Dragon? Griffin? Pony?
"That is a dragon."
Behind her, Aphid heard Howe chuckle. Admittedly, her previous statement was not exactly the smartest thing she ever said, but seriously, who isn't dumbfounded when they unexpectedly encounter a dragon? Thankfully, Glace was not an overly large member of her species, or else there would have been no way that anyone else would have fit inside of the kitchen.
Howe had decided that their first stop would be here, since Glace was a creature of habit, and she tended to make certain that she was in the kitchen when snack time rolled around. The reason why? She liked making treats for Cobalt, Azure, and all of their friends. And today, she was making shaved ice for Cobalt and the gaggle of fillies following him around. It seemed as if there was now a different group following the young colt now, as opposed to the ones earlier today. Aphid had wanted to ask about that, but then realized that there was a dragon in the room, and said the words that would cement her position as queen of the obvious for all time.
Still chuckling, Howe said, "Yes, Glace is a dragon. I apologize for not mentioning that earlier. I sometimes forget how rare it is to have a dragon in one's employ. She is also in charge of the kitchens, and arranges meals for everyone in the household."
Admittedly, Glace wasn't unattractive, as dragons go. While ten times the size of a pony, she was all sinuous curves. Huge, but slender. Her scales were a soft blue, and her eyes were a darker shade. A set of pince-nez glasses perched elegantly at the end of her snout. Where they'd managed to locate both spectacles and a maid's uniform to fit her was beyond Aphid's ability to imagine...
To the amazement of both Aphid and the gathered colts and fillies, Glace blew gently upon on claw, and in a matter of seconds, it was covered in a ball of ice. Once done, the dragon set the claw over a set of small bowls, and began shaving the ice off with her talons. Once done, she pulled out a bottle of a sweet-smelling syrup, and poured it over each of the bowls in turn. Once done, she handed out the bowls of shaved ice to the colts and fillies, and said, in a soft, gentle, almost motherly voice, "Here you go, enjoy."
As the youngsters began digging in, Howe cleared his throat, getting Glace's attention. Howe, smiling, said, "Glace, this is Aphid, the newest maid here at the Mason de..." Howe was forced to stop when Glace, with a move too fast for eyes to follow, swept up Aphid with a sweep of her tail, and... began enthusiastically hugging the changeling.
"Oh, you are the most adorable little dear that I have ever seen," the dragon exclaimed, almost crushing Aphid with pure enthusiasm. It was a surprisingly warm and friendly hug, but it was much too fierce for somebuggy of Aphid's stature.
"Miss Glace, while changelings may not need food," Howe said, sternly, "they definitely need air, so please release Miss Aphid."
While the pressure lessened to manageable levels, Aphid was still caught in the dragon's grasp. In a stern voice, Glace stated, "No. I have decided that I want to keep her."
With a snort, Howe said, "Glace, you can't keep sapient creatures as pets. You know that."
With a sniff, the dragon argued, "But she's so cuddly!" Pulling Aphid close, Glace whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I'm just messing with him. I'll let you go in a minute." Aphid relaxed slightly. Nice or not, the changeling didn't want to be a dragon's pet...
Howe, a frown on his face, said, "You're only doing this because you want me to get you a puppy, don't you?"
A half-smile on her face, Glace admitted, "Maybe."
With a small chuckle, the butler said, "If I recall correctly, the terms I laid down for you were that you can only have a puppy if you finished the cleaning the trophy room while I was away. Did you?"
With a smile, Glace answered, "From floor to ceiling. I even had Jacquelynn go in afterwards and double-check: Every single item inside is spotless, and I even polished all of the weapons ... in spite of how much you know I hate that." The dragon gave a shudder at that last part.
Howe nodded, then said, "I shall confirm that with my own eyes later, and then we shall talk." His expression stern again, he added, "Now please let Miss Aphid go: I need to introduce her to the rest of the staff, such as it is."
With a snort, Glace gently released Aphid with a pat on the head and said, "There you go, sweetie. I'll see you later."
"Thank you," Howe said with a polite bow, then asked, "Ah, where might Lapis and Rhonny be?"
With a shrug, Glace said, "Lapis is probably working on cleaning the cellars, and will be there all day. As for Rhonny..." The dragon tensed for a moment, almost as if she was having difficulty in keeping a civil tongue.
"You'll probably find her butchering flower bushes in the gardens with that blasted spear of hers..."
---------------------------------
As Aphid and Howe were making their way to the gardens (The gardens were closer than the entrance to the cellars), the new maid could not help but ask, "Is there some sort of bad blood between Glace and Rhonny?"
His tone dismissive, Howe said, "Those two are like fire and ice. When I first met the two of them, they were arguing... and had been for a long, long time. If I'd not come across them, I expect that they'd still be bickering."
Confused, Aphid asked, "What were they arguing about?"
With a snort, the butler said, "Everything."
-------------------------------
The gardens were amazingly beautiful: Imagine the beauty of a normal flower garden, then transform every plant into gemstones, and one might have an inkling of the beauty of the estate's gardens... even if it looked more than a little wild and untamed. It seemed that taming the gardens would be a part of the 'to-do list'.
Rhongomyniad, 'Rhonny' for short, was gardening, trimming dead branches from trees and dead blossoms from bushes with a spear. Tall, with an athletic build that might have fit better on an amazon princess than on a maid, the griffin moved with the grace of someone who had spent years honing their skill with their weapon of choice. Her entire body was a uniform dark brown, with golden eyes that darted everywhere, as if always on the lookout for... something. All in all, she was the type who would seem more at home in battle armor, rather than a maid's uniform...
As impressive as the wielder was, the spear was equally fascinating: A long golden shaft tipped with a head that was an honest to goodness piece of art. The head was a perfect replica of the wielder's face, beak open, with the blade coming from the open mouth. The 'tongue' looked sharp enough to cut just about anything...
"Took you long enough," Rhonny said, clearly annoyed. Looking over at Aphid with a disdainful expression, the griffin asked, "So, you're the one, huh? The 'lady in the cage'. What's so special about you, that Howe and the young master had to drop everything and go rescue your worthless self?"
Looking down at the ground, Aphid said, "Nothing, really." If she could help it, Aphid would keep her one special ability secret for the rest of her life...
After a moment, the griffin nodded, with a half-smile on her face. "Well," Rhonny said, chuckling, "at least you're honest about being worthless." Aphid flushed, embarrassed.
"Rhonny," Howe stated, clearly cross, "Do not be so hard on her. She's been free for less than a day."
Scoffing, Rhonny asserted, "And if she'd had any spine, guts, or gumption, she'd have busted out of that cage less than an hour after she was put in." Seeing Aphid's hurt expression at that brutally honest, and more than a little accurate, assessment, the griffin added, "Although I suppose that not everyone can be like me: If there were no damsels in distress, there wouldn't be any heroes in the world."
Howe stated sternly, "That is quite enough, Rhongomyniad. You are already on my list for what you did to the begonias. Do not dig yourself any deeper."
Rhonny rolled her eyes, shrugged, then said, "Fine, whatever." The griffin, slashed at a nearby plant with her spear, cutting off a seemingly unoffensive rose in bloom, then swung the spear about, pruning a branch off of a bush just above Aphid's head. Startled, the changeling felt herself paralyzed with fear: She had felt the spear pass a hair's breadth from her ear...
Scowling, Rhonny said, "You came to see me, and you've seen me. Scram. I've got work to do."
------------------------------
As Howe and Aphid began making their way to the cellars, the butler said, "Don't take what she said to heart. Rhonny is... not used to being around others, and she tends to be harsh when she first meets strangers. If she truly disliked you, however, I doubt she would have given you that little parting gift."
"Parting gift?" Aphid suddenly realized there was a weight above her left ear. Looking at her reflection in a nearby mirror, she realized that a rose had been tucked into her mane. But when? When Rhonny's spear had passed just over Aphid's head? That... that would have taken almost supernatural levels of skill to accomplish. And that griffin worked here as a maid?
Curiouser and curiouser...
-------------------------------
The strangest encounter of the day was the earth pony cleaning the cellars with a feather duster, Lapis.
Ah, the cellars. While her experience with such places was slight, they looked the same as cellars pretty much anywhere, just more... sparkly. Aphid would not be surprised if the toilets here sparkled like diamonds...
Lapis was a jaw-droppingly beautiful pony, with a coat of dark gray, and a mane such a light shade of gray to almost be white. In terms of beauty, build, and proportions, she was... ideal. The perfect mare in every physical aspect. If she and Jacquelynn were to compete in a beauty contest, the judges would have been forced to give first place to Lapis... if she ever smiled.
Jacquelynn's beauty was a living, breathing thing, while Lapis was... well, she seemed more like a moving statue than a pony...
"Lapis," Howe began simply, "this is Aphid. She will be working here as a maid from now on."
"Acknowledged," Lapis stated emotionlessly. Not blunt, not rude, simply... a single word spoken aloud. No more, no less.
"If you see that she needs assistance," Howe continued, "please do not hesitate to help her." It sounded less like the butler was speaking to a pony, and more like he was reading a set of instructions aloud.
"Acknowledged," Lapis stated again.
A smile crossing his face, and humor coloring his tone, Howe asked, "Did you really need to spend two days buffing the floors of the northern wing?"
While the pony's expression did not change, a slight change in her posture implied something had altered in Lapis' mood. "I was told to clean the floors," the pony asserted, a slight emphasis on the word 'told'. It almost sounded like she had been offended by that.
With a shrug, the butler said, "Yes, but the floors were clean when you finished the first time. You did not need to do it again."
"I was told to clean the floors," Lapis repeated, then after a moment added, "And I was not told how clean 'clean' was. When I finished the first time, I found that the floors could be cleaner... and then cleaner... and then cleaner..." Shaking her head as if to dislodge something from her mind, the pony stated, "I fulfilled my directive as completely as possible, given the lack of quantifiers."
With a snort, Howe said, "Regardless, next time, stop after the first time, and ask if the job was satisfactory. You are too precious a resource to waste two days on something so trivial."
The only sign that Lapis acknowledged the compliment was that her ears perked up slightly. Still, emotionless or not, she seemed to appreciate the praise...
"Anyway," the butler concluded, "that was everything. Ah, and please let Rhonny, Glace, and Jacquelynn know that I need to speak with them this evening. I'll meet them in the game room a half-hour after sunset."
"Affirmative," Lapis said, nodded, then walked away without another word.
Aphid, watching the pony go, asked, "Is she always like that?"
Chuckling, Howe said, "No, not really. She used to be a great deal worse. She's really starting to loosen up."
-------------------------------
Howe walked Aphid back to her chambers. After reaching their destination, he said, "I'll leave you to your own devices for the rest of the day. I'd recommend not wandering far, however: This old house is vast, and it is easy to get lost. I trust that, if need be, you can recall the way to the gardens and the kitchen?"
Nodding, Aphid said, "Yes. I took care to memorize the routes we took."
Smiling, the butler said, "Good. Ah, I almost forgot to introduce you to Jacquelynn: She is right next door." He began to turn towards the the neighboring door...
Giggling, Aphid said, "She already introduced herself to me."
Frowning, Howe asked, "She was not too... strange, was she?"
Shaking her head, the new maid admitted, with perfect honesty, "Meeting her was the most normal part of my day today."
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NEW CHAPTER UP!!!
>tfw no link and the cover art doesn't have a source
So, the household has ponies, changelings, a dragon, a Themysciran, a ghost… and a Terminator.
Yeah, I think that covers everything.
My Black Butler impression has not decreased.
4951650
Ah, Pen Mightier had not provided a source, my bad. I'll have to see if I can get it from him later.
Awesome chapter. Glace the ice dragon with the warm heart ... the Griffin elite warrior tending the gardens ... and the Earth Pony who comes off like a robot or a Borg drone ... interesting mix. Why do I picture Lapis sounding like Seven of Nine, by the way? Well, other than she's too cold to sound like Rommie, EDI, or Cortana.
That's a great story, I like it very much, but when will be released new chapter of "King is dead, long live the Emperor"? I miss that story very much, because I like it too.
4951811 Maybe link to his fimfiction page...?
So a Dragon chef, a Griffin soldier? and a possible golem.
This is an intriguing group already, so why am I disappointed by the lack of a Minotaur in the group?
4952276
*WolfGrin* Was probably the minotaur's day off. he/she will be there later.
4952486 If one does show up, I'd kinda like it if it was accompanied by someone yelling "Piecemaker!" right before a small explosion.
4952535
Go big or go home
Oh wait you already home
Just go big then
Pray forgive my bluntness, but this chapter is marred by the description of what sounds like a weight-imbalanced, horribly tacky spear.
4951982
I will get to back to it, never fear.
That was fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Griffin warriors in the garden? A dragoness in the kitchen? I begin to wonder if little Aphid has inadvertently stepped into the training grounds of that one story by that other guy...
What happened to the begonias? Actually, permission to write a side story on what happened to the begonias?
I'm likening this story more and more keep up the good work and you should check out v-pony blue angle story too it vary will written
4952207
No, this is taking place after Sombra turned good. In this continuity, he returned to life at some point after the Mane Six defeated him, after a subjective thousand-plus years in Tartarus. His time in supernatural prison fixed him, and now he's basically working for Celestia as a liaison to the changelings.
4953420
)
Glace and Rhonny had an argument: It was mentioned in 'A Warm, Weird Welcome'. Rhonny said some harsh words, and the begonias caught fire (In cartoon verses, harsh language can have that effect
4955353
4955353
Well, that happened in The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor. Something like that may or may not have happened. The details will be part of a new story I plan on starting soon, and running at the same time as this one. I am... so busy
4955398 So in an argument between a griffon and a freakin' dragon, it's the griffon that causes the fire?! Sure, she's an ice dragon, but still...
Is it just because I'm re watching Voyager, or does anyone else imagine Lapis's voice sounding like 7 of 9's?
4956311
I kind of imagined her voice being like pre-core removal GLaDOS, minus the 'autotuning'.
I repeat, this family…oh, never mind.
4956311 I'm imagining KOS-MOS from Xenosaga, becaues I will take literally ANY excuse to imagine KOS-MOS from Xenosaga.
Mmm, KOS-MOS...(drool)
I enjoyed the characterization of the maid OCs.
Wow, the Ants aren't gonna come out alive when they come for Aphid, are they?
4951938
4952276
4956904
Peculiarly, I heard Lapis' dialogue in the voice Majel Barrett used for the Enterprise/Federation starships' computer in Star Trek...
Examples:
Jacquelynn is creepy as hell.
Well, the Blue household seems interesting