Hello Kessandra (Patreon)

It was 8 in the evening when Kessandra cupped her wings and glided to a landing on the balcony of a two-story brownstone house in my Equestria dreamscape. Reaching into the front pouch of her panniers she removed her keys and unlocked the door to her unlit bedroom.

    Stepping inside she closed door and drew the curtains closed. Funny she could've sworn she'd closed them this morning when she had left. Removing her panniers she deposited them on the bed. She didn't bother turning on the gas lamp in the hallway as she headed out to the dimly lit kitchen area.

     She had turned down an invite to dine with the head of the archeology department so she could work on organizing her research data for her treatise. It had taken months of wrangling, letter writing, proposal submissions, and general academic arm twisting but she'd finally gotten the University to agree to funding the publication of her book. This she hoped would be landmark treatise in Equestria that would for the first time document the evolution of pony/griffin relations from a griffin viewpoint.

    Going to the kitchen she opened the icebox and retrieved the final two slices of mushroom cheese quiche and bowl of red grapes. She also fished out a bottle sparkling water.

    Ah leftovers! The typical dinner for graduate students and young professors. Thought the griffin as she carried her meal to the parlor room. Kessandra did very little large scale entertaining so she'd converted parlor room into her library and research office. Like the rest of the house her office was enveloped in shadows. However the moment she entered the room she could tell that something was amiss. Even in the darkness she could see that someone other than her had been in this room. Filing cabinet drawers were open, and the dimness she could see that numerous files from the cabinet were now scattered across her work desk.

    Slowly setting her dinner down on a nearby she end table the griffin stepped into the room and lit the oil lamp on the work desk. Turning up the lamp only made the situation more confusing. Not only were there files from her cabinet that she knew had not been there this morning, but numerous scrapbooks and photo albums of her's were now stacked on her desk. Evening her personal diaries were now congregated there!

     Kessandra felt her pulse quicken. An immediate scan of the room hinted that nothing had been stolen and it appeared that who had been here hadn't ransacked the place. But who was interested in breaking into her house to read the notes to her graduate thesis?

     “Hello Kessandra.” Said a familiar voice behind her. Before she could spin around she was struck by a bolt of magic. Staggering she turned to see Corporal Trotter standing in the entrance to the parlor. He wasn't wearing his plate armor but he was in a regulation tunic. He was staring at her with an odd smirk on his face.

    The griffin started to call out but then didn't. It just seemed to be too trouble to do. She contemplated fleeing, but that would be so much effort. No she just stood there as the unicorn slowly walked up to her.

    “You are a very, very interesting and complicated individual Kessandra.” Said the corporal. “And myself and a couple of my friends very much want to learn everything we can about you.”

    Part of the griffin's mind wanted to fight the effects of the spell, but in the end she found herself nodding her head.
    “Yes.” She said woodenly. “What would you like to know?”

    The corporal was now standing in front her. His lips pulled back revealing far more pointy teeth than one would expect from a pony. “Everything.” Hissed the unicorn.

    Kessandra noticed that her and the corporal were no longer alone in the room. Two other figures were now standing behind the corporal. They were apparently just outside the lamp because they were just black, gaunt pony-like silhouettes. Although she found it odd that their eyes were glowing a cool green color.

    “Kessandra. Let's talk about things.” She now found herself staring at an identical copy of herself.

To be continued.