After shaking up their morning routines with a nice bit of reversal, not to mention Talon penning a letter to Fluttershy and making a show about not wanting others to see it, all was looking like the start to a relatively ordinary work night. The group was just now returning from Luna’s cooking lesson after parting ways with their beloved Princess. And then, on the trio’s return from their morning workout, the trio turned the corner with a low thud, pushing the griffon back.

“Oh. Pardon me.” The short bat pony bowed her head apologetically after colliding with Talon.

Moonlight had already moved between the stranger and Thomas, blocking his view.

“No problem.” Talon waved her claw as she scanned the mare before her. “The name’s Talon, by the way,” she said, extending her claw in greeting.

“Oh, uh, p-pleased to meet you,” the bat pony stuttered as she took Talon’s claw. “My name is Silver Bell.” Her voice had a faint, if still familiar Prench accent.

Your name is what? Thomas thought as he poked his head around Moonlight’s side. Sure enough, there stood the silver gray mare from the other night, bat wings folded behind her back, eyes the same shade of indigo as Luna’s fur, and still so short that she was probably the only other adult out there who could understand Thomas’ mild neck pains from looking up all the time. However, most of her body, including her cutie mark, was covered by a simple blue dress with a knee-length skirt and lacey trim. It wasn’t form-fitting, but it did make her look awfully cute.

“So tell me, sweet wings,” Talon teased, causing Silver to blush through her silver fur. “What’chya doing out here? Get lost on the way back to Night Court?”

“Oh, not at all. I was,” Silver coughed, banishing her timid shyness as she addressed Talon with a much more dignified posture. “I was invited to the castle just yesterday and thought I’d do a little exploring before my interview.”

Alarm bells went off in Talon’s brain. Her bull-shit meter hadn’t gone off, but what the mare had described sounded suspiciously familiar. There was also that familiar tingle in her gut from the last few dozen times she met a familiar face.

“So you’re going to work here at the castle?” She asked, intrigued, never letting her suspicions shine through. At Silver’s more hesitant nod, Talon went on to ask, “What position?”

Silver’s gaze fell along Talon’s body until they rested on her loincloth. Her eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. “I…” *Cough* “I seek to do my family proud by humbly applying to the honorable position of concubine to the illustrious and long missed Princess of the Night.”

In the pause that followed, Thomas’ initial thought was, That’s an awfully longwinded way of saying ‘I want to be an alicorn’s fuck toy’. The bigger picture soon dawned on him. She’s applying… to be a concubine? She’s applying to be my subordinate. She, Silver Bell, is applying for a job that I, the Senior Concubine, asked Attentive Eye to help make happen... What’re the odds? No seriously. I’m gonna find someone to give me numbers.

“Ya don’t say,” Talon said through a shit-eating-grin, her suspicions confirmed. “Well, I’m sure your family must already be so proud that you’ve come all this way, from Prance if I’m reading your accent right?” Silver nodded and Talon continued, “Just so you could buck a Princess.”

Thomas shot Talon a WTF glare. Buck a Princess? What the hell’s wrong with you? You trying to scare her off or... Thomas blinked as he considered. Are you trying to scare her off, like, is this some kind of test? Talon caught Thomas’ confused expression and flashed him an I-got-this smile.

Silver tightened her grip around Talon’s claw, not painfully, but enough to show that the challenge had been accepted as she glared proudly at the much taller griffon. “The grand House of Bell has held the distinguished honor of supplying worthy lovers to the Princess of the Night for generations. An honor, tragically, we have been denied for millennia. And though the followers of the sun,” she shot an accusing glare at Moonlight, “have forgotten, we bat ponies have never lost faith in the one Princess who as always shown such love to our kind. I am here as but a small gesture of my tribe, to return a fraction of the love Princess Luna has shown us.”

Well that was one hell of a speech. Thomas admitted to himself, thoroughly impressed.

Moonlight wanted to tell the mare off for saying ‘follower of the sun’ like it was an insult, but she knew how bat ponies could get and kept her composure. It didn’t hurt that she’d also been too enthralled by Silver Bell’s speech that all negative feelings were quickly washed away. She could never hate a pony who showed such honor and loyalty.

Talon was also quite pleased by the bat pony’s commitment and released her hand after nodding approvingly. “Not bad, but a simple ‘yes’ would have also been acceptable.”

Silver gave a relieved smile, proud that she had passed the griffon’s test. “Th-thank you, ma’am.”

“Not a ‘ma’am,’” Talon held up her claw haltingly. “Just call me Talon. Tali if my boss likes ya.”

“By boss, you mean…” Silver inquired.

“Senior Concubine of Princess Luna’s Royal Harem.” Talon finished. “A real cutie, that one.”

“Oh. Why yes, of course,” Silver laughed in relief. “By any chance, is she around?” She asked, scanning the otherwise empty hallway. “I’d love to meet her if she has the time.”

“Looking to brown-nose with the Princess’ favorite early, are we?” Talon asked with a smirk. “Smart plan.”

Silver turned to the guardsmare with eyes that asked ‘is-she-always-like-this?’, which Moonlight affirmed with a grimace and a slow nod. Accepting this as an inescapable factor in her new soon-to-be job, Silver smiled back at Talon, flashing her fangs. “It may not be my cutie mark, but I’ve been told my tea is quite lovely. Perhaps I could invite you to join us?” She paused to glance back at the guardsmare and the odd hairless thing standing behind her. “But it seems I have forgotten my manners. Who might your friends be?”

So far so good. Talon nodded. She can take a joke and she has manners. Now for the big test. Stepping aside to give a clear view, Talon gestured grandly in the direction of her friends. “These here are my pals. The orange one is Private Moonlight Shield of Princess Luna’s House Guard.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Moonlight smiled politely as she extended her hand.

Silver took the hand a bit too eagerly, looking upon Moonlight as though she only just now noticed the dark coloring of her armor. “The pleasure is all mine, but I do apologize for that ‘sun follower’ remark. Sometimes I can get a little carried away and-”

“No need,” Moonlight assured her. “There are more than a few bat ponies in the guard, though I imagine you could have probably guessed that.” She laughed awkwardly. “I know you guys can get a little… passionate when it comes to Princess Luna.”

Silver nodded appreciatively. “That’s wonderful to hear, both your understanding and that so many of my tribe have been gathering together after centuries of being scattered.”

“And the scrawny naked one,” Talon continued, “is called Thomas.” She gestured to the now very self-conscious human. “Thomas is the human they’ve been talking about in the papers.”

Papers? Oh crap. I haven’t been keeping up with the papers lately. What’ve they been saying about… wait. Focus. Remember where you are, dumbass. “Nice to meet you.” Thomas said, extending his hand, but Silver did not take it right away. It was only a half second hesitation, but one they all noticed. The look she gave was more of surprise than disgust, as if she hadn’t been expecting him to talk.

“Human? Thomas?” Silver echoed after finally taking Thomas’s hand in a much tighter grip than he’d prepared for. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I was trying to recall where I’d heard those names before. Also, I hadn’t prepared for you to be this cute, and…” her eyes went wide when they fell upon the dark crest of the moon sown into the loincloth that stood in stark contrast of the human’s pale skin. “Oh! I remember you now. You’re that cute filly from the papers who helped fend off that rampaging ursa, aren’t you?” She smiled sweetly. “No doubt Princess Luna is proud to have a mare as daring as you in her service.” There was one more thing Silver knew in relation to humans, something important that was just out of her mind’s reach. Regardless, she hoped the human would be at least mildly impressed by her knowledge.

There they go with the ‘mare’ again. Thomas bemoaned. I don’t even have boobs. Even the smallest mares I’ve seen have boobs bigger than me, even Silver, so why can’t any of them put two and two together? It took all of Thomas’ will not to point down to his loincloth and demand that this mare know that he had a package down there.

Well this is getting adorably awkward. Time for the coup de grâce. Talon thought to herself. “His title is actually that of Senior Concubine of Princess Luna’s Harem.” She paused, both to let her words sink in and to savor the look of shock on the bat mare’s face.

“Your ladyship!” Silver said as she immediately dropped to one knee, still holding onto Thomas’ hand in a position he thought looked uncomfortably similar to a marriage proposal. “Forgive my ignorance. As an applicant to such an honored position, I should have known who you were right away. Of course I did what I could to look up who I would be working under, but information on the concubines isn’t listed on the main roster and… No.” She said resolutely. “I offer no excuse. Please bestow any punishment that you see fit.”

Thoroughly unnerved, Thomas looked to his friends for help. Moonlight looked just as confused as he was. Talon also seemed nervous, but rolled her wrist as she gestured him to think of something and roll with it. Like it’s that easy. He glared his disapproval back at the griffon who just kept egging him on. Fine then. It doesn’t seem like all that big a deal to me, but she’d probably disagree after all that talk about honor. I need to give her some kind of penalty, like a chore so she can make amends and we can move on, but what? Thomas puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. And then he thought of something he hadn’t before. “Stand.” He ordered and she obeyed, keeping her head hung low. “Do you own any hats?”

“H-hats?” Silver asked, joining the other females in confusion. “I… a few. Why do you ask?”

“For the crime of failing to navigate a system that was designed to keep outsiders out,” Thomas began as he spoke regally. “I, Sir Thomas,” he emphasized, hoping to get the message across, “hereby order you to fetch the ugliest hat you own and consume it for my pleasure.”

Silver blinked in surprise and looked up to meet the shorter human’s expression. This order sounded suspiciously similar to a promise she’d made to a cute mare a few days ago.

Upon seeing the recognition in her eyes, Thomas smiled sympathetically back at her. “By the way, thanks again for the pep talk back in the restaurant. I really needed to hear that, and it turns out everything worked out just fine.” Deciding he’d been holding back for long enough, Thomas addressed Talon and Moonlight. “We actually met back at that restaurant on Saturday, ya know, after Luna turned me into a mare. We had a little run-in outside the mare’s room,” he blushed, “and she gave me some good advice. Then she said she was so confident that things would work out that she vowed to eat the ugliest hat in Canterlot if they didn’t.”

Silver’s eyes looked like they were ready to pop right out of her head. “Th-th-that was you, Moon Lover?”

“Guilty as charged.” Thomas held up his hand and swore. “Sorry for the deception, though. We were trying to have a nice night out without the press bothering us.”

“U-us?” Silver stuttered. “S-so the m-mare you were talking about… was that P-Princess L…” the word caught in her throat.

Talon couldn’t help herself. “I get to call her Moonbutt because we-oof.” She winced, turning an annoyed glare on the mare who elbowed her side.

“Not helping,” Moonlight whispered.

Silver swallowed and smacked her lips together to wet her uncomfortably dry throat. The mare she’d befriended, and thought about later, wasn’t a mare at all, but a stallion from another country. That was the detail she’d forgotten from reading about the ursa incident. More so, the stallion was actually concubine to the mare who’d been the hero of most of her bedtime stories. It was all too much and Silver felt her legs give way.

When she’d recovered from her brief lapse, she found herself supported in the hands of the armored mare and the claws of the larger griffon. The human had also rushed to her aid, but instead found himself pressed compromisingly between her breasts after Talon had inadvertently pushed him forward.

The silence was deafening as the depth of the awkwardness set in. Thomas could hear Silver’s racing heartbeat. Silver was fighting the urge to squeak each time the human’s breathing caused his bare skin to slide against her sensitive breasts, not to mention the way his hot breath felt against her neck. When it seemed like they might be trapped like this forever, Talon sneezed, causing them all to scramble frantically to escape, not unlike a group of cats after popping a balloon. When it was over, they found themselves standing in the exact same spots as before, though the awkwardness continued.

“S-so,” Thomas began, breaking the silence. “Y-you want to be a concubine to Princess Luna, right?”

“I… I do.” Silver calmed herself and spoke with confidence. “Nothing would make me prouder than the chance to serve the Princess.”

“Then,” Thomas cleared his throat, “why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

“P-pardon?”

Thomas glanced back at Talon who gave a swift nod for him to go on. “From what I’ve gathered, the interview process isn’t really all that formal.” He checked again and Talon nodded much more slowly. “In fact, all things considered, the interview’s actually supposed to be more like a date.” God, I hope that didn’t sound too weird.

Is that how you’re asking her out, by saying it’s your job? Moonlight mentally recoiled in horror.

Talon just stared on neutrally. The really sad part is that this isn’t the worst pickup line I’ve seen.

“Sorry! Sorry.” Thomas shook his hands apologetically. “That sounded really dumb, didn’t it?”

“I suppose it could have been worse.” Silver shrugged.

Meeting each other’s eyes, the group descended into light chuckles.

“I mean no offense, good sir.”

“It’s Thomas,” he corrected. “You can just call me Thomas.”

“Okay, good Sir Thomas,” Silver continued, a smile betraying her effort at playful banter. “If I might ask, have you asked out many mares?”

Thomas had to think on that one. “If we’re counting first dates, then I think you might actually be the first.”

Silver’s face scrunched in a mixture of amusement and curiosity. “Then…”

“How did I win Luna over?” he finished, and chuckled. “She’s the one who asked me. Also, I’ve been lead to believe I have a cute butt.” He confessed, shaking his head in embarrassment.

Without a hint of shame or trace of subtlety, Silver took two steps to her left and leaned over to get a better view of Thomas’ rear. It wasn’t as full or seemingly hard as she’d expected. She had imagined ponies of a royal harem having bodies the likes of which found on professional models; a thought which had provided no shortage of anxiety when she looked down at her own relatively plain figure. His physique was also rather scrawny, but a bit of muscle here and there gave him a charmingly lean look. Regarding his rump, the more she stared, the more she likened it to that of a young colt. Was Luna into the pretty colt type? Were her parents right that the Princesses enjoyed a variety of body types? It wasn’t until Thomas coughed that Silver realized that she’d been staring longer than was polite and returned to her previous position. There was no shame in looking at another pony’s plot, at least for a while, but she cautioned herself to be wary of differing human customs.

“And?” Talon inquired, as though the question spoke for itself. When she was met with blank stares, she continued. “You checked out his rump. What’d ya think?”

For god’s sake, just stop already! Thomas hoped to communicate through his eyes, but Talon didn’t seem to notice.

Certain this was part of the ongoing test of her interview process, Silver straightened up to the perfect posture of a lady and smiled gently at the slightly shorter human. “Sir Thomas.” She said with an eloquent, almost melodious voice. “It would be my esteemed pleasure to accept your invitation to an outing this evening. Also, you most certainly have a cute plot.”

Hearing a whimper from either side confirmed to the human that this mare’s voice was just short of panty-dropping on the kinkometer, at least when she wanted it to be. The satisfied look on Silver’s face at watching Thomas’ friends sway also showed she knew exactly what she was doing. Clever girl. Thomas nodded in approval. “This is still a work day for me, and I might be called at any moment,” he warned. “However, if that doesn’t bother you, it would be a pleasure to have you over for drinks back in my room.” He concluded with a low bow.

“Oh, good sir,” Silver swooned. “The pleasure would be all mine.”

Talon snickered at how cute these two were trying to out-polite one another.

As they walked along with their new addition, Thomas turned to Talon and dryly inquired. “Is coincidence just not something you have here in Equestria?”

“If we did have it, I’m pretty sure the Princesses would have banished it for being a nuisance already.” Talon answered flatly.

“Makes sense.”

To any who didn’t see this coming, I expect you to confess your sins and present yourself for Luna’s swift punishment. Anyway, things are getting off to a decent start. This mishmash and recobbling of chapters is flowing in a manner that almost resembles a narrative. Things are also not going too badly with Silver Bell, making good first impression with Talon and Thomas while making amends with Moonlight. Not sure why I have the mares being so confrontational though. Just feels like something that should be. Oh well.

You might have also noticed I didn’t specify what day it was. That’s because I’m trying to distance myself from the schedule that I feel was constricting me, forcing events to happen too quickly. The schedule still exists, but I’m trying to be more like the fics I admire most, where there are important days here and there but between them the characters carry on and get along naturally off-screen.

Next time will be the proper interview as characters and audience alike will get to know Silver Bell, the short bat pony mare.