//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Behind Closed Doors // by OrphiusOlyandra //------------------------------// I sat there with my arms crossed, a frown on my beak, waiting for him to make the first move. The first ploy at getting inside my head, figuring out what my next move was. I hated him already. Sure, it was the first time I’d met him, and he hadn’t said a word yet, but I just knew this guy was a complete douche. He cleared his throat after a moment, and I cracked my neck in preparation for the first round. You and me, motherfucker, let’s do this. Yeah, because this is totally a fight, another part of myself commented. We both sat there in silence for a minute or two more. Was he trying to bluff me out? Work me up before we started so it’d be easier to make me break down? It wasn’t working. It’ll take a lot more than tense silence for him to make me snap. “So... Gilda, my colleagues tell me you are quite the gryphon,” he said with a smile, like that sentence actually meant something clever. “You may call me Tread Lightly.” “What does that even mean?” I asked after a second. “‘Quite the gryphon’?” “You are something of an enigma amongst my peers. You come from nowhere, get attention from none other than Princess Luna herself, and though you say nothing, your actions tell so much.” He peered over his glasses at me. “While I relish a challenge, I fear you may be too much for me to handle, but we shall see.” I didn’t reply for a bit, taking the time to stew over his words. After a moment, I decided they were fairly harmless and I shrugged. “What’s that mean to me? Am I getting another one of you guys thrown at me? Cause I’m getting pretty sick of it. I mean, do you have to line up or something to get this job?” “Well the one who manages to figure out how you tick does stand to gain a lot of recognition and you wouldn’t believe the amount of money that’s being thrown at us. It’s almost as though they expect us to crack.” He cracked his neck, no doubt trying for the tough guy act, but only failed miserably. I think Trixie’s first attempt at cooking meat went better. “Great. So it’s the psychology equivalent of having a huge ass bounty on my head,” I rolled my eyes and looked at the roof. “And Luna seriously hasn’t told you guys anything? Have you stopped to wonder why? Maybe getting involved in this isn’t such a good idea.” “Personally, I think she finds our floundering attempts amusing.” Whatever-his-name-was glanced down at his watch before writing something down, and murmuring, “Interesting...” I just raised an eyebrow. It was obvious he wanted me to ask what was interesting, and use that to get me in a conversation where he could try to get through to me. So I didn’t ask. I just leaned back in my chair and gave him a flat look. “Expected,” he said and continued scribbling some notes. “So, Gilda, have you heard? Princess Luna apparently wants us to look into the head of your marefriend. Not sure why-” “No,” I said flatly. “You’re not getting me with that either. Even if Luna did want that, she wouldn’t permit you to tell me. You’re just trying to get under my skin.” “Smarter than my colleagues thought, that’s for certain.” “Don’t bet on it.” “There are different kinds of knowledge you know. Just because you’re not well versed in the intellectual realm does not make you stupid.” How the fuck did he manage to talk and write with his mouth at the same time!? “By the way, your marefriend is quite the catch. How’d you manage that?” “Fuck off,” I said flatly. “Then again, with the whole illeism and title thing, I’m surprised you can stand her at all.” I just grit my beak. “You really think it’s a good idea to try and piss me off?” “For every injury we sustain, we get paid a bonus,” he replied with a shrug, “and I need the money.” “And if you're dead?” I countered. “Unless you’re trying to set your family up for life or something, this is a really fucking dumb way to get in my head.” “Now there’s a thought. If any of my colleagues need life insurance for whatever reason I’ll be sure to let them take a session,” he chuckled. I shrugged after a moment. “Yeah, no. I’m bluffing. I’m not allowed to hurt anyone right now, and if one of you guys turn up dead or injured, I’m not even gonna get to see a jury.” “Somehow I highly doubt that. While your run in with the law is impressive, it probably will catch up with you eventually.” “What do you know about me and the law anyway?” I asked. “I doubt Luna told you why I even need a psychologist, let alone what I did to get in her ‘good books’.” “True, but I don’t need to be given information to glean the truth for myself.” He gestured at me and said, “Take your posture for example. While I am not an expert on gryphons, I doubt your body language differs all that greatly from pegasi, and considering your history of living in Equestria, I would say you probably picked up more than enough for my readings to be accurate.” I shrugged. “Great. So then, what have you ‘read’ in the last five minutes?” “You have issues with violence, self-depreciation, rules, and you love your marefriend. You tend to have a good control of all your emotions, except for anger, which you react violently and explosively. You are dismissive of me and my colleagues, think this is a waste of time, and would probably rather spend the time bathing in magma.” Pausing, he glanced at the notes he wrote and frowned. “Basically, you have a stunted super-ego, but considering how some describe it as being just as cruel as the id, I don’t know if I should be envious or not.” I didn’t even know what ‘id’ and ‘super-ego’ meant . “Yeah, this is a waste of time,” I growled, “No, I don’t like any of you egghead pricks, it pisses me off that Luna’s forcing me to do this, and I think that all of you are a pack of narcissistic vultures circling a juicy paycheck, and are about as genuine as Blueblood’s concern for the working class.” “Hey, we get paid to sit around in comfy chairs and talk to patients!” He suddenly straightened up and fixed me with a look. “Listen, if you don’t want to be here, then you can leave. I’ll even sign the piece of paper to show you’ve come if you really want to leave. The simple fact is that Princess Luna doesn’t seem to realise you can’t force po- gry- people, you can’t force people to participate in these sorts of things. All these notes from all my colleagues?” He pulled out a lighter and set the entire thing on fire. “Useless. Why? Because you don’t talk, and if you don’t talk we can’t get anything concrete.” “Great,” I said as I stood up and passed him a sheet of paper. “Sign that, and go help some patient that actually wants it.” “Gladly.” He signed it and passed it back. “I just hope next time you have one of your explosions, you don’t end up hurting your marefriend.” I froze. My fist clenched and my eye twitched. I stared down at him, he stared right back up at me, observing my reaction. I slowly unclenched my jaw. I wanted to rip his head off for saying that shit. After a moment I snatched the sheet from his grip and stalked to the door. Before I managed to get out the door, though, he spoke up again, “Do you really think Princess Luna can protect you forever? What about Princess Celestia? I doubt she’ll be able to overlook such a violent gryphon for long. Add on the civil unrest and the vibrant hate for gryphons that’s currently shimmering, and you’re a disaster waiting to happen. You work at a bar correct? Ever gone too far throwing someone out? What if they come back with friends? What if you kill someone the next time they make a move on your marefriend? Minor infractions are one thing, but murder? I doubt Princess Luna will be able to protect you from that one.” I hesitated again. Part of me screamed to charge back in and snap his neck, but that wouldn’t help me at all. “I can-” I cut myself off before I gave him more ammunition to use against me. Without another word I yanked the door open and stepped out, yanking it shut behind me. I barely heard the massive slam over the sound of Hate and Anger screaming at me to pull his spine out his ass. A receptionist stepped back from her desk as I walked past, watching me nervously as glared at her as in passing. Fucking ponies. Fucking shrink. Fucking Luna and Celestia and whoever the fuck else was involved in this goddess awful mess. The moment I was outside the building, I threw myself into the air and flew as hard and fast as I could. I didn’t know where I was going, just that I was using up all that angry energy I had pounding through my veins. Canterlot blurred past and eventually I calmed enough to trust myself not to kill the first pony I saw give me a funny look. Eventually I slowed down and stopped to hover in midair, my pulse racing. “Tough day?” My head snapped to the right and there was Dash floating on her back. “Oh, fucking-” I cursed and turned my body to face her. “I thought we went over this yesterday? Piss off.” “Did we? I don’t seem to remember that, sure you didn’t just get drunk out of your mind?” she asked. “I quit drinking,” I snapped back and came down to land in a park, still panting. “You what? Wow, talk about whipped.” “Trixie never asked me to quit, only to cut down a little. It was my decision.” I turned and glared at her. “Now, are you just trying to piss me off? ‘Cause I’ve already had enough of that for one day.” “Nah, just thought you’d like to know about the fact that you’re apartment has been swamped since lunchtime by reporters and gryphons wanting your baby,” she replied as she began circling my head. “And your marefriend is totally lapping it up by the way.” I groaned and put both claws to my face. “That’s gotta be a joke, right? This can’t be for real. No way I can be getting that much attention when I didn’t even do anything!” “Um, dude, you’re a gryphon with Luna supporting you. When was the last gryphon that made the news in Equestria?” I snorted, as if Dash didn’t know the answer. “Basically, yeah, it’s big news. Congrats, you’re famous. Almost as famous as me.” “Fucking Luna,” I muttered. “She had to know that by calling me to the palace I’d get all this fucking attention... That was her plan wasn’t it? She wants to pressure me into taking the job. That line about ‘befitting my station’ was total crap. She knew an armed escort would get ponies to notice...” I could have screamed in frustration right then, and I barely even noticed that I was pacing back and forth. “Fucking bitch.” “And you played right into it,” Dash chuckled. “Who knew she was so sneaky?” “Nightmare was sneaky,” I thought aloud, “Luna was an idiot. Wouldn’t know the first thing about good espionage if it bit her in the ass.” I was still pacing back and forth. “Shit, shit, shit! Why the fuck won’t she leave me alone?” “Nightmare? Where did she come from?” asked Dash. “That’s a bloody good question,” I muttered to myself, still pacing back and forth. “I thought it was your job to kill her or something.” “And that’s what we did! You should have seen it G, talk about total domination. They should make a movie after us just so Equestria can know how awesome I am.” I rolled my eyes at her, then paused to jerk a claw at them. “See these? Nightmare gave them to me, after you ‘dominated’ her. You did a real great job there, Dash. The point of killing someone is that they stay dead, dude.” “Well you have to admit, those eyes look wicked. Can you do the crazy shadow thingie?” After a second I shrugged and pulled her shadow towards me. I didn’t do anything with it, just made it move a bit. “Yeah, I can.” “I knew it!” Dash threw both hooves into the air and did a loop. “Ha, I so bucking called it.” “Yeah, well it fucking sucks if you ask me. It completely ruined my natural magic, so I can’t fly even half as well as I used to. On top of that, because of this nightkin crap, Luna seems to think I’m hers now and she’s trying to rope me into being the face of her political bullshit, P.R. crap at playing nice with non-ponies.” “But come on! You get crazy awesome shadow powers. Dude, can you imagine the things you could do with that in bed?” Dash’s eyes suddenly widened and she clamped her hooves over her mouth. “I do not want to know what you’re thinking, right now. You lost me at shadow sex.” “Oh stop being such a prude.” Landing next to me, she bumped me playfully with her hip. “I seem to recall you being all for experimenting in Flight School.” “Goddesses,” I muttered and stepped away from her. “We’re not discussing that ever again. Ever. And if Trixie finds out about those days, I’m coming for you.” “All I’m saying is that you used to go that step further, push a bit harder than the rest.” She grinned up at me. “You’re just so... normal now, you know? Where’s that desire to really push the boundaries?” “Gone.” No it wasn’t, it was still there. “And it’ll stay gone for as long as I have a marefriend, and Celestia has me on a probational existence.” “Booooooooring. You know what I’d do in your situation?” “Something really fucking dumb.” “You mean totally awesome! But anyways, I’d totally go up to Luna and go ‘Hey, I’ll help out if you get me out of this whatcha-ma-call-it existence.” I snorted and rolled my eyes. “It means that Celestia wants to kill me, and she’s just waiting for an excuse. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this, that’s probably all the excuse she’d need.” “Once again, two princesses. Looks like Luna needs you, so you might as well get something out of it. Plus, it looks like you’ll be dragged in no matter what.” Dash flared her wings, blowing dust in all directions. “Anyways, gotta go. Awesomeness never stops you know.” And just like that, she blasted off, leaving behind a scorch mark on the ground from the force of her takeoff. Did she always just leave like that? Dash away the moment she’s had the last word? Cause it’d seriously piss me off if she kept doing that. What the fuck did she even want anyway? Spreading my own wings, I took to the air and made for my apartment. On the one claw, it was great to see Dash again, on the other, things were still tense between us. Or at least I was still acting tense. Dash seemed to want to patch things up, pretend they never happened, but she wasn’t going to take the blame, and neither was I. Fuck, it was the fight with Dash that landed me in the jail cell. Well, not the fight with Dash, but the fight that came after it that I started because I got depressed about what happened with Dash. Not that I really blame her for that mess. You’ve got no one to blame but yourself. I must have flown further and faster than I thought, because it took me awhile to find my way back home. When I did I groaned to see dozens of reporters with camera’s on the roof and the streets outside, probably crowding the stairwell inside too. The moment I was spotted, a flock of ponies crowded me, jabbering questions and getting in my way. Slowly and steadily, I pushed through the crowd and down the stairs off the roof. Goddesses damn it, did these ponies ever stop talking?! Dumbass question after dumbass question shouted at me in this never ending cacophony that set my ears ringing. Finally, I made it to our apartment door and stepped inside, slamming it shut behind me. It didn’t help much, I could still hear reporters outside talking and talking and talking. “Trixie?” I called out when I saw she wasn’t in the living room. “Where are you?” When I found her, she was in the bedroom, lying inside some magical bubble with her back turned. She had her hat and cape on, and for some reason her cape was thrown over her head so it was covering her face. “Trix?” No response. I stepped over to her, and poked the bubble. My claw passed straight through, so I tapped her on the shoulder. She was immediately on her hooves, a bolt of magic flying towards my face. I barely ducked under it before it took my head off. “Trix, it’s me!” I shouted and grabbed her by the shoulders, so her horn was pointed in another direction. “Oh, you’re back.” She slunk back down and threw her cape over her head again. I blinked in surprise. “Trix...? Are you alright? Did one of the reporters say something or...?” Trailing off, I realised I had absolutely no idea what was wrong. Dash said Trixie had been happy to get all the attention, and knowing Trix, I sort of believed her. “Do you want me to send them away or something?” “Trixie is fine!” “You don’t seem fine to me. If one of them did or said anything, I swear I’ll break them in two. What’s up, Trix?” I sat down on the bed next to her. “What’s wrong?” After a moment of silence she finally said, “Yeah... Something like that...” “Which means it wasn’t that. Seriously, I’m here for you,” I put an arm around her shoulder, “tell me what’s wrong.” “Trixie was just looking forward to a day of peace and quiet with you, that’s all,” she said, peeking out from under her cape. “Oh...” I glanced over my shoulder, then back at her. “Don’t worry then, I’ll be right back.” Hopping off the bed, and pausing for long enough to put on my sunglasses, I walked over to the front door and yanked it open. Some reporter snapped a shot of me, and I glared at the crowd of paparazzi. “All of you clear off! Neither me or Trix are answering any questions, and this is a public stairwell which all of you are blocking! Get out of here before I get the Guard!” “Just one question!” yelled a reporter as she shoved herself in my face. “No questions!” I yelled back and pushed her a step away. “All of you, leave! Now!” “Wait!” A gryphoness was suddenly at my feet. “Please, you’ve got to help me.” And now she was sobbing, fucking great. Looking up, I saw all the reporters staring at me intently, quills at the ready and I glanced back down at her. “Uh...” I glanced up at the reporters and back down at her. “What’s the problem?” “It-It’s my husband. Please, you’ve got to-” The rest degenerated into a mix of sobbing and gibberish. “Alright, alright.” I helped her to her feet, and directed her to the door. “Just wait inside for a moment.” “A-Alright...” She sat down on a sofa awkwardly, gawking at, well, everything. Turning to face the reporters again, I shouted, “Last warning! All of you leave in the next five minutes, or I’m getting the Guard!” There was a lot of grumbling and sulking, but they seemed to start moving away, though I had no doubt there were still a couple lurking around the corners. With a sigh, I slammed the door shut and sat on the sofa next to the gryphon. “So... what’s the problem, exactly?” I asked her after a moment. “I-It’s my husband, he’s run into some trouble with the guards and they won’t let him go. They keep talking about how they’ll toss him out because he doesn’t have the right papers, but we’ve lived here for ten years! We’ve never had any issues or anything an-and then-” She burst out crying once more. “Uh...” I put an arm around her shoulder, but that was too awkward so I took it off. “I’m not sure what you really want me to do about it... I mean, I’m sorry to hear that, and I could point you towards a fake ID, but... Why’d you come to me?” “I heard you knew the Princess and thought that you could somehow convince them otherwise or do something! We had our papers, we gave them to the guards, but they say we never had it to begin with an-and... I just don’t know what to do!” She grabbed my shoulders and cried into my chest. “Don’t make me go back! Please.” After a moment, I patted her on the back. “Um... there? There? Listen, uh... I don’t think I’m someone that can really help you. I think you should be talking to a lawyer, or... Who issued you your papers? If you have their name they’ll have a record you can check, and prove to the guards that you’re citizens... or on visa... whatever it is.” She nodded slowly, calming down as she rubbed at her red eyes. “A-Alright. I know who issued us the visa. Um... would it be alright to come back if it doesn’t work out? It’s just I don’t know what to do, Joachuim has always taken care of all that and though the poor dear has been teaching me things about finances and I’m just not...” She gestured at me. “You know. You’re... confident, strong, willing to speak out, and I’m... not.” Ugh, gryphon females. “Uh, alright. Look, if you can prove your husband’s here legally, then you can force the Guard to release him for arrest within twenty four hours as long as they don’t have evidence of a crime. There’s a bunch of things you can do, but that’s the first thing you should try. Get into contact with whoever issued your husband’s visa, and if they don’t have the information you need, you can apply for refugee status which means they’ll have to release your husband for processing. Oh! Do you have a landlord, or own property? If you do, then you’ll have the papers you need to prove legal residency, which means they won’t be able to pretend you don’t have papers if you take it to another guard station.” She blinked. “Al-Alright.” “Trust me, what they’re doing is all sorts of bullshit. If you’re here legally you have the same rights as any pony on a visa, which means there’s all sorts of safeguards to protect you. Uh... where’s a quill?” I stood up and searched around for a bit. “What’s your name?” “Le-Leandra.” “Alright, Leandra.” I wrote her name down, and started writing down a set of instructions and legal options she had to work with. “Here’s all the options you have, as far as I know. Um... if none of these work, then come back here to see me again, and I’ll see if I can talk to someone.” I paused and glanced up at her. “You’re not lying to me are you? ‘Cause if there’s anything I should know about your husband, or you, it’ll only hurt you not to tell me.” “O-Of course not!” I frowned and leaned closer. “Really? I’m serious here. If there’s anything, you’re not telling me, get it off your chest now.” “He might have gotten into a few bar brawls in the past...” “Ah. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem, as long as he wasn’t charged.” I went back to writing down her options. “What tribe are you, by the way? It shouldn’t matter, but if you’re a Grey Tip, there’s this weird legal clause that could help.” “We’re... um... not part of any tribe...” She looked away, unable to meet my gaze. My writing stopped, and I glanced up at her. “Well then... Have you applied for Equestrian citizenship? Because, if your visa gets cancelled and you get deported, that could go really badly for you. As in, if your crime was bad enough, you could be executed.” “We know.” Once more she buried her face in her paws. “All we need is a couple more weeks and then we’ll have stayed long enough to be granted citizenship.” “Alright, well... when you’ve got your husband out of jail and this mess has blown over, come see me again. I might be able to help you out with getting citizenship.” I tore off the sheet and held it out to her. She immediately picked it up and slipped it under her wing. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” I stood up and led her towards the door. “If I’m not around, just let Trixie know that you know me.” “Your lawyer?” she sounded confused, but nodded. “Alright. Thank you again.” “Uh... No, she’s not my lawyer.” I scratched the back of my head. “Uh... my marefriend. She lives here.” Her beak dropped and I could see the thoughts running through her mind before she finally settled on, “Oh. That’s nice. I hope you and your... marefriend have fun.” “Uh... thanks?” I shifted awkwardly. “Anyway, good luck, and if any of those reporters ask you what happened in here... just say that we’re friends or something. I don’t want to give them anything more to say about me.” “O-Of course, it’s the least I could do.” I opened the door. “Oh, and... how did you even know where I lived?” “Um... a pegasus showed up at my door this morning. I don’t really remember what she looked like other than having a rainbow mane.” I blinked at her. “You’re kidding me. Rainbow Dash told you to come see me?” “Is that her name? I don’t know, I think her cutie mark had a cloud and some sort of lightning shape? Whatever her name is, could you tell her thanks for me? If it wasn’t for her, I fear we might not have ever come here, and without your help...” “I’ll let her know you're grateful right before I murder her.” I opened the door and pushed her out before closing it. I turned around and headed back towards the bedroom. “Bloody Dash.” When I stepped in, Trixie was smiling up at me. “I’m so proud of you.” I just rolled my eyes. “It’s not like I did anything for her she couldn’t have done herself. Honestly, gryphon females are just... Whatever. She’s an idiot, but she should be fine.” “Still proud of you.” She patted the spot next to her. “Since when did you know so much about Equestrian citizenship?” “Since I came here illegally when I was twelve and spent the next six years faking all the ID I needed to get through life. I needed to get citizenship the moment I turned eighteen, so I spent ages before that talking to whoever I could and reading all the books I could find to make it easier. I swear, I’m pretty much on a first name basis with every fake paper dealer in Equestria.” “Still, you helped a gryphon in need, so get you flank over here so Trixie can kiss you senseless already.” “See? Now that’s the real reason I helped her.” I smirked as I moved closer, and lay down on the bed by her side. “Don’t even think about lying to the Great and Powerful Trixie, she can see through all your feeble defenses.” The ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie immediately snuggled into my side, sighing happily as she did so. “Under that hard outside is a soft and tender inside.” I snorted and rolled my eyes, but gladly hugged her back. “She was on the ground crying and there were a bunch of reporters taking photos and writing down every word. What was I supposed to do? Punch her in the face and call her a loser?” You would have if she caught you in the wrong mood. “Knowing you? You might have.” “Exactly!” I grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and smacked me across the beak playfully. “So...” I said as I swished my tail. “Why are we coming to this meeting again? I only agreed to go to one! Come on Octy, you’re killing me here. And if you are going to kill me, there are more equine ways than boring me to death.” “I swear to Celestia, Vinyl,” she hissed at me and jerked her head in the direction of the princess, “If you get thrown out of here again, I won’t bother with an ‘equine’ way of killing you, I’ll just use whatever’s at hoof!” She glared at me, before huffing and facing the front. “I can’t believe you’d embarrass me like that!” “Come on, the make-up sex more than made up for it.” I nudged her playfully. “And now you’re talking about our sex life where other ponies can hear,” she groaned. “Tell me, were you ever planning on touching me again?” “Could you live if I didn’t touch you?” I replied with a grin. “Easily,” she replied with a pointed glare. “Now, hush.” “Octy! Your words wound me.” Raising a hoof to my forehead, I gave a dramatic swoon before flopping over her body. She shoved me off her lap and onto the ground. “Vinyl!” she hissed. “What?” I grinned up at her, ignoring all the looks we were getting. “Come on, this place is so booooooooooring. Why don’t we go out and have some fun?” “Vinyl, I swear that if you don’t sit down and shut up right now, you’re sleeping in the kennel tonight.” She glared down at me. “See if I’m bluffing.” “Alright, alright,” I grumbled as I sat down in the chair. After a second, I leaned in close and whispered, “But you’d love to see me in a collar and leash.” “Just get out.” She pointed her hoof at the exit. “Only if you come with me.” I held out a hoof. “Come on, just one night. Just tonight. Please?” “You misunderstand me Vinyl.” She glared at me, and I saw a bit of hurt in her eye. “Get. Out. You say I’m ashamed to be seen in public with you? Well, take a wild guess why. Half the time you’re fine, and the other half you’re just so...” She grit her teeth, “Ugh! I could strangle you! Vinyl, if you’re going to play the part of the fool again, then I’d rather you weren’t here.” For a brief second I hesitated before I slowly turned her face to look at me. “Listen, Octy, I’m sorry about everything alright? It’s just...” Out the corner of my eyes, I saw a familiar pony trot past. “Do you trust me?” “That depends. Am I talking to ‘fun Vinyl’, or reasonable, but fun Vinyl?” “Reasonable Vinyl.” “Then yes,” she replied. “Can we leave?” I pressed a hoof to her lips. “Please, just trust me. Can we leave right now?” She huffed and rolled her eyes, but stood up to follow me out. “I swear to Celestia, Vinyl, this better not be another joke.” “Thank you!” I threw both hooves around her neck and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Despite the anger that was rolling off her in waves, I could still feel the love she held and that was the best feeling. “I promise this is not a joke.” She didn’t answer, just twitched her head towards the exit in annoyance. “R-Right!” I glanced behind me, but couldn’t find that pony in the crowd. “Come on, how does a nice romantic dinner sound? There’s this new restaurant that opened up called ‘The Sun’s Concord’ just a block away from Mixers, and from what I hear it’s awesome. It’s run by a gryphon, but has vegetarian options, it has a bar, cute waitresses, aaaaaaand every night they hire bands to play on a small stage at the front of the room. And I mean jazz, blues and classical bands.” Octy’s ears perked up at that last one. “None of that metal stuff, no rock, no pop, no DJ’s...” “...” Octavia glanced over her shoulder at the Princesses, before she turned to face me again. “Alright. Won’t we need a reservation?” “It’s run by a gryphon, that pretty much puts everyone else off.” We squeezed through the crowd and popped out under the night sky. “It’s super classy and super awesome. Trust me, you’ll love it.” “Then why haven’t you ever taken me there before?” she asked and glanced at me. “You sound like you’ve been there a few times, but I don’t remember you ever mentioning this place to me.” “Nah, one of my co-workers went. Melody, you know her right? Stage manager, has silver spoon shoved up her flank. She went, and if she liked it then you will,” I said, unable to resist the urge to needle her a bit. “I’m from Trottingham, Vinyl. That doesn’t mean I was born to luxury and a gargantuan inheritance. I don’t have a silver spoon ‘shoved up my flank’.” “But you do enjoy havin-” “Vinyl!” she growled. “You’re already on thin ice.” Laughing, I began running down the road, easily weaving my way through the crowd. “Whatchagonna do? Spank me?” I stopped at the gate and wiggled my rear playfully at her. “Come on Octy, catch me if you can!” “Get back here!” She shouted after me, and tried to squeeze through the rush of ponies but wasn’t as agile as I was. “Vinyl, I swear when I catch you, we’ll need to stop by a hospital!” I took the time to give her another shake of my rear, before my eyes widened as I realised just how quickly she was moving. With a gulp, I raced down the road, jumping over benches and tables in an attempt to gain some distance. For her part, Octy decided to run straight through everything and everyone. Taking a hard left, I swear I left a trail of flames behind me as I skidded along the ground and scrambled down the alley. With any lucky Octy wouldn’t know about the short cut and I’d be sa- A loud crashed echoed through the alley, and a quick glance behind me showed Octy closer than ever and with a murderous intent in her eyes. For the first time in my life, I thanked Celestia and Luna for all the exercise I got raving and partying and hyping up the crowd as part of my job. Hey, this figure didn’t come naturally and all that partying kept me in shape. “Vinyl! Get back here right now!” Eyes wide, I really picked up the pace, throwing my entire body into the running, but still Octy gained on me. Was she on coffee or something!? I was no slouch, but damn, she really could keep up. Heh, I wonder if that explained her endurance in be- “Finish that sentence and I will set you on fire!” Oh shit, I said that out loud? I felt adrenaline kick through my body, but even that couldn’t save me. The world spun around me and I found myself on the ground with a very angry earth pony on top of me. “If you wanted to be on top, you could have just asked,” I panted. She growled at me, before jabbing a hoof into my stomach. “I don’t know why I tolerate you.” “Oof!” I grinned up at her. “‘cause no one else can keep up with you?” “Hah!” She laughed, and jabbed again. “I just caught you in a matter of moments, Vinyl. How was that supposed to be keeping up with me?” “You make it sound like I was talking about running.” She groaned and stood up off me to bang her head against a wall. “Why do I do this to myself?” Octavia asked the sky, as if expecting Celestia to answer her. “‘Cause I’m totally hot,” I shot back as I stood up. “Because I have a soft heart, and always pitied the mentally handicapped?” “Ouch babe, that really hurt.” I slung an arm around her neck. “Come on, the place is just down the street.” “I expect this to be the greatest meal anypony has ever eaten,” she muttered, “For the trouble I had to go through to get it.” “Don’t give me that, a bit of exercise always increases appetite,” I said as I trotted down the street. “And trust me, if what’s said is to be believed, then it’ll be awesome. Almost as good as me.” She gagged. “If it’s almost as good as your cooking, that would have to mean it’s worse, and I’m not sure how that could be possible. Honestly Vinyl, how did you manage to burn cereal? Heat isn’t even required.” “Skillz,” I replied. “It’s easy to not burn cereal, therefore burning it puts me in the top few percent of real cooks out there. Ask any chef to burn cereal and they wouldn’t be able to. ” “That logic is so flawed it almost works.” “Hey! That’s perfectly legit logic I’ll have you know.” I suddenly stopped and spun around to face Octy. “Here we are, The Sun’s Concord!” She looked the building up and down, obviously basking in the sheer awesomeness of the place. “A surprisingly appropriate choice, Vinyl. It almost looks half respectable.” “Oh come on! It’s fancy, it’s class, it even has those red curtains and stuff!” I pointed down. “And a red carpet!Red.Carpet.” Octavia sniffed and raised an eyebrow as she looked at the restaurant. “It even smells clean. Given that it had your recommendation, I was expecting broken windows and a lingering odor of alcohol and urine.” “I’m not that bad!” I whined. “Now come on, I’m staaaaaaarving.” “We ate before we left the apartment,” she replied. “But fine, after you.” “Now, now.” I stepped forward and opened the shiny glass door for her. “Mares first after all.” She just stood there, unimpressed. “Vinyl, you’re a mare too.” “Let’s admit it, I’m the stallion of the relationship.” Then I decided to pull out the big guns and pouted. “Come on, I’m trying to be romantic!” She just sighed and rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Fine, if your ego is so delicate.” She sauntered past, her tail flicking at my face on the way. After a second she looked back at me with a smirk, “You coming dear, or are you going to stare all night long?” With a shake of my head, I quickly moved in and closed the door behind me, and I had to admit the place was impressive. The carpet was nice and soft, it smelled nice, the entranceway had some very delicious looking potted plants, the lighting wasn’t harsh on the eyes at all, and was that jazz I heard? The most impressive thing was the fluted columns in each corner as well as the fact that the wall was completely covered in art. It wasn’t a picture hanging there or anything, instead it was literally a painted wall showing stuff like Celestia and Luna fighting Discord, gryphons emerging out of some weird swirly black hole thing and them signing some kind of treaty. The creepiest thing was, they were all life size and realistic, making it feel as though I was actually there. “That’s... both fascinating and slightly off putting...” She muttered as she observed the paintings. “Look at the detail... Who do you think painted it?” “Well they are known to mainly hire gryphons so a gryphon artist?” I asked as I looked around, noticing the three corridors, one on each wall. “It’s through here...?” I walked towards the left corridor only to run face first into a solid wall. “Vinyl... that’s a wall.” Octavia giggled. Blinking in surprised, I took half a step back, eyes wide as I realized what I thought was a door was just a painting. In fact, the classy columns all around the room were paintings as well. Wait a minute, the reception desk was a painting! I think...? What the fuck was going on here!? “It’s not that complicated Vinyl.” Octavia rolled her eyes and trotted towards a door. “If it has brush strokes, it’s a painting. Honestly, it’s easy to see when you’re not wearing sunglasses.” She pushed at the door handle, only to blink in surprise when her hoof pressed flat against a wall. “Uh... Okay, maybe it’s not so simple.” “Welcome!” said a voice and we immediately spun around, trying to locate the source. After a couple of seconds, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and we watched slack jawed as one of the male gryphons in the painting stepped out with a smile and bow. “My apologies, but I have always wanted to do that. My name is Eugenio, a table for two?” “Uh... Yes please.” Octavia still seemed a little shocked, before she shook her head. “Sorry, it’s just that, well, these paintings are a little confusing. I thought you were just a picture for a minute.” “Ah yes, my apologies for that, it was merely a joke.” He gestured at the black swirly thing. “This depicts our origin mythology, and if you read in a clockwise manner from here, you will find it depicts all the major points in gryphon mythology and history chronologically. Do not worry, the rest of the restaurant is done in Fourth Style of wall painting. It’s much more architectural in design with small mythological motifs here and there. There is still a degree of optical illusion, but nothing nearly as grand as this room and there are no fake doors or corridors, though some windows and their views are paintings.” Octavia blinked in surprise. “Why would you make your entrance so... confusing? It seems almost like your goal is to belittle your customers to watch their reactions.” “You mean awesome! I mean, dude, the way you walked out of the wall was awesome,” I said, trying to cover Octy’s flank. “And come on Octy, you’re a musician, you should know how these things work. You need to wow the people, and this? This is awesome. Think about it, this is different, this is unique, this sticks in your mind.” After a moment’s thought, Octavia shrugged. “Still, it feels a touch out of good tastes to me. Wouldn’t the more obvious approach be to welcome your guests?” Eugenio led us to our table and handed us the menus. “Once again I apologise for that. Please, accept a complimentary bottle of our finest wine as an apology.” “Oh, well, thank you, but that won’t be necessary. We’ll gladly pay-” I kicked her under the table and smiled sweetly. “Thank you, that’d be lovely.” “Very well,” he said with a bow. “I shall be back shortly with your bottle and to take your orders.” Once he was gone, I glanced across at Octy who was glaring at me. “What? It’s free booze. And damn, is this place packed or what?” She looked around the room at the crowd, most of whom were gryphons, but there were a few other pony couples, and a minotaur munching away in one corner. “Yes, well... I’m not sure gryphons in Canterlot have many places to choose from, in terms of fine dining. This place probably has a monopoly on that particular market. You’re sure they serve vegetarian?” she asked as she watched a gryphon put a small amount of meat in their beak. She was looking a little green, actually. “We’re not eating... that.” “Relax Octy, we’re perfectly fine,” I said as I scanned through the menu. “Oh! Listen to this, ‘Fettuccine Noci: hoof made fettuccine with a rice walnut sauce paired with a hint of parmesan cheese and basil specifically designed for those with a light and refined palette.’ Doesn’t that sound awesome?” “Can gryphons even eat cheese? Birds don’t lactate, as far as I’m aware... Would a gryphon really know what good cheese is?” Octavia replied, looking through the menu. “Do they have a pony chef on staff?” “Octy, stop shoving spoons up your ass and go out on a limb!” She glared at me. “I’ll take that then. ‘Fettuccine Noci’. What are you having?” “Wha- But- I-” With a groan and slammed my head against the table. “Fine. I’ll have the... er... however you’re meant to pronounce it. The mushroom risotto thingie then.” A moment later, Eugenio returned with a bottle of wine and poured a glass for us each, before leaving the bottle on the table. “Your orders, please?” “Octy will have the fettuccini noci while I shall have the mushroom risotto, and no, I don’t know how to pronounce the name and I’m not even going to try,” I said. “Ah, very fine choice madams,” he replied as he wrote down our orders. “Anything else?” “Ah, yes,” Octavia replied. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you have a pony chef on staff? It just seems logical to me that a gryphon might not be educated in Equestrian culinary arts.” “No we do not,” replied Eugene stiffly, “we hire gryphons wherever possible. However, I hope you will find the meal to your standards regardless of the chef.” “Urgh... I meant no offense, I was just curious, was all,” Octavia replied staring at anything in the room but him. “I’m sure the meal will be just lovely.” “I’m sure we’ll enjoy the meal,” I said before either of them could say anything stupid. Once he was gone I turned to Octy with a frown, “What the fuck was that about?” She blinked at me and frowned. “What was what about, Vinyl?” “You know what I’m talking about,” I growled before mimicking her voice, “‘It just seems logical to me that a gryphon might not be educated in Equestrian culinary arts’.” It was times like these that I wished I could take off my glasses so that she could see just how pissed off I was. “I expected something like that from Blueblood, but not you.” “It seems like a fairly logical conclusion to me,” she huffed, “And don’t you dare compare me to that racist brute.” “Oh I dare. That was a fucking racist comment and you know it. Somehow, magically, if it’s a gryphon preparing the meal, it’s not good enough for you. Let’s not forget your whole ‘Would a gryphon really know what good cheese is?’ line. It’s like saying you wouldn’t know good jazz music just because you play classical.” Were gryphons staring at me? Probably, but I didn’t give a shit. “As far as I’m concerned, in that split second, you were as bad as Blueblood.” “Vinyl, you’re making a scene,” she hissed at me, and glanced around. “And I am nothing like Blueblood. He hates earth ponies, pegasi, and anypony he deems ‘lower class’ and he’s a political thug. Whereas I’m not racist in the slightest. Is it that illogical to question how somepony would handle cooking a meal they themselves have never tasted?” “Firstly, it’s someone. Secondly, how do you know they’ve never tasted it?” I jabbed my hoof at her before she could interrupt me. “Is it illogical to question how someone can say which jazz artists are good if they don’t play a jazz instrument?” “Vinyl, that’s a different argument. I wouldn’t write a jazz song and declare it an instant classic if I’d never played jazz before. We’re at an expensive restaurant that claims to sell fine cuisine. It takes time and experience to hone any art form, time and experience a creature that couldn’t eat dairy couldn’t develop in regards to cheese.” She glanced around the restaurant. “To be honest, I know very little about gryphons, so they could make a very fine cheese, but it’s still a reasonable question to ask.” “They claim to sell fine cuisine because who would eat at a restaurant that goes ‘We sell decent meals that aren’t that great’?” “That’s not the point, Vinyl,” she replied in an annoyed but hushed tone. “Now calm down before you get us thrown out.” “Fine, whatever.” I leaned back in my chair and sipped my drink. “Still say you’re wrong.” “Just drop it, Vinyl,” she muttered. “I’m uncomfortable as it is.” “Fine,” I growled. Octavia took a long sip of her wine. “And I’m still annoyed at you for comparing me to Blueblood.” “Trust me, I’d rather fuck you any day.” She just groaned and finished off her wine before pouring another glass. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction before leaning back in my seat, gently swirling the wine in my cup before taking a deep breath. Whatever this wine was, it smelled divine. I sipped it, tasting a lightness and sweetness I was not expecting at all. It flowed smoothly down my throat and left a rather nice after taste. “This is really good wine,” I said after a second. “We should have paid for it,” Octy replied, “It’s not fair that we’re given this for free.” After a moment she sighed and took another drink. “I just hope he doesn’t spit in my meal or something.” “Should have thought of that before hoof,” I said with a shrug. “And how long does a meal take to cook. I’m staaaaaarving.” “You’re the one that recommended this place, you should have known that it would take a long time for the food to arrive, and that when it does the portions will probably be quite small.” “Once again with the racism,” I muttered under my breath as I took a sip of my wine. She bared her teeth at me. “All fine restaurants serve small portions, Vinyl. It had nothing to do with the gryphons.” “Mmmmhm.” “You’re impossible,” she muttered and took another drink. I shrugged and looked around the room, catching more than one eye as I did so, but they immediately looked away. Eventually though the meals arrived without a word being spoken by the waitress and she left just as silently. All I could do was stare at the massive plate before me, my mouth watering at the way it smelt and at how fancy it looked. “What was that you were saying about small portions?” I asked. “We could have just ordered one meal and that’d have been enough!” Octavia nodded, looking quite surprised. “I suspect gryphon restaurants take a different approach to Equestrian... Or perhaps gryphons have larger stomachs than ponies... How much did you say these meals cost gain?” “Um... twenty bits each, so pretty damn cheap.” I immediately ate a spoonful of my dish. “This is really good!” I said through my mouthful. “Vinyl, don’t talk while you’re eating,” Octavia replied, and took a spoonful for herself. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she delicately swallowed. “That is... rather good actually. Twenty bits? How do they expect to turn a profit for that? With these portion sizes, I’d expect much more than that.” She took another mouthful and nodded as she chewed. “Mmm. Rather nice indeed. If they did spit in it, I can’t tell the difference.” I laughed and shook my head. “Is that meant to be a compliment? Anyway, try some of mine, it’s really damn good.” Octavia nodded and took a taste of mine. She nodded her approval and said, “We should eat here again. With luck, next time we won’t get lost in the lobby.” “Come on, you have to admit, that’s one way of making a first impression,” I chuckled. “It still seems a tad off putting to me,” she replied. “Yeah, yeah, you’re just mad you couldn’t find the right corridor,” I said as I lightly sipped my wine. “Please, as though I would be so petty.” “Did you forget about last week? I’m still sore from that you know.” “Oh, I said I was sorry, didn’t I? Can we please not bring it up again.” She shook her head and took another sip of her wine. “This is really good.” She turned to face me, glancing between me and my meal. “Any reason you’ve hardly touched your risotto?” “Too busy staring at the hottest mare in Equestria?” Octavia just rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Eat please, or they might think you don’t like it or something.” She started to dig into her meal while I merely gazed on, just taking a bite here and there, but otherwise I just sipped on my wine. “You know, you look really really lovely in that light,” Octy smiled at me pleasantly, a deep scarlet alcohol blush coating her muzzle. “The moon makes you less pasty, and more glittery.” She giggled and hiccupped. “Luna really makes the nights... better, doesn’t she? I bet I look better in the moonlight. I bet anypony would! Even a gryphon... Hey, Vinyl, do you think we should go see if a gryphon looks better at night? Yeah! I’m not racist, so let’s go find somepony that’s a gryphon and I’ll prove how much of a racist I am!” She paused for thought, and added, “Not. Am not.” “Alright Octy, whatever you say,” I sighed as I kept hauling her drunken flank back to the apartment. “We should go there again!” She hiccupped. “That wine was rather delecelect... Decelel.... nice! The wine was nice. Hey, Vinyl, can you say delelecaltable five times fast?” She giggled. “I can’t!” “Yes Octy, I can,” I said with an eye roll. Weren’t drunken ponies supposed to be fun? This was just headache inducing. “Yeah! I thought you could...” She giggled happily, and put a hoof to her face, almost tripping both of us over. “You were always good with your tongue.” If it wasn’t because I had a drunken pony leaning off me, I would have facehoofed so hard the shock-wave could destroy buildings. This was the one and only time I would ever, ever, ever deal with a drunk Octavia. How do you get an earth pony drunk anyways!? How much bloody alcohol was in that thing? “Hey!” she suddenly shouted so loud I flinched. “It’s night time, and you’re wearing sunglasses. That’s really silly, you’re rather silly, Vinyl.” “Well I am a silly pony,” I sighed. “Take them off!” She reached a hoof out for my face and I quickly scrambled back. “I want to see your eyes, take them off. Not your eyes, I mean, don’t take those off, take off your glasses.” “N-Nope.Can’t do that, sorry, a mare’s got to have her secrets.” I let go of her and began walking off by myself. “Sorry Octy, but that ain’t happening.” “Don’t be silly, I’ve seen your eyes before! Red and all scary...” She frowned. “Or were they that pink... magenta color? I don’t remember! Will you help me remember? Take them off!” I ducked under her wild swing and hopped back out of reach. “Nuh uh, if you wanna, you’re gonnahafta catch me.” She took a step towards me, but stumbled over a slightly raised flagstone and face-planted into the ground. A moment later she rolled over and said, “Vinyl... I think my nose is bleeding.” Twin drops of crimson rolled out of her nostril. This time I did facehoof, though no buildings collapsed as a direct result. “Alright, come one, let’s get you back.” As I helped her back up, a tiny grin came appeared and she reached out to swipe my glasses again, only to stumble and nearly fall over. If I wasn’t there, she would have faceplanted again. “I want to sleep...” She mumbled, and rested her neck on my shoulder. “You’re rather comfy...” “Great. At least I’m not holding your head in the toilet bowl,” I grumbled as I slipped myself under her. “There we go. Come on, one step at a time, no sleeping till we get back to the apartment, you hear?” “But-but... I feel sleepy now, and we’re not at the apartment,” she mumbled. Cue facehoof. “Come on, it’s just two buildings away.” “But..but... sleep.” Her weight was starting to drag me down. I sighed and wrapped my magic around her, lifting her off the ground to drape her over my back. “Fine, sleep then, but you totally owe me.” “Ssssssssh... sleeptime...” she mumbled and I felt her snuggle into my back. “I don’t need to sing do I? Because I suck at singing.” A couple of ponies looked at us weirdly, but all it took was a glare to shut them up. “No, no singing... just, just be shhhh...” I breathed out a sigh of relief at that one. With her being a silent deadweight, we made it back within the hour and thankfully the elevator was still working, otherwise I probably would have curled up into a ball and cried right there and then. Snuggly ponies are all nice and well, but when it came to carrying them everywhere? Fuck me. Seriously. Eventually I finally dragged her drunken flank into the apartment and managed to somehow get her into the alicorn sized bed. For a minute I sat there, just watching her slow breathing with a small smile at her face. Unconsciously, I brushed a lock of mane out of her eyes before caressing her cheek. Sometimes I really wondered what I did to meet such a brilliant pony and if she’d still love me if she knew the truth. Who was I kidding, she’d toss me out without a second thought, and that was being nice. She was far more likely to trample me into a fine paste first. “What exactly are you doing?” A feminine, but oddly distorted voice asked from behind me, disgust radiating from it. “Doing exactly as you asked, playing a part,” I said without turning around. “What are you doing here Queen Chrysalis? I thought you’d have more important things to deal with than a lowly thing like me.” “Watch your tone and face your queen when spoken to,” she replied. “Is it really your place to question me?” I rolled my eyes, but did what she said and turned around. “Nope, not my place. Sorry.” “Why did you leave the meeting? I deployed you here as a scout, you should have been there gathering information, not...” Her eyes flicked towards Octavia. “Sampling the local delicacies.” “You were there, I didn’t see the point of sticking around. I figured the correct option would be to scout out other potential sites in advance,” I replied. “Locations like a restaurant?” she replied sarcastically. “What possible use does that have for us?” “Run by a gryphon,” I said, “which is of interest you will admit.” “Perhaps,” she consented, “but your first priority was still the general public's outlook, not going on dates with some mare.” “Yeah, and where better to scout that out than a gryphon dinner? No ponies apart from us.” As much as I wanted to piss myself, I kept my hooves locked in place. Or maybe it was the fear making it impossible to run away. Chrysalis hissed out a laugh as she circled around me. “Fine. I’ll pretend that you actually accomplished something tonight, but next time there’s a more obvious way to sway public perception, use that. I was quite pleased with your behavior from the previous meeting. Your outrage resonated with a lot ponies’ views, even if they wouldn’t voice it themselves.” After a second she stopped circling and stood directly in front of me. “Our bartender tells me you made contact with the Elements of Harmony. Anything to report about that?” I swallowed and nodded nervously. “Y-Yes. Just briefly, but they were at the club.” “And? Details, drone, details. The draconequus is hidden in the fine print, as they say.” “I met the Element of Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty, though the last one was drunk. I believe Loyalty is the most receptive of the trio,” I muttered. “What makes you think that?” Chrysalis asked, leaning in close. “I don’t need to tell you how much damage they could do if they’re united against us. If the Elements could defeat Discord, they could easily destroy us. What did the Elements say?” “I... er... don’t really remember. Hey! When you have that insane pink mare in your face talking a million words a minute, it’s hard to remember. We also never got onto the subject so...” I took half a step back at her glare, a small whimper escaping. “But they should be back! So next time I can bring it up. I... er... think they mentioned a gryphon by name, and Loyalty did offer to meet me at the palace if I wanted to help so...” Chrysalis put a hoof to her chin. “Do you remember the gryphon's name?” “Um... G-something? Gil... Gil...” I tapped my chin. “Gil-something.Really short name.” “Gilda?” Chrysalis suggested, and a green magical aura pulled a newspaper off of Octavia’s counter and started flipping through the pages. Eventually she came to a stop, and held out to me a black and white picture of Rainbow Dash posed aggressively against a gryphon. “Was that the name?” “Y-Yeah!” “You’re sure?” Chrysalis frowned at me. “This has the potential to be important, you understand. Was Gilda definitely the name mentioned?” “Yes!” I nearly shouted. At this point, I was willing to say anything to get her to leave. “Good.” Chrysalis smiled and turned the paper towards her. “She’s become quite the news item recently... this meets up with our goals quite nicely. We have the potential to sink two birds with one stone, here.” She frowned. “And by birds, I don’t mean gryphons.” She put the paper down and turned to face me again. “Take up Rainbow Dash on her offer, go to the palace and see what it is she means by ‘help’. If at all possible, try to arrange a meeting with this Gilda, but that’s secondary to the Elements. Try to befriend them, I suggest Loyalty as a starting place. Try to divide them a little, sow the seeds of doubt that might stop them staying united against us. “If you do manage to get into a meeting with Gilda, don’t do anything, yet. Just get a feel for her, try to figure out the best way to approach and manipulate her. Report to me what you find. Am I clear?” “Yes Queen Chrysalis,” I said with a salute. “If you fail in one or both of your missions, it’s not a terrible loss. Your persona as DJ Pon-3 still has its uses. Just remember, we can easily find another to play Vinyl Scratch for us. Any changeling could do it.” “I know,” I growled. “Just reminding you. Pride comes before the fall after all, and you don’t want to earn a name for a fall like that.” Chrysalis smiled, and was consumed by green flame. A moment later a blue unicorn mare stood in her place. Without another word, she turned and walked out the apartment's front door. With a snarl of frustration I punched the wall before slowly breathing out. It took a minute for me to finally calm down, and when I did, I kissed Octy’s forehead lightly before tucking her in. As I made my way towards the door, I spared one last look over my shoulder at her and smiled. Turns out she was right after all, ponies did look cuter under the moonlight.