My Little Tactics

Chapter Sixteen: Malboro Menace.

The command center was abuzz with activity. It had taken a day to get everything prepared but they had to move today or another victim would be had. The command center was currently a series of tents above ground on a street that the guard had closed access to so that they could use it. The reason for this is the street they were on was directly in the middle of the mission zone and as it turns out the magic the unicorns used for wireless communications wasn’t instant it always took a few seconds to bounce to the target. Ensuring clear lines of communication was the key in this endeavor both to ensure the best of safety for all involved and to relay any details and progress as quick as possible back to the command center.

There were also unicorns on loan from nearby precincts of the city all to help with the mission that was to go on today. These unicorns were either specialized in the communication spell or teleportation. The first was obvious but the second was for quick mobilization of back up or to retrieve injured. The third detail that was part of the plan was the barrier mages that were setting up in the tunnels now, each able to deploy a shield that was impressive in its own right and the fact all this had been set up and organized by only a few individuals was amazing to Cadance.

What more was that it had been the brain child of only one individual, the one who knew most about the creature involved and the one currently walking around checking on all the things. ‘He is very much like Shiny in so many ways, but at the same time they are opposites. Shiny is a stallion of action true, but he is cold and commanding when leading his troops. Dustan I suppose would be passionate in this regards as he is flittering around everywhere smiling giving complements and more. Shiny is a leader who brings ponies together for his silent strength and stalwartness as well as his professionalism. Dustan is a po-human, is a human that draws ponies in with his charisma something he doesn’t even seem aware of.’

The incident of the other day had already been forgotten, mostly, though Cadance knew she would have to tell her fiancé at some point as there would be no secrets kept from either of them. The human wiped the sweat off his brow as he smiled looking around before finding the map of the sewers and next to it a map of above ground. On said map were many figurines, judging from the models Cadance would guess O and O figures thanks to having seen her husband to be painting some.

“That is the last team calling in everyone. We are set up.” Her bodyguard called out. She knew he would rather be down there with the teams but the detective and herself had convinced him to stay above ground to help give aid to any afflicted by that devastating attack the team had come under last time and to give knowledge and advice quickly to all teams when needed. “Alright everyone, you all know what to do.” A quick check to make sure all unicorns were broadcasting to their respective teams and he continued. “Barrier users place them in front of the team, anchor them if needed but otherwise march forward. Offensive mages speak up when you need to release a spell so the mages can let it through. Most of those barriers are two ways but can become one ways if asked, it just weakens the spell. Ice magic is your best bet against this foe, it hates the cold. Remember to harass it only till we reach the closed off and unused drainage pool. There we will have the advantage as it will be in a depression while our forces can stand on the rim of the bowl and rain down spells or arrows into it. If it tries to climb up the bowl barrier mages are to erect walls to stop it while teams focus it from behind. It will either keep going at the wall or it will turn around to the threat in which case it will chase towards it and we repeat.”

Overall the plan was fool proof or at least many there thought so. Cadance herself couldn’t see through any flaws in the plan. ‘The only thing that could possibly go wrong is a failure on one of the teams part.’ Everypony was now suddenly looking at her, she knew what they wanted, she knew what they needed. “The operation is good to go, commence!”

Her call was echoed through the ponies communicating to the others, the mission had officially started. It was a tense start for sure as a few minutes went by, then ten, twenty, and thirty with no contact or word from the teams other than check in times scheduled for every five minutes for precautions sake. The princess wouldn’t lie in that she checked the clock at least five times before each check in wishing time would move faster instead of crawling as slow as it was.

“CONTACT!” Came the call of one of the unicorns acting as a radio. “Second twenty one dash three, Team Twelve has contact. Initiating phase one!”

“Your good to go Team Twelve.” Dustan called back with a grin. “Do your thing!”

“Roger!” Called the unicorn in response as the magic pony’s horn glowed in pulses. “Target is attempting attack, barrier has been deployed. Guard magic has been deployed, Glacial’s Ice Ray spell launched…target is…retreating. I REPEAT TARGET IS RETREATING!”

The call got everyone in the command center fired up. “Good going Twelve, stay far enough back where it doesn’t feel cornered yet while keeping the pressure on.”

“Twelve is reporting that it is quite fast and they're losing sight.” The pony waited a moment before relaying another message. “They are slowing down so as not to fall into a trap as it is ambush predator like you mentioned.”

Nodding to that the human raised his head. “Good call, everyone relay that to your teams, If you lose sight of it, disengage and proceed slowly again. We don’t want to risk an ambush.”

A general call of ‘Aye, Aye’ came all around before it was quiet once more. However the wait this time was only four minutes before another call came out of engagement. Cadance wouldn’t lie in that she knew she was tense as more often than not her wings felt like they had a cramp in them every now and then from the waiting. Once more the creature attacked and a barrier was set down before ice magic repelled it. As such once again after losing sight the team broke contact and formed up taking things slow.

Things looked to be gearing up to be a sure success, except till the third and fourth contacts. “Team Five has contact, engaging.”

The first pony’s call was mimicked only seconds later as another voice called up. “Team Thirteen has contact, engaging.”

“Wait what?” Dustan called out before scratching his chin. “Are you sure, get a second confirmation. They both can’t be engaging unless one of the teams has gone off route.”

“Team Five reports they are still in the tunnel assigned.” The radio pony called only to be mimicked again by the other.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” It was true how could there be double contacts. “Well regardless have them push the targets back, this just means we may have found a second trouble maker while we are at i-”

Except, it wasn’t just two, as three more ponies called contact worriedly. Rightfully so as it seemed they were all astonished by this news. “This can’t be.” The detective called. “There can’t be that many. A creature like that likely needs a mate or something to breed with. It can’t just multiply by itself right?”

Cadance’s blood ran cold as she watched Dustan stop his pacing and pale looking horrified suddenly. “It can.” Everypony was shocked at the information. “HOLY SHIT IT CAN; THAT IS WHY IT’S PURPLE!” There was a thud as Dustan hit the ground in frustration. “I fucking forgot about that breed. It’s a Great Malboro. They can coat other species in spores to turn them into the regular Malboro breed. Tell me, has there been other missing pony reports, but with no sign of bones or remains?”

The feeling of one’s heart rapidly wanting to stop and speed up at the same time in fright is a horrible one for sure as she watched the detective eyes widen at a sudden realization. “Dustan give the teams orders to retreat!”

He had heard the princess’ cry to save her ponies and he really wanted to obey it. He had forgotten such a crucial piece of information such as that. True for some reason Malboro was one of those monsters that its main ability dominated the minds of players when thinking of the creature, and he rarely used the Beast Master skill himself that most hidden abilities of creatures was something he wasn’t the utmost familiar with. Still this was no excuse, they were tackling one of the most vicious creatures in the whole franchise save for a select few. No they couldn’t run from this.

“No we stay the course.” Dustan opened his eyes to see stunned looks on many ponies. “If the Great Malboro is allowed to run free, then the numbers down there will just continue. We need to do this while its numbers are small. If it goes on it will be a plague and likely Manehattan won’t survive.”

Seems the detective would side with Cadance as he walked over to her. “Princess, I am sorry, but he is right.” Or not, which came as a surprise to him. “I know how bad that creature is, I saw what it did to my ponies down there. If all of its offspring are as bad as it, then we can’t allow it to propagate at all.” Turning around he looked to all the ponies. “The mission is still on, continue!”

With that it was still all set to go down. Except now reports were coming in from all teams, some now frightened as the tunnels were getting closer and closer together and some teams were converging. More sightings occurred and numbers started to roll in. There were seven in total.

“The drainage pool is just up ahead.” A unicorn called out as Dustan was leaving the room.

He heard Cadance call out to him as he sought out a unicorn that was on standby. “Dustan where are you going?”

Pulling out his sword he double checked his pouches as he answered her. “I fucked up Cadance, fucked up bad. I was only accounting for one Malboro, seven though…that might be too much. So I am going in as back up.”

“Are you crazy, that thing almost killed you once before.” Though she had said that and he knew it was true he looked to the female unicorn who was looking back and forth between them.

“Soldier, teleport me to the battlefield.” Seeing the unicorn nod and charge up their horn he turned around towards Cadance and spoke. “I know, I am not looking forward to it either. However when you fuck up, you step up to your mistakes and make them right. I am doing just that.”

With that there was the sound of a pop and a feeling of becoming salt water taffy that made him almost sure he left his stomach behind before he was suddenly behind a team. “We have arrived sir. I will take my leave to wait further commands.”

With a pop the mare was gone as he joined the team. “Keep pushing, we are almost there.” It seemed he didn’t join the main team as he was looking at two smaller green Malboro, a common type for sure. The mages were tough enough to handle one, but two or more, no. He saw cracks forming in the barrier and was already pulling power from inside him. It only took two more solid blows from each creature before the pony in the lead cried out a sound more horrifying then the sound of their barrier breaking. “Scatter your chilly sharp blades! Blizzard!” Hazy clouds of mist formed by him and out came two razor sharp looking spears of ice.

The ice was hurled at the twin abominations that screeched as they shattered against them. His lead was taken and soon the offensive mages of the team were sending out beams of blue energy that crackled and froze the air as it passed. The tentacle terrors ran away from the beings that inflicted damage to them with their weakness and kept running towards the planned meet up.

“Transmission, call in for evac of our point guard having gone down with backlash.” Seems the mage was down and out thanks to his spells energy rebounding when it was destroyed. Dustan had been told that by Mystic when some ponies became too invested or were too careless in their spells they poured more energy into it then the spell could use, which wasn’t always a good thing and as such if the spell matrix couldn’t use the energy it was surplus that would rebound back if not used.

He wasn’t sure how bad that was but it sounded like it hurt like hell from what he had been told and there was now a problem with this. “But without them we have no barrier.”

‘Shit.’ Moving up to the front he told them. “Just to it, I will guard point.” ‘This is my fault there is no one else better suited besides me for this job anyways.’ Looking back he told them in a hurry. “Just do it!” Pulling at the calm feeling of magic he spoke his words. “Precious light, be our armor to protect us! Protect!”

He was soon surrounded by four diamonds that appeared one after the other, and it seems like so were a couple of ponies behind him experiencing the same thing thanks to the radius of the spell. One by one the crystals shattered before one giant one encompassed the human and the ponies that were behind him one by one.

“What was that?” One of the guards asked.

That spell along with Cure, Shell, and now Esuna were the only white magic spells he knew. “That was Protect. A magic spell meant to help mitigate some physical damage but not all of it.”

The knight could feel the pony’s eye borrowing into the back of his head as he didn’t look back. “But won’t that mean you are going to get hurt if that thing comes after you sir?”

“Let’s keep moving team.” Gritting his teeth he kept moving forward. ‘We can’t let them go. They aren’t of this world and thus even if there was something that killed them in the Final Fantasy worlds I am not sure such things exist here or will matter thanks to environmental changes. This needs to stop now!’

The slimy creatures trail ended as the team soon came to a brightly lit area, thanks to a manhole cover from above. “Sir we are at the drainage pool!”

“We aren’t the only ones.” As he pointed it out there were teams now surrounding the rim as Malboro after Malboro came in, all seven including the big mama or papa themselves. “Teams set up perimeter!” That got all the teams attention as either they didn’t know he was down here or were so focused on their task that it startled them. Either way they quickly started to form up as the Malboro’s now realized they had nowhere to go.

Each one let out a gurgling roar but the loudest by far was the purple one. The eyestalks of that one went all around looking at all the teams one by one till it seemed to lock on to the human. Dustan could see its eyes narrow slightly before it sent out a gurgling sound.

‘Well fuck I think it recognizes me from our last encounter.’ The purple one came rushing up as the babies all spread out randomly to attack all sides. With this no side would be really free to attack except the one where he was cause there was no barrier to stop them. “Mages at my back fire and provide damage to the other teams I will distract the big bad!”

Dustan knew he couldn’t let the boss of this little encounter reach his team because if it used bad breath with no barrier to stop it, that might spell disastrous results if Confuse or Berserk status kicked in, he knew, he couldn’t count how many times a Berserk unit fucked it for his entire team.

As he was getting closer and closer he saw the Great Malboro’s bar was charged fully meaning it was ready to attack the instant it was close enough and with its tentacles it could reach him before he could reach it. The sudden wish that this was real tactics came to mind as likely it wouldn’t be able to reach because the range would be only one square. This wasn’t tactics though. What was more was that one tentacle wasn’t the only thing sent out, but many of them.

The blood sword flashed as quick as he could swing it, trying to use his attack to defend and harm at the same time by cutting off some tentacles and to make it recoil. This creature wasn’t used to things fighting back it seemed as when one of its appendages got severed it screamed and recoiled. This was a spoiled Malboro who was used to getting its food without much problem it seems.

That worked for Dustan just fine as this gave him an opening. “Rend Power!” His sword turned semi translucent at that moment right before he brought it to bare hitting the purple monstrosity dead on only to seemingly no effect. At least to anyone’s eyes but his own.

With no damage done it seems as if the creature got its confidence back as it looked to strike out at him again. This caught him square in the armored chest surprising him with the speed it unleashed this time, as well as how much power it still had. Such was the power that he felt himself being lifted off his feet and slung backwards onto his back more than a few feet away, towards the bottom of the pool.

“Shit!” This was said not only cause of the pain of the attack but because the Malboro was also rushing at him now with its massive maw open now. “Fuck that, breath somewhere else asshole. Scatter your chilly sharp-AHHH!”

Dustan had once more underestimated the creature, he had watched the speed it climbed up the drainage pool wall and thought that was its top speed, forgetting that now that they are on the flat bottom of the pool it didn’t have an incline to run up. Dustan also didn’t think of the possibility of it using attacks that weren’t listed from Tactics, like a bite. The creatures tentacles were now beating on his back as it didn’t bite to take his arm off, even if he was sure his arm was bleeding, but it was using the bite to hold him while its appendages wore him down.

“FUCK YOU!” Quickly he pulled his most common offensive spell out of his back of tricks. “FIRE!”

Light exploded behind the creatures teeth as it illuminated Dustan’s arm for a brief moment before he was released from the grip with the thing screaming. While they were weak to ice seems that nothing was truly immune to swallowing pure fire down their gullets.

‘Nows my chance.’ The creature was no longer paying him mind as it was focusing on trying to get rid of the flames and pain that it had swallowed. “Rend Power!” Once again with no damage the attack called no attention to him as the creature continued its efforts, hacking up fluids trying to sooth its throat. “Rend Power! Rend Power! Rend P-”

Three was the limit it seemed as the creature turned and unleashed its tentacles at him once more. The difference now was clear, instead of throwing him back he only slide a couple of feet and stayed upright. The Great Malboro, menace of Manehattan, plague to players, terror to all, knew now something was up, it could sense its own weakness and with it, the need to end this fight now rather than later.

Black billowing smoke started to waft off its teeth and that could only mean one thing. “Bad Breath INCOMING!” He called out seeing ponies all around put on gas masks. He himself though was not so fortunate.

Black smoke billowed from the creatures lungs, no longer a mist or fog like before but a stream directly at the human facing it. Fate once more toyed around with him as the pain of Poison seared through his lungs, lungs that could produce no sound when the air passed his vocal cords thanks to the Silent status. Though fate did seem to spare him the Blind and break status this time around.

That didn’t comfort him all that much as the creature ran towards him in a rush. This was now a brawl. Diving right into things he pressed forward slashing at any tentacle that came his way, severing it and, hopefully, restoring more damage then was being dealt to him by both the monster and his status. He had no way or removing the status as his only way now, thanks to using all the Salve he had yesterday, was Esuna, which wouldn’t help if he was muted.

One particularly hard hit dented his armor further then it already was now causing him to have a bit of trouble breathing, well more then he already was. ‘Ok air is starting to become a problem here.’

However with a beast looking to kill bearing down on you, there is no time to stop, it was time to kill or be killed. Dustan was looking to be the former. Dustan looked to swing his sword to cut off another tentacle except he was faked out, the Malboro pulling its tentacles back and instead ramming him with its entire body flinging him back an causing him to cry out.

‘My voice!’ The Silence had faded quickly this time, though the poison had not as it was still burning up his veins. What was more was that as he was trying to get up he gave a mighty cough and witnessed flakes of red splattering the ground where he was looking. ‘That isn’t good.’ The squirming and slimy sound of a Malboro rushing at him brought the same thought to him again as he watched it coming to finish him off while he was weak.

Instead it got a few bolts of ice magic to the back. It seems the teams were whittling away their targets and now some were going on the offensive, at just the right time too. “We got you sir!”

“CURE!” He called out, not bothering wasting time on the words to power it up, he needed health and fast. The circling blue light did indeed provide comfort to him but no more so then the poison seemed to want to sap away from him.

His call garnered the attention of the beast again, who now sensed that its time was coming, both in the fact that it was being hit with its weakness and being hit from more than one angle as its children breathed their last all around it. It seemed determined for one last thing though, to take Dustan with it.

A barrier sprang forth in front of it, but instead of staying stationary it moved forward colliding into the beast sending it flying back, but also shattering the shield causing one of the mages to cry out though with no echoing thud Dustan assumed they had stayed away.

He didn’t have much time, he called to the power inside of him willing whatever was left to quickly gather. The Great Malboro got up quickly and started to rush forward, determined to not stop, even though bolts of arctic energy were now raining down on it from all mages of the party, it wouldn’t stop. It was determined.

However so was Dustan. “Heavenly bolts, bring down God’s Judgement. Thundara!” Thick yellow bolts streamed from the right hand of the knight as he called his most powerful spell as of yet. Though the creature didn’t have an elemental weakness to this particular ability, it was still doing damage to it. More damage than normal in fact as the ice on its body that had started to melt made a nice conductive sheen of water on its body allowing the electricity to better guide over the creature and thus into it.

Dustan however couldn’t keep that up. The spell, like all his spells, was not for sustained effort but to give off a burst then stop. That is what the upgraded Thunder spell had done before it had stopped. The steaming Malboro didn’t stop however, but it was slowing. Dustan couldn’t feel much magic in him anymore and the burning in his lungs was making him light headed, he couldn’t dodge anymore not with his armor weighing him down in his exhausted state.

This was it, this was the end, this was…the Malboro face planting into the concrete of the pool’s bottom and sliding to him. “Oh shit!”

The Malboro knocked him off his feet and he hitched a ride with it for a few feet before he realized something as they both came to a stop: It had died mid charge. This thought on that was simply awesome. Looking around them suddenly he took to his feet and saw that six regular Malboro lay dead at various points where the barriers had stood and one Great Malboro lay dead at his feet thanks to the combined efforts of everyone.

“Victory is ours!” He called out loudly to a great cheer both down in the sewers and up top as no doubt. Or at least he thought there was cheering as a coughing fit drowned out the noise as he collapsed to his knees. Red was now flaking the ground more than it had before and the dizziness from lack of air was a problem.

Dustan could have sworn he heard worried voices but couldn’t for the life of him tell where they were coming from, nor did he understand why the flakes of blood were growing closer to his face.

It had been a week since Dustan had been admitted to the Manehattan Specialized Hospital for Extra Species Care. His collapse in the aftermath of the battle had came as a shock to all involved but it had seemed he was the only one that had gotten affected by the creatures attacks both in its strange breath and physical attacks. When examined at the hospital it seemed whatever the creature had done, had poisoned him rather badly. Not only from what he had inhaled but also its saliva from where it had bitten him.

As such he had been quickly put on as much antibiotics as possible while healing mages were called in to cast cleansing spells on him and his body. Whatever poison had gotten into him, it seems he himself had wiped it away from those infected the previous time they had encountered it, but the mages were having a much more difficult time with curing him. Was it because he was more knowledgeable about the poison or the fact his biology was different and the mages weren’t used to it. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Either way, it had taken over twenty four hours alone to cleanse the poison but not the damage. For that, it took the rest of the week and though the doctors now say he is in a clean bill of health, he had not yet woken up. Cadance had been visiting him every day at his bedside thanks to her princess privilege and getting past red tape, but nothing. Given she couldn’t be there for long most days as she was now busy running damage control and assuring her ponies in Manehattan that the threat had been dealt with.

She had also made sure that the record of those who participated and what roles they had played were public knowledge. Her ponies were not stupid either, many had picked up right away that ‘Dustan Warner’ wasn’t a pony name. At first they had thought it a griffon but when she had told them the truth, suddenly there were demands to meet the strange individual for an interview. That was when she broke the news that the leader of the operation was also the only one to suffer major injuries and now was in a coma.

Everywhere she went it seems the name Dustan was being muttered and tossed around left and right. This made her smile as she knew it wasn’t just because she was a princess and ponies were throwing it around because she was there, as she had often snuck away from her current set of guards, except Secret Service, in a disguise that resembled her pre-ascended form of a pegasus.

A letter had arrived the previous day from her aunts asking them for an update, as they had every day since she had first sent them the news. Her aunt Celestia was up to something as she let it slip that others seemed to want to know his status and the way she wrote it didn’t seem to just indicate her and Luna. It made her wonder what game her adoptive aunt was playing this time. It didn’t matter though as she had sent word that the mages specialized in treating and repairing exotic poisons had returned from Las Pegasus from vacation and would be arriving the next day, today in other words.

“Oi there miss, yor lookin' a bit dahn. Care ter browse me wares and find sumfink ter cheer yer up, then, eh, luv?” The call broke her out of her thoughts as she looked towards a street peddler in a small booth.

From what she had seen they had become more common as of late in this part of town as it was a popular tourist section of town. “I don’t think so, I am on my way to see my friend at the hospital.”

She looked at the pony running the booth and was amused to find him, judging by the voice, covered nearly from head to hoof in clothing; specifically it looked like a trench coat. “Ahh is that so, maybe then I can interest yer in sumfink in the way o' a gift for yor mate ter make them feel better, then?”

Luckily she had spent some time around Great Bitain and its neighboring countries or she would have blushed at the ‘mate’ remark as she recognized the accent and what some of the terms meant for them. However the stallion made a good point, maybe she should get something for Dustan even if he couldn’t enjoy it now, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy it later.

“Alright, show me what you got.” She wasn’t sure why but she felt like the pony was smiling under his mask.

With a practiced hoof the pony opened up their coat to display their wares. “Whaddaya buyin’?”

The merchant watched the princess in disguise trot away happily with her purchase before he sighed before ditching the accent. “Good to know you are keeping at it kid and making this world a good home for you. Who knows maybe I can bring you something useful next time instead of a normal trinket like what she bought.” His booth vanished as he started moving into the space between worlds. “But I can’t right now, they are keeping me on a short leash cause of my hesitation before. Just keep it up.”

The Merchant would vanish and no pony would know he was even there, nor that a pegasus had talked to him.

The door creaked open as Cadance looked inside and saw the human with all kinds of tubes sticking out of him. Some for blood, some for food, and others she could only guess at thanks to her having seen his body before. Closing it behind her she sighed and took her typical place by his bed in a seat that was left for her. There was a tray next to his bed that had food on it, but meant for her as she always kept to a schedule when meeting him for her visit.

She was exhausted today and wasn’t even hungry. The specialists had arrived and told everypony involved that there were trace amounts of poison in his blood, but not enough to keep him unconscious. They removed them and corrected all the damage done to him, which wasn’t much left thanks to the doctors there and congratulated them on such good work. What good it actually did as Dustan was still asleep.

“Today was a pain you know? It was one of my last meetings while here. Ponies everywhere want to meet you did you know that?” She giggled a bit before sighing. “They want to meet the Hero that solved the killer case and fought so valiantly for them. It’s not far you know that?” The only answer she got was the heart monitor beeping steadily along. “With how fast life moves in this city, when I leave it will only be a matter of time before they move on from these events, except for the pony’s family whom had lost loved ones.”

Yawning a bit and looking to see the time was so late she realized that even if she tried to touch her food now it was long cold. Sighing and resting her head on the bed near his hand she tried to think of anything to say, but nothing seemed to come to mind. Her mind and body were just too tired to try.

At least till her mind nudged her towards her saddle bags. “Oh, I got you something.” Using her magic to rifle through her belongings she pulled out the small wooden box and smiled setting it down near her food. “I got this from a street shop and when I found it, I thought of you right away. I am not sure why but it just seemed to fit.” Yawning again she opened up the box after winding it up letting it start to play a familiar tune. “Hopefully wherever you are, you enjoy it.”

Darkness was his only companion, his only friend in this world. It comforted him and chilled him to the bone all the same. He could neither see himself or anything around him as if he was some formless entity spawned of nothing. His mind was frozen, stuck in this ideal state both existing and not, between reality and a dreamless oblivion. In a way, it was what he wanted some time ago.

The thoughts of his depression, his time when he thought nothing in the world mattered, the time when his girlfriend had left him. He had been without nothing, in between jobs, no money, his family had moved too far away to help him and to be honest he never informed them of the problem so as not to burden them or anyone with his problems. He had been living on the street for a month, growing more and more desperate each day when he could garner no work. No one was hiring, let along hiring a bum like himself.

He remembered eating from a dumpster and being run off more than a couple of times. More than a few times he was caught using a public restroom to do the best job of giving him a bath with a sink as possible as well as water to drink. They ran him off during those times as well not wanting him to cause them issues. Dustan had not blamed them at all; he was a burden to them and their business when he showed up.

When he realized that he stopped going to the dumpsters and restrooms of those places. There was a spiral that he seemed to be sinking more and more into each and every day, more so now that he had stopped eating and drinking. He had taken to living in an alleyway known to house more than a few like himself, most of which had taken up begging as a source of income. Dustan had tried that, but with how young he was, people thought him just lazy and not wanting to work.

So with that method dried up he had stopped trying to beg as well since there was no results. Meaning there was no way to earn anything, no jobs, no begging, dumpster diving was no longer an option in his eyes, same with restrooms. He had developed a rather nasty cough in those final days in the alleyway. Was he too stubborn to save face, too proud to burden others? No, he just honestly thought he wasn’t worth the trouble, his ex had shoved that down his throat plenty enough where it had sunk in at that point.

The young man was never sure when he had gotten a hold of it, or why he kept the item had was now looking at but he remembered what occurred to place it in his care. There was a fight that broke out between other homeless men which he tried to split up. One had been a major drug addict and the other was a man whom wasn’t exactly right in the head it seemed. However he knew one of them couldn’t help themselves and the other had a problem with an addictive substance, so he helped to kick the latter out of the alleyway. As he was cleaning up the site where the man had camped out, he found it, the item he was now holding and contemplating the worst with: A single razor blade.

At his wits end, he had no more tears to shed, or maybe he was too dehydrated to do so, either way he was mentally prepping himself for the only action he thought he could take. It would send him where he was right now, that peaceful oblivion that welcomed all.

Except something had stopped him back then right before he could commit the act. Something powerful, yet simple. A voice called out to him back then, reminding him of something and making him quickly put the razor away.

“Hey Dustan is that you?” The voice called out to him and though his vision was hazy with his weakness he knew who it was. “Dude, what are you doing here?”

“I’m-” Was all the homeless man could get out before a coughing fit overtook him.

“Holy shit dude!” Patrick was patting him on the back and handing him a soda that he had been drinking during his walk. “Go on man, you need it more than me.”

“I can’t. It’s yours; it’s not mine to ask for.” Honestly he was never sure how his friend had heard him at all with how softly he spoke that but it didn’t matter as he had.

“Fuck that man, you are my friend, now shut the fuck up and drink it before I make you drink it!” His best friend was shouting at him getting upset because of him. He now felt like he had to drink it but after one sip he found he couldn’t stop and ended up chugging it all down. “Dude.” The voice called out almost softly. “What happened?”

Dustan wasn’t sure why, but it was as if he couldn’t keep it all in anymore as his words and tears started to both flow out of him without stopping. “Sarah kicked me out. I have no job, no place to go. I don’t want to trouble my parents or anyone with my incompetence. I tried getting a job, I have, I have had to do dumpster diving and bathroom showers as best I can but then I realized I am a burden to those places as well and I just want to stop being a burden!”

“Fuck this!” Looking around quickly he simply stated. “What is yours, lets pack it up quick. You are going to live with me bro.” He was stunned, why would he do this.

Dustan had to ask. “Why?”

The question got him a smack to the back of the head as Pat glared at him. “Cause dumbass you’re my friend. Friends help each other.” Gathering the few things that he owned Pat picked them up before bearing the weight of his friend on one shoulder. “Besides. You saved me from being a sociopath. Least I can do is help you not off yourself, if what you were about to do with that razor is what I thought I saw before I spoke up.”

Feeling a fresh wave of hot tears pour down his face all he could call out was two words. “I’m sorry.”

Over and over again he muttered that as he was escorted back to Pat’s place by the beach. “Think nothing of it man, you are my friend, you would do this for me if the shoe was on the other foot.”

Just like that, the dark days were fading and light returned to his world. Pat had saved him with something so simple, something so profound that he had forgotten it during that time: Friendship.

Now in the darkness once again Dustan found himself unable to escape and this time Pat wasn’t there to save him from himself. However something else had taken its place. Something soft playing off in the distance calling out to him. It was a voice at first then became something else.

Was that a melody?

Uncurling from his ball he recognized the music slowly but surely. Memories started play out before him, a rhyming zebra who lived alone, a would be Magister without a horn and Six Mares whom were all friends and had destinies that would shape this world: A unicorn with a posh sense of self but a generous heart. An earth pony with too high of a blood sugar level that would never let a friend frown if possible. A pegasus whose love for animals was only surpassed by her kindness towards all things. A stubborn mare who would kick trees all day long for their apples but would give you the honest truth when needed. A prismatic maned pegasus who valued speed and action above all else, except in the matters of friends. Finally a purple unicorn and her assistant both of whom were vastly intelligent beyond their years, save for the task of friendship which the former was studying.

They were all his friends. Using that music as a guide, he followed it and hoped it would lead to his friends once more. The closer he got to the music, the more the darkness seemed to fade as slowly but surely light replaced the darkness. When the light engulfed him he awoke to the sounds of medical equipment like a heart monitor, as well as a small music box playing by his bedside. As well as the soft snores of a princess too tired for her own good.

Reaching out he gently started to pet her mane and smiled. “Thanks for watching over me.”

Author's Notes:

I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter, the conclusion of the Malboro mini story as well as getting some background on a bit of a darker time in Dustan's life and some insight on why he thinks the way he does.