Canterlot Academy Trials

With everyone in agreement, they all set off for the border near the dragon lands. After a quick skip across a river or two, they would eventually come into contact with the very same shack that Uziel’s sister had told them about.

“Is that our target?” Fang muttered. “Looks fairly isolated amidst a sea of flame and peril.”

“Absolutely,” Uziel replied, “Jophiel isn’t gonna mess around with her info. Whoever is giving this tiger guy his resources, they’re here. I just know it. Let’s get in there and whoop some ass.”

Fang placed a paw on her head, preventing her from running off. “Patience. We have no idea what it is we’ll be dealing with once we arrive there. We need to approach this cautiously. If whoever this is is truly dealing in illegal substances, they need to be brought to heel.”

“Not to mention, we need to question them,” Spearklip added, “Killing them alone won’t solve anything nor will it lead us any further to Odu.”

Rufus, knowing full well that he wasn’t the best at communication, offered himself to not go. “Yeah I don’t think that’s my forte. But it’s your call, boss,” he said towards Fang, “You make the call on who goes where.”

Fang thought it over for a moment. It didn’t take him long to figure out who would be the best to approach a rather sensitive situation. “Lee. You’re up.”

“Me? Yes, sir!” the primate woman stood at attention and saluted, thinking that was the best way to respond.

“Spear. Back her up as she makes her way in,” Fang added as he glanced at the zebra mare, “Just in case there’s some sort of trap or extra personnel about.”

“Mm,” she replied with a nod, “On it.”

Uziel grumbled as she folded her arms. “Seriously? I don’t get to do anything? Come on…”

Rufus would interject, “When Fang comes up with a plan, it usually works out. Let these two handle this, alright?”

The goblin puffed out her cheeks as she pouted and sat down. “...fine. But only because you said so, Rufus.”

“Seems as if she has a fan,” Fang teased his yak friend with a slightly demented grin.

“...can we not, please,” Rufus rolled his eyes as Spearklip giggled, “I said can we not--”

“...I didn’t say anything,” Spear looked at Lee and prepared to head down the hill, “You ready?”

The primate nodded, “Yes. I will go forth.”

With their plan in motion, the two would proceed to carry out Fang’s orders. Lee was up first, walking through the hellscape of brimstone without a care in the world as she approached the seemingly abandoned shack.

Meanwhile, Spearklip kept close tabs on her teammate, following her at a safe distance. The objective was to make contact with whoever was inside of this building as least violently as possible, and Fang chose the two of his teammates who were least prone to unnecessary violence.

All was going well until Lee arrived at the shack’s door.

“Ni-hao! Is anyone home?”

On the inside…

“...!” Hooktail scrambled to hide all of her weapons and documents. “Shit…how did they find me? No big deal, just gotta skip town and set up shop elsewhere…” The dull red dragonness grabbed all of her vials and huddled them into a burlap sack that she slung over her shoulder. “First, gotta bury the evidence…”

The sounds she made--the scraping and rustling of various glass bottles and paper documents were audible from outside. Even Spearklip could hear them from the rock she was hidden behind.

“...as soon as someone knocks, they suddenly start to make a lot of noise. That’s not suspicious at all,” she snarked, knowing full well that whoever was inside was guilty. She decided to preemptively cut them off by sneaking around to the rear side of the shack while exchanging a cursory glance with Lee, who nodded at her in return.

“Helloooo?” Lee called out once more, “Is anyone hoooome? I’m looking to purchase some of your finest wares, please!”

Just then, Hooktail tried to escape out of the back of her shack. But before she could take off, she was tackled to the ground by Spearklip. The dragon was just as strong as the zebra though, and was able to easily overpower her by flipping her off of her body.

“Dammit!” she roared, “Are ya’ll feds or somethin’?!”

But before she could blink, she was dealt a scale-piercing chop to the back of her neck by Lee which made Hooktail cry out in pain before flicking her tail to whip, and send Lee flying backwards a few paces.

“Argh…” the dragoness huffed, “Not bad, but you’ll have to do better than that. What do you even want from me, anyway? I’m not selling anything illegal.”

Even though Hooktail was surrounded on both sides by both the primate and zebra, Spearklip knew that they wouldn’t be able to take her on their own..

‘She’s fairly strong. We need everyone to back us up. C’mon guys, get down here…’