My Little Tactics

Chapter Twenty Three: Normalcy?

The aftermath of Discord’s return mostly faded with his return to his stony prison. The sun and moon were now back on their normal celestial tracks guided by the two sisters, clouds were back to being fluffy and white while giving rain instead of the chocolate milk they once gave, grass was green and was either managed by ponies or grew as it would normally instead of in checkerboard patterns. Everything was back to normal, except Dustan.

Having been rushed into intensive care, his exposure to the high amount of Chaotic magicks made it so that normal Harmonic magic failed, meaning no magical healing, and no unicorn’s holding tools via levitation. Along with his alien anatomy the surgeons had no idea of how well they did or even if he would make it. It was only the result of luck that he lasted long enough to eventually have the Chaotic magic in his system fade enough where healing magicks could be used properly. It took three long weeks before Dustan could keep his eyes open for any amount of time and as he woke up properly he started getting visits.

The first was from Merlene, who right away lamented her failure of protecting him. Normally the human’s reaction to this would be to roll his eyes and answer in a teasing way, though this time he gave her a serious answer.

“Merlene, trust me. You can’t protect everyone from everything all the time, especially if Discord was interested in me. He literally can warp reality to his whim. If he wanted me alone he would turn you to a frog or send you to the other side of the world or something. You are meant to protect me from things that can be stopped, of which so far you have done a great job.” Though that didn’t completely soothe the wren, it did cheer her up some and save some of her pride.

The next was more of a group that came in, Eden, Sturdy, Mystic, and Allure all showed up. Eden didn’t talk much but instead started to set flowers around that she said would help him sleep easier at night as well as give a calming effect. That and color to the stark white hospital room he found himself in. Sturdy basically came to check on him as well and to inform him of how Castle Luminary was fairing. Apparently they had started to get mail from all over Equestria. Seems his fight with Discord had not been as private as he had hoped it would have been and somehow it had gotten out what he did.

“We have letters from the Griffon kingdoms, Minos, even one from the Dragon Lands, as well as a place I have never even heard of. Then again I am not really world traveled so that isn’t saying much.” Setting the letters down and within reach in case Dustan wanted to read them, though they were already opened showing that someone had been keeping themselves informed. “Yeah that was Merlene, she went through each of your letters to see if there were any threats, she only skimmed them so I am not sure how much she knows. Other than that no one has read them.”

That had been something that Dustan had noticed. “Thank you Sturdy. I will read them later for sure.” Many in the castle had stopped using many of the racial conventions when using terms like someone, instead of somepony, somedragon, somegriffon, and more. Hopefully that was a good sign. “Hope it’s nothing too important, kinda holed up here for a bit till my body recovers fully.”

Dustan got a bit of a surprise as the next one to talk to him was Mystic, the human thought for sure that he was here to hear of what magicks he used against the preverbal god of chaos. Instead Mystic had brought some food knowing how much food in hospitals sucked as well as the fact he was genuinely worried. As they got to talking it seemed that his hospitalization reminded Mystic of what had been sacrificed back in the slave camp where they first met.

“You sure showed that rainbow of animal parts whose boss.” Allure told him as she was next in the group. Though her statement puzzled him.

“Technically I lost against him. I failed three of the five challenges he gave me since he won the last one.” Dustan sighed knowing that when Discord got free he was in for a world of trouble.

“That isn’t what I heard, though not sure about the losing part, since no one could hear what you two talked about. I do know what others saw though.” As she said that the injured man right away started to think on who could have seen anything at all. “I mean that last attack against Discord before the Element’s put him back into stone as well as Discord even admitting you won. Least that is what I have heard.”

“Last strike?” Sadly though by the time he asked that the nurse came to inform everyone visiting hours were over for the day.

With them gone and him snacking on some food, he found several things that day that would make his dreams better, beyond the flowers and good food, he found someone had brought his music box into the room. Winding it up, he prepared for a well deserved night of sleep for his recovering body. Except he wouldn’t be going to his dreams right away.

Instead he found himself in the dual brown checkerboard patterned room of the classroom. Standing up and in no pain he smiled. Not stiffness, no fatigue nothing, the dream world was really something. After stretching though he felt himself stiffen as that feeling from the last few times he visited returned.

“I swear the statues watch me.” He muttered to himself though now looking around at said stands he noticed something, well two something’s right away: The Black mage and The Squire armor stands had a beam of light focused on them. ‘Ok that is new.’ Moving up to the first one, the caster of the two, he opened up the skill list and had his eyes nearly bug out. ‘THE FUCK?!’

There was a new skill there now. One that wasn’t present in this game, though was present in its successors though in different job classes. The spell: Water. What was more was that it was learned now instead of just being something new to be learned. Its powered up versions were there as well, Watera, Waterga, and Waterja. Dustan could think of nothing to say to this and instead pondered the other thing he found. Several spaces with question marks listed now showing there were other things he could learn that were not listed in the Black Mage list. Considering how many different magicks he knew the Final Fantasy games had, his guess was as good as anyone else’s on what those question marks represented.

Next came the bigger shock of the night in the form of what was in the Squire list. ‘I don’t even know what I am looking at right now.’ There were many new things in this list too many to count in fact. However most of the new things could be summed up in one category. ‘Why do I have access to Mystic Knight stuff from Final Fantasy Five?’ It was true, one skill he learned showed ‘Fire Sword’ as well as its advanced forms. What was more on the list were now Mystic Sword Spells related to Black Magic he has already learned: Fira Sword, Thunder and Thundera Sword, Blizzard Sword and Blizzara Sword. All to name a few, though it seemed he would have to spend job points to learn everything beyond Fire Sword.

Now the last surprise, the one that Dustan couldn’t even begin to make out was a hidden skill. Its name was obscured and the lettering was freaking out as if it was constantly undergoing a decryption process. Its learned status had the most puzzling answer to it as it was left as a question mark instead of if job points needed to be used or not.

Thinking on things now he focused on the skill of Fire Sword. Imagining him holding a sword out he tried to use it, though he knew it would fail. Surprisingly though, words came to mind for the spell itself which meant it was a valid thing. This would need to be tested. A LOT. However he knew he couldn’t dwell here forever. He had earned quite a few job points it seems form his battle with Discord. Lots in the Squire category and a good deal in the Monk category as well, with some more spread around to the other jobs he used. Geomancer was now open. That means that if he worked Geomancer up a bit, along with Archer and Thief, he could obtain Ninja.

‘Fuck yeah, Dual wield here I come!’ That and movement for Ninja was generally all around very good and considering his fighting style so far in this world revolved around him moving more than standing and taking a hit, it would likely serve him well to get it. Even more if he got Thief up some more it means Dragoon would be open and testing that would be fun or scary, or both even. Spending points where he could, Dustan felt himself starting to slip deeper into true sleep as he pressed ok for the last skill he wanted, sleeping it off with a smile.

The next couple of days went by quickly with the exception of the visit from the Mane Six and Spike. Because they were all busy they all came in on separate days or times when they could. The first one to visit him was Fluttershy. The pegasus who lived up to her name Didn’t say much but did thank him for saving the large kitty, though Dustan knew what she meant by that it did validate that someone had indeed seen his fight.

Rarity was the next one gushing on how he fought to protect the crusaders even if they turned out to be fake. Though that wasn’t the only reason she was here, as she had him sign something for Sweetie Belle and her friends which turned out to be an autograph. Not able to stop his chuckling at that he promptly did so. The last thing Rarity did was change out the curtains of his room to something more vivid and lively, a nice purple to complement the white. Dustan could only mentally roll his eyes as he knew exactly why the seamstress thought white and purple went together so well.

The last one who visited him that day was Applejack having finished taking care of everything on the farm for the day and had some spare time. Like Rarity she thanked him for the thought of saving her sister and her friends. She also brought a nice basket of apple goods and apples. She also gave him a report on the trees that he had given her during hearth’s warming and that they were growing well. It would take some time and hard work but she knew they would grow to bear fruit maybe in the fall. That was one thing he found out, Earth Pony’s could make things grow REALLY fast, which did explain how often in the show if a tree was damaged that the Apple family only seemed miffed rather than livid.

At the end of the day Dustan was left to finally read the mail that he been delivered previously to see what was being sent. First up was the Griffons. Their letter stated that such a unique being standing up to Discord and living was someone they wished to meet and if he was ever in Griffonstone to let them know ahead of time so they could set aside sometime to meet and speak with him. Overall Dustan took this as to mean they were kissing ass to someone they perceived as strong something they likely did on hearing anyone doing something outstanding. Though he might be biased about that based on how he knew the cat birds to be from the show.

The one from the Dragon Lands were next but really it was all multiple letters packaged into one envelop. Most of them were actually challenge letters of Dragons wanting to fight someone strong. Dustan stored those away and would try to memorize the names later to know who to avoid. The other was from Torch the Dragon Lord himself stating that he wished to meet him one day to see someone with the bravery courage and ferocity of a dragon that could stand up to someone like Discord and walk away with their life. The Squire made very sure to secure that one in case he needed it, but had no plans to ever visit in the near future.

The next one came from Minos and it was a dual part note. The first was to tell him that his mind was very keen indeed and his race must be very studious as their lead scientists had been working on the problem he sent over via the two Princesses of Equestria. They also congratulated him on his victory over Discord with the assistance of the Elements though they way they portrayed it made Dustan to be the main party of that rather than the other way around like the other letters made it out to be. Furthermore they were sending someone to his land to learn from him and study what they could. He supposed that was neat.

The last letter from a foreign ruler spooked Dustan to the core. It was an invitation from the Storm King. Dustan quickly read it and it seemed the Storm King was so far a no name in the world as he mentioned he was an up and coming ruler that would love to meet someone strong and see if he could convince him to come work for him. Storing that one away the human made a mental note to prepare for that in the upcoming years.

The last letters came from three rulers he knew about: Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. The first one he opened was Cadance’s since he knew her the best of the three and had spent the most time with her out of them. In the letter it stated how worried she was when she heard he had been hurt, that he seemed to be shouldering so much all the time. So she, and Shining, sent a gift hoping it would help him relax. Said gift was a card that was a year’s pass to Aloe and Lotus’ spa in Ponyville that allowed him to bring one guest each time.

That…didn’t actually sound too bad. “I mean my muscles are stiff, though we have the hot springs at the Castle, massages are supposed to be good for things.” In truth a lot of the tension of the last month had him stiff in places he knew he wasn’t injured in. “Alright yeah sure, I will make a point to visit them.”

Next up was Princess Luna, because though he was still trapped in Equestria didn’t stop him from continuing to place her as his former life on Earth had as best princess. Her letter was…well there wasn’t a proper way to describe the mixed feelings that her letter brought.

“Dear Dustan Warner, The Human, Lord of Castle Luminary.” Right away that rang bells in his head as it used his full name, his race and a title that he didn’t technically have. “I have sent this letter-” well he was happy to see her learning proper speech. “hoping it finds you in better health then I had last heard you were in. Many important things have been stirring in Canterlot this past season and it seems to have come to a head recently. Discord’s revival and sealing only delayed the news being spread.”

‘What was happening before?’ Her wording made it sound as if this had been happening for a while now which brought some worry to the human’s heart.

So instead of wondering and worrying he continued to read. “What happened to you many seasons ago has come full circle. I speak of the official meeting my sister and I had with you, were your place in history was removed.” The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at reading that part. “Logistics Trail had since become a rallying point for various individuals who sported a specific agenda which Logistics himself supported which was ‘The unification of all tribes, under unicorn rule’. I am sure that you know how that is not meant to be. We have found out because the rumors of your place in the return of my ponies from the underground caught word. More and more did Logistics find himself without support and he got careless. Our, my sister’s and my own, investigators soon caught wind of everything and had a breakthrough thanks to one individual.”

‘Shit, I am not sure if this is my fault or not.’ While Dustan was on the fence as it could be his fault thanks to Tactics creatures showing up in this world, it didn’t mean that Trail wouldn’t have gotten into that position before. ‘Then again maybe he wouldn’t have been found out. Damn I am not sure if I should take the rap for this or not.’

Leaning against his pillow he read on. “The Royal guard took into custody many parties involved in the plot to put unicorns in the ruling parties of which Logistics Trail was a part of. News didn’t get a chance to circulate till after Discord however. When it was discovered what he and others had done, there were mass calls for his name to be removed from history now, especially since the common and uncommon ponies knew who it really was that did all that. With the removal of the previous law there were no grounds to stop this too. So it was with a massive nearly ninety percent vote in favor of, that the motion passed. You have earned your place back into history, not just once, not twice, but thrice now. I thank you for our service to our ponies. If you have not read the letter from our sister yet then I suggest you do so. If you have, congratulations you have earned it. Luna, Alicorn of the Moon”

‘Gratz on what?’ His mind was still reeling on what he learned on how that ass hat of a pony as a racist but then chuckled on how it ended up. Now was the time to go and read that letter from Celestia. Placing Luna’s letter away carefully he picked up the other sisters letter and brought it out.

“Dear Dustan Warner, Landlord of the Everfree, Resident Human.” Right away the hairs on the back of his neck stood up again as the opening of the letters were totally different. “Twilight has informed me of your part in the fight against Discord.” It was at this point Dustan rolled his eyes at another person mentioning his part and wondering how it got started. “Tales of the two separate hunts, the obstacle course, the race to save three fillies, and the triple fight against unknown forces and the pain and suffering you endured during them.”

Dustan’s hand went instinctively to the spot where Scarmiglione had stabbed him. ‘No kidding, I thought I was going to die several times during all that.’

“Your heroics as well as the strike that allowed the Elements time to gather their power has proven you have the best interest of my ponies in mind around you and that you serve to make those around you safe and better then they are. You have gathered many different races all under your command at your Castle and have been training them not only in combat but magic, scouting, botany and more.” Technically that was true, though it was more Violet Glow and Zecora doing most of them with various help from others. “That is why with the recent inclusion of your place in history multiple times, we, my sister and I, wish to impart the title of Noble to your name. Your official title will be Lord of the Everfree and Lord of Castle Luminary. Though because of your injuries there was no official ceremony, your name and rank have been passed out publically for all to know. While I am sure you have many questions on what, if any, your new title does for you or what it does against you, you may ask my student Twilight Sparkle for help, she is sure to know. I hope this letter finds you well and I hope you visit Canterlot again very soon. Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun.”

One blink, two blinks, three and four, then Dustan called out loudly. “Excuse me?!” That got the nurses attention down the hall whom came in and then left in confusion seeing that he was alright though questioning many many things about laws that he thought he learned. ‘Twilight said it would take many hours, a basic year to get the title of noble. Bullshit, I didn’t even beat Discord. I definitely have questions for Purple Smart the instant I see her.’

The next day he saw the individual he wished to talk to, but not till towards the end of the day. Instead the first he got to meet surprisingly was Rainbow Dash, who said she didn’t have work till later in the afternoon when she was supposed to buck some clouds for clear skies. Considering pony naming conditions he found himself wondering if clear skies was the forecast being called for or if it was the name of the one who ordered it, which he never got to find out.

Instead he found Dash gushing about what she heard him doing. “I heard that you then used some kind of magic to make yourself super fast, which is cheating by the way but I forgive you considering you were doing it to save the squirt and her friends.”

“How do you even know all about that?” Maybe this would tell him something he didn’t already know.

“Oh Twilight told me.” Nope he already figured that out. “Well except for the last part, I saw that with my own eyes.”

Tilting his head curiously he had to ask. “Last part?”

Nodding she flew around in a quick circle before hovering in the air. “Yeah when you were all whoosh and crash and…oh right I guess you were out on your feet at that point.”

Face-palming a bit wondering if she was exaggerating he had to ask.“Mind giving me a play by play without embellishments?”

“Oh sure I guess.” Then the prismatic pony tapped her chin. “But it’s not going to be half as exciting.” Apparently the look Dustan gave her helped speed up the process of the story telling. “Fine fine. Me and the girls had just rushed up from putting on the Elements of Harmony after Twilight snapped me out of Discords weird claw change thing.”

‘Wait what thing?’ Dustan thought to himself before asking before she got too caught up in the story. “Claw change thing?”

“Yeah.” She came over to the human and put her hoof on his forehead. “He placed his claw on my forehead like that when I refused to go defend Cloudsdale. I mean I really wanted to, but I knew if I did that I would be a lousy friend.”

His heart was hammering in his chest as he heard that. ‘He had to force her? That can’t be right.’ Shaking his head for a moment he had question her story. “Are you sure that is how it went down?”

“Mhm.” Flapping back to her seat she sat on it and sipped some water she had brought up. “I was running through the maze missing my wings the entire time, he offered them to me to go help save Cloudsdale. I was about to take them to but I remembered my promise I made to myself.”

“What promise?” It was the million bit question, because so far everything she was saying was par for the course except the promise.

“Well it’s a bit embarrassing actually but I suppose I could tell you since you are the reason I first made that promise.” That made his eyes go wide, he was the cause. “You see after me bucking you then finding out you were a cool guy and all that who helped his friends, I first made the promise to be a better friend to you. But that changed and soon I realized it would be a bit selfish if I just made that promise to you, so I extended it to all my friends. So when I went to reach out for my wings I remembered that promise and barely stopped myself from taking them.” She then gave a hearty laugh and puffed up her chest. “You should have seen the look on Discord’s face, like he couldn’t believe what he heard. Then he got a bit mad and poked me with his claw and then…well changed me I guess.”

Dustan gave her a chuckle and friendly smile but under the covers where she couldn’t see he was busy clinching his hands tightly. “Sounds like you got under his skin a bit.” Though he tried to sound friendly his mind was angry, though it was at himself. ‘Another thing I changed, thankfully though it didn’t screw things up too badly.’

Since the speedster was busy soaking up the praise she didn’t notice his internal struggle. “I know right. Oh right we were talking about the end of the fight not about me. I mean I could go on about me if you want, I am pretty great you know.”

Hearing her say that helped cheer up his mood showing that though she changed slightly she was still pretty much the same. “I mean you could, but stories aren’t as good. You will have to show me how great you are in many ways another time.”

For a moment Dash froze before starting to laugh loudly. “Careful there lover colt. Say that to mares like that and they will think you are hitting on them. Not that you need the help, I mean I might be pretty bad at the dating scene but it doesn’t look like you are.”

Her first comment had him blushing a bit as he didn’t mean for it to come out like that, her second comment though brought back something Cadance told him. ‘You need to look around you. Yes a lot of ponies think you are strange, maybe because you are so strange that you don’t notice what we do, or we don’t communicate it well to you, but you are attractive to more mares then you think.’ There was also the other comment of ‘I can also tell you that it’s not just me that thinks so. During the investigation when you were talking to the ponies to help them with your ideas. There were a few mares there that were giving you signals but you seemed to not notice them at all.’

“I mean you do a pretty good job pretending not to notice; even I started to believe it at some point.” The boastful mare told him.

“It’s…not an act.” That got the chuckling to stop as she sighed. “Truthfully it has to do with the species difference Dash. I literally don’t know the signs you ponies give so I literally don’t know what to look for. Even if I did though I am not sure what I would do about it. I mean you ponies are adorable sure, but anything beyond that…I am not too sure.”

Truthfully when he said that he thought for sure she would say something like ‘Come on, you haven’t ever thought of it.’ or ‘Really? Is it a human thing, like are you or us missing something?’. There were a few more answers that he thought she would give, though those covered both ends of the spectrum for sure. Hell he even thought she might accuse him of some racism in that regards.

Instead he got an answer he didn’t think he would get. “Well, whenever you feel like going for a pony ride let me know and I will be your wingmare.”

It took a second to process that thought. “Excuse me? Does that mean you are into mares?”

It was an age old question many had debated about in his world, what side did Rainbow Dash swing for and now he was about to get an answer. “Yeah, and Stallions. I appreciate awesomeness in all forms, though they have to at least be half as awesome as me to live up to my expectations, which is a whole lot of awesome needed.”

‘Huh.’ The answer he got should have been seen coming given her personality as it did make sense, but at the same time it was a surprise too. ‘So she swings both ways. If I ever get back home maybe I will make an argument for that side.’ Shaking his head for a moment he realized they got off track again. “Mind finishing up the last bit?”

“OH RIGHT!” She said rising up a foot into the air before smiling. “So we came up on you, you were actually passed out on your hooves…umm feet? Yeah ‘feet’ is the word I am thinking of. You were passed out standing up, Discord starts talking, we all see you and were worried he did something horrible to you, which we later found out he did.”

Dustan was listening to it and realized what had happened. ‘Ahh ok, so when I was hallucinating Patrick and stood up, that was literally the last of my strength I guess.’

“Anyways while he was going on about things you raise up your sword, which was cool considering you were passed right the buck out.” He could tell she was getting pumped up as she was using her limbs more in her body language as she recalled the event. “When it raised up your whole body started to glow a blue color. Then it was gone except around your sword. Then you said something, but I don’t remember what. You brought your sword down then suddenly hit Discord with some ice that formed into a blade. He got frozen or something after that as he couldn’t move then we blasted him with the Elements turning him back to stone. It was pretty awesome if I say so myself.”

Rubbing his chin he sat there and thought to himself. ‘An ice sword? But I don’t know Blizzard Sword yet. Maybe I casted Blizzara? Though if I did why did it form into a blade?’

A ringing from the saddlebags that Rainbow Dash brought came from a clock. “Looks like I need to go, my shift is starting, see you later pal. Oh and Pinkie should arrive soonish to take my place during her lunch break. She said something about bringing you some snacks so look forward to it. Later.”

Leaving no room to ask anything more the pegasus took off out of his window and into the sky. Dustan meanwhile was back to thinking about what it was he could have used. So much so that lunch came and when he was about a third of the way through a pink bundle of boundless energy popped out…of his plants.

“HIYA DUSTY!” Long ago Dustan had warned Pinkie about giving him jump scares when he had just left the slave camps and though he had gotten over it, seems Discord brought some of that back as he instinctively flung the plastic spork as a throwing knife at her barely missing her head “EEP!”

Realizing what he had done he right away tried to get up and apologize. “Pinkie I am so sorry I didn’t mean to-ugh.” However he tugged at his iv drip too hard as well and felt some of the muscles in his body protest hard at his sudden moves. “Fuck this.” Gathering up his power he brought it to bear by chanting the Cura spell. That took care of most of his discomfort as he got up to go give her a hug bringing the little stand holding the iv bag with him. “Sorry about that, fighting Discord leaves one a little jumpy you know.”

Though it seems his hug wasn’t meant to be as she vanished into the potted plant…only to somehow sneak up on him from behind and give him a large hug. “No need to apologize, I can understand completely. I mean one of my balloons popped the day after Discord was turned back into a lawn gnome and I jumped and hit the ceiling.”

It did his conscious good to hear that and smiled at her. “Well then why don’t you sit down and talk with me a bit. I heard you were bringing some snacks so we can share them while we talk.”

Pinkie pronked right to her seat as Dustan took his before starting to gabber at him. She told him of the funny or exciting events that had happened while in the hospital, of which three episodes happened. Seems Twilight had a major freak out over not sending a friendship report and got into some major shenanigans trying to manufacture something to write: Lesson Zero. There was the aptly named Sisterhooves Social, which was also the name of an episode, where sisters of various families came to compete in a series of events, and while Sweetie Belle and her sister Rarity had some troubles they got over it during the event and had a lot of fun.

He was honestly glad to hear that and though he had no siblings himself he always considered Pat his brother so he knows how much it can suck when siblings fight. “Good to hear.”

The last episode event that he missed came in the form of Apple Bloom messing with something of Zecora’s to gain multiple cutie marks. Wincing at that, as the events she described showed a bit more of how much of a strain having all those marks on her was as she slept for a full day and a half after that.

“Twilight said having that many marks would drain a pony’s natural magic at a higher rate since they were all making her do their talents at once so she could have seriously hurt herself.” Pinkie’s words made some sense, after all a pox wasn’t something to laugh at and were usually a deadly disease if not treated.

“Well it ended well so we can only hope she learned her lesson.” Pinkie agreed as she inhaled one of the cupcakes she had brought whole while Dustan may not Kurby’ed the cupcakes he did devour them quite quickly. They were that good after all.

Sadly it seemed her time was up but she ended up giving him an extra long hug letting him cuddle that fluffy mane of hers a bit longer. “See you later Dusty!”

“Later Pink Stuff.” Giving a wave Dustan looked at his forgotten food, which was now cold, and shrugged before pushing the tray away. “I got full anyways.” While he was waiting for another nurse to show up to run tests, he took stock of his internal MP finding that Cura, while draining while injured had not depleted his reserves as much as he would have expected. Meaning he would likely request a full check up to see if he healed enough to be considered let go.

There was also the mental stock of the episodes of this season he had to take note of, five were already down, but the problem was he couldn’t remember exactly how many were in this season. He couldn’t remember if this season was the one with thirteen or twenty six as it had been too long. He was pretty anxious to get out honestly and though a nurse did tell him that a doctor would see him before the day ended, it was still a hassle. The reason for his anxiety was one reason and one reason alone: Virgo. He didn’t like being without it in arms reach and he knew likely all his stuff was stored back at the castle now, except for maybe his axe where ever that might be lying.

A knock to the door came quickly followed with the voice he wanted to hear from all day. “Dustan are you awake?”

It was Twilight, now he could get to the bottom of this. “Come on in Twilight!”

The door opened to reveal the purple magister herself along with her almost as equally purple assistant. “You are looking better today.”

Blinking he realized she must have visited him when he wasn’t all there or just out cold. “Oh thanks. Yeah might have accelerated that with one of my healing spells.”

“Oh which one? Was it Cure or Cura?” Twilight’s enthusiasm was palpable as she smiled brightly at him.

‘Stupid adorable ponies and their big eyes that make me want to punch myself for being so not adorable.’ That self bit of humor aside he chuckled and pointed to some chairs for both of them to sit down in. “I will answer that but I have some questions for you as well.”

“Yes!” She quickly levitated the two chairs close and set Spike down in one before jumping up into the other. When he told her which he used she followed up with the question all young children seem to use to infuriate adults. “Why?” He knew she didn't do it to annoy him but out of pure curiosity.

“Might have had a bit of a reason to move today and needed not to hurt to do so. So that is why.” He honestly didn’t want to say he threw the spork at Pinkie as he was slightly ashamed of that.

“O…k…noted.” She said writing it down. “So you wanted to ask me a question?”

“A couple actually.” Dustan thought long and hard on how to phrase his questions the best way possible, he didn’t want to sound like a dick after all. “So, I guess my big question, how do you know what happened between me and Discord?”

Instead of her answering though the young dragon raised his hand then spoke without waiting to be called on. “Oh oh, that would be me!” Blinking at that, he watched the dragon puff up and smile. “After you Discord surprised us and you told me to head to the library, I used Twilight’s telescope because I was worried. I saw the whole thing from start to finish though I am not sure what was said. It was pretty awesome at times and I was so scared for you at others. Then near the end during the last fight when you fell I started to burp up letter after letter so I couldn’t watch anymore.”

‘Ahh ok, that explains it, Spike kept an eye out for me. Can’t say I don’t blame him as I would have done the same. Actually I would have likely run into trouble to help out haha.’ Dustan thought not actually knowing he did try to come help only to be blocked by that invisible wall. “Of course I am guessing you told Twilight when you were feeling better on what you saw?”

The youngster nodded at that. “Though when I told her, all the others were in the room as well, as well as a couple of doctors, some nurses. I think some ponies down the hall heard me too…I was kind of loud to be honest cause it was so exciting to tell!”

‘Yep, that would do it, would explain how like wildfire that spread.’ Looking at the two he would ask. “I am guessing you sent a letter to Canterlot soon after telling the Princesses about what happened?”

Giving a nod the unicorn spoke up this time. “That’s right, she needed to know what kind of brave thing you did. If not for you, Discord might have done all kinds of things to Spike.”

Sighs at that and came to the conclusion to tell them. “Well then I suppose I have you both to thank for my recent promotion.”

That got the expected question out of the mage. “Promotion?”

He nodded and chuckled at her. “You are technically talking to the Lord of the Everfree and Lord of Castle Luminary.”

“What?! Really?!” When he again nodded she jumped for joy. “Congratulations, usually it takes forever for somepony new to gain nobility.” However she seemed to think about something. “Hmm that being said, you are promoting togetherness and community at the castle, you are training ponies and other species, you have done many deeds for Equestria, and you did them all without thinking of a reward or compensation. I guess it makes sense. You may not have the ponyhours behind it all but your deeds more than make up for it I suppose.”

“Which means in the next few days or next week, you and I are going to have to have a talk on what being a noble means. Technically you are one as well so I would hope you know something.” Pulling out a quill and some paper she wrote down a note, Dustan guessed it was a reminder or some books to set aside later. “The other question was about the end of the battle.”

She winced at that. “You were badly hurt, we rushed you to the hospital as quick as we-”

Holding up his hand, the human stopped her in her tracks. “I wasn’t wondering about that. I was actually wondering about the technique I used when I was unconscious.”

“Oh that, I was actually hoping to ask you to be truthful.” Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment as she spoke. “You started glowing after you raised your sword, then it pulsed and vanished though it was more that it was all transferred to your sword. Then you chanted and ice came down before breaking apart to reveal a sword’s blade.”

That was basically the same as what Rainbow Dash had told him, however he was hoping for one thing specifically. “Do you remember the chant?”

“Oh yeah. I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. One moment.” With that she popped out of reality in a teleport.

“She gets some pretty good distance on that if she can reach the library from here.” The Squire commented to Spike who shook his head.

“Likely she is doing a series of shorter teleports. Magic for teleportation tends to increase exponentially based on distance.” It was moments like this that the dragon showed how smart he was and how much he absorbed knowledge wise just from being with Twilight all the time.

“Huh makes sense.” ‘Maybe something similar is why the Teleport movement skill in Tactics fails.’ A pop announced that Purple Smart had returned to the room. ‘Questions for later.’ Looking to the paper she held Dustan raised an eyebrow at it. “That it?”

Nodding the Unicorn unrolled it and smiled. “Yep, I made sure to copy it down the moment I got a chance. Now here is the chant.” He couldn’t wait to hear what Blizzara Sword or Blizzard Sword’s chant was, though if it was like Fire Sword he could likely guess what it was going to be. “Life is short.” Then his heart stopped. “Bury.” Nope, it was stopped alright. “Statis Sword.”

Taking a moment to breathe and realize the pounding he was hearing was his heart actually beating and not stopped like he thought it was one thought came to mind and to mouth. “That can’t be right.”

Nodded and looking up at him the pony was obviously worried. “Are you ok Dustan? That is exactly what you said word for word. I even asked Rarity and she has an eye and ear for detail like that.”

“I mean it can’t be right as I shouldn’t be able to use that skill Twilight.” Rubbing his chin and face with a hand his thoughts started to fly. ‘Seriously, Statis Sword? Holy Knight isn’t a job class that can be obtained, nor is anything that can use it. Then again Water and Fire Sword weren’t in the original games either. What else can happen, what else is new?’ However like his previous thoughts on Teleportation, they were questions for later.

“Excuse me; I am going to have to cut the visit short.” The doctor said as she came in. “I need to examine my patient and by the time I am done visiting hours will already be over.”

‘Fuck, Curiosity cock blocking doctor!’ Sighing this was what he wanted so he looked to Twilight. “Guess we will have to look for answers another time. You two have a good evening, if all goes well I should be released tomorrow.”

“Get some sleep then and I hope everything goes well. See you soon.” She then turned to Spike and waited for him to say his farewells as well.

Spike got up and gave him a fist bump which he gladly returned. “See you later. Maybe you can teach me some of the cool stuff you did?”

“Anything is possible Spike.” And truthfully his brain agreed. ‘Literally at this point it’s all up for grabs on what is possible and what isn’t.’

Author's Note

Sorry for the longer wait on this one, irl prevented me from properly finishing and fine tuning it till recently. That being said I am not perfect and likely there are still lots of typos and the like in it. Regardless I hope you all continue to enjoy my story.