Sky smirks as he looks upon the tribal camp in the forest and on a part of the plains. "Ah. Such a great sight. Peaceful too." He said to the tribal member beside him smirking. "No one makes a sound. We are going to get as close as we can without being spotted." Sky orders.

They grunt in agreement before starting to move to the sides as Sky brings up the middle as they try to lay as low as they can. They all crawled as quietly as they could, getting closer and closer until Sky yelled, "Now!"

They all yelled as they rose up and shocked the tribe as they rush at them with their weapons raised as Sky chuckles and grabs the first one before spinning and slices him across the neck. "Can't believe that worked. Don't pillage, capture!" He said to the tribe as many screamed and ran being unarmed.

They all start to grab as many as they could and hold them or tie them up as Sky uses his magic and uses the darkness of the area before proceeding to send out chains and grab at the many fleeing tribespony rubbing far away from them and pulls them back in.

"Seize the storehouses and armory first." Sky orders.

The rest of those freed up rushes to head to the tents that held weapons and armor nearby and bum rushes those nearby before taking down anyone nearby.

Sky smiled as he knocked out a tribespony that had retrieved a weapon and charge him with the flat side of his axe. "Sorry, but I'm not planning on dying anytime soon. Now then, where's your new chief?!" He demands to look around.

"Chief, we have captured everypony and the shaman have surrendered." One of the tribespony says.

Sky nods and looks to him. "Take me to the shaman."

"Yes, chief." The tribespony says escorting him to where all the tribespony that were captured were.

Sky hums as looks over all of them before coming onto the shaman not really bothered. "You knew this was coming."

"No, we did not expect this. We thought you would try and recuperate your strength and the others in the area borders another and is guarding its borders fiercely and hasn't set out since their current chief took over." The shaman says.

"Very well. My tribe will not pillage and loot anything and we won't. As well as won't put any of your tribe into slavery in exchange for something." Sky says.

The shaman raises an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Your clan's loyalty and service." Sky says, letting them know he wanted to annex them.

The shaman stare at him as the other tribe members watch it all. "We agree." The shaman says.

"What will you do to show you won't betray?" Sky asks.

The shaman looks around before sighing. "This." He said quickly slipping out of his binds and takes out a bottle and starts to drink it before throwing it away.

"What did you just do?" Sky asks.

The shaman put his hood up and try to hide. "What I did to your slave." He said before groaning and curls up as many gasped.

Sky goes wide-eyed as Snow finally caught up, catching that. "He's changing himself? This is unheard of." She said running right beside up to Sky.

"Oh dear, you missed the attack." Sky says.

Snow glares at him. "He's changing and that's all you can say?"

"You're right. It is great having you here." Sky says.

Snow groans as she facehooved. "You are unbelievable."

"Ok serious then. What does this mean?" Sky asks.

"He…she." Snow said as the shaman finally stops groaning and pulls the hood down to show a young mare in his place. "Is now your slave as a sign of good faith." She explains sighing.

"Will all of you honor this show of faith?" Sky asks.

"Yes. It's the only way we show who conquers who." Snow explains as the shaman get up and walks to him before smiling and nuzzling his chest.

"Then recover your strength and your armor and weapons. I have plans." Sky informs.

Snow nods and starts to call out to them all before turning to him. "I know."

"Walk with me home." Sky instructs.

Snow nods as her and the shaman follow him. "When did he tell you?" She asks not looking.

"He didn't. So is this odd for a shaman to do this?" Sky asks noticing the shaman was a lot younger now.

Snow nods and looks back at her. "They usually won't do unless…they never had a chief. If the chief is not there or not chosen, the next line in command is the shaman." She said before looking closer at her. "Thirteen."

"The shaman was an old stallion right?" Sky asks.

She nods. "Very old. The potion made her young usually to the victor's prefer…you like young fillies?" She asks raising an eyebrow to him.

"Actually, the potion turns the consumer into the optimum childbearing age, but sometimes it overshoots." The shaman suddenly said.

Snow glares at her. "Know it all."

"She should know how this works…your tribe has a blacksmith right?" Sky asks.

"No. We trade." The shaman said moving to him and nuzzle him.

"Am I going to have to fucking hire one for you ponies?!" Sky yells.

The shaman suddenly moves in front of him and kisses him as she hugs him lightly before pulling her head back and smiling. "Better master?"

"No. Still not happy about this." Sky says.

"You ok?" Sky asks brushing Snow's mane.

"No." Snow says quietly.

"Anything I can do?" Sky asks.

Snow looks to him. "Bring them in."

"Burning, White, the mistress wants you." Sky calls.

The two mares steps in as White, the shaman, is now wearing loincloths along with Burning and walks up to them. "Yes, master?" They both ask.

Snow looks to them. "Come here."

Sky says nothing as he pets his wife.

Snow lowers her ears and enjoys the petting as they both walk over before she slowly wraps her hooves around them and hugs them. "Please stay with me while I rest up."

"I will be here as well." Sky says.

Snow smiles and looks to him. "Thank you." She said before Sky picks her up and sets her on the bed and gets in with her as the two crawls beside them.

"What are you going to do after the rest?" Sky asks wrapping his hooves around her.

"To work. You have been neglecting some of your chiefly duties." Snow says poking him.

Sky smiles. "It's been a while. Besides, we need to arm and gets the tribe ready to move. Those blacksmiths can only do so much. If we fucking had any." Sky says showing he still hadn't let that go in the two months he was chief.

"We barely knew that we needed them that bad." Snow said as White nuzzles Sky's chest and Burning nuzzles her neck.

"And it doesn't help that not many will consider coming to work here. I am considering going to that town and seeing if they can't use their connections to find a few willing to move here for pay." Sky says.

Snow sighs. "I am sorry."

"For?" Sky asks.

Snow looks to him. "For everything. I'm sorry for being so mad at you for just running in and taking over. I never realized you were like this."

"What? Ruggedly good looking?" Sky jokes.

Snow hits his side as Burning and White kept nuzzling them. "They really do follow you. Strange they haven't really called for you to do anything…and you haven't don't anything to them on a whim."

"Besides, make them dress properly in public." Sky says.

Snow shrugs. "Well, they do want to show that they are yours."

"And this shows we are not poor." Sky says making her raise an eyebrow before her eyes widen, getting what he was doing.

"You sneaky little…" Snow starts.

"Be nice." Sky said teasingly.

"Bastard." She finishes.

Sky gives a hurt look and White and Burning moves to him and nuzzles his head. "Aw. Why do you have to be like that?"

"Because you are different." Snow says.

"So my lovely wife, what kind of animals are around here?" Sky asks.

"Well…we have salamanders living nearby in caves. Most don't go near them because of being akin to dragons. Temper and all." Snow explains.

"I see. Anything else?" Sky asks.

Snow sighs. "No one has tried to have them as mounts. No one in history."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Sky asks.

"Because you married me." Snow said dryly.

"That was decided by your father, not us." Sky defends.

Snow rolls her eyes as Burning moves back to her and nuzzles her happily. "At least you are tolerable."

"So what other animals are around here?" Sky asks.

Snow shrugs. "Mostly regular beasts. One like cattle, but burlier."

"Any canine?" Sky asks getting confused looks.

"Wolves in the forest rocky areas." Snow said raising an eyebrow at him.

"You don't know what canine means?" Sky asks.

Both Burning and White shake their heads.

"Canine is a generalization of creatures with dog-like characteristics." Snow says.

"Oh, you are smart my wife." Sky says.

Snow shrugs. "My father did send me to a school."

"Oh?" Sky asks.

Snow nods before Sky start to run a hoof across her side. "Would you stop that?"

"Did you ever interact with somepony there more than what we have?" Sky asks smirking as he kept running a hoof.

"Stop that." Snow says poking his nose.

Sky leans closer to her. "No. As your husband, I have to make sure you are satisfied."

"You are making me mad." Snow says.

"Tell you what, you can be on top of me if you want." Sky offers.

Snow looks to him as he grins while Burning and White looks between the two. "Okay." Snow said frowning a bit.

"Give her a little space you two." Sky says.

Sky sighs as he rubs his head and looks to the map. "Wonder what the others are doing?"

"What are you doing?" Snow asks.

Sky looks to her. "Thinking about some old friends. No matter. How are we doing on the weapons and mounts?"

"Well, we are where we were on weapons and still no mounts." Snow says sarcasm in her tone.

Sky sighs. "This is going to be a long fight."

"Oh, you planning on trying to argue with me again?" Snow asks.

"Hold that thought. Is there anyone who is good with animals in the tribe?" Sky asks.

"There is one in town." Snow said raising an eyebrow at the change in subjects.

"In our territory?" Sky asks.

Snow sighs. "Our lead shaman says no. Not our territory. We need to go into town for the animal handler."

Sky sighs. "Alright. I'll go with White. It's been a while since she has been getting out especially with her potion making."

"A lot of work with all the healing." Snow says.

Sky shrugs. "We all need to get out sometime. We can't stay in every single hour of the day."

"And you can try and grab my flank every hour." Snow says.

"And I can try to grab your flank every second." Sky said smirking to her.

"Why did my husband have to be a perv?" Snow asks.

Sky smiles and nuzzles her. "Because I want to keep the sex life interesting. It would be boring doing the same way every time." He said calmly.

"I still don't think you will tame the Salamanders." Snow says.

Sky grins as he wraps a hoof around Burning. "I tamed this one."

"No, the potion did." Snow reminds.

"Remind me, is there anyone who can make leather works?" Sky asks.

"One." Snow said rolling her eyes.

"Well tell them to get ready to do a lot of work. Also, start training others to make them." Sky instructs getting up.

Snow nods as Burning and White move to her and nuzzles her. "I'll see what I can do."

"Also, you got to reward to me for this." Sky says.

Sky yawns as he walks into the town near the forest and hums at the sight of the stands and small snow covered buildings full of wares of different types of weapons, armor, to even spells and trinkets to use it on. He even saw some clothing with what looks like spell circles stitched on them to allow less work. "Wish I can have it all. Especially with all of the tribe I have." He said to himself as he looks at the deer like creatures rubbing the stands and buildings with more border shoulders and antlers on them as they wore winter clothing with some of the wearing some pieces of armor on them for the high-end wares. "Now where are you?"

"Master, what are we looking for again?" White asks.

"We are looking for the animal handler and to talk to someone about finding us a few smiths willing to move to our tribe for pay and work." Sky says.

White looks around a bit. "How about them master?" She asks pointing to a weapons stand with a blacksmith working behind them.

"They work for the owner or a business, but maybe…" Sky says thinking before walking to the workshop.

The creatures look up as they see two ponies approach them. "Can we help you?"

"Yes, can I speak to your boss for some private dealings?" Sky asks.

"Candor!" The one at the stand calls and the larger creature gets up from the anvil and walks over while wiping a hoof on his blacksmith apron.

"Yes?" He asks with a deeper voice.

"May we talk in private?" Sky asks.

Candor nods and leads them into the blacksmith's room near the fire and closes the door behind them. "So what do you need?"

"Well, basically we are looking to hire few smith to come to our villages and take up residence and work there." Sky says making Candor raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well,…that's an offer. However, can you back it up with pay and what they will be doing is within their range of expertise?"

"I rule two tribes. I think we can get the funds." Sky says putting a medium sized sack of gold on the table.

Candor stares at the bag of gold. "I see…then I guess I will have to get some of the blacksmiths together. Just tell me where you want them to go."

"The villages of the Stronghoof and Hagglethorn tribes." Sky says.

"I'll get this done." Candor said.

"Thank you. Any chance you would know where a beast handler is in the town?" Sky asks.

Candor raises an eyebrow. "On the edge on the far side. We mostly have farms and it will be the last house."

"Thank you." Sky says before moving White along.

Candor stares after them as they leave before looking to the bag of gold. "Strange pony."

Sky smiles as he looks around and sees more of the same species working in the fields. "At least this is a prosperous town. Maybe if I take over I can help it."

"That would be a bad idea master. This town is neutral and owned by traders." White says.

Sky shrugs. "Once I surround it with captured lands, they have to talk to me and make either an alliance or become part of the fief."

"Master is smart, but to the east of here is the strongest tribe. The Lycan Moon." White said.

Sky raises an eyebrow. "Really? What are they good at?"

"Everything." White said simply.

Sky chuckles. "Then I guess we need everybody."

White smiles as she looks to him as they kept walking along before they come upon a cottage where another of the creatures were talking with a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane. "Do I make myself clear? I need these beasts cleaned and ready. We cannot stop on the trail when we go through the mountains for the trade to the fort." The large creature said to the smaller mare.

The mare nods. "Yes, Mr. Dainn."

"I'm sorry. Are we interrupting?" Sky asks.

Dainn and the mare look over. "No. We are just finished up. Make sure the beasts are ready for the travel." He said before walking off as the mare waves meekly.

"So what was that about?" Sky asks.

"He needs the beasts cleaned up and ready to move the wagons for a trade." She said hiding slightly behind her mane.

"I see. When you are done, can you come to the Hagglethorn tribe's village?" Sky asks.

The mare nods. "I'll try. Sorry."

"It's fine." Sky says turning to leave.

"Excuse me? What's your name so I can find you easier next time?" She calls out.

"Sky Sprint. You?" Sky asks looking back to her.

"I'm…F…Fluttershy." She whispers quietly as she stays behind her mane.

Sky chuckles as he perks his ears up. "Pretty name for a pretty mare." He said makes her bleat like a goat and try to curl up and hide.

"I can't believe you are going through with this." Snow says.

Sky grins. "Which part?"

"The going off to look for salamanders." Snow growls.

"Oh, you care." Sky says hugging her.

Snow pushes him off and frowns. "Idiot! You think you can tame them that easily? They haven't been mounted in a long time for a good reason."

"Well, I am going to try. And when I succeed, you have to start calling me your husband." Sky says cheerfully.

Snow scoffs. "I think I would be saying your last rites by the end of it."

Sky chuckles. "And if I win, you will have to start calling me husband. I'm partial to master, but husband works very well." Snow groans. "Deal?" He asks smirking as he holds her.

"No, but I will start the last rites." Snow says.

Sky nuzzles her nose. "Go right ahead and I'll be back riding a salamander."

"Master, do you really want us to stay behind?" Burning asks.

Sky smiles as he turns to them. "Yes. I can't put you in danger because of this. So treat Snow here nicely."

"Very well master." White says as Sky walks out.

Snow groans as she facehooves. "Dang me and my father."

"You need a break?" Sky asks.

Fluttershy pants in exhaustion and drenched in sweat as she tries to keep up behind. "No. I'm fine." She said trying to force a smile.

"We will take a break." Sky says laying down on the ground.

Fluttershy finally collapses on the ground panting heavily.

"Not used to hiking are you?" Sky asks.

"I have stayed in my home for a long time." She breathes out laying her head down.

"Take as long as you need." Sky says offering a canteen.

Fluttershy snatches it and starts to drink away happily.

"I must admit; I am kind of surprised. You didn't refuse the job when I told you we were going after Salamanders." Sky says.

"I always wanted to see them. They seemed interesting." Fluttershy said panting as she takes a breath from drinking.

"Well, I plan on taming them." Sky says.

Fluttershy looks surprised at him. "You want to tame them? But…?"

"It is the only hope my tribes have to survive. We are sandwiched between the mountains, the merchant's territory and the tribe to the north the Serpent spear tribe. We have to advance north and without the salamanders, we won't be able to overcome the Serpent Spear tribe's fortifications." Sky says.

Fluttershy looks worried. "But…you will hurt them!"

"And if I don't, then those under my command will die." Sky says.

Fluttershy stayed looking worried. "But…"

"This is the world we live in. A state of war that has lasted so long. We have to take such actions just to survive. I myself was living free going wherever I wanted until I helped save one of the tribes I rule. Now I am married and rule two clans." Sky says sound like he was wishing for the past.

Fluttershy looks a bit worried at him. "Do you want to go back?"

"I am not stupid. What I want doesn't matter. What matters the needs of my charges." Sky says.

"Sky…do you really want to be free again?" Fluttershy asks worriedly.

"Well, I don't know. Do you want me to snuggle with you?" Sky teases.

Fluttershy blushes hard and squeaks.

"So you rested up?" Sky asks.

Fluttershy nervously nods.

"Good, because something is looking at you." Sky says.

Fluttershy eeps and freezes before slowly turning around and then looks up onto the tree trunk to see a large black lizard with a yellow underbelly and border by a red outline as its six legs clung onto the trunk with its sharp claws and stares at them with sharp red-yellow eyes as slithering its tongue at her before sucking it back in as it still stares.

"All you Fluttershy." Sky says.

Fluttershy stares back at the red salamander as it slowly raises a hand and starts to slowly crawl down the tree towards them. "Hel…hello big guy. Are you lost?" Fluttershy tries to ask calmly as she flies up to it.

"It's bigger than wolves. I will give it that." Sky mutters.

Fluttershy nods as it seems to be proud and croaks. "Oh. You are just curious, aren't you?" She asks fluttering close to it and starts to rub its head.

It croaks and nuzzles her hoof back. "Aw. You really want to see what we are like, don't you?" She asks giggling as she kept petting him.

Sky slowly flies up to her as it croaks again. "He's a friend. He won't you. In fact, he could help…if that's okay." She said meekly at the end.

The salamander looks to him and croaks. Sky chuckles and starts to pet him as well. "It's fine. I would never hurt you guys. Besides, stick with me and you have more land to explore." The salamander stares at him before they heard more croaks, not from the one in front of them as more starts to crawl out of the trees. "Fluttershy…I will kiss you if you can help get these guys back to my tribe's encampment."

Fluttershy only faints blushing at that.