Canterlot Academy Trials

“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…”