At around 10:00 AM, things were quiet in my office. My schedule was relatively calm, thank fuck; the benefit of being able to do business above ground is you don’t have to schedule a sitdown for every minor issue, rather doing it over the phone. I don’t gotta worry about wiretaps, I am the fed! And if you think I’m sloppy about the security of my private communications, don’t worry- you wouldn’t be the first poor bastard to make that same mistake.

I still often have to have sit downs when the severity of the matter calls for it. Meetings like those I often have Adrian or Roscoe with me for protection and advice, along with my off-the-books consigliere wife. But for personal business and other small matters, the phone is fine. Lately I’ve been having Glimmer join me for these as I’ve found she often has genuinely great advice, especially for interpersonal matters.

“‘Ey, it’s Leona. Put Ace on the phone.” I spoke into the brass telephone clearly and concisely. I had no problems with the receptionist, ya know? “Sure thing, take your time.”

The phone was real nice; much lower profile than the candlestick ones, since the receiver and the speaker were all one assembly, which rested atop a mahogany cradle with a rotary dial. Growing up in the 60’s, I honestly took for granted how advanced technology had become since before my time there; Stuff like this is to Griffonia what tin was to the bronze age. And much like bronze, this phone was heavy- I can use it to beat someone if I have to!

“Ace speaking, what can I do for ya’?” from the way he spoke, I could hear a bit of apprehensiveness in his voice. Glimmer was jotting down notes on the nearby recliner, and her twitching ear told me she could hear the speaker. I wasn’t worried, though.

“How come you kicked my Mamma outta the casino last night? She was very upset, and I wanted to know why.” I also wondered why I was wasting my time with this nonsense too.

“Leona, she was bangin’ cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn’t get a drink at the tables, it’s constant! Last night, she tried to go for four, that’s when I had to have her kicked out!” I groaned under my breath, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“Why wouldn’t she mention that to me?” I asked without thinking about it.

“... why would she admit that to you?” He spoke frankly, and it pissed me off.

“Don’t be a smartass!” I yelled into the receiver, “The fuck, are you sayin’ my Mamma’s a whore!?”

“That’s not-!”

“I oughta come down myself and kick-!” I started, before feeling a hoof firmly grab my arm from beside my desk.

“Hey!” her voice was stern, almost commanding respect. “Calm down. Let’s talk before you do something rash.” I glared at her, trying to get her to back off; but surprisingly, she didn’t budge.

I let out a heavy sigh, I shook my head and spoke calmly into the phone. “Stay put. I’ll call back in fifteen.”

Click

I pulled out my pocket watch, wound it a couple turns, and took mental note of the time, cocking an eyebrow. She wants me to hear her out? Fine.

“Have you considered that your mother might have a problem?” I kept my glare up, gritting my beak. I didn’t like what I was hearing, and it pissed me off. She let out a groan, rolling her eyes and slumping back into her chair. “Leona, I’m trying to help you, and I’m not gonna do that if you don’t drop the ‘tough boss’ shtick.”

That took either a lot of balls or a lot of stupidity. Only two people have ever spoken back to me like that, being my mother and my wife. Glimmer didn’t even look afraid, rather just annoyed; the only possible hint to the fact being her tensed shoulders. Honestly? I admired it.

“Lansky told Luciano to go fuck himself before they became lifelong friends.” I said with a wide grin, watching as Glimmer's tense shoulders finally fell. “I admire your honesty. I’ll bite- what’s on your mind?” I spoke genuinely with a relaxed voice as Glimmer sighed.

“Banging four women at once is not healthy behavior, Leona.” I just shrugged, rolling my eyes.

“So what? She likes seein’ some action and got bored of one-on-one, I can’t help that!” If that was her entire argument, I was gonna be pissed.

“How often does she go out to that casino?” Okay, I could kind of see her point there. She spends a lot of time at the casino with her “friends.” Of course, the bodyguards assigned to her tell me what’s really going on, I just never had an issue with it.

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like she’ll catch anything, what with the whores unionizing. Mandatory testing, you know?” Way I see it, whether it’s illegal or not, prostitution is gonna happen. Might as well make sure it’s safe. “Better still- she’s an adult! And it’s not like you can get addicted to sex! If you could, I’d have OD’d long ago!” I waved her off to laugh at my own joke, until-

“Absolutely, you can get addicted to sex! Nymphomania is a very real psychological condition that-”

“Hold on, back the fuck up.” I interrupted her, my laughter being replaced with incredulity. “The fuck you mean addicted to sex? You sayin’ my Mamma’s a medically diagnosed whore?” Despite the fact that I respected her honesty, I still took offense to insult.

“Not everything’s an insult!” she yelled far louder than necessary, looking very pissed off, and I gestured for her to lower her voice. “I’m just a little concerned about that sweet woman’s mental wellbeing! You heard how he said two at a time?” she shook her head and fixed her expression, and I nodded plainly, unfortunately starting to connect the dots of inference. “She’s at that casino almost every night! Is she getting enough sleep? Is she taking the time to care for her mental health, or is that what the prostitutes are for?”

I shrugged, at a complete loss for words. “I-I don’t know, the fuck you askin’ me that for?”

“Then ask yourself- where’s she been these past several nights?” Out with her friends… oh…

I blinked, gently rubbing my temple. “O-Ok, I see what you mean. Credit where it’s due.” I groaned, rolling my eyes and gesturing to her to give me a minute. I yanked the phone off the receiver and wasted no time on the rotary dial.

“Ace? You there?” I got a quick yes ma’am as a confirmation and said, “Forget about what I said earlier. Next time Mamma’s causing any problems, call me first, then I’ll talk to her myself. Got it?”

“Loud and clear, Don Grimfeather. I apologize for the disrespect.” I just rolled my eyes.

“Apology accepted, don’t fuckin’ do it again.” I said, slamming the receiver down. I saw Glimmer's shoulders sagging, as though a weight had been removed. Honestly? I felt the same. “Well, that’s one less ass I gotta kick.” I got off my chair behind the desk and joined her on one of the armchairs to get a little closer.

“Sorry about that. If I didn’t call him back soon, he’d probably have gone on the lam!” I chuckled, nervously rubbing my hands. I sighed, finally admitting what I was afraid of. “For a woman in her forties, she can be a bit…” I didn’t wanna say anything too offensive out loud, as if Mamma were standing right behind me.

“Promiscuous?” Glimmer said, and I nodded, figuring that to be the nicest word available. “I could be wrong about it being a mental health issue, but for a woman her age, that’s-”

“Not normal, I know.” I interrupted, sighing. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and asked, “So you can get addicted to sex, same way you can with booze?” I asked, already feeling like I knew the answer.

“Similar to anything you can derive pleasure from.” I blinked, as I did recall reading something about that.

“Something, something, brain becomes dependent on the happy chemical.” My eyes widened as I remembered more of the book, “Oh yeah! One of the examples it gave was about chocolate addiction.” I said; I rolled my eyes at the same time as Glimmer, funnily enough.

“Oh, please, that example is so overplayed it’s not even funny. Literally every wine mom at the parent teacher meetings claimed they’re addicted to chocolate, underplaying the occasional very real instances of addiction!” I nodded in agreement, chuckling to myself.

“About sums it up, don’t it? First time I read that I thought That’s dumb. I know damn well what addiction looks like, and it ain’t grabbin’ candy bar every time you pop into the gas station.” I said, glancing off to the side with a slight grimace. “It’s buyin’ another bottle of booze when your family’s begging you to quit, more like.” I sighed, then I shrugged. “But anyways… sex addiction.”

It felt a little awkward asking about it, not gonna lie. I just held my arms out to tell me more, but she just looked at my hands again, all confused. I rolled my eyes and asked, “What, is there withdrawals or somethin’?”

Glimmer gave me a sort of half-shrug. “Depends, really. With some psychological addiction, you can experience symptoms like irritability, nausea, that sort of stuff. Unlike physical dependence, as in the cases of substance abuse, sex withdrawal shouldn’t make your organs shut down, especially if it hasn’t been long term.” Well, that was good to hear, at least. I lit a cigarette, slumping back in my chair. Glimmer used her magic to crack the window, which I thanked her for.

“So… so how do I know it’s an actual problem? Maybe she just likes a good time?” I said, still having my doubts.

Glimmer tilted her head side-to-side, half shrugging. “Maybe, maybe not? You can just talk to her about it, you know.” she said like it was the most obvious fucking thing in the world. I just groaned while face-palming.

“Oh, why didn’t I think of that! Hey, Ma! Any particular reason you can’t go a single night without getting your holes plugged?” Glimmer blushed, looking off to the side while I huffed, “I mean, where would this’ve come from, anyway?”

“You mean, why she feels the need to act so promiscuously?” She tilted her head in thought. “Off the top of my head, possible self-image issues come to mind. She could be doing it to seek validation, perhaps?” I shook my head at that suggestion. Then she proposed- “Could be how she copes with some unresolved trauma?”

At the utterance of the word trauma, I felt a chill down my spine. I heard Mamma’s voice in my head- For fucks sakes, I’m still seeing that every time I close my eyes! Maria. It’s always back to Maria.

“It’s… definitely possible.” I muttered, rubbing my chin. “Still- to me, this feels like a recent development… I dunno. I’ll talk to her later.” I finally resolved, wondering just what else I’ve fucked up. To make matters worse, Glimmer was giving me this smug grin.

“The fuck you lookin’ at?” I asked frankly, causing her to giggle. She just shrugged playfully.

“Oh, I was just thinking to myself it’s about time you figured it out!” I was about to tell her to go fuck herself; then I paused briefly to think of the ramifications of telling a friend to go fu… ohhh… I was thoroughly impressed by this apparent mind game, and it reflected in the faint smile.

“It should be obvious; but now that you’ve pointed it out, I feel like a fucking moron.” I sighed, glancing off to the side. “Ace is a good friend and one of the best casino managers I’ve ever worked with. Guy takes his job so fuckin serious, every morning he checks to see if all the muffins have an equal amount of blueberries or not; he’s a great fuckin’ guy, it’d be a shame to lose him.” but that smug grin never left.

“Aaaaaaaand? What did you learn?” she held her hooves out, expecting an answer; I just rolled my eyes.

“That my mother’s probably seen more action than I have without even trying?” she facepalmed and I started laughing. “What- d’ya want one of them uhh… friendship essays Twilight used to write?” she groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “I dunno! The uh… the problem isn’t always obvious?” I guessed, feeling a bit exasperated.

She clacked her hooves together and yelled out, “EXACTLY! Never jump to conclusions, and try to find the root cause!” She had a massive smile on her face, looking genuinely excited. “When you first called, you just assumed that Ace was the problem, right?”

I just shrugged. “I… guess so. Usually, it’s not an issue, because I’m right a lot of the time.” I said plainly, and Glimmer shook her head.

“But you weren’t, in this case! Think of it this way; if we never had this conversation, would you have ever known to check in on your mother?” After a few moments of thinking, it wasn’t hard to guess the correct answer.

“Probably… probably not, I guess.” It made me nervous, to be honest. What else was going on around me that I’m not seeing? But regardless, I was thankful. I gave her a warm smile and pulled her in for a quick hug. “Seriously. Thank you.” I said, hearing her giggles as she returned the gesture. I pulled back, giving her a look of sincerity. “In case you couldn’t tell, she’s… very important to me.” her smile faltered briefly.

“I understand. And I could be completely wrong about it being an addiction, but it’s still worth looking into; she deserves the support, at the very least.” I laughed in agreement.

“No kidding! I’m fuckin’ lucky to have her!” Glancing off to the side, Starlight nodded in agreement, remaining oddly silent. But when she spoke up, it was a bit of a subject change.

“Bear in mind, I’m hardly an expert; most of my knowledge is base-line, to cover a wide variety of situations.” She said, and I just snorted with a smirk.

“Jack of all trades, huh?” I playfully slapped her on the back, “School librarian by day, Marksist revolutionary by night?” She huffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

“I was not the librarian, I was-”

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

“Hold that thought.” I said, interrupting her to pick up the phone. I awkwardly leaned against the bitch-side of my desk, opposite of my chair. “Leona speaking, talk to me.”

…

“...Anastasia got into a fight?” Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.

—

I left Glimmer behind for two reasons; one, I wanted some alone time to think. The other reason was, quite frankly, this wasn’t really her business anyway. She said she’s always happy to get some writing done, though.

Anastasia sat morosely on a chair outside the counselors office, staring at the floor. Her school clothes, consisting of a white shirt with a tan vest, were missing a particular bump around one of the pockets, telling me that she got her yo-yo taken away, for some reason.

“Annie? I’m not mad.” I said, sitting next to her and wrapping a wing around her back. She looked up slowly, sniffling faintly.

“Y-you’re not?” her voice cracked, and I chuckled. Her cheeks were wet with tears as I gently used a wing to guide her off the chair. I held the office door open, wing still gently urging her forward. In front of the desk were two sets of sofas, one of which held a father and son, both of which looked terrified. The son had a large ice pack over the right side of his forehead, letting me know who won.

“Sit down, honey.” I instructed my daughter, turning to the understandably freaked out counselor. I looked her in the eye with a reassuring smile and said, “You’ll never get in trouble for doing your job right. You have nothing to be afraid of, Counselor… Adrianna.” I figured out her name from the placard on her desk and shook her hand. Then, I turned to the other parent in the room. Poor bastard was bigger than me and he was still shaking. “You, on the other hand? We’ll just wait and see. I haven’t gotten all the info yet, you know?”

As I sat down, I smirked when I saw the terrified look in his eye. But then, it hit me- I followed Glimmer’s lesson to a T! Maybe that friendship report shit isn’t total bullshit? But regardless, I had more important matters to deal with.

“N-n-now be-before we jump to-” I grit my beak and glared intensely at him, earning for me his silence. Then, with a much kinder smile, I turned to the counselor.

“You first, Counselor. Tell me why these two were pulled to the side.” She looked at me, nervously swallowing spit at my calm gaze

“They-they got into a fight…” A flat look was all I needed to hear more from her. “According to the instructor, Anastasia struck Johnni in the beak, then wrapped the string of a yo-yo around his neck before hitting him multiple times, with said yo-yo. The uh… the chaperones arrived as fast as they could to break the scuffle apart.” Presumably, Johnni was the kid who got his ass beat.

Pretty standard playground stuff, really. I turned to Anastasia and said, “Your turn. Why'd ya do it?” Instantly, without even thinking about it, she yelled out-

“Because he’s mean!” She said, throwing her arms out. “He was passing mean notes to cousin Daisy in class!”

I cocked an eyebrow. “So he insulted her?” I asked, and she nodded simply. “Where’d those notes go?” but surprisingly, she had an answer for that one, too.

“They made Daisy upset, so I threw them away!” Fair, but I could still sense an inkling of bullshit.

“Which trash can did you use?” Surely, this one will trip her up?

“I didn't use a trash can; I tore it up like confetti and threw it! But it was really windy, and they went everywhere!” Guess not.

“That’s… plausible, I suppose.” After all, it was quite windy out earlier. Shit, maybe it wasn’t bullshit? She’s given in to stranger impulses than littering, that’s for sure. Occasionally when she thinks no-one’s watching her in the backyard, she’ll start chasing her tail around. Then again, as a human kid, I used to do basically the same thing in a spinning office chair.

But I had more questioning. “Can Daisy corroborate this story?” I asked, gesturing towards the PA microphone. The counselor was flipping through some sort of book, trying to figure out which classroom Daisy was in; and all the meanwhile, Anastasia looked totally calm. She wasn’t fidgeting, glancing off to the side, nothing! No stuttering, no hesitation, not a damn thing! She saw I was looking down at her with what must have been a look of surprise; she briefly turned my way, making eye contact with a smile before returning to just blankly stare at the kid across from her, subtly cracking her knuckle joints. It's a classic- she's saying to him you better fucking hope Daisy plays along.

“There we are!” the counselor said, turning to the PA microphone.

“Ehh, that won’t be necessary.” Her finger was hovering over the button, beak wide open when I stopped her. “I mean, come on. Does she look like she’s lying?” She just gave the counselor an innocent smile and a nod.

“Ask him, if you want. You already got the truth outta me.” my baby said with a shrug. The dismissal bell rang out, and without even being prompted, the kid said-

“Y-yes! That’s what happened!” The kid said, leaning into his fathers side. “C-can I go now?” Anastasia made brief eye contact with him, causing him to flinch. I honestly kind of felt bad for the poor kid.

“Look,” I said with a sigh, rubbing my temple. “The kid learned his lesson, he should be smart enough to not do it again.” The kid and his father were nodding their heads rapidly.

“I-I appreciate your f-fairness, Don-” He started to apologize, practically running to kiss the backside of my hand. I pulled it back, and he looked up in fear.

“Just get out of my sight and make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He seemed frozen for a brief moment before nodding his head rapidly.

“Let’s go, boy.” He said to his kid, who nervously started shuffling towards the door with his father. I didn’t even look back, but I could hear him angrily whispering, “What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“B-but Dad, I didn’t-!” the door slamming behind them cut off his pleas. I looked to the counselor and shrugged, tilting my head.

“What can ya do?” I said, using my wing to guide Annie out of her chair. “Come on, let’s go home.” I turned towards the door, but Annie spoke up.

“Wait.” She said in a sharp tone, probably learned from me. “You still have my property.” She patted the empty vest pocket, holding her hand out expectantly.

“I-I don’t think I should give it back.” She said, somewhat unsure. “Someone could have seriously gotten hurt!” She was looking at me expectantly, and I just shrugged. Way I figured, my baby could handle it.

“So? I didn’t even do anything wrong!” She defended her case, “It’s false incrimination and theft!” Once again, the counselor glanced at me for help. I just kept up a faint, neutral smile and shrugged.

“It’s her yo-yo. She has as much of a right to carry it as I do.” After glancing back and forth between my daughter and I, she finally sighed and placed the yo-yo in my daughter’s outstretched palm.

“I’m glad we could see eye to eye, Mrs. Cicci. Have a good day!” She said, a tone of childishness reappearing in her voice. It was a heavy contrast to the serious tone, probably modeled after how I carry myself… Six years old, and she’s bossing school officials around.

“Have a pleasant evening, Ma’am!” Not gonna lie, I forgot what her name was by this point. We made our leave, stalking through the empty hallways of the school. But once we got outside, though?

“It’s the yo-yo girl!” some kid yelled out, causing the group to crowd around. It felt like an elementary school perp-walk, with Anastasia’s peers shouting out questions to be cooly ignored. I’ll be honest- I knew the whole story was bullshit, but I could recognize a power grab when I saw it. If she’s anything like me, she wanted to make it very clear who was in charge of the schoolyard.

When we got in the car, she was sitting up front next to me. I looked down at her with a smile and said, “Let’s get some ice cream, sweetie. We gotta talk.” but then I smiled, leaning over the gear shift to wrap my baby in the tightest hug I could give. “Baby, I’ve never felt more proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mamma!” she returned the hug gleefully- but when we eventually separated, I held a stern look.

“But we need to have a very serious discussion.” I started to pull out of the lot, “But we’ll do it over some good gelato, how’s that sound?”

Well, of course she agreed! Didn’t mean she couldn’t express her annoyance of having to wait through her second sit down of the day, though.

“Aww, come on! I didn’t do anything wrong!” she said, and I cocked an eyebrow at her. Though I was focusing on the road, a side glance is oftentimes all you need.

“You have a very interesting case, that’s for sure.” I said, mimicking some stick-up-the-ass lawyer who just had to endure 8 hours of unfiltered chicanery. “But we’ll talk when we get there. Mamma needs to focus on driving. Radio’s yours, honey.” I ruffled her feathers, focusing on avoiding traffic. I was a good driver on highways, but city driving takes a bit more concentration for me.

I was trying to gather my thoughts on the situation, but it seemed all I could focus on was the asshole in front of me going too slow. I took this road because it was a bit longer, but avoided most of the heavier traffic. There was no one in front of him, the fuck was his excuse?

“Anastasia?” I asked her as she fiddled with the radio, looking for the rockabilly station; or as most of my peers called it, that terrible crap the kids listen to these days. But for me? I fuckin loved it! As soon as she found the station, she turned and hmm’d in response. “I’m cutting this guy off, flip him off for me.” She eagerly rolled down her window, giggling like I often do.

I shifted gears and slammed the gas, the horn making an obnoxious Aooooogaaa! Sound. We easily blew past that prick, Annie and I both giving him the finger as we passed. We were both cackling like knuckleheads as we left that prick in the dust!

… Or, tried to. Turns out, his engine does work! He actually picked up to the reasonable speed I was going, laying on his horn and flipping me off. I just rolled my eyes, mimicking the gesture of drawing my gun. My right arm outstretched towards the middle back seat, and the guy finally backed the fuck off, fearing a bullet punching through his windshield.

“I love threatening someone without a gun!” I joked with Annie, and we both laughed.

“Not as impressive as a yo-yo!” My laughter ceased immediately- and she noticed quickly, realizing it was a good idea to change the subject. But she couldn’t think of anything, and I was still driving; so instead, she quietly took her yo-yo out to inspect it. Just on a whim, I thought to ask-

“Is it alright?” She was turning it around, and I saw her grimace as her thumb ran across the aluminum surface.

“It’s dented.” She lamented as a feeling of deep concern rose up in me.

“Jesus. Lucky you didn’t draw blood.” Unsurprisingly, she snorted, rolling her eyes.

I wasn’t concerned about the fact that my daughter inherited a lot of my personality, and picked up on all the ways people can be manipulated. It’s not unheard of for griffons her age to be more mentally advanced than the human counterpart; because we’re quadrupeds, our birthing canals aren’t as restrictive as that of a human woman. As a result, Anastasia’s brain was far more developed than that of a human infant at birth, since… to be crude, our snatch can stretch more. But that biology lesson, or more like a personal theory, aside- I was concerned because I didn’t think Annie really knew the severity of what she did.

Basically, I was proud that she learned so much just by watching me at work, but she had a lot to learn. Way I saw it, it's better to talk about it now and get it over with.

For the record- I’ve never taken Annie to any “wetwork” jobs- I just occasionally take her on business meetings, so she can watch and learn. She was always happy to spend time with me, but if she wanted to stay home, I never argued with her. At most, she’s seen me strong-arm some prick, maybe I punched a guy in the face in front of her. She always got a kick out of it, though; in retrospect, maybe she went with me so much because she found it entertaining. Didn’t make me any less proud of her, but I was just a little concerned I had another Dee on my hands.

I can handle one remorseless psychopath in my life, but two? Bah, who am I kidding? I love ‘em either way!

That’s why when we got to the ice cream parlor, I let Anastasia order whatever she wanted. She got this big plate of five scoops of different gelato flavors and a giant chocolate shake; I just settled for a scoop of strawberry gelato with a cappuccino.

“So how’d school go otherwise?” I asked her, and she went on to talk about her new teachers and classmates. I figured for the first day, they wouldn’t be learning a lot. But finally, I had to ask her-

“So, tell me the truth. What happened?” I asked, and before she opened her mouth, I said- “Honey, I don’t like it when you lie to me.” I gave her a stern, flat look and she started nervously looking off to the side.

“You’re not in trouble, either way. But I want the whole truth- what did you do to that kid, and why?” We were in a secluded booth by the window- there was a decent crowd, but I wasn’t worried about anyone listening in. She was twiddling her fingers, and spoke sheepishly-

“He wanted to play with my yo-yo, and I told him it was mine!” I gestured for her to go on. “He kept asking, and I kept telling him to back off. I turned around, and he pulled my feathers!” She seemed to shrink in her seat as she admitted, “It made me really mad.”

“So he touched you first?” I said, and she nodded. “I taught you to take shit from no-one, but what you did was way outta line!” I stopped to take a breath and calm down, switching to the other side of the booth and wrapping my baby in a wing. She sniffled, and I said “I’m not mad. What you did was smart- sends a message so no one knows not to fuck with you.”

“But that’s not it!” she said, and I felt a little surprised. “He was really annoying, wouldn’t leave me alone!” she crossed her arms and hiccupped, and I saw a tear run down her cheek. I squeezed her tight- I knew she was telling the truth, finally. “S-sorry, Mamma…”

“Sweetie, it’s alright. You just gotta learn when to stop.” I said, pulling back and looking her in the eye. “A backhand slap to the cheek probably would’ve convinced him to leave you alone.” I ruffled her head feathers and explained, “You gotta dish out punishment that’s proportional to the crime, it’s how society works!”

She seemed confused and asked, “But how do I know when to stop?” I just shrugged.

“It depends, really. Like, if I was in your shoes and he started pulling my feathers, I would’ve slapped him. If that didn’t work, then I’d punch him. That doesn’t work? Then I’ll do whatever it was you did. You get it?” I explained with a smile, playfully patting her shoulder. Her neutral expression finally turned up, saying-

“I think I get it, Mamma.” I ruffled her head feathers and kissed her forehead.

“Smart girl!” I slapped her on the back, and got up to switch booths- not before sampling some of her ice cream, of course.

“Hey!” She whined, crossing her arms and giving me an adorable pout.

“What? Gotta make sure it’s not poisonous.” I had a shit-eating grin, and my daughter groaned in annoyance, understandably. She rolled her eyes and I asked- “So… how’d you do it?” She seemed confused, up until I pointed to the yo-yo in her pocket. She nodded in understanding, giggling as she explained-

“Well, I punched him in the face and swung my yo-yo around so it’d wrap itself around his neck. Then I headlocked him and started hitting him with it!” All the while, she was using her hands to gesture about how it looked. Despite how concerned it made me feel, I couldn’t help but laugh. She honestly reminded me of myself talking about the shit I’d get up to while working. “He wasn’t so whiny after that! He kept saying sharing is caring! I kept saying it’s stealing!”

We both shared laughter over her rant, and I said- “God, I can’t wait until you’re old enough to work with me.” I leaned over the table and nuzzled her forehead.

“But why can’t I work with you now?” She whined, giving me those eyes. But I just gave her the same answer I always did,

“You’re not old enough, you might get hurt.” I’ve never taken her somewhere where there was a high likelihood of a gunfight; Like I said, at most she’s seen me deck someone in the face, but never a proper beatdown. But she huffed at my response like she always did, and I resolved to focus on my ice cream.

Several spoonfuls of gelato and sips of cappuccino helped me to dampen the awkwardness of this silence between us. She just sat there, both her arms crossed glaring at me. Finally I sighed; her mood briefly upturned, but got crushed immediately.

“Honey, you can’t intimidate me with a glare. Maybe when you’re older, though.” I had a smug grin, and I assumed she would drop the subject and went to take a sip of cappuccino. I brought it up to the edge of my beak, savoring the warmth and foam-

Sniff…

Tink!

I immediately set the glass back down the second I heard Anastasia sniffle. I was on the other side of the booth before the first tears could fall, and she was in my arms.

“B-but I wanna help you, Mammaaa!” She cried into my chest and I gently ran a hand along her back. “I-I can do better, I promise!” it broke my heart seeing her like this; and as much as I wanted to say You’re breakin’ your Mamma’s heart, here! I knew it would only make things worse.

“Sweetie, it’s not that I think you won’t do a wonderful job when you get older.” I explained, sniffling a little myself. “You have so much more to learn before you’re old… no, mature enough.” She sniffled, and muttered mature?

“That’s right, sweetie.” I explained with a smile. “Believe me, I know you can handle yourself in a fight-” Against her peers, that is. I knew that, but I was trying to cheer her up, dammit! “But maturity is the ability to… to understand just how, uh… important something is.” I stuttered and paused a couple times, trying to articulate my thoughts in a manner which Anastasia could understand.

“I’m confused… what does that gotta do with me?” she pulled back, and we made eye contact, wings wrapped around her and a hand on her shoulder. I put on a serious expression, and Anastasia knew what that meant.

“Anastasia, what you did today was incredible. Not only did you make up some bullcrap story about him passing notes, you name dropped someone who had nothing to do with this as a witness, and you said it all with a straight face!” I ruffled her head feathers, eliciting a giggle from her. “I’m proud of you! I mean, I really dream of the day you’re sitting in my chair, calling the shots!” But my beaming smile curved downwards, “But there is so much more here that you’re not seeing.”

On a whim, I looked back over my shoulder to make sure everyone was minding their business. Aside from the usual glances and occasional excited whispers, the people were keeping to their own.

“I really, really don’t like being lied to, especially not from you.” I made sure to put on the mom-voice for this one, commanding her full attention, and whispered- “I get it- you saw an opportunity, and you lied to make sure you’d get off without punishment. That’s fine- I lie to people all the time, and people lie to me occasionally, it’s to be expected… Just… don’t ever lie to me with a straight face like you did in the car.” I’ll be honest- it hurt to experience and it hurt to admit.

If I was in her shoes at her age, I would’ve been a crying mess; so it didn’t surprise me when she turned into a crying mess.

“I-I didn’t know-w-w!” She whined, and I just held her close. “I-I’m sorry!” I just smiled, continuing to comfort her. “W-won’t do it again!” In other words- she didn’t plan on getting caught again. I could live with that blissful ignorance, though.

“Honey, if you ever feel the need to lie, just be careful about it, think about who you might hurt by lying.” Lying’s part of the job, way I see it. Might as well let her get good at it. But then, I had another thought. “You hurt that other boy far more than you realize.” She tried to pull back, but I just held her to my chest. I figured she’d wanna come back anyway.

“What you did today is gonna haunt him for a long time to come.” I felt her shift in my grip, but I paid it no mind. “Not only did you beat his ass, you made him look like a prick in front of his dad.”

“B-but he pul-”

“I know, baby.” I was just stroking her feathers, trying to not think of Maria. “But what I’m saying is, the people you fuck with now might just come back to fuck with you later. He’s gonna be remembering the day you humiliated him in front of everyone for a long time; tomorrow, he’ll be getting picked on relentlessly by everyone else and he’ll be too scared of everyone to do anything about it.” As much as I hated to dump this on her, I really didn’t want Johnni to be her Maria situation. She needed to understand the gravity of what we do and why.

She started babbling more apologies, and I waited until I thought she was ready.

“But, you know? That’s not a big deal.” I gave her a warm smile, allowing her to slowly pull back and look me in the eye.

“R-really? B-but I thought-”

“While it sucks for him, he started it. My concern is, who’s gonna finish it? Did ya’ think about that?” I asked, booping her on the forehead. I elaborated- “Think about it like this- a fight doesn’t end until one of you is in the ground…” I then gave her a wide, dark grin.

“We’re gonna whack him?” She blurted out, and I honestly truly had to fight with every fiber of my being to not laugh my ass off.

“No, Anastasia.” I stopped to take a deep breath to calm down. “What you’re gonna do, is you’re gonna call your cousin Daisy when you get home. Explain that you got in a fight, so if any school officials decide to ask her anyway, she’ll tell them your story.” Her eyes widened in realization, like it was all finally clicking for her.

“Then… tomorrow, I’ll corner Johnni somewhere to really nail down the point!” I snapped my finger and pointed at her,

“Yeah! And make sure there’s a few witnesses around, so word will spread about what happens if you try to be a rat. If you get caught? Make something up again, fuck it! More than likely, he’ll go along with your story on the spot.” We both made eye contact, smiled, and she immediately found her way back into my arms. “I really meant it when I said I was proud of you. But now do you get why I was upset?” She sniffled, and I felt her nod meekly. “You’re the best daughter I could’ve asked for, and I mean it.”

“B-best daughter ever?” Fuck, she sounded so, so happy. “Y-you really mean it?” her voice cracked terribly, but I didn’t give a shit. But I just snorted and chuckled when I heard her question.

“I just said it, didn’t I?” I wrapped my arm around her neck and gave her a playful noogie, much to her dismay. “Get the car key outta your ears!” I said, moving to nuzzle and kiss her forehead. I gestured to the table and said- “Now finish up your ice cream! We got damage control to do!” I moved to once again switch booths- but not before taking a long swig of Anastasia’s (somewhat melted) milkshake.

“Mammaaaa!” She whined, and I laughed.

“Just checkin’ it, it’s still safe!” A light punch to the shoulder made her roll her eyes. “Tell ya’ what- If you want, you can ask Uncle Cowboy if Daisy wants to come over.” She beamed at me, gasping in excitement!

That got her to hurry up with her ice cream. But she was always smarter than me- she knew when she was at her limits, and was smart enough to stop. Hey, with any luck, maybe she didn’t inherit our family’s genetic tendency towards addiction.

As she was finishing up, I was trying to eat some of her ice cream to avoid wasting any- despite how full I was getting.

“Bottom line, Anastasia.” I said, swallowing another spoonful. “Be careful who you fuck with… agh, brain freeze… ugh… Don’t lie to your friends, and definitely don’t lie to your family.” I felt like I was gonna be sick, and I pushed the ice cream towards the middle of the table. “Agh! And don’t eat more than you can handle!”

Anastasia started laughing at my expense; I just rolled my eyes, pulling a wad of bills out of my purse. “I’m serious about the first two! Lemme tell you something.” I said, licking my thumb and counting out a bunch of big-ones before slapping the bills under the plate. “True story, honest to goodness! Let’s get to the car first, though.”

I used a wing, guiding her towards the front counter, being run by a bunch of teenagers being guided by some sweet old lady.

“Excuse me!” I said, going up the exit line and slapping the counter. She approached and I whispered, “You own this joint?” I asked, and she nodded, looking somewhat nervous. With a wide grin, I counted out a few more big ones. “My compliments, ma’am!” before she could say anything, I turned around and said, “I left a little more than what the bill was on the table, but you can keep it.”

As we walked away, after a full four seconds she sputtered out, “Th-Thank you! We ap-ap-ap, uh… PLEASECOMEAGAIN!” I couldn’t help but giggle like a moron when she botched her normal customer-goodbye, same with Anastasia.

Outside, the early fall winds were already sending a chill along my back, and I thought to myself- maybe I oughta get Annie a jacket? A nice one, like a modern-age equivalent of the cloak I used to wear. As I looked down, I couldn’t help but imagine her in a black leather jacket and shades? But before I could go into a premature mid-life crisis wondering how outdated my idea of “cool” was these days, Annie spoke up.

“What’s the story you were gonna tell me?” She asked as we got into the car, and I laughed, having totally forgotten!

“Oh, that’s right!” I said, starting the engine and putting it in reverse. “A long time ago, I planned to marry your mommy, and I did!” I explained, doing a skid outside of the parking lot. “But we had a disagreement, and I just thought, Eh, lie to her, what’s she gonna do?”

“Wait, you lied to Mommy?” She said, giggling, “She must have been maaaaad!” Yeah. Yeah, she was. But it’s been so long ago, I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it all was. I was some kid with too much time on her hands who went on a downward spiral because she felt she had an excuse to.

“Mad? Oh, Anastasia, Mommy wasn’t mad… She was FURIOUS!” I yelled, clutching my fist for emphasis. “When she found out, I wound up in a hospital!” we were both laughing, and I added- “She wasn’t the one that put me in the hospital, you can’t say I lied to you!” As I went on, I kind of regretted opening myself up to this questioning, and added-

“But that’s a time in my life I don’t like to think about. If you wanna know more, ask your mother. If she wants to tell you what happened, that’s fine by me.” I ruffled her feathers, hearing okay Ma. The traffic was relatively light this time of day, so I didn’t mind talking and driving. “But you’d think I would’ve learned my lesson after I lied to your Gramma.” I didn’t hear a response, so I assumed her jaw had dropped.

“What… what happened?” She asked, concern creeping into her voice. I just smirked,

“Beat my ass with a paddle so hard, I had to sit on a pillow for a week straight.” I chuckled, and Anastasia cringed, probably feeling sympathy pains. But she’s never gotten the paddle, as I never felt I needed to. The occasional spanking for repeated misbehavior, that’s all. “Believe me, Anastasia. It hurts a lot more than you can imagine.” I was staring dead forward with that same smirk- but my tone gave away my intention.

“W-well, I-I’d never do anything that bad!” Her nervous laughter trailed off, and my smirk grew.

“Anastasia. I don’t mind it if you lie to your classmates, teachers, the general public, whatever. Better to be a snake than a rat, I always say.” Again chuckling nervously, she stuttered-

“Th-That’s right!” but I wasn't done.

“But when I ask you to tell me the truth in private, please tell me the truth. I’m proud you managed to pull that off- that takes skill!” I playfully slapped her on the back and said, “You’re a good kid. One day you’ll be the boss… but until that day, you’ll be best daughter in the world. I love you with all my heart, baby.”

I grabbed a tissue out of the glovebox for her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. She blew her nose, throwing the tissue into the little trash-cubby.

“If, If I’m the best daughter, that means you're the best Mamma!” She yelled gleefully, and I felt a lump in my throat.

“That… that means a lot, sweetie. Thank you.” but she giggled, yelling-

“That’s right! You’re the bestest Mamma in the whole cosmos!” I wanna say you've been listening to Uncle Em too much! But, somehow I felt like my tongue was tied, and I was at a loss for words. “Are… are you crying?” She asked, sounding concerned. I just sniffed as tears of pride rolled down my beak.

“No, I'm not.” I said plainly with a side glance and a smirk. “That, Anastasia, is what we call a white lie.”

---

“I LOVE HER SO MU-HU-HU-UUUCH!” I was literally sobbing into Mamma's shoulder on my smoking porch as I recalled a brief retelling of the day’s events. Despite the moon bringing the chilly night winds, we both sat on the cushioned swinging chair. I kept myself warm with a thin coat; Mamma kept herself warm with a blanket. We’d long since gotten home, and I decided to use tonight to have a private talk with her.

“In other words, you spoiled yours and Anastasia’s dinner because she got into a fight?” She laughed and asked sarcastically, lighting up another smoke. She was quite upset when we came home late with zero appetite to spare. “I was gonna make you two some steak salads!” She said, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

“The kind with the thick-cut fries and the good vinaigrette?” I asked, hoping that offer was still on the table for another night. She just smirked and ruffled my feathers. “Any chance that’ll be on tomorrow’s menu?”

She just snorted and said, “Sure, why not?” She said, shrugging with a smirk. “Salads are great because I don’t gotta make something else for your wife.” Which was true, as steak salad night for Annie and I was just salad night for my wife, usually with a side of bread- whether it’s plain bread, garlic bread, or breadsticks- served as fresh as we can get it.

I just snorted at her. “Oh, please. Cooking for my wife is easy.” I sat up and leaned against my side of the chair, “All you gotta do is find ingredients with a three-digit price point, labeled as imported from whereverthefuck, and she'll be as happy as can be!” We both shared a good laugh- occasionally, my wife’s background being from old money served as a polar contrast to our comparatively simple background.

“I remember when we’d special order some frozen steaks and meat around birthdays and whatnot, and sometimes it’d go bad in transit.” She took a drag of her smoke and said, “And we’d be shit outta luck.” I grimaced as the mental image of worm-infested meat crossed my mind, and she blew her smoke downward and muttered, “Even when they made it, they were just… okay.”

I knew the struggle- I was there, after all. I leaned into her side, resting my cheek on her shoulder. Growing up, we did what we had to do. living in the middle of nowhere, we had to rely on some rather dubious methods and discount courier services just to get fresh meat every once in a while. Salted cold cuts were one thing; but fresh meat, just out of the slaughterhouse? The closest we could get was hunting small game in the woods.

“The worst part is, we probably could’ve bought a nice hog off the Apple family for ourselves.” I chuckled, causing Mamma to roll her eyes. “I mean, they were being raised to get sent to slaughter anyway!” It was actually a really good program- because of the influx of griffonian immigrants way back when, the Equestria government started paying to have private farmers trained and paid to raise livestock to prevent a potential meat shortage. Many of them already raised cows or sheep for milk and wool; it was just a matter of making it so raising pigs in rural communities like Ponyville could actually be profitable.

Of course, this was when the Equestrian government still had its shit together.

But Mamma rolled her eyes. “Oh, fantastic idea. We’ll slaughter it in the living room!” We both shared a laugh, knowing damn well that neither of us knew how to slaughter a pig. I can cut it up to make it easier to transport and bury, but that’s about it. We both calmed ourselves down and I said,

“Heh, I don’t miss that life. You?” I asked Mamma, and she got oddly quiet. My smile fell slowly and I finally asked, “What’s on your mind?” She seemed to shift in her seat nervously before sighing.

“It’s nothing, sweetie.” She gave me a warm smile and tried to pull me in for a hug; I just put my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t… it’s not for you to worry about, Leona.” She spoke in her more formal mom-voice, but I was having none of it.

“Mamma, you’ve been acting different and I wanna know why. Is everything alright?” I was being sincere, and Mamma huffed and crossed her arms.

“Of course, everything’s alright!” Sure didn’t sound like it, though. “Leona Grimfeather, I am your mother, and if I-” My eyes widened as I realized something: Mamma was talking to me with the same commanding voice I’ve shown many other people.

“Don’t lie to me, Ma.” I said frankly- and rather than backing down like I expected, she grit her beak and glared at me.

“I’m not allowed to lie to you?” She was starting to sound more and more upset, and I didn’t like it. “Glad to see your self-centered sense of justice applies to me too.”

“Look, I didn’t mean it like that!” I begged her, feeling my own tears rising. This was not going to plan.

“Then how did you mean it!?” She snapped, and I felt like I physically shrank in my seat.

“I-I’m sorry, I only wanted to try to help!” It felt like I was having a hard time breathing, and that my stomach was churning.

“Oh, please.” She said sarcastically, “You’ve been helping for years!” she gestured around my yard and continued, “And what about all those times I tried to help you!?” She ranted, and I wrapped my shaking arms around myself. “And don’t you cross your arms at me!” No, that’s not-

“I-I’m not, I-I-” But I couldn’t stop her, not anymore.

“When you were growing up, I told you not to lie or steal, and you didn’t listen. Then it became a matter of survival- whatever!” I anxiously nibbled my finger as she continued, “Then, you murdered someone, lied to the authorities, and you wanted to celebrate! I tell you to make some friends, and you become the town menace! How do you think that made me feel!?” Tears were pouring down her face, and I kept feeling like I wanted to run away. “That night before the Gala when you told me that you could’ve… could’ve…” She finally couldn’t take it anymore; with a couple sniffles, she buried her face in my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me. I just let her calm herself down while I tried to let my own anxiety attack pass. After some time and several deep breaths had passed, I finally asked-

“Why… why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her, my voice cracking terribly. “I-I never meant to hurt youuuu!” I moved to cover my face when Mamma grabbed my shoulders and let me cry into her arms instead. “I have it all under cont- hic! Control, no-nothing would’ve happened!”

Clack!

I heard my wooden leg tip over from where it was leaning against the railing, making that loud noise.

“I suppose your leg was all according to plan? What about your beak?” The look in her eyes, once stern, turned wide with shock as though she only just now realized what she said. I just sat there frozen in utter shock. I tried to hold it in, fuck did I try- but despite my efforts, I was about to go from just feeling like shit to full on ugly crying, and I hated it.

“I-I didn’t-” She threw her arms around me and pulled me close, and I lost my composure then and there.

“I’M SORRY!” I screamed into her chest, “I-I didn’t wanna-”

“I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!” Mamma yelled, realizing just how much pain I was in. “I-I’m sorry, baby! Please, I didn’t mean i-it!” She was crying too, and I finally had enough.

“W-why… Why didn’t you say you were hurt!?” I half yelled, and I felt her shrug shakily.

“Because I’m your mother!” She yelled, squeezing me as tight as she could. “I refused to burden you with my problems!” She sounded full of resolve, and it broke my heart.

“Mamma, please! I want you to!” I forced myself back, and we locked our red, puffy eyes together. “You can’t just keep taking on everyone else's problems! It’s not healthy!”

“I-I can’t, I-” she was nervously glancing around, and I was having none of it.

“Mamma. Please.” I forced myself to calm down, gave her a faint smile and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

After a solid few moments of eye contact, she sighed. “Leona, I tried teaching you good morals, and you did the exact opposite. You kept getting yourself in more and more dangerous situations against my wishes!” She explained, regret in her voice. “Then I see you want Anastasia to walk that same path, and I… I just… it’s terrifying!” Her gaze kept glancing towards my leg stump, and I couldn’t help but sigh. I took her hand and our gazes met.

“You think I’ve been careless?” As I realized what had her so concerned, I couldn’t help but feel awash with melancholy. “I’ve spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Boys and men can be careless, but not us women; otherwise, there’d be no one to keep the men in line.” She flashed me a brief smirk, and I smiled. I turned to look out towards the night sky, her hand still in mine.

“I’ve almost died, more times than I care to admit.” I heard her gasp, and before I knew it, both arms were wrapped around my side. I just moved my arm out of the way and continued, “That man who disfigured my face, he bludgeoned me when I wasn’t looking; he dragged me into an alley and tried to rape me. I shot him, and he’s in Hell now.” I just shrugged and said, “It is what it is, what can you do?”

I looked down, and I saw her immediately open her mouth- but after a few moments, she closed it shut. Then she said- “What, you’re… are you, uh…”

“Fine?” She nodded and I said, “I suppose. I hate that ugly scar he gave me, but, again, what can ya’ do?” I shrugged with a smirk, “I knew there was always a chance of death or otherwise, but look where we are now!” I gestured around the yard and said, “Where would we be if I hadn’t been making calculated risks since day one?”

She shrugged, looking like she was absorbed in thought. “Bottom line is, this is the life I’ve chosen for myself. It suits me, and I’m good at it.” With a shaky hand, I brought a cigarette up to my mouth, lighting it and taking a deep drag to let Mamma think for a moment. I then spoke in a somewhat hushed tone, saying “What was the alternative? Spend the rest of my life working for some jagoff, going home and having to worry about bills and food like the rest of the suckers? And don’t even bring up Dee’s money- if I didn’t promise her the world, she probably would’ve left me long ago. I’d have been a stay-at-home wife and a massive drunk, just like Gramma.” And Dee probably would’ve gone on to become pony Ted Bundy after the divorce.

“No, that’s not…” With an abrupt huff, she said- “Just because Anastasia doesn’t mind learning where the meat comes from, doesn’t mean I’m okay with it!” Immediately catching her meaning, I nodded.

“I get it. I’m sorry, I… I just assumed you didn’t take issue with it.” What she means is, despite enjoying the life of luxury I’ve given her, she feels conflicted on what it took to get to this point, as well as the inherent danger of this line of work. “I was just… so proud of my baby today! What she did was incredible for someone her age! I mean, I couldn’t-” She gave me a glare, gritting her beak subtly- a look that when I give to someone else, it usually means you might wanna rethink your words. And fuck me, it worked. “Alright, fine! I won’t fill you in on stuff like that!”

Thwap!

…Always with the wing…

“Leona Grimfeather!” She exclaimed, and I had to choke back my sigh of resignation, lest it be falsely interpreted as back talk. “I don’t want Anastasia getting in any fights! Am I clear?” She asked, huffing and crossing her arms. I gave her a warm smile, holding my hands out; which, after a few moments, she took in hers.

“I’ll talk to her tonight, Ma.” She blinked, almost seeming surprised. “You don’t wanna risk her getting hurt, I get it now.” I gave her a sigh, looking off to the side. “She has her bodyguards. Why risk it?” As though a weight had been lifted off her shoulder, she breathed a sigh of relief, and I wrapped my arms around her.

“Thanks, sweetie.” She sighed, pulling back with a warm smile. “I just want her to be safe. That’s all.”

“Same goes for you.” I said, with a smug grin. “Ace said you were bangin’ cocktail waitresses two at a time?” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mamma look this red. She started sputtering out an explanation, and I just raised a hand to stop her.

“Look. It’s none of my business what you do for fun. I’m just asking you to lay off, is all. It’s not healthy.” She huffed and scoffed at me,

“Are you saying I have a problem?” She pointed defensively, and I just shrugged.

“No, I never said that!” I giggled, throwing a wing around her back and looking forward, “I mean, it’s not like you tried hosting a fuckin’ hooker orgy or some other depraved shit, right?” I heard her nervous laughter and I had to suppress a smirk. “One at a time, that’s all I’m saying. Save some for everyone else.” After a few moments, she nodded rapidly.

“Good.” I said, tossing my cigarette and strapping my fallen leg back on. I turned to her and said, “I was talking to Adrian, and he was telling me his mother hosts a poker night every saturday. They’re actually down a player, been looking for ages!” She cocked an eyebrow, probably wondering how this was relevant. “I mean it could be fun. You and a few other ladies your age just hanging out, you know?” As I was lacing the straps to my leg, Mamma snapped herself out of it.

“Oh, that’s uh… Sylvia? That’s her name, right?” I nodded, pulling a pencil and paper out of my coat pocket and jotting her number down.

“Give her a call! Seriously!” I said, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her on the cheek. “Now I gotta head down, make sure any of the evening patrols know to keep their mouth shut. See ya!” When I shut the door behind me, I clutched my chest and breathed a sigh of relief. “Gotta talk to Annie…” I muttered to myself, somewhat listlessly.

—

A lone griffon woman sat in her private ocean liner cabin, laying on the aged cot and staring listlessly at the tacky, musty wallpaper. She checked her cheap tin pocket watch, tapping the glass to once again unstick the minute hand.

“Fuck it. It’s been long enough.” She jumped off the tattered cot and leaned a chair against the door, just in case. On the side hidden by the wall, there was a thin tear along the side. She reached in, and after a few moments of digging around, she pulled out a thin wooden box. Within it was a scroll, the red wax sealing it was stamped with no special markings.

She was extra careful with it as she transferred it to the rough wooden reading desk. The lamp, covered in small rust spots flickered annoyingly until she rapped her knuckle against the bulb. With a deep breath, she held the wax up to the lightbulb, slightly melting the seal, just enough to peel it off easily.

She had ten minutes to study all the information held within. It contained everything she needed to know; where she’d be staying, her cover story, collaborators and corroborators, her task at hand, and most importantly; her new identity.

As far as anyone was concerned, her name was now Sybille Delapore, nicknamed “Syl” by her friends; and after she’s built up a decent amount of connections and becomes known, her job was thus; The Don’s wife, Diamond Tiara, recently had a job position close to her open up, as a personal assistant. This would allow her to get close to the family and reach her ultimate goal; find out any and all possible information surrounding some Project Starfall.

There was one more thing on the letter; within the small protective case was an amulet, being a silver shield design, inlaid with a tiny vial of liquid within red glass. Unscrewing the very miniscule stopper revealed a small potion within, smelling faintly of almonds. It was an emergency potion- if she was ever found out, she was to drink the potion and wait a few moments. Once it hits her stomach, according to the letter, she would be teleported back to Canterlot for questioning.

The letter was signed with no name, simply saying Good luck, Agent G. Your Princesses depend on you! And with that, the letter burst into flames, leaving only miniscule ash behind.

With a deep breath, she put the amulet around her neck and walked to the mirror.

“Hi! My name’s Syl. I just moved here from Manehattan, and I wanted to introduce myself!” She practiced her neighborly greeting in the mirror; after all, she couldn’t waste precious seconds not practicing her new identity.

—

“Anastasia?” I mumbled, knocking on her door. “I wanna talk.” Immediately, the commotion within died down as Annie told Daisy to quiet down. She stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. “I’m gonna keep this short and simple. If you ever get in a fight, don’t tell Gramma. Got it?”

After a few moments, she blinked and nodded. “Okay, Mamma!” I couldn’t help but smile, throwing an arm around her.

“Atta Girl. I’m proud of you, don’t you forget it!”

I have a discord server for this fic out now!! It'd be real cool if u joined :333

Amelia has been sent to horny jail. Sad! She made her bones when you were still goin' out with cheerleaders!

As always, thanks so much for reading! Likes and comments are always greatly appreciated :3