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.”