Meanwhile
Topaz was a portly orange Gem Dragoness with the build of Victor Buono and E cups covered by a white double breasted jacket and often fought with a ladle; this was because she was a very good cook. She also happened to create ten impish duplicates of different colors, each named for their color, and one of them was hurrying to her right now. "Ma'am! Ma'am!"
Topaz looked up from her cauldron. "What is it, Yellow?"
"We've been picking up duck sightings in the woods faction of the Everfree, ma'am."
Topaz started. "A duck?"
"Right here, ma'am." Yellow held up a photograph and Topaz snatched it out of her grasp.
After studying it, she smirked, "This should be most interesting."
Louis stared nervously. The gatherings were never fun. "Are you sure it means that the gathering of the Gem Dragonesses is approaching? I mean, you two could be breaking out in a rash."
Emerald gave him a look. "Master, you know that whenever Peridot and I glow like this, it means that our kind must meet."
"And since you bested Emerald in combat, you're the new Green Beryl, Boss," added Peridot, "and it is a rule that a Beryl attends the gathering."
"I know," muttered Louis. That was one downside when it came to beating a Gem Dragoness: you had to attend the gatherings she was summoned to. If she was a formal Beryl, you had to sit at the square table.
(I got that from The Sword in the Stone.)
There used to be 4 Beryls: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Obsidian. Then along came Pearl, Topaz, Amethyst, and Amber. They were the head hanchoes, deciding what went on in the tracts of land their kind occupied, and what to do concerning anyone or anything that was reported skulking about.
Louis found out the semi hard way that when you beat or control a Gem Dragoness, you basically have to attend the gatherings; if you beat or control a Beryl, you have to take her place at the table. Louis wasn't looking forward to this, as it meant facing Jasper and Malachite. "Well I'll do it, but I won't like it."
The sisters threw their arms around him. "Thanks Master/Boss!"
"Um," the three turned to see Greta dressed like Julia Roberts from that one movie.
(The name escapes me.)
"I'll just stay here and guard the house?"
The trio looked at each other, then at Greta and said simultaneously, "yes."
The gathering took place in a darker version of the Ponyville Town Hall with a sentry on guard. The three immediately recognized her: Garnet, a deep red Gem Dragoness with an F cup chest, dressed like an 1870s British Navy sharpshooter, armed with a musket and a sheathed rapier tied to her belt. She too was glowing, and noticed Emerald and Peridot. "Hello greens," she said in a slightly condescending tone.
"Garnet," the sisters said, Peridot in a more condescending tone, Emerald in a mixture of sadness and guarded anger. For sometime, Emerald had been looked up to by Garnet for her formidability on the field of battle. After it got around that she was beaten by Louis, Garnet's respect for her had crumbled and a severe dislike for Louis had garnered. The sisters were always cautious when he and she were in close proximity.
"Human," Garnet said in a growling tone.
"Garnet," said he in a wary tone as he rested his hand the machete hilt. Emerald had lent it to him as one rule about the gathering was that every attendee had to bear one, and only one, weapon.
To his surprise, she stepped aside and pushed open the door. "Just be glad that the code prohibits me from beating you to a pulp," she growled, "else I would paint the town red with your blood."
"Garnet!" snapped Emerald. "I know you don't like the fact that he owns me, but that doesn't give you the right to practically threaten him!"
"Au contraire, I definitely have a right," retorted Garnet, "he owns you, but he doesn't own me, so I can make all the threats I like."
Garnet suddenly found Emerald standing right in front of her, cutlass drawn and aimed at Garnet's throat. "You said it yourself: he owns me so the code permits me to retaliate however I want to." Trembling, Garnet backed away and allowed the three inside.
Louis had to go in wearing shaded because every Gem Dragoness was glowing. He saw a glimpse of Jasper in the crowd and prayed she wouldn't notice him...then realized she would regardless because the square table was literally in the middle of the room. Then he saw Malachite looking right at him and she licked her chops in a sultry way. He shuddered, then felt some weight on his arm, courtesy of Peridot. "Don't worry, Boss. She'll think twice about touching you before the night is over."
Louis tried to smile, but the presence of several intimidating ladies made it an utter failure. Still, he had to tarry onward to the square table where the 5 other Beryl's awaited.
Ruby was a dark red dragoness, even darker than Garnet, that was half as tall as Lapis, wore a bright red variant of the Russian Cuirassier uniform from 1812over her B cups, a monocle, and was armed with a six shooter.
Sapphire was a blue dragoness that was about Peridot's size and wore a navy blue variant of the WW1 German 48th infantry musketeer uniform over her C cups with a Picklehaube helmet hanging on her chair and a bayonet at her side.
Pearl was a really tall white dragoness who's size was on par with Malachite's. She wore a wintery white and blue robe over her B cups, wielded a staff that gave her cyrogenic powers, and left her home in the charge of a penguin named Charlatan.
Amethyst was a purple dragoness who had pie eyes and wasn't lean like Malachite and Pearl, but she was skinny nonetheless...and man, did she love purple; her tuxedo tuxedo covering her C cups was purple, her car was purple, even her boomerang cards were purple. She moved her body so fluently that Louis thought she was something out of the 1930s. Heck, one might say that she had the voice of Alaina Bridgewater.
Amber was a yellow dragoness dressed in mustard yellow and black (basically Zhang Jue in the Oversimplified video of the Three Kingdoms War) Chinese robes over her C cups and fought with a Shillelagh. She was often hired by Pinkie Pie to help out with the entertainment bits of parties. She was also known for being the only one of her kind to do magic, albeit stage level, equipped with a wand.
Well, now that most introductions were out of the way, Louis made it to the table and sat in between Sapphire and Pearl; the moment he did, he felt the temperature drop, what with Pearl being an elemental Gem Dragoness.
More on that later.
Likewise, Sapphire forced a smile when he sat down, what with him having defeated a Beryl and her somewhat volatile sister. Ruby's smile was also forced, but since there was someone between her and him, it was a lesser forced smile. Anyway, with that done the meeting began.
Obsidian stood up. "Oyez, oyez. We are gathered here to discuss recent and current events, exchanging of territories, and other news. Who would like to start?"
"I will." This came from Topaz who also rose. "My little minions have sighted a female duck skulking about in the forest."
Obsidian tensed. "What color was she?"
"Green."
"Impossible!"
Topaz snapped her fingers. "Yellow, get over here!" The imp sized duplicate flew over to the jet black dragoness and held up a photo.
Obsidian snatched it from her and studied it intensely...very intensely. "It cannot be!" After some panting, she said forcefully calmly, "well, she can enter the forest...but she can't penetrate the castle."
Ruby cleared her throat nervously. "Um, the forest has its own magic shield that's basically impenetrable. If she can bypass that-"
"You're right!" interrupted a very tense Obsidian. "I'll just increase my security, that's all." She calmed herself for a minute , then her smug attitude returned. "Besides, I have some news myself. It has come to my attention that one of our own has landed a job with ponies."
Louis had seen this coming, but he still felt his face heat up when everyone in the room stared at him. "Uh, yeah I did. It's a paying job, decent, I'm doing my niche..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say next.
A snort came from Pearl. "So, it's finally happened? The ponies have started to expand their friendship to other creatures by opening a school? Bosh!"
Sapphire looked at her, half shocked, half curious. "Are you against the fact that multiple species are attending? Kind of 'hypo-twitical' of you, considering what you did to, um..." The names escaping her, she snapped her fingers in an attempt to do so. "Uh...Iron Ore, Typhoon, and Slophead?"
Louis cleared his throat. "Platinum, Hurricane, and Puddinghead."
Sapphire regarded him with a nervous grin. "Yes, them."
Pearl snorted again. "Please. I only did that because their condescending was getting on my nerves. Besides, I heard that it taught friendship, and that the teacher's were going to be an incurable OCD librarian, an egotistical athlete, a stubborn farmer, a way too hyperactive bakery mare, a snobbish tailer, and a doormat veterinarian. Have I left anyone out?"
Amethyst giggled. "How about a unicorn that was forgiven way too easily for meddling with the space-time continuum? Or a dragoness that can't tell the difference between ponies and dragons?"
"I heard that those two were counselors," coughed Amber.
Louis figured he had better get this conversation ended shortly. "It's actually an academic school, still bent on bringing races together and sharing cultures."
There was something like relief stretching across Pearl's face. "Is it? That's good, it seems like the ponies are learning."
But Amethyst had her doubts. "Oh I don't think so. I hear that ole Chancy tried to stop one of the big cheeses from getting the school formed because it went against the EEA standards. But from where I dangle, that boy was just racist with a few screws loose."
"But he's history now," said Louis, "no one knows where he went after he was forced to step down."
Obsidian and Amethyst grinned wickedly. "I hear that he ran into a certainnnnn tempest," sniggered the former.
"Yeah, and he's getting an idear of how she felt," giggled the latter.
Ruby shifted nervously, but found the courage to speak. "All the same, I'm kind of glad that none of our kind went. We don't exactly have a clear leader." She glanced between Obsidian and Lapis. It should go without saying that both Gem Dragonesses feared each other. Lapis' rifle made her a formidable force to be reckoned with; heck, Obsidian accidentally got on the wrong side of it, and it was revealed that not even she could escape it.
Obsidian, on the other hand, not only had quite the reputation, but had the skills (and aura) to back it up. So naturally, there was some... animosity between the two. Anyway, Ruby continued, "Besides, we're content with our lot. Why would any of us throw in with them?" She looked hastily at Louis, "and that includes you, of course."
Louis shrugged, "I only did it for the money."
There isn't much to say about what went on after that. That's largely to say that everything that did happen was, well, routine. The only exciting thing that happened was Lapis thanking Louis for mentioning Walter Finch which caused Sardonyx to go into a fetal position. Some laughed until Louis stood up and glared at them; one half of the some glared back, the other half looked nervous.
That said, Louis, Emerald, and Peridot left the building, Garnet growled at the human, making the sisters grip their weapons. When they got back to the apartment house, Greta awaited them...trussed up like anyone who touched the piece. Louis immediately clapped his hands and her bonds fell off. "How long have you been like that?"
Greta shook her head. "I don't know. I lost track after my arms felt numb." She placed a talon on her forehead. "Why do you even have that thing?"
"Well for one thing, I can't give it away, because what you went through just proves that I'm pretty much the only one who can wear it," explained Louis while mentally preparing to have a long talk with Vortech, "and for another, it was with me when I arrived here."
Greta huffed. "Just warn me next time you put it down, ok?"
"Fine. Now please don't bug me, the gathering was same old same old, with the same pricks being pricks, and basically routine."
Emerald coughed. "Not exactly Master, Obsidian did look like she was going to make a moat around her castle with how much she was sweating when Topaz mentioned that duck."
Louis thought back to when the duck was first brought up. Now that he thought about it, Obsidian was a little out of character with how she reacted. Emerald opened her muzzle to say something, but felt the prick of her sister's guandao against her neck. "I think Boss wants to lie down. The gathering is really long and he still has his job to do. Right Boss?"
Louis stared, then blinked a few times. "Yes Peridot, I am feeling a little knackered. However, Emerald, I need a few minutes alone, so would you wait out here with your sister?" Emerald nodded, struggling to form coherent words with a blade on her throat. "Let her go Peridot."
"Sure thing Boss." Peridot obliged and Louis headed into his room. Once the door snapped shut, the sisters rounded on Greta, grinning almost identically. "Now tell us," started Peridot.
"What was it like with him last night?" finished Emerald.
Greta could only groan at the question.