The next day...

Rainbow groaned, sliding up in her new bed. Like when she woke up the first time, she took in its soothing softness, nuzzling up to the sheets like it were a teddy bear. She still couldn't really get over the drastic improvements in condition. All of it was so unreal, she would've thought it was a dream, if not for the case she had awoken here twice with no interim period. So, it was real.

Normally, Rainbow wouldn't have left the bed. The softness and the warmth were practically intoxicating, much like the crackers she took every night. Plus, she wasn't much of a morning person. Even though her old job in Ponyville required her get up early, she usually set her alarm at least an hour before she should get up to give her time to pull herself together. This time, however, she bolted straight out of bed...

….And straight to the washbasin of her rooms attached washroom.

After about a full five minutes of blowing chunks, her stomach had finally calmed down to a sufficient point. It still ached and her head still pounded, but she felt better. She thought back to what could've caused this sense of nausea. After accepting the Caesars deal, she had dug into the feast arrayed on the table. Maybe she had gone a bit overboard, but at the moment, it was worth it. In fact, she vaguely recalled actually thinking about that last night.

Either way, that wasn't important. She got back up and trudged out of the washroom. She went over to a small table by the wall, upon which rested some clothes. A simple, blood-red tunic, polished leather belt, and some sandal-looking things with studded soles and stripes of leather running up to just below her hindlegs knees. She also found her goggles resting on top, along with the belt. They had recovered them, and they had been repaired somewhat and freshly cleaned.

As she went to go get dressed, she stopped in front of the full-length body-mirror. In a clear reflection, she looked herself over from head to hoof/talon; she did not look pretty. Despite her trip to the bath yesterday and other bits of cleaning besides, her body was still a patchwork of scars. Some were barely noticeable on her bright cyan coat, like a few small cuts and bruises that were already being covered up by her fur. Others, like the raking scars along her face or flank, were much more noticeable, and likely wouldn't be going away anytime soon. She had also discovered another bit of prosthetic anatomy: Her left eye, which was now made out of smooth, dark black volcanic glass, resting comfortably and naturally in her socket, as if it had always been that color. A small glowing red rune glowed in the center of it, likely the source of her continued sight from that eye. Fortunately, and perhaps a little strangely, her wings had no damage to them save a few cuts and the bite mark she had received before her capture.

A loud knocking broke her concentration on her scarred form. She barked out, "In a minute," then went back over to the assembled clothes. She quickly slid on the tunic, affixed the belt, and slung her goggles around her neck. Since she likely wasn't going anywhere too far away only a day after her acceptance of the Caesars proposal, she wouldn't really need them. Besides, if she did, she could just bolt on back to the room and grab them; her wing had healed enough for flight.

Another knock reminded her to hurry up, and so she finished adjusting the belt and quickly flew over to the door. She opened it and came face to face with the one who was knocking. It was a male caragor, about her age, wearing the same servant's garments as the two who massaged her yesterday. He said, in perfect if accented equish, "Domina. I'm to assume you're ready to go?"

"Domina?", she asked. "My name's Rainbow Dash."

"I've been made aware of this, domina. However, as I've been assigned to you as your personal servant. As such, it is how you should be addressed as my superior." He said all of this with a calm and almost practiced sense of ease.

Rainbow cracked a smirk. She kinda liked the idea of having someone working directly for her. She said, "Awesome. So, what's up?"

"Well, this was both an introduction, and an order form the Caesar. She wants you to head down to the west wing of the villa. A few examinations are needed if I understand correctly."

"Examinations? Like, written tests?", she asked. She was still getting used to the talons and didn't have the best hoofwriting in the first place.

"No, domina. More like getting you sized for your armor and a medical exam.

"Oh, well ok then," she said, flapping up into the air. "Lead the way, uh...."

"Castus, domina."

"Heh heh. Right; sorry. Anyway, my order still stands. Lead on!"

The two arrived in the right wing, and a guard guided them to where the exams would take place. They were greeted by two creatures as they entered the room. A Bighorn and a Terran.

Septimus, the Bighorn, was an armorsmith. He walked up and around her, measuring different parts of her with lined bits of linin. He also asked her various questions: "Do you know how much you can weigh?" or "How much can you carry and still fly?", that Castus had to translate for her. It was actually pretty quick, and he left, muttering something in Demosian.

The Terran, Sutura, was the Caesar's personal physician. She did her own exams, namely studying her scars to see if they would cause any sort of complications or something. Once again, Castus translated any of Sutura's questions and her answers. These were once again mostly medical questions, like sexual activity and recent illnesses. Mostly, she had just nodded and said, "Bonum", which Rainbow had heard enough times to know it meant 'Good'.

However, on two of these points, she started to look concerned. These were Rainbow saying she was raped, and that she had thrown up a lot this morning, and in fact still felt a little bit queasy. She had finished everything else, then gone to get something. She came back with a weird horn-like thing with a large ear port; the whole thing looked like a bugle combined with a stethoscope. She pressed it up to her stomach, then listened in the ear port.

After a few seconds, she went rigid, her already pale green coat turning an even lighter shade. "Uh, Castus, ask her what's going on." Castus relayed the message, but Sutura didn't reply directly to him. She just ran out, muttering to herself yet loud enough to hear, "Imperatoris de hoc non esse beatus." The two of them just stood there, Castus relaying the message of what she said to her. And what all the previous context, potentially at least, meant.

Next Chapter: Interlude~Family of the condemned. Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 3 Minutes