It was official, Reman hated royalty. Not in the 'Behead and display on a spear' meaning, more of the 'Annoying meddler of affairs they have no business in' way. Really, why did Celestia see fit to provide the Elements false information? The Imperial suddenly realized he'd been asked a question, and had remained silent for a good five minutes.

“No, softwood floors do not weaken lycans.” That had to have been the strangest weakness he'd ever heard of. Was that even funny? He'd never understand this world's humor.

“If that information was false, what else was?” Twilight asked.

“You're talking to the wrong man about that, I wasn't here, I have no idea what you were told.” The Princess of the Day seemed to have a desire for practical jokes, and Reman hoped it wouldn't persist. “Glade, what did you say, without using the notes?”

“Just the monthly transformation and lycanthropy being transmitted by bites, but nothing else.” Glade didn't like being tricked, if it was Celestia's doing, she would have shrugged it off as one of the Princess' harmless pranks. But the lycan mare noticed Reman's annoyance at the situation, and Glade felt the hooves of somepony else involved in this. For a revenge scheme, Glade felt Rose could have done better, anything would have been more damaging than faking information.

“Why would anypony willingly give false information to us?” Rarity, as Reman recalled her name, asked.

“Ah don' know, but somethin' tells me this ain't just some joke.” The farmer replied. Out of all of them, Applejack had been the first to earn a foothold in the Imperial's eyes, Reman valued hardworking individuals.

“You think somepony wanted to hurt us?” Fluttershy was back to her timid self, and her voice was barely audible.

“Glade, could you give me the notes, please?” Reman needed to check something. Glade handed the note cards to her fellow lycan, who began analyzing them immediately. That was odd, the writing didn't match Celestia's or Luna's, the calligraphy was too forced. The notes themselves were useless, the information they provided was completely false, even down to the basics. But Reman noticed something was wrong with them, other than their written contents. “No, nobody is trying to hurt anyone.”

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked, noticing the look of recognition on the Imperial's face. Reman cracked a smile, friendly and good natured, as though he thought this whole ordeal was one big joke that Fate decided to play on him.

“Twilight, I'll tell you in the morning, after breakfast.” Despite his excited state, the Imperial was tired. “It's getting late, the sun set hours ago.” It seemed some of them agreed, Applejack and Dash both yawned, and Fluttershy's eyes were half-lidded.

“I think we deserve some actual answers.” Twilight did not like somepony dodging her questions.

“Miss Sparkle, you'll get your answers in the morning.” Reman wasn't actually tired enough to sleep, sitting down would have provided enough rest, he just wanted an excuse to get rid of the other Elements. “For now, sleep is the best option.”

“Twi', ah have to agree, it's late.” Applejack headed for the door. “Bye everypony.” The others, excluding the obvious two, replied with the same. Dash and Rarity followed suit, each giving their own good night wishes.

“Bye-bye, mister friendly monster!” Pinkie was bouncing towards the doors, but stopped an looked Reman in the eye. “I hope we can meet up again sometime!” The little ball of energy was smiling wide enough to break the jaws of lesser beings. “I hope we can really soon!” that last bit was emphasized in such a way that brought chills to the Imperial. In a flash, the pink party pony was gone.

“I can't believe Rainbow forgot to mention, but we're scheduled for snow tomorrow.” Fluttershy was finally somewhat comfortable around the Imperial, enough that she no longer lost her voice. “Dress warmly, I don't want anypony getting sick.” Fluttershy left with a small 'goodnight'.

The remaining three stood in silence for a few moments. Twilight let out a breath, her form visibly deflated. The day's stress had worn her out, and her bed called. Glade yawned, halfway knowing sleep wouldn't help much.

“Twilight, where is your bathroom?” Glade asked, remembering her thoughts from earlier.

“Upstairs, first door on the right.” Twilight was still looking at Reman. The Imperial found her lack of faith in him disturbing, the Princesses had both attested to his noble intentions, why did she not believe it? Twilight didn't look angry, her expression was one of... curiosity, fascination? There was still annoyance, but the amount had diminished.

“So, Miss Sparkle,” Reman began.

“Just Twilight, please.”

“All right then, Twilight.” Reman shifted his eyes to the door behind the Unicorn, it smelled like a kitchen. “Who else is here?”

“Excuse me?” Twilight had no idea what he was talking about.

“That door behind you closed earlier, without anyone touching it.” Reman started walking, his bare feet silent as he approached the kitchen door. As Reman placed his hand on the knob, he checked the hinges, it opened towards him. In a flash, the door flew open, and the Imperial caught sight of something ducking behind a counter.

Something green and purple.

@#@#@#@#@#@

Glade settled into her bath, sinking until only her head remained out of the bubbly water. It felt wonderful to relax, the steaming water released every bit of tension her body held. Glade brought her foreleg out, she'd have to bleach her coat again, its original color was starting to show through. For the first time since her infection, the lycan Pegasus had the chance to get a closer look at herself.

Her muscles had hardened, they bulged out slightly more than before. A quick flew showed just how much they'd changed. Her body was certainly curvier, if she was looking for a relationship that would have been great news. But for Glade, that just meant she'd have to get her armor refitted after this little adventure was over. Glade wondered if Reman had gone under a similar change after his infection. What did he look like before he became a lycan?

A better question was if the Princess take her back after this. She knew from Rose's mirror pool that the odds of getting cured were low. So what happened if they failed? Would she be forced to retire, or work in some cramped office in the castle? Would she be sent to Nirn with Reman? The descriptions of the Imperial's home had both intrigued and frightened the Pegasus. A whole world just like the Everfree Forest, for some reason it was kind of appealing, even though Glade was raised on scary stories of the accursed place.

What happened to Reman after he changed? Glade knew he must have done something before he became a lycan. Rose said the Imperial's brother was a guard for their Emperor, but nothing about Reman himself. Glade flexed her wings in frustration, the powerful limbs caused a large ripple in the bathwater. Of course those would get an upgrade, it didn't make sense for a predator to be slower than its prey, stronger wings meant a faster Pegasus.

Glade scrubbed and actually washed quickly. Exiting the tub she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her mane was longer, her eyes sharper, even her wings were bigger. She approached the reflecting glass to continue her earlier inspection. Her manes color was showing through as well, Rarity probably had some blue dye she could use. Glade smiled to get a closer look at her teeth, just what she expected to find. They were much sharper, a nice mix of cut and grinding, the teeth of an omnivore, but those canines looked more like fangs to her. Overall, Glade looked intimidating, primal, predatory... feral. She smiled at the mirror and gave her best seductive purr.

Laughing at her own joke, Glade shook her head and dried herself.

#@#@#@#@#@#

That wasn't a pony, unless they had a sub-race with scales, Argonian ponies? Green and purple were unusual colors in the natural world for anything other than insects, but that was too big for a harmless bug. Reman was going to use his original theory.

“Twilight, what was that?”

“That was Spike, he's my assistant.” So it was a scaled pony. The idea didn't seem so farfetched anymore.

“Well, you have Unicorns and Pegasi here, I guess scaled ponies make sense.”

“Spike's not a pony.” Reman gave Twilight a curious look. The mare felt the need to explain, “Spike's a dragon, ponies don't have scales.” Dragon, Twilight said that, right? Equestria had dragons? Reman had seen what that black one had done to Helgen. Barely anyone survived; just a handful of Imperial and Stormcloak soldiers, plus a kid or two, and that pair that headed towards Riverwood. Quite the butcher's bill for one creature, in one day. Reman wanted no part of that

“I think it's best we avoided one another for the time being.” Reman said as he closed the door. “Dragon's are a little scary this time of night.” Twilight giggled at him

“Spike's a baby dragon. He won't hurt you, or anypony else for that matter.” That did nothing for the Imperial, to him it just meant there was pissed off dragon looking for its pup. “Really, I think you two might get along,” Twilight opened the door with her magic, “Spike, come on out, Reman won't hurt you.”

“Not a chance,” Came a voice from inside a cabinet.

“What he said.” Reman gave in a flat tone. The two just needed to avoid one another, simplicity itself. A hinge creaked upstairs, Glade had finished her bath. She fluttered down from the second floor, ignoring the stairs completely. The lycan mare's mane and tail hung limply, not dripping, but still wet, she was smiling.

“I miss anything?”

“Reman and Spike are scared of each other.” Twilight sounded annoyed, but not as mush as the Imperial and dragon looked. Spike had actually brought his head out of hiding to express his displeasure, it was needless to say that Reman was in a similar state.

“I am not.” The two males said in unison. They looked at each other, “Huh. That was weird.” They both blinked, “Stop that.” They were still speaking at the same time. “Seriously, quit it, its getting on my nerves.” The two boys turned from each other with a grunt. Reman shook his head.

“Glade, hold down the fort, I’m going to bathe.” The Imperial made his way up the stairs, remembering to grab his backpack for a change of clothes.

“You got it.” Glade said with a mock salute. Once Reman had closed the door, she turned to Twilight. “Seriously, he's scared of the little guy?” Glade started laughing, the thought of something that gig afraid of baby was too much.

@#@#@#@#@#@

Reman looked at himself in the mirror. Faint, pale lines marked where Glade's claws had sliced his chest. What caused their caustic effect on his flesh? Only silver should have done that, the very thought agitated the still healing wounds on his back. Thankfully, in the case of Glade's claw,the effect faded after transforming, otherwise he would have needed those stitches.

The Imperial turned towards the bathtub, he knew what it was, of course. The Dwemer had running baths, even showers, but they only had one knob: hot. Twilight's bath had two, and this fact led to much confusion in the lycan. Neither was labeled or colored in any way, and the Imperial studied it like a spell tome, trying to make the best guess on which one to turn.

He sat next to the tap, and made his choice. Reman picked the knob on the right, and was instantly rewarded with a blast of cold water. Hissing, he closed it, and turned the left one. This time the water was steaming hot, the perfect temperature for thinking. Reman smiled, he realized he'd done all the thinking he needed to.

Oh yes, the lycan knew who made the notes. The writing wasn't a help, though. There was no secret message coded into the words. Really, it had been the paper. It was perfumed, very faintly, one would have to look for the scent to find it. The message it sent wasn't one of spite, but of comfort. The sender intended to give Reman some good news, someone was looking out for him. The last time he'd gotten this sort of message, it was delivered by the same means, with the same calling card.

The pages smelled like roses.

#@#@#@#@#@#

Fun fact: There is a High Rock, Alabama

It seems like everyone soul-searches while bathing