“My hips hurt…” I grumble, sitting down on a couch in the library and drinking ice water.

“If you didn’t leave for three days we’d have had some sanity.” Luna countered.

“I didn’t know that I was gone for three days, two all of you don’t need that on a daily basis...and three I believe it was all your idea.” I frown. “Also...did everything go well with your test?” I ask.

“Yeah, I faced my past and won. Though, Time has been having odd, new premonitions.”

“What are the premonitions?” I ask worriedly, having a bad feeling about this.

“Something about Core and some other man in a mask. She doesn’t exactly get it, but she guesses things in someone’s reflection have, or might, go south.”

“What did the mask look like?” Ben asks curiously.

“She couldn’t describe it, I looked into her memories and to me it looked mostly metal, some gears, goggles, covered the whole face.”

I thought for a moment about what kind of mask that could be. “I...am very scared of what I just thought of…” I say worriedly.

“What is it?”

“So I was told about another someone Zeke met, told me about them and…” Ben gulps. “If that’s the same person Core fought then I’m afraid Core might just have taken the next step to finishing his goal…”

“Maybe you should send a message, or Time, she has been meaning to talk with him anyway.”

“Well I can’t really open portals like Zeke can. I managed to get back here from Zeke’s Equestria because that’s a more...hubtown kind of situation.” I sigh out.

“Luxu can send her… also, what happened to him over there? He came back rather excited.”

“I know he wanted to talk to Zeke about something, but I’m not entirely sure about what.” I shrug. “But who knows, maybe Luxu is going to take Time out on a special date or something.”

Luna and I talked a bit more, eventually Luxu and Time came in, both carrying… the lunar forge and skyforge from skyrim…“Oh, sup?” Luxu said.

“Three things…” I start. “One, how in the fuck did you bring those things here? Two, what did you and Zeke talk about, and three I have a request cause Time might have seen something that just fucked everyone over.” I say. “Oh actually a fourth thing, why didn’t you take those to Zeke’s world?”

“One, I need to study them to help make more, two, that’s a secret, three, shoot, and fourth, these things are my work around the Keyblade forge diagrams I already have… these are the same forge, just in half, and everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, is in them. I’m just gonna mess with them for a bit, then send them to Zeke while later returning the Skyforge.”

“Right then…” I nod. “Anyways, when you manage to hide those things properly I want you to take Time to Zeke’s world because...I fear a fuck lot of bad things are happening and all of them are centered around Core.”

“Oh right, those visions.” Time muttered, walking in on the conversation. “They were really violent, and messed up…the things I saw…well, I just hope they didn’t happen.”

“We better not take any chances. Cause if Core fought who I think I thought...the Void might be making an appearance…”

“That’s the last thing we need.” Luxu moaned, taking the part of the lunar forge he was carrying into his room.

“Hopefully I’m wrong…” I sigh out. “Anyways, might as well find one of my masters and start training.” I say, starting to think about who I should train with first. “But who should I train with?” I mutter as I get up, put the empty glass on the table and start heading outside. “Actually Luna, before I leave did you happen to see a fuck lot of people get dropped off here in gummi ships?”

“Yes, Celestia took them in at Canterlot and is rehabilitating them, lot of them were injured or malnourished.”

“How’s everything going for them?” I ask, hoping things are going well.

“Well, most seem to come from a type of medieval world or something like that since they talk a lot about demons and such. One person wants to meet with you, says he knows someone on his world that can train you in the claymore.”

“Sweet.” I nod. “What did this person look like if I may ask?”

“He had these white dog ears on his head, blue vest and black hair.”

“Okay then, I’ll put that on the ‘to do’ list but right now I’d rather stay on world. Too much world hopping for three days to be honest.”

“Alright, go train. I think Dorlu is free, everyone else is adjusting and I think Meyd is helping his sister move into some merpony coves over in the Baltimare sea bay. So he might be gone for a while.”

“Glad to hear that everyone’s getting settled. But better find Dolru...um...what has he been doing? Taking care of his family or gambling everyone out of their money?” I ask.

“He’s actually working with the town police. His ability to capture people in his cards temporarily makes arrests easy.”

“You know...hearing a gambler that owned literally every gambling place on a planet become a police officer is...quite shocking to be perfectly honest.” I say simply, not believing this entire situation.

“Well, he did. I asked him where he got the cards once, said they're from his grandfather. Was a wizard in practice, and on the table.”

“Well alright then.” I nod. “Time to see if Detective Gambler is doing alright besides that.” I say with a little smile. “Tell everyone I’ll be gone for most of the day.”

“Will do.” Luna replies as I exit the door.

“I actually never looked around town.” I frown while walking through Ponyville. “Just noticed that…” I say to myself, not caring if people heard me talk to myself but just finding my lack of walks around town a tad silly. “Wonder where the police station is...actually I didn’t even know that Ponyville had a police station…” I mutter to myself, looking around town just to find the blasted place.

I walked way deep into the old part of town, finally finding the station, and Dorlu walking nearby. He was dressed in normal attire though. He spotted me and waved. “Hey Ben, what brings you this far into the old part of town?”

“Few reasons. One because I had no idea this part of town even existed to begin with, two so I can actually walk around town without having something trying to murder me, and three to ask if you're free to help train me.” I explain.

“Oh, sure. I’m only called to capture culprits, not fight them. Well, come on then, the station has a basement we can use for practice.” Dorlu said, taking me into the police station and down to the basement. It was empty, save a few crates labeled ‘contraband-old’ and some scattered ropes. “So, what can you do right now?”

“I can do between ‘fuck’ and ‘all’ with these things.” I say while summoning my cards. “Also, when I heard you were a police officer I kind of thought it was a lie...but apparently not.”

“Oh, well living on a world of criminals, I always wondered what the other side was like, so I applied and after a day of basic training I was made an ‘undercover agent’.”

“So I suppose the ‘Detective Gambler’ thing is true?” I ask with a smile.

“Yeah…and that nickname is never going away…Well, anyway, time for the basics.” Dorlu said, summoning his cards and with a swipe of his hand over them, created a wall of cards around us. “Basic barrier, how big you want it, you need to know the measurements of how big the cards are gonna be, and the length of the wall around you or others.”

“Oh great, looks like I’m gonna need to learn geometry as well…” I frown, my cards starting to float up in the air.

“Well yeah, math is the primary method of using magic cards. Gamblers are smart, mage gamblers are smarter. You need to flow magic into them, and have the measurements pe-calculated mentally. I may not look like it, but I’m probably as smart as Twilight.”

“Oh dear…” I sigh out. “Question, can you control time with your cards?”

“Well, sorta. Time stopping spells can be placed into them, saved for a later use, but controlling time… the closest to that is the ‘time limit’ on a reaction move you use on an opponent.”

“And, metaphorically speaking, can you actually break those boundaries if you're good enough?” I ask curiously.

“Only if you're a master wizard and tamper with the cards to pull it off.”

“Can I see the back of your cards?” I ask, wanting to see what his card back looked like compared to mine.

“Sure.” Dorlu handed me one, I looked over the back and it looked blank grey.

“Blank grey…” I mutter before turning over one of my cards and seeing it’s grey back with the Nobody symbol on it. “Alright then. Thank you.” I say while handing his card back. “Just by this...I think I can start guessing something’s in the possible future.” I nod. “So...let’s get started with this massive math lesson...god Twilight’s gonna kill me…”

“If we’re starting math, than cards will come later.” He said, his wall of cards returning to his deck and he put it away. “I guess to the library or something?”

“I was joking that the card lesson is going to double as a math lesson.” I say.

“Without advanced mathematical knowledge, they won’t work right, or at all.”

“Fuck.” I frown. “Well congratulations Professor Dorlu, you're going to have to compete with my girlfriend on the ‘who can teach math better’ games.” I say with as much of a fake cheer as I possibly could, the gambler already knowing I’m going to hate this so much.

We walked back home and after telling Twilight, she jumped into ‘teacher mode’…Sexy teacher mode. But she did pull out a desk, blackboard, and a stack of books taller than me and dropped it on my desk. “So, what exactly does he need to learn?” Twilight asked.

“Little bit of everything, but mostly geometry, and probability.” Dorlu said. “And is that outfit necessary?”

“Yes!” I quickly interject, my face suddenly turning a bright red. “Uh...I probably shouldn’t have said that….” I mutter, gently putting my head down on my desk. “Can...we start? I...I don’t want to die of embarrassment…”

“Alright then, this will take as long as it will take for you to learn it.” Twilight nodded.

Almost a week of math cramming had passed…my brain hurts. It had been so long since I did any learning or study anything my brain was lost at what to do. Right now I finished taking five tests in a row and Dorlu and Twilight were grading them…Great, I feel like this is finals week back on Earth. ”Twilight’s sexy teacher outfit at least...makes this a bit bearable…” I think to myself, my perverted thoughts having managed to claw it’s way up the massive dump of learning I had just endured.

Twilight handed her half of the tests to Dorlu and he stood up to speak. “Well, four B minuses, and a C plus…still needs work…”

“Fahhahk~...” I whine before my face met my desk yet again. “Hey...at least it’s not horrible…” I say.

“Nothing is mastered overnight. I had to learn the math needed though self-teaching.” Dorlu said. “You got Twi and me to help, so count yourself lucky.”

This time two weeks had passed and I rarely left the books or notes. Though, Twi managed to make my relax time with her and the girls a learning and studying session…numbers are now sexy.

They were grading seven tests and finally Dorlu held them up and walked up to me. “Six A’s, one B…almost.”

“Listen Twilight is making me learn while having private time, can I please have a break? She’s making me think numbers are sexy!” I whine, glaring at Twilight.

“Your only issue is in the advanced probability. The ‘calculating the future’ of math.”

“How bad?” I ask, starting to think of a way to solve my little problem.

“You keep getting the calculations wrong, forgetting numbers in the equations, leaving numbers out, and who in the hell makes a scatterplot for it? Twi, what have you been teaching him when I’m not here?”

“Just the…basics…” She mumbled.

“She’s teaching me with her scatterplot.” I deadpan.

Dorlu sighed. “Well, your problem area is centered down now, so we’ll work on strictly that.”

One week later, I was taking ten tests…TEN! IN A ROW! They were grading them and finally Dorlu stood up. “Looks like you finally got it. Congrats, you’re a human calculator now.” He said.

“Can I get another bandage?” I ask, my forehead having been bandaged from the times I bashed my head into my desk. “I think it’s bleeding again...and thank fuck we’re done!” I say, throwing my hands in the air and getting out of my desk.

“You get a one hour break, then meet me outside to work with the cards.” Dorlu said as he left.

“Hopefully this has less head banging.” I grumble. “Ow…”

“When you get back, I’ll be waiting~” Twilight said, holding a ‘maid outfit’ that was mostly string and see through fabric.

“I love you…” I smile. “Now...to find another bandage...and some food…” I sigh out, my stomach growling in agreement that I need food.

A bandage and some food later, I met Dorlu outside the back of the library. “So, now that you’re mentally ready, let’s see how your magic can handle them.” Dorlu said as the cards flew out and grew, landing on the floor like carpets as he jumped into one. “Try and find me.” He said as the cards shuffled.

In the back of my mind, the Luxord fight music was playing. ”And no camera shenanigans to help me this time…” I think to myself, having focused on the one card that he jumped into as it was shuffled. “Let’s see now…” I mutter before moving swiftly to the card I traced. I flipped it over, and the word ‘sucker’ was there as it blew up on me. “Damn it…” I grumbled, rubbing suit off of my face.

“Use your cards to find me, it gives you more…hands.” Dorlu’s voice came from every card. Creepy.

“Okay.” I say before my cards flew around me. “Let’s see now…” I mutter, focusing as my cards formed a small sphere, small thorns tracing my ‘Fair Game’ and flying outwards, hunting down Dorlu swiftly.

All his cards were gone, but he wasn’t out. “Like the trick?” Dorlu said as a card of his popped out from the back of my hood, it was normal sized and he was on the image half of it. “Best escape tactic if needed. Also, good use of that move. Once the math part is out of the way, the rest is actually easy.” He said, jumping out of the card and back to normal size.

“I mean besides a bullshit amount of sleight of hand, trickery, and other card tricks.” I say honestly. “How did you get that card on my hood though? Or was it during my tests?”

“When you walked to the card you thought I was in, I shrunk the card I was actually in and floated it in there. Keep that trick in mind, you jump out and place a spell in it at the right time, it can act like a mine.”

“Cheeky bastard.” I chuckle. “But thank you for helping me figure that out. I wonder if I can figure out any tricks that’ll surprise even you.” I say, hoping to manage that.

“If you do, challenge me to a game. I’ve been looking for someone who can beat me in a fair game.” Dorlu said as he pat my shoulder. “Well, I’m gonna go home, you practice the cards against any baddies you find… and I will go screw my wife.” With that, Dorlu walked off.

“Actually how is the family?” I ask before he left completely.

“Kids in school, mother-in-law is debating you, and my wife is in heat, so I’m going home.”

“Ah, okay see ya.” I say with a little wave before turning around and heading back inside.

As I entered I saw Twilight…she was in the ‘outfit’. “What can I do for you…master~”

“How long is this going to last?” I ask, hoping it’s a lot longer than a day.

“Everyone should be gone for a while, Luna’s in Canterlot, Rarity took Pinkie and Zecora to a fashion show in Manehattan, and Luxu, Time and Sweetie Bell haven’t come back from Zeke’s yet, but they sent a letter saying they're alright. So… we got at least a week…oh, and Spike decided to move in with Rainbow. We got the house alone~”

“Gonna miss Spike’s pancakes, but I have a lot of things I want to do with you Ms. ‘Tries to turn math into a fetish’.” I say with a growing grin.

“What can I say, hearing you talk math turns me on.”

“I can’t believe you just said that...but get that ass upstairs, I have things to do to it without math involved.” I say with a giddy grin.