My Little Tactics

Chapter Thirty Nine: Guns, Goblins, and Samurai.

Paperwork: the bane of anyone’s existence everywhere. No matter what one does there never seems to be an escape from such a task. Here The Lord of The Everfree was, signing away at various documents so that his castle could function. Everything from yearly projected income, which was nothing save for charging a small fee for any kind of classes beyond beginner for Neutral techniques and magic, as the castle didn’t really trade all too much and it was mostly self sufficient a lot of the food was either gathered or farmed from the surrounding areas, especially the latter in recent days as some Earth Ponies had moved in and were now working with the Buffalo to produce various products. Dustan ran his fingers through his short hair, summer was here in proper form and force and he was glad for the hair cut he had gotten when he was home though he still got surprised looks now and then from those that had not seen how he looked currently which still made him chuckle now and again.

Standing up and moving away from the dreaded paper trail of existence, the sole human of Equestria smiled as for once he didn’t have anything on his mind to worry about. Going back and forth from his former home to here was steadily being worked upon to make it more viable, his inner council as well as the Mane Six and the Ruling sisters had been informed of his true world home rather than the fib he had been holding onto for so long, and the burden of leadership had gotten even lighter it feels without the weight of those issues pressing down on him. As such of course Dustan would frown as a sudden thought came to mind.

“Something is about to happen now that I have questioned things isn’t it?” The human couldn’t help but mumble to himself almost silently. A sudden knocking on his office door of course made him groan. “Fuck, I jinxed myself.” He barely heard himself say before calling out for whoever it was to come in.

Looking to see who it could possibly be, he found one of the newer recruits that had joined up with the Luminary Guard from the Buffalo. “Sir!” The female voice called out from under her blue armor as she saluted with her cloven hooves. “We have a situation in the square! We need you to come immediately!”

‘FUCK! I did jinx it. Fuck you universe!’ Giving whoever heard his thoughts a mental middle finger, Dustan grabbed his weapons and strapped them onto his belt, specially designed for his three weapons that were now worn over his casual tunic. Grabbing the newly made blue cloak that Rarity had made him and throwing it around his shoulders Dustan looked to the guard. “Alright, show me the problem.”

Once more did the Buffalo salute before moving quickly causing the human to pick up the pace slightly to keep up with her as his boots padded off the black Norite stone flooring. Proceeding from his office, one could see that no one was in the castle proper; well no one was staying at least, as many were rushing outside towards the commotion. As Dustan got down there, he could see a ring of his guards around something as he thought to push through the crowd to get to them only for his Buffalo escort to do that for him making a way. The closer and closer he got the more he could see bits of color and cloth that the ring was guarding.

A simple, ‘Oh.’ came from Dustan as he looked over what it was. There were two of them, a cat and one of his guards. The guard was down and groaning which was unusual as it was one of the rare dragon guards that were in his employ and it seemed he was currently injured. The Abyssinian on the other hand was sheathing his katana as his dark green and black hakama made very little noise. Said cat was pure black with green eyes shining through though they currently looked a bit bored.

“I had heard the guard of this place was better trained, and while it is true, I still find myself disappointed.” Dustan was about to interfere and call out the cat when said creature pulled out a first aid kit and tossed it to the dragon. “It is a shallow cut and will heal if properly tended to.” The dragon growled but took the offered kit and moved to the side. “Does anyone else wish to test me?”

Dustan started to move and the ear of the Abyssinian, which had a small cut in it though from long ago it looks like, flicked to him. “Hello there. I am the Lord of the Everfree, I wish to know what happened here seeing as I caught the tail end of that.” His eyes looked at the green of the shorter feline as he activated his ability finding that surprisingly he was high level, almost as high as Shining Armor, and his class was Ronin. ‘Well that explains his get up. Didn’t think they existed here.’

Looking over the Squire right away felt the cat sizing him up as if determining if it was even worth answering or not though judging by the smile on his face he came to a conclusion. “I am known as Chikara. I travel the lands in search of those that can challenge my strength. While traveling through the pony lands here I heard of your estate and how it boasted some strong warriors. I do say while your average guard is far and above a step ahead of the other pony guards, however they still didn’t pose to challenge me, which is a shame.”

“I am sorry to hear that, Shard here is a standard guard yes and does good work so I would appreciate if you don’t harm my people.” He was hoping that by saying the word ‘standard’ that it would both boost up the ego of Shard the dragon as being a standard meant he was something to be looked to achieved and for Chikara it would show there were more guards above Shard in skill.

He wasn’t sure if it worked or not but before the black cat could say anymore his stomach growled. “Haha, seems fighting him has worked up an appetite, a compliment indeed Shard. Most pony guards in the land could fight me all day and I wouldn’t work up said appetite. I don’t suppose you would happen to know of a place where one could stay as well as eat good Lord of The Everfree?”

Smiling at the question, Dustan did indeed know where he could stay as with all the new business to the castle an inn had been built. “Actually yeah. Follow me but first.” Looking over to Shard he would call out. “Cura.” Letting his guard be healed up most of the way with the quick chant, enough that he would still be sore and need to change his bandages but would hopefully not negate the lesson the dragon learned. “Now we can go.”

The crowd cleared and slowly went back to their daily routines as Chikara looked to the taller human. “I can tell you have seen battle with how you carry yourself. Is it your strength that has caused you to lead this gathering of difference species?”

“I would like to say no, though I won’t say it’s not part of the whole.” The Squire said as he kept walking, his boots tapping against the paved stones of the town. “I work to make sure people can be taught unique things, to have them better themselves, and have a place where race and species doesn’t matter.”

“Hmm I can respect that answer but only because I have already witnessed several species cooperating. If it had come from any being else in this land, I wouldn’t have agreed. The usages of dialogue amongst pony kind suggest an inherent racial barrier that most might not be aware of or if they are do not care.” Pointing his left towards a Griffon and a pony working together he smiled. “I have seen many here use the term anyone, no usage of anypony, anyfeather, anyclaw, or anything of the sort. It’s pretty remarkable and very rare to come across in these lands and many lands in fact.”

That fact slightly hurt to hear, knowing that those terms were so widely used in what was supposed to be a very friendly world. “It could be worse I suppose. Those terms might exist but as you said, most don’t realize they might be using it or even aware of how dividing it is.” Pointing to his clothing he had to ask. “Sorry to ask, but it’s been on my mind. Where are you from?”

“Originally, Abyssinia.” The cat told him as he stretched. “However I was not the most…noble of individuals and found myself on the run from the law. Several countries later I found myself in Neighpon owing a debt that was about to be collected with the removal of one of my paws. This old man Minotaur saved me and said he would pay for the debt. I almost ran but something about that act stopped me, I wanted to pay the old man back. Turns out he was an old world type that studied some kind of practice which I never really understood. However that didn’t matter as he soon taught me other things, specifically how to handle a blade and trained me up from there. While I can’t say I am better then who I used to be, I can say that he gave me a new outlook on life. On his deathbed he asked me to go on a journey, one that I would determine the end result of. For such a journey I was to leave my old name behind and take a new one, one that would relate to my goal. Thus I took the name Chikara, meaning Strength.”

Dustan honestly wanted to hear more about the Ronin but sadly the talk had caused the walk to go on faster then he thought as he found himself at the inn. “Lets pick this up again as I would love to hear more, some of your travels, what you have heard, but as I promised, here is the inn. If I recall they serve a pretty good roast.”

The cat had to wipe his mouth as he smiled. “I can’t tell you how good that sounds considering the ponies never want to serve meat. I will tell you another story sometime later as thanks for this, until then I will go get lunch now.”

Nodding to him, Dustan turned and started to head back when a thought occurred. ‘Shit, I should have examined his sword. Time for that later I suppose.’

A few hours would come and go, and while it was getting closer and closer to dinner time, as was getting obvious by the smells in the air, it seems that it wasn’t what was on the minds of a few individuals at the moment. There was a small crowd forming at the arrow range along with a few individuals. Steel was there, his hulking aged form standing near Tremor, and Merlene with a few of the guards. The most notable of the figures though were Dustan himself along with the Forge Master of the castle as well as his apprentice.

“You sure you don’t need it anymore Burly?” The Lord said before taking the offered item.

The stallion chuckled and shook his head. “No sonny, I don’ need it anymore. We have mapped this fierce beauty up and down, back to front, and every which way in between. I have one replica already made and am working on the next. My apprentice fashioned the ammo you needed though, he is good with that sorta thing.”

Looking at the young colt, he could have only been around sixteen, maybe seventeen but if Burly Bellows, smithy extraordinaire, gave the seal of approval then it was good enough for him. “Alrighty then. Let me show you all a bit about human engineering.” Opening the box, inside was the large single shot pistol that he obtained from Durin during his little venture in his world as well as about a dozen bullets. Checking the item with his Tactical Eye proved it to be functional as well as the ammunition to be viable. Dustan popped the gun’s chamber free and loaded in a shot before flicking it closed with an audible click. “Test fire number one!” He called out loudly before aiming with just his left hand as he didn’t trust his right to be of help with this. The man slowly squeezed the trigger with a bit of a smile as he hoped this worked but couldn’t wait to show off what humans could do without magic.

A loud bang echoed through the range as many ears folded back in surprise as Tremor and Steel almost looked surprised as they leaned in from the seats they had brought. The round punctured through the straw dummy and against the back wall with a ping noise as it buried itself in the wall.

“Clearing chamber!” Dustan called out, popping the gun open once more before pulling out the shell. “Setting up test fire number two.” With that he sank another round into the gun and clicked it closed once more before aiming now towards an armored target. “Test fire number two!” Another loud pop echoed through the air as this result got the attention of both Steel and Tremor who were now moving closer to Dustan.

“Sweet Celestia! It perforated that armor!” One of the guards called out only making Dustan question who used that word in conversation like that. However it was true, the second dummy had been set up in unenchanted armor equal to that of the royal guard and it had chewed right through it. Then again the royal guard used gold with a ton of enchantments but gold in of itself was not known for its defensive capabilities.

“Clearing the chamber.” Dustan called out as he repeated the same process only this time looking at a fully enchanted piece of royal guard armor. “Test fire number three!”

The pop this time came with the tell tale sound of a ricochet but a flash of a barrier set up beforehand by one of the guards flashed showing that it had stopped the bullet, though not without the guard in question yelping from the force. The bullet had not gotten through the armor though it did indent it quite heavily. As Dustan cleared the chamber for this round and reloaded it he could feel the two tallest residents of the castle now watching him closely.

“Your people, is this a common weapon for them and your military?” Steel asked frowning slightly at the type of damage it had done. The human’s answering laugh didn’t make him frown any less either.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh. This weapon is trumped by a weapon that can do this but with thirteen shots without needing to reload, plus there are weapons of better calibers then this that can do more damage for civilians. The military...well let’s just say that they have much better weapons.” He told them as he set the weapon down on the stand and focused on what was to come. “Setting up Special test fire, please give room.”

The aged Dragon and Minotaur both stepped back as did many as Dustan slowly moved within the barrier that had been set up just in case what was about to happen backfired. Many were watching with bated breath and no doubt the unicorns could feel their hackles rising a bit as Dustan started to summon a bit of his magical power. Whatever he was going to do, well it was going to be different for sure. Taking up the gun now as he loaded it Dustan focused and chanted.

“Strip away the ground with glistening blades! Thunder Blade!” Focusing it on the gun he would fire. The resulting pop was not so much of a repeat of said sound so much as a loud crack as the force caused the gun to recoil and push Dustan’s arm back unexpectedly. The bullet fired from the gun hit the enchanted royal guard armor and then promptly detonated in explosive electricity. “Holy shit!” There was nothing left of the stand and it was only by some happenstance that none of the fragments of the destroyed armor had come to hit Dustan but the shield spell behind him had registered quite a few hits from shrapnel.

“That...might need to be classified as a forbidden weapon Lord Warner.” Steel Brilliance, former General of Minos told him, wiping his forehead some with a shaking hand.

“Agreed. Then again it felt like it took as much power as one of your spells normally and it's still draining you for a minor amount.” Tremor noticed surprisingly.

“Seems like it, normally I would use this spell for my melee weapons coating them in the element for a small drain but that took up the full power. Weird. Anyways, clearing the chamber!” The shell casing for the bullet was smoking and hot to the touch when it was pulled out.
As he did so, the sound of feet padding the ground was heard and the jostling of a sword as the samurai cat from yesterday showed back up. “I was coming to have a conversation with you today when I heard a loud boom, is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I was doing a test fire for this gun, a type of weapon. Then I got the bright idea of mixing a bit of magic with it.” He points to the remains of the dummy and armor. “It...umm…works.” He chuckled, still surprised at the result. “It definitely works.” Muttered the lord of the Everfree as the gun was stowed back into its case. “Going to have to get a holster made for this.”
Taking a look at the remains that had busted apart, Chikara looked surprised. “I was going to test you today to see if you wished to have a match between us, but honestly I am not sure if I want to if a weapon of yours can do this much damage to…is this enchanted armor?” Giving a nod to the ronin feline he stood up with a frown. “Hmmm. I might have to rethink a strategy if I want to fight you with this then.”

Dustan gave a nod and mumbled, “Makes me kinda scared to see what would happen if I used the Thundaga version, if I even knew the Blade version of that.” While he knew the spell of the same name the Spell Sword ability of said name wasn’t one he knew at the moment and he was rather glad he decided to just go as low tier as possible. “Like having a fucking RPG in my hand.” Was another muttered statement that Dustan made before looking towards Chikara. “You were wanting to fight me though?”

“It was a thought, I had fought your guard if you remember.” The Abyssinian said casually examining a shard of the enchanted armor he had found. “I got my stomach full, I had a small nap to feel rested and was hoping to catch you in an amiable mood to work up a hunger with a match. However now I have to rethink my strategy.”

Dustan was about to tell cat that he wouldn’t use it if that made him feel better as honestly the thought of stretching he legs with a good match sounded nice but sadly it wasn’t to be as Fading Dawn appeared and looked to have ran the entire way there from wherever she had been before. “My Lord! A giant alpha Timberwolf has been spotted in quadrant three, we request your assistance!”

“An alpha? Why would it already be in its giant form? Did something irritate it or make it desperate?” The deer answered that with a look of someone who was as clueless as he was as he sighed. “I will go take care of it. Boko!” The white Chocobo quickly surprised him by moving her neck under him and tossing him onto her back. “So you heard. Alright then, lets ride!”

“KWEH!” The mount called loudly before taking off with a follower trailing behind them in the sky’s as Merlene followed, as well as another.

The shadow moving quickly behind the Chocobo and flier turned out to be Chikara himself wanting to see the riled up wolf himself but mostly on the promise that he might get to view the Lord of The Everfree in action instead of just hear tales of what he could do. While he was nowhere near as fast as the mount that carried said lord he didn’t find himself lagging as far behind as some might. True he had clearly gotten to the fight late, but nothing serious had been done it seems. In a clearing was the giant alpha, raging with bloodlust rolling off it as clear as a cloud in the sky. The sight of a creature like that got his blood pumping as he knew he could kill it with much time and effort as he had no sort of fire ability on him, but that just made it all the sweeter.

Facing down the wolf of lumber was The Lord himself, a curved weapon drawn as it occasionally cracked with lightning. Behind him was the white bird mount of his, flapping its wings over a pony in lighter armor and occasionally having a magical light come from said bird over to the wounded equine. Said wounds looked to be moderate for sure and would likely need to be looked at, but that couldn’t happen at the moment.

The giant wolf roared loudly right in the face of the lord himself, spittle and mucus coming from the creature as the human stood there and simply said. “You need to back the fuck up before something bad happens to you.”

Chikara was excited as he heard that, to not flinch from the bloodlust and the creature’s intimidation tactic and in fact not seemed to be phased by it at all. He had hoped it wasn’t an act and the human truly felt like that and wasn’t putting on a brave act. For sure none of his guard could singularly take out the wolf, least by judging by the ‘standard’ that he himself considered. When the wolf seemed to back off a bit the man put away his weapon but reached into his pack instead pulling out a case the same one he had witnessed him put up before as he pulled out something about the size of his forearm again and opened it up, inserting an tapered object into it and clicking it back.

Taking the stance change as a sign of him backing down though the wolf tried to assert its dominance again with another roar this time as close to the human as possible. “Well, too late now!” The Abyssinian heard the call over the roar as well as something else however right after that was a loud bang and Chikara watched as a flash of flame was shot down the mouth and neck of the wolf before there were suddenly chunks of timber and vegetation everywhere that constituted as the wolf’s body and insides.

Turning back to the Lord himself he seemed to be rubbing his arm and the light of magic covered. “Note to self, the recoil on this thing is a bitch at higher strengths.” Putting the weapon away and the case back into his pack he looked over to his mount. “Merlene, fly back ahead of us and notify the medics that we have a wounded mare incoming.” Chikara had honestly forgotten about the flier as his eyes flicked upwards and caught her saluting before flying off. Speaking of heading back, Chikara himself had to reconsider a lot of things as he too started to head back.

Once at the castle the noble showed his nature by calling for a medic, while Boko and himself could heal, it didn't hurt to make absolutely sure he was ok. He also made sure that someone was sent to inform the medics beforehand but still caution and all that. Informing the medic that here wounds were treated but to run a scan anyways, Dustan transferred the unconscious mare onto the stretcher and handed here over to his staff.

‘Still weird to think this is all MY staff.’ The Displaced Squire really still had trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was a noble sometimes and that all of these people trusted him. ‘Question is SHOULD I increase patrols? Hmmm, best send out an extra one every other day just to be sure. What were the wolves even doing in that part of the woods anyways?’ Then again considering how far away it was Dustan mused that maybe the repelling herbs were weak over there and went to consult his map.

After reaching the room where it lay, he opened the door and went straight towards the map. Looking to where the castle was and to where he had found the alpha wolf it was clear, that area should have been guarded so it begged the question once more of ‘What were the wolves even doing in that part of the woods anyways?’ He would have to consult with Zecora later to have her double check to see if the herbs were still there or if the creatures of the Everfree were developing a resistance to them. No matter the answer though it was bad. If it was the latter, it would mean that he and his teams might have to go on a hunt to wipe out native species to make sure that they were safe, or at least thin the numbers greatly. If it was the former, it means either there was a species in the woods smart enough to recognize what the herbs did and remove them or it was sabotage.

‘Seriously, why can’t things be simple and calm around here?’ Stretching after being hunched over the map for a while Dustan frowned when he realized something. Frantic knocking at his door interrupted his thought process; honestly Dustan was a bit glad for the interruption as it meant he didn’t have to look at bleak possibilities like he was a moment ago. Giving the signal to come in the Squire made sure to take note of a few things before putting the map away and sitting down.

“Where is she?” A mare asked, coming into the room like a whirlwind. She seemed to pay little mind that she was still breathing heavily, sweat covering her body.

Dustan already knew what she was talking about. “Before you go rushing in, she is fine, though we are having some doctors look at her. She is still unconscious though. Seems she had a run in with an alpha Timberwolf in the area. As for where she is, in the medical bay getting looked over. If you want I will take you there.”

A sigh escaped the young mare. “Thank you,” she replied, looking up at him. “That would be appreciated.”

Standing up and putting his cloak back on, he would sigh and hope his suspicions about the wolves were wrong. “Alright, follow me.” The walk from the office to the Med bay wasn’t that far. It was just outside the castle proper as when asked where to put it originally that is where he chose; to show that caring for the people was top priority. After all the closer something is to the power of the land the more important it is right?

The mare followed along quietly, stumbling and wincing every now and again from a smell or two that caught her nose. No doubt her silence was leading her mind to wander, going from one scenario to another, each one worse than the last as Dustan watched emotions play across her face. He had no clue what this mare was to his scout but it was obviously someone important.

As they entered an attendant met with the two and bowed. “My Lord. The patient is still unconscious but the good news is there seems to be no injury.”

“Good. Do you mind leading us to her room? I am sure her companion will take great comfort seeing that she is ok.” The pony would nod and lead them to the room. “Sorry, I couldn’t introduce you in a better fashion but I have no clue to your relationship with the injured.” The mare didn’t seem to hear him and instead seemed to be in a world of her own. The makeshift hospital was one that clearly took inspiration from various other hospitals as it was the only building he knew of that made sure to make its interior white with colored lines to show anyone where to go. The scout’s room was not the biggest, but it was a single room so it was just the mare inside, still unconscious and with her gear nearby packed up. “Do you know if she has a spare set of clothing or anything she will need?”

Instead of answering, the mare he was accompanying burst into tears at seeing the other on the bed and ran over crying and started to kiss the other all over trying to comfort them, though that did answer the question of what was the mare to her.Relaxing now that he knew what was going on but feeling a bit like a third wheel, he would look at her rubbing the back of his head. “Guess that means you don’t need me. Well if she wakes up let a doctor know so they can let a guard know to let me know...that is a lot of people that have to know. How do I shorten that list up?” Dustan mumbled to himself as he walked out.

The clack of wooden swords, the scuffling of boots on the ground, the hard breathing of one who would find themselves being countered at many opportunities; all of this and more could be heard as Dustan smiled towards Scootaloo as she kept moving slowly around the other in a circle, many of the castle guard and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders watching on. The Lord of the Everfree had one hand behind his back, his right hand and thus his disabled hand so that he couldn’t block, as he was trying to teach something to Scoot. This would make his right side considerably weaker but he kept his right angled away from the pegasus.

“Come on Scootaloo, I know you have more in you, don’t be afraid to hurt me with a wooden sword. Best you can do is knock me out flat and someone will heal me.” Dustan was using a wooden longsword for this training, a typical type of weapon one would go against. Not the best of reach but not the worst.

Scootaloo, however, had asked for a heavier styled blade like of a broadsword, as it was more what she considered what she should use as a Knight. Yes that was right, seems like Mage Apple Bloom, Scootaloo had succeeded in changing classes from Squire to Knight, a frightening thought for sure as it meant more things the Pegasus could break, but what could you do? Thus, she was panting as she kept her blade held in front of herself with both hooves on it as she stood on her hind legs. “Celestia...How do you fight like this?” With that, she dashed forward, making to strike Dustan’s neck...only to reverse halfway through the swing and swing upward. Right between the legs, she had been told to use any tactic on him to land a hit and she knew stallions were weak if struck there.

To anyone in the crowd it would look like Dustan would move and just be not where the sword was trying to hit, but it was possible Scootaloo might be able to see that in the moment that he flicked his swords direction around the Squire’s eyes widened, having been taken off guard by the movement and put some of his real speed into the action and moved out of the way. A close call for sure but one that required Dustan to move fully.

Smiling at the filly, Dustan would put his wooden sword over his shoulder. “Not going to lie, that was good. Took me off guard for sure and anyone slower than me likely would have been finding themselves crying out in an octave higher.”

Scootaloo chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “Guess that was a bit of a dirty move.”

“No such thing in a real fight. In a real fight it could mean the difference between life and death if you play by what is widely considered fair play. Use sand to the eyes, poke their eyes, blind them, do what you need to live. Because in the end, it is your life that will end if you lose in a real battle.” Dustan could see Rainbow Dash off to the side frowning slightly as she didn’t like the thought of her pseudo sister dying like that, nor did he have the heart to tell her that she had already once.

“I will have to try to remember that.” The small winged Pegasus said as her legs shook for a moment and she had to drop her sword before landing on all fours once more.

Dustan grin comes back and out of his own thoughts as he saw that and tells her honestly, “That might be hard. You are level ten, Though not sure if that means much to you or to anyone else. I have no doubt that you will be able to do that. It’s been a while since I have been able to speak like that and I doubt even those that know me will have completely understood what I just said.”

“Indeed my Lord.” Merlene called from her spot, watching. “You have mentioned levels and such to me before as a rating for raw skill and potential but it honestly never made sense to me.” The falcon patterned griffon would then nod seemingly at random. “Though I will agree with you in that if someone not as quick as you had been there they would have gotten quite the rude awakening with that last attack.”

Giving her a smile, Dustan just took the sword from his shoulder. “See Scoots, don’t look at this as trying to hit me but improving your skills. So far you have been doing that, catching me off guard shows that, but I am also working one handed here. Normal opponents won’t be like that. For those with more skill than you, you have to think, be creative, and sometimes improvise. Boy have I ever done a lot of that haha!”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and flapped her wings. “Geez, no need to go full basics on me, Rainbow Dash already does that a lot when we spare.” She said with an easy smile, though that did explain why her level was higher then Sweetie Belle’s six or Apple Bloom’s own with her nine. “I know the basics of combat, silly, just now with standing like this for a long time or holding a sword like that.” She would rub her hoof with the other and massage the frog a bit as she did so.

“Still it was a good run. Think about how to use your weapon a bit more in relation to others.” Walking up to her, Dustan gave her a pat on the head. “Anyways, let’s take a break. Besides, I think I have to go teach a class soon.” Worry shot over his face as he mumbled out. “Apple Bloom can cast Fire now. That isn’t worrying at all.”

"Don’t you have wards or something to keep the spells in the classroom safe?" Rainbow Dash asked as she walked up. “Also gratz squirt.” That made the purple maned pegasus blush and chuckle at the praise.

“We do, Twilight saw to that when the classes first started becoming more advanced after the Exhibition match but it’s not relied on much as only one person other than me could cast spells. Now more and more are going to be coming out as Apple Bloom was one of the first class of students as well. The only reason she didn’t go for it was because she was focused on the Chemist Job.” It was clear though with the smile on his face that Dustan did enjoy teaching people his type of magic as he thought about others starting to cast Cure and Thunder. “Anyways, I have to go teach Magic Studies now, have a good day you two.”

“Oh, I want to learn some things!” The voice of course came from the resident magister and purple pony of magic herself.

The resident human of this world just looked at her then to the crowd. “I just scanned around in the crowd and didn’t see you there. Do the words ‘Magic Studies’ summon you?”

For her part the unicorn blushed and then chuckled. “Come on, please!”

“Fine, but only if the other students in the magic class agree.” Dustan took a towel offered by Merlene. While the fight wasn’t hard, it was Summer and working up a sweat was getting easier and easier.

Rolling her eyes Rainbow Dash grinned. “Alright, see you two later. Don’t forget Twi about that thing we talked about.” She said, gesturing to the unicorn.

The Lord of the castle would wave to the both of them as they left, as well as a couple of other individuals to follow from the crowd before getting to a rather moderate two story building. There had been an official building made for the classes instead of always having them in the lobby of the castle. It had several rooms inside with desks and chairs like one would expect of a school as well as a chemistry lab, but a large area in the back with various practice dummies would throw anyone off of thinking it was a school normally. The place they were heading towards was one of the normal classrooms on the first floor with a plate that read ‘Magic Studies’.

As the blue cloaked man entered many were already in their seats, or talking to one another next to them. “Afternoon class.” To which the class quickly got up and bowed, a practice he wasn’t sure how it got started, before they all replied with ‘Good Afternoon Teacher’. “Today’s class is going to be a slight bit different. I have with me a guest who wishes to learn and take notes. She will hopefully be quiet if she does so and not ask questions as it will disturb the flow of class. You all don’t mind if she listens in do you?” The class all knew who Twilight was and it seemed none had a problem with it.

For a good half of the classes Dustan went about explaining various feelings in how they relate to how he casts magic as well as asking others who can do the same to explain their thoughts. Seems while the trigger was all around the same, a burst of emotion causing the first bit of spell usage from there, emotions and such had nothing to do with it for the others they relayed how the spell forms are in their minds and they use that. It was an interesting bit of information that had Twilight scribbling notes upon notes as Technically Dustan knew the spell forms as well, but never actually used them, he casted from feeling he told them.

Waving to the students they would all go outside to the firing range for the next part of the class, the same one that Dustan had used the day of the alpha wolf attack. “This area is specifically designed to withstand low grade magicks and shrapnel though it can be reinforced by outside magic users to enhance the effectiveness. So far we have three students who can use magic effectively but I still want others to try, if nothing else then to try to feel their mana. Like always, I will demonstrate first with my own magic since it is stronger and can more easily be felt so many of you can in turn get a feel for a similar energy which is inside you.” Pulling up a bit of his power Dustan continued his lecture. “Since we have some here who are new here I will repeat this next part again even if my students have heard this before. There are three basic magics for Black Mage and three for White Mage. The first is Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder for Black Magic and Cure, Protect, and Shell for White Magic. Chanting with those spells helps focus and thus increases the power behind them,” Calling out the name of the basic Fire spell without the chant, Dustan filled up his palm with the fire before throwing it at a dummy. “Mystic, you are up first as the Senior magic user of this class.”

The speckled yellow and black earth pony would move up and put on his now signature Black Mage hat. “Destruction of nature, gather in flame! Fire!” Holding out a hoof towards the dummy instead of throwing a fireball at it, the target just seemed to combust for a moment with lingering patches of fire that steamed before being smothered by safety spells.

“Very good. Apple Bloom, it’s your turn.” Dustan was worried, even if he had seen Bloom do this a few times already a part of him feared the curse of the CMC and hoped it wouldn’t ever show up at the wrong time.

Apple Bloom had taken to her role as a mage pretty seriously as her bow in her hair had shown, now sporting both a black outer lining on the bow then a white one showing she wanted to be both types of mages. “Strip away the ground with glistenin’ blades! Thunder!” Even with her accent it didn’t matter on the wording so much as the focus the wording gave as shown when a bolt of lightning struck the target from the sky. “HAHA take that!”

“Good job, next up.” The Squire smiled at the familiar brown coat with spots reminiscent of a deer as Still Eden came forward next.

Eden didn’t want to harm anything so even though she said she had the ability to be a Black Mage, she never used it, instead looking to the target and calling out her spell. “Precious light, be our armor and protect us! Protect!” Four blue-green diamonds formed around the dummy before they would vanish and a larger blue one appeared around the target before collapsing.

Nodding proudly Dustan looked to the rest. “Everyone take up a dummy down the range and continue practice for as long as you can. After a bit there shall be a half hour of meditation to try to pull out your mana and use it like you have seen these three. Don’t be in a rush let it flow and come to you. Same with casting at the dummies here.” Pulling out a simple hourglass Dustan made sure to set it down with a nice thunk.

Twilight simply smiled, and, to the surprise of some, sat down herself, closing her eyes as she too tried to meditate. However, a few minutes into the meditation, she seemed to frown and get frustrated. He should have known she would try and likely was trying too hard to get it to flow which is what he had just warned about, but oh well. Hopefully she would come to understand in time.

Sitting down against a wall Dustan didn’t take up a formal sitting stance instead relaxing and getting comfortable so that he could feel things better within his body. He could feel the tranquil feeling slowly encompass him and knew that if he opened his eyes he would be able to see the classroom. Problem was seeing still wasn’t touching and he could not for the life of him figure out what he was missing. Opening his eyes, he did indeed see the checker boarded ground overlaid with the dark Norite of the castle and could see the armor stands mixed in with his students. It didn’t matter, whatever he was missing was still eluding him and thus progress with any new spells. His last new spell was Dispel Magic, and he had obtained that long ago now so he was sure he had plenty of points to spend. He wondered if he had mastered any more jobs or unlocked any new classes yet as he knew the new armor stands would not show up until he was fully immersed in the classroom once more.

Dustan would even pull up a menu or two even though he knew he couldn’t touch and looked over things. There were still the few unknown skills he had last observed but knew the menus wouldn’t update at all. ‘What is that glowing skill that kept changing letters in Squire?’ His musings were brought to a close though as one of his students managed to cast a small Blizzard spell prompting him to get up and congratulate the little filly. It was one of the fillies from Bloom’s class which he didn’t recognize, then again the class was a bit bigger than in the show that he could remember.

“Lord Warner! I have a report.” The deer of the castle scouts, Fading Dawn, said as she bounded over to him as her multicolored coat that went from black at the front to purple at the end came into view with her green fetlocks easily the color of grass to help her to blend in. “We may have discovered the source of the herbal pots and plants being misplaced and uprooted.”

That got his attention fully however especially when he heard what it was that had been doing so and it made him frown. “Tell Merlene to get together a flight team, then to inform Side Winder to get together two teams of his own. We will have to stop them before they try what they did before.” With that Dustan dismissed the doe as he looked towards the class. “Class dismissed.”

As Dustan was heading to get ready he encountered the Abyssinian ronin once again. “Seems like something is happening. I see guards shuffling around quickly and gearing up. Is something the matter?”

“We have a bit of an infestation going on in the area where our scout was attacked. That shouldn't have happened normally, least by a pack big enough to form an Alpha Timberwolf like that. The herbs that normally keep the more dangerous creatures away were moved and uprooted from the area. I sent some teams into the area to scout it out and they reported that they have supposedly found the source and I am inclined to believe them. So our job is to go there and exterminate them. We are not sure about how many there are but that is why I am organizing a few teams.” Dustan said though his demeanor was more rigid than normal and his face a bit more guarded.

“Sounds like a fight is brewing. Count me in.” The Cat smiled with his teeth gleaming.

Dustan nods and waves for him to follow. “I can’t promise to equip you too well, mostly cause what armor made here is made for other species as you are the first Abyssinian we have seen.” Dustan himself went up to his room to gather some of his supplies, things he might need as well as things he thought might be useful and stuffed them into various pouches or in a few select potion holsters.

“I am fine, I have my katana and that is all I need. Well that and the clothes on my back.” He chuckled at the human as he was asked.

“With that, I would suggest grabbing a snack as we are likely to march as soon as we gather so grab a snack and head to the gate after.” The human told the smaller biped.

Chikara rubbed the back of his neck. “Uhh, sorry? Don’t really know your place that well. Can’t recall where the heck the kitchens are to even go about grabbing a snack.”

Dustan face palmed at that and nodded. “Right right, sorry about that. I am used to people knowing the layout around here too much I suppose.” The brown haired man waved to him to follow as he escorted them to the main dining hall. “The kitchen isn’t too far from here.” In fact there was a space cut out of the wall where one could see the Chef’s working as well as smell the food being cooked there at times. Though at the moment there wasn’t much going on. “Go ahead and ask them for something and tell them I told you to put it on my tab. I will sort it out later. I have some jerky already on me so I can snack along the way or while waiting for everyone. The gate we are to meet at is straight forward after leaving the castle.”

Chikara nodded. “Thanks.” He said, walking over to a chef. The chef took the cat’s order and quickly started to hand him a few things

Dustan for his part would wait for him since it was just snacks that Chikara was grabbing all the while munching on some jerky of his own. It would only take about a few minutes for him to finish, and a few more for them to head back to the castle gate where several full squads had been rounded up, Side Winder and Merlene present and armed quite readily for what is to come. All of the Luminary Guard saluted the one who commanded them as he came to stand in front of them.

Taking a deep breath, the Squire would look to each and everyone. “Not too long ago, we found that something or someone had been messing with the herbal plants we have been planting around the Everfree, the same ones that help keep the more dangerous creatures from crossing paths with visitors. Because of that one of our scouts was harmed from a large pack of Timberwolves that had transformed into an Alpha. True while sometimes creatures still come into our territory, it's not in any kind of numbers that could form the large Timber like what attacked the mare. So I sent Fading Dawn out to explore and investigate the surroundings for clues. What she found was evidence of creatures that had been in the forest before, but were thought to be utterly annihilated: Goblins.”

A few guards sucked in their breath and Merlene looked rather upset to hear about that. All of them had heard about the Goblins at this point, Dustan’s Lordship being partially tied to it and thus common knowledge especially with the tale of Logistics Trail’s utter lack of Equinity. All of the guard stood at attention, eager and ready to hear the plans of the one they served.

“Some of you may or may not know that we had a huge problem in the Everfree sometime ago with Goblins. They are rather mean, sadistic, and have killed inhabitants before. I learned later that the tunnels they were using were not their own but ones that they seized from Diamond Dogs that they later enslaved and consumed at the same time.” Dustan looked rather angry at this and did a motion similar to Chikara slamming his right fist into his left palm. “So our job is simple. Eradication. We are going to find them and wipe them out of the forest for good.”

The guards all gave a nod and some gave a cheer wanting such a blight gone from their home. For normal guards they might have been nervous, but the Luminary Guards assembled here at this time were all veterans of the first batch or two and all had been active patrollers of the forest and thus had gotten into plenty of scraps. Many were looking eager to remove them, some focused, only a rare few looked angry, likely for personal reasons or a sense of righteousness.

“The plan is simple. Merlene and her team are going to go up into the sky to be overwatch, she will send out dispatches of her own forces to cut off any that try to retreat.” The human said pointing to the Griffon first then to Side Winder. “Your team is going to hit the flanks and pressure them while Fading Dawn is to take some forces and apply them to their backside to make them think there is a heavy force there waiting for them, as well as to pick them off with crossbow bolts.” He told the unicorn and deer as they both nodded. “I am going to be frontline, they will know me and thus either wish for revenge or be cautious of me from last time considering what I did to their forces while I was down there. Our goal: Box them in and grind them up.”

The Ronin among them spoke up though at this. “I hope you don’t intend me to be part of those groups as I have no previous training working with them.”

“I figured.” Dustan said, stretching a bit. “It’s why I intended for you to group with me. You will mostly be my backup if I need it or to help relay orders if there is a change of plans. From what I’ve seen when you took down Shard you are better trained then my standard guard. Honestly I had no intention of putting you directly into the fight unless needed. There are a couple of reasons for that one being I honestly haven’t worked with you before so I am not sure where else to send you and Two: you just showed up, but from what you have told me so far, you would likely go there to fight anyways won’t you?” That got the cat to grin and nod making the human sigh. “Yeah that is what I thought, so I rather have you where I can see you and possibly get you to help out.” Dustan nods to him as he looks over the plan once more before adding. “As I said, at best you are my backup if something goes wrong with me. I intend to go in there and scare them, hopefully make them run so that the teams can pick them off from all sides while they are disorganized. If they want revenge it means they will be solely fixated on me allowing the other teams to come in and hit them while they are unaware as well. Either way you are basically my backup plan if things go pear shaped.”

“I think that just about covers everything for my plan. Anyone see any faults or issues?” Asked the Lord as he looked around, it seemed no one really had a problem, except Merlene.

“Excuse me My Lord,” The Griffon said as she looked over all who were there. “Say they want revenge, the one chosen for your party you have wished to remain more as support, if that is the case then you will be virtually on your own. Shouldn’t you have more for your party?”

“Maybe, but I am not sure how good Goblin scouts are.” He told her honestly as he looked around. “Nor how sharp their senses are. If they smell more than just the two of us they might scatter and we might lose them. I rather them attack me head on as one force, or try to leave all as one force and only attempt to scatter when things for all of their group look dire, but at that point it will be too late.”

“I have fought my fair share of creatures lately as I have made my way across the lands. He will be fairly safe with me unless these creatures are each on part with an Alpha, then we wont have to worry.” The ronin said confidently as he crossed his arms.

“Then it will be your job to make sure I don’t get in over my head Chikara, thank you.” Looking over towards all gathered he pointed to the Everfree. “Alright, if that is it, lets march!”

The forest was calm, deceptively so compared to the atmosphere around the castle. Birds seemed to be scarce and noises from them were even rarer than that. The background smell of the forest had changed, becoming more wild as a certain scent seemed to have lessened from the air, likely that of the herb used. The groups had separated meaning that Dustan and Chikara were alone though the first of the group barely said anything except to point out signs of movement or as a rustling came from a bush before discovering it was merely a pheasant. The Lord of the Everfree was clearly losing himself in his thoughts at times, his face occasionally growing darker than before and though it always lightened back up, the times it kept shifting were becoming more frequent. As signs of others movements became more noticeable even to the naked eye, the bones of animals, old small extinguished camp or cooking fires and ashes were seen, signs of gathering wood and stone, and more came up.

The problem that came up most of all was one simple fact that Dustan couldn’t help but mention. “I keep seeing hoof prints, but they don’t really look like ponies tracks at all.” The spacing was a bit too far out as he pointed, and the shape wasn’t right. “Did they find some kind of...pack animal? If so what kind? Or maybe it’s a tracker for the plants as the hoof prints only show up around where the plants were. This shit doesn’t make any sense.”

Chikara frowned as he crouched down, observing the tracks for himself and mentioned one fact. “I don’t recognize these types of prints, they are similar to some I have seen before, but if they are then they almost look malnourished for that species if so, which doesn’t make sense as they are omnivores and the Everfree should be plentiful for them so I don’t think its them. I honestly have no clue either. All I can say for sure is that the tracks are light, which means either the creature itself is light, or its trying to hide its tracks. Of course if its an animal, it might just mean its owners are the one trying to hide its tracks, but why its tracks and not their own?”

“Hmm strange.” The Squire tapped the ground a few times himself before standing up. “Any sign of how close the goblins are and whatever this thing is?”

Crouching down again, Chikara inspecting the camp. “Animal bones, lots of broken branches, twigs, and cut down bushes and shrubs…” He looked towards one direction, then around them. “These are pretty dense woods, too, but over there.” He pointed northeast. “It’s lightening up. Likely a clearing.” Chikara frowned as he saw that. “My only question is where the water is. Everything flesh and blood needs water to live, so why aren’t there any sounds of water nearby, or discarded makeshift canteens?” He looked to Dustan. “I’m starting to wonder if these things came out of somewhere much closer, eliminating the need for a long trek’s basic essentials such as water canteens.”

Pulling a map from his pack the brown haired human took a moment to get his bearings. “From what it looks like, there should be a river about thirty to forty minutes from here. Maybe an hour.” Dustan told his companion as he double checked to make sure he had the right place. “Though you look like you would be right about the clearing, should be one maybe fifteen minutes from here. If I was a betting man and your analysis is right, I would guess the Goblins are camping in the clearing.”

“So what’s our plan?” The ronin asked, his paw coming to rest on the hilt of his blade. “Guerilla tactics, or dive bomb?”

“Scouting.” Dustan told him simply. “We start sneaking, get a read on how many there are, then decide. Going into a force whose numbers we don’t know tends to be...a bad plan most of the time.” The displaced lord said as his stance seemed to shift becoming lighter on his feet after he spoke.

The trail, just like predicted, became cleaner, more clear as the woods and trees grew thinner. Bones were more commonly seen, old cooking fires, tracks some even being fresh. It was around that point that the Lord among them started to crouch down and started to move slower, watching his step, trying to miss errant branches and bones to avoid making any noises. He also refrained from talking and instead tried his best to make hand motions to alert his companion about where they were stepping. Coming to a bush a little before the clearing proper Dustan quickly ducked his head back down as he spotted them.

Chikara glanced through the bush’s leaves, managing to make out some of the numbers. When he did, he turned to the Lord holding out all ten of his digits once, then three of his claws, then a wobble of his paw, as if to say, ‘give or take’.

Dustan reached into the ground to upturn some dirt and wrote on it as he looked them over. ‘Most of them around level five. I see a handful that are stronger but the common levels are between five and ten. The strongest is around thirty though but they are by far the only one there with that level, the next highest is barely twenty. Honestly this shouldn’t be that much of a problem.’ For a moment it looked like the host of the castle wanted to say more but seemed to look at the goblins for a moment longer. ‘Honestly I could do this myself but best not take chances. If they look like they are going to attack, back me up.’

The Goblins themselves looked like a ragtag bunch, most of their forces wearing little more than rags with only a few wearing proper Goblin attire. The high level one had the black attire of the Black Goblin but most of the others looked like they belonged in the red capped regular Goblin class if that. Some were sitting around a camp fire eating or cooking some kind of meat from an animal, whose carcass sat nearby but was too mangled to actually tell what it was. A boar maybe? Others were laughing at a joke in their own language while others were sleeping. Clearly the camp was disorganized and barely had a semblance of intelligent thought put into it.

‘You ready?’ Dustan wrote in the dirt asking his question.

Chikara wrote back with a grin. ‘Just give the word and I will come in with katana brandishing.’

Breathing in deeply, Dustan stood up and strode forward towards the camp. Dustan’s cloak billowed out behind him, his short brown hair clear as he kept his hood down and he drew his sword causing the blood red blade to ring out in the air as if it was its cry for what was about to happen. At first the Goblins didn’t even see him and it wasn’t until he was about ten feet away at that point when one of the Goblins at the fire spots him, dropping their leg of...whatever it is that they were eating and drew a dagger. Its cry of alarm signaled others who stood up, most of which were unarmed except for their hands. The Black Goblin however had a short sword, looking to be made of gold.

Breathing out the Lord of the Everfree spoke clearly, calmly, and more than a tad chilling. “You have three choices. Face me and die. Run and Die. Or you surrender now and you will have a chance to speak up for the crimes you have committed during the slave tunnel incident.”

The Black Goblin seemed to be struggling with his words before in of itself spoke in a harsh guttural butchering of the language. “We eat, you die. We ate you, we ate all.” At that point it thrust its short sword forward as if commanding troops, though it took a second for all the other Goblins to even understand what it was he asked before the leader spoke again. “ATTACK!”

With that they started to move, though the human speaking to them simply smiled a type of smile that caused a shiver to go through the observing ronin. “Not going to lie. I was hoping that was your choice.”

Seeing that a fight was starting Chikara jumped from behind the bush his black and red katana drawn and him rushing forward quickly. He was not the only one as Crossbow bolts came flying in from the back as well as spells from the sides. The flying team came in and occasionally snatched one up into the sky to do who knows what as Chikara couldn’t see at the moment.

The Goblins looked startled at the sudden blasts, bolts, and dives and it was that shock that let Dustan move, quickly closing the distance and going amidst their ranks, buckler extending as the first strike cleaved one of the monsters in two at the hip. The sounds of fighting were noticed some goblins trying to leave as well as the sky team quickly took aim and started firing when they got into position, crossbow bolts soon hitting the outliers on the edge so as not to risk hitting the friendly in their ranks. The ones meant to flank were a little farther out but the feel of hooves hitting the earth could be felt as they were charging all except a few far flung spells that raced out in light, heat, and other elements to carve into the ranks.

The leader tried to issue orders, tried to keep the Goblins from panicking but it wasn’t going well for him to say the least, worst was Dustan flowing between kills as he bisected one only to lop off the head of another as he speedily dispatched them while heading towards the one in charge. “This is our forest and none of you belong here!” The voice of the Lord called out, more than a surprising amount of rage behind it which showed even more as his attacks became more ferocious, though this meant putting unneeded force behind his attacks now as his swings were going a bit wide after the hits he was dealing.

Chikara remained at the edge of the fighting picking off those that put up resistance quickly but during the lulls of the fighting he noticed Dustan’s fighting style. It was interesting for sure but also…not complete, something he felt he might need to talk to said lord about later. His movements were fluid, flowing from one target to the next, dodging and relatively graceful in his movements allowing him to take the lead in the archaic dance that was battle. His attacks, well, they were the opposites. They were barbaric, forceful, erratic, and clearly relaying more on brute force rather than technique. While it was working currently, the feline couldn’t help but frown at how badly an effect the habit could have on his future.

“Rend Weapon!” The Blood Sword took on a dark red glow as Dustan called that out, the blade turning ethereal as the Goblin tried to block the next attack only to have his short sword shattered. “Rend Helm!” Again another red glow as this time the Black Goblin tried to dodge back only to feel his cap shredded, the symbol of his ranking among his fellow monsters. “Rend ARMOR!” The rage seemed to be reflected once more in the strikes as the follow up to the last attack came before the Goblin even had time to steady himself from it, shredding the tunic he wore as the cloak of the Lord of the Everfree flickered past him. With Dustan posed behind the advanced form of monster it was clear by how the monster looked left and right that he had lost sight of his opponent. Exactly what Dustan wanted as the Blood Sword gleamed in the light as it appeared through its chest. The surprised look clearly told the story of the monster who was with the slavers before, how it couldn’t have thought this could happen. As the Goblin fell Dustan found his sword stuck having to release it for now to draw his Coral Sword.

The fighting, if one wanted to call it that, was winding down as the last batch of goblins met their end, with rage from the lord, a smile from the visitor, and a grim platoon bent on their destruction. The battle was over and done with in less than a few minutes. The walk back was in relative silence for the most part, only broken by the occasional questions like from various members of the squads as they had grouped back up questions like ‘what did you see, did any escape, would Goblins be a problem in the future’ things like that as well as trying to give advice where he could as he wanted to be a helpful host to the Ronin. The mages of the group reported that some of the detection spells they had set in place before hoof remained undisturbed and it meant none had escaped of which Dustan was grateful to hear. When they got back to the castle he told the leaders of the squads to give those that participated a day off and to fill rotations accordingly as they deserved to have some time to rest, clean up, recover, and relax.

Sipping on his tea for the morning that Faithful just gave him Dustan took a moment to reflect on yesterday's battle. He had been trying to do that more and more to figure out if he had done the best he could and while thinking back on it, one thought did creep into his mind that he didn’t feel comfortable confronting just yet, though hopefully he was mistaken. That is why he was currently waiting on his guest, he hoped he had points of view to share and he wanted to make sure no goblins escaped, though with the spell scan that the unicorns performed that seemed unlikely. The tea was nice and chilled as it was summer and summer for Dustan always meant iced tea no matter how many people said that tea should be pure. SCREW THEM! AHH cool tea.

The knock on his door interrupted his thoughts though as he looked towards it. “Come in!” He called waiting to see who it was.

Soon after those words, the hakama wearing cat walked in, looking a bit tired still giving a loud and long yawning. “Hey.” He greeted gently, giving a small wave.

“Morning, how did you sleep?” He would look at his pitcher of tea and some extra cups nearby and ask him, “Want some ice tea?” He motioned and indicated the cups.

Shaking his head, Chikara declined. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not a fan of iced tea. Hot tea is more my style. Green tea especially.”

“Ok then. Take a seat. I was hoping to go over yesterday’s battle with you, see if any details were missed and just overall making sure that the whole picture was seen as you are an outsider not beholden to me so I figure I could get your honest opinion about things and if you saw anything that was lacking in what we did.” The lord asked gently as he relaxed sipping his tea, though had some paper and a pen nearby.

"Well." Chikara started, helping himself to a glass of tea after all as if he was going to talk he might as well have something to drink even if it wasn’t his preferred. "The goblins were certainly a lot less organized than I expected ... Honestly, I expected at least a few stronger ones. It unnerves me that there weren’t any.”

Dustan muttered to himself before shaking his head. “Their levels combined with the fact that they tend to be lazy and unmotivated makes sense though. There was a high level there, level thirty, but I am a much higher level than him, otherwise he would have been a problem for most of my forces. However we were organized, had a plan, and...and they weren’t the ones pulling up the plants.” Dustan sighed. “My scouts found another area with plants pulled up this morning, done last night and more of those hoof marks, so...I might have sentenced those goblins to death for...revenge at this point. I keep trying to tell myself that they are malicious creatures that would do what they did again, and their statement when I showed up supports that, but...I still feel guilty.”

"Don't." The statement was sharp and clear, Chikara pausing only long enough to take a drink from his glass. "Guilt causes hesitation. Hesitation will get you and anyone under you killed. Especially after what I saw on the battlefield yesterday."

The Lord of the Everfree shook off his thoughts as he heard him say that. “What do you mean?”

"Your swordplay." the Cat continued, coming to sit down. "It needs work. Lots of it. You move with the grace and precision of a trained dancer, but when you actually attack, all that goes right out the window."

Dustan thought about it for a moment and what he said made sense. “Yeah, I can see that. Problem is not exactly many people around who can teach a biped. Plus with most of my opponents being shorter than I am, most things end up becoming a chop regardless of what I want it to be. However, thanks for letting me know. That is definitely going up there on my list of things to work on.” Though as he said that he briefly wondered if there was anything on the laptops he had that would help, but he doubted it. “Any advice on how to fix it?”

"I could give you a few tips before I leave." He said with a smile. "My time with my master gave me enough training to be decent. I'd leave it with you to study but…" He looked away a moment before clearing his throat. "I write slow and can’t really help too much with just words."

“Thanks, it does mean a lot.” Laughing a bit, Dustan looks at him. “Honestly it does mean a lot. I haven’t known you very long but you are way better mannered than some of the nobles that have sent me mail.” Holding up a letter he had on his desk he waved it around. “Like this one. This noble is trying to say that his great great, and so forth grandmother owned the Everfree forest and deserves ten percent of all income because of it. I wrote him back saying, take it up with the princess they owned it before me and no one else. They wrote back saying, calling BS and in polite wording said, ‘I don’t care give me the money. I deserve it.’” Dustan shook his head. “The balls on some people seriously.”

“The greed of others is not limited to species just souls.” Chikara said and was honestly a good honest truth. “I don’t remember who said that, I think it was a pony scholar but I always liked that saying as a younger cat. Anyways let’s get to training, I would like to leave by tomorrow honestly.”

Chuckling a bit the human couldn’t help but ask. “I thought you wanted to have a match with me?”

“I do when you are at your best. You aren’t there yet. I can’t wait for you to be.” The cat said and soon strode out hoping to give him a few points for the day. Dustan honestly would be a bit sad to see him go, he was an honest person and carefree, something about the cat was light hearting in a way.

The next day Dustan was sitting in his office thinking over yesterdays training with the cat as well as the events of the goblin destruction. “Well, least you can’t say my life is boring now can y-”

A knock on the door and a subsequently appearing Merlene sticking her head through. “The appointment that was waiting for you can be sent in. I will see them sent up.” Merlene vanished from sight as the Ninja went to look at his appointment book to see who was booked.

“A trader huh. I mean if we can get some good deals, sure.” Dustan muttered to himself for a bit. Seems what the trader wanted was to discuss products and possible deals, or at least that is what he wrote. A few times already did he catch someone trying to slip in a sneaky bargain or even worse in talks like this. “Well hopefully it won’t be so-” A knock on the door let him know his guest was here. “Come on in!”

At his call the door opened and closed revealing an earth pony heavily covered in robes and cloth, head to hoof with only the slit of his eyes revealed. The gait of the pony was sure and steady though instantly something was off. The hairs on the back of Dustan’s neck stood up, something was wrong and his mind didn’t process what it could be while his instincts had already sounded the red alert. It was weird, but each step closer Dustan’s instincts screamed at him to run, to attack, to blast this trader, this seller, this dealer, this-

The instant Dustan’s mind put it together he was on his feet reaching for his sword, sweat broke out across his face when he found himself clutching at the Blood Sword but not able to draw it as he was frozen. Slowly the pony before him began to glow his gait switching as his form did, the four clops of hooves changing to the heavy steps of two boots under a large trench coat. The man took a seat in one of the seats and looked at him.

“Good to see you again Dustan.” The smirk of The Merchant clear in his voice.

Author's Notes:

Hello and sorry about the delay on this chapter. Those of you who have read my blog post know why so if you are curious and don't know, head over there to check out why. If you don't want to head over there and look that is fine, all that matters is that a chapter is out and I am going to try to get back into writing more. I hope you all enjoy

-Sincerely Equinox Starshifter