My Little Tactics

Chapter Thirty Two: Family.

Zap Apples: one of the Apple Family’s biggest sellers and what pulls in plenty of the bits for the year alone. If Dustan remembered right Applejack once told him that it was nearly twenty percent of their annual income. The human couldn’t remember if that was ever mentioned in the show or if it was different in said show but at this point his memory was failing him and he was conceding more and more points lost to time then he would like. He wanted to get a hold of some of those products this year but doubt he would all things considered with how popular it was.

The crunch of a Timberwolf head came and went as Dustan and some of the Luminous Guard were currently protecting the farm. The human looked at the splintered remains of the wolf as it started to put itself back together and waited for the guard to be the ones to finish them off or drive them away. In truth Dustan was rather bored, Timberwolves were just not a challenge anymore and he zoned out while fighting them most of the time which was why he was only there as back up.

“My Lord, the wolves are coming together to form the giant wolf!” He heard one of the guard shout at him making him come out of his thoughts and smiled.

“Good, was honestly bored out of my mind.” The Lord called out as he rolled his shoulders stretching as he watched the wolf starting to form.

After the exhibition match many questions were raised both by his friends, random ponies, and those of Luminary Castle as well, most of which were about his strength or his techniques. Truth was Dustan never thought anything about it till that tournament and now that it came and went letting him examine what had happened he found that he needed to do some tests of his own. The tests consisted of a sprint, a long run, various types of weight lifts, and a balance test. The results surprised Dustan immensely! While he couldn’t remember the exact numbers, he had remembered the general number range of the fastest sprint being something like twenty five to thirty miles per hour. He clocked in at sixty two showing he was now twice as fast as the fastest human on Earth in a sprint. For a mile run he found he just barely made it in under a minute at fifty eight seconds which at this point the results were almost scaring him. What was worse was that he was doing this all as a Squire, meaning he could have altered the results even more if he chose to go Thief or Ninja.

Similar results came in the weight category; this was the results that sickened him the most. Again, while he couldn’t remember the exact numbers, Dustan knew that the deadlift record was somewhere around half a ton. His came out to over a ton to which he put a stop to the tests that day and went to his room to drink. Somewhere along his journey, his training, and hardships he had slipped past human boundaries and had not even noticed. Was this a result of magic, either his or Equestria’s having an effect on him? Was this something done by the Merchant all that time ago when he was sent to this world? He suspected it was the Final Fantasy influence as in every game it was clear that all the main characters, or those that you played as at least, that they slipped past human boundaries at some point with some games it happening sooner. Sabin makes six really clear that he was beyond human when he suplexed a train.

Dustan mulled around the knowledge he had so far and mused that it was both a good and bad thing that he had slipped past those bounds like he had. Good in that let him keep up with those around him in training and against threats, but bad because of a simple question that came with it: Did this make him less human? The question didn’t get easier to ask himself as the next day the results of the other weight lifting reported a similar boost past norms so far shown. He was even able to perform an anime trope of the one fingered one handed push up which resulted in him needing to drink again that night. The tests of agility and reaction time came in the form of dodging attacks that were easier to measure: Bows and arrows. He told them not to tell them when they were to be fired nor how many they would choose to fire and to see if he could dodge them. Not only could he dodge them but he found he could catch them pretty easily.

Dustan that night drank, knowing that even if he was genetically still human; the answer to his question was that he wasn’t human anymore. Humans had limits, they have pushed those limits and have records of them and if he had just barely managed to push past those he would have not even thought of anything against his humanity. However he didn’t just pass those limits, he had crushed them and left them so far behind, with the knowledge of he was still getting stronger and faster all the time. He had passed the limits of humanity, but he was still unsure of his own maximum limits. The Squire had always had a debate to himself that if humanity were to somehow invade Equestria, that they would ultimately win just based on things like nukes. With ponies that could match him who could now lift a ton being trained, while not common, meant that the average was still higher than a human. A pegasus who could fly faster then humans or just run faster than normal horses, magic that could do many different things, and then the grand power of all Alicorns…he was starting to have doubts about the assured victory. What was more the brown cloak wearing human knew that this wasn’t counting weather manipulation, other species like Griffons or Minotaurs, or the overwhelming nature something like a Diamond Dog who could tear through gems or Dragons who were just overpowered in general in large size could add.

Dustan was still coming to grips with the profound nature of his abilities even now as the giant Timberwolf was being ridden by him having gotten on top of it after a failed pounce where he had rolled to the side before climbing up on it’s back. The brown eyed man didn’t want to destroy this creature but every time he spoke it seemed either not to understand his warnings or ignored them. So even as it was trying to buck him off it’s back the man would sigh knowing that he had tried. Forcing a hand between some of the branches that made up its body he chanted for the Fira spell before letting it loose inside of the creature causing it to howl a horrific sound before Dustan leapt off its back as it shuddered and collapsed in a heap. No human could do what he just did.

“Great job My Lord!” Merlene called as she flew over.

“Hmm? Oh thanks.” The reply came and a smile was mustered but Dustan just didn’t have it in him to give it the full effect it needed. His stomach grumbled and he was thankful for it. “I am going to go into town for something to eat. Everything looks to be ok here. Come get me if something happens.”

The Squire barely heard her reply as he started to head to town. Thoughts kept popping into his head of Earth, Patrick, His Mom and Dad, Sarah, and more. If any of them knew him now, would they even wish to associate with him? Pat would as he would think its cool to have a superpowered friend. Sarah, if it was before the accident, likely would have supported him no matter what with the new one likely trying to make use of his new abilities somehow. His Mom and Dad though, he would like to think they would support him but even with those thoughts each person he thought of came with doubts.

“Oh hi Dustan! Out for a walk?” It was Twilight along with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

He tried to give a good smile but like with Merlene, it didn’t come. “Oh hey you three.”

Twilight didn’t need to have Pinkie sense of any of the party ponies sense of happiness to know that something was up with the resident human of Ponyville. “We were just out for a walk and thinking about stopping by the school to listen to some of the presentations for Family Appreciation Day.”

Instantly she noticed a wince pass across the face of her friend. “I think I will pass. As neat as that sounds I feel like I wouldn’t have much to contribute. You girls go on without me.”

Pinkie must have sensed something though as when he tried to leave she zipped up and pulled out a cupcake from her mane. “Here, I can hear from here your stomach imitating one of Fluttershy’s animal friends.”

Seeming to nod and giggle herself the normally timid pegasus would smile. “It does indeed sound like Harry.”

“No thanks Pinkie. I am just don’t feel like eating at the moment. Thanks for offering though.” With that he walked away leaving the three mares to look at each other.

Pinkie was the first to speak up after sniffing her cupcake. “Well its not this. What is making him so sad?”

“He seemed to really be lost in thought when we ran into him. Maybe something has happened at the Castle?” Fluttershy might be on to something there.

Nodding in agreement The mage of the group started to light up her horn. “Lets go find out. Get close girls.”

A pop later and the group were at the gates to the Castle courtyard as they went inside. A woosh of flame came from one side of the courtyard as Mystic was practicing his magic, while the slicing of air came from the other side as the rest of the Guard worked on weapons training. Since the exhibition match against her brother’s team, Twilight has really come to realize how extraordinary the training at Luminary Castle was. She remembered how her brother came to tell her about the training he did while she was still at Canterlot Castle training with Celestia and nothing she heard from her brother seemed to compare to the rigors of the training put here.

‘I suppose it just goes to show that they really are pushing ponies to the limits then breaking those limits here.’ She personally knew that while those that participated for Luminary were chosen as the best, a good deal of them were only marginally ahead of some others. If there was a full team battle all at once, she honestly would place her bets with Dustan’s group more than any other force for sure even if that did slightly hurt her pride in her home, but only slightly.

The girls were lucky in that the guards that were training seemed to get a break letting them come up and talk to many of them all asking them the question of: “Can you tell us what has been happening lately at the castle. Dustan seems to have his mind on something and we are worried about him.”

For the most part the day to day of the castle had not been all too much different, except that they were finding more and more nobles as well as interested parties showing up to discuss things. At first this led the girls to think that maybe Dustan was stressed out from all the new happenings, but that didn’t seem to be the case as many even claimed to have seen the Lord of the Everfree smile after some of those meetings. The smiles seemed to stop though when the discussion of the tests came up.

The word ‘Tests’ instantly made the studious mare both excited and worried as she was slightly triggered by it but once learning what the tests were she sighed in relief. “Yeah, Lord Warner really seemed to get upset at some of the results. I heard he stormed off on the first day, I was on guard duty that day sadly so couldn’t see. Maybe he didn’t get a score he was looking for? I don’t know.”

The next pony informed them of the second day tests making Pinkie Pie whistle at hearing about his strength. Another informed them of day three and four again with Pinkie commenting on his reaction speed for the last day all the while Twilight was taking notes. Truthfully though, it didn’t seem like they got many answers though until finally they spoke to the current figure standing before them. It was the tall commander of physical training himself Tremor the dragon. Fluttershy immediately eeped and hid behind the pink mare as Twilight stepped forward to speak to him on behalf of the group.

“Excuse me Tremor. We were looking for answers on Dustan’s mood as of late and why it seemed to be down. So far we are looking at the possibility of stress from the new visitors, him being upset at the result of some tests, and last being an unknown reason that we haven’t found yet and were hoping you could help us out.” Twilight hoped she stated the problem clearly having not had all that much interaction with the dragon personally.

The winged scaled commander must have sensed that as he reached out and gave her a pat on the head. “Do not worry ponies, I will not bite. As for your quarry its likely a combination of the two things you have found so far, and the last that none seem to notice.” This caught all the girls curiosity as the dragon waved them into the castle proper asking Faithful if some tea could be brought out.

The old butler quickly got the tea along with some biscuits of which Pinkie asked for the recipe for. “Ok so stress, plus those tests we know but what about the last one?”

Calmly sipping the tea the dragon sighed and looked over them. “The stress at first was nothing to write about, but it was clearly weighing on him. I first noticed his shoulders dropping a couple of days when he got back from Canterlot and at first I thought it was purely because of those now visiting. I was wrong, something has been on his mind since then and it seemed to take up more and more of his thoughts as time went by. The catalyst seemed to be the tests he wanted done though.”

“Ok so that means it has to be related to the tests if those were the catalyst right?” Twilight’s question was met with a shrug.

“Who’s to say, all I know is that when he went to his room, my nose picked up the smell of many bottles of cider having recently being drank rather rapidly from what I could guess. It takes quite a bit for your pony liquor to affect him though, which means he was looking to escape from whatever thoughts had hit him because of the tests. Which he went back to day after day so much so that I suspect that when he gets back to the Castle from the subjugation run of the Timberwolves that he will likely have some kind of alcohol with him for his personal reserves.” Tremor sighed and looked at his cup. “All I know is that whatever it is, it’s not weighing on his mind so much as his heart. I have my suspicions on what it is but it’s not my place to say.” Finishing off his cup he set it down and finished his thought. “I have seen the looks on many a trainee and those flying a far distance.” Standing up the dragon stretched and started to walk away. “I have to get back to supervising the training of the guard. I wish you all the best of luck if you wish to help him.”

With that the dragon left them alone to their thoughts each of them seeming to contemplate various different things, so they were all a bit surprised when Rainbow Dash landed near them followed by Rarity and Applejack. “Oh what are you girls doing here?”

The speedster smiled first and puffed out her chest. “Been training and hanging with Merlene mostly. She isn’t the fastest flyer but she can fend off herself well enough, plus we didn’t get to see her fight in the match so been trying to see what she can do.”

“I am here making a delivery, it seems many want to decorate the castle with some tapestries so I was commissioned to make some prototypes to see if any would fit.” The fashionista told them as she brought a couple out of her pack. “These are the first two I designed, though Dustan really should make a prominent symbol of some type.”

The prototypes were quite nice but indeed there seemed to be something missing from each and Rarity was quite glad when Applejack spoke up to draw attention from the incomplete work. “Ah am here for a delivery as well, but for me its apple and other goods.” She pointed a hoof at her empty cart. “Ah get regular orders from the castle so pretty good bits whenever Ah come here. What about you girl, you all look like somepony done stole the last apple fritter before you could get your hooves on it.”

“Something has been bothering Dustan a lot lately.” The purple unicorn told her friends. “Tests that he has taken has brought something to mind or called out a bigger issue and it’s been weighing on him it seems.”

The girls frowned but it was the chromatic mare of the bunch that spoke up. “Yeah, Merlene has said the same thing. She said he has been drinking heavily lately.”

“What could have driven him to drink though? Surely this can’t simply be about some tests right?” Rarity seemed to have spoken what they were all thinking as they all nodded in agreement.

The normally energetic party pony was concerned and it clearly showed in her voice. “Something has Dusty down in the dumps that is all we know. I wish we knew more.”

“Maybe we should ask him what is wrong?” Fluttershy quietly asked while looking at her friends.

Sadly her suggestion was shot down. “Dustan ain’t the type to tell no pony his problem that Ah have noticed. He keeps it all to himself.”

“I know it’s pretty unladylike but if he keeps drinking to himself, maybe if we eavesdrop on him we will understand. I mean we can’t ask him, he is clearly hurting in some way and won’t tell anypony.” The suggestion of the posh pony, while not the most honest of actions, seemed like the best choice so far especially as none of the other girls had anything better to beat it.

It seemed like their choice was further cemented as Dustan himself was seen coming back to the castle. Right away they all knew something was up. While he waved and smiled back to any who greeted him, it was clear he was not entirely there. His eyes looking far off and his smile didn’t seem full enough for his usual self. The thoughts of each of them hoped that he wasn’t going to go back to his room to do what they thought he might. However that hope was dashed when he told one of the castle guard that he was heading up to his room and not to be disturbed. They all knew that he was going there to drink and each of the girls knew that this was likely the only chance they would get to listen to him.

They waited, waited till the door closed and even then waited minutes after that. They didn’t want any chance Dustan would come out if he forgot something as they all snuck up there. Merlene was surprisingly already there guarding the door and as she seen them had a somber look on her face as she looked at Dash.

“He’s already started. I think it’s bad this time, he looked ready to cry.” The falcon type griffon told them as they all joined her up at the door.

They could hear the clank of one empty bottle against another as the cap of another was pulled off. “What do you think Pat? Bet you couldn’t believe it either. Mom and Dad sure were surprised when I told them.” Then a genuine laughter came from the resident inside. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when I showed them.” The laughter though slowly changed becoming less happy as it continued until eventually it turned to crying.

“Twilight can’t we do something?” Pinkie asked her, clearly close to tears herself as were all of them at the door.

She wanted to answer her but instead of getting the chance a voice rose up in song from inside the room. “Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older then the trees. Younger then the mountains, growing like a breeze.~”

This song, whatever it was, hurt and it hurt just as much as the time when the concert with Vinyl happened. Whatever he was singing came from pain and though it didn’t seem like the Music of Harmony was working here, in a way that made it even more pain. Somepony, no someone, who expressed themselves because of pure emotion without the need or aid of magic seemed even more powerful and sad then if they were aided by the magic that inhabited the land.

It only got worse as Dustan’s voice rose up clearly, so clear that she wouldn’t be surprised if he was heard a floor down. “Country roads, take me home! To the place, where I belong! West Virginia, mountain mamma!~” the last verse wasn’t delivered in tune though they all knew it was part of the song. Instead all the girls there knew, it was a plea from the heart. “Take me home, country roads.”

They all knew exactly what was bothering Dustan so much now. The tests may have triggered it, but this day, this day especially seemed bad for him. Why? Because it was family appreciation day and the human had no family to share it with. He was home sick and no way of knowing how to get home.

When Twilight got home that day, after spending some time with her friends and giving them each a hug and telling them how thankful she was to have them there, she sat down and wrote a letter to her brother and to her mom and dad. When Spike got home he was concerned by her sudden need for a hug but she assured him that she was fine, though he clearly didn’t buy it. Later after dinner she lay in her bed reading her book that she got during her birthday but ended up closing it as she couldn’t concentrate on it.

Staring down at her pillow all she had were her thoughts even as Spike lay in his basket next to her. ‘Dustan is clearly home sick and honestly it shouldn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is that I have heard of no pony even trying to locate his homeland or even try to get him home. He was brought here against his will; of course he is going to miss his home and his life. Celestia I remember wrote me asking for any clues but when I told her what I knew she told me that it wasn’t enough to go on and that it’s likely that anything they could find out wouldn’t help seeing as the world was big and there were many places still unexplored. Even if we did somehow find out where he came from what then? There wouldn’t be any trains, a hot air balloon might not be safe enough; what if it’s across the ocean, what then? Teleporting might be an option if either of the princesses tried it but that wouldn’t teleport them across the world.’

Setting her book on the nearby desk she sighed and felt her eyes getting heavy wondering if there was anything she could do. When her eyes nearly closed the fading images on her desk caused her eyes to suddenly shoot open. Rushing out of bed, though quietly to avoid waking the little dragon next to her, she tested out a theory by plucking one of her own hairs from her mane. When the answer came, while surprising, she was delighted. Now it was just a matter of putting her brain to the test, and this is one she was going to pass.

With those thoughts in her head, she was more than happy to lay back down with a smile on her face, having a plan of action for her next magical studies.

It took about two weeks for Dustan to get out of the funk he was in and only because of something someone mentioned. A birthday of someone he knew was coming up, one he hoped to change for the better though he had warned those close to him to pack up various valuables in the vault. As he had a ‘premonition’ and if it came true to let the Elements of Harmony deal with it. He didn’t tell them what it was, but it didn’t matter as he wasn’t going to be able to be there to deal with it as he had been called up to Canterlot for a few days as Celestia and Luna had been gathering information on the Eidolons and wanted his opinion on things as well as some other unusual spotting of creatures.

As he went into the treebary for the party he smiled as things went off how he remembered it, though honestly the reason he remembered this episode so well was because of his distaste for Rarity in it for how she manipulated Spike. Sadly it seemed that didn’t change as she was sporting the fire ruby necklace she made. All the presents stacked up on the little dragon rather quickly making him collapse, though the human had waited until after the collapse to hand his present over to the young drake.

“-piece inspired by the generosity of Spikey-wikey.” Dustan tuned into Rarity after she spoke a bit cause honestly he was watching the dragon for any signs of the episode to come. “And I will be making one for each and every one of you.”

Seeing the mantle like cape he had no choice but to hold up a hand and shake his head. “I am afraid that I likely won’t wear it Rarity.”

The unicorn gasped hearing that as she rushed over to him. “Why not darling? I am sure it would look good on you and it would certainly bring out your color more than the drab piece you are wearing now. Plus it will make you look more regal befitting a lord of your station.”

Not able to hold back a chuckle Dustan merely pressed a hand to the claps of his cloak. “Sorry Rarity but still going to have to decline. I have never been one for overly fancy garb as you know from my custom orders from you. Also this cloak was the last thing given to me by a friend before I was sent to Equestria so it means more to me then a lot of things honestly.”

That seemed to cause the mood of the girls to shift into a sad and awkward moment which caught him off guard. “Anyways, maybe Spike should open his presents now?”

Twilight’s suggestion hit it off well with the others especially the young dragon who gave an excited yell before savagely murdering the wrapping of the presents he had gotten. Of course there were the expected toys and comics from his friends as well as AJ’s apple themed blanket which Spike kept thanking her for, but surprisingly Twilight had ordered the presents to be opened in order of them being received rather than alphabetical order or some other sequence that she likely would find pleasing. This meant that Dustan’s present to the drake was the last to be opened.

As the little dragon opened up his gift he pulled it out and it took a moment before he realized what it was. “Is this-” Before finishing his question he opened up a clasp on the object and wrapped it around his shoulders. “Oh neat it’s a cloak kind of like yours.”

Said cloak was a similar color to purple though Dustan himself didn’t know the exact name for the shade. “Yeah, it’s smaller but I figure that it would be enough to hide your arms a bit and look good.”

“Oh Spike that shade of deep lilac really complements your purple scales and really makes them pop.” Rarity called out to him with the complement as well as identifying the shade of purple that the cloak was. “The stitching on this item, while not the best, is built more for use and likely won’t wear out for a long time.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Not the best when it comes to that sorta thing. I know how to work the needle some but not masterfully like our resident designer here.” Dustan chuckled out as he leaned against the wall of the treebary.

“Wait you made this yourself Dustan?” Spike asked him to which he nodded. “Yeah, been trying to make more things by hand as they seem to work well with my nature as a neutral magic user, so they tend to come out with some effects.”

“You mean how like my bracelet you gave me for my birthday raises my magic and strength?” Twilight asked as he responded with a nod.

“Oh oh! Will Spike be able to breathe fire balls or something now?” Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie for a moment before she realized. “Oh right he can do that now.”

Smiling at her antics the Squire would call out and tell them what it did. “Actually it is supposed to raise up his evasion. It basically makes him harder to actually hit by physical and magical attacks, similar to how mine works. Supposedly it’s supposed to be raised by around ten percent, though it’s kind of hard to measure that sort of thing. It’s made of wool as well so if you ever get cold it should help with that as well.”

The little dragon ran up to him and gave him a big hug to which he returned. “Thank you so much.” Then he ran up to Applejack again. “And thank you for the blanket; I have been needing a new one.”

Just like that the episode seemed to pick up where it left off, like he wasn’t even needed there. A sobering thought for sure so he almost missed the call for Sugarcube corner. As they were walking he stopped and sighed, not wanting to ruin the mood.

“Sorry everyone.” They all turned to look at him. “But you will have to save me a piece of cake, I have to head up to Canterlot and I already booked a ticket on the train. The princesses wanted me up there to discuss things today, but I put it off as long as I could so I could make some of Spike’s party.”

They all gave a ‘awww’ to hear that though Spike surprisingly was the most mature. “It’s ok, we will make sure to save you some. I mean if the princesses called it must be something important.”

Dustan walked up to the small drake and knelt down in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder, covered now by his new mantle. “Sometimes you have to do things as an adult that aren’t exactly the most pleasing, but you do them for others. That is what being responsible means, doing things not because they are fun but because they need to be done for others. Temper that with a generous and loving heart to know when not to do something wrong and you will find the road to walk not easier but in fact harder. Nothing in life that is worth it is ever easy, but that is what makes it so sweet to when you finally get it. Greed won’t help and neither will hate. They will only make the road miserable and even then might be what bumps you off the path. Remember that Spike.”

It was clear his words stumped the little guy as he stood up and waved bye to them and headed towards the train. It was Dustan’s hope that this helped him to avoid what was to come in the next day or so. Speaking of next day, his meeting with the princesses had to wait as his train had arrived a lot later then it was supposed to thanks to a blockage on the rails that had to be removed and so he stayed at one of the palaces guest rooms that night so that in the morning he could meet with the advisers and the princesses themselves.

“So you are saying water magic at a distance is likely the best way to counter them and that most earth magic won’t have an effect thanks to them levitating off the ground?” The expedition force commander asked of the human as he had arrived a bit early to the meeting and was now comparing notes.

Because of the commander having apparently not receiving much in the way of detail from his last visit and discussion about enemies, he had come to talk to Dustan in person for advice. “Yes, however note that if they get into critical condition where it looks like they will die, they will self destruct. It’s why they are called Bomb and all of its subspecies are part of the Bomb family and thus have similar names.”

The commander winced upon hearing that and sighed. “We have lost a few good soldiers to these things already as they seem to be gathering here in quite the numbers.”

“That begs the question why there?” Upon looking over Dustan seen the pony was no longer adamant about talking. “Everything ok Commander?”

“Yes Dustan, it is just he is under royal orders not to discuss the mission at hoof with others, so please forgive him.” The voice from the door called out as it opened up revealing Celestia alone this time. “My sister is currently sleeping but I will fill her in on the details of our meeting at our next meal together.”

Turning towards her the human Lord of the Everfree gave a small bow. “Sorry then Commander, I won’t ask anymore about the location.”

Stepping up to her seat at the head of the table the Princess of The Sun looked towards him. “Do not worry about that too much Dustan as I am here to fill you in on the details of such a thing. You see it is my hope that you will join the commander and his team in their efforts.”

Sitting down once more in his seat the man looked towards the ruler of the country, well co-ruler, and merely raised his eyebrow in curiosity. “Oh, can’t say I am not curious but I can’t say I will accept until I hear more details about things, after all knowing is half the battle. G.I. Joe said so himself.” Seeing the confused faces all around he sighed and face-palmed. “It’s a human thing.”

“Oh right, though it seems G.I. Joe as you called him or her is correct.” The commander nodded hearing his princess say such a thing. “Sadly it seems that most of what you had discussed last time you were here was lost, though I suspect most didn’t wish to hear what you had to say. I suspect things are different now after the display against Captain Armor.” Her horn lit up and soon a map appeared on the table before them all. “This is the area in question that the commander could not talk about.”

Looking over the map Dustan couldn’t help but chuckle. “A desert, yeah the heat would attract Bombs for sure, likely also Panthers, Aevis, and Skeletons as the most common types of creatures to roam those areas.”

The princess looked towards the commander who then turned to Dustan. “Could you describe those creature you mentioned for us, I mean Skeletons are pretty obvious but the others not so much.”

“I am sure you have gotten word Princess about my two companions, a White Chocobo and a Coeurl?” When he spotted her nod he smiled. “The Coeurl belongs to the panther family the variations of them differ on coloration and some abilities. They are felines that are bigger then ponies usually with long whiskers no manes or anything like a lion though.”

“Then yes we have encountered that type of creature there. Some had the ability to petrify my soldiers. It was lucky we had a magister with us who knew the counter spell for Lesser Petrification.”

“Lesser Petrification?” As he asked that, Celestia looked out a window to the garden where a certain statue rested. “Ahh ok, never mind I understand. Glad to hear that it didn’t stick though commander.” The commander soon gestured for Dustan to continue though. “Right, Aevis are rather large bird like creatures, how big I honestly couldn’t say as I haven’t seen one but from the images I have seen of them its implied that they are pretty big. They are all dark colored for their feathers, with a blue-ish tinge for the most common, but they all have different chest plumage to show distinction from each other with the most deadly being the ones with red. They are known as Cockatrices for the most part where I am from, but since you already know of another creature named that we will use the lesser term for them Cocatoris so there isn’t any confusion. Just like the creature they share a name with though their beak can also Petrify beings.”

The commander rested his head upon his hooves and sighed loudly. “I really wish I knew all that going in there. True we didn’t suffer any casualties in the long run but our expedition was cut short because of creatures like the ones you described as well as others. Like giant ant looking creatures, turtles with impossibly hard shells, and weird slime looking entities which were extremely durable and seemed to be resistant to magic. There were other things spotted as well but, we avoided them.”

Sighing again Dustan leaned in his chair. “Bug family, Rockbeast family, and Flan family.” He told them getting their attention right away. “The Bug family loves deserts, the most common one is known as an Antlion with its powerful mandibles as well as an ability to manipulate sand. Again I am not sure how big it is cause I haven’t seen it myself before, same with the others I am about to mention. The Rockbeast family are turtle looking creatures with a VASTLY hard shell, thus you tend to want to aim for parts you can hit. They often have metal objects stuck in them like swords where others have tried to attack it and thus can usually turn that into a strength as they somehow vibrate that weapon to affect those with metal on them or in their hands. As for the last one, you would need to tell me what color it was as the Flan family tends to be different though have a similar base set of strengths.”

“They were red.” The commander told him while the Princess stayed silent for the moment.

“Jelly. That is the name of that species of Flan. As you said they are really resistant to physical attacks, but are surprisingly weak to magic attacks.” He could see the commander looking confused but continued. “Let me guess all the offensive mages you had with you went with the thought of ‘It’s the desert so let’s use scorched earth tactics as we can unleash more powerful spells without having to worry about collateral damage?’ and those spells being of the fire element right?”

The pony that had led the expedition’s eyes went wide almost popping out of his head as he leaned forward and put his hooves on the table. “H-how did you know?”

Chuckles and tells him honestly. “Cause if I didn’t know what you were up against I would have had the same mindset. Truthfully it wasn’t a bad call, just a bad match up as a Jelly absorbs fire magic. It’s weak to other magic though by a lot.” Dustan went silent for a moment though as he thought. “I am also guessing since it was the red types, that means that when it looked like you might be actually doing something, one of them that was close to death killed itself and suddenly it seemed like all the others were rejuvenated huh?” Again the bug eyed look said it all. “Jelly have the ability to use Sacrifice, it kills them but heals all of its allies and curse them of any kind of status effect that might be hindering them.”

“Again I really wish you had been around. We might have made progress deeper to find out what the princess sent us there to do. We might have even tried attacking the monster that seemed to be cloaked while holding a knife and a lantern.” It was Dustan’s turn to look wide eyed at the commander.

Shaking his head quickly he reached over and grabbed him. “Listen to me, NEVER engage that enemy. EVER. It’s called a Tonberry and will absolutely MURDER every single thing it comes close to or deems as a threat. If you think I am lying then let me tell you this, even I wouldn’t go near that creature!” Seeing that he was scaring the commander as well as Celestia a bit he took a seat and sighed. “They have two abilities that are devastating. One is called Karma. It can read your soul or something and use the grudge of all those you have killed against you, meaning if you haven’t killed anyone it won’t harm you though it makes no distinction of animal, creature, or actually aware being, anything you killed will come back to bite you with this attack. For the other, it’s called simply Knife. If it uses that little butcher’s knife of a dagger on you I am not sure what will happen. In many cases it is said you will just be put near death, others say it outright kills, so I cannot confirm nor deny its power. They are extremely tough and hard to kill but luckily are incredibly slow. The Karma attack can reach to a range but beyond that as long as you can stay away from the Knife and make sure to only put those close to it that haven’t killed anything, it should be ok. I myself though would likely just explode from Karma considering I have ended a bit too many lives since I have come to Equestria.”

With drawing a bit into himself he distantly heard the Solar Princess ask him a question. “What do you mean since you came to Equestria? Surely someone like yourself was a great warrior in your homeland.”

Dustan couldn’t help but to laugh loudly at that and hold his sides. “Are you kidding, I never killed anything larger then a bug in my previous life. Since I got to Equestria, I have killed a Bomb, an unknown number of Goblins, Skeletons, Timberwolves, a Hydra, a Cocktrice in the woods that one time on a patrol, many many, fish from when I first got here to feed myself, and more I likely am not even thinking of. Hell, I still have nightmares about the first aware thing I killed here in Equestria, the light leaving its eyes as it slumped to the ground after I ended it with my sword.”

“Dustan, I am so, so sorry for the hardship that you have-” Problem was Dustan didn’t want to hear it.

He cut her off and looked to them both as he asked them. “We aren’t here to talk about me though, we are here to talk about this. So tell me, what is it that you were looking for here?”

The Squire could tell that though the subject was over for now it wasn’t closed, so instead the Princess looked to the human and simply said two words. “An Eidolon.”

Author's Notes:

Haha forgot to put Author notes on this chapter at first.

Ahem I want to point out that after this chapter the next canon appearance of one Dustan Warner is not in my own fic, but in another. That is right, I had a crossover with someone. Check it out Chapter 21 of The Pale Eagle of White Tail by Timeless Lord Slayer Dustan gets to meet...well you will find out.