My Little Tactics

Chapter Seventeen: Reputation.

Like before after the incident of the slave camps Dustan found himself being reluctantly let go by hospital officials but this time they had been a lot more courteous about things, which was rather strange for Dustan. It was mostly due to the fact they kept using polite terms with him please, thank you, if you would, and how they said it that kept him on his toes. Always feeling like the other boot, or rather horseshoe, was going to drop any moment. So quickly once he was officially released he put on the clothes from his pack though his armor, both leather and bronze, were now shipped home so all that left him for protection was the cloak of T.G. Cid himself and the hood that covered his face.

It was a good thing as well as the hospital seemed swamped as well, ponies and even some other species were all crowded in the lobby and even out of the door itself all clamoring to be seen or heard in some fashion. As such he was having a hard time getting through the crowd that for the most part ignored him. Well all ignored him except for one.

A large Diamond Dog pulled at his arm. “’Scuse me brother, but ‘ave you seen ‘im?”

The voice of the diamond dog, while still rough no pun intended, was not the horrible broken speech he would have expected. “Um who? I was just released from here so I have no clue who you are talking about.”

“You ‘aven’t eard?” It seemed the dog had a bit of a problem with his H sounds but no problem with TH. When Dustan shook his head the dog continued. “The ‘uman.” Ok now dog had his attention. “They said ‘e caught the monster, that ‘e has the strength of a ‘undred dogs.”

The talk between him and the Dalmatian looking anthropomorphic dog was overheard as a pegasus mare who had been winging in the air turned and joined in on the conversation. “Are you kidding, I heard it was the speed of the human that did the trick, moving faster than a Wonderbolt on their best day.”

Ok Dustan had not been expecting this, in fact he was slightly unnerved by it and felt some of his old wallflower tendencies creep up on him as he slowly tried to edge himself out of the conversation as another pony came up, this one a unicorn. “I heard he used some lost magic from a kingdom that nopony has ever seen from thousands of years ago.”

‘Ok that one is not…inaccurate.’ Dustan thought to himself with a mental chuckle as he bumped into another who was getting in on the conversation.

He couldn’t even say ‘excuse me’ before the pony rushed to join in the conversation. “I heard that it was his sword play and weird foreign techniques that did the trick against the monster, all of which he learned from his guild.”

‘Ok how did they know I am part of a guild? Also what is that pony?’ The pony for all intense of purposes looked like a pegasus save for a few differences. One was the edges of her ears being frillier looking like feathered edges. Second the pegasus had enormous wings, Alicorn sized for sure or maybe even a tad larger. Third, instead of a normal bushy tail, she had a mix of fur and feathers as a tail, which looked fitting and reminiscent of something for some reason that he couldn’t place.

“Couldn’t be.” The dog said while standing up proud. “It said that ‘e was stronger than a pack.”

“No way!” the pegasus in the air said flapping harder making a bit of wind that billowed open the humans cloak somewhat. “Speed wins battles; that is why the Wonderbolts are the elite air squadron of all squadrons.”

“Nonsense.” The unicorn in the heated discussion nearly shouted. “Magic is the tactically superior way to win a fight, hit it at a range and reduce it to a pile of smoldering ash before it can reach you.”

“That isn’t true everypony. I spoke so some of the ponies that were there and-” However the mare was cut off as it seemed each of the three in the heated discussion were slowly getting others in the crowds that were backing them, calling for speed, strength, or magic over all others. However, it seems that the heavily feathered pegasus had just about had enough as she shouted. “Quiet!” As she flared open her wings causing a rather warm burst of air to hit all in the lobby hard, especially those near her like Dustan who had to shield his face from it.

“Holy shit!” The knight couldn’t help but call out as the warmth rushed past him and out the lobby doors.

Seems that the burst of air had quiet everyone there including the large winged pony whom started to apologize to everyone. “Sorry, sorry everypony sorry, so-” That last sorry was being directed at him, or at least he thought it was the start of a sorry as the beige eyes of the cyan and purple winged pony just gawked at him. “Oh my.”

“What?” Was all Dustan was able to say before he could see more and more individuals starting to turn to stare at him making him more than a bit self conscious. The pegasus that had been calling out for his speed in the battle’s wings were beating steadily but that was the only sound, though the breeze did feel nice on his hair that he should get cut and oh no his hood was down.

The realization struck him just as somepony called out loudly. “It’s HIM!”

Fight or Flight instincts are something else as the moment that was called, all ponies rushed towards him and his feet were in the middle of their third step away from the crowd. The problem with this was that he had been surrounded from the start but luck was on his side as the stairs were very close next to the few ponies that seemed to be locked in place as they stared at him. Muttering a quick excuse me he burst into the stairwell seconds before ponies and species of all types came rushing after him clamoring things that he couldn’t understand in the jumble of voices. Thankfully it seems the steadfast earth ponies were the ones that got into the stairwell first as the door was mostly clogged up by them and some of the taller species like the diamond dog he was talking to. This allowed Dustan to get up a few flights of stairs before the first pegasus squeezed through.

The human managed to get up the last flight of stairs barely in time to close it behind him as the pegasus banged into the door. “Sorry!”

He felt sorry for the air born pony for sure but now was not the time for that, now was the time for escape. He had not yet given thought to why he was running only that he needed to in order to escape the attention. Problem was he had considered the emergency escape as a way down but could hear ponies climbing up that so that was a no go. All four sides of the building offered no haven for him no way to escape his situation except to be trapped on top.

The building that was two floors lower however was another story. It looked to be some kind of parking garage judging by the chariots he saw dotting the top of the structure. However a two story drop was not something he was sure he could do without sustaining an injury or two at the least.

“We should strip him; I want to see if he is completely hairless like the rumors say.” A voice from the emergency escape called out.

The statement was all that he needed to hear to make his choice. ‘Free Parking here I come!’ Backing up to make the most of his running room, it was a rather long jump, but with an angle of two stories difference he hoped that it would make up for it. “NO DOUBLES!”

No pony understood the monopoly reference at all it seemed as they all stared at him first in confusion then in horror as he jumped from one building angling towards the other. In the middle of the air as gravity started to take hold of him and there was nothing below him but a six story drop his mind blared at him how much of a stupid idea this was. So much more when the descent brought on by gravity became more and more obvious that he was going to end up short.

‘Make it, make it, make it, make it!’ Those were repeated in his head over and over till they blurred together in a word that sounded nothing like the two that started it. His wishes were brought forth as his feet planted firmly on concrete before his knees buckled as he tried to roll to mitigate any damage he was to take.

Sadly his left ankle said that he had not done so quickly enough as he rolled and started to cast cure once he was upright. Ponies were quickly shouting on escape route to go down to the next building but by the time they could even start moving Dustan had already removed the swelling of his ankle and was up running again. Two ramps brought him down to the second floor where he jumped right out of one of the open areas of the building to come crashing down into a bush, the reason for that is he heard pegasi above him as they must have come from the hospital rooftop after the door slammed on the other, he really hoped they were ok.

Seeing there was nothing to do, he did his best to hide himself in the bushes that he had landed in, his brown cloak actually being rather useful to make him somewhat blend in with the bushes coloration with the leaves being brown along with its twigs holding up those leaves. No pony had left him alone for nearly an hour before finally the searches became more and more scarce. It would be another hour after that before Dustan felt himself become confident enough to get out of the bushes. He just had to make it to the suite as Cadance told him that he could use it for about another few more days via letter. Though he knew if that wasn’t possible he could always head to the train station to get a ride back to Ponyville.

As he was walking around Manehattan now unbothered by those wanting attention, he was able to think as well as realize how naked he felt without his axe or sword at his sides. Both of them having been transported back home as well. Granted he still had his magic, but that didn’t mean much as a knight at the moment.

‘Wait, why am I still a knight?’ He knew he wouldn’t have to fight anytime soon so why not switch? ‘Then again I have no weapons, no shields, and if I am worried about running away then I have a much better choice that GIVES me a weapon or two.’ Stopping on the sidewalk he concentrated on that feeling of mental transition that he had felt before then confidently stated in his mind. ‘Monk!’

The result was instantaneous as before as he felt parts of himself seemingly lurch around only in subtle ways as he wasn’t testing via something he couldn’t equip. He felt faster, his legs felt stronger making him both faster and lighter on his feet, he felt agile, and mostly he also now felt comfortable with his fists. Grinning and nodding to himself in satisfaction he decided to have a jog to see how his stamina would hold up. The answer to that question was surprisingly well as he managed to get to the block with the hotel in good time, even better was that Dustan seen no pony out in the front or in the lobby of the hotel.

The monk loved the fact his eyesight was better than a majority of all ponies period, helped him to blend in as a Diamond dog, read signs much easier at a distance, and actually helped him read books. The latter being as most pony books were in rather large font do to their eyesight being worse, which makes up for the fact he was farsighted, something the pony tests didn’t really play up for his tests seeing as his eyesight was better all around. He would have needed glasses back home for reading or anything of that nature but here it wasn’t a problem at all.

The hotel staff seemed to recognize him and though most remained professional the monk could tell they were happy and excited to see him. Smiling politely he thanked them for allowing him to use the Princess’ suite the last few days, and though he knew it was Cadance that set it up that way, the hotel staff claimed it was no problem at all. The elevator ride up was done simply and the elevator manager avoided looking at him as much as possible, likely recalling their previous encounter if it was the same pony, which to Dustan it looked to be the case. Once inside the suite he right away started to relax on the couch only to be interrupted by his stomach demanding something more than bane of all life in existence, of course he was thinking of hospital food.

He found the fridge, while not completely bare, didn’t have much left in it, but could last him two, maybe three days if he prepped it right. Or one day depending on how his stomach demanded food at the moment. Forty five minutes later he was sporting a rather nice lunch that consisted mostly of breakfast items and an errant fish that was left. After a good meal he decided to get a nice shower something the hospital couldn’t exactly help him with. The soothing warm water over his body was almost just as good as the meal he ate and with his body washed thoroughly, his belly full, and no longer having to think of important matters, he felt his body demanding rest. Though he had gotten plenty of it at the hospital he knew his body was still recovering both physically and mentally.

Overall he was feeling at peace with everything around him, or maybe it was the monk’s mentality that made him feel that way. ‘This is nice. I should visit the classroom soon; I haven’t looked since the Malboro fight and I wonder if anything changed.’ Dustan wasn’t really away of his surroundings fading away in the middle of his thoughts though as walls melted, scenery changed and soon he found himself laying on an identical couch in the place he wished to visit.

It took him nearly five whole minutes before he actually noticed himself and found that the instant he was startled the scene broke apart and flashed back into the hotel room. Needless to say his heart didn’t stop pounding for nearly an hour before the adrenaline wore off and he felt exhausted again. However this time instead of going to relax, Dustan started to dig through his supplies. Various items were still accounted for as was the main important one he always checked up on. The tear shaped stone with the symbol of Virgo on it was still there.

Looking deeply at it the monk sighed and simply said. “No one must ever get a hold of you. It will be a duty that I will likely have to carry my whole life, even if you are just a pretty stone and didn’t receive any powers.” However he knew deep down that wasn’t true, the stone’s luster, the way it shimmered was too enticing not to think it had some kind of power to it, it was just unnatural in that way. Maybe he was over thinking it, maybe he was fine.

Didn’t matter, it was his duty now. The merchant had sent him here with this, turning it real he felt, as had the other merchant turned his simple wooden carving to a real Blood Sword. His armor had changed when he arrived, he had changed. Dustan had been granted powers and abilities that were impossible to be had by anyone of his home world, he had been transported to a world that was fiction for all, and monsters that didn’t exist there but in the game that he emulated was. Too many things were apparent in his life now to ignore them all as simple coincidences.

His presence was changing things for good and bad. Zecora was no longer lonely sure, but her life was now more social whereas before she was the mysterious shaman that doled out advice and rhymes. Now she often goes to the town to pick up items or sell the things he had made. Ponies were flocking to the castle that he was rebuilding in an effort to make it better, and while he viewed it as a positive change, part of him was scared that one of those ponies he brought there would do something to change things for the worse.

‘The road to hell is paved with good intensions.’ Dustan silently wondered if such intensions as his were indeed the road to Tartarus here.

Suddenly from in his pack he heard a click and music started to play. Looking into his bag he found the music box that Cadance had bought for him playing its tune. It had brought him back from the darkness. He was always being looked out for friends large and small it seemed. The music started to slow showing it needed to be wound up again so he did.

As he lay down after winding it up he happened to glance at a calendar. ‘Well what do you know?’

The first day of winter, it was a special day for sure; it likely meant that the pegasi would be rolling out the snowy clouds, something he couldn’t wait for. It also meant he would need to see Rarity to make sure all his winter apparel was good to go. She had doubled check his measurements for sure but still, needed to be gotten from her, likely taking up too much space at her home. There was also the last thing this day meant, something important, something special if only to one person.

‘Happy birthday Patrick.’ His friend was a year older now, the first birthday away from those that he knew would celebrate it with passion, it was a bit of a bitter realization at that, turning his good relaxing day from the hospital and ending it on a slightly sour note.

The next found Dustan in a much better mood as when he looked outside of the suite’s window he saw snow, or what was left of it as street sweeping ponies were clearing it out. He felt that giddiness that never left him as a child for when he saw the first snow. The world around him was changing in such a magical way, or at least that is how he saw it, and though knowledge had come to tell him what caused it the feeling when he saw the first snow fall never left. Dustan found himself whistling a tune for breakfast clearing out the last bits of edibles that he didn’t finish off last night for his dinner after he had napped. Following that came a shower that while colder then he would have liked starting out did warm up.

Putting on a few layers of clothing, as the human could tell just from the chill of the window, he was going to need it. “Alright, time to head out I guess. Back to Ponyville and see how things are coming along without me, or maybe despite me, hard to say.”

As he left the hotel he gave a wave to the ponies operating the desk wishing them a good day, of which they returned quite happily. The train station was desolate for the most part; ponies were either inside getting warm or planning how the holidays would start for them. Either way it worked for him as it meant he could say goodbye to this world’s version of the Big Apple in peace. Pulling out his music box he felt himself calm as before and smiling as that feeling of being at peace with the world around him came.

Dustan kept his eyes closed for an amount of time he honestly couldn’t say, maybe thirty minutes or an hour, all he knew was that when he was opening his eyes he thought he caught glimpses of the armor stands from the classroom before the sound of a train whistle startled him out of his tranquil state making him wonder if he really saw them or not. By this time he had also spotted more than just himself at the platform but other ponies as well all boarding the train and showing their tickets off. It seems as if Ponyville was the first stop on today’s train so he would be getting off relatively quick, about an hour or two at best, or so he though till he was greeted with the schedule.

‘Thirty minutes but wh-oh this is apparently one of the newer model trains from Union Ponies? Is that an Equestrian equivalent of Union Pacific?’ Shrugging he decided to head to his cabin. Dustan didn’t honestly care, as long as he got back faster that was great news as far as he was concerned. Looking out the window of his cabin he watched the world fly by. It had been almost a month since he had been back in Ponyville, he was actually excited to see the small town covered in snow, as well as getting his winter clothing.

The train whistle woke him up as it seemed he had dozed off thanks to the combination of the warm cabin, the white noise that was the train moving over tracks, and feeling content generally. Gathering his things he left the train, no suspicious glances his way or anything marking either a refreshing change or an unusual one. Looking over the town he could see holiday decorations up all over unlike in Manehattan, after all it was getting close to Christmas and that being interchangeable with Hearth’s Warming it wasn’t any wonder.

‘Glad I got my shopping done before I left for Manehattan; though I wish I had more time to grab some souvenirs from there. Oh well.’ However before he could even think about doing anything else he still had one last thing for his job.

No pony was out and about because the snow, while lovingly covering Ponyville in a veil of white, made no one really want to venture out of their warm homes. In the distance he caught a glimpse of light coming from the library which made him smiling knowing that some of his friends were nice and warm. The boutique was the same way, along with the warm inviting glow of Sugarcube corner. Seems like all of his friends in town were nice and warm which was great.

However the monk had to speed up his foot work to get to his destination as his clothing still wasn’t up to par. ‘First stop after this is seeing Rarity for sure!’ Dustan loved snow, but he didn’t love it enough to get hypothermia. Opening the door and coming in, the warmth of the guild spread through him. Bottles of cider littered the place, streamers and everything as well. “Guess they had a party recently.”

Some of the tales that Pinkie and Mystic had spun for him was that partying for successful jobs, especially big ones, wasn’t uncommon for the guild, making the human guess that someone had scored big. While good for them he wasn’t here for that. What he was here for was behind the door of the manager’s office, the office of whoever was currently in charge or the highest ranking of the guild that was present. They were required to be there for not only job distributions but for clientele when they come in.

As such when Dustan knocked on the door he had no doubt someone was there. “Hey Dustan!”

Opening the door was the fiery guild leader herself wearing a huge smile. “Hey Allure, didn’t except you to be back already.”

The dragon pony giggled at that and waved him in. “I know, I like to pop in a lot, but that isn’t the only reason.” Sitting down she smiled. “I am making Ponyville the main headquarters of the Misfit Guild. So I have been busy moving my important documents here and such, getting settled, finding a place to live that sort of thing.”

“Oh nice, will be glad to see more friendly faces around.” The cloak wearing human was honestly glad for Allure’s move, having more unusual faces around meant he wasn’t so unusual anymore and while that wasn’t a big deal in Ponyville anymore, it was still nice to see diversity.

“Well it’s all thanks to you.” His confusion showed brightly on his face as she grinned. “Oh that’s right no one has told you have they, good that means I get to break the news.”

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, but the strange thing is he wasn’t sure if they were doing so in a good or bad way, it was very much a weird feeling. “Ok…what news?”

Standing up the coy fish patterned pony went to the window to look out at the silent town and spoke. “You went way out of your way to help Manehattan, word has spread all over. You have the Princess of love to thank for that.” Giving a stretch with a few pops sounding along her spine she continued. “During every meeting while you were out cause of your injuries, of which everyone around here was worried about when we heard, she was telling everyone she could who lead the Manehattan guard forces after discovering the source of the murders. She made you out to be quite the leader, made mention of your magic, your tactics, and personality. In other words she painted a very flattering picture.”

“I think I ran into some of those effects when I was getting out of the hospital. Ponies as well as other species all wanted a part of me. Sad to say I up and ran in fright.” That earned a laugh not only from the guild leader but himself as well. “Honestly I have no clue why I ran, just so many of them wanting to get all in my personal space just kicked my fight or flight response in high gear.”

“I’ll bet.” Moving to come back to her seat she pulled something out from under the desk. “Hot chocolate?” It was a thermos and a cup to which he gave a nod. “Oh hold on, it’s cold.” Pursing her lips a small silvery flame came out that turned the metal of the thermos hot for a few seconds before she poured him a cup of the beverage. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Sipping the offered drink made him hum in pleasure.

She waved off his thanks. “No need to thank me. After all because of you the guild can afford this move and more.” Stopping mid sip Dustan looked at her. “Because of your actions being known, it got out what guild you work for. Ponies came rushing in from all over to our branch offices to sign up. We have more recruits then ever in our history. Meaning we can afford to expand and open up to more job opportunities as well as earn more commissions. Speaking of, the nice hefty reward you earned for guarding the princess as well as the net gain the guard forces sent over as thanks from Manehattan were…let’s just say even with the guilds ten percent cut for jobs like this, you more than paid for some of our bills.” Laughing harder she leaned back in her chair. “Not to mention the princesses sending over a reward for and I quote ‘outstanding Equintarian work above and beyond the call of duty’ Let’s just say your castle is going to barely need any more payments at all, especially with all the new workers coming in to work on the ‘Castle of the Hero’.”

The more and more the dragon pony talked the more and more Dustan stared wide eyed at her. “Ok hold on. You say my mission payment, Manehattan reward, and a reward from the princesses came in along with workers to want to work on the castle cause of my fame? How much and how many?”

She pulled out a folder having seemed to have it ready for him just for this. “Let me get my camera.” She said as she slide the folder over to him while searching in the drawers of her desk. “Got it, go ahead.”

The folder was thicker then he liked opening up he could see page after page of profiles for ponies, stallions and mares, not to mention some griffons, diamond dogs. Hell there was even a parrot and a dragon. The summery for all the manpower was quite sizable; fifty individuals alone came to help him here. Then there was the profit report.

His eyes widened slowly, very slowly as he seen the number behind each reward getting larger and larger till it showed the total sum at the bottom. “Excuse me?!”

There was a bright flash. “Aha that is the shot!” The Polaroid-esc photo came out of the camera as she smiled. “Love it!”

“Ok hold on.” Dustan was kind of freaking out, the sum was too large. “This can’t be right, they couldn’t have given me this much money right?”

Allure gave a nod and smiled. “You’re right.”

“Oh thank goodness.” The human gave a sigh of relief at this. “I am not sure how to handle that kind of-”

“Its half.” The kirin grinned larger at him as his legs failed him when he heard her correctly. “I went ahead and invested the other half into your castle. Like I said, you won’t have many payments left.”

“I don’t think I deserve all that.” Dustan muttered numbly. “I just helped out the guard there, I didn’t do all that much.”

A sharp quick HA came from the leader of the guild. “Didn’t do much? You solved a city wide paranoia problem that was about to tear the city apart, you discovered the identity of the creature committing it, putting to rest the racial prejudice plaguing the city, you stopped what was possibly a potential city wide nightmare in the physical sense as well and possibly a nationwide one if that thing managed to overtake the city and spread further. All of this while keeping a cool head, thinking things through, planning, not rushing in, and you even risked your own life to save others. Face it, no matter what you think, you are a hero and not you or anyone at this point can claim otherwise.”

“I am sorry sir, but another donor has backed out of the funding for your ‘project’ after hearing word of another project that is being worked on by-” The suit wearing butler pony ducked quickly as a vase sailed over his head and shattered against the wall.

The rust colored pony responsibly for throwing the now shattered porcelain growled loudly before shouting. “The bucking human, I know!” Logistics Trail wasn’t happy. His project needed funding and his Hero status had waned drastically the last few months. “Any word on who has been spreading the rumors about me? About what I did to the human to keep him from the books?”

The butler was busy sweeping up the shattered remains of the flower holding object as she stated simply. “No sir. As it remains all we know about the mystery informant that has been, as you eloquently put it ‘blabbing her whorse mouth all over’ to the more publically acclaimed nobles and to the public is named Sunny Skies. That is all we know. The problem is with the backing of the beloved Fancy Pants the rumors won’t go away.”

Logistics was biting down on his hoof now as he growled louder. “I know that much moron! There are already petitions calling for my name to be repealed from the books and replaced. The legislation for the removal of the law of protection that I used has already cleared and is just waiting for its enforcement date to come up. Ha, Hearth’s Warming. At that point though I am still covered under the law since what I did come BEFORE the repeal. However it means that most will use it as an excuse to try to reinstate that mutant back into the books. More of my fame will be carved away and I will be left with none worshiping me as I should be. I went through hell in that slave camp.”

“But sir you told me you found the secret hideaway the first day you were brought there as it looked like it was a diamond dog stash.” The butler was wiping his hooves at a job well done as the rust colored unicorn threw another vase at him from a different table.

“And do you know how discussing that food was. No pony of my station should have to stomach that. That is why I started freeing other ponies, so they could try to turn that slop into something edible.” Chuckling to himself he went on. “Then I came to realize that those same ponies saw me as a liberator, so I used that to my advantage. I knew that only the elite would make it out as we are so much better.” Two more vases went sailing to different parts of the room. “Then that creature showed up and somehow pulled off a miracle. I was supposed to come out with a hoofful of survivors against impossible odds, spin tells of how those creatures used us and that how others had bravely volunteers for the job that I myself was going to do. Really though, I had rigged things up before to go off automatically thanks to a few useful time delay spells.”

Logistics was now overturning tables and furniture left and right, this had not been the first tantrum of this nature that the butler had overheard and he knew it wouldn’t be the last, in fact he could predict what was going to be said word for word. ‘I was to come out a hero for the ponies to look up to. I would call for funding publically for a project that I would then sneak out to where the real work was going on with my secret investors. I would be hailed a hero for generations to come for supplying this world with just what it needed when it needed it most.’

Truth was a lot of money Logistics had been sneaking out for himself as well which is why his project that was the front of his operation, a charity for enslaved ponies all around, was losing funding rapidly towards its goal. Not just because he was siphoning off the funding for the ‘other’ project but because Logistics himself was stealing from it. In truth only about a tenth of the funding went to the place it was supposed to go.

“We need to do something Faithful Servant.” Logistics called to the butler by name meaning that his rant was now over. “I have an idea so I want you to send the message to my associates. We need to make it look like it’s this Human that is spreading the rumors about me. Somehow discredit him and make his achievements look less.”

Faithful was just as his name suggested, loyal to the one he served and he had to say something. “Sir that would be unwise. The survivors of the camp had already been thoroughly interviewed time and time again supporting the rumors. At this point they are being taken as facts and-”

“Quite you bucking mudpony!” The unicorn noble told him. “Do what I pay you to do. This will make me come out smelling of roses and the human smelling of horseapples.”

Sighing the butler bowed and nodded. “Yes sir, right away sir.” Faithful had served the Trail family for now three generations, since Logistics grandfather and he couldn’t believe how far the apple had fallen. Trail Seeker was an extraordinary Stallion who explored territories unknown to Equestria all for the betterment of finding new culture and to bring trade to Equestria from them. Logistics’ father before that followed that vein as well. Trail Blazer was one who wished to expand even further and wanted to come to understand the cultures his father had contacted, not only to better relations but in general to show there was nothing to be afraid of the other races.

It had been a tragedy when Blazer was found killed by bandits on the road. Most of the current wealth the Trail family had was from the Princess who gave them the noble title and the rewards for heroics for ponykind. Logistics had squandered it all as a petulant entitled noble whom thought the world should revolve around him. The kidnapping, while Faithful hated it, thought it was also a good thing, hoping that it would teach the noble some humility and steer him to the right path. It had steered him alright, but now into a full blown mockery to what his family stood for.

‘This project…it can’t stand.’ Passing by the portraits of the previous generations of the household before the exit Faithful gave a bow. ‘I am sorry, but I can’t do this no longer my lords. I have been faithful to you and your ideals and to see your grandson and son step on them with what he wishes to do. I can no longer do it. I will be going to the princess to report him. Celestia save him for I cannot.’

Faithful Servant, loyal to the Trail family for three generations, walked out knowing that he would have no place left to come back to all while shedding tears for what he had to do.

Dustan carried a sack on his shoulder with all his new winter clothing, well minus the one he was wearing which kept him nice and warm along with, surprisingly, a new set of fur lined boots. It wasn’t Rarity who handed of the clothes but her younger sister Sweetie Belle along with the other crusaders while Rarity was over at the treebary taking measurements of everypony making double sure about things so that she could make dresses for all her friends.

Honestly Dustan wouldn’t be caught dead at the Grand Galloping Gala but when Sweetie Belle told him that her sister was even making him a suit. He had some suspicions about his attendances no longer being voluntary, especially if it was Celestia who was involved. With that he was glad he paid for all his clothes in advanced, and thanks to the crusaders for stuffing his new duds in a sack so he could carry it all, he wouldn’t have to make multiple trips, which Rarity would have insisted on so as not to wrinkle anything.

Arriving at Zecora’s hut he found a note on the door. ‘If it is your wish to find me, the castle grounds are where I will be.’

Quickly finding the hidden key to the hut he went to place his clothing away and found not even Boko was there, meaning she was with Zecora as well. However there were his weapons and armors. Quickly donning those things, the leather under his heavy coat and cloak, his sword at his right hip, and the axe in the loop at his left hip he felt once more secure in his being. It both worried him that he felt more comfortable armed and armored then he did without them, but also comforted him as it spoke to his nature in becoming more adept of being a warrior. He did change his class as his body violently lurched about wearing armor and using weapons, so he went back to his steady and true class of Squire.

Giving a couple of test swings with both weapons and holstering them Dustan started off to the castle to see what was there. As he got close there came the sound of heavy padded feet before the tell tale sound of a certain white feathered magical creature.

“Kweh!” Boko called out as she seen him and promptly pounced on him.

Giving an oomph he found the giant land bound avian nuzzling his chest giving off various coos. “I missed you too girl, now let me up, the snow isn’t a good place to lay down in.” She seemed to understand his worlds letting him up and letting him get a good look at her. The bird was now as big as a point and it seemed she was hitting her growth spurt. Gone now was all the down from her body, though it did seem she had grown a nice thick coat of feathers for the winter making her look very comfortable and warm. She also blended in so well with the snow that he wouldn’t be surprised if she played hide and seek and won for days at a time. “Who is a good girl, who is a big girl too?” Smiling he pulled her close in a hug. “It’s you!” The Chocobo answered with a pleased sounding Kweh and nuzzled him though the trotting of a pony caught their attention.

What came out was Zecora huffing. “Boko there you are. I am pleased to know you didn’t go far.” However as she looked up further she looked surprised for a moment before smiling and ran up to Dustan and gave him a hug. “I am pleased to see you champ. We have all heard that you gave that menace in the city a great stamp.”

“Really, you will have to tell me what all you heard about. I was coming to check in on the castle as well as see what everyone was up to.” Dustan returned her hug before helping her back to her hooves as she had to rear up to actually give him said hug. “For now though I am glad to just be back in once piece.”

“Indeed, of that I couldn’t agree more.” Zecora said trotting ahead in her coat while swaying her tail said to side. “When we get to our destination you will have to give out your battles lore.”

Of course, likely everyone was waiting for a good story. Well, he had one to give alright.

Author's Note

Another chapter brought to you as promised. I hope you all enjoy it, I have been working hard to keep this sunday release schedule. Not going to lie, some days I cut it really close and some days I have it down almost the day I post the previous ones. That is how inspiration works haha.

Edit: I had to change whose birthday it was as I realized it was a conflict of information already available.