The group enter a dimly lit hallway before the door shuts behind them and the sound of multiple locks can be heard.

"That sounds like a crazy amount of security for a club..." Starlight comments as she looks at the ridiculous amount of locks on the back of the door.

"Vinyl likes to make sure her clients are as safe as possible, it's more for comfort than anything else." Edward states in response.

As they continue down the hallway they take a left to see a curtain door guarded by a well-built looking male in a suit, he wears shades and has a navy blue goatee while being bald.

"Anything interesting happening tonight Lockdown?" Alexander asks as they approach the curtain.

"Nothing much, although Lucita came by not long ago and is still inside, just fair warning." Lockdown informs them.

Alexander takes a deep breath and pats Lockdown's shoulder.

"Thanks for the heads up... I'm gonna go get drunk now." Alexander sighs deeply.

Lockdown holds the curtain to the side allowing the group to walk through into the main part of the club. Upon crossing the curtain threshold, they are assaulted by a barrage of multicoloured lights from the disco ball above the dance floor which is indented down a level from the main floor. Looking to the right they can see a line of wall booths for people to sit in a more private manner. Across them past the dance floor is an extensive bar with racks upon racks of multiple brands of drink. To their left is a set of stairs which lead up two elevations before leading to a walkway which leads to a platform in front of the dance floor. The first elevation is an area with few chairs and tables for relaxing, the second elevation is where the walkway leads around to the platform which appears to be a DJ stand. On the stand is a pale skinned girl with wild blue hair that has electric blue highlights. She wears a pure white tank top that stops just above her belly button, with a black eighth note on the front, black jeans with electric blue sneakers and a pair of pure white headphones with electric blue trim on them. Her eyes are hidden by a pair of big rimmed purple shades.

"What's up Kilgharah?! It's Friday night people, it's time to sit back, unwind and chill from the week's trials!" The girl twirls dramatically before stopping to face the dance floor again.

Throwing her hands out towards the dance floor a plethora of multicoloured lights spew forth and slither their way across the air like snakes, pulsing to the beat of her music like slaves to a symphony. Pumping up the volume slightly the colour intensifies before exploding into a hail of light rain which graces the room uplifting the mood into new heights.

"Besides the speaking part, she is just as eccentric as our Vinyl Scratch." Starlight comments looking around.

"How many counterparts are there?" Alexander turns around to look at Starlight but finds his gaze stolen by Adam and Robert who wear deadpan expressions.

"Familiars, huh..?" Robert states in a flat tone.

"So, about that unofficial version..?" Adam folds his arms.

"Shit... We're going to need drinks and a booth for this." Alexander sighs turning back around to look up at the DJ stand.

"Could you two go find us a booth seat to use while Alexander and I sort something out." Edward asks looking at the two friends behind them.

Adam and Robert share a glance before walking away to find a booth seat while the four moved towards the bar past the dance floor. Working behind the bar is a white girl with a fluffed up raspberry hair style and raspberry eyes. Serving drinks with expert precision, she wears a white shirt, black waistcoat, black trousers and a pair of black shoes. Twilight notices on the girl's waistcoat is a gold pin of a outlined strawberry and bunch of grapes.

"What'll it be tonight then?" The girl wipes the bar with a white cloth before looking up at them.

"I think tonight I'll need the cinder fruit punch..." Alexander asks sighing deeply.

"One of those heavy nights, huh?" The girl begins looking around underneath the bar.

"The usual gala gem cider, my need is less than his." Edward states with a glance to Alexander.

"What about the two with you?" The girl asks looking behind them as she peeks her head above the bar.

"Umm... I think two apple ciders will do us just fine." Twilight answers unsure.

"My name is Belladonna Punch or just Bella will do." Bella stands up holding two apple ciders and the two other ordered drinks.

"Adam and Robert are here with us as well, they'll have the regular order." Edward states taking his drink.

Bella turns around to grab two bottles out of another cupboard before putting them on the counter too. Alexander takes his drink as well as their friends while the mares take their apple ciders. Before walking away from the bar, Alexander pays Bella a gold coin before giving his and Edwards drinks to the mares which cause's them to have to hold some in their magical grasp.

"Where are you two going?" Starlight asks looking at the pair.

"We just have something we need to take care of before joining you two in the booth, it'll only take like ten minutes at most." Alexander explains as he and Edward head for the stairs leading to the upper elevations.

Starlight sighs deeply as she leads Twilight to where Robert and Adam had settled in a booth halfway down the line. Alexander and Edward walk up the stairs going past the relaxing area before heading up onto the pathway leading around to the DJ stand. The girl bobbing her head notices them and slides the headphones down to around her neck just before they reach her.

"Sup, to what do I owe this pleasure tonight?" The girl asks placing a hand on her hip as she turns slightly towards the pair.

"We... Have a favour to ask you, Vivi." Alexander states painfully.

Vivienne chuckles and waves her hand in front of her to summon a little white ghost-like entity with a pony upper half and just a tail for the lower half. Their mane is spiky and rough like Vivienne's with big rimmed shades and a pair of headphones.

"Man the stand for me while I deal with this." Vivienne waves to her familiar and leads them to the right of the stand.

Vivienne leads the pair into an office type room which has big windows on the side facing the club to see across the entire room. The office itself is decorated with a dark purple carpet and electric blue walls, the furniture is also just as lively with a desk, CD rack behind it, a black swivel chair, two sofas and a coffee table between them with a plant by the door.

"I've never seen your familiar up close... So weird." Alexander comments.

"I find it rather adorable, despite my partner's reluctance to admit that fact." Another girl in the room states.

Their attention is brought to a girl lying on the second sofa away from the pathway door. She has long dark grey hair with lighter grey highlights and deep purple eyes. On a nearby coat rack can be seen her Valkyrie House blazer while her black shoes lay at the foot of the sofa.

"Forte... We have been through this... She is cool, not cute... Anyway, what is it you two need? I heard your wallet scream in agony when you asked me for a favour." Vivienne states as she sits down beside Forte.

The before mentioned girl cuddles up to Vivienne while the pair sits on the sofa opposite them.

"They asked for another favour? I would have thought that the price alone is enough to discourage more than one.

"Yeah... We honestly would not have come back if we didn't feel the need was great..." Edward glares at Alexander.

"What? You know I was stretched thin that month... Either way, we need to know what you can dig up about these." Alexander states placing the bags of gems Jerry gave him on the coffee table.

Vivienne levitates the bag over to herself and takes it physically to have a close look at its contents.

"What are they?" Vivienne asks examining a red gem.

"Well-" Alexander begins but is interrupted.

"I mean what did Jerry tell you they were?" Vivienne looks at Alexander with a displeased expression.

"Right... He said some shady looking figure in a hood sold them to him and he then gave them to me given my affinity for gems." Alexander begins before looking at Edward.

"His sister also managed to find out that their description is labelled as Equestrian in one of the Magician's Compendiums." Edward adds as Vivienne puts her feet up onto the coffee table.

"Vivi..." Forte glares at Vivienne, who puts her feet down.

"Sorry... Anyway, it's likely she didn't get that information from any official compendium... These aren't in any of the publically or privately available Magician's Compendiums. I should know, I have them memorised..." Vivienne states placing the gems back onto the coffee table.

"So... How much do you reckon this favour will cost?" Alexander asks reaching for his wallet.

"Nothing." Vivienne replies as she stares at the pouch of gems.

Everyone bar Vivienne blinks in the room and looks confused, even Forte sits up and looks very concerned at her partner.

"Umm dear, are you feeling well?" Forte asks placing her hand on Vivienne's forehead.

"I'm fine, I'm just somewhat curious about these stones... I'll let you know if I find anything out. I suppose this one can be considered on me." Vivienne states before standing up and stretching as she walks over to her desk.

"Umm... Thanks, I guess... We'll get back to our friends now then." Alexander states as he and Edward stand up.

"Ah, yes. I heard your familiars were settling in quite well." Forte comments lying back down.

"Why does everyone know about them..?" Edward states in a groan.

"Two of Kilgharah's familiarless students get a pair of anthro equine partners randomly one night under the official story that it was a controlled supervised summoning by Wyvern House Archmage Ignis. Surely you know how quickly such news would spread in the academy paper? Everyone reads that and your little stunt was front pages worthy, not exactly main article but it had a spot at the bottom." Forte chuckles at the pair.

The two look at each other before sighing deeply and leaving the room. After getting to the path across from them, Forte gets up and goes to Vivienne.

"You're not fine are you..?" Forte asks raising an eyebrow.

"A little yes and a lot of no... I get the feeling I've seen those gems referenced somewhere before..." Vivienne states trying very hard to think.

Author's Notes:

So, this chapter was actually on time and ends with a bit of epic foreshadowing. We have already started work on the next chapter since we finished this one a day early. So, my hope is with this new rhythm, we might get back on track with chapter release times. I hope everyone is enjoying how we are doing the chapters thus far, it's intended to give as much information as needed chapter to chapter stopping at points we feel work and allows people to process bits of information rather than a buttload. Hopefully, this continues to work but feedback is always welcome!