I frowned as I observed the town beneath me, it was night and I was lazily hovering over Ponyville as the population slumbered. My friends were left at Zecora for the night, the Zebra was all too happy to provide us with a roof over our heads as it will provide her with a company that she was really missing over all these months in Everfree Forest. I didn't need to sleep and therefore I decided to make the night as profitable as possible and gain a couple of Levels, but I forgot to take into account one factor that left me with the job of an overseer and limited my own capability to grind.

"So, what are we going to do?" Apple Bloom was hanging on my back like a barnacle and looking rather excited to be here. "Are we going to find some bad guy to defeat? Will you teach me how to kick ass and take names?"

"Well, I'm not sure about the first part as you're just a squirt so far." I snorted. "The second part? Sorry, but you're simply too weak to learn anything yet, we will need to get you on a proper level of physical abilities before anything would be done."

As she pouted I deployed an empty Illusion Barrier and dropped down onto the street, landing as graciously as I could to retain at least some air of dignity by not destroying the ground under my feet. Right now I was mostly inclined to simply put her through a very strict workout, but simply exercising won't solve the problem of her wanting to become stronger. Why did I put this idea into her head again? I knew that I would need to take responsibility for this rather bad oversight, the little girl was just too impressionable and it led to her taking a different route than she did in Canon just because I unintentionally showed it to her. Well, at least the unholy bullshit that was the gaining of the Cutie Marks of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was averted, or I hoped it was at least.

'Lets see how long it will take for you to actually earn something.' I let Apple Bloom down onto the ground and looked the girl over with an [Observe]. She wasn't weak by any definition of the word, for her Level she was rather decent and I was taking into account her young age and how it was obvious that she never received any specific training in her life. Well, at least I could do her some good and redirect her rather violent outbursts of energy into something constructive, in Canon she was a small hellion that had the capability to literally wipe out the whole town with her two cohorts in crime and I could at least prevent that from happening. As she looked at me with eyes so bright and full of hope I had to use [Gamer's Mind] to prevent this weaponized cuteness from affecting my judgment, there were some things that even I couldn't withstand without the help of this Skill.

"So, what exactly am I going to do?" She asked.

I hummed and then decided to try and quell her rather misplaced desire for a Cutie Mark first.

"Tell me, what do you want to do in the future?" I asked.

"I..." She blinked and hesitated with the answer. "I don't know."

"That's good." I nodded as she looked questioningly at me. "It means that you're right now at a stage where you're in a blank state and can become anyone you want. I have no clue what exactly you can do, and that doesn't really matter as the main question here is what you want to accomplish in life." It was a bit of a white lie as I could tell that she had some talent in Engineering, but it was for the time when I will be telling her about her options. "Cutie Mark doesn't decide what you have to do in life, it doesn't matter as a whole and you really shouldn't let it dictate your life choices for you. Tell me, what were you told about the 'meaning' of the Cutie Mark?"

"That it shows us what we're talented in?" She answered unsure, my tone when I said 'meaning' was probably throwing her off. "It tells us what our Destiny is?"

"It was once said, 'The future's not set. There's no Fate but what we make for ourselves.' and I wholeheartedly believe in it." I mentally sent my token of respect to James Cameron for such an awesome line that I now could use. "You and only you can decide on whatever you can do with your life in the future, making your choice depends on some ass-stamp is as stupid as it comes. Would you really be satisfied with your life if you suddenly gained a Mark that will tell you that you main talent was to shovel literal shit around?"

"No! Ewwwwwww..." She scrunched her face in disgust. "But then how does it work?"

"Simple, you just have to strive for something on yourself." I answered. "If whatever Cutie Mark that you'll get will fit? Well, good for you. If not? Not a big loss."

"What does yours means?" She asked as she looked at my hip as if trying to see through my pants.

"Mine?" I blinked. "That I'm good with [Shadow] and [Lunar] Magic and the Magic as a whole, I lucked out and that's all there is to it."

"Oh." Apple Bloom blinked and nodded. "Then what exactly am I going to do here?"

"Train." I grinned. "I would need to get you into a workable shape before anything else would be done to you. First, we will spend time on purely physical exercises that will work on your body and will get you prepared for the next stage of training. I will be pushing you harder than you have been pushed before and I will make sure that you won't be able to back away after you'll agree to this, so think carefully because there will be no turning away from this path."

"..." She looked at me. "You said that you'll make me an Alicorn too, right?"

"Yep." I nodded. "That's the goal, it will be a long path full of sweat, pain, and tears but the reward will be worth it."

"Then I agree." Apple Bloom nodded.

"Well, then prepare." I grinned with malicious intent practically rolling off of my whole being, I could see as Apple Bloom's posture became rigid as she felt fear creeping into her heart. "This will hurt... a lot."

"Can I rest now?" Apple Bloom called out as I benchpress the tree-house that Twilight lives in right now, its copy inside the Illusion Barrier wasn't in any way lighter than the real thing so I didn't lose on a workout. "My arms are about to fall off."

"Nope." I said as a looked at her, she was doing pushups with Kii sitting on her back for additional weight. "Keep going, the only way to better yourself is to surpass your own limits and still push further."

"It hurts." She groaned. "A lot."

"Well, of course it hurts. Your body never had to go through the strain of this caliber, this pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body and freeing space for strength." I answered. "I already said to you that I won't let you give up, so just suck it up and keep going."

I was also using [Telekinesis] to levitate several houses around to grind this Skill, it wasn't much when you counted the other Skills that I could use but it was the one with the biggest versatility that I had. It was all about that little thing that Han Jee-Han said, about becoming akin to a machine specifically made for grinding, an automaton that was doing everything in its capabilities to progress further and further with every moment spent. Apple Bloom didn't have the capability to simply keep going like I could but I was going to push her beyond her breaking point to make the progress as fast as possible, the innate Magic of an Earth Pony would also let her recover far faster than any normal human would be able to.

I made her run circles around the town with Kii on her heels to motivate her, benchpress the axletree from a wagon I managed to steal from her farm and then do pushups and situps nonstop until she wouldn't be able to move. It was probably incredibly dangerous in normal circumstances for a child to perform such a workout, but she wasn't human and therefore could simply rely on her rather weak but still useful healing factor as an Earth Pony.

"And what will you be teaching me?" She asked while panting heavily, probably trying to take her mind away from the pain that was tearing her body apart right now. "Some cool moves?"

"First I will need to teach you how to meditate, so you will be able to properly gain access to your Magic." I answered nonchalantly. "It will let you kick your own growth into an overdrive and open a new avenue for learning thing."

"Wait, what?!" Apple Bloom somehow lost her balance and fell onto the ground. "You'll teach me Magic?!"

"Yeah, why not?" I was having too much fun with this, but I couldn't hold back. "Every Pony has Magic of their own, all you need to learn if to how you can properly access it then build-up from there. Pegasi can stand on clouds and sculpture weather, Unicorns channel it through their horn and do much more obvious things with it, Earth Ponies gain a passive increase in physical performance and a proverbial green thumb. Did you really think that Unicorns were the only ones that could use their Magic consciously?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "And nobody said you can stop, keep up the works."

"Ah..." She blinked at me as she pulled herself up and resumed her exercise. "So I will be able to... Cast Spells? Like a Unicorn?"

"Theoretically." I was thinking about the Skill Books if Shine could learn from them then what stopped Apple Bloom from doing the same? "It will take a lot of meditation and work to let you at least learn how to channel it due to you not being a Unicorn, but I think we will be able to manage something in the end. It all depends on how much effort you will put into your training, so work harder than you ever worked before and I'll work on getting you something to work with."

There was no way to describe the sheer astonishment that was now displayed on her face, it was one thing to know that you had Magic and it was entirely another to find out that you could use it when you shouldn't have the capability to do so by definition. It was a normal state of Equestria where only Unicorns could cast Spells while the other two Types were left with only passive enhancements from their innate Magic, with my words I just broke the status quo inside Apple Bloom's head right over my knee with a loud crack. It wasn't such a big thing in my mind, but I wasn't from Equestria and therefore I had a rather different outlook on the things that are here were taken for granted. I asked questions and gained results because I didn't attach myself to the routes that were already mapped, I refused to succumb to the collective delirium of the masses and made my own way around the whole thing.

I killed Tirek, and nobody would've been worse from his death beside Scorpan and he really didn't need to know about the whole thing. The horned bastard wasn't someone you could simply keep at bay, he escaped Tartarus and almost made the whole country his bitch while draining all the Magic that these lands held in the process. Did anyone actually bother to think about the possibility of him escaping? Celestia and Luna looked rather nonchalant about the fact that one of the worst creatures in Equestria's history ran rampant over their land for God knows how fucking long. Twilight had the capacity to finish him off, she literally held the raw Power to match him blow for blow and even then she failed to do the killing blow while winning via Secret-Chest-of-Obviousness Ex Machina. At least I dealt with him before he would pose any kind of a threat, it wasn't such a big deal now that Cerberus may leave his current position for some time as I honestly was hard pressed to think that anyone else would be able to crawl out.

Discord was the next, instead of sealing him away and hoping for the best I was going to take everything from him that let him be anything else but some four years old's drug trip. I wasn't sure if taking his Essence will render him mortal, and I really wasn't going to actually test it out as I was more than satisfied to leave him powerless to drag his pathetic existence through the lands. What danger did he pose without his Magic? What could this bastard do without his borderline Omnipotent Power backing him up? During that whole fiasco with Changelings where they turned from badasses into abominations, he could only whine and complain while being nothing but a ballast for the group where it counted. No, no matter what Celestia thought, Discord was going down and just to make it a Karmic Justice I will leave him to live and suffer from his powerless state when anyone could beat the shit out of him for the crap he pulled thousand years ago.

"And what will I learn?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Well, it all depends on what exactly you'll be able to learn, it's not as simple as it sounds." I shrugged while still pushing myself to bench-press the tree-house. "I was thinking about something simple, maybe [Telekinesis]?"

"So I will be able to move things around?" I could hear the eagerness in her tired voice. "Will I be able to fly?"

I blinked and then thought about it, it was technically true that you could use this Skill to levitate yourself around if you had enough understanding of it or combine it with another Spell like Starlight did. I could probably ask her to teach the squirt how to do so, it won't be such a tall call and she really needed some time to enjoy herself and have some fun and watching this particular chibi struggle will result in both.

"Maybe? It all depends on the Spells you'll learn." I answered thoughtfully. "Also, if you won't be able to access your Magic properly then we'll just concentrate on making you an Alicorn first and then working on it."

"... Why are you doing it?" She finally asked after a minute of silence.

"What exactly?" I knew the answer but wanted to make her admit it.

"Well, helping me." She said. "Becoming an Alicorn should be something of a great honor, like becoming a Royalty or something, and you just treating it so casually like it's not a big deal. You offered me something that I didn't even know was possible like an apple from a basket..." I snorted at her rather expected description. "... and didn't ask for anything in return."

"What can you give me?" I asked her. "You're a smart kid, don't sell yourself short, but you're thinking too much about it. I don't think about becoming an Alicorn being such a big deal because it's honestly isn't. All Ponies have such capability, it's just that they aren't aware of it and therefore incapable of gaining the proper traction to reach this particular point of evolution. All I did was telling you the truth and also telling you that I will provide the means to do so, nothing more and nothing less." I was pulling this out of my ass and it was still somehow sounding plausible. "I gave you what you should've had from the beginning, something that was lost in the past and never recovered and now can be properly salvaged with the new generations. I'm not going to spread the word, nobody would believe me and some would try to do so and probably get themselves severely injured or killed in the process." I made myself sounded as nonchalant as possible for the next part. "You asked for it and I gave it to you, but only under the condition that I will be overseeing your growth so not to be the one responsible for you tearing yourself apart."

Through the Positive Interaction your Reputation with Apple Bloom Increased by 5000.

You're now Friendly with Apple Bloom.

'De fuck?!' I blinked. 'She was that easy to impress?'

"Thank you." Muttered the girl as she kept doing her pushups.

"Don't mention it." I answered as I mentally went over the list of things that I would need to do sooner rather than later. "And don't forget that you will need to push yourself like that every single day to gain the results you're probably expecting."

There was to say something about how fucking easy it was to travel in Equestria when you had wings, flying at incredible speeds through the air was one of the things that I actually fully enjoyed doing simply for the sake of doing it. While trying to find something in a large area like the one behind the mountains near the Galloping Gorge was a thing of pure fiction in a Real World I had no idea how the logic will apply here. Finding several Ponies there with nothing but a passing knowledge that they may cause problems, later on, would sound rather paranoid if not for the fact that one of them was a rare kind that could commit an actual cold bloodied murder in Equestria. And also one weird beasty that was trying to activate a Super Discount Doom's Day Device that would fry the good portion of the World like in the Movie 'Core', I had no actual clue what it will do but the implications were rather worrisome.

And so I was trying to find some rather pathetic Villains that could bring some real trouble for the sake of testing one of my theories and also preventing them from becoming a legitimate threat later on. I really couldn't fathom how it came to this with me looking for cheap imitations of Indiana Jones' crabby Nemesis and their worthless Cannon Fodder of thugs, they weren't really in the Big League when it came to threats with just a couple of lucky shots behind their belts. But they were capable of unleashing an Extinction Event at least once so I had to take care of them, at least they will be doing something useful for the general population by being my test dummies.

'Big whoop, these idiots cannot even set a trap right.' Once again I wondered how Equestria didn't crumble under the weight of idiots with too much Power that could end it but didn't due to sheer incompetence or arrogance.

I felt my eyebrow twitch as I saw just the people I was looking for in the clearing eight beneath me, flying over the whole thing randomly did let me see their freaking campfire that they didn't even shield for some reason. I was dealing with literal retards here and I could feel a headache forming in my brain from just hearing them talk, Caballeron was ranting and basically whining about how Daring Do outwit him once more. I didn't even care enough to listen to what he was saying, just get the gist of what could be amounted to a grown man crying like a little bitch mixed with a cartoonish Villian's petty rant.

Without even bothering to give them a proper introduction I dropped from the sky and crashed right behind the whining moron with a loud crash, my bare feet easily making the ground beneath me sink into a crater. As the three stooges tried to get back on their feet as they fell from the surprise and the slight shockwave of my arrival I was watching as the infamous Doctor Caballeron was rolling on the ground and screaming in pain as he had the unfortunate case of landing into the campfire and toppling over a cauldron of a boiling soup onto himself.

"It burns!" He was shorter than me but with noticeably broad shoulders and slight bulky build. "My eyes!"

"Wow, this is even more pathetic than I thought it would be." I couldn't help but snort and then looked at the three stooges that managed to climb to their feet and were now gaping at me towering over them. "Even your three stooges are laughable."

One dude in a black suit and a black fedora with an unshaved face.

One burly Irish looking fella in a beige vest and dark gray shorts with orange hair.

One skinny beanpole with a black pompadour in sunglasses straight from the sixties and a white pimp-suit.

"Who are you?" Oh, the main idiot stopped rolling on the ground and finally noticed me. "How dare you do it to me?!"

"Yeah..." I blinked at him as he climbed to his feet and glared at me. "Because you're a waste of space that is soon going to never bother anyone ever again?"

Maybe I should've changed before coming here as I only had a white tank top and black shorts on me that were borderline skintight by this point, the top barely keeping itself together under the strain of my breasts. Honestly, if these things were going to grow any larger I would be invested in finding out a Spell to reduce their size, being pretty is one thing but having two watermelons attached to you wasn't part of it in my opinion.

"Wah?" He also gaped at me. "Do you even know just who you're dealing with?! Don't think that because you're a Princess we're going to go easy on some obviously mannerless brat!"

"Wow, you're obviously overestimating yourself here." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you think that three henchmen that you obviously purchased with some serious discount would do anything to me?"

I knew that I was egging him on but it was my way of trying to get them to actually attack me, the curiosity of how they would be able to do so was kind of eating at me a little. I wasn't arrogant enough to let them simply wail on me for the sake of getting wailed upon, I was just making a point here to test how my current capabilities would work against the more normal opponents. Just blasting them and being done here was oh so tempting but I had to restrain myself from doing so as it will defeat the purpose of the test, I needed them alive for it and my [Cero] wouldn't leave anything behind.

Also seeing Caballeron turning an interesting shade of red was kind of funny.

"Get her!" He roared. "We'll see if Ahuizotl will be interested in purchasing an Alicorn!"

I could see the hesitation in the movements of his three henchmen but the developed reflex of following orders and the fact that they obviously were somewhat loyal to him decided it for them. Watching the three barreling towards me felt kind of strange, Starlight made me feel concerned for my wellbeing as she could put me down at a time and had all the motivation she needed to do so. I was shitting bricks when I came after Tirek as even in his reduced state the Centaur was dangerous as fuck, him stealing my Magic would've resulted in the new Apocalipsis with the World being rendered Magicless and literally dead. These three? I felt kind of silly as the first one, the one in sunglasses, reached me and delivered a punch to my stomach only to pull back and cradle his hand as he obviously bruised his fingers against my abs.

"Ow!" He called out. "What are you made of?!"

He failed to budge me even an inch as I just raised an eyebrow at him, his punch didn't even hurt or stung as I only felt a very mild feeling of being lightly poked. The Irish guy aimed at my face with the same result only for his middle find to actually break from coming into contact with my nose, him howling in pain wasn't even funny. The last one was slightly smarter and pulled out knuckledusters and put them onto his hands before punching me, after several moves that reminded me of some kind of a boxing style the man slowed down and looked up right into my eyes.

"You finished?" I asked with a bemused expression.

"What are you three doing?!" Caballeron screamed as he watched his three underlings looking at me with wariness. "Just deal her in!"

"It's like punching steel, Boss. I broke my finger against her nose and she didn't even as much as blinked after it!" Called out the Irish one with a wince as he looked over his wrongly bent finger. "She is tough!"

I was honestly feeling rather amused by the byplay, it was like watching some kind of a comedy without the background music and applause to get the mood right. I didn't bother to let them finish as I opened my mouth and activated [Magical Drain], my horn blazing with Power as I felt my Skill took hold of their Magic and started to pull it out. Four streams of Magic that instantly were pulled towards me, I could feel my reserves being filled over their capacity and then four balls of Essence started moving towards me after a tug of dislodging them from the four Ponies' bodies.

I heard their surprised yelps, it's not like they had much of it, to begin with, but I didn't care about the amount and more about the Essences that I would need to experiment with. It was more about figuring out if I could actually help Apple Bloom with her training by bringing her some of the Essences to swallow, the question would she grow stronger from it or not in the end. If these four would help me find a way to help others grow stronger it would be a wonderful new opening for me to get the others up to a proper Level.

"... How?" Caballeron groaned from the ground where his prone form lay.

I looked at him took in his dimmed features, the skin was pale and he looked all around drained and borderline starved. The Earth Pony was fully left without Magic or an Essence in his entire being and therefore will have the pleasure of adjusting to the life without his activities being supported by inner Reinforcement from them. It will take Caballeron some time to recover and actually start learning how to be on par with an actual Human rather than a Pony, I would've loved to watch the whole thing but I had no desire to tip Celestia.

"Easy." I said as I placed the four glowing balls of Essence into the Inventory. "I'm just a person with a certain set of Skill..." I deployed an empty Illusion Barrier. "... who found your worthless hides where nobody would bother to look..." I activated [Murciélago] which made the man's eyes to widen in terror at seeing my new form. "... and decided to collect the wager you owned the World for wasting so much air over the years of your life."

I lifted my right hand and pointed the index finger, the Mana started gathering into a tight ball as I gave him a wide grin while showing my now sharp teeth. The air became filled with heavy pressure as I let my Power flare for a more dramatic effect, I may not be a good actor but you didn't need to be one when you could make your Target too afraid to notice your bluff.

"No!" He tried to struggle to pull himself up but he was still too weakened to do anything. "Please!"

"Well, I don't know." I spread my wings and made my tail lash out like a whip. "You're scum that wasn't bothered by all of the danger your actions could bring onto Equestria, I see no reason to leave you alive with the chance of you coming back later on for vengeance or some shit like that. Villians aren't all that competent here and therefore 'Good Guys' always prevail but they never actually do anything to prevent the situation from happening again." I pushed more Mana into my attack. "I'm just going to cheat out of this shitty circle."

He didn't have time to react.

[Cero]

After collecting all the goods that Caballeron and his thugs had on them along all the Bits I flew towards Canterlot as I felt the need to address one more problem this night, there was one thing that I now felt I was strong enough to handle. The problem was that I had no clue how it worked and how the whole thing would interact with [Gamer's Mind], I knew that I won't be affected mentally but it didn't mean that nothing bad will happen to me. Using [Teleportation] at a maximum distance I could actually feel the drain on my reserves as I finally arrived into the Capital of Equestria and instantly landed while trying to pinpoint where exactly I was. I chose the less rich part of Canterlot to make sure that there will be a higher chance of me finding the damn Artifact in the first place, I had no clue if it was even here because no matter how naive Celestia acted I don't think she would've let this one slide.

Exiting the Illusion Barrier I scanned around with my [Magical Sense] but it wasn't really all that useful as Alicorn Amulet wasn't active and therefore didn't give off any actual Magic away. While it had some residual Corruption lingering around it from the many Users it had before there was a high chance that it wore off over the time that it wasn't in use. Straining my senses I could feel many signatures of different Ponies asleep and even some of them awake, Royal Guards that patrolled the area were noticeable due to their stronger presence and obvious Power that made them loom over the civilians.

At least the Skill was being pushed to its limit and was constantly gaining more and more Experience as I felt my awareness blur a little, the whole damn thing would've given me a headache if it wasn't for my insane constitution and mental prowess. I ignored the Skill gaining a Level and just used the additional scraps that I gained from it to dive even deeper into the background saturation of Mana of Canterlot, there were several points that read just blank for me and most of them were located in the Castle so I ignored them. There were also several presences that felt off and I could tell that they didn't belong to Ponies, Griffins that came here from their now mostly ruined Country to live in the prosperity of Ponies.

'Fuck, how hard can it be?!' I frowned as I ignored the two simply massive presences that were currently in the Castle as those were Celestia and Luna, I didn't want to risk them sensing me so I didn't even as much as look their way. Another signature that had a whiff of Alicorn to it was probably Cadance but she was noticeably weaker than them but still stronger than mine, at least not physically as her superiority was mostly Magical in nature from what I could tell.

Finally I managed to find a Pony with a very weak trace of a taint in his presence, that was probably the shopkeeper and the slight imprint was from him coming into contact with the Amulet. It didn't feel like an actual Corruption so I didn't have to worry about killing him to get my hands onto the damn thing, it was one of the properties of the Amulet that the only one who could remove it was the one who was wearing it in the first place. If he wasn't stupid enough to wear it then there was no problem with what I had in mind for the Artifact in question, the only problem was that I had no idea if it will actually work.

Redeploying the Illusion Barrier I shot towards the place where I felt his presence, he wasn't asleep so that left him with a task of managing the Store and me at an advantage of now knowing where it was. I didn't even bother using the door as I simply crashed through the roof, the damage won't affect the Real World so there was no point in holding back here. I walked towards the counter and crouched down while using the additional shelf that was placed on it to fully hide behind, it wasn't as if I was going to actually show myself to some crook that ran a Store that sold pretty fucking Dark shit. As soon as I dropped the Illusion Barrier I could instantly tell where the owner was and not because I could sense him, the cheap Chinese-looking asshat was right in front of me!

It was pure luck that he was standing with his back turned towards me while swiping the floor, I had no clue if he would've reacted well to someone suddenly popping in his Store from fucking nowhere. I stilled myself and very carefully looked around, the Amulet was in the same place I saw him in Canon and I could feel the lingering tainted Magic surrounding it with how close I was right now. Straightening stood up to my full height and grabbed the handle of the grass cover placed over the accursed thing, lifting it up I grabbed it and instantly put the cover back down while redeploying the Illusion Barrier.

'At least this went well.' I grimaced as a new Window suddenly appeared right in front of my face, making me blink as I read what I hoped was the solution to my problem with Discord. A smile started to appear on my face as I felt a small sense of relief flooding my chest, this was even better than what I have expected in the first place and I had no clue what would've happened in the first place! Things were damn looking up right now!

[Essence of Alicorn - Level: Legendary]
This Amulet was said to contain the Corrupted Essence of an Alicorn that grants the wearer an unbelievable Magical Power but slowly drives their Minds to Evil and twists their perception towards the Dark Path. Nobody ever managed to use this Artifact without becoming a being of Evil and with their Hearts Corrupted they performed dark deeds with their newfound Might.

I grinned as I read these lines, the damn thing was literally the most damn easily accessible cheat-code ever given to anyone! I knew that any normal Pony trying to use it will be a bad idea as the damn thing will be trying to turn them into a megalomaniac but this point was worthless against me as I had [Gamer's Mind] to back me up. An impenetrable defense against all and any mental attacks that will come my way, the fact that I could probably use it to turn someone else into an Alicorn crossed my mind but I dismissed it. There was a chance that the Corruption will still linger inside the person and therefore will also affect the one that will be Ascending with the use of the damn thing, there was literally no other use for me but to consume it.

This is the Essence of [Alicorn].
Would you like to Absorb it?

I pressed the button and saw how the red gem in the center of the Amulet suddenly broke down and the crimson Magic flowed into me, leaving behind the harness that I had no use for other than as some kind of a freaky decoration.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Alicorn] a Skill [Might of an Alicorn(Passive)] has been Created.

I could feel the floor underneath me breaking as the sudden surge of raw Power shattered the windows and any other glass in the Store and the literal whirlwind of Mana surrounded me. I felt powerful as the newly acquired Skill made my Reserves grow and I could feel the incredible potency of the Mana that I now had surging even higher as the Energy became so freaking dense that I could see it tearing apart the wooden furniture around me. If I fucking knew that this would happen I would've taken the damn thing a long time ago as the pure might that I could tell now pulsing through my being all but confirmed my theory about the Amulet. While it wasn't a real Essence it was damn close to being one but without any actual 'juice' in it which led to none of my Stats being given a boost, not a big loss but still.

Now I could probably tear Discord apart with [Magical Drain] and walk away unharmed, the damn jigsaw puzzle would be left without anything worth mentioning and completely powerful for anyone to see. I had no idea what will Celestia do but at the same time I could imagine her being very confused and somewhat frustrated that her little idea of 'Reforming' Discord will never come to pass. Well, I couldn't care about her or her delusional goal of being a Dumbledore, she can try all she wants and get then hoisted by her own petard when one of her Targets will just stab her in the back later on.

[Murciélago] activated and I simply walked right through the wall without an issue, it was kind of funny how Discord will still know some Chaos that would be created by him but won't be able to enjoy it. I'm more than sure that Sunbutt will be tearing her hair out about the fact that someone stole his Magic without there being any hint of Tirek escaping the Tartarus, she will probably check on him only to find an empty cage without any clue how it became so. I would really need to invest into finding some kind of a scrying Spell that would let me observe how she will react to this whole mess, her meltdown would probably be Legendary!

I spread my wings and crouched, my mood was so good that I decided that a little fun won't be out of the question right now as I shot forward while making the street under me crumble from my take-off. I wasn't going to do the stupid thing and rush after the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos all by myself, it would be an absolutely stupid and irresponsible thing to do right now with how much of an unknown he was. Tirek had most of the Equestria's population consumed before he even entertained the thought of trying to backstab Discord, there was a reason that this damn bastard was only even defeated by the Elements of Harmony with nothing else being able to even put a scratch on his being.

Was I equally strong to Tirek of that time?

Fucking no!

That bastard how too much Power coursing through him to be even properly categorized, I'm pretty sure that by that point he was actually a legitimate God in terms of sheer Might! Discord couldn't stand-up to him and Twilight could fight him on an equal footing only because she had the Power from several Alicorns powering her up which made her also a rather good potential Goddess. Once more I sighed at the lack of fucking consistancy of the World when it came to Power-Levels, it was ridiculous how much pure fucking bullshit could happen just because someone didn't have a proper grasp in the bigger picture.

I checked on Kii but the small Dryad was doing her best to arrange herself some kind of a layer in the Everfree Forest, she also found the Mirror Pool and sent me the image and the location of yet another Cursed Artifact. It will take some time to figure out how to properly dispose of the damn thing, I had no desire the see the reanimation of 'Attack of Clones' with Pinkie Pie playing all the Clones at the same fucking time. It looked really creepy in the show and if I saw in real life I would probably start shooting before asking any questions simply because I could do so, Twilight didn't see it as an actual murder so I would probably be in the clean about pocking them with my sword.

As I landed in the clearing near the Ponyville and removed the Illusion Barrier I could instantly see Apple Bloom laying on the grass too far away and snoring quietly, the girl fell asleep while training. It would've been almost cute if not for the fact that she also looked like she tried to wrestle the ground and ended it by headbutting it into submission, I told her to push herself beyond what she felt she was capable of but I didn't actually expect her to follow through with it!

Walking towards her I deactivated [Murciélago] and decided to gently wake her up, it only took me a little bit of poking her into her sides to make her stir. She groggily opened her eyes and looked at me with bleary eyes, I took a lot of effort for me not to laugh at an obvious attempt at a glare that she directed towards me as soon as recognition settled in.

"Rise and shine as I brought gifts~!" I said in a singsong voice. "And I'm honestly curious what will happen when you'll try one of them!"

"Wah?" Apple Bloom yawned and tried to move but her body refused to obey. "What are you talking about?"

"These." I pulled out the Essence of one of Caballeron's cronies. "Trust me, it wasn't hard to get these but find more would be a real pain."

"What is it?" She asked as I rolled her over onto her back. "Shiny Magical ball?"

"Better." I smirked and then put it to her lips. "Swallow this one and I can guarantee you will get some results from it, there are no shortcuts to getting stronger but sometimes you can speed-up the process somewhat."

She didn't question it any more as I watched her swallow the whole thing while almost choking on the damn thing, there was some really unhealthy amount she placed on me with how she didn't even ask what it was exactly. Did I make such an impression on her? Was it something else? I honestly had no clue how to explain it but she did trust me enough to eat an obviously glowy Magical ball that she had no clue where came from.

I monitored her Stats very carefully.

STR: 35(20+15)
VIT: 37(22+15)
DEX: 18(18)
INT: 19(19)
WIS: 14(14)
LUK: 10(10)

Suddenly I felt her presence spike and the numbers changed, it made me grin as I saw Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she literally grew right before my eyes even if a little bit. There was something to be said about the effects that Essence had on others, one of these things was the fact that it made their bodies better to handle the new Stats.

STR: 50(35+15)
VIT: 52(37+15)
DEX: 28(28)
INT: 24(24)
WIS: 14(14)
LUK: 10(10)

It was the weakest one of these thugs, even if the results looked minor I could pretty much guess what the next one will be. I pulled out the stronger Essence and I could see Bloom eyeing in pure wonder, she was probably trying to figure out what exactly was I going to do with it and if she could have it for herself. She didn't have the [Gamer's Mind] to help her sort through the feelings that were brought out during the absorption process and the whole thing hit her really hard, it was a good thing that she still didn't hit puberty or there might have been an accident there.

I placed the next small ball in front of her mouth and she instantly ate it, swallowing it almost hungrily. I felt her presence spiking once more and I could see the number shiting once more as her clothes strained slightly against her growing frame.

STR: 70(55+15)
VIT: 72(57+15)
DEX: 40(40)
INT: 24(24)
WIS: 14(14)
LUK: 10(10)

She now actually had breasts to speak off, I had no desire to perve on an eight years old but fucking damn she was growing fast with how I was feeding her these Essences. Also, I may have been slightly overly optimistic about her lacking a proper reaction as I could see her face gaining a slight pink hue as she forced herself into a sitting position with her new strength. She was looking at me with a strange look that I didn't even need [Observe] to actually recognize, to my relief there was also some confusion mixed with it so I wasn't under a threat of an aroused child trying to glomp me.

The third Essence was presented to her and she grabbed it from my hand with her own and shoved it into her mouth, I could see the effects taking place and also the fact that Bloom was obviously getting kicks from it. The numbers changed once more and I had to hold back a snicker as the small girl actually let out a small moan as she shuddered as her body stretched her shirt lightly.

STR: 103(88+15)
VIT: 102(87+15)
DEX: 45(45)
INT: 24(24)
WIS: 14(14)
LUK: 10(10)

"More." The girl mumbled with her half-lidded eyes as she swayed slightly from side to side.

"Like those, didn't ya?" I asked.

Apple Bloom blinked and her eyes refocused on me as she shook her head slightly to clear it, it was obvious that the surges of raw Power were rather pleasurable for the small girl as she looked down at her chest and then reached out with her left hand to grope her newly formed left breast. She looked confused and somewhat dazed but I can tell that the more she thought about the clearer it was becoming for her that she wasn't the same as a minute ago.

"... What?" She blinked several times. "I have breasts?"

"Congratulations!" I grinned at her as she looked up and then back down. "You grew up so fast, You'll probably soon catch up to your sister!"

I counted seconds as my words slowly made their way through the girl's brain and she suddenly went very still, she eyes widening and then dialing as she sprang to her feet in a panic. I could see her eyes shifting wildly around the pace as she had her first mental breakdown, it was kind of amusing to watch.

"What will Applejack say about it?!" She called out as she grabbed both of her breasts with her hands, all fatigue was forgotten for the moment. "How am I going to explain it to her?!"

"I don't think she will notice." I said nonchalantly. "Kii hit her rather hard to the head, she may have knocked a couple of screws loose so you'll have a perfect opportunity to simply substitute the old truth with the new one."

"That doesn't work that way!" The girl hissed at me. "She isn't that stupid to not notice how much I changed over one night, and what about Big Mac and Granny Smith?! What, will Kii bludgeon them too and hope for the best?!"

"You brother will need some work and I won't recommend hitting your grandma, the amount of force Kii used would probably put her out of commission forever." I snorted. "Tell them that it was a growth spurt?"

"How can you say something like that!" Bloom grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me, her new strength giving her an actual capability to do so and it's not like I actually resisted. "There is no way any of them will buy this excuse! Nobody is that stupid and I'm pretty sure that there is no way any of would suddenly forget how I looked like in the first place for it to work!"

"Well, it's a dilemma." I nodded sagely. "The explanation and be pretty simple actually, you can go without it as Big Mac is bedridden along with Applejack who is sleeping off her bruised head. Granny is the only one active in the house and by this point, I'm pretty sure she has Alzheimer so it won't be such a long shot about her simply going with the flow and not seeing anything wrong with you in the first place. You just need to replace your wardrobe as soon as possible with the slightly bigger clothes and everything will go smoothly, I will even ask one of the girls to go with you to help and provide money for it."

"You will do it for me?" She asked with wide eyes, it was funny how she totally ignored how I just called her family incompetent in a roundabout way. "You'll help me with it?"

I shrugged, it was kind of my fault for not considering how the whole thing can turn out without the [Gamer's Mind] helping smooth off the edges. I had one more Essence in my Inventory, the one that belonged to Caballeron and I was damn going to enjoy the results as much as I could with how her reaction will probably be to it!

"Sure." I nodded and pulled out the last Essence. "Would you like the last one now? I was going to keep it for some time so you will be able to adjust to the changes but you're doing far better than I expected. But with how you obviously don't want to risk it..."

Bloom was looking at the glowing ball with conflicted expression, she sure as hell wanted it but the fact that she will grow even more made it a hard choice as she tried to find a solution. There were things that no mere moment of consideration will fix and I wasn't going to complain when I had such a show in front of me, I could tell that the whole thing was tearing her in two and I was betting on...

Apple Bloom snatched the Essence from my hand and hungrily swallowed it, the spike in her presence and the actual moan of pleasure made me smile more as I watched her and her numbers going through some significant changes.

STR: 148(133+15)
VIT: 152(137+15)
DEX: 60(60)
INT: 59(59)
WIS: 21(21)
LUK: 19(19)

"Moony." She mumbled as she swayed on her feet.

"You better run." I grinned at her. "Or they may notice you being gone as the morning is rather soon."

Apple Bloom nodded absently but then looked at me in a slight confusion, I could see something grinding her gears behind her eyes but not exactly what. I could see from the [Observe] that she was confused, dazed, aroused and happy but there was no clue as to what her confusion was all about. I was answered as the small Oppai-Loli grabbed me by my collar and pulled me forward into a rather sloppy kiss that wasn't anywhere near a real thing but was more about the initiator expressing herself in a very impulsive manner through the means she saw as appropriate.

Through the Positive Interaction your Reputation with Apple Bloom Increased by 25,000.

You're now Revered with Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom pulled back and looked at me, her eyes still slightly foggy as she simply nodded to herself and turned around. I watched as the eight years old waddled back towards her house and raised my hand towards my lips, blinking several times as my mind rebooted.

'I'm so going to hell for this...' I blinked once more as all the fun of the situation was suddenly dead and gone for me.

I floated in the sky while watching the moon moving behind the horizon as I silently looked at the night was replaced by the day, my mind racing a mile a minute as I tried harder than anything else to find the solution to the seriously fucked-up situation I had here. Even the new Skill that I made didn't make me feel any better than I was right now as it only distracted me for a very short period of time and then was just kind of hanging in the background while being constantly grinded due to its Toggle On use.

The idea of anyone kissing me in this World never even crossed my mind and as I always worked towards the goal of making sure nothing will spoil this little piece of Paradise I managed to claim for myself. With me being an Alicorn I was expecting myself to live a very long and very fulfilling life while searching for my way home, it wasn't like I was going to miss on all the possible advantages of being here as I was. Finding love? That I threw away as soon as the idea came into my mind, the presence of [Gamer's Mind] proved to be a boon for me as I could simply forget about romance and direct everything towards my goals with some fun on the road.

I knew that Apple Bloom was just confused, aroused and riding on the pleasure of being granted an Essence that gave her so much raw Power, it wasn't actually serious no matter how you would look at it but the pint remained. Bloom took the whole thing seriously and while still dazed didn't fully processed what she did and just wandered off towards her house. There will probably be some shocks coming for her in the near future, I'm not sure what exactly will happen but damn it will be both very embarrassing and painful for the girl in question.

Nobody developed feelings this fast!

It was a spur of the moment thing and I wasn't going to entertain the thought of her even having a crush on me as she obviously didn't, I was going to be an adult here and talk to her when she will come running back tomorrow. My heart at the moment wasn't even into training as I felt I did far more than I could possibly imagine today, anything else would have to wait as I will be trying to get myself some good old bloody money.

Kii found my target not long after she started to reintegrate herself into the Everfree Forest and I wasn't going to let such an opportunity get stolen from me, it was more about actually doing the deed than the actual reward. If my memory serves me right his name was Reginald and he owned a rather sizable hoard in the Everfree Forest, I just needed to get my hands on it and then dispose of the Dragon in question so he won't cause any problems later on. There wasn't much that can be done here as he won't simply give me the treasures and simply taking them from him would only invite problems later on, like him invading Ponyville while looking for it or something as absurd as that.

Shooting towards the place where I knew his cave was I landed there not that long after, my speed was getting better with each day I did it as the Skill grew and I could feel its effects on my performance. There were many different things I could say about this but honestly, I just needed to take my mind off the current issue and simply getting rid of one of the problems that presented itself to me was something I could get behind right now. I don't think Spike will run off again, it all depends if Twilight will be as blind as she was in Canon and will miss all the signs of him feeling left out but I was honestly feeling rather confident that she will screw up with how she managed to always make the same mistakes over and over again.

The question of morally being right arose in my head and then died a pathetic death, with Caballeron it was justifiable as he was a person who would've killed others without hesitation like he almost did in Canon. Here? I didn't have any morally good reason to kill the Dragon but it would prevent my identity from leaking out and Reginald from going onto a rampage which would be rather inconvenient for me in the future. I still needed Ponyville intact as it was a hotspot for all the bullshit that is happening around here and I couldn't simply leave myself hanging without any frame of reference to the events yet to come.

Gilda...

Beatrice Lulamoon or Trixie for shorts...

Flim and Flam...

Yeah, all the crazy folk were going to be here and I was not in the mood to run around and search for them just for the sake of solving their problems when I could simply wait and see here. It wasn't much but I could honestly say that I had no desire to see how much worse this whole thing can become with the Ponivilly being taken out too early, I could honestly say that it wasn't much of a chance that they will still come here to gaze at the smoking crater. With somebody like Chrysalis or Sombra it wouldn't be so hard as I honestly knew where they were and could get rid of them without any problem, but only when I felt that I actually could do so without keeling over. The only time Chrysalis was outside of her Hive or the house I knew she lived for some time in the Comics was when she attacked Canterlot, it was my best bet to try and get to her at that exact time and simply drain and then kill her.

It will also prevent that horrible abomination that was Thorax from being ever capable of becoming that horrifying reject of an Original Character that he became in Canon but I will need to find him first and that won't be so hard. With how [Observe] gave me the names of everyone I had laid my eyes upon it won't be a problem and with [Magical Sense] I will be able to keep track of him. The only question remained was of me being capable of using Magic while under the effects of that Throne that Chrysalis had in the Hive, it will be an inconvenience if I had to attack it and be left without some of my more useful and destructive Skills.

As I landed onto the ground with a thud and started walking towards the mouth of the cave I still pondered on the question of how to deal with each and every problem that this World was suffering from, not for its sake but so they won't affect me later on. My next stop will be finding some Ponies to drain so I would be able to give girls some boosts, I think Ahuizotl had some of them in employment in a rather large number and all ripe for the taking. Them willingly participating in an attempt of genocide removed any reservations of me taking their Essences away and giving them to someone who actually would be far better suited for their use, also getting rid of them worthless monster would serve Equestria some good.

As I dropped the Illusion Barrier I was welcomed by a huge pile of treasures with a light-green Europian-looking Dragon sleeping on it, a smirk worked its way onto my face as I opened my Inventory.

Author's Notes:

A/N: Well, one problem solved and several dozens incoming with the next one being taken care of in the next Snip.
I know that Jess acts a bit harsh here but Caballeron tried to kill Rainbow Dash in the Episode S1E18 'Daring Done?' and that is extremely rare in the Show when the Villain actually has the guts to do so. Things like murder and genocide aren't going to be forgiven here and no second chances for that crap, Ahuizotl was going to commit mass-murder so he's going to down too along with Discord and Chrysalis.
As usual, your opinions, answers, criticism, and questions are welcomed!