"It's great to be back to normal, ponies are just not meant to have those 'finger' things," Rainbow complained while I closed the portal behind us.
"I beg to differ, dear. While it did indeed feel abnormal, it was a new experience that one can learn from. And don't forget all the gold you brought," Gala countered as she slipped out of the now oversized clothes, due in part of forgetting to undress before making the trip back.
"Yeah, but now I need some ba—" Rainbow complained before I suddenly stuck my head out the suite door to look at one of the guards that were stationed in the hallway.
"Hey you," I said, drawing the attention of a unicorn Night Guard. "Yes, you. I need you to go get me a few bags that can hold about, I say a few hundred bits," I continued, remembering that the trio went as far as to use their shirts to hold more treasure. Even Gala did it for her gems, stating that it was for 'the greater good'.
"But your highness, my duty tod—"
"Don't care. and you have a buddy there, so she can cover you while you're away. Now go get those bags, that's an order!" I demanded before pulling my head back into the room, where Rainbow and Sunset were looking at me with bemused looks while Gala held an annoyed one. "What? Did I missed something?"
"Nebula, you shouldn't order ponies around like that, you need to be more respectful towards them, even if they're working for you," Gala stated,
"Well, we all know I'm not one for tact, so consider this something you have to train me in," I countered, causing Gala to rub a hoof against her forehead. "But I will take note of what you said."
"That's a start, at least," Gala mumbled out as Rainbow hovered over to me with a curious look on her face.
"While it's cool of you to get me a bag to carry all that gold, why didn't you just get one like you did the last time?" Rainbow asked.
Before I could answer, Sunset rolled her eyes as she said, "Because the last time, it was already full of gold. That means that she either has to dump gold out of it and then fill it with the gold you got, which is redundant or that she still needs to get another bag."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Rainbow replied, rubbing her head as she thought about it.
"Since that is out of the way, it is time for my lessons you three," I stated. And for today, I think a would like to observe a fight instead of partaking in one."
"Oh? Well, I'm rearing for a brawl, and it would be awesome to take on one of the guards," Rainbow declared as she slammed her forehooves together.
"Thank you for volunteering, but you're actually going to spar with Sunset here so I can see how good she is in fight. Now on the count of three, you two start beating the snot out of each other," I said as Sunset looked at me in shock.
"Now wait a mi—"
"One two three start!" I exclaimed at a rapid pace.
"I sa—" Sunset yelled until she was interrupted by Rainbow throwing a left hook on her face, knocking her down to the ground.
"Rainbow!" Gala shrieked as I approached Sunset, checking her out to see that she was knocked unconcious.
"What? Nebula said start, so the match was on!" Rainbow countered.
"Heh, she can't take a single punch," I stated, drawing the attention of the other two.
"Wait, I actually knocked her out cold? That's so lame," Rainbow said as she crossed her hooves over her chest.
"You should be more concern over the fact that you knocked her unconscious, Rainbow," Gala replied with a frown as I stared at Sunset's face.
"I don't think she should, since Sunset should have been on guard the moment I said start. Now does anypony have a marker I can borrow?"
"I do!" Gala stated as she pulled a marker out of her mane, causing me to resist the urge to cock an eyebrow at her.
Taking the marker, I said, "Alright then, let's get to work."
"I hate you, so much."
"Hey, it's not my fault that you can't take a punch."
"But it's your fault for getting me into that fight!"
"Hey, you had a moment to get ready, you should have used it for that purpose instead of complaining to me."
"I had every right to, and you even drew on my face while I was unconscious instead of getting help!"
"It was tempted, and I did get help. I got the help from Gala in the form of a marker to draw a mustache on your muzzle," I countered as she and I walked towards the library. Shortly after drawing the mustache on Sunset's face, I went ahead and had some close quarters sparring with Rainbow while Gala had her turn on Sunset, giggling as she went all out and made Sunset looked like a gentlecolt. It was only after the other two had left for the night that she woke up, and screamed at me in rage, only to stop when I burst out in laughter at her ridiculous she looked. After she cleaned up, her rage was kept at bay again when a guard arrived with a note from Luna that said that we will be meeting up with her in an hour at the library.
"Don't you ever stop being a jackass?" Sunset asked as I opened the door to the library.
"Hmm... only when I run out of fuel, and I got enough to fly a rocket to the moon," I shot back with a cheeky grin until my senses told me something was off. I quickly glanced at the area, noting that there was the usual librarian that was reading her own thing and a thestral guard that was standing off to the side. However, I feel that sensation when my eyes passed over the guard, causing me to start thinking of a plan to handle her. "Now, enough fussing and let's get to work, Mother will be here in twenty minutes after all."
Sighing, Sunset muttered to herself as she and I head over to one of the tables, placing down some quills and scrolls from the saddle bag I made her carry. Taking them from her, I set it up like I was having private lessons as I wrote on a scroll, Sunset, there is something off with the guard to my left. Don't look at her, don't make any changes to your expression that would suggest shock or surprise, and this isn't a joke, my senses are giving me a bad vibe from her. Let me handle this, you just go off to find a spell book for me to use, and please don't act like a cliche actor. If I'm gone when you return, don't freak out, it's all according to my plans. If Luna comes before I return, keep her calm and prevent her from raising the alarm, I know what I'm doing. Passing the scroll towards Sunset, I asked, "Hey, is this correct, Sunset?"
Glancing at the scroll, Sunset kept her annoyed expression before she let out a grunt as she answered, "Maybe, but there are some errors in your answer. Wait here while I get a book to show you the proper way to approach the problem," as she went off into another part of the library, taking the scroll with her. As I waited with my head turned towards the direction she left when the guard decided to act, by slowly sneaking to my backside until she was close enough to place a foreleg around my chest as another one placed a cloth over my mouth. I put up an act of struggling as I sniffed the cloth, detecting that there was indeed a chemical compound on it that is probably meant to render me unconscious. Thankfully I possessed a high resistance to toxins and poisons, but I still went with my act as I pretended to fall asleep, letting my limbs go slack as the guard pulled me off my chair.
With me apparently secured in her hooves, the would-be kidnapper took into the air, flying up towards the ceiling before flying out the door, with the librarian not noticing a thing, being too engrossed into whatever she was reading. Cracking an eye open just a hair bit, I watched as the false guard carried me through the hallways, quietly flapping her wings as she darted this way and that way until she came up to a hallway with a portrait of Celestia, where she finally stopped. Turning around a few times, in what I assumed to be checking for any signs of the other castle personal, she dropped down to the portrait, where she pulled the portrait off the wall before pressing a specific spot on it, which sank into the wall, revealing that it was a hidden button as part of the wall opened up. Tossing me inside in a rough fashion, she looked about again before going in herself, putting the portrait back in its before closing the hidden door.
Picking me up again, I was carried down the secret passage until it opened up to what looked like a crystalline cavern, where I spotted a hooded figure sitting on a chunk of crystal looking up at us. Looking up at us, the figure growled out in a masculine voice, "What in the Queen's name are you doing, Quiet Flight‽"
"Shhh! We're supposed to talk through the hive link, not talking out loud!" my kidnapper known as Quiet hissed as she placed me down.
"Like the buck I would care about that when you're carrying the Moon Princess's foal with you! What the buck would you kidnap her when we're not ordered to!" the figure said.
"Come on Steel Shell, cut me some slack. I had the perfect opportunity to kidnap her, so I decided to take the initiative. Besides, since she is the daughter of the Moon Princess, surely the princesses would crave into the Queens demands with her in our possession," Quest stated as green flames engulfed her, much to my surprise as I tried to keep my face from conveying it. However, that became a monumental task when I saw that in the place of the guard, was a black insect-like pony, with holes in its hooves and insect wings upon its greenish back, a horn on its forehead as she looked at Steel in an annoyed fashion with her blue compound eyes. All in all, it might have been something that would cause the average pony to shriek in fear. Thankfully, I'm far from the average pony, and having experience in fighting eldritch horrors also helped too. Though it did almost made me shudder in disgust at the memory of how disturbing a few of them looked.
Well now... this is something unexpected... yet not unwelcome. At least this would make the rest of the night very interesting, for me at least.