My Little Tactics

Chapter Twenty Nine: The Price.

“So I have to ask and I am sure you get this a lot.” Dustan asked the cloaked figure of death itself. “By why do you look like a human?”

The figure itself seemed to chuckle some and waved its skeletal hand towards Dustan. “Because of you. I am just a representation of an universal force that exists. I am defined by the perceptions of others like yourself otherwise my form is nothing. For those that fear what I am, I am something that strikes terror into their hearts as they pass on. For those that see me as something natural that happens and welcomes it, I am a comfort like an old family member come to take them home.”

Blinking for a moment the human gave a ‘hmm’ as he thought about that. “Honestly that makes…a scary amount of sense.”

The cloaked figure soon was moving around Dustan taking a look at him. “I must admit, you are a rather unique looking specimen that I do not see when it comes to this location, in fact I do not ever recall seeing one of your kind in this universe at all. I have been told of you though, of your kind by my counterparts from other universes, but rare is it to encounter one of them to converse for very long and to be fair most of us do not care about such matters as they are trivial in the grand scheme of things.”

“Hmm well that kinda answers one of my questions I had about things, damn.” Shaking his head for a moment he looked towards Death and asked him, well rather it since it didn’t have a gender. “Why am I here though, I was trying to use a Phoenix Down and next thing I know, it’s dark around me.”

Death flowed around Dustan for a moment before extending a hand and pointing. “Look over there.” Where he was pointed, the Thief could see himself along with the body of Scootaloo with the Phoenix Down in mid glow, but just them. A spotlight was on the two of them illuminating only part of the scene where he just was otherwise it was dark. “That is your body as well as the one whom is dead that you are using that item upon.”

“Yeah, that item is called a Phoenix Down from what I know. It should have brought her back to life.” The human said confused. “Also if that is my body, what is this?” He asked gesturing to himself.

“I will answer the latter first before the first.” Death said moving back to face the darkness and away from the spotlight. “This is a representation of your soul as defined by you. Most Individuals either see themselves as a ball of light; some see themselves as a figure based on mythology or religion. Then there are those that are like you and represent themselves as themselves.”

Looking upon his hands for a moment the Lord of the Everfree merely said a single thing. “Huh.” Profound words aside the brown haired human looked upon the force of nature. “And the former question?”

Nodding and opening his cloak up, his skeletal figure was now exposed expect for his face. “That item doesn’t guarantee the filly’s return; instead all it does is give you the opportunity to bargain with me for her soul’s return. If you had used a spell, such spells tend to use up a LOT of magical energies which usually covers the price.”

“That explains it!” Dustan had last looked at the Raise category of spells and realized the numbers on them didn’t match up to his memory, instead the JP required to take them were on par with Holy and the better version even higher than that as well as the Mp costs being ridiculously high. “Raise substitute’s magic for the offering.”

“Correct. It is a taxing process to use such a spell to restore one’s soul and as such I have not seen such a thing in many of what you call years.” Death informed him before gesturing again and holding out his cloak with one arm. “So Dustan Warner, tell me: What will you give me to return this child’s soul to her body?”

Inside the cloak as if looking through a dark pane of glass that suddenly had light shine through it just right, he could see a darkened version of Scootaloo facing away from him and seemingly walking. The image was honestly both horrifying and disturbing and he was sure that it would be the subject of many nightmares to come not just about this filly, but others as well.

Shaking his head Dustan looked to the figure and asked him a question. “What is typically offered in exchange. Sorry but this is my first time doing this.”

Closing his cloak for now Death instead opened the other side and like before the cloak let visions through. “Life, souls, power, energy, and more are all things I take. Offer me what you think is right for her soul and I will tell you if it’s not enough, or too much.” The entity must have seen his shocked look and chuckled loudly causing some of its bones to clatter. “I am not an unfair or malevolent force Dustan. I give and take fairly and will not overcharge for what is exchanged unless there is no way to give only a portion.”

Dustan sank to his knees at this feeling defeated and could feel tears come to his eyes as he realized something. ‘She is so young, so much potential; the price she would have to be exchanged for is huge. I would have to offer my entire self and even then I am not sure I could cover it.’

“You misjudge things Dustan.” Suddenly looking up at Death he could see pearly white teeth inside of the hood gleam. “This is your soul, I am the one who ferries said souls and takes them to the other side, of course I can read your thoughts here.”

Standing up and wiping away his tears Dustan flung open both arms and told him. “Then take it all, bring Scootaloo back and I will give you everything I am.”

“No.” The way in which Death said it, with such finality and so quickly, felt like a crushing blow to the face for Dustan.

“I am not worth the exchange I see.” Arms falling to his side he could feel the tears spring back up to his eyes.

“You misunderstand, as do most mortals.” The images in his cloak vanished as he returned his cloak to his skeletal body. “You are worth much more then she is.”

“Wait what? Why? She has so much more potential than I do! Besides I am a worthless person who isn’t even supposed to be here!” Dustan felt a tad angry at the accusation to be fair, always thinking that mostly everyone around him was worth more than himself.

“Potential is worth nothing.” Death said as a matter of fact. “I am a force that deals with the now not the past nor the future. This is what others misunderstand as they think Death can see it all future and past, and while I can do so about the past, the future is as blank to me as anyone else.” Gesturing with his cloak once more an image of Celestia and a pink haired filly appeared on his cloak. “The filly has no current power, no influence on others, and no ability to change anything around them. Celestia is a figure of immense power, immense influence, and the ability to change so much around her. If measuring both of them side by side Celestia’s soul weighs more. She is able to shape the world NOW where as the filly might be able to shape the world someday if everything goes perfectly for her, which may never happen. Destiny changes with every choice, sometimes just the path leading up to it, and sometimes the destination itself changes with the choice, but every choice does change things.”

Dustan was trying to wrap his head around what the universal force was telling him, trying to parse the information and put it all together properly. “So you are telling me, potential means nothing and that it’s what you can do now and here that matters?”

“Yes. A foot soldier maybe able to defeat an enemy or two on the battlefield, they might beat twenty, but a General which their influence to plan and strategize can topple armies with a proper plan that comes from experience. A young filly or colt learning magic might zap someone who intrudes into their house and save their parents, a well trained magister though can fell hundreds or save hundreds right then and there. The weight of return is based on this fact, what can be done here and now by this individual, who can they influence, what can they influence, and more.” Pointing to Dustan the bone finger extended. “Your soul weighs so much more than this one’s.”

Taking those words into mind Dustan started to think of things and smiled as something came to mine. “Then what about part of my soul? Would you take that in exchange?”

Nodding and thus making a feeling of accomplishment rise in Dustan, Death spoke. “Yes I would.” But Death wasn’t done as it held up a hand. “However what you are thinking won’t work.” Dustan’s head shot up having forgotten that his thoughts were in the open here. “A soul damaged might recover over time, as do souls grow or diminish in time, but a soul damaged by me doesn’t recover. You will not ever have that part of your soul returned till either you die or make a new bargain for it to be returned.”

Trembling a bit, as he felt like he was making a deal with the devil talking about souls like this, Dustan asked the force a new question. “Ok, say you take part of my soul, what would happen to me in my body then? Would like whatever part of my soul is connected with that part rot or something?”

“No.” Feeling a sense of relief at hearing that Dustan almost wished he didn’t have it for what Death said next. “Whatever part is lost becomes numb, losing all feeling in it and no amount of magic can restore said feeling. For you Dustan, if you lose your leg in this bargain, it might hamper your ability to run and land safely as well as channel magic through your legs as once you lose feeling you won’t be able to guide your magic. It will just stop flowing past that point as your mind cannot connect how it is supposed to move to its destination.”

Hearing that, Dustan would close his eyes. “Would a limb be satisfactory to bring her back?”

“Yes. Yes it would.” Dustan knew Death was following his thoughts, he knew that this entity could see him coming to his resolve to give up a couple of dreams at this, and he knew that this force would knew it had its bargain.

Holding up his right arm, his non dominant one as Dustan was left handed he spoke. “Take my arm. Take my hope of dual wielding; take my ability to cast with this arm. If it means returning her to life then take it.”

Moving closer the skeletal hand came up and ran its finger halfway over the bicep of the human. “From here down is what I will take.”

Weirdly he expected the cold clammy touch to be what he felt, instead, he felt warmth. “I thought you conformed to expectations and visions of what you are supposed to be from someone?”

Death moved the hand from the arm to the hood of his cloak pulling it back to reveal a skull, but not a normal skull. Where the teeth looked normal, it was clear they were covered in some kind of pearlescent material that made them shine. In the eye sockets were two multifaceted gems of a shifting rainbow hue that held an inner fire inside of them. The skull itself was made of a black onyx material or obsidian that seemed to suck the light from everything around it giving the illusion of just the gemstones and teeth floating there.

“Dustan Warner, I am what you envision me as, even if your conscious mind doesn’t realize it fully.” Throwing back his cloak a ball of light flew away from his cloth and shot towards Scootaloo hovering over her body. “Your arm for her soul, everything that this arm carries, your hopes, dreams, and more will be forfeit in this bargain is this correct.”

Trembling a bit Dustan nodded. “Y-Yeah.”

Suddenly in an eerie glowing light a scythe was formed in the entity’s hands. “Then know this, pain will come from this transition as you are losing part of your soul. Bear with it.”

“A scythe really?” Dustan couldn’t help but chuckle at this.

Death seemed to chuckle with him. “It’s your iteration of me.”

With that the scythe was brought down.

He watched as the human leader had just felled the hydra with his troops they were all celebrating and he smiled as this human might indeed be worthy as he had told him he would reveal things to him after this. Slowly though the Moogle stopped as he watched the human known as Dustan run towards a small figure laying still. No life was felt within that body by the Moogle and he could feel tears threatening to come free. He watched the human struggle; apply a salve for poison, healing, everything including asking for others to be called.

In the end the Esper saw Dustan take out an object he had not seen since before his seal. ‘Is that-?’

“PHOENIX DOWN!” Yep, the human had just called out the item in question and he knew that a bargain was about to be attempted.

He knew time didn’t flow the same in the gap between this realm and the next so the instant he'd seen the item in question start to glow and send off a spiral of red that he knew it had worked. As the spiral started to spark to finish its usage instantly the filly gasped and drew breath once more. The opposite could be said of the human who let out all the air of his lungs and fell to the side clutching his right arm as his scream instantly seemed to make his throat hoarse. What was more the Moogle had felt the disturbance the resurrection had caused as it flowed against the natural forces typically in place.

The Moogle wasn’t the only one as three pops sounded off, once for teach teleport. “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!” Came an incredibly loud voice from a midnight blue Alicorn that the Moogle recognized as the rumored Lunar Princess.

“Auntie look!” The second voice was from a smaller Alicorn mare whose mane didn’t wave or shimmer like the other two. “It’s Dustan!”

Moving towards the fallen figure with the blue and pink Alicorns did the tallest peer down and nod as the various pastel colored parts of her mane flowed. “Indeed, we need to get him and the filly back to the castle at once.”

The Moogle’s eyes widened at that and he ran over. “Hold on, I need to talk with him as well Kupo.”

All three eyes were on him now as the smallest one looked at him. “While he is adorable what is he?”

The blue one took the lead and glared at him. “I know what it is, and we should bring it with us to ask it questions.”

The tallest one looked at the various figures around and spoke to them. “We need to take these three back with us, please return home and…is that a Hydra?” Shaking her head for a moment she continued. “For now we need to focus on other matters. If somepony would write and give it to Twilight Sparkle as soon as possible to give to us, we would very much appreciate it.” With that the horns of all three Alicorn started to glow before the Moogle felt all of them start to be moved through space.

The last thing he remembered was pain, horrible mind numbing pain. Slowly getting up Dustan found he couldn’t move at all or at least not very far as he was strapped down to a bed. Nothing was in his mouth or throat so while he figured he was in the hospital, judging from the beeps and such as well as the white ceiling, it had not been for long.

“Hel-” the instant he tried to speak though did he start coughing at the pain.

The coughing must have alerted a nurse or doctor as a few figures he didn’t recognize instantly came into the room to check him out. One of them eventually levitated a glass of liquid with a straw to him instructing him to drink. Whatever it was wasn’t water though it was a bit thicker and much more soothing to his throat. Instantly though one of them vanished in a teleport somewhere as the others started to read off the instruments and do various tests on him. Touching all his toes, touching all of the fingers of his left hand, shining lights in his eyes, the whole nine yards and more did the doctors and nurses test him on.

“Still no reaction from his right forelimb.” The individual called out.

For a moment Dustan panicked at hearing that and looked over to see them poking and prodding along his arm till right around the middle of his bicep did he flinch instinctively from the prick. “Right here seems to be where sensation returns to the subject, mark it please.”

Levitating a marker over the instant it touched his arm did the memory of that warm touch come back to him, as well as all that was involved in it. ‘Oh…right.’ Suddenly though his eyes went wide and he tried to sit up. “What about Scootaloo, the orange pegasus filly, is she alright?” He was ignored though as the medical professionals continued tests and marking him, which naturally raised his ire pretty quickly. “Hey listen to me, where is the filly, is she alright?”

Still nothing and instantly was his anger flared, in his mind he called for Monk and felt himself change jobs. Tugging hard the strap broke rather easily to his surprise and he lifted up causing all the doctors to suddenly take notice. They all backed up instantly as he started to undo the straps looking rather pissed at them all.

“Subdue him!” One of them called and another shoot a bolt of something at him that started to make him feel tired.

‘Fuck this.’ Dustan thought as he started to struggle to stay awake before using his magic quickly. “Esuna!” The ball of light circled his head before the curtain rose and instantly he felt the sleepiness vanish from his body. “Don’t do that again, GOT IT?” He put enough effort into his gruff sounding voice to make them all flinch. “Also you shouldn’t ignore patients, makes you all seem like fuck ups who don’t care about their well being at all, which I am hoping you all do care.” Standing up a bit wobbly he stretched and looked down. “Oh for fu-where are my clothes?”

A nurse quickly brought him the stuff, which looked cleaned of all the hydra blood on it thankfully. He had just put his shirt on when three pops came and three Alicorns appeared before him. While the first two of the sun and moon weren’t too much of a shock to him, finding lovebutt herself here did make him curious.

Before he could ask though Celestia spoke up. “We will take this from here, thank you all for your effort.” Before she lit up her horn and suddenly he felt himself being moved somewhere.

Said somewhere was a rather large room with a huge bed and-“Oh this is the room I was staying in last time I was here.” He called out as he landed on said mattress.

The three Princesses were standing before him now though Luna went to the door and left for a moment before coming back. “Indeed Dustan, and though we would very much like to be concerned for your health, we must first ask a few other questions.”

Nodding his head Dustan stretched a bit feeling his muscles protest moving like this after not doing so for a bit. “I have a few of my own as well.”

“We all imagined that you might, but we have need of our own questions to be answered first as they are important.” The tone of Celestia right away put him on edge as she was beyond serious.

“Ok then, go ahead.” Moving to fix his pillows to lean against them, he made himself comfortable.

The horns of the rulers all started to glow for a moment and they were silent, though their facial expressions changed just enough to make him think something was going on. “Dustan.” I was Luna who spoke first. “My sister, Cadance, and I noticed something two days ago, when you were brought in. On the ground were you, whom were screaming out of his mind with pain, a filly whom seemed to be gasping for breath, and an Eidolon in the shape of a white furry creature. While this wasn’t what called us there we still wish to know what was going on.”

“The creature is called a Moogle and he came to inform me of a hydra that has been disturbing the Everfree.” Dustan went on to describe how for a while now creatures of the Everfree were going beyond their normal territories to the point where they would ignore the herbs that kept them away and started to threaten things because of this. He told them of the Moogle having discovered the hydra which was the cause of the issue and of the fight with said hydra, though he got a curious look from them when he mentioned the numbers involved. He ignored it for now and explained the final bit he could remember. “So I am going to apologize to the girls for how rude I was in the moment and I notice the pegasus filly not moving…or breathing. She was dead. I thought I could erase the poison and heal her and it would bring her back but…it didn’t. So I used a trump card of mine, an item which would allow me to bring the dead back to life if they had expired only moments ago and can only be used in a VERY small window of opportunity.”

“I see, but that item didn’t work as you expected it did it?” Luna said in a way that told him that she knew more but didn’t want to say.

Nodding he simply said. “Yeah.” Leaning back on the pillows he sighed and raised up his right arm. “Instead because it’s only an item, it allows one to converse with and thus bargain with the entity that represents the force of death.” The gasps of the youngest princess let him know that she had no clue what had happened unlike the oldest of the three. “While there I had a conversation with Death itself on a lot of different meanings and what a soul is worth and more. In the end, since my soul is worth more than a filly’s soul I could give up part of mine to return her to life.”

“Your arm.” Celestia spoke with conviction.

Nodding and chuckling. “Small price to pay to give a girl a chance for life.” Bringing up the arm in question Dustan looked at it and sighed. “I cannot feel anything from this arm, I cannot use magic through it either, so it is just a step up from being useless. It sucks that I can’t use it properly anymore but again it was worth it.”

A bit of color out of the corner of his eyes made him catch the three doing…whatever they were doing again and it seems Cadance wasn’t happy about it at all as she had tears in her eyes and stomped her hoof a few times before speaking up. “I need to go.”

With that she left and Dustan merely looked at the other princesses in the room. “She is understandably upset, she has not encountered disruptions to the natural flow of things before and though it is rare my sister and I have read up on such occurrences happening before.” Luna looked back at him and continued. “Though we admit, the last time we even felt something like this was before our banishment and our sister can confirm that not a single incident like this has occurred in over twelve hundred years. Two hundred years before our own banishment so Equestria has not seen or felt it’s like for enough time for such magic to become myth and legend.”

The herald of the sun stretched for a moment before looking at Dustan. “We are grateful you would go to such lengths for foals like you have, but I am understandably upset that you had to do so in the first place.”

“No kidding. They honestly shouldn’t have been there in the first place and I had no clue they were there until they rushed in like they had. Which by that point it was a bit too late.” Dustan was a bit focused on his arm and how it felt as he touched it with his left to notice the looks shared between the two princesses.

“That isn’t what I meant Dustan.” Looking up from his arms the human noticed both of the pony princesses looking rather seriously and worriedly at him. “You seem to think your life is less than those around you.” He started to open his mouth but right away got cut off with a glare and a stern voice. “If you were about to say something along the lines of ‘they are worth more’ then you best keep your opinion to yourself.”

When he clamped his mouth shut caused both of them to wince slightly at the action. “Dustan, neither my sister nor I knows the cause of such an opinion of yourself but you may wish to see somepony about it. It is not healthy; take it from somepony who knows self loathing on a first name basis.”

Taking a seat next to him on either side of the bed both of the large ponies looked at him but it was Celestia who spoke. “As much as I wish to explore your mind some with conversation to find the root of such a problem we have other matters to discuss, two very important issues.”

“Though one is less important than the other.” Luna jumped in causing him to look at them curiously now.

“The first issue is the creature that came in with you.” When he tilted his head Celestia used her magic to conjure a simple image of what he recognized. “This creature, do you recognize it?”

“Oh yeah, the Moogle.” That seemed to surprise both of them. “Like I said the Moogle is who let me know about the hydra.”

“You truly can communicate with it?” Nodding and sighing rubbing her temples some Celestia asked him. “Do you know its nature as an Eidolon?”

“Yeah, does that matter?” The line of questioning was starting to bother him as it had his spidey-sense tingling.

Luna would take over seeing her sister being over taken by the stress. “Lately phenomena that we believe relates to various Eidolon emergences are happening all over. This is due to a seal formed by ancient unicorns sealing them away as well as other creatures with magic. We believe it is also the reason new species like that Malboro you encountered in Manehatten have been appearing.”

Dustan looked startled at this. “So you are saying they were here long ago?” Seeing both of them nodding the human actually felt a bit of a weight come off his shoulders. ‘Haha, so it’s not my fault that they are here. However, that means this isn’t the main timeline of the show, definitely not with me in it.’ Then what she said fully played through his head. “Wait, other Eidolon?” Seeing them nod had him start to have a cold sweat knowing what some of them could do. “What kind of phenomena has been happening?”

Celestia would look to be a bit better now as she picked herself back up and put herself into the conversation. “Scorched areas reduced to ash, frozen ones where nothing can survive for long, areas flooded in a matter of moments, erratic lightning storms coming from nowhere, and more.”

‘If I was a betting man and if they coincide with tactics then that would mean Ifrit, Shiva, Leviathan, and Ramah for the ones they named.’ Looking up to the sisters again he started to stand. “I think I need to go to those places. They are dangerous and if they are what you said they are Esper incursions then I might be one of the only people to have any knowledge of them.”

The sisters looked towards one another and nodded. “To be honest, we were going to ask you for your assistance as it were. I have sent some scouting teams to go and check the areas out but they wouldn’t have arrived at some of them yet so we have yet to really gather much information.”

“Either I or Celestia will call you to the castle when we have more information and discover if possible the identity of those behind it.” The princess of the night said before leaning forward, her horn glowing. “That being said, if you do travel to the places where they are happening, your fame may not get others to cooperate with you. If that is the case I am placing a special spell seal upon you.”

Blinking as a glyph suddenly appeared on his chest right below his collar bone. “A what?”

“Spell seal.” The large white Alicorn told him. “It’s a type of delayed spell no longer really practiced as it requires a tremendous amount of power from one’s own reserves to accomplish. What it does is store a spell in the body or object it is placed on and will trigger when one speaks the specific phrase.”

“Which is ‘Mutatio’ good Dustan.” Luna said still inscribing said seal. “This is a polymorph spell. It will trigger when you speak that, do a scan of the area around you then will take in account the species around you and find one that best fits you. The spell does lean towards the most popular species in the area before actual compatibility though so keep that in mind.”

“So if I can’t get answers out of people I use this, it changes me and I blend in?” Celestia gave him the confirmation on that and he chuckled. “Neat.” As he said that, the dark princess was finished and smiled. “So that is it, where is it?”

Grinning and chuckling, Luna spoke with a tone that one that was stating a fact would use. “Spell seals never show up till they are activated or when they are being enchanted onto the object or pony in question.”

“I assume that was the important subject right?” Getting a nod from them both it was time for him to throw some questions out. “Then before we get to the less important subject, mind if I ask what happened with Scootaloo?”

The princesses looked pleased at this and the older of the two spoke. “She is fine, was a tad shaken up but didn’t know what had happened to her. She was told she got a concussion and that when you went to heal her you succeeded but you had some venom from the hydra in you so you started to react right after that.”

‘Yeah I can see where others would buy that.’ Looking towards them again he gestured to them. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to interrupt but it was important to me.”

“Understandable.” Luna nodded with her response. “And now for the lesser subject.” Horn set to glow a letter popped into existence. “This was to be sent through Twilight when your fight happened but it had to wait.”

Taking said letter he was going to set it aside but seeing the looks on their faces he opened it up to read. “Dear Dustan Warner, Lord of the Everfree, Ruler of Luminary Castle, Freer of Others, Hero of Manehatten, and Dueler of Discord.” Looking up at them he chuckled. “That is a lot of titles, are they all actually titles or ones that you made up to butter me up.” When they both simply blinked and tilted their heads Dustan’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit those are all real? Why do I have nearly as many titles as I do letters in my first name?”

“You have earned them all Dustan.” The Princess of the Sun told him.

Only to have the Princess of the Moon speak up right after. “Also you have as many as the letters in your name. That letter doesn’t speak of your new title, Hydra Hunter.”

The human gave a face-palm as his response making both of the older Alicorns chuckle at that before he got back to reading the letter. “This letter is being sent in regards to the force you have been building up and training at your castle. Some nobles wish to see if the force you are training is adequate for defense of your territory. So in response to this we humbly request you to bring up to sixteen members of your forces to represent yourself, of which you may include yourself. You will be in a mock battle at Canterlot on a date to be announced and are to show your skills off to the city of Canterlot as well as esteemed guests. Your opponents will be consisting of Shining Armor: Captain of the Royal Guard, Captain Regal Gloom: Captain of the Night Guard, and finally Noble Aurora: Captain of the Day Guard with a hoofful of hoof picked guards at their command to fill out their forces.”

Taking a moment to reread everything must have worried the Princesses as the midnight blue pony spoke up. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah just…is this cause of the whole Logistics deal?” Seems the pony princesses were good at having poker faces but their ears, a quick twitch of them wanting to lay back said otherwise. “I see. Let me ask this in a different way. If the nobles had not ask for it, would this still have happened?”

That question brought a smile to their faces. “Of course. Especially in light of the numbers you brought to the fight with the hydra.”

Hearing Luna’s words gave rise to a sense of confusion. “Huh?”

The smile on the princess’ face slowly withered before she looked shocked. “Do you know how many guards it would have taken normally minus captains to take on a hydra that big?” When Dustan shook his head the Dream Princess looked even more shocked as did Celestia. “Dustan. You had a force of twenty four including yourself. Twenty seven if you include the three fillies. Minus captains it would have taken nearly four times that amount from the Canterlot Guard to do what you did.”

“I personally would say more sister.” Gestured Celestia with her hoof as she spoke up. “You are forgetting that minus the filly his proper forces suffered no casualties. Our forces with the number you would have provided at the very least would have suffered a ten percent loss rate in that. For an assured victory with the absolute minimal of losses I would have suggested five times the attack force Dustan brought.”

Dustan was rather amazed at this information even as the sisters continued back and forth stating different factors of terrain experience, types of troops and more that altered the numbers, suffice to say they concluded and went in the middle of their original estimate of four to five to four point five times the attack force: A whooping one hundred and eight total troops to do what he and his twenty four did.

“I will not lie Lord Warner.” Luna called to him with his title. “I have been investigating some of the dreams of your guard before my sister or I thought of this competition. What was presented always left us confused and thought that it might be exaggeration on what they were doing. I have changed my mind and now think that the actual training is much more intensive then what is presented in said dreams. If this is true then it’s possible you with your forces, of which only half of the male forces were present during your fight, could likely storm Canterlot castle with those numbers alone and take it over if I or my sister were not here and what is more is that it wouldn’t even be a proper battle but a slaughter at the disparity between the guards.”

Standing up a cat like stretch came from the Solar Princess as she looked to her sister. “Sadly sister, we need to leave.”

“Of course, so much is still needed to be done cause of the phenomena. We need to-” A knock interrupted the younger sister before the door opened and a round face was looking in.

“I hope you don’t mind me coming in Kupo. I heard Dustan was awake Kupo.” The Moogle slowly came in as he spoke.

Smiling and moving to pat it on its head, to which it didn’t seem to mind at all Celestia started to head to the door. “Not at all, but me and my sister were about to leave.”

“Actually Kupo.” The Moogle called out to her. “Can you stay just for a moment Kupo? I need to do something really quickly with Dustan then I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to teleport me back to the forest seeing as it’s my home Kupo.”

This must have intrigued both of them as the door was soon shut and Celestia and Luna shared a look that said plainly for anyone to see. ‘We want to see where this is going.’ The night co-ruler gestured a hoof to him. “Go ahead, and since it is your home that we took you from we will gladly return you.”

Giving a small bow with its hand stubs, in front of it, the Moogle smiled. “Thank you Kupo.” The white fluff ball then turned towards Dustan. “Do you mind if you stand up and come to the center of the room Kupo?”

“Sure, no problem.” Was the simple response from the human as he got up and went to stand in front of the Moogle, but then decided to lean down to be closer to eye level. “Here this might be easier for you.”

That only made the Moogle smile more. “It actually does Kupo.” Taking a deep breath the Moogle paused before a glyph suddenly formed under it and four glowing green balls came into existence, each holding a burning crimson flame. “I hereby request a compact with the human known as Dustan Warner Kupo. Upon completion of this compact I will come to aid him when called as he has proven himself worthy of such, I will also relinquish my name upon him and though he may speak it, others will not be able to understand the name he shouts and instead only interpret it as my species name Kupo.” The Moogle started to bring his right hand forward only to quickly look towards Dustan and switch hands. “Do you accept this compact Kupo?”

Dustan was honestly floored at this as if this meant what he thought, garnering the summoning spells were something MUCH harder than in the game. “I accept and will promise that I will try to honor our compact as best as possible.”

Clasping hands the Moogle smiled as his pom pom bounced. “The compact is complete Kupo. My name is Mogri Kupo.”

The glowing green balls then started to spin around the two faster and faster till they vanished as did the glyph below. ‘Mogri, really? That was the name of the mistranslation of Moogle haha.’ Dustan smiled and told his new ally what he was feeling. “I will try to be the best Summoner I can be for you.”

That made Mogri grin hearing that. “You even know the title of those that made pacts with us Kupo. Color me impressed Kupo.”

“As am I.” Turning to his right, he had honestly forgot about the princesses in the moment. “We didn’t think it was possible to do such a thing with an Eidolon.”

Mogri gave a nod as he turned to face them. “It is, though each Esper has its own requirements for completion, the most common way though is prove your strength though Kupo. You also have to be able to communicate with them and have the proper magic inside Kupo. You two, as princesses, meet two of the three requirements but you lack the proper type of magic Kupo. Dustan here has all three though Kupo. That isn’t to say he is stronger then you both though, let me make that clear Kupo. Dustan just has the required strength to do so, not your overwhelming amount Kupo.”

That brought the thinking faces to settle on both of them before it was quickly removed as Celestia smiled. “Thank you for letting us witness your ritual as well as the information you have given us. My sister and I will send you home now if that is your wish.”

“It is Kupo.” The Esper told them before he watched both of them light up their horns.

“Actually…could you wait a moment longer?” Dustan said sheepishly. “I mean as long as you are sending people home to the forest, I could use that ride once I get all my gear collected.”

This caused both of the princesses and the Moogle to burst out laughing.

Author's Notes:

Hmm was that a satisfying conclusion to last chapter's cliffhanger, I am not sure. What could this mean? Am I losing my touch for the epic cliffhangers?! That can't stand! PINKIE!

Pinkie Pie: "Yes sir?" she said with a salute.

Start making a pot of coffee, I have writing to do.

Pinkie Pie: "But sir you don't like coffee."

You're right, make it hot chocolate so we both can enjoy.

Pinkie Pie: "Okie Doki Loki, will get on it right away sir." before she vanished to where ever the kitchen was.

Also on an important note, sorry this chapter took so long to get to you all. I have been really busy irl, stressed, among other things and as such haven't really had all that much time to sit down and relax period let alone to get into the state of mind to write let alone. For that I apologize and I hope to start getting chapters out once again more often.