Canterlot Academy Trials

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?’