Berry hums happily as he skips along through the town in his crazy shirt and jeans and crashes through the large library door in the high-end Canterlot building. "Hi, Dusk. How's it going?"
Dusk frowns as he sat in his chair as Eris, the choas goddess, sleeps against him in his lap. "What do you think?"
"Looks like your longing. Anyways, you have a whip and chair I can borrow? I saw a lioness," Berry says.
"Lioness? What lioness?" Dusk asks confused.
"The one out there," Berry says.
Dusk quickly gets up and sends Eris to the ground screaming out as he rushes out the door. "So Eris…took him to bed yet?" Berry asks grinning and Eris just grins at him.
Dusk runs out into the streets and sees a crowd forming a large circle around an earth pony mare with lion ears and claws on her hands as she looks around with a bit of a frown. "What the…?" Dusk starts before a scream reached his ears as another pink mare lands on the lion mare.
"Sorry. He kinda threw me a little too hard," Sentire apologized as she gets up and rubs her head.
"This is why you need to have a better gate," Leone says getting up like nothing happened.
Sentire groans as Trial lands beside him. "Our food is staying in the forest for now and wow is this prissy. I can see why most would hate this place," he says looking around. "It's ugly as hell," he adds to the offense of some of the high classed ponies around them.
"I'm surprised their suits and dresses are clean," Sentire says seeing almost every single pony not having a spot of dirt on them.
"Give it time," Trial says before starting to follow Leone.
"So where are we supposed to find these special ponies?" Leone asks looking around.
"Maybe the castle?" Sentire says raising an eyebrow to the heavily guarded castle to the left of them down a large street.
"Excuse me?!" Dusk yells walking up, obviously a bit mad.
"Oh look, a prissy pony got the balls to finally talk. You think with their noses stuck up high, they would smell their own asses," Trial says grinning.
Dusk blinks a bit confused. "Um…okay. Look, you can't just jump over the wall like that. You're going to place everypony on alert and who the heck are you?"
"Ah hem," Trial says referring to his wings.
"Doesn't matter to me. Now, who the heck are you?" Dusk asks frowning now as he starts to eye Sentire a bit.
"You know what else doesn't matter?" Leone asks.
"Please don't say my questions. I had enough of that from some of the guards," Dusk says deadpan.
"No, that mark on your face," Leone says.
"What mark?" Dusk asks confused.
"The one for staring at a lady too long," Leone says before smacking him.
"Ow!" Sentire blinks surprised as Leone smiles to her and Dusk holds his face in pain. "Damn. You can hit girl…at least I finally found someone more hot-tempered than Eris."
"That was a tap. She can literally rip out your guts and feed them to you," Trial informs.
"Yeah. Don't want to experience that. How about telling me what you are doing here?" Dusk asks rubbing his face.
"What does it matter to you?" Trial asks rolling his eyes.
"It matters because I am the fucking prince. Jeez, does everypony forget that?" Dusk asks out loud.
"We don't," the passing high classed ponies say.
"I know. And that's what annoys me. Always sucking up to me. Fucking annoying," Dusk says rubbing his forehead with an oncoming headache as Trial draws his face into a sketchpad. "What are you doing?"
"Getting an idea of your face to remember you by in case someone hires us to end you," Trial says nonchalantly.
"Um…maybe we should reject that one," Sentire says as she never heard of another prince beside Solaris or Artemis.
"Wouldn't be the first one we killed," Leone says.
"You really want the entire country on your asses?" Sentire asks almost shocked.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Leone says smiling to Trial.
"Wasn't it where you also were able to get that mare into your bed?" Trial asks tapping his quill. "The…the one with the tattooed chest?"
"Oh yeah. She was wiley," Leone says smiling.
"Too bad she was a slaver," Trial says.
"Eh. Kinda like the whole collar and chains. She had this whole plan of really working me," Leone says grinning.
"I know. After I removed her head, you had me finish it," Trial says.
"How could I forget it all?" Leone asks chuckling and hugs him.
"I'm traveling with psychopaths," Sentire says off to the side now as she bangs her head against a wall slowly. "Please let me die again," she says and catches Dusk's attention at that.
'Again?' Dusk thinks to himself as he stares at Sentire before being bonked the head again. "Ow."
"Quit staring at our girl. Now look, we have our own reasons for coming here and it has nothing to do with you. So good day sir," Leone says in a high classed tone as she pulls Trial away and grabs Sentire by the arm to drag her off as she passes.
"Sorry for my friends," Sentire apologized as she is dragged off.
"At least there was no second slap," Dusk says.
"You're lucky, you know that?" Berry says leaning over to him.
"No delayed response," Leone says walking back up to them and smacks Dusk harder this time.
"Ow," Dusk groans frowning as he rubs his head.
"A third, I will start breaking something of yours," Leone says letting the threat hang before running off.
"Berry?" Dusk asks still rubbing his head.
"As my big sister says, 'Stallions will never understand mares,'" Berry informs.
"I'm going to Eris. At least she doesn't hit me," Dusk says walking off back to the library.
"So what now?" Trial asks looking at the two.
"Find whoever is studying this and be on our way…right?" Leone asks looking to Sentire who nods.
"And who is that?" Trial asks.
"No idea," Sentire says before stopping and leaning over to a passing couple. "Excuse me. Who is studying the monsters?" she asks the stallion who is now staring at her surprised at her body.
"Um…well…Prince Dusk Shine is doing that," the stallion says hypnotized as the mare beside him frowns at how much he was staring.
"Really? That guy?" Trial asks frowning.
The stallion nods and receives a slap from the mare who then leaves and leaves him shocked. "Hey. Wait!" he yells running after her.
"Oh. She beat me too it," Leone says unsheathing her claws.
"Great. Back to the prissy prince," Trial grumbles walking back to where they met him.
"We all make sacrifices. And hey, more info gathering in case we will have to assassinate him," Leone encouraged.
"I'm hoping I find a contract," Trial grumbles as they follow him.
"Who's my big hot princy?" Eris asks teasingly as she sat in Dusk's lap while he sat in his chair and tries to relax.
"Eris. The reason you can stay here is only because you can help Barb," Dusk says rubbing his head now.
"Yeah and right now that is setting up anti-lion fortifications," Barb, Dusk's pseudo-sister dragon, a very large asset dragon, says.
"Oh, that's just slabs of meat for them to chew on. They look so cute when they do that," Eris says gushing as Dusk rolls his eyes.
"Dusk?" Barb says putting a tray of tea on the desk near him as Dusk eyes her body briefly. "Seriously. You need to find a mare. I have been seeing you eye me and Eris and you seriously want to shack up with this thing?" she asks throwing a claw hand towards Eris getting her thin snake-like body comfortable on Dusk's lap.
"Knock knock," a voice calls knocking on the door.
"Oh boy," Dusk says picking up Eris and gives her to Barb to hold as he gets up and goes to the door. "This is a library you…oh. The guys who don't care," Dusk says seeing the three.
"Hi. Eyes up here unless another smack is what you want," Leone informs.
"You're on my steps. I have to look down. No sense waiting out here. Come in," Dusk says opening the door for them.
"Sentire, this is yours," Trial says pushing her in first.
"Wait, what?" Sentire asks looking back at them.
"You know what to do in this day and age," Trial reminds.
Sentire groans and looks to Dusk who is looking at them confused. "Just…go on in," she says walking inside and stops at the sight of the lines of books and shelves. "You live in a library?"
"Must not be making much money or he is being punished," Trial says.
"I like books," Dusk says hurt as they walk inside and look around.
"I see signs of him being a slob and somepony cleaning up after him," Leone comments.
"Yeah. That would be Barb," Dusk says closing the door behind them.
"And I don't mind," Barb says coming out of the kitchen and sweeps up everything with a feather duster as Leone smells something meaty from her. "Oh. You must be smelling my trap," she says grabbing the piece of meat from behind her and throws it to Leone. "Just don't eat Dusk," she says going back to sweeping as Leone gobbles down the meat.
"She won't. She isn't a cannibal," Trial says before hugging Leone.
"See Dusk, even a lioness mare can get a mate and you can't," Barb scolds like a mother would.
Dusk frowns. "I got Eris."
"Who you reject constantly," Barb says rolling her eyes. "Jeez, she is like a sister than anything."
"True and I smell blood on these two," Eris chimes in.
"So we kill. So what?" Trial says as Sentire notices the covered cages and walks toward them.
"Those are filled with test subjects," Barb informs.
Sentire pulls the covers off and shows the crows held open by pins as if it was dissected. "Ew."
"Leone, add necromancy to his list of attributes," Trial says frowning.
Dusk rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers as his horn lights up. Sentire yelps as she quickly backs away from the glowing crow as one of the free ones get up and stands up like nothing happened to it. "Leone, let's just…" Trial starts before seeing the crow pick up a cane and top hat and places the hat on its head. "Uhhh…"
The crow clears its throat before starting to kick it's leg and dance around. "Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire. Baby my heart's on fire," the crow somehow sang.
The three travelers blink confused at the sight as the crow kept dancing. "If you refuse me, honey you lose me. And you'll be left alone. Telephone, and tell me I'm your very own," the crow sang before dropping the cane and assumes a normal bird position. "Caw."
Eris smirks as she floats nearby with a microphone as she taps it. "How was that?"
"Better than the last time. And I have to do this every time to prove I'm not a necromancer," Dusk complains heading for his seat and falls into it.
"Still suspect," Trial says before the door burst open and in flew a rainbow-maned mare.
"Dusk, you will never believe what happened," Rainbow says in his face.
"You and Applejack finally going out?" Barb asks.
"What? No! I mean I met a…" Rainbow stops as she spots the whole group standing in the middle of the room. "It's them!"
"Hi. You like the boar we left?" Leone asks.
"Um…well…" Rainbow tries to explain as she doesn't now know how to respond to all of this.
"Take your time. I can wait for a cute mare like you," Trial says, making her blushing and press her fingers together.
"Rainbow…did you find a stallion?" Dusk asks raising an eyebrow.
"W…well, he is sk…no. Focus Rainbow. Dusk they took down three level four tree monsters," Rainbow informs.
Dusk blinks and looks toward them as they kept looking around the room. "Really now?"
"Yeah, three of them," Rainbow informs.
"So what are you doing later?" Trial asks.
"Busy," Rainbow says frowning to him.
"Really?" Trial says and, to Dusk's shock, making her stutter a bit.
"Y…yeah," Rainbow says a bit more firmly.
"Really?" Trial asks offering her flowers.
"M…m…maybe not that busy," Rainbow admits taking them.
"I have a feeling this is going to take longer than ever," Dusk says to himself.
"So what do you want to do later?" Trial asks as Sentire took notes.
"Well…" Rainbow starts.
"I think this is a discussion in private," Barb interrupts.
"Alright, later. Now Sentire, you were going to ask him something?" Trial asks.
"Oh…Dusk…you study the monsters?" Sentire asks him as Trial grins and leads Rainbow away with Eris leading Leone away and telling her how much chaos she used to spread.
"Yes, why?" Dusk asks.
"We're wondering. What do you know about it?" Sentire asks looking back to the crows and notices the glowing one.
"Nothing much. Mostly how to fight and kill them. Keep them away from areas by putting some things and some magic. Which is why you have been hearing about how this place is entitled and prissy. It's only because those things are dead weak against magic. Basic swords and shields, you can fight, but it's harder and longer," Dusk explains as he eyes her to make sure she doesn't bother much of his experiments and papers.
"So you don't know how it started?" Sentire asks confused.
"You kidding? We just think that Tartarus opened up. We know more about the origin less than the books on Tartarus itself. I'll tell you this, we won't find much of anything on the origins, especially with those monsters out there," Dusk says running a hand through his hair.
"So that's it?" Sentire asks disappointed.
"Yeah. If you were looking for anything special, this isn't it. Though if you find a mage user, keep em'. They would prove useful for whatever you have planned," Dusk says and Sentire eyes him at that. "Except me. I would rather stay with my friends through this trouble."
"But is there anything to go on?" Sentire asks hopefully.
Dusk hums as he frowns. "You can try looking for some high-level nests. Usually, those are the old ones that have been around for a long time. Maybe if you track them down, you can find a pattern."
"And that will help us find something?" Sentire asks a bit more hopeful.
"Could be, could not. Nopony has ever gone there and fought. If it entices you, there are contracts on the nests with the nearest settlements," Dusk says looking to the main door where Trial and Rainbow are standing just outside. "Just be careful of one and no. I am not talking about the nest."
"Don't worry. He trained me," Sentire informs as Rainbow laughs.
"That's what I'm worried about," Dusk says to himself mostly as he kept watching.
"So what do you think, any signs of damage?" Trial asks his back to Rainbow; letting her examine his wings as the two watched.
"Kinda. You have some primary feathers missing," Rainbow says looking them over.
"Oh, I do?" Trial asks; mostly doing this to try and impress her.
"Yeah. No wonder you don't fly," Rainbow says raising an eyebrow.
"Can I get it fixed?" Trial asks.
"Primary feathers? Not without professional help," Rainbow says frowning.
"Leone, can you come here for a moment?" Trial calls.
"What for?" Leone asks walking over confused.
"I need you to sync with me for a moment," Trial says.
"Oh, sure," Leone says smiling.
"I'm waiting," Trial says now having all five onlookers curious.
Leone smiles walking up before caressing his face before kissing and a yellow aura started to wash over both.
"That's how…interesting," Dusk says taking notes as Rainbow watched as he regrew his feathers to her shock.
"Better?" Leone asks.
"Yes," Trial says flexing his wings.
"How…?" Rainbow starts, but couldn't finish it.
"So any missing now?" Trial asks as Leone walks away.
"No…not really…" Rainbow still says shocked.
"Good. I am back in perfect form. So you see anything you like?" Trial asks.
"Um…well…" Rainbow sputters.
"I'll take that as a yes. You aren't bad yourself," Trial says as Sentire notes his approach was very confident.
"Um…thanks…" Rainbow says a bit nervously.
"You ok?" Trial asks as Rainbow tries to psyche herself up to regain control.
"Yeah," Rainbow says a bit more forward.
"Oh, good to hear. So what is fun around here?" Trial inquires.
"Well…there's a club," Rainbow says pointing toward the seedy looking area of the city.
"Oh, what's it like?" Trial asks making her smirk.
"Crazy and underground. Like dancing and a bit of darkness but that doesn't match up to all the drinks," Rainbow says smiling.
"Shall we go?" Trial suggests.
"Well, I have to inform my captain and everything," Rainbow says pointing behind her.
"Oh, she isn't looking. Should I sneak up behind her?" Trial asks.
"I wouldn't do that," Rainbow says shaking her head.
"Why not if I have one of your stallion members as a meat shield. Any of them you want to get back at right now?" Trial asks.
"Dark coated one," Rainbow says looking to the grinning stallion.
"One moment," Trial says walking towards the group humming and smiling before getting right behind Spitfire.
"Are you trying to grope that yellow mare from behind?" Trial asks before grabbing the stallion Rainbow specified and put him in the way.
A quick punch later and the stallion was sent flying off behind Trial as he watches him land on his head. "Jackass," Spitfire seethed.
"Hello, captain. Fancy meeting you here," Trial says surprising Spitfire.
"You? But you left us," Spitfire says frowning.
"Yeah. We also left you the remaining of the boar. You enjoy it?" Trial asks curiously.
"Kinda," Spitfire says watching him.
"You mind if I borrow your subordinate? She told me about a club and I think I have a shot at her," Trial says flooring Spitfire how direct he was about this.
"Um…no. We have work to do and we are going to need her," Spitfire says frowning.
"Come on. I took out that monster for you. Can you do this favor?" Trial asks smiling at her.
Spitfire growls under breath. "Fine. But you better bring her back."
"Feel free to join us," Trial offers flooring her again as no one ever dared offered that to her.
"I'm busy," Spitfire says frowning.
"Well, I thought I would try. I mean, you seem to have worked yourself to the breaking point and could use some relaxation," Trial says; voicing what no one would dare voice to her and meant it.
Spitfire raises an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Deadly serious. You don't relax and blow off steam, you will break; most likely on the battlefield and get you, your team, or both killed," Trial says sincerely putting a hand on her shoulder.
Spitfire stares at him frowning still. "Fine."
"Come on. It will be fun," Trial says leading her back to Rainbow and motioned for her to show the way.
"Well…Dusk, take notes. He knows what he is doing," Barb instructs.
"Like you?" Dusk asks back raising an eyebrow. "You don't seem to have much success with…"
"Dusk, I am younger than you or are you into lolis?" Barb asks freezing him, wanting this to stop.
"Damn you Barb," Dusk says frowning now.
"It's all about confidence," Leone tells Sentire. "I should know, I taught him."