//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Behind Closed Doors // by OrphiusOlyandra //------------------------------// “And stay out!” I shouted as I tossed the drunk into the back alley. He crashed ass first into a wall, and collapsed to the ground with his eyes rolling. “Don’t let me see you around here again! If I do, you’re not getting a single damn drink, just my claw up your ass! You hear me?!” He staggered to his hooves and stared at me drunkenly for a moment, before kinda just... collapsing onto the ground and drooling. I rolled my eyes at the passed out idiot. “Fucking drunks,” I muttered as I slammed the door shut and walked back inside. The bartender, Jack Daniels, nodded at me as I passed, and pushed a drink towards me in sympathy. I was tempted to grab it, but... I glanced at the mare on the stage and sighed. Sure, she wasn’t watching, and she never said I had to quit, but I owed it to her anyway. So I passed by with a slight shake of my head and took up my position near the front door. Just a year ago, I was a bloody nightmare for bouncers everywhere. A rowdy, loud, gryphon who could fight almost as well drunk off her face, as she could sober. Now though, I regret all those poor ponies I’d mistreated. Let me tell you something... being a bouncer sucks. Dealing with drunks is... fuck. I never exactly had a lot of patience, but having to put up with this pack of retarded douche bags really tests what little I do. What tested it even more? The fact that most of these useless pricks couldn’t keep their damn hooves to themselves. It felt like every other day I had to throw some useless lay about outside because he tried to grope the mare up on stage. Actually, that wasn’t a bad thing; I’d happily throw anyone out of the bar. No, what the problem was that I wasn’t actually allowed to damage them when I did. No breaking bones, no making them bleed, not even a black eye unless they throw a punch at me first. And they never did that. Most of them took one look at the big, scary gryphon bouncer with the scars and decided they didn’t want to fight. Which was a shame, because I would gladly mutilate these dumb pricks. They kept on trying to touch the pony on stage, and some of them actually did. Anyone that touched her deserved to wake up in hospital as far as I was concerned, and they should consider themselves lucky to wake up at all. Why? Because the mare up on stage was- “The Great and Powerful Trixie needs a volunteer for her signature trick!” With all the arrogance of a White Beak, she began pacing the edge of the stage, her cape billowing out behind her despite the lack of wind. “It will dazzle you. It will amaze you! It is a trick so grandiose that it breaks the minds of lesser beings, reducing them to nothing more than gibbering wrecks. This is your one and only warning: stay and face potential doom or leave and know you have missed out on the greatest magical feat ever performed!” I glared death at the pegasus that put his hoof up. “Over here, Sweetie! I’ll give ya a show!” His friends all hooted with laughter at his joke. My right eye twitched, not that anyone saw behind the sunglasses I wore, and I found myself reaching for my knife... Which I wasn’t carrying. With a frustrated growl, I cracked my neck and watched. “Oh is that so?” One second Trixie was on stage, and the next she was by the drunk, a hoof trailing down his cheek. I should totally murder him, and it’d be fair too. “You think you can take the Great and Powerful Trixie? Tell the audience what your special talent is, what your deepest, darkest secret is.” With a clap of her hooves, there was a puff of smoke, and when it died down, it revealed a very pink male. “Trixie thinks you look better in pink. Actually...” There was a flash of light and they reappeared on stage, the stallion now in a short, trashy skirt and lace top. “Much better, don’t you all agree?” The crowd’s laughter drowned out whatever the pony was trying to say. As he turned to flee, three Trixies were suddenly in the way and the now-pink pony was shoved backwards where a chair magically appeared to catch him. “You look much better as a girl you know that? With your long mane and tail, and well groomed fur. Do you condition? It looks like you condition. Please.” With a clap of her hooves, he was ejected out of the seat, crashing face first at my feet where I growled at him. “You’re not stallion enough to satisfy the Great and Powerful Trixie, and it is insulting to think you are. Oh, and before Trixie forgets,” a collar and leash appeared around his neck. “Any suggestions on what to write on the collar?” All the drunks laughed and hooted and called out suggestions. I couldn’t help it, I grinned despite myself. After a moment I shouted out over the crowd, “Fifi!” “Fifi?” echoed Trixie loud enough for the rest of the crowd to hear. “We do have to keep this PG-13 since the spell will last twenty-four hours.” Once more the crowd exploded into laughter, their roars of approval drowning out even Trixie’s voice amplification spell. And just like magic, the word ‘Fifi’ appeared on his collar and to add insult to injury, the ‘i’s’ were dotted with little hearts. The drunk stood up, and practically dived for the door, not before I tripped him so he fell face first as he sailed out onto the street. The sound of laughing drunks chased him away, and I grinned back at the stage to see Trixie give me a wink. The bartender wasn’t laughing though. As he passed me, he mumbled in my ear, “She just cost us a customer. The owner’d be pissed if he was here.” I shrugged. “Whatever. Not like he was a regular anyway, just some idiot from out of town.” He muttered in annoyance as he walked away, and I looked back at the stage to see what Trixie had planned next. “Thank you, thank you all!” called Trixie as she bowed on stage. “You have been a wonderful audience, but Trixie fears she must bid you adieu. Villages to save, Ursas to defeat, it’s a tough life being Trixie.” “What about the final trick!” yelled a voice from the audience. “If you’re so eager to have your mind blown to pieces, come back next time, and Trixie shall really dazzle you.” The smirk that touched her lips was one I had seen her practice in the mirror a thousand times, but there on stage? Damn she looked cocky. “Three nights fillies and gentlecolts. Come back in three nights and have your mind blown by the one, the only, the Great and Powerful Trixie!” And just like that, she faded out of sight. There was no glowing horn, no smoke and mirrors, nothing. She simply faded out of view, and I could see the collective jaws drop at that sight. A magician without using magic? Ha! If only they knew how it was done. Actually, I’d pay to know how it was done too. The ponies in the bar cheered for ages, until they realised that there was no one to cheer for. Then they went back to joking and chatting among themselves. I looked around the room, but Trixie hadn’t reappeared yet. With a chuckle, I crossed over to the bartender. “How much do you want to bet that pretty much all of those drunks will come back for the return show.” He just glanced at me while he cleaned a glass with his magic. After a second he sighed and looked ahead. “Probably.” “Definitely. Why are you worried about that one guy? The owner knows that she does stuff like that from time to time. It probably adds to the thrill or something, you know, that tiny risk of being picked out and humiliated makes it more exciting.” I paused for thought. “Maybe I should ask Trixie.” “It was because he was being a putrid lecher.” My head snapped across and there sat Trixie, both hind hooves propped up on the table while sipping some water. “That and Trixie would prefer it if you didn’t end up in jail or suspended again for excessive force.” It took me a second to get over my shock at her appearance, before I answered. “Hey, they’re paying me to deal with drunks that get rowdy, so I deal with the drunks that get rowdy.” I shrugged. “No one’s made a complaint yet, and usually they’re too scared of me to even start anything. “And what do you mean ‘again’? It was just one time.” “One time is one time too many,” she said before adding with a pout, “It’s hard sleeping without you.” Jack Daniels gagged and turned away. “Please, I don’t need that image.” “Fuck you, buddy.” I growled at him, before I turned back to Trixie. “You know that wasn’t my fault. He punched me in the face, what was I supposed to do? Wait for him to take a second swing? Wait till he went for you? The prick’s lucky I only broke two of his legs.” “Trixie supposes she should be glad that was all the damage you did, but you could have just knocked him unconscious or left a couple of bruises.” “He licked you, Trix.” I grumbled and turned back to face the bar. “If we were in the Kingdom, I’d be allowed to kill him.” “Fucking gryphons and their fucking culture,” Jack muttered under his breath. I paused to glare at him. “You want to say that again, or you just want to keep serving drinks there, bud?” I cracked my neck. To be honest, I sort of agreed with him that gryphon culture sucked, but the racism and contempt was more than enough to put me on edge. “Gilda,” warned Trixie. “Remember what the doctors said or you’ll be out on the couch tonight.” With a groan and a ruffle of my wings I turned away from him. “He said... that... I should internalize less?” Honestly, those guys said a lot. It all kind of blurred together in one monotonous drone that basically just meant, ‘You are fucked in the head. Now tell me about your feelings.’ “Trixie was referring to the breathing exercises when you’re angry,” she sighed. “But Trixie can’t say she’s surprised.” “Oh... yeah, those.” I paused for a moment. “Yeah, they don’t work.” “Probably because you never do them.” “I don’t do them ‘cause they don’t work.” I protested. “Anyway, you’re off for the night, right?” “Of course. Next performance is in three nights’ time, weren’t you listening?” She leaned in close and nuzzled me. “Or were you too busy drooling?” “Hey, that flank was staring at me first.” “Flanks can’t stare,” she chuckled. Behind us, the sound of gagging could be heard and without even glancing over her shoulder, Trixie tossed her water back at the bartender. “Anyway, I was gonna ask if you want to do something tonight? Like, I dunno... go for a run or...” Anything to stop Trixie going to sleep. “I dunno, something fun to get the blood pumping. Maybe hit up a few restaurants.” The way she smiled up at me made me feel like a pet that learned a new trick. At the same time though, it sent shivers down my spine as she gave me that signature half sultry, half arrogant look of hers. “Trixie knew that one day you would finally take the initiative and take her out on a date. Consider it done.” “Hey, I’m not that bad am I?” I paused for thought. “Shit. You’re right, it’s been ages since I’ve taken you anywhere... Sorry, Trix. It’s just been, you know, with...” I shrugged. “Everything... Whatever. So, yeah? Are we gonna have a night out?” “Yes! But it’s a date, so you pick where we’re going,” she said happily. “Sweet,” I replied and turned around to face Jack Daniels. “Hey, mind if I clock out early? Final call’s only in... like, fifteen minutes anyway.” He glanced between me and Trixie, before he shrugged. “No skin off my back.” I smiled at him. “Thanks, Jack.” That’s the thing about Jack. He was a complete asshole, but he was nice about being one. I turned back to Trixie, “You ready to go, or do you want a drink first or something?” “Nah, it’s fine.” Sliding off her stool, she snuggled up against me. “So where we headed?” “That’s a good question.” I replied as I led us out. “One which I’m sure I’ll have a very good answer for.” Crap, crap, crap... where to take Trixie? Where would Trixie and I both have fun? “You have no clue, do you?” she chuckled. “I totally know where we’re going,” I replied, and searched my memory... what would Trixie enjoy? Definitely not anywhere peaceful. We want something fun, not relaxing... Trixie likes big flashing lights, loud noises and potential audiences... I looked up, searching for any answers in the night sky... night sky? Night... “Nightclub?” I suggested after a moment. “Yeah, how about that new place... what was it called... again... Uh... Homage?” I guessed after a moment. “Whatever. Want to hit up a club?” “You fine with that? As flattered as I am by your protectiveness, I’d rather you didn’t end up in jail...” I blinked at her. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Just cause I’m a mess doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have fun. Plus, you’ll be with me, right? So if anyone doesn’t take no for answer, you can just show them you don’t swing that way.” “And if they just so happened to be a mare?” she asked innocently. “Plus, it’s only fun if you’re allowed to join in.” “So what if it’s a mare? I got all the mare I need right here.” I bumped Trixie lightly with my rump, and grinned at her. “Look, I promise I’ll be good. No fighting, no drinking, and no glaring at ponies that hit on you. I just want this to be fun for you.” “Awwwww, aren’t you the sweetest,” she laughed as she returned my bump. “And here I was expecting some crude threesome comment.” “I was saving that until we saw a mare hot enough to make it worth it in the first place. You’re already a ten, so if we didn’t get someone that was just as hot, they’d be left out and watching while you and I bumped uglies.” I paused for thought and turned to grin at her. “But then, I guess you always liked an audience.” Cheeks bright red, Trixie shot a halfhearted glare at me. “Trixie isn’t sure if she should be flattered or insulted right now.” “Annnnd, you’re back in the third person.” I shook my head. “And here I thought we were having a serious talk.” “Trixie was having a serious discussion, but that’s apparently impossible when you’re involved.” The smile took the sting out of her glare. “Yeah, a real serious talk about threesomes. I mean, dude, call Celestia and the Canterlot Council in, this is some real serious shit right here. Shit that’ll affect the world as we know it. I mean, Trix, this is way over our heads, we should back out now while we have the chance.” “A threesome is too much for you to handle?” Trixie trotted past, her tail brushing along my chest and neck before playfully swishing over my face as she went. “Such a shame.” “Hey, I think anyone’d have their claws full just dealing with you, let alone adding a third mare to the great big bundle of crazy that’s us. The poor lady’d have no idea what she’s getting into.” Trixie called over her shoulder, “Crazy is good! Who wants to be normal and boring anyways?” I flapped my wings and ran a bit to catch up to her. “Personally, I don’t mind normal. I mean, other than being forced to see a shrink three times a week, I think things are shit ton better now than when we first met.” A shudder passed through her body. “Agreed. Though you have to admit, it made for an exciting introduction.” “The way I remember it, when we first, met we kinda hated each other,” I wrapped a wing around her, even though I don’t think it was the cold that made her shiver. “And then even after we became friends, there was that whole melodrama in the mountains and in the basement... Shit. We really haven’t had a smooth ride, have we?” She immediately snuggled into my side, a happy sigh escaping as she did. “But we’re together now and that’s all that matters. Not surprising considering it’s the Great and Powerful Trixie we’re talking about it. You probably had no way of resisting my greatness.” “Actually, I hadn’t even thought of you like that at all until you asked me out. And even then, I just went along with it at first.” I glanced down at her, pressed up under my wing. “As douchey as it sounds, we’re together ‘cause I was trying to spare your feelings. It was a while before I liked you half as much as you liked me.” In the darkness with her head turned away, I couldn’t make out what she was thinking. Then she turned to face me and I could see the tears at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over, but she didn’t move away. Instead, she pressed a hoof to my beak and said, “But... you want to be with me now... right...?” “Definitely,” I told her quickly. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if you left.” I knew what I’d do, and Trixie probably did too. “It was just before White Peak that I was really starting to care about you, and since then I...” I killed my brother for you. “I need you, Trix. I’d die for you, Trix.” “Good.” Despite being in the center of Canterlot, aka ‘upper class twat central’, Trixie wrapped both hooves around my neck and stroked my crown feathers. “I don’t know what I’d do without you either.” “Be permitted to leave, Canterlot?” I tried to turn it into a joke as I touched her face with my claw. “Sleep at night like a normal pony?” “But how would I sleep without my favourite gryphon feather blanket?” she asked while nuzzling my claw. “It’d be so lonely and cold without you.” “Ugh, disgusting,” an unmistakably high class voice muttered somewhere nearby, and I had no doubt it was referring to us. “Take your bestiality off the streets please.” My jaw tightened, and instinctively I touched my magic- No. Not tonight. Not when this is supposed to be about Trixie. I took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, before I let go of the shadows that had started to drift towards me. “Well I am here. And I’ll be here for as long as I can.” After a moment I said, “Huh. That breathing exercise thing does kinda work.” “You silly gryphon, of course it works.” Moving onto the tips of her hooves, she kissed me lightly on the beak. “Now I believe you said something about fun and showing a mare a good time?” “I did, didn’t I? When did this get all sappy and crap?” I picked Trixie up, and with a flap of my wings, took us to the air. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before we start sobbing or some shit.” I adjusted my hold on her, and gained altitude as I looked out over Canterlot. “Let’s go do something fun. You can dance, right?” With a squeal of delight, her grip tightened around my neck as I took off. “Of course! Trixie is a great dancer, her dancing skills alone will impregnate half the mares in a three block radius!” Another scream of delight. “And faster! Faster, faster, faster!” “Good,” I replied. “‘Cause I can’t dance, so that should be good for a laugh at least.” I sucked in a deep breath of air, calming myself and touching the magic on the dark night around us. There was lots to work with. The moon was waning, so it was as dark as I could ever want it to be. Then, I opened my eyes and channeled as much of that magic as I could under my wings. Flapping as hard as I could, we accelerated faster than if I’d gone into a dive. The force of it pushed Trixie further back in my grip, and my sunglasses almost fell off as we went from gliding speed to diving speed all while staying level. It was as awkward as anything having to manually do something that used to so subconscious. Learning how to direct and control shadow magic had given me a bit of respect for unicorns, but not a lot. They were all a pack of cheaters at the game of life, well, except Trixie. But she cheats at everything else anyway. Heh. She’s pretty awesome like that. With Trixie laughing and squealing in delight, I did a few tricks but nothing too advanced. It bugged the fuck out of me that I wasn’t half the stunt flier I used to be because of Nightmare, but I was slowly learning to adapt. It was taking ages, but I’d relearned a lot of the subtle subconscious tricks I’d used to keep up with Dash. I wasn’t anywhere near as good as she was, but fuck it. I dare anyone to have their inherent racial magic completely fucked from the bottom up, and not forget a few of their old tricks. I corkscrewed downwards to the street, before flattening out and rising up for a second. With a gust of wind, I brought us to land in the center of the street, just at the edge of the newer trendier parts of town where all the clubs are. “So, where do you want to go first?” I asked as we started up the street. “I’ve heard that Mixers is pretty cool.” She slipped out of my hold and readjusted her hat. “Mixers it is then? Come on, it’s a date and you asked me out, so it’s your job to pick where we go. Just make sure it’s suitable for a mare of my status.” I grinned at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure there are plenty of monsters for you to vanquish, Miss Ursa Major Slayer.” “Ursa minor,” she replied. “It was an ursa minor.” “Uh huh. Sure.” I replied sarcastically as I looked around. Which of these clubs was Mixers? Probably not the one with ‘Bass Liners’ on the front in big neon. “You know it’s not any more believable, with either a major or minor, right? I’m not gonna believe the story no matter what kind of ursa you tell me it is.” “Trixie is your marefriend!” A whack on my shoulder. “You’re meant to believe everything she says.” “In that case, Trix, I’ve never touched a drink in my life, and have never harmed a fly.” “Incorrect! Though Trixie expected nothing less fro-” She slammed her head against my chest and groaned. “Sorry... As I was saying, I’m the mare in this relationship and you’re the... er... what are male gryphons called? Regardless! You’re the male of the relationship, thus you have to confirm my lies at all times.” I chuckled at her and I gently scratched behind her ears. She looked so cute just then, especially when she slipped back into third person. “I’d object to defaulting into the ‘guy’ role, but, you know what? Screw it. So, if you get me to back you up on all your not-even-slightly-exaggerated true stories, what do I get?” “Um... I’ll...” Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she settled on, “What do you want?” “Uh...” Shit, she turned the question on me. Come on Gilda, keep the banter going, you can do this! “Less time with a psychologist?” Ah, shit. That wasn’t good banter. “I mean-” “I know you hate it, but it’s part of our agreement with you-know-who and she did get us the housing, the jobs, and some extra money on the side.” “We shouldn’t have had to make an agreement.” I growled. “That bitch was the one who dragged us into that mess in the first place.” “She also got us out and we didn’t have to go back.” Trixie began brushing my crown feathers the way I loved. “And she has tried to help us wherever possible...” “Yeah, look. I don’t even want to think about her right now. Let’s just have tonight without any more melodrama and dwelling on old business. You, me, flashing lights, a bass line, and fuck anything else.” “Not literally I hope,” she said. “You’re Trixie’s and that is not changing anytime soon.” “Ah, you know me. I pretty much use ‘fuck’ as punctuation,” after a second I added, “And I mean the word, not, you know, actual fucking. Heh. Imagine fucking as punctuation. You’d be pretty sticky by the end of the day, that’s for damn sure.” “What.” She just looked at me as though I‘d grown a second head before she burst out laughing. “Gilda, never change.” Internally I winced at that. I wanted to change, for her sake. I know she didn’t mean it like that, but still, the less like me I was, the better for her. “Anyway, let’s go find this club.” We walked for a while, me building my internal map as we searched around for Mixers. I never really got into the rave scene, so I didn’t know this part of Canterlot very well, but that didn’t really matter. We walked in comfortable silence for a bit, Trixie occasionally suggesting we take a left or a right, but in general she trusted me to find where we were going. The point was never really the club, just the two of us spending time together without any hassles or angst. We took a right, and headed towards the sound of pounding music somewhere in the distance. The street was fairly wide, easily big enough for two or three carriage to go down at once, but when we passed by an alley, I still saw and heard everything that was happening in it. Two ponies in City Guard armor, laying into someone on the ground, crying for help. He was asking them to stop, begging in an accented voice, that took me a moment to recognise as northern Kingdom. “Stop! I didn’t do anything!” A loud crack sounded followed by a groan of pain. Poor bugger. But I was in enough trouble as is, I wasn’t going to stop and help so I kept moving, hoping Trixie would too. Tonight was just gonna be us having fun, not playing hero. right? I glanced over my shoulder, and found Trixie staring at me with expectant eyes. Something told me if I picked wrong, my life would be very short and very painful. “Trix, I can’t...” I started to say that I was already on a short leash, but her eyes hardened so I quickly added. “Alright. Okay, I’ll do... something.” “Gilda...” she warned. Yep, message received. No violence, not that I planned on it anyway. After pausing to take a calming breath- this was so fucking stupid, I couldn’t afford to take risks like this at the moment!- I stepped into the alley. Slowly, I approached the guards, and one of them broke off the beating to glare at me, but the other kept hitting the guy on the ground. “This is a City Watch matter, go about your business.” I glance between him, and the other officer. “Hey, stop hitting him for a minute. Not like he’s resisting arrest or anything.” The other guard glared up at me, and stepped away from the guy. “He’s a burglar, this isn’t any of your business.” I glanced between him, and the groaning northerner. From here I could see his white coat and grey feathers, the yellow on his crown, and the way he was looking up at me in shock. Probably surprised that a female was standing against the guard. “Last I checked, getting arrested for theft means forty eight hours in a cell, unless you can find evidence of the item stolen, then you can press charges and move to have him sentenced.” They blinked in surprise, and I continued. “Unless he’s resisting arrest, you’re not allowed to touch a feather on his head.” Their brows furrowed in confusion, and they glanced at each other. “Only if he’s a citizen or on a visa. He’s just a damn refugee.” “That’s not true!” the gryphon shouted. “I already told you that I left my papers at home!” “Shut up!” one of the guards snarled and jumped at him. “HEY!” I shouted, and stepped forward. “That’s enough!” “Trixie agrees. Either provide the evidence or get lost,” she growled. “Threatening a guard counts as assault.” He glanced between me and Trixie, before he settled on Trixie. “This doesn’t concern you, ma’am. I suggest you leave, before this becomes an obstruction of justice.” “Gilda, shall you handle this, or do you think this requires the touch of the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Her grin was addictive. “Trix, I can’t fight a guard, remember? I’m on a probationary existence as it is.” I stepped between her and the guard. “Look, they’ve stopped hitting him, so let’s just get out of here.” “You should listen to your pet, lady.” the guard snickered. “She sounds like she’s crossed the law enough to have remembered some of it. Mind you, gryphons are slow learners, so I bet if we checked we could find all sorts of things in her file.” “Gilda?” Trixie asked all too sweetly, “Mind stepping out of the way please, Trixie would hate for you to be caught in the crossfire.” “Trix...” I turned around to face her. “Let’s just let it go, alright? It’s our word against theirs, and no jury will take my word over a Guard’s.” “Gilda, please move.” If anything her voice was even more polite, but one look in her eyes and I gulped. “Don’t worry, Trixie won’t hurt them too much.” “Trix, please-” Something shoved into my back, and I stumbled forward into Trixie. I turned around and saw one of the guards had shoved me. “Out of the way, pigeon. If she wa-” A bolt of magic sent him reeling back. “Fucking bitch!” The other pony immediately lunged. Instead of backing off, Trixie stepped forward. Ducking under the wild swing, she used his momentum to toss him into a nearby wall just like I’d taught her. Another burst of magic and the poor guard was stuck to the wall in a pile of pink goop. There was a flash of light, and by the time I could see again, the first guard found a pair of hooves connecting with his chest causing him to stumble back. Quick as ever, Trixie pressed her advantage with two swift hooks followed by a point blank blast. The guard hit the wall and slid down. All of it took less than ten seconds, and I had to admit, she looked hot the entire time. Some small part of me regretted teaching her how to fight like that, because, you know, she did just assault two guards, but the rest of me was torn between drooling over a kickass mare, and being happy with just how good she was getting at it. Shit, it was probably time to start trying to teach her some of the more advanced stuff, in case we ever needed it again. I must have been showing the drooling side of me more than the other two, because Trixie looked at me and flicked her tail followed by a playful swish of her hips. “Enjoy the show?” she asked. “I-I-I...” I paused, for a moment and shook my head clear. “Trixie! You just attacked two guards! If they remember who you are, or if we get spotted then-” “Hey! What’s going on down there?!” A voice called from the mouth of the alley. I groaned and facepalmed. “Of fucking course. What else could have happened?” A moment later, two dark coated ponies walked down the alley towards us, and I stepped forward to put myself between them, Trixie, and the unconscious guards. I seriously hoped that they wouldn’t be able to see past me in the dark. As they got closer, I was able to make out their features, and I blinked in surprise as I noticed their bat wings and reptile eyes. They were nightkin... Huh. I knew they were in the city and that Luna was recruiting more of them, but I hadn’t seen any myself before. “What’s going on here?” One of them, a stallion- is a male nightkin still a stallion- asked and tried to peer past me. “Nothing, officer, just a friendly little dispute,” I said as I extended my wing into his sightline. “Right, Trix?” “Just some ruffians who couldn’t take no for an answer,” she said as she appeared beside me. “Not that Trixie blames them considering her smoking hot body, but they were both drunk and rather insistent.” The nightkin looked between the two of us suspiciously. “Well, if there was a fight we have to make a report of it. Let us pass, and if it’s what you say, we can be done in just a few minutes.” I noticed that he wasn’t in uniform. In fact, he looked like he was dressed to go out dancing for the night. and he had a couple of uncracked glow sticks poking out of his pocket. He was probably off duty, so I decided to play that up. “Officer, really, It was nothing.” I tried to smile charmingly. “They’ll have some bruises in the morning and a bad headache. Trust me dude, there’s no need to waste your night off on some trivial crap like this.” “Sir, please step aside,” he said to me flatly. I groaned and put a palm to my face. “I’m female. I mean, I know you ponies have a hard time with that, but is it really that damn hard to tell with me? Isn’t the voice a giveaway?” I glanced over at Trixie. “It shouldn’t be that hard, right?” “Trixie frankly agrees, it’s a disgusting state the guard are in when they can’t tell male from female. It seems they will let anyone join the guards these days.” I almost facepalmed again. Yeah, that’s real nice work, Trix. Just keep antagonizing them, ‘cause we weren’t in enough shit as it is. “My apologies,mMa’am,” the nightkin said with a polite nod, “but if there was a fight, then I need to file a report. Please, step aside.” He took a step forward, and tried to peek past me. I moved my head so it was blocking his vision. “There’s no need to waste your night off with something like this.” His eyes narrowed at me. “Oh Gilda, just step aside, Trixie is sure they mean well.” That sweet voice of hers could only mean one thing, trouble. I opened my mouth to reply, when the nightkin flapped his wings and rose up over me and got a clear look at the two guards. Shit. He backpedaled in the air, and landed on the ground in a fighting pose. “You’re both under arrest.” Behind him, the other nightkin followed his lead, and grounded himself aggressively. “Look, it was just a misunderstanding,” I promised them, and took a step back, standing next to Trixie. “They’ll wake up with some bruises and a little lesson about racism and shi-” Smoke billowed out in all directions and a familiar tugging sensation grabbed me. Next thing I knew I was on a rooftop somewhere with Trixie dragging me after her. “Come on! The illusions won’t trick them for long.” “Fucking great!” I shouted and dropped to my own paws to run after her. “They’re nightkin, Trix. That sort of illusion won’t work the moment they touch their magic.” To prove my point, a flap of wings sounded behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder to see a nightkin rising up out of the alley. Mother fucker! I spread my own wings and caught Trixie, before angling off the roofs and into an alley way. “I thought we were supposed to be having a fun night off!” “This is fun!” she screamed before releasing a bright burst of light behind me, hopefully blinding the guards. “When they come in for a swoop, I’ll do a short teleport to dodge it. Just focus on getting us out of here!” Groaning, I had to slow down drastically to make a sharp right, before speeding up with a burst of magic. We had to lose them somehow, and I didn’t know this part of Canterlot well enough to ditch them. If this was Aviana or Cloudsdale it’d be easy, but here I was kinda relying on luck. And I’ve never been lucky. “Do you trust me?” asked Trixie. “Uhh, usually, why?” I replied hesitantly. “Then let me steer. I can short hop us to turn so you don’t lose speed.” “Well, I’m dead if they catch me anyway, so fuck it!” I leveled out, and focused on accelerating as fast as I could. We were heading straight for a wall, and every instinct I had screamed at me to slow down and bank, but I ignored that and kept going. In the back of my head I felt that little thrill I always got when doing something stupid and suicidal. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of beak as I shut my eyes and braced for impact. I opened them again when I heard the pop of a teleport, and saw that we were past that turn and heading down another alley. “You fucking rock, Trix!” I shouted, and she just laughed at me. “How dare you doubt the Great and Powerful! Now, my lovely, faster! Faster!” After that, things got blurry. It was just a haze of near-deaths and teleport cracks as Canterlot blurred past us. I had no idea how Trixie was navigating, with how ridiculously fast we were going, but I knew that unless they were some ludicrously fast nightkin, they were far behind us. I decided to start slowing before Trixie wore herself out too much with all the teleporting we were doing. Decelerating, I glanced over my shoulder to see that we weren’t being followed anymore. I glanced ahead, just in time to sharply bank up and avoid the pegasus guard that had appeared in front of us. A second later, magic gripped my back leg, and I felt it nearly dislocate as I came to a sudden and hard stop. I shouted in pain as I was suddenly yanked down earthwards, and wrapped myself around Trixie to shield her from the hard landing. That landing never came, and I found myself hovering in midair, suspended by three unicorns in armor. “Uh... evening, officers,” I said with a sheepish grin. “Nice night for a flight?” A flutter of wings, and a nightkin landed behind us. “These two assaulted City Guards,” he said. “Oh shut your trap,” snapped Trixie. “Trixie bets you didn’t even bother questioning the gryphon on the alley floor that was beaten half to death, did you? Typical.” He glanced over at Trixie. “My partner stayed behind to check on him, I resent that accusation.” “Does it look like Trixie cares?” “Shut up, all of you.” A unicorn with a bright captain’s tuft on his helmet ordered. I was slammed into the ground roughly, and I felt cuffs being slapped onto my wrists. I glanced up to see the unicorn captain stalking up to the nightkin. “You’re off duty, that means inner city flight speed restrictions apply.” “Hey, bat pony-” “Nightkin,” he corrected with a glance and a growl. “I just call ‘em uglies,” the guard captain interjected, and the nightkin shot him a glare. “Gilda, can you please shut that captain up?” asked Trixie sweetly. “We are under Luna’s protection and we technically don’t exist at all...” I hope she has a better plan than ‘Luna bails us out’, again. Clenching my fists, I grabbed the shadows of the alley, and all the unicorns that were holding me down lost their concentration as their legs were yanked out from under them. With a flap of my wings, I pushed myself to my hind legs and rammed my chained together fists into the captain's throat. Not hard enough to break the cartilage in his neck, but enough to send him staggering and gasping. I snatched the helmet off his head, and then slammed an elbow into his temple, sending him unconscious. I fell back to all fours, and shuffled next to Trixie. “You’ve got a plan, right?” “How about getting me out of these bonds and this magical inhibitor?” she asked sweetly before glaring at the stunned nightkin. “We’re special unit. Ask Luna about us and the changeling incident if you don’t trust Trixie. Now, please step aside before we’re forced to arrest all of you for intruding on Crown business.” The nightkin glanced between us, a frown forming. “You’re nightkin,” he said flatly, staring at me. I could see the shadows responding to his orders, and his eyes changed to a deep black as he enhanced his vision. “Why wasn’t I told there was a gryphon nightkin?” I tugged Trixie’s magic inhibitor off, and fished a key out of the captain’s pockets, while the other unicorns watched me suspiciously. Come on Trix, say something smart. You’re the performer, not me. “Like Trixie said, special task force and apparently above your pay grade. So, once again, if you doubt Trixie, ask Luna herself about us and the changeling incident. Now you will allow us to go on our way, or we will arrest you.” The nightkin stood his ground. “Then why did you assault two guards? And why did you run?” He sounded... close-ish to being convinced as far as I could tell. “When we approached, you acted like common criminals.” “We had a cover to maintain and a schedule to keep. One that is ruined thanks to you, and it’ll take another year of painful stake outs and infiltrations to recover from. Do you know how much work you ruined? How much time wasted!?” Trixie took an aggressive step forward. “We did not wish to cause trouble or a scene. We merely wished to get out of there ASAP and, just so you know, those guards were beating up that gryphon. We stepped in, stopped them with minimal injury, and were going to leave. Do you fucking know the meaning of undercover!?” He glanced between me and Trixie, hesitating before answering. “Alright then. Arrest us.” Trixie groaned and facehoofed. “Fine.” Magic tendrils wrapped around their limbs, securely tightening them together before she used that goop spell of hers to lock them in place. Next she stole some of the magic inhibitors to use on the unicorns before stepping back with a smile. Then there was a pop, a flash of light, and I found myself somewhere else, being dragged off to who knows where. “We are so damn fucked,” I told Trixie as we walked away along the rooftops. “How long do you think he’ll take to figure out we aren’t coming back?” “A day. Maybe two. They didn’t seem particularly bright,” she chuckled as she leapt across the gap between two buildings. I sighed. “Do you think Luna’s gonna actually cover for us? If she doesn’t, we’re completely screwed. There’s no way in fuck that I’m not gonna get in trouble for that.” “She better, we saved her flank more than once,” said Trixie. “So... Wanna go home? Or just go dancing anyway? I mean, this is out of our claws at this point. Unless we wanna look guilty by fleeing Canterlot, all we can do is wait for those guards to escape and talk to whoever they send to us. We may as well just go Mixers anyway.” “Mixers sounds like a plan, though you have to admit, that was fun.” “Totally. When you were jumping as between those alleys, it was freaking awesome. How fast do you think we were going? How did you even manage to keep us going in the right direction?” “Freaking awesome barely covers it, but yes, it was brilliant. A stroke of genius even,” she said, obviously fishing for a compliment. “Yeah, it was some pretty damn fast thinking. The part I remember best was how close we got to hitting some of those walls.” A tiny smile tugged at the corners of my beak. “Such a rush.” “We need to do that again sometime.” Trixie suddenly turned around and gave me a kiss on the beak, even slipping me some tongue in the process. At first I just blinked in shock, before I returned it, my wings rising up off my back. “And that’s for trusting me.” “Anytime Trix,” I grinned at her, and almost blushed as I tried to bring my wings back down. “Come on, let’s go, you’re totally gonna need a drink after that.” “Trixie is alright, you did all the flying whereas I just did some fancy magic.” “Hey, with your horn, and the show you just did, ‘some fancy magic’ is a lot harder on you than most ponies.” I grinned at her. “Besides, I can fly like that for hours. I’m not even sure what my limits are, what with the whole nightkin endurance thing.” “Still can’t wait to test out that endurance personally,” she said with a wink as she sauntered off, deliberately exaggerating her hip sway. I grinned and ran after her. “Yeah, well, I’m just hoping you can keep up, Trix. Unicorns aren’t famous for their stamina, or their strength, or their speed. You sure you can handle all of this?” I wrapped a wing over her shoulder, and pulled her closer to me, letting her feel all the muscles I had. She immediately snuggled up against me, a happy purr rumbling in her throat. I thought I was supposed to be the half-cat. “Trixie is afraid you’re wrong. What you should be asking is if you can handle me.” “Well, I’m the one with all the advantages here. Other than looks, I’m not sure what you’re bringing to this bed.” I smirked and tapped her horn. “Except maybe something long and hard.” Actually, no way in fuck was I letting her put that inside me, that seemed more painful than anything else. “Only if you want internal injuries,” replied Trixie. “And where is that bar? It’s starting to get late and Trixie would like to get some dancing done. Good thing I’ve got my favorite blanket with me, stop me from getting cold in this chilly night air.” I grabbed Trixie, and flew us down to street level. “Right there?” I said as I pointed at a line heading up the street. “At least, it has ‘Mixers’ on the sign, so, you know, I kinda assumed it’s the place.” “That’s the line?” Trixie sighed. “Maybe we should just go home. Instead of standing in line for that long just to be hit on by idiotic stallions who are so stupid, they should be locked in prison for committing a war crime by having such a low IQ.” “Wow. Witty,” I told her sarcastically. “Look, let’s just move to the front of the line and see if we can get in some other way.” “How?” Trixie leaned into me. “Let’s just go home.” “Trix, come on. We didn’t come all this way and dodge the city guard just to back out now. It’s too early for me to go to bed anyway.” Without waiting for an answer, I padded ahead, moving towards the front of the line. When I got closer, I saw just how crowded this place was, and I knew we weren’t gonna get in so easily. There were three bouncers, two big earth ponies and one gryphon. I considered trying to bribe them or something, but I sighed as I realised it was a completely lost cause. Fuck. Trixie trotted up next to me, “Come on Gilda, it’s not worth it if we get caught now and you make it sound like we can’t have fun at home.” “But-” “Hey! Trixie? Is that you?” I looked across and saw the gryphon bouncer padding towards us. “It is, isn’t it? The Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie visibly straightened up and puffed out her chest. “Of course it is! Trixie takes it you’re a fan of her work?” He smiled as he came closer and I noticed he had a slight limp. “Well, no, but I remember you from Aviana. I was one of the soldiers that you and Nightm- I mean, Luna. You and Luna covered the exit for us, while we got all the cubs out. I never got to thank either of you for that, I mean, I know a lot of us thanked you, but I never got to do that myself.” “Oh! Trixie remembers now, and she’s glad to see you made it out safely.” “Not quite safely,” he smiled and raised one of his arms. He was missing half of his claw. “One of the big suckers bit me before you set him on fire with that blue firework thing. I’d still be in the army if I wasn’t medically discharged, and with the way the Kingdom’s gone to Tartarus, I figured it was better get out while I could.” He glanced at me. “And I’m not the only one with the same idea. Lots of gryphons came here, and more are moving in each day.” “Don’t remind Trixie. For a second she thought she wasn’t actually going to get out of that one alive.” She jerked her head in my direction. “This is Gilda and she was helping out in another part of town.” He stared at me for a moment. “Medical support?” After a second he said with a well-intended smile. “I know a lot of females helped in the tents, making sure the cubs were okay and that the wounded got treated well.” I glared at him, not that he saw because of my glasses, before replying, “Something like that.” The bouncer visibly checked me out, his eyes roving over me up and down to decide if he wanted to take a shot at me. After a second he glanced at the line, before he smiled and looked back at Trixie. “Hey, do you want to get in?” He jerked a claw at Mixers. “I can bump you up to the front of the line, it’s the least I can do.” Nudging Trixie forward I smiled at him. “That’d be great, right Trix?” “Y-Yeah.” She looked back at me with an uncertain look in her eyes, but quickly recovered. “After all, Trixie is Great and Powerful.” He seemed to notice my little shove, and glanced between me and Trixie again. “You’re sure?” He asked after a second. “There’s no pressure to go in if you don’t want to.” The question was directed at Trixie. “We’ll go in,” she said with just a hint of steel in her voice. He smiled pleasantly again and turned away. “Alright, follow me.” The bouncer turned around and led us to the rope separating the line of ponies from the steps up to the club. A couple of ponies seemed annoyed that we were getting in ahead of them, but all three bouncers ignored that. One of the earth ponies saw the scars on my chest, and said to the other gryphon, “You sure letting him in is a good idea?” The bouncer rolled his eyes. “That’s a female, Chip. I’m sure she won’t start a fight.” Heh. If you say so buddy. ‘Chip’ shrugged and stepped aside. The gryphon led me and Trixie up the stairs to the front door, and held it for both of us as we stepped in. “Have fun ladies.” His eyes turned to me, checking me out again. “If either of you two ever come back, ask for Guilherme. Maybe I could take you out for a drink sometime?” I stared at him in shock. Wait... I just got asked out? “Uh... sorry, but I’m already seeing someone.” Out the corner of my eye, I could see Trixie glaring at him with enough hatred to set him on fire or something. Before he did actually blow up I pushed Trixie through the door. “Thanks for letting us in, bye!” I said over my shoulder as I directed Trixie down the stairs towards the sound of pounding music. We walked in silence for a moment, before I grinned. “So that’s what that feels like.” “So that’s what, what feels like?” she snapped. “Being hit on.” I replied. “He must not have seen any action for a while if he was taking a swing at me.” “Or he just finds you as hot as I do,” she replied with a playful wink. “I saw you getting jealous back there.” I glanced over at Trixie. “You looked like you were trying to kill him with your mind. Now you know how I feel when stallions hit on you.” “Yes, well, shut up,” she snapped before giving me a sloppy kiss. “You’re mine, and don’t you dare forget it.” “I know, I’d never cheat on you,” I replied quickly. “It’s just kinda cool to think there’s someone other than you, or Nightmare, that would actually have an interest in me. Especially not a gryphon guy, I mean... Whatever, you know what I mean.” “Still hot, and still mine, and if you forget it, Trixie will have it tattooed onto you.” By now I had to strain to hear Trixie above the thumping music and we weren’t even inside yet! “Thats a little psychotic!” I shouted back at her over the music. “You’re joking, right?!” I asked as we approached the double doors leading into the club itself. All I got in reply was a smirk and wink followed by a bit of playful nuzzling. Then we stepped through the door, got hit by a wall of sound and Trixie said something with a glare that I could not hear at all. Talk about mixed messages. Bright lights, everywhere. Pulsing strobes, flickering lasers, multi-coloured spinning circles of light dancing over a seething mass of bodies. On the far wall was a bar serving drinks, and there were raised platforms for anyone with a big enough ego to think they belonged up there. There were a couple of dancers in those elevated cages to help set the mood, and overall, the entire thing was a great big mass of swirling color and pounding noise. There was the faint smell of alcohol in the air, but mostly it just smelled of sweaty ponies. Lording over it all from an elevated booth surrounded by subwoofers was the DJ, a white unicorn with purple shades, a blue mane, and a massive grin. After taking a second to observe it all, I turned and smiled at Trixie. I waved a claw at the floor and shouted, “After you!” but I couldn’t even hear me. She got what I meant though, and stepped onto the dance floor, dragging me after her. And just like the showoff that she was, swirling orbs of color danced around us to the beat of the music. We danced, and by ‘we’ I mean ‘she’. I couldn’t dance for shit, so I stood there bobbing my head to the music while Trixie actually danced. Eventually she noticed, and must have decided that since I was going to stand around being a lump, she might as well use me. On two hooves, she danced around me, drawing her forehooves across my chest and neck, while her hips swayed seductively. Then, she picked up my claws with her hooves, and began moving them to the beat of the music. Every so often, she’d bump my hip or nudge a leg and with her guidance, I soon began something that could sort of be called a dance. I could feel her fur against my wings, the heat of her breath sending tingles down my spine as we rubbed against each other. Every sway, every bounce, every step was guided by Trixie and when I finally got the hang of it, she added light trails to follow our movements. Gotta admit, this was hot. If we weren’t in public, I’m pretty sure I’d be tackling her to the floor right now. The way she looked with her mane free and shifting around with the music, all the different colors of light shining through her silvery mane... And it was fun! I know I looked like a complete douche, moving about as smoothly as a block of wood, but I started caring less and less. Eventually I was just following Trixie’s subtle pushes and didn’t care about what anyone watching thought. Maybe I should take some dancing lessons with Trixie or something. It’d be fun for the both of us, and if it’s anything like this, I’m pretty sure we’d end up making out by the end of it. I blinked in surprise when Trixie’s magic pulled the glasses off my face and tucked them under her cape. She winked at me, and after a moment I shrugged and went with it. We were in a crowd anyway, no one would notice me. I felt a little exposed without them, but eventually forgot that sensation as we lost ourselves to the music again. Head bobbing to the beat, I threw my hoof into the air, giving it a couple of enthusiastic pumps as I felt that familiar rush overtake me. Every single time I came here with her it was just such a rush of emotions, as though I was going to explode at any given moment. Who could ask for better fans? After a couple of seconds, I slammed my hoof down just as the bass dropped, and the roar of approval sent shudders down my spines. For a couple of frenzied seconds, my magic and hooves scrambled over my equipment, remixing songs on the fly just the way I loved. That thrill of potential disaster looming above me always got the blood pumping. Jumping up onto my mixing table, I threw both hooves up just as the special effects kicked into high gear and the crowd’s cheer reached an all-time high. Any second now, the grin on my face was going to rip my cheeks apart. Out there I could see the legions of my fans screaming my name and dancing away. There was even a gryphon and pony putting on a light show of their own as they danced to the music. The unicorn wasn’t half bad looking either, not really up my alley, but still rocking a hot bod. Just as the song came to an end, I flicked my rear hoof back to toss on one of my premixed tracks before back flipping off the console to the crowd’s approval. Magical effects went off again, and under the brilliant flash, I made my way backstage. “Hey Amp, can I get a can of Red Taurus up here? I’m dying, dude,” I called out. He immediately scrambled off, and before I got even three steps in, Melody was there with a frown on her face. “What the buck was that? You’re seriously off your game tonight.” “Come on babe, loosen up a bit. DJ Pon-3 is just warming up, plus, did you see that wicked flip? Look at the crowd, they’re eating out of my hoof right now. Can’t you feel the love?” I grinned at her as I pushed past, my tail trailing along her cheek. “Just gimme a minute and I’ll really blow them away. This ain’t much different from sex you know, it’s all about the foreplay.” “Whatever,” she growled. “Just get your fat flank on stage in a minute or you’re fired.” “Oh darling, you wound me with such barbed words.” With a hoof to my forehead, I pretended to swoon. “Like an arrow to the heart, you shatter my fragile dreams. Mercy! Mercy, fair maiden, for I have sinned!” I hit the ground with a thud, limbs unmoving. After a second, I cracked open an eye and saw her caught between amusement and annoyance. “Whatever. We pay lots of bits to have you play here, so you better live up to your reputation,” she said as she stalked off. “You know you’d miss my totally hot flank if you fired me!” I yelled after her. “And it’s not fat! It’s toned and a ten on the spanking scale!” For a split second, the sound of music was drowned out by a scream of pure annoyance. “Damn, and I thought I annoyed her,” said a white unicorn as she brushed past me, heading for the stage. “Hey, thanks for covering for me,” I said. “No probs, anytime,” she said over a shoulder. “And say ‘Hello’ to Octy for me.” “Sure thing, boss!” A quick glance told me no one was around, and I quickly slipped out the backdoor. I grabbed the sweater that had been tossed on the bin and slipped it on, throwing the hood over my head to hide my hair. What can I say? Everyone loves the Vinyl style mane, and tonight was not a night I wanted to be mobbed by adoring fans. Maybe some other time. Whistling a tune, I began trotting down the dark alley and quickly made my way towards the central square. From there I made my way towards Canterlot Castle, making sure to keep my cutie mark covered and my mane hidden from sight. Soon, it came into view and I had to suppress a shudder as memories of last time I was here tried to worm their way into my mind. Hopefully, things tonight would start off awesomely and keep being awesome rather than burning and crashing half way through. “Vinyl!” A pleasingly accented voice called out. “Vinyl, over here!” A huge grin appeared on my face as I rushed over to the grey mare. “Octy!” She smiled as I approached, but her eyes widened in shock as I didn’t slow down, and she squeaked in surprise as I wrapped her up in a big hug. “Vinyl!” she protested. “We’re in public.” She tried to push me off, but I clung to her. “Oh come on Octy, you’re not ashamed of me, are you?” I said. “Any sensible pony would be!” She giggled and finally managed to throw me off. “How was your... gig? I think the ‘modern’ term is.” “Octy, do me a favor and never, ever, ever try to speak like that ever again.” I pecked her cheek. “You sound cuter speaking normally anyways.” She rolled her eyes at me. “I’m sure I’ll pick it up eventually. Practice makes perfect, after all.” “Is that before or after my ears stop bleeding?” Again she rolled her eyes. “Why are you dressed like...” She waved a hoof at my hoody, “That? You look like you plan to mug somepony and carve your name into a bathroom stall.” “Who says I haven’t carved my name into a bathroom stall? Plus, I think I look awesome in this and it makes my flank stand out.” I shoved it in her face. “Don’tcha think?” Her grey face temporarily became bright red. “Vinyl!” She whined and pushed it away, not before hitting me over the back of the head, and she was still glancing at it. “Have a modicum of dignity, please.” “Hey, this body is a sculpture carved by Harmony herself. I work hard to keep myself in shape, the least you can do is admire it,” I grumbled playfully. “Now what’s this snorefest you want me to go to again?” “Vinyl...” she groaned. “We talked about this over lunch, don’t you remember? It’s a rather important issue.” “All I remember is it being a snorefest. Com’on, it’s some high class, hoity-toity thing about politics or something and bleah. Booooooring. Why don’t we head home and do some private dancing?” I said with a wiggle of my eyebrows. A long loud groan followed. “Vinyl Scratch, this isn’t just some ‘boring meeting’. This is important, and I think if nothing else, we should make our opinions heard. As I already told you, this is about all the gryphon refugees coming into Canterlot, and what we’re doing to do with them.” She turned away and started to trot towards thecastle. “Now, come on. If you ever want to ‘dance’ with me again, you better start actually listening to what I say.” “Yes ma’am!” I saluted and marched after her, ignoring the looks I was getting from both the guards and the ponies with sticks up their plots. She sighed again as she walked. “Please stop drawing attention to yourself. Honestly, it’s like being with a foal sometimes.” “So does that mean you’d be a pedophile?” I asked innocently. Her eyes bugged and she turned to glare at me. “I would prefer it if you didn’t make jokes about something so vile.” Instead of replying, I just gave her my puppy dog eyes. “That doesn’t work when you’re wearing sunglasses, Vinyl.” She huffed and continued. “Now come along. Why did I ever agree to seeing you?” “Because I’m just that hot?Because I’m a total animal in the sack?Because you needed someone to spice up your life? Because I-” “Because I pity you?” She looked back at me with a smile in her eyes, but a straight face. “Because I pity anypony else you might have managed to get involved with? Because I knew that with me as a moderating influence, at least some of your foolishness will be reduced.” “Oh come on, we both know that under all that there’s a wild beast just waiting to burst out,” I said as we began walking up through the corridor towards the main courtroom. “Oh yes, I’m just the embodiment of primal earth pony savagery,” Octavia replied. “If you’re waiting for me to show that side of my personality, you’ll be waiting for quite some time.” “I don’t know about that, babe, you’re pretty wild in the sack,” I said. She blushed again. “Vinyl! We’re in the Royal Palace, show a little taste, please.” “Hey, I’m certain the princesses have needs too,” I said, probably a bit too loud from the looks I was getting. Octavia took a step away from me. “I can’t believe you just said that!” She hissed, blushing even more as she looked around the room. “Think they’d be up for a threesome?” I whispered back with a grin before quickly ducking under her swipe. With a laugh I began racing down the hallway, easily weaving through the crowd thanks to my experience with raves. Bursting through the large, oaken doors, I skidded to a stop and blinked in surprise. Instead of the wide open space that I remembered, it was filled to the brim with seats and already half was full, with more ponies coming in every second. Most surprising was Luna and Celestia sitting on their respective thrones at the front, waiting patiently for everyone to fill in. A couple of moments later, I heard the clop of a pony behind me, and a hoof swatted me over the back of my skull. “Vinyl! Behave!” Octavia hissed. “I am,” I pouted as I rubbed the back of my head. “Please, everypony.” Celestia called out over the hubbub. “If you would calmly find your seats, we can begin.” “Come on,” Octavia pushed me in the direction of two chairs only a few rows from the front. I sighed and sat down beside her, immediately throwing my hind hooves onto the chair in front of me while I dug through my ear with a hoof before flicking it off to the side. Octavia pushed my hooves off the seat in front of me and gave a stern warning glare. “Everypony, the forum will begin shortly. If you could wait calmly, we will begin the discussion soon,” Celestia said loudly over the noise. Within seconds, everyone was seated, and some were forced to stand around the edges of the room, but no one was complaining. “Thank you, everypony, for coming,” Celestia said after a moment, stepping forward to take the floor. “This is a public meeting, and a chance for everypony to say their opinion in a calm and reasoned discussion of the issue at hoof. Today, we’re all here to discuss the recent influx of refugees from the Gryphon Kingdom into Equestria, and what we are to do about them. An obvious issue is the means to house and feed them, as well as providing them with jobs and a way to contribute to society. It’s also worth mentioning some of the noticeable differences between our cultures, and the issues that might be raised by that, including the difficulties presented by some of their physiological needs, in particular their carnivorous nature. “I will act as arbitrator, and serve to provide structure to this discussion, as well as ensuring that everypony knows the facts as they become relevant. I want this to be calm and reasoned. If anypony fails to keep a rational head about this, they will be asked to leave. Remember, whatever happens here is not official policy. This is a means to express opinions, and any conclusions reached are those of the individuals involved. “Now then, to get the discussion started, I will pass the floor over to my sister, Luna, who has something to say on the matter. Even if she is a Princess, I remind you that her stance is not official policy.” Celestia turned and inclined her head at the shorter alicorn. “Sister, if you would please.” “Thank you, sister. Before We start, We would like to thank you all for attending this public consultation. We understand that it is an inconvenience to some, but thy desire to participate in the running of Equestria is a virtue to each and every single one present tonight. “As you all know, turmoil has recently afflicted the Gryphon Territories, destroying their capital city, Aviana, and poisoning the great river Rind, which supplies the majority of water for their agriculture. This has adversely impacted their ability to produce crops, and as a result, they are unable to support their population. As a result of this, We have pledged 1.2 million bits in aid in the form of food, housing, and other essential resources. However, what is of greater concern, and the main point of this meeting, is on the sheer number of refugees entering Equestr-” “I’m more concerned about the bat ponies!” A tense silence immediately filled the air as everyone tried to adjust to the shock of someone dare interrupting the Princess, but with the sheer number of ponies present, it was impossible to tell who it was. After a pause, Luna continued, “Yes, and some of thou art concerned about the re-emergence of the nightkin. Regardless, this meeting is focused on exploring their position within Equestrian society as well as the gryphons. The first agenda is the hunting license.” Another voice cried out, “I’m not sure why we permit savages to hunt at all! Why do we have to tolerate carnivores?!” “You’d rather them starve to death!?” yelled another voice. “What if we were the ones in trouble and they went ‘Oh, why do we have to tolerate herbivores’?” A thundercrack rang through the room, silencing everyone. “This is a place for civil discussion. We can and We will throw out anypony who disrespects that.” “Hey, isn’t using ‘anypony’ racist?” I yelled, enjoying the shocked looks I got from everyone, but especially Octy. “Shouldn’t you say anyone? I mean, I remember seeing a zebra and a minotaur not too long ago.” Octy just stared at me and choked out a surprised murmur of, “Vinyl?” “Thou art indeed correct, and We apologise to those who were offended. A thousand years on the moon has not improved social graces, We can assure thee,” said Luna, getting more looks of shock and even one pony fainting. “In fact, a gryphon We hold in high esteem often complained about that very thing, so thou have our thanks for reminding us. “Now, in terms of hunting licenses, We have decided to relax protocols due to demand, and the loss of documents along with the destruction of Aviana. However, We wish to gather input on the best method of doing so before taking action. The current draft proposal alters the law such that for the next three months, specific areas across Equestria will be marked out as hunting zones. All hunting within these zones does not require a license while we process the influx of requests. Hunting elsewhere will require a license, and the usual catch limits still apply. We will now open the floor to discussion. If you wish to speak, please raise thy hoof and We shall indicate who speaks.” I immediately jumped onto my seat and said, “Hey, if we’re talking about nightkin and gryphons, maybe we should actually have some of them here!” “Sit down!” Octavia hissed and yanked on my tail. “One more outburst and We will remove thee,” said Luna before gesturing at a pegasus with yellow mane to speak. “Sure, that’s all nice and fine in theory, but they’re not actually citizens of Equestria, and I have no doubt that most of them will return to where they came from when this is all over, so why should we listen to their opinions? They’re guests in our homes, and while we do need to be accommodating, we do not need to bend over backwards for them. If they don’t find the terms agreeable, they can just find refuge elsewhere, like with the zebras.” A blue unicorn put up their hoof, and Celestia gestured for him to speak. “For one thing, that ‘suggestion’ would only work with gryphons, the nightkin are Equestrian citizens and permanent residents. For another thing, you’re making a lot of assumptions about the intent of the gryphons coming here. A lot of them might decide they like it here and apply for citizenship. And lastly, ‘when this is all over’? That could be years from now! Don’t you read the papers? They’re building up to a civil war over there that could easily last years. Even if it was only a few short months, what do you suggest? That we allow them to starve to death?” “I was referring to the gryphons,” snapped the mare. “But regardless, the entire Equestrian political system relies on representation, and the nightkin only make up a fraction of the population. Their voice should not drown out ours! As for the gryphons, once they get citizenship, they can sign a petition like the rest of us normal folk. I don’t know where you grew up Your Lordship, but us normal folk don’t get things hoofed to us on a silver platter.” “That’s ridiculous,” the stallion replied with thinly veiled contempt. “Haven’t you ever heard of a thing called ‘charity’? If we don’t provide them with the means to feed themselves, they’re going to become desperate! They’ll hunt anyway, they need to eat after all, and will if we give them permission or not. Waiting for enough of them to become citizens and sign a petition will take too long. We need to act now, and head off this issue before it becomes a more serious problem. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of thousands of starving and desperate predators roaming Equestria.” He paused, and added, “Also, I note the way you say ‘us normal folk’. That’s really classy, real elitist.” He smiled sarcastically at the pegasus. “How about We let another speaker say something?” said Luna as she gestured at an earth pony in a Stetson and vest. “Thank ya kindly Princess. Ah know Ah’m not as well educated as some of ya folk ‘ere, but Ah live down south in Appleloosa, and Ah’m just wondering how ya’ll control ‘em. Ah mean, they could just hunt out in the wilderness, and there’d be no way ta know.” Celestia inclined her head at him. “The idea is that if we provide them with places to hunt and acquire their own food, they won’t resort to poaching. Obviously there’s little we can do to police gryphons who seek remote locations like the Everfree or your home in the desert, but the truth of the matter is, any gryphon who could hunt in such a dangerous location is not really someone we can easily prevent from doing so.” “Furthermore, any gryphon caught doing so risks never being able to get a hunting license, and losing their chance to acquire citizenship,” added Luna. “We feel the risks far outweigh any potential gain they might achieve, especially when legal hunting is available.” I yawned loudly and Octy immediately elbowed me in the stomach with a glare. “What?” I whispered innocently. “This is boring. I was hoping for some riots and name calling and stuff.” “Vinyl...” She hissed at me. “We’re in the presence of the Princesses, be respectful.” “What about the bat ponies?” one pony asked with a raised hoof. “Are those teeth just for decoration, or are they gonna need meat too? To be honest, I’m not really sure it’s been explained what a ‘nightkin’ is, or where they even came from? Why’d you only just start making them this year?” “The nightkin are ponies just like thou. They are to serve as guardians of the night, as their enhanced vision and ability to fly without thermals, which are absent at night, makes them ideal protectors. Currently, only those in the Guard or military may apply,” replied Luna. “They do possess the ability to eat meat, but they are also adept at digesting vegetarian meals, and from what We have seen thus far, none are very willing to try out meat.” The same pony raised his hoof again, and spoke. “Alright, so you say. But what about breeding and child rearing? Can a bat pony breed with a normal pony? What about foals that come from an arrangement like that? I mean, a hundred years from now we could be talking about a fourth pony tribe, and if we get more gryphons and they start breeding, they could make their own tribe too. Got anything to say about that?” He went to lower his hoof again, but then hesitated and kept it up. “Also, is it just me or do the bat ponies look a lot like how that old legend, Curse, was described? Is that just a coincidence? ‘Cause it sorta freaks me out.” “We will say this now, and will no doubt be forced to repeat it many times, so We would appreciate if all journalists could take this down and mark it as important. For all intents and purposes, the nightkin are merely another race of pony in the same way pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns are different races of ponykind. Can they reproduce with ponies? Yes, and they will result in non-nightkin offspring even when two nightkin mate. So please ignore all wild fantasies of nightkin overtaking Equestria,” said Luna. “Damn it!” Once more I was on my seat. “That was going to be my next great Applewood film!” Everyone just stared at me in shock, though Celestia seemed amused by my antics. Octy stood up and shoved me into my seat. “My apologies everypo-” “Everyone!” I yelled. “It’s every-bucking-one.” She was trying to set me on fire with her eyes. When she turned to look back at the crowd she smiled thinly. “Once again, I’m sorry for her lack of... composure. I should have known better than to bring her out in public. I’m sure she’ll be well behaved for the rest of the meeting.” “I will?” I asked sweetly. “Unless you want to sleep on the couch—no, make that backyard, tonight, you will,” she muttered and sat back down. “You’d do that to cute and adorable me?” I sniffled playfully. “Don’t bet against it,” she warned quietly. “Can I at least go to sleep?” I whispered as some old pony went on and on about ‘Back in my day’ or something. Her answer was an elbow into my side. A hard, surprisingly pointed, earth pony strong, elbow. “Can we at least make out once we get out of here?” I asked. “Hush!” she hissed and strained to hear what was being said. “Can we make out here then?” She didn’t even reply. “-all I’m saying, Your Highness, is perhaps you should have consulted the general populace before you went and introduced another race of ponies,” some light orange unicorn said. “It seems like something that needed a little more discussion than it got.” “Perhaps, but what is done is done. Next!” called Luna. A white pony with a blonde mane raised his hoof. “I, for one, question why we should allow gryphons into Equestria at all. They’re a violent, barbaric race with a brutal culture and a frankly disgusting mistreatment of females.” At this there were murmurs of approval, which quickly died down as he opened his mouth again, “Do such... creatures really have a place in a civilised society? If they’ve destroyed their capital, that’s the mistake they made, and the consequences they should have to deal with, not us. I can’t be the only pony thinking that way. Perhaps we should simply be sending them home at the border.” “Yo Blueblood!” I yelled. “Go suck yourself!” Octavia groaned and facehoofed. “I give up. If you get yourself thrown out you can sleep inyour own apartment tonight.” “Guards, please escort Miss Vinyl out,” said Celestia. “Don’t worry Princess, I can find my own way out!” I immediately stood up and began walking towards the door. “Just for the record, Mixers welcomes all races, from nightkin to gryphons to earth ponies, but only if you’re over eighteen. Mixers! Where the fun never ends, and everyone has a happy ending! This is DJ Pon-3 signing out!”