Of hammers, magic and runes

Chapters

In a cabin near the woods
Neighbors of the wood
Conversations of the woods (Part 2)
A view of the woods
Outsiders view of the woods Part 1

In a cabin near the woods

Opening the door to my rather small but comfortable cabin I took a deep breath in enjoying the brisk morning air. With a good warm mug of fresh brewed tea in hand I took a seat down on my favorite spot at the corner of the raised porch that allowed my feet to comfortably sit just off the ground. I started my now deeply beloved morning ritual, of which just happened to be stare of into the vast open and slightly hilly area that lead to the apple orchard of my neighbors. The sun had only just begun its accent into the sky when I had stepped outside and with the beginning of the fall of the leaves I knew the rhythmic thumps of my neighbors, the Apples, would soon be beginning their last harvest of the year.

Mere minutes seemed to pass and the sun had now flooded the area with light when down the road I caught sight of one of said neighbors walking towards my small cabin with a small cart trailing behind her. Thanks to the slight chill coming into the area she seemed to have dug out her longer clothes consisting of a well worn pair of jeans and a long sleeved flannel shirt ending with her signature stetson hat atop her head just barely hiding her long golden locks of hair done up in a fine ponytail. Seeing her reminded me of the fact that today was the last of the normal work week for those in town a fair distance from my home, which could only mean she was here to drop off my usual delivery of food stuffs.

I stood rather quickly and hurried in to gather my bag of ‘bits’ as it were. Just momentary stopping long enough to pour another mug of tea as I figured that would be a kind gesture to the beautiful ‘woman’ who took the time to lend a hand. Walking to the doorway to the outside again she called out a quick greeting, “Howdy there Val, hows the morning treating ya’ so far?”

Walking towards her so I could pass off the warm extra mug in my hand I gave a quick laugh. “Seems a lot better then you if the loaded cart behind you is any indication.”

“That would be true if’n I didn’t buy all of what ya’ wanted the night before and stored it in that fancy ice box ya’ made for us.”

Chuckling I responded “Be that as it may, thank you for making the run for me. As for the ice box it is just a simple runic device people from home came up with a good while back, so nothing special about it.”

“That’s good and all but could ya’ magine if’n we could make a bigger one ta store some of the apples away for tha winter times?”

Taking a quick moment to think of the idea of making a large enough version to house the vast amount of apples the family tries to store quickly made my head spin. “While its not impossible it would take a very good amount of time and effort, that's not even mentioning the materials that would be needed for me to craft the runes and set them to work correctly.”

“Well shoot sugercube ya’d have all the help you could possibly need tah get it done. OH, this might be a great time to get ya tah meet mah friends and maybe Twi might be able to lend ya ah hand with makin it” she said with a grin.

“Oh, would that be the infamous Twilight Sparkle and the other bearers that you and Tia have told me about?”

Replying with a snort “She’s only infamous cuze of her magic and how she uses it for the smallest of things. Ah personally don’t pay it much mind but boy howdy does she use it all tha time.”

“To be fair unicorn magic is more suited for everyday use especially since Tia-- sorry, Celestia said she had locked away more combat related spells for only the guard to use. But no matter, here are your bits for the food and a little extra for the nice conversation.” I said moving to pick up the several wooden boxes from the back of the cart, only to have her lend a “hoof”.

The statement of which I shall never understand fully as the “Ponies” who were the main population of this country were quite different from the anatomy I was used to. They bore a fairly close likeness to my kind, Humans, but at the same time were very different. Their head structure came in many different forms much like humans were some had a rounded face and some had more boxy shapes. But their upper body was nearly identical if you didn't consider the lack of a pinky finger and the fact they were entirely covered in a coat of fur. Traveling downward more they had a tail that was located just at the end of their spines that was mostly hair as the tail itself was short. That resulted in what they in addition to having “mane styles” had ones for their tails as well. Getting to their legs were the most interesting parts of them if you asked me as they were bipedal with digitigrade legs from their knees down ending in a solid hoof much like one would find on the horses from home. After my short pondering yet again on a simple subject we had gotten all of the produce into the house so I may get started sorting it.

“So Val, whatch’a say tah meetin tha gals?” Applejack asked with a hopeful look gracing her admittedly beautiful face.

Pausing with my back still turned to Applejack as I unloaded the various fruits and vegetables into my chill box. “If it has anything to do with the celebration tomorrow then worry not as Celestia has already requested I make an appearance so that I can meet her sister. In fact the letter Celestia sent she mentioned that Princess Luna is excited to meet you and your friends just as much as she is to meet me.” I respond watching out of the corner of my eye to gauge her response which shifted from happy to nervous after my saying the newly returned princess would like to meet her.

Chuckling I grabbed an apple from the box and tossed it to Applejack startling her from her thoughts. “Do calm down my friend as I said she is excited to meet you all again, nothing bad will come of it.”

Applejack gave me a look that could make a lesser man fall to his knees and beg forgiveness and sighed. “Shoot sugercube ah know she ain’t gonna bring trouble. Ah’m more worried what trouble will come to her.”

We both shared a look and aired our concerns “Crusaders”

Laughing about how badly that will likely end up we parted ways with a quick hug and a few good natured words between friends. Quickly finishing up with the food and grabbing a juicy looking pear, I turned to the small living room I had and took to my favorite seat, a Recliner as the sales man who delivered it to me had called it. Though the name really didn't matter to me much as I fell in love with the thing the first time I sat in it. I took my time eating it and saved the seeds in hopes that maybe I could find something to do with them or who knows I might just want a nice tree in my backyard soon.

The enjoyment however was lost when the small clock on the fireplaces mantel chimed. Looking up I saw that somehow I had spent nearly two hours sitting and thinking. But now was time to get up and do my job, a job that I loved with all of my heart.

Getting up and heading into the small room across from my bedroom I took in the sight of my old armor which was a gift from my parents when I had decided to follow in their footsteps several years prior to finding my self living here. It was a very practical set of armor consisting of a leather chest piece with a metal called mythril forming the chain mail of the joints around the stomach and shoulders with even a few plates protecting the upper abdomen. The gloves, wrist guards, and boots were unfortunately made with high steel chain and plates but considering the prices that it took to make the chest piece I was happy with it. I quickly dressed in the armor and turned to pick my weapons for the day.

On my weapon rack stood several spears and some shields were lining the lower region of the wall under the shelves that held my true weapons. Rows of daggers and throwing knives lay out on the shelf and just next to them were my axes and mauls. I’ve always been a fan of mauls and maces because though they were heavy no armor could truly protect against a good swing and hit. It didn't matter if the target was undead or wearing heavy plate mail you would still feel the concussive crash of my hit. Grabbing my usual two daggers and a handful of the throwing knives I selected my favorite maul and put them in their rightful spots on my belt.

Leaving the house after grabbing some extra food and a few water skins I set out on my daily chore of securing the border of the local forest aptly named “Everfree” seeing as it was a true untamed forest. The job was simple patrol and check for signs of either someone stupid enough to enter or something foolish enough to leave. Boring most of the time but fighting monsters was something I was quite good at and Princess Celestia saw that from the first day we met and knew I would be perfect for the job.

Walking forth I could hear a few howls of the local “timberwolves” and a smile made its way onto my face.

“Today is going to be a good one”

Author's Note

SO like I said in the big old description this is my first attempt and I would be really glad to get some pointers and hopefully someone willing to give me a good slap in the head to keep me writing if this turns out to be a quarter decent (I doubt its half way so split the difference)

Also I know that I left out a lot about who and what the MC looks like thats kinda meant to be like that which is also tied into why AJ is delivering food (shouldn't be all that hard to piece that little bit together but still) the description and who he is is something that I wanted to do for the next chapter depending on how I can swing it.

So big thanks to anyone who take the small amount of time to read through this for me.

Neighbors of the wood

Author's Note

So first off I'm going to be apologizing for whatever grammar and such I've messed up on as well as if the story it self seems to be a little off. This chapter has a lot more dialogue which is something I am really trying to work on and get right. So hopefully I didn't butcher things too badly here.

Secondly I am oh so sorry for what happens in this chapter but I promise that I am trying to move things in a certain direction and the happenings (even if I did a terrible job with them) are there for a reason. So forgive me for that one.

Anyhow thanks for reading I hope that I can be of some entertainment to you all!

Neighbors of the wood

Reaching down to make sure I had properly situated my gear I started on a slow but meaningful pace towards the forest. Now when one thinks of animals and in some cases monsters you tend to lean more towards the fact that the life in question is mainly running on instincts that have been honed over so many generations, but here in this strange world that was probably the farthest from the case as possible. In this world the animals were smart almost capable of understanding speech and defiantly emotion. For all those that were kind there were the fair share of monsters such as the timberwolves that had gotten me moving faster then normal.

Timberwolves were a species of magical creature that only showed up in the depths of the Everfree to the point that not much was known besides the fact they hunted for sport. This alone was far different then I had ever seen in this world or my home, as it was not something even the animistic monsters did. Its a fact of this world that I had and will continue having trouble with a good deal of the time just for the fact that it goes against any form of monster I’ve grown up learning about. Finding mauled and mutilated bodies of those forest dwellers who were unfortunate enough to fall prey to the unnatural creatures were the cause of most of my unease in dealing with the forest.

Coming to a stop in front of the forest I could tell the wolves had yet to make it to the edge, but that didn’t bring about any form of relief. As even if they were not at the edge, that could quickly change, doubly so since it was nearing the beginning of the fall harvest and closer to the end of the season was the zap apple bloom. Even if I had only been charged to protect the border just short of two years ago I knew zap apples brought the season of the wolves. During which the wolves grew more and more unpredictable and bold going so far as to try to make it to the Apple’s farm land.

Breaking from my thoughts I started my long patrol of the edge heading to the south, keeping a keen eye out for any signs that the border had been breached. While walking I passed the vast orchards and farm lands that lay on the edge of Ponyville. With a practiced efficiency born from walking the same patrol each and everyday I quickly reached the last area of the border that I guarded and was quite pleased to find that nothing had been amiss. The entire trip from my home in the most northerly reaches of the town to the farthest south, only taking half an hour or so.

Spinning on my heel to turn back I noticed the caretaker of the local fauna as well as being the towns veterinarian walking down the small dirt path towards town. If I recalled correctly her name was Fluttershy, which I found to be quite fitting as the few times I had met her she had only spoken a few words that were barely audible. Looking at her something unusual caught my eye, not to say the butter yellow woman with what could only be described as the perfect look wouldn’t be capable of catching any eyes, but something was different. It wasn’t the long, heavy skirt coupled with a light coat to help with the small chill that was rolling into the land thanks to the pegasi. The thing I noticed was the small ball of blue fluff that was hovering around her.

With a sigh I quickly broke into a light jog towards her I called out for her to wait. “Miss! Please wait a moment, I need to speak with you for a moment!” It probably wasn’t my smartest idea to call out to the shyest pony that lived in town but I had to stop her there. As predicted she gave a startled yelp and spun quickly to face me with a terrified look on her.

“Y-yes?”

I slowed my jog to a slow walk as I carefully approached her hoping not to scare her anymore then I already had. Holding my hands up in the most non threatening way I could manage I got close enough to her so I could have a decent chance of hearing her replies. “I apologize if I startled you ma’am, but I wanted to know if you had any idea what it is your carrying with you” I said pointing towards the ball of fluff fluttering its small wings to keep hovering.

She took a look at the small creature and smiled slightly giving a soft reply. “Oh, well um, this is my newest friend, I found him while I was feeding my animals this morning.” Glancing from the small fluff she turned towards me with a questioning look and asked the one question I had hopes that she wouldn’t have. “Um, do you happen to know what it is? I’m sorry, if you wouldn’t mind me asking?”

“Ah, I was afraid of that Miss, what you have there is a parasprite” replying while holding back a long sigh. “Its native to the forest and I’m sorry to say but should be left there at all cost.” I could feel my heart strain at the look she gave me, one of confusion and disbelief.

“But, its such a nice little thing how could I ever leave such a cute little animal there” she quietly spoke. “Its much to kind and it could get hurt in the forest” her tone and mood shifted quickly when she started to defend the sprite.

Letting go of the sigh I lowered my hands, I had a feeling things would take a turn for the worse on a subject like this. I mean how could one imagine that someone who willingly took in injured and sick animals would cast one out just as easily.

“I’m sorry but the truth of that animal is that it is only capable of doing two things, eating in mass quantity and multiplying. There are stories of entire towns being lost due to them as well as written notices about them Ma’am. All of which are all available in the town library if you do not believe me.” Hardening my gaze upon her I did the only thing I could think of to hopefully avoid the impending disaster that the small ball of fluff could bring. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to excuse me, as warden of the forest I’ll need you to release the parasprite in your possession to me so that it can be brought back to the forest. If you have any issues with that I suggest you take them to the Mayor’s office and tell them to assist in looking up the Everfree bestiary compendium from the library.”

The look in her eyes was heart wrenching, it was almost as if I had just killed one of her animals in front of her. Though to be fair I likely was killing this one sprite, but with their usual life span of a few days it wasn’t going to weigh on me all that much. Reaching out I carefully grabbed the sprite from the air next to Fluttershy and stuck it into the small burlap sack I carried.

Deciding that it was in the best interests of the both of us I turned away hoping to minimize the damage. Making my way back to the forest I started my patrol north again as the now crying mare all but sprinted to town likely to find a way to overturn my decision before something happened to the sprite. I could tell now that this was one of those things that were just going to up and bite me later.

“Today was supposed to be so much more fun” and with a shake of my head I made my way back north. Thinking that sometimes responsibilities to fulfill were more harmful then one would believe.

--------------------------------------------*****-------------------------------------------

Taking my time walking back home for some lunch was easy enough as I also had to find a good place to release the parasprite, which was a task of its self. I had to release the thing deep enough that it wouldn’t come back out looking for food yet again. Luckily the only dangers I came across when trekking into the forest was a rather large patch of poison joke. After finding a good spot to release the sprite it managed to surprise me, not only had it created two more sprites but they seemed content to just fly deeper into the forest. It was a strange but nice scene to watch them disappear into the underbrush lining the forest’s floor.

I lost track of the amount of time that I had sat watching and waiting to see if they would return. A quick glance to the skies showed it was just past midday though. As I stood the soft songs of the birds in the area were temporarily interrupted but soon continued as I made my way back to the edge. The small woodland creatures soon did not pay me any mind as I walked through their territory.

When my cabin came into view was when my luck seemingly ran out for the day as there standing out in front of my sanctuary was a group of five ponies. Three of which I was quite familiar with being that one handled my pay check, the other a good friend, and lastly the pony I had just been forced to disappoint. Mayor Mary Mare and Applejack gave a quick wave and Fluttershy attempted to hide behind the two I had yet to meet, both had their backs to me but turned after seeing the others react. The first being a lavender colored unicorn with a dark mane that had a light purple streak in it wearing a knee length skirt and a long sleeve collared shirt with a sweater vest. The second I had yet to recognize was a light cyan colored pegasus with a rather brash rainbow mane that looked as if it only ever got a light brushing. She was wearing a light wind breaker and a pair of athletic shorts.

When I had reached the front yard the cyan pegasus was immediately in my face. “Just who the HAY do you think you are making Fluttershy cry!” she yelled out pointing her fingers at my chest.

Sighing I looked past her to the others that were standing in my yard. “Mary its nice to see you, you as well Aj. Miss Fluttershy I do hope that you at the very least followed what I said and that this is not going to be an issue.” At this point I could have cared less about the angry looking pegasus currently in my face and just wanted to deal with the true issue at hand.

Thankfully the Mayor decided it would be a good place to speak up before the brash pegasus could say anything else. “You know I am always glad to see you Sir Valac, though I was quite surprised to hear the reason why I was called out here.” She gave me a sly smile before continuing “I always knew you were a heart breaker but I must say this takes it far beyond what I thought you capable of. Now then Miss Dash if you would please calm yourself we can speak about this in the proper way instead of throwing anger and confusion into the mix.”

The newly dubbed Miss Dash gave a quick snort and turned to walk back to the small gathering and I took a seat on my porch steps while giving a small motion for them to speak up. Which turned into a mess as all but Applejack decided it would be a great time to speak at once. Clapping my hands loudly was enough to get their attention and for them to stop speaking. “Now then, Mary would you mind starting us off here as it seems everyone wants to say something? Also what happened to no titles between us?”

“My apologies Sir Valac, but this is an officially requested meeting made by a citizen of the Diarchy of Equestria. As such in accordance with the laws of the land your title of knight must be made known to all present” ‘Mayor Mare’ replied with a certain smugness that she loved to flaunt sometimes. The look of surprise that she got from the group quickly turned my direction resulting in yet more confused questions.

“What the Hay! He’s a Knight!” shouted the increasingly annoying Miss Dash.

“Uh, Sugercube when were ya’ gonna tell me ‘bout that?” came rather softly from my orange friend.

“OH, um, I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t want to make any trouble” squeaked the now shaking pale yellow beauty.

The last response came from the so far rather quiet Miss Sparkle only following the others after they had fallen silent. “Now wait a moment, there have only ever been two knights for each princess at a time since the founding of Equestria” she said with a determined look. “So if Princess Celestia already has two active knights and Princess Luna has yet to even begin searching for hers how are you a knight?”

Before I could even open my mouth ‘Mayor’ Mare had begun. “He is not a knight of the Sun or Moon orders Twilight. He is of a new order that was created when Princess Celestia knighted him a few months after he came to Equestria.” Reaching into the small satchel she had brought with her she presented the written orders and documentation proving my status as a knight and as the warden of the forest. “Sir Valac is the first knight of the order of earth, which was created to allow for more knights then usual, to defend all on Equis from threats of a more natural variety.”

“Hence, why I have taken it upon my self to prevent the issues a parasprite outbreak could have created” I calmly replied. “Now then since you all have decided to go down this path may I request that we hurry down it. I would like to get some lunch and get my afternoon training routine done before it gets to late in the day.”

“Well we can’t have that, but the matter has been settled already” replied the Mayor letting loose a small giggle. “I have already gotten the needed information regarding the parasprite and I agree with your decision. Even if you could have been a little nicer in handling it.”

“Glad to hear that” I said with a chuckle and looked towards the still hiding pegasus. “That said I do apologize for how I went about removing it but for the safety of the town it needed to be done. Though if the issue is taken care of already, I’m interested in why all of you went out of your way to come see me.”

Twilight decided to take charge of the situation and replied with a courteous tone “while we came to agree that the parasprite would have been an issue, I felt that it would be best for me to introduce myself.” Clearing her throat she continued “I am Princess Celestia’s personal student, my name Twilight Sparkle bearer of the element of magic. These are my friends Rainbow Dash bearer of the element of loyalty, Fluttershy the bearer of kindness and Applejack the bearer of honesty. Our friends and the bearers of the rest of the elements were currently busy preparing for the Princesses arrival tomorrow”

“Very well then it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Sparkle, as well as your friends” I said standing and giving a sleight bow. “I am Valac of the Farfinder family, son of the adventurers known as Micheal the shield and Sarah the light bringer.” Looking to the ponies standing in front of me I could tell my introduction had created more questions for them. Quickly raising my hand to stop them I continued “If it is alright with you I would like to continue with my planned day and leave questions for later.”

“Very well Sir Valac” Twilight replied before continuing. “Perhaps we could take some time tomorrow when the princesses are here to speak some more of you and your job here.”

Giving a quick nod I turned into my home and set about making my self a small lunch not truly bothering to say goodbyes or watch them leave. Heading into the small kitchen that I had outfitted with equivalent runic devices to the pony’s oven, stove, and ice box. Setting a pan with a small amount of cooking oil on the stove I reached into the ice box to retrieve a cut of a fish I had caught the day prior.

However you can imagine my surprise when I turned back to see that Applejack and Mary had taken residence in my small living room. Both of them seemed a little put off by the sight of the fish but it was my food so I didn’t pay it much mind. Placing the fish in the pan I broke the silence “So what else might I help you with ladies?”

They shared a look between themselves before Applejack spoke first “Well sugercube, ah’ just wanted to make sure y’all knew what your getting into before ah’ went home.” Stopping for a moment at seeing my questioning look Mary picked up where she left off.

“Val, you just opened the biggest can of worms you could imagine. Twilight is going to likely have a very long list of questions for you and she will defiantly be expecting you to answer all of them.”

“That my friend, is something I shall worry about later” I said with no shortage of laughing. “She is welcome to the majority of those questions, I’m not that secretive Mary. It just seems that most of ponies, especially in this town, are not that welcoming of unfamiliar faces.”

"Sugercube, ah' do hope you know that ah'm more then a little cross ya' didn't tell us ya' were a knight" Applejack said with no shortage of annoyance in her voice. "But knowing ya' it must'a slipped your mind or something. So tomorrow you best be ready for our share'a questions." Both gave a quick farewell closing the door behind them and leaving me to enjoy my lunch and soon after my short training session and late afternoon patrol.

------------------------------------------*****------------------------------------------

Once my daily tasks were settled for the day I was looking forward to the possibility of what tomorrow would hold. Even after being on the outside of the town for so long not many of the residents could be bothered to give me the time of day. But maybe with tomorrow bringing the Princesses and a meeting yet again with the bearers of harmony things could change. Just maybe the town that I put so much effort and care into protecting would finally welcome me, though then again the opposite could be true as well.

“No point worrying over it” I said giving my final sigh for the night before rolling over onto my bed and closing my eyes. “Its a problem for the future not the present”

Conversations of the woods (Part 2)

P.O.V Change to Celestia

I was rather enjoying the light conversation that was bouncing around the room from my student, Spike, and my sister about Equestia of old. Though it seemed that young Fluttershy was rather intimidated by our presence, hopefully with the other bearers coming she will relax a little. Taking a small sip of the tea Twilight had prepared for us I noticed that there was a rather large pile of twenty or so full size notebooks with quills and ink sitting in the corner of the sitting room and let my curiosity take hold of me.

“Twilight, if you do not mind my asking why do you have so many writing supplies ready to be used?” I questioned despite knowing what the answer would likely be.

Twilight’s head quickly turned to me and her ears folded back. “OH, I’m sorry for the mess Princess, I didn’t think you would be here this early.” Glancing at the pile she continued “I thought that it would be best if I wrote down the conversation with Sir Valac for future reference.”

“It is no issue my student, I’m actually quite glad that you are doing so” I said with a smile. Before quickly laughing “However I doubt he will sit still long enough for you to even use one of your notebooks. I know that I had trouble keeping him in one place for a conversation.”

Reaching out I picked up one of the books and flipped it open while readying a quill. Writing a quick message on the page before turning it to ready the next page I placed it in front of my student. As the book touched down on the table the remaining bearers walked into the room their eyes widened in surprise, but each called out their own greetings and began bowing to my sister and I before finding a seat.

With all eyes on me I started our long conversation. “My sister and I are glad to see all of you, and I do hope you’ll forgive me for waking you all so early.” A chorus of ‘No problems’ and ‘It was no issue’ broke out from everyone siting in the room save from my sister. “Now before we begin Luna has told me that she would like to say something to all of you.”

Standing up Luna gave a deep bow before speaking with her head still lowered “I wish to thank each of you for helping me in my time of need. I am very honored to have had your assistance in freeing me from Nightmare Moon. I apologize that I was unable to do so earlier.” Everyone in the room could see Luna fighting back tears, and I’m not sure that my student and her friends could have made me more proud with their response. It brought a large smile to my face to see them collectively stand and give Luna a hug while ushering calm and welcoming words to her. Joining in on the hug we comforted my sister as she finally let go of the well of emotions she had been holding back.

Releasing each others hold I motioned for everyone to return to our seats. Clearing my throat “I thank you for that my little ponies. As much as Luna wishes me not to say she has been holding that back for some time” I said while wrapping my arm around my teary eyed sister to hold her close. “That said, I wished for you all to be here early for a reason. As all of you know the majority of your group have met Sir Valac-”

“Ugh, come on princess how can you like that guy?” said Rainbow in a disgusted tone. “I mean really he’s a jerk making Fluttershy cry like that.”

“Rainbow! Please show some manners you interrupted the Princess!” Rarity huffed. “And while I do agree that he acted like a jerk Rainbow, darling, you must be able to see his view of this. He recognized a danger to the town and dealt with it” asserted Rarity.

Raising my hand quickly to silence the impending argument I continued on not caring to ‘re-don’ my usual ‘Princess mask’ attitude with the hopes of bringing the conversation closer to heart. “Tell me Rainbow, if there was a time and a place that you were in his position to possibly save the town, but not taking action and following through regardless of feelings would run the risk of danger escalating, would you not follow the same actions?” Rainbow sat up quickly to attempt to argue before I continued “That is one of the reasons I chose him for this position as well as being knighted. He can and WILL make decisions that will likely anger some and maybe all, but will ultimately keep them from harm.

“You must understand that while he acts similar to us he is vastly different, as are his views of the world. Where he is from the very land itself would seem like it was trying to kill the inhabitants along side the creatures and monsters that roam. His tales of the times he adventured far and wide brought beauty all could behold, as well as horrors in ways that only some of the evils of old could enjoy” I voiced, my tone filling with disgust for a short moment. “Yet at the same time though his stories seemed to be full of hope and joy like even with the world itself trying to kill them nothing would stop their dreams.”

A brief lull in the conversation took hold while everypony shared confused looks at my tone shifts. “Princess, one moment you said THEIR dreams correct? Who else’s dreams are you talking about” questioned Twilight.

“Ah, I suppose I can speak a little about this. Valac spent many years traveling with five others while working as an adventurer. A job we do not have a good enough likeness for, though it could possibly be compared to being a cross between a guard, an archaeologist and likely several other things. Of course that is a simple likeness and I hope it is not taken to seriously as they were also skilled in many other things as well. His tales have ranged from his battles with monsters, learning lost languages, all the way to simply camping beneath the night’s sky.”

Spike eagerly raised his hand to ask a question and I gave a quick nod allowing it. “Princess he sounds like a hero from one of my comic books! So did he ever tell you what the biggest most dangerous thing he fought was?”

“Spike, I honestly do not think it would be good for me to answer that question” resulting in a room full of groans. Giving a sigh I weighed my options, “I do not wish to hurt the views and possible friendships that he could have by giving bad impressions. So if I answer that question promise me that you will take into account just how different his world is to ours, and that many things we know as facts are not true there such as manipulating weather, or that most creatures here posses some intellect even if it is minor.”

Getting a nod and a few ‘we promise’ from those in the room I steeled my self for this revelation. “The biggest and most dangerous thing he hunted with his party were dragons” I said with a sigh as gasps broke out in the room. “Now you must understand that the dragons they hunted are nothing like the ones here. They are instinct driven and had little to no actual intelligence. They were known to burn entire towns and villages down for food alone. As such the rulers of the lands being attacked called out for support in stopping them and adventures were the best option to do so. While the armies of the land protected cities and towns in addition to keeping order, the adventures would track the dragons and eventually slay them to prevent more destruction.”

Stopping that line of conversation I looked around at the ponies in the room and the lone drake. Each had a mix of bewilderment, fear, and disgust on their faces. The idea of killing a dragon, even young ones, was something incredible on its own. Even a maturing adolescent had the power to devastate small towns if they felt like it. So to hear that Valac had taken part in killing such things was a large shock.

“Wait a moment Princess” Twilight called out in question. “How many ponies did he go with in order to stand a chance against a dragon. More over was it fully grown? And just how many did he fight?”

“Six” I said staring into her eyes. “That is the answer to two of your questions and to the remaining one, yes they were all fully grown. However keep in mind that they were fought separately and that his group initiated the fights after confirming they were marked dragons.”

Being the only one who truly understood the implications thanks to her learning many things about the guard from her brother, Twilight was at a loss for words. The idea that a fully grown dragon could be killed by six individuals were surely setting off warnings for her. She quickly took to her notes to write down the massive amount of questions she would likely just came up with allowed others to speak.

“So, wait Princess your telling us that SIX ‘Huu-mans’ could stand against SIX fully grown dragons?” Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.

“You are correct Rainbow Dash, though only in some ways. It was not six humans but six adventures.” Holding my hand up to stop her I continued “If I recall his tales of it correctly his party consisted of three humans, an elf, one of the dwarven folk, and himself.” That caught the attention of the fashionista of the group.

“One moment Princess, but it sounds like you didn’t count him correctly. Wouldn’t it be four humans including him?”

“Yes, you would be correct but he was not born a full blooded human, Rarity. His father was human but his mother was an elf. The Elvish are rather long lived human like beings that tend to be rather in tune with nature and the forests they live in. A normal human wouldn’t have the pointed ears that Valac possesses,” I said smiling softly while recalling those long conversations we had looking at the stars. “I will not speak further on either of those subjects as it would be impolite to not gain his permission.”

Twilight quickly dispelled the silence, “Princess, I would like to ask what exactly gives him the ability to be a Knight?”

“Ah, that is somewhat a difficult question to answer. To begin with he is incredibly well trained in combat thanks to his previous occupation and his parents tutelage. In addition he possess incredible magics that even I have difficulty re-creating, not to say it is impossible but that it is hard for me to use in an effective way.”

“Hang on one second! Are you saying that he could be stronger in ways then you!” Rainbow yelled.

“No my dear, as I said it is more of his effectiveness that makes him noteworthy. While I could replicate and cast his spells for longer then he could it takes me far longer to weave them to the potency that he possesses,” Celestia said with a smirk. “That said his magics are considered ‘Recovery’ and ‘Enhancement’ magics. ‘Recovery’ can be used to heal and restore ones body to normalcy depending on the damage or ailment, while ‘Enhancement’ does exactly as it sounds, allowing him to increase his strength, speed, agility, and so on. Though I must admit I do not know of the full limits of his studies with the branches he uses.”

“Princess, how much of an increase is he capable of and couldn’t that mean he could be a huge risk?” questioned Twilight.

Celestia gave a sideways smirk before speaking, “Twilight, my dear student, he has lived just outside of Ponyville for the majority of his time in Equestria. Yet he has never directly caused an issue for this town, nor do I believe that he will considering the amount of time he actually spends in it or rather lack there of.”

“That’s right!” Pinkie exclaimed. “He’s never tried to be mean and my big buddy Valli-walli wouldn’t start now!”

“Ha! Leave it to Pinkie to befriend everypony!” Applejack chimed in.

“Wait Pinkie, how long have you been friends with him?” questioned Twilight.

“Since he got here duh!” Pinkie exclaimed giving a silly face. “I mean really he’s got sooo many ideas on fun things to do and make. You girl’s know all the new treats that we keep coming up with in Sugercube Corner? Well Val gave me the ideas and recipes for them, and everypony seems to love them.”

“Pinkie, darling, are you insinuating that he is the one that made those delicious eclairs?” Rarity asked with wide eyes when Pinkie nodded. “Well I must say that even if the way to a stallion’s heart is his stomach Valac is defiantly making the inverse true.” Every head in the room turned much faster then should have been possible with that statement, accompanied by every eye as wide as they could be. “What? I happen to quite enjoy them even if they hurt my diet” Rarity said with a huff as we all began laughing only to be interrupted by Swift Wing, one of my personal guards, knocking on the front entrance.

“Your Highnesses, I apologize but a rushed report just came in from manehatten” said Swift Wing handing over an envelope.

Sliding over on the small couch Luna and I were sitting on so she could read it as well our eyes grew wider then before. “I am sorry my little ponies but it seems that there is an infestation in Manehatten that is causing trouble and must be dealt with. As such I will have to reschedule the rest of my visit for a later date,” Celestia paused standing up. “Pinkie please inform the Cakes that the crown shall reimburse them for their troubles and I hope the rest of you have a wonderful day.”

Quickly Luna and I walked outside and boarded our chariot only waiting for the pegasus guards to properly hook up so we could take off. “Tia, do you believe that this infestation could possibly be the same creatures that almost succeeded here?” Luna asked, her voice full of concern.

“I would not doubt the possibility of such a thing happening, and if it is the case then we will have to look into advancing our plans for the growth of the Knights of Earth. I hope that it does not come to that but if the knights stationed around the borders of the forest along with Sir Valac are unable to effectively contain the it and its denizens then we might not have the luxury of waiting” I said matching my sisters concern and adding to it. “To make matters worse Lulu, the knights have reported more activity in the surrounding areas, including everything from birds to manticores acting strangely. If there is the possibility that more issues and even worse more creatures would make it out of the forest and into populated areas it could be disastrous.”

Luna seemed to read my mind and voiced our biggest fear as we both looked towards the forest passing beside us, “Sister, after so many years of peace from the forest just what do you think could be driving these creatures out?”

A view of the woods

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Outsiders view of the woods Part 1

Author's Note

So this chapter was originally going to be all one part that would likely have been fairly long, but as usual life has a way of preventing things that we want. So I thought the best thing that I could do was to just release the chapter in parts and hope that it would go over OK.

That being said I hope I got all of the grammar and spelling issues. I also hope that I'll be able to get the other two or maybe three parts of this planed day out relatively shortly as I already have the majority of the following parts done.

So please tell me if you all enjoy and keep an eye out for the next few parts as I hope to be bringing you them over the coming week!

Outsiders view of the woods Part 1

P.O.V. change to Applejack

Mornings in the Apple family were always a lively event. According to Granny everypony, born or joined, in the family either started out a morning pony or became one in time. So it was always interesting when the sun peaked over the horizon rousing the family.

Today It was Granny’s morning to cook for everypony which is always a special thing. Not to say that the rest of us couldn’t cook, it was just that Granny had a way of making some of the best foods that seemed to stick with you all day even through a hard days work. To make it even better now that the weather was getting colder there would defiantly be a nice warm breakfast waiting for everypony downstairs.

With the call for breakfast breaking the quiet of the morning you would have thought there was a stampede moving through the house. Applebloom made it to the table first, followed by Mac and I shortly after. Granny let loose a full body chuckle and joined us at the table where we all dug in. Flapjacks with berries and homemade warm cinnamon applesauce practically disappeared from the table with how fast we were eating it.

With breakfast quickly finished and we all got up to get ready for the day, with Mac and I collecting the dishes and cookware to clean. Taking the job together was habit by this point after having done the same routine since we were far younger then Bloom was. With me scrubbing the dishes and Mac drying and putting them away we could make quick work of the chore. But in normal Ponyville fashion something had to go and change those plans.

Hearing a knock from the door stopped our progress and we gave each other a questioning look before turning to the clock on the wall. Our eyes widened at the time the clock read, 6:00, it was far later then it should have been at this point. As Mac made his way to the door I called out “Applebloom hurry it up were runnin’ late!”

Drying my hands I quickly made my way to my room to get changed and get my bedmane under control. Grabbing a good pair of jeans and a nice long sleeve flannel shirt as well as some fresh skivvies, I threw everything on and got to brushing my mane and tail. With the tough part done I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth when Granny poked her head out into the hallway. “Who’s at the door youngin’? Could it be that colt ya’ keep hiding from us” she said with a smirk.

A blush quickly took hold and I struggled to keep my embarrassment hidden. “W-what are ya’ talking bout’ Granny? Ah’m not sure who is at the door, Mac was handling it. And Ah’m not hidin’ no colt anywhere” I replied sternly.

Laughing Granny continued to poke at my discomfort “Sure ya’ ain’t, but then who is it ya’ keep going out of yer’ way to find a reason to see em' all the time.” Ugh, her could her smirk get any larger?

Fighting through my blush and brushing my teeth made it harder to respond “For the last time Granny, Val’s a really great friend and you’ve met him a few times.”

"Mmhm, Ah’ remember him, he’s that tall fur less one? Hes got that long dark mane with some fur on his face and those strange small pointy ears on the side of his head, right? Well that’s fine by me youngn’ he was right helpful round the farm and was plenty nice to boot. So ya’ best be thinkin’ on how yer’ gonna catch him real soon or some other mare will swoop in and steal him from ya’!” She gave me a stern look as I practically choked from that response but of course she was gone before I could even say anything else.

Finishing up in the bathroom I made my way downstairs to see who was at the door only to find a strange sight. Big Mac was talking to two stallion guards who were wearing full golden armor of the sun guards and had spears in their hands with their short swords at their waist. Seeing me walking towards the door they both snapped to a salute. One of the two nearly identical guards stepped closer and made for a quick introduction. “Ma’am, I apologize if there is any inconvenience but Princess Celestia has called for all of the Elements to meet her and Princess Luna at the town library.”

“Well shoot, is there trouble?” I questioned. “It had better not be more monsters from the forest.”

The two guards dropped their salute and gave each other a quick glance before the other chuckled. “No Ma’am, I’m sorry if we gave you the wrong impression. The forest has been a lot quieter since the Warden moved into the place. The Princess called out to the Elements because she would like to speak with you about the incident from yesterday.” He gave a quick look to a small piece of paper he fished out of his belt pouch. “She mentioned something about a parasprite and an argument between some of the Elements and the Warden.”

“Yeh, but all that is settled now” I replied shaking my head. “It was just a small issue anyhow.” Turning to Mac I gave a quick apology for having to leave and not helping with the morning chores. Stepping out into the morning air I shrugged and motioned the guards to lead the way and we set out for town.

*******

We had made it to the edge of town before one of the guards said something. “I’m sorry Ma’am but would you allow me to ask a rude question?” Only pausing to wait for my quick nod he continued, “the both of us are a part of Princess Celestia’s private guard. So naturally we were there when the Warden first came to the castle, as well as when he was knighted and then moved here. The castle staff and all the palace guards got to know him during the time he was staying at the castle, and everypony who gets to know him longer then a passing meeting knows how he is.”

Both of the guards came to a stop and fully faced me when the other continued for his partner. “He’s known around the castle and the guard for his kind attitude, Ma’am. That said he’s also known for how he gets when he is in a fight, many of the castle guard got first hoof knowledge of that after challenging him a few times for practice” he said chuckling. “Surprisingly nearly all of them lost. But he made more good impressions than bad despite that.”

“Well shoot” I laughed smiling, “Y’all had me worried for a minute there.” My reply seemed to bring a small smile to their faces. “If’n ponies round here would give him more of a chance that would likely be the same. Its kinda funny when ya’ think bout it, he’s been livin’ here for a little while now but not many will even try ta’ give him the time of day, that includes mah’ friends.”

“But Ah’ don’t think that ya’ could meet anypony better than him” I said letting my smile grow larger. “Just a few weeks ago when the summer harvest started mah’ idiot brother went and got himself hurt. With him bein’ down and out Ah’ thought that Ah’ could let a little silliness go to mah’ head. So Ah’ started tryin’ to harvest all of Sweet-Apple acres all on mah’ own.” I gave a short laugh seeing the two grimace slightly before continuing “It was a dumb idea and mah’ friends tried to get me to let them help out, and soon enough Ah’ did.”

“It was funny though, cuse even with mah’ friends helping out the harvest would have taken weeks anyhow” I said with a sigh seeing the two nod their heads in agreement. “So ya’ could imagine mah’ surprise when more apples then we harvested showed up in the barn. Ah’ tried ta’ figure out how more apples then we’d bucked managed to get into tha’ barn. Ah’ even had Mah’ friends count em’ all again but there was always more then what should’a been.”

“Turns out Mac had gotten mighty frustrated with me and said something to Val hopin’ he could talk some sense inta’ me. So can ya imagine Mac’s surprised face when Val just up and marched to the fields and just started working. Ah’ didn’t even realize that whole sections of the farm were being taken care of.” Laughing and shaking my head I continued my story “He took care of more of the harvest then Ah’ care to admit and when Ah’ went to pay him ya’ know what he said?” pausing slightly taking in the confused look on their faces. “‘Your a good friend and I won’t leave my friends to suffer even if they are being foolish enough to cause their own pain.’”

We all shared a good laugh before I started us back on the road towards the library. It only took a few minutes for us to pass Sugercube Corner and for the library to come into view. Once I saw the door was open with Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing in front of it having a small conversation. The guards gave me a quick salute and said their goodbyes to go patrol the town.

“Well Howdy Girls,” I said walking up to the front door.

“Good morning to you Applejack” replied Rarity.

“Morning Applejack!” shouted Pinkie.

“Hey Aj, Ugh its way to early for this.” groaned Rainbow.

“Its always to early for you darling,” Rarity said with a smirk. “That said now that we’re all here we should make our way inside, no point keeping the Princesses waiting,” she called back already making her way inside, followed shortly by the rest of us.