My Little Tactics

Chapter Thirteen: Bridging the Gaps.

“Uhhh this is killer.” The human complained as he set down a large stone block in the enchanted mortar before him.

“What is wrong my human friend.” Zecora called over to him and handed over a glass of water. “Be careful or your stamina you will over spend.”

He didn’t respond right away, instead having to take a moment to guzzle down the refreshing liquid. “I am fine Zecora. I am just not used to this type of work. Plus, though I have the word of not only Sturdy but those weird mages that came in, the guild leader herself said that everything is being built with more than state of the art magical reinforcements. Which is good, cause if this place is to EVER be a hub again for anyone to visit, they need to feel safe.”

Seems the zebra understood where he was going with this. “Ahh though it said to be tougher then a hoof, you are afraid the one layer thick of brick will go poof.”

“Yeah.” They had assured him that with the bricks they mined up from Ghastly Gorge, the mages enchanting certain KEYSTONES in the brickwork and the use of enchanted mortar, it was all more secure then Canterlot from the ground. He had it tested too to prove itself by having both Big Mac’ and AJ come to give it a good buck. Whelp, at least he knew WHY it was as expensive as it was.

The thing was, this was the first proper building they had started to do and they couldn’t do any before cause of a simple reason. There were no bridges to the Everfree castle that were any good. When Sturdy seen that he told Dustan in no simple terms that no pony, no griffon, no ONE, would feel safe coming to a place that had such a rickety bridge. To which the knight agreed with whole heartedly. Thus the first month and a half had been spent gathering materials for building as well as making the bridges.

It was only the last two weeks they had started on the outer wall of the castle proper. During that time because he had been so busy with things he had missed several important events. He learned from Rarity, while discussing his upcoming fall and winter weather clothing, that she recently had gotten over a bit of a rift with Applejack thanks to a sleep over they had with Twilight: Look before you sleep. Zecora had been the one to inform him of the Parasprite invasion when he got back from mining stone with the others: Swarm of the century. Finally the last event he had missed he was only alerted to as a net dropped on him and three fillies came to check to see if they caught a goblin only to be disappointed that they failed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had arrived meaning: Call of the cutie.

Now he knew that Winter Wrap up was supposed to happen before ONE of those episodes, but he didn’t remember which one. The only reason he remembered that it was supposed to happen at all was that he found it odd that winter wrap up, something that happened at the end of winter and two episodes later the episode with the ‘Running of the Leaves’ happened. Dustan always hated it, feeling as if they were out of order in production, or maybe the timeline for the first season skipped around, or Discord for all he knew. Either way he was happy that his personal theory was right and that Winter Wrap Up would happen later in the proper season.

Dustan had also dodged another bullet in the fact that he missed Estrus Week in Ponyville of which he was glad one hundred percent about. He wanted nothing to do with the breeding instincts of the herding females at all during that time and had been more than happy to stay and camp out in the castle ruins. During that time normally all stallions and colts would be sent away to camp out in the White Tail Woods. Whelp Ponyville had voted at some point and forgot to tell him as some wanted to stay at the castle ruins when SOMEONE had let it slip what he was doing.

‘You will pay for this Pinkie, of this I swear!’ Yes the bundle of energy and pep had let it slip that he was now the largest land owner in the area by no small degree, and though it had caused a certain mare with an upturned nose to promptly faint, and a certain construction guild to promptly investigate the Ponyville branch of the Manehatten construction guild, it wasn’t worth the week of children running around the ruins playing and making him worry since he barely felt safe enough by himself let alone with a bunch of kids around.

Dustan had asked his friends a week after Estrus Week about how that came about and it turned out it was because of Bitch Horse Mc’Gee herself complaining to some of her Canterlot elite ‘friends’. Word of mouth had traveled from one to another and that reached the main branch to let them know they just lost out on a VERY lucrative job thanks to what happened. Never had he thought he would come as close as he came to giving Spoiled Rich a hug till then. Dustan required a shower after the thought of hugging that mare came to mind.

Since then everyone of the mane six and then some had come by to check on the progress. How was that possible when the sight of ponies would attract the monsters? Well thanks to Still Eden the gardening unicorn and Zecora, the plant that Zecora used to forage for to make the bundle was now growing happily in potters around the wall and in various planters along the maim path to the castle. With such a strong fragrance the monsters stayed clear of the roads now. This included the Manticore as with nearly all of its prey staying away from the roads, it too stayed away as that isn’t where its food was anymore. Nature had a lovely chaining effect like that sometimes.

It was during that time that the wall was being built that he had found out a nice little tidbit from the apples in that Still Eden was an apple herself. However there was a small tradition in the Apple clan that if a pony wasn’t happy with their name when they reached maturity they could change, thus Orchard Eden became Still Eden. The reason for this change was because she preferred peace and quiet and to be allowed to do her own thing, which was gardening for the sheer pleasure of it. That and most Apple homes refused the use of magic in a lot of their daily lives so that didn’t fly so well with the unicorn either.

Sturdy Structure was all the construction pony that was claimed of him and more. Not only had he given Dustan daily updates on the progress they were making as well as a planned outline of the project, but he always brought about blueprints and such to him ahead of schedule for approval. However the reason that the pegasus was working so hard came from one of the interactions they had when the blueprints for the bridge was shown.

“Alright Dustan, if we are going to get this bridge down pat I need to confirm the architectural style you want to go with.” The pony had proceeded to start muttering off about styles from years and years ago to modern day ones asking for approval. Needless to say it all went over the human’s head.

“Sturdy.” Dustan started only to throw the pegasus into a panic.

“Shit right only three plans what was I thinking. I will go draw up some more, it’s just been a while since I had a big job like this so-” He was stopped mid turn and pulled back around by the biped.

“Sturdy.” The knight said calmly with his eyes closed taking a deep breath. “I know SHIT about what you are saying. Honestly I have no clue.” The chuckle seemed to confuse the pegasus. “Look You have told me these things but I honestly haven’t been paying too much attention cause you know most of the details in this work. Like the type of stone we are going to use from Ghastly Gorge.”

“Norite yes.” The constructor replied seemingly confused where this was going.

“Right and you know the properties of that stone right?” Dustan asked and again the pony nodded.

“Comparable to Granite in basically everyway except it is limited in the colorations it is found but it is acid resistant, along with water, wind, scratch, and stain res-” Dustan shushed him at this point shaking his head.

Nodding his head the knight smiled. “Exactly YOU know what it is good for and what it can be used for. I don’t. I also don’t know crap about design; I just go with what is comfortable. I also know that there are those better suited for things then me, Mystic knows more about magic then me, Merlene knows more about tactics then I do, and you know more about construction then me. So you take the reins and use your best judgment.”

“W-wait, you mean to say I have creative freedom?” The quiver in that voice was missed by Dustan sadly.

He stretched and looked towards the team wheeling in a wagon of cut stone to be used. “That’s right, all yours buddy. Now let’s get to unloading those-um what are you doing?”

The reason he was asking this was because he found himself wrapped up in a pair of forelegs and wings as the pegasus repeated thank you over and over again. “Everypony thinks they know better than me when building, even when I warn them something won’t last or that it will look tacky with that type of stone. I have never had creative freedom before. I won’t let you down.”

“O-okay so can you let me go now.” It’s not that he minded hugs and such from the cuddly and cute ponies of the world, but of all the interactions he had with the pony so far was nothing but professional if a bit with the pegasus being a bit skittish. It changed after that though, the pegasus becoming confident and smiling constantly. He was in his element.

Merlene was another story. Constantly she shadowed him making sure he was safe all the while rarely saying anything. When it was too oppressive of a presence for he asked her to scout around the area to make sure the potters were doing their job. For a good while he failed to understand her at all, and to this day he still didn’t fully understand her. However at least he knew the reason for her obsession on keeping him safe.

He had found that pride was valued highly among griffons, of which he wasn’t shocked at the least from what he remembered in the show. The fact she was a retainer and had failed in her duty to protect her last lord, then being captured and defeated before losing her pride struck at the very nature of the cat-bird so much so that when she had the chance to redeem herself, she went in beyond headfirst. The only reason he had come to find this out was cause of a surprise visit from the sisters that once lived in the castle he was rebuilding. That was its own issue right there.

When they had showed up he had been prepared, he was going to greet them with a smile and welcome them to the new Everfree castle project he was working on thanks to the money they had given him. “Welcome Celestia, Luna, I would like to present to you the site of the-ack!”

His throat was being constricted as he was lifted up and hauled to the chariot the sisters resided in thanks to a magical force shock that would make Darth Vader proud. “Thou WILT explain thy trespass of our ancient home!”

The ringing in his ears didn’t leave till he assumed Celestia healed him, which did bring some worry to him as his hearing only came back as the taller sister’s words faded in. “-time to explain himself sister. Also watch your volume.”

“Oomph.” The navy magic around his throat vanished planting him on his ass on the Norite bridge as he reached up and found fresh blood around his ears. “Oh, that’s going to suck to clean out.” However his mood had went from a happy one of joy and friendship to one of someone pissed in his cup and told him it was apple juice. “So PRINCESSES, what can I do for you?”

“Cur, Thou art to answer for thine transgression on Our property.” The princess of the night growled out at him.

“Excuse me?” Dustan was already losing his patience with this and that wasn’t a good thing as he tried to rein himself in as his focus slowly started to draw in on the two princesses and himself, forgetting the craftsponies, mages, and others who were working for him as well as the royal guard that came with the princesses. “I have it on record as my property now as it was for sell. No one wanted it and it has been abandoned for a long time.”

The sting to his cheek as well as the ringing in his ear just told him he just got magically bitch slapped as the glow from Luna’s horn faded. “Lies! Our sister would never allow Our ancient home to be bought up by anypony. So tell the truth how is it thou manage to usurp Our-”

“Luna, I think you need to calm down and let me explain about-” However her interruption of Luna was interrupted by a now upset knight.

“Usurp my ass!” Growling in fury his hands were balled up tightly by his sides as he shouted. “The lots were left alone and fell into Ponyville registration a long long time ago cause the previous owner didn’t renew their rights to it when the bills for land registration came into effect for ALL nobility. Whoever owned it before was a dumbass for not doing so in the first place.”

The princess of the sun made a sour face at that and opened her mouth to try to get a word in edgewise. “Well you see Dustan, about that-”

Seems Celestia however was not going to have that talk as Luna cut her off this time. “Slander, twus Ourselves and Our Sister who owned the rights before. With the displacement of One’s self that rights would have fallen to her.” The magical pop of teleportation came into play as two weapons appeared now, a short sword and a long sword. The short sword was as black as moonless night in a cave with blue glowing dots littering it as if it held stars with an ivory handle that was being held in a glowing navy magic. The long sword was the opposite with a pure white blade that was almost blinding to look at and the dark star field of a handle instead. “We demand recompense for thine slight. What doth thou have to say about this?”

Dustan would love to say he handled himself well. He would love to say that he wasn’t already high strung because it was during this time the Estrus Week in Ponyville was going on. He wanted to say that Merlene wasn’t irritating him and making him a bit snippy at times. He wanted to say that he was still ok for finances but like the other things he was wrong. Dustan didn’t handle himself well. Dustan was high strung from the visitors, whom luckily were at that moment at the river enjoying the day. Dustan was a bit snappy cause of Merlene constantly shadowing him when not patrolling him and him not knowing why she was so clingy.

His response? “Let me put this in a way you can understand Princess.” The sound of his Blood Sword being drawn caused the guards to grow very weary as well as the fire that erupted in the palm of the other hand that he held out. “Advance towards me brethren.”

“ENOUGH!” Twin golden glows smacked the back of the princess and the human’s head as Celestia had it at this point. “Both of you shut your bucking mouths!”

The sound of clattering blades came loud as not only did every guard drop their spear, sword, or what not, but so did Luna and Dustan as the fire in his other hand sputtered out. “Did…did thou just curse sister?”

“YES! Because that is how stupid both of you are being at this moment.” Celestia brought both of her front hooves to her temples to massage them as she gave a frustrated sigh. “Sister, we discussed beforehoof that we would calmly talk to Dustan and inquire on what his intentions were for our former home.”

“But our home should not have even been sold in the first place; We wish to know how this came to happen.” Luna said whining and obviously upset about either not being able to fight or about losing her old home, it was hard to tell at this point.

“Luna, sister. I had let our land go.” To say Luna was shocked was an understatement, Dustan however was still on guard hoping he wouldn’t have to fight though his headache was still present. “After your banishment, the castle was in a sorry state. Ponies thought our home was now haunted and tainted and so I moved them to where Canterlot is now. As the years passed and my depression descended fully, I couldn’t bare to look upon our home anymore. So I put the property into circulation. The fact that our ponies thought it was haunted kept it from being bought for years, then the overgrowth of the Everfree and finally the monsters. I had forgotten admitted this had happened as well till it was mentioned that Dustan had bought it and for that I apologize to both him and to you.” She then nodded towards both of them and gave her sister a loving hug as the weapons vanished in light.

Dustan put away his weapon at that and sighed. “I should apologize as well.” He remarked as he closed his eyes rubbing at the side of his head. “Lots of things have been piling up lately for stress and Luna, you doing what you did there set me off. Between helping work on the castle, the fact that the foals and males of Ponyville decided to head here and camp out for Estrus week, dealing with everyone and dealing with a griffon that doesn’t seem to wish to leave my side has me a bit high strung.”

“We see. We are sorry as well human.” The pony of the night told him simply. “We thought thou had somehow absconded with Our home in a mockery of the money we gave thee for thine reward. It was petty of Us but-”

“Its fine Luna. You thought someone stole your home and acted upon that thought. I wouldn’t lie in that I would likely be as upset as you so I can’t blame you for that.” Chuckles a bit as a stray thought came out of his mouth at the moment. “Not going to lie as I was kinda looking forward to fighting you and using that as an excuse to unwind.”

It seems his thought met with a giggle and a nod from the Alicorn. “We admit that stress from Our return as well as being cooped up in the castle had Us wound taunt as well and We too were looking forward to the altercation.”

Out of curiosity Dustan activated his Tactical Eye wondering what they had been listed as. Unsurprisingly they could hide their info either actively or were unaware they were, but all he could get was their names and their classes. The classes they were registered as were unsurprisingly unique classes of ‘Solar Princess’ and ‘Lunar Princess’ making him wonder just what it did, beyond the obvious of course.

“Well then.” The Solar Princess broke his inner musing up with her voice as she spoke up. “Now that we are all on friendlier terms and less aggressive, Dustan would you mind telling us what it is you have planned for this place?”

Turning around and looking to the castle grounds then back to them he spoke the truth. “I want to not only make this my home, but others homes. To return this place to an active mark on the map instead of an inhospitable forest meant for no one. I want ponies, griffons, dragons, any race really to be able to come here and say they can fit in. Unfortunately it’s looking to be years upon years before that will come forward.”

“I am sure we can find some investors for you to help speed up that process.” The white furred Alicorn told him only to be shocked when he shook his head.

“Unless they want nothing out of it then I will have to decline. No offense to you or anyone else that makes the laws, but I honestly wish to make this a sovereign province eventually. I have managed to look at some laws and other things in place Celestia and again no offense but your wordings on some really suck. Most of them state EVERYPONY. Meaning only ponies could take advantage of them and even if courts won’t use them actively like that, lawyers will.” The knight told her candidly. “They will look for every loophole and every get out of jail free card they can get if it means they are allowed to do what they want.” Truth was he wasn’t sure if there was an amendment to this anywhere but considering some fanfics he read in his old life, he wouldn’t put it past some ponies to do.

“Hmm you might be right, and any investor that comes around will want some say in what goes on. Meaning if they have the kind of funds that they can dispense with to help you, then it is likely that they have an agenda to push or are looking for some kind of special treatment.” When Celestia said that he nodded as it was also true and what he feared might come to pass.

“Right.” Nodding he looked to the people or rather ponies working on the wall. “Right now I think I am fine, the Misfit’s Guild is helping out a lot and though I am helping and getting a discount pulling up funding myself or those looking to make a nice home will be sweeter than a noble wanting a cushy place where their word is law.”

“That is a nice sentiment to have though I worry it may not be enough.” The worried tone of her voice was inwardly matched by his own as he turned back to face her. “That being said I will keep an eye on investors with the types of personalities and backgrounds you will agree with and if you find you do not like them, it is within your right to kick many off your land.”

Would give a shrug at that and stretch. “I will come to that bridge when I cross it. Till then I will focusing on doing what I can.”

“I suppose that takes care of our official visit. Though I am curious to how it is you are doing. You said you were stressed by many things, and while I can understand some, you spoke of a griffon?” By now the guards at her side had relaxed enough to maintain their neutral expressions as had Celestia and Luna regained their regal ones.

“Yeah.” He said sighing. “Merlene. She was apparently someone I met while captured and she stated she once served another lord, though he was killed, and have been looking to find another worth serving. She apparently has it in her head that I am that person and has been overly attached.”

The Lunar Princess smiled and gave a nod. “Ahh most understandable of the young wren. She is likely from a clan that holds honor above pride, of which We hear is dwindling more and more as the latter becomes more prominent. If she is determined to serve in thine interests then thou will find no recourse but to accept the wren’s intentions.”

Great that is just what he wanted to hear. “Thanks I suppose.”

“It may help if you gave her a talk about boundaries Dustan. Especially if she is stressing you with what she is doing.” The advice was sound and appreciated from Celestia and he might take her up on it but not at the moment.

Seems Luna agreed with her adding in her own two bits. “Most agreed sister. If this wren is so inclined she will take Dustan’s orders and wishes to heart. Though Dustan thou shalt have to be kind as it seems like the young wren is worried for thine safety. We wonder what has caused her to become so attached.”

“Something to do with giving her back her spirit or something when we were in the caves.” That got a worried look from both of the Alicorns and in turn made him worried. “What?”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a good moment before the elder spoke up. “If she had her spirit broken and you have restored it well, she is likely using serving you as an excuse to repay her debt. For Griffons Hawk or Wren, if their spirit has been fully broken, it is the same as losing the will to live. If you gave it back to them then they literally owe their life to you and will look to repay that even if it means serving you for the rest of their natural born ones. After all their life essentially belongs to the one that restored it. ESPECIALLY so for ones who are about honor and if she served a lord before you, then it seems you are stuck with her.”

‘Ok so that means bumping up that talk with her to a higher priority for sure.’ “Right, so I am really going to have to make an effort to spare some time to get that talk going with her.” His mind wondered to something and looked to the two. “How did you hear about me owning the land?”

“Oh that is simple.” The smile said it all and he almost instinctively knew how before she even said it. “My most faithful student sent me a letter one evening though I couldn’t read it till the next morning. She almost threw it in there as an afterthought in the letter it seemed, so I had to have her clarify on it further until I felt the need to tell Luna and well, now we are here.”

‘Of course it was Twilight, could have been any other source in the world but somehow I knew it was her.’ Scratching at his head for a moment he heard a call in the distance for him and sighed knowing it was from someone on the other side of the wall who couldn’t see who the guests were. “Well Princesses, if that is all then sadly I have to get back to work. I am sorry I couldn’t be more hospitable but who knows about next time. We might even have a proper sparing match between Luna and I next time.”

“I will look forward to it.” The motherly Alicorn smiled.

Her sister however grinned and nodded. “As will I.”

As he seen the grin he knew what that meant as well. ‘Oh shit I think she took the offer of a spar seriously…hmm I think that might register as an eight out of ten on the how fucked am I meter.’

The Princesses soon got back into their chariots and were off; meanwhile Dustan had gotten back to work as much as he hated the backbreaking work.

He would admit it was doing some good for his physic. He had even gotten proper abs and was lean. It was as if all his failed New Year’s resolutions had come back with a vengeance. The knight was brought out of his musings of the past for now as two large arguments were heard coming from the courtyard area. As he got there he found two headstrong mares complaining loudly with Sturdy about something.

When he got there he found it was none other than Rainbow Dash and Applejack and it seemed he was in one of those unseen parts of an episode as they were trying to talk Sturdy into letting them help lay bricks as part of the competition with each other to see who was the Iron Pony of Ponyville. Sturdy for all his efforts was looking to be on the back end of losing when he spied Dustan.

He told them to hold on a minute before rushing up over to him. “Ahh Dustan there you are. Help me settle a dispute, will you?”

“Sure, though I already overheard what the problem was.” Looking at the two he walked over to them and pointed at Sturdy. “If you can follow his instructions then I say you can help. HOWEVER if you mess up my wall for your competition on trying to best the other then it will come out of your pockets got it?”

The two of them looked unsure after he said that. It was one thing to compete for the best at something but to mess up another pony’s, or rather person’s, property was another thing.

“On second thought, I am sure we can find other activities to do down at Sweet Apple Acres. Besides, AJ here claims she is better in a lot of that farm work she does, so might be a good chance for me to show her up.” The cocky grin that the speedster wore must have gotten on the nerves of the other as she growled a bit.

Pulling her hat down lower giving her an aggressive look she looked towards Dash. “You’re on. In fact let’s have a race to see who can get back the fastest.”

There was no need for a countdown they both took off like bullets towards their destination. “Whelp looks like the running of the leaves is soon to happen.” It also meant he had to pick up his winter wardrobe from Rarity.

“What makes you say that?” He will admit he jumped a bit as Pinkie appeared behind him.

After calming down and knowing he would likely never get used to that he looked to her. “Well the air is kinda getting the chill to it you know and the leaves are turning the proper colors. Plus I think I heard something about it last time I was down in Ponyville.”

Dustan was sweating as he hoped that Pinkie would buy the answer, it was just lucky the hard work also covered up the sweating or it might not have. “Okie Dokie Loki. I thought perhaps you were using some of that strange magic Mystic and Twilight are studying you for to find out. Oh or maybe you are an alien from another world sent here to spy on us for your home world.”

At the words alien and another world the sweat on his body turned cold as if it was anyone who would find out it was this pony right there. “Do I look like what you imagined an alien would be?”

“Hmm I suppose not.” With that she set down a tray of cupcakes. “Anyways I brought these for everypony and figured you would all enjoy, so enjoy.” With that she pronked away and he waved to her.

When she was out of sight he collapsed onto the ground and held his head in his hands shaking a bit. ‘Thank the fates that she realized I didn’t actually answer her and instead threw out a question.’

It was during the next day that he got a sure answer on to what was happening. “And so those two ended up agreeing to compete tomorrow at the Running of The Leaves can you believe that darling?”

The posh unicorn asked of him as she was retaking his measurements. “It certainly is something that is for sure.” Cause of his recent activities helping to build the wall and the bridges he had gained a good bit of muscle and as such the measurements she used to make his clothing needed to be updated and his Winter Clothing would need minor adjustments. He was told the same would be needed of his other clothes but for now they could wait till closer to spring since they would soon be packed away. “I mean if it causes them to stop arguing then it will be good for both them, everyone around them and for a good cause right?”

“I suppose so, it certainly would do me good not to hear them going at it constantly.” Though Rarity had said that, part of Dustan inwardly chuckled at the innuendo since that was a popular ship. “Alright, thank you dear. With that your measurements are done. I must say though the hard work has been good to you.”

He went to get the heavier shirt for the fall weather back on as well as his pants, having only been in his boxers. The first few times this had happened he admitted he was embarrassed but actually talking with Rarity while she was doing things helped to take his mind off it. Even now Dustan blushed a bit as he seen the unicorn motion to his more defined musculature.

“I suppose so. I am for sure more fit then I have ever been in my entire life.” Idly he wondered what the people back home would say if they could see him now. He knew his parents would be glad to see him so healthy, Pat would be ecstatic as he always went to the gym and had on more than one occasion asked him to come along. His thoughts briefly went back to his last girlfriend and winced at that painful memory of what he had found before shaking them from his thoughts. “Yeah I think living around here has done me a lot of good in body.” ‘Maybe not mind though, still have nightmares about killing a living thinking creature.’

Even after many months from when it happened he still dreamed of the first exciting battle with the goblins and how much he had enjoyed living out his fantasies by doing battle with the mystical creatures only for the dream to change as he watched idly from the sidelines as the carnage that took place from the warrior that was blood thirsty and creatures that were able to feel and think. Every time that nightmare came he had to remind himself of what it was they had planned and that it was for the good of others that he did what he did, just as it had been for the good of others when he killed during his time in the work camp for others to escape.

As he got the last bits of his clothes on the bell for the boutique rang and in came a really sorry looking Sweetie Belle. “Rarity, a little help please.”

“Oh my, what happened to you? You are absolutely filthy.” While big sister mode was activated it wasn’t a far off stretch.

Sweetie Belle was covered in mud, leaves, sap, had cuts and bruises all over her and more than a few burrs in her mane and fur. “Scootaloo was driving our cart around and we hit a bump in the road and managed to be flung out of the cart. Apple Bloom is ok as she landed in a bush but I got unlucky in that mine was one of Roseluck’s rose bushes.”

Both he and the fashionista winced at hearing that as the unicorn used a spell to quickly get most of the gunk and thorns out of her sister as possible though she would still need a bath. “We will have to get some ointment for those cuts so that they will heal ok.”

“Aww I hate that stuff it smells awful, can’t we forget about it just this one time?” The cute eyes, while making his heart melt, proved to be impervious to a big sister looking out for the greater good of their little sister.

Shaking her head the pure white marshmallow pony was already pulling out medical supplies. “I am afraid not Sweetie, I am not versed in healing magic and we shouldn’t bother the doctors or nurses at Ponyville hospital for some cuts and scrapes.”

“Actually I can help.” Dustan said cinching up his belt. “I have the ability to heal wounds remember?”

For a moment Rarity looked dumbfounded then her eyes brightened. “Ahh yeah I had forgotten that you can do some magic Dustan. If you would be so kind.”

In his experiments with Mystic and Twilight he had found out more about this magic, where as normally he said the words that came unbidden to his mouth out of habit now he didn’t need to. Though it seemed saying the words strengthened the spell, whether that was true or if it was just a result of the words helping to focus his mind of the effect was unknown at this time.

Gathering up the feeling inside him he released it and spoke the spell’s name. “Cure.” The glowing light whirled around the filly who seemed amazed as this was her first sighting of his magic.

Both she and her sister marveled at how the small cuts vanished as did the bruises before her wonder turned to anguish. “Ahh somepony else that can do magic better than me and he doesn’t even have a horn.”

Chuckling not at her problem but at the innocence of youth he patted her on the head. “I am sure when you grow up a bit more and with practice you will get a lot better at using magic Sweetie Belle. Just got to believe and keep at it.”

That only got her to grumble out a sure before her the marshmallow pony spoke up. “Oh thank you Dustan it means so much to me to have your help healing my sister. I will give you a nice discount on your next order of clothing for this.”

Part of him wanted to wave off the concern, but the look in her eye said that saying no to this was not an option. “Thanks Rarity, your clothing is always what I want so I will take you up on that offer when it comes.”

“No need to thank me darling it is no less then you deserve for the help.” Changing her targets, now that Sweetie was mostly taken care of, caring sister turned to stern sister. “Now young filly, what caused the crash in the first place, usually Scootaloo is known for how well she keeps an eye on where she is going.”

“It wasn’t my fault I swear.” Rarity just gave that knowing look adults gave children. “I mean it. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo over heard ponies taking bets on who would win the Running of the Leaves even going so far as to put bits on it. So they were arguing on if Applejack or Rainbow Dash would be the one to win and-”

The rest was cut off as they ascended the stairs for what he assumed as a needed bath. However the betting caught his interest and he chuckled, after all he knew what was going to happen more or less. With that decided he decided to go by the bank to grab some bits and find the betting ponies.

Honestly it wasn’t too hard to find them since they were not really doing much and being loud about it. “So you are the one taking bets?”

“You bet your bottom bit I am. With the two most athletic mares competing ponies are betting on various placements. So I decided to make it official and have them all put their bits with the mouths are. Why are you interested in joining?”

Giving a grin he nodded and placed down a small sack of bits. “Yes, in fact I have a feeling just where some mares will end up knowing their personalities.”

“Oh?” The one in charge of the bets slide a paper over and an ink well with quill. “Write down your name, the amount of bits you are betting and the names and places of ponies. Also write down their positions that you think they will end up. If you turn out to be right you can make a mighty fine bit of coin doing this.” When he wrote down his bet the ponies that were there suddenly started to laugh at what he wrote. “Son, if you wanted to throw away bits like this you could just buy us all some drinks.”

He left with a grin on his face with those ponies laughing.

The next day found them eating their words as the two main ponies thought to get first place came tumbling together over the finish line tied…for last place. He had caught the entire race from one of the rooftops sturdy enough to hold him munching down on a few snacks that was bought before the race started. When Celestia had come and all ponies bowed she spied him up on the roof munching on an apple as before he would give her a nod and smile.

When the lecture was done and both racers took off Dustan hoped down to visit the betting pony. “Hello there, how did you make out?”

The pony spied him and sighed before pushing a couple large sacks that jingled with bits at him. “Overall I did well, came out above average since most had bet on those two mares finishing first or second. However with you being a long shot bet and winning that bet, not just on the two tying for last place, but Twilight, bookworm, Sparkle finishing in the top five, well let’s say you hit my pockets hard there.”

“Well at least you came out ahead.” Dustan said picking up his bits and heading to the bank. “Nice doing business with you though.” Was this fair at all? Not likely since he used information about the future, but he honestly wondered how long this information would stay viable. He might as well use it while he had it if it didn’t hurt anyone.

Author's Notes:

Time marches forward and sometimes it means nothing really happens, plus lets face it construction work is kinda boring lol. I hope I made what happened during it all appeal to you all.

As for the thing with Winter Wrap up and Fall Weather Friends, I always found that weird IRL. I honestly do not know if they intended it to run like that but it created a huge disillusion to time for me that always hurt my brain. The only way my brain could figure it out, besides the aforementioned out of order way it was put out would be to make the running of the leaves happen next year, but that would mean the year they went to the grand galloping gala be a flash back and AHHH BRAIN WHY?!

Brain: Because f-you that is why.