Celestia's Academy for Protectors

Diamond Mind nodded. "Nice to know somepony else who follows 'know thy enemy' to the letter." He smiled, showing off what appeared to be strangely sharp teeth that most ponies didn't have. However, the smile was genuine and at least trying to be non-threatening. "Why yes, I'm Baron Diamánti Myalo, but you may have the pleasure of calling me Diamond Mind." He bowed gracefully, before straightening his stance out. He bowed to Wild Card as well. "You may also have the pleasure of calling me Diamond Mind. But who are you two fascinating ponies?" He turned to Nox. "You saved him? How wonderful of you to do something so selfless. I wish I could help ponies outside of my family's lands, but helping those in the immediate vicinity will have to do for now..." His nose twitched a bit. "Is that bacon?"

---

Mithral had walked into the school and stayed to the shadows, trying to stay as out of sight as possible. She was watching Razor, and sighed at how she was acting. That mare is literally one 'Hail the moon' away from being the worst possible stereotype of thestrals everywhere. How the hell did she even get in with that kind of attitude? She probably spat on the interviewer and beat him until he was senseless for no reason other than 'He's a member of authority'.

After the assembly, she managed to stalk into the ballroom unnoticed, situating herself in a hiding spot near the pillars and waited. Her ear twitched at the shouting of the Celestia's witness. Oooooh I wish I was on Myalo lands so I could legally beat that bitch like a rented mule. On cue, Razor showed up with a large plate of food and sat down. She hasn't even talked to Abitchus or Inkwell yet...I mean, hell I wouldn't either if I was like her... A unicorn approached Razor and they greeted each other, and they started talking. That's when Mithral revealed herself. "Ahem. Alcohol on campus isn't tolerated. I'm willing to not report you if you simply take the..." She then heard Razor talking about scaring the Celestia's Witness. "Forget what I just said. Forget that I was trying to lecture you. Take the fine to Inkwell after we mess with that racist bitch. I will drop the whole alcohol on campus thing because I hate racists more than ponies who break minor rules. What do you have in mind?"

Wild Card shrugged with a smile, "It's fine. Didn't help that it was dark out either," he replied to Nox happily, looking over the table and filing a plate with an assortment of salad. "Heh, who knows, someday I might repay you for saving me, given this whole business we're training for is going to be rather deadly," the stallion continued, eating a bit of food afterwards. He then looked at the pure white unicorn berating another unicorn, grimacing at the sight and the mention of thestrals being beastly. Sure, Wild wasn't incredibly fond of those who ate meat, it always sent a bad message to him somewhere deep inside, but he could understand that individuals can decide what they themselves wanted to eat.

"Baron Diamánti Myalo. That's certainly a mouthful," Wild then commented after finishing another bite of food and after Diamond spoke, "I'm Wild Card, no titles here, but hey, I could probably buy one or two if I wanted to. Not that it'd mean much, probably." The pegasus was about to extend a hand to Diamond, but upon remembering where the other stallion was from, and not knowing any of the customs, he decided a simple bow was good enough. "I do believe it is bacon. I smell it too, and I believe they stocked the table for all dietary needs, though I have to ask why ponies are partaking in this bacon? It just seems a little odd to me, eating meat. Nothing wrong with it at all, it's just odd."

Nox gave a small but genuine smile back, not even flinching at his sharp teeth; she knew he had no intentions to harm her or others. She seemed a little taken aback when Diamond gave her permission to call him by an informal name; she honestly hadn't expected something like that. "Thank you, Diamond Mind, that is very generous of you." she said, returning the bow but bowing a little lower, as was proper for one of lower standing to do (she'd learned that the hard way with a particularly persnickety werewolf Lord).

She blushed again at Diamond's praise and her ears folded back. "I-it's something I do regularly. It's hardly a big deal."

Nox smelled the bacon too, but she didn't care much for the stuff; she found it too salty.

---

Fantasy shook Sunny's hand. "My name's Fine Fantasy." she said, smiling. Immediately after she said that, she noticed Sunny's metal wing. "Whoa, where'dja get that?" she asked, clearly admiring the sheen and structure of it. She wondered if it worked or it was just for show. Or maybe it was a weapon.

---

Shining Light's face contorted in shock and disgust as she saw yet another flesh-eating pony approach her, apparently wanting to talk to her about something-

She screamed in mortal terror as the entire plate of bacon landed on her chest, covering her and her beautiful golden necklace in dead animal flesh and fat.

She continued screaming as she quickly grabbed as much bacon in her fists as she could and threw fistful after fistful at Pariah. "You disgusting-" she shrieked at him, punctuating every adjective with a toss of a handful of bacon. "flesh-eating, sinful, bloodthirsty disgrace of a pony!" She ran out of bacon, so she settled for yelling at him with iron-clenched fists and her entire body trembling with rage. "You've just ruined my fur and my blessed sun pendant! Do you realize just how heinous it is to defile such a symbol?! And with the blood of another creature, no less! One could accuse you of dark practices if it weren't so obvious what a buffoon you are! A beastly buffoon!"

The surrounding ponies were growing silent, increasingly interested in the meltdown the Witness was having over a plate of bacon. Some look disgusted, others amused, some pitying the shouting mare because they sympathized with her or thought she was horribly insane.

Fantasy decided she'd intervene if the mare started getting super racist. At least, if nopony else stood up to her.

---

Sunset rubbed her temples with her fingers. Wow, that mare was really something, and surprisingly "this mare" wasn't Fantasy this time. Nope, it was a Celestia's Witness this time. And wow she was something.

Dinner and a show. Sunset thought, making herself chuckle. She wondered what she could contribute to fuck up the mare's day further, then wondered if that'd be safe or it'd cause the mare to melt down into insanity. She wondered that genuinely. It was amazing that she had to wonder that genuinely.

Then something popped into her head. Something wonderful. Something horrible. Something that'd absolutely ruin the mare's day, possibly even her world view.

Sunset pushed her way through the crowd, smiling an absolutely evil smile. When she finally made it to the eye of the swarm, where Pariah and Shining Light were, she tapped Light on the shoulder for her attention.

"Hello Miss Light." Sunset said politely, all traces of an evil smile completely gone. "I would like to introduce myself: Sunset Shimmer, protege of Princess Celestia herself. I would like to contribute something to this little debacle."

Shining Light raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"I have spent much time with the Princess, studying with her and having tea gatherings and meals and even celebrating each other's birthdays. Do you know what I've observed in those times?"

Shining Light shook her head.

"She eats bacon." Sunset's evil smile came back in a second, in full force. "At breakfast, and sometimes lunch and a few parties. Really, you not knowing this is rather surprising: the Canterlot papers did an article about it when they snapped a shot of her eating bacon at a party." Sunset leaned in, reveling in the look of absolute horror on the mare's face. "She said she wasn't even sorry, that if ponies aren't allowed to eat bacon why put it there-"

"Enough!" Shining Light snapped. "I will not just stand here while you defile the name of our Princess! I do not believe a word of what you've said, nor do I believe that you are her student! No student of Celestia's would attempt to befoul her name so horribly, especially behind her back! You are obviously just here to rile me up. Well, Miss Sunset Shimmer, let me tell you that this is no joking matter! It is not to be taken lightly when a pony defiles herself with the food of a carnivore. It is not how nature intended, and do you know what it does to Celestia to see one of her ponies indulge in the flesh-and-bloodlust of nightmares and monsters?"

((Shining Light reactions done by and with permission from the GM))

"You know what?" Razor decided, standing up and keeping hold of Viridian's hand to drag her towards Shining Light. "She has a point." Razor declared to the room at large in a tone of total sincerity. "Come on people, she's only spreading the good word of the Princess, the one who we all owe our new school to after all, let's not be so hasty."

Razor strode back and forth after dropping Viridian's hand; when she wasn't facing Shining Light she winked at the unicorn but otherwise kept up the act of being completely sincere in sticking up for Shining Light despite everything she had said.

Shining smiled, finally seeming to calm down as somepony finally talked sense. And a batpony, no less! So few batponies were willing to admit where they belonged in society, and especially this afternoon it was a breath of fresh morning Springtime air to hear one confirm how the world was supposed to work...

"...plus, let's be honest here, if you're gonna work for a pompous princess, might as well work for one with a great flank."

Shining Light gagged as if she'd almost legitimately choked on the air.

"Don't worry Shining Bite or whatever your name was, it's fine." Razor smirked at her, still pacing around in circles like she was circling a piece of prey. "Wonder how many thestrals Celestia's bedded in her time? Reckon she has or do I get the honor of being the first one day?" Razor asked with a pointy toothed smirk on her face as she continued to circle back round to where Viridian was standing.

"Or maybe that's the problem?" She said, faking a look of sudden understanding. "Maybe Celestia's got too much taste for bats and not enough for unicorns for your liking?" Razor suggested with a smirk directly at Shining Light, a manic gleam in the thestral's amber eyes.


Shining Light began to hyperventilate, her eyes wide as saucers. She didn't dare let her back become exposed to the mad batpony.

"Oh geez that is it isn't it?" Razor asked. "Why the hell didn't you say something silly? If you want, my door's always open... I'm sure I could teach you a thing or to make Celestia notice you, if you catch my drift." Razor winked at Shining this time before turning round to Viridian. "See this is what you want to eventually be doing with Celestia, right?" She asked as she turned to Viridian.

"Go with it, please." She whispered quickly to Viridian before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and attempting to pull her into a passionate, and very hands heavy, kiss. Razor's wings fanned out as she did so; thestrals didn't get wing boners but she doubted Shining Light knew that.

Shining Light finally had enough. She screamed fury and bloody murder and bolted, shoving students out of the way and sprinting out of the ballroom like her life depended on it.

"Well, that went better than I could've hoped." Razor admitted, finally bursting out laughing when she noticed Shining Light flee the room like there were Windigoes after her.

Sunny looked back at her metal wing and smiled, extending it to show that yes, it worked. “Well I lost my wing as a filly, and about three years ago I got this beauty. I spent the next two years relearning how to fly, since the wing was new to me, and my other wing saw no use for years.” She explained. She watched and chuckled as the Celestia’s witness got her just desserts and left the room. “I swear, some ponies these days… Ah well, instigating needless conflicts often leads to unforeseen consequences, but that was hilarious nonetheless.”

Pariah opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by Razor and Viridian's approach and subsequent taunting. "Well, I cannot say whether Her Majesty has ever bedded a thestral, that was masterfully done," he say as he picked up the bacon that Shining Light had hurled at him, placing it back on the paper plate. "Do you think she realises that if she wanted to tell Cinch, she should not have left the hall?"

"And I don't suppose either of you is a mechanic?" He asked as he returned from dumping the ruined food in a bin. "My arms are rather high maintenance, and I am certainly not great at keeping them fuctioning," he explained as he sighed.

"Pariah Farcry, what have you done this time?" A voice interrupted him and he blinked, hands already rising into a defensive position as Silver, a plate of food in each hand, stalked over.

"Darling, I assure you, it was a complete accident. I had no intention of ever getting bacon grease on that mare," he explained, taking the plate she offered.

She merely rolled her eyes and kissed hik gently. "She's a fanatic love. Try not to antagonise her too much."

Viridian blinks as she's pulled along by the shorter thestral, noting in the back of her mind that Razor is far more strong than her stature would seem to indicate. Sensing that her impromptu companion wants to do her grandstanding uninterrupted, Viridian watches curiously as Razor goes from one point to the next, buttering the target up like a pro, throwing little winks at Viridian that she found herself getting a slight dry mouth at. I think she's used to talking fast and buttering someone up, she says to herself as she watches Razor work. And with the rest of it, that insight into intimidating and messing with someone, I wonder if she found her way here directly off the streets or something. That would be a shame; she seems a sterling example of her race and I hate to think that she was forced to be on the...

She was distracted by her own thinking. It was one of the downsides of having a very fine mind, best suited for doing thinking and considering facts, figures, logic, and other forms of knowledge and data. An analyst's mine, a supreme one in fact, but there was always the danger of wandering too deep into her own thoughts and not remembering to watch actual reality in case something dramatic happened. Dramatic happens like a rather fetching thestral seizing her and locking lips. It took her head a few seconds to catch up with events and the rest of her and by the time her mildly dismayed brain was trying to shove a crowbar into the gears of her subconcious, she has pressed herself forward into the kiss and molded the thestral's body rather firmly against her own. One hand found its way to lightly rest on the back of Razor's head and the other rather firmly grasps her flank, kneading it lightly as her tongue slightly invades the thestral's mouth and runs firmly over the canines and incisors with a very, very light sound of enjoyment accompanying it all.

The kiss goes on for only so long as Razor wants it to, and then Viridian lets her go and actually pants a bit, her eyes out of focus and looking stunned by what just happened. She's stunned enough to miss the success of what they did to the prissy bint they were trying to torment and for nearly a minute after, she seems completely unaware of the rest of the world. Razor and others would be able to tell when she returns to actual reality, because she finally blinks and her eyes focus, and her cheeks flush heavily. "It seems like it might be relevant to mention, at this juncture, that I could possibly have a little touch of a predation fetish," she informs Razor with a touch of unsteadiness in her voice. "Something to do with the sharp teeth and the... um... carnivorous part. Or maybe I have a sexual fetish related to bacon; my younger sister tells me I do, but she's not usually serious. Unless she is, in which case it's hard to tell. So... um... sorry Razor..." She gives the thestral an embarrassed and meek little smile to emphasize the apology.

Pariah's mention of the mechanics of his arms causes her to turn away from Razor, seemingly relieved by something to pay attention to so she can't get too embroiled in thinking about how much fun it was to edge towards a hot makeout with a total stranger. She taps her chin as she takes a step towards Pariah. "I have some mechanical expertise," she tells him. "And I'd be happy to look at your arms if you'd prefer Mister...?"
The arrival of Silver causes Viridian to swing her attention once again towards something new, and she watches Silver approach, chastising Pariah as she came, and Viridian smiles a little with a touch of nostalgia in her expression. "Mister Farcry," she amends when Silver is done. "And who might this be?"

"Oh thank the sunbutt herself. I mean, I have a very basic understanding, but my right arm has been playing up for months now, and I cannot for the life of me work out what is wrong with it," he said, picking up a sandwhich and taking a massive bit out of it. "But," he swallowed. "If you could have a look at it, I would be extremely grateful."

Silver smiled and gave a small bow. "I am Silver Star, and I am Pariah's fiancé. I also thank you for fixing his arm, even if it is in advance. He's been taking it off of a night time so he can actually sleep, and it's just not the same," she explained.

"Well Monsieur Card, titles mean something to some ponies. I have an entire list of them if they matter to you. While I'm here, I'm just a fellow student, trying to finalize their education as a hunter." Diamond chuckled as Wild thought first to extend a hand. "It is unwise to extend a hand to someone who's ambidextrous. That's asking for a knife to the gut. Thank you for reciprocating the bow, though your form was slightly off, Monsieur Card. I can help you with that later if you'd like it. And some ponies have dragon in their blood, Monsieur Card. They need the meat." He turned over to Nox. "Nox...your bowing is rather....proper...we'll talk about it later."

And then a Celestia's Witness ran out of the room in a fit of rage. He smiled, and began clapping."Well then, fine show! Showed that stuck-up racist what's what and all that. A hearty thank you to the pair of wonderful mares who drove that unpleasant cockalorum off." He then went over to the table, very carefully picking up a plate and very carefully putting food on his plate, as if everything around him was made of glass.

---

Mithral Wings had, again, slipped past the entire ballroom and out the door while Razor was causing the poor Celestia's Witness an aneurysm. She then slipped into the bathroom and took out her Gravekeeper's Mantle, slipping on the beast skin with little difficulty and stepping out of the bathroom....and into Shining Light's way and bumping into her. "Oh! Terribly sorry about that. Mithral Wings, former student, current Gravekeeper and knight visiting for a bit of nostalgia." She would extend a hand in greeting.

Wild Card shrugs idly, "Fair enough, we're all here to become fully qualified hunters. Do Equestria some good and all that," the pegasus replied happily, munching on another small slice of a vegetable that was on his plate. "Ambidextrous? You too, that's neat. I don't meet many who are, too few of us I say, though I'm not one to stick a knife in anyone's gut and I do hope you're not one who does that either," Wild continued with a smile.

The stallion then looked over at the Celestia's Witness - and the group of ponies around that area who were apparently causing her distress - and raised an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure about why the ruckus had started, but the Celestia's Witness was definitely making the most noise and it sounded as if things weren't going her way, and this was only reinforced by how she stormed off into the distance. "Well... that was interesting. I hope that ponies can work together like that against Grimm, only, you know, with less words and more blades," he commented, turning his attention back on to Diamond and Nox afterwards, "I'm sorry but I heard mention of dragon in the blood. How in Equestria would that work? Even if a Dragon and Pony could have offspring, they'd be sterile, and unable to produce more offspring." Wild then looked around for a drink and quickly found one, taking a sip after having said that and placing the glass back on the table.

Fantasy was surprised Equestria had such ponies, given the effort Celestia put into… well, making herself more pony in the eyes of her subjects. That display just made her sad for Celestia… and anypony else who had to put up with her, and ponies like her.

“So anyway,” Fantasy said to distract from that scene; she really didn’t want the conversation to die so quickly. “How’d you lose your wing, if you don’t mind me asking.”

---

“I have come here to refine my Grimm-fighting techniques. Well, more-so my pony-fighting techniques than those for the Grimm: Grimm get pretty predictable after a while.” Nox said. She wondered what more there was to talk about regarding her bow.

Cockalorum? “As entertaining as that was, those mares have just made a dangerous enemy. Not only is it unwise to provoke a fanatic on any day (especially a religious one), but I believe I actually recognize that mare.” She was pretty sure she’d seen her as a little filly. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s Shining Light, the daughter of the Head of the Sun’s Cathedral, Pure Light.”

This was quite concerning: in recent decades the Nightwings had become more active, and more aggressive. It was an inevitable result of the prophecy of the return of Nightmare Moon, a prophecy that rather worried Nox. The situation was only compounded by the Celestia’s Witnesses, or rather their more violent side, Celestia’s Fire, becoming more active and aggressive in retaliation. The result was a lot of violence, fire, and loss of property, limb, and life.

It was because of them that Nox had been seeing a lot more of Canterlot recently.

---

Shining Light shrieked and bounced heavily onto the floor upon running into Mithral. And upon seeing her, towering above her and shrouded in what appeared to be animal skin, Shining Light’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.

Sunny looked back at her wing and flexed it a bit. She seemed to hesitate immediately answering. “Well, someone decided to set my house on fire. My wing was crippled when a piece of burning debris fell on it. I’m thankful that the wing was the only injury I got. Apparently I have a really high fire resistance, if I can come out of a house fire with some minor burns and a crippled wing.” She explained. “I think it might be magic.”

She around a bit, then back at Fantasy. “So what about you? Surely you must have an interesting story to tell, especially since you and Baconmane exploded on the way in.” She joked, giggling a bit. “Shame I missed it.”

Razor Back seemed energised by their success, hoping and shuffling back and forth on her feet like a boxer ready for the next round of a fight, she must have been burning off a bit of adrenaline because she stopped rather quickly once she noticed she was doing it. When she had stopped her shuffling the thestral seemed to be in a much better mood, even ignoring the opportunity to retort to Diamond Mind with bile and sarcasm and instead just sinking her teeth into another chunk of steak.

"Wouldn't worry about it." Razor said through a mouth full of meat to Viridian. "Maybe wait til we've got a room though." She smirked, giving Viridan's flank a quick squeeze in return for the one she got earlier as she walked past to sit with her back against the pillar, the many spikes, studs and pins of Razor's jacket glimmering slightly as they caught some of the light from the windows. She winked at the unicorn again before returning to her steak, but one eye seemed to keep flicking around the room, a constant vigil on those she didn't fully trust which was most everyone in this room so far.

"Silver Star." Viridian bows in return. "Just then you reminded me so very strongly of my sister, Silver Rose. I adore her, and at least partly because she is made of steel wrapped in silk... as you seem to be as well. What a happy coincidence that I can grow up with one Silver and when I go to finishing school, meet another so very like her." She smiles at Pariah. "Which gives me yet another incentive to examine your mechanical arm and attempt to make repairs: indirectly doing a kindness to a mare who reminds me of a sister I adore. When would it be more convenient for me to examine it?"

Even as she's making the offer to Pariah, Viridian's eyes drift to the fierce and unexpectedly hot thestral who's presently enjoying steak, swallowing a little as she watches those canines and incisors tear pieces off the meat, watching the rhythmic motion of the thestral chewing and swallowing. Viridian shivers a little as she has to tear her gaze away from the sight, her cheeks becoming dark with a blush. She perks her ears as she hears a distant shriek of terror easily recognized as the fanatic, sighing. I understand giving a numbskull some guff but driving her off in a fit of pique and then burying the needle on the pranking seems... uncouth, petty, and mean.

Silver Star smiled and took a bite of her own sandwich, before smiling at the mare's comments. "Steel wrapped in silk... an apt description wouldn't you say Pariah?" She asked as she continued to eat.

Pariah chuckled and nodded. "Sounds about right love. I must say, I'm glad that you're both already enjoying your timr here... and I must say, I would have thought it is a bit early to be romancing each other, isn't it?" He asked jovially, before considering her question. "Hmmm... well, as soon as possible would be best. So honestly, right now would be optimal, but beyond that, any time in the coming week," he said, ear twitching as there was a shriek of terror, though I is only b other reaction was to take another bite with a growing smirk.

Diamond Mind shrugged slightly as he put quite a few select choices of meats on his plate, with a strange amount of delicacy and grace that made it seem like he thought the world was made of glass. "See, I've fought off about four assassins in my lifetime. Prepared, they were not. I sent them to the hospital, fined them, made them pay their hospital bills, and imprisoned them. They're basically going to be working in the Dust mines for the rest of their lives."

Diamond ate a piece of bacon and sighed with utter delight, before turning back to Wild. "Well, the 'pony' who started my family's lineage was a longma, who happened to be a very powerful archmage. I will let you draw your own conclusions from there~" He winked at Wild, before eating a type of sausage rather quickly, but quietly. He then almost choked on his food when he heard the name 'Pure Light'. "Pure Light? As in the Pure Light? She probably doesn't appreciate losing an assassin to the Myalo Dust mines until they die or pay off their insane debt..."He finally went back to eating, sitting there with his thoughts and a bit of steak.

---

Mithral sighed, picking up Shining Light and carrying her into the ballroom as gently as possible. She looked around for Abacus or another recognizable staff member, and when she found them, she would immediately approach them. "Hello, I'm Lieutenant  Mithral Wings, and uh....this place has been renovated since I've been here, so I have no idea where the infirmary is. This mare kind of....fainted in front of me while I was going to stop in and say hello...So it'd be great if you could point me in the right direction."

“Heh, magic is always the answer here.” Fantasy snarked. Then Sunny asked about her and… Fantasy honestly wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t expected anypony to actually ask anything about her. “Heh,” Fantasy chuckled again, this time with a hint of nerves. “Yeah, too bad. Well… there’s actually not much to tell about me.” she lied.

---

Nox’s stomach dropped. It had only taken her a minute to piece together why Diamond Mind felt odd. At first, she had thought it was residual Grimm magic, but that much would’ve required a recent encounter. Likely, she’d thought, but then she noticed the delicate way he touched everything, heard him talking about his magigenetic-experimental Longma ancestor, and realized that the Grimm magic she was picking up from him… was flowing. It was active.

“Diamond Mind, how old are you?” Nox asked casually, paying close attention to him again to make sure she didn’t miss any feelings of malevolent intentions. “And when is your birthday?”

---

Abacus flinched at the sight of Mithral, but the surprise was quickly replaced by ill-concealed contempt and unease. “There are signs in the building that point to where to go, if you’d bothered to read them. They’re near the entrance.” Abacus gestured half-heartedly in the general direction, then turned and started heading toward Razor Back.

Razor Back had watched and eavesdropped on the talk between Mithral and Abacus, so she wasn't entirely surprised when the teacher started making her way over to her considering the subject matter. There was a deeply suspicious look in the amber, slitted eyes which followed Mithral until the crowd moved in her way before flitting to Abacus.

"If she just dropped in to say 'hello' then I'm Princess Celestia." Razor muttered so only those nearest could hear her, not giving in any context before she stood up and walked to meet Abacus halfway, as usual taking control of a situation in her own way. "What's up?" She asked casually to Abacus, her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and looking like she owned the place.

She wasn't sure why she was making so many enemies in one night, usually she kept it to one a night but between zealots, hypocritical knights and teachers, she was rapidly reaching her limit... if she had one which she still sincerely doubted.

"So... any chance of getting to pick rooms?" She asked casually, waiting for Abacus to respond while trying, on some level to keep things civil, if only because finally she was confronted by someone who had actual power to do something about her.

"I'll have to ask Principal Inkwell about that... again." Cinch said, her eyes narrowed and flitting up and down Razor's jacket. "But currently, I need to speak to you about your... prominence, in the school so far.

"As I see it, in one afternoon you have shown an astounding disrespect for this school and everypony in it. I'd like it if you wouldn't play dumb with me and would admit to your guilt, but I know what your type are like, so I will spell it out for you instead of trying to dig out what I already know: so far, you have assaulted two unicorn mares by smashing their heads together,- yes, I saw that -illegally touched a Silver Knight, which can put Equestria at war with the Myalo family, harassed and tormented another unicorn until she ran crying from the ballroom, and on top of it all you've come to this school dressed like that!" She pointed a disgusted finger at her jacket.

"I don't know what made you think your behavior so far would be tolerated, but I will make sure you do not spend another hour here if this continues, especially if you manage to cause a war before school even begins! Act like a student and a civilized pony or I will have you out of this school and behind bars before you can blink." Abacus growled.

Sunny looked at Fantasy inquisitively. The mare was obviously lying, but she learned the hard way that there were some secrets worth keeping. Besides, she had her own skeletons in the closet. She wasn’t gonna press to get her skeletons to meet Fantasy’s. That would probably freak her out too. No one wants to meet a live closet skeleton after all. “Well that’s alright. Besides, I’m sure by the time this is all over, you’ll have a bunch of stories to tell.” She looked around, noticing Abitchus walk around and scold everypony she could. “I swear she is just looking for excuses to yell at ponies. It’s just not right…” She muttered.

"A longma? Interesting. I don't see anything draconic about your being besides the teeth, but I guess that's due to your lineage starting a long time ago and subsequently gaining much more pony as time went on." Wild commented, sounding rather intrigued by the whole concept of Diamond's lineage starting off with an archmage, meaning that any manner of things could be possible for the pony to have stirring around in his genetics. "And four assassins, eh? Must have been rather exciting. I've only ever fought against street thugs or..." The pegasus held his tongue, not wanting to mention the rather violent situation he was involved in regarding a casino.

Instead, Wild munched on a piece of salad while looking around at the rest of the hall. This was much easier to do given his attention wasn't drawn directly to the Celestia's Witness being given a panic attack. Now he could focus on something that caught his eye to begin with, the phoenix resting on Nox's arm. "You know, I haven't even asked you your name. Didn't get the chance back at Hollow Shades, and up till now I've just been taking in the atmosphere... and distracted by the Celestia's Witness and such." Wild Card said happily, still staring wide-eyed at the phoenix. "And does your phoenix have a name? How did you even manage to get one? I thought only the Princess had a phoenix as a pet." He asked excitedly, before noticing the tone of his voice and then coughing politely, seemingly embarrassed by how he sounded.

Diamond finished the steak and washed it down with a bit of the punch he got from the food table. "They weren't any fun at all. Relied too much on their aura and I started breaking limbs. Funny thing about aura, it doesn't protect someone from completely dislocating your arm. Street thugs are just the worst. They don't even have an aura, so their throats make a funny crunching sound when I punch them there. I guess some of them equate nobles to easy targets for some reason..."

He consumed a few more pieces of bacon, before looking over at Nox. "Well, what's it to you? Not that I'm trying to be defensive or anything, I'm Nineteen. I'll be twenty about three weeks before Hearth's Warming."

---

Mithral nodded and departed from Abitchus Abacus, but turned and glared right back at Razor, making eye contact for mere moments before turning and walking out, following the signs to the infirmary so she could make sure this stupid, ignorant, and completely racist cu- perfectly upstanding and bullied religious unicorn would be fine.

Viridian nods to Pariah, pointedly ignoring the playful jab about romancing. "Well, as much as I'd like to examine the arm in the interest of expediency and resolving the issue as quickly as possible for you, the examination I could do here would be cursory and give me little to no relevant information about the deficiency. I'd need proper tools and light sources I can move and manipulate as required, and those can only be found elsewhere in different circumstances." She pauses a moment to consider. "I wonder if this school has a proper armory, one with all the tools necessary to repair and maintain exotic weapons. I can't imagine it does not, although I can easily imagine the armory functions being 'farmed out' as it were." She gives Pariah and Silver both a tiny smile. "I shall inquire of the administration on this matter and return shortly."

Viridian then walks towards the grating sound of Cinch and the somehow alluring distinctive sound of Razor's voice, getting there in time to clearly hear the vice principal make her final comments about how Razor was dressed. "Respectfully, Ms Vice Principal, I'm certain the problem of Miss Back being dressed can be solved fairly quickly and easily if it's truly a pressing issue," she comments politely, her expression completely innocent and her tone free of any indication that she's aware of offering to strip Razor naked then and there. "At any rate, does the Academy maintain an on-site armory with access to all relevant machine tools and other maintenance and repair components?"

"That's fine. I didn't expect you to carry around the tools required to modify and repair a mechanical arm," Pariah said, before taking another bite of his food, finishing the first sandwich and moving on to a second. "There should be a such a location. I doubt Sunbu- Celestia would neglect to have such a building constructed. Thank you very much Miss Viridian," he said, giving her a thankful smile before returning to his meal, clearly ravenous.

Regardless of how long it took for Viridian to find out if there was an armory, Pariah quickly finished off the meal Silver had gathered for him and he looked around, before returning his gaze to Silver. "Thank you for getting me this love," he purred, before pulling her into an extremely extravagant kiss, grinning as she melted in his arms. "How much do you want to bet this will get Abacus' attention?" he whispered in her ear before kissing her again.

"I stopped an argument, I don't care about upsetting rent-a-cops and neither should you and.... umm, sorry miss..." She said, immediately adopting a more quiet, reserved tone which anyone who had been around her for five minutes could tell was fake. "...but, are you going to persecute me for my sexuality?" She asked, referring to Shining Light's freak out. "I mean, I just wanted to help Shining, but she couldn't accept me for who I was..."

Razor had to use every ounce of her being not to crack up with every word. She didn't bother playing the race card, for thestrals their race card had long been revoked. "I mean... Principal Inkwell doesn't have issues with that, does she?" She asked it in the same innocent, almost scared tone but the smirk she was trying to hide more than shone through in the way her amber slitted eyes gleamed as she met Cinch's eyes.

"I mean, I'm sure Principal Inkwell won't mind my jacket as long as I wear the uniform... will she?" It was phrased as a question but it was quite obviously a challenge, daring Cinch to try and press the issue further and see how far it got her. Razor was fairly certain whatever Inkwell was like she could get her singing to her tune before long, and she had to imagine Cinch knew it too from how she had handled Shining Light.