Dreamer Adventures

Connor was first off of the train, his fellow bootcampers oddly relaxed. Was this because they were new and had no idea what boot camp would be like, or was Luna misinformed? He was unsure…

“Atten-shun! All you maggots outta the- Huh?” The large, black furred minotaur with metal plated horns and hooves who was bellowing at the train then noticed Connor as he stood at attention right where he was supposed to wait when coming off of the train. “What the… State your name, recruit!”

Connor smiled at his drill Sergeant. “The name’s Connor, sir drill sergeant. I am looking forward to becoming an armed medic worthy of the Equestrian army.”

The Drill sergeant looked to him for a moment, then to his clipboard, then back to Connor. “Damn, I owe Shatter Shield my lunch for a week, there’s an honest to god's Dreamer in the medical corps.”

Connor smirked. “With respect, sir, you will find betting against me is not a smart move, sergeant, I have been known to defy the odds, sergeant!”

The Sergeant smirked in turn. “Is it, then? Well, why don’t you go for a few laps around the campground perimeter and prove me wrong, dream wielder?”

Connor smirked as well. “Sir, yes sir!” He then, much to the drill sergeant and the collected recruits amazement, took off on a whole camp wide sprint, the entire sprint taking about ten minutes.

He then decided to speed up, going around a second time in five minutes, then a third in two. All in all, it took him 19 minutes to make 5 laps around the camp, far faster than any normal mortal could do, what with the ‘camp’ consisting of 4 smaller camps, basically for training the 4 staples of an adventuring party: Healers, warriors, rogues, and mages. The entire encampment basically took on the size of a large city, at least the size of manehattan.

After finishing the final lap, Connor walked calmly to his drill sergeant and smiled, not even winded. “Perks of being a dreamer, stamina is basically no longer a finite resource.” He smiled at his fellow recruits, who then seemed to snap out of their shock and two ponies seemed to want to talk to him.

They looked to the drill sergeant and before they could even ask, he nodded. “Since physical training is not necessary for you, it seems, I will let you accompany the other recruits as they go through physical conditioning, as it will be good for morale. Prove me wrong in that assumption, and I will NOT be pleased.”

"Not bad new guy!" The brighter colored of the pair said excitedly. "Name's Duster! Short for Feather Duster, but I try not to let too many ponies know that. Ruins my image!" Feather was a vibrant white coated pegasus with a mane somehow a brighter shade of white with slightly grey highlights and rather small wings, though his bodily frame was much the same size to match.

The pony next to him was an earth pony of a much taller and bulkier frame, his practically muted forest green coat, and brown and black mane did well to accentuate his expressionless face. "Would it be a bother if you helped in my development?" He asked with an almost cold tone.

Duster chuckled as he slung a forehoof over the emerald giant. "What my stone faced friend here means to say is if you wouldn't mind spotting us. Not like I need a spotter, but you know, better safe than choking to death!"

Said 'Stone Faced Friend' gripped Duster's hoof, twisting it slowly eliciting a pained smile from the pegasus, before setting the hoof down.

"Chlorophyll." The earth pony stated as he looked at Connor.

Connor hummed thoughtfully, beginning to jog alongside them. “Well, sure, I’ll help ya there, but you should also work on your other strengths too, like, Duster, you might do well to exercise your wings as well, cause big or small, an aerially capable medic would be a godsend, in case if someone is wounded high up or across a ravine, whatever situation where ground troops would be no good. Same for you, Chlorophyll, mind if I call you Phyll for short?” Phyll shook his head, and motioned with his hoof he was fine with it.

Connor nodded as they continued jogging. “Anyway, you should work on your physical strength, as well as how fast you can run. It’s important that a medic can make the most of their talents to help those that need them, as best as possible. Since you will be military medics, a basic martial arts understanding would help too, in case if someone tries to injure the medic so that the healing stops.”

Connor then paused before chuckling. “Damn, this bootcamp makes it’s medics way too vulnerable… maybe I should talk to the drill sergeant about my concerns… the camp seems to be centered around teaching those with aptitude for healing, but leaves the other natural talents to lie untapped…”

He then looked to Phyll and Duster sheepishly, seeing their amazed faces. “Sorry, I tend to overthink things, try to make everything run as well as possible around me.”

Paladin then materialized behind Connor and smirked. “It seems m’lord is starting to ramble, mayhaps he should practice his skills of observance, instead of his skills of conversation?”

"Ah what's a bit of rambling!" Duster said excitedly now out of his shock… only to flinch and fall on his back and start crawling away once Paladin appeared. "What the BUCK!? IS, THAT THING!?" He cried.

Connor deadpanned at Paladin. “I told you not to manifest until I had the chance to explain our existence to others.”

Paladin paused, before rubbing the back of his helmeted head sheepishly. “Ah, It passed my mind, mine apologies, my liege.”

Connor looked to Duster and sighed. “That is Paladin, the dream being bound to me in a symbiotic relationship. Basically, he enhances me both magically and physically, and in return, I let him manifest on the material plane. His magic is what lets me be a healer. From my understanding, I can heal any wound, so long as it is recent, and I have the energy to do so.”

Paladin nodded. “And I may create barriers, as well as offensive magics that I have been instructed to keep my silence on.”

Duster had calmed down some, but he was still rather bug eyed. Chlorophyll however seemed as stoic as ever, his dark eyes doing well to hide is internal feelings.

Sighing, the green giant of a pony hefted Duster onto his back and kept the pace. "This healing, can it be taught?" He asked Connor.

Connor made a maybe motion with his hand. “Kinda? But it would be dangerous, and not even a sure thing, I’d have to bind a dream being to ya, which would make you have to absorb a massively higher amount of mana than normal. Dangerous stuff, mana, as too much makes ya really sick, and if your dream being doesn’t get their mana, well, they get corrupted.”

Paladin nodded. “A corrupted dream being is referred to as a dream demon. They cause horrible night terrors that are as if you are being tortured in real life, except time is relative. My time as a dream demon haunts me to this day, both as a source of shame, and horror, for the things I have done.”

Connor nods. “And even then, it’s not certain your dream being could do healing. It’s all up to what dream being you manage to bond with.”

Phyll gave a nod as he listened intently, Duster however rolled onto his hooves.

"Okay, so anypony can get these things, but they're super dangerous? Sounds like a challenge!" Duster exclaimed, Phyll sighing at the pegasus' demeanor. .

Connor shook his head, making an x sign with his arms. “Not a chance, it takes either being a born dreamer like me, or getting the help of a dreamer, to contact dream beings. And even the process of bonding is dangerous for both parties, you become instantly bonded to that being, learn their every secret, and them yours, if you don’t like what you see too much, or they you, they will attempt to split from you. That… that can prove fatal…”

Connor then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Although, the laws of the dream beings state no penalty for weakening the dream being prior to bonding… which would dramatically reduce the danger...Hmmm….”

"We should discuss this later," Phyll stated. "We're here." The earth pony motioned his head to a fairly large and elongated wooden building.

"Eesh, talk about dreadful…" Duster commented as he stared at the door. "When's the last time they cleaned!?" He thusly accentuated this statement by running a hoof along the door, a massive ball of dirt and grime having been scraped off… of course despite having only been wiped once and in a single place, the door looked immaculate and shining.

Connor refrained from commenting on how well Duster would do at cleaning professionally, assuming he had heard it before, when he came up to a sneering female unicorn, talking with The drill sergeant.

"If you expect me to work with one of those things then you obviously had even less of a brain than I expected!" The unicorn shouted at the top of her lungs. She was a sickly yellow with a long, black puffy mane covered in yellow dots.

Connor raised a brow as he looked to Duster and Phyll. “I doubt she’s talking about you two, so I am mostly offended for myself, but if she turns out to be talking about you two, I’ll probably get rather annoyed with her. No one talks crap about my friends.”

Duster blinked for a few seconds as he stared at Connor bewildered. "We're friends? Woah…"

Back with the Drill Sergeant, he was only nodding along as the yellow unicorn shouted about "her place" and "her sister" who was supposed to be important somehow before the Sergeant calmly took a whistle and quite literally blast the mare's mane back.

The drill sergeant, smirking sweetly, then lost his smile. “Now, let me tell you where you are wrong there, miss Poison. I will state this in simple terms so that I, as a ‘small minded freak’ that you so eloquently described, do not confuse myself. He is your equal on the battlefield, not by power, and not by birthright, but by the fact that you are brothers and sisters in arms, and it is your gods damn job to make damn sure as fucking possible that you all become the best soldiers you can be, so that no little fillies have to wonder why their brothers, sisters, poppas, or mommas never came home from the job! AM I CLEAR!?”

"Poison" did her best to bite back a snarl as she stared down the Sergeant before looking away in shame. Snorting, she walked away to what was no doubt the mare's barracks.

Connor looked to her and sighed. “Here’s hoping we can mend fences, I don’t know what she has against my kind, but I hope I can get her past it, for all our sakes.”

Phyll had shrugged as he pushed in the door and dragged the currently gawking Duster along with him. The barracks themselves were what one would expect of military sleeping quarters. Bare bones accommodation, steel frame bunks, thin mattresses… and of course…

"Agh! Does nopony sweep!?" Duster shouted as he practically started to roll into the building much like a hedgehog before rolling back and kicking out a massive ball of dirt and grime out of the barracks and into the air. Much to the surprise of those already inside, the entire interior was sparkling much like the door was.

Connor shrugged nonchalantly. “Dude, dirt is no problem for me, hell, most pain I can just shrug off. So stop worrying about how clean the living arrangements are, and how about we talk to each other in what seems to be our down time? A good start to the foundation for teamwork is getting to know your team, after all.”

"Forgive him," Phyll called out as he took an empty bunk. "He's a neat freak." Despite his cold tone, it was at least somewhat obvious he was joking.

"Hey! I am not a neat freak!" Duster shot back with a smile. "I just like a clean environment! Unlike somepony who likes sleeping in mud pits!" The green giant only shrugged as he lay on his side.

Connor shrugged . “As long as I don’t get tortured in my sleep, I’m good.” He then froze up, and sighed. “I’m going to have to explain that, huh?”

"That would help in forming a foundation of trust," Phyll spoke up. "Please elaborate for us."

Connor sighed and nodded as he collapsed into bed. “When I first got here, paladin was not in his normal state, he was starving for mana, corrupted beyond a doubt. He was not only a dream demon, but a POWERFUL one. He… he fed off of me in the one way a dream demon can fathom. He tortured my dream self every night, if my physical body was affected by my mental ones pain… I’d be more wounds and scars than person by now.”

He sighed. “But near the time when Butcher, or my dream demon, turned into Paladin, he seemed… reluctant, to harm me, part of me wonders if he could of been helped.”

Paladins voice then sounded in the room, quietly responding to him. “His consciousness was both the same as mine and seperate, so I know not what he thought near the end…”

"But… you're okay now right? Right?" Dust asked with a bit of worry, staring down from the top bunk as his wings twitched.

Connor shrugged. “Can anyone be okay after getting tortured every night for years? I have become very protective of those I deem friends. I have breathtaking anger management issues when people are treating my friends poorly, I have very little, if any self worth, and honestly? Until I got in a Herd, I just did not care whether or not I lived to the next day so long as my friends were okay.” he sighed. “But i’m getting better every day. I have people who love me, and plenty of opportunities to release my aggression, what with the whole ‘Griffon empire’ situation. I mean really, you hear that a dreamer and a demonic human are part of the royal family now, and you decide to attack? Whoever was the idiot who thought that was a good idea, even when teamed up with the Changelings, I salute their sheer idiocy as superior to my entire species’ record of low I.Q.”

"Wait, what?" Phyll and Duster said in unison.

"What was that about the royal family?" The pegasus asked with wide eyes.

Connor shrugged. “What? My blood sister is Chara Dreamurr. Well, It’s kinda weird, I was blood brothers with her past life… I guess I’m more of an uncle, in this life?” he sighed, exasperated. “That’s the thing with reincarnation when you have a dream being latched onto your soul, it throws everything out of whack.” he then began to think hard. “Yeah, I guess I'm an uncle to her now, since I'm in a herd with Twilight, Luna and Pinkie...” he looked to them and frowned. “What? Are herds not the societal norm here?”

"They are," Phyll replied with equally wide eyes. "But not many are so courageous to court members of the royal family, especially one of the princesses."

Connor shrugged. “And you see, that’s the problem, Why should it take courage to walk up to a beautiful mare, and say ‘Hey, wanna see if the two of us can work together?’ I mean, damn, you’d think it would still be apparent that they are still people! Crown or no, they need friends and loved ones all the same.”

The two ponies looked to each other, no doubt torn about what Connor just told them.

"Well… yeah I guess…" Duster struggled to say.

"But they are our rulers, our betters." Phyll added.

Connor frowned. “And that, that right there, is why it’s lonely to be ruler of a nation, everyone walks on eggshells around you, trying their damndest not to do something wrong instead of just being themselves. Do you think they are made of god dang porcelain? Naw, they are tough as nails. They don’t need us to tread softly around them, they need someone who approaches them as an equal, as someone who knows that they can take some of the weight of being princess away from them, if but for a moment, if for just a second, they can laugh, and smile, without fear of being ripped apart on tabloids or raised on altars, they want to, if but for a moment, step down from the damn pedestal that society puts them up on.”

"So, what you're saying is," Duster spoke up. "We should treat them like everyday normal ponies?"

"That may take some time," Phyll added. "One is touted as a war hero, the other attempted to destroy the world. Fears can be rather… ingrained."

Connor took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm himself as he heard that dirty lie spread by the nobility repeated. “Luna didn’t do that though, she was possessed, that is like saying a person under hypnosis is responsible for their actions, when someone is possessed, they are forced to watch as their own body does things without them, if the eyes are the window to the soul, truly… Then you’d see the true self of a possessed person within their eyes, screaming, pounding on the glass and weeping as they see what atrocities they are forced to commit.”

"Woah…" Duster gasped out. "Gonna have to remember that one." Phyll only closed his eyes and sighed.

"Should our time here serve us well, I would wish to meet them. Our princesses." Phyll whispered before turning over and hiding his face.

"Ditto that!" Duster said excitedly.

Connor smiled and rested in his bed. “All in good time, guys. Now, how about I teach you about the dreaming some during our time at rest?”

Duster nodded his head vigorously as Phyll only shrugged, but shivered slightly.

Connor nodded and tapped each of their foreheads, letting my energy mark them temporarily. “There, now when we sleep, I can enter your dreamscapes, and help you get to the first step of becoming a dreamer, breaking free of the illusions of Hypnos.”

"This is gonna be so cool!" Duster said excitedly as he lay on his back. "I can't wait to see what I'm made of!"

"It would be best if you spent more time with Feather," Phyll muttered. "He would never let me hear the end of it otherwise."

Connor shrugged, “Once we are in the dreaming realm, I can talk to you both, sort of like on a telephone, but I’m just focusing on the two of you.”

He then focused as he sat up in a meditative pose. “You two relax, as an unbonded you will have an easier time entering the dream realm while relaxed, I am focusing my mind on shifting us over to a neutral realm, as an attempt to weaken hypnos’s hold on your minds.”

The two did as told and closed their eyes, letting their bodies relax and ease into sleep.

As they came to in the dream realm, they were greeted by Connor, dressed not in his war apparel, but in casual wear. “Hey, you made it, nice. I’m Connor’s ego, kinda took a bit of a beating the last few years, but I’m still here. Now, you are looking for the big guy, so i’ll lead you to him, he sent me to get you two when he couldn’t break through Hypnos’s illusions. Also, gotta say, phyll, you are damn cute as a mare, you should own that shit, anyway, i’ll head on over to the boss, no worries, he’ll barely have any recollection of what I saw.”

Duster blinked at Connor's ego before looking at Phyll. For a split second, the pegasus thought he saw a lime green mare with Chlorophyll's massive mane only slightly smaller before blinking to see the same dark green stallion he always did.

"Uhhh…" To say Duster was weirded out would be an understatement. Phyll only snorted as he motioned for the pegasus to follow. "Wait! You're not actually a mare are you?"

"The mind plays tricks on you, Feather." Phyll calmly replied as "he" moved to follow the Ego. Even as the earth pony walked away, Duster could only stand still, flabbergasted.

...for all of ten seconds. "WAIT FOR ME!!" The pegasus shouted as he raced forward.

As the Ego of Connor walked, they reached a large door. The Ego looked to Duster and Phyll, before sighing. “Big guy says i gotta warn ya, once you pass these doors, a normal life aint gonna really be in the cards, you will be like us, see things most people can’t, hear things others can’t, you won’t be crazy, but it will be little comfort, as the rest of your ilk will most likely think so, until you manifest your dream being.”

“I am no stranger to being a social outcast.” Phyll commented as he followed.

“Wait, what was that about being crazy? And you still haven’t told me if you’re actually a mare!” Duster shouted as he ran in headfirst.

The Ego then disappeared into a mist that formed Connor in his boot camp outfit. “Nice to see you got out so easily, speaks well for your potential as dreamers.”

He then brought in two dream beings, one being a humanoid tree with various plants making up its body, with bark armor and horns made of stone shaped after a ram, and the other being a human wrapped in shadows, his hands a blur that seemed to be doing everything and nothing all at once, with a bow and quiver strapped to his back and a brace of daggers at his torso. They both kneeled to them as Connor smirked. “I have found the best possible dream beings for you, and weakened them considerably. Feel free to attempt bonding, all you need to do is reach out to them.”

"Which one's mine?" Duster asked as Phyll sighed with a smile as they reached for the Dryad while Duster shrugged and reached for the shadowed human.

The Dryad frowned at Phyll before nodding. “Until thy mind comes to terms with thine ultimate truth, thy power shall be lesser for thine deceptions unto thyself. May thy search for answers and comradery not be two parallel paths, but one singular one, as we walk the path of the unbound.”

The Rogue looked to Phyll and grinned. “Thy talents will lend themselves well to the arts of subterfuge, theft, and trickery… May we have an eternally beneficial partnership, as we walk the path of the unbound.”

The two dream beings then glowed before becoming orbs of light that flowed into the two ponies. “As the unbound hath been, so shall we be, forever free from the lies of Hypnos as we defend that which we both hold dear, may our might make the very heavens tremble!”

As the two blinked, the pegasus felt a smile creep onto his face as he imagined the possibilities. Chlorophyll however felt a small pit grow in her stomach as "he" looked to Feather, memories and emotions cascading within as if a maelstrom. In the end, the earth pony looked away, a small bit of their heart breaking.

"So, how do we you know… wake up?" Duster asked with a bit of confusion.

Connor frowned and looked to Phyll, before responding to Duster. “I’ll wake you up, but me and Phyll will be right there…”

He then snapped his fingers and Duster was gone. “Care to tell me what’s wrong?”

"It's nothing." The earth pony replied calmly and nigh emotionless.

Connor smirked, before he sat up. “Bullshit, I know what it looks like to be heartbroken, and you looked the part to a T.”

"Everything I've done I have done for him," Phyll replied. "I will continue to do so… but as it stands, he will no longer have need of me."

Connor chuckled. “He will no longer need you? If you honestly think that, well, than I gave you WAY too much credit in the smarts department.” He then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I have seen the way he looks at you, you are very dear to him, hell, if someone tried to hurt you, I’m pretty sure he’d go ballistic.”

Connor sighed, and continued. “We need our loved ones, they give us something to protect, something to fight for when times are at their bleakest. If you think he’ll just throw you away when you are no longer needed to protect him? You need to get your head examined, cause you’ve gone crazy.” He then muttered. “Besides, he already has doubts about his sexuality because of your whole pretending to be a stallion thing.”

Paladin then materialized by connor and bowed to Phyll. “My apologies for his crude behavior, phyll, Had I known my leige would say such things to a soul in love, I would never have informed him of Dusters positive emotions toward you!”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “So what? Should I have left her in the dark about his feelings? That would have been cruel to the extreme.”

The pony simply stood there looking at Connor, expressionless… though their eyes seemed to glisten. “He… I… My family would never allow it,” Phyll finally stated. “They would hunt him to the ends of Equestria should they ever know. I cannot live with myself if I ruined his life so horribly.”

Connor grew visibly angry at that. “Wait, your family would what? I will find them if they try to harm you or Duster! I’ll kill them myself!”

Phyll actually managed to show emotion at this as she blinked. “Their… their network is vast… their influence monolithic… I cannot deny you or the power you hold and share… but we are three…” Her voice began to crack slightly, as did her skin.

Connor held her close and smiled. “You are my sister in arms, if it means you get to be with the stallion you love, I’d fight as if my own sisters happiness was on the line.” He then gave her head a gentle, affectionate pat, a head pat that seemed to sink as the “stallion” fell apart, showing the slightly smaller lime green mare from before.

Said lime green mare now a broken sobbing mess… “I only want to see him happy!” She cried as she slammed her head into Connor’s gut.

Connor smiled warmly. “Then tell him how you feel, I can tell he has agonized for awhile over whether or not to tell you his feelings for you.”

Still sobbing, she sniffed as she steadied herself. “What of our medical training?” She asked. “Should I discard my guise, I may be thrown out for fraud and impersonation…”

Connor smirked. “Impersonating? Simply say that you were under the effects of poison joke and I informed you of a remedy.”

“It can not be that easy…” She said doubtfully.

The Next Day

Lo and behold, it was quite that easy. With the added caveat that no one in her family would be informed, Chlorophyll was smoothly transferred to the mare’s barracks, but not before leaving a bewildered Feather Duster with a quick peck on the cheek.

Connor smirked as he looked to his blushing face. “Seems you have a potential herd mate, Duster, mayhaps you should, oh… reciprocate?”

Unfortunately, no words seemed to reach the pegasus as he simply stared at the mare as she walked away… before promptly fainting.

Connor nodded and began to retrieve a bucket of ice to help Duster feel better when he woke up, as he was fairly certain that he had hit his head on the way down. As he returned, he gently checked Duster for injury before placing him in his bunk and placing his head on both his pillow and connors, to help his recovery from that fainting spell.

“You disgusting beast,” A voice spat out from outside the window, Poison having seen just about everything as she snarled at Connor. “Truly, your kind must feel no shame in sticking your filthy muzzle where it doesn’t belong.”

Connor frowned and pointed to his nose. “I don’t have a muzzle, smart flank mcgee, and in what way should I deign to fake offence so that I don’t shatter your fragile worldview?” he smirked. “In that I am a dream-host? That I’m human? Both? That I was ripped from all I held close and dear just like the princess's own child, and also just like her, forced into a massive shit show I have nothing to do with?” He chuckled. “Let me be really clear with you, you can be as cruel as you want to me, I won’t care, but you harm my brothers and sisters in arms? I will report every single rule you have broken in regards to me in regards to Equestrian military conduct, and have your ass launched from this camp you can’t even manage to say ‘Whoops’. Capiche?” As he finished, his eyes seemed to glow with power, as if he had left no shadow of doubt in his being that he would ruin this mare.

Now visibly snarling, Poison seemed to calm down before going up to the window… leaving a small kiss on the glass. As she left, the glass began to melt and corrode, stopping just before it hit the wood.

Connor simply added “Threatening safety of fellow bootcampers, and sexual misconduct with camp property.” to his list of complaints about Poison... before beginning to walk to the mare in question

and promptly reading his list aloud to her. It listed about four different punishable offences. He then smiled in a falsely sweet manner. “Now, I’m going to warn you, I may be unliked by you, you have every right to your personal dislike of me, but your blatant racism and slander are NOT allowed here.” His smile then became a very real scowl.

"Excuse me!?" She cried as she pulled back.

Connor held up a hand as he kept on going “I was not finished, madame. If you want to have any chance of working out in the military scene, you have to suck it up, and work with people you dislike like a big mare, Hell, if you spontaneously combusted, I’d immediately save you. Because like it or not, we are brothers and sisters in arms, defenders of our homeland, and an important part of keeping it safe. If you want, we can have a duel after this training camp ends, and I’ll not even use any of my “Disgusting” dream magic. BUT, I will NOT stand for your misconduct any further, it is in good faith that you are capable of acting like an adult that I do not immediately report you, UNDERSTAND? “ I let paladins power flow into my voice as I finished, lending a powerful tone to it.

Poison's left eye seemed to twitch violently as she looked on the verge of a mental break before inhaling, exhaling, and spitting on the ground… which slowly started to melt.

"Fine." She spat out as she turned to leave again.

Connor nodded and started to walk to the exercise yard, deciding to do some shadowboxing…

That is, he was, before the whistle for the first lesson went off, and all the medical corp, including Duster, thankfully, arrived for the vital education.

The Drill sergeant, who was oddly enough named Steel Heart, began to lecture us on the ins and outs of medical law, including the fact that patients can refuse healing if they are mortally wounded to the point that healing would only prolong their suffering, that if a patient is comatose at the time of examination that it is the healers job to keep them safe and alive until they wake up, and that above all, that we are to never cause pain or damage to a patient aside from when absolutely necessary.

Connor’s mind was in overdrive as he copied notes of the laws, bylaws, and diagrams showed, creating a practically perfect copy of the lesson in his notebook. He looked to Duster and Phyll to see them also taking great care to take notes, however Dusters were… let’s say low quality. He seemed to still be somewhat dazed by Phyll being a mare, judging from the blush on his face.

Connor made sure to remember to help him study later.

"And remember to maintain your equipment clean and sanitized at all times. Being in a warzone is no excuse for improper care," Steel drolled on. "Now are there any questions?"

Several murmurs were traded between the students until one spoke out. "Weren't aerial drills tomorrow?"

Much to everyone's surprise, the sky had been filled with several winged beings who seemed to blot out the sun...as several darkened orbs fell from the sky and onto the entirety of the campgrounds.

One even fell in the middle of the group… and it was lit.

"BOOOOMB!!!" A unicorn screamed as he tried to raise a shield.

Connor lept to action the second he saw the bomb falling from the sky and jumped over it, shielding them with his body as he raised a dome made from tower shields around him, a shout of “PALADIN!” leaving his lips as he sealed himself in with the explosive.

Paladin instantly materialized and created domes around the other orbs, not leaving a single one uncovered as he looked to Phyll, Duster, and Poison among the now safe group of ponies. “If this is goodbye, please,all of you... live your life well, and take good care of masters loved ones. The damage from the explosions will translate to pain and damage to my master… if he dies, so too do I.” He then looked upward and cast Judgement on the massive group of Gryphons, them falling from the sky like flies. “May thy sins become thy penance, fell cowards, any of thee that survive shall never know the skies as thy safe haven again!”

Paladin then looked to poison and smiled. “My master would never admit it, but he had hoped to heal the rift between the two of thee, and mayhaps become friends… I...have my doubts that shall happen now...” He then looked to the drill sergeant. “Steel heart,sir… please sound the evacuation. If the now flightless gryphons come here for vengeance, we would prefer they only found us, be it alive or dead.” Paladin then looked to the dome and sighed. “We shall focus all our efforts into reinforcing the domes and Connor now, I pray that I am enough.”

With a resolute nod, Steel ran as fast as his hooves could carry him. Of course the many troops and trainees still present kicked themselves into high gear and clustered into small battalions… Duster, Phyll, and Poison separating themselves from the rest.

"Sweeeet Celestia what are we going to do!?" Feather shouted as he looked between Connor's shell and a pacing Chlorophyll. "I mean… can we do anything!?"

Phyll only huffed as she shook her head.

"You're both idiots…" Poison muttered. "But he'll probably haunt me if I don't help you. You, bird brain."

"His name is Feather Duster." Phyll shot back in annoyance.

"...Birdbrain," Poison insisted. "You're pretty good at kicking up dirt, make a few balls for us."

"And why should I listen to you! You melted a window!" The pegasus argued, which seemed to catch Phyll's attention.

"You did what?" The earth pony asked.

One of the bombs went off, and while the blast was contained, a loud shout of pain was heard from inside the dome closest to them.

"Because right now, I'm the only pony here that can get that… dreamer… out of that dome. Balls. Now." Poison insisted as she placed her forehooves on the dome.

"And what will you do?" Phyll asked with a peeved look while Duster made balls of finely packed dirt and gravel.

Choosing not to answer, Poison had begun passionately kissing the dome as her horn began to glow. Slowly, the dome began to wither and rust. With Connor in sight, Poison motioned for Phyll to drag him out.

Blinking, Phyll began to pull Connor out by his feet. "Your name," She asked the unicorn. "What is it?"

Still dripping saliva from an outstretched tongue, Poison stared at the mare. "Petal. Poison Petal."

"Okay I got the balls!" Feather shouted. "Now what!?"

"Now, you and the cross dresser tend to your companion's wounds!" Poison shouted as she pushed a staggering Duster over to Connor's prone body. "My turn…" She muttered as she began poking holes into each dirt ball, filling them with her corrosive saliva.

Another bomb went off, the second of seven, each of the bombs designed to release enough magical energy to level a city block. Connor then grunted, a trickle of blood seeping from his eyes and nose. He looked to Poison and co.. “Run… I’m okay with this… You all have families… I’m just a tagalong… following a friend I lost because they were all I had in my rotten life… I’m not worth it…”

"Can you two shut him up already? Making this much spit takes a lot more concentration than you think…" Poison muttered.

Rolling her eyes, Phyll looked at Connor and huffed. "Oh earth mother…" Soon, vines began to wrap around and lift Connor into the air as the light of the sun began to filter through the vines. "Still not enough…" She cursed.

"Oh! Oh oh!" Feather began to shout. "The Dryad! Call the Dryad!" He said excitedly.

Connor grunted as another bomb went off, a burn mark going out from his shoulder down to his fingertips on the right side.

Snarling, Phyll took a deep breath… "I call to you o spirit of the forest… heed my plea, Dryad!" She called.

And the long slumbering forest answered… The plants and seeds so long slumbering beneath the earth below their hooves growing to enhance Phyll’s healing magic, gathering the vitality of the very earth, long untapped, into healing Connor. The dryad then appeared next to Phyll and smiled. “It is good to see that thy truth hath come to the forefront… Now I may grant my full blessing, once our alpha is healed.” The now female dryad then winked at Duster. “It is also good to know she is true to her feelings regarding you… as the ponies do say, I hear wedding bells.”

Shocked, Feather turned into a sputtering mess. "Wha… b-but I thought…"

"My "fiancee" is well aware of my situation," Phyll replied. "And she can't wait to finally meet you." This small revelation was enough to cause the pegasus to faint… again.

While Connor was being treated, Poison was hard at work ensuring no mercenary encroached upon them, and those that did found themselves losing limbs or their faces as the prepared acid balls pelted any who got too close.

As Duster had fainted, his dream being materialized and began helping Poison fight off the enemy with crossbows, blowdarts, and just about any weapon that a thief would use flickering into view around him, as they aimed at the enemy from mid air. “Honestly, my host has to get over his nerves soon, how else will he be able to consummate the herd?” He then chuckled and winked at the Dryad. “And I would not mind to do some consummating with you, my dear.”

Dryad, who was busy healing Connor, seemed to blush green. “You are fortunate that I have a thing for you, else I would smack you with a tree right now…”

"Ugh, gross me out later!" Poison shouted as she levitates three of her balls. "Focus on the fight!"

The thief smiled mischievously. “Aaw, and here I was going to ask if you wanted me to bless yer husband for a few days, immunise him against poison after all this is over.” He then shot a gryphon in the face before bisecting him. “Ah, gotta love a good brawl!”

"You would do that fo-" Poison's thoughts had left the battle for a split second, long enough for a grifon to lightly cut her face, the blade now sizzling. Growling, Poison punched the bird in the beak, cracking it as she spit into the fracture. "Stop sticking your stupid nose in other ponies affairs!" She cried as she began to beat the now frightened bird to a bloody, melting pulp.

Thief, who was frowning at the display, growled as well, this time at the remaining Gryphons. “You dare strike an ally of Paladins? An ally of Connor’s? Of mine?!” His weapons all disappeared until spheres of shadow began falling like meteors unto the Gryphon ranks, swallowing them up before imploding, leaving compacted balls of gore in their wake that gradually became naught but wisps of shadow.. “DIE!”

"I WASN'T ASLEEP I SWEAR!!" Duster shouted as he scrambled back to his hooves. "Oh… oh wow I missed a lot."

“No frickin duh, boss!” Thief said as he shot one of the last gryphons that dared approach as he looked to Poison. “While boss isn't fond of ya, the Alpha wants to be your friend, he wants to help, to make others lives better!” He then smirked. “Let’s see who changes their mind first, eh?”

Connor grunted, his body fully healed and no longer bleeding, but getting hurt still by the bombs. “Let’s get rid of these bombs…” He said with a grimace. As he summoned Paladin, he then sent the bombs flying into the air , all of them going off far above the battlefield in a harmless manner. “... Why didn’t I think of that sooner…”

"Because you're a bleeding heart!" Poison shouted as she conked an assailant on the head. "I'm out of balls!" She cried as she pulled back to the others.

Connor smirked as he shakily got to his feet, summoning what looked like a miniature sun of golden light. “May the sins of mine enemies be made into recompense, and thy recompense be pain, may their lives be forfeit unto the light of Somnia, JUDGEMENT OF HYPNOS!” he then sent the sun crashing into the enemy forces, the miniature sun bursting with enough force to reduce the remaining Gryphons to ash.

Connors allies, however, were oddly untouched. “Now, how about We clean up this mess, and message Steel Heart that we are all okay…”