Chapter 2: first impressions

Pinkie Pie skipped her way down the street without a thought in her head about anything that would make sense to you or I. That's not to say Pinkie Pie was absent minded, though usually she was, but rather that to Pinkie the world was a wondrous and magical place full of interesting things and adventures to be had. Given that the land she lived in was Equestria she wasn't far from the truth. But today she saw something that made her take notice of the world. As she was hopping down the street she saw a person she'd never seen before. This exited her.

She skipped over to him and landed in front of him with a very loud 'Hello!'

For some reason the man hadn't seen her coming. Which was funny because Pinkie Pie swore she wasn't even trying to be remotely quiet.

Mind you she was able to sneak up on and surprise most people without even intending to. And this was despite having bright pink hair and wearing bright pink Shorts and T shirts. Her hair was a puffy train wreck that burst uncontrollably in all directions. She was a little chubby, not fat by any means but the fact was Pinkie ate large amounts of sweet foods and regularly, the only reason she wasn't actually fat was her extreme hyper activity, so while she was a little chubby she was really in quite good shape.

Pinkie noticed, when she'd surprised him, that the strangers hand had went underneath his coat. He pulled his hand out of his coat and left whatever it was he'd intended to pull out inside the coat.

'Hi' he said with a polite smile. If Pinkie Pie understood normal human behavior she would've noticed that the polite smile and curt greeting were a polite way of saying "go away". But even if she did know what it meant she would've ignored it anyway.

'I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name? Is it Mac? I know someone named Mac! He's Applejacks’ brother! He's doesn't say much, kinda Like you!'

'No. My name is Kain.' He paused for a second and pulled a note from his pocket. He read through it briefly and said 'Did you say your name was Pinkie Pie?'

Pinkie Pie smiled 'Yep I most certainly did. Why do you have trouble remembering names? I'm pretty certain there's a name for that condition. Do you have that condition which I can't remember the name of? Do I have that condition which I can't remember the name of?'

'No' He crossed something off the list in his hand. 'You mentioned someone named Applejack right?'

'Oh yes I did! She's one of super-duper-ultra-special-uber friends. Not like you, your one of my super-duper friends, if you want the ultra you'll have to attend one of my ultra-parties.'

'Maybe later' Kain said in a noncommittal way 'Can you take me to see Applejack?'

Pinkies' brain exploded with the possibility. He'd said "maybe later" which in her mind meant absolutely. Also she now had a chance to take this man to see Applejack which meant helping him. Which meant he might smile and Pinkie lived to see other people smile.

'I'd love to take you their' she said 'Follow me' she said and hopped down the street.
---

Applejack breathed out for a second before she Charged forward and slammed into a tree with her shoulder. She was able to apply an impressive amount of force when she hit the tree in spite of only having a two-step build up. When she hit the tree apples fell out aplenty. She bent down and began tossing the apples into baskets. When she was done she moved the baskets onto a cart already filled with an impressive amount of full baskets and pulled it behind her until she reached the next tree. She then charged that tree and started the process again. This process was called apple bucking. It was a farming method almost entirely unique to the apple family.

The truth was that apple bucking was under normal circumstance a poor method of farming. It was tiring and had little guarantee of knocking an appropriate amount of apples from the tree and if most folk attempted to do it they'd just hurt themselves. But the Apples weren't normal people. No one knew when or why the apples had started apple bucking, but for some reason they had. Now almost all of the apple family were large built and strong. The only person In Ponyville stronger than Applejack was big Macintosh and he was Applejacks' older brother. Most Apples grew up being able to reliably Charge trees and collect apples. The Apple family was distinguishable from others by their wide shoulders, broad upright backs, thick arms and tree trunk legs.

Applejack matched this description perfectly. She was tall, being above six feet, and had arms knotted with tight bunches of muscle and her shoulders were as wide as two people put together. She had blond hair, emerald green eyes and darkly tanned skin. Most people wouldn't consider her beautiful but there was an undeniably attractive aspect to her. Her face was pretty and freckled and in spite of her intimidating size she was always able to attract a dancing partner when she wanted one. Today she was dressed in loose fitting stereotypical farmers' clothes. Her stetson was pulled low over her eyes and her shoes were work boots.

She was lining up another tree when a voice exploded in her ear 'HEY APPLEJACK!' Applejack jumped in surprise and fought down a shriek.

She turned and looked at Pinkie Pie with a slightly amused expression.

'Sugar what did ah tell you about sneaking up on unsuspecting folk?' Applejack said sounding very patient.

Pinkie stopped her on the spot skipping 'To not do it?'

'That's right and what happened the last time you snuck up on me like that?'

Pinkie appeared deep in thought before she burst with an answer 'Was that the time you slipped in mud and landed on a cow pie?'

Applejack sighed and buried her face in her palm 'No pinkie. That was the time before. I'm talking about the time ah hit yah when ah spun around and you landed on a rock and yah had a concussion.'

Pinkie Pie brightened up 'Oh yeah that was fun! Well right up until the concussion but before that it was all woosh! And me flying through the air. I wonder if that's how winged folk feel when they fly!'

'I doubt that very much' Applejack said in a voice as dry as tinder.

Pinkie then looked at Applejack 'Oh yeah there was his person in town today who wanted to know my name and I told him my name and I think he has trouble remembering names so I thought I should take him to you cause he asked me to and now he's here' she said and pointed up the road a small way to a bemused Kain.

Applejack wiped her hands on her denim jeans before she walked up to him and offered him a handshake.

'Howdy, you wanted to see me?'

Kain nodded and said 'I did' but made no move to shake the outstretched hand.

The silence lasted for a second before applejack put her hand down and asked 'What about?'

'Why do you harvest apples like that?' he said gesturing his hand towards the cart.

Applejack looked at him strangely 'why do you ask?'

Kain shrugged nonchalantly 'It doesn't strike me as terribly efficient'.

Applejack looked at him oddly 'Well no, for regular folk it wouldn't be, but the Apple family has been doing it this way for generations and two Apples working this way can harvest twice the amount of any ten man work team with ladders and pickers.' She wasn't bragging at all. She simply recalling statistics. There was another awkward silence between them before she said 'Is that all you came out here to ask me?'

'No' Kain said quietly. 'I can see your busy, I'll just comeback later.' And with that he turned and walked away.

Applejack stared after him for a second 'Huh…. Weird'. Then she turned around and saw Pinkie trying to catch a butterfly with her mouth.

Applejack chuckled to herself 'Certainly not the weirdest folk I met today' she commented as Pinkie caught the butterfly.
---

Fluttershy was trying to convince Angel, her pet rabbit, to come out from under her lounge when there was a knock on the door. She sighed and dusted herself off as she stood up.

She was an average sized girl standing at 5'4 and her overall appearance most would describe as pretty. Not sexy, she was too… It was hard into put to words, most people who looked at her thought she was attractive but nobody wanted her in that way. Something about her smothered all thoughts of indecency. She was fairly thin with chestnut brown hair, of which one strand was dyed pink, and chestnut brown wings, her eyes were light blue and her complexion was delicate. She wore a light yellow turtle neck sweater even though the day was fairly warm.

She opened the door slowly. Standing outside the door was a stranger.

'Can I help you?' she asked quietly.

The stranger looked her up and down 'You're Fluttershy?'

'Y-yeah. W-why?' Fluttershy asked hesitantly.

The stranger looked her up and down again 'Mind if I come in?' then he barged in past her without giving her time to speak.

Fluttershy was startled by this. She panicked inside her head as he walked past her. He cast a calculating eye around her room. It was fairly messy though he could tell Fluttershy cleaned regularly. He'd just barged in at an inconvenient time.
He walked through the living room into the kitchen where he found the kettle filled it with water lit the stove and put it on to boil. He then opened her pantry. He searched through it for a second before closing it.

He turned to Fluttershy 'Where do you keep you tea?' the stranger asked in a deliberately over friendly voice.

Fluttershy went pale the moment he spoke to her. She muttered something he didn't hear and pointed at the window sill. He followed her pointing and saw a jar of teabags on the windowsill.

'Thanks' he said and started to make himself tea.

It took a while for the water to boil, but when it did he did he poured himself a mug of black tea. He picked up the mug and sat down comfortably on Fluttershys' couch and started sipping the boiling beverage. He put his legs up on her coffee table.

It was another incredibly awkward minute before Fluttershy spoke 'What do you want?' she asked quietly.

'A cup of tea' he answered and raised his mug to her before sipping it again.

Fluttershy opened her mouth and was about to speak when a voice called out 'Hey Fluttershy!' From outside the house.
---

Rainbow landed gracefully outside Fluttershys' house. She saw the door open and wondered what was going on, so she decided to land. Fluttershy would never leave her door ajar.

Rainbow Dashes' hair was its trade mark multicolour and she was currently wearing a cyan blue tracksuit. Though she usually wore a denim jacket and cargo shorts. She was of above average height though not particularly tall. Most considered her very attractive if not downright sexy. She was very athletic looking with muscle tone over her whole body. The shirt she wore under her tracksuit was coated in enough sweat so that it is was all but see through. She had a lean six pack of abs and she was wearing a sports bra. She wore no jewellery other than a single stud through her left nostril. Her hair was cut short and boyish because she found it more practical with her lifestyle. No risk of tangling and blinding was acceptable when you were moving fast enough to seriously damage yourself if you crashed.

Rainbow Dash walked in and saw Fluttershy standing in her living room watching a man calmly sit on her couch and drink tea.

Fluttershy turned and saw Rainbow dash enter and hurried over to her.

'He barged in and he's not leaving' Fluttershy half squeaked half whispered.

Rainbow dash looked at the man angrily 'Who are you?' she said aggressive in an aggressive tone.

'Kain' the man said in-between sips.

'What do you think you're doing here?' Rainbow glared at him.

The man sipped the tea before answering 'drinking tea'. He stopped and evaluated Rainbow dash. 'What's your name?' He said pulling a sheet of paper out of his pocket and looking it over.

'Why should I tell you?' retorted Rainbow dash.

'Are you?' he stopped and chuckled 'Rainbow dash?'

'Who wants to know?' Rainbow asked angrily.

'You got some seriously fruity names around here.' Kain said in an accent that sounded a little odd to Rainbow dash.

He put the sheet on the table and out of his pocket he pulled a quill and some ink. Rainbow saw the sheet had a list on it. On the list were six names. The names were Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle. The names applejack and Pinkie Pie were already crossed out. She watched as he crossed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash off the list.

'What are you doing with that list?' Rainbow demanded 'Who are you?'

He put the list away and stood up 'Thanks for the tea' he said to Fluttershy he stood up and walked out

Rainbow dash stepped in front of him to block his path. He looked down at her with those same calculating eyes.

'Move.' He ordered her.

'Not until you tell me what's going on.'

'Listen birdy, you don't want to see were this path goes.'

Rainbow Dash had never been called birdy before but something about the way he said it made her hackles rise. 'Tell me or else-'

'What? What are you gonna do to me?' He leaned in close to her face and said in a real violent sounding voice 'Get out of the way kid before something gets broken.'

Fluttershy then spoke up 'HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO MY FRIEND THAT WAY' Kain looked at Fluttershy in surprise 'GET OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW AND APOLOGIZE TO RAINBOW DASH!'

Kain looked at her with a very surprised expression on his face.

Rainbow wasn't certain she heard right but she thought she heard him mutter 'So there is iron in you after all.'

He walked to the door and shut it behind himself without another word.

'What was that about?' Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy 'What did he want?'

Fluttershy calmed herself down visibly before answering 'I don't know he just came to my door and barged in. He was drinking tea when you showed up'.

Rainbow thought for a second 'Fluttershy could you please go check to see if Pinkie Pie and Applejack are okay?'

'Why?'

'That creep has a list with our names on it. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were crossed off.'

'Okay' Fluttershy said 'What are you going to do?'

'He's still going to see Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. I'm going to warn them he's coming.'
---

Rarity was in the Carousel Boutique doing a stock take. She was checking what supplies she was currently supposed to have and how much had been lost or stolen over the past six months. Rarity bent forward to count how many untouched roles of white silk she had left.

Rarity was by anybody's standards downright beautiful. She was of a normal height with long flowing brunette hair. Her body was graceful and curvaceous and her face was perfectly proportioned. Almost every man in Ponyville had at one point or another wondered if she'd be open for a go around. She however was a lady and had turned down almost all offers for dates or drinks or what have you. She dressed fashionably and usually wore pale colours. Rarity was fairly pale but not in a pasty unattractive way. Her nails were carefully manicured and her dark blue eyes were always focused.
A knock on the door brought Rarity to her feet. She opened the door and their stood Rainbow Dash.

Rarity smiled at her friend 'Hello Rainbow, come in sit down. I'm just doing stocktake but we can still chat for a bit.' She said waving her friend in.

Rainbow shook her head and closed the door behind her 'No time for that Rarity. There is a guy coming named Kain and he's got a list with all our names on it. He just barged into Fluttershys' house and now he's on his way here. Don't let him come in. have you got anywhere I can hide so if he tries anything I can surprise him.'

Rarity took this rush of information very calmly 'you can go upstairs. If you sit still he won't hear you and you can listen in.' Rainbow nodded and flew upstairs.

It was another minute before another nock on the door summoned Rarity. When she opened the door a male earth folk stood there.

'I'm sorry but we're closed you'll have to come back later.' Rarity said. She felt rood saying it but Rainbow had said not to let him in and Rarity trusted her friends.

The man in the door looked her up and down 'You're Rarity?'

Rarity nodded cautiously. He appeared unimpressed.

'You own this store?' he asked.

'Yes, can I help you with anything? I'm really quite busy.' Rarity said.

He gave her a flat look 'I'm sure you are…'

He then slid his foot in the half open door and opened it all the way. Rarity had the door handle yanked out of her hand and was almost knocked off her feet when he pushed past her.

'What do you think you're doing?' Raritys' voice filled with anger, 'Get out of my store. We're closed!'

Kain gave her a smirk that combined contempt and disbelief 'What? You don't open to folk who got greater concerns than what to wear in the morning?'

Rarity didn't really understand the statement 'What are you trying to suggest?'

'Come on. Everybody knows horned folk don't like to associate with other folk, might hurt their social standing.' He walked over and picked up the list of items on her stocktake 'You know you're a living breathing stereotype.'

Rarity crossed he arms 'what are you talking about?'

He with a smirk on his face 'You're a fairy who runs a fashion shop? You're the spitting image of the frivolous and judgemental fairy.'

Rarity had never been called a fairy before but something about the way he said it made her feel intensely uncomfortable. 'Just get out.' she folded her arms.

Kain stared at her for a second 'Yeah I've seen all I need to see.' And with that he barged past her and out the door again. Rarity was almost knocked off her feet again.

She closed the door behind him.

Rainbow Dash came down stairs; Rarity turned to her and said 'What was that?'

Rainbow shook her head 'I don't know. Did you hear the way he called you fairy?'

Rarity nodded. 'Something about the way he said it was just plain wrong.'

Rainbow nodded 'He called me birdy when he came over to Fluttershys house earlier. It sounded just like that. Anyway he's going to Twilights' house next. I'm going to go warn her he's coming.'

Rarity nodded 'I'm going to join you. I don't trust that character.'
---

Twilight Sparkle was reading a book about astronomy when Pinkie Pie burst into the room along with Applejack and Fluttershy. Twilight was a little annoyed that they hadn't knocked before walking in. Spike was out for some reason Twilight hadn't given much attention to.

Twilight was thin and pretty. She had shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. She was the shortest in her group of friends and looked young for her age. She envied Rarity just a little bit in that regard because Rarity was often mistaken for being older than she was, were as Twilight often had trouble convincing bouncers she was nineteen when Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash dragged her out to go dancing. She wore reading glasses at the moment but she usually didn't wear glasses. She dressed more often than not in a purple shirt with black shorts. She was pale from her time spent indoors so people sometimes mistook her for a goth or emo.

'HEY TWILIGHT!' Pinkie announced enthusiastically as she bounced in. Twilight was lying on her bed at the time so she teleported downstairs to greet her friends.

'Hello Pinkie.' She said in a voice that was both amused and irritated 'Applejack, Fluttershy.' She said nodding at each 'What's the occasion?'

Pinkie answered 'There was this guy n town today who has trouble remembering names and he asked Applejack about apple bucking and called Rainbow A birdy but I thought that was strange because she's not a birdy and then-'

'Pinkie!' interrupted Applejack. 'I think it would be best if Fluttershy explained what happened.'

Pinkie stopped talking then suddenly shouted 'Okay!' then plopped herself down onto the floor in the expectant position a child would sit in when waiting for the teacher to tell a story.

Fluttershy then started to tell her tale in a quiet voice. When she was done Applejack told the tale of her encounter with Kain. Applejack had just finished her tale when Rainbow Dash and Rarity burst in.

'Oh good! They've already warned you.' Said Rainbow Dash evenly.

'Thank Heavens we got here before him' said Rarity in-between loud pants. She had just run all the way from Carousel Boutique and was looking quite puffed. Rainbow Dash on the other hand looked fine.

They closed the door and Rarity told the tale of how she'd encountered Kain. She was just about finished and had caught her breath when there was a knock on the door. Five of them lined up facing the door while twilight opened it cautiously. She pked her head around the side of the half open door.

Sure enough, standing there was Kain who was eating a sandwich he'd stopped to pick up on the way over.

'I can't believe everyone in Equestria's now a vegetarian' he said before taking another bite of what looked like a cucumber sandwich. 'I miss beef already.'

Twilight was a little shocked by this sentence to say the least. She recovered and asked 'Can I help you?'

Kain said 'Yes' and barged in past her in an all too familiar manner.

It was only when he'd pushed the door all the way open that he saw the other five lined up facing him with unhappy expressions on their face. He hesitated a second before stepping all the way through into the room. He noted the shelves lined with books and reached the correct conclusion that Twilight was something of a shut-in.

Twilight closed the door behind him and said 'What do you really want?'

Kain ignored her question and calmly walked through the line of friends. He shouldered is way past Applejack and Rainbow dash who were at the centre of the line, only he didn't really shoulder past Applejack as much as Rainbow Dash. He pulled himself up a seat and calmly resumed eating his sandwich from a seated position. He ate for a minute under the glare of the assembled five. All the while pretending to not even notice.

Twilight teleported from the door to directly in front of his face 'Tell me what you're doing in Ponyville now!' she demanded in a threatening voice.

He looked at there for a second before putting down his sandwich and reaching into his coat. He stood up and with a ringing "Shing" drew a short sword. The assembled five responded immediately. They all got ready to attack him. He dropped the sword on the table and reached into his coat again. He got out the list of names and put it on the table. All the names but Twilights were crossed out.

'I assume you're talking about that?' he said calmly.

Twilights' horn was currently glowing with the magic she has preparing to use. 'Yes'.

Kain nodded calmly 'I got stabbed recently so I was hoping to face you all individually. But you know what? Why wait?'

Twilight was confused 'What?-' was all she had time to say before his fist slammed into her temple knocking her unconscious.

He then stood up. The Rainbow Dash and Applejack charged. Rainbow Dash was the first to reach him but he spun around her and then slid under the heavy blow Applejack sent his way. He came up out of his slide and did a spinning kick which landed on the side of Rarity's head. She fell to the ground unconscious. Pinkie Pie screamed and charged him, he tripped her with an odd spinning slide and put her face on the ground. Fluttershy enraged by the attack on her friends was about open her mouth to yell at him when he hit her in the stomach and winded her. She collapsed to the floor with a groan and struggled for breath. He turned around and faced Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

They moved forward more cautiously this time. When they attacked Applejack swung at his face while Rainbow charged under her blow. Kain ducked back out of the range of both attacks before he stepped forward and… he had been about to counter their attack when Rainbow in a sudden burst of speed pushed forward and landed a blow on his stomach. Right where he'd been stabbed recently. Paralyzed by pain for a second he barely blocked the blow that Applejack put into his chest. He wasn't badly damaged by the attack but it did have the effect of knocking him off his feet into a book shelf.

'Owch' was the comment he made as he stood up. That was an understatement. His wounded stomach felt like it was on fire and his back was coated in shelf shaped bruises. He nodded at Rainbow Dash and Applejack with a smile on his face.

'That was the result I'd hoped for.' he said to the two of them.

Applejack moved forward to shoulder charge him apple bucking style. An attack that may have broken his neck.

'Wait!' he shouted and held up his hands.

Applejack slowed her charge and stopped it before she hit him. She did however grab him by the throat with one hand and raised her other hand into a threatening fist.

'Why did you attack Mah friends?' she growled into his face.

He smiled and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scroll sealed with Celestias' personal seal. 'I'll explain it when your friends wake up.' He said with a smile still on his face.
---

When the others did wake up Kain was tied to a chair and the others were reading the note he'd given them from Celestia. Twilight and Rarity had ice bags pressed against their heads where he'd hit them.

Twilight read the note aloud.

"My most faithful student

The man who bears this note is an ally. I do not know exactly what he intends to do, but I ask you to not attempt to harm him. He has been sent to Ponyville to instruct you and the other elements. He will explain more to you. When you get this letter send me a letter detailing what he did when he met you, I do not entirely trust him. I advise you to keep a close eye on him; he will explain things more clearly.

Yours sincerely Princess Celestia"

When she was done Kain chuckled 'I don't think she knew I planned on attacking you. I'm going to get yelled at for that.'

Twilight fixed him with a death stare 'All right tell us what's going on.'

Kain nodded. 'Mind untying me first?' he shifted uncomfortably.

'I do mind' said Rarity giving him a hate full look.

Kain shrugged 'Fine. My name is Kain Artun. I'm apparently the only real blade master in Equestria since Princess Celestia has succeeded in making a perfect peaceful nation. I've been sent here to teach you how to fight, with the eventual goal of saving hundreds of lives.' He looked at them and calmly observed their reactions.

Just then the door opened and Spike stepped in. He had a towel slung over one shoulder and his purple scales glittered in the sun. He froze when he saw everyone crowding the room and Kain tied to the chair. A couple of the girls spared him a glance but mostly they were too shocked by what Kain had just said to pay much attention to Spike.

'What going on?' Spike asked.

Nobody answered his question.

Kain stood up and the rope that he'd been bound with fell apart. 'See this is a perfect example of why Celestia sent me. You tie me up and don't even check me for knives.' He said waving a thin blade in his hands about. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stepped forward to stop him. He calmly walked around them and sat at the table he'd left his sandwich on. He picked it up and took a bite.

Twilight looked at Spike 'Spike could you watch him and warn us if he does anything … unfriendly.'

Spike shrugged and nodded. He walked over and sat next to Kain. When he sat down Kain asked him 'Hey… do you know where I could get ay beef?'

'Uhhh... No?' Spike answered sounding very confused.

Twilight called her group of friends together and talked while Kain was distracted by Spike.

'Do you think he's genuine?' Twilight asked the group.

'I sure don't. Anyone who's seen it could fake the princesses' seal.' Said Rainbow Dash.

'True' Twilight answered 'but how many people do you know that have actually seen it?'

Rainbow stopped to think 'Just us and Luna but he could still have faked it.'

'It's plausible' twilight agreed.

'Um… Now that Spike's here couldn't we…uh... Send the princess a letter asking if he's real?' asked Fluttershy.

Twilight looked at her 'Now that you mention it, it's the obvious thing to do.' Twilights' face heated and she felt quite foolish.
Twilight teleported upstairs and grabbed some quills ink and paper. She wrote a letter asking the princess if she did in fact send Kain and also described the way he'd treated them including the rudeness and the unprovoked attack. She then teleported back downstairs.

'Spike send this letter to the princess please.

Spike was in the middle of an animated conversation with Kain. He sighed took the letter rolled it up and burned it with his breath.

'Anyway as I was saying' Spike continued 'So Twilight looks at me with mud all over her face and says "Spike, where are the lab rats?" and I look up at her and say "I have no idea"!' then Spike burst out laughing and Kain joined him with a throaty chuckle.

Spike laughter was interrupted half way through by a burp of flame as a response from Celestia appeared.

Twilight picked it up and read it out aloud.

"My most faithful student

I did send Kain to school you, I was however not aware that he planned on attacking you and your friends. I will be arriving in Ponyville tomorrow to have a word with him about that. He said he wanted to meet you all anonymously, before anyone announced who he was, to get an unbiased understanding of you all. In the meantime tell him I order him to explain the situation truthfully and in its entirety. Again I do not trust him, but after he explains things do as he says. He truly is the only real blade master in Equestria. The skills he teaches you will be needed in the near future and will possibly help you in your later tasks.

Yours sincerely Princess Celestia"

Twilight rolled the letter up and looked at Kain. 'You've been I ordered to tell us what's going on.'

Kain nodded 'And I will do as the boss lady demands. I recommend you all pull up a seat though, it's a long story. Also can someone get me a drink? I'll want to clear my throat before it's over.'

So with some grumbles and mutters everyone pulled up some chairs and listened as Kain told the tale of where he was from and why he was here in-between sips of water. When it was done he asked 'Any questions?'

Twilights' hand shot up in the air instantly. She was brimming with curiosity and dying to ask questions about life in ancient times. Pinkie put up her hand a second later.

'Yes, you.' he said pointing at Pinkie.

'Your mean! We're not friends!' she shouted at him.

He nodded 'Ok then. Any actual question?'

Twilights hand remained firmly in the air.

'Yeah I have two.' Said Rainbow Dash.

'Ask away.' he said sitting back in his chair.

'First one, why did you attack us and act all creepy and weird?' Rainbow asked.

'I attacked you all to get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, of that test only you and Applejack did well. I acted "all creepy and weird" to get an idea of your characters'.

Rainbow nodded 'My second question is why do we need to learn how to fight, why can't we just zap this Xath guy with the elements of Harmony like we did the other villains we've faced?'

He smiled at her 'Because the last time I tried that, the elements almost got killed, he didn't die and I got stabbed through the chest. This time when we go after him, we're going to be prepared and the elements won't be as helpless as they were last time.'

Applejack raised her hand 'How come yah didn't act all creepy like with me or Pinkie Pie? Ah thought you were a little odd but not scary or nuthin. '

Kain thought for a second. 'It was simply because I thought I had a pretty good impression of you without needing to press much harder…. Anyone else?' Twilight still had her hand in the air. 'No? Good.' He took in a breath before he barked out like a drill instructor 'Everybody line up now!' They all just stared at him with shocked faces. 'I'm not kidding ladies, get yourselves in line right now!' they all jumped up and stood in line.

'Good, when we're in training you will all learn to do exactly what I tell you to, the instant I tell you! Anyone who doesn't earns themselves a full contact session in the ring with me. This punishment will also serve as a possible advancement test. If you think you're good enough, you can try me in the ring! If you can last a full five minutes with me or beat me, then you advance up to the next rank! I don't expect to turn you all into blade masters, but by the end of this you will all be able to hold your own.'

'Celestia will arrive tomorrow and my brother may arrive at any time. If that happens, there will be very little to stop him from destroying this little town. Indeed because of your and my presence here he may be attracted to this town. Because of this, when Celestia arrives here tomorrow she will very kindly post a small force of fifty of her guards here to help protect the town if my brother show up before we're ready.'

'I know many of you have personal business to attend to and your own homes to worry about. That's why I will generously allow each and every one of you the first half of the day, which is right up until twelve O'clock, to keep things running around your home. After that every minute you are late will earn you an extra hours training after sunset with me. If there aren't enough hours in that night to cover the missing time then you can spend enough hours the next and the one after that. If you think I will tire out or let you off then I think I should warn you that during one battle I was awake for 5 days straight. Most of this was spent either marching or in combat. I will outlast any of you in matters of mental endurance.'

'There are more things that you should know but I will bring those up as they become relevant. In the meantime you're first practice session starts tomorrow at the Apple farm at twelve O'clock. Don't dress in anything you don't want to get stained or torn. I also advise against jewellery of any sort, you can lose an eye that way.'

'By the end of these three months we have together most, if not all, of you will hate me. You may however learn to enjoy the lessons I provide. It is undeniable fun to fight with and compete against your friends. Whatever your feelings on the subject you need to remember one very, very important thing. This is not fun and games, nor is it for my personal amusement. The lives of thousands of innocents the world over are at risk, and you six are really the only people that are in a position to save them.'

'Xath is out there and he needs to be stopped.'
Author insert:, and that's the end of chapter 2.
I only noticed after I wrote the scene with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash that Kain is a racist. This was a fortunate accident, because it gives Kain a stronger and less stereotyped character ark than the one I'd originally intended. Plus it makes sense that he is racist having grown up in a racist society and fought all his life against Mystic Folk. He's less racist towards the Sky Folk having fought alongside them but still maintains personal bias towards them for serving the Mystic Folk and only turning on them when things got harder for themselves. I hope to explore more of this side of his character in future chapters.