Author's Notes:

Finally, a new chapter depicting the adventures of our great and glorious Moneky King of Zebrica.

Hope its all to your liking. Also what do you think of the dragons name? Is it fitting?

“You know, it’s not really that bad when you think about it. So... Why are we exactly trying to escape? I mean, we have the opportunity to live better than most zebras down in the city, so why throw that away?” Nami asked as she watched her brother pace back and forth in front of the huge bed she was currently occupying.

“Simple.” Najero began.” It’s because I have no idea what this… this biped really wants from us. King or not, you know just as well as I do that this guy is more or less insane and far from normal, judging by the way he acts and behaves. Plus, I can’t really believe that someone would just randomly offer a bunch of street rats and thieves like us a place in the freaking palace.” He explained to her.

Nami just rolled her eyes. “Come on, you worry too much Naji. I mean, sure, he isn’t particularly what you can call normal, but he isn’t really that bad either. Plus, once again, just look around you.” She said while gesturing around their surroundings with a hoof. ”This is the most luxury and comfort we will most likely ever see if we continue to cause trouble. This is finally the chance that we have been waiting for; to finally stop living in the streets and to finally stop stealing and running away from the guards all the time. Isn’t this the break we always wanted?” she continued to push on, which in turn made her brother stop his pacing as he lowered his head and sighed.

“I know, I know. It’s just…” He began before looking over at her. ”I just want to protect you, and basically... being in a place filled with guards is just keeping my nerves on the edge, regardless.” He explained.

“Plus, I still don’t really trust this new ‘king’ much at all. Not just because of how unknown his species really is, but also because of just how erratic his behavior is, most of the time.” He quickly added, before making his way to the closest window to gaze out from.

The view of the entire north part of the city greeted him, with the large ziggurats towering above most buildings with great ease. A sight which he could previously only enjoy whenever he and his sister were camping on top of some of those large dunes outside the city.

Najero supposed that his sister was somewhat right. This sudden change of events really had lead them to the one thing that both of them have been dreaming about ever since they were foals: A chance to no longer live on the streets and to finally have a proper roof over their heads. Maybe he really should just accept this fortune for what it is and not worry too much. If not for his sake, then for hers.

“Hey Naj?” His sister suddenly called as a set of hoof steps began to come closer to him.

Nami gave her worried brother a gentle and caring nuzzle, which Najero had no choice but to return instinctively. He eventually began to smile at her once they broke off, which she happily returned in kind.

“Brother?”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Want to relax and cuddle a bit on our new king-sized bed? Better take advantage of that while we still can… plus, we are alone now too, sooo…” Nami began, but didn’t really need to say more on the matter as her brother already knew exactly what she was going to suggest.

He just nodded. “Sure. To be honest, I kind of need it, one way or another. Just to help me cope with all the stress and weirdness that has been happening around us lately.” He responded, which made Nami smile even more.

“Sweet!” She cheered before galloping back over to the bed before literally throwing herself on it with an audible thud.

Najero simply chuckled as he followed his sister’s example and casually made his way to the bed as well.

His sister was already laying on her back, with her legs spread wide and a seductive look on her muzzle.

………………………………………………………………………………………

“Habba habba.”

“No, no habba habba. Big Daddy has to go to work now. I mean, Rapture isn’t going to build itself now is it? Plus, Aku and Susi are never going to get off my back if I don’t get out of bed pretty soon.” I explained to the little dragon baby, as she was happily occupied her little playpen.

Well, not really little. More like a sizable playpen, since my room, or should I say “my chamber” is pretty large with nothing else really occupying this space too much. So I went ahead and ordered up an extra-large playpen for little Penelope to crawl around in freely.

Ahh yes, I called her that. Mostly because I was just thinking about King Odysseus of Ithaca and his 10 year long journey through bullshit after the the Trojan War. So the name of his supposed wife quickly came to mind and I immediately fell in love with that name.

Mostly because I couldn’t get it out of my head at that point, for completely different reasons.

Stupid Barbie movie.

But anyway, talking about Rapture here. I”m pretty much in the worst possible location for that concept to take root, that, or I will just have to wait for a few million years for that idea to finally be viable. But then again, my attention span isn’t really that long anyway, so I will most likely forget about it until then.

“Now what was I going to do again?” I thought to myself as I had lost my train of thought.

“Ah, yes… work time. Something I would rather have forgotten about altogether, to be honest.” I said with a snap of my fingers, which quickly got Penelo’s attention as she once again looked up at me with those big baby eyes of hers.

“Habba habba habba!” She babbled on in her baby language, which is quite adorable, I have to say.

“No. No habba habba today as I already mentioned. Both Chambika and Ashika are going to be babysitting you today while big ’ol me has to do a lot of king things to appease the masses. To not give them the idea of storming the palace with manure covered pitchforks and a badly singing Disney villain wannabe. Why am I telling you all of this? I have no idea. But at least it makes me feel smarter than I actually am in reality.” I explained to her, which in turn made her giggle.

I kind of like it, you know. Whenever I do something out of place or talk complete garbage, it always makes her happy somehow, which to be honest inclines me to just do this shit more often, just to see that.

But anyway, as if scripted, a knock on my front door got my attention as the voice of unnamed guard number 245 followed up afterwards.

“Your highness, the two babysitting servants are here.” He called through the thick wood.

I smiled at this. ”Perfect. Right on time. Bring them in.” I called back.
The door gradually opened before the two servant mares stepped in. They immediately bowed, which I waved off with a hand gesture, as I personally find this kowtowing a bit strange and uncomfortable. Especially knowing that these two managed to snatch up a relationship with two of my guards within the palace.

Which ones, you may ask? Well to be honest, I don’t know. And to be more brutal, I honestly don’t care either. I am certainly not going to TRY memorizing all of the faceless, helmeted guards within the entire city. That would just be a ridiculous feat in and of itself. I let my tablets handle that for me. Just snap some pics and add their names down below. Easy!

Also, it seems that both my phone AND my tablet have been charging nonstop, according to the battery indicators. But as long as they don’t explode, and they continue to function... I really don’t give a shit. But I will be needing my tablet a lot more often in the near future, simply because in it I have managed to hoard up all kinds of information about all kinds of ancient civilizations, their history, architecture, cultural equipment and even overall strategy and history of warfare and battle as well.

Why? I love history, that’s why. And thank God for it! Now I will be able to use all of that info to basically do the thinking for them which will leave me with a lot of free thinking space to just daydream and generally not really pay much attention for most of the time.

Because being the boss can be stressful. I should know, thanks to all the strategy games I’ve played.

“As requested, we have come to look after miss Penelope as usual, your Highness.” Ashika suddenly announced with gusto, which in turn removed me from my internal monologue.

I just like to do them sometimes, simply for fun and for the sake of distraction.

“*cough* *cough* Sheogorath! *cough”

“Your highness? Are you well?” Chambika asked with worry after I seemed to scare her with my random cough thing.

I waved her off.” Yes, yes. I am fine, no worries here.” I quickly replied before getting back on topic.

“Anyway, thanks, you two, for having volunteered to babysit her from the very beginning. I am sure that without your generosity finding another Zebra willing to watch over a baby fire breathing dragon would have been a bit more difficult than I would have liked.” I openly declared with a raised finger which in turn forced the two mares to look up at me with confusion.

“But, we didn’t openly volunteer, your highness. You openly chose the two of us after we pushed Lylo up in front.” She explained, which made my grin disappear for a moment.

“Oh yeah. I did do that, didn’t I?” I pretended to look and sound confused before my grin quickly return with full gusto.

“Yeah, but anyway.... Have fun trying to put out the fires that she may or may not set to my “königliche gemächer”. Fire extinguisher is somewhere behind the toilet.” I casually pointed out, before making my way to the door to leave the two mares with their duty.

I could hear one of them gulp nervously after I exited my chamber and stepped out into the “oh so confusing” halls of the Royal Palace.

That’s when a new challenger stepped in. ”Greetings, your highness. Are you prepared for your first day in court?” Susi suddenly materialized from behind, which almost scared the living bejesus out of me. Almost.

That or I was just too busy monologuing, once again. Look! I am doing it again! Note to self: only monologue when bored.

“Well, yes and no.” I simply replied as I started to walk down the corridor.

Susi just nods before her gaze switches over to the familiar looking red and black attire that I am wearing at the moment.

“Well, I see you are once again wearing the... regular clothes in which you came to our lands. Are the robes made by our top tailor not to your liking?” Susi asked while keeping pace with me as we rounded a corner.

I momentarily look down at myself before focusing back on the path ahead of us. ”Well, the robes are nice, but nothing really beats a good set of Pajamas in the comfort category.” I answered as we kept on walking, passing by the same set of guards like always.

Susi just nods. “I see. Well, if you want, we can order the palace tailor to make copies of your… uh… ‘pajamas’ if you prefer them so much.” She suggested. Unbeknown to her, I’m already WAY ahead of her with this one.

“Already did that.” I responded as we rounded another corner.

“Oh! ok. Then… excuse me for my unnecessary suggestion then.” She apologized, which I waved off as not needed, before Susi seemed to realize something.

“Wait a minute, this isn’t the way to the throne room. Why are we going this direction?” she asked.

I simply kept on going while answering her. “Easy.” I began. “One, I have no idea where this ‘Throne Room thingy whatchamacallit is actually located, and TWO I am going this way because I wanted to give Nami and Najero a little friendly visit in their dedicated chamber, to see how they are coping. IF they are still there, that is. They could easily be doing their shenanigans again, like yesterday before the guard managed to corner them and herd them back into the room I openly gave them. Doesn’t matter either way, to be honest, as they are free to stay and leave whenever they see fit. Though the guards seem to think otherwise.” I explained as we finally reached a hall that was lined with lots of doors, each of them leading into a guest room, if you take the time and effort to even poke your head in.

Normally at this time of the day I would be heading to the kitchen to get my most important drink of the day, but thanks to the ever so vigilant mindset of these Zebra servants I don’t even have to get out of bed any more to stain my shirt with the blackness of pure caffeine. Now I can do it in bed while also staining the bright white bed sheets as well.

Those guys working in the washrooms are so going to curse their vigilance.

What was I talking about again? Ah yes…go visiting the two fuckers to see if they have finally decided that running away is just going to get everyone exhausted and then will lead to their recapture.

Or maybe I should just let these two go, for them to do whatever? Nah, I mean someone has to pick up the responsibility of birth control. The last thing I want to deal with is yet another fire breathing infant within the Palace, and if I know anything about the possible backfires that incest can produce then I am sure a fire breathing zebra would not be out of the question.

Especially since this world loves to function with cartoon logic at times.

I am far from taking any chances, especially with my free time on the line.

“Um…we already passed the guest wing of the Palace.” Susi suddenly piped up.

I stopped almost immediately. “Wait, we did?” I queried while moving my eyes left and right.

I have a feeling that this constant zoning out is eventually going to be the death of me.

I can see myself face planting on a wall already.

“Well then, let’s turn around and head back.” I declared with confidence as I did just that, only for my enthusiasm to drop somewhat as I quickly noticed that I have no idea where we are.

I mostly blame the architect of this place.

Susi, on the other hand, just chuckled as she moved ahead in front of me. “Well, luckily I pretty much know the layout of the palace like the back of my hoof. Just follow me.” She declared, and I can swear that I even noticed her smirk smugly for just a split second.

“Oh, already getting clever with me, are you? Well in that case, I will just have to crank my nonsense up to eleven.” I mentally noted while following her.

Thank God that she is actually one of the more DECENT minded mares I am forced to be around with. Her tail was actually a tail and not straight up cut short or overly styled to the point where it basically makes bunny tail seems more acceptable. But then again, it could also be just a cultural difference, same with the Japs and their under aged Hentai shit.

Which I avoided like the plague. Seriously. no joke this time… which is rare.

“I do believe this is their room!” Susi exclaimed as we eventually stopped in front of a door.

“Oh, ya think?” I announced sarcastically while gesturing at the two guards stationed in front of it. Who were bowing, by the way.

Susi just ignored my comment as she immediately went to address the two bucket heads. They got off their bow and nodded before stepping away to the side to allow us entry.

That’s when a sudden sense of déjà vu rushed through my senses. But I ignored it as I was more excited to give the two siblings a surprise greeting.

“Well, let’s just see if the two are happy with their living style upgrade. Street fuckery is no way to live, after all.” I casually declared as one simply opened the door without remembering to knock first.

Not that I ever bothered to do so back in my world.

I open the door with full enthusiasm... though that enthusiasm quickly dropped as I finally got my answer for my sense of déjà vu.

“TALK ABOUT FUCKERY!!!” I shouted which in turn caused the three Zebra’s behind me to dare a peek, only for all three to instinctively look away at what they were seeing.

I couldn’t believe this shit. “NAJI, YOU DISHONORABLE AND LAZY BASTARD. YOU ARE ONCE AGAIN FORCING YOUR SISTER TO DO MOST OF THE WORK FOR YOU WHILE YOU JUST WATCH HER LIKE AN OVER OBSESSED PAPARAZZI. AT LEAST DO SOME WORK TOO.” I chided which forced both of them to immediately stop what they were doing and look at me with wide and shocked eyes.

“Wha-what the… how is it possible for you to just show up or be there at the worst possible moments?!” Naji complained after his shock wore off.

I just shook my head while holding a frown. ”More like the best time, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU FIX UP BED SHEETS AFTER USE. YOU DON’T FOLD THEM LIKE THAT.” I pointed out as they were indeed in the middle of trying to fix up the sheets as best they could.
I was taught very early to properly make my bed, so I can get a bit OCD when I see a bed not properly made.

What? You think I somehow managed to ONCE AGAIN catch them in the middle of their act for the second time? Oh, thank god NO, because from THIS angle I would have been able to see EVERYTHING, unlike the first time. A scene I want to avoid at all cost just for the sake of not losing my innocence anytime soon.

Well, any I still have left, that is…

It’s already bad enough that I was forced to gaze upon Nami bent over position, which was the main reason why the other three behind me were so quick in looking away.

Just let your goddamn tail grow, girl! How can this be socially acceptable? Even if everybody else here runs around nude for the most part.

At least with FKK back in the DDR, EVERYBODY was openly exposed and not just a selected few.

I am mentally rambling again, aren’t I?

“Anyway, let me show you two how it’s do-” I tried to suggest before out of nowhere a new challenger appeared. That Challenger was none other than one of the two servants I left with Penelo, and she looked rather out of breath and somewhat panicky as well.

I wonder why.

“You… your highness…” She began, before sliding to a hold. Which didn’t work that well, simply because the janitors who are in charge of this section of the Palace did a damn good job in waxing the marble tiles and mosaic flooring.

I didn’t even bother to turn my gaze away from the two still-frozen siblings as I heard a loud thud and an “ow” coming from behind me. Something I should have done If I wasn’t so busy on gazing on Nami’s, “Full moon.”

That girl is going to need a chastity belt if she refuses to properly grow her tail.

I just licked the insides of my teeth as I finally made the effort to turn myself around to greet the newcomer and to find out what exactly got her jimmies rustled.

She was still in the process of getting back up and rubbing the sore spot where she’d made contact first with that pillar over there. But she soon found her footing -or hoofing, to be precise- as she quickly bowed respectfully at me the moment she managed to clear her dazed mind.

I gave her the hand sign that it really wasn’t necessary, which in turned caused her to go into panic mode once more.

Seriously though! Chill, girl. It’s early in the morning and the day has just begun. What can possibly so urgent for you to act so….

“Your highness, your room is on FIRE!!!” She shouted which in turn caused everyone to freeze up for a moment.

Ironic, I know, given the “hot” topic.

I was more confused though then shocked. “Huh… how in the hell did that happen?” I automatically asked before it quickly dawned on me.

“Wait…Penelope, am I right?” I queried out loud, which in turn caused
Ashika to nod furiously. I think it is Ashika, because both her and Chambika do kind of look similar to one another in a lot of aspects and features.

Maybe they are actually sisters? I don’t know. You can only have so many black and white patterns before it just starts to all blend in. At least they all tend to have different hair and eye colors though, otherwise I am going to need my glasses after all.

I just scratched my head.

Now why am I not panicking at the news, you may ask? Well, simple. For starters, I know for a fact that dragons have a natural resistance to fire, so Penelope should still be safe and sound. As for my room, well… this is a freaking place. If one of the rooms gets unfortunately ruined by a living flame thrower who suffers from the hiccups then all I really have to do is to just pick another one to sleep in. I mean really, this place has more rooms than a downtown hospital. Plus it’s not like I am bleeding out of money either. I can easily raze this entire city and then have it be re-constructed from the ground up with all that Gels I have safely stored away in the underground robber’s den below the Palace.

So really, just go grab a bucket of water and it should be…

That’s when it hit me.

“SHIT… ALL MY STUFF IS IN THERE, INCLUDING MY PHONE, TABLET, NOT TO MENTION MY NOVELTY CUP TOO!!!” I screamed as I too got grabbed with the heeby-jeebies.

“You two did pick up the aforementioned fire extinguisher I pointed out this morning did you?” I questioned quickly.

She just looked confused for a moment which I immediately picked up as a sign that the two most certainly did not and just probably ran out in panic to look for help instead.

How can you fail so hard? But then again, the aforementioned fire extinguisher was just a silver bucket of water so I doubt it would have really helped much if the flames were too intense.

Heeby-jeebies intensified! “FUCK! MY STUFF! Penelope too, but still… MY STUFF!!!” I screamed before dashing off to the direction of the royal chambers like a madman.

Pretty accurate elaboration, I might add.

Both Susi and… the servant quickly followed, accompanied by the two guards as well, who I swiftly halted like the two dumbasses they are. “Oh, no. You two will not mess this up. Be sensible and keep an eye on the two siblings. This place has no shortage of guards to run after me. So just stay here.” I commanded, which thankfully did the trick in stopping them.

“Also make sure to help them make the bed as well.” I quickly added.

With that out of the way I continued my run through the halls as fast as I could. I paid a lot of money for those items after all.

Now you may be wondering: How the HELL is it possible for me to find my way back to my room even though I almost managed to get myself lost when I was first trying to make my way to both Naji and Nami’s fancy prison? Well… just follow the smoke trail and the distant sound of panicked individuals. Which I am one of for completely different reasons.

I could already see the flickers of fire coming from the smoking entrance of my room at the end of the hall the moment I turned the corner. What I saw was quite predictable, a whole bunch of zebras passing buckets of water to one another and a certain servant standing off the side like a bystander with Penelope still happily jabbering on her back.

Well, at least Penelope is safe. BUT WHAT ABOUT MY STUFF?

Also the baby savior of the day quickly revealed themselves to be one of the two nannies that I left behind to look after the dragon infant, whose names I still cannot differentiate because of their clone-like appearance.

These two are most likely twins, I am sure.

“Oh… your… your highness! I am so, so sorry for what happened to your…” She tried to desperately apologize before I quickly interrupted with a hand wave while trying to catch my breath.

I am a couch potato, after all. Stamina is something I was sadly not born with.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. But… please, tell me that you at least saved both my Phone and Tablet that were literally just sitting on my nightstand next to the bed?” I question, in between breaths.

She just nods before pointing a hoof at a small pile of things to our right, three of which I immediately recognize as both my Phone and Tablet and -my most important item- the novelty mug I got from a Korean store. The one with the derp face.

I was relieved beyond belief to know that at least someone has a brain that doesn’t shut down when things... “heat up”. That tablet is essential, especially since I most likely don’t have the internet anymore.

I haven’t bothered to check yet, but I am sure that the Wifi bar is going to keep itself blank for the foreseeable future, which is ok, I guess, as I no longer have to constantly wipe my browsers history every once in a while. That quickly turned out to be a hassle with my cousins living under the same roof as me.

Wonder if they already noticed that I got warped to another plane of existence? Eh. Probably not. Those Barkada trips do tend to last for a couple of weeks whenever they are organized… or disorganized, to be more precise, if Alan and Jack are the ones planning it… which they usually are. So in that case I at least have a week or two before someone finally notices that the house is empty and clean.

Anyway, back on topic.

With those self-monologues done I immediately made my way to the pile of junk that Ashika or Chambika had the intelligence level to save before the flames got out of control.

I still don’t really know how in the hell the fire even began in the first place. But I can still ask either of these two later AFTER I have made sure that nothing in this pile is amiss.

I nod to myself as everything seems to be ok and undamaged. My cousins once broke the LCD connector on my Tablet when he dropped it. So I already know how frustrating it is when basically the main section for control on a tablet is suddenly not working.

What does this have to do with anything? I don’t know. I am just happy that my tablet is undamaged and that I don’t have to rely on my shitty memory to recite all the information I have hoarded inside its dingy 16gb SD card ever since I bought it.

What’s inside of it? Well, information of course, and totally not porn. If it was porn I would have dug deeper into both my -and my cousin’s- wallet and bought a 64gb SD card instead of just a 16gb. But I wasn’t flustered enough at the time, so I didn’t really thought that far ahead.

Mostly because I wasn’t really the one who bought the SD in the first place. I actually sent my cousin while I was busy losing the rest of my money in a local arcade.

Funny how in the late 2010s arcades are still a thing. But then again, if you can’t find it in the west then you would most likely find it in Asia because Asians are just that crazy and childish.

Look who's talking.

“Um… your… highness?” I heard one of the Servants behind me say, which got me right back to the present.

Yeah, I seem to like zoning out a lot, something that any casual observer would easily notice.

“What?” I coolly asked while turning my head to look at its source. It was Susi, this time.

“How can you still be so absent minded in a disaster such as this? I mean… your ROOM is burning down as we speak!” Susi asked, obviously completely confused as to how a normal individual can act so casual about a situation comparable to someone being forced to watch their home burn.

That’s the problem. I am FAR from normal, but there is also a much more logical reason as to why I am feeling so casual about it.

“Simple.” I began as I crabbed both my tablet, phone and my trusty mug as well before getting back up. ”I’ll just pick another.” I announced with a grin, before I started to make my way over to Penelo who immediately started to reach for me while blabbering on.

“This Palace has a ton of rooms already, so all I have to do is pick the one with the most panoramic view of the city below us and then we can pretend that this fire never even happened in the first place.” I explained to them while I used my free hand to scoop up Penelo from the mare’s back.

She immediately started to continue with her Habbas and Daddas while sometimes flailing her stubby little baby arms at the blazing inferno in front of us.

I just smiled at her. ”Yes, yes you did that, Penelo. You did that.” I cooed which also made her smile bigger. “Daddy is very proud of you, in a way. Just imagine the REAL damage you can do once you get just a little bit bigger. Those enemies of the state will think twice before ever ruining my weekends with their bullshitery.” I quickly added which in turn made her giggle happily.

It’s a good thing that this place is mostly made out of either sandstone or marble with the only flammable material being either furniture or decorations, otherwise this fire would really be a problem.

“Anyway, while this poor room is going to get deleted by uncontrollable burps, hiccups or whatever else. Let’s go and see what Uncle Bakuss is doing with all that Zaster he personally hoarded from my personal hoard… that hoarder.” I told her before simply marching off from the still raging inferno as if nothing had happened.

“Actually… it was her sneeze that caused the fire in the first place… your highness.” The mare with the brain called out from behind, sounding both confused and nervous at the same time.

My grin just widened. “The Sneeze of Doom. It’s PERFECT.” I declared as kept on my march.

“But… but your highness, you… ugh. Wai-wait up!” Susi called out, more than a bit frustrated, before she started to chase after me.

Who knew that a first day on the job can be so… eventful? If I knew that I would have bothered to get myself a job back in my world long ago. But alas it was not to be, especially since I practically got the best paying job now, one that would even making Donald Trump turn his blond head.

“But anyway, I guess today is ‘bring your dragon daughter to work’ day. Since it seems like you are going to be sticking with me for the rest of the day. And maybe -just maybe- help put some fire on those city guards I am planning to have a closer look today.” I cooed to her as I was already looking forward to the many things I can do to confuse these guards… while trying to make them more competent, naturally. That’s what my tablet is for, of course.

“I just hope Bakuss is able to read, because I am not going to be dictating everything for him. Too lazy for that.”

And with that I was off to be the best -or the worst- Monkey I could be. One thing was for sure, antics and confusion included. Living the dream of being in a cartoon world is the best thing that ever happened to me… right next to that girl’s changing room accident back in high school.

Wer hätte gedacht dass man so früh reif kann? Was für titten.