail--something was amiss in the mindscape. “...Bl--Wyvern. Get back!”

“...wh--?!” Wyvern immediately flew down, just in time to avoid being swung at by a crowbar.

Then, all the sudden, dozens of other griffons would appear, wearing the same sort of leather garments that Gaea was. Each of them had visible bruises and cuts on their bodies as they approached the two.

“What the hell…??” Wyvern muttered.

Naturally, Priestess took on the job of clearing things up. “...she wants to lead griffons back to their violent, destructive ways. She’s not even realizing how much suffering they’d have to endure just to uphold this flimsy ideal.”

“...hence why they’re all banged up,” Wyvern shook his head in disbelief. “...dammit. This is just…I’m not even angry anymore, I’m just…disappointed that someone even has the capacity to think like this.”

“We need to get her to realize her folly,” Priestess explained, “Otherwise, she’ll continue these destructive behaviors in real life. It’s the only way we’ll get her to fully comprehend what she did to Nebula.”

Wyvern paused, then pointed at the horde of violent-looking griffons in their way. “...you want us to go through that?”

“Got a better idea?” Priestess replied off-handedly.

Given that he indeed had no better ideas, Wyvern hung his head, then took a deep breath. “Welp. No other choice I guess. Just wish we had some extra help…”

In reality…

It was the middle of the night. Around 2AM to be exact. Atomic Nebula had bandages over his eyes. His treatment was nearly complete. Whether or not he’d be able to see again though…

For the moment, he tossed and turned in the hospital bed, desperately trying to get to sleep. “Hmm…grrgh…can’t…feel…”

But at some point…he wasn’t in his bed anymore.

Somehow, someway, he felt his back hit what felt like solid ground. “Oof…did I roll off? Nurse…?” When he stood up, he realized he wasn’t in the hospital room anymore, as the heated floor was nonexistent.

“This is…where am I? I must be sleepwalking…hello?”

While he couldn’t see, Nebula could still hear. And what he did hear clued him into what was going on.

“...Blue and Rose’s voices? I must be dreaming. Even so, I gotta go see what’s…oh, right.”

Chapter 23

Deeper within the mind dungeon…

“To your left, Priestess!” Wyvern called out as he slung blue fireballs that he blew into his hands and cast them off into the groups of flying griffons, burning them and causing them to disappear into flames.

Priestess used her grimoire to cast various cursed spells. One of which involved creating puddles of black slime that exploded and eroded the cognitive griffons away. “I’ve got it. They mean business don’t they?”

“Understatement of the fuckin’ year,” Wyvern called out as he blocked the sword attack of a nearby griffon with one claw, and punched them with the other. “We need to get closer to her but they’re cramping our style. What’s the plan, Priestess?”

The pegasus mare flipped through her spellbook until she found something that she deemed useful for their current predicament. “I got it. Zeta.”

“What??”

“Swoop in on my mark, Wyvern,” Priestess held her hoof in front of herself and summoned what looked like a purple sigil with the letter ‘Z’ inscribed in the middle of it. “Go.”

“Alrighty!” At her request, Wyvern spread his wings and flew into the middle of the griffon army…

ZZZZ!

While the griffons were distracted, a swarm of locusts appeared, and chewed their way through the griffon horde, leaving them with swollen blisters and severe pain in their fur/feathers that rendered them unable to fight. Given that they were mere conjurations of Gaea’s imagination, they were a lot weaker than real-life griffons and were easily overtaken as Wyvern dove his way in and tackled Gaea’s inner self.

“I have you!” he shouted upon taking her down to the invisible floor of the mindscape. “There’s nowhere left to run! You’re only delaying the inevitable!”

Even while she was down, Gaea’s mental version of herself refused to back down and kept up her ego. “Hah! Why should I? That dunderhead of a pony and his slut of a mom don’t deserve any sympathy!”

“...what?” Wyvern came down off of his rage, and took a moment to process what he had just heard.

Priestess did the same thing, landing in front of them with a confused expression behind her veil. “Whose mother are you referring to?”

“Since you’re clearly just some dream demons, I may as well tell you: Nebula’s mom is a complete skank who--”

EEEEE!

With the sound of a music note exploding into the air, Nebula stepped forward with the bandages on his face.

“...that’s enough.”

“Oh? He’s in my dream?” Gaea’s inner self cackled, “This is just too ri--HRK!”

Out of nowhere, and despite being unable to see, Nebula grabbed the griffon in his magical levitation grip, raised her into the air, slammed her against the floor, and slammed her into the nearest wall where he’d proceed to approach her, ‘staring’ her right in the face with his completely bandaged eyes.

“...I…I have had it,” Nebula muttered with a cold, shaky fury, “You’ve done nothing but disrespect me, my friends. And my family. I have held onto my patience for far too long with someone like you. You’re repulsive.”

“...B-b--”

Nebula tightened his grip, choking her so hard that feathers flew off of her body which prevented her from speaking. “...You want to bring me down to your level? Well here I am. Firstly…keep my family out of your beak before I tear it off of your face myself. Secondly. Want the truth? Here it is: After my dad was killed by Chrysalis, my mom became manic. Unstable even. She turned to prostitution in our hometown of Thrace just to emotionally satisfy herself after losing him. Everyone that knew in my hometown never let me live it down. They made joke after joke, bullied me, never left me alone…”

Wyvern Blue watched as his friend forced the griffon into a wall of the mindscape and whispered to Grimrose. “...How did he even get in here? Should we do something?”

“...His blood must have mixed in with the ritual from one of my other pages,” she explained as she skimmed through her book. “...That’s why he’s here with us. But…no. Atomic needs to vent. Let him.”

And vent he would.

“They would say things like, ‘Your mom’s like the local hot-air balloon’ or ‘I’m gonna pay her for a ride next’. At the age of 7, I couldn’t process any of this and it drove me to ask her questions. As it turns out, even though my old man was in the Royal Guard, we were flat broke because he hadn’t served for very long. Mom could only manage to make extra money by selling herself. But you know what? I never judged her for it. Because I knew that she was doing all she could for me despite losing dad. We ponies have it rough too, you know. It’s not all sunshine, rainbows, and songs…”

Gaea simply stared at him with wide eyes before looking away, unable to process what it was she was hearing…

“So you know what I did…?” Nebula asked rhetorically with a slight chuckle before raising his voice, “You wanna know what I did?! I refused to let it get to me. I buried that shit and put on a smile. No matter what I heard behind my back, no matter what rumors were spread about me and my mom…I never gave in to despair.” He stopped for a moment, sighed, then continued. “...but maybe. Just maybe…I should’ve been more honest with myself. Instead, I ran from my emotions…and now, here they are, biting me in my ass.”

After another pause, he suddenly cocked an abnormally unhinged smile on his face.

“...Guess I should thank you, Gaea,” he remarked, “I guess you somehow figured it all out and tried to use it against me. But only now do I remember what it feels like to actually feel anger…frustration…things Tungsten taught me were a natural part of our internal makeup. And now I see why. But before I leave, I want you to see…see exactly what you’ve done to me. And feel that anger.”

“...Eh??! N-no!” Gaea squealed out of fear as she watched Nebula grab the bandages on his face…and rip them off with his bare hooves. “I’m sorry! I don’t wanna--!”

The end result was a disturbing image: Two pitch-black pits of empty despair where his eyes used to be that bled as Nebula laughed, slowly succumbing to madness.

“...Well…isn’t this what you wanted?” he mumbled in an ironic tone, then raised his voice as he used his magic to force her head to look at him directly, “Look at me! Come on! You should be happy! I’ve been disfigured by your sick prank! Don’t you just love what you’ve done?!”

“N-NO! PLEASE!” she screamed in terror as she tried to close her eyes to keep herself from looking at him, “D-don’t hurt me! I’ll never do it again!”

But he refused to allow her to blind herself to the evil she caused. Nebula went as far as forcing her eyelids open via magic. To the point where she couldn’t even blink! “Look at me! Marvel at your work, Gaea! You did it! Are you happy now?!”

“NO! I didn’t mean…AUGGGHH!!”

POOF!

“AGHHHH!!”

In the real world, Gaea’s…we’ll call it a nightmare--had caused her to squawk and awaken after stirring for so long. The griffon awakened in a cold sweat in her dorm bed, hyperventilating as she clutched the blankets in a fetal position…

The end result also caused Nebula, Rose, and Blue to be forcefully ejected from her mind and return to their bodies in the real world where they’d remain asleep until morning…

All they could do now was wait and see if their efforts bore fruit by the time the sun came up.

Chapter 24

The next day, in the infirmary…

The abyssinian nurse that had been taking care of him removed the bandages from his face. His eyelids had healed to like new, but as far as what was underneath… “Okay, Mr. Nebula. Open your eyes for me.”

“...Okay…” And soon enough, his eyes fluttered open…and he could see the face of the kind yellow she-cat that had assisted him. “...Ms. Mona? Is that you?”

“Oh, good…” she sighed with relief, then held up one of her fingers. “Now follow my hand please…”

Nebula did as instructed, and watched as she moved her finger from left to right, then back again. “...I can see. Everything’s a bit blurry but…I can see.”

The nurse choked up for a moment and held back her tears of joy. “Ah…g-good. Anyhow. You’re going to need a special pair of reading glasses that I’ve made just for you. At least for the time being, okay?” She picked up his medical file and looked through it. “I’ve been told you’ve done a lot of reading and research into musical theory at night, hm?” She then put the file down and walked over to a supply cabinet. “How has it been going for you?”

“Oh, Beethooven is a huge inspiration for me,” he replied amicably, “I actually do play piano on occasion. Though wind instruments like the recorder and saxophone are my personal favorites.”

Nurse Mona flicked her tail with a smile. “Seems like you’re a little one-stallion band. Your friends are really lucky to have someone like you around.”

“...they are, huh?” Nebula replied after a moment’s hesitation.

The nurse she-cat would eventually walk up to him with a pony-sized glasses case. “Of course. Mr. Blazes and Ms. Orcus both cherish you. Never forget that, okay? Oh, and whoever did this to you will be dealt with accordingly, I assure you.”

“Thank you,” he replied with a smile. “It’s weird. My mind is so fuzzy that I could’ve sworn I had the strangest…ah, it’s probably nothing. Those are the glasses for me, right?”

Mona made a mental note to ask him what he meant later on, but for the moment, she focused on giving him what he needed. “Yes. Here they are. Want me to put them on you?”

“Please.”

At his request, she opened the pair of black-rimmed regulation prescription glasses and placed them on his face.

…and for the first time, he could see everything clear as day.

“Woah!” he gasped as soon as he looked through them. He was able to see everything from the exact color of the pens that were sitting on a nearby desk to the titles of comic books that were on a nearby shelf for patients to read. “‘A Village Hidden In Leaves’, ‘Titanic Attacks’, ‘Singular Strike Stallion’--hey! I can see those book names from way over here!”

“That’s great!” Mona clapped her hands, then wiped a tear from her eye. “For a while, I was worried if we would even be able to fix you. But it turns out that you’re okay now. We’ll make sure to tighten up the security around the Academy so this doesn’t ever happen again.”

“Good…” Nebula replied with a nod, then turned to look at the nurse cat, “I’d hate for something like that to happen to someone else--woah! Was your chest always that big?”

Nurse Mona simply giggled in response. “Yup. Your eyes are most certainly working properly now.”

“...sorry about that.” With an awkward laugh, Nebula quickly changed the subject, “I should be able to head back to classes, soon, huh?”

“Tomorrow, yes,” she replied as she pulled out a clipboard and started to write upon it, “For now, I want you to go about your day as normal and get some rest. Maybe take a walk around Canterlot at your leisure? Use your free time however you see fit so that you can recover. But don’t exert yourself too much, understand?”

“Got it, nurse. And thank you…”

Not long after this, his friends would make a request and be able to see him. Blue, Grimrose, and Mei all forced their way into the medical bay just to see him.

“Dude! You okay?” Blue called out upon flying into the infirmary.

“I’m alright. I can actually see much better now with these glasses,” he replied with a smile as he stood upon his legs for the first time in a while. “And my eyes should eventually heal to where I won’t need them except when I’m reading. How do I look?”

“Well, we match now, kinda,” Mei giggled as she pointed at her own foggy, corrective lenses. She then looked up at Grimrose and asked, “What do you think, Rose?”

“Er…uh…” Grimrose paused, then cleared her throat as she found herself staring at Nebula’s face for a moment. His new glasses only served to make her heart thump and her pupils shrink. She could only respond with a silent nod of approval.

“Good. Glad I don’t look like Harry Trotter or something,” Nebula snarked with a snicker, causing Blue and Mei to laugh also.

But before they could speak any further…

Gaea had entered the room with her head hung low.

Blue immediately got between her and the rest of the group, “What do you want? If you even think about talkin’ shit about my dude, I’m gonna--”

“...I did it.”

The entire room fell silent. Blue and Grimrose’s suspicions were confirmed. The two even exchanged a knowing glance.

And Nebula stepped forward. “...so it was, you then. I can’t say I’m surprised. But answer me, Gaea: Why? Why would you do such a thing.”

“...because I hated you…but…after having it weigh on my conscience and having a bad dream last night, I…can’t stomach how awful I feel anymore. I need to come clean to the higher-ups so they can put the investigation to rest.”

Nurse Mona sighed and walked ahead. “...while it’s admirable that you’re willing to be honest, we need to report this to the Dean. Come with me. Don’t you dare try anything crazy, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am…and I know this probably won’t mean anything…but I’m sorry, Nebula,” she muttered before walking off with the abyssinian nurse.

Blue scratched the back of his head. “...am I bugging, or did she actually just apologize?”

With a small 'hmph' to himself, Nebula got up and started to walk out of the med room towards the school’s main gate. “...I’m gonna hit up the pub. See you guys later.”

Nebula's lack of a smile showed that he was still damaged by what had been done to him. Grimrose immediately took notice and hissed under her breath. “...That bitch…” she muttered coldly, “If she doesn’t face proper consequences…”

“Let’s calm down, and let him relax, okay?” Mei suggested, “You guys look like you’ve been through a lot worrying about him, given how close you are.”

“...you don’t know the half of it, Mei.” Blue huffed some steam from his nostrils and scratched the back of his head once more as he watched his best friend leave. As much as he wanted to join him, he felt it appropriate to give Nebula some space. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Chapter 25

Later on that evening…

Atomic Nebula had taken some time to himself, and was approached on the street by his superior Royal Guardspony.

“...Nebula? You okay?” Tungsten asked as he caught up to the young stallion and began to walk with him. “I heard about what happened and they called me in since I was your closest guardian. They’re planning on expelling that griffon for what she did to ya.”

“...Good,” he replied, “What she did was horrible and she deserves to be made out as an example. I might’ve tried to reason with her had she not resorted to trying blind me, but she’ll get no sympathy from me.”

“Agreed,” Tungsten went on with a sigh, “Just wanted to make sure you were okay. According to what she told the dean, she regrets every nasty thing she said about you. Including…stuff about your family.”

Nebula rolled his eyes and continued walking. “...I know. It’s not something I want to speak of right now, sir. I’d…rather be alone right now.”

As much as Tungsten wanted to accompany him, he knew that Nebula was his own young man and had to give him some space. So, he reluctantly agreed. “...alright. Just make sure you let us know if you feel anything else bad going on with your eyes. Okay, A.N.?”

“Of course, I’ll see you later, sir.”

Tungsten huffed to himself and shook his head as he turned to leave Nebula be. ‘That griffon woman better think long and hard about what she’s done. Look how she massacred my boy…’

At the pub…

It was a rather quiet evening and there weren’t too many customers around. It was a rather rustic, almost rugged-style pub based on those found in Shireland with wooden tables accompanied by green leather booths. The bar counter had a classic, pearlescent cream-tile sheen with steel barstools painted with a wooden texture to match the atmosphere.

Behind the counter, a cyan hippogriff stallion could be seen scrubbing an empty glass with a towel. The eyepatch over his left eye exuded a sense of coldness that made him hard to approach. But of course, most that knew him didn’t have this problem.

“ID?” he asked in a low, raspy voice without looking up from his glass.

Nebula levitated his student ID to show the bartender his age. “Here you go, sir.”

The hippogriff took a glance at it. “...You’re…ah, that’s who you are. 23. Turning 24 soon from the looks of it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Nebula replied as he put his ID away and sat at the barstool. “I’m not looking for anything too hard, though.”

“I think I’ve seen you in here before,” the hippogriff bartender commented as he tried to remember what he saw Nebula order. “Hrm…what can I get you?”

“...Gimme a ‘Coastal Paddock’ please.”

“...” The bartender paused for a moment, and set the glass to the side.

“...something wrong, sir?” Nebula asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Coastal Paddock--no one’s ordered that one in a while,” he quickly came up with an excuse for his hesitation. “Coming right up, kid.”

Nebula paused to wonder the reasoning behind the hippogriff’s questioning. But he didn’t let it bother him that much. The stallion simply wanted to relax as he leaned against the bar counter with the side of his face resting in his hoof.

From the kitchen, the bartender would speak to him. “...nice glasses. They make you look professional, kid.”

“They do, huh? Thanks, sir…got ‘em from…an eye exam,” he left out the finer details as to spare the gentlegriff.

Then, the bartender would speak words that caught Nebula off-guard. “With those on, you’re the spitting image of Paddock himself. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you and him were related.”

Nebula froze for a moment, then sat upright upon the barstool with a more interested expression behind his glasses. “You…you knew my father?”

“Ah, so I was right on the money, then,” the hippogriff chuckled, “Got you to show your playing hand, kid.”

In spite of that, the unicorn was adamant to know more. “Hold on, if you knew him, then I have several questions to ask.”

“Save ‘em for later when I’m off,” the bartender replied as he walked out with a freshly cleaned mug and filled it with a frothy tanned ale before setting it in front of the stallion. “This one’s on the house today.”

“Thanks a ton, sir,” Nebula replied as he lifted the mug and took a few sips. The strong, aromatic flavor was a boon to his senses. “Mmm…this is a good one. A craft ale imported from Maremany, perhaps?”

“You know your stuff, huh?” the hippogriff smiled in response, “Yeah, that’s exactly it. Not many folks can tell them apart--oh no.” Just then, he shifted his one good eye over the stallion’s shoulder to look at the pub’s entrance.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Nebula turned to look…and saw Cayenne walk in with her head hung low. Apparently, she didn’t even notice nor address Nebula as she walked to the other end of the bar and sat on a stool with a groan.

“...She’s here,” the bartender sighed as he walked to the other end to serve her. “Hello, Miss. What can I--?”

“Your hardest sake please,” she grumbled, “I’m in the mood for something exotic.”

Nebula took a closer look and noticed how messy and in shambles her mane was. Part of him wanted to say something, but felt it wasn’t his place to question one of his teachers in such a way.

And that’s when Blue appeared, walking into the pub with a tired huff. “Whew…there he is. Hey, bud. What’s going on?”

“...not much,” Nebula replied softly as his best friend took a seat next to him at the bar. “Just looking to relax.”

Blue noticed the frothy mug and lectured his friend out of kindness. “Hey now, don’t get drunk on me, bud. In fact, you shouldn’t be drinking without eating something to help absorb it,” he took a moment to pick up a menu to see what the pub served. “...ooh. Sweet. They got buffalo cauliflower bites. We should try ‘em!”

“...” Nebula couldn’t help but snicker. “...You’re always looking out for my health, eh brother?”

“Well duh. Someone has to! Grimrose doesn't want a stallion that's thin as a pencil. You need to eat to keep your strength up, man.”

"...She wants me bigger? Why?"

"..." Blue simply drew his claw against his face in disbelief, facepalming in response to what his friend just said.

Chapter 26

Meanwhile, with Mei and Grimrose…

The girls had chosen a different place to eat out and unwind after the stresses regarding what Gaea had done. At Mei’s suggestion, they went to the Tasty Treat to get a more exotic meal than usual. Given that it was a Sunday, it wasn’t quite crowded so they were able to get a table and look at the menus fairly quickly.

And as they thought about what to order, Grimrose went on to explain essentially everything that had happened with her, Nebula, and Blue within the confines of Gaea’s mind.

“...so you guys had new outfits and codenames and everything? Interesting. It’s almost as if you were superheroes or something. Hope I can get in on that action…”

“I just need to write a script for it,” Grimrose replied as she wondered what sort of armor Mei would gain. “Hrm…come to think of it, I need to write one for Atomic as well.”

“I noticed how emotional you got over him when he was hurt,” Mei explained in a hesitant tone, “...are you alright after all that?”

Rose took a moment to think before finally answering. “...I will. He’s doing much better now, so I don’t have any reason to worry. I’m just…surprised. Surprised that someone could have the capacity to commit such evil against someone who never did anything to them.”

“...it’s true what they say,” Mei replied with a sigh, “Some people just wanna watch the world burn.”

“Well I’m not going to stand for it,” Rose insisted, “I’m going to make sure that nobody else dares to threaten him--or any of you for that matter. I just need to perfect my skills…”

Mei smiled, “That’s a nice sentiment, Rose. But let’s focus on relaxing for now, huh? That was quite the stressful situation.”

“...you’re right. Come to think of it, Mei--I’ve actually never been to this place before. What’s it like?”

“Oh, I’ve tried it before,” Mei muttered as she levitated the menu to take a look at it, “They have a lot of food based on the regions of Shire Lanka and the like. The kottu dish is really good, but I like the roti myself.”

“Hrm…”

Soon enough, they were approached by one of the owners of the restaurant: Saffron Masala. The orange-ish mare with the deep purple mane walked up to them with a grateful look in her eye. “Ah! Students from the local Academy! Finally! How can I help you today?”

“I’d like to try the kottu dish,” Rose requested, going with Mei’s suggestion.

“I’d like the green sambal curry,” Mei asked.

“Ām--gotcha,” Saffron gleefully wrote down their orders via levitating a pen and pad in her magical grip. “Ah, you have no idea how glad I am to see more of you here.”

Mei raised a brow. “...excuse me? How come, Ms. Masala?”

Saffron sighed and looked around the room. “Well, business hasn’t exactly been great lately. My regulars have been telling me that they heard rumors going around from the local nobility that our food is ‘unholy’ and ‘corrupted’,” she scoffed at such an idea with a flick of her tail. “Can you believe such a thing?”

“Rumors…” Grimrose scoffed under her breath and grit her teeth. “Fickle sheep tend to be the ones spinning the rumor mill until it all comes crashing down around them. I know just how that feels, ma’am.”

“...Any idea who could be stirring the pot?” Mei asked inquisitively. “It’s our job to help others however we can, so don’t be afraid to tell us.”

Saffron figured that it couldn’t hurt to explain what was wrong. If they could help her then… “Well…from what I heard, it’s something to do with Zesty Gourmand.”

“The mare who’s in the food industry who walked out when she came here?” Mei recalled the incident from many years ago. “And here I thought she would’ve found something else to do by now…”

“It’s just a rumor,” Saffron added with a shake of her head, “So it might not even be worth mentioning. But still…”

“We’ll look into it for you, right Grimrose?” Mei offered and asked her friend to back her up.

Thankfully, Rose was more than willing to oblige. “Of course. If there are rumors being started up by someone that wants to cause you undue stress, it’s only natural that we take time to help. It’s not something that Twilight can drop everything to help you with.”

“Thank you very much,” a relieved Saffron would reply with a nervous smile on her face as she backed away…accidentally bumping into an empty chair in the process before setting it upright with her magic. “Oops! Ah...I’ll go get your orders ready.”

“...did you see how…skittish she became?” Mei muttered to Rose.

“I’m willing to bet it’s due to the stress of financial instability,” Rose reasoned as best she could, “Probably worried she’s losing popularity and customers…”

As Saffron left the front of the restaurant to head back to the kitchen, Rose managed to make out an anxious smile on the mare’s face coupled with shrunken pupils that indicated fear.

“...and possibly a bad future ahead.”

“...you can tell all that at a glance?” Mei wondered in awe.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. “I tend to have a read on emotions.”

Chapter 27

Back at the pub where the boys were…

“...and then every time I m-meeeet a guy, he alwayssss…walks out before he can gimme a chancccccce…” Cayenne was slurring her words with her mane in tatters. The hippogriff bartender was ‘listening’ to her every word to ensure she didn’t do anything crazy.

“Uh-huh. What else?” he asked as he leaned against the counter, raising his sole good eyebrow.

“Ssssstupid sssstallions don’t--hic!--know good cooch if it smacked ‘em in the facccceee…” Cayenne stumbled through her words, “I jusssst…want a man who can gimme a good time. Issss that so wrong??”

“Nope, not at all,” the barkeep muttered. By this point, he had refused to give her anything else.

Nearby, her students had been watching her in the midst of their meal.

“...Yyyyikes,” Blue mumbled as he took a sip from his mug. “Never thought I’d see teach here like this.”

“She probably feels extremely lonely,” Nebula reasoned it out rather quickly. “I’ve noticed that there tend to be more mares than stallions around, so finding a good one must be a challenge for her.”

“Wait a sec,” Blue brought up a detail that he was estranged upon, “Wasn’t teach a model at some point?”

Nebula thought about it for a moment and remembered, “Oh yeah. She is. Never really gave it much thought though.” The young stallion refused to allow her past to influence how he thought about her in the present.

While Blue had a similar train of thought, he couldn’t help but wonder… “Ya know, I heard models tend to have it rough. They don’t get to eat very much and their lives become harder when they don’t meet the criteria their bosses want them to.”

“...yeah,” Nebula replied with a sigh, “I think that’s why Cayenne got out of it when she did. She knew it wasn’t for her. I think that could be why she’s having a hard time finding a guy. She doesn’t know how to communicate very well.”

“...shit, you hit the nail on the head,” Blue muttered in an impressed, amazed tone. “Think we should try to help her?”

“Nah,” Nebula shook his head. “We don’t know what kind of woman she is and I don’t think it’s our place to find out. For now, let’s give her some space, huh? Let’s finish up our food and get going.”

Indeed. As good-natured as Nebula tried to be, he wasn’t tactless. Issues of the heart weren’t his area of expertise. So he chose to remain out of it for now and allow his teacher to have her moment of…

“...Ma’am. You’ve had enough,” the hippogriff bartender spoke coldly, “Rest here for a while before heading home.”

“I’ll tell you when I’ve had--...get me some bread, please.”

…whatever it was she was feeling. The boys noticed this and didn’t linger any longer than necessary. They finished their food and left accordingly.

At the Tasty Treat…

The girls had finished their meal and marveled at the taste of what they had just enjoyed.

“Mm…” Mei muttered as she reclined in her seat. “That was amazing. Food like this never existed in the Kirin lands. Roti never disappoints.”

“I’m surprised at how much I liked the kottu,” Rose agreed with Mei’s sentiment as she explained her enjoyment of the dish she selected. “The curry was a nice change of pace from the food we usually eat.”

Mei took a moment to look around the room and sighed at the lack of customers. “...I can’t imagine a place like this losing business. It sounded like Saffron was considering closing the place up by how sad she looked.”

“Normally I’d call that a leap in logic, but yes,” Rose couldn’t deny how bad it sounded. “If Zesty is trying to spread rumors in order to get her to lose business, not only is that incredibly petty and immature, but it’ll only serve to further undermine the hard work Ms. Masala put into this place.”

“Not to mention how unique it is,” Mei went on, “Most other places on Restaurant Row sell the most basic of hors d'oeuvres for extremely high prices. Could Zesty be wanting to keep the economy in check with her influence over the food industry?”

The speculation led Rose to another thought entirely. “I’m willing to wager my feather that she also has something against Saffron Masala solely based on where she’s from.”

“...Seriously?” Mei reacted in awe as she pushed up her glasses. “If so, that’s…really sad.”

“It’s just a theory,” Rose reiterated, “I could be dead wrong and it may not be xenophobia at all, but still. It’s something worth considering. A pony from a distant land wants to bring her culture’s food here and she suddenly has a problem with it? Not a good look considering how adamant she is on keeping everything the same.”

“I don’t think I noticed her father here either,” Mei pointed out, “I’ll have to ask and see what’s up with that…”

Soon enough, Saffron Masala returned to their table to check up on them. “Ah! Did you ladies enjoy yourselves?”

“Mm-hm. Thank you, ma’am,” Mei said with a smile, then asked, “But I have to wonder, is your father still working with you here?”

“...No,” Saffron’s face dropped, “He’s been getting a bit older so he’s retired. I don’t want to complicate his health, so it’s been entirely on me.” She then sighed. “...not as if we have that many customers anyway…”

The girls fell silent, which caused Saffron to quickly change her tune.

“A-anyway! I appreciate your business, girls! Please come again!”

They both got up from their seats and Mei left a bag of bits on the table. “No change necessary. Keep it all, ma’am.”

“...t-thank you,” she accepted it all rather hesitantly with a tear leaving her eye.

Meanwhile…

As Saffron went to the register, a patron that had been watching looked up from behind a book she had been reading and trotted out to follow the girls. Outside, she noticed Mei and Grimrose join up with Nebula and Blue on their way back to the university.

“...hmph. So they wish to try and hamper my mother's influence, I take it?” the adolescent, white unicorn filly glared at the group as they walked away. “We shall see about that. The Gourmand Family’s influence shall not be tarnished by filthy foreigners.”

Chapter 28

Across the city of Canterlot, where the nobility resided…

The teenage filly--who was about 17 years old or so--trotted up to a rather luxurious penthouse suite in a sea of others within the residential area of Canterlot. She had a white body color, a neatly done, slicked back mane of cyan with a matching tail color, pink eyes, and a cutie mark that depicted a boiling pot of water. This is where her mother, Zesty Gourmand, lived. After taking an elevator up to the top floor where red carpets and gold wallpapers lined the walls, the young mare eventually stopped at her mother’s home at the end of the hall.

“Mother?” she opened the door to walk inside the penthouse apartment. Everything was either white or gray to match Zesty’s choice in visual flair--or lack thereof.

“In here, dear,” the older mare’s crabby voice called out from the kitchen. There, Zesty was sitting in a chair bare and sipping from a cup of black coffee. “Have you been doing what I’ve told you?”

“There’s more than that,” her daughter replied as she took a seat at the table next to the mare. “Apparently, some of those college kids are looking to get to the bottom of the rumors. A kirin, two ponies, and a dragon. Should that be something we should be concerned about?”

Zesty scoffed and waved her hoof dismissively. “Tch. Such common rabble is but mere gnats to brush off my shoulder. Those fools wouldn’t know luxury food if they were hit in the face with it.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to drive Saffron out of business?” her daughter asked tentatively, “I thought we were supposed to embrace other cultures here in Canterlot….”

With a hard clack!, Zesty set her empty mug down with force, stunning her daughter into silence. “Harissa Umami Gourmand. You know our family name and reputation is important to uphold the purity of this city and its culture.” She then pointed to several paintings that lined the nearby walls of the living room.

From left to right, there were many paintings, then black and white photographs, then colored photographs of ponies standing in front of restaurants and giving them the iconic three-hoof rating of approval.

“For generations, the Gourmand family has kept the food industry of Canterlot in its place,” Zesty continued, “Your father was simply incompatible with this ideal, hence why we split many years ago.”

“...You’re right,” Harissa shook her head, “I shouldn’t try to let outsiders influence how the culinary world should be ran. We’re the experts, not them.”

The old mare smiled ever so slightly, “Very good, dear. However, now I think about it…those commoners may prove to be advantageous.”

“How so?” the young mare tilted her head, “Think you’re going to bargain with them, mother?”

“Not me…” she shook her head, “We can’t afford to be careless, dear. Instead, I’d like you to be the one to deal with them.” She used her magic to levitate a pencil and notepad down in front of her daughter and began to write down exactly what she had planned. “Here’s what I’d like you to do the next time you see them…”

Back in the Academy…

Once everyone had gotten settled down for the evening, Grimrose had invited Nebula to her room when no one else was around.

“Sup, Rose?” the stallion cheerfully asked as she shut the door behind him, “Want my help with something?”

“You could say that…” she muttered, “I…well, you’ve been through so much lately that I wanted to help you if I could.”

“Help me?” he tilted his head, “How so.”

“...well…” she idly kicked her hoof against the floor. “I…I know how much you like being my guinea pig for my experiments, so I figured I could…help you relieve stress…” She then walked up to him and whispered in his ear, which caused the stallion to blush and bite his lip.

“...O-oh! Uh…hell yea!” he replied excitedly while pattering his hooves in place. “...So you really feel that way about me, huh Rose?”

“...” Grimrose looked away and simply nodded her head.

“...I’d be stoked to be your coltfriend, Rose!” he agreed with a smile.

“...You would? Seriously?” she asked breathlessly as she turned to face him.

He nodded. “Yup. Now how exactly is this little experiment gonna go?”

Grimrose pointed to a nearby pentagram that she had laid out upon the floor. “...lie down in the circle and we can get started. This is all for you, Atomic.”

“Sweeeeet! I hope I get possessed and start tripping out!” he pranced over with a smile and lied down as instructed. “Or maybe my heart stops! Oooh the possibilities!”

"....You're not worried it might hurt?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I trust you with my life, Rose. I know you'd never do anything to intentionally hurt me like Gaea did. Besides...all this demonic cult stuff sounds super exciting!" He turned his head, "...and seeing you smile at the results makes me feel great so..."

It warmed her heart to hear him say such things. 'Even after all he's been through, he still wants to spend time with me. Maybe I should tell him what I really am…? No…not yet. Later.' She buried her thoughts for the moment.

“...you’re such an adorable little…himbo for lack of better term,” she muttered with a small smile on her face. “...never changed, Atomic.”

Chapter 29

“Though, before we get started…” Grimrose nicked him for a bit of his blood on one of her feathers. “I want to see if I can call upon that spirit from before.”

“Oh yeah. What was her name again…Tan…something?”

“I believe it was ‘Tandoori’...something,” Grimrose muttered, then suddenly felt something in her mind snap as she recalled what she saw on Saffron Masala’s menu. “...hrm. Could that have something to do with…?”

Being curious, Nebula would ask, “Hm? The name of a food you saw at the Tasty Treat, maybe?”

“Something like that,” she replied with a nod, “All the more reason to summon her again…”

And with Nebula’s blood inscribed in her tome, and a woosh of ethereal winds, the same spirit from before would yet again appear before them in a transparent outline of cyan…

“Brrrgh! Wherefore art thou who summoned--? Oh! It’s you two again? I’ve been meaning to speak with you,” the ghostly mare floated around the two to get a better look. “How are you today?”

“Better than I was 72 hours ago,” Nebula remarked with a scoff at his own expense. “I’m doing quite well actually.”

“Same here, ma’am,” Grimrose replied and got straight to the point, “...would you happen to have been from Shire Lanka or someone around there?”

The dead spirit of a pony gasped, “Well I’ll be damned! Thou has guessed correctly! How did thy figure it out?”

“...Lucky guess,” Rose went onto her next question. “Did you happen to be a chef in your time?”

“Not really,” the mare replied with a shake of her head, “I just dabbled in a bit of cooking here and there for my family. Nothing major. But my favorite dish to make was always roti, kottu, curry…”

“Hrm…”

Nebula sat up and looked at Rose. “Think she could be related to Saffron Masala?”

“It’s possible,” Rose replied in a hushed whisper, “But there’s no way she’d know for sure.”

Tandoori rose up between the two, “Know what for sure?”

“We think one of your descendants is here in Canterlot,” Nebula explained, “But we’re not quite sure. The only way we could verify it is if you saw her for yourself, ma’am.”

“...I have a fifteen-times great-grandchild here?” Tandoori marveled at the possibility, “That sounds quite smashing! When can I see this pony?”

“Tomorrow,” Rose confirmed, “Until then, we’ll have to banish you back to the spirit realm for now.”

Tandoori nodded, then smiled at the both of them. “I shall comply. I can see you both were planning to have a bit of fun. Enjoy yourselves, children~”

With a quick shutting of her book, the spirit pony disappeared into nothingness…

“...think she caught on to what we have planned here?” Nebula asked.

“Maybe. But I don’t care,” Rose replied in a straightforward manner before approaching him. “Now lie down in the pentagram again please. It’s time for our experiment to begin.”

“You got it!” he chirped before lying down again as instructed. “This whole time I never figured you’d like me like that, Rose.”

The mare bit her lip as she used his blood to draw another sigil in her book. “..you’re…too cute to pass up on. First…the safeword shall be ‘stopwatch.’ Is that okay with you, Atomic?”

“Yup. Now c’moooon--I wanna feel my soul get--!!”

With a woosh!, Nebula felt himself held against the floor by what felt like an invisible curse as Grimrose let down her long, flowing blue and black mane, gazing into Nebula’s eyes with a neutral expression.

“Do I arouse you with my appearance, Atomic?” she asked in her best attempt at a sultry voice…which sounded no different than her usual tone.

But it worked for the restrained stallion who bit his lip upon seeing her mane undone in such a way. “...my god, Rose. You’re beautiful…e-even more so than usual!”

“Good. That means I’m arousing you,” she droned as she approached him, and turned around. Grimrose then squatted down in front of him, lowering her rather shapely rear until it was staring dead at him in the face. “You like my butt, don’t you? You've been staring at it recently.”

Nebula’s heart began to thump as he stared at the mare’s wide rear. Her butt was so wide and shapely that he could see the curvature of both her black rose cutie marks conforming to the shape of each cheek. “Y-yess…yes I do…”

“Touch it.”

“W-what?”

“Touch the butt.”

Before he could say anything else, Rose had shoved her butt upon his face, sitting upon him. Her weight had caused enough force to make the floorboards creak beneath them!

“Do you like my butt, Atomic?”

“Aaahhghg…I’m in heaven…~!” he muttered breathlessly, “Y-you’ve always wanted to do something like this with me, huh? Why didn't you just ask?”

“...I’m not the best at…talking,” Rose lamented as she looked over her shoulder at him, “I’ll try my best to improve, Atomic. I promise.”

“Mmmph! A-agh! N-no worries!” he gasped for air as his snout was buried between her cheeks. “...I find your way of communication…charming?”

“You do?” she asked with a hint of vulnerability and a gasp as she felt him buried deep against her backside, “...t-thank you, Atomic…”

To lighten the mood, Nebula decided to tease her a little as he felt her arousal fluids leaking from her heated pussy onto his nose. “...Oh? Is the stoic Grimrose actually feeling something back here?”

“Y-your breath…” she muttered with a gasp, “...and your touch…is so…eek!”

Nebula went all in, drawing his tongue along her pussy and holding her butt with his hooves which caused her to let out a rare squeal as she blushed furiously. “...you taste oddly sweet. I love it…”

“...Only you’re allowed to taste that, Atomic…” she winced and shut one of her eyes as she hid a moan. “N-no one else…”

“...want me to keep going?”

“...mm-hmm.”

And so he did, sticking his tongue in deeper while massaging her flabby ass cheeks with his hooves. “Mm…you’re…delicious, Rose~”

“...O-oh yeah…well…let’s see how you taste,” she buried her snout in his crotch, nuzzling until she made his genitals appear.

“A-agh~!” It was his turn to gasp and wince uncontrollably as Grimrose stared down the full length of his twitching member.

“...Atomic…you…how have you been hiding this monster of a penis?” she gasped in amazement as she surveyed the sheer length and girth of his member. “It’s…it’s like a fifth leg…”

“Y-yeah…you noticed, hu--eegh~!”

Rose wasted no time. With her hooves gently cradling his swollen testes, she went right to sucking him off, forcing herself to choke, and push beyond her reflexes to pleasure her new boyfriend.

“Aaaaugh…so…good…” Nebula moaned into her pussy and continued to eat her out, essentially putting the two in a classic 69 position. “...so glad you’ve opened up to me, Grimrose…you’re the best…”

With a pop!, she raised her lips off of his shaft so she could respond, leaving the black member coated in a glossy sheen of saliva. “...M-me too…this is…making me feel amazing…like…we were meant for this…”

“...get on the bed and I’ll show you something even cooler-”

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Academy…

Zesty’s daughter, Harissa, had snuck into the school after hours via a back door…

“I knew bribing that guard with mom’s food would work,” she muttered arrogantly to herself as she trotted through the halls with a brown paper bag in her magical grip, “He begged me to not make him eat it and let me pass through. A win’s a win. Now to do what mother told me…”

Chapter 30

At his request, Grimrose got up and leaned against the side of the bed. “...Are you actually planning on putting it in?” she asked with a vague sense of concern mixed with excitement. “I don’t think there’s a condom out there that can fit you, Atomic…unless…”

The stallion approached her and rubbed his member between her cheeks, then leaned over to nibble upon one of her ears. “...We can use your other one for now~”

“Ee…egh! At-Atomic…” she muttered with the faintest of smiles on her face as she blushed hotly from the way he bit on her ear. “...A-Anal…in a college dorm with my new boyfriend…I-I’m so…dirty…”

Nebula placed a kiss on her cheek before leaning back. He resumed idly rubbing his shaft up and down between her flabby cheeks, teasing both her dripping pussy and puffy pony anus. “That makes it all the more fun, doesn’t it? If we’re too loud…we could totally get caught~”

“Mmmph…” Grimrose bit her lip. The sensation of Nebula’s girthy equine shaft rubbing away at her backside left her too aroused to think properly. She wanted nothing more to be speared by him in that moment, even if it would hurt… “...Make love to my butt, Nebula…please…”

“...You’re so sweet, Rose,” he obliged her with a grin as he forced his shaft into her anus, spreading her apart in the process. “Rrrgh…so…tight….”

“Aaa---!” Rose’s pupils shrank as she threw her head back. She wanted to scream aloud desperately, but quickly quieted herself by stuffing one of the bed’s pillows in her mouth. It took everything she had to avoid yelping aloud as she felt his member completely fill her ass.

“...Are you, okay?” he asked to make sure she was comfortable.

And she replied with an enthusiastic nod as she spread her wings. “...K-keep going…faster…”

When he had her permission, Nebula resumed and began to thrust, shifting his hips back and forth until he settled into a rhythm with his cock jabbing at, at splitting her anus apart. Each time he thrust, her jiggly butt cheeks would clap, and ripple from the force he applied as he held onto them with his hooves.

“Ah…aagh…” he moaned softly as he leaned over her shoulder to whisper in her ear. “...your butt is…strangling me, Rose~”

“...harder…I…I want you…” she moaned with him as she started to throw her hips, and ass back against him. Her pussy was dripping and leaving a puddle upon the floor beneath them. “...ejac…ejaculate…in my butt, please…you deserve it, Atomic…”

Grimrose did all she could for him as she wanted him to feel as much pleasure as possible. She went as far as wiggling her rear from side to side to churn his shaft deeper into her body, giving him more pleasure as indicated by his moans….

“Can’t…hold…anymore…g-gonna…~!”

“K-kiss me you sexy freckly stallion…” Grimrose grit her teeth and gave herself to pleasure as she turned her head around, “...kiss me while you ejaculate in me…!”

And soon enough, after a few more hard thrusts consisting of Nebula’s shaft plowing her body apart, her flabby ass rippling against his pelvis, and his balls repeatedly slamming into her wet pussy lips…

“MMMPH!”

Nebula’s shaft throbbed hard, twitching while he reached his orgasm and filled Rose’s organs with his seed, giving her abdomen a slight bulge. Just as instructed, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips as they moaned together with Rose’s pussy squirting and leaking upon his testes…

“Ahhhh….”

The two ponies pulled back from each other with half-lidded eyes as they left a trail of saliva between their lips.

“...you’re s-so…great, Atomic…having intercourse with such a burden of a mare like me…”

“...Not as great as you, Rose…you’re much more important than you think…and I feel like the whole world is gonna know it soon…” he replied as he kissed her neck and climbed into bed with her, causing her to swoon.

“...I don’t deserve your kindness, Atomic…” she sniffled with tears in her eyes as her new boyfriend spooned her from behind with his shaft buried deep in her ass. “...thank you…”

“D-don’t mention it…”

But just then…

They heard hoofsteps outside the room, clattering lightly against the floor of the university’s dorm hallways.

“...Shhh…” Nebula whispered as he settled down under the blankets. “...that was probably the groundskeeper.”

Grimrose’s cheeks turned red as her heart began to race. The feeling of…someone possibly catching them this way…it turned her on more than she realized. “...I love it,” she huffed breathlessly, “...it’s like we’re conducting dark rituals where we aren’t meant to…”

“....Zzzz…” the stallion had already fallen asleep upon her.

“...never change, Atomic…” she kissed him on the nose before shutting her own eyes…

In the hallways…

They were wrong. It wasn’t the groundskeeper. It was Harissa snooping around the university’s halls in order to accomplish what her mother instructed of her.

“...what was that weird slapping I heard?” she mumbled to herself before shaking her head. “No, no. Must focus. Just need to leave these in the gentlecolt’s locker room…”

The young mare went into one of the locker rooms and used her magic to levitate a small brown paper bag onto one of the benches along with some blue dragon scales. “...perfect. The teachers will find this tomorrow with his name on it and everything will go from there.”

And with that, she quickly teleported out of the school…

Chapter 31

The next morning….

“This is bullshit!” Blue yelped from the hallway.

Down in the hallway, the dragon in question had been called to look at the evidence that was found in the male’s locker room. A few blue scales had been left behind which had caused a few of the staff members to question him.

“I don’t even do drugs. I don’t even know where this came from!”

Professor Hassium was among those who had inspected the situation. Within the bag, they found another small bag filled with white powder. “Hmph…admittedly, it does look like a poor man’s attempt at a joke in order to incriminate you. Don’t quite understand why though…”

“Ugh!” Cayenne threw her head back in disgust with an annoyed groan, “First the incident with Nebula and now this? It’s like someone out there is trying to mess with our students.”

“You firmly believe this was planted, hm?” Mona the abyssinian nurse discussed with Cayenne nearby, “I’ll admit, from here it doesn’t even look like Mr. Blazes abuses substances. His eyes are normal, his posture is straight, his demeanor is--”

“Thank you!” he interrupted them with a shout as he rolled his eyes, “I feel like it’s been one case of bullshit after another around here…”

Mona giggled, and continued, “...his personality doesn’t seem to have shifted. I think we need to review our evidence before we lay down any accusations.”

Hassium would then offer a suggestion, “Why don’t we gather up all the security and guardsponies that were here last night? If they spotted anything out of the ordinary, we’ll know who really put this here.”

“Good idea,” Cayenne agreed, and looked at Blue. “You’re free to go, kiddo. We’re certain that it wasn’t you.”

“I know,” he replied with a huff, “But who was behind it? That’s the part I’m confused about. Who would even try to frame me for something like this?”

“Consider it your next mission for your dorm block,” Cayenne thought up on the spot, “I’m sure you all can figure it out if you put your heads together. Speaking of which, where are your friends anyway?”

“Nebula didn’t answer when I knocked,” Blue replied with a shrug. “I’ll go see if he’s up.”

Cayenne nodded and started trotting off with the rest of the staff members. “Good. We’ll let you know if anything else important comes up.”

With that, Blue flew off to his dorm block where his kirin friend, Mei, had already woken up and exited her room.

“Ah. You’re up, Mei. Did you hear about what happened?”

“Yeah,” she shook her head and adjusted her glasses, “Apparently someone snuck into the grounds last night. The security for this place needs a complete overhaul after what happened to Nebula. I’m just glad it wasn’t another trap or something…”

“One thing after another around here,” Blue lamented with a sigh. “I remember you told me that you were discussing some rumors with Grimrose about Zesty talking down the Tasty Treat, yeah?”

Mei nodded with an annoyed frown on her face. “Yes. It’s completely insane. Zesty’s got such an inflated ego that she thinks it’s okay to spin rumors about a place she doesn’t even eat at.”

“Must be some kinda petty vendetta shit,” Blue remarked with a scoff, “She’s so salty that no one’s taken her seriously ever since she tried to discredit the place and other restaurants have started to embrace different styles of cooking that she’s trying to spite poor Saffron and her dad’s business.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “Hmph. She’s no better than some of the dragons I used to know. Guess all creatures are capable of being vain assholes.”

“Yeah…” Mei agreed, “It’s such a shame…but I think we’ll be able to get to the bottom of it if we try hard enough. Speaking of which, where’s the other half of our dorm block?” She turned her attention to Grimrose and Nebula’s dorm rooms.

Blue sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I tried knocking to wake him up but he didn’t answer.”

Well they were certainly about to have an answer alright. Moments later, Rose opened her door…and both she and Nebula exited with rather frizzled manes which caught the attention of Blue and Mei.

“...Uhhh…” she darted her eyes as they looked in their direction. “...we were testing out new curses and--”

There was a rather knowing smirk on Mei’s face, indicating she already had an idea of what actually happened between the two. “Oh don’t worry,” she said with a giggle, “You don’t need to explain the details of your private lives to us. Right, Blue?”

Blue simply came out with it, “...you guys totally fucked, didn’t you?”

Grimrose hid her wings in front of her face, blushing profusely as Nebula smiled sheepishly.

“Uhh…well we certainly enjoy each other’s company,” he said with a smile, which put Rose at ease. Then, he’d change the subject. “But more importantly, I heard you guys talking. Is there something going on?”

One brief explanation later…

“I see…” Nebula replied methodically, “Who’d do such a petty thing, honestly?”

“Someone with no regard for common sense,” Rose commented, now standing upright, “Such a shame, really. Oh and by the way, Nebula and I spoke to a ghost not too long ago named Tandoori Chai.”

One of Mei’s ears flicked in response to hearing that name. “...I could’ve sworn I heard that name before…”

Blue would then comment based on the way the name sounded. “Hrm…is that something on Saffron’s menu, maybe? I could’ve sworn I remember seeing that name in a book when we were studying Shire Lanka in class the other day.”

“That’s it!”

“That’s it.”

Mei and Rose replied in unison as they both recalled seeing the term ‘Tandoori’ on Saffron Masala’s menu at the Tasty Treat.

“In that case, let’s go ask her about it,” Mei suggested.

Nebula would then remind them, “Hey, what about this bag-planting situation? Someone’s trying to frame Blue here.”

Blue waved his claw and shook his head, “Screw that. We got something juicier to deal with right now. All in favor of hitting up Saffron’s place to ask her about it?”

“Ready,” Nebula agreed. If Blue wasn’t concerned, then he chose not to be.

“Yes,” Rose replied with a nod.

“Uh-huh. Let’s go,” Mei added.

Chapter 32

Meanwhile, in dorm block Sigma…

“Ugh,” Fang the dalmatian diamond dog huffed as he exited his room, “This is horrid. All because of Gaea’s antics, now we’re unable to go on missions…”

“I know,” his zebra classmate, Spearklip commented as she exited her own dorm. “I get that the Academy mandates that everyone operates in 4-man teams, but still…”

“Quite goes to show how little Gaea truly cared about herself or others around her,” Fang went on with an annoyed scoff, “Ever so quick to fuel her own ego at the expense of others. Now we’re unable to perform any work or make extra money until we--”

That’s when Rufus hurried up the nearby steps and spoke to them. “Hey, pals! Guess what? All of our worries are about to be thrown out as quickly as they propped up.”

Spear tilted her head, “Really? By what exactly?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of our problem regarding being down a man ever since Gaea was expelled, yes?” Fang asked, “What exactly do you have in mind, Rufus?”

The yak bull turned around and led them down the stairs of the building. “Follow me.”

Meanwhile, down in the main office…

Leelee, the monkey woman that had been saved by Nebula, Blue, Mei, and Rose, had been waiting in the office. There, she was approached by another primate monk wearing a red and black robe which signified that he was a high-ranking member of Wukong’s court.

“You’re…safe, yes? There’s no need for us to worry anymore, Liánhuā.”

“I wish to stay and learn more,” she replied with a smile, “The ponies and other creatures here fascinate me. Please tell Emperor Chang that I am okay and wish to enroll.”

The court official couldn’t deny her request given who she really was.

“Very well,” the monkey guardsman agreed, “We shall inform the Emperor that you have decided to stay as a cultural exchange. Given that you’re a Lady of the Third Rank, you have a bit more freedom than those of the Second and First Ranks…”

Outside the office…

Rufus tilted his head in the direction of the window that allowed them to see the two monkeys speaking with the Dean of the Academy.

“Boom. That’s our new teammate,” the yak bull confidently sounded off, “I’m almost certain of it.”

“A Monk, hm?” Fang shrugged his shoulders, “I suppose I’ve seen far crazier. I just hope the language barrier won’t prevent us from being able to properly communicate.”

“She looks pretty limber, I won’t lie,” Spear commented, noting Leelee’s rather toned legs, thighs, and abdomen. “She must train a lot. If so, we’re gonna get along just fine.”

“You’re right, Spear--she does look strong,” Rufus commented as he flexed his legs. “But can she keep up with the legendary King of Wrestling?”

“Uh, I thought it was ‘King of Grappling’,” Spear teased him with a smug grin.

Rufus simply rolled his eyes. “It’s a working set of titles. Gimme some time, yeah?”

Eventually, the court monk would exit the office and leave, followed by Leelee being escorted out by the Dean of the Academy…

An older, violet-colored unicorn stallion wearing a dark blue cloak. In spite of his grizzled, wrinkled face, he spoke with a friendly tone.

“...ah, yes. You lot…the Sigma Students….?”

“Yes Mr. Oxford?” Fang spoke up to catch his attention.

“...take her into your group. Treat her well, please,” he explained before retreating into his office as he left the monkey woman to them.

Leelee coiled up her tail and sat upon it. “Yuàn zhǎng…Mister Dean looks tired…”

“Given all the nonsense that has happened recently,” Fang went on, “It’s no wonder. The old horse desperately needs to retire.”

Spearklip nodded in agreement. “Yup. But he needs to decide for himself. Can’t force him.”

Rufus diverted attention from that, “Anyhoozle…welcome to our team….uh…?” but he paused once he realized he had no clue how to pronounce her name. “...what do we call ya?”

The monkey girl sprung off her tail and put her hands on her hips. “You may call me ‘Leelee’ for simple’s sake! I hope to be of great use to your team of big yak, buff dog, and black horse!”

Spearklip giggled at her description of their group. “...we have a bit of Western terminology to teach you, Lee.”

Meanwhile, on Restaurant Row…

The students of Dorm Block Epsilon had gone in to interview Saffron Masala. Given the lack of customers, it was rather easy to speak with her on this day.

And as soon as the name ‘Tandoori’ came up…

Saffron obliged them, “Ah! That is a recipe I have, named after my--” but she paused on a dime as she thought about it for a moment before continuing with a surprised tone. “...wait a minute…how do you know about--?”

“...I might’ve contacted her through otherworldly means,” Grimrose replied, “So she is related to you, then?”

“...P-probably…” Saffron stuttered.

“...would you like to meet her?” Rose asked.

Saffron entertained the idea for a moment before shutting it down. “N-no thank you. I don’t think I’m mentally prepared for such a thing. Her name and recipes that she spoke of to you is all the proof I need.”

Mei then brought up something she knew was rather important as she levitated a book of Canterlot’s History with her magic up to Saffron. “I’ve been doing research into Canterlot’s culture, and I’ve found that Zesty’s family--the Gourmand Family--has been around for quite a long time…just as long as your family has. Apparently, someone named ‘Garam Masala’ was married to a ‘Tandoori Chai’ and visited Canterlot at one point.”

“...Well I’ll be…” Saffron muttered in amazement as she looked at the photographs of ponies coming together in Canterlot.

“She’s always got her nose in a book,” Blue added with a grin, “Easily the one here with the most brains.”

“...s-stoppit,” Mei blushed and quickly refocused on the topic at hand. “This lets us know that Zesty likely has other family members that we could interview and get information out of.”

“Do you happen to know any of ‘em?” Nebula asked, “Maybe seen some of them pass through here?”

Saffron racked her brain for any familiar ponies that either looked like, or said that they knew Zesty Gourmand personally. ”Hrm…sorry, I don’t know. I’m not exactly familiar with everyone in the city.”

“That’s alright,” Blue said with a shrug, “I’m sure she would’ve told us by now if she did. We just need to ask around town.”

“Thanks for your help, ma’am,” Nebula added, “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“...I would appreciate it,” Saffron said with a faintly hopeful tone that conveyed just how worried she was as she looked around her near-empty restaurant. “...thank you, everyone.”

Chapter 33

“Alright, gang,” Nebula remarked to his team, “Let’s split up and ask around for any information on the Gourmand family. We’ll meet up at the nearby bakery in 30 minutes, yeah?”

Blue would respond teasingly, “What are we, some kinda investigation team?” he chuckled, and took flight. “No problem, leader.”

“...’Leader’ huh?” Nebula paused as he watched his dragon friend fly off. “...do I really fit that description?”

“You’re one of the best squires of the Royal Guard,” Mei added, “Who else are we gonna follow?”

Nebula rubbed the back of his head. “...I guess you have a point. Just so long as you guys are cool with it.”

“Of course we are,” Mei assured him as she took off in another direction, “I’ll see you in 30.”

As Nebula took a deep breath, Grimrose approached him and offered her support.

“...don’t stress yourself, Atomic,” she put a hoof around his neck to encourage him. “We all have your back no matter what.”

Nebula sighed with a smile, accentuating the freckles around his cheeks. “...you’re right. I can do this. Thanks, Rose.”

And with that, she let go and softly squealed to herself as she took off…

The group made their way around Canterlot and asked for information on the Gourmand Family. Thanks to Mei’s research, they had struck a proverbial gold mine of information. As it turned out, the Gourmand Family was highly revered by the denizens of Canterlot. Their opinion was considered top tier and highly respected. If a restaurant or dish didn’t have Zesty’s Three-Hoof rating that was tied to their lengthy history of food reviewership, then it was deemed irrelevant by the population.

Of course, more recent restaurants have popped up alongside the Tasty Treat that sought to break the established norms of Canterlot’s culinary world. The local pub run by the hippogriff and the place that sold Bitalian food where Prezzemola worked. These fresh places were welcomed by most of the population, though a sizable set of Canterloties refused to eat there since they weren’t Zesty Gourmand-approved.

But perhaps most interestingly, was some information that Nebula was able to gather at the Elite Equine Spa…

“I heard she had a husband who left her alone with their daughter nearly two decades ago,” an older unicorn mare wearing what could only be described as an illegal amount of jewelry spoke in a snoobish tone as another mare worked on her mane with combs, sprays, and scissors via magic. “Such a fool he was. Good stallions are becoming more and more rare these days with deadbeats like that around here. Disgraceful. I do hope Miss Luster Dawn finds someone that will treat her properly, given that she may be our next princess if what I heard rings true.”

While he was curious, Nebula didn’t want to be swayed by bias too early. Instead, he focused on logic.

“I see…and do you happen to know where he might live?”

“Meh, somewhere near the Eastern side of Canterlot where the newly erected homes have been made. Those other…creatures have made their home there as well,” the mare poorly hid her disdain for outsiders under those words. “Now if you’re done boring me with your questions, boy, I have to get my mane done for the upcoming Garden Party. Now shoo. Go on.”

“Alright, alright,” he replied as he backed away and out of the spa. Once outside, he looked up to the East side of Canterlot to see the various mountainside homes that had indeed recently been built to accommodate more residents ever since Canterlot’s rise in population.

“Hrm…that could very well be where Mr. Gourmand lives,” he muttered to himself, “Our team should meet up at the bakery soon.”

Unfortunately, Nebula didn’t notice that someone had been watching him from nearby. A certain white unicorn mare that steeled her gaze at him from one of the outdoor cafe tables. ‘...don’t stick your snout where it might get cut off.’

Thirty minutes later…at an outdoor table near the bakery…

The whole group came together to discuss what they had found. Unfortunately, as it turned out, everyone aside from Nebula was unable to find anything for various reasons.

Mei went first. “...Everyone I talked to kinda gave me a could shoulder,” she lamented as she leaned against the table, “Wonder if it’s because I’m not a regular pony.”

“I can feel that,” Blue added as he leaned back in his chair, “Dragons still aren’t very common in this city so I can’t blame some of them for wanting to end conversations as quickly as possible.”

“Damn,” Nebula sighed, then looked at Rose, “What about you, Grim?”

“I may have scared everyone I tried to talk to,” she muttered while flipping through her tome’s pages, “No one wanted to speak to me.”

“Dammit, all,” Nebula shook his head and went on. “It’s alright guys, don’t worry. I think I may have found some info that could lead us where we need to go.”

“What’s the plan, leader?” Blue asked as he crackled the knuckles of his claws. “I feel like we’ve gone nowhere thus far.”

“We head to the Eastern side of Canterlot and ask around,” Nebula continued as he got up from his seat. “All in favor?”

Everyone else looked at each other, nodded, and turned to Nebula, “Aye.”

They all got up and started on their newfound path towards the Eastern center of Canterlot. Yet again however, a certain someone was following them from a distance…

“Seriously?” Harissa grumbled as she watched the quartet resume their expedition, “They just don’t know when to quit, do they? Guess I’ll have to be more direct and make them an offer they can’t refuse…”

‘Don’t let the family name down, Harissa.’

‘Do not end up like your coward of a father.’

‘Make me proud even if it means sacrifice.’

"N-no...don't hurt me..." As the words of her mother rang around in her head, Harissa acquired newfound resolve. “...I’ll make you proud, mother...I promise.”

Chapter 34

The Eastern Side of Canterlot wasn’t too different from the Western Side. The buildings and homes all had an old-world, castle-like feel to them which reflected the luxurious nature of the city and the royalty that resided there. Naturally, this was also the new home for many new, non-pony residents that had recently migrated to the country. Twilight Sparkle’s expansion plans turned out to be a big hit that resonated with the new citizens very well.

Our group of young heroes from dorm block Epsilon ventured forth and noted the distinct influx of non-ponies that settled there, it gave them a sense of comfort unlike the stuffy Western side. More specifically for Blue and Mei.

“Well this should be easy,” Blue spoke with a relaxed tone as he noted a few dragons that he recognized in the crowd, “Seems like it’s mostly non-ponies living here. Finding a pony in this group should be easier than it seems.”

“How will we figure out which one was married to Zesty?” Grimrose asked, “Is there some sort of public lookup system that we can make use of?”

Mei was already a few steps ahead of them--both literally and figuratively. The bespectacled kirin led them to the recently-erected library for this side of the city. On the outside was a book that showed the information of notable people in the area and where to find them. “There’s a directory here we can use. Zesty’s husband should be in here.”

“Well that’s just dandy,” Nebula said in an encouraging manner, “We can find his information in there, yes?” The unicorn stallion leaned over Mei’s shoulder as she peered through the book.

“Yikes,” Blue shuddered upon seeing the rows and rows of rather small text that littered the directory book. “I couldn’t sift through this for more than five minutes before getting a headache,” he lamented as he leaned back with his palm on his forehead.

“I know what you mean,” Nebula agreed as he rubbed the side of his head, “I think that’s why my vision was getting bad before the incident. Too much time spent reading sheet music and music theory books.”

Hearing that his friend usually focused on one type of subject caused concern for Blue. “My man, you need to pick up some comics,” he suggested with a sigh. “We all need breaks sometimes, ya feel?”

Nebula flicked his tail and scoffed. “Spare me. Unrealistic fantasy stories like that aren’t gonna help me become a knight.”

“My dude, what’s unrealistic about superheroes? That’s basically what we are,” Blue debated while gesturing his claws towards himself and the rest of the group.

“The idea that some alien pony could crash down onto our planet and wear glasses to fool everyone into thinking he’s someone else is just ridiculous,” Nebula went on with a roll of his eyes. “Superstallion’s identity isn’t even interesting, he just acts smarmy.”

Blue folded his arms as he thought of alternatives and replied, “Hrm…how about something more relatable? Like Spider-Stallion? He’s basically a nerd and gets a hot girlfriend. Reminds me a lot of someone else I know, eh? Eh?” he tried to sell Nebula on the concept with his best attempt at a convincing grin.

The purple unicorn stallion’s expression turned neutral along with his voice, “Seriously? That’s your pitch?”

“Wait, no that came out wrong--hey, Rose--help me out here--” The dragon looked over at their pegasus teammate…

Grimrose was staring off into space, seemingly unaware of the world around her until Blue snapped his claw-fingers.

“Hey!”

“...Hm?” Rose flapped her wings and folded them in upon having her attention stolen by the dragon. “Sorry…I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we were probably being followed.”

“Followed…?” Nebula repeated under his breath out of concern.

“Meh, I think a few folks may recognize Mei and me,” Blue replied with a shrug, noting the local dragon and kirin population, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I got it!” Mei proclaimed with a smug grin as she pushed up her foggy glasses. “As usual, it wasn’t that hard for me to find. Mr. Gourmand--or rather, Mr. Ex-Gourmand lives just up this road,” she pointed to a Northern side street.

Nebula thought about his name for a moment. “Hrm…so he took her name when they married? I guess not anymore since they got divorced, huh?”

The entire party--even Grimrose--gave an uncomfortable grimace at the word. ‘Divorce’ was such an ugly thing that they couldn’t bare the thought of it.

“...Ouch,” was all Blue could say.

“Let’s try not bringing that up when we meet him, yeah?” Mei suggested as she led the group down the path. “We want as much info from him as possible without making him uncomfortable.”

“Of course,” Nebula agreed, “Still…I feel for the guy. I wonder what it was like being married to Zesty Gourmand.”

Rose looked at it logically, “We won’t have to wonder for very long…”

Soon enough, the group arrived at a small home built into the side of one of Canterlot’s many tower-like structures. Mei approached it, and knocked upon the steel door…

…and a few minutes later, an older stallion--easily around his late-60s--walked out to them. He was an orange unicorn with a gray mane, yellow eyes, and his cutie mark was a movie camera.

“H-hello? Who’s knockin’ at this time’a day?” his rather deep voice with an Austalian accent called out to them.

“...sir,” Mei started off, “We’re conducting an investigation into Zesty Gourmand’s acts of sabotaging a restaurant in the middle of Canterlot. Do you know her by chance?”

Upon hearing her name, the stallion looked down at the ground for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah…yeah I do. Never thought she’d stoop’ta somethin’ so low and yet here we are…”

“...can you tell us more?” Mei asked.

The stallion looked up at them all and pushed the door open. “C’mon inside and I’ll tell ya whatcha wanna know. I just made a pavlova you lot can enjoy while I speak to ya.”

“Pavolva?” Nebula asked, “You mean the dessert from Austailia? We’d be honored, sir!”

“Never heard of it,” Rose commented, “But it sounds good.”

“Can’t hurt to try something new,” Blue added.

Once everyone went inside and the elder stallion shut the door, he sat them down at his rustic wooden dinner table where he’d serve them all a slice of cream cake with various chopped fruits on top. Nearby, there was a shelf filled with various items including a few rare plates, some old pictures, and a medal or two…

'It's. Nice, small home,' Nebula thought to himself as he looked around, 'You'd never guess that he was once married to a celebrity food critic.'

Likewise, Mei took some time to observe as well. 'Rustic dining room, hardwood floors…not what you'd expect from Canterlot.'

Blue and Grimrose meanwhile, were too mentally preoccupied thinking about the investigation to put much thought into their surroundings. The latter in particular didn't wish to come off as nosy.

The older stallion sat down at the table with them and started his story. “...Zesty, right? We met a little over 30 years ago here in Canterlot--oh. Where are me manners? Before I get started, I should tell ya my name. I’m Moreton Anzac. But call me ‘Zac, kiddos.”

“Okay…Mr. Zac, how did you and Zesty meet?”

Anzac used his magic to levitate a photograph off the shelf that depicted both his younger self and a mare who had just entered adulthood. Anzac himself was much more muscular and wore a leather jacket in the photo while the gray mare with a silver mane and…a rather wide body shape with a large rear end.

“...Wait…don’t tell me…” Blue muttered in disbelief.

“...I’m not pullin’ yer leg, lads…this was Zesty Gourmand in her youth. Now lemme tell ya how we met…”

Chapter 35: The Truth Behind Zesty Gourmand

“Alright, so I used’ta work as a camera-stallion for a food magazine and newspaper that Zesty was a part of…”

Indeed as Mr. Anzac described. When Zesty Gourmand was younger, she was the top pick for various photo shoots, having been known for her good looks as well as her insightful comments on food. This was about 30 years ago…

On the day he and Zesty met, he was called to take pictures of the mare near a newly-built tofu-burger restaurant. It was a recent hit with the local population and his boss wanted him to get as many good photos as possible.

“Well, what’re ya waitin’ for? The Summer Sun Celebration? Go, go, go!” his boss barked at him from within the office of the Canterlot press building.

“R-righto, boss!” the young Anzac got up from his cubicle and hurried out into the streets of Canterlot with his camera equipment. Freshly graduated from college, he was excited to finally be taking photos of someone important. “Alright, now where is she…?”

It wasn’t long before he laid eyes on her. Zesty Gourmand was waiting outside of the restaurant in question before it had even opened. The young mare was bopping her head to some music on a pair of rather large headphones as she blew a bubblegum bubble. Her silvery mane was long and flowing down past her neck and onto her black sweater that she wore. Most notably, her features curved out to a rather…large rear end. Where her three-hoof rating cutie mark could be seen.

“...good gravy, she’s quite fetchin’...”

“Don’t push your luck,” one of Anzac’s co-workers warned him as he started setting up camera equipment. “Everyone’s tried and failed with her. Just focus on your job, Anzy.”

“Y-yea, nah--I mean, sure…” The young Anzac did his best to focus on the job in question. His backwards cap and leather jacket gave him the appearance of a rugged greaser, but in reality he was rather calm and collected…most of the time. On this particular day, he couldn’t help but steal glances at Zesty’s beauty. The mare spat out her gum in a trash can and put her headphones aside to get ready.

When it was time for the shoot, and the director gave the command, the camera crew was ready…

Zesty was lying down on a table they had gotten for the ad, and made various poses as she took bites of the various tofu burgers the restaurant had offered her. To her surprise, they were genuinely tasty thanks to the heavy amounts of seasoning such as MSG and hot sauce, which caused her eyes to go wide as she took another bite…and gazed longingly into the camera for the photos. Then another pose in which she lied on her back while eating another, followed by another pose in which she was looking over her shoulder before licking the sauce from her lips…

Needless to say, the production crew ate it up in a figurative sense as they snapped photo after photo. Zesty herself was smiling the whole way through, clearly enjoying her work, and even winked at the camera Anzac was holding…

Which caused the stallion to bite his lip before nearly dropping it, and in turn, causing Zesty to giggle into her hoof.

“...For real?!” Blue interrupted the old stallion’s story, “She actually used to look like that? Ass and everything?”

“My dude, watch how you word--” Nebula scolded him as Mr. Anzac chuckled.

“Quite alright, lad,” he replied with a nod, “But ye, that’s one way to put it. She use’ta look far better than she does now.”

Ever the eager one, Mei asked, “What?! What happened??” in an excitable tone.

“Hang on, little lass, I’m gettin’ there…now where was I?”

“You were speaking in reference to when you walked up to her,” Grimrose reminded him, “After the shoot was over.”

“Righto…”

Once the photo shoot was done and everyone had started to disperse away from the restaurant, Anzac approached Zesty and tried to get her attention.

“Er…hi there, miss. You uh…looked great out there today…?” he muttered nervously.

“Oh you,” she called out with her Trottish accent upon seeing him, and put a hoof on his shoulder, “You’re the bloke who I saw starin’ at me, yeah?”

“M-me?” he flicked his tail nervously, and shook his head, “N-no way, miss-!”

Zesty giggled as she started to prance down the road. “I’m takin' the piss outta ya, mate. I can tell you ain’t like them other guys. They’re always lookin’ta ask me out somewhere or charm me with flowers,” she rolled her eyes and faux-gagged with her tongue hanging from her mouth, “C’mon, let’s grab a bite.”

Anzac paused and blinked for a moment before he hurried and ran up alongside her as they approached the marketplace in Canterlot. “Wait…hang on. Are you serious? You just had multiple tofu burgers and ya still hungry?”

Zesty flicked her tail, “Meh. Some extra food won’t ever hurt ya. C’mon, it’ll be great!”

With that in mind, Anzac was able to push his nerves down in order to enjoy spending time with Zesty as they sat at the local cafe…

“I’ll never forget that day,” the old stallion paused in the midst of his story, “We had two grilled cheese and mushroom sandwiches, and split a red velvet cake between ourselves with some tea…” His face dropped as he remembered those days; tears could be seen falling onto and soaking into the wood of the old table they were all seated at.

Out of respect, everyone gave him a moment of silence before they asked any more questions.

“...I’m really sorry, sir,” Mei replied, unable to look him in the eye, “But I need you to be strong for us and tell us what you can. Particularly, what was the tipping point for Zesty? What caused her to stop enjoying food as much as she used to?”

Mr. Anzac rested his hooves on the table in front of him and uttered one word through his lips with nothing but contempt, “Greed.”

Chapter 36

Being a dragon, Blue knew all about how badly greed could corrupt an individual. “...Greed?” he asked hesitantly as he tapped his fork against his plate.

“I’ll skip over the details you lot don’t really need,” Mr. Anzac continued, “We got to know each other, spent more time together, went on more dates…and before you know it, we ended up havin’ ourselves a kid after a year or two. But around then is when we started needin’ more money, so I started pullin’ extra shifts…” The stallion sighed and shook his head. “...then things got rather jossed.”

Having moved in together in a penthouse apartment in the middle of Canterlot, Zesty was taking more and more shifts to support her new husband and recently-born filly.

“...Damn, the agency’s saying I need to lose a few pounds for this next one,” she lamented as she flopped upon the white couch in the middle of the living room next to Anzac--who was now Mr. Gourmand, “...I think I should take it for Harissa’s sake.”

“...don’t starve yourself for it, now, love,” he warned her with a worried tone.

Zesty sat upright on the couch and smooched his cheek. “Don’t worry, dear. It’s just for a few extra bits.”

Or so she said at first…

“...turns out, she started goin’ out a bit more…and more…and more,” Mr. Anzac sighed, “Eventually, it got to a point where she’d be gone all night and I wouldn’t see her until morning.”

“She was working for that long?” Nebula asked out of pure disbelief, “That’s crazy…and you were taking care of your kid when she wasn’t there, huh? Harissa, right?”

Anzac nodded. “That’s right. It all sort of came to a head when I noticed her figure slimmin’ down more. Her skin started to look pale, and her eyes were bloodshot. Turns out she’d been workin’ herself thin for more shoots and started eatin’ less…”

“...Which explains why she looks the way she does now,” Grimrose caught on fairly quickly, “...I’m so sorry, sir.”

“It’s partially my own fault,” he admitted with a hurt tone as he rested his hooves against the table and placed them on his head. “I constantly told myself that it was alright, that it was worth it for Harissa. But I watched Zesty waste away to nothin’...and I didn’t do a damn thing about it.”

Once again, everyone was at a loss for what to say as they listened to the stallion sob over his past mistakes. Their heads were empty and unable to think of how to console someone who had lost his entire family to corporate greed.

“...Sorry…” he levitated a tissue from a nearby box up to his face to dry his tears. “Lemme get back to the important bits, yeah?”

Days turned into weeks which turned into months as Zesty took more and more modeling jobs that required her to eat less and less. As a result, not only did her body definition suffer, but so did her general demeanor and general love life with her husband…

“Zest, love, we need to talk,” Anzac tried to reason with her as soon as she stepped through their apartment door.

“Can’t,” Zesty refused him outright, “I have to keep going for Harissa. She’s the only reason I’m doing this.”

“But maybe there’s a better way?” Anzac put her in front of a mirror to show her how much her skin and body definition had deflated from lack of food, “...you’re suffering, Zest. We can work this out together.”

But Zesty was firm in her stance, stomping her hoof on the tile floor. “Every day for the last few months you tell me this, and every time I keep telling you: More money means a better future for our daughter! Don’t you want her to have peace of mind, Moreton?!”

“Of course I do, but you’re goin’ about this rather poorly…we don’t need you starvin’ yourself like this. You’re barely even around to watch the poor filly grow up…and keep your voice down, eh? She’s nappin’.”

“Whatever. My boss was right…you aren’t taking this seriously at all,” she huffed as she stomped over to the kitchen to pour herself some wine via magic.

Anzac froze before slowly turning his head to the right to glare at her. “...Mind explainin’ that for me?”

“My boss predicted you’d be unhappy with my new work ethic,” Zesty took a verbal potshot as she leaned against the countertop and sipped from her glass. “Looks like you are afraid of me becoming a better parent and providing more for our daughter than you. I can’t take this anymore, Moreton.”

“Wh--what in the--of all the--” He stuttered and stumbled over his words, disillusioned by what he had just heard. “Have you gone mental, Zesty?! The bloody hell are you on about? I’m trying to keep you from killin’ yoursel--”

With a flash of her horn, she forcefully grabbed ahold of the stallion via magic and tossed him into the hallway of the apartment building before shutting the door and locking him out. “...Pathetic excuse of a stallion. Never should’ve married you…”

With a sigh, Nebula spoke his mind, “...and that was the turning point, huh?”

“...next time I went back, all my shit was outside the door,” Mr. Anzac huffed in an annoyed tone, “...along with divorce papers.”

Mei grit her teeth, and held back her innate nirik flames. “...she’s garbage.”

“...let me guess,” Grimrose spoke up from her end of the table, “...you lost the case and custody of your child.”

“Hmph. What was yer first clue?” he sprinkled in some sarcasm to distract himself from the pain, “...Regardless, I ain’t seen Zesty since and she won’t let me see Harissa. Kinda been hidin’ out here ever since.”

Such a detail struck Nebula as odd. The young stallion tilted his head and asked, “...why?”

“...Think for a sec, kiddo,” Anzac explained, “I’m the ex-husband of one of Canterlot’s most famous food critics. Raising my hoof against her would get me flogged via court of public opinion. I’m a nobody, and as such, my word don’t matter.”

BLAM!

Blue slammed his fist on the table, causing everyone’s forks to fly a few inches into the air before flopping back down on their empty plates. To say that he was angry was an understatement given the bulging veins in his neck. “This is bullshit!!” he yelled, ”Damn near fucking literally! You did your best to communicate and work things out with her, but she was such a stubborn bitch that she kicked you out over it?!”

“...Blue, calm down, please…” Mei urged him with a worried tone.

“Now I see what she’s doing…” Blue went on as he put the mental pieces together. “Because she felt like she could tear you down, she’s been doing nothing but that with everyone else.”

Moreton gave a helpless grumble from his seat. The stallion was indeed fully aware of Zesty’s pursuits to change Canterlot towards a society whose body shapes were more…homogenous. Unfortunately…

“Yeah, I know, lads,” he replied with a dejected tone, “But as I said, I can’t do naught a thing from my position. Soon as I speak up, everyone who knows and trusts her would be at my door and my throat. Ultimately, I just want Harissa to be alright, but I just know she’s fillin’ the poor gal’s head with lies and deception…”

“As the corrupt are wont to do,” Grimrose commented, “But I think that answers most of the questions we had for you, sir.”

Mr. Anzac raised a confused eyebrow. “Eh wot? How’re you young lot gonna solve this? It’s an unwinnable hand at a rigged card’s table.”

Nebula already had a vague idea of what the mare of death was planning, “...Grim…?”

Grimrose got up from her seat at the table, “I think it’s time for us to go. Super sorry about digging up your past traumas like that, sir. But rest assured, it’ll be worth it by the time we’re done.”

Before the others could blink, Rose had already flown out of the stallion’s home.

“Grimr--wait!” Nebula shook his head and levitated their plates via his indigo aura, “Here, sir--I’ll clean these up.”

But Mr. Anzac overrode Nebula’s levitation magic with his own orange aura. “Yeah nah--go on, kiddos. If you’re sure you can save Harissa from that banshee of a mare, then don’t worry yourselves.”

“...Alrighty,” Nebula got up and tilted his head in the direction of the door while looking at Mei and Blue who also got up and followed him. “Thanks for the info, sir. Have a good day.”

“We’ll do what we can for your daughter,” Mei added as she walked out after Nebula, “Goodbye…”

Lastly, Blue paused before following them out and added, “...we’ll topple her throne of lies and greed. Have a good day, sir.”

Mr. Anzac chuckled as he watched everyone leave and shut the door with his magic. “...crazy kids…reminds me of me and my camera crew…”

Chapter 37

Once everyone was outside, they all met up with Grimrose at the outdoor directory stall that Mei had used earlier. Ponies and other creatures were walking and chattering up and down both sides of the road, so this allowed our mixed group of young heroes to speak with each other without fear of anyone listening in.

“Okay, Rose,” Nebula called out to her as they all gathered, “Don’t tell me you’re planning on doing what I think you’re thinking of.”

Rose hung her head as she leaned against the library. “...I don’t want to either, but it seems as if we have no choice but to look into her mind for an answer. If we manage, the best-case scenario is that we’ll be able to force her to come clean, apologize to Saffron and Anzac, remove that kid from her custody, and get her to withdraw from the culinary world.” She took a deep breath. “...I know it sounds insurmountable, but…”

“No, no--no way.” Nebula’s ear flicked and he vehemently denied this approach with a shake of his head, “We can’t just keep prying into people’s heads for answers. It’s unethical.”

Blue scratched the back of his head in an unsure manner, “...I gotta agree, Rose. Going in Gaea’s head was one thing, but this is a Canterlot big-shot we’re talking about, here.”

Since Mei had yet to experience what they were talking about, she was the most curious. “Hrm? You mean to tell me you’ve crafted a spell that lets us go in people’s minds? Most interesting…”

Grimrose sighed, “I know…it’s not the most apt approach, but look at Mr. Anzac himself. He was dealt an unfair hand just because he wanted to care for his daughter and his wife. But then Zesty got crazy and pushed him away because of her greed,” she took a moment to glance at Blue in particular. “...you of all people should know how bad greed can take someone.”

And she had it correct, which is why Blue hesitated before answering. “...yeah. You’re right. When some of the dragons I knew got greedy, they turned ugly…nasty…” His expression turned cold as he grit his teeth and looked away from the group for a moment, “...and were ready to stab me in the back when it was convenient.”

“...Bud…” Nebula muttered under his breath.

“...something you wanna talk about, Blue?” Mei asked as she put a hoof on his shoulder, which was pushed away by the dragon.

Blue rejected their sympathies for the time being in order to focus on the matter at hand. The last thing he wanted was more attention drawn to himself. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m just thinking about what we should do here and if it’s morally okay to snoop around like that.”

“Even if it isn’t,” Nebula cut in, “We’re not looking to do such a thing for personal gain here. We’re looking to write a corrupt, distorted wrong from a mare whose inflated ego has also corrupted the population itself. I don’t think we should stand by and allow someone like her to ruin the reputation of places like the Tasty Treat just because she feels like it.”

The group was unable to come to a unanimous decision. Was it morally okay to view the inside of someone’s mind even if the intent was to expose their true colors to the world? This idea was something they simply couldn’t agree upon as they idled in front of the library.

…That is, until someone decided to make her presence known to them.

“Excuse me,” Harissa trotted up to them from a nearby marketplace stall, catching their attention with their heads turning when she called out to them, “I couldn’t help but overhear you talk about Zesty Gourmand.”

“Hm? Oh…yeah,” Nebula tried to play it off, hoping she had only heard the tail-end of their conversation. “We were just…discussing where we should go eat based on her rating system,” he looked to his group for support, “Right guys?”

Grimrose replied with a silent nod.

“Yup,” Mei bounced off of Nebula’s set-up with a snappy response, “We’re just looking to--”

“Bull,” interjected the young mare who wasn’t in the mood for games. “I heard you speaking of my mother. You’re the ones investigating her, aren’t you?” She idly kicked one of her hooves against the ground. “I recommend that you stay out of it. Who knows what’ll happen to you all if you get…reported,” she added with a sinister tone and a fierce, almost impish smile.

Blue stepped in front of the group and folded his arms, seemingly unafraid of Harissa’s claims. “So what if we are? Do you know how unfair your mom treated your dad?”

“Pfft,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Quit talking big. You don’t know me or my situation.”

Mei joined in, “Uh, actually…we do. We spoke to your father not too long ago.”

That caught Harissa’s attention. The young mare paused and gazed at the kirin in awe. “...you did? Seriously?”

“Yes,” Grimrose added, “Do you know how badly your mother treated him?”

“He was kicked out of the house when you were little,” Nebula explained, “He tried to keep Zesty from wasting away with long work hours and starving herself for her modelling gigs but she didn’t--”

“...” As they spoke, Harissa’s eyes shifted around to glance at each member of the group before she shut them and took a step back. She interrupted Mei’s sentence with a rebuttal, “N-no…that can’t be. Mom told me that he abused her and that’s why I’ve never met him. He’s evil…y-you’ve all been fooled!”

Since it was a literal matter of ‘he said/she said’, Nebula made a suggestion to get to the bottom of it. “Okay, why don’t we settle this by going to the Royal Court and see if there’s any record of a reported case of abuse to go along with your parents’ divorce. Then we’ll know for sure.” He looked at the other members of his group and asked, “That sound good?”

“Yeah,” Blue replied, “If we get proper evidence, then we’ll know who’s in the wrong.”

“Fine by me,” Rose added.

“I’m in,” Mei agreed.

While that seemed reasonable, Harissa was adamantly against the idea. She bit her lip, then stomped her hooves down.

“N-no! I-I…you don’t need to do that!” she stuttered her way through her uncertainty as she hung her head, “J-just…stop investigating my mom!”

“...why?” Blue asked out of genuine confusion this time, looking to hear the mare out.

And as she raised her head, that devilish grin returned to her face. “...Because if you do, I’ll tell the Royal Guard that you guys molested me.”

Everyone’s eyes shot wide open as the mare started to pace back and forth.

“Yeah…you two college guys decided to rape me in a bush nearby,” she explained her sinister plot in a low tone, “Nobody will believe you.”

“Bullshit!” Blue hissed as he balled his fist, “You make a claim like that and they’ll know you’re fucking around!”

“He’s right,” Nebula agreed as he glared at Harissa, “Tungsten knows we wouldn’t do something like that. Your words hold no weight to us.”

Despite this, Harissa simply snorted with an arrogant, cocksure grin. “Oh really? Even if it turns out that I’m lying, nobody will look at you guys the same way ever again. The seeds of doubt will forever be planted upon you as the public will still wonder if you might have diddled a mare that’s just barely underage.”

Grimrose spread her wings and hovered over to her. “...you’d dare shame yourself and your family upon a bed of lies just to satisfy your own desires? You’re pathetic.”

“That’s the only way to get ahead in Canterlot. It’s how my mom did it, so it’s how I’m doing it too,” Harissa turned around and flicked her tail. “The choice is yours. Keep snooping around and I’ll destroy your public image with a simple cry of timberwolf. Who do you think left that bag of fake-drugs to throw the entire school staff off my trail? When Luster Dawn takes over, goody-two-hooves like you are gonna be things of the past.”

And with that, she pranced away with a smug smile on her face--content within herself as if she knew her plan was foolproof.

Once she was gone, Blue snorted steam from his nostrils as he brought his claw to his face and shook his head. “...I can’t believe we’re getting played by some kid.”

Refusing to stand idle and accept a threat lying down, Nebula grit his teeth and spat, “You know what? Fuck this. I take back what I said before. We’re going into Zesty’s head.”

“...Yikes,” Mei visibly recoiled upon hearing Nebula speak so harshly, “...what’s with the sudden change of opinion, Nebula?”

Nebula started trotting off, “...meet me at Tungsten’s place. I’ll explain there. It’s not safe out here.”

Chapter 39

The next day…

Before classes started at the Canterlot Academy, Tungsten appeared in the main office where Dean Oxford alongside Professors Hassium and Cayenne were chatting before the day would begin.

“Hey,” he said upon pushing the door open with his hoof, “The students of dorm block…Epsilon? Yeah, they ain’t gonna be here for their morning classes. Or their afternoon ones.”

The two teachers and Dean looked at the guard pony in confusion. Hassium was first to break the silence with a question.

“...and why might that be, Sir Wolfe?”

The plan was simple…but the mission seemed impossible. Nevertheless, our heroes were more than prepared to undertake such a daring task. The objective? Gain some of Zesty Gourmand’s blood so that Grimrose could inscribe it within her tome with one of her enchanted pegasus feathers as a quill. How was it to be done? Well this is how it went…

Over the course of the night before, Mei had accepted a volunteer job--under the guise of gaining academic credits--to deliver packages to various rooms in the penthouse building where Zesty resided. While she was there, she made a mental note of each and every floor, carefully memorizing the layout as she drew up a map via her magic. Any fear of being caught by Harissa was thankfully quelled once she had put on the drab beige uniform of a delivery pony which kept her body’s features from being seen. Of course, she took extra care to avoid being caught by the young mare to be safe.

Now that it was the day of the operation, the next stage of the group’s plan was put into action.

Blue was hidden in a nearby tree with a pair of binoculars as he overlooked the luxury apartment building. A sleek, modern design crafted after the buildings found in Manehattan with silver stone and reflective blue windows on all sides. Standing at a massive 12 floors tall, this high-rise building stuck out like a sore hoof amidst Canterlot’s more medieval, old-world style buildings. But make no mistake, this is where Zesty Gourmand lived. With Mr. Anzac’s story, the details were certain.

From his position within the tree, Blue nodded to himself as he confirmed the positions of both Nebula and Grimrose.

At the back of the building, Grimrose was preparing her entry from the rear. Having also volunteered to work under the guise of academic credits, she signed up to work as a masseuse for the day and volunteered to take the shift that was scheduled for Zesty Gourmand. Dressed in the masseuse uniform which included a facemask, along with having dyed her mane hot pink, she was practically unrecognizable.

At the front of the building, Atomic Nebula was trotting through the courtyard along the marbled cobblestone path through a garden of well-trimmed hedges and topiaries that were trimmed in the shape of Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle.

And just before he could get into the building…

“...Hang on, what are you doing here?” Harissa stopped him as she walked out of the entrance towards him, causing Nebula to start walking backwards. “I thought I told you to stay away from here. You must really wanna go to jail, huh?”

“N-no!” Nebula nervously replied with a panicked expression as the young mare stared at him with a demonic grin, continuously backing away from the apartment building. “I-I was just out here on an assignment, honest!”

“Really?” Harissa scoffed and continued to taunt him, “Well you might be telling the truth…but I need to be sure.” She tapped her hoof against the side of her face for a second, then flicked her tail. “Ooh…I got an idea,” she muttered in a snide tone as she bit her lip whilst looking at Nebula.

Nebula shut his eyes with a nervous smile on his face as sweat ran down the side of his head. “...why do I have a feeling I’m not gonna like it?”

“You’re gonna do what I tell you or else,” she commanded as she walked past him towards the inner city of Canterlot, “Now follow me, Flagella. A cute guy like you needs to learn some manners when dealing with a pretty mare like me.”

“...It’s Neb--you know what, whatever,” he brought his hoof to his face and shook his head…and glanced up at the tree that Blue was sitting in.

In response, Blue gave a thumbs-up from his position in the tree. While it appeared that Nebula was being taken advantage of by the young mare, in reality, it was a part of their plan to lure her away from the building itself…

So that Mei could slip in alongside Grimrose and lead the latter to the top floor of the penthouse building without any fear of being caught. The kirin had disguised herself as one of the bellhop ponies and escorted Grimrose to one of the nearby elevators.

Given that there were cameras on the elevators, neither mare spoke a word to each other. The pegasus, in her casual masseuse scrubs, glanced over at the bellhop kirin to give an affirming nod to each other before the ding! of the doorbell signaled that they had reached the top floor.

They both existed and trotted to the end of the velvet, carpeted hallway until they reached Zesty Gourmand’s address. Mei took a position at the door while Grimrose knocked upon it.

“Who’s there?” the crabby old mare’s voice called out.

“Your masseuse!” Grimrose put on an uncharacteristically shrill, sweetened tone to her voice to mask her identity further. “You ordered the deep tissue massage, yeah?”

“Hmph,” Zesty opened the door, and glared at Rose…she wasn’t the wiser. “Took you long enough. Get in here.”

Grimrose followed Zesty into her penthouse suite and took her to the built-in massage therapy room where the older mare lied down on her stomach.

‘She doesn’t know who we are. Good. This’ll be my one and only chance to get her blood. May as well attempt to prod her for info as well.’

As soon as Rose got close, she noted just how…utterly thin and bony Zesty was without her trademark cape and cloak that she wore in public. Her skin was sagging in various places and it looked as if her bones were about to protrude from her skin.

It was enough to cause the normally-unflappable Grimrose to cringe and recoil from the mere sight of her body.

‘...Yikes. How is she still breathing? It looks like she’s been starving herself for years and a single cut would drain her of whatever life she has left.’

“Ahem,” Zesty cleared her throat and flicked her tail, “You may begin, madam. Please do your best to iron out all of my kinks. I have to attend a Home Economics seminar for the local university students. I hear Luster Dawn is going to be a part of the class which is most excellent.”

Rose snapped some gloves onto her hooves as she prepared one of her feathers. In order to keep Zesty distracted, she opted to join in on her conversation whilst ‘massaging’ her as best she could.

“...Luster Dawn? Oh, I’ve heard of her!” Rose chirped in her best attempt at a fake ‘peppy’ tone, “Why’s she so important again?”

“Because she’s the student of Princess Twilight Sparkle, of course,” Zesty replied in a matter-of-fact tone, “Just as Lady Sparkle was once a student of the former Princess Celestia. Making sure Luster Dawn meets her grade point expectations is of the utmost importance to preserve Canterlot’s future if she is to ascend as Princess next.”

Grimrose held back her disgust as she rubbed along the older mare’s near-fully visible spinal column. Even if she had a penchant for death, this mare’s body was simply that disturbing. ‘...presumptuous much?’

Chapter 42

And just as Zesty hid behind those who happened to agree with her, the other Canterlot nobles were pretty much the same, opting to call for their subordinates and workers to take care of their problems instead.

In this case, it was their servants. Young mares and stallions of the college students’ age who stood in to fight for their employers. Such a sight caused our heroes to hesitate for a moment as the various unicorns prepared to fire off magic spells from their horns.

“...Should we do this?” Trickster muttered apprehensively while looking at the young ponies their age. “They’re just like us…”

“It’s horrible,” Priestess shook her head, “But this is simply how Canterlotians view each other. Tools to forward their own ambitions.”

“We need to enact social change,” Archsage added as he lifted his recorder from its sheath via his magic, “But we gotta get through these guys first!”

Archsage blew a note into his recorder that came out as a treble clef that was on fire. It exploded into shockwaves which blew all of the servant ponies backwards.

This was then followed by Wyvern tackling one of them to separate them from the group, causing the rest to scatter as Priestess used the magic in her tome to cast a paralysis spell on another.

Trickster would teleport behind the last two and grab hold of them via her magic before hitting them with beams of her multi-colored nirik fire which put them all in a pile as the rest of the noble ponies disappeared once they had them cornered.

“Tch,” Wyvern scoffed as he landed in front of the servants, “Even in Zesty’s head the rich bastards around here just abandon their workers when it’s convenient.”

“Come on, let’s focus on what’s important,” Archsage spoke up to keep everyone on track as they surrounded the servant ponies. “Do you guys know where Zesty’s memories of the past are?”

“...”

All four ponies pointed in a direction that led to a blurry photograph of sorts before they all disappeared. Following these directions, the team hurried over to the blurry photo and when they got closer they could see it was suffering from static akin to that of a failing security camera feed.

“I guess this is a repressed memory?” Trickster mused aloud as she approached it. “How do we awaken it?”

Archsage then had an idea. Remembering the conversation they had with Mr. Anzac, it gave him a clue as to what to say. “Ah…maybe if we speak up about certain things from her past, her mind will be forced to remember.”

Wyvern shrugged his shoulders, then stood in front of the static image. “Worth a shot I guess. Alright, so…how about, ‘Moreton Anzac’!” he cupped his claws around his mouth to project his voice further.

WOOSH!

Suddenly, in response to the name of her ex-husband, the static image slowly faded into what appeared to be a moving image--a video of one of Zesty’s memories. In that memory, the group was able to witness Zesty’s first-person view as she slept with Anzac for the first time. The two ponies could be seen cuddling in bed and were perfectly content with each other.

“Dammit…” Wyvern huffed as he watched the memory unfold, “Looks like they really loved each other, huh?”

“It’s very unfortunate,” Trickster replied as she looked on with a disappointed look on her face. “If I ever get married, I don’t want it to end up like that.”

As much as he felt bad, Archsage didn’t want his team to fall into despair and get distracted. “Come on, everyone. We need to look for another memory.” He then looked to Priestess, “Think we could do something similar that was done to Gaea?”

“I’m not sure,” the pegasus replied, “But we won’t know unless we keep going.”

“Lead the way, Arch,” Wyvern added with an excited tone, “I wanna make her see just how ridiculous she’s been.”

Once everyone was in agreement, the group traveled deeper into Zesty’s mind. As they got further, the Mindscape would shift as a new memory popped up before them. Another static image that was essentially unreadable.

The group took a moment to come up with possible triggers until…

“Harissa?” Trickster spoke the name of Zesty’s daughter.

And moments later, the static would fade out and show them the day that the filly was born in the hospital with both the young Zesty and the young Anzac gazing at their new child with hope and wonder in their eyes.

The image was enough to make them shed a tear or two before Archsage spoke up.

“...I think the saddest part is that she’s genuinely trying to forget everything about her past,” he commented with a disappointed tone. “As if she’s someone completely different and wants to cut ties with her former self.”

“If Harissa could see this, she’d feel terrible, and might finally understand what her mother thinks of her…” Trickster added, then thought of something else entirely as something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. “...the tipping point. This way!”

Suddenly, the kirin mare started galloping off in a direction with her friends close behind her. The next memory they saw was far less cryptic and much more easily visible with audio…

“You either take the gig or you don’t get paid,” the boss of her modeling agency spoke to her from within her office. A rather lanky unicorn mare. “You want your child to have a bright future with a lot of money saved up for her college courses, don’t you?”

The young Zesty nodded slowly. “Yes. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Good. Then you can start by losing some weight. That trunk of yours is unsightly and unacceptable in my photo shoots.”

Zesty looked down at her rear end, and sighed. “Well…it’s for my daughter.”

“Excellent. We have a deal. And if your husband starts to question you about it, tell him off. It’s a mare’s job to earn money for her family and if he doesn’t like it, he can quit it.”

“...that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

Priestess would comment first. “So she did have a conscience at one point and even found the idea of losing her extra butt weight something she didn’t want to do…but she caved in due to her boss’s manipulation.”

“Rrrgh! I can’t take this shit anymore!” Wyvern huffed smoke through his nostrils, having become fed up with the memories of the mare’s sad life and seeing how she threw away what she had going for herself and her family. “We need to find her inner self and--”

Just then, a voice would call out to them. “...please…remember me…someone…”

Chapter 43

Our group of heroes heard the voice and ran towards it. The Mindscape would eventually shift to a small prison cell where Zesty’s younger, much heftier self could be seen locked behind bars. Tucked away in the farthest corner of her mind.

“...w-who are you lot?” The young Zesty Gourmand, wearing an orange jumpsuit called out to them.

The entire group froze for a moment as they realized where they were…and who was there with them.

“...How pitiful,” Archsage commented as he tilted his head to take a look around. “...she hates her young self that much, so she deems herself as a prisoner in her own mind? I can’t even imagine…”

“I know what that’s like,” Priestess spoke from her own experiences in reference to how she thought of her past self. “...being unable to come to terms with who you once were is difficult. But Zesty’s allowed it to corrupt herself and everyone around her.”

The young Zesty behind bars called out to them, “...did I do something wrong? I…I shouldn’t have let myself get this big, huh?”

Speaking with someone’s internal framework was a bit new to them, so the group made sure to choose their words carefully as they had no idea what could happen if they weren’t.

Trickster stepped forward and spoke first, “...as long as your health was in order, there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of extra thickness on your body. Just look at me for example.”

“I wasn’t unhealthy at all,” the young Zesty spoke up to them, “My metabolism worked a bit quickly along with my job, so I had to eat quite a lot to keep my appearance up. But…” she looked off to the side in a regretful fashion, “...that all changed when I accepted that modeling gig…never should’ve done it.”

Wyvern joined in the conversation and wanted to highlight the exact problem that led her down this path. “You got carried away by greed. I know exactly what it’s like to see that happen as many dragons become selfish, irredeemable assholes when they’re faced with an overabundance of money or gems…”

“It may be too late to go back to the past,” Archsage tried to motivate her inner self as much as possible, “But you can still change your present and future. I don’t think you want to live in a world where Harissa has to starve herself.”

“N-no…” the prisoner mare shook her head as she approached the bars, “I don’t…I can’t let her or the other members of the population live like this. I have to think for myself.”

Just then, as a result of her newfound courage, the young Zesty’s prison cell would disappear, along with her orange jumpsuit.

When this occurred, the team huddled together to discuss what should be done next.

“...okay, so we motivated her younger self,” Wyvern whispered to the group. “Now what do we do?”

“We need to locate Zesty The Ambassador,” Trickster dubbed the older Zesty with a title to help them differentiate between the two. “And once we do, we’ll be able to get them to confront each other so she can realize what she did wrong to herself.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Priestess replied, “We just need to keep a low profile. We don’t want to set her off or we could risk being thrown out of here before we’re finished.”

Archsage looked at the ground beneath their hooves, and realized that they were standing on a gray carpet. On top of that, they could also hear voices nearby, which caused the unicorn stallion’s ear to flick. “Hm?” he broke off from the huddle, and everyone on his team followed as they took a look around…

As it turned out, Zesty’s Mindscape had begun to shift. Now they were in a giant buffet hall where many ponies, griffons, yaks, dragons, and other creatures were seated to enjoy plates of…practically nonexistent food scraps disguised as “art.” The carpets, tablecloths, chairs, and drapes were all a drab gray to match what Zesty liked.

Then, the group could see her--the older Zesty--on a stage at the end of the room as everyone in the audience clapped for her.

“Thank you, everyone!” she called out as she took a bow, “I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I acknowledge that my food has become an international sensation! No more greasy fried nonsense or unhealthy seasonings. Our children will grow up to be obedient thanks to my dishes. Princess Twilight Sparkle’s tendencies to eat such food will no longer be accepted once I take over!”

Everyone continued to clap and shout in agreement, showcasing just exactly how deluded and self-centered Zesty Gourmand actually was. The idea that her food would somehow change the world; from the Equestrian cities to the non-pony ones, it was the reality that she desired for herself.

And our band of mind divers wouldn’t stand for it.

They were also hidden as to not draw attention to themselves. Everyone was perched near the ceiling to keep themselves from the view of the audience below. Wyvern and Priestess hovered in the air via their wings and Archsage and Trickster used self-levitation to keep themselves up high.

“Horrible,” Wyvern spat, “Can’t let her think that this is how it should go down.”

“The fact that she thinks this is how everyone would see her…” Archsage shook his head, “It’s saddening. Not to mention what she thinks of Princess Twilight.”

“No wonder she sees herself as a politician,” Priestess added, “She wants to usurp Twilight’s rule…”

However, there was a certain someone that had gone missing. Trickster pushed up her glasses upon realizing that they had lost them. “Uhh…guys? Where’s the young Zesty?”

They all paused and glanced around the room…until they spotted her at the end of the banquet hall. The younger version of the mare stepped forward, getting closer and closer…

“W-what is she doing?!” Wyvern let out a panicked whisper, “We gotta--”

“Shhh!” Archsage held a hoof in front of his friend before he could take off, “...she needs to face herself.”

And face herself she would.

Soon enough, the audience members would look on in confusion as another Zesty came out of nowhere.

“...you…” she muttered under her breath before looking up at her older self and screaming, “You’re a fraud!”

“You?!” Zesty’s older self hissed upon seeing her younger self, “No! I threw you away a long time ago! You no longer exist to me!”

“Look at what you’ve done to me--yourself!” the younger mare went on as she cried out--her voice breaking with sobs, “...You left your husband and manipulate your child! Why would you do such a thing?!”

ZAP!

With a flash of magic, Zesty The Ambassador struck her younger self to the ground. “Because. You are the part of me that I rejected. You no longer matter in a world where I exist!” she levitated herself in the air as a dark aura consumed her body. The audience members started to boo and jeer the younger Zesty and cheered for the Ambassador to destroy her.

“KILL HER!”

“N-no…” the young Zesty muttered as she tried to pick herself off the floor. “It can’t…end like this…”

And then, a voice called out from above--

“ENOUGHATHISSHIT!”

Chapter 44

Wyvern descended from the ceiling to deliver a devious clothesline attack to the Ambassador with his arm extended. While he intended to tackle her into the nearest wall, it wasn’t enough as she cast a magic shield around herself to send him flying away from her body.

“You again?! BEGONE….!!”

Her voice raised several octaves and turned into a primordial wail that nearly blew out everyone’s eardrums. The mare genuinely felt that her voice mattered all over others when it came to her authority over food. Because of this, she turned into a rather fitting depiction of an equine banshee as she floated above everyone in the air.

“Bl--Wyvern, what are you doing?!” Trickster called out as she teleported down to defend the dragon with a wall of fire to protect him from the force of her screams. “You can’t just rush out like that!” she shouted over her shoulder, “If she wakes up right now, we’re screwed!”

Archsage had leapt into the fray as well, and played a few quick notes that turned into a shield to defend the Young Zesty from her older self. “Don’t let her hurt herself!” he barked an order to his team, “If that happens, she’ll never regain her sense of self!”

While he wasn’t even sure if this was the case, Archsage wanted to be as safe as possible. The teachings he had received from his superior in the Royal Guard had given him experience with leading a group.

As a result, his team quickly adapted to his words. Priestess flew down next to him and asked, “Alright, what’s the plan?”

“Keep her off of us,” Archsage commanded as he took a glance at the young mare who stood with her head hung low in fear of what she became. “Stall her for as long as possible until she’s ready, Priestess.”

“On it.”

With new orders, Priestess and the others would carry them out. She flew into the air and created a sigil that turned into a blast of magic light that stunned the Banshee for a second, followed by Wyvern rising from where he stood, and charging at her with a spear made of fire…

All the while, Archsage stood in front of the Young Zesty, protecting her from any stray damage.

“...why…” she muttered from behind him, “Why are you lot here?”

“Because…” Archsage replied, “It’s painful to see someone like you ruin her life as well as the lives of her family. We want you to be happy, miss. Mr. Anzac misses you as well.”

“Moreton…” she mumbled the name of her ex from long past, trembling at the thought of what her current self did to him…

As far as the battle went, Wyvern was smacked away by a giant spatula that the Banshee summoned with a loud--WHACK!--sending him into the nearest wall. Next, Priestess’ wings were pierced by BBQ forks that impaled her against the furthest wall before she could cast another spell.

Trickster attempted to pull some strings by creating duplicates of herself that all rushed the Banshee at once, but the force of her scream was enough to disrupt the kirin’s magic, and disable them--causing her to wince from the sheer pain that befell her ears that stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Agh!” she yelped, “She’s too strong!”

Realizing that his teammates weren’t getting anywhere, Archsage had to make a decision. “...Zesty.”

“...I know,” the younger Zesty huffed as she grit her teeth, “This is my problem. You lot came all the way down here to help me. I can’t just let you do all the work for me.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to face yourself?” he asked out of concern, but was met with a nonchalant shove from the mare to push him aside as she walked out to the Banshee.

“You!” the Banshee screamed at her younger self, “I cast you out! Why do you persist?!”

“Because I know what I’ve done wrong!” the younger mare yelled back, “I should never have sacrificed my integrity for money! It’s not what my husband would’ve wanted!”

As soon as she screamed, the Banshee started to weaken, slowly losing power and lowering to the ground…

“N-no…it can’t be…I-I’m in control…!” she hissed as she fired off a bolt of magic from her horn out of desperation.

The younger Zesty dodged it effortlessly, and glared at her older self. “No…I won’t allow myself to be controlled by you any longer! I refuse you and all that you stand for. You’re weak…allowing yourself to be swayed by money and not even looking out for your own family…”

“B-but…Equestria is…”

“I’ve heard enough,” the young Zesty turned her back on her older self, and made a request to the hero team. “Everyone…she’s lost her power. Finish her off.”

By now, Priestess, Trickster, and Wyvern had all recovered from the attacks that they had been dealt. They glanced at Archsage and awaited his command…

To which he obliged with a flash of his horn. “Everyone, let’s go! Engage in a terret chain maneuver!”

Priestess started first. From her wings, she generated the magic threads she used to control her golem familiar, and attached them to the older Zesty’s body. With a swift flap of her wings, she flew straight up, taking the unicorn mare with her.

While she was airborne both Wyvern and Trickster blasted her with a combination of blue and multi-colored fire to purge the insecurities from her body, causing her to scream aloud.

“No…NO! I AM THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY! I AM ETERNAL! I AM--”

The fire dissipated and before she could blink, Archsage had teleported appeared behind her in mid-air and whispered, “A conniving witch.”

“...?!”

With his hooves wrapped around her body, he let gravity take over and pile-driving her into the ground. A move commonly known as an izuna drop utilized by ponies in the Far East.

CRASH!

A cloud of dusty appeared and Archsage backflipped out of it before sliding across the floor to group up with the rest of his team.

“...it’s over,” Archsage looked at the rest of his team, “That should be enough to awaken her, yeah?”

“I’d say so,” Priestess opened her tome. “Let’s get ready to return.”

The young Zesty regarded them with a painful smile as she watched her older counterpart lie limp on the ground behind her. “...Thank you lot, whoever you are. I think I’ll be able to reconcile with her now.”

Wyvern rolled his shoulder. “No problem. Just make sure you think of your husband and daughter when you wake up.”

“And your own health,” Trickster added, “Don’t be afraid to eat a little something once in a while, okay?”

“Of course…goodbye…” the young Zesty muttered as the group of adventurers disappeared from the Mindscape. She then trotted over to her older self whose eyes started to open. “...we need to talk.”

“...Must I?” her elder counterpart bemoaned.

But her younger self was absolute in her stance, glaring fiercely, “For our family’s future…yes.”

Chapter 45

“AGH!” Zesty Gourmand awakened from her afternoon nap in a cold sweat, and rubbed her head as she sat up in bed. “...What…was that dream? Was that…me?”

She paused and glanced at herself in a mirror. "...what have I done?"

POOF!

The entire group re-appeared in the real world in Canterlot behind the penthouse building. It was still the middle of the day, meaning that not much time had passed in the real world ever since they had entered the Mindscape.

“Ow…” Nebula groaned as he picked himself up off the grass. “That was…rather painful,” he huffed as he rubbed his horn. The strain from being in someone’s mind for so long had hit him all at once. “Everyone okay?”

“...yeah,” Grimrose muttered while flexing her wings. “But my head…I can barely stand.” Given that she was the one who had to form the connection into someone’s mind in the first place, it made sense as to why she was dizzy.

“...I’m alright,” Mei sputtered after shaking her head. “Can anyone see Blue?”

Both Nebula and Rose paused, staring at her in silence for a moment.

Mei tilted her head, “What?”

The ponies’ eyes traveled downwards…

And there, they would see Blue’s entire face nearly been engulfed, and crushed by Mei’s massive butt cheeks.

“AH!” Mei gasped and got up off of him, blushing profusely with her entire face red. “I’msosorry! Ididn’tmeanit! I’mnotapervertIswear!” she squealed apologetically while standing over the blue dragon.

“Urgh…” Blue had a slight smile on his face as he opened his eyes and sat upright. “...I’ll…let it slide this one time,” he replied with a snide grin while poking his tongue out at her.

“T-that doesn’t help!” she anxiously pranced in place with a stutter as Blue started to snicker. “I-I won’t let it happen again, I promise!”

Nebula stood up and flicked his tail. “...come on, guys. Let’s head back and take a rest. We’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah,” Rose followed him with a yawn. “...nothing to do now but wait and see what’ll happen.”

“Pleaaaase don’t tell anyone what just happened,” Mei pleaded to Blue as he started to get up. “I’ll do anything…”

The dragons scratched the back of his head. “Don’t worry about it…come on, let’s get back to the dorms and get some rest, yeah?”

And rest they would.

Our team of heroes would return to Canterlot Academy and retire to their dorms for the day. With nothing left to do but wait and see if their efforts bore fruit, they needed to relax after the tremendous mental undertaking they endured by going in someone else’s mind. Grimrose especially, given how much she had to focus to maintain them there.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Academy…

Luster Dawn was in her independent study lab working on various magical texts from archaic books from the library’s restricted section.

“Need to get this exactly…” she muttered while copying the sigils she had found and replicating them on another scroll…

“HEY!” Princess Twilight Sparkle appeared, pushing the door open by force via magic and startling Luster, causing the latter to set her scroll on fire!

“HEEEGH!” she let out a horse-like whinny as the parchment wet up in flames.

“How’s my favorite student doing?” Twilight trotted over to greet her, as her personal guard, Flash Sentry rolled his eyes from where he stood.

“...you could’ve knocked, ya know,” he remarked from the doorway with a roll of his eyes.

Twilight scoffed and stuck out her tongue. “Oh pshaw, don’t worry yourself.”

Meanwhile, Dawn had leaned against the table with her cheek resting and squished against her hoof. “I was in the middle of creating a breakthrough for a runic engine.”

“Oh c’mon, Luster…” Twilight put a hoof around the pink unicorn whose expression remained neutral and unamused. “You won’t learn anything cooped up in your study all day. What have I told you about what happened with Moondancer?”

Dawn gently pushed her teacher’s hoof away from her body. “That…was a bit different if I recall correctly. That was mostly on you…because you left her without saying anything, right?”

“Sharp as ever, huh?” Twilight replied with a nod, “But yes. I made a mistake that I needed to rectify with her when we got older. I just don’t want you to fall into the same position, Luster.”

In spite of this, Dawn wasn’t so easily moved by her teacher’s words. She may have been the Princess of Equestria itself, but it didn’t mean Dawn would snap into what her teacher would desire for her.

“I won’t end up in that position,” Dawn insisted as she levitated a new piece of parchment via her magic, “I’m not really…interested in hanging around others, Twilight. I know Princess Celestia made you go to Ponyville to learn, but…”

Thankfully, it seemed as if Twilight was more understanding than her own teacher was. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to force you to go anywhere you don’t want to,” she explained with a kind smile, “...but all I’ll say is that I recommend that you…” She paused and looked upwards for a moment before finding the correct words, “...at least find yourself some allies.”

“Allies, huh?” Dawn asked in a snarky, rhetorical tone, “Not ‘friends’?”

“Just trying to make it more approachable for you,” Twilight giggled as she got up and backed away from her table, “Even Starswirl the Beared and Clover the Clever needed help when their backs were against the wall, Luster.”

“Hrm…” Dawn sighed as she idly tapped a quill on the table. “...what I’d give to have a guy like Clover the Clever helping me out…he’d know what to do.”

Twilight’s ear flicked as she raised an eyebrow at what she had heard. “Ooooh? Does my favorite student have a type?”

“N-no!” Dawn blushed profusely and started to push the snickering Twilight Sparkle out of her room with her magic. “L-listen, I’m very busy right now so just leave me be, please!”

And with a slam, she shut the door with her magic as well, leaving Princess Twilight on the outside with Flash Sentry.

“...that went well,” he commented off-handedly, earning a small glare from Twilight. “Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it.”

Twilight’s expression softened with a sigh as she started to walk through the hall with Sentry in tow. “Argh…I just want her to get out a bit more is all.”

“Can’t rush these things,” Sentry added as he caught up next to her, looking upward to his tall princess’ face, “After all, it took you about…what, ten years or so before Celestia decided you were ready to rule this place?”

“...Fair enough, I suppose,” she shook her head. “...So much is going on now. The yaks are looking for aid, the dragons are trying to offer rare minerals, and a member of the Monkey King’s court is here in one of the dorms!”

“...calm down,” Sentry urged her, “Come on. Let’s go get a hayburger, huh? Calm your nerves a bit.”

“Icouldgoforthat-”

Meanwhile, around the corner that Twilight and Flash Sentry walked passed, a certain dalmatian was leaning against the stone wall. "...how curious."

Chapter 46

“Ooogh…” After a bit of studying, Luster Dawn groaned as she exited the room and walked out into the brown halls of the Academy. She trotted down the carpeted path until she was met with a face that caused her to-- “NYEGH!”

“Sorry…” Jun Fang was leaning against the wall of a corner that Luster had been about to turn to until she was startled by his presence. “I was just lost in thought standing here.”

The unicorn mare cleared her throat and regarded the dalmatian diamond dog with an attempt at a friendly smile. “...No no! It’s…my fault. I should’ve been paying better attention to where I was going.”

Fang let off a small, wheezing laugh. The dog man knew that his presence was rather…intimidating given his mean-looking underbite and red eyes. “No need to apologize. I’m aware that my visage isn’t exactly the most approachable. I drink coffee to keep myself as alert and attentive as possible.”

“You too, huh?” Dawn replied in agreement, then gave an ironic chuckle. “Ah…guess we overworked college students don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

“It’s important to stay healthy. And as a painter in my off-days, I know this feeling well,” Fang added, “If we don’t, our power won’t grow. Though it sounds as if you’re a bit tired from Princess Twilight’s insistence, hm?”

The unicorn mare shyly traced her hoof against the carpet that lined the middle of the hallway. Her uncertain frown and inability to look Jun Fang in the eyes indicated that she wasn’t quite comfortable with discussing her relationship with the princess.

“W-well…” she stuttered, but was interrupted by Fang.

“Don’t trouble yourself,” he offered words of compassion once he realized her situation, “I know you don’t wish to speak ill of your teacher, so I’ll leave you be.”

Despite this, Dawn was seemingly willing to speak out after all. “W-wait!” she yelped, then cleared her throat. “...it’s fine. And yeah, you’re right, I do feel a little bit stifled from Twilight’s teachings.”

“Hm…” Fang put his hands behind his head as he mused, “Let me guess. You have a feeling that she intends to raise you and train you up to become the next ‘Princess of Equestria, hm?”

The diamond dog’s rather sinister, bleak tone painted a rather alarming picture for Dawn. Her eyes shot open as she visualized herself in Twilight Sparkle’s horseshoes; paperwork, foreign relation meetings, having to be present for festivals and events instead of merely enjoying them…

It all made her heart thump and her ears flick as they filled with anxious blood. “...Yeesh…when you put it like that, it really gives me a new perspective.” She audibly shuddered, “Brrrgh…has anyone ever told you your voice is a bit…”

Such a response caused Fang to chuckle--though to the uninitiated, it came off as more of an evil snicker of someone plotting something sinister. “Hmhmhm…is it now? Apologies if I unnerved you, Luster. I’m merely speaking what I see in reality. Your concern is plastered all over your face.”

“Is it that obvious?” she sighed and hung her head as she began walking down the hall, “Sorry…oh, but I don’t wanna keep you if you’re busy with something.”

Fang shook his head and started to follow along with her. “Oh no, I’m actually just relaxing from a mission that my team and I had just completed. Just finished up in the nearby showers and getting ready to grab some food, actually.”

“I see,” Dawn tilted her head, and her tone changed to a more excited one along with the subject. “Hey, what was the nature of your mission? If you don’t mind explaining that is…”

Fang would reply modestly, “Oh it was but a simple dragon bandit repulsion near Sire’s Hollow…”

‘...mom and dad’s hometown?!’ Luster stopped on a time, turned, and stood in front of him with a wide, firm stance as she demanded an explanation, “Tell me everything.”

“Hm? Very well then…”

Earlier that day, when sunrise occurred…

Several dragons could be seen robbing the local treasury and having burned multiple ponies within the building with their fire breath. A red, black, and gold one. All female.

Dorm Block Sigma’s new teammate, Leelee the Monk, had taken a position as a helpless bystander. Once the dragons spotted her, they were distracted by the monkey woman juggling various fruits while also balancing a stack of spinning places on her right foot.

And when the dragons were fixated upon the primate’s little show, they were each swiftly subdued.

Spearklip the Zebra handled her target--the red dragon--swiftly. Two arrows pierced her wings before she was met with a heavy, deadly buck from the zebra mare’s hind legs that caused the dragon’s bones to rattle as she was sent flying into a nearby tree…

Just then, Rufus the Yak appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere and heaved the black dragon above his head. “The Notorious King of Grappling is here!” he shouted as he performed a classic Argentine Backbreaker over his head, rendering this dragon unable to fly.

“Seriously?” Spear critiqued him as she apprehended and tied up the red dragon with special rope made of poison joke flowers, “Now isn’t the time for--!”

“Up there!” Leelee shouted as the gold dragon woman was flying away with a bag of gold bits slung over her shoulder.

That’s when Fang had an idea, “Rufus! Throw me!”

The yak bull accepted his offer, and hoisted the diamond dog over his shoulder, aiming him like one would a paper airplane. “Alley-oop!”

With a quick chuck, the strength of Rufus’ throw was enough to send Fang into the air after the dragon who was unable to escape so easily due to the bits that weighed her down. As soon as she heard a rather psychotic laugh, she gasped--

“AHAHAHA!” Fang became hysteric as he reached at her with his claws out, “You’re not going to escape! I'll paint a picture with your blood, vermin!”

Before the dragon could react with fire from her maw, Fang grabbed her by the throat with his massive paw, and redirected them both to the ground where he dealt her a vicious chokeslam. The end result was the dragon thief on the ground, and unable to walk while Fang returned the bag of bits to the bank.

“Get out of my sight,” he spat on the ground before turning to leave the dragon to the Royal Guardsponies that had been posted nearby.

“...Is bāndiǎn gǒu always angry at enemies?” Leelee whispered to Spearklip.

“...something like that,” the zebra replied with a shrug, “You get used to it.”

Back to the present…

“...and that is what happened,” Fang finished his explanation, “Don’t worry, none of the townsfolk were harmed.”

“Whew…” Luster Dawn sighed with relief at the end of his story, “That…makes me feel a whole lot better than you realize.”

“Got any friends or family down there?”

“...” Dawn paused and blinked her eyes for a moment. The funny thing about it was that he was exactly on the money, which was something she asked about. “...do Diamond Dogs just see through everyone?”

“Mm, not most of us, no,” Fang idly wagged his tail with the best smile he could muster, “Others of my kind tend to simply lash out against those who disagree with them. But I like to observe the condition of others through their actions and mannerisms. So I guess you could say that I’ve trained myself to see through people.” He folded his arms, “...after all, I cannot stand liars…”

“I see…” Dawn had a worried look on her face, but decided not to press his issues for the moment. “...well, yeah. You’re right. I do have people I know down in Sire’s Hollow…my mom and dad are from there as well.”

Chapter 47

“...To be honest, I’m envious of students like you guys,” Dawn went on, “You don’t have to worry about lofty expectations keeping you down.”

“I guess so…being the princess’ star student must not be an easy time,” Fang offered words of sympathy for her position. “I acknowledge that we have certain freedoms that you don’t. You have my condolences, Luster Dawn.”

While it wasn’t much, just hearing someone speak to her on a genuine level was enough to make her smile. “...Well, I’m grateful that you took some time to speak with me…Fang, right?”

“That’s my name, yes,” he replied with a smile, “Do your best to follow through on what you want for yourself, hm? Don’t let anyone force you to feel a certain way. Not even the princess herself.”

And with that, the spotted diamond dog left Luster Dawn to her own devices. The pink unicorn thought to herself about what the canid told her as he left the hall.

“...follow through on what I want…”

Before she could get very far, a few other students would pass her by.

“Oh, hey!” a hippogriff mare waved to her, “You’re Twilight’s student, right? I bet you’re totally gonna become princess next!”

Next to the hippogriff, a gray-furred abyssinian she-cat commented, “Hopefully by then you can set up some laws that’ll make sure the Canterlot ponies treat us fairly.”

“Oh uh…maybe,” Luster gave a quick reply as she increased her trotting speed to leave as quickly as possible. “I gotta go though. See ya!”

The two students looked at each other and simply shrugged it off as they went back to their dorms. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last of it that Dawn would face today. As she made her way through the halls, other students--the pony ones especially--would greet her and question her about what she intended to do when she ascended the throne given that she was Twilight’s prized pupil.

Unfortunately, what many of them didn’t realize was that Dawn didn’t see herself in such a position. However, it didn’t stop there. As Dawn put some stuff away in one of her lockers in the girl’s locker room, she could overhear some ponies nearby…

“Uch, she’s like, sooo popular. I bet she thinks she’ll be able to tell us what to do,” a pegasus mare commented to her earth pony friend.

“Totally, right? She acts all sweet on the outside, but I bet she’s eating up every second of the attention she’s getting on the inside,” the earth pony mare scoffed. “Better avoid her so we don’t get wrapped up in her little princess of friendship cult.”

Luster Dawn sighed as those mares walked off. Even though she knew that wasn’t true, she couldn’t exactly blame them for thinking that way.

‘Someone in my position has so many advantages and privileges the average pony doesn’t get,’ she thought to herself as she sat down on one of the benches, “...should I just go along with whatever Twilight has planned for me? Or should I reject it and follow my own path…?’

The pressure left the mare in a state of confusion as she sat there with her hooves over her eyes. With no way out, and no one to talk to, she simply got up and left the locker room with an orange saddlebag slung over her body.

On her way out, she saw a unicorn stallion about her age leaving the boy’s locker room. She tried to avoid contact with him as fast as possible…until he called out to her.

“Oh, hey, Dawn,” Atomic Nebula waved to her from afar. “You alright? You look like you’re in a bit of a rush.”

“Oh…uh…” Luster Dawn muttered under her breath, “Dammit…I don’t wanna talk to anyone right now…”

Nebula trotted up to her and asked, “Hey, you alright? I noticed you looked a bit tense back there.”

“It’s…fine,” she replied with a flick of her tail. Nebula was someone she hadn’t held a conversation with just yet, so she was rather nervous and couldn’t exactly look him in the eye. “Just thinking about my work…and proving myself to Princess Twilight.”

“I see…well I guess I kinda know how you feel,” he replied while taking a step back to give her some space. “I’m currently working to impress my superior knight in the Royal Guard. Though I suppose it is a bit different than having the expectations of Princess Twilight Sparkle on your shoulders…” he trailed off with a nervous tone. That’s when he realized just how badly Luster Dawn had felt.

And that’s why Dawn reacted so slowly to their conversation. Although, his sense of understanding made him a bit more approachable than the others. Maybe he was someone she could have a candid conversation with?

“I uh…yeah,” she replied with a sigh, “Sorry, I’m just kinda hungry I guess. I need to go get some food.”

“Oh, well I’ll join you if you want,” Nebula offered, knowing that sharing a meal often led to a better increase in morale. “But if you’d rather be alone, then I’d understand.”

While she did want to have some time to herself, she also wanted someone she could vent to. So she accepted his offer. “N-no. I mean, y-yes. I mean…I’m cool with that. But, uh…” her eyes turned wide with a concerned expression, “I don’t wanna keep you from your friends…”

Nebula waved his hoof dismissively. “Nah, we just completed a mission. My teammates and my marefriend are already off resting and doing their own things for the day. I’m on my own for now.”

“Uhh…will your girlfriend be okay with you talking to me?” Dawn asked in a worried tone, fearing the wrath of a possessive mare.

“Eh?” Nebula tilted his head, “I’m just talking to you. I don’t think Grimrose is immature enough to start attacking you over it. At that point, she may as well curse 2/3rds of the population,” he said with a joking chuckle at the gender imbalance among ponies.

“Alrighty, if you’re sure,” Dawn replied with a slight smile at the joke. “So…where would you like to go for lunch…uhh…?” She drew a blank as she tapped the side of her head. “...I don’t think I got your name…”

Since this was his first time meeting her, the unicorn stallion gave her his full name, “Atomic Orpheus Nebula. But everyone just calls me ‘Nebula’ for the most part.”

And upon hearing his name, the mare blinked her eyes twice before levitating one of her books out of her saddlebag and started to flip through it. “...Orpheus? Where have I heard that name before?”

Chapter 49

Elsewhere, in the school dorms…

Mei the Kirin mare was on her way back to her room but was stopped before she could get there by a certain zebra mare.

“Hey,” Spearklip called out to her, “You up for some grub? I just got through with a mission and wanna get some food. Think the Tasty Treat is crowded right now?”

“Hmmm…” Mei wondered if her team’s efforts had managed to bear fruit by now. It was still the same day though, so she wasn’t going to expect too much. “Maybe. But I’m not even sure if they’re open right now. Their business has been pretty lacking lately.”

“Can’t hurt to check, right?” Spear tried to entice her friend to come along, “C’mon, I bet they got that special curry we’ve been waiting for.”

At the very least, it couldn’t hurt to see how Saffron Masala was doing, right? Mei would eventually agree. “Alright, let’s go.”

A quick walk to Restaurant Row later…

Sure enough, the place was still rather empty. But curiously enough, one of the ponies inside was someone whom Mei never would’ve imagined returning to the Tasty Treat…

Zesty Gourmand had arrived and was apologizing to Saffron Masala!

“What the--” Spearklip took notice, and glared at the old mare through the window, “What’s she doing here? I thought she hated this place?”

“Hang on, Spear,” Mei urged her friend to calm down and observe the situation before acting. As they watched, they’d notice Zesty speak with a painful expression of regret on her face. Saffron’s expression turned from anger, to understanding, to forgiveness as the older mare explained herself.

Soon enough, Zesty left the restaurant, and started trotting towards another one…

Confused, and now curious, the young ladies entered the Tasty Treat and approached Saffron Masala to ask her a question.

“Ms. Masala?” Mei spoke up, “Was that…Zesty Gourmand here?”

“Yes!” Saffron replied with a shocked tone, “I’m just as surprised as you are. She actually…said she took full responsibility for the damage she caused to the Tasty Treat’s reputation and intended to correct her mistake by using her authority to help me instead.”

The zebra mare didn’t quite buy it. She tilted her head with a suspicious glare. “...Uh-huh,” Spear muttered, “Sure she did. People don’t just change their minds like that at the drop of a hat.”

‘So it worked, huh? Maybe we have the power to help others through their minds after all.’ Mei cleared her throat and tried to clear it up. “Ahem--uh…well, it’s possible that she’s been reflecting on what she’s done for a while now.”

“Maybe…” Spear muttered dubiously.

“Either way,” Saffron went on, “If she truly regrets her actions, then I’ll accept her apology. I’m on the brink of closing up shop for good at this point. I’m sorry, girls, but there’s nothing here for you today.”

“Damn…” Mei huffed with a sigh and flicked her tail, “But I understand. All we can do is hope Zesty makes good on her word. What’re you gonna do in the meantime, Ms. Masala?”

The chef mare placed a sweatband on her head. “Might go for a jog. You girls run along now, hm?”

Heeding her words, the mares left the restaurant in a slump of disappointment. Mei could only hope that her and her friends' efforts would come through for Saffron’s sake…

“Such a shame,” Spear sighed, “But I guess we can’t really help it. Where should we go to get lunch, Mei?”

“Hm?” the kirin idly kicked her hoof against the ground and looked up, “S-sorry. Was a bit distracted in my thoughts. Umm…”

Just then, Spearklip let out a shocked whinny with her eyes growing wide as she glanced down the street. “Hey, Mei. Check this out.”

“...Eh?”

The two looked up and saw a few members of the Royal Guard speaking to Zesty. Soon enough, they were escorting her away from the area, and towards the castle…

“What the hell?” Spear muttered, “First she apologizes, and now she’s essentially turned herself in without a fight? What could be going on with her?”

“...I have a feeling we’re gonna find out soon,” Mei replied.”

Within the confines of a prosecution office in the castle…

Several guardsponies had brought Zesty in for questioning. Her daughter, Harissa, was observing the interrogation through a one-way mirror on the other side.

“...I only did what she said because I thought it was right,” Harissa admitted to Tungsten who sat at the table across from her. “I even lied about the fact that she bribed the courts so she’d get custody over me instead of my dad.”

“Well ain’t that fuckin’ great,” Tungsten seethed under his breath. Because of this, an investigation would have to be conducted into the entire Canterlot court system. “Now I ain’t got a clue who to trust in this bitch.”

“...I-I’m sorry,” was all Harissa could respond with as her voice broke.

Tungsten sighed and shook his head. “...it’s okay, little miss. I ain’t yo fault yo mama’s a corrupt ol’ broad. But now, I wanna know from your own words: Who would you wanna stay with?”

“...My dad, no doubt about it,” she replied with a bit more confidence in her voice as she put her hooves on the table. Now that Zesty no longer had any authority over the young mare, she was finally able to think for herself. “My mom was…she made me say and do things that I wish I could take back. I’m…truly sorry, sir.”

“Don’t stress yourself out, kiddo,” Tungsten replied, “We’ll keep her held here for the day and get started on her case tomorrow. You got a place to sleep for now, yeah?”

“Mm-hmm…” Harissa nodded.

“Alrighty. Wait for us to call you. I’ll have a guard fetch ya in the mornin’. Zesty Gourmand’s reign of terror over Canterlot’s culture is officially over, ya’ll.”

Chapter 50

Later…

Luster Dawn left the bistro with Atomic Nebula after speaking with her mother, Starlight Glimmer a bit more. Neither pony knew the exact nature of the magic she was speaking of…

Or in Nebula’s case, he completely played it off as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

Regardless, the two young adult ponies left the restaurant feeling satisfied with their meal.

“...Man, that place had some good food,” Dawn praised the Bitalian cuisine as she pranced along, “I feel like I can study all night without worrying about my body shutting down.”

“That’s the advantage of natural, but refined ingredients,” Nebula added, “I’m a rather big fan of the pastas as well. Food from my hometown was always had some kinda bread rolled up and mixed with other ingredients. Kinda miss gyros and souvlaki…”

“Sounds tasty,” Dawn replied with a sympathetic smile. “Hm…we should definitely encourage other restaurants to open up around here and express their culture to the masses. Canterlot was built for it.”

“Tch. I wish,” Nebula rolled his eyes, “Nopony around here appreciates the refined taste of a good bite of feta cheese. You know there’s a hard law in place that you can only call it authentic feta cheese if it contains a certain mixture of sheep and goat’s milk from specific ones that live in Thrace?” He spoke passionately of the subject, given that it was relevant to his home.

Such a fact had never actually crossed Dawn’s mind. “...I didn’t know that, actually,” she muttered in awe, “And here I thought feta was just another salad cheese. Turns out there’s a whole lot we can learn from different cultures through food.”

“Yup. You can put feta on everything from gyros to hayburgers. But of course, Canterlot still acts like it’s the 1100s and tries to constantly shut everyone out,” Nebula scoffed at the way the city continued to operate, “Well I’m not gonna stand for it. If there’s some way I can manage to…”

As he continued talking, Nebula’s strong will started to inspire Luster Dawn as she thought to herself. ‘Such tenacity...here I am wallowing in my own self-doubt while he’s actively thinking of ways to solve his problems. I need to be more like him and the other students if I want to change my own fate. And I can start by helping him out with the tools at my disposal.’

…Unfortunately, she had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t been listening to the guy.

“...and that’s why we need a bakery that sells melomakarono. Don’t you think, Dawn?”

“...Oh, uh!” she was snapped out of her thinking stupor. A trait that she may have gotten from her mother Starlight. “...sorry. What’s that called?”

“Melomakarono--also known as finikia--are little pastries made with honey sold around Hearth’s Warming in Thrace. But man…I wish I could eat ‘em year-round…”

“Well, Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up,” Dawn added, “Maybe I can…”

Nebula didn’t want to get his hopes up. Instead, he simply shrugged it off. “Meh, don’t trouble yourself, Luster. It’s not something you need to worry about. I just want you to focus on what you wanna do with yourself more than anything, alright?”

“...you make a good point,” Dawn replied with a smile, “...I’ll do my best, Nebula. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find someone someday.”

“Hey, if a nerd like me can get a girlfriend, then you shouldn’t have any problems,” he said with a self-jbbing grin. “See ya later, yeah?”

Dawn couldn’t help but giggle along with him, and waved as they both entered the school campus. “See ya.”

Eventually…

About a week passed before any significant changes occurred around Canterlot. Eventually, everyone would awaken to some rather startling news as soon as they left their dorms and went outside.

Among them, Nebula and Blue were headed out for a walk through Canterlot when they started to hear lots of chatter in reference to Zesty Gourmand among the upper echelon of pony society.

“Tch, so it’s true,” a snobbish unicorn stallion muttered as he read the local newspaper, “Zesty Gourmand’s entire philosophy on cuisine has been utter rubbish since the beginning.”

“And to think she was manipulating her child through it all by making her say horrible, untrue things about other restaurants just to fuel her own ego,” a wealthy-looking unicorn mare scoffed, “Such a horrible mare. Her taste in manners is just as bad as her taste in food.”

“What we need is more restaurants like the Tasty Treat,” another stallion chimed in, “An exotic place that serves actual food from ponies who know what they’re doing. Not food recommended by a mare who routinely abused her husband and child.”

“Agreed. Princess Twilight Sparkle needs to be made aware of this,” another mare added, “I refuse to have my meals catered from such places any longer.”

Indeed. The crowd of wealthy, upper-class ponies had completely turned on Zesty. They immediately marched up to, and into the castle to make their demands heard. Which left Blue with a satisfied smirk on his face.

“Damn right,” he pumped his fist excitedly, “Looks like those upper-crusty bozos are capable of thinking for themselves after all.”

Nebula let out a sigh of relief. “I’m just glad everypony can start eating better again. Not sure if you noticed, but the ponies around here are kinda…thin, to say the least?”

“Yeah, they need to bulk up. Get some ass on ‘em,” Blue quipped casually, which caused Nebula to sigh and shake his head. “Oh come on,” the dragon added, “You know you love how much trunk Rose has got going on.”

“...that’s--” Nebula’s face turned a bit pink for a moment. “...N-no one asked you. Besides, you looked like you enjoyed yourself after Mei accidentally sat on you,” he jabbed back, causing Blue to stutter.

“H-hey that was accidental!” he hissed as Nebula glared at him with a knowing smile and focused eyes.

But just then, something caught their attention from the corner of their eyes. A certain older stallion was out and about…with a camera?

Chapter 51

“Hello, boys,” Mr. Anzac waved a hoof as he called out to them. “I’ve got some good news.”

Blue and Nebula turned to face the older stallion and walked up to him.

“Sir?” Nebula asked, “Is everything alright?”

Anzac nodded with a smile, “More than alright, kiddos. Whatever you did, it’s caused a massive uproar in Canterlot. Dare I say, you might’ve blown the lid on the entire culture of this place.”

Blue folded his arms and smirked at his friend. “Looks like we have, haven’t we?”

Nebula returned the look with a grin of his own. “Thanks for the praise, Mr. Anzac. We did all we could to get Zesty to see where she went wrong. Now, it’s on the rest of the city to act upon what they believe is the best course of action.”

“Well I got a feelin’ that you’ll be seein’ a buncha changes by the time you’re all done with your next big assignment,” Anzac mused as he thought about how much Canterlot would change over time thanks to their efforts. “You lads are all wonderful. Thank ya.”

“No prob--” Nebula replied with a smile, then blinked. “Speaking of which. We do have an assignment, don’t we, Blue?”

The dragon snapped his fingers. “That’s right, we gotta prep for the exams. Dammit…I really don’t wanna be bothered with all that,” he huffed as he shook his head, “But it looks like we have no choice…”

“We’ll have to put our conversation on hold,” Nebula said to Blue before turning to Anzac, “We need to get some parchment and quills to prepare, so if you’ll excuse us…”

“Have a good day, sir!” Blue waved as he left alongside Nebula.

Anzac sighed with relief. It felt good knowing that there were good souls like them around who were willing to go out of their way for regular citizens such as him. ‘Need more folks like them around. Then maybe Canterlot won’t be in the shitter and I can give Harissa a good life…’

Meanwhile, with the boys…

The young stallion and dragon arrived at a stationery store to purchase some parchment, quills, and ink. The confines of the wooden building with various shelves throughout were filled with other students who had been looking to do the same.

But even they were all flabbergasted and up in arms/hooves over what Zesty had done.

“I heard they’re gonna strip her of her authority and banish her to the moon,” a gossiping doberman diamond dog girl commented.

“That’s not what they do,” a changeling stallion replied, “They’ll probably just throw her in a dungeon or something.”

More students were muttering about what would happen to Zesty Gourmand as they purchased their supplies. Hearing it all put a content smile on Blue’s face since he knew they were responsible for such a social change.

“Feels good doesn’t it?” he asked Nebula out of the blue.

Fittingly, the unicorn stallion tilted his head and asked, “Whaddya mean?”

“Being the ones who helped and stood up against a corruption. I feel…liberated, I guess.”

“Meh, I’m not really all that hung up on it,” is what Nebula said on the outside. But truth be told, the young stallion did enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done alongside the acknowledgement. “...well, maybe it feels a little good since we helped out someone who was dealt an unfair deck.”

“Right? Though I know it’s gonna be a bit before we see any major changes,” Blue admitted with a nod, “I’m a dragon. We like attention. But we’re not foolish.”

Nebula scoffed as he levitated some blank scrolls off of a shelf. “Heh--yeah, well it’d be stupid of you to blurt out your secret weapon at the top of your lungs, wouldn’t it? Just hoping our exams don’t give us much of a problem this year.”

“Well, if we become Paladins, we’ll be able to take on more dangerous missions, remember?” Blue explained how the system worked to his friend. “And better missions means getting paid even more over time.”

“Of course,” Nebula replied, knowing full well that Blue’s innate nature as a dragon couldn’t resist the prospect of more money. Then again, neither could he. “I wonder if Luster Dawn is gonna participate…”

“Her? The Princess’s best student?” Blue scoffed at the idea, “Yeah, right. I bet she’ll already have passed by now. She certainly doesn’t need to involve herself with us I don’t think.”

“That…may be true. Still…” Nebula wondered if Dawn was willing to throw away the shackles that she thought had bound her to the position of the princess’ protege.

As the boys got ready to buy their supplies, they were approached by a rather large dalmatian diamond dog woman wearing a purple sweater.

“Excuse me…a-are you two some of Fang’s friends?” she called out to Nebula and Blue, which caused them to turn around as the teller rang up their purchases.

“Hm?” Blue nodded, “Yeah, we know him. Are you his mother?”

“Y-yes…” the dog woman replied with a nervous wag of her tail, “I heard the exams were coming up and I wanted to be present for him, in spite of…other matters.”

“Well that’s nice of you,” Nebula replied with a smile as he paid for their items with some bits. “Fang always seems like he’s on edge, so I’m sure having his mom around will ease his tensions a bit.”

“That’s…what I’m hoping for!” the dog woman barked hopefully before turning to leave, “Thank you for letting me know!”

Blue couldn’t help but notice just how shaky her voice was throughout the exchange as she left. “...Wonder why she’s so nervous of seeing her son?”

“Hopefully their relationship is okay,” Nebula replied as he levitated their bags of supplies and pushed one of them into Blue’s arms. “But we gotta get ready for the tests in case we get an unpredictable question or two. C’mon, Blue.”

"Blech...the sooner we get this over with, the better," Blue hissed as he reluctantly clutched the bag.

Chapter 52

At Dorm Block Sigma…

A certain dalmatian diamond dog man was on his way to his dorm room but was stopped by a voice that called out to him.

“Surprise! Fang, it’s me!”

“...mother?” Fang muttered as he turned to look at her. “...why are you here? I thought you were sick!”

The diamond dog woman approached her son and wrapped her paws around him in a tight hug. “Well, I heard the exams were coming up, so I decided I’d drop by to spectate. You all are going to be testing your training skills against each other, aren’t you?”

“...Yes, mother. The Paladin Exams are done with a written test in which we can utilize assistance from our familiars, then a practical test to show off what we’ve learned over the course of our lessons here,” Fang explained how the system worked to his mother. However, his concern lied with her presence. “...But are you certain that you’ll be okay? Do you have your medication with you?”

She showed him her handbag which contained various epipens. “Don’t worry, dear. If anything happens, I have these to keep me from having any issues.”

The sight of her medication seemed to put Fang at ease for now. “Well…alright. As long as you’re certain. But if you feel light-headed or delirious, tell me immediately, alright?”

“Of course I will, hun,” the dog woman replied with a smile as her tail wagged, “You always went out of your way to look out for me. So now, I want to do the same for you.”

Fang sighed into his paw. He knew he couldn’t refuse his mother’s kind words, so he eventually had no choice but to cave. “...alright. Thank you, mother. Do you have someplace to stay? The combat exams don’t start until tomorrow, you know.”

“I’ve booked myself a stay the the Canterlot Hotel,” she added with an excited wag of her tail, “I hear there’s going to be a buffet bar filled with all the mushroom pizza I could ever want!”

“...As long as you eat within moderation, then,” Fang replied as he opened the door to his dorm. “...I’m glad to have you here, mother.”

“And I’m glad to be here for you, Fang. I’ll be seeing you, then,” she waved and walked off, leaving him alone.

Nearby, Spearklip and Rufus had been listening in on the conversation from around a hallway corner.

“...Think that could be why he’s so…?”

“Cryptic?” Rufus suggested, cutting off Spear in the process.

The zebra mare scoffed and replied, “Huh--you read my mind, Rufus. But yeah. Fang has always seemed a bit…to himself.”

“Think we should ask him about it?” the yak bull suggested, “After all, he can’t go into the exams with that much on his mind. Ain’t healthy I tell ya.”

But Spear was more pragmatic in her approach and discouraged such a thing with a shake of her head. “Nope. Can’t get involved in his personal business. It’ll bring bad mojo onto all of us if we make his issues worse before something important like the exams. Let’s wait and discuss it with him after, alright?”

The yak gave a reluctant sigh, but didn’t want to fight with his ally. “...alright. If you say so, pal.”

Later that afternoon…

Professor Jascha Hassium stood in front of everyone in the examination hall. A classroom that was of larger size than the others and complete with at least 20 rows of seating to accommodate the first set of students who entered the massive hall of brown stone with gray pillars.

“Ahem. Alright. Your written exams are to begin shortly,” the older stallion commented aloud to the entire room of students of various creatures. “You’ve all been assigned seats based on who you know, and have purposefully been positioned away from them accordingly. Your subjects will consist of Canterlot’s History, Weapon Management, and Magic Usage.” He used his magic to levitate a pointer at the subjects on a chalkboard that were represented by a book, a sword and shield, and a magical sigil respectively.

Next, he would explain the second half of the exams, “Then tomorrow, and over the course of the next few days, you all will be pitted against each other in a small…tournament, if you will. The Paladin Exams will determine your strength and what sort of missions you’ll be able to take on next. Don’t stress yourselves out over coming in first,” he gave his best effort with a comforting smile when he noticed various students who had rather anxious facial expressions.

But he also noticed a few students who had cocksure grins on their faces, almost arrogantly so. He knew exactly what they were thinking and wanted to clear the air immediately.

“There will be no prizes for coming in first,” he lectured, while glaring at a green hippogriff who rolled their eyes, “This is simply a student-wide training session to see what sort of privileges you may earn as a Paladin. Nothing more. And of course, cheating will not be tolerated, nor will it be possible, as everyone has randomized questions with different answers that correspond to each letter--that being A through D.”

Among those present, Nebula, with a focused expression, was seated at an exam table next to a blindfolded minotaur bull, Blue, with a cocky smile, was seated next to a unicorn stallion, Rose with a neutral gaze, was seated next to an abyssinian she-cat, and Mei with a calm exhale, was seated next to a female buffalo. Everyone was positioned rather far away from each other at random tables throughout the room to ensure nobody from the same dorm was next to each other.

Professor Hassium and Professor Cayenne began to pass out each exam paper, via their magic. And once everyone had their packets…

“Begin,” Hassium called out.

Chapter 54

With everyone’s written exams turned in and currently being graded, now it was time for the practical, combat exams to take place. The tournament was set up in a simple structure in which everyone would have up to three training fights in total. Two against their peers, and one against one of the Academy’s staff should they place high enough. Winning alone wasn’t a priority, as everyone was going to be evaluated based on both their performance here and their performance in the written exams.

Everyone gathered at Canterlot’s official sports field that was utilized for various events such as Buckball and of course, these very exams.

The field was a large, open plain surrounded by rows and rows of elevated stadium-like seats that allowed everyone to have a clear view of what was happening down below. It was able to hold a good five-hundred spectators which included the entire student body as well as family members who had come to observe their children and siblings participate.

Once all of the spectators were seated, Princess Twilight Sparkle would descend and elevate her voice through an amplification spell she cast on herself.

“Welcome, everycreature to Canterlot Academy’s Third Annual Paladin Exams,” she began, “All of our students from Universities across Equestria have recently finished their written exams and have turned them in for grading. Now all that’s left is to put your skills to the test against each other in a Roundtable-style training session.”

The crowd began to murmur in excitement. The tension as they awaited who would be on first was too much to bear.

“Remember, winning a match doesn’t guarantee anything,” Twilight reiterated, “This is just a training session to evaluate where our students are in terms of their performance. There’s absolutely no pressure here. With that being said, the rules are simple…”

With a flash of her horn, a platform would rise from the grassy field beneath Twilight’s hooves. A simple, circular, gray cobblestone arena platform that she stood in the middle of. It measured a grand total of 100 meters (or 328 feet) in diameter.

“Each training battle will take place on this platform. A winner is decided by a ring-out, knockout, or by forfeit. The use of familiars are banned, as they’re meant to aid you around your personal quarters. This test is to gauge your own abilities. If there are no questions, then we’ll begin.”

The crowd began to cheer in excitement as Twilight teleported away from the arena and up to a spectator’s booth next to Spike and Flash Sentry.

“...Yikes,” Sentry commented with wide eyes as he observed just how many spectators there were, “The crowd is a lot bigger than I would’ve anticipated. Super glad I’m not down there.”

“I just hope we don’t have an issue where someone tries to sabotage it,” Spike commented as he leaned against the table in front of him. “In all the comic books I’ve read, the training arcs always get interrupted by some weirdo trying to crash it.”

Twilight snorted at the idea. “Come on, Spike. If anything goes wrong, I’m here. No one’s going to pose a threat to my students on my watch,” she huffed confidently as she tilted her head up, then glanced down at the arena. “Alright. I have the schedule. You boys wanna do the honors?”

“I’ll take the first one,” Sentry agreed as he looked at the list. Twilight would then cast the same voice amplifier spell on him so his voice would reach the crowd at large. “Alright, everycreature!” his voice echoed around the stadium and silenced the crowd, “Our first prelim battle is going to consist of two of Canterlot’s own students. First. Weighing in at 250 pounds and standing at a good six feet tall with a wingspan comparable to Qin Long…”

Blue Blazes entered the stadium from one end of the field, and flew up to the combat arena, waving to the crowd as he spread his wings. “Hey!” The surefire grin on his face indicated that he loved the attention.

“Blue Blazes!” Sentry called out, causing the crowd to cheer even more. Especially the fellow students from Dorm Block Epsilon.

“Go, buddy!” Nebula cheered from his seat next to Mei and Grimrose.

“You got this, Blue!” Mei squealed.

“Put them six feet under!” Rose gave a rare yell, raising her voice but still speaking in a dry tone. “...not literally, but still.”

Sentry would then resume announcing by calling out Blue’s opponent.

“And on this end, weighing at a massive 500 pounds and standing at 7 feet tall…nothing can escape his sight…”

The blindfolded minotaur that Nebula sat next to during the written exams would make his appearance by entering the field and climbing onto the arena. The brown bull wore nothing but a pair of tattered leather shorts over his thunderous legs, leaving his muscular abdomen bare. Of course, his most notable feature was a blue blindfold that he wore over his eyes…

“Kuno Itami!” Sentry called out the minotaur’s name, earning more hollers from the crowd.

Blue glanced at his opponent with confusion. “...Wait a sec, can you even see?”

The minotaur smiled a friendly smile and pointed at the blindfold on his face. “I may not be able to see like you…but I can see you’re as blue as sapphires, friend,” he spoke with a voice that was calm, yet hefty, befitting his appearance. “Don’t go easy on me, alright?”

The two approached each other, and gave a friendly hand/clawshake.

“May the better man win, huh?” Blue said with a grin before letting go and taking a few steps back.

“Indeed. Show me what dragons are capable of,” Kuno replied as he rolled his neck and stretched his arms.

Up above, Flash Sentry would announce the start of the first training battle…

“Ready? BEGIN!”

Chapter 55: Blue Blazes vs Kuno Itami

The battle kicked off.

While Blue was understanding of Kuno’s desire to have a fair fight, he still wanted to test the minotaur to make sure he could actually see. After all, what was the fun in a completely lop-sided battle--training or not?

So he started things off by blowing some fire into his claws, and sending it skidding across the floor of the battlefield directly as the minotaur…

To which the latter dodged almost instantly and perfectly with a casual sidestep. Even when Blue sent multiple fireballs in Kuno’s direction, he would dodge them with ease, as if he was light as a feather.

“You’re not even trying,” Kuno grumbled out of annoyance, “Treat me as an equal, dragon.”

Blue’s eyes shot open. Was it possible that this minotaur was fully capable of sight despite seemingly having no eyes? If so, how? What sort of technique could allow one to do such a thing?

Questions that Blue thought about in his mind for a moment before ignoring and focusing on the fight. He was here to win, not concern himself with small details.

With his worries laid to rest, he rushed at the minotaur with a spear made of pure blue fire. Each attempted swipe and stab was repelled by Kuno blocking each strike with his bare hands, seemingly unaffected by the temperature of the flame.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Kuno grabbed ahold of the spear, stopping Blue dead in his tracks!

“...!”

THUMP!

With a powerful spin, Kuno dealt a hefty roundhouse kick with his hooved leg that sent Blue reeling backwards and caused his flame lance to disappear.

“OOF!” Blue coughed up some air, having the wind knocked out of him as he clutched his chest with his right claw, and dug his left into the arena floor beneath himself to stop himself from getting close to the edge.

Up in the stands, Nebula and Mei winced at the meaty blow that Blue had been dealt while Rose looked on with vague interest as the rest of the crowd murmured in excitement.

“Okay…” Blue shook it off as he stood up, “There’s clearly more to you than what meets the eye, huh?”

“Rrrrgh!”

Unintentional or not, the pun in reference to his eyesight did not amuse Kuno in the slightest. The bull man charged the dragon with thunderous footsteps that shook the entire platform. Kuno then reeled his fist back and primed a punch so powerful that his fist started to spark the air around it and cause a small explosion--!

BOOM!

The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats as they waited for the dust to settle…

To see Blue having caught the minotaur’s fist with his claw, locking the two in a struggle. What Kuno didn’t seem to realize was that dragons were rather fireproof as well as explosion-proof. Even if Kuno seemed physically stronger, it seemed that some of his attacks wouldn’t even cause damage to Blue in the first place, which presented a unique scenario for them both: How to overcome each other?

Blue wasted no time in breaking the clinch they had found themselves in with a swift knee strike to Kuno’s abdomen, causing the minotaur to reel back for a moment, followed by a leaping dropkick that sent Kuno even further backwards!

“Yeah, get him, Blue!” Nebula cheered him on from the stands.

Blue smirked at the cheering crowd before taking a deep breath, and breathing a massive wall of blue flame into the arena that twisted, and coagulated into a pillar of fire that was strong enough to launch the minotaur into the air!

Without a second wasted, Blue spread his wings, and took off into the air before dealing a rather hefty heel drop to Kuno’s sternum, which spiked him downwards towards the outer edge of the arena…

“RRGH!” the minotaur grunted, and utilized his innate hearing abilities to find the ledge…and grabbed onto it at the last second. While he was down, he wasn’t out just quite yet.

Blue landed upon the arena’s floor, noticing that his opponent was almost rung out. However, his pride prevented him from accepting a win from a mere ring-out. “Hey, come on. Get up!”

And with a small grin as he grit his teeth, Kuno would forcibly pull himself back onto the platform. “You fight with more honor than most dragons do. I respect that.”

“Hmph,” Blue beckoned Kuno over with an open claw, “Come at me. Let’s finish this.”

The fight would rage on. Both the minotaur and dragon began to trade blows with each other. Kuno seemed to prioritize slow, but strong singular hits while Blue’s more unorthodox style lent itself well to multiple strikes at once. For every strike they both dodged, they’d trade another set.

A punch from Blue to Kuno’s gut.

A kick from Kuno to Blue’s knee.

A claw strike from Blue to Kuno’s backside.

A chop strike from Kuno to Blue’s neck.

It got to the point where neither seemed as if they could win out over the other. Both young men became haggard, and started tripping over their own steps just to punch each other. The announcers and the crowd were both stunned into silence, watching as the two expended all of what they had left to try and beat each other.

“Tell me…” Kuno huffed as he stumbled backwards from Blue’s last punch to his jaw. “Why…do you fight…with such…fervor?” he then stumbled forward and dealt a weak-handed palm strike to Blue’s chest.

“Oof!” he coughed as he stumbled backwards as well. “I’m…here to prove that dragons can be creatures of honor…and not deception…blaccgh!” He coughed up a bit of blood as he clutched his chest. “...I won’t…let myself be like my brothers…!”

Even though he had no eyes, Kuno’s soft smile would denote a sense of mutual understanding. Despite this, his knees began to tremble…

“Wh-ack!--what about…you, huh?” Blue coughed, looking as if he was about to drop from exhaustion.

“...I’m also here to prove something…” he muttered back as he collapsed to the ground on one knee, “prove to my kin that I’m…not worthless…”

“Shit…looks like we’re similar, huh?” Blue huffed with a painful smile on his face. “But I feel like…I learned a lot from you in that fight…come on…get up…we’re not done yet…”

Unfortunately, Kuno’s bovine hide, while thick, was nowhere near as durable as Blue’s dragon scales. The internal pain that he had endured over the course of the battle suddenly caught up to him…and caused his body to seize.

“...”

With a heavy THUD, Kuno fell limp onto the floor of the arena.

Leaving Blue as the last man standing.

“We have a winner!” Twilight Sparkle announced from up high, “Blue Blazes will be moving onto the finals. The next battle will commence after a brief intermission.”

“...god..dammit…” the dragon hissed under his breath as he collapsed next.

“BLUE!” Nebula and Mei screamed from their seats as they watched the two get carried off by the Canterlot Medical Team ponies to treat their injuries in the nearby infirmary.

Meanwhile, Rose’s reaction was a bit different than theirs. “...quite a lot of blood was spilled,” a sudden grin cropped up on her face, “Wicked. I can’t wait for my turn.”

“I’m gonna go check on him!” Mei yelped as she got up from her seat and started galloping down the bleachers and down the nearest hallway.

“Crap. I’d better go after her,” Nebula spoke as he got up to follow her, “We’ll be back in a bit, Rose.”

“Gotcha. Can’t wait to see you out there next, Atomic.”

Chapter 56

Down in the infirmary tent…

“Blue! Are you okay?!” Mei squealed as she burst through the doors, much to the chagrin of the nurse ponies.

The dragon smirked in her direction, seated upon one of the infirmary beds within the medical tent. “Yeah, I’m alright,” he replied with a few bandages around his waist and arms, “That match really showed me a thing or two. I need to work on my melee skills a bit more.”

Across from him on another medical bed, Kuno had been treated with similar bandaging to treat his wounds alongside some healing magic from the nurse unicorns. “Likewise, my friend…I underestimated you based on appearance alone. I figured a dragon would allow pride to overcome him and prevent him from performing well in battle. I owe you an apology as well as my gratitude, Blazes.”

“...Whew…” Mei breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought you were really hurt back there, Blue.”

“Nah, it was a test of each other’s skill, Mei. Nothing to worry about,” he replied to the kirin before glancing at the minotaur, “And no big deal, bud. Dragons in general have a bad reputation but I’m looking to change that.”

“Spoken like an honorable man,” Kuno replied with a nod, “Allow me to show you the reason I choose to fight.” He reached up, and undid his blindfold…showing a pair of empty eye sockets that were a pure, soft white. “In truth…I was born this way.”

“You what?!” Blue’s wings spread automatically, causing the nurses next to him to flinch defensively. “...sorry,” he muttered as he folded them back in. “So Kuno…was that like a defect or something?”

“Blue, don’t embarrass him,” Mei scolded the dragon, but it only caused Kuno to chuckle.

“Don’t worry yourselves. To make a long story short…I didn’t know my birth parents. One day I washed up on a shore in a far Eastern land of ponies and was trained by a master to overcome my blindness. Now? I can more or less see everything around me…in a different way to the rest of you.”

“That sounds sick,” Blue muttered in amazement, “I’d like to learn about that someday.”

“Maybe when I have extra time…” Kuno yawned and stretched his arms out, “But for now, we should rest.”

One of the nurses approached Mei. “Sorry, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave for now so they can recover, dear.”

“Oh…alright. It was great to meet you, Mr. Itami,” Mei smiled at the minotaur, then looked at Blue who had also begun to lie down, “...see you later, B.”

“Ah, don’t worry about me. You’ve got your own match against that ‘Dew’ person or whoever they are.”

“You’re right,” Mei shook her head as she backed out of the room. “Gotta stay focused.”

Meanwhile, with Nebula…

“Mei? Gah--where did she go?” Nebula swore under his breath as he trotted through the sports arena’s purple and gold-tiled floors and pearlescent white hallways which matched Canterlot’s signature colors. Such a labyrinthine building was not to his liking at all. For Nebula preferred the comfort of a simple music auditorium. “I think navigating this place is gonna be more difficult than my exam battle,” he grumbled while rubbing the side of his head.

That’s when a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey, is that--yo, Nebula, my man! What’s happenin’?”

Nebula turned to find a fellow college-age stallion with a similar color scheme to himself. Albeit this one had a duller blue coat color and more of a dusted brown mane compared to Nebula. He was also an earth pony whereas Nebula was a unicorn. Lastly, this stallion’s cutie mark was a gold star and three horseshoes.

“Hm?” Nebula turned to look up at his fellow freshman and tilted his head. “Eh? Wait a sec--oh!” When the realization hit him, he gasped with his eyes shooting open. “Star Tracker, right? It’s been a while, huh?”

“For real,” Tracker agreed with a snicker as he trotted up to his old friend, “You still look nearly the same as when I last saw ya--just…bigger. But we still kinda match like we did in middle school, eh?”

“Sorta,” Nebula giggled in response to his earth pony ‘twin’. “I remember when our teacher would sometimes get us mixed up. Then we’d prank the principal by taking each other’s places and making him think he had memory loss.”

Tracker snorted. “Ha! Those were the days. When we could just be dumbasses and get away with it.”

“No kidding. Speaking of which, did you ever manage to get over your obsession with Princess Twilight?”

Tracker narrowed his eyes, then rolled them. The Zeppelin incident was a long time ago by now, and something that he wanted to forget. “Aw, c’mon. Don’t remind me. You know getting a chance to hang with the princess was rare back then.”

“Sorry, shouldn’t’ve said it like that,” Nebula admitted with a smile, then changed the subject, “Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen you around the campus. What’re you majoring in?”

“Blacksmithing,” Tracker replied, “Lookin’ to get my hooves in some metal and work on armor for folks like Tungsten and the other Guards.”

“Sweet! I’ll introduce you to him whenever I get the chance,” Nebula replied.

As the two continued talking, a certain pink mare would enter the halls in order to escape the loud noise of the spectators. “Blech…too much going on…hm?” Luster Dawn stopped on a dime, blinked, then rubbed a hoof across her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing double. “What the…?”

“Hm? Oh, hey Dawn,” Nebula waved her over, “Was just catching up with an old friend from middle school. What’s your name again?” he teasingly smirked at the earth pony next to him.

“Very funny,” Tracker scoffed, and nudged Nebula’s side with his hoof. Then, he glanced at Luster Dawn with an interested smile on his face. “Oh yeah. You’re Princess Twilight’s student, right?”

“...yeah, that’s me, unfortunately,” she lamented sarcastically, “--kidding, kidding. Yeah. You’re…Star Tracker, right? Twilight’s told me a bit about you actually. How you used to be one of her biggest fans until you started doing your own thing.”

“Well at least she got that part right,” Tracker rolled his eyes, then gave an amicable grin. “But yeah Was just havin’ a chat with this guy here about my newfound passion for hammers.”

“...Huh,” Dawn muttered in disbelief, “That’s…surprising.”

‘Nebula really has a lot of friends, huh? I’m almost jealous…wish it was that easy for me.’

After a bit more chatting, Tracker broke things off. “Alright, I gotta get back’ta my seat. You guys take care now, huh? Maybe we can catch a bite at the Tasty Treat? I hear their business is getting better.”

“...Oh? Is it?” Nebula replied with withheld excitement and made a mental note to check up on Saffron’s restaurant at a later date. “Gotcha. See ya, Star.”

As Star Tracker left, Luster Dawn glanced at him with a rather longing stare--something that didn’t go unnoticed by Nebula.

The unicorn stallion leaned in with a knowing, ear-to-ear grin on his face. “...Whatchalookinat?”

“EGH!” Dawn whinnied and cleared her throat while prancing in place, “N-nothing. I’m just…interested in blacksmithing is all.”

“You know, Hearts and Hooves Day is around the corner,” Nebula added with an even wider smirk, “I could introduce you to him and help you get along with him when I’m finished with my date with Rose.”

Such generosity touched Dawn. She wasn’t entirely sure how to process the offer at first. “...you’d do that for me?”

“Sure, why not?” Nebula replied, “Just what a friend does, right?”

'A friend…how is he so good at this?' Dawn thought to herself then quickly buried her emotions. "Huh? Oh, right…thanks. Anyway, I need to get ready. My training battle is coming up soon…hope you guys will watch me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing it--” Nebula’s ear flicked upon hearing a voice speak through the loudspeakers.

“Up next, Grimrose Orcus!”

Chapter 57: Grimrose Orcus vs Thiasus von Solis

Nebula, as well as Mei eventually returned to their seats followed by a healed Blue who was greeted with open hooves as they turned to watch their friend Grimrose fly into the arena with a vaguely excited smile on her face.

“...Holy Lord Torch,” Blue muttered as he watched Rose fly onto the platform, “...I’ve never seen her smile like that before. She must be itching to sacrifice her opponent to whatever underworld demon she worships.”

“I know,” Nebula swooned as he clapped his hooves in excitement, “Isn’t she awesome?”

Mei snickered, “Guess we don’t have to ask what you’re into, Nebula.”

Up in the announcer booth, Twilight would finish announcing her and move onto her opponent.

“Clocking in at 200 pounds, Grimrose is a pegasus pony with cursed feathers that uses her own cryptic magic to charm her opponents.”

Grimrose took a bow before the crowd, and glanced up at the similarly-dressed, gothic-style ponies who were in the stands watching her with their own smiles.

“And over here, we have an up-and-coming buck who’s looking to show his knowledge of the arcane. Weighing in at just 150 pounds…meet Thiasus von Solis!”

A hooded quadruped would teleport into the arena opposite of Grimrose. His hood-cloak was a bright white color with a triangular red pattern along the edges. His horns lit up with a bright gold color to push his hood down to show a small, wide-eyed face of a reindeer buck with a brilliant gold coat color to his fur.

“Salutations. I am Thiasus von Solis,” he greeted his opponent and levitated a tome in front of himself. “Shall we begin?” His voice was rather proud, yet calm, and collected--betraying the appearance of such a scrawny little reindeer.

Grimrose’s wings stood up on end as she realized who she was up against. The aura emanating from this buck…it was near-opposite to the aura that she herself had.

‘Don’t tell me…a white magic user?’ she thought to herself as she observed the deer with keen, narrowed eyes. ‘So they pit me up against someone with holy magic. Well-played, professors.’

“Greetings,” Grimrose replied as she took out her own tome. “I’m very interested in seeing what sort of abilities you’ve got in store, Thiasus.”

“Ah. You’ve trained yourself from a tome as well, then?” That’s when Thiasus realized just who he was up against, and came to a similar revelation. ‘She’s hiding some demonic abilities under her wings. Could that be why we were pit against each other? To see if students studying the occult and the arcane could counteract each other? Hmph…not bad.’

With their books raised, they awaited Twilight’s signal…

“BEGIN!”

To start thing off, Rose kept it simple.

‘Swarm.’

Rose’s tome fluttered open, and from it, a swarm of magical purple locusts appeared and started to fly towards Thiasus.

The buck reacted with haste, opening his own tome…

‘Purge.’

To counter the swarm of locusts, Thiasus’ tome released his own swarm of shining golden eagles that went forth and consumed each one.

Surprisingly, Rose’s response was a rather excited smile. The arcane arts ran counter to the occult, and she was more than happy to finally test her skills against someone who made use of the former.

So next, she would cast another spell.

‘Mire.’

Rose’s tome flipped open, and summoned an explosion of bluish-green gunk that appeared behind Thiasus--!

SQUELCH!

The explosion launched Thiasus towards Rose, but he reached by creating shield of light around himself in order to defend himself, and counter her attack. But Rose was able to react just as quickly. She hovered in the air, just above the platform’s floor, reeled her hoof back…

‘Death.’

And flung forward with a punch that instantly shattered the buck’s barrier with her entire hoof covered in jet-black miasma. Thiasus’ barrier shattered like glass as she nailed him with a right hook, sending him careening backwards and hitting the arena’s floor.

But as soon as he landed, Rose found her wings stuck in the confines of what looked like a bright gold rope made of runic symbols.

“What--?!” she gasped as she found herself forced down and unable to fly. “What in the seven circles is this?!”

“Nosferatu,” Thiasus chuckled as he stood upright with a smirk on his face. “I have you now.”

From the stands, the audience members watched in awe. Nebula in particular was shouting for Rose to rise. “C’mon, Rose! Get up!” he shouted, “You got this!”

But Grimrose wouldn’t be spared. Thiasus’ antlers lit up once more…

“Abraxas!”

Rose visibly panicked as she squirmed about in the hard light restraints. Her pupils shrank as she looked upwards…and saw a pillar of light ready to consume her.

“...Baphomet’s foot.”

SHING!

Grimrose’s entire body was overcome with a golden pillar of pure light energy!

“AAAAUGH!!”

She screamed a blood-curdling scream as the outer layer of her skin was burned to a crisp in some parts, revealing what looked like a hollow skeleton underneath her skin with no internal organs to speak of. Thiasus gasped and immediately stopped the attack as the crowd fell silent.

“W-wait, what?!” the buck yelped as he approached the scorched mare. Half of her body was burned off…thought she could be seen smiling despite this. “I’m sorry! I didn’t--that attack is only supposed to purge demons!”

Which is exactly why the left side of Rose consisted of a smiling skull. “...You didn’t know. It’s not your fault. If anything, I’m grateful…” she chuckled as she stood up, seemingly shaking the injury off, “Now I know what my limits are…but I’m not done yet!”

Thiasus was relieved that she was seemingly fine, but her biology threw him for a loop for a moment. “Wait a minute…you’re not just a regular pony at all. You’re at least fifty percent dem--!”

“HADES!” Grimrose cut him off and opened her tome. Giant black, tendrils rose from out of a portal seemingly from nowhere that reached out, grabbed Thiasus, and held him down. “Time to show what the occult can really do!”

“...!!”

Thiasus realized that he was now trapped in a pentagram with the symbol, “Ω” all throughout its edges. Now panicked upon realizing what he was caught within, the buck sighed and shook his head.

“I yield.”

And just like that, Grimrose’s dark magic disappeared, reverting the arena back to normal as Twilight called out the victor in a shocked sputter.

“...I-I guess that means Grimrose wins!”

Chapter 58

“...I got carried away,” Grimrose muttered as she trotted over and reached out a hoof to help Thiasus up, “My apologies.”

“No, no, don’t worry,” the buck accepted her help with a smile as he stood upright, “The fight I just had with you has shown me that I have quite a lot to work on, Ms. Orcus.”

“...Likewise,” she admitted as she turned her head away from him, “...My body is…different than most ponies, and I’m not fully prepared for light magic that can purge my spirit. So thank you for that experience.”

Thiasus took a bow with a smile as they exited the arena. “The pleasure is all mine. For I am the eloquent Thiasus von Solis. You can rely on me.”

The two would leave and another intermission would begin in preparation for the next battle.

Up in the stands, Nebula had a relaxed smile on his face. “Whew…looks like everything went alright.”

“Shittin’ me, that was close,” Blue swore under his breath as he watched Rose and Thiasus leave. “I was genuinely worried that they were gonna cause permanent damage to each other or something. That kinda magic is…deadly.”

“Yeah,” Nebula replied with a sigh, “Can’t wait for my fight next. But uh…oh.” The next time he blinked, he realized that Mei was no longer present beside them. “Guess she’s up next, then.”

“Oooh, that’s gonna be good,” Blue replied with a smirk, “Imagine if our whole team made it to the finals! We’ll be recognized as the strongest in the city.”

Nebula rolled his eyes with a playful smile on his face. “Strength alone isn’t everything. Nor is making it to the finals. Our test scores also matter just as much, ya know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Blue replied off-handedly, still wishing for them all to make it onwards regardless. “But c’mon, you can’t deny that’d it be great to have us all being recognized as some of the strongest combatants.”

Admittedly, it did sound enticing to Nebula. The unicorn stallion tapped his hoof against his chin and muttered, “Well…”

But before he could answer, their attention was stolen by an announcement from Flash Sentry.

“Alright. Our next one features a kirin--ooh, I like the sound of that!” the pegasus guard spoke cheerfully, “Her name is Moeta Bi-Ju. Clocking in at around 250 pounds, she’s kirin from the East looking to make a name for herself with special, unheard of tactics.”

“Did I miss anything?!” Grimrose yelped as she flew back into her seat, having been healed with various medical sigils courtesy of the ponies from the infirmary.

“Nope, not at all,” Nebula replied.

“There she is!” Blue squealed in excitement.

Mei--whose full name was indeed Moeta--pushed up her foggy glasses as she strode into the stadium and teleported onto the combat platform, awaiting patiently to see her opponent.

Whom Sentry would announce next.

“And on this end, we have an earth pony mare looking to try her hoof at her own brand of magic. Weighing in at 200 pounds, give it up for Dewdrop Mistwalker!”

A deep blue earth pony mare stepped into the field. Her eyes were obscured by a rather messy, teal mane that she was somehow able to see out of. Her cutie mark consisted of two silver swordfish whose long, sword-like bills crossed each other in an ‘X’ formation.

She didn’t say a word nor look at the crowd as she simply climbed her way onto the platform with a quick jump.

“Hey, how are ya?” Mei tried to make small talk with her opponent before the match started, but to no avail. Dewdrop remained silent, even though she was looking dead at Mei. Or at least, that’s what one could assume based on the direction the mare was facing. “Those are some…neat bangs you got there?” Mei tried again, attempting to compliment the mare’s manestyle.

But once again, no response. Dewdrop simply bowed her head once as a cloud of mist seemed to emit from her body almost automatically.

‘A kirin…so this is who they put me against? Guess I’ll have to make her mad in order to actually have an interesting fight that’s worth my time. I hate these crowds.’

Without further ado, Sentry called out to signal the start of the battle.

“BEGIN!”

Chapter 60

Several other battles would take place over the course of that afternoon. Highlights of the notable ones include:

Rufus the Yak lost his preliminary battle against a male buffalo named Blackwind. It was a close match due to the both of them being skilled grapplers, but Blackwind won out due to a quick, forced ring-out against the yak.

Spearklip the Zebra won her preliminary battle against a hippogriff stallion named Rapid Rivers. Rivers, while faster and easily outpacing Spear in agility, simply couldn’t break through the tough zebra mare’s build and was knocked out thanks to a suplex she had given him.

Jun Fang the Diamond Dog won his preliminary battle against a male griffon named Gradivus. While Gradivus' flight presented a problem for Fang at first, the spotted diamond dog was able to overcome it with his martial arts skill that caused internal damage to the griffon’s body, forcing him to yield after getting too close.

Leelee the Monk was a fresh student, and thus, was unable to participate.

Lastly, Luster Dawn had won her preliminary battle against a ram named Judas who made use of a folding steel chair of all things as his weapon of choice. Luster Dawn’s magical axes were enough to overpower him and force him to take a seat instead--with a ring-out.

And with that, there was only one fight left for the day…

“...you ready guys?” Blue muttered, looking at Rose and Mei with his wings expanded involuntarily.

“Indeed,” Mei replied, having been healed with several bandages around her head and body. “I’ve been itching to see what he can do.”

“...He’s gonna be great,” Grimrose muttered with a vacant smile on her face, indicating her excitement in a rather dry way.

Which was pointed out by Blue, “Woah now! Don’t get too excited. It’s not like your boyfriend is up to the plate or anything here, Rose.”

“Oh shush you--oh! There he is.”

Spike would take on the responsibility of announcing the day’s last fight. “Alright, everycreature. The finals will take place tomorrow, so here’s our last battle for today. The squire of Tungsten Wolfe--Royal Guard #74--and weighing in at 235 pounds. Armed with more combat knowledge than an encyclopedia, it’s Atomic Nebula!”

The unicorn stallion strolled into the stadium with a sheepish smile on his freckled face as he listened to the crowd cheer for him. From his side of the stadium, he’d see Tungsten standing guard and give him an encouraging smile before reverting back to his stoic guard’s expression.

Which pushed Nebula into determination as he confidently strutted up to, and onto the combat platform. With one final wave to his friends, he prepared himself with his recorder at his side.

Soon enough, Spike would continue with his announcement of Nebula’s opponent.

“And over here. We have a master of disguise. A changeling who’s learned how to turn into almost anything he wants. Weighing in at only 100 pounds, give it up for Noptera!”

A dark green changeling stallion with solid maroon eyes would fly in from the opposite end of the field while waving to the crowd. To show off what he could do, he turned his translucent wings into a parachute of sorts in order to glide in and land into the field before reverting them to normal size.

“Wow,” Nebula commented on Noptera’s entrance, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a changeling do that before.”

“Oh you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Noptera replied with a friendly, raspy voice. “Gonna show off my stuff here to my family that’s watching, so gimme a good fight, yeah?”

Up in the stands, a particular group of changelings were cheering for Noptera.

Nebula grinned as he got himself ready with his recorder. “Alrighty, then. Show me whatcha got, bud. I’ve got a new song I’ve been itching to play.”

With everyone watching with bated breath for the final preliminary battle of the day, Spike called out.

“GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!”

Chapter 61: Atomic Nebula vs Noptera the Changeling

“FIGHT!”

With the signal to get started, Noptera transformed his left hoof into an extendable, rope-like material that stretched across the field to capture Nebula in its grip.

“What the--?!” Nebula gasped as the changeling’s hoof extended and spiraled around his body, pulling him in--though it was a bit of a struggle between the two as Nebula actively resisted and stood his ground against the force..

“Told you,” Noptera chuckled with a grunt as he reeled the unicorn stallion in, “I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve that the average changeling doesn’t.”

“Lemme show you what I got then.”

With his magic aura lifting his recorder to his lips, Nebula blew a quick note into it, and a solid black treble clef appeared in mid-air and exploded--playing the same note at a higher frequency. So high in fact, that Noptera was stunned and staggered backwards, releasing his hold on Nebula’s body.

Nebula took advantage of this with a backflip to put some distance between himself and Noptera. Since the changeling could transform his body into almost anything, he wanted to hang back and gauge exactly what Noptera could do before rushing in.

Once Noptera had recovered from the musical flashbang of sorts, he looked up to find a brand new set of notes swarming in on his position. Each one correspond to the note that Nebula had been playing: A quick succession of three short notes, followed by one longer one. The notes of Beethooven’s 5th Symphony.

The short notes fanned out and exploded, followed by the longer note creating a small barrier to shield him from further attacks as he readied himself to play another set.

Noptera noticed this. Given that Nebula had to use his breath to play an instrument to fight, there would be an inherent delay in between attacks. Noptera would use this to his advantage and turn one of his hooves into a sharp-edged, pointed spear that pierced through Nebula’s musical shield!

“Woah--shit!” Nebula gasped as he leapt back from the hardened biological tentacle. It appeared that, thanks to Noptera’s exoskeleton, he was able to pierce through even raw magical barriers! The young stallion thought quickly on his hooves as Noptera pulled himself in close.

The changeling stallion got closer, breaking through the rest of the shield and destroying it on impact. After which, he changed his hoof to a massive club that he tried to swipe at Nebula with, only for it to be stopped dead by Nebula’s hoof, causing a bit of a struggle between the two as Nebula’s hind legs were forced closer to the edge.

“Stronger than you look,” Noptera complimented his opponent with a smile, “I like that. But don’t tell me you’re giving up already, Atom!”

“I’m not just some squire,” Nebula shot back and thought it out while struggling against the changeling’s force. So far, it seemed as if that Noptera could only make his body change into simplistic stabbing and slashing weapons--nothing as complex as a bow or other projectile weapons.

With this in mind, Nebula wanted to create as much space as possible in order to prepare his final move.

Noptera’s wings began to shapeshift into bladed daggers that came out of the side of his body and charged at Nebula, but the latter was quick to counter. With a flash of his horn, a bass clef appeared below Noptera that played a piercing note so loud that it caused all of his biological extensions to seize as he was stunned from having his hearing disrupted by the noise.

“Gah! What in the--blagh!”

The changeling was subject to a swift dropkick from Nebula that sent him skidding across the field. Once his opponent was farther away from him, he started to play another series of musical notes. This time though, they weren’t rhythmic at all. In fact, they were rather discordant. These notes appeared--from A♯ to C♯--in a frizzy, unstable red compare to the previous black notes that flew through the air in a line…

EEEEEE….YUUUUU…

The notes exploded, causing a loud echo that caused Noptera to glance to his left, assuming an attack was coming from that direction! “...!”

…But he was wrong. It was a complete trick of soundwaves flowing through the air.

With a swift slam of his front hooves on the arena floor, Nebula caused a quake so powerful that it threw Noptera further off balance, staggering him down to his haunches. Then Nebula blew into his recorder which produced another bass clef on the floor below Noptera. Before the latter could even think about what had just happened, the bass clef played a forceful note that was so loud that it launched Noptera into the air!

“Dghh!” he groaned upon leaving contact from the ground, panicking since he no longer had eyes on his opponent and tried flapping his wings in order to recover from the force, “W-where’d he g--?!”

But it was too late.

With a boost from his own bass clef, Nebula leapt into the air after his opponent and spoke one last time…

“This is your final bar line.”

BLAM!

With a single reverse overhead hoof strike from Nebula, and the next thing everyone in the crowd knew, Noptera had been struck down like a meteor, and knocked out of the ring entirely. Piledriven into the ground with half of his body stuck in a mound of dirt.

“...Ooogh…” Noptera groaned as he pulled himself out and shook his head. “...the Royal Guard ain’t no joke…” he gave an ironic chuckle as he flopped onto his back, completely knocked unconscious.

“...Sorry! You okay?” Nebula peeked over the edge of the platform. “...I think we need a medic--”

“THAT WAS AMAZING--” Spike suddenly shouted from the announcer’s booth, then cleared his throat before giving a more professional announcement as the crowd cheered. “Ahem--I mean…it looks like Atomic Nebula wins!”

As Noptera was carried off by the medical ponies, Nebula glanced up at his friends who were shouting for him.

“YEAH! You did it, brother!” Blue roared, causing fire to escape his lips.

“Go Nebula!” Mei added with her glasses nearly falling off her face.

“WOOO! Atomic is the best!” Grimrose clapped her hooves with a crazed look of excitement in her eyes.

Nebula simply blushed and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. He glanced over to Tungsten who gave him an approving nod from afar which warmed his heart as he smiled up at the crowd as he thought to himself…

‘...A victory for Archsage.’

Chapter 63

“Wait a sec, Mei. Look around,” Nebula called out.

Mei looked up and took a glance around the city’s streets.

Not only were ponies lined up at the Tasty Treat, but they were also lined up at other various restaurants such as the Bitalian Bistro, bakeries, and cafes as well. More specifically, all of the restaurants that were awarded a “three hoof” rating from Zesty Gourmand were no longer in business. Because of the public’s general disdain towards her, they effectively turned their backs upon Zesty and started to re-establish their own cuisine culture.

“Heheheeee…” Mei gave an impish, satisfied laugh as she marveled at what their team had accomplished. “Social change brought about by getting people to realize what they did wrong. It’s like we’re comic book heroes or something.”

Nebula rolled his eyes at such a notion. “Oh c’mon, Mei. We live in a world chock full of magic. It’s not like we’re some special individuals with unique quirks.”

Mei simply tilted her head and glanced at him with a neutral expression from behind her foggy glasses. “Seriously? I mean, we may not be like, special children of the stars or anything but you gotta admit what we did was cool.”

“Well…”

Before Nebula could respond, they heard a familiar voice call out to them.

“Ah! Perfect timing! Mr. Nebula! Ms. Bi-Ju!”

They both turned to see Saffron Masala calling out to them from the back of her restaurant. The unicorn and kirin quickly pranced over to see what she wanted.

“Ma’am?” Nebula asked, “Is everything okay? I see business has gotten better.”

“Oh, lots better!” she chirped as she pulled them both in for a quick hug, “Thank you both for getting the Tasty Treat back into the public’s minds!” She let them go, and beckoned them to follow her inside through the back of the restaurant via the kitchen. “Come. Come! I wish to show you what’s been happening!”

Nebula glanced at Mei, who simply stared back at him with that same devious little grin from before. The kirin was openly satisfied with what they had done while Nebula could only let out a trembling sigh, wondering if their efforts had borne fruit for Saffron…

Come to find out--they had! Once they entered through the back of the restaurant, they could see that all of Canterlot’s population--even the most elite of ponies--were happily enjoying Saffron’s dishes at various tables. What’s more, is that she also had various employees working with her, taking orders and waiting tables!

“Wow,” Nebula muttered in awe with a smile, “It seems like we finally got more hooves in the door, huh?”

“Because we were the ones who helped advertise the place,” Mei added proudly, “I’m glad to see that Zesty’s influence is no longer relevant out here.”

Saffron giggled and offered them a few enclosed takeout boxes worth of food via her magic. “Here, here! Eat as much as you like. You deserve it for helping me.”

“Wow this smells great,” Nebula replied as he accepted the box with his own yellow magical aura from Saffron’s purple. “Is this your special gold hay curry? Mmm, I love that stuff…”

“Yes!” Saffron answered happily, “You deserve it for all your hard work, my friends.”

Mei had already scooped some of hers into her mouth with the enclosed plastic fork. “Mmm…so good,” she moaned from the taste, then swallowed the bite. “Oh. Are we in your way? We don’t wanna bother you if you’re still working.”

“Actually, I’m not,” Saffron shook her head. To their surprise, not only was the head chef mare not working that day, but she had changed her clothes, exchanging her casual attire for a purple tracksuit. “I’ve got some time to myself since I’ve got other hooves in the kitchen and working the front. There’s this neat antique I’ve had my eye on for quite a while now and I don’t wanna miss it.”

“Oh, you’re a collector?” Nebula asked with an interested tone, “I’ve been somewhat interested in gathering old items myself, but I don’t have all the money for it. But then again, I’m not sure I’d have anywhere to put it all,” he added with a chuckle.

To which Saffron snickered as well. “Yes, I agree. I’m not looking to overload myself. But I do want some nice pieces of art that’ll remind me of home. Hoping to find some sculptures too.”

Mei looked up from her box of curry and joined in, “Oh. You should totally ask some of the other kirin around here. We’re experts in knowing about good art. It’s kinda our thing.”

“Ah! That’s a great idea,” Saffron agreed, “Well, I’ll be off now. Hope your both do well on your exams! Oh, and if you need a place for a Hearts and Hooves Day date, be sure to come here. I’ll reserve you a table!”

Mei and Nebula left the building from the way they came in, as did Saffron as she bid them goodbye. They both carried their curry in their magical auras as they walked back towards the university campus.

“Now do you think we’re special heroes?” Mei asked with a teasing smirk behind her glasses, “You know you eat up the attention that Grimrose is giving you.”

“Er…maybe? I’m just happy to see Saffron’s doing well for herself.” Nebula puffed out his cheeks in a frustrated huff. He couldn’t exactly deny what Mei was saying and she knew it--hence the smirk.

“You’re our leader, ‘Sage’,” she added with a wiggle of her eyebrows, “It’s perfectly okay to be happy for a win…so Rose can reward you for it~”

“...Shaddaaaap.”

Chapter 64

“So everything’s back to normal, huh?” Grimrose asked as she took a spoonful of the curry from Nebula’s box.

As it turned out, Saffron had given them so much that they couldn’t finish it all. Nebula shared his portion with Grimrose and Mei shared her portion with blue. They all sat in their dorm’s common area to eat. A simple room with two couches, a coffee table, a fireplace, beautiful redwood floors, and a luxury bohemian rug it all sat upon.

Both couples sat on each couch as they ate.

“More or less,” Nebula replied as he looked out of the nearby window that overlooked the rest of Canterlot. There, he could see loads of ponies--and other creatures--lining up to get various foods. “At this point, they might need to start a delivery service of some kind.”

“Friggin’ awesome,” Blue gave an arrogant huff as he puffed out his chest, “It’s thanks to us that Zesty’s no longer a shithead and Mr. Anzac can finally chill out.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Grimrose spoke up and grabbed the local newspaper off of the coffee table titled Canterlot Supreme. “They announced Zesty’s sentencing,” Rose explained as she flipped through the article, “Apparently, they’re gonna make her eat at everyone’s restaurants in order to make up for the damage she caused.”

Blue leaned forward to check out the article. Then he leaned back with a wide smirk on his face. “Well fuckin’ finally,” he scoffed, “People here needed to wake up and start eating actually good food for a change. All this other microscopic shit ain’t been enough to feed a hamster even.”

“Tell me about it,” Nebula replied, “It’s nice to be able to enact social change, huh…”

Mei levitated a can of soda away from her face and spoke up. “Oh now you agree with me. I told you that being able to help society improve was worth it, Nebby-”

“Yeah, yeah, you have a point. Still, I don’t want us to start using this power willy-nilly,” he explained in a more candid tone, “This is something that can easily be abused for personal gain, and I want us all to agree right now to never dive into people’s minds for such things.”

The stone of the room shifted when Nebula spoke in such a manner. Everyone else started to think through the implications of their actions up to this point. They had successfully changed the minds of not one but two individuals. A griffon bully and a pony who directly impacted the welfare of Canterlot itself.

But as Nebula said, they had to be cautious and only make use of this power when it was absolutely necessary.

“I getcha,” Blue replied with a nod, “Trust me, I don’t wanna start invading heads just for the sake of it. That’d be like mind control which is…” he paused to shudder as his wings expanded, “Blech…not my style.”

“Agreed,” Mei spoke up after Blue. “I don’t wanna go into someone’s head unless I absolutely have to.”

And of course, Grimrose had the most to say since she was the one who had to cast the spell in the first place. “...yeah. I agree wholeheartedly. If we can avoid doing that if we don’t have to, then I’d appreciate it. It takes quite a toll on me when I make use of that power with my feathers.”

“Good,” Nebula replied with a smile, “Then we’re all in agreement here over the ethical implications of diving into other’s minds. With that out of the way…” He leaned back against the couch he was sitting on and gave a deep breath, “...hoo. Gotta get ready for the finals tomorrow.”

“There’s no flyer like last time,” Mei pointed out, “I don’t know who you guys are facing and quite frankly? I’m worried.”

Blue wasn’t. In fact, the dragon was so confident in himself, that he brushed her concerns aside. “Meh, don’t sweat the small stuff, Mei. All you gotta worry about is cheering on the rest of us while we’re out there kicking ass.”

“She’s right though, don’t get careless,” Grimrose scolded him, “The fight I had was a bit more difficult than I expected. I only barely managed to scrape by. Heck, you barely managed in your fight against that minotaur guy!”

Yet again though, Blue brushed it off with a dismissive trill. “Pbbbt. Semantics, semantics. I’ll be fine, and so will the rest of you. We’re gonna take our team to the top, baby!”

“Augh…” Grimrose groaned with her hoof against her forehead out of frustration. It seemed as if Blue simply wouldn’t listen--likely due to his draconic pride. Because of that, she knew it wouldn’t be worth it to question him any further…

Their day went on as normal. Since the rest of the exams were set to take place the next day, all of the students were mandated to rest up to retain their energy so they wouldn’t burn themselves out.

Chapter 65

The next day, during the afternoon…

Everyone had gathered back in the buckball stadium in Canterlot where the first set of finals would begin for the tournament bracket. In particular, one of the participants was lagging behind everyone else since his family had stopped to speak with him.

“Fang!” the large spotted diamond dog called out to her son, “We can’t wait to see you out there!”

Jun Fang stopped and turned to see his mother standing next to another, similarly sized diamond dog dalmatian woman who wore a pair of overalls that was covered in dirt and oil. Near them, a handful of adolescent-aged pups could be seen smiling at Fang.

“C’mon, give your auntie a hug!” Fang’s mother squealed as her sister stepped forward.

“Hey big guy!” Fang’s aunt approached him, then looked down at herself, “Ah, don’t worry about all that. Work’s been kicking my ass lately.”

“Not in front of the kids!” Fang’s mother scolded her sister, who waved a paw dimissively.

“Meh, it’s whatever--not like they’re gonna say that shit around me anyway,” Fang’s aunt replied with a snicker as his mother sighed in defeat.

One of Fang’s cousins, a young dalmatian girl, ran over and gave him a hug. “You better beat ‘em up good or we’re not gonna love you anymore!”

“...are you serious?” Fang asked while patting her on the head.

The pup nuzzled against his paw. “...I’m joking, ‘cuz! Whatever happens, we’ll still love you no matter what.”

“She’s right,” one of the older male pups added, “We wanna get strong just like you when we get older, Fang. You’re easily the most skilled guy in our family. Not to mention the smartest.”

All the praise caused Fang’s tail to wag uncontrollably from nerves. While he was happy to have the support of his extended family, part of him was nervous--nervous over whether or not his battle would be a success and whether or not he’d let everyone down as a result.

‘...can I do this? They’re all counting on me, but…can I really…?’

But before long, they’d hear an announcement over the intercom from Flash Sentry.

“Our next fight is about to start!”

“That’s my cue,” Fang explained to his family as he looked up at the speakers, “I need to get going as it’s my turn next. And you all should get back to your seats.”

“You got this, Fang!” the female pup squealed with her tail wagging.

“You’re the man!” the male pup added.

“Come on everyone,” Fang’s mother hurried them along as his aunt followed her. “You’ll do great, son. And don’t worry, I haven’t had any reactions. You go out there and have fun, okay?” With a quick kiss to his forehead, his mother left along with the rest of his family. The rest of the dalmatian pups waved to their eldest cousin as they left to follow their mother and aunt.

Which left Fang in a state of a newfound determination.

‘No…I can’t let this sway me. I have to do what I can for the sake of my mother. I’ll make enough money to rid her of her condition somehow. Even if it kills me.’

The pressure was on for Jun Fang. The diamond dog man knew that the exams would serve as a launching platform for everyone’s future as mercenaries and knights of Equestria. As such, his intent was to take on as many jobs as he needed in order to make enough money to find treatment for his mother. That was his entire motivation not just for these exams, but for attending this Academy in the first place.

“...it’s time to act.”

In the stands…

The rest of Dorm Block Sigma was sitting in excitement as they awaited Fang’s name to be called.

“He’s up next, yeah?” Rufus asked, “Can’t wait to see him in action with the finals on the line.”

“Stop it, you,” Spearklip lectured him with a nudge of her hoof, “Putting all that extra pressure on him won’t help.”

Since Leelee couldn’t participate, she simply observed next to her new teammates. “So…spotted dogman needs to win this fight to come out on top in the tourney?”

Spearklip nodded, “Mm-hmm, exactly. You catch on pretty quick Ms. Lee.”

The monkey woman smiled, “We have tourneys at my hometown quite often.”

The audience was silenced as Flash Sentry would introduce the first fight of the finals. “Alright, everycreature. Here we go! For our first finals match, we’d like to re-introduce a diamond dog dalmatian who’s fighting for his family here today. Weighing in at a solid 125 pounds, it’s Jun Fang!”

For the second time this week, the dalmatian diamond dog would run into the stadium, and perform a flip before landing upon his two feet with his arms crossed, awaiting his opponent as the crowd cheered for him.

And then Flash would announce his opponent… “And on this end, weighing in at 200 pounds, a highly skilled martial artist from Abyssinia who smoked it in the first round, give it up for Sha’Beel!”

In a flash of orange and black, a young Abyssinian woman appeared from the other side of the field and jumped into the stadium. She stood at around six feet tall compared to Fang’s five-foot-nine inches, and wore a pair of black, rather baggy black jeans with nothing on her feet, leaving her large lower paws exposed.

Up top, her overall appearance was rather well-built with a toned abdomen, and rather buff arms with beefy biceps while also being well-endowed with large breasts that were covered by what appeared to be white sports tape that wrapped all the way around from the front of her chest to the back, keeping her breasts firmly in place even as they jiggled.

She also stood with her arms folded, eyes shut as she prepared herself mentally. The tigress was merely waiting for the announcement of the fight to start.

Fang took a deep breath and thought to himself, ‘...very stony expression. Hard to get a read on what she’s thinking at the moment.’

“Good luck to you,” said the tigress in a mature, womanly voice.

“...you as well,” the dalmatian replied.

Neither would have much more time to think, as Flash gave the signal.

“Ready? BEGIN!”

Chapter 66: Jun Fang vs Sha'Beel

And the fight kicked off at a swift, almost breakneck speed. Both Fang and Sha’Beel rushed at each other, striking in equal measure with close-quarters hand-to-hand combat. Or was it paw-to-paw?

Each palm strike, punch, and kick was doled out and blocked by each other almost flawlessly. Both combatants had their own unique styles that differentiated them from one another.

Fang’s style was more focused around punches from those weighted, meaty paws of his. His arms were well-defined and could easily absorb copious amounts of strikes before he began to feel tired, akin to that of a solid steel shield.

On the opposite end, Sha’s combat style was more oriented around kicks from those thunderous legs of hers. Her paws alone were the size of her head, and her meaty thighs and calves could carry enough force to knock down trees!

Essentially, this battle was a case of unstoppable force against an immovable object.

Eventually, Fang decided to break their clash the next moment Sha went in for a kick. He grabbed the tigress’ leg, and spun her around, tossing her to the other side of the area.

But naturally, Sha’s catty reflexes didn’t allow her to get close to the edge of the ring. Raising her tail for balance, she landed on all fours and suddenly bum-rushed him like an actual tiger would its cornered prey.

Her unrelenting speed and strength would be impossible for Fang to avoid or dodge. There was no way he’d be able to outmaneuver a skilled tigress, and he knew this. Which is why poised himself with his paws open, fingers twitching and preparing to counterattack…

However, what he wasn’t ready for, was her next attack. Instead of attacking his upper boddy, Sha’Beel slid forward, crossed her legs around Fang’s feet, and forcibly tripped him to the arena’s floor, causing him to faceplant onto it.

“Dghh!” Fang yelped as he was restrained by the tigress’ muscular legs. “Dammit all…looks like I underestimated you…”

With one of his legs restrained within the grip of her arms, Sha’Beel asked him a question in a rather commanding tone of voice, “Why do you fight?”

“...excus--what?” Fang asked with a tone that carried a mix of confusion and wonder. “...Why would you ask--”

But Sha’Beel’s tone didn’t change. “Answer the question. Why do you fight?”

Since he was restrained with no sign of escape, Fang decided to play along as he thought about potential ways to break free. “...I fight for my mother. And the rest of my family. They’re what keeps me going. I don’t care about myself. This is all for them.”

Sha’Beel ruminated on his words for a moment…before scoffing. “Tch. Horrible resolve. You have no semblance of what it means to be a true warrior.”

“You WHAT-?!”

But before Fang could respond, the tigress had flipped him around, locking the diamond dog in a headlock between her hardened bicep and abdomen. “A true warrior fights for inner peace for themselves. Focusing all of your efforts into others will only serve as an emotional distraction on the battlefield.”

“Nghrh!” Fang groaned from the pressure being put on his face. The tigress’ arm and abs were like solid steel weights that threatened to break his body open like a watermelon--at least that’s what it felt like. Admittedly, she had a point, as Fang would attempt to respond out of spite. “You…don’t know me!”

“Silence,” she hissed while casually holding him in place with no sign of struggle on her end, “I’ve gotten just about enough out of you. You clearly don’t care about bettering your skill as a warrior and have no place here.”

Sha’Beel reached over and punched Fang in the gut, causing him to cough up air uncontrollably as he was dazed. “Bl-haagh!” And immediately after, Sha’Beel swung her leg and kicked him dead in his back with a deadly roundhouse, causing him to flip, and tumble across the arena’s field towards the edge. “Aarggh!”

While he wasn’t in danger of falling, Fang was now a mere meter away from the edge as he rose to one of his knees. “Ghh…”

“Get up,” Sha’Beel commanded, “Face me for your own sake. Not someone else’s, you coward.”

“Tccgh…” Fang gritted his teeth, noticing the worried looks on his family members' faces through the crowd’s cheers. Then, he redirected his attention to the tigress and spoke in a low, but fully audible tone, seething through his teeth as he clutched his chest, “You don’t know me…quit speaking as if you have any idea what I’m going through.”

The tigress had no sympathy to spare. “If you’re not here of you’re own accord, then you shouldn’t be here at all. Some grand ideal about fighting for your ‘family’ is nothing but a selfish cover-up used to hide one’s own arrogance and cowardice. You can only find tranquility as a warrior within yourself,” she lectured him with her arms folded.

“Ideals…cowardice,” Fang chuckled as he stood upright, holding his head in his paw to recover from the daze he was in. “...Those words don’t mean what you think they mean. After all…what is tranquility but stagnation?!” he raised his voice in a more…unhinged and hysteric tone.

The tigress’ expression turned cold as she narrowed her eyes. Did she take offense to his comment possibly? “Care to repeat that?”

“Oh you heard me!” Fang yelled once more while gritting his teeth, “You want to talk about arrogance?! I fucking hate those solitary pieces of shit like you that think you’re better than everyone just because you sat on your ass all day for years in some old fart's temple!”

Shing.

Sha’Beel unsheathed her claws. “...you’re a heretic.You fail to understand--”

“NO! You fail to understand,” Fang screamed, cutting her off mid-sentence, “Want to know the truth? Fine! I’m doing this to make enough money so my mother won’t have to spend her every waking moment worrying about dropping dead!”

“...” The tigress paused and tucked her claws back in. “...excuse me?”

While most of the spectators couldn’t tell what they were saying due to being so far away from the field, Rufus immediately knew what was going on due to Fang’s body language.

“...shit. He’s losing it,” the yak bull lamented. “The pressure from his family being here musta got to him.”

“...I can see that. I have a feeling we’ll need to talk to him for a bit afterwards.” Spearklip added while Leelee watched in confusion.

Back down in the field, Sha’Beel would ask…

“...what’s your mother’s condition?”

“A cardiovascular disease,” Fang replied at a lower, but still furious tone, “I want to fight to make enough money so that she can live without worry or concern for her health once I cure her condition. But you…garbage people like you think you’re above everyone just because you’ve found yourselves. Well guess what, princess? People like me don’t have that luxury. I have no time to find myself with my life devoted to keeping my mother from croaking at a moment's notice.”

The tigress fell silent, unable to look Fang in the eyes now that she knew his true motivation. Was it possible that she was ashamed of what she had said now that she was aware?

Regardless, Fang turned his back on the tigress. “...Nothing to say? Fine then. I’ve got nothing more to say to you either. I yield. I’m not giving you the satisfaction of beating me because you don’t deserve such a thing. You’ve spent so much time looking inwards at yourself, that you don’t seem to care to look outwards at others and their pain. That is true cowardice; the cowardice of hypocrisy.”

And with that, Fang dropped out of the arena, still clutching his chest as the medical team approached him.

“...We have a winner!” Flash Sentry called out, “The first champion: Sha’Beel!”

While the crowd cheered for her, the tigress stood with an empty expression on her face as she watched Fang get carried off by the medical team. A victory but an unsatisfactory one. As she left the arena, all she could think about were his final words before he left.

‘...cowardice of hypocrisy…’

Chapter 67

Later on, in the medical tent…

Fang’s entire family had rushed to see him but the nurses were only allowed to let adult-aged individuals into the facility. Which meant that only Fang’s mother and his friends were allowed to go see him while his aunt waited outside with the rest of his cousins.

“Fang! Are you okay?” his mother gasped upon entering the tent in which her son was lying on a medical bed with bandages around his body.

“...My condition is…stable,” he replied hesitantly, “I’ll be fine, mother. Don’t worry yourself over me.”

But she was inclined to whether he wanted it or not. His mother placed a paw on his cheek to console him. “It’s my job as your mother. And of course, beyond that, I love you, Fang. You know I’m going to be concerned regardless. As is everyone else outside.”

Fang sighed as his mother pulled her paw back. “Grrgh…I bet everyone is utterly disappointed in me because I lost, aren’t they?”

“Not at all,” his mother replied with a shake of her head as she opened the medical tent. “Just listen…”

And outside, they’d be able to hear his cousins praise him…

“That was like a kung-fu movie!” one of the male pups chirped, “Fang was so cool!”

“He took her kicks like they were nothing and still walked away!” one of the female pups squealed, “He’s so strong!”

“He dropped out of the fight because he was being nice,” one of the older male pups mused with a smirk on his face, “He would’ve totally obliterated that pussy had he used his secret technique.”

Their mother--Fang’s aunt--simply giggled in response to what her children had to say.

“Hrm…” Fang couldn’t help but chuckle also. “What…they think I have some sort of secret ability up my ass so strong that I dropped out on purpose?”

His mother spoke honestly, “...I could tell whatever was going on down there you were hurt, and didn’t want to expend yourself. There’s no shame in abandoning a fight you know you can’t win, son.”

“...it’s the reason why father…” Fang paused and shook his head, “Nevermind. I shouldn’t speak of that. He’s still around and wouldn’t want us to gossip about him, right?’ he added with a weak smile. “...fair enough,” he replied as his mother closed the tent.

“Don’t worry, Fang. We all love you and are proud of you,” she encouraged him with a smile, “Watching you fight like that makes me feel safer already. I don’t think any of us could’ve taken on such a strong-looking Abyssinian.”

Fang had started to think about the battle he had just experienced. Historically speaking, the Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs used to not like each other very much and even treated each other poorly based on each other’s species. Nowadays though, things were much more amicable…for the most part.

Fang couldn’t help but wonder though--did Sha’Beel treat him poorly just because he was a Diamond Dog or was there some other reason altogether? Whatever the case, it wasn’t something he was going to figure out from a hospital bed.

“...Thank you, mother. But you don’t need to worry for much longer. Go spend time with the rest of the family, please.”

“Okay…I’ll be here for the next few days,” his mother kissed his forehead before leaving the tent, to which Rufus entered after.

“...hey, pal. You alright?”

“Not really, no,” the diamond dog replied with a chuckle.

The yak bull sat next to his friend’s hospital bed and sighed. “...listen, pal. I don’t know why you’d just drop out of the fight like that but…it made you look pretty immature ya know that?”

Fang sighed, fully aware of how poor his actions reflected upon himself. Despite this, the canid stood firm in his beliefs. “...that Abyssinian Tigress claimed I have no honor because I fight for others. She claims that a true warrior should fight for themselves first and foremost.”

“Well…she’s got a bit of a point but…” Rufus acknowledged that bettering oneself was important. However… “Yeah she’s a bit self-righteous with it. Now lemme ask you this, pal...you disagree with her right?”

“Of course.”

“...so why not stand and fight?” Rufus asked with a worried tone, “Don’tcha believe in whatcha say enough to fight back and challenge someone over it?”

“...” Those words pierced Fang’s soul as his eyes shot open, and looked away from Rufus. “...I didn’t wish to show her my will. For I hate people like her. People who are simply…fake. Fake to themselves and to the rest of the world.”

Rufus paused for a second and shook his head. “Gah…I’m not good with this stuff. Spear?”

Spearklip entered the tent and provided her take on the situation, “What he means to say is…it’s not good to let someone else disturb you to the point of quitting a battle, Fang. What did she even say to you?”

“...she insulted my desire to fight for my family,” Fang explained with a bitter, somber tone of voice, “You know my mother’s heart is weak and can’t function without her medication. Well Sha’Beel--the cretin thinks she knows everything. That her philosophy is the correct one…I refuse to acknowledge her.”

The zebra mare paused for a moment and sighed. “...I get now, Fang. You felt that she personally attacked you for simply disagreeing with her and didn’t want to bother convincing her otherwise because you didn’t see it as worth the effort.”

The dalmatian simply lied down. “...Make no mistake. I wish to fight her again. But only when she casts off her false identity and understands that there’s more to life than what she decided to meditate about for a few days.”

Rufus looked at Spear and commented, “...I can see where he’s coming from. After all, I don’t agree with the other yaks about how they treat outsiders. Even now, they’re still hesitant to ask for help. That’s something I want nothing to do with.”

“...The zebras of Farasi tend to be rather isolated,” Spear added, “Many of us came here to form our own ideals and understand new ways of life as well. Sounds to me like Sha’Beel simply doesn’t comprehend that not everyone has the luxury of being able to soul-search. In essence, you want to fight her when she's at her fullest potential and not a slave to her mantra.”

Fang nodded. "Exactly. Her own mentality is a handicap. One that I don't wish to engage with. I want to fight the real version her. Not some puppet on strings."

“Ohhhhh. I get it now. She's basically holding herself back with the way she thinks, and you wanna fight her when she's able to think for herself,” Rufus added with a newfound sense of realization, “I betcha now. How’re we gonna convince her?”

“...We can discuss this at a later time,” Fang added with a groan as he rolled onto his side, “For now, I’d like to rest until I’m healed. Rufus, call me when Spear’s finale battle is set to start, alright?”

Rufus nodded. “Will do, pal. I wanna see you fight her again.”

And with that, the two left the medical tent, contemplating on how they’d get the tigress to understand the feelings of others.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium…

A certain tigress had shown the medal she won to a tigress of similar height, albeit this one was clearly older with wrinkles around his face and wearing a black business suit and holding a cane in his paw.

“...I’ve done it, master. I ignored all distractions and won,” Sha’Beel explained to her superior.

“Good work,” the elder tiger abyssinian spoke in a husky male voice, “Looks like you proved me wrong after all.”

“...Master. If I may,” Sha’Beel interjected, “...must a real warrior always fight for themselves? Or is it possible to be a warrior that fights for the cause of others as well? My opponent, Jun Fang. He…fights for his family and his mother…is such a thing possible?”

The elder tiger flicked his tail and hissed under his breath. “A true warrior prides themselves on clearing their mind of worldly bonds and connections, Sha’Beel. Your opponent was of a weak mind, hence why he gave up,” he scoffed in disgust while glancing at the family of diamond dog Dalmatians near the medical tent, “...as those filthy flea-bitten toilet drinking mutts tend to.”

“...But--”

From the tip of the cane, a red button appeared. “...don’t make me discipline you, Sha’Beel. Fall in line, or get left behind. That is our way. Understand?”

“...” The tigress simply bowed in a robotic fashion. “Yes, master.”

Even if Dorm Block Sigma wasn't aware, they were right about one thing: This Abyssinian Tigress was indeed a slave to her mantra.

Chapter 68

The finale battles would rage on in furious fashion. Each finalist would have their results tallied up and announced in short order.

Spearklip the zebra had won her finale match against a male Abyssinian tabby named Thompson who made use of nunchucks as his main weapon. In spite of his speed, her overwhelming strength from multiple dropkicks was enough to send him flying out of the arena and onto the grass below.

Blue Blazes the dragon had lost his finale match against an earth pony mare named Drill Bit. It was a tough, close match between the two, but when he was bucked by her powerful hind legs, he felt a few of his bones break as he fell out of the arena.

Grimrose Orcus had lost her finale match against a female poodle diamond dog named Duster with an electrified crossbow. The fight was long and hard with Grimrose using her spells to surround Duster, but she was able to land two perfect shots on Rose’s wings which shocked and disabled the mare from being able to use her curse attacks anymore, resulting in a forfeit because she couldn’t move and had to submit once Duster pointed the crossbow at her face.

And of course, last but not least…Atomic Nebula.

His finale battle was set to begin, and like the others, he had no idea what he was up against. His teammates were currently lamenting that as they sat in the stands.

“Wow…” Mei muttered as she looked at her teammates. “I can see you guys had a rough time out there.”

“No shit,” Blue muttered as he clutched his bandaged abdomen. “I still can’t believe earth ponies can actually get that strong. Strong enough to break through dragon scales and cause internal damage to boot.” He groaned as he winced his eyes shut, “Blegh…learned my lesson of underestimating them the hard way.”

Grimrose’s wings were both banaged as they had to heal from the damage she endured in her battle. As much as she didn’t want to admit it…

“...that dog girl had ribbons and bows in her fur,” Rose muttered in disbelief, “And yet she was able to keep up with me fairly easily. She even knew how to use a crossbow. She looked fragile…but was actually rather agile. And durable. That dog chick tanked most of my curse spells before shutting my wings off.”

Mei gave an impressed, shrill whistle. “...you know what, I think I’m glad I didn’t make it to the finals. These battles seem way harder.” She then looked down at the empty arena. With the knowledge that Nebula was next, she couldn’t help but shudder audibly. “Brrr…I hope he’ll be okay. I wonder who he’ll go up against…”

“A dragon? A gargoyle?” Grimrose mused aloud.

“Maybe one of those big ape dudes from the East? Or maybe a demon pony?” Blue muttered.

Their predictions were about to be confirmed--or rather, proven wrong as Princess Twilight Sparkle started to announce the next battle.

“Alright everycreature, here we go,” she began with a professional tone that carried a slight hint of excitement. “Please welcome our finalists. In this corner, we have the experienced squire of Royal Guard #74 and his musical magic prowess: Atomic Nebula.”

Once again, Nebula pranced into the arena, carrying a more confident expression than before. This time, he was focused entirely on his opponent, and took care to not let his fears overtake him as he teleported onto the platform.

“Alright, let’s go,” he muttered to himself as he jumped in place to get himself ready. “Who’s it gonna be? I’m ready.”

No he wasn’t.

Twilight Sparkle started to clap her hooves with an excited smile on her face as she read off the next name. “And on this end, a magic user without compare--and my personal pupil--please welcome Luster Dawn!”

As everyone in the crowd cheered, Nebula’s team reacted in unison--

“W-WHAT?!” Blue yelped as he breathed a bit of fire.

“Excusemewhat?!” Mei gasped, her glasses nearly falling off her face.

“Wait…what?” Grimrose asked in a delayed manner.

Indeed. Luster Dawn appeared from out of the other end of the field, and teleported onto the arena where she stood across from Nebula. She had an almost sarcastic grin on her face as she regarded the unicorn stallion who had a rather excited smile going on.

“...so they put us against each other, huh?” she rolled her eyes, “Guess she really wants to test me against someone with good training.”

“Guess it’s fitting since we both did pretty well in the prelims,” Nebula replied with a smile as he levitated his recorder. “Just so you know though, just ‘cuz you’re the princesses’ pupil, I won’t be holding back. You’re about to feel the intense training of the Royal Guard come to fruition.”

Dawn simply sighed and shook her head. “Oh Nebula. You’ve got so much support from real friends who don’t care about where you come from, you can practice all the magic you want without anyone breathing down your neck, and most of all, no one talks shit about you behind your back…” she then glared at him with a focused gaze. “...it makes me sick.”

Nebula tilted his head out of confusion. “...sick how? What do you mean, Dawn?”

“What do I mean?” Dawn grit her teeth as she levitated two translucent, pink axes into the air via her magic, replying with a cold, bitter tone, “...I hate you.”

“...”

Chapter 69: Atomic Nebula vs Luster Dawn

Before Nebula could even begin to process what he had just heard, Twilight sounded off.

“BEGIN!”

Shing!

In an instant, Luster Dawn flung one of her double-sided axes at Nebula. The stallion leapt out of the way with a quick dodge to the left before it exploded where it had landed. Soon enough, she conjured another, and cast it at him yet again, and again, only for him to dodge each one.

Nebula was shaken from what she had told him a second ago, but knew he couldn’t let it phase him in battle. If she truly hated him so much, then Nebula was going to push her to her limits as much as possible.

With a quick toot from his recorder, Nebula cast a small soundwave blasted contained within a magical barrier of sorts. This allowed him to cast off delayed spells that functioned akin to floating naval mines.

Of course, Luster Dawn could see the spell bubble float around her right side. There was a musical note contained within--B♭--and she couldn’t ignore it. With a simple flash of her horn, she flung one of her axes at it to cut it open while the other was cast at Nebula himself.

Tick--HONK!

As soon as the axe made contact with the the orb, it released a piercing note so loud that Dawn was staggered. She winced from the sheer loudness of the noise as she covered her ears.

This left her open. Nebula jumped over the axe flung his way, and stampeded in her direction. Making a beeline for the mare, he blew out more notes that fanned out and homed in on her like magical homing missiles.

But Dawn was prepared just in time. She was able to erect a pink shield around herself to stop the notes. Each one plopped against it with an almost electronic bounce noise. From the crowd, Sunburst in particular could be seen cheering once she executed such a move.

Sadly for her, this wasn’t enough to deter Nebula. With a battle cry, he leapt forward and performed a swift dropkick that shattered her shield in an instant, followed by a swift tackle that caused them to butt heads with each other for a moment, mere inches away from each other’s faces.

“Why?” Nebula asked with an intense tone through his teeth, “Why do you hate me, Luster?”

“...You…you’re everything I could never be,” she hissed back, “A regular old unicorn that doesn’t have a care in the world. What I wouldn’t give to have your life. I’m just so…dggh!” She grumbled, unable to comprehend her own feelings as she forced her head against Nebula’s.

“...”

In reality, they both knew she didn’t hate him per se. But it was as she said. Nebula had certain freedoms that Dawn could never have access to. The expectations brought on by her peers, her parents, and Princess Twilight were simply too much to bear.

Since they were still in battle, Nebula saw this as an opportunity to test both himself and Luster Dawn. After all, the exams were a place to better each other’s skills, weren’t they?

“...If you want it so bad, prove it,” he gave her an encouraging, yet competitive smirk as his horn lit up, “Shut up and fight me.”

Without warning, Nebula put his hoof around Dawn’s neck, spun her around, flung her upwards into the air, and caused a violet-blue musical laser beam from his horn up at her.

“...!!” She gasped once she found herself in the air, not realizing how strong Nebula was for a unicorn. She tried to counter the laser with one of her own from her horn, but she wasn’t able to in time, and her horn was hit with an explosion that blew her backwards towards the edge of the field as a few repeated notes began to play in her head.

Ding-ding-ding-ding--ding-ding-ding!

“Ooogh…” she shook her head as she tried to regain her senses, but Nebula was already coming after her.

He used a similar tactic as his previous match; a quick note from his recorder that caused a bass clef to appear below Dawn and launched her into the air once more. Before she could react, Nebula jumped after her and dealt a few jabs to her gut before preparing to finish her off with a kick to ring her out…

But just before he could execute that last move, Dawn’s horn flashed, and cast a spark spell around herself that sent Nebula flying backwards, breaking her free of his attack string. Starlight Glimmer could be seen with a smile on her face once she executed this.

“Ah!” Nebula gasped as he ended up on the other side of the field, landing on all four hooves perfectly. “...Not…bad. Still hate me…Dawn?” he breathed heavily in between his words, indicating that his mana pool was almost depleted. There were scuffs all over his body and his mane had become a dull, messy blonde color.

Likewise, Luster Dawn was equally winded, taking brief pauses as she spoke to catch her breath. She was also rather scuffed, and her mane’s ponytail had become undone, allowing her gold and orange locks to flow in a free, frizzled mess as she wiped away a bit of blood from her lip. “...Oh I hate you…alright,” she said with a competitive grin as she rushed at him, going on the offensive this time, “hate that…you’re about…to lose!”

Since they had used up most of their magic reserves, both unicorns were locked in what could only be described as a rare melee spat between their kind. Dawn went in for a hook, Nebula ducked under it, crouched forward, and slammed her with an uppercut instead. Dawn quickly shook it off and retaliated by headbutting Nebula, stunning him for a second which allowed her to lunge forward and tackle him to the arena floor where she grabbed ahold of one of his hind legs to trap him in a leglock with her sitting on top of him.

“Rrgh!” he grit his teeth as tears fell from his eyes. The last thing he expected was for her to pull a martial arts move on him, and the fact that she held his leg rather tightly also didn’t help. “Dammit…”

Dawn glanced over her shoulder at him with a tired, but confident smile as she held him down. “Ready…to…give up yet?”

But unfortunately, what little she saw of wrestling didn’t compare to the training that Nebula had received from Tungsten and the Royal Guard.

“...Let me play you a tune,” he replied with a grisly smile.

“...wha--?!”

Before she could blink, Nebula performed one of the riskiest moves when it came to wrestling.

Crick.

The stallion turned in a way that dislocated his entire kneecap, causing him to temporarily feel no further pain from her leglock. Then, he flipped himself backwards with enough force to reverse the entire hold she had upon him, powerbombing Dawn onto her back, then lifting her up and slamming her down upon both of her knees. This move was commonly known as the Manehattan Drop.

“GAH!” she yelped and fell flat on her face as Nebula stood above her. “...dammit…looks like I can’t…match you…” And with that, her eyes shut, confirming the KO as everyone in the audience fell silent for a brief moment, in awe over what they had just watched.

Nebula popped his right hind leg’s knee back into place. “...It’s over.”

Twilight Sparkle stared at the arena below, mouth agape along with everyone else. It took Spike snapping his fingers to get her to snap out of it.

“O-oh. Right, erm…ahem. We have our next champion! Atomic Nebula!”

And as soon as she gave the call, the crowd cheered loudly for him--especially his friends from his dorm block. Given that he was the sole member of their group to make it this far, it was something to behold.

“WOOOO!” Blue screamed as he exhaled multiple flames from his maw. “That’s my brother!”

“Yeah Nebula!” Mei shouted while clapping her hooves together. “Good show!”

“That’s my Nebby-boo!” Grimrose let out an uncharacteristically enthusiastic shout to top it off.

Nebula had won…but it wasn’t at all an easy fight.

‘And that’s what I like about it,’ he thought to himself before stumbling out of the arena for the final time.

Chapter 70

After their spat, both unicorns were escorted to the infirmary’s medical tent where their wounds and bruises were treated. Their injuries were so harsh that they both had to stay overnight and the nurses didn’t allow any visitors.

With nothing to do by lie in their medical beds with bandages around their bodies and heads, all they could really do was talk to each other as they came to their senses.

“Eeergh…” Luster Dawn awakened and sat up within her medical bed. “...that was a rough one.”

“Tell me about it,” Nebula replied as he sat up and turned his head to look at her to his right. “You put up a good fight, though Dawn. Your magic is off the charts.”

“...Only someone trained by a Royal Guard would know how to execute a Manehattan Drop,” she complimented him with a smile, which slowly faded into an empty frown as she reflected on what had happened. “...Seriously though, good game. You deserved to win, Nebula.”

Nebula chose to accept her words. “...thanks. I’ve been trying my hardest to get better, Dawn. But don’t sell yourself short, okay?”

She nodded, then tapped her hooves together with a nervous expression on her face. “Hey…about what I said earlier before our fight…”

“Hm?” he tilted his head.

Dawn would come clean, “...I don’t actually hate you. I shouldn’t have said that to you, and I feel ashamed of myself for it. I want to apologize for that.”

“...um,” Nebula was unsure how to react at first. Her overwhelmingly apologetic response had taken him aback as he rubbed the back of his head. “Er…it’s alright. Just make sure you keep your emotions in check, yeah? You don’t wanna say something like that to the wrong person.”

“Yeah…you’re right,” she agreed, knowing full well that her actions could have severe consequences if not properly handled. “I just…”

Nebula tried to pick apart what her problem was by remembering the key words she said to him before their exam battle. “...you felt like you were stuck in a box before, correct?”

“Exactly.”

“And you want to prove that you could stand on your own, right?”

“Of course.”

Nebula then gestured a hoof towards himself, then back to Dawn. “Well…look at what just happened. The Luster Dawn I fought today started to feel like the real you. Not the one who’s bogged down by Twilight.”

Luster Dawn’s eyes shot open. She began to ruminate on what Nebula had said. Over the course of that battle, Dawn had cast off her fears and fought Nebula tooth and nail. Not once did what Twilight Sparkle, or her parents and peers thought of her crossed her mind--even as she wrestled Nebula to the ground.

“...That’s…you’re right,” she muttered in an amazed sense of realization, “I…feel liberated after that battle. Like I’m starting to understand myself. Who I am, what I want to do…”

Nebula rolled his hoof in an encouraging manner, wanting her to arrive at a conclusion. “Yeah? And? What is it that you want for yourself, Dawn?”

“...to be free from Twilight Sparkle’s watch,” she stated confidently as she glared out of the window towards the sunset, “Sunset Shimmer didn’t allow Princess Celestia to control her every move. Of course, she made a few mistakes too, but…still.”

“Exactly,” Nebula replied with a nod, “You’ve got every right to desire some space, Dawn. You need to tell Twilight how you really feel. That’s the only way she’s going to know what you’re thinking.”

“...How I really feel…” Dawn repeated his words under her breath as she looked down at the blankets covering her body. “Maybe…”

Nebula lied back down with a huff. “Well, we’re not gonna get much else done from in here right now. Best we can do is just get some rest and heal up.” As he settled down in the medical bed, he gave one last prompt of encouragement to Dawn as he yawned, “Aaahg…just…make sure you…be real with Twilight….zzzzz…”

And in no time, he was asleep. Luster Dawn glanced at him with a grateful smile as she started to realize where Nebula’s motivation came from.

‘...I think I get it now. He’s got what he wants in life because he’s confident and sure of himself enough to go for it. I need to be more sure of myself as well. I can’t just rest on my butt and worry about what might happen. I need to take action for myself, like I did in that fight today.’

As she lied down, she glanced over at the sleeping Nebula.

‘Grimrose is one lucky mare.’

The next day would come and go by. Nebula and Dawn both had rested up, and everyone in the Academy needed time to recover after those hard-fought exam battles. Once Nebula returned, he was the only member of his team to have received a champion’s medal.

But the entire group remained solitary for the next few days, that is, until there was a knock at Nebula’s dorm room door.

“Mr. Nebula,” Professor Cayenne spoke from the other side, “There’s a mission I’d like your team to tackle.”

“Uuuurgh…” the unicorn stallion grumbled as he pulled one of his pillows on top of his head.

Chapter 72

At the edge of Abyssinia lied a forest that contained a small outpost and a dojo studio where many catfolk would attend to train and better themselves in the art of combat. The studio instructor, a tiger man, was the owner of this red and gold-colored building that sat on a small hill in the middle of the forest. And who was in charge of the current class?

A tigress named Sha’Beel. Within a room of dull brown wood floors and a giant tiger statue made of bronze at the center, holding various, currently-unlit candles against a backdrop of turquoise wallpaper with cherry blossoms, this would set the stage for our next arc.

Inside of the dojo, Sha’Beel was training a group of catfolk who were around high-school aged and a few years beneath her. She currently wore a traditional, white martial arts gi with a black belt around her waist. The class she was training was a group of blue-belt students. Today’s task was a simple one; organized drills consisting of punches in unison. The objective was to keep up with the rest of the class in an organized set routine for a warmup.

The tiger man and owner of the dojo, was walking around the room, wearing a jet-black gi of his own and a red belt around his waist--which indicated a rank even higher than that of black belt. He was busy observing each of the students that Sha’Beel was instructing as they copied her movements. Tabbies, calicos, shorthairs, and coons were all present within the class alongside other mixed breeds of catfolk.

“Ha! Hu! He!” they all called out with each punch.

But all of a sudden, the tiger man raised his hand and shouted, “Stop!”

The entire room froze and every student stood with their hands at their sides and their eyes open wide. It became so quiet that one could almost hear the collective heartbeats of every feline student as they stood in fear of whatever he was about to say next.

“This is what upsets me,” he began with a cold tone as he walked through the group of students who began to shiver from his foreboding presence, “We have an undisciplined practitioner in here. Someone isn’t following the proper warm-up routine. Would they care to identify themselves?”

Everyone was silent.

“No?” he asked with a shrug of one of his shoulders, “Guess I’ll have to figure it out myself then.” Eventually, he stopped at the rearmost set of students and stared at the final row of three which consisted of a calico, bobtail, and a lynx. “They’re here.”

The lynx student in particular darted his eyes around as he heard his instructor’s voice, which immediately tipped off the tiger man.

“It’s you,” he said with a rather ominous smile on his face that caused the lynx boy to shiver.

“M-me? N-no sir Mr. Eran!” he mewled nervously as he tugged the collar of his gi.

The tiger man, whose full name was Odu Eransa, approached the student with a patronizing smile. “Laurent…do you think you’re off-pace?”

The lynx boy, Laurent, was unable to respond properly as he started to sweat and further dart his eyes. “...W-well, that is to say--”

Odu leaned in, towering above the younger abyssinian as he lowered his voice to a more stoic, almost commanding tone. “Do you think you’re off-pace? Yes or no?”

With no other option, the student came clean. “...Y-yes?”

“Of course…” Odu shook his head and stood upright before walking away to the front of the room, “Dishonesty towards oneself is unbecoming of any warrior. Only filthy mutts are dishonest. Think about that for the future.”

His master’s relaxed response put the lynx boy at ease. “...oh, whew. So….uh…I’m not in trouble am--?”

Odu cut Laurent off as he spoke, “Everyone drop and give me fifty. Let this be a lesson in honesty to you all.”

“...”

There were side glances and glares at the nervous Laurent's direction, but everyone knew that saying anything else would only make the situation worse. Instead, everyone simply dropped down and started to execute fifty push-ups.

Next to Sha’Beel, Odu would mutter, “This is the future of our generation. I won’t allow them to become soft like our king and queen have.”

“...are you certain that hatred towards the diamond dogs is still justified?” Sha’Beel asked, “After all, many of them don’t want to fight us.”

“I don’t recall asking you for your opinion, Sha’Beel,” he replied bluntly, “Their ancestors terrorized ours and don’t deserve any quarter. Reparations are to be made for what they’ve done and I will not allow them to ignore history.”

“Master Eransa…” she muttered regrettably under her breath, only for Odu to give a backhanded reply.

“You want to become a true warrior, do you not? Do you remember who raised and took care of you when no one else would?”

Sha’Beel feel silent, knowing that her paws were tied and that she no longer had any room to speak. “...of course I do. My apologies for distrusting your word, Master.”

Odu cupped one of his hands under her chin, causing the tigress to twitch, as if she had been taught to accept her place. “Good. I expect nothing less of you. Now finish out this class and come see me later.”

“...yes, master,” she replied with a nod as he let go and walked off. ‘...Why does…no, he’s the one who took care of me. He has to be right.’

Once the students finished their push-ups, she called out, “Alright. Everyone get ready for the next drill.”

Chapter 73

Once practice was over, all of the students would exit the dojo and begin to walk on their way home along a patch of dirt road that led away from the dojo and to the paved roads of the inner city of Abyssinia itself. Among them, a few students followed Laurent. The latter barely managed to escape the ire of several other students who tried to shove his head in one of the toilets.

At first, he was relieved once he managed to sneak onto the path that led back into the city. That is, until someone familiar approached him. "Okay, okay...I'm safe--now I just gotta--fuck--"

“Nice going, Laurent,” a female tabby hissed at the male lynx as she followed him down the road, “My arms were killing me thanks to you.” She had mostly grey fur with a few black stripes, brown eyes, and stood tall above Laurent at five-feet and nine inches.

“Erm…” the lynx boy couldn’t really respond until a snow leopard girl popped up to defend him. Her body frame was rather thin and svelte with only minor curves around her hips with green eyes.

“Don’t be like that, Konija,” the leopard replied to the tabby, “You know it’s because Master Odu sucks for making us all suffer like that.”

Laurent--a lynx boy who stood at an average five feet tall with a rather thin, yet muscular build and blue eyes--interjected, “And to be completely fair, I was nervous as all hell okay?”

A black and white Cornish Rex tom would speak up. A bit beefier in terms of muscle than Laurent, he was about the same height with red eyes. “Whatever. Just don’t embarrass us alright? Sha’Beel represented Abyssinia in the Paladin Exams in Equestria. She’s working at the dojo and is a full-time student at one of those universities,” he hissed at Laurent, “If you were half as skilled as her, you wouldn’t be worthless dead weight.”

“...Okay Matthias, you’re really busting my whiskers here--” Laurent purred nervously as his ears flicked, “C-c’mon. It wasn’t that bad right, err…” he looked around for someone to back him up and glanced at a shorthair she-cat with a pair of glasses and a set of teeth braces, “...Southpaw! You don’t think it was that bad, right?”

Southpaw simply made a turn around the nearest corner and stormed into her suburban, single-story home, leaving Laurent with nothing.

“Aw c’mon! Besides, haven’t you heard the rumors?!”

The snow leopard girl tilted her head. “...rumors? What rumors?”

“Oh this oughta be good,” Matthias folded his arms and stood still to listen to what Laurent had to say. Konija did the same next to him.

Laurent flicked his tail and looked around before whispering to the group, “...I hear Master Odu is cooking up some weird magical performance enhancers that’ll allow him and a gang of other toms to wage war on Caninia and the diamond dogs.”

“...Uh-huh,” Konija looked at him with a doubtful expression, “And pray tell, how did you find this out, Lo?”

“I got an exclusive inside source,” he replied confidently before he let out a cough, “Ack!--snooping--ahem! Anyway, I hear he’s gonna fake an attack that’ll grant them permission to fight back with a bunch of magical, buff cat dudes!” he yelped as he flexed his left arm’s bicep and pointed to it with his right.

“...”

Matthias and Konija simply walked off without a word.

“Aw, come on!” Laurent hissed, “You’re gonna miss out on the best part!”

The snow leopard girl simply giggled. “...you’re suck a dork, Laurent. You know that?”

“Well at least you appreciate my efforts, Roo. You’re the best,” he added with a wide grin, commonly known as a ‘shit-eating’ one.

The leopard, whos name was Rooba, simply continued to giggle. “Someone has to put up with your insanity. But seriously, don’t go spreading those rumors. You never know what’ll happen if someone’s life is at stake because of them.”

Laurent simply walked along with his hands behind his head. “I’ll take my chances on that.

“...in the meantime, wanna go get some fried fish?” she offered with a nervous expression, but was relieved at his answer.

“Sure! I’ve been dying to get my paws on some tempura!”

A few days would pass. Once Fang and his team had gotten themselves prepared to depart, they got on a train that would take them East towards Abyssinia. On the ride there, they began to discuss what they knew thus far from within the confines of a rather sparsely populated train car.

“Alrighty. So what info do we have?” Rufus asked.

Fang took out the scroll that had the distress call from the goblin tribe written upon it. “Apparently, there’s a tiger man making some sort of trouble that only the goblins know about near the edge of Abyssinia.”

“Weird,” Spearklip commented with a shrug, “Why haven’t they just reported this to the Abyssinian council itself? They should be able to snuff out their own problems, right?”

That’s when Leelee spoke up with a nervous expression on her face. “...can I speak?”

“Hm?” Fang raised a brow and gave an inviting smile, “Oh…that’s right, this is our second mission together. Please, don’t be afraid to speak your mind, Lee.”

The monkey woman took a breath and went on. “...it’s possible that…any report would be stopped in its footsteps,” she explained as best she could, causing the group to nod in agreement, “...I know. Some messengers in Wukong would intercept warnings to the Emperor. They turned out to be spies working for other provinces.”

Spear hadn’t considered that and gave Lee props for her intuition. “That…actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it, Lee. If they had tried to inform the Abyssinian King and Queen, their efforts would likely have been snuffed out by this tiger guy.”

“Ohhh! That makes sense,” Rufus added as he tapped the side of his head, “Hence why the goblin folk are sending a report to us instead. You’re one smart monkey, Lee. I guess it makes sense since you come from where the ‘Art of War’ was written--great book.”

Lee blushed in response to the compliment. “T-thank you! Er…sorry I don’t speak your language so good…b-but I’m learning!”

“We’ll all have a lot to learn from the goblin tribe as well,” Fang added, “I could’ve sworn their numbers were nonexistent at this point. The fact that they’re still around is a miracle unto itself.”

Rufus stretched out his forelegs as he leaned back against this seat on the train, nearly backhanding the zebra mare next to him with his buff yak legs. “Welp, no use wondering about it. They’ll meet the Debonair King of Grappling soon enough.”

Spear couldn’t help but giggle into her hoof as she ducked under his leg. “...sure. We’ll go with that.”

Chapter 74

Soon enough, the train would arrive near the Abyssinian station. The city itself wasn’t where our group was headed though. At least, not yet. For the time being, they stopped at a station near the perimeter between Abyssinia and a newly fixed-up Klugetown that was now a bustling farming city.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Rufus commented as he stepped onto the train station’s platform. “Klugetown’s in a much better state than it used to be. Guess they finally got ride of all those slave laborers and body-part sellers.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Spear added as she followed, “Now I actually feel safe coming here. There’s loads of stuff I’m looking to learn about their medicinal customs.”

“I want to act as ambassador!” Lee squealed as she skipped off the train, and performed a quick bounce upon her tail to join the group, “The Wukong Province could benefit greatly from getting to know the Abyssinians!”

Lastly, Fang would join them and the train would speed off, leaving them on the station as other catfolk would wander off towards Klugetown. “Maybe. But we’re not here for a retreat, everyone. Keep that in mind as we move forward. We’re here to answer the distress call from the supposed goblin encampment near here.”

“‘Supposed’?” Rufus repeated Fang’s suspicion as the latter took out the scroll and began to read it. “You think this could be an elaborate trap, bud?”

“Anything is possible,” the dalmatian muttered as he sniffed the parchment that the distress call was written upon. “Then again…the scent is unlike anything I’ve ever smelled before. And of course, the handwriting is notably unique…” Fang paused as his nose began to twitch along with his tail wagging…

Spearklip immediately knew what this meant. Being a Diamond Dog, his sense of smell was acute like no one else’s. The zebra mare trotted up to him and asked, “Whatcha got, Fang? Which way?”

Without saying a word, Fang handed the scroll off to Spear, and started to sniff the floor of the train station’s platform while on all fours while crawling around. Eventually, he pointed his head sharply in one direction.

“Rrrrrff,” Fang let out a small bark as he hopped off the loading platform and into the desert between Klugetown and Abyssinia.

“Let’s go,” Spear ordered the rest of the team to follow, “Fang’s got something, guys.”

“Huh--sweet,” Rufus replied as he trudged after them, and beckoned the monkey girl to follow. “Hey, you comin’ or what, Lee?”

Leelee hesitated for a moment as Fang’s behavior was completely new to her. “Hmm? Is that normal behavior for Jun?”

“Oh yeah,” Rufus replied as Lee started to follow him alongside the rest of the group. The yak bull strutted along with a confident pep in his step. “Fang’s nose has never let us down before. Give him anything and he can sniff out the source of it.”

They both watched as Spear kept a close tail on Fang. The dalmatian man had, in fact, been led to right where they needed to be.

“I smell a system of underground caverns,” he commented as he looked around the empty desert at the various sand dunes. “There has to be an entrance somewhere nearby.”

“I got this, boss,” Spearklip offered, “Stand back.”

Once again, Lee was out of the loop, so she turned to Rufus and asked, “...erm, what is black pony doing?”

“Zebra,” the yak bull explained as they both watched Spear sniff, and even taste some of the desert sand on her tongue. “...her methods are a bit out there, but this is how they track their targets where she’s from. Zebrican Congo I believe.”

After feeling the shards of sand on her tongue, and spitting them out, Spear came to a conclusion. “Ptoo! Based on the texture of the sand, the wind has been blowing in this direction for quite some time now--that being East.” She turned to the rest of the team to explain why that was relevant, “This is because you don’t build a home in a cave facing the wind where sand could blow inside of it.”

Fang would bounce off of this as he stroked his chin, “So it stands to reason that we’ll need to venture Westward in order to find the goblin tribe. Based on what I’ve smelled thus far, I think we’re just about there.”

“Hey, over here!” Rufus called out from nearby, which caused everyone to turn their heads in his direction.

The yak bull had come across what appeared to be a sign made out of wood that read, ‘Turn Back Now Or Die’ written in a similar calligraphy to that of the message on the scroll. Something that Fang was quick to realize once he pulled out the scroll and sniffed the air once more.

“...we’re close,” he commented, “I’m catching a whiff of sweat, and metallic weapons. Stay alert, everyone.”

The mention of weaponry had gained Rufus’ attention. “Wait a sec, metal? We talkin’ steel or silver?”

“...does it matter?” Spearklip asked out of curiosity.

“Well if it’s steel, it’s gonna need to be hot,” Rufus went on, “Steel forges need to be hotter because steel melts at a higher temperature than silver does. And I think…” The yak paused for a second as he stopped to feel the sand beneath his hooves. “...wait a sec. There’s a bit of a thump going on.”

Fang would muse a potential outcome, “Could that be the vibration of a forge hammer hitting metal?”

Rufus had already started to walk off in a direction. His body was essentially a biological metal detector that could sense the sound of the forge through the thick sand. Given that yaks forged weapons and armor all the time, Rufus was used to the sound of clanking metal even in his sleep.

Eventually, he led the group to a sand dune that led to a lower elevation…where a small tunnel existed.

“Well now…” Fang muttered with an impressed tone.

“Big yak found it!” Lee cheered.

“Alright,” Spear added, “Now we just need to approach this careful--”

But Rufus had already approached the tunnel’s entrance.

“Hey, anyone here?” he called out, “We got your message!”

“You blockhead!” Spear huffed as she trotted up to him, “Get back--”

SHING!

All of a sudden, a spiked, steel club was pointed directly in Rufus’ face. Followed by a raspy female voice.

“Heyyo, how are ya? Everything good? Wanna come in?”

Chapter 75

Spearklip immediately leapt backwards and prepared herself to fight, but Rufus inspected the club in a nonchalant manner.

“...Steel. I knew it. It’s got potential though.” Being a yak, he was used to others pointing their weapons in his face, so it didn’t faze him at all. Instead, he simply called out to the wielder, “Hey, yeah we’re from Equestria. We got your message in a scroll.”

“...”

And out stepped…a female goblin. Standing at about four feet tall, she had the iconic traits of one. Green skin, pointed ears, sharp teeth, freckles on her face, and a rather raspy voice. Her overall appearance was also rather humanoid, with a muscular abdomen, plump breasts and wide hips for her short stature, muscular thighs and a head of purple hair that was done up into a spiked ponytail. Upon her body she wore a set of leather armor which included brown boots, a brown leather loincloth with what appeared to be bones sewn into the fabric, and a brown breastplate to complete the look.

The goblin girl held her club up and rested it upon her shoulder once she saw who they were. “Ah, it’s you guys. Great. There’s some junk we need you to take care of near Abyssinia. Some creepy-ass tiger asshole is getting ready to wage a war on the dogfolk or some shit.”

“A war on dogfolk?” Fang repeated what the goblin girl had with a sense of empty fear in his voice. “...utterly deplorable. Do the Abyssinian King and Queen even know about this supposed uprising?”

“Uh, no?” the goblin girl replied in a sarcastic tone as she raised a brow, “The fuck you think we called you out here for, Spots? The reports get stopped by some gangster bitches he’s paid off to do his dirty work. You won’t get shit done unless you take them out first.”

Spear would speak up, “I see. We need to cut off their support system before we take him on directly.”

“Take out the hydra’s heart before cutting off its heads,” Fang added, then looked at the goblin girl, “Alright, kiddo, take me to your parents.”

“The f--” she pointed her club directly at Fang while yapping, “I am a fully-grown adult goblin! I like beer, hunting, and sex with massive schlongs! Don’t you dare test me!”

Lee simply skipped over to the goblin and patted her on her head. “Aw…sweet monster lady is adorable!”

“I am NO--...w-woah…that feels great…” she relaxed as the monkey’s hand ruffled through the hair on her head. “...just…just make sure you don’t call me a kid again or I will fuck you.”

Rufus would point out the absurdity of such a statement. “...is that supposed to be a threat or--”

“Shaddap!” the goblin turned around, and opened the door to the cave she had been living in. “Follow me. I’ll have more info for you inside.”

Since it was a small opening into the depths, everyone more or less had to crawl just to fit inside. Rufus had the toughest time being a large yak and all, but with the help of a push from Spearklip, they all managed to get inside…where they were greeted with a much larger, and vast underground cavern landscape.

To be more specific, it was unlike the crystal caverns found beneath Canterlot and the Crystal Empire in Equestria. This was a more traditional cave system complete with drab browns and grays all over with a few colored gemstones jutting out of the walls and ceilings of the cave itself. Once they were inside, the ceiling was at least two stories high above where they stood.

“This is not unlike the mines in Caninia,” Fang commented as his tail wagged. The familiarity of the underground setting put him at ease. “I kind of like it.”

Spear meanwhile had noticed the various crystal structures that naturallyed formed along with cave’s insides. “Those crystals look pretty interesting. Hope we have some extra time to check them out.”

“I wanna check out their forge,” Rufus added, “Wonder what kinda material they use for their armor…”

“Woah…it’s so peaceful here…” Leelee marveled at the lack of noise within the cave as she could imagine herself meditating in such a place.

All of their mumblings would be interrupted by the goblin girl who had brought them there. “So yeah…here’s where I live, losers,” she led them ahead to a set of huts built out of wooden sticks and animal fur. In the middle of the small clearing, there were several large logs and a fire pit with a cauldron where they’d cook and eat their food. To the right of that was their forge complete with a heated furnace that burned with the power of coals next to their underground forge. “Just don’t break anything.”

“...I’m actually kinda interested in that weapon you got,” Rufus pointed at her club as she set it down next to one of the tents, “How’d you make it?”

The goblin simply rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion, completely uninterested in answering his question. “I didn’t bring you down here to answer a buncha questions. Just listen to what I have to say about that tiger,” she huffed as she sat down on one of the logs.

Moments later, a much older goblin would poke her wrinkled face behind thick-rimmed glasses out of one of the huts. “...are those visitors, Uziel? The ones going to stop those wretched gangsters?” she spoke in a gentle, yet aged tone of voice.

“Yes mom,” the goblin who had been leading Fang’s group to her home whose name was Uziel, replied with a softer tone, “Don’t stress yourself out, okay? You need to rest.”

Uziel’s mother would glance at the yak, zebra, diamond dog, and monkey before nodding her head. “I understand. Please make yourselves at home while I make something for you all.” She exited the tent wearing a tattered dress made of random patches of old cloth and approached their iceboxes. “Now where did I leave that bread…?”

Fang would then ask, “...is that--”

“My mom, yeah,” Uziel nodded as she folded her arms and turned her head away from the group, “...it’s just me and a few of my sisters here. My brothers and dad were…” She paused for a second and shook her head. “...no. Fuck that. I didn’t bring you here to give you my sob story.” She gestured to the other logs with her hand and pulled out a map, “Cop a squat and listen up. Oh, and just call me 'Uzi' please.”

Chapter 76

Meanwhile, in Abyssinia…

As soon as Laurent made it home, he had no time to react before he was ambushed, and stuffed into a bag with his wrists bound and mouth gagged by rope. The lynx boy squirmed about and wriggled uncontrollably, but he was completely in the dark until he was finally exposed and revealed to be tied to a chair in a dimly lit cobblestone dungeon…

“...Mmph?! MMPH!” the lynx hissed upon regaining his vision and looked around for any sign of who put him here.

As it turned out, Odu’s associates had brought him here--a caracal cat woman and a puma man.

Soon enough, the tiger man himself would walk into the dungeon area and greet the lynx boy. “Ah, you’re here. Good. Seems we can finally execute the next stage of my plan.”

Laurent became hysterical as he kicked his legs about, unable to speak but demanding some sort of answer.

Odu saw fit to indulge him for the time being, and nodded to the caracaless who removed the rope around Laurent’s mouth.

“Rrrrgh!” he purred angrily, “What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Well no, I suppose it isn’t,” the tiger man shrugged his shoulders and went on, “Long story short, Abyssinia has entered an era of peace…and stagnation. Our old rivals in Caninia can’t be allowed to continue living after what they did to our ancestors. I’m sure you know of the war between the Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs from around a century ago.”

Of course Laurent knew. It was a fact of life taught in all of their school curriculums. “Yeah, but we made peace with them about 10 years ago, didn’t we? All that shit we did to each other was in the past because of two stubborn assholes on both sides!”

While this was the case, Odu simply refused to believe that his kind was at fault in the situation. “...I don’t recall asking for your input, child.”

“Oh, okay then--so how about this,” Laurent changed the subject, “Why in the hell am I even here? Huh??”

“That’s simple…we’re going to give ourselves an alibi that the king and queen are going to follow us upon. With your help boy, we're going to show them just how awful those mangy mutts can be,” he nodded at one of his assistants.

This time, the puma man went to a nearby dungeon cell and retrieved what looked like a pet carrier that shivered violently and wildly with beady red eyes being the only think poking out of the strikingly dark box.

“W-w-what?!” the lynx boy bit his lip and quivered within his seat out of fear. “...w-why are you doing this to me?!”

Odu simply folded his arms. “A sacrifice is necessary for this plan to come to fruition, dear boy. Demented pups like these are the exact problem with this world. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let Rooba know how you felt about her once you’ve passed on. Your death will serve the greater good. Come now you two.”

The puma and caracal folks followed the tiger man out of the room. With the pet carrier’s lock being set in front of Laurent on a timer, it would be only five minutes before the lynx boy would fall victim to whatever lay inside.

Helpless, all Laurent could do was shout wildly as he felt the blood pump into his ears. “...you’re a monster…you’ll never take power, you hear me! You’re done! You’re finished! As soon as I get outta here, I’ll--”

Clink.

With that, the dungeon’s door was shut and locked, leaving him alone with whatever was in that carrier. And as soon as he realized what it was, he panicked. Sadly, all he could do was begin to sob and scream as he shook about within his restraints.

"No...nonono...it's a...HELP! HELP ME! GET ME OUTTA HERE! I won't be off-pace anymore! Please! I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die...!!"

But up in the ceiling, someone had been watching the situation unfold, and kept a close eye on the lynx and the cage.

“...This is gonna be a pain, but I’ll have to get him outta here if I wanna proceed.”

Back in the goblin’s cave in the middle of the desert…

Uzi would go on to explain what exactly her and her mother had witnessed thus far, which included the tiger man meeting with other Abyssinians in his gang to set up a plan of attack from an old fort at the edge of the region.

“It’s like a small castle,” she explained, “A single tower with a few ramparts surrounding it. That’s where he tends to go, so that’s your best bet.”

“Any idea what they could be planning?” Fang asked.

Uzi shrugged her shoulders. “Outside of the same ol’ shit about killing all dogfolk, not much else. If you want my best guess, they’re prolly gonna stage an attack on themselves so the Abyssinian royals will let ‘em wage war.”

Lee would comment on this from her own experiences, “...I’ve seen those ideas used before against previous Emperors. They are not fun. Nor fair. We cannot allow more corruption to spread.”

Rufus would put his hooves together and crack his neck. “Alright then, what’s the plan? Do we run up and smash ‘em or do we sneak in?”

“Never would I imagine you’d be up for sneaking in anywhere, Rufus,” Spear snarked at the yak with a grin on her face, “But I think we should get a proper layout of the place first before we--”

But just then, their conversation was interrupted by the voice and appearance of another goblin woman who looked to be the same age as Uziel. The main difference between the two was that this one had a head of red hair instead.

“Uzi! Uzi! We got a problem!” the redhead goblin rushed in and stopped before panting to catch her breath.

“...Sariel? What’s wrong?” Uziel asked.

The new goblin, whose name was Sariel, then explained what had just happened not long ago. “It’s Ziwa! She’s been kidnapped by some cat lady!”

Uziel froze. “...”

Chapter 77

As it turns out, that very fort that Uziel had described was the exact same tower that Laurent had been held captive within. A small outpost shelter built at the edge of Abyssinia that was now abandoned and served as Odu’s base of operations. Known to the Abyssinian public as Fort Sith, it served as an outpost during times of war, but had been abandoned in the modern era as security measures improved.

Hence why Odu and his crew were able to make use of it without any surveillance from other Abyssinians. But first off, Uziel would have to make a detour to save her sister known as Ziwa.

“I’m going, mom. Don’t try and stop me,” she huffed as she stormed out of the cave with her club tied to her back. “Don’t follow me either,” she called out to the others as she left.

Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t about to fly.

The elder goblin would comfort Sariel with a pat on the head while making a request to the mercenaries of Block Sigma. “...Please make sure she--”

“Don’t worry,” Fang interrupted her, “I wouldn’t dream of allowing her to venture out there on her own when we have no clue what our enemy is capable of.” He then turned to the rest of his team, “Alright everyone, follow me. We need to make sure she doesn’t fall victim to this tiger man’s scheme.”

“It could very well be a trap,” Spear pointed out as they all left the underground cave, “Just want you to be aware.”

“You think that’ll stop me?” Rufus boasted, “I’m the King of Grappling. No risk is too great.”

“I agree,” Lee added, “We must stop the corruption before it spreads!”

With their minds made up, the group would rush out of the sandy desert and towards the Abyssinian border where the old fort was located.

Meanwhile, inside the fort’s dungeon…

“Nononono!” Laurent screamed hysterically while kicking his legs in a fit of fear as the carrier opened up. The timer had gone off, and the contents of the carrier were now revealed to him…

A jackal diamond dog with embers coming off of its fur. A textbook hellhound that had been captured and starved just for the sake of Odu’s self-serving desires. With no way out of this situation, it seemed as if Laurent was doomed to be eaten whole by the hound who saw nothing more than a panicking piece of prey.

Now resigned to his fate, Laurent sighed and shook his head as the tears fell from his face. “...just make it quick and go for my throat…”

PEW-PEW!

Two bullets fired from seemingly out of nowhere had lodged themselves in the kneecaps of the hellhound diamond dog, causing it to scream out in pain before it was quickly silenced by a blindingly fast slash to its throat that killed it instantly.

Laurent opened one eye, then the other, only to realize that he had been saved. “W-wha…?”

When he looked up, he saw that his savior was a monkey man with a pair of jade handguns held crossed. A rather tall individual at six feet, he had a golden-brown body of fur not unlike a macaque and wore a leather jacket over a red T-shirt underneath it. Due to his fur covering up the rest of his body, he wore nothing underneath save for a pair of gun holsters on each thigh.

“...You speak Western tongue?” the primate asked in a rather low, almost stoic tone.

“...y-yeah…wait…you’re from the East aren’t you?” Laurent muttered in disbelief and awe at his savior as the monk used a kunai-like dagger to cut the feline free from his bindings. The same one he had ended the canine's life with.“...oh thank you, man. I thought I was dead.”

“It’s fine,” the monk replied with a shake of his head as he glanced down at the now dead hound, holstering one of his green, jade-plated pistols. “Poor bastard was treated horribly. I had no choice but to put him out of his misery.”

Laurent stopped to think about just how starved the hound guy looked. His abdomen was sunken in and his ribcage was completely visible to the naked eye. “...when you put it like that, yeah. All the more reason why Mast---er…Odu needs to be taken down.”

The monkey man scoffed at such a thing as he twirled one of his daggers upon his finger. “I’m not interested in the moral quandaries. I’m simply looking to get my coin.”

That’s when Laurent realized who he was dealing with. A lone wolf--or rather lone monk--mercenary. The lynx boy’s tail wagged in excitement as he wondered the possibilities of how skilled the primate was.

“Ooh! That sounds exciting!” he mewled happily, then pleaded for his safety behind that same smile, “Please show me as we get outta here!”

The monk simply chuckled as he checked the ammo of one of his handguns. “...stick with me for now, kid. What’s your name?”

“Laurent, sir!”

“La…La…what?”

“Laurent…?” the lynx repeated, then sounded it out, “‘Laur’ and then your mother’s sister is…”

“...my aunt?” the monk answered out of confusion.

“Exactly,” the lynx boy held his paws apart from each other as he pronounced his name once more. “La-ur-ent.”

“La…Laurwant…Loowhat--gah,” the monkey man simply shook his head as he walked up to the door of the dungeon cells and took a peek with his gun at the ready, “Too hard. I’m just gonna call you Larry.”

Laurent’s ears went flat as he rolled his eyes. “...fair enough. And what’s your name?”

“Yín Bēi Zǐdàn,” he answered, giving his full name which caused Laurent to blink and stare at him for a moment as he followed his rescuer up to the door.

“...what does that mean in my language?”

“When translated, I found that you’d call it ‘silverback bullet’ in your tongue.”

Laurent snapped his fingers. “That’s it then. I’m calling you ‘Bullet’!”

The monk who would henceforth be referred to as ‘Bullet’ simply rolled his eyes. “Call me whatever you like. Just stay close if you want to live.”

And with that, Bullet shot the lock off of the dungeon door, and led Laurent through the run-down cobblestone halls. At first, they met no resistance…until they reached the next floor above them where multiple Abyssinians that worked with Odu were stationed and watching over the tower with weapons of their own.

“Lā shǐ…” Bullet huffed to himself as he took one last look at how much ammo he had, “Outnumbered. I’ll have to make sure these shots count. Get down and stay down.”

Laurent did as he asked, hiding beneath the wooden stairwell…with a big dumb grin on his face as he peeked out over it to watch the primate in action. ‘...this is so cool!’

Chapter 78

Earlier, outside of the tower…

The team from Block Sigma had rushed along in order to catch up with Uziel the goblin. The latter had rushed off on her own when she heard one of her sisters was in trouble without thinking her actions through. However, goblins weren’t exactly known for being easy to take down without a fight.

As a result, when they arrived at the tower entrance, they saw a little green monster fighting off multiple cat warriors at once. She casually reflected the bullets they shot out of their guns, and knocked their weapons out of their hands before beating them down to the ground.

“...What’s the plan, Fang?” Rufus asked as they all stopped on a hill overlooking the tower, “Should we jump in to help?”

“...I don’t think she’s the one who needs help,” Spearklip muttered as she pointed to the violent goblin tearing up the guards around the fortress.

With this in mind, Fang decided to split the group apart in order to cover more ground.

“Lee. You’re with me. We’re going to infiltrate this fortress and see what we can find,” Fang commanded while glancing at the monkey woman.

“Shì de--ready!” she replied with a confident salute.

Then Fang turned to Spear and Rufus. “You two make sure she doesn’t get herself killed. Back her up as much as possible.”

“On it, boss,” Spear replied as she rushed down the hill.

“Leave it to the King!” Rufus cheered as he leapt after the zebra.

Once they were off, the dalmatian took a look at the primate. “This way. I suspect you have skill with stealth, yes?”

“Of course I do,” Lee replied with a smile as she followed Fang around the outskirts of the fortress. The two would circle around and avoid the attention of any further guards, allowing Uzi and their teammates to serve as the perfect distraction to let them get inside.

Soon enough, they’d find an opening via one of the tower’s windows, allowing them to leap inside and jump onto a platform that overlooked a small foyer area beneath. But what they were about to see…was not at all what they had been expecting.

This was right around the exact same time that Bullet had told Laurent to stay put below a set of stairs that led up to this room. A foyer with old wooden floors. Crates and barrels strewn about as the monkey man walked gingerly through the room…

“...”

The next thing he knew, he was ambushed by a cougar woman that slashed at him with her claws. Bullet dodged just in time, bouncing off of his tail as he slid backwards and fired a gunshot to her kneecaps, then another to her neck, causing her to squeal and hiss wildly as she fell to the floor.

Just then, a spotted leopard man jumped out from behind one of the barrels and fired a few shots off from a jade-plated lever-action rifle. The exact same brand of weapon that Bullet himself used.

Such a detail registered in his mind for later as he bounced up, and used his tail to hook himself upon one of the wooden bars that stuck out from the walls to hold candles. While there, he took another shot and put a bullet through the leopard’s shoulder, and his chest.

BANG!

“...!”

Bullet’s tail was shot by a serval woman carrying a revolver which caused him to drop to the floor before clutching it in pain. The revolver bullet grazed his tails nerve endings but the blood coming from the wound near the tip meant he couldn’t rely on his tail’s natural agility boost for this fight anymore.

So he had to improvise.

For the moment, he lied there. Still. Motionless. Acting as if he hit his head hard enough to lose consciousness. The serval woman would approach him slowly, unaware of what he was planning as she tilted her head…intent on making one last shot.

Laurent, watching from the stairwell, started to panic internal, biting his lip as he started to sweat. ‘C’monc’mon’c’mon! Get up, Bullet! I know you’re not done!’

Indeed he wasn’t.

Just before the serval woman could pull the trigger, Bullet spun around on his right hand into a quick one-handed handstand where he kicked the revolver out of her paw and shot her once through her midsection with the gun in his left, causing her to drop to the ground immediately after.

“Yeah!” Laurent cheered with his tail wagging, which caught the attention of several other Abyssinian guards that entered the room. “...oops.”

“Bèndàn…” Bullet muttered as he found himself surrounded on all sides by what appeared to be six large, buff cat men.

“Hey I know you,” one of them commented, “Yeah you’re Yin Bei.”

“His head is worth at least a million bucks in ABD,” another one commented, referencing Abyssinian Dollars.

“Let’s take his tail, then maybe we could take him for some fun,” one more added with a sinister mewl.

With his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket, the monk simply scoffed with an unimpressed, half-lidded expression. Opting to not say a word, and instead gaze out upon each feline’s body language to predict their movements. Since his ammo was limited at this point, and the wound on his tail was still aching him, Bullet knew he couldn’t expend too much energy if he wanted to get Laurent to safety.

‘...this one here…that one there…yup.’

And in no time, he was rushed by two at once. With his hands still in his jacket pockets, he’d execute his next move with just his legs and his hand-like feet.

Specifically, grabbing the face of one of the thugs with one foot and, using all of his might, swung him around into the other cat thug and knocking them both into a pile of barrels nearby, injecting their faces and eyes full of sharp, rigid wooden splinters. Then the next big cat that would charge at him would attempt to tackle him, but miss entirely once Bullet dropped to the floor on his back and kicked his attacker’s knee so forcefully that a bone had broken, and the cat man had collapsed to the floor, breaking his neck in the process.

And before any of them could react or even attempt to jump in after them--

BANGBANG!

Bullet used the last of his ammo on the remaining attackers, having somehow passed his guns down to his hand-like feet, and fired them off, shooting down the last three before getting up, passing them back to his actual hands, and flipping them back into his holsters.

“Alrighty…let’s get outta here, Larry.”

“Thatwassocoolomigosh!” Laurent ran up to the primate and practically bounced around him with his eyes beaming. “The way you shoot is so awesome!”

Bullet simply sighed as he put his hand to his head. “Argh…yeah. See if any of these corpses has a cigar or something will ya?” he requested as he waved him off with his other hand.

To which Laurent replied happily, “Yes sir!” And immediately went around looting each dead Abyssinian.

“Kids…” Bullet rolled his eyes as he looked up…and noticed both the dalmatian diamond dog and…fellow Wukong primate. “...well fuck.”

“...Yin Bei…” Leelee muttered his name as she jumped down to greet him with a stern glare in her eyes. “...why are you here? Answer me.”

All he replied with was a scoff as he turned his head away from her, “...I’m here because I have to be. What’s your excuse?”

Chapter 79

Outside the tower…

Spearklip and Rufus had began to back up Uziel to deal with the numerous Abyssinian guards outside the tower. The goblin woman had thrown out all sense of morality when it came to dealing with them as she swiftly dispatched each one she came across.

“Where’s Ziwa?! Answer me you shitheads!” she growled as he grabbed up one of the cat gangsters and continuously bashed her head into the side of the tower. “Answer me!”

“...W-we--AGH!--...she’s in one of the dungeons!” the jaguar woman yelped, “Odu didn’t want any witnesses!”

As soon as she had her answer, she tossed the cat woman aside, only for another gangster to try and sneak up on her, something she noticed from the corner of her eye until...

“Oh no you don’t!” Rufus called out as he tackled the puma man by charging into him. Unlike most of his other opponents, the puma man seemed to put up a decent fight. For a moment, Rufus could feel the paws of the puma pushing against his horns, but he was quick to counter this.

With a hefty upward tilt of his head, Rufus flipped the puma into the air, and timed a dropkick so hard that the feline went through the solid cobblestone of the castle walls.

At the same time, Spearklip had been engaged in combat with the caracal woman. In an ironic turn of events, the zebra mare had wrestled the jungle cat to the ground where she proceeded to twist her arms and legs until she couldn’t move anymore.

The two student mercenaries would continue to duke it out with the gangsters, but meanwhile, on a hill overlooking the tower…

“...it seems as if we’re dealing with more than just your average university students,” Odu remarked as he stood next to Sha’Beel, watching the situation from above. “They clearly have a heightened sense of training that’s comparable to even you.”

“I see…” the tigress muttered in a worried tone, “What does this mean, sir? What do you want me to do?”

“The next time you see that diamond dog, kill him,” Odu commanded as he turned to leave, “Make an example out of him that we can use for our prime directive.”

Sha’Beel tilted her head, “...where are you going, Master?”

“To get my…brews ready,” he replied from over his shoulder, “If we’re dealing with yaks and zebras, then I need to be on top of my own game as well. Remember, a true warrior finds success in their own skill. If you can’t follow that, then commit hara-kiri.”

As the tiger man left, Beel started to look inwards, wondering if she was really fit for this. Could she live up to her Master’s desires? Was it even worth it? Or was she simply being a coward and needed to face her fears?

‘...I have to do this. I have to.’

Inside the tower…

Given the awkward situation that he found himself in with the two monkeyfolk, Fang opted to back away and rejoin Uziel when she entered the tower.

“Hey, dogface! Seen my sister anywhere?!” she called out.

“I haven’t,” Fang shook his head, “Come. We’ll search for her together.”

“...what’s up with them?” Uzi asked in reference to the two primates that were locked in a heated conversation.

Fang ushered the goblin along down the stairs. “...it’s not something we should get ourselves involved with. Let us find your sister.”

While they didn’t wish to stay behind, Laurent certainly did. The lynx boy was eager to learn more about his newfound idol. Once he had given Bullet a cigar, the monkey man lit it up and took a hit from it while speaking to Lee.

“...you should not have left,” she chastised his past actions, “We could’ve worked things out and you left me hung--er…hanging for years!”

Bullet sighed, exhaling the smoke from his mouth. “...I wanted to love you. I really did. But to take the pain off of you, I decided to leave that life behind. If I wasn’t accepted there, then I’d find a place that would accept me. It’s not something you can understand from a commoner’s perspective, Liánhuā.”

True. Ultimately, whether she liked it or not, Lee simply couldn’t comprehend what it was like for him given that they lived a world’s length apart from each other. Even so, she didn’t want him to carry the burden alone.

“...Yin Bei…you’re right. But despite that, I still love you regardless,” she pleaded with him, “...and I have no intention of going back to my parents unless Emperor Chang removes them from power. I refuse all of their marriage arrangements and made love to you behind their back for a reason…”

"...And I loved every second of it," Bullet coughed once from the smoke, “...hmph. But that's good to know. Sadly, I got a job to do. Money is the only thing that really matters in this world anyway. That’s how your parents got to where they are after all…” he scoffed and patted Laurent on the head. “Stay safe, yeah?”

“Y-yes sir!” the lynx boy mewled happily as he watched his idol mercenary leap up to a nearby window.

“See ya, kid. …Goodbye, Li. Make sure he gets home safe for me, wouldja?” he muttered before jumping out.

“Isn’t he so cool?!” Laurent squealed as Bullet left.

Lee simply folded her arms and scrunched her face up due to frustration. “Yīgè yúchǔn de dǎnxiǎoguǐ…”

Chapter 81

Meanwhile, deeper in the cave…

Rufus had followed Uziel to a small grotto where she sat down with her arms folded. “...you saved me back there. Why?” she asked with a pouty sort of expression on her face.

Confused, Rufus rubbed the side of his head. “...Why? I dunno, just cuz? It’s what any self-respecting so-and-so should do for somebody else.”

“...I see. So what do you want?” she asked bluntly, causing Rufus to further react in confusion.

“...Say what?”

“Nobody does something like that just because they want to,” Uziel went on, asserting what she knew about people who acted for their own self-interest. “I guess you’re looking for a piece of my ass--”

But Rufus cut her off, “Hold on. It’s just what any good individual would do. I’m not selfish like most yaks who just do stuff for recognition.” Then he quickly changed the subject. “...Look, before you jump to conclusions, there’s actually something I’m kinda interested in.”

“Oh yeah?” Uzi replied as she undressed, removing her armor from her body, “What exactly?”

“Your weapons and stuff,” the yak went on, “We yaks take pride in our forges and it seems you guys have one of your own here. Do you actually get all of your materials from this cave?”

“...yeah, we do,” she replied slowly, not expecting to meet a fellow weapon’s enthusiast. “Iron, silver, gold in some rare instances too.” She then flexed her tiny green hands, “We’re basically like the dwarves you hear about in folktales. Our hands have an insane level of durability which allows us to do a lot with them.”

“For real? No shit, we’re the same way,” Rufus proclaimed as he looked at the various rocks around the grotto. “Yaks have a special kind of jawline that allows us to hold tools and other weapons.” He held up his stubby hooves and stretched them, “These things aren’t exactly made for holding stuff. So we’ve adapted in our own ways.”

“...That’s surprising,” Uziel muttered in awe, amazed at how in-tune he was with the concept of weaponry. “What sort of stuff do you guys tend to make then? Knives? Spears? Maces?”

“Scythes actually,” Rufus replied as he put his upper hooves behind his head in a casual manner as he leaned against the side of the rock wall. “Scythes are actually meant for farming, but it turns out they’re really great weapons too.”

Uziel’s eyes went wide as she glanced at him. Scythes weren’t very commons since not many people knew how to wield them in combat. But the fact that a yak of all people apparently knew how to use one…well let’s say it piqued her interest.

“...think I could see you use one sometime?” she asked, “I’d love for some pointers on how those work.”

“Oh sure,” Rufus agreed with a smile, “In fact, when we’re done, you should come with us back to Equestria. There’s a whole lot of stuff out there that you might like.”

“...A goblin…like me…?” she muttered nervously with a slight blush upon her freckled cheeks. “...would I fit in? Would they like me over there?”

“They will,” Rufus assured her with a sincere tone of voice, “And if they don’t, they’ll have to deal with me…the Intercontinental King of Grappling!”

His boasting somehow caused Uziel’s chest to thump. Her pointed goblin ears pricked up as she clutched her chest. “Hrrk…” The feeling to her was completely alien and indescribable. ‘...what is this?’ she thought to herself, ‘...why do I feel an overwhelming sense of…attraction to this bull guy?’

Having lived in isolation for so long without any male goblins, this was the first time Uziel could say she felt anything significant towards anyone else. Rufus’ confident, yet well-meaning demeanor was something she could get behind.

“...something wrong?” the yak bull asked, breaking her concentration.

“...N-nothing!” she quickly changed the subject as she undid the tie in her ponytail, “Just…need to let my hair down is all.”

When she did that, her head of purple hair fell down past her bottom half. A long, flowing set of violet locks that looked well-kept for goblin standards.

“...” Being a yak, who valued one’s mane/hair, Rufus was in awe at what he saw. “...damn.”

“...w-what?” she muttered nervously, “Do I got something on my face? Why you staring, cowboy?”

He simply chuckled and shook his head. “Nothing…I just like gals with long hair is all.”

“...” Unable to figure out how to respond, she simply hissed, then coughed. “ACK! Ahem…r-really?”

“...Yeah. I mean, I guess I find you attractive and kinda wanna get to know you better, Uzi. If that’s okay with you that is.”

The goblin girl simply nodded profusely as she scooched over next to him. “...Take me…to Equestria, please. I wanna see it all…with you.”

Rufus smiled as he brought her in close and patted her on the head. “Of course. We’ll go there together. With all of my friends too. They’ll be happy to show you around.”

“...I’d like that. Spots seems nice,” she added, complimenting Jun Fang’s careful treatment of her injured sister. “...He’s certainly going to be getting a nice reward from Sariel for his help.”

“...oh? What kind?” Rufus asked curiously, only to get a smug smirk from the long-haired goblin.

“C’mon. You already know.”

Chapter 82

In another grotto on an opposite side of the cave…

“Mmmph…mmmph…”

“I told you you’d like it~” Sariel teased fang as she sat her bare, green butt upon his face, feeling his tongue lash at her nethers. “We…mmph…goblins and imps value our bottoms. You’re getting an extra special treatment we normally make passersby pay for,” she added with a smug grin as she jiggled her butt back and forth upon his face.

Fang was moaning in delight. Never before had he experienced something as wonderful as goblin ass. His entire face was buried within both of her green, freckled cheeks. “Hrrrhghg…”

“Looks like you’re having fun down there,” she went on with a giggle, “I bet you’re super pent up from all that stress, huh?”

Eventually, Fang seemingly stopped breathing for a moment, but his tail was wagging happily. He was essentially suffocating in peace underneath Sariel’s butt, which aroused him to the point of an erection that she quickly took notice of.

“...Owo, what’s this~?” she giggled as she poked his member before crawling forward, raising her butt off of him.

“Aaghg…” Fang took a deep breath, gasping for air from nearly suffocating from Sariel’s rather massive rump. “...Did…did you really just say what I think you just said?” he asked breathlessly.

“Isn’t that how you animal-folk greet each other when you get ready to mate?” she asked, referencing many times she heard Abyssinians say it, “The catfolk tend to. I figured the dogfolk would as well.”

Fang lamented this with a painful groan as he shook his head. “...they’re saying it ironically. In an attempt to be funny. No one says it in everyday conversation.”

“Ohhhhh…” Sariel replied as the realization hit her, “I see now. Interesting what I can find out when I actually speak to one of you.”

“I’d be glad to show you more of our culture sometime,” Fang offered.

“Maybe…but for now, lie back while I play with you~” she crawled forward on her hands and knees while wrapping her feet around his throbbing canine shaft that had grown to be longer than her arm, causing him to growl. “...damn this one might actually kill me…I want it~”

Near the cavern’s entrance…

It wasn’t long before Spearklip and Lee had returned after escorting Laurent home and took seats on the logs around the fire.

“Please relax yourselves,” the mother goblin encouraged them, “Your male friends are currently having fun with my daughters, so they’ll be a while. How about I make you some soup, hm?”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Spear replied with a smile, then snickered to herself, “Of course. And here I thought the history books regarding goblins were true, making you guys out to be horse-eaters and all. Turns out that isn’t the case at all.”

“No trouble dear,” the elder goblin woman replied as she added some wood to the fire pit, “There aren’t many of us around anymore, so I want them to be as safe and happy as possible. If I could at least live long enough to see my daughters find a husband…and maybe grandchildren.”

The mother goblin walked off and started to gather ingredients for the stew she was making. All the while, Lee didn’t say a word. The monk woman was sitting on the nearby log with her elbow on her leg and her chin in her palm with a frustrated look on her face.

Spear noticed this and called out to her, “...hey, Lee. Is everything alright? You’ve been looking a bit…annoyed ever since we left that tower.”

“Hm? Oh…” she gasped and looked at the zebra mare, “...I’m fine. Just thinking about Yin Bei and everything that’s happened.”

“...who? Ohh…that monkey guy you were muttering about. I think Laurent called him…’Bullet’ or something?”

Lee nodded, “The man you call Bullet was a former lover of mine until…things got bad between us. I think I’m starting to see why he wanted to focus on saving that catboy so much. He reminds me of how…Bullet used to act.”

“Wanna talk about it? I’m all ears,” Spear offered, wanting to comfort her teammate and friend, “I’m not the most well-versed in relationship advice, but I can still tell you what I know.”

“Alright then…” Lee turned to face Spear and went on in more detail, “I’ll be telling you everything as I translate it into Western language.”

“Gotcha. Go for it.”

About ten years ago in the Wukong Province…when Lee was about 15 years old.

The young monkey girl was Lady of The Third Rank. A title that allowed her some freedoms within the Imperial Palace since she wasn’t that high on the totem pole. Despite this, her parents took great pride in her position and wanted her to grow up so that she could marry a monkey boy of a higher rank, propelling their House to higher status.

Of course, Lee didn’t care about any of that. She didn’t care much for the tea parties, dresses, or any of the boys she had been set up to date. Instead, she mostly preferred to spend time in her family’s palace garden and take care of the flowers while also practicing her tai chi for the sake of her mental health in order to get away from the insanity of her parents and their constant nagging. Her father wanting her to be more like her mother, and her mother wanting her to stay silent and do as she was told, lest she get spanked with a wooden paddle for simply expressing herself in a different way.

The frustration caused her to grumble to herself…until on that fateful day when she met a certain monkey boy. Well…less ‘met’ and more like, ‘witnessed a fight.’

Lee stopped her usual tai chi session when she heard yelling outside of her family’s palace.

“This is what you get!” a monkey man had cornered a monkey boy alongside his other goons who were chasing after him.

Eventually, they missed him because he had taken shelter in a tree above Lee’s home. “...whew. I’m safe. Don’t have to worry about them anymore.”

“...are you okay?” Lee called out to him from below, causing the monkey boy to shriek and fall to the ground within the garden.

“AH!”

With a thud!, the boy hit the ground and stood upright, attempting to lean against the fence to make himself look cooler than he actually was. “...uh, hey!”

Lee simply giggled, “...you’re funny. Why were you running from those citizens?”

“...may have kinda sorta…stole an apple…see I’ve got no food…or even a place to sleep so…yeah…” he admitted with a shy smile on his face, “...but don’t mind me. I’m fine! Really….”

But she wouldn’t accept this. As a noble, she felt it was her duty to help the commonfolk. “Come inside and have some food. Please.”

“...are you sure?”

“Mm-hmm!”

In the present…

“...so that’s how you two met, huh?” Spearklip asked, “I can only assume things got worse from there…”

“They did…he was so adorable with his stupid idiotic smile…” Lee gave a wistful sigh, “...but allow me to continue…”

Chapter 84

Indeed. Over time, the couple would spend more time together in secret. Bullet and Lee would often sneak out of the palace in order to enjoy themselves around the Wukong Province. Given that they were both of adult age at this point, there was nothing any of the citizens or guards could do to stop her and she reveled in such freedoms.

To be specific, Bullet would take his time to show her various places that peasants tended to go for entertainment such as movies and fireworks festivals. He’d also take his time to show her the various street foods he would eat, which included the likes of fried fruit and fish.

And on the flip side, Lee would take time to show Bullet more of the rare plants her family had as well as grant him access to her private tai chi lessons so that he could train himself to be a more disciplined man.

They both benefited from, and enjoyed spending time with each other. Soon enough, one thing led to another between them, and one night…

“...Yin Bei…would you…” Lee offered him her body as she sensually stripped down from her royal robes. “...like to engage in intercourse with me? I’m…in a swelling heat and need a man.”

Bullet took notice. Monkeyfolk’s erogenous zones such as their chests, butts, and other…parts tended to swell up once they reached sexual maturity. Lee’s butt in particular had swollen and grown larger alongside her breasts, just as Bullet’s muscles and…his member as well.

“...” The monkey man bit his lip.

“...There’s no need to force yourself,” Lee reiterated, wanting to ensure that she wasn’t forcing this upon him, “...only if you want to. We’ve known each other for…has it been three years already?”

“Yes…it has,” Bullet replied with a smile, “And I’d be honored to have you because I like you, Lianhua…not your family or money.”

“...part of me is worried though. What if my parents find out?”

“Then I’ll take the brunt of it for you,” he assured her with a smile as he sat on the side of the bed. “But it’s up to you if--”

Suddenly, Lee grabbed one of Bullet’s wrists and brought his hand to her breasts, encouraging him to grope her. “...mate with me you dirty peasant boy~”

Lee made her decision. Before he could even react, she leapt upon Bullet, teaing his swollen girthy primate cock with her massive butt until she couldn’t take it anymore and started riding upon his shaft via anal cowgirl as Bullet held onto her breasts. She did her best to keep her moaning to a minimum throughout their exchange of love even as he ejaculated within her ass and she squirted upon him as they smiled at each other…

And they would go at it for the entire night like the wild primates they were.

In the present…

“Aww…” Spear muttered with a frown, “It sounded as if you two got along so well. Even to the point of a loving sexual relationship too, huh?”

“Yes…” Lee replied with a sigh, “I refused the penises of all other men. He was the only one for me. I truly loved him and found joy in his passion for plants.”

“And it sounded as if he found joy in your passion for tai chi,” the zebra mare added based on what she was being told. After which, she came to a conclusion, “So…something bad must have happened between you, him, and your parents for this all to have happened. How long did this relationship last again?”

“...We knew each other at age 15, and started becoming sexually active at age 18…” Lee muttered as she recounted over the years, “...and it lasted until age 23. Just two years ago from now.”

Spear’s eyes grew wide upon hearing that. “...you guys went at it for six years and didn’t get caught? I’m impressed. I can’t even see myself holding a relationship for that long.”

“Don’t put yourself down, Ms. Spear…” Lee sighed as she recalled when it finally ended between herself and Bullet, “...Your situation is nowhere near as awful as my own. In the end, we were eventually found out one day.”

“...what happened on that day?”

“...”

After six long years of spending time with each other, and Lee going behind her parents backs to secretly make love to one of their peasant workers, things seemed as if they were going perfectly for the two of them. Until one fateful day…

“AGH! What are you doing?!?!?” Lee’s mother screamed as she entered her daughter’s room just as Bullet had finished and reached his orgasm, cumming in Lee’s pussy via the missionary position. “Get off my daughter!”

“M-mother no!” Lee squealed as Bullet hopped off of her. “It’s not what you--”

Before either of them could react, several of the palace guards had grabbed ahold of Bullet while Lee was apprehended by her mother.

“H-hey! Lemme go!” he yelled, “I was just--!”

“...how dare you put your filthy peasant fluids in my daughter?!” the mother monkey slapped Bullet in the face multiple times while he was held by the guards and they took him to the dungeon, “Inform my husband immediately!”

Both Lee and Bullet were taken to a dungeon beneath the palace where the latter was tied to a table as Lee’s father grabbed a rusty knife from a drawer.

“...I have no words for a cretin such as you. A peasant such as you has no right to dare look at my daughter, let alone touch her with your disgusting body.”

“FATHER STOP IT!” Lee screamed from nearby where she was held back by her mother, “Mother, let me go!”

“That boy shall pay the price for raping you. Don’t fight it,” the mother monkey confirmed.

“RAPING ME?!”

“RAPING HER?!”

They shouted in unison. Lee refused to accept this, and elbowed her mother before leaping forward and kicking her father, using the knife to cut Bullet’s bindings free. “GO!”

“Are you sur--?!”

“JUST GO!”

"I'll be back someday, Li! I promise!"

Bullet took the opportunity and leapt off of the table, kicking and flipping his way through the rest of the palace guards…until he was out of the palace.

In the present…

“...and that’s the last you saw of him?” Spearklip asked, to which Lee nodded. Then she’d ask, “...what happened immediately afterwards?”

“...I was…tied down to a bed…” Lee’s voice broke as she continued, “...and forced to accept sexual intercourse with other nobles…to ‘cleanse’ my body. But I didn’t want that. I wanted him….”

Spear fell silent upon hearing such a thing. Her internal rage built up to a point where her eyelid started to twitch. “...they’ll pay. I promise you that, Lee.”

Chapter 85

Meanwhile, elsewhere near the Abyssinian border between it and a volcanic region near the dragon lands…

The Abyssinian tiger man--Odu Eransa--had ventured deep into the brimstone-laced region filled with nothing but magma and ash. Eventually, through it all, he arrived at a lone shack that sat alone in the middle of what looked to be nowhere, and stepped inside…

“Heeeyyy…it’s my favorite customer,” a burgundy dragoness with purple claws and horns called out from a behind a desk where she had her legs upon. Her voice was smooth as silk, yet somewhat deep, “Need a bit more juice, huh?”

“I’m almost there,” Odu confirmed to her, “I just need a bit more so that I can start the conflict I’m looking to engage.”

“Whatever, my guy, so long as you uphold your end of the deal,” she scoffed as she reached into one of the desk drawers, and pulled out a vial of dragon blood. “This’ll keep you going for twice as long as before.”

With a quick toss, the dark-red dragon flung it at Odu and he caught it in his paw. “Good. And don’t worry, miss. I’d like to avoid the ire of Gloomtail and Bonetail as much as possible.”

“Tch, you better,” the dragoness rolled her eyes, “They’re always trying to look out for me but it comes off more like sheltering. Makes sense since they’re both older and a bit stronger than I am but still. Better not get on their bad side, you hear me?”

“Of course,” Odu replied with a nod, “And you intend on usurping the current Dragon Lord, correct, Ms. Hooktail? I’ll help out however I can once I’m done with my plans.”

“Yeah. Ember and Smolder are too soft,” Hooktail scoffed as she cracked her knuckles, “We should be out here bullying people and taking what’s ours. Not expressing our ‘fee-fees’ and other sappy nonsense.” She looked at a nearby dartboard with various knives sticking out of it that were attached to a picture of a blue dragon, "...my ex was one of them, thinking he can win with his emotions. Blech."

“On that we can agree,” the tiger man added, “Emotion is the key to the downfall of many empires. Hence why our exchange of services runs in tandem with each other.” He took one last look at the vial of blood. “And you’re certain this will make my power greater than it is currently?”

“For sure. After all…that’s blood from one of the old dragons lords,” Hooktail added with a smirk from her maw.

Odu glanced at her with an impressed expression. “...how did you…?”

All she said in response was, “Don’t ask questions you aren’t prepared to know the answers to. Now get outta here before someone realizes you’re here.”

And Odu would simply take his leave in silence, choosing not to question her any further. Unfortunately for him, someone actually was watching the situation the entire time from a nearby hill…

“...that’s the tiger guy my sisters were talking about.”

The next morning, back in the goblin’s underground cavern…

Rufus awakened, having slept next to Uziel for the entire night. The goblin girl took comfort in resting against the yak’s furry body.

“Aaaaugh…” he muttered as he awakened, and nuzzled the goblin girl’s face with his own. “...mornin’, Uzi. How are ya?”

Surprisingly, when she woke up, her demeanor was much less callous than before. “...I feel…great, actually. Amazing, even. That was the first time I’ve ever slept with a guy next to me.”

“And…how did it feel?” Rufus asked with a nervous smile, “I didn’t snore or squish you did I? I know yak fur gets everywhere so I’m not sure if I--”

Uziel interrupted him with a giggle as she stood up and stretched her arms out, “...it’s fine. I actually liked it because you were all warm and fuzzy. Yak fur is a bit different from the other pelts I’ve had over the years.”

“I could give you some of mine if you want,” he offered while brushing some of his locks out of the way of his face, “I could use a bit of a shave anyway.”

Uziel giggled as she did her hair up in its usual ponytail shape. “...I might have to take you up on that at some point. But c’mon, let’s see if any of my sisters found anything out last night.”

The two would join the rest of the group around the fire pit. Fang had awakened before them and had a few small bite marks on his chest and neck, a detail that Rufus was quick to notice.

“Uhh…”

“Don’t ask,” Fang cut him off as he gestured to an empty spot on the log next to him, “As it turns out, we’ve got quite the situation on our hands, Rufus.”

“Oh really?” Rufus sat down next to him, and looked at his fellow teammates for an explanation, “What’s going on?”

Meanwhile, Uziel had left the group to speak with one of her sister’s…

Spearklip would speak up first. “As it turns out, one of the goblins here has found out that the tiger guy is getting some sort of substance from a shack near the dragon lands. Whatever it is could be exactly what he’s intended to use to start a war between the Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs.”

Fang shuddered at the thought of a war, given his family back home. Not to mention his mother and her condition. “Rrgh…this is bad. I can’t afford to let that happen,” he huffed with a hint of fear behind what was meant to be a bold statement.

“We won’t let it happen, Jun,” Lee ensured him. She was aware that, as a Diamond Dog, his whole family could be at risk. Given her own experiences, she didn’t want him to have to suffer either. “We will make sure that nothing happens to either side. I can promise you that.”

“...Hearing that from you puts me at ease, Ms. Lee,” Fang replied, noting how sincere her words were, “Sorry…I shouldn’t let my emotions overtake me.”

Moments later, Uziel would return to the group. “Okaaaay…I’ve got good news everyone. Our target isn’t too far from here. If we leave now, we could be back before it gets too dark and cold topside. Let’s hurry.”

Chapter 86

With everyone in agreement, they all set off for the border near the dragon lands. After a quick skip across a river or two, they would eventually come into contact with the very same shack that Uziel’s sister had told them about.

“Is that our target?” Fang muttered. “Looks fairly isolated amidst a sea of flame and peril.”

“Absolutely,” Uziel replied, “Jophiel isn’t gonna mess around with her info. Whoever is giving this tiger guy his resources, they’re here. I just know it. Let’s get in there and whoop some ass.”

Fang placed a paw on her head, preventing her from running off. “Patience. We have no idea what it is we’ll be dealing with once we arrive there. We need to approach this cautiously. If whoever this is is truly dealing in illegal substances, they need to be brought to heel.”

“Not to mention, we need to question them,” Spearklip added, “Killing them alone won’t solve anything nor will it lead us any further to Odu.”

Rufus, knowing full well that he wasn’t the best at communication, offered himself to not go. “Yeah I don’t think that’s my forte. But it’s your call, boss,” he said towards Fang, “You make the call on who goes where.”

Fang thought it over for a moment. It didn’t take him long to figure out who would be the best to approach a rather sensitive situation. “Lee. You’re up.”

“Me? Yes, sir!” the primate woman stood at attention and saluted, thinking that was the best way to respond.

“Spear. Back her up as she makes her way in,” Fang added as he glanced at the zebra mare, “Just in case there’s some sort of trap or extra personnel about.”

“Mm,” she replied with a nod, “On it.”

Uziel grumbled as she folded her arms. “Seriously? I don’t get to do anything? Come on…”

Rufus would interject, “When Fang comes up with a plan, it usually works out. Let these two handle this, alright?”

The goblin puffed out her cheeks as she pouted and sat down. “...fine. But only because you said so, Rufus.”

“Seems as if she has a fan,” Fang teased his yak friend with a slightly demented grin.

“...can we not, please,” Rufus rolled his eyes as Spearklip giggled, “I said can we not--”

“...I didn’t say anything,” Spear looked at Lee and prepared to head down the hill, “You ready?”

The primate nodded, “Yes. I will go forth.”

With their plan in motion, the two would proceed to carry out Fang’s orders. Lee was up first, walking through the hellscape of brimstone without a care in the world as she approached the seemingly abandoned shack.

Meanwhile, Spearklip kept close tabs on her teammate, following her at a safe distance. The objective was to make contact with whoever was inside of this building as least violently as possible, and Fang chose the two of his teammates who were least prone to unnecessary violence.

All was going well until Lee arrived at the shack’s door.

“Ni-hao! Is anyone home?”

On the inside…

“...!” Hooktail scrambled to hide all of her weapons and documents. “Shit…how did they find me? No big deal, just gotta skip town and set up shop elsewhere…” The dull red dragonness grabbed all of her vials and huddled them into a burlap sack that she slung over her shoulder. “First, gotta bury the evidence…”

The sounds she made--the scraping and rustling of various glass bottles and paper documents were audible from outside. Even Spearklip could hear them from the rock she was hidden behind.

“...as soon as someone knocks, they suddenly start to make a lot of noise. That’s not suspicious at all,” she snarked, knowing full well that whoever was inside was guilty. She decided to preemptively cut them off by sneaking around to the rear side of the shack while exchanging a cursory glance with Lee, who nodded at her in return.

“Helloooo?” Lee called out once more, “Is anyone hoooome? I’m looking to purchase some of your finest wares, please!”

Just then, Hooktail tried to escape out of the back of her shack. But before she could take off, she was tackled to the ground by Spearklip. The dragon was just as strong as the zebra though, and was able to easily overpower her by flipping her off of her body.

“Dammit!” she roared, “Are ya’ll feds or somethin’?!”

But before she could blink, she was dealt a scale-piercing chop to the back of her neck by Lee which made Hooktail cry out in pain before flicking her tail to whip, and send Lee flying backwards a few paces.

“Argh…” the dragoness huffed, “Not bad, but you’ll have to do better than that. What do you even want from me, anyway? I’m not selling anything illegal.”

Even though Hooktail was surrounded on both sides by both the primate and zebra, Spearklip knew that they wouldn’t be able to take her on their own..

‘She’s fairly strong. We need everyone to back us up. C’mon guys, get down here…’

Chapter 38

Later that evening, at the home of Tungsten Wolfe…

Nebula had arrived at the elevated, log cabin style home of his superior knight. As soon as he knocked on the door, Tungsten opened it up and listened to what the young stallion had to say…

“Hold up now, is she serious?” the guardstallion commented to his squire as he invited him inside. “Zesty’s daughter is gonna try and frame ya’ll for sexual harassment?”

“I was just as surprised as you are,” Nebula huffed as he stepped inside and sat on the ouch with Tungsten closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to let you know so we’ll have an alibi in case something bad happens.”

Tungsten trotted over to his kitchen and started to reach for a few items from the cupboards. “I getcha. So you invitin’ your friends over to chat, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nebula replied, “It’s much safer to be here than at the dorms since she apparently managed to sneak in and leave some falsified evidence behind. She’ll likely be back to try and listen in on what we’re doing.”

“Hrm…” The guardstallion tapped his hoof on the marbled countertop as an idea came to him. “Ya’ll can chill in my crib down below.”

Nebula turned his head around to the kitchen, “...your what?”

“A place where homedogs can chill without worryin’ about who’s listenin’,” Tungsten started walking off towards the hallway, “C’mon, follow me.”

An intrigued Nebula would follow Tungsten to a wooden cellar door that led to an underground basement area. Once Tungsten turned on the lights, Nebula’s face lit up in awe…

“Woah…”

In the middle of the room was a billiards table, there was a dartboard on the wall, and to their left, a set of weights including dumbbells and barbells. It was no surprise that a Captain of the Guard had to keep himself well trained and organized. Everyone was accentuated by a nice, beige carpet that clashed with the floor’s redwood surface.

Nebula took a look around and found himself filled with excitement. “So this is where you get most of your training done? I knew it!” he squealed in delight as he pranced over to the weights, “Think I should--?”

“Hey now, bud, watch yourself,” Tungsten warned him as he followed him over, “These are crafted for earth pony bodies. Unicorns and pegasi will have a harder time lifting them, alright? Anyhow…ya’ll can use this place as ya’ll base where ya make plans since it ain’t as safe at the school.” The thought of the Academy not being safe filled Tungsten with contempt. First the incident where Nebula was nearly blinded, and now this? Tungsten wasn’t going to tolerate that and leave it be. “...and I’mma make sure I get some extra security down there. Ya’ll kids deserve’ta feel safe while learnin’.”

“I appreciate it,” Nebula replied with a nod, “The fact that Harissa was able to slip in so easily is very concerning. In the meantime, my team should be here shortly.”

“I’ll get ya’ll some snacks,” Tungsten offered as he trotted back upstairs, “How’s bean burritos sound?”

“Awesome!” Nebula agreed, “Thanks, Tungsten. By the way, how're things going with Honey?”

"Ah...we doin' fine every night, bud. Let's keep it at that-" As he went back up, Tungsten thought to himself, ‘You’re my boy, Neb. I’mma do all I can to help ya’ll. Tomorrow, I’mma let the Princess Know what’s goin’ on so we can start makin’ sure we make changes to the culture of this place.’

As much as he knew Nebula had a good heart, Tungsten also knew that the young stallion couldn’t accomplish such widespread change on his own. Given that he knew he’d have some sway as a high-ranking member of the Royal Guard, he figured it’d only be fair to bring to light just what was wrong with Canterlot’s culture to the princess so they could start to enact changes that moved away from the anorexic state of idol culture.

About ten minutes later…

The rest of Nebula’s friend from his dorm block would arrive.

“Hey, man--sick place Mr. Wolfe has,” Blue complimented the decor as he flew down into the cellar.

“The wood is very rustic and calming,” Grimrose added as she trotted down the steps.

Mei nearly stumbled her way down with a book in her magical grip. “Ah! Sorry, I’m just a bit captivated at the moment. It was very nice of Mr. Wolfe to invite us over, Nebula.”

“Don’t trip,” Nebula said with a snide tone, “Literally. But for real, he’s okay with it and knows about what Harissa’s planning.”

“Think he’ll be able to convince Twilight of what’s going on?” Blue asked as he flew down to one of the weight benches to have a seat. “Harissa said she’d blab her mouth off if she caught wind.”

Nebula shook his head, “Nah, don’t worry. Letting him know was the best option since we’ll have an alibi.”

Rose took a seat on one of the stools next to the billiards table. “That’s a fair point. Now…I’m proposing we do what we did to Gaea. We go inside her mind, and make her see the mistakes she’s made.”

“A psychological scare tactic!” Mei chirped as she slammed her open book down on the green mat of the pool table, “Of course. That’s how you were able to convince Gaea to fess up to her crimes. You basically put her in a corner and made her think about what she did.”

Blue snorted with a laugh, “Well I mean when you put it like that, you kinda take the whole badass nature of diving into someone’s head out of it.”

“I still think it’s a bit iffy,” Nebula admitted with a sigh, “But I can’t deny that it’s rather annoying to see someone like Mr. Anzac suffer because of how greedy and selfish Zesty was being. On top of spreading her influence to run Saffron out of business.”

“I’m aware that it’s not very moral,” Rose agreed, knowing full well the implications of their actions. At this point however, she knew they couldn’t afford to rest on their laurels and had to toss aside any worries she may have had. “...but we have to do something. I won’t act unless we’re all in agreement though.”

“Hang on,” Mei cut in, “Didn’t you say you needed her blood in order to perform the ritual that allows us to go inside her head?”

“I do,” Grimrose nodded, “And I have a plan as to how we’re going to accomplish it. Listen up…”

Chapter 40

Outside…

Nebula followed Harissa down an alleyway until--

“Okay, bucko,” she force-grabbed him by the neck with her magic, pulling him down to her level, “If you don’t wanna have your life ruined, you better start listening to me.”

“Blegh!” The force of her magic caused him to cough and sputter before shaking his head, “W-what? What are you talking about?”

Harissa used her magic and pushed him against the nearest wall. “It’s like how mom told me: Cute stallions like you are meant to lie back and do as we say. Mares like her run this city, got it?”

While they were ‘talking’ several shadows started to loom over them from the rooftops of the buildings overlooking the alley…

Nebula couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Such a pessimistic view towards stallions was staggering. His ears flicked as he processed what she said. “...A-are you serious?”

“Oh come on,” she replied with a scoff as she started pacing back and forth in front of him, “You can’t seriously ignore the obvious signs in front of you. Mares like my mom run this place. Is it any wonder why the ones in power are always Princesses? Because they’re stronger. Smarter,” she added while tapping the side of her head. “Idiot guys like Prince Blueblood are never gonna have a chance with their little pea-brains. And when Luster Dawn takes the throne next, guys like you will just need to stay home and do as we say.”

Bam.

About a dozen Royal Guardsponies--including Tungsten Wolfe, dropped down and surrounded Harissa. The young mare’s expression turned cold as she realized the numerous presences that were nearby.

“...”

With a slow flicker, she deactivated her magical hold on Nebula, causing him to drop to the ground as she turned around to try and play it off with a sheepish smile.

“Err…I-I didn’t mean it?”

Tungsten stepped forward alongside a guardsmare.

“You ain’t gettin’ outta this one,” he commented as the armored mare next to him. “Take her to the common area of the castle, ya’ll. Need a confession outta her before Twilight decides on her sentence.”

“Yes, sir,” the guarsmare replied as she apprehended Harissa via placing a magic blocker ring on her horn and hoisting her into her back to carry her. “Up you go, ya little demon.”

As she was carried off by the guards, Harissa had a defeated expression on her face, as if she knew her failure would result in disappointment from her mother…

Nebula stood upright and dusted himself off. “Well that went just about how I expected it to go,” he remarked sarcastically with Tungsten staying behind to check on him.

“You okay, big man?” Tungsten asked while looking his squire over.

“I’m good…thank you,” he replied sincerely.

Tungsten patted him on the back of his neck. “Good. Now go ahead and finish out what ya’ll started. Your friends are waitin’.”

“Of course.” With newfound motivation, and a steeled gaze, Nebula started running back towards the penthouse building. “I won’t let them down.”

Inside Zesty’s massage room…

“Ach! What in the devil’s name was that?”

The mare yelped in response to a shooting pain in her back that was the result of Grimrose taking her chance with the incision of the sharp edge of her feather to draw blood.

“You got a small cut,” Rose gave a logical answer that wasn’t technically a lie. “I’m going to dress it with some healing balm.”

“Thank you,” Zesty replied as she relaxed, none the wiser of what had just happened. “I can’t show up to a competition with an open wound holding me back.”

Grimrose answered in her fake-happy tone, “No prob!”

Outside…

Blue jumped down out of the tree and cracked his knuckles as he joined Nebula. “You ready, my man? This’ll be your first time entering someone’s mind dungeon.”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he strutted forward with his head held high, much to Blue’s confusion.

“...Uh, what are you doing?”

“Blending in,” Nebula whispered as he continued to trot with a gallant stride which caught the attention of a few nearby high-class mares his age. “This place is pretty bougie and filled with shallow ponies. Follow me.”

With a shrug, Blue began to strut after his unicorn friend with his arms at his side and his fists balled up confidently, swaying his arms back and forth with each step. The exaggerated swagger of the blue dragon caused him to blend in perfectly alongside Nebula as the two made their way to the elevator.

“Whew,” Blue huffed, and put his claws on his knees once the elevator doors shut and started to take them upwards. “Goddamn, I’m glad we managed to get through that. Felt like I was gonna suffocate from pumping out my chest so hard. What's with Canterlot's obsession with material crap and appearances?”

Nebula thought over the rather suffocating atompshere of the building as Blue put it. Unfortunately, all he could think
to say was a rather cryptic statement. "...Opulence is sinful my dude. And it looks like we're all paying for it."

"Shit..." Blue muttered, "...guess that does sum up Canterlot, huh?"

“All the more reason why we need to incite change on a social level here. C'mon, we’re almost there,” Nebula called out as he watched the elevator numbers tick upwards to the top floor, “Let’s be careful now, huh?”

Ding!

Once they got off the elevator, they heard a voice call out to them.

“Psst. Over here,” Mei’s voice came from the end of the hall where she was.

The boys went over to her, and they all gathered in a quick huddle.

“Alright, what’s going on with Rose?” Blue asked, “Does she have what we need yet?”

“She’s almost done,” Mei replied, “Don’t worry, I’ve already disabled the security cameras on this floor with a magical overload. Once Rose is finished, we’ll be ready to go inside of Zesty’s head--”

Just then, the door swung open, causing the trio to cling to the wall with their backs against it in complete silence as Grimrose left the apartment.

“Take care now, ‘kay?” she called out in her fake-peppy tone before shutting the door behind herself. After which, she immediately hung her head in disgust. “...yuck. I can’t believe I actually did that.”

The rest of the group took a relaxed breath once they were in the clear. Nebula approached her first.

“...jeez, was it that bad, Rose?”

“Nevermind that,” she chose to swiftly move away from the subject whilst taking out her tome to write in it. “We’re about to head into Zesty Gourmand’s mind. Are you guys ready?”

“Yup,” Blue replied while rolling his shoulder.

“Prepared,” Mei added.

“Let’s see what makes her tick so we can get some answers,” Nebula agreed.

And with that, Rose drew Zesty’s blood into the blank page…

POOF!

Chapter 41

Just like with Gaea’s head from before, everyone would travel into the vast emptiness of Zesty Gourmand’s Mindscape. Also just like before, Blue had become his alter-ego known as ‘Wyvern’ with his brown, nomadic style armor and Grimrose had become ‘Priestess’ with the same gothic dress and veil costume as before.

“Alright,” Blue flexed his claws, noting how his appearance had remained consistent during travel between the Mindscapes. “Looks like I’m Wyvern again. How about you, Ros--er, Priestess?”

“Here,” the pegasus mare replied as she lifted her veil to show her face a tad before letting it back down. “But where’s the other two members of our team?”

“...woah…” Nebula stepped forward as he glanced around himself. Just like the others, he had been outfitted with his own ‘hero’ costume of sorts. A set of blue and white mage robes and a hood accompanied by a leather holster on his left hoof for his recorder to grab at a moment’s notice. The robes concealed most of his body underneath and his hood served as a way to conceal his face not unlike Wyvern’s hood. “I look like a real knight now, huh?”

“You could say that again,” Blue agreed, “Like a powerful sorcerer from one of those AK Yearling books!”

“Very nice…” Rose added with a nervous smile before turning her attention to Mei… “Mei? Is that you?”

Mei’s costume was a suit of leather that was colored both yellow and dark green to match her mane alongside a green cloak that came up to a rather wide collar. Along with this, there was now a feather tricorne hat that matched the cloak’s green color, which gave her the appearance of someone mysterious.

“...It feels a bit awkward around my flank,” Mei muttered as she took a look around herself. “But I think I like it. And the rest of you look pretty snazzy too,” she added with a giggle while looking at Blue in particular.

“Sweet!” Blue cheered with a thumbs-up. “I could barely tell it was you for a sec, honestly.”

“Nice,” Nebula added, “So this is what happens when we come here, huh? It’s like secret identity costumes…from comic books. Huh.”

“That’s right,” Grimrose added with a nod, “And to keep our identities hidden from the individual whose mind we’ve invaded, we make use of codenames so that we don’t let our target know who we are. I am Priestess, and that’s Wyvern,” she added while pointing her hoof at Blue who nodded with her.

Nebula rubbed his hoof against his chin. Taking into account the comment about looking like a sorcerer… “Hrm…alright, call me ‘Archsage’ while we’re here.”

“Archsage?” Blue mulled it over, and came to like it, “Alrighty, leader. You’re Archsage now.”

“I like it,” Rose smiled under her veil and looked at Mei. “What about you?”

The kirin mare had already figured it out for herself. Given that Blue almost didn’t know who she was with this outfit on… “Trickster. Master of mystery and confusion. And Archsage is a great name for our leader.”

“Trickster’s a good one,” Nebula agreed, “What about the rest of you guys?”

“Trickster it is,” Rose added.

“Feels cryptic and matches well with her style,” Blue grinned, “Trickster it is.”

Mei--who was now Trickster--nodded, and started to trot forward through the vast emptiness of Zesty’s mind. “Interesting. So we're essentially rooting around in someone's head and all they can tell is that it's a dream?"

"Pretty much," Priestess replied.

Archsage spoke his mind in reference to his little experience with Gaea's head. "No wonder Gaea was so spooked when we got back…it all makes sense now that I'm actually in someone else's. Feels strange, but I'm into it."

"Yep, however," Trickster remarked as she trotted forward, "...Nothing here so far. What do we do in someone's mind exactly?”

Blue--or rather, Wyvern--couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders as he spread his wings and took off. “Move in, do what we can until--”

“Wyvern, get down!” Archsage Nebula shouted as something flashed in front of the group!

A bolt of magic that barely whizzed by, and grazed one of Wyvern’s wings. When the group looked up from where they stood to locate the source of the blast, they were met with a familiar mare wearing a completely different outfit herself…

Zesty Gourmand approached them. Or at least, it looked like Zesty Gourmand wearing a black suit with a blue sash around her body. On it was bold white letters that read, 'International Culinary Ambassador' on it. “How dare you disrespect my authority as a member of the Gourmand Family? I am the international culinary ambassador who will live up to the expectations that Canterlot has placed upon me!”

“What in the fresh hell is even--?” Wyvern spread his wings and flew down to the empty floor of her mind. “What is wrong with you, lady?”

A simple observation of her attire allowed Trickster to deduce Zesty’s inner self rather quickly. “...she sees herself as a high-ranking political figure. Someone whose influence should be spread across the world.”

“You’re kidding…” Wyvern muttered in disbelief as he grit his teeth. “How fuckin’ greedy and self-centered can you be?! You’re worse than some of the dragons I know!”

“Oh please,” Zesty scoffed and waved her hoof, “You foolish children wouldn’t know good cuisine if it forced its way down your throat. Why don’t you listen to my colleagues?”

Before them, several other classy ponies would appear within Zesty’s mind. Many of them looked identical to some of the ponies living in the penthouse building that she lived in.

“Zesty’s word is absolute,” a stallion insisted. “My catering business only serves her food and nothing else.”

“My children only eat the food she approves of,” a mare added, “They’re no longer rambunctious little demons and do as they’re told.”

“Who cares if ponies get a bit thinner?” another stallion spoke up, “Large body features filled with fat are disgusting and uncouth.”

“You young ladies should be ashamed of yourselves,” another mare scoffed at Trickster and Priestess’ body shapes. “Such extra body weight is unacceptable in today’s Canterlot society. Consider working out.”

“WHAT?!” Trickster yelled as she leapt out in front of the group--her body became a jet-black nirik under her robes. “I work out plenty! Thank you very much! I’ve always just been a bit bottom-heavy!”

“Hey, hey…Trickster, calm down,” Wyvern urged her to relax as he walked up to her.

Archsage had taken a moment to deduce who those ponies were, even recognizing some as those he passed in the hallway on the way to the elevator. “...I get it now. These are the ponies that agree with Zesty’s ideas in regards to how Canterlot should be run.”

“They’re doing a terrible job at it,” Priestess commented snidely as she glared at Zesty’s inner self, “Everyone is living in a bland state of misery thanks to you. Don’t you care about how Saffron’s place is about to go out of business because of what you’ve done?”

Zesty scoffed at this as she turned around. “Hmph. That foreign nobody? She has no place in my Canterlot.”

“Bullshit!” Wyvern hissed as he spread his wings and took flight, “Your daughter and husband don’t even believe your lies--hey, why are you walkin’ off?! I’m talkin’ to you, bitch!”

“I grow tired of this constant, dragged out conversation,” Zesty muttered as she trotted away. “Deal with them for me.

The remaining ponies in Zesty’s mind stood prepared to fight for her. Not only did she see herself as a political figurehead, but to her, everyone else in Canterlot was to uphold her authority or be disposed of. Which is exactly why she had chosen to hide behind her colleagues instead of standing and fighting for her own ideals.

For she was a cowardly old mare.

Chapter 48

Nebula took Dawn to the Bitalian bistro that he had been to for lunch before. As they grabbed a table, the unicorn mare had some of her books out for studying. In particular, she had a book on the history of Thrace. The region ruled by King Diomedes…

“Ah! Orpheus!” she gasped as soon as she happened upon the page she was looking for, “A famous poet and composer of Thrace. Often associated with the lyre…”

“Huh--what’s the difference between that and a harp? Aren’t they the same thing?” Nebula mused aloud before taking a bite of his calzone.

“Well a lyre is generally smaller and portable compared to a harp which tends to be bigger and kept in one spot,” Dawn explained before taking a sip of her tea. “I’m surprised you didn’t know seeing as you’re from there, Nebula.”

Nebula shrugged it off and replied, “Meh, I prefer woodwind instruments to string ones. Things like the flute, saxophone, clarinet--but the recorder is my personal favorite.”

“Interesting…” Dawn sighed as she levitated a slice of Chicoltgo-style pizza to her face and bit into it. “Argh…if I’m being honest, Nebula, I’m super jealous of you.”

“...why?” he asked out of confusion. “You’re the princess’ star student and have a great future ahead of you. Me? I’m just some rando by comparison.”

“But that’s the problem,” Dawn went on, “The fact that you’re some rando means you can more or less do whatever you want without somepony judging your every move--aside from committing a crime of course. But you get what I mean.”

Nebula paused to think about it for a second. Maybe there were advantages to being an average guy after all. “...I guess you have a point there, Dawn. I’m starting to see why you feel pressured. I guess a lot is weighing on you after all, huh?”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” she bemoaned as she took another bite of her pizza. “It’s a shame because I…don’t really like talking to others. It makes me overthink things and it creeps me out over wondering whether or not I’ll say something wrong…” her eyes glanced at her book in a stressed manner before her expression relaxed. “...I just want to do my own thing.”

With all that in mind, Nebula came up with a rather simple solution. “Why not just tell Twilight you don’t want her guidance? Just let her know how you feel and ask her for some space.”

Unfortunately, that was something she would’ve done already if it were really that simple. The problem that Luster Dawn was facing wasn’t exactly solvable overnight.

“...I’ve tried that,” she replied, “But she pretty much brushes it off every time by saying, ‘I was just like you when I was your age,’ and ‘You’ll come around eventually,’” she pitched her voice up to mock Twilight Sparkle’s tone, then rolled her eyes. “Blech…”

“Ouch…guess she needs to learn to take a hint,” Nebula offered his sympathies, “But so long as you’re not hurting anyone, you should be free to do as you please, Dawn. In the end, we’re not really all that different from each other.”

At the very least, his words put her at ease for the moment. Talking her problems out with someone turned out to be a much more worthwhile venture than Dawn initially thought. She offered a weak smile and replied, “...thanks, Nebula. I’ll figure it out someday. But after getting it all out there, I kinda feel a bit…better, actually.”

Nebula chuckled in agreement, “Feels good when you can speak with others without feeling forced into it, huh?”

As they continued their conversation over some laughs and some food, they’d eventually get called out by a certain someone that was familiar to Luster Dawn.

“Oh, Luster! Is that you?”

“...” Dawn froze and immediately curled up upon her seat which left Nebula confused for a moment. “Dammit. Why is she here??”

The stallion raised a brow and turned his head to find…

An aged Starlight Glimmer who was approaching their table with an excited smile. “I can see you, Dawnie. Don’t hide from your mother like that,” she teased with her tongue poking out of her mouth.

Luster Dawn sat upright in her seat with a sigh. “Hi mom,” she muttered while leaning a hoof on the table. “Atomic Nebula, this is my mom. Starlight--”

“Ooh!” Starlight immediately cut her off as soon as she laid eyes on Nebula. “And you’re already making friends, I see. Or is he something a bit more…?” she asked in a teasing manner which caused her daughter to fake-gag.

“No no,” Nebula spoke to immediately clear the situation up. “We’re just working on a group project where we’re studying the significance of Thrace’s history. Since I’m from there, Dawn wanted my help. Plus, I’m already taken.”

Starlight caught the hint, and switched the subject. “I see…oh, so you’re a Thracian? I guess that explains the freckles. How are you liking living here in Equestria?”

“Much cooler for one,” he replied with a snicker in reference to how hot his hometown would often get. “But also much more relaxing. The ponies of Thrace pride themselves on being…well, prideful. It gets tiring after a while when you deal with everyone acting like they’re some sort of celebrity big-shot.”

“Orpheus wasn’t like that though,” Dawn pointed out as she levitated one of her notes, “He was just a humble musician apparently. I can see why your parents named you after him. But that aside…” She then turned to Starlight and asked, “What are you doing here, mom?”

“Oh, well--I had heard some rumors about a special kind of magic being used here and I wanted to see it for myself,” she replied.

“...what kind exactly?” Luster asked.

“Apparently someone has the power to help change minds here…” Starlight explained, which caused Nebula’s eyes to shoot open. “There’s nothing concrete, but apparently someone at your school ended up admitting to an attack they comitted against another student seemingly out of nowhere. Know anything about that?”

Nebula simply took a sip from his mug of cider with an absent-minded expression on his face…

Chapter 53: The Exams Begin

The exams were a long and arduous process for all of the students involved. Each of them put their heart and soul into answering each question. Interestingly enough, every student indeed had their own version of the test, and were all able to answer them accordingly.

Even the blindfolded minotaur man next to Nebula was writing with a quill with seemingly no issue whatsoever, much to the latter’s internal surprise from the corner of his eye.

The questions were rather varied. From simple ones such as "How was the sun raised before the alicorns?" and "Name the holiday celebrating the sun," to more complex, layered ones such as "How do you seize a fort with only 50 units?" and "What's the difference between dark magic and black magic?"

After a full hour of testing, the written exams would conclude for Nebula's group, and Fang’s group would partake in the same test alongside the other half of the student body afterwards.

After it was all said and done for Nebula’s group, they all left the exam hall and went back to their dorms as they discussed what was on the test.

“Man, that was rough, huh?” Blue hissed, “I think I nailed the combat section but the history section gave me some trouble.”

“Seriously? The history section was the easiest part,” Mei insisted, “It was that magic section that gave me a hard time. I couldn’t even decipher some of those sigils from each other.”

“They weren’t that bad,” Grimrose commented, “But the combat wasn’t really my thing. What about you, Atomic?” She then glanced at Nebula who had been silent the entire time with his nose practically buried in a pamphlet. “Atomic?”

“Hm?” Nebula looked up from the document, “Oh, sorry. I’m just glancing at the tournament bracket here. I don’t recognize anyone who we’re up against.”

Everyone leaned over Nebula’s shoulder and glanced at the schedule. Indeed, they didn’t recognize a single name that they were paired up against. Given the size of the school and its student body, it was only natural that they wouldn’t know who their opponents would be in this training session disguised as a tournament.

Blue was the first to find his name on the bronze-colored bracket and located his opponent. “Looks I’m up against someone named, ‘Kuno Itami’ huh? Sounds like a foreign name. Know where it could come from, Mei?” he looked to the kirin for an answer.

Mei scoffed and pushed up her glasses. “Hmph. A name that comes from the Far East in Japone. Guess all kinds are here after all then,” she muttered in a rather bitter tone in response to the name.

“...Right,” Blue replied in an uncertain manner before pointing a finger at Nebula’s name. “Here you are, bud. Looks like you’re up against someone named, ‘Noptera’. Hm. Any idea what that means?”

“Hymenoptera is the order of insects that includes wasps, bees, and ants,” Nebula answered, “I think I’m up against a Changeling. Not sure what it means for me since shapeshifting is kinda their thing. Hmmm…” He glanced around until he spotted Grimrose’s name within one of the brackets. “Looks like you’re up against someone named ‘Thiasus’. Sounds like someone from Thrace.”

Grimrose didn’t seem to care about the nature of her opponent or where they were from. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll use my skills to bring them down. Whoever they are.”

“Okaaay…” Mei commented on Rose’s apathy and leaned over Nebula’s shoulder. “Where’s my name? Hm? Oh there it is. I’m up against somebody called, ‘Dewdrop’. Not exactly a threatening name, huh?” she scoffed with a small grin on her face.

But Rose kept things practical. “Don’t underestimate someone because of their name.”

“She’s right,” Blue added, “I mean, I’m named after a color of all things and look at me. I’m not exactly the cuddliest dragon around--hmf?!”

All the sudden, Mei grabbed ahold of his cheeks in her hooves, mushing Blue’s face and causing him to forcibly stick out his tongue, giving him the appearance of a plush toy for a moment.

“Really? You look pretty cuddly to me,” she teased with a snicker, followed by Nebula and Rose giggling as well.

Blue narrowed his eyes and pushed Mei’s hooves off with his claws. “Stahp you. M’not cute.”

But Blue eventually couldn’t hold back his own laughter at the situation. It was a nice way for them to relieve their anxiety before the combat exam tournament.

Later that evening…

Nebula would hear a knock at his dorm room door. The stallion had just finished putting some eye drops in his eye via his levitation magic when he heard it.

“It’s open.”

The door opened, and Luster Dawn was behind it. “Hey. Uh…just wanted to wish you luck in the exams. I’m gonna be participating in the Tourney as well.”

“You are?” Nebula blinked his eyes a few times to get his drops in properly, then turned to shoot a smile in Dawn’s direction. “That’s good to hear. Hopefully you decide to join up with a team at some point.”

Dawn nervously rubbed the back of her head. “...maybe. Not sure if I’m ready for that. But yeah. Just wanted to…speak to someone. Princess Twilight is too busy…as usual,” she added with a flat sense of annoyance, “so I figured telling you would help calm my nerves, Nebula. Especially since…my mom and dad are gonna be there.”

“Anything to help a friend out. Starlight and Sunburst, right?” he asked about the names of her parents which she responded to with a nod. “I see. Well no matter what happens, I’m sure they’ll be proud of you, Dawn.”

“Thanks…” she replied with a sigh, “Hearing you say that makes me feel like it’s all gonna be okay somehow. A-anyway, I shouldn’t take up too much of your time. Should really start to make some other friends to talk to…”

Nebula shrugged. “Hey, it’s fine. So long as you trust in yourself, you’ll be alright, Dawn. The student body is pretty large, so I’m sure you’ll find someone who wants to research magic as much as you do,” he yawned as he flopped down into his bed. “But for now, I need to get some early rest. Gonna be a helluva fight tomorrow.”

“Yup…you’re right,” Dawn replied as she backed out of the room and shut the door, “Goodnight, Nebula.”

But as she walked away, she thought to herself.

'I just hope I can beat my opponent. Then Twilight will finally acknowledge my skill and leave me alone.'

Chapter 59: Moeta Bi-Ju vs Dewdrop Mistwalker

When the water mare finally spoke, she spoke in a low voice with a thick accent.

“Oi…ya seen that monke lass?” she muttered with a small smile on her face.

Like clockwork, Mei’s expression turned hostile when Leelee the monkey was brought up. “Excuse me?! What about her?”

Just as Dewdrop intended. Mei’s nirik flames were already starting to flare up.

‘Sorry to do this to ye. I don’t wanna piss ye off. But it’s how I’ll win,’ she thought to herself. She certainly wasn’t above playing dirty for the win, so she’d continue her spiel.

“Nothin’ major,” Dewdrop went on. Her mane was able to hide how nervous she actually was. “Just thinkin’ she might be better than ye is all. Would’ve rather fought her instead since she seems like a better fighter.”

The notion that someone from a rival nation could be better than her caused Mei’s anger to flare up even more. It was a sore spot that she simply couldn’t ignore as the veins on her neck started to bulge.

“Shut…up…SHUT UP!” she hissed as her body changed to its jet-black nirik form complete with a fiery aura around herself. “You don’t know anything about us so keep your mouth shut about that which you don’t understand!”

Without warning, Mei lashed out. She charged at the earth pony mare with reckless abandon. From out of nowhere, she conjured what looked like a dozen small spears--also known as javelins--and flung them at Dewdrop.

Dewdrop took her time to avoid each one. Tilting her head to the left, to the right, to left, and right again. A jump, a dodge roll, and a--

BANGBANGBANG!

Each flaming javelin would whiz past Dewdrop and explode in midair behind her. The explosion was fierce enough to ruffle her mane and tail even further as the crowd watched with bated breath.

‘Shite. Guess I pissed her off a bit too much.’ Dewdrop lamented her mistake as she performed another evasive roll. But throughout it all, her body started to release more mist into the air which started to fog up the entire arena.

Eventually, the cloud of mist was so thick that it made it difficult to see. Mei’s fire clashed with the mist and generated steam that made it impossible for even the highly perceptive spectators to see what was going on within.

“Uh…what’s happening?” Flash Sentry muttered to Twilight while Spike used a pair of binoculars.

Twilight’s horn lit up which highlighted the auras of the combatants and allowed the audience to see through the fog. “It appears to be a collection of aquatic miasma as a result of overclocked molecular stimulation. Very intriguing. I wonder just who has the upper hoof here.” From the corner of her eye, she noticed Flash Sentry glaring at her.

When she turned to him, he was resting his hoof on the table in front of them, holding up the side of his face while glancing at her with an unamused, half-lidded stare.

“...what?” Twilight asked out of confusion.

“Just say ‘steam’, Twizzlers,” he snarked, causing her cheeks to flare up and turn pink as she sputtered.

“...a-anyway!”

Back down in the arena…

By this point, Dewdrop had become more confident and prone to speaking. The water horse decided to mouth off once more just to make the kirin succumb to her emotions.

“What’s the matter with ye?” she taunted, “Ye can’t hit the broadside of a barn. I bet the monk gal from the Empire could!”

“SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!” Mei had fully given in to her rage, increasing the heat of her nirik flame in an attempt to overwhelm Dewdrop with revolving walls of fire that spun around the entire arena! “Stop talking about that stupid monkey from that stupid Eastern Land! She and her kind have brought my people suffering for centuries!”

In her fit of anger, Mei was completely unaware of her surroundings. From seemingly out of nowhere, a puddle of water would appear behind her, and from it, Dewdrop would rise out of it with a wooden training short; the hilt was clutched tightly between her teeth as she put a hoof around Mei’s next, as well as the sword, holding it there and speaking perfectly through her clenched teeth.

“Ye dropped yer guard, kirin-lassie,” Dewdrop commented, “If I was a murderer, ye’d be dead right about now. This is what happens when ye let yer emotions get the best of ya.”

“...” Mei froze, realizing that she had burnt herself out from overuse of her fire abilities, and reverted back to a kirin within Dewdrop’s grip. The steam dissipated which allowed everyone to see what had happened between the two.

With a defeated sigh and smile, Mei came to realize just how foolish she had been. “...I see now. You…made me angry on purpose, huh?”

“Yer pretty and ye catch on fast,” Dewdrop complimented her, but still held the sword close, “So what’s it gonna be?”

Since she had depleted her magic reservoirs, Mei would cave with a nod. “...I yield.”

Dewdrop let her go, and the crowd began to cheer as she took a bow.

“Looks like we have a winner. Dewdrop Mistwalker!” Flash Sentry announced from up high.

Meanwhile, from his seat, Blue sighed as Grimrose looked on with concern. “...ya know what, Nebula? You’re right. Us all qualifying ain’t important anyway,” the dragon muttered. "I just hope she's alright down there after all of that."

“...” Nebula froze, unsure how to respond since he hadn’t had his match yet. ‘...was that a bad omen?’

Chapter 62

After the excitement of the preliminary battles came to a close, everyone left the stadium for the day. The next set of prelims followed by the first set of finals would take place. For the moment, everyone was on their way back to the dorms to rest up in preparation for the next day.

Nebula and Blue were busy getting themselves cleaned up in the men’s showers.

“Whew…” Blue huffed as he scrubbed his arms aching biceps, “I’ve never seen a changeling pull off crazy shit like that. You had your work cut out for you, bud.”

“Me?” Nebula scoffed as he ran his blonde mane under the shower to get rid of the sweat, restoring it to its brilliant gold sheen as it went flat against his head and neck, giving him the appearance of a stallion model for a brief moment. “That minotaur dude was something else. Even though he was blind, he could somehow see all of your attacks coming!”

“Right?” Blue replied as he rubbed his muscular, scaly thighs with soap, groaning from the strain after the fight he was in earlier that day. “Aaagah...the only reason I won was because my scales are just that durable enough to resist oncoming damage. Any longer and I would’ve had my ass tossed out.”

Nebula sighed as he shook his head under the water and added shampoo. “...I feel bad for Mei though. That water-mare was something else if she was able to piss her off like that.”

“For real,” Blue replied as he started to scrub his tail, “Was she a kelpie or something?”

“I don’t think so--she didn’t have full control over water. Just mist. I think she’s a different breed from somewhere around there,” Nebula thought about it for a moment, tapping his hoof on the floor, “Might be a Glashtyn actually. A more goblin-like mare than anything.”

As soon as Nebula mentioned ‘goblin’, Blue was able to put it together rather easily. “That explains her mischievous nature and willingness to fight dirty by making Mei angry on purpose. I hope she’s alright after all that energy she expended from her anger…”

“Let’s check up on her later,” Nebula suggested. “She might wanna talk. Though, then again, I’m not no sure if she wants to. She might wanna chill after all that.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s asleep right now,” Blue mused, “That was a lot of fire magic she expunged. Speaking of which, I wonder how Rose is doing too. Her body got…purged almost.”

“Yeah no kidding,” Nebula replied with an audible shudder as he finished cleaning himself up and turned off his shower. “That guy’s holy magic was something else. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that stuff before. Think he yielded because he knew he was about to lose or because he might’ve had some other tricky stuff up his sleeve?”

Blue had also stopped his water and begun to dry himself off. The steam against his pectorals and abs caused him to trill slightly from the comforting feeling of the extra hot water. “Hrrrr…probably? That deer guy and the arcane is fulla creepy shit that we don’t know about. Just like Grimrose with the occult.” He opened his mouth wide to let out a yawn. “...aagh. Yeah it’s all starting to hit me. I think I’m gonna turn in, bud.”

“That’s fair,” Nebula replied, yawning as well as he levitated a towel with his magic to dry off his mane, neck, then backside. “I’m feeling it too…these exams are no joke.”

Everyone went to bed in their respective dorms for the evening. However, Luster Dawn watched as Nebula walked off with Blue and chatted on their way to their rooms.

‘...he’s got a lot going for him,’ she thought to herself, ‘Wish I had half as much confidence as he does…’

The next morning…

Nebula and Mei were the first members of their group to awaken and trot into the halls. They greeted each other and decided to take a walk around Canterlot to see what they could find for breakfast that morning.

But what they weren’t aware of…was that their efforts against Zesty Gourmand’s reign of terror were finally about to bear fruit.

As soon as they stepped outside and headed towards Restaurant Row…

“Man, that was rough yesterday,” Mei lamented her loss against Dewdrop, “I can’t believe I let myself get that angry.”

“Me neither,” Nebula replied and tried to encourage her, “But I guess it was a good learning experience, huh? Can’t let what other people say cause you to get so angry you lose sight of yourself. I just hope you can still pass after losing your exam battle…”

Mei nodded in defeat. “Yeah yeah, I know…” she huffed as she thought about the statements that Dewdrop made against her. Maybe it was finally time to let go of her bitterness towards the Monkeys of the East.

Then she pushed up her glasses while prancing along at a confident pace, “Meh, I’m not worried about my performance there. I’m certain that my test scores are high enough to get me to Paladin rank--oof!”

The kirin mare hadn’t been paying attention and bumped into someone who appeared to be standing in a line. A well-dressed Canterlot mare.

“Oh! Uh…sorry, ma’am,” Mei apologized with a bow, but the mare didn’t even seem to notice her. “...huh?”

Nebula looked ahead and found that the mare Mei had bumped into was standing at the back of a line that stretched from there…all the way into the Tasty Treat.

“...No way,” he muttered in disbelief at the sight. “We gotta check this out, Mei.”

“Well well well...looks like our little ‘mind game’ worked,” Mei replied with a devious smile in Nebula’s direction.

Chapter 71

It was about a week after the exams had passed, and Cayenne was ready to brief Dorm Block Epsilon on the next mission she had in store for them. With the four students sitting on the couches in their common room, she started to list off what she had to say.

“...Long story short, we’ve been hearing rumors about some turmoil going on in Abyssinia,” she explained to the group as she read through some notes levitated via her magic, looking over them with her reading glasses. “Apparently there’s a small group looking to usurp the current king and queen.”

Blue shrugged his shoulders. “Eh?”

Mei would give a more detailed response as she pushed up her glasses. “Er…what does that have to do with us here in Equestria? Can’t we just let them handle it?”

“That’s the thing,” Cayenne went on, “Apparently these reports are coming from various forests in between the regions…from goblins.”

“Goblins?” Grimrose mused as she faux-gagged, “Blech…to think that they’re real.”

Mei tilted her head and chimed in, “Wait, seriously? I thought the goblins were just made-up filly’s tales just to scare foals into behaving.”

“Nope…they’re very much real,” Cayenne confirmed as she showed them a scroll that contained a written request.

‘Help please. Suspicious tiger near border lands.’

The penmanship of the scroll was unlike any other style of writing found in or around Equestria or the surrounding nations. The writing was so jumbled and misshapen that it wasn’t even a recognizable script from the language classes the students had taken at the Academy.

“...” Nebula stared at it for a moment, and something suddenly came to a realization with his eyes shooting open. ‘Wait a minute…no way. We can’t--rather, we shouldn’t do anything else right now.’

Cayenne noticed Nebula’s expression, and asked, “Mr. Nebula? Is everything okay?” as she removed her reading glasses from her face.

“...excuse us for a sec, please?” With a flash of his horn, Nebula cast a teleportation spell on Cayenne--

“Wait wh--!?”

And with a poof!, she was teleported to just outside of their dorm’s common area on the other side of the door.

“Whadidja do that for?” Blue asked while idly picking something from his teeth with his pinky.

“...Guys, I don’t think we should accept this mission,” he explained.

Mei was taken aback by this. “Eh?” she asked while Grimrose’s eyes shot open as well.

“...No no,” Grimrose spoke up, “I think I understand why. Think about it. We just got through with not only changing the mind of a bully, but also changing the mind of a celebrity--Zesty Gourmand--to improve Canterlot’s quality of life, right?”

That’s when it started to click for Mei. “Ohh…I think I get it. You believe we shouldn’t draw too much attention to ourselves after doing quite a bit to improve things around here.”

“Correct,” Grimrose added, “For now, we should lay low and return to our days as normal university students.” She paused to look at her now-healed wings and the feathers within them. “...the last thing I want is for other people to start getting curious about my abilities. I can’t let them find out.”

“Less work? Shit--fine by me,” Blue undercut Rose’s woes with a response that earned him a glare from the pegasus. “Er…I mean, I get what you’re talkin’ about. I wouldn’t want your life at risk, Rose.”

Her expression softened since she knew Blue was joking around. “Thanks, Blue. And yes, I believe it’d be a good idea if we simply chilled out for a while and let some other team take on this mission.” She looked at Nebula, “That okay with you, leader?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “Let’s rest up and lay low for a bit.”

Blue would then shift the topic to the most important question as he sat upright, “Okay, but which team are we gonna recommend for this?”

Nebula smirked as he pranced towards the door, “I’ve got an idea.” He opened it and saw Cayenne on the other side--she playfully tapped him on his horn with a folded newspaper via magic as soon as he did. “Ow-”

“You could’ve just said your team needed a moment,” she rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Anyhow--did you come to a decision?”

“Yeah, we think another team should take on this mission. We’re feeling a bit tired, ma’am.”

Cayenne nodded. “Alright, that’s understandable, Mr. Nebula. Which team would you recommend for this mission, then?”

About an hour later…

Professor Hassium had arrived at Dorm Block Sigma and conjured a violin via his magic and played a sharp, yet elegant tune upon it in order to awaken everyone.

“Ergh…” Jun Fang with his sensitive canine ears, was the first to awaken and exit his dorm room. “...Professor? What is going on?”

“Ah, good. You’re awake. Prepare yourself, for you have a mission that was passed onto you from Dorm Block Epsilon.”

Fang tilted his head. “...a mission, hm? Where to?”

“...something about goblins near Abyssinia,” Hassium replied, “But let’s gather your entire team before I explain any further.”

Chapter 80

“...hey, dogface,” Uziel muttered to Fang as they ventured into the dungeons.

“...yes?” he answered hesitantly.

“Back there, that yak guy saved me,” she recounted how Rufus came in just in time to keep one of the feline gangsters from attacking her from behind, “...why?”

Fang tried his best to give an answer, thinking through the lens of the rambunctious yak. “...Rufus is…a special breed of man. As a yak, he wants to prove that he’s more than just a brutish meathead of an individual like the rest of his kin. He fights for the sake of preservation, not his own glory.”

Uziel took a moment to silently think about why Rufus bothered to save her. ‘...preservation, huh? Guess he really does care…’

“I’d think you do well to thank him,” Rufus added as they approached the various empty cells, and started to sniff around, “Show him you appreciate what he’s done for you. That’s how we do things in our culture. How do you do it in yours?”

Uziel remained at a loss for words. It had been a long time since anyone did anything for her. Especially a man. For a goblin such as herself, there really was only one way she knew how to respond to such a thing.

But she’d save that for later.

For now, she shook her head and refocused her efforts on finding her sister. “...yeah I’ll think about it. Anyway, you sniffed her out yet, Spots?”

“This way,” Fang beckoned her over to a cell where another goblin was located. This one had hot pink hair. “I believe I’ve found her.”

“Ziwa!” Uziel cried out upon finding her fellow goblin girl resting in a pile of tattered rags. “Open the cell, Spots…please!”

Fang’s ears flicked upon hearing Uziel say ‘please.’ He honestly didn’t think she was capable of such a thing for how rude she usually was. But he wasted no time and quickly ripped the old, rusted bars apart with his bare paws, allowing them to get inside.

“...she’s unconscious,” Uzi muttered as she checked the pulse of her sister’s neck, “But she’s breathing. Can you carry her, Spots?”

“Of course,” Fang replied with a nod as he grabbed up the goblin within his paw and held her close. “I’ve got her. Let’s get out of here and meet up with the rest of my team.”

“Okay…and…t-thank…you?” Uzi muttered through her teeth, completely new to the concept of showing thanks to someone else for something they did for her.

“Not a problem. It’s what we came here for, yes?”

They arrived back on the upper floor of the tower where Lee and Laurent had been waiting for them.

“Everything alright?” Fang asked, “No more trouble here I take it?”

“None,” Lee shook her head, “Let’s get him home then discuss what’s happened after. The tiger man is no longer here,” she explained, relaying the information that Bullet had given her.

And with that, Spearklip and Lee would take the honors of escorting Laurent back home safely and made sure to have the boy write a report to the Abyssinian Parliament. The King and Queen of Abyssinia would soon be aware of what was going on within their borders and the betrayal of one of their own citizens thanks to the bravery of the students of Block Sigma, and Larry’s tenacity to stay alive in a dangerous situation.

And in the meantime, the boys--Rufus and Fang--would escort the hurt goblin woman back to her home where her mother would begin to work on a secret magic brew in their stewing pot to nurse her back to health.

“Thank you so much,” the mother goblin thanked the two for their hard work. “...Please make yourselves comfortable.” She then turned to her two daughters. “Uziel. Sariel. Please show your gratitude to these kind young men in our special way,” and with that, she turned to resume making her third daughter a healing potion over the fire.

Rufus smiled, “It truly was nothing. And besides, our work isn’t quite complete anyhow. We need to find out where Odu is hiding and where he’s getting his supplies from so that we may cut him off at the source.”

“Exactly,” Rufus added, “The sooner we figure that out, the better.”

“You may as well stay the night,” Sariel offered, “We might have more information for you by tomorrow. Our other sisters are out there scouting as we speak.”

“Will they be alright?” Fang asked, fearing another situation similar to what Ziwa had to deal with.

“Pbbbht--don’t worry,” Sariel continued, “Ziwa here isn’t exactly a fighter. Our scouts are more than capable of handling themselves. Right, Uziel?”

Uziel remained silent for a moment, arms folded before she looked up at Rufus. “...Bull guy. Follow me.”

“Hm? Me? Alright I guess,” he replied nonchalantly as he followed the goblin to another part of the cave, leaving Sariel and Rufus together.

“Oh she’s totally gonna ‘thank’ him nice and hard,” the redheaded goblin snickered. “Ever since we lost most of our male population, we’ve started a new tradition to thank visitors.”

Fang tilted his head. “...are you sure it’s alright? I wouldn’t want to impose…”

But Sariel was eager, shaking her head rapidly. “Oh not at all…in fact, lemme show you~”

Fang watched as the goblin girl removed the armor from her backside, showing off her bare, plump, green bottom with freckles scattered about each cheek. She used both of her hands to teasingly grasp each one as she looked over her shoulder with a smug smile on her face.

“...let me ‘thank’ you, big dog boy~”

Fang bit his lip, unable to take his eyes off of the goblin woman’s rather large butt. “...Erm…w-well…if it’s for cultural reasons then…”

“Oh yeah…very cultural…” Sariel continued to tease him while giving her butt a little smack, causing it to jiggle about. “...come…engage in our culture, Mr. Doggy. You deserve a break after all that fighting~”

“...”

Chapter 83

Back in Lee’s past…

The two had started to get along mostly in secret. Lee would often have to convince her parents that she was playing with friends that belonged to the nobility rather than a random peasant she quite literally found on the street. They did quite a lot together from practicing tai chi and even working on her garden, effectively disguising ‘Bullet’ as one of the palace workers.

“You like flowers too?” Lee asked.

“They can be used for lots of different things!” Yin Bei answered, “Medicine, paint, even kindling. The world of nature in general is very fascinating.”

“...I never would’ve guessed,” Lee muttered in awe. As it turned out, there were many things she was unfamiliar with due to having been sheltered by her parents for so long. The fact that flowers could be used for paint in particular was something she wanted to know more about.

However, before she could ask more, she was called into the palace by her father where he would have Lee meet with a monkey boy her age from a neighboring noble House in the region.

“Get along well with him,” he commanded as he pushed her towards the other primate--a ring-tailed lemur boy with a smug smile on his face.

“Charmed I’m sure,” the lemur boy took her hand and kissed it, causing Lee to react in disgust as she pulled it back. “Can’t resist me, can you? It’s fine. I know I’m the best guy around here.”

“...ew,” she muttered in disgust while glaring at him with murderous contempt in her eyes. Already she was turned off by this fellow noble’s arrogance which immediately tipped her off as to how he was raised.

But her father noticed this and practically forced her to agree. “...we need his family’s good fortune. Get along with him or face punishment.”

In the present…

“...yiiikes,” Spearklip muttered in disbelief from what she heard Lee recount, “So your father pretty much forced you into these arranged marriages? That’s disgusting! What about your mother? Please don’t tell me she agreed to this.”

Lee simply glanced at the zebra with a bored, almost defeated expression in silence which pretty much conveyed the answer that Spear was not hoping to hear, causing the zebra to react with an uncomfortable frown.

“...unfortunate,” she replied with a sigh, “Your mother sounds as if she was a part of the systematic balance, yet she wanted you to follow it like she did? Why?”

“For the ‘good of the House’” Lee mockingly added with airquotes from her fingers, “Allow me to explain further…”

As time went on, months passed. Then years. Lee would still continue to meet up with Bullet entirely in secret since he was now a member of their noble houses’s workforce. By the time they turned 17, Lee’s mother had noticed just how much time they had spent with each other. Given that her daughter was close to the age of maturity and all the other marriage proposals simply fell through due to lack of interest from both sides, Lee’s mother was adamant on making her daughter work to what she wanted.

“...my dear,” her mother chastised her, “I’ve noticed you’ve been speaking quite a lot with one of our field workers. Why?”

“Oh um…” Lee scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile on her face, “...I’ve just been giving him orders! Y-yes…that is is.”

“...very well. But don’t associate yourself too closely with the commonfolk,” the mother monkey insisted upon her daughter, “You have to be presentable for whichever man your father picks out for you. We have had far too many failed instances of marriage for you young lady. That stops soon.”

“...y-yeah…sure…” Was all Lee responded with. A less-than enthused mutter as her mother left the room.

“What was that about?” Bullet asked as he approached her, having planted a new row of lotus flowers--the Houses’ symbol plant.

“...nothing,” she shook her head, “...by the way, you don’t need to continue working so hard if you don’t want to, Yin Bei. It’s okay.”

Despite this, Bullet was more than happy. “Are you kidding? I’ve documented more than twenty types of hummingbirds around here while working! At this rate with the money I’m getting paid, I might actually be able to afford to go to school soon!”

Those words put a weak, flimsy smile on Lee’s face. She was determined to do all she could even if her parents didn’t approve of her choices. “...go to my room and I shall bring you some food. Okay?”

“Oh, yes ma’am!” he gave a dutiful salute, willing to follow his Lady’s orders.

In the present…

“I see…so it sounds as if Bullet was happy working for you as a peasant servant. You also seemed to adore his cheerful, calm demeanor above all else,” Spear used her deduction skills to rationalize Lee’s attraction to Bullet in their youth. “It was a far cry from the other proposals you had.”

“Yes!” Lee agreed vehemently, “All of the boys and men I were arranged with acted the exact same. Arrogant and selfish. Only thinking of me as an object…then there was the moment that nearly got him in trouble…”

“Talk to me about it,” Spear encouraged her, “I’m sure being in this new environment far away from home has presented communication challenges for you, but I’m here for you, Lee.”

“...thank you, Spear. In short, it went something like this…”

After Lee’s 18th birthday--which occurred not long after Bullet had also turned 18--she was officially deemed eligible for not only marriage, but sexual maturity as well. As a result, her parents started to arrange her with whoever they deemed ready for her…no matter the lack of manners.

“Nice to meet you, babe,” an ape man walked into her palace room and immediately forced her upon her bed, groping her breasts which caused her to let out an uncomfortable squeal.

“Ach! Get your mitts off of me you pervert!”

“Hey, your mom said you liked this stuff. After all, parents never lie about their kids wishes~”

“Dhhhg!” Furious, Lee punched the ape man dead in the face, knocking him off of her, followed by Bullet jumping in through the window.

“What’s going on in here?!”

The ape, not wanting to bring harm to a woman, would lash out at Bullet instead, “Stay out of this, you peasant!” and charged at him.

Bullet simply stepped aside, and allowed the ape to fall out of the open window…onto the open deck below where Lee’s parents were talking to the ape’s parents.

Both Bullet and Lee glanced down out of the window as all of the adults took notice of what happened.

“...Oh no,” Lee mumbled out of concern. “How will I explain this to them?”

“...” In his infinite wisdom, the young Bullet snapped his fingers and parroted a line he heard from a movie. “...It’s okay. We can simply say he wanted to catch some fresh air.”

“...” Lee glared at the monkey boy with narrowed eyes, causing him to react with a wide, dumb grin and a shrug of his shoulders.

“...or something like that?”

“HAHAHA!” Lee suddenly started laughing and had to wipe a tear from her eye, “...you’re such a dork. I love it. Did you get that from a movie or a book? And thank you for coming in to check on me…”

“...a movie…hehe…and it was no big deal, really,” he replied with a small blush.

“Please show it to me sometime.”

In the present…

“...Sounds like you loved him a lot after that,” Spear replied to that bit of Lee’s story with a smile, “And he does sound like a lovable guy with charm. The fact that he was willing to put himself in danger just to make sure you were okay is very noble of him. So what happened after that?”

Lee would answer with a nervous smile, “...Lots of…private time between me and him-”