“Get up, Dom,” Lenrick said as he kicked at Domitor as he laid on the couch.

The stallion groaned as he sat up, his head pounding as he swept a few bottles off of himself.

“You really smashed those last night,” Lenrick laughed as he tossed a water bottle at Domitor.

He wasn’t fully aware yet, so the bottle just smashed into his face and fell into his lap. “Ouch…” he mumbled as he grabbed it and bit it open, drinking all of it in one go.

“You must have some mad demons in that head of yours to drink that much,” the man joked, holding up a pair of keys. “I found some kind of vehicle out in a side garage, so our trip just got a lot easier.”

Domitor groaned as he sat up, his head still hurting, “I don’t actually remember last night…”

“Nothing to remember,” Lenrick replied. “You hogged all the drinks and passed out.”

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Lenrick just laughed and stepped over, slapping his back. “You’re alright, kid.”

This brought a smile to Domitor’s face as Lenrick walked for the front door.

The pair walked outside and over to a detached garage that stood by itself by the rocks around the house. With a heave, the man threw open the doors, revealing a bulky vehicle with tires that were a bit bigger than Domitor thought they needed to be.

“What about the… bodies?” he asked as Lenrick jumped into the drivers seat.

“What about them?” he asked, seeming more interested in the vehicle than answering the stallions' questions.

“Should we bury them?”

Lenrick just chuckled, shaking his head, “you have a LOT to learn about rolling with this crew, kid. Jump in, nature will sort them out.”

Reluctantly he jumped into the passenger's seat as Lenrick turned the key, causing the truck to roar to life.

“Oh now that’s good,” he exclaimed as he revved the engine a bit. He shifted the gear and the truck lurched forward violently. As they pulled out of the driveway he opened his pocket dimension and pulled out a beer from another dimension.

“Should you be drinking? I feel like that does not go with driving,” Domitor commented, but Lenrick’s only response was to crack it open and begin to drink from the can.

“Trust me, this makes operating machinery so much more fun,” he assured the young stallion as they shot out onto the road and began to barrel down it at increasingly alarming speed.

“Oh geez…” Domitor muttered as he buckled himself in, eyes locked forward at the road ahead.

“Breakfast is ready!” Scamp called out for the tenth time as she stood at the end of the hallway, waiting for their daughter to join them.

“Either she’s dead to the world, or she’s not here,” Mallogory said as she sipped her coffee and played her little game.

Scamp stomped down to her room and flung the door open, “Shayla Beltosh!”

But the room was empty, her bed unmade as usual. Her eye narrowed as she stomped back down the hallway to the kitchen. “Did she come home last night?”

“Yes?” Mallogory replied in an unsure tone, looking up from her game.

“Yeah, no, she didn’t,” Scamp growled as she pulled out her phone.

“She’s probably at one of her friends' houses again,” Mallogory said, trying to calm her down.

“And when she does she always tells us,” Scamp countered as she sent out a few texts, asking if her daughter was at any of her friends' houses.

“Love, she’s an adult, we don’t need to watch her every move anymore.”

Scamp frowned as she started getting a few texts back saying no, she was not at any of her friends' houses. “I know, but I feel like something is wrong.”

“Your instincts are usually spot on…” Mallogory admitted, sighing as she put her game down. “What’s the plan?”

With a twitch of her eye, she moved for the front door, “I’m going to go and speak with her little friends. One of them will know where she’s at.”

“I’ll head to a few of her favorite places,” Mallogory said as she stood up and followed after her wife.

Scamp grumbled to herself as she stepped outside, flaring her wings. This was one of the rare times she hoped her instincts were wrong and her daughter was just playing hooky with one of her friends.

Azure Moon waved goodbye to the mother and her daughter as they walked away from her stall after buying a few items.

She sat back on her stool and chuckled as she went back to eating her breakfast and reading her book. It was a slow morning, but she preferred it that way, gave her time to relax before the lunch rush.

“Brought you breakfast,” a voice said from in front of her as a very fancy plate of food was placed down on top of her food.

Grumbling, she raised her head and glared at the stallion before her, “can’t you take a hint, Star Chaser?”

Champion just laughed, flipping his mane back with a charming smile. “I just wanted to make up for the dinner date, since I never got to pay for it like I promised.”

“Oh my Celetstia,” she groaned, pulling out her phone and writing out a text as he smiled at her.

“I had the royal chiefs make this for you, so it is top of the line quality,” he assured her, waiting for her to try it. But she kept writing out her text. He couldn’t see the words, but he could tell she was just writing one long text.

“If you’d like,” he continued, “I can take you to Rainbow Falls. It’s very beautiful this time of the year.”

She still did not respond to him, causing his eye to twitch as he adjusted his mask and cleared his throat.

“Oh my!” He exclaimed in a fake enthusiastic voice as he grabbed one of the little charms she sold. “This is marvelous, did you make it yourself?”

No response came from the mare as she typed away at her phone.

“Know what? I’ll buy your entire stock!” he exclaimed grandly as he opened a pocket dimension and pulled out a few bags of bits and tossed them down on the table. “That should free you up for the day, hm?”

Azure Moon growled a bit, and he could hear her heart rate increase as her blood pressure started to raise even further.

“My Moon, tell me what you desire and I will make it happen!” he declared loudly.

Finally, she hit send on her text and stared at him with very angry eyes.

He started to say something, but she held up her hoof. “Don’t speak, just sit here in silence for a moment.”

“But I want to-”

“Zip it!” she snapped, “you want to do something for me? Then just wait a moment.”

His eye twitched again, but he decided to listen to her and just stand there, the two locking eyes. A smile formed on his face as she held his gaze.

“Star Chaser!” Luna bellowed as she appeared right behind him.

“Mother?” he asked as he spun around, very confused as to why she was here, and yelling.

“You’re stalking and harassing Azure Moon?!” she screamed in her Royal Canterlot voice.

Champion turned to Azure Moon with a look of betrayal, “you called my mother?”

“Leave me alone!” she roared, slamming a ‘CLOSED’ sign down and stomping away from her stall.

He took a step after her.

“STAR CHASER!” Luna roared as she flashed her horn, causing both of them to appear in her chambers.

With a growl, he turned to face his mother, eye twitching non-stop now, “mother, you do not know what you’re doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” she said in her normal voice. “I’m saving you from yourself! Azure Moon is terrified for her life because of you!”

“She has no reason to be!” he roared back at her, squaring up with her.

She just stared at him with sad eyes, “what happened to my son? The little colt who was rambunctious but had a heart of gold?”

“I’m still him,” he growled, glaring at her. “I’m just better now, perfect in all ways.”

This caused her to sigh, as she knew she wouldn’t get through to him this way. “Going forward, you are forbidden from interacting with Azure Moon or her family.”

“You can’t control my life like that, mother,” he said evenly.

“You’re right, your mother can’t control your life like that,” she agreed as she stood up tall and firm, “but the Princess of Equestria can. I, Princess Luna, hereby forbid you from having any further contact with Azure Moon or her family. Do you understand me?”

His eyes began to glow purple, but she held her ground, not backing down to his idle threats. With a sneer, he snapped his eyes shut, “fine. I understand.”

“Good,” she said, using her magic to open her door. “Leave me. Return when you are ready to start acting like the heir to the throne and not a ruffian off the streets.”

“Yes, Princess,” he said with a scowl as he walked out of the room and slammed the door.

Once he was gone, she cast a spell on the room, muffling the sound. Then she fell to her knees, tears on her face as she let out a sob.

She raised her eyes to a large portrait of herself, her kids, and her husband, all standing together and smiling. “Oh Frederic… this is nearly impossible without you by my side…”

I continued to use my claw to pick at my teeth as we flew down the road at a steady pace. We’d talked for a bit, or at least I mostly talked. It’s a habit of mine, but it’s his fault for asking a loaded question that caused me to go on a long winded explanation of my friends and family.

Right now though, we were just being silent, which was perfectly fine with me.

But as I sat there, I could hear a sound slowly getting louder. It sounded like… music?

“You hear that?” I asked, causing him to look over at me.

“Hear what?”

“I dunno, sounds like music,” I said as I looked around as the sound grew louder.

“Ah, you’re starting to hear the Amber Breeze,” he said with a chuckle.

The name sounded familiar to me, and upon thinking about it, I realized my mom had indeed told me about it. Apparently this world played music inside of everyone’s heads. I honestly don’t know how that works, but I always thought it was a cool concept.

“What music are you hearing?” he asked.

Focusing on it, I realized it was a song I think I’d heard before, but I couldn’t place it. But it had a badass guitar riff to it.

“Rock music?” I replied, causing him to shrug.

“Rock music? Sounds weird, kid.”

“Oh yeah? What about you?”

“Soothing flute music,” he said with a smile.

“And you said mine was weird?”

He started to reply, but stopped as his face fell into a grimace. “Ah shoot. I was hoping they wouldn’t be out today…”

“Who?” I ask as I lean up and look out the front window, seeing a few cars up ahead, parked across the road as a makeshift roadblock while a few Kejtdra stood in front of them. I could clearly tell they were all armed in some way or another.

“Local gang from the lower levels of Frokinko,” he said as he began to slow down as we approached them.

“What do we do?” I asked, slightly nervous.

“I’ll handle it, they just want us to pay a toll,” he replied in a reassuring tone. “This is actually very common in this area. And besides, they usually only want a few Fazoles.”

“Fazoles?”

“Our currency, kid,” he answered as he opened a compartment in the truck and pulled out a small sack. “I keep some tucked away for just this occasion. So just sit back and let me handle this.”

“You got it,” I said, watching as we came to a stop a few feet away from the makeshift roadblock.

“Out of the truck, old timer,” someone on his side of the truck yelled out.

“Of course,” he said as he opened his door and climbed out, grunting as he did.

I stayed where I was, looking around nervously at all the Kejtdra around us. They were all males, and looking mean as fuck to boot.

“Heading to Frokinko?” one of them with a gruff voice asked.

“Yes, just a market run is all,” Raffy replied, not sounding nervous at all.

“Got the toll?”

Raffy chuckled as I heard the sounds of coins jiggling, “right here, son.”

“Right,” the gruff voice said as it sounded like he snatched the coin bag from him and shook it. “Sounds kinda light.”

“That’s the normal amount you all ask for,” Raffy protested.

The truck jerked as something landed on my door. I jumped and turned my head to see a nasty looking Kejtdra staring in at me, a large smile on his face.

“Hey! He’s got a woman with him this time!” the one staring at me yelled.

“Oh?” the gruff voice laughed. “Who’s your friend, old timer? You’re always alone when I see you.”

“It’s my niece,” Raffy answered, sounding very confident in his words.

“Niece?” the gruff voice asked as the truck shook again as a very rough looking Ketjdra climbed up on the driver's side to peer in at me.

I glared back at him, resisting the urge to say something snide in response to his wide smile.

“Change of plans, old timer,” the large Ketjdra said as he jumped off of the truck and landed on the ground. “Tolls increased. Leave the girl and you can pick her up on the way back from the city.”

“Ain’t happening,” Raffy stated.

“Either you agree willingly,” the voice said as I heard Raffy grunt. “Or we do this my way. I suggest you think carefully before answering again.”

A growl escaped my lips as I unbuckled myself.

“You want more Fazoles? I’ll fish out some more,” Raffy said in a voice that sounded a bit strained.

“Wrong answer, old timer.”

“Hey!” I yelled out as I began to move across the seats, but the Kejtdra at the window reached in and grabbed me by the arm. Without any hesitation, I spun around and slammed my fist into his faceplate, snapping his head back and causing him to fall off of the truck.

Now free of his grasp, I climbed across the seats and jumped out the driver's side door, landing between Raffy and the rough looking Kejtdra.

“Coming out willingly to save grandpa?” he asked with a toothy grin. “Smart move, princess.”

I looked around, seeing they were all looking at us, sly smirks on all of their faces.

“Shayla, don’t,” Rosemary warned from atop the truck.

New Quest! ‘Rank A: ‘Roadblock!’

“Get back in the truck,” Raffy groaned from behind me.

“No, walk your pretty little self over to my truck,” the Kejtdra commanded as he reached out to me.

New music began to play in my head. Perfect fit.

As his hand reached my shoulder, I grabbed hold of it and yanked himself into me, slamming a knee into his gut. The sudden attack caught him off guard as he started to double over. But as he fell I slammed a fist into his head, causing it to bounce off of the side of the truck.

Once he was on the ground, I turned to face the now stunned Kejtdra around us.

They didn’t remain stunned for long as they began to yell and raise their weapons.

I dashed forward as time seemed to slow as I examined each of them in turn, picking out the weakest to the strongest based on appearance alone.

Like a freight train I slammed into the skinniest one, sending him flying back into one of the cars, leaving a decent dent in it. Using my built up momentum I sprang to the right and slammed a fist into another's face, sending him skidding back as I spun my body sideways, catching another in the face with a back leg. In that same spin I grabbed the gun from one I was kicking and slammed it into my right hand.

I rolled across the ground and fired two shots into the leg of the largest Kejtdra in the area. As he roared in pain, the others finally got a bead on me and began to fire all at once on my current position. Just as before, time seemed to slow as I took everything in and dived to the right, getting behind some cover as pink balls of energy slammed into everything around me.

Looking around, I saw that I was near one of the trucks. Perfect, just avoid getting shot.

Preparing myself, I sprinted forward, the bullets whizzing all around me as I jumped behind the truck. A Kejtdra ran around suddenly and pointed his gun at me.

My eyes went wide as he fired, but I was ready and dodged it at the last second, I then lunged forward and knocked the gun out of his hand, followed by a perfect uppercut to his chin.

He yelped and collapsed, but wasn’t out of the fight yet. But the moment I pointed my gun down at his face he stopped moving.

“Got a deal for you,” I said as pink bullets pelted the truck behind me. “Wanna live? Step out there and tell them you got me.”

“What?!” he asked in surprise.

“You heard me, tell them you knocked me out,” I said, my glare causing him to frown. “Or I shot ya here.”

“Fine,” he groaned as he stood up, my gun still on him.

“Guys!” He yelled, still looking at me. “Guys, I got her! She’s unconscious!”

The bullets stopped as I heard they all yelling for confirmation.

“Go on,” I said, waving the gun to the right.

Reluctantly, he walked out around the truck and stood there, staring off at the others.

“You really get her?” someone yelled.

“Yep,” he yelled back as he glanced at me. “Got her.”

“Way to go, Helmta!”

Rosemary appeared on top of the truck, looking in their direction. “They’re coming this way.”

‘Grouped up?’

“Of course, looking pretty proud of themselves.”

‘Nice, tell me when they’re close enough,’ I thought to her as I rolled my neck and swapped the pistol to my left hand.

After a moment, she gave me a thumbs up.

With that I shot forward and around the truck, slamming the gun into the back of the Kejtdra I’d forced to lie for me. The ones ahead were not prepared for me as all their guns were down.

As I sprinted across the ground at them, time seeming to crawl, I fired away with my pistol, hitting as many of their guns as I could.

They all began to yelp and howler at the sudden attack, but it was too late as I dived into the midst of them, turning into a ball of fury as I hit anything I could and broke as much as I could get my hands on. I even bite a few of them.

As I fought through the group, I grabbed a skinnier Kejtdra and swung him around, knocking a few others down as they advanced on me. I let him fly into another as I dashed to the side, slamming the pistol into one's face, following that up with a kick as I spun and fired into the knee of another.

Something hit me in the side, but I kept fighting, not relenting as I dropped them one at a time.

You see, the thing about being surrounded just means you have a lot of targets, while they have to all focus on you. So as long as I kept moving around sporadically and randomly, they couldn’t group up on me.

Despite my efforts, I was on the losing end of this fight, as some of the ones I’d previously dropped were starting to get back up.

“You need to start killing them!” Rosemary exclaimed as one grabbed me from behind.

“No!” I yelled as I jumped up and kicked both back legs into another's face as they approached from the front. I then came down hard with my legs and threw my body forward, sending the one holding me flying over myself. Once he landed on the ground, I jumped up and slammed a foot into his face.

“Shayla!” I heard Raffy yell.

I dodged a lung from one of the Kejtdra as I threw two punches into another's chest, causing him to back off as I broke something.

Looking towards Raffy, I saw he was in his truck and hand pushed through the two other trucks blocking the road.

But as I began to fight my way towards him, I saw the original gruff Kejtdra stomping towards me, a sword of some kind in his hand.

Shit.

Slamming an elbow into another's face, I sprang back as he sliced the air where I’d just been standing.

“Shayla duck!” Rosemary screamed.

Without thinking I immediately dropped to the ground as something massive flew over me.

Screams filled the air as the sounds of grinding metal could be heard. Jumping to my feet I saw that a rather large creature was ripping through the Kejtdra, easily cutting them down as almost none of them had weapons at this point.

“That’s a Rust!” Raffy yelled, causing me to turn and sprint for his truck.

I jumped into the back as he slammed his foot on the pedal, causing us to speed away from the carnage. Looking back I saw that the creature was focusing its attacks on the Kejtdra around it, and it was clear who was winning this exchange.

Raffy opened the back window and waved for me to come through it.

Carefully, I climbed through the small window and got into the cabin of the truck, returning to my seat.

“What was that?!” he snapped, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

“Nothing, I just did what needed to be done,” I said, grunting as I shifted around.

“No, that was stupid. Idiotic. Suicidal even!” he yelled, clearly very upset with what I’d done. “If that Rust hadn't been drawn to all that fighting, you’d’ve died back there!”

“But I didn’t,” I countered, giving him a shaky thumbs up as my adrenaline crashed.

He looked at me and sighed. “You’ve been stabbed, kid.”

“I have?” I said as I looked at my side, seeing a knife still sticking out of me. “Huh, whaddya know,” I said as I pulled it out, causing blood to start to pour out.

“Idiot,” he grumbled as he reached over and placed a hand on my wound. His hand started to glow as he slowly healed my injury. “I told you to stay in the truck.”

“They were hurting you,” I said as I winced in pain as the wound closed.

“Nothing I couldn't handle,” he muttered.

“Just be grateful, I saved our ass’s,” I mumbled, causing him to sigh.

“I’ll admit, those were some impressive moves. I’ve never seen someone fight a group with just their fist before, especially a fully armed group like that.”

“Eh, you can thank my mother,” I chuckled, feeling some relief as the pain slowly went away. “She specialized in group fighting and wanted to make sure I could handle myself.”

“Just try and listen to me in the future, yeah?” he begged.

I smiled at him and gave a thumbs up. “You got it.”

He shook his head with a small smile as he held his hand to my wound and focused on driving.

‘So,’ I thought to Rosemary as she appeared between us. ‘Did I just slow down time back there?’

“No,” she laughed, shaking her head. “You’ve unlocked some of your Ego though. You were able to increase your senses and process the world around you faster. That was just a taste of what you can do though, as you were only able to do that in bursts.”

‘Those bursts were pretty badass though,’ I thought as a smile formed on my face. ‘I was moving so fast they couldn’t even keep up with me!’

Rosemary gave me a wink, “yep! Just wait till you actually master that ability. That’s when the real fun will begin.”

Quest Complete! 7 skill points awarded!
Level up!
You have 10 unspent skill points.

‘Oh shit, seven skill points and a level up?’

“Yep, that was a Rank A Quest. The Rank S quest award twelve though,” she said, smiling at my wide eyes. “Rank S+ give a whooping twenty five, just so you know.”

‘Shit…’ I smiled as I opened my menu, causing Raffy to raise an eyebrow at me since he couldn’t see any of it.

Thinking about it, I placed five into Strength, two to Brain Power, and three to Reflexes. Hitting accept, I brought up my Stats window to examine it.

Nice.

“You’re one weird lady,” Raffy chuckled, having watched me poke at the air in front of myself for a bit.

“Eh, you get used to it,” I said with a grin as I closed the menu and sat back, wanting to rest a bit after what I’d just gone through.

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