Canterlot Academy Trials

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."