Pascale wasn't sure what to really expect from the day but she wasn't too unhappy to find that Princess Twinkle had come to visit her this early in the morning. Pascale had barely even managed to grab a cup of coffee and sit on the first floor break room of her library home before Princess Twinkle just walked right in. It wasn't long before Princess Twinkle had grabbed a cup of coffee and sat across from Pascale, the difference being that Princess Twinkle added plenty of sugar and cream to her cup while Pascale kept hers black.

For a moment the two of them sat in silence before Pascale offered a tired smile. "Good morning, my princess."

Princess Twinkle smiled in return. "It is a good morning, isn't it? Well I suppose it always is when I'm around."

Pascale added. "It always is when your- oh, you said it before I could."

Princess Twinkle giggled. "So, how are you doing this morning?"

Pascale shrugged. "It's going to be a bit of a slow day I think."

"Isn't it always? There's honestly not much use for a library out in a hamlet like this."

That was unfortunately a point that Pascale had to concede on. She could shut the library down for the entire day and it was likely no one would even notice. So she wasn't sure what she was going to do besides clean and organize again. "Well slow means I get a chance to clean."

"Good," Princess Twinkle said as she leaned back. "The third floor really needs a good cleaning. It's a bit messy up there."

Pascale was not feeling up for that challenge yet. She simply drank her coffee in relative silence. "Yeah, I guess so."

Princess Twinkle then added, "Have you eaten breakfast?"

Pascale lied. "Yes, Princess. This is my second cup of coffee as well." the last part was true. This was her second cup of coffee. "How have you been doing today?"

Princess Twinkle's eyes sparkled. "Oh my, I've been wonderful. The merchant is in town again, and I sent Snowflake out to go and get me some more of those wonderful Xogz."

Xogz Milkcaps, the wonderful collectible pieces of circular cardboard with creative art designs on them. Usually of something a bit cute or grotesque and sometimes both. Of course they were highly collectible and the various games one could play with them were all pretty fun. The most recent Xogz Milkcaps were taking storm of course no one used the full name usually just saying Xogz instead. An odd thing to note was that even a single Xogz still had the 'z' at the end. Something about that making it more extreme.

"I have a few of those myself," Pascale stated. "In fact I think everyone does, I know for a fact that Blue is really into them."

Princess Twinkle smiled. "Oh she is, is she? Perhaps I should invite her over some time to play with me. I really fancy this new Xogz game they came out with. adding dice to the already random formula just adds extra fun."

Honestly Pascale had to disagree, as she felt the random aspect didn't add anything to the game at all. It did help break ties she figured but it was still not great. She preferred games with more tactics and thought behind them. Things like the monster catcher card game, but that was still not very popular here in the hamlet, Xogz on the other hand had exploded the world over. Whoever was in charge of them was an insane genius.

Princess Twinkle took a long drink of her coffee in silence before speaking again. "Pascale, have you heard of the Dream Factory?"

Pascale's heart skipped a beat. Just hearing the name of a place associated with so much darkness and horror was enough to put her on edge. "I have."

"Recently I've been going through the old records in the castle. I might have found a good hint at where its location is. One of them was built somewhere near Pleasant Falls after all, should I find it, I will require your help."

Pascale gave a quick nod. "I'll be there to help when you need me. Anytime you need me."

The Princess clapped her hands together. "Good! Now let's get back to the important topic on hand. Xogz, I do so adore them."

There was never anything quite like listening to the magical sound of Princess Twinkle's voice. Even if Pascale didn't share her passion for these cardboard circles, she did love to hear that voice. This was going to be a good morning after all.

***

Blue had saved up enough gold from her job to finally get to do the one thing she looked forward to every week. Or at least it was the one thing she looked forward to every week until the past year or so where someone had been getting there first. Getting there first and being very selfish about it if she might add.

Blue stood in front of the market stall looking up at the dragon which was as large as a truck. The dragon had the classic green scales one may imagine when thinking of dragons, and he was the one in charge of bringing various goods by. He shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Blue, it would seem your too late again. This time I don't have a single pack left I'm afraid."

Blue felt her heart dying inside. "But, but Mister Shine, I want to buy some Xogz too!"

He shook his head once more. "I'm sorry, Blue. Between dealing with my daughter trying to kidnap a date, and these things getting more popular, my claws are tied. There are no more packs of Xogz available. I have packs of Monster Catcher Cards on sale though."

She lowered her head in defeat. "They're not the same... it's okay. I'll c-come back next week."

It was another letdown to hear there were no more Xogz available, this had happened before, even though Mister Shine was usually good about keeping a single pack behind for her, sometimes that just wasn't possible, but she was going to have to live with that. If only she could find out who was going there before her and buying all of them she would ask them very politely to stop, at gunpoint if need be. Getting on her bike, a modified bicycle using excess parts from the lift project to make its motor, she took off back down the dirt road toward home. She may not have any new Xogz, but she had friends who could still play with her, or trade with her. Her collection was still far from complete but her goal was to one day have a complete collection of them. She had to find 'em all.

Going back toward the hamlet she did recall asking Jade to show up for a lunch in an hour or so at the Trapped Gobbler. This gave her some time to spend. So with that in mind, she figured she would ask other two friends to join her as well. After all what was a lunch in if it wasn't filled with friends, friends who all had Xogz. Friends with which she could trade for more Xogz.

After all at least one of them had to have the one she was looking for. Cyber Bunbun, the cyborg bunny. The rarity of Xogs were colored by the rings on the outside of the Xog, white being common, green common rare, blue uncommon, purple rare, orange super rare, and then black and gold for secret rare. Cyber Bunbun was an orange rarity, so super rare, but not secret rare meaning she was capable of at least trying to find one. But she'd have to see if any of her friends were lucky enough to have gotten one.

Riding her bike around the late and past the houses nearby she saw a few kobolds doing chores, cleaning laundry, a few kids playing, and even a sparring match between two kobold males. The latter of which she was almost intrigued enough to stop and watch. Of course that might incur the risk of talking to people so it was better to ignore it.

Going up the hill that would wind its way around to the top of the cliff where both the library and the castle stood she drove her way to the library first. That was going to be her first stop. Jade already agreed to the little lunch but she wasn't entirely aware of Blue's plan more than likely. Blue wasn't very good at explaining her plans, Jade did however understand the words, food, diner, twelve o clock, and Xogz.

Turning toward the library she could see it. The strange structure was three stories tall and shaped like three books not so evenly stacked on top of one another. It was a really peaceful place to go visit and with all the books there, Blue was free to research whatever bits of mechanical knowledge she needed whenever she needed it. Of course no one was allowed to go to the third floor, and after the last time Gray was on the second floor, and started the big fight with Pascale the librarian, the second floor was almost entirely off limits too.

Speaking of Gray, Blue watched as Gray flew lazily through the sky. Her red clothes and gray scales leaving a trail of gray and red stripes before her as she was flying high, high in the sky at speeds that were impossible to imagine. In fact she was lazily drifting downward. Then the drift turned into a sharp decline. And then Blue began shouting for Gray to stop. Gray flew past her with so much speed it kicked up a cloud of dirt in her wake and then the sound of glass shattering was heard along with a loud crash. Looking over she saw one of the windows on the first floor was destroyed again.

Blue let out a sigh. Gray really needed to work on her landings. Sure she was fast, but speed meant nothing if you'd just crash into things when trying to land. Blue pulled up to the library and slowed to a stop as she listened in and heard a flurry of swear words so impolite she dared not to repeat them herself.

Blue parked her bike, went to the front door and opened it. Inside she saw a pile of books with a gray wing, arm, and tail sticking out of it. Pascale stood there in her usual red robes with her hands on her hips and glaring daggers at the pile of books. "Why? What is wrong with you? This is a library, not a landing pad, or crashing pad in your case! Why do this to me?"

Gray's arm twitched in response.

Blue walked inside fully and cleared her throat. "Um, P-Pascale, Gray?"

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Pascale's head jerked toward her. "Yes?"

Gray jumped out of the pile flinging books everywhere and then gave Blue a playful grin. "Yo, what's up my lizard."

Pascale glared at her. "If you weren't my friend, I'd hurt you right now. Like really, really bad."

Gray waved a hand. "Aw, come on. Don't be such a prude."

"You broke my Dragon Damned window again! How is that being a prude?"

Gray shrugged. "I dunno, you're the prude so why don't you tell me?"

The way Pascale's eye twitched sent warning flairs running through Blue's mind. Blue needed to divert and pivot the conversation immediately. "H-hey, I'm um, I'm having lunch in an hour. I wanted to play some Xogz and spend time with my friends. Would you two like to join me at the diner?"

Gray nodded. "Sure, I can bring my collection of Xogs."

Pascale nodded. "I suppose I will as well."

Princess Twinkle appeared from a nearby door. "Oh, oh pick me!"

Blue pointed a finger at her. "Y-you?"

"Yes!" Princess Twinkle fist pumped. "I would love to join you for a lunch. I will bring some of those little Xogz you seem so excited by too. It'll be a real girl powwow."

Gray gave her a strange look. "Isn't a Pow wow like, some kind human show where they get naked and fight?"

Pascale shook her head. "First of all its spelled as one word, second of all, it is actually an event that shakes the earth and does so much damage that people feel the pow, and then say wow."

Blue blinked. "I... I thought it was a gathering of ponies. Something to do with dancing, friendship, and cultural sharing. Oh and sillyweed."

Both Pascale and Gray began laughing.

Gray said, "Oh, yeah? And why would it have the word 'pow' in there? Like seriously, no violence and colorful ponies? That's rich."

Pascale was laughing harder. "That's just adorable. You're so sweet sometimes."

Blue's ears were burning. She was so humiliated. She wasn't convinced either of them were right, but she wasn't going to argue now. Not after being laughed at so much. She lowered her head and turned to leave. At the very least she was able to get out of there without further embarrassment. She hopped on her bike and was about to leave when Princess Twinkle walked out and joined her.

"P-princess?"

Princess Twinkle smiled down at her. "I just wanted to say thank you for inviting me. I know I'm the best princess, but that can be intimidating sometimes. So it means a lot your letting me join in on your little group activity. We're friends after all right?"

Blue smiled up at her. "Of c-course we are."

The genuine heartfelt smile that Princess Twinkle gave her was worth all the sugar cookies in the entire kingdom. A crash sounded from inside and she let out a sigh. "You know I should probably stop them before they break each other's bones again." She shook her head slowly. "At least it's better than in the capital."

Blue looked up at her. "It is?"

"Well take the Dragon Guard for example. Only way to join that that is to kill your opponent in the final test. If you can't do that, you can't join. And honestly I am disgusted with how such barbaric practices are still in practice. Still, it's better than the Dream Factories."

"What's a Dream Factory?"

"A thing that was shut down a long time ago and should stay shut down for the rest of eternity. Now go on, be a happy little go lucky kobold and be free."

Blue smiled at that and drove her bike out of there leaving the Princess to deal with the two rough and tumble kobolds inside. She was content that she could take care of that mess. Surely.

Traveling down the road was a simple and quiet journey but it was one she enjoyed. Sometimes she would just take her vehicle out along the dirt roads and attempt to get lost for a while. She still had some time to kill so she was going to do just that. Explore the wonders of the woods to the east and hope she could find something interesting or fun. Or at least something that would remind her of home back when it wasn't burned to the ground.

There were few things in this world that she Blue could say she hated. Lots of things that scared her, but few she hated. Those things included human poachers, fire, and memories. None of which had any bearing her journey along the dirt roads in the woods. No, just fresh air, wind, and freedom here.

She drove on for some time before realizing she was going to end up getting halfway to the nearby town if she kept going on like this. Turning around she decided to head back. It was time to return after all. She had set up a lunch date and she refused to be late for it. Especially if Princess Twinkle was going to join. She was really excited for that, after all Princess Twinkle being there, how very exciting. She wondered if the Princess liked Xogz as much as Blue did.

The ride back was quiet for the most part, but she realized she was really pushing it for the time frame she had planned. Well it was her day off and she wanted to enjoy it, but not to the extent that she kept her friends waiting on her. She sped up a little hoping to get there sooner. Like all of life's greatest hiccups, things had to take a turn for the worst then.

Something moved from the side of the road and Blue had only a moment to react as something huge ran toward her. She caught sight of shiny metal, four legs, and an open maw filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. She slowed down just in time as it ran past her going in the opposite direction, but it changed direction to head up the road in the same direction she did. Looking at it she recognized the monstrosity.

It was made out of shiny chrome metal, its four limbs carried it in impossible speeds with claws tearing up pieces of earth beneath it as it went. Its body was roughly shaped like that of a panther or a tiger, and just as big as her motorcycle. Its head had no eyes, just a smooth rounded piece where eyes should be. This was a quickling.

She slowed down to a stop and let the thing continue running past her for a good twenty or thirty feet before it too stopped and turned to face her. Normally these monsters traveled in small packs, but looking at this one, she could tell it had been wounded by something fearsome. Chunks of its metallic flesh had been chipped off oozing silver blood down its sides. Its head piece was cracked as well. It was still deadly, possibly mad with pain, and very deadly, but it might very well be alone.

She wasn't one to travel unprepared though. Blue put her hand down on the handle built into the front of her bike and pulled back on it. The handle pulled out to reveal a pistol. The pistol in question had a wooden handle, and its metal sides adorned with various gems and gears. The pistol itself wouldn't do much against this thing, but when she slid the pistol back into its built in holster there was a clicking sound and on either side of the front of her bike a gun barrel rolled out of the side from a secret compartment and locked into place.

Oh yes, she was prepared. After all a woman could never have too many guns on her bike.

The Quickling pawed at the earth and lowered its head. She revved her engines. For a moment it felt like time stood still, like nothing was going to happen. Then the quickling charged forward, she sped up toward it. Her hand still firmly on her gun. The Quickling got closer, twenty feet, then fifteen, then ten, finally five. She pulled the trigger and both barrels exploded with hot fiery rounds that slammed home into the Quicklings metallic flesh. Most of the rounds bounced off but a few found the chinks in its armor and slunk in making the Quickly divert off its path while howling in pain. The Quickling's head nudged the side of her bike, and there was just enough force to knock her bike off to the side of the road.

Blue managed to avoid crashing but only by stopping dead in a ditch filled with weeds and rocks. It was going to take too much time to get her bike out of here so she pulled her pistol back out and climbed up the side of the road to look once more at the Quickling who was stumbling around to come face her. More of its silver blood was oozing out over its side. She aimed her pistol as she backed away slowly. At this point she was out of plans, but she wasn't going to let some metal monster be the death of her, no she'd survived far worse than whatever this thing could dish out.

It ushered a challenging roar and came running at her. She aimed her pistol. The monster had been slowed significantly now, but was still fast enough to make it hard to outrun, she either needed to wound it further or kill it. Her lone pistol wasn't enough to penetrate its armor but maybe it didn't have to be. The thing had plenty of open wounds and she could easily take advantage of those.

Just as it grew close she felt it. Something changed in its demeanor. It tried to slow down. A gray and red blur raced past her and slammed into the quickling with such force that the thing was lifted up off the ground as its head piece cracked further still and it landed onto its back twitching but otherwise motionless. There stood Gray, in her hands she held a spear which was outstretched as she eyed the beast dangerously but otherwise didn't move.

After a few seconds Gray let out a sigh and then lowered her spear to look back at Blue. "You idiot. Why did you come out this far all by yourself?"

Blue walked past her and toward the fallen monster. "I had this."

"No, you didn't. You were about to be eaten. What are you do-"

Blue raised her pistol toward the quicklings head, pulled the trigger three times, each bullet going through the cracks that had been created from the impact of Gray's spear and the thing spasmed before falling limp once and forever. Blue turned back to face Gray. "I had this."

Gray dropped her spear, snarled at her with a hiss and threw her arm forward. Gray's fist connected with Blue's cheek and Blue was sent flying back over the dead quickling and then into the dirt road. Blue stared up at her in surprise and shock.

Gray was spitting with her words. "WHY DID YOU KILL IT?"

Blue realized her potential mistake. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take your kill."

Gray picked up her spear and her hands clenched around it so tightly the knuckles turned white. "It was unconscious! You could have just left it alone. It's hurt and scared, it's not evil! You just murdered it you, you, you scaly bitch!"

Blue's eyes widened. Was Gray not going to kill it? But, it was a monster. A dangerous one at that. She was really just going to leave it here in the middle of the road? But, why?

Gray's eyes were filled with tears and she looked away closing them and letting tears roll down her gray cheeks. "Just, go... I'll meet up with you at the stupid dinner or whatever. The Princess is expecting me. I just... I'll just burry this metal baby."

Metal baby? This thing that almost killed Blue was a metal baby? Bah, it was a monster. Blue was fine with animals but monsters was where she drew the line. She went back to her bike, pulled it out of the road and drove off. She'd leave Gray to do whatever it was she was going to do. Blue knew that gray was a softy sometimes, but being kind toward a monster was the last thing she expected to see. If she was too soft to kill a monster who was threatening her friend's life then how could she ever be a true warrior like Gray always wanted to be.

That revelation hit Blue harder than she thought. As she drove back home she had time to contemplate what it really was holding Gray back from joining the Dragon Guard, and perhaps she'd found it. It was a rare thing indeed to find someone who was more gentle than Blue, but it would seem that despite Gray's aggressive nature and her love for brawls, perhaps she was indeed just that. Softer than Blue.

Blue decided that nobody had to know about this little adventure of hers. No, she'd keep this one secret, that way Gray could keep her boastful attitude. Instead once she got home she changed into a new green dress, cleaned her face and bandaged her cheek where some scales had been torn off in that punch. By the dragons, Gray hit hard. It was like being punched by a truck.

Only after she was dressed in clean clothes and bandaged did she head back out and go toward the diner in the hamlet. It was quiet but both Jade and Pascale were already there and had taken a booth near the corner window for them. Neither of them directly commented on the bandage on her cheek, but both looked at it. Being a crafty engineer kobold meant she often times ended up getting hurt. She waved it off as a cup of tea was brought out for her. "I hit my head when working on the piping under the farm again. This time, it got my cheek."

Jade let out a sigh. "A proper lady should not be doing such dangerous jobs. Your face is too precious a resource to damage like that."

Pascale simply shrugged. "Work injuries happen. Just glad it wasn't anything serious. My line of work tends to get people killed."

Jade looked at her. "Being a Liberian?"

"No, being a pupil to a dragon lord. But Princess Twinkle is the best princess so I'll be just fine."

That made a lot of sense honestly. It was a dangerous position to be in. After all the Dragon Lords often needed their pupils or apprentices to be able to go head to head with the likes of dragons for their individual missions. It raised some fearful questions about how strong Pascale really was. The one time they'd ever seen her fight for real was with Gray that one time and she ended up breaking both of Gray's wings. It was the kind of event that kobold friendships were made from.

Blue brought out her binder filled with well over a couple hundred xogz and set it down for them to look at. Pascale had a similar all be it smaller collection in her binder, and finally Jade had a small tiny binder with a small handful of them herself. Each one that Jade had seemed to be specifically chosen for its artwork. Usually boatful things like flowers, rivers, or animals. Yet none of the cyborg animal friends line. Cyber Bunbun was not there.

Pascale's collection was mildly better, or at least more complete but even looking at them she realized that there simply wasn't a single Cyber Bunbun, in fact there were none of the cyborg animal collection. Though she did see all of the Inner Thoughts line. Including the much sought after Hidden Depression, represented by a strange circular shape that sagged onto a couch and was slowly melting into it as garbage piled around it. These ones were a bit too dark for her taste.

After she was done sorting through their collections, and while the other two were admiring hers Gray showed up. Gray walked over to the table, she stared down at Blue but her eyes were a lot softer than before. "Hey, Blue... sorry about earlier."

Blue shook her head. "It's fine."

"No, it really isn't. Maybe if it was one of these bitches."

Pascale snapped. "Hey!"

"But," Gray continued, "You're my best friend and I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

Blue nodded. "It's okay. Next time I'll um, I'll wait for you to leave before doing that."

Gray's eyes looked away and she cringed almost painfully. "You'll be gentle at least, right?"

"As much as I can."

Gray let out a sigh. "Then, I guess it's cool." She pulled out a round see-through plastic tube and set it down on the table as she scooted next to blue shoving her over. "Here, look at these. I know you like them."

Blue opened the tube greedily and gently pulled them out. Surprisingly Gray had hardly any more Xogz than Jade, but the difference was that all the ones she did have were damaged. Scratches, tears, and some bending to the artwork had completely devalued them. Even if she did find a Cyber Bunbun here, and she didn't, it would be a waste. She carefully slid them back in and handed them back to Gray.

Gray smirked. "What, didn't find any you didn't have already?"

"N-not really."

Gray shrugged.

Soon they ordered their food. Gray got some toast with fried eggs. Pascale a ham sandwich, Jade an owlraptor salad, and Blue just wanted a smoothie. Her jaw still hurt a little from that vicious punch. Gray was certainly powerful that was for sure. It was only after they all had their food and were settled down that a literal giant walked in. All eyes were on Princess Twinkle as she made her way to the table. Of course Princess Twinkle was tall enough she had to duck under the light fixtures. She had with her a small paper bag and was grinning ear to ear. She stopped at their table. "Sorry I didn't bring my entire collection, Blue. I fear that the hundreds of these things I own would be a little hard to move, but I did buy you all presents."

She set four unopened packages Xogz, animal edition. One for each of them. Blue didn't even hesitate to grab her package and to open it. Inside there were five, mint condition Xogz. All of them bunny themed much to her surprise, and one of them was even an orange rarity. The New Cyber Bubbun Version 2.0. Sure it was newer, and more sought after than normal Cyber Bunbun, but it wasn't exactly the one she wanted. It was however still good enough to make her happy. It was going to go into her favorites in her binder.

Someday she'd have the original Cyber Bunbun, she was sure of it.