A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 10: Bug Problem.

*Point of view: Shadow Lily*
*Location: Castle of the two sisters. Underground library*

The words, “Offer accepted…” where just said out in an almost emotionless, low, masculine tone that could have only come from a stallion. Well, that’s what registered within Shadows mind as her eyes shot open after hearing some pony that was answering her pleas for help.

When she had opened her eyes. Shadows vision was heavily blurred by the crying from but only a moment ago. As soon as it cleared, she saw the creature right in front of her. However, it was no longer paying the two mare’s any attention. Instead, it had turned towards the one who spoke out.

She had noticed that whoever it was that spoke was in fact back in the direction that they had originally come from. This made Shadow think for but a split second that it may have been Break Down, but that idea was dismissed just as quickly. She knew his voice and this one was different.

Turning her gaze down the row of book shelfs, Shadow could just make out the vague form of some pony slowly coming into the dim light made from the torch they had. Shadow had no idea when she had dropped it during the time the creature appeared but it was now a few feet away. It was directly under the thing that was about to eat them.

The stallion’s slow hoof steps drew closer, but shadow noticed something after the fourth step. Her eyes went wide and the thought ran through her head, “Those… don’t sound like hoof steps… they remind me of something covered with something like… boots?”

She didn’t understand, why would a stallion wear boots. The only reason they would have something like that on, would be if they didn’t want to get dirty. But those didn’t get used often due to them wearing out too quickly from the hoofs inside. So then, what other creature’s wore boots? Shadow was coming up short on this answer.

It was then that the stallion in question had fully stepped into the torch light. This made Shadow catch her breath for but a second and tighten her grip on Swirls hand. The one before them, was what could have only been called the largest stallion she had ever seen in her life.

Standing at over two meters tall and wearing a seemingly all black clothing that covered him from head to hoof. Shadow could tell just from a glance that this one was not just tall but by the way the clothing formed along his body, this stallion must be built as if it could have been considered the pinnacle of perfection for an earth pony.

Swirl, who was right there beside her, managed to whisper into Shadows ear, “Why didn’t you tell me you could do magic. When we get out of this, you’re going to conjure up me a big, Colt-friend.” Swirls eyes were now glued onto this new figure standing before them.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*
*Time: Moments ago*

Brex had just caught up with the dots on his mini map and what he saw was, something that caused the Roegadyn to have a wide-open jaw that could have hit the ground with the speed of a falling star. Before him was a large bug monster that was an exact copy of the last boss from one of the earlier dungeons from his game, that he had entered countless times.

He called to Rory with the mental connection, “Rory, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Brex was referring to the six-meter-high bug monster that was currently looming over two royal guard ponies. The creature’s body had only come up to three meters, but with its massive tail adding to it, it gave it the additional height needed to make up to the full six.

From within Brex’s mind came the reply, “It’s disgusting, did master, really fight something like that?” Rory was giving it a rather disturbed expression as she attempted to keep her composure. She may have been an all-powerful Demi goddess, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t have a hatred of such things.

As he watched from a short distance, Brex began to examine everything that he could. This ranged from the place they were in now, the height and distances between the shelfs. The environment, along with the pros and cons in terms of visibility and maneuverability.

Then, the ponies came up. Brex looked over their forms and determined that they were both of the female race, but with how dim the lighting was, he couldn’t see their faces all that well.

He then looked over their status bars, which displayed the names and level’s… HUH!? The what!? Brex couldn’t help it, he did a double take and just as before, he could see a status bar right above the guard’s heads.

Brex was brimming with joy inside that his changes to the option screen actually worked. He then thought, “Finally, something works right. Now, it’s time I get a look at their names and level’s.” His eyes traced the health bar that was displayed for both of them and noticed something familiar to him.

The following was shown to the Roegadyn as he ran over both the information that was on the two royal guard ponies.

First up was.

Name: Shadow Lily.

Class: Royal Guard.

Level: 5.

Gender: Female.

Next was.

Name: Swirl Sugar.

Class: Royal Guard.

Level: 6.

Gender: Female.

When Brex saw this, the man nearly lost it. Within his mind, he thought, “What the hell!! Their only level 5 and 6?! How is that even possible. Also, I know these two from outside. Just what are they doing down here in the first place. I know for a fact that they never came this far into the woods.

He then was reminded about the dangerous monster in the room. Looking towards the thing, Brex glanced up and spotted its info. The following was displayed.

Name: Diremite Crypt Keeper.

Level: 19.

Difficulty Level: Medium.

Brex then let out a silent sigh at just how weak the monster really was. By first glance, one would have thought that this guy would have been somewhere in the 40’s. Considering that the Diremite boss from the dungeon that these guys make a home inside of, was around the level 26 range. Even that one was not this big.

With a heavy weight taken off from his mind, Brex then started to calm down a little more. He then thought, “I’m at 35. I got him beat in the level department, also it helps that I know their movement patterns almost by heart. Of course, I’m not going to treat this as a game. I can’t just stand in place and hit an attack button.

At the moment, He had equipped the scions clothing, which happens to be a level one gear set. Well, that would have been the case under normal circumstances. Back in the game, before all of this happened, Brex had used an item called the glamor. This had the effect of changing the appearance of one equip item, to that of another.

It was a common practice for players to collect gear and keep them in their inventory for a costume change or to give themselves a personal look. Even at later points of the game, the gear with a higher grade, didn’t mean that it looked more awesome.

The glamor could be used to make, say, a chest armor piece, look like a completely different kind. However, one couldn’t make a cloth item take on the form of a medium or a heavy type. But it could go in the other direction. For example, one player could take a suit of heavy plate gear that was meant for a paladin and make said item, take on the form of a stylish suit.

Even with the now transformed gear being equipped on a tank, it didn’t change anything from back before it had become a suit. The defense and stats on the item were left, unchanged.

In the case of Brex however, his was originally of the level 35 gear set that he had collected from a dungeon of the same range. This meant that, he was in no way at a disadvantage in this situation.

He thought, “Eh, it’s a good thing that I didn’t go and use the type of glamor that made it all look as if I was in my birthday suit. I did however like it when those female players that cued for dungeons would enter and they looked like they were half nude.” This brought a small smile to the Roegadyn’s face.

It was then that a small voice was heard from the guard ponies. However, Brex couldn’t make out just what was said. On the lower area of his vision, a small text window opened and started to display some texts. Brex then thought, “Wait, what’s with my chat function’s coming up now? What’s this… is this, Is the box showing what the girl over there is saying?”

Within the chat window, the following text was shown to Brex and he started to read them over. “I-I’m sorry Shadow. I should have let you go with Break down. At least then you wouldn’t have had to die like this.” It was then that he heard one of them practically scream out, “PLEASE, SOME PONY, ANY PONY. HELP! I’LL GIVE ANYTHING, I’LL DO ANYTHING, JUST HELP SWIRL AND I.” He thought, “Wow, just… wow. A girl really shouldn’t say those words. Their dangerous.”

This placed Brex into a bind. On one hand, his self-preservation demanded that he keep himself hidden and not draw the attention of the Princess. This would mean looking the other way and letting these two end up as bug food. At the same time his heart was yelling at him to help them out and fuck with the consequences.

It was then that a new set of words appeared, “Please, please. I’ll give everything I have… e-even my body and soul. I don’t care if it’s a demon, Just, some pony… help…” This pushed the last button with his heart and helped set his mind to make the decision that would determine his future course of actions.

Within his mind, Brex had an image flash for but an instant. He could have sworn that it was in a place full of snow and a green faced man stood on top of a cliff wearing the upper half of a Santa Claus suit. Then the being had these words to say in an overly dramatic tone, “Bleeding hearts of the world… Unite!”

He then said within himself, “Ok, that was weird!” before mentally shaking off what he considered to be a form of momentary insanity.

Getting back to the situation, He then began to take slow steps towards the small group. Just as he was about to be in reach of the light from their discarded torch, Brex dropped his Hide skill and said out loud, “Offer accepted…”

Continuing with his methodical, slow walk. He closed the distance and stopped only when he knew that his body could be perceived by the girl’s, hmm. Perhaps he should adopt their way of speaking, as to not draw too much attention to him not being from this world.

But Brex was still going to limit just what he would say while around the ponies. So, he decided that he would speak in a way, that would conceal his thoughts and at the same time, keep the other party guessing. He knew full well just how good the princesses are when it comes to diplomacy and word games from the stories he had been reading on the displaced.

It would be a gamble, but if he could keep them on their toes, then he could also keep the ponies on the defense. Somehow, he just had this feeling that he may have been one of those kinds of people that sounded fine while talking in front of others, but turned out to be the type that needed to stop talking just one sentence back.

So, it was then that Brex made the decision to only speak by using up to two or three words at a time. Keep things quick, clean and to the point. Sure, he would have to think it over carefully before speaking, but he believed that in the long run, this could be a benefit. Also, he thought that this would be a cool and mysterious way of speaking.

*Point of view: Shadow Lily*

Shadow was beside herself. She had just calmed down enough to think back to what she had just said before this stallion appeared. Then her face started to turn a dark shade of crimson. Her thoughts were, “Oh My Celestia! Did I just. No, I didn’t. Oh, I really did just say those things. He, He… said that he, accepted… just what did I get myself into?” This made the mare let out an audible gulp.

*Point of view: Swirl Sugar*

The unicorn was thinking, “Oh yea~. I definitely need to learn the magic Shadow used to call this one. Wait, didn’t she say something about a demon? Oh well, almost anything is better than the stallions running around Canterlot.” She then licks her lips.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

He had just felt another shiver run up his back for a split second, but had no idea just what had caused it before returning to his dramatic entrance. He then asked Rory, “I know I got the Levels, but this is still going to be tricky if I have to hold back while those two are here watching. Do you think I should just go for it or maybe give it a little style? This could be considered the first time I fight while others watch.”

Rory answered while tapping her chin and having a thoughtful expression, “Some style, definitely style. Let’s give these ladies a show.” It was then, that her expression changed to that of excitement.

Grabbing his daggers, Brex ready’s them by spinning the blades in the palm of his hands for a moment before letting them finally rest with the tips pointing outwards and slightly to the floor. He then says in a detached tone, “Target… elimination… commencing.”

It was then that the oversized Diremite turned its body and began to approach Brex at a rushed speed. In doing so, one of its legs nearly struck the mare’s as it past by, but the gust of air that was produced was strong enough to knock both of their helmets off and onto he ground with a pair of clanks.

(Play this music until the end of fight.)

With a fluid motion, the Roegadyn ninja, shifted his footing from his heel to the ball of his foot and turned his body to the right before lightly kicking off the ground. This caused Brex to go back and dodged the incoming tackle with very little effort.

The Large Diremite used all four of its legs to stop and it turned around to find Brex standing there with his arms still out at his sides in the same pose from the start as if to mock it by asserting that this was a joke.

It lashed out with one of its legs to hit Brex but he just repeated the same move as before and easily side stepped it. The Diremite showed signs that this was annoying it and just kept trying to hit the being that was making this fight into a mockery.

A large leg would come straight down onto the ground and create a small quake, then there would be a slash with its large muscular tail that just oozed poison, only to have it hit nothing but empty air, again and again. Brex was jumping back and forth to dodging in a manor that this was just a sort of dance to him.

Some how even with this darkness, Brex was able to move around as if he could tell just where everything was. Even the distance between him and the Diremite was perfect with his dodging being so close that it could only be considered to have been by the skin of his teeth.

Not once did he take a fighting posture. During the fight, Brex had a relaxed atmosphere around him. In fact, it was as if the Roegadyn was having the time of his life with how his steps could have been seen as dancing.

The Diremite Crypt Keeper, after seeing this, tried to use another tactic and raised itself higher with its legs and the sound of air rushing some place tipped Brex off to what was to come. Then it leaned forward and started to spray a nonstop stream of white fluid from its maw that upon contact with the air, caused it to be hardened into thread.

Just as the countless number of threads reached Brex, the creature continued to release more and more in the hopes of catching the Roegadyn. Just soon the sounds of spraying were dying down and replaced with those of slicing and chopping.

*Shing, Shing Shing* *Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop Chop*. echoed into the dark library. Then the vale of threads started to lose their density and the light that was coming from the far-off torch was shining along the edges of the Roegadyn’s blades to show the movements of them cutting the monsters attack into shreds.

It paused and watched as the last of its attacks fell off to the sides and revealed a still standing Brex, who was happily twirling his weapons in a playful style. There was no sign of him having any difficulty in dispatching with the last attack. His arms while still playing with the weapons alternated as he waved his arms in a hypnotic pattern before returning them to the ready position.

He then spoke out in a bored tone towards the Diremite, “Is… that… all?” he then tilted his head just a little to the right and while still holding his blades, used them to give a come-hither gesture.

This caused the creature to give out yet another screech as it readied itself by digging its pincer like legs into the ground and lifting its tail above itself to be ready for use. It then uses said tail and shoots out a thin line of purple glowing liquid right at Brex. Fortunately, he was aware of that tail and backflipped to safety and was right back to displaying the same pose as before.

This attack was repeated multiple times. A thick spray would be shot from the tip of the monster’s tail with only a second in between shots. All the while, Brex was making sure that while avoiding the poison, the two mare’s in the back ground wouldn’t be caught in the cross fire.

With a flick of his wrist, Brex throws one of his knives towards the tail just after it had just finished its last attack and the weapon gets lodged right where the ranged attack was being shot out from. This caused the Diremite to flail its tail in a futile attempt to get the weapon out and resume its attack.

Brex thought this during the fight, “Its hard to believe that it’s going this well. Also how is it I can tell where everything is while its practically pitch black in this place? I mean I just hit a bull’s eye on the things tail in here. Also why am I having more fun than I thought I would?”

Rory replied with a rather sensual tone, “Oh My, what a naughty master you are~. You didn’t even ask yet you went and started to use one of my abilities.” *Giggles mischievously* please, oh please, do more master~. This is so much fun to watch you work.” *Slurp* Brex could have sworn that he heard Rory lick her lips by that sound near the end.

While keeping an eye on his opponent, Brex was wondering what Rory had meant by that and after a moment, it dawns on him that what she mentioned was the Situational Awareness ability that the real Rory mercury had.

Situational Awareness: When Rory was at the hot springs with the others, she could feel presence from a great distance. She was able to sense the presence of a soldier watching her from 450 meters (1476.38 ft) from her present location. This is also able to let her take in everything around her and thus allowed Rory to tell just where her enemies and obstacles were.

This explained just how he was able to do the things he had been doing while in this situation. Without realizing it, he had tapped into Rory’s powers. This was something Brex was going to talk with her about later. He then saw that the Diremite was about to change its attack pattern.

It then started to do another attack but before it had the chance, the Roegadyn ninja dashes towards it. Brex said just loud enough for both the creature and the mare’s to hear, “My… Turn.” Weaving to the left, then to the right, the motions seamlessly melding into the shadows thanks to the dark clothing. This caused the Diremite soldier to have trouble keeping its sight on its enemy.

When the Roegadyn got within striking distance, he stopped at one of its legs and began to run up along it, traveling right for the creature’s face. Brex leaped into the air and used one of his attack skills, Spinning Edge. The daggers glide through the air and this made a small gust as they struck the Diremite.

Spinning Edge, Weapon skill, Delivers an attack with a potency of 220 Damage. A fluid motion that uses the user’s body to turn at high speed with the use of two weapons to strike a target.

The Diremite lets out a loud screech and attempted to move away. Its legs desperately dug into the stone floor and was pulling itself away from its attacker. The ground rumbled, but even with all this, the books were not disturbed and remained on the shelfs.

Seeing this, Brex, who was now finishing the first weapon skill. Kicked off from one of the Diremites legs that had moved underneath and launched his body towards a book shelf, only to quickly kick off from there to wind up at the retreating creatures face once again.

Smirking under his mask, Brex unleashed the second skill for the combo and rotated his form while outstretching his daggers. What came next was the Gust Slash. This move was last used to penetrate the Star Spiders hard exoskeleton.

Gust Slash, Weapon skill, Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 Damage. If used right after Spinning Edge then damage is boosted to 330 Damage. A Series of strikes that use a combination of blade work and a powerful leg sweep strong enough to cause a large gust of wind as a result to a target.

This too caused a series of blades to come down and create a multitude of slashes on the Diremites body. Unlike with the Spider back on the bridge. Each and every one of Brex’s attacks were capable of cutting the hard defenses and then the powerful leg sweep was used, this sent the boss sailing back and into a book shelf. Its legs flailing as it was momentarily dazed from the unexpected force launched to its head.

Brex readied for the next attack and just as he landed onto the ground, he jumped high into the air and slowly descends while flipping into a upside down angle right behind the Diremites head and uses the melee skill, Aeolian Edge.

Aeolian Edge, Weapon skill, Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. The damage is boosted to 160 when executed from a target's rear. A spin attack that hits the target with multiple blades and seamlessly transitions into a mid-air flip to where the final strike delivered is delt with the user’s full body weight.

Somehow, he was able to place himself into a spin and starts to carve up the Diremite, right as his last hit landed with the daggers, Brex buried it into the hard chitin and used the anchor to swing himself and turned his body into the upright direction and this sent him back up above the creature, this gave the added momentum to use the last strike, the force was able to cause the attack to not only cut where Brex had hit, but an invisible shock wave ran down its body and crashed into the stone floor to witch it caused a large column of dust to be sent flying.

The Diremite Crypt Keeper was motionless as the Roegadyn landed with hardly any signs of how high he had just been but a second ago. With a swing of both blades to the sides, Brex sent the blood that was on them to fly off, this stained the ground with green lines of Diremite blood. Then placing them back into their sheathes without even looking.

He began to slowly make his way towards the mare’s who had been silent during the start of his fight. When he was only about a few meters away, the body of the oversized Diremite, that was roughly 20 meters behind him had started leaning away from the book shelf towards the Roegadyn. But before it got close, the body was bisected in a perfect line that started from its head and ran along the center of the mass. It then slowly separated in mid fall and disappeared into dark particles before it had even made it to the ground.

Now standing before the pair of mare’s, Brex noticed that they had their mouths hanging open along with eyes full of disbelief. Thinking that he wasn’t even noticed by them at the moment. He reaches out slowly and places a single finger under both of their jaws and gently lifts them back into place.

Satisfied with the outcome, Brex walks around them and comes up to a shelf and leans in slightly to look over the titles in a casual way that just screamed, oh please don’t pay any mind to what I just did. I’m simply here to check out a book.

(Stop the music here. )

*Point of view: Shadow Lily*

Within Shadow’s mind, she was having a hard time trying to decipher just what had happened before her very eyes. Her thoughts were, “I-I-I… I C-Can’t believe what I just witnessed. This stallion just… just… did… and then he…” It was at this point that Shadow turned her head to her friend and the same look was plastered onto Swirl as well.

She spoke in an unsure whisper, “Did w-we just watch a stallion dance around a lot of lethal attacks as if they were nothing. Then jump to impossible heights, dodge poison being shot from the things tail and dice a wave of webbing with little effort?”

Swirl couldn’t help but to nod slowly with each one of Shadows examples like she was some kind of robot, during this, the mare was not blinking. All the while not removing her gaze from where the Diremite had just been before.

Shadow continued with, “Did he also taunt it and kill it with just a pair of daggers by cutting it in two parts before it just up and disappeared?”

Swirl, just like before. Just nodded. This was looking as if this was becoming second nature to the mare. After a moment, Swirl finally turned towards Shadow and said in a low whisper, “Shadow, don’t bother showing me how to summon a stallion. I want this one…”

This made Shadow’s face take on another heavy blush before she replied with the same volume, “What are you talking about. It was me that made the deal. Get your own hunk.” She was thinking that this stallion was the motherload. He was big, strong and above all else, he didn’t act like some winy little baby.

Speaking of the hunk. She had been lost in thought that she hadn’t realized that he wasn’t in front of them anymore and recollected that he had actually touched her jaw and brought it back up to close her mouth. This caused her to feel embarrassed that she had somehow managed to look like some fool before this stallion.

She turned around on the spot and noticed that he was only a few paces away and… was… reading a book in his hand while leaning into the shelf quietly. Without saying a word, the Stallion was just thumbing through the pages at quite a fast rate. Also, by the looks of it, the book that was maybe 200 pages long, was nearly done. Just how long was Swirl and Shadow out of it?

Shadow spoke up in a subdued tone while lifting her hand for but a moment to do a small wave, “Um, hello…?” She then mentally scolded herself for such an unoriginal way of starting a conversation. She then said, “I… I’m…”

But before she could finish the stallion spoke in a casual tone like one would speak of the weather, “Shadow…” Then with his free hand, points to her friend without taking his attention from the book and says, “Swirl…” This catches not only herself, but Swirl’s attention. Now sweating bullets. She says, “Uh, yeah… how did you know our names?”

The stallion in black simply said, “Back with hydra…” Shadow, upon hearing that, quickly recalled the incident and came to one conclusion, then spoke out in an astonished tone,” T-That was you!?”

This gets Swirl to turn around after hearing Shadow and looks right at the stallion and calls out in a confused manor, “Wait… what? But, he, and it… how did… H-He he’s a stallion. They can’t do something like all this. their all weak and…” it was then that she realized just how sexist she had been making herself sound like and, in a rush, slapped her hands over her mouth while glancing at the forementioned stallion before her.

At the time, he had just turned the last page in the book he was holding and lifted his head towards Swirl. Without saying a word, he turned and placed the book back into its spot and pulled the next one beside it and opened it up and began to read.

Shadow glanced to Swirl and then back to the stallion and tried to give the best apologetic smile possible and attempted to cover for her friend by saying, “It’s not like that at all. It’s just, Er… Most stallions we know, are not capable of doing the… things you just did. That’s all. She didn’t mean to offend you.”

Shadow knew just how sensitive the males were back in Canterlot. Say one thing and they turn into a ball of sadness and the tears come out in waves. It wasn’t their fault for not being as outgoing as the mare’s. Due to the number of stallions being weaker, we mare’s have to watch over them and keep them safe. However, there are those few, that enlist into the royal guard. It helps that there hasn’t been any real trouble in nearly a hundred years.

The stallion didn’t reply at all and just continued reading. This caused Shadow’s ears to fold down and showed an expression of shame. She thought, “Oh no. don’t tell me we really just hurt his feelings. We’re getting the silent treatment now, I hate that, why do stallions always do this. we need to do something before this gets worse.”

She looks over to Swirl for some assistance and noticed that she too was looking ashamed. With ears flat on the sides of her head, the girl was even doing the thing where one leg was behind the other and making a circle on the floor with her hoof.

Seeing as her friend was going to be of no help, Shadow takes a step and starts to reach for the stallion to try and reassure him, but was interrupted before she could say anything by him closing the book he had. Shadow blinked and thought, “Wait… didn’t he just pick that one up a minute ago. Don’t tell me he’s able to not only read these complicated books, but at such a high speed? Could it be, he’s not only this strong but smart on top of that as well? Oh, BUCK I need to fix this.”

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

Brex was busy reading while passing the time as he waited for the two mare’s to come to their senses. Recalling the time with the hydra, he thought that it would take some time for them to start moving again. He had randomly reached for the first book and found it to be something called, How to preen feathers, where one can touch and where one shouldn’t touch.

Brex was able to nearly finish the book in what he considered to be a record breaking speed reading rate. It was surprising to the Roegadyn that this was such a long and detailed subject. It was then that he heard the one called Shadow and ascertained that she was going to introduce herself. He saw that this was somehow being difficult for the female and decided to speed things along by saying their names.

Instantly seeing the next question coming next, he readied his reply with a simple, “Back with hydra…” he then returned to finishing his book, but right as he had gotten to the end. Brex was able to take in just what the one called Swirl was saying and this triggered a few memories on some displaced stories where the gender roles had been reversed, or perhaps the numbers ratio was way off with mare’s outnumbering stallions or simply where the males are weaker to the females.

He turned to the one that just gave him this information to see if she was serious or just joking. After a second or two, Brex was able to tell that she had, in fact been truthful and returned the book in exchange for the next one. This new one was called, Pony sutra. This one caught his attention and quickly looked over it. He noticed with the diagrams that these anthro ponies where actually closer to humans than he had originally thought. In fact, he had not gotten a real close look at them at all. This whole time was from a distance.

Considering that he had not had the chance to get close enough to these ponies, Brex couldn’t even get a good look at them all that well. Even in this place with how little lighting there was, if he wanted to look at their faces, it would have been difficult to make out more than a few features. He thought, “Hmm, it’s been around two weeks now sense I arrived and all I have to go by is from what I had seen from over 15 meters away at best. Just how much closer are these ponies to humans? Oh well, Something for another time.”

He pondered to himself, “Now this makes me want to look for a medical book on these ponies. There may just be some other things I have not taken into account. I’m sure it would shine some light on the science of the gender ratio or on how the males are like how they are. For all I know this could be one of those worlds where there are way more females. Oh, why does that scare me?”

Right as he finished with the second book, which had taken but only a few minutes to read. Brex closed it and talked to Rory with the mental connection, “I get the idea that my rate of reading is not something I had back before arriving in Equestria. In fact, the idea that I could have been able to finish just these books alone would have taken me well over a day or two. I’m positive that this has something to do with the changes from either your end or back when I appeared here.”

Rory thought it over, and replied with, “I think it may have to do with the mental fortitude enhancement, with it being raised to such a high level, I think it boosted your ability to think quickly and along with retaining information. Let’s not forget that you also managed to tap into one of my traits earlier during the fight. Odds are my High Intelligence ability may have added to all of this as well. We are connected after all.”

She continues with a confused tone in her voice, “What I don’t understand is the fact that, I’m inside your head and don’t have a real body. How is it that you are able to draw on what my character has when it’s just data?”

Brex answered with, “It could be the fact that my body is now a game character. Maybe, it could be that with myself being basically made of data, the real Rory, I mean the other Rory’s data that you used, somehow transferred over to me or I can subconsciously connect to it at times.”

He then adds after a short pause, “This is going to get confusing later on whenever I have to refer to you and the anime Rory character. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re the real Rory and the other is the fake Rory.” It was right there that He felt a sudden surge of what he could only have identified as happiness and could have sworn that he just heard Rory within his head give out a series of giggles.

Noticing that the one called Shadow, was standing closer to him and with her hand slightly outstretched towards him. Brex finally noticed that he was lost in thought. The second book was then slipped back into its rightful place and he turned his attention to the mare’s.

Brex said, “where… is he?” by this, he meant the third pony of their group that was always with them. Thinking about it, Brex had a sudden revelation. If his chat function was up and running somehow. Then some of the others may also be up and running.

One thing came to mind and with a mental command, the Roegadyn caused a window to appear in his vision. This was labeled as, Looking for group. Brex remembered that while playing there would always be this message that constantly popped up that he never bothered to disable.

In his game world. Everyone was automatically added to it and it always displayed those that were ready for some sort of invite for something or other. With it being to do a dungeon run, or some other activity. One of thing it did was allow a player to type some one’s name and it would show them on the list. While there you could see the location name and other details.

Of course, this was also a tool for those trying to get themselves more free company members by searching for anyone that was alone and sending them a private message. But in Brex’s case, he had the idea to use it to find out where Break Down was.

The name Break Down was entered and after not even a second, he appeared on the search list. Brex had expected to see the location as the Castle of the two sisters but instead it was saying the Everfree woods, west end. This confused him, if memory served him right, that was towards the direction of Canterlot.

Thinking to Rory, “It seems that their commander isn’t even here, do you think he just up and ditched them here? From what I know of the guy, he isn’t that reliable. I’m thinking that this Break Down made a break for it and ran off.”

Rory replied with, “Hmm, it’s something I think he would do. I did manage to see some of what you know about the pony. But this seems off don’t you think master?”

Brex gave it some thought and said to Rory, “I was getting the same feeling too. I’m going to see about getting some info from these two.” Brex then turned his head in the direction of Canterlot and waited for the mare’s to answer him. He thought, “Oh I love this highspeed thinking.”

*Point of view: Shadow Lily*

The mare stood there in a small daze as she tried to think of how to fix the situation but this train of thought was derailed by the stallion asking, “Where… is he?” Shadow blinked a few times in confusion and then understood the question.

She thought, “So he knows about Break Down. That’s right, he did mention the hydra. That’s how he would know about him. *Mental Gasp* Oh NO! what if he thinks that I’m in a relation ship with him?! Hold it right their Shadow, don’t jump ahead of yourself. It was a normal question after all.”

She looked over to Swirl and noticed that she too was surprised that the stallion knew about Break Down. Shadow then said, “Oh him? He’s just outside searching the area… for intrude… er’s…” it was then that her brain had caught up with her mouth and she slapped her hands over her muzzle the same way that Swirl had done so earlier.

This stallion was an intruder. One that they were send to be on the look out for. Moreover, he was inside of the Castles underground library. The same library that had magic seals to prevent outsiders from getting in and stealing the books. The very books… that… he was just… reading right, in front of us…

She then saw that the stallion had turned his head towards some random direction. This confused Shadow as to why he was doing this, but then he said, “No… he’s not.” She didn’t know what to think, just what did this stallion mean by that?

It was then that Swirl spoke out in and displayed her own confusion on this matter, “What do you mean by, No he’s not? D-Did you do something to… *Gulp* … Him?” at the end Swirl’s voice was becoming unsteady.

The stallion then said, “No, he left.” With still the same borderline flat tone that just oozed a lack of interest.

Shadow then noticed that in the direction that the stallion was looking, was in reality, the direction of the city of Canterlot. She also began to think, “Oh, don’t tell me…” Looking to Swirl, she said, “Swirl, you don’t think that Break Down, just left us behind, do you?”

Swirl’s face had hardened and she spoke in a dangerous tone, “I think he did just that. Why else would he not be in the Castle? He did send us down here after giving up so easily when I tried to keep you from going with him alone. I should have known that was too easy when we convinced him. This must have been something that he came up with after I sent that letter.”

Continuing after taking in a shaky breath, “It was all too suspicious. The odd assignment, that guy I never seen in the office before. Also, the fact that Break Down was still our superior after the two days from the time I sent the letter to the captain.” She was now turning a shade of red with how angry she was getting.

Shadow asked, “what letter are you talking about. I don’t follow.” Looking back and forth, she then asked, “could you explain it to me, what’s going on here and why are you so mad?”

Swirl turned to Shadow and said, “Remember how your hoof got stuck on that root while running from the hydra? It was Break Downs doing. I was able to notice that his magic was all over the thing while I tried to free you from it. When we got back, I wrote a letter and sent it to the captain, it explained the whole thing.”

Shaking her head in an attempt to release the anger, she continued with, “I knew something was off when nothing happened. I expected to be called in for questioning. But there was no such thing, then we got sent out here on an un-needed patrol. Then some how a new spell was on the door leading in here that mysteriously traps us in the underground library to be eaten by some monster.”

Stomping her hoof, she continued further, “I’m scared to think of what would have happened if you had gone with him to the tower on the far end of the Castle grounds.” It was then that the stallion in the room said, “Giant… Star Spider.” This caught both mare’s attention as their heads turned so fast that one would have sworn that they could have received whip lash.