Sam opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and stopped for a moment to take a look at his surroundings. There were a few scattered ponies sitting around the place, though he didn't expect it to be really full yet, it was still early morning after all. He made his way to the register and seeing as no one was there he did the most logical thing, rang the little bell and waited. He could hear movement in the back room, Pinkie came out of the door and looked to the register to see who it was.

She smiled upon seeing Sam,"Oh your here early!" She walked over to where he was across the counter,"You want to have a milkshake now? It's kind of early don't you think?"

He shrugged,"Yeah I know it's early but I've got a lot to do today so I decided I'd come in early."

"Oh, well go take a seat then and I'll come back out in a little bit with our shakes, you like chocolate right?"

He nodded,"With whip cream and a cherry on top."

"One chocolate shake coming right up!" She turned about and went back into the bakery. Sam tapped his hand on the counter and looked for a place to sit, spotting a booth against one of the windows he made his way over and sat down. It wasn't long before Pinkie came back out with the milkshakes.

"Here ya go!" She set it in front of him and plopped herself down across from him.

He took a sip and smiled,"Just as good as always Pinkie."

She slurped a large portion of her shake down in one gulp,"Thanks Sam, what was it that you need to do today anyway?"

"Well you heard I was getting knighted right?" He took another drink.

"Yep, it was all over the paper this morning, it's amazing Sam you'll the first knight I ever get to meet, if not the only one!" She grinned giddily.

"Yeah well for the knighting ceremony I need to wear my armor, have my shield on my back and my sword at my side. Problem is it's all still scratched and dented from my fight, so I have to fix it up before this Friday."

"Ah I see, I'm sure you'll get it done in time."

"Oh no I will, I'll be a hermit working on it for the next two days but I'll finish it," He sighed," The problem is that in between that time I promised Rarity I would go to lunch with her, then I have to teach Applebloom how to make dynamite." He shook his head looking down,"I talked with Granny Smith this morning so st least that's out of the way."

She looked down at her milkshake which was nearly done already,"Oh... what's dynamite?"

He chuckled at her question,"Nitroglycerin, some kind of sorbent and stabilizing materials. It makes a big boom and destroys everything around it."

"It explodes?"

"Yes." He nodded.

She cocked her head and lowered her brow,"Why do you need to blow stuff up?"

Sam shrugged,"Well I'm being made a knight and if I ever fight again then I'll need every edge I can get. That's the justification Applebloom gave me anyway, but It's also fun to blow things up sometimes." He smiled.

She chuckled for a second and looked up to him with an idea,"Why don't you just write down how to make it and give that to Applebloom? That would give you time to work on the armor right?"

He thought about it for a moment and smiled,"Pinkie you are a lifesaver sometimes."

She shook her head with a smile as he finished off his milkshake,"Tell you what, when she and Zecora finish making your dynamite and if you let me join you, I'll find a place where we all can mess around with it."

He nodded and grinned,"That sounds like a good deal Pinkie."

"Alright good, I already have a place in mind..."

Sam stood up out of the booth and leaned back in a stretch,"I'm sorry to cut this off Pinkie but I should start getting to work soon."

"Oh it's okay, I understand why you need to go, good luck on finishing that armor!"

"Thank you Pinkie, never stop making these great milkshakes." He walked to the door and made his way out.

~

Applebloom walked over the dirt path leading to the barn, reaching the it she opened the big door a crack and slipped in. She saw Sam by the forge overlooking his stuff. He layed out his mail shirt and looked it over, he ran a hand over it feeling the little interconnected rings,"At least there's no rivets missing here." He muttered quietly.

"Uh, Sam?" He jumped in surprise and spun around.

Sam saw her and sighed. He leaned back against the table,"Good lord Bloom don't do that to me."

She smiled at him sheepishly,"Ah'm sorry but I wanted to ask if you would show me how to make dynamight like you said you was gonna"

He smiled and nodded,"Yeah I wrote down how to make it at least, come over here." He waved his soot covered hand gesturing for her to follow him. He walked over to a table up against the side of the eastern barn wall.

She followed close behind him and getting up against the table alongside him took a look at what was on the table. There was a piece of paper with multiple ingredients, directions and pictures scrawled out across it,"What's this?"

"It's all the materials you'll need and how to make the stuff," he carefully rolled up the paper and handed it to her,"Now when you press the mixture into the paper mold make sure it's lined with paraffin, that'll keep it from getting moist and ruining the whole thing. A lot of people forget that and I don't want you to as well."

"Wait," She frowned,"Ya ain't gonna make it with us?"

He sighed and shook his head,"I'm sorry Applebloom but I'm really busy here, I need my stuff fixed by Friday and I still need to smooth the shield, plus the helmet has a scratch that it needs worked out of it." He smiled kindly down at her,"Now I've given you the paper that tells you all you need to know, take it to Zecora and follow the directions very carefully." He reached down and tussled her hair,"Ya got that?"

She swatted his hand away and frowned indignantly,"Yeah, yeah I got it Sam."

"Good,"He started making his way back to the forge,"Pinkie said when you finish the dynamite she'll find us a place to try it out."

Applebloom smiled excitedly,"Really? That's great!"

"Oh yeah but when your making them, make sure to make one for her too, she's going to come with us when we test all of it out."

"Oh, okay, I'll tell Zecora that." She moved swiftly to the door and held it open,"Tell Pinkie thanks for me will ya Sam?"

"I will." He started the forge up as the door closed and resumed his work.

~

It was evening time on some desolate dirt road in rural Equestria, the sun's light was just dying off and rays of reds, purples and blues shone from the east. All around for miles were nothing but fields of grass and wheat, trees were a scarce sight. Off in the far distance one could spy a lone mountain against the dark horizon, it was a nice view too, the white top of the mountain was beautiful in contrast to the dark black that made up the rest of it.

On this desolate road a wagon was pulled along by two earthponies flanked by four armed guards, the side of the cart read; Coin Minter's Banking Transport. This cart had come from Los Pegasus and was headed for Vanhoover, the trip had been going for two weeks now, they expected it continue for two more.

Normal procedure for moving money long distances like this was to do it by train, but it was becoming increasingly popular for criminals to rob trains in recent times so ponies that could afford to pay the expenses of moving it by cart had started requesting that their money be moved in that manner. Unlike what you might think, criminals didn't even bother to rob these carts, after all the real money was in the trains because since most ponies couldn't afford to have it moved by cart the trains had exponentially more money being transported on them.

The day so far had been peaceful, they would have to make camp soon but as of now they were enjoying the cool evening air. The idea that they were in danger was as far from them as could be, after all with four of them being unicorns that were trained and armed no one would be stupid enough to attack the cart. As if anyone would anyway.

She watched the fool ponies march along in complete ignorance of her presence. She had been watching them for the past couple days, waiting for the best chance to ambush them. She was after all a master of the hunt, she remained stealthy when she chose even though she was gigantic. No creature her size had ever mastered speed and stealth like she did, they usually just used their size to catch prey. That was a reason she was feared among her brothers and sisters, for not even Torch could best her in a fight.

When hunting ponies It was always best to let them fall into a false sense of security, they would become confident and not pay as much attention as they should. That was how she liked to hunt, the look of surprise and fear on her victim's faces was worth the arduous hunting for days on end.

The moment was near, she would gut these pitiful creatures as though they were nothing. She jumped into the air and with a silent flap of her gargantuan wings and took off into the sky. Following an air current through she circled the above cart deploying her normal course of attack.

It was fortuitous that ponies so rarely looked into the sky otherwise they might have seen her huge form diving down, she let out a roar just before slamming down on the cart instantly crushing the two that were pulling it.

She pulled herself back up and swung around to face the other four ponies. One of the private guards screamed and fell backwards, she smiled gleefully and stepped forward, crunching his legs beneath her claws.

She felt a sting in her left hind leg and looked behind in annoyance. It was one of the guards, obviously braver than the others, he had stabbed her with his small sword right in the back of her ankle. She gave him credit for trying before kicking him with all her force, he flew through the air at least twenty feet and his neck snapped when he landed head first on the ground.

Turning to the others who were running the other way down the road she stepped forward placing her front legs an equal distance apart, then lunged forward. She ran a short time and jumped, using her wings she flipped in the air and landed directly in front of her victims. The fear in their eyes made her heat beat in excitement, they charged their horns quickly trying to cast a spell that might help them but she wasn't going to allow that. Drawing her head back she let in a breath of air and spewed her deadly flames outwards.

The singed bodies of the stallions stood for a moment before losing balance and falling into the soot covered dirt below. She laughed joyfully, it had been a good hunt and now she would claim her prize. She walked back down the path, the ground around her shaking with each heavy step she took.

The cart was already partly destroyed when she reached it, ripping the roof off of it she reached a claw inside and pulled a large chest out. Setting it down she used her teeth to gingerly break the lock on the latch, opening it up she smiled. Soon she would have a hoard of gold to rival even Ember.

Closing the lid she picked up the chest and extended her wings. Just before she was about to take off she heard a noise from behind, turning she saw the pony who's legs she had crushed earlier pulling himself along. She walked over a cruel smile on her face and lowered her head to look him in the eyes.

He looked up tears flowing over his bloody face,"Why?"

She cocked her head, why? That was an odd question to ask before you die in her opinion but she knew the anwser to it,"Because you had something I wanted, there's nothing more to it than that."

He opened his mouth to speak but she quickly brought herself back up and stomped him, it was merciful in her opinion. After all who would want to live as such a weak creature.

~

Sam stood among his friends as they waited outside of the train station, it was early Friday morning and he was to be knighted at one o'clock sharp today but he was needed to be there by ten so he could prepare. He had managed to get all of yesterday to work on repairing his stuff, since Rarity hadn't minded moving lunch to next week.

His armor was in a case he carried along side himself and he was proud with the shine he managed to get out of it. Sam got it to have the same silver color that it had when he first made it. His sword, which was the hardest to fix, was razor sharp again and it looked great alongside his smoothed out shield. Unfortunately he couldn't carry those with him while on the train so he had them put in the cargo section of it.

Everyone was going with him, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, all the apples and just about half the town as well. He was amazed that this many people were coming to see him, he never expected anything like this to happen to him in his life. Of course he also didn't expect to end up in Equestria either.

Sam was excited to see what the day would bring, after the initial ceremony there would be a celebration with a feast held in the castle. The best part was Celestia ordered meats from all over just for him and he couldn't wait to see what she got, hopefully there was steak, he loved steak.

"So Sam," Rainbow's voice grabbed him from his thoughts,"When your a knight are you gonna go on kickass adventures like us?"

He shrugged,"If I need to, I'd rather not get myself killed."

"Makes sense," She nodded,"But it'd take a lot to kill you wouldn't it."

He smirked and shrugged. The train whistle went off and a white stallion with a curly mustache leaned out of the train,"All aboard!"

Sam followed behind his friends as they entered the train one by one. He was the last in and had trouble getting through the cluttered bodies in the train, especially when they recognized him. He didn't know how many autographs he had signed when he reached the cabin that Rainbow and Fluttershy were in.

He pulled the door open and stepped in,"Can I sit in here?"

"Yeah man of course." Rainbow responded.

Sam looked to see Fluttershy's response but she just nodded gently,"Alright, thanks guys, the others are in nearby cabins right?"

"Yeah, Applejack and her family are across the hall from us." Fluttershy explained,"Twilight, Starlight and Zecora have the cabin next to us."

"Ah, okay," he sat down across from Rainbow Dash and next to Fluttershy, he looked up and asked,"Do you mind if I sleep here?"

"Nah, but be warned Shy and I will probably talk the whole way there."

"That's cool with me," he smiled and looked at Fluttershy,"Do you mind?"

"It's okay Sam, I don't mind."

He leaned against the wall of the cabin,"I'm sorry I just didn't get much sleep last night is all."

He closed his eyes and shut out the rest of the world, he fell asleep quickly enough. The trip to Canterlot from Ponyville wasn't a very long one, two to three hours depending on how fast the train is going. Today it went a bit slower allowing Sam to sleep in for longer than he intended, not that he would mind.

The train pulled to a stop in the Canterlot station and Fluttershy gently shook Sam awake. He sat up and stretched,"What time is it?"

"Around ten or something." Rainbow stood up and opened the door,"I'm gonna go meet up with the other girls, you coming Shy?"

"Oh yes, what about you Sam?"

He grabbed his luggage off the rack and stood up,"I need to get the rest of my stuff from the cargo car, then I'm supposed to go to the castle so they can "prepare" me for the ceremony, whatever that means."

"Okay then I'll see you soon Sam." She walked out with Rainbow.

Sam came out not long after and went down the length of the train. Reaching cargo he retrieved his weapons, making his way back to the front of the train he exited out onto the street. He saw the castle off in the distance and sighing began the trek there.

~

Sam stepped into a room with a chair on a swivel in front of a mirror, a high class mare stood beside it an irritated look on her face.

"Do you even know what time it is?! It's eleven ten, where were you?! No never mind just sit down here Andy let me see if I can make you look presentable!" She grabbed his arm and pulled sat him down in the chair.

"Um... I'm sorry I'm late, I got lost, now what is it you wanted with me?"

She put her hands on her hips,"I'm here to trim your hair up anyway you want so tell what kind of hair you want and I'll do my best, Celestia save me."

"Okay," he gulped,"I guess I like my hair long like it is but it does need some trimming around the edges."

"What about that scruff?"

"Uh, just shave it off." He shrugged,"That's all I really need done right now."

Her mouth fell open in an exaggerated manner,"Really that's all you want? You have one of the best hair stylists in Equestria and simply ask for something that something a barber could do?"

He shrugged and let a small laugh out,"I'm not a really choosy guy."

She sighed and shook her head,"At least I'm being payed to do this."

~

Sam tugged at his breastplate in nervousness, he waited before a door that entered into the side of the throne room. Celestia was giving a speech on why he was being knighted in there and at some point during the speech he was supposed to walk out onto a yellow carpet that led from the door to the throne and that's where she would Knight him.

He waited for a while before he was given the que to walk in. He pushed the door open and put on the best confident looking face he could, Sam stepped into the room and couldn't believe his eyes. There must have been at least a thousand people in here and all for him? He let out a breath and walked forward along the carpets path.

The carpet came in from the left side of the room and went right into the middle of all the seated ponies before taking a hard left and leading to the throne. He noticed heads starting to turn towards him and murmurs about him as he walked, before long he could hear Celestia's speech. She stood in front of the throne with Luna to her right and Twilight to her left, two guards were at either side of the princesses while Celestia talked to the crowd.

"I now present to you the hero of the hour, Samuel!" She gestured towards him a pleasant smile on her face,"He's here to be knighted, in fact he will be the first knight in four hundred and eighty six years."

The crowd cheered and clapped for him,"This man," She emphasized the word man,"Is the definition of a hero, he single handedly saved nine ponies from diamond dog slavers, including the element of harmony Rainbow Dash herself!" She shook her head,"Then in an epic standoff to keep the angered dogs from taking the ponies again he killed one hundred and thirty four of them!"

The crowd started cheering again louder this time, Sam felt thoroughly embarrassed by the time he reached the marked point on the carpet and stopped in front of the throne,"Sam is the very definition of a hero, he put his life on the line for helpless ponies and didn't expect anything in return. That is why I have decided to Knight this brave man today." She smiled and looked down at Sam with a smile.

"Step forward Samuel," She motioned her hands back and he complied stopping just three steps away from her,"Now please kneel for me and I will Knight you."

He nodded and knelt down on his left knee, he lowered his head and looked to the ground. His sword just barely touched the ground. Celestia held out her hand and the guard on her right held up a gold ceremonial sword that was emblazoned with the sun in the pommel.

She lifted the sword in the air,"This sword has not seen the light of my day for hundreds of years, you are the first generation to see it since that time, remember it well for you it may not be seem for another five hundred years. It is all thanks to Samuel." She lowered the flat blade of the sword onto his right shoulder and then over to his left one,"I dub thee Sir Samuel of Earth, hero to all Equestria."

~

The crowd burst into cheers around Valkyrie, she joined in the cheering with a huge smile on her face. Her off white coat was cleaned and combed thoroughly, she hadn't done much with her light blue mane, just added small braids to the hair that hung down in front of her ears. She spent nearly half the money she had saved up over the past couple years in just a few days, what with getting this seat, buying a nice dress, paying for the ride here and now all that was left for her to pay was the hotel. But it didn't matter, now she was here and she had a purpose, there was to be a celebration after the ceremony and that's when she would talk to Sam.

Once the cheering had died down the celebration started, the castle was opened up allowing for access to the courtyard, gardens and such. Food and drinks were brought out, fireworks were set up in the courtyard for tonight and an orchestra started playing sweet melodies while everyone mingled.

Valkyrie enjoyed the wine that was placed out, there was nothing like wine where she was from and so it was a very enjoyable experience for her.

She walked walked out into the courtyard with her wine and looked around, she saw Sam standing in a patch of flowers and talking to yellow mare. She let out a breath and shook her head, it was now or never.

She walked over, dodging the multiple ponies in her path. She stood behind him now and saw that he had changed out of his armor into something a bit more casual.

"So what kind of animals hang out in the gardens here?" He asked the yellow mare beside him.

Valkyrie politely interrupted the conversation by clearing her throat, Sam turned around and saw the Pegasus stand with her hands clasped in front of herself,"Can I help you?"

She nodded,"I wanted to know if, you would show me how to fight like you do."

She watched him raise an eyebrow, he turned to his friend,"Will you excuse me for a second Fluttershy," Her name was familiar to Valkyrie," I need to talk with this young lady." He turned back to her,"Follow me."

Valkyrie nodded and followed him as he walked away from the crowd, they stopped at a bench hidden from the view of the castle,"What's your name?"

"Valkyrie sir." Sam nodded and smiled at her.

"Alright Valkyrie, nice name by the way, you can call me Sam, now, tell me why you want to learn how to fight?"

She adopted a determined look on her face,"I've always wanted to do something more with my life than what was expected of me, my parents wanted me to be like them and become a fisherpony, but that's not at all what I wanted. I want to help ponies like you do and what better way to do that then learn to fight the creatures that cause trouble." She hoped he would consider taking her under his wing.

He looked at her in thought,"So you want to help ponies?"

"Yes I do." She nodded.

"Ah, okay. So how old are you? You seem young."

"I am, I'm nineteen why?" She cocked her head.

He sighed and shook his head,"Then I refuse to teach you, can you imagine what your family would feel if you died? Especially if your a runaway, which I know you are, they'd feel that they drove you away and to your death." He crossed his arms.

"B-But-"

"No, beyond all the family problems, what would be in it for me, where's my incentive to teach you? Where would you live while I train you? How would you pay for a place to live and all the necessities of life in the first place?"

"I'll find a job! Then I could get a place to live!" She grew frustrated and her voice rose.

"No," He stated firmly," I'm sorry, I won't teach you." He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes,"I am sorry, I understand what your trying to do and I don't fault you for it, but please leave it be." He turned away. let go of her and walked back to the crowd.

She stood there for a few moments, wanting to scream obscenities in anger. After all, she spent so much time and money only to be rejected, she closed her eyes and just barely fought off the anger. Clenching her teeth together she let out a shaky breath. She would simply try asking him again later, this time she would offer all the money she had now, plus she could work for him for free. He couldn't turn that down, right?"

~

Eris watched the human, Samuel, sit and talk with Celestia while eating... some revolting meat. She stood from the top of a castle tower looking down at the celebration. Never mind the princesses, elements of harmony or even discord, this human could be the only one capable of upsetting the plans she and her beloved had been oh so carefully laying over the past couple years. After all she could defeat the other threats with magic if she had to, but he wouldn't be so simple.

"I shall keep my eye on you, colt." She narrowed her eyes, snapped her fingers and disappeared leaving only the night sky in her wake.

~

Stepping off the train Valkyrie looked around trying to find her bearings. It had been a few days since she went to the knighting ceremony, she had spent those few days finding out where Sam lived and when she did she took the first train to ponyville that she could get ahold of.

The first train just happened to leave late Monday morning, it was early afternoon now. She walked out into the street, it was nice to be in normal clothes again, the dress in Canterlot was comfortable but it wore thin after awhile. Spotting an odd confectionery themed building with the name Sugarcube Corner over the entrance Valkyrie decided to go there, maybe somepony in there would know where to find Sam.

Opening the door she saw a pink mare with an odd head of hair working the register. She walked past the line and stopped next to the pony in front of the register, the pink mare looked up at her with a raised eyebrow,"You can't just cu- Wait your new in town arent you!"

"Uh, yeah I am..."

The mare began giddily bouncing up and down behind the counter,"Oh I love meeting new friends! What's your name? Mine is Pinkie Pie!"

She once again recognized the name,"I'm Valkyrie and I came to this town to find Samuel the knight."

She smiled at Valkyrie,"Oh really? He's one of my best friends."

She cocked her head, smile disappearing,"He is, do you know where he is now?"

"Yeah, why do you want to see him?"

"I just want to talk with him is all."

Pinkie shrugged,"If you say so, he should be at work now but he might also be at lunch with Rarity right now."

Valkyrie nodded, deciding to try looking for him at work first,"Where does he work?"

"Sweet Apple Acres, do you need help getting there?"

"Yes actually, I could use some help."

"Alright well you head down the street and..."

~

The pathway to the farm was beautiful, the river went along it for a time eventually giving way to trees and bushes. The sight of a red barn, a nice little house and fields of apple orchards that stretched off into the horizon came into view, there was nothing like this back home. As she approached the land she saw an orange mare in a flannel shirt and jeans carrying a bucket of apples, Valkyrie sped up into a fast walk to catch up to the mare.

The noise of her coming caught Applejack's attention, she turned and watched Valkyrie run up to her. Valkyrie watched the mare raise an eyebrow and set the bucket down,"You want a job here or sumthin'?"

"No, I uh... actually, now that I think about I might later on, but first I wanted to know if Sam was here?"

Applejack shook her head,"Nah, he's over at the Gilded Crest restaurant with Rarity, It's some fancy place she likes, why do ya need to see him?"

"I just wanted to talk with him is all."

Applejack shook her head with a smirk,"I'm sorry but I can smell a lie from a mile away, what do you really want?"

She sighed and frowned unhappy with this mares question,"I want to ask him if he will teach me how to fight."

"Oh, that's a nice idea, maybe if you can get him to he'll make ya some armor too." She gave a friendly smile," By the way I'm Applejack," She stuck her hand out for a handshake,"Just come by again if you decide to try and get a job here, cause' it looks like you got some strength in those arms of yours and we'll use any help we can get."

The name Applejack was the third familiar name she heard in three days,"Alright Applejack, my name is Valkyrie, thank you for your help."

~

Valkyrie had seen the Gilded Crest on her way to the farm so it wasn't much of a hassle to find it, the hassle was getting in.
She had to push her way through a waiter that kept telling her she needed a reservation for the place. He walked off after she shoved him out of the way, muttering about getting the guards. She walked into the main restaurant and looked for Sam.

The place had dim lights and smelled like hand sanitizer. Everything was painted either black or white, it was quite the annoying color scheme. Straining her eyes she looked around the room and spotted Sam sitting at a table with a white mare,"That must be Rarity." Valkyrie went around and kept from running into multiple tables before reaching her target.

"I'm grateful that your doing this for me Rarity, it's really nice of you to pay for me." He said looking at a menu.

"Oh don't mention it darling."

Valkyrie walked up to the side of the table and stood between the both of them, Rarity was the first to notice her when she looked up, from her menu,"Oh , hello there, who are you?"

"What?" Sam looked up from his menu, he sighed and looked back down when he saw Valkyrie standing there,"Why are you here again?"

"Who is this Sam?" Rarity asked looking back to Sam.

"This is Valyrie, Valkyrie this is Rarity. I met Valkyrie here at the castle the other day, she wanted to meet me." He explained without looking up from the menu,"I think I want the salad with bleu cheese dressing."

"Oh that was a very nice little celebration don't you think dear?" Rarity asked Valkyrie.

Valkyrie nodded,"I thought it was nice, especially the wine."

"Oh yes, Celestia never skimps out in the wine department dear." She laughed and placed and hand on the table,"Did you come here for any other reason then to talk? If you dont want anything besides a talk then please grab a chair, I'll pay for your meal dear." She offered with smile.

Valkyrie didn't know how to respond to such generosity,"Well, I uh, thank you Miss Rarity for offering but no, I came by to ask Sam for something."

"Oh and what might that be?"

"The other night I asked him if he could teach me to fight, I've always wanted to help ponies in trouble out, maybe even alongside Sam."

"What an admirable goal, I quite like it, Samuel did you say yes to her request?" She looked to Sam expectantly.

He looked up eyes wide in surprise,"I, uh, what? No I-"

"What do you mean no?" She cocked her head at Sam and gestured to Valkyrie,"Can't you see she wants to help?" Valkyrie smiled, she was liking this mare.

He sat up in his chair,"But wait if I take her in, then everyone will want me to do the same, that's a lot of people! Not to mention she's run away from home, what would her parents think if she died helping me?!" Ponies started to look over at the commotion Sam was causing.

"Oh hush darling , your causing a scene over such a small problem, with such an easy solution."

"And what's the solution then?"

She smiled,"Teach Valkyrie here to fight."

He sighed and growled,"Fine, I'll teach her to fight." He looked up at Valkyrie,"Meet me at Sweet Apple Acres at five and I'll start showing you to fight. You know the way there?"

"Yes I went there to look for you and the mare there, Applejack, offered me a job, so that takes care of the income you mentioned I would need. I also saw an available apartment in town that I can just barely afford right now. So that takes care of the living space as well." She smirked at the look on his face, Rarity smirked as well.

He looked back to the menu, letting a frustrated breath out of his nose he stood up,"I need to go to the bathroom."

Valkyrie turned to Rarity as he walked off,"Thank you for helping me so much, but I have to ask why?"

Rarity shrugged,"If he's ever going to fight again then I want him to have somepony at his side to make sure he doesn't die."

"Valkyrie smiled,"Then I promise your help won't be in vain, I'll make sure he doesn't die."

~

Sam stood outside the barn in a white t-shirt and work jeans, wooden stick in his right hand. Valkyrie stood across from him with a stick in her hand as well. Valkyrie rented the apartment on her way here and Applejack had hired her when she got here, her first day of work was tomorrow.

"Now I'll make some wooden swords later, for now we'll just use sticks alright?" She nodded to him,"Good, now if you get good enough I might make you a set of armor and weapons, but you have to be good. Understand?"

"Oh I understand, now, how about the training?"

"Well right now I want you to try your best to hit me, after the first try I'll teach you the proper way to attack, then in your next tries point out your mistakes and help you fix them. We will do that till you get how to do it, then move on. It will take awhile to master it but you will."

"Alright I got it." He lowered himself down and held the stick with both hands in a defensive stance, she copied him.

"Now you can attack."

She smiled and lunged forward, her stick shot out. He simply stepped to the side and left his foot out to trip her. She hit the ground with a grunt and looked up to see him standing there with a smile,"Come on," he kneeled and held out a hand which she gratefully accepted. He pulled her up and patted her shoulder,"That won't do, come over her and I'll show you to lunge."

She stopped him,"Wait, real quick, I've always had an idea for war paint do you mind helping me find the kind of paint that's good for that tomorrow?"

He shook his head a small smile on his face,"Sure why not, let's teach you to fight before that though, eh?"

She knew this was going to be fun.

~

Hark waited outside his father's cabin, today was particularly cold even though the sun was out now. Hark was the son of general Reddick of prince Rutherford's army was his father, he was well respected by the other Yaks for his actions in battle and deeply trusted by Rutherford.

Hark wanted to be like his father, that was his only aspiration, to bring glory in battle and gain not only his father's respect but everyone else's as well. He had arrived at his father's home about ten minutes ago and was still waiting for the guard to return with his father.

The area they lived in was beautiful, the town had been built at the mouth of a bay from which they launched trading ships. In ancient times they used to launch raids from here into the Celestial Sea. Bigtooth Aspen trees surrounded the town, all of which had dark wood. Which meant that all the wood buildings in the village were a nice dark color including Reddick's cabin. The cabin was just out of town and slightly elevated, it was not built in the typical Yak style. It had a stone wall around it with a metal gate and was built like a pony log cabin with overplayed wooden logs. It gave a nice view of the bay and of the mountains in the distance.

The front gate opened and a guard stepped out,"You may enter, your father is in the hall."

He nodded,"Thank you," he stepped past the guard and into the yard, walking to the front door of the cabin he stepped into the hall.

"You wanted to see me son?" His father sat at the end of the hall in a Yakkish chair, in front of him was a long feasting table.

"Yes father, I have a request to make." He walked over to the table and took the closest seat to him.

"Well let's hear it."

"You believe we should return to the old Yak ways, right?"

His father nodded slowly,"Yes, Rutherford's recent decision to be peaceful and follow the ponies example is disgraceful." He looked to his son,"You already know that, why do you ask again?"

"I wish to lead a raid." He stated with confidence,"If it is successful then perhaps we can show our people why the old ways are best."

His father narrowed his eyes and stared Hark down,"Do you know what you just said?"

"Yes I do."

Reddick let a breath out of his nose,"To do this then you would need to plan it very thoroughly, but if you pull it off...," He drew in a breath,"Many of us still believe we should go back to the old ways, if you can pull it off it will be easy to "force" Rutherford to change his mind in his decision." His father smirked,"Take a ship and find a place that's easy to raid, in a years time I will have three hundred men trained and equipped in secret. You will take them and pull off this raid.

Hark smirked back,"I will do everything I can father."

"And son," Reddick smiled,"When you come back, you will be made a general for this and I will be proud."

Author's Notes:

I know the yaks are out of character but wanted enemies with a little bit of intelligence and I based Valkyrie off a character I saw on derpibooru, here's a few pictures of her.




If your curious the artist is d-lowell, he's pretty good