(November 1st: 15th Day Since Neil's Discovery)

Since time untold, friendly debates and awkward squabbles have come to pass between ponies, no matter their status in society. Some would proclaim to notice a distancing of the sun compared to the previous day. Some of the more foalish Nobility even went so far as to claim through gossip that Celestia herself informed them that they were correct. That she intentionally pushed the sun further away to cool the world.

Others would argue that it was a super secret weather plot brought about by the Pegasi and the upper echelons of the weather factory. After all, they used extra-long winters as a threat during the tribalist era. Why not keep it as a reminder, purely for tradition's sake, of course?

For Dainty Doily, she didn't care one way or another as she made her way to the kitchens. Today was another glorious morning brought about by both of her Princesses and thanks to the cool draft that nipped at her fetlocks throughout the halls, it was, without a doubt, the first day of winter. The only thing she could complain about, not to say there was much in that category, was her unchanging uniform. She wouldn't mind something thicker, maybe with extra frills and fabric, to combat the unforgiving chill during winter.

That wasn't enough to get her chipper mood down, however. Dainty felt like the luckiest mare alive for the past half a week! She had the privilege to serve not one but two princes within the castle. A rare honor indeed for a simple mare like her. Maybe even the first in recorded history since one was an actual, real-life, living and breathing Alicorn. Not that she expected to be written about in a stuffy old history text.

Still, before her giddiness could get out of control, she stopped and took a deep breath. Prince Neil, or just Neil as he preferred, wouldn't like it if she slipped up and called him by his title or anything besides his regular name. It was one of the biggest puzzles about him she just couldn't understand. And, after his display in the hall when she first saw him, she didn't know if she wanted to solve it. She still remembered him looking back at her with those sad, dead eyes, ready to give up on life...

That flash of memory only reaffirmed her desire to help him as she stood up straighter and continued to the kitchens. Whether or not she solved the mystery, she could, at the very least, help heal whatever mental wound caused those dead eyes. Even if it was one menial task at a time, like going to the kitchen, picking up today's menu, and placing it in Neil's suite for his perusal whenever he woke up. She could also get some light cleaning done as he slept, depending on how rough and tumble the room was after their night-time drinking excursion.

As she approached the kitchen staff entrance, she devoted a fraction of her focus to the door, wrapping it in her magic and pulling it open just as she entered. As she crossed the threshold, the serene silence of the hallway was replaced with the near-chaotic clashes and bangs of pots and pans being tossed about. Unless she watched an individual trajectory, she could never tell whether that was onto one of multiple stove tops or into strategically placed sinks. Accompanying the big bangs was the background noise of various foods cooking and sizzling away in their pans, metal whisks brushing against metal, and water sloshing as two ponies attacked the dirty dishware in the sinks.

Above all, multiple ponies shouted politely, asking for somepony to grab this herb off the shelf, that ingredient from the fridge, or take over watching a boiling pot.

It was a well-practiced dance between ponies who've worked together for years. One Dainty wasn't excluded from, as one of the closer chefs turned to her. "G'morning Dainty! Before you grab today's br'kfast menu, one of the guards left a r'quest on the board for you."

"Oh? Thank you for the heads up, Pastry!" She somewhat yelled above the din as she made her way over to the order board. It usually was reserved for the various orders throughout the castle, as the name implied. However, even with all the meticulously spaced pieces of paper aligned near the top, one was set aside in the bottom right corner. Expecting that to be hers, she removed the pin with her magic and brought it over.

To the staff assigned to Ambassador Neil,

By request of Sergeant Calm Water, please have a morning after special delivered to Ambassador Neil's suite by 9 AM or upon being summoned, with enough to serve five ponies, including Ambassador Neil.
Judging by my own headache, extra water would be appreciated.

Thank you.

A rowdy drinking excursion, indeed. Not that Dainty was expecting anything different since it was Nightmare Night. The extra water might be a bit of a problem. She could have placed the entire order onto two carts without that. But three? It would be a struggle, but she could manage it. However, that was a later problem to solve. It wasn't quite eight in the morning, leaving her an hour to spare.

She could go to the room now and see the state it was left in or, if anypony was up, see if they would like anything. On the other hoof, as she looked around the kitchen, a few sinks were unponied, and the dishes were piling up. As she watched, one of the chefs shoveled an entire pan's worth of hay bacon onto a platter with their spatula and tossed the used pan with expert precision to land on top of an ever-growing pile of pots.

It was a no-brainer, as her desire to clean honed in on the mess before her. A few thankful nods from the kitchen staff were her only acknowledgment as she joined the dance and trotted to one of the unattended sinks. With a scrub brush, a cloth, and a bottle of soap as her chosen weapons, she filled the sink with hot water and attacked the mess with delight!

So much so that the next hour had passed without her notice. Not until she felt another pony tap her shoulder and bring her out of her little cleaning bubble.

Pastry stood beside her with a big smile and a slightly dirtier apron. "The breakfast rush is almost over, and if I r'member right, your delivery is set for nine, right?"

"Nine by the latest, yes, but I haven't heard the bell chime." She confirmed, wiggling the ear with her enchanted chime slyly hidden against it. Honestly, she was slightly confused as to why she was interrupted. Until she looked over to the clock, which gave her a minor shock when she read the time as ten minutes to nine. "Oh my goodness! I must have lost track of time. Oh, I'm going to be late!"

"W'rry not Dainty; with all the help you've given us, we alr'dy prepped the carts," Pastry stated, pointing to a set of three gleaming silver carts with a hoof. The two larger carts had giant, party-sized silver platters and buffet-style hot plates stored on all three tiers. The top of a third, smaller cart was packed with water pitchers and glasses and had regular-sized platters in the bottom half. "You just need to rush that rump up there and deliv'r 'em."

"Oh, thank you, Pastry," She said while giving her a quick, joyful hug as she did her best to avoid Pastry's dirty apron. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Nah, with your help, we're alr'dy ahead of schedule for the lunch rush," Pastry informed her as the Pegasus mare extricated herself from the hug. "Now go, unless you want to be late?"

Taking Pastry's advice, Dainty quickly trotted to the carts as her yellow magic took hold of all three by their handles. With the two larger ones in front of her and the smaller one directly behind her, she carefully directed her miniature convoy out of the kitchen and towards the nearby servant's lift.

Even if she took things nice and slow for the trip, she would have a few minutes to set up and display everything correctly. In that regard, she was very thankful for how close the ambassadorial suites were to the kitchens. If she had to deliver this meal to the Infirmary, where Neil had stayed previously? Even at a trot, it was likely she would have been late.

The lift chimed, and the gate lowered automatically, allowing her to quickly exit before she pulled off each cart one at a time. Once all the carts were realigned with herself in the middle, she steadily made her way over to Neil's suite. And, with more than enough minutes to spare, his door came into view with a single guard standing at attention.

"Good morning, Sergeant Water was it?" She asked, putting on her best smile. "I have Neil's breakfast here and ready to go. Permission to enter?"

Normally, she would receive a short but professional nod from the guards on duty when entering an occupied room. However, this morning was shaping up to be anything but typical, as the guard's horn lit up with his sea-foam coloured magic, but the door did not. For a fraction of a second, she felt like she'd done something wrong... only for a newspaper to be withdrawn from the guard's breastplate and offered to her.

"Thank you for reading my suggestion, Mrs. Doily," He said, looking over the cart filled to the brim with water pitchers. "You might want to deliver this to Neil as well. There's an article that involves him."

"Of course," She agreed as she split off another sliver of focus and took the paper in her magic. "And don't just stand here and suffer yourself. There's plenty of water here if you need a glass."

"Don't worry about me. I had two large glasses and some hangover pills while getting ready for my shift," Sergeant Water told her as his magic surrendered the paper, took hold of the door, and opened it for her. "Ambassador Neil and the others need it far more than I do."

Given how late in the morning it already was, she had been half expecting to see at least one or two ponies up as she pushed into the living area. Instead, she was greeted with the remnants of a Nightmare Night party. The furniture was still in place, and thankfully, nothing was turned over or set askew. The only real mess she could see was parts of various costumes strewn about, accompanied by the faint smell of salt, sweat, and alcohol.

Once breakfast was set, she knew exactly what she needed to do next. She made it to the dining room quickly enough, only having to skirt around a few pieces of gold and silver costume armour and a construction helmet along the way. After that, it only took a few minutes to set the various platters on the table, with multiple pitchers of water evenly spaced between them (while leaving everything covered to preserve the heat).

With that done, Dainty exited the dining room with only the newspaper in her magic. She figured it would be best to deliver it when she woke Neil up. First, however, she had a living room to clean. After placing the newspaper on the fireplace mantle, she quickly scoured the room for anything unusual. Every piece of costume armour, both silver and gold, including the golden codpiece she found half-wedged underneath the couch, was collected and piled up next to the fireplace itself.

All four black and red cowgirl boots strewn around the room randomly were placed next to the door. Any articles of clothing that seemed to match the cowgirl theme were nicely folded and placed on top of the nearest display cabinet. She also put the construction helmet and a plaid vest she found on the same cabinet, but on the opposite side.

Neil's purple cloak had somehow landed on the reading nook seat. The added weight of the fur-lined hood stayed on the seat, but the rest hung over the edge and piled on the carpet. Instead of folding it, she hung the garment nicely over the back of Neil's regular sitting chair near the fireplace. While standing next to the nook, she cracked the bay windows open as far as they could go to allow some fresh air into the room.

Oddly enough, she even found a long, black cat tail that seemed to sway and react to her magic almost whimsically when she first picked it up. She found the accessory intriguing- At least, until she noticed the specific way it had to be inserted, to be worn. Once she noticed that aspect, she quickly placed that costume tail in the bathroom to be thoroughly cleaned.

Once all of the costume pieces that she could find were adequately sorted, she picked up the newspaper once more in her magic and made her way over to the door of the master bedroom. Obviously, she couldn't hear anything, but she wasn't going to assume Neil and the rest of his guards were asleep and barge in. Lifting a hoof, she gave three small, quick knocks and waited. If anything was happening on the other side of the door, a minute would be more than enough warning.

However, a minute passed, and nopony came to the door. She repeated the process again, only to receive the same response. With two warnings given, she eased open the door with her magic. She was immediately assaulted with an even more pungent smell of sweat and booze, as well as the not-so-subtle snores of a stallion.

There was a total of five ponies resting on Neil's large four-poster bed.

Teetering at the very edge of the base was Neil himself. He was lying on his back with one wing hanging over the edge and half-sprawled on the floor. All four of his legs were all over the place, revealing his entire stomach and groin, which was fully encased by a rather large silver codpiece. Still, she couldn't deny getting an eyeful of his cute, Alicorn-sized ponut. Bluey's was smaller since he wasn't an Alicorn, but his features were far more adorable in her admittedly biased opinion.

Neil’s neck was braced against the side of an unknown mare wearing a cat costume, curving along and on top of her belly so that Neil's head rested between her upright back legs and on her perky teats. The snoring she heard also came from the mare's groin as Neil blissfully slept the morning away.

On Neil's other side was a small cuddle pile made up of the three other ponies in the room. The red Pegasus she knew to be Squall Rider had his rump pressed against Neil's other wing, keeping it folded against his side. He was lying in the right direction but failed to reach the pillows leaning against the headboard. Not that it mattered since he was using Warm Hearth's flank as a pillow. The unknown mare also curved around to use his belly as a pillow.

Hearth was lying on her side with her back pressed against the headboard. She took full advantage of the pillows on offer, except where she placed her head, which was buried into, and unconsciously nuzzled against Bulk Order's sheath in her sleep. Unfortunately, this had the poor stallion shifting and mumbling in his sleep, causing his half-stiff erection to bob lazily in the air with each movement.

Both of Bulk's wings were fully extended, one of which was stiffly hanging over the edge of the bed and pointing at her. The other curved against Squall's side, ending up pointed into the air towards the canopy. As the pile came full circle, poor Bulk had his neck snugly wedged in the crevice between Squall's rump and Neil's side so that his head went up and over, ending up on Neil's chest where a small puddle of drool was collecting.

If not for the unintentionally erotic scene caused by an unconscious Warm Hearth and Bulk Order, Dainty would have found the entire situation before her adorable. As things currently sat, however, perhaps it was best to wake everypony up before things became too messy. That would allow everypony to take care of their morning business in a more private manner, at the very least.

She cleared her throat, coughing three times at a polite volume to gather the room's attention. Beyond a few unconscious ear twitches in her direction, she received no response. Not that she expected too much after the night of drinking they must have endured.

She tried the same thing a second time, but this time, she also spoke after clearing her throat. "Good morning!" She trilled, to minor success, as the head of the unknown mare turned to rest on her cheek with at least one ear perked while the other was caught in her cat hood. It took a few seconds before a lazy cat-green eye opened halfway to greet her.

Being polite, she gave the mare a wave of her hoof and a smile to match the sunlight streaming in through the uncovered balcony doors. "Good morning. Would it be fair to assume you're a guest of Neil's, Ms.?"

The mare closed her eye and held it like that for a couple of seconds before fully opening it and looking around in a limited fashion. "My name's Hallowed Eve," She groaned with an upper-class accent, clearly dealing with the effects of a headache. "The big guy mentioned nothing about hired staff last night."

"Oh, Neil doesn't pay me," She told the mare with a slight titter, "Everypony living in the castle is assigned staff to keep their rooms tidy."

Miss Eve hadn't been expecting that as her head shot up. She looked at her with shock and a hint of excitement mixed in. "I'm in the castle!?" She asked loudly. But, as quickly as her excitement came, it faded as her cheeks took on a greenish tinge, and her head fell back onto Squall.

Of course, this garnered an unwelcome whine from the stallion below her as his body shifted and kicked off the process of waking up.

"You are, and please, try not to vomit," Dainty begged, not wanting to add after-party cleanup to her list of duties that morning. "Once everypony is up, I'll take you to the dining room where I have breakfast and hangover medication waiting for you."

"... Somepony say hangover pills?" Squall asked as he opened his eyes, only to protect them from the sunlight immediately afterwards by raising a hoof. "Morn'n Dainty."

"Morning Squall," She greeted, answering his question with an affirmative nod. "Your brother sent me up with a morning-after buffet when you're ready."

"Celestia bless that stick in the mud, heh," He laughed painfully as he started to slowly extricate himself from the cuddle pile with the help of his wings.

With two ponies up, Bulk and Hearth didn't take long to join their compatriots outside the realm of dreams. Though, judging by their reddened cheeks and Hearth's awed exclamation at the erection brushing against her nose, perhaps they would have preferred a little more time to allow certain things to settle.

Poor Bulk quickly left the room after removing himself from the bed, presumably to take care of his morning glory on his own. Hearth looked torn, at the very edge of offering to help with his problem as he left. Dainty knew that feeling, having stumbled upon Bluey in similar situations long before he even had a herd. However, the poor guardsmare stayed in the room, making the right decision in Dainty's mind. Best to wait for a stallion to ask for your help with such problems instead of pushing your help on them and possibly forcing things too quickly.

That's how it worked out for her, at least.

Pushing her stray thought aside, that left two ponies still in the bed. Of them, the only pony still asleep was Neil, with his head firmly lodged between Miss Eve's back legs as his consistent snoring filled the room. Miss Eve made one last attempt to slowly remove herself without using magic, but because his muzzle and horn were nestled against the joints of her legs, she gave up in the end.

"So, are we going to mare up and wake the big guy?" Miss Eve asked after her latest failed attempt, half resigned and half looking forward to her fate, "Or am I stuck here as his pillow for the rest of the morning?"

"Well, the sooner Neil is up, the sooner I can serve you all breakfast," She told the poor mare while also thinking, 'And, the sooner you can down some hangover meds so I won't need to clean up after you.' After all, there was still a tinge of sickly green to the mare's fur from overdrinking.

Dainty activated her magic and grasped Neil's shoulder with it. With the amount of noise they already made, it was clear that it wasn't affecting him. So, she moved on to the next step as she applied her magic in a circular, rubbing motion. Light at first, but as the seconds passed, she applied more pressure. "Time to wake up Neil."

Miss Eve also seemed to catch on as she reached out with a hoof and started brushing along his neck and mane. After about a minute, they received their first indication that their efforts weren't in vain. Neil's body flopped on its side, now dangerously close to the edge, in an attempt to escape their touch. At the same time, his legs pulled themselves up against his body. No matter how adorable he made himself look, his unconscious movements were ineffective. A pony couldn't get away from magic that easily as the pressure continued.

"Breakfast is ready and waiting, Neil," She continued, adding another power boost to her magic. Doing her best and apparently succeeding in her attempt to push the stallion into a more wakeful state as his exhale was cut off midway through.

~~~***~~~

"Lemme alone," Neil mumbled at the odd sensations annoying him in his somewhat unconscious state. He felt, more than thought, that his body needed more sleep, and he was in complete agreement. However, the rusting of fur along his neck and the pressure rubbing against his shoulder just wouldn't let up, no matter what he did.

As he was further drawn away from sleep, he also started to notice other things. Like an odd softness his head was resting on. It was a little firmer than the pillows he used over the previous two days, but almost as good. There was also a slight pressure underneath his muzzle as if his chin was hooked against a bedpost. But that would be hard, wouldn't it? Confused, he pressed his chin against whatever it was and felt some give.

At the same time, the pressure on his shoulder increased, becoming even more annoying. He heard a flap of a wing, which might have been his own, but he felt nothing. Whatever it was, there was nothing connected to it. That oddity finally drew him out of his sleep with a grumble as he pressed his cheek into the soft pillow underneath him. "Fine, I'm up."

As he finished speaking, though, his lips closed around something small and soft, yet firmer than the rest of his pillow. Something that intimately reminded him of Abby as his not-quite pillow started to squirm underneath him. Regardless of the sudden pain, his eyes shot open. His bloodshot vision took in a blurry, sunlit mess of colour that reminded him of his room, but with a good chunk of solid black both underneath, and surrounding his head.

Surprised to find himself not resting against Abby's breast, Neil ripped himself away from whatever he was on in the blink of an eye (as he tried to stem the pain coming from that front at least). At the same time, he tried to roll onto his belly. Unfortunately, he quickly found out he was also at the edge of the bed, as he promptly rolled off it.

The next thing Neil knew, he was lying on his right side, with a wing pinned into the carpet underneath him as it rebelled in pain against his current position. He quickly fixed that by rolling onto his back, releasing his wing as he brought both of his hooves to his eyes to block the light from filtering through his eyelids and lightly rub away the pain.

"Neil!" The overly loud voice of Dainty Doily assaulted his ears as she ran up next to him, telling him there was at least one pony in his room without permission, besides whoever or whatever he had been sleeping on. "Are you alright?"

"What the fuck is going on?" He half spat, half groaned in pain, both from his sore throat and his voice as it echoed through his muddled skull. At the same time, he managed to pick up more than one sharp intake of breath as he continued, "And why're you all in my room?"

"Well, to answer your first question, breakfast has been served in the dining room," Dainty told him softly. He could tell she was almost whispering, but she still sounded unusually loud to him. At least her words weren't painful, as his ears turned to focus on her. "Including hangover medication to ease your obvious headache. As for the second question, I can only assume your guards are waiting for you out of politeness while Miss Eve was stuck underneath you as you slept."

"Not to say I disliked being your pillow, Big Guy." A voice he vaguely recognized from last night said from somewhere above him. "I'm still amazed your horn stayed in place throughout the night."

It felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped over him, chilling his nerves as the image of how he was lying and everything a mare above him could see blossomed in his mind. On instinct, his body pulled in on itself. First, his tail flipped onto his belly, covering everything as best it could before his back legs folded in, pinning it against the large, metallic codpiece that was thankfully still in place.

"I had another pony sleeping in bed with me!?" He lamented, half-terrified by the drunken possibilities that could have happened the night previously. The only thing that kept his mind from full-blown panic was the single piece of metal still strapped onto his body and currently pressing an outline into his groin.

"It wasn't just me, but everypony..." Whatever the mare above him- Eve! Hallowed Eve, the pony dressed as a black cat that prowled into the club alone, was about to say as she trailed off for some unknown reason. "Why are you all shaking your heads? I don't see anything wrong with a group of ponies cuddling up in the same bed."

A full group? As in, his entire guard squad sleeping with him? In his bed? What the hell happened last night!... And, was this the first time? By that time, all the frantic thoughts coursing through his mind nigh on doubled the pain pounding throughout his skull, evolving his headache into an almost migraine.

He really needed some medication as he forced himself to roll onto his belly. Not only to further cover himself from any mares that might be looking inappropriately but also to give his legs a firm foundation as he mentally prepared himself to stand on all fours.

Squall chose that moment to jump in with a simple request. "Before this gets out of hoof, can I just say one thing?"

It was very tempting for Neil to snap at Squall and say no as he forced himself to stand on wobbly legs. But, given his lack of memory from the previous night, there was a good chance he might have jumped to conclusions that may or may not have happened. Once his legs were firmly locked in place and his chance of falling was slim, he half-opened a painful eye to test the waters as he looked over to Squall. "Fine."

"You drank yourself into a stupor last night," Squall stated, dropping a harsh truth at the beginning before he continued, "To the point Bulk had to carry you all the way back to the castle. Eve was on a similar cloud, and we couldn't understand what she said when we asked for her address. So Hearth carried her here, as well. By the time we made it, it just made sense to crash on your bed y'know? It's large enough for everypony to sleep on. And as far as I know, that's all we did."

"It didn't smell like anything untoward happened when I entered the room," Dainty seconded, adding weight to Squall's version of events.

"They're right," Eve added, choosing that moment to finally hop off his bed and slowly walk towards the door. "Honestly, with the number of stallions in your little group, I was half expecting to wake up feeling both stretched and very satisfied. At the very least, I wouldn't mind being covered in stallion seed after last night's drinking, but no. I was unlucky in that regard, unless you count the small patch of drool on my teats," She teased at the end with a slight chuckle.

"So it wasn't the costumes?" Neil asked since he was reasonably sure he remembered when and why she joined their table the previous night. "You were just looking for a quick lay instead?"

"On the contrary, I find it quite invigorating to spend time with ponies who enjoy my work," She countered as she reached out with a hoof and opened the door manually. "If I can give said ponies an extra reward we both enjoy at the end of the night, why not?"

She exited the room but remained near the door with a graceful spin as she held it open for the rest of them, "Now, I have a splitting headache to the point I dare not use my magic. With the amount you downed, I can only imagine the pain you're in, Big Guy, let alone your compatriots. Perhaps we should medicate ourselves before we continue this conversation?"

With multiple confirmations from somewhat trustworthy sources, Neil was fairly sure nothing overly sexual had happened during the night. Besides waking up in a very compromising position, that is. But, whether or not he settled on being annoyed at Eve for being complicit or clearing her as an innocent drunk, she hit the nail on the pulsing, painful head with her desire to get rid of their collective hangovers.

With a half snort, he turned around to properly face the door, making sure his tail stayed in place as he did so. "Sure, medicine first, figuring out last night later."

"Before I escort you all to the dining room, there's one quick matter I need to take care of first," Dainty spoke up before a newspaper he hadn't noticed, which was held in her yellow aura, made itself known by levitating towards him. "Sergeant Calm mentioned a story about you in today's paper."

Neil was familiar with the newspapers distributed around Canterlot. He'd picked quite a few out of the garbage on the streets if they looked relatively intact. They served as another source of information about the society around him if it was written in a script that he could read. The Canterlot Castle Herald was one such paper, as he extended a wing and plucked it out of the air once it was close enough.

Still, he wasn't even awake for ten minutes and already felt like he was being pushed to the edge. First, he woke up with a skull-splitting headache. Then he found out that he apparently slept with not only his guard detail but used a mare he had only met the day previously as a pillow. Now, there was a news article about him. He couldn't see the entire front page with the way it was folded, but it was enough to read the title and sub-title for the main story.

Diplomatic Relations Declared!
Lost Stallion a Long Way From Home.

Underneath that, taking up the rest of the space on the folded page, was the top quarter of a photo, which showed off not just his hairstyle but also his injured horn against the opulent stonework of the castle in the background.

He couldn't help but groan loudly as he folded his wing and slipped the paper underneath it simultaneously. Things were about to get even more messy, but he could deal with that later. For now, all he had to do to fix his hangover was down some pills and survive breakfast. After that, he would escort Hallowed Eve out of his apartment, and Calm, or whoever the current guard station at his door, would escort her out of the castle. The chances of seeing her again after that were slim, and he could forget all about mistaking her for Abby in his sleep.

When he started moving towards the door, Dainty hopped to his side. Squall and Hearth also chose to exit at that moment. Squall made their way towards the dining room since he already knew where it was, but Hearth stood by the door, waiting for him and Dainty for some reason. It didn't matter, though, as he exited the room, and as a group, he and the three mares around him all followed Squall...

With only a minor detour, he grabbed his cloak off his chair when he saw it and threw it onto his back in a haphazard manner. Was it lazy? Yes. But as he walked back, Dainty surprised him by straightening out his cloak with her aura and fastening it properly. Though she did it without asking or saying anything, the assurance from knowing he couldn't be gawked at like a piece of meat so quickly by the mares around him outweighed the minor annoyance from her unannounced initiative.

When everyone was seated in the dining room, Dainty's aura went into overdrive, filling the room with a yellow glow. Plates, cutlery, glasses of water, and small saucers, each with two familiar green pills, settled down by every occupied chair. Platters of food already sitting at the centre of the table had their lids removed. Heaping piles of scrambled eggs, toast, hashbrowns, pancakes, and even bacon appeared one by one. The familiar aroma of a hearty campfire breakfast filled the room.

She even set an extra place for Bulk, presumably, even though Neil had yet to see any sign of the larger Pegasus. It felt odd to him to be in a room of ponies without Bulk there to act as a silent buffer of sorts. Still, no one else made a fuss or called out his absence, so he let his focus slide toward more pressing matters. Mainly the pills that promised relief in ten minutes or less, sitting on the saucer in front of him.

Once they were both downed, along with most of the water in his glass, he turned to Squall, who was also chugging down his entire glass. "Do you know where Bulk is?"

"I'm pretty sure I know where he is," Squall said with a grin, loud enough for the table to hear him once he placed his empty glass on the table. Instead of saying what he knew, the Pegasus looked over to Hearth on the other side of the table. "But you might want to ask Hearth just to make sure."

Hearth didn't look Squall's way, too focused on serving herself eggs and hashbrowns. But she also answered briskly before Neil could repeat his question. "Bulk's in the bathroom. When he woke up, he was feeling a bit off compared to the rest of us."

He took her answer at face value, hoping Bulk would recover soon and rejoin them. Otherwise, if his hangover meds didn't kick in soon, the overwhelming smell from all the food on offer might force him to join Bulk in the bathroom as well. In an attempt to ignore the nauseating feeling in his stomach and allow his meds to kick in, Neil unfolded the newspaper and focused on the front page.

As expected, most of the paper was taken up by a large black-and-white photo of himself. He even recognized where it was taken since he was ascending the grand staircase in the castle entrance hall. The photographer (cited as Quick Capture) managed to catch a decent shot of his face as he looked back and down at the crowd of nobles with his entire guard detail surrounding him. Oddly, he couldn't remember seeing anything remotely like a camera flash as he ascended the stairs that day.

The story itself started on the next page.

Late last night, with only an hour of sunlight remaining before Canterlot's Nightmare Night festivities were set to begin, we at the Canterlot Castle Herald received an official missive from Princess Celestia. While vague on some details, the Princess has opened up negotiations with a foreign...

As the story unfolded, he learned that Celestia had been exceedingly reserved with any information she put in her missive about him. She only allowed the basics to be revealed, like his name and a simple description of his looks. Celestia even declined to release the name of his country, which he found to be more than a little odd. One would think a diplomatic news article would reveal the name of the country to which they were opening diplomatic ties. Still, she was keeping that close to her chest.

After that, the article devolved into speculation about how he ended up in Equestria. An unnamed court mage with Celestia's complete confidence offered a few educated theories. The Canterlot Castle Herald seemed to latch onto Tirek's assault on Ponyville as the cause after he stripped Eris of her essence. From there, the story explained how no pony could contain all that chaos magic, not even Tirek. This could then lead to unstable chaos portals opening up across Equestria. One of these portals could have formed near him and possibly dropped off in the middle of Canterlot.

In the article, he was painted as a poor, unlucky victim of the Tirek assault. A stallion in need of help, which wasn't too far from the truth as much as he hated to admit it. As the benevolent and charitable leader of all pony-kind, Celestia was more than willing to take the wayward stallion under her wing and help him in the name of friendship. After skipping two paragraphs of adoration and praise for her royal ego, the story felt more like a propaganda fluff piece than breaking news.

Thankfully, the praise was near the end of the article. By that point, the pulsing pain in his skull was gone, and the scent of food wasn't bothering him anymore. In fact, the thought of breakfast was becoming increasingly appetizing by the second as he folded the newspaper back up and placed it face-down on the table. As he looked over the spread, his stomach became known with an appreciative, if demanding, growl.

Before he could even settle on the first dish he wanted to try, the underside of his plate gained a yellow glow as it lifted an inch off the table. "Is there anything in particular you would like this morning, Neil?" Dainty politely asked from behind.

"Bacon and eggs," Was the first thing that came to mind since he was still slightly surprised that bacon existed. That had to be the first meat product he'd seen since he arrived. The only downside he noted was the lack of breakfast sausages to complete the greasy breakfast trifecta. Still, he was more than willing to point out a stack of pancakes to fill up the rest of his plate.

The food, as always, was addictive, though he found the bacon had a strange texture. It tasted good, of course; otherwise, he wouldn't have eaten it. But he couldn't deny that this was the first pony food that wasn't categorically better in every way compared to home. Perhaps the ponies had an odd way of preparing their bacon? Still, with everything else that was on offer for breakfast, he easily overlooked that minor detail.

Shortly after Dainty filled his plate the first time and set it down in front of him, Bulk quietly pushed into the room. His hair was damp, hinting that he must have recently finished showering. Even then, he still looked slightly off, confirming Hearth's earlier words about how unwell he must have felt. Without much fanfare, Bulk was quick to claim the only open spot across from Neil and down the pills sitting there without hesitation.

Beyond that minor interruption, however, breakfast trundled onward. At first, only the sounds of silverware scraping against plates and ponies enjoying their food filled the room. However, Squall was quick to change that by filling the room with small talk.

He started with Eve by asking her, "Now that Nightmare Night's over, what do you plan to do today?" And moving on from there. Eve planned to do inventory on the costumes she hadn't managed to sell to shops around Equestria and plan for next year. Bulk was next, and he only had a little planned since his shift started in a few hours.

Squall even asked Neil himself, and he had to take a moment to think. In the end, the very room they were in gave him an idea. "Furniture shopping, I think. To replace all the eye-burning white in the apartment."

Squall was quick to offer his services and tag along.

Given Squall's costume taste, Neil was uneasy about relying entirely on the Pegasus. But he had yet to learn what shops were the best, let alone where any of them were. And, an extra guard hanging around, even if Squall was off duty, would be helpful if someone recognized him from the newspaper article. So, he reluctantly agreed.

Once that round of questioning was finished, Squall shifted to needling Hearth about the differences between the castle garrison and the city watch garrison.

When Eve wasn't being asked a question or getting otherwise distracted, she also had the odd tendency to sneak looks at him. He remembered her doing the same thing last night at the club before joining their table. Unlike then, however, he wasn't pleasantly buzzed with alcohol. Now, he found it slightly annoying whenever he'd look up and see her green eyes abruptly shifting away.

He ignored it for now. All he had to do was stick to his plan, and everything would work itself out. As he carefully dished himself a second plate full of scrambled eggs and a few pieces of toast, he once again caught Eve looking at him.

Instead of looking away like she normally would, this time, she waited for him to finish as he placed his plate down before addressing him. "You're rather dashing in your Alicorn costume, Big Guy, but it's also quite distracting," Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in concentration, as she looked at him. "Do you mind if... I..?"

At first, her eyes shifted slightly upward, focusing on something specific before her horn lit up, only for them to widen in shock and confusion half a second later. Simultaneously, for the first time since the night of his capture, Neil also felt a sensation originating from his horn. A light tug at the very base, as a faint green glow emanated from just above his eyes.

The entire room went silent. Bulk and Squall paused mid-bite, eyes fixated on what was happening between him and Hallowed Eve. Hearth also paused but quickly and silently set aside her fork before her aura vanished from the silverware. However, her horn remained shrouded in orange light as she slipped out of her chair and stood, tense and ready for anything.

Hallowed Eve didn't seem to notice any of that, too transfixed on what she was doing, or... what she just learned about his horn in particular. "That isn't a simple sticking charm. That's an honest-to-Celestia suppression ring. But, with the plaster- that would mean..." She said, more to herself in shock, as her eyes darted between his horn and his functional wings, which rustled irritably against his side.

"I'm sorry for touching your horn, your Highness!" She cried without warning as she jumped out of her chair. Instead of running, she ducked under the table just as quickly, disappearing from his sight.

While everyone else in the room reacted to her sudden panic in different ways, Neil locked up, feeling slightly dumbfounded at her sudden shift.

Bulk and Squall jumped from their chairs and took to the air. With a single, mighty flap, Bulk pushed himself across the room and towards the door before he stopped and turned around. In a way, Bulk's hovering stance reminded Neil of a goalie protecting a net. Squall took the opposite approach and, after a tight loop, slipped under the table as well.

However, the star of the show was Hearth. Without moving, the orange aura around her horn flared. And, a second or two later, Hallowed Eve, restrained in a bowing position due to Hearth's aura, hovered back into view above the table.

"She didn't try to do anything. Miss Eve just dropped into a bow, Sir," Hearth informed him immediately.

Squall, who was still underneath the table, was quick to verify her claim. "I'll second that. She didn't do anything aggressive."

Without a doubt, Neil's little charade was over as he groaned, frustrated, at how close his plan came to fruition. "God fucking damn it," He muttered to himself, causing Dainty beside him to squeak. 'All I want is one thing, just one thing, to go right! Obviously, that's not allowed in fucking horse land.'

As he sat there thinking to himself, he couldn't help but keep a watchful eye on Eve as she hovered level with the table, squirming against the aura restraining her. It was unsettling to watch and reminded him of his first day in the castle when Celestia herself held him mid-air in a similar position.

Before his building unease became too much, he gave Hearth a snap order, "Put her down, please."

Without a word, Hearth altered Hallowed Eve's posture into a sitting position and placed the mare back in her chair. After which, the aura surrounding both Eve and Hearth's horn faded away, dissipating into the air as if the black and orange unicorn had never been held at all.

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you!" Eve rushed, the moment she was able to speak, "A thousand apologies for-"

"Stop! Before you get any stupid ideas in your head, I'm not a king, a prince, or any sort of nobility whatsoever. At most, I'm an Ambassador," He sneered with a not-so-small amount of vitriol for his title, "Of my home country, even if it's a stupid plot cooked up by Celestia to keep me here in the castle."

"But, can't you leave the castle whenever you want?" Squall asked as his head poked out from underneath the table. Shortly followed by the rest of his body as he reclaimed his seat. "Don't forget, you have that trip to Ponyville in a few days!"

"A trip, meaning I have to return here eventually," Neil groaned as if he was explaining things to a toddler... Only to catch sight of Squall's teasing grin. "Anyway, we have more important things to deal with."

"If you mean Miss Eve knowin' about you, that ain't much of a problem." Bulk cut in as he casually walked back to the table and reclaimed his seat next to Eve. "She'll need to sign a document like Hearth did when you were first found, but that's about it."

"Yeah. But, the sooner she signs the NDA, the better." Hearth added, keeping an eye on the nervous-looking mare. "Calm and I can take her to the archive after breakfast."

"Hold up," Neil interrupted, remembering his night at the Brass Bells when NDAs were mentioned for the first time. "Hearth I can somewhat understand. She exposes me, and losing her job is the least of her worries. The same probably goes for the rest of you. But how's a stupid piece of paper going to stop Eve from telling the world about me?"

"Our NDAs are enchanted contracts?" Hearth half-told and half-questioned while giving him an odd look. "Unless somepony is already in the know, telling them about you would, well, let's say it would be undeniable that we broke our word."

"Enchanted?" Neil countered, exasperated by the uncertain way the entire world, perhaps even the universe, worked. "You mean, more B.S. like the perception wards?"

"Similar, though wards tend to be carved into permanent structures and draw in ambient magic from the environment for power," Hearth explained as she sat down at the table, her fork relighting with her aura as she picked up where she left off. "Enchantments are a little more specialized and take a different skill set to create. A skill set I'm not the most studied on. I remember Miss Eve boasting about her enchanting abilities last night, though. Would you like to explain?"

During the entire exchange, Hallowed Eve's head twitched back and forth, focusing on one speaker after another with an unmistakable, nervous energy about her. She was clearly terrified that something besides signing an NDA would happen, and she squeaked when Hearth shone the spotlight on her.

However, she was also quick to recover. "Um, I could, but I'm also a little confused about the subject at hoof?" She questioned, glancing nervously around the room from one person to the next before settling on him. "Your High- Neil? Sir? Is an honest-to-goodness Alicorn. But, with all this talk about NDAs, it means he's supposed to be kept a secret? At the same time he's also a public ambassador? Is that correct? I'm also confused as to why you would keep your horn in a plaster cast?"

Neil took a deep breath and slowly released it as he went over her slightly frantic questions. There was no use snapping at her because she was just as much a victim of circumstance as he was. "First, it's just Neil. Second, you'd have to ask Celestia. And third, I ran into Bulk and almost snapped the useless thing off."

He expected more questions in response to his short and pointed answers. After giving his final point, however, Hallowed Eve physically recoiled at his admission. Visibly curling in on herself a little, as if to form a protective bubble... before stopping and looking towards him again with a new emotion. One he did not care for in the slightest, even if he couldn't determine whether it was sympathy or pity.

"In that case, I hope you get better soon, then, Neil."

He gave her a quick, noncommittal nod to her well-wishes as he avoided her gaze. He glanced around the table for something new to focus on before settling on his cooling breakfast. "Anyway, the sooner we finish, the sooner I can get some peace and quiet."

To further his point, he took a big spoonful of scrambled eggs and chomped down, signalling his unwillingness to continue talking.

The rest of the ponies around the table slowly picked up where they left off. Some, like Squall, even increased their pace since he was talking less than he was previously.

Still, he couldn't help but pick up Eve, whispering excitedly to Bulk, "Would this make me a member of a super secret club? Or even better, a royal conspiracy?" To which the large Pegasus merely gave her a shrug as he finished off his plate.

When everyone else had finished, Dainty quickly collected all the dirty dishes and stacked them neatly on one of the carts. At the same time, the breakfast leftovers were placed on the second large cart. This left the third cart empty, revealing how much the small group had managed to devour.

With one final cue, Dainty held the door to the living room open, allowing everyone but her to exit. Neil assumed she had to do some extra cleaning but preferred to do so out of sight, which was okay with him.

As everyone exited his apartment, Neil felt he was finally allowed to sit in his chair and enjoy some much-needed peace and quiet as he thought over the newspaper article. But, as the door slowly closed behind Squall, who was the last to exit his apartment, he couldn't help but hear him ask Hallowed Eve in the hallway, "So, what's it like to be the first mare in history to sleep with an Alicorn stalli-"

Only for his voice to cut off as the door slipped closed with an affirming click. 'Fuck my life.'

~~~

Beyond a few sparks of recognition and whispers in the streets, Neil's afternoon seemed to be going better than the disaster that had been his morning. Despite his worries, no pony approached him to ask about the article or introduce themselves. He had no idea whether that was because he had a guard escort or because the Canterlot Castle Herald's Sunday edition wasn't that popular. Not even the Sales Representatives he spoke with knew anything about him, which he was perfectly fine with.

Not to say everything went swimmingly. Some of the lower-end furniture boutiques Squall had pointed out to him had accent pieces in the colours he was looking for, whether they be faded purples, blues, greys, or blacks. But for the most part, everything in Canterlot had to be authentic. Meaning the majority of wooden furniture he was looking to replace, like his dining room table, had to be custom-made and shipped from a town called Hollow Shades. The only place in Equestria where naturally grey wood grew.

Of course, the first shop he visited, he suggested staining the wood grey as a simple and practical solution... only to be escorted out and banned by the deeply offended proprietor from shopping there ever again.

Nevertheless, he learned from that mistake. When it came to common sense and simplicity, it was best to keep his mouth shut when dealing with up-their-own-ass-upper-class ponies. After hours of walking and browsing multiple shops, he filled a quarter of the cart Bulk was pulling behind him.

The rest, unfortunately, had to be ordered in. It would take at least a week to build the furniture to Neil's specifications and ship it to Canterlot by train. Thankfully, Bulk dutifully took every order form from each shop and slipped it inside his armour for later organization. Now that he was on a budget given to him by the Equestrian government, it was going to be a nightmare keeping track of every little thing he spent.

Shortly after Neil finished his last order in a middle-class shop Squall thought to bring him to, two out of the three of them found themselves resting in a park. Despite offering, Bulk refused to unhook himself from the cart and stood at attention while Neil and Squall sat on a nearby park bench.

As they sat and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing through the air, Neil couldn't help but think something was missing. Something that wasn't just furniture or rugs to replace and cover things up. Perhaps he could buy something to hang on the walls? That felt like the right direction, but given the other shops in Canterlot, a single painting would probably blow his budget out of the water.

However, before he could pinpoint the exact idea in his mind, a sudden, booming whoosh overwhelmed the area, shocking him out of his thoughts. Looking around, he wasn't the only one affected by it. Bulk was suddenly on alert, inching himself and the cart closer to the bench. While Squall instinctively shot up five feet into the air, swivelling around to find the source.

The few ponies milling about in the park were also looking around, when-

BOOM!

That blast had enough force to rattle Neil's bones, but he knew it came from the south. On instinct, he spun around in his seat. He couldn't tell if it was awe-inspiring or goddamn terrifying, but he had just enough time to see a white, nuke-like pillar in the distance reaching up into the clouds.

In a matter of seconds, his vision was blocked as Bulk managed to spin the cart around and position it between Neil and whatever had happened. After that, he tried to unbuckle himself from the restraints.

Bulk was too late, though, as seconds after he stopped, one building, then another, and another vanished into a rapidly approaching cloud of white. Was it fog? Something else? Neil couldn't comprehend, and his legs were unwilling to move...

And then Bulk, the cart, and Squall disappeared as it hit. A sudden blast of cold tore through his fur and knocked him off the bench, only for everything to fade to black.

Neil couldn't quite tell if time had passed or if it hadn't. It didn't feel anything like the night he cracked his horn, and he didn't feel any pain. It was getting a little hard to breathe, though, being buried under whatever he had been buried under. It wasn't hot, like ash. It almost felt like... snow. Had Canterlot been hit by a random avalanche?

Whether it was or not, the moment that word popped into his mind, he remembered his basic safety. He shifted and squirmed, creating the largest air pocket he could while restrained. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn't know which, he felt the ground against his wings. Informing him that he was at the lowest possible depth. At the very least, it gave him an idea.

After some wriggling, he managed to get one of his front legs underneath him. With that and both of his wings, he pushed up. It wasn't a wing-up, exactly. It was the opposite, but it worked as he managed to poke his head up out of an unexpected layer of snow now blanketing the entire park. He wasn't the only one, either.

Bulk had already half-dug himself out of the snow. And Neil could hear Squall groaning loudly to his right. Turning in that direction, he saw Squall's rump sticking out from the green leaves of a nearby tree.

"I'm guessing this doesn't happen often?" Neil asked, suddenly feeling rather faint after what just happened.

"Eeenope," Bulk all but growled as he finally unhook himself from the cart. After which, he slowly pushed through the snow towards Neil.

At that point, Squall managed to get himself unstuck and flopped down into the snowbank at the base of the tree. "I hate to contradict, but whatever that was, it came from Ponyville."

By that point, Bulk was close enough that Neil could hear him grumbling to himself, "O' course it did," before pushing aside the snow burying Neil with his wings.

Ponyville. That one small town seemed to be the center of multiple catastrophes. First, it was the Tantabus, and now it was what Neil could only describe as a snow nuke. The very same town he was set to visit in a few days... Suddenly, he wasn't looking forward to his trip away from Canterlot nearly as much as he had ten minutes ago.

~~~***~~~

Whether you called it by its official name, the Mountainside district, or its unofficial nickname, the Outskirts, chances were any pony could find close what they were looking for in the area. Unlike the other sections of Canterlot with strict zoning laws that relegated specific colors, themes, and zoning types, Canterlot's newest district was a loose hodgepodge of small business and residential buildings intermixed in a strange pattern of unique, unrestricted colors and architecture.

One such building was Sunny Side Residential Apartments. When the ten-story building was designed and built two decades ago, it was state-of-the-art. Some decried it as looking too blocky and uniform, but the designers managed to fit plenty of small but cozy-feeling apartments into the building despite its more moderate size. With its Manehatten-styled exterior and sun-yellow stucco to catch the eye of prospective renters, the business had been a success- at first.

Over the last ten years, the building was beginning to show its age. Whether it was from a lack of maintenance due to stingy owners or another reason entirely, nopony knew. It was a shame, too, as chips and cracks formed in the now faded, almost sickly shade of yellow stucco exterior, making the building look dilapidated and abandoned. The only arguable upside brought about by the building's appearance was the cheap rent, which drew in an odd assortment of desperate and/or quirky denizens willing to live there.

As the day slowly came to a close and the sun was about to set one such resident was frantically running about her apartment. Each window in the apartment had been closed shut and sealed, with the curtains drawn to block out all light from entering- all but one, which allowed a sliver of light to peak through the curtains and reflect off of a full-body mirror, the only piece of furniture in an otherwise sparse bedroom.

Despite the near-absolute darkness imposed upon the apartment, the owner navigated around the furniture and other obstacles with expert ease. 'Anti-scrying wards, check!' She thought to herself as she pressed a hoof to the rune carved on the underside of her kitchen table. A brief burst of green, almost fire-like magic erupted from the wood, lighting up the otherwise ordinary-looking kitchen before vanishing.

'That should last the next two hours, at least,' She thought to herself, going over how much magic she pumped into the array a second time in her head. Without question, she fed it a consistent amount of magic over the last month.

But that didn't mean she could relax as she skittered to the living room. She couldn't waste a single second, lest she risk punishment or worse tonight. Once she was in the room, she honed in on the couch. Her horn burned with magic, overwhelming the blackness of the room with a comforting green glow from multiple sources as she ripped the removable cushions off her couch.

When she first moved in, she had been impressed by the building's natural insulation and sound-dampening properties. However, given her line of work, a drone could never be too careful as she approached and looked upon a second rune array. This one was different in many ways, but activating it was the same as she pressed her hoof to the edge. Again, more green fire burst to life without damaging the surface. However, a small emerald glow became briefly visible in every corner of her apartment for only a moment. This included the living room, drawing her attention and confirming the sound-dampening runes were active.

Now that she was relatively safe, she dropped her pony disguise. It was rare for her to indulge in her proper, superior form, but tonight was one of those nights as she replaced the couch cushions. Once that was done, she lovingly extended her wings, stretching them for the first time in a month, then took off. Relishing in the opportunity to buzz through the air and fly through the open door of her ritual room.

Once inside, she came to a mid-air stop and closed the door. Superfluous magic use was a waste for any Changling, especially her, as she landed and sat in front of the mirror. The transition between day and night would happen in less than a minute, giving her a brief but critically vital reagent to enact her ritual.

And, just as she thought about it, what little light creeping through the room faded away as Celestia's fiery orb in the sky withdrew itself from yet another day. Magic flooded her horn, creating a high-frequency buzzing sensation across its entire length. Still, she needs to release the built-up power. She had to wait since the timing of the ritual had to be perfect.

'5, 4, 3, 2, 1...'

A beam of moonlight pierced the sudden darkness, hitting the centre of the mirror and reflecting to illuminate a small black orb of crystal placed on the ground. With only seconds to spare as the moon rose in the darkened sky, she released her magic. A fraction of it was used to spark two blackish-green resin candles on either side of the orb, while the rest flooded the small circle array connecting the orb and the mirror.

For a second, black smoke wafted up from the candles... Only for it to be pulled by an unperceived but focused wind and be drawn across the orb. When the smoke reached its destination and caressed the orb, it somehow became more ominous, with its mere presence becoming darker. She shivered at the sudden drop in temperature and released the rest of her magic. At that moment, where once there was a reflection of a dark, empty room with only a sitting bug-like pony, it changed.

Light flooded through the glass, revealing a well-lit, expansive chamber carved from a black-green, obsidian-like substance she knew to be Changeling resin. In the center of the room, sitting on a raised dais, was the Queen's large, green, pod-like bed (a luxury that very few Changelings in the hive earned). From previous reports, she knew her mirror would connect to the mirror closest to the Queen.

This time, she was connected to the Queen's personal vanity, one of the few luxuries Queen Chrysalis allowed herself in the otherwise open room. However, an imposing black form took up most of the mirror before she could take in much more of her Queen's chambers. Like her, the being sitting in front of the mirror was covered in black chitin. Unlike her, however, Queen Chrysalis was more significant, with a captivating, elongated neck from which grew her enchanting cerulean mane.

"Calyce, I've been expecting you," Queen Chrysalis stated in a deceptively happy tone up front. At the same time, her Queen's undertone clearly demanded pure obedience and servitude. "Anything to report on Operation Sunset? Any new breakthroughs on infiltrating the castle?"

Calyce had already been seated stiffly before making the connection. Now that her Queen was demanding new progress and knowing how little progress had been made over the last month, she was rigid with fear. "No, My Queen."

"No?" She asked, sounding quaintly perturbed before her voice grew darker and darker as she continued to speak. "Are you telling me Operation Sunset has not made a single advancement in the last month? Do I need to remind you of the risks you put yourself and the hive in with every day spent on this operation?"

"No, My Queen," She spoke honestly, hoping beyond hope that she could inform the Queen about her discovery before being replaced and demoted to a lowly digger. "I understand perfectly, but-"

"But what, Calyce!?" Queen Chrysalis shrieked harshly, causing all the glass in the room to vibrate. "Is impersonating a pitiful pony too much for you? Should I send a replacement with the proper training?"

"N-No, My Queen!" Calyce stuttered, desperate to share what she had learned, "In fact, I have important news unrelated to the operation!"

What was sure to be a long and abusive tirade was cut short as Queen Chrysalis took one second, then another, to sit back down in her seat with a contemplative look that promised extreme punishment should she be disappointed. "Very well, tell me. This news better be life-altering to compensate for your lack of progress."

With a slight tremble along her spine and a minute quiver in her voice, she finally told her Queen. "There's a new Alicorn, My Queen!"

What came next sounded more like an explosion than a question as the resin chandelier behind the Queen shook from the power of her voice. "*WHAT!?*"

Never before had she heard Queen Chrysalis reach anything close to the fabled Canterlot voice. But, at that moment, she was very thankful she had a sound-dampening ward running instead of relying only on the insulation in the walls, ceiling, and floor. "Indeed! And better yet, this newest Alicorn is a male."

Male. That one simple word brought about the Queen's undivided attention onto her, as if Queen Chrysalis was staring lasers through her small drone body. "Tell me everything you know of this new Alicorn, NOW!"

"I don't know much about him, My Queen," She apologized upfront before quickly vomiting up every little detail she picked out during the night. "I fear he might be confined to the castle and that he was only allowed out yesterday due to the pony holiday. But, until he was well inebriated, he felt unlike any pony I've tasted before. He was conflicted and distrustful of the ponies around him, including the group he spent most of the night with. And, his level of paranoia rivalled that of a fellow Changeling."

With each detail, Queen Chrysalis' eyes seemed to narrow. Until she mentioned the Alicorn's paranoia, at which point her Queen lifted a hoof, all but ordering her to shut up. "Are you sure this wasn't a rogue masquerading as an Alicorn during Nightmare Night?"

"I'm positive, My Queen," She affirmed before explaining, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to taste his drunken lust when he was dragged to the dance floor."

The hoof she held slowly lowered to her chin as she began rubbing her chitin in thought. "... And you say he's paranoid of his fellow ponies?"

"Yes," She confirmed as her horn lit up, bringing a single rolled-up newspaper from the corner of the room and unrolling it for her Queen to see. "According to the Castle Herald's report, he's a foreign Ambassador from an unknown land. Princess Celestia herself confirmed he isn't from Equestria."

Calyce knew her Queen was listening to her words, but her eyes were focused on the picture shown in the paper, which showed off an unusually tall, but otherwise injured-looking unicorn wearing a cloak. "Calyce, show me exactly what you saw."

Knowing exactly what her Queen wanted, Calyce threw aside the paper and transformed, filling the room with swirling green fire as her body grew almost twice its size. When the spiraling flames dissipated, there was no longer a simple drone sitting on the floor. Instead, a living, breathing, identical replica of the unicorn in the photo was standing proudly... without his cloak, which revealed his majestic wings to Queen Chrysalis.

"He was drinking with his wings," Calyce spoke with the Alicorn's smooth, mellow voice, without the cocktail of negative emotions mixed within. "Which makes me think his horn was injured somehow. Or, like when the Princess of Food first appeared, he doesn't know how to use magic yet."

"Excellent work finding this invaluable piece of information, Calyce," Queen Chrysalis complimented, causing his temporary Alicorn heart to skip a beat. It was rare, indeed, to receive any sort of positive reinforcement. "Now, present yourself. I wish to see everything this Alicorn male has to offer."

Without question, Calyce turned away from the mirror and lifted his tail. If his Queen wished to see everything this form had to offer the hive, that was her right. As the Queen cooed at this form's virility, he thought about the many heated trysts he experienced in Canterlot, harvesting love from the ponies to survive. Before long, his sheath began to stir and expand, allowing his erection to slip free, much to his Queen's obvious delight.

"Yes, this new Alicorn will be more than adequate to father a new generation of changelings. You may sit, Calyce," The Queen stated seductively, and he did as ordered. Still, he couldn't help but notice his Queen's eyes were glued to the bobbing rod of flesh attached to his form, even when he sat down with its fleshy head pointing towards the mirror.

The Queen took a few extra seconds to appreciate his form's erection before composing herself. "Due to your lack of progress, I'm still removing you from Operation Sunset."

Before Calyce could even get a word in, Queen Chrysalis lifted her hoof one more, forcing him to sit silently and obediently as his Queen eventually continued, "However, you are to remain in Canterlot. You will watch for and learn as much as you can about this male Alicorn. And, if the opportunity presents itself, abduct him for transportation to the hive. Enjoy your reassignment to Operation Allure Agent Calyce."

Author's Note

This month has been rather hectic. Between helping family members slowly distribute and move my late Granny's belongings from her house, taking care of the property with my Uncle, the sudden explosion of DnD 2024 content previews, getting the Minecraft bug again, and finally the experimental release of 7 Days to Die version 1.0, I haven't had the most time to write.

On the plus side, I haven't been called in to cover at work much this month, either, which is a bonus. Still, it's been very on and off, trying to find a decent time to write. D:

Hopefully next month will stabilize a little bit more, and I can get back to a decent writing schedule (That I can then squander on video games ;P).

Also, surprise! Since last chapter didn't have a perspective shift, I decided to give you two in this one.

And Snow-mageddon from Tanks for the Memories because: