Fenriss slowly started to awaken from her slumber as she felt Kiba’s foot kick her in the side. She slowly groaned as she sat up and whipped the remaining sleep from her eyes. Now fully awake, she turned her head to look at her son, still happily asleep. As she looked at him, a small smile formed on her face, and she slowly leaned down and licked him on the cheek.
As he felt the tongue brush against his cheek, a slight groan escaped his throat. Sleepy, he pulled a pillow over his head and said,“ Mama, five more minutes.”
Fenriss chuckled as she gently took her paw and rubbed his side. “Alright, my little Gem, five more minutes and no more,” she said sweetly while slowly moving off of the bed. She quickly walked into the washroom that was attached to their room and freshened up. As she walked out and towards where her royal trimmings were, now looking ready for the day, a knock on the bedroom door could be heard.
Before Fenriss could say anything, the bedroom door was pushed open by a guardspony who said,” I am sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty, but Princess Celestia has requested your attendance in the throne room.”
Fenriss turned her head to the side and wondered what Celestia needed her for. She gave a small nod and said“ Alright, tell Celestia I shall be with her shortly. I just need to make sure that my son is taken care of.”
The guardspony gave a firm nod and said,” I will go inform the princess now, Your Majesty.” Then, with a respectful bow, the he backed away, shutting the door in the process.
Fenriss sighed as she turned her head to look at Kiba, who was still fast asleep. She then quickly walked over to the sleeping Kiba and started gently rocking him while saying,” Come on, Kiba, it is time to get up.”
Kiba groaned as he moved the pillow off of his head and said,” I’m up, I’m up.” He then rubbed his eyes to chase the sleep away and asked,” Morning, mama, did you sleep well?”
Fenriss smiled, and, with a chuckle, said,” I slept wonderfully, my little Gem.” She kissed him on the head and said,” Sweetie I am afraid that Princess Celestia needs me for something. So until whatever business we have is finished, I will need you to be with Lassie.” Then, with pleading eyes, she asked,” Will that be alright with you sweetie?”
Kiba looked up into his mother’s eyes and smiled warmly while saying,” Mama, as long as we get to spend any time together, then I am happy.” He then turned his head to the side and asked,” We will be spending some time together, right, mama?”
Fenriss was surprised at first, but quickly smiled and hugged him tightly. As she held Kiba she said,” Oh, of course, sweetie. You and I will spend a lot of time together looking around town before we go home.”
Kiba smiled as he hugged his mother back just as tightly and said,” Then I am happy to wait, mama.” He then managed to wiggle his way out of the hug and said,” Besides, Lassie and I will have fun until you get done with your business.”
Fenriss chuckled as she said,” I knew I could count on you, my precious little Gem. Now you go get ready for the day, while I go inform Lassie of what is going on.” She stood up from the bed and watched as Kiba did the same and went to the washroom. As soon as he was out of sight, she left the room and went to Lassie’s room. Once there, she knocked on the door and waited for an answer.
After a moment, Lassie opened the door with a towel wrapped around her head and yipped. Her voice began to shake as she said,” Y-your Majesty, forgive me, I just got out of the bath.” She pulled the towel off of her head and asked,” Now, how might I be at your service, Your Majesty?”
Fenriss smiled as she said,” There is no need for such formalities Lassie. Feel free to just call me Fenriss.” She sighed before saying,” Now for why I am here, well I am afraid that I must attend a meeting with Princess Celestia. So I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind looking after Kiba while I am indisposed?”
Lassie warmly smiled as she said,” Oh, I would be more than happy to look after young Kiba.”
Fenriss beamed as she said,” Perfect, you really are a lifesaver, Lassie.” She chuckled as she said,” I know you and my little Gem will have a wonderful time.” Her tail then began to wag as she said,” You two could even go to their royal garden, it has some truly wondrous creatures living in it.”
Lassie looked up slightly before looking back to Fenriss and saying,” That sounds like an amazing idea, Your Majesty, thank you.”
Fenriss nodded contently and said,” Perfect, just come by my room in a few minutes to grab him so I can go to my little meeting.” She then turned to leave and said,” I will make sure he is ready for you.”
Fenriss returned to her room, where Kiba was sitting on the bed, still in his sleep clothes with messy hair. She sighed before walking into the washroom and grabbing a hairbrush. With the hairbrush in hand, she sat down next to him and started to tame his wild hair. As she brushed she jokingly asked,” How come your hair is always such a mess?”
Kiba chuckled as he said,” I like it more this way mama, combing it is always such a pain.”
Fenriss chuckled back as she said,” Well I could agree to that, but I think you look a lot more handsome with your hair more kept.” Once his hair was cleaned up, she happily began to nuzzle him, causing him the giggle. However, she stopped suddenly when someone began to knock on the door. Looking at the door she called,” It’s open.”
As she said this, the bedroom door was pushed open to reveal a smiling Lassie. She chuckled as she looked at the duo and said,” I have come to see if young Kiba is ready for the day.”
Kiba jumped off of the bed and ran up to Lassie, tackle-hugging her, nearly knocking her over. He looked up at her and said,” I am almost ready, I just need to get my clothes on.” He released her from the hug and went to go change out of his sleep clothes.
Lassie chuckled as she watched the young prince scurry off, before turning her attention to Fenriss. She smiled as she asked,” Your Majesty, if you so wish, I could see to Kiba while you go ahead and attend your meeting with Princess Celestia.”
Fenriss gave a small nod as she said,” Alright, then I think I shall.” She then headed out of the room, and as she passed Lassie she said,” I will try my best to meet up with you two as soon as I am able, but until then please try and have a good time.”
Lassie smiled and gave a small bow to Fenriss as she left the room. As she returned to normal she felt something pull on her arm. She looked down and saw a smiling Kiba who was now dressed for the day. She moved to where she was standing in front of him and asked,” You look ready, but are you sure you have everything, and I mean everything, that you need?”
It took Kiba a minute to understand what Lassie was saying before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the metal octagon, also known as an alchemist weapon, his master gave him.
Lassie smiled as she said,” Good, now put it away.” She then looked side to side before saying,” We don’t want the guards to take it from you.”
Kiba gave a quick nod before putting the octagon back in his pocket and asking,” So what are we going to do today Lassie?”
Lassie chuckled as she ruffled Kiba’s hair and said,” Well I recently found out that this castle has a wonderful garden, very much unlike our own. So I thought that it might be a wonderful opportunity for you to see plants and creatures that can’t, or don’t, thrive in our underground kingdom.”
Kiba looked up at Lassie with amazement before quickly grabbing her paw and yanking it while saying,” Well then what are we waiting for, lets go.” The two then started heading towards the royal gardens, Kiba pulling on Lassie’s paw the whole time.
As they rounded a corner, Kiba ran headfirst into a fancy white-coated unicorn with a blonde mane, knocking him to the ground. He shook his head as Lassie helped him back on his feet and said,” Woops, should have been watching where I was going, my bad.”
The fancy unicorn glared at Kiba and yelled,” You vile little monster, how dare you! Do you have any idea who I am? I am Prince Blueblood!”
Lassie stepped in front of Kiba and begged,” Please forgive him, Prince Blueblood. It was truly an accident.” She reached back and set a paw on Kiba’s shoulder as she began to guide him away from the prince. However, suddenly, two unicorns clad in armor blocked their path.
Prince Blueblood let out a condescending chuckle before saying,” I don’t remember permitting you to leave, you stupid dog.” He wickedly smirked as he began to circle the two and said,” It has been quite a long time since I had my way with one of your kind.” He quickly stopped his circling and looked at the two armored ponies. He pointed at them with one of his hooves and said,” You two, I want you to take the dog back to my room and chain her up for me.”
The two armored ponies gave a brief nod before walking up to Lassie and grabbing her. One of them then said,” Please come along quietly, we don’t want this getting out of hoof and causing a ruckus.”
Lassie was shocked and tried to free herself from the armored ponies’ hooves to no avail.
Kiba glared at the armored ponies before running up to one of them and trying to pull them off of her, but he was quickly thrown to the ground. He stared in shock for a moment before glaring at Blueblood and running up to him and yelling,” Hey, you, tell them to leave Lassie alone you prissy jerk!”
Blueblood gasped in shock before glaring at Kiba and saying,” How dare you address me in such a manner, you filthy little beast!” He pulled back his hoof and, in one swift motion, brought it down on the side of Kiba’s head, knocking him to the ground.
This caused Lassie and the armored ponies to stare in shock for a moment before starting to drag her once again, all the while Lassie begged them to let her go so she could look after Kiba.
Kiba groaned as he sat up and rubbed where Blueblood had hit him. With one final shake of his head, he looked at the armored ponies and the struggling Lassie and growled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his alchemist weapon, which started to glow as he clenched it tighter. Then, with a roar, he yelled,” I said, leave Lassie alone!!”
As he screamed, the light emitting from the alchemist weapon started to grow brighter, until finally dissipating, revealing two gauntlets now adorned on his arms. He punched his fists together before punching the ground. As he did this, bolts of electricity sparked out from the ground, followed by the ground itself shooting out in columns, pushing both the armored ponies and Blueblood.
Lassie looked in shock at what Kiba had done and quickly ran over to him. She looked him over and asked,” Kiba are you alright? What did you just do?”
Kiba huffed as he said,” I don’t know, I just did what felt right.” Suddenly his gauntlets glowed brightly before turning back into the hexagonal shape. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him, causing him to collapse into Lassie.
Lassie quickly caught him and sighed in exhaustion. As she held him she heard Prince Blueblood yelling about how they would pay for this, but she didn’t pay him any mind. However, she did pay attention when she heard an “ahem” nearby. She quickly looked to the ahem's location and horrifyingly saw both Fenriss and Princess Celestia, who did not look pleased.