Canterlot Academy Trials

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.”