A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 57: My Eye’s!!!

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Everfree Forest. Private training ground*
*Time: Nine-thirty in the morning. One day after the Bridal Gossip episode*

As of right now, Brex is in the middle of giving Gilda another one of his training sessions. This time it happened to consist of utilizing training dummies. Along with Gilda needing to switch out her weapon with that of a simple smooth staff and headgear that was simply a piece of cloth that would go over her eyes.

As for the training dummies in question. These consisted of wooden poles that were jammed into the ground and an arm that went out a couple of feet. On the end, was a piece of rope that was hanging down and attached to a punching bag full of sand.

Luckily, it was a windy day in the forest thanks to it not being under the strict management of the ponies. It was because of this, that the swinging objects could move freely so they did not require any external tampering by Brex as he was giving instructions.

During all of this, Rory was on the far end of the camp and tied securely to a tree. This all being thanks to some of that one wire Brex used once before in order to haul that tree stump out of the ground when doing that landscaping job for the town all those weeks back. As for the reason that she was in this current situation. It was due to her antics in trying to go through with the plan she mentioned only the day before.

What made it more amusing, was how she was gagged and giving off these sensual moans as she was displaying her enjoyment and being treated in such a way. Although this was quite a problem when it came to Gilda however. As if the training was hard enough on its own, the constant noises from Rory were only serving to throw her off even more as one of the punching bags swung behind and into her back. Only to cause the Griffin to fall over.

As Gilda rolled over to sit on to her tail. The blindfold was roughly pulled off before she gave Brex a harsh glare before screaming out in anger. “Just what is this meant to even teach me?! This is going to be what! The second time this has happened?” Brex responded to this as he remained standing, with his arms crossed and only a few paces away to be clear of the dummies that were still swinging all over the place.

“This is to help in getting that situation awareness going. Being a griffin gives you the eyes that could see better than any other species out there. Then there's your wings that could sense the most subtle of changes in the wind pressure around. But the rest of your senses are in a lack of a better word... Pathetic.”

“Well, what we need to do is cut off your sense of sight so you can focus on everything else. Heck! You should be thankful that your wings aren't bound up at the moment. This way you can use that to help your other senses to adjust at a much quicker rate. Sharpen your hearing to not only pick up the sound, but to determine exactly where it is. Your sense of touch is not restricted to the feeling of pain or the sensation of something touching you.”

“You got clawed feet with pads underneath. That means you should be able to have a better sense of the vibrations along the ground then that of those Ponies. Your sense of smell and taste can also be used to determining what's nearby. Especially if the object gives off a certain odor into the air when it is trying to hide and hide the sounds it makes.”

“And lastly. Do not forget your mind. Do you not recall when you were watching me set up the dummies ahead of time before the blindfold was put on? Take what you saw and make a mental map of your surroundings and always keep track of where you are in that. Gilda, remember that you are a Griffin, a natural born hunter. Tap into those instincts of yours. Take hold of them, control them. But make sure that they do not control you. Do not blindly follow your instincts, they are merely there to guide you when your other senses cannot pick up the slack.”

Gilda got on to her legs and barged right up to Gambit in a huff and started to poke one of her talons into his chest. She then took the blindfold and shoved it into his right hand after pulling it free from his crossed arm position before she said, “How about this! If it's so easy, then why don't you show me how it's done! Mister know it all King of the Dweebs!”

Gilda then had a victorious smirk on her face, as she stepped back and jammed the pole into the ground so that it was standing on its own before taking her own position that mirrored his own from only moments ago. However, that smirk fell quickly upon what he did and said next.

Taking the cloth into his hands. Brex carefully tied it so it was covering up the mask holes and turned around so that he can walk a dozen paces away, before turning around in Gilda's direction with his arms down at his sides. He then said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Fine, now here are the rules. This will go on for no less than five minutes. You are allowed to use any an all tactics you can come up with, including weapon skills.”

“Furthermore, you can strike me with that pole as hard as you can, in any way you want. You can even fly if you believe it will give you an advantage. All you have to do is to land a direct hit. And when I say that, I mean a solid hit. Not one where you only hit my clothing. Pretend this is a real fight and don't hold back at all. Strike as though you were intending to do me bodily harm or even to kill! Hell! Treat each one as a death blow.”

“On my part, I will avoid and periodically launch my own counter attacks. Although, when I do that. I will pull my punch at the last possible second so that it does not strike. You win once you hit. Even then if there is still time remaining, the exercise will continue and you are allowed to strike me as many times as you can get in without any repercussions from myself or Rory. No more counter attacks will come. Now doesn't that sound like a good way to relieve some of your pent-up anger towards me?” At the end. His voice turned almost cynical.

Gilda's expression went from concern, to that of determination before grabbing onto her weapon and giving it a quick whirl before yelling out her response. “F-Fine! But don't blame me if you end up getting really hurt!” But she ended up whispering the next part was just low enough that Brex was unable to pick it up. However, the chat window which was still something he can see while being blindfolded, was showing it to him. “You better be telling the truth about this… Otherwise I'm going to get it from Rainbow afterwards...”

Gilda took a moment before taking a strong flap of her wings to shoot herself forward. This was done in order to thrust the end of the staff so that it would hit his left shoulder. This resulted in Brex stepping only half a foot in the opposite direction. Followed with shifting his upper half so that it would twist just enough, that the weapon would pass right by.

In an attempt to get a hit in before her momentum carried her beyond his form. The Griffins left leg kicked out so she could try and strike him in the side of the head. Although, in one fluid motion. He managed to duck his head so that her leg would pass over and returned it to its previous position when the limb was clearly gone, without so much as to missing a beat.

Too bad for the Griffin, that leg sweep had messed up her flight pattern, so she needed just a little extra time to get herself reorientated after coming to a stop in the air just several paces behind him. By the time she was now facing Brex once again, she was met with a solid fist coming straight for her face and only stopping an inch or so away from making a solid strike.

Although with the force that was placed into his swing. Gilda could easily feel the rush of air hitting her face to indicate that if it had struck. Then it would have done some real damage to her beak. In that instant. Gilda’s eyes went wide and nearly released a squawk of surprise. There was even an audible hitch in her breathing, that even Brex could pick up.

This ended up causing the Griffin to back off and take a defensive stance out of surprise at the counter attack. She even took a second to give a quick glance at his face and saw that the blindfold was still intact out of suspicion of it not being on just right.

From then on, the rest of the time consisted of Gilda using various means of attack patterns, which had her on the ground and in the air at random intervals. There was even one attack pattern that she used which consisted of throwing her staff in the same way she would with a spear and giving chase as soon as it left her grip. All the while, watching him dodging it as though he knew what she was about to do ahead of time.

This of course, turned out to be a mistake. As he grabbed it in midair and swung it around so that it was in both of his hands and the tip was pointed straight at her neck just as she had come to a stop once she realized her mistake. Only after this was done, did he toss it back to her so that she can grab it again and continue their little game.

Although, Brex was slightly confused as to how she was sounding as though she was breathing quite heavily. After so many days of training together. He knew that it would take a whole lot more than this to get the Griffin to become this winded. But the Roegadyn just contributed it to the shrinking time limit that was getting to her.

When the two of them were down to the final minute. Gilda was breathing quite a bit more heavily. As she struggled to stay on her feet after constantly going at him with what he thought to be everything she had. Only to end up with a small scare after another whenever he launched one of those unorthodox counter moves. Each one would come at her, just as an attack of hers failed or her eye’s lost sight of him for just a fraction of a second.

So, out of clear desperation. Gilda simply came at him, while whirling her staff and doing random strikes at his legs. Although Brex would just dance around them and move only what was needed of his form. This consisting of sidestepping, ducking, bending over at odd angles and doing a backflip or two, so that he would end up with his body upside down and balancing on just one of his arms.

Of course, Gilda tried to take advantage of those times as well, but Brex ended up going into a weird type of spin. This move would end up with him making it impossible for her to get near. As his body twirled from one limb to another for support and the momentum would carry him into the next segment of the strange spin even more. Even any attempt at attacking him in this state would only result in her weapon getting kicked away and nearly knocked out of her arms completely a few times.

Eventually, this would lead to him sliding on the ground. Only to come to a stop with one leg stretched out straight. As the other was now bent so that the end of the leg would be on the floor and knee sticking up. As for his arms. One would be on his hip and his head would be propped up with the other one, as the elbow was touching the ground. Of course, this greatly confused the Griffin as to how he was so nimble and more so when it came to pulling off that last set of actions to end up in such a pose.

When Brex got back onto his feet. He opened his mouth and called out to Gilda, that there was only fifteen seconds remaining. She had grown increasingly agitated and launched herself at him. Fully intending to ram right in to his body out of pure desperation. But instead of getting out of the way. Brex did something else that Gilda had not expected at all.

Right as she had gotten closer, he had quickly knocked the weapon out of her hands with his left arm and maneuvered himself so that he could grab her from behind after doing a half circle step at the last possible instant. Without wasting any time at all, he had reached around and pinned her wings against her back along with her arms after getting her in a bear hug and locking his fingers onto one another. This completely stopped her momentum after shifting one of his legs forward to brace himself.

Not even a second had gone by, before she felt her body lunging backwards until the whole world was upside down and the ground was coming straight for her head. Brex made sure that he was gripping near her waist while doing this and lifted the girl before arching his back to go into the move.

This ended up getting a loud squawk of panic from Gilda, just before her head was about to hit the grass. Although, before that could even happen. Brex already shifted his other leg, so that it was behind him a little more and this gave the Roegadyn the ability to stop the German Suplex, that he was conducting from being fully executed on the girl.

Gilda's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she was breathing heavily and staring straight down to where she was about to collide. After a second or two holding this pose. Brex spoke out in an amused tone, while the front of his mask was pressing firmly into the base of her wings.

“If I had let that go all the way, then the back of your head, shoulders and pretty much most of your upper body would have been pretty messed up. It is never a good idea to rush your opponent like that unless you know for certain that it's going to make contact.”

After a few seconds of this and nothing coming from Gilda. Aside from some shuttering, especially from around the wing sections that was pressing into him. Brex then continued to say, “I would suggest you calm yourself down Gilda. Otherwise, I won't be able to return to an upright position and put you down properly. Judging by the way your wings are tensing up. I'm pretty sure that I gave you too much of a scare and I apologize. Got a bit too caught up in the moment.”

Gilda quickly answered that, while slightly stuttering for a second. Before returning to her usual way of speaking. “I’m-I'm not scared! J-Just frustrated that I didn't get to hit you that's all! Now I know I'm your slave and all, but don't you think you're going a little overboard with the touchy feeling! Geez! No idea you were such a humongous perv!”

As Gilda was saying this. Her face would be flushed red, along with the feathers around her neck being slightly ruffled. But due to the blind fold he was wearing. The Roegadyn was left unaware of the sight, as he was shifting his body to swing the female Griffin to the front of himself. Thereby pressing his mask into the base of her wings constantly and eliciting a set of small gasps from Gilda that she tried very hard to contain.

It took a few more seconds, but Brex managed to place Gilda back down and released her before giving an annoyed Huff and placing his fists on either side of his waist to answer. “And I've told you before that you are not my slave. Keep in mind that I am not a Griffin, nor have I verbally accepted this arrangement as such. Don't go throwing your Griffin customs at me so casually. Remember this is a form of punishment for what you did.”

Gilda only crossed her arms before turning her back on him as she started to ask her questions in an angry tone. “I still don't understand how you can even move like that. All those weird spins and flips. And not to mention that last move you used on me. Also, you had the blindfold on the entire time! There's no way you could have been able to do the things you did unless you were cheating!”

Brex only shook his head slowly before answering that, while having a small smirk from behind his mask. “That would be my mind's eye. Or in other words, a person's Situational Awareness. It's a trick that both Rory and myself have developed over the years.” That was when he reached up and slipped the blindfold off of his head, before turning to his right. That happened to be in the opposite direction of Gilda.

Afterwards, he called out just loud enough to be heard over a small distance. “It allows one to not only to fight when they can't see who or what their up against. But to also tell if another is spying on them!” Even during this, Rory who is still bound up against the tree, was already shifting her gaze in the same direction that Brex was right now looking in, before he even spoken up.

There was a small rustling of leaves that was coming from beyond some bushes, before someone in a brown cloak, slowly stepped out and into the open. As they were reaching for the hood to pull it off. It was clear to see a set of golden rings on one arm while the head was slowly being exposed. The voice of Zecora could be heard. “For just how long have you known it to be me, for I was as both silent and still as any tree?”

Brex had started to pat some of the dirt that had gotten on to his clothing, thanks to a few of his dodging tactics as he replied. “Oh, I have my ways, that’s for sure.” What Brex wasn't going to say, was how he had already placed a marker on Zecora, while he was conversing with her through the butterfly minion. Although, there were some other signs that gave her away, which he was going to have fun with telling her right now.

“It was already known that you were following us from Ponyville. It does make me wonder just how long you might have been waiting in the forest for us to enter today. Then there was the time that I was securing Rory up. You have some pretty good experience when it comes to not making too much noise with those accessories of yours on.”

“Still, I was still able to pick them up fairly easily. Here’s a little tip. Use some tape or cloth to keep them from shifting. You have bands on your upper left arm. The right one has them at the wrist. Also, I know your right-handed. Hmm. Really makes one wonder what you were doing in those bush’s while I was busy with Rory.”

“Not to mention the way the wind was blowing. Ended up in lending some help as well to give you away. With the way that hill over there gives my training ground some cover. The wind moves around quite erratically in here. It made it quite easy for me to pick up your smell. I've been in this forest quite often and I know where some of the plants grow. Even memorize a few of their scents. There was one in particular that I picked up that I know does not grow anywhere near here.”

Brex could hear Zecora saying something as her hood came completely down. Although, there was this background noise of a different set of words being said, that indicated to him that she was speaking her native tongue. Oddly enough, it came up in his chat window to display it to have a striking resemblance to something from earth, known as Swahili.

These consisting of the Zebra saying. “Sneaking up on a mage of white was quite foolish on my part. I just hope that he will be able to listen to my story, as well as my request and know that it is true and from the heart.”

Clearly, Gilda was quite confused due to the way she was lifting an eyebrow and looking between the Zebra and himself. But her jaw dropped soon after, when she heard him speaking again. But clearly, she could not understand with the way Brex was using the translation function he had in order to communicate with Zecora in her own language. “Mage wa nyeupe, huh? Itabidi niseme, ndiyo kwanza nimesikia ikiitwa hivyo.” In translation, it came out as the following. “A mage of white, huh? I'll have to say, that's the first that I've heard of it being called that.”

“Being as I've never shown those powers before you. Then it begs the question as to how you know. But seeing as you are at least somewhat remorseful for trying to sneak up on me. I'll listen to what's troubling you, as well as this request of yours.” He then gestured towards Gilda with his left thumb before continuing. “I suggest we both speak in a language that she can at least understand. Also. if you could lighten up on the rhyming for her benefit, then I would appreciate it.”

Zecora’s eyes went wide from clear surprise from hearing him in her own language. Before they quickly turn to that of understanding, along with a small smile as she started to talk. “Very well, if that is what you wish. Zecora approached Brex and only stopped once she had gotten to about five paces away and immediately dropped onto her knees and gave a low bow. She was essentially touching the grass with her forehead and started to talk without lifting her head as Brex lifted an eyebrow questionably at the act from behind his mask.

“First, please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Zecora, daughter of our village leader. I have come here in order to ask a great favor from the Mage in White. For many years, the land that my tribe settled on, has been slowly dying. Every year the rain comes less and our groundwater grows thin. It matters not what we do, but even that causes sickness.”

“Our crops yield less food as the seasons goes on. Strife and malice have grown rampant and reaches far and wide with no end in sight. Peaceful families would one day be normal as they can be and the next, found to be violent and ripping one another apart, without any real rhyme or reason in sight.”

“I ask that you lend us your aid. Many of my sisters and brothers are long gone and those that cannot make the journey have no other course than to remain as a few of us go out into the world. Just as them, my task is to learn as much as possible. In hopes that a solution might be found. Powerful Shamans are what we seek, but it is already known that alone may not be enough. What we require above all else, is a Mage of White. One with this symbol carved into their very soul.”

Zecora went ahead and taken that opportunity to grab on to a small rock, in order to dig away at the ground so that a large enough drawing could be seen. After a few seconds of her digging away and pulling her hand so that it was no longer blocking his vision. The Roegadyn's eyes instantly shot open upon seeing a crudely made drawing of his White Mage soul stone. Along with the picture that came with it, that resembled a staff with a single point at the top being half encircled.

Brex had approached Zecora, who had already placed her head down so that she was no longer able to look at him and place a hand onto her shoulder, in order to help guide her into a more comfortable sitting position. As Brex was about to speak, he found himself unable to let any words out upon seeing the sight of her silently crying, as she made a pleading look with her eyes that were now looking right into his own.

Of course, the real reason that he had such a reaction, was because of this character always being portrayed as a strong female. One that hardly ever showed any weakness. A person that was ready to lend help and always made sure to keep others at ease. This was evident in both the show and in so many of the displaced stories that he remembered from his old life.

From behind his mask. Brex couldn't help but to deeply frown as his thoughts began to swim wildly. One thought had him speaking in an English accent, that was clearly confused and frustrated all at once. “What’s with those eyes?! How do they do that? its like they just inflate! Is it a natural defense mechanism?” After, his mind continued with other thoughts. One part of him spoke out against having to help Zecora. Seeing as he would have to leave Ponyville and would need to go all the way to the other side of the ocean.

Moreover, was the fact that he not gone there yet and had no means of instantaneously traveling there. Yes, he could always call in for the Yuna to come and pick him up, but he wanted to hold off on using the ship for the moment. This meaning he would have to go with the conventional rout. Which would take quite a bit of time. Especially with the Gala being close to two months away.

Also, was how he would end up leaving Ponyville and the Element bearers to be pretty much defenseless if a threat should arise like the last one that was clearly beyond their means of dealing with. Sure, he did have body doubles in place, but they were nowhere near strong enough to do what was needed. As it currently stands, they were at pretty much the same level of strength when compared to a regular person in terms of levels.

As for the other side of his internal argument. It was all for helping Zecora because it was without a doubt the right thing to do, no matter how cheesy it sounded in his head. The girl had quite literally thrown herself at his feet in order to deliver this request and would have been incredibly rude to deny it. Not to mention, if he could do any good at all to help them or at least to lessen their burdens, then there was no real reason not to.

While this was going on, he had left Zecora and untied Rory so that she could be more active in this discussion. At least from an outsider's point of view. Plus, it would just seem really weird to leave Rory tied up and squirming like a beast. This is when he started to talk with Rory through the mental connection and the two of them ended up going back and forth with the following.

“My options aren't exactly limited. But I'd have to make a judgment call on this. What are your thoughts? Either I stay and out right refuse, or go with playing the Garry Sue card?”

“Master, you do know I can hear your thoughts pretty well from before you started talking to me, right? It's pretty clear that you really want to help her, but there are all these reasons that you're trying really hard to come up with so that you can stay here.”

“Rory, how many times do I have to keep repeating the same line over and over again. I'm beginning to think I should just bring a record player and have it continuously saying the words on a loop. I'm not a hero! I'm just a guy who doesn't remember much about himself and is in the body of a video game character. For all I know, I was a sleaze bag. I'm not about to go globetrotting just for the sake of doing what's right.”

“Please Master! You can't keep using the excuse that you're only in this to survive. If that was the case, then you would have already taken over Equestria and militarized the whole continent. Not to mention, dethroned both Celestia and Luna. Don't think I haven't already seen or heard those thoughts of yours when it comes to countermeasures against the two of them.”

“But even so Rory. I can't exactly leave them on their own. Case in point, Nightmare Moon would have most likely have killed the Element bearers or at least seriously wound them. And Applejack's little fiasco with the food poisoning? I took a good look at that stuff and I'm pretty sure it would have done a lot worse than simply making all of those pony’s sick. So, I'm really glad that I had nurse Red Heart put in that order for medicine ahead of time.”

“Then there's Trixie who literally, almost got squished along with her stage wagon. You were even there when it came to the Dragon part. Fluttershy was not going to be able to affect a young adult Red Dragon that's practically meant for another world that is not all about sunshine and rainbows. They would already be six piles of smelly shit in its cave around now.”

“Besides that. What are we going to do if I do go on this and I don't get back before the Gala? I'm pretty sure that Zecora’s going to be taking me to wherever it is I need to go and if she's not here, then there's no one that can help when Apple Bloom ends up playing and messes around with trying to give herself a cutie mark? Zecora is the one that knows how to fix that situation.”

“Master, there's a very simple solution that you're just not seeing here.”

“And exactly what is it? I guess I could call Blaze Caster and have him stick around Ponyville for a while, but he's busy on his end. Then there's also the teachers I set up in the schools. But they're busy contending with their students. So that's out of the question. I don't want to tip my hand just yet and reveal my connections to call in a security detail from HQ to watch the girls! I just-.”

“Master! Please calm down! The answer for which I am speaking of is standing right in front of you.”

“Huh, what?!”

“Exactly what I said. I will stay in Ponyville and watch over things as you are gone. As for the time frame, I believe getting the Yuna and coming up with an excuse as to why you're able to ride it would be the best course of action. Instead of taking weeks, if not months to cross the sea. The unit can easily get you there within days. There will be plenty of time to do whatever you need to do and come back with plenty of time to spare.”

“But-But, why are you saying that you're going to stay?!”

“Come now Master? This won't be the first time that we’ve been apart for a while. Besides, you could always sneak away and pop up here for a little visit once in a while. And of course, I promise I will behave myself while you're gone. Although, I do have one thing that I must ask that you do for me. And that's to bring your maids along for the ride as well.”

“Okay, okay! I can understand your reasoning for staying. Seeing as you're really strong. But why should I bring Rin and Lin along with me?”

“Master, even though I'm a part of you and was originally created by your memories and thoughts. There are times at even I am surprised at how much I know when it comes to girls compared to yourself. We've been training them for a while now and they've gotten pretty good. This would be a great opportunity to spend some time with them as well. Besides, I worry about you and having an extra set of eyes that we both trust to tag along with you on this trip. Going alone is not a good idea.”

“After all, it's been quite a while since they've been able to attend to your needs, other than those brief times that you come over in the middle of the night. Honestly Master, there's no other option other than pulling Blaze Caster off of his current job. Besides, we all know how much you like to play-.”

“Rory! If you so much as finish that sentence... I swear! I will come up with the most horrible punishment imaginable for you to go through. And it will last for a full month after this is all done! Is that clear!”

"... ... ..."

“Good, I thought so! Fine, I'll take them along with me. But I just hope there are better behaved. I don't know if it's their personalities or what we did. But those two can be rather... I'm not entirely sure as to what word to use to describe them.”

“I would call them enthusiastic. The go-to and get things done type. Self-starters and are always good at keeping an eye on the details.”

“Rory? It sounds more like you’re trying to set them up for a job interview just now. I would mostly consider them as being… Fanatical, sometimes way too eager to please. Real snippy at anyone or anything when it comes to what could possibly get me upset. Do you remember when we last took them with us anywhere? We brought them on a mission and some random mare on the street just stuck her nose up at me. Those two tried to kill her later that evening when we had our eyes off of them.”

“Really! It's a good thing we caught on before it was too late. At least you were able to hold back when Rainbow accused me of being a pedophile! Rainbow's head would already be rolling on the ground before a single second would have gone by after she completed that sentence.”

“Please Master! You worry too much. It's been a while since that incident and we've made sure the train them a little better. Besides, all we have to do is remind them of the last time they were disciplined and that will pretty much snap them back in place. Tee-Hee~.”

Brex had let out a heavy sigh and then turned his attention from Rory, towards that of Zecora. Who was still sitting there during the discussion that only lasted several seconds in the outside world. The female Zebra looked at the two of them for a moment. Before there was a look of realization that quickly crossed her face, as she pointed it out. “Is it possible that the two of you have the ability to communicate without the use of words?”

Gilda, who was standing just a short ways away. Gave out one of her signature scoffs, before replying to that statement. “Yeah right! Those two do this all the time. They just been around each other so long that they can pretty much communicate with only their eyes. I doubt they can actually talk to one another through their thoughts.”

Gilda then laughed before continuing. “Now don't tell me the two of you believe all this nonsense? Didn't she only just start going to Ponyville recently? How are we to know that she's really telling the truth about her people needing help? It could just be a trick to get a male to come back home with her.” When She finished. The Griffin was looking away and slowly scratching the back of her neck rather awkwardly.

Without even looking towards Gilda to see this and keeping his gaze on Zecora. Brex gestured with his head towards the Zebra and Rory got the hint to move closer. She then pointed her right hand towards the girl on the ground and chanted something under her breath.

This was instantly followed with a seemingly, undetectable wave that washed over a set area to form a semitransparent bubble that disappeared after a few seconds. Of course, with Zecora being the center of the spell, she was obviously caught in its effects. but Gilda was within the range that was specified as well. Although she looked to be unaware as to what was going on. Unlike Zecora who is looking around curiously.

The next thing to happen, was Brex asking a question. Which the Zebra started to answer without any hesitation on her part. “Are you telling the truth about what is happening on your lands?” Without a hint of trying to resist. Zecora answered with a determined yes.

As for Gilda, she ended up standing there with her arms crossed and giving a glare before saying, “That proves nothing.” Brex merely turned his attention over towards Rory, who now had this unsettling grin on her face. Before she called towards Gilda and started a back-and-forth question and answer series.

“Ok then, how about this? So, Gilda. When was the last time you got it on with Rainbow and where?”

“I don't see that it's any of your business, but it was last night. It was in her place. First in the living room and afterwards, we moved to her bed… Huh?! Hold on! Why did I just tell you all that? Yes, we did get it on! NO, wait, I'm trying to say we didn't! But we sure did! Ghawwww! What’s happening?!?!?!:

“Hmmm, ok then. How about this one. Gilda, just what is your honest opinion of my Master?”

“He's a, he's a... He's definitely not a dweeb! Also, I think that-. Mymph, nnngh! Muummph!” At this point. Gilda was clearly panicking from the way her eyes appeared. She had even slapped both of her hands across her beak in order to keep it shut, as she was clearly trying to say something for all to hear.

But even though the words were trying to get out, they only came as muffled noises that no one there could make out due to her actions. There was even a heavy blush that was coming across her cheeks that threatened to change her entire coloring. This wasn’t just limited to the white feathered area’s either.

Brex spoke up to this after putting a hand on Rory's left shoulder. Okay that's more than enough for a demonstration Rory. Please cancel the spell. It isnt nice to tease Gilda in such a way. You could have at least picked a question that wouldn't embarrass her this much.”

“Besides, I already know she doesn't think of me as a dweeb. She’s a good girl once you get to know her.” Gilda was still trying to say stuff about him. But as soon as Rory had canceled the spell, did the Griffin finally let out a huff of annoyance through her nose. Before she allowed herself to talk once more. “No one mentioned you could make others tell the truth! That's just not fair and you know it! And you! Don’t go calling me a, g-good girl!”

Brex gave out a small sigh, before gesturing for Zecora to stand up. This was done by him reaching for her hand after leaning down enough to reach it. From then on, the two began to discuss the details a little further. While at the same time, Gilda was let go for the day, as training was cut short. This of course gave her the excuse to head on out so that she can meet up with Rainbow before having to rush off to her part-time job.

About an hour had gone by for Brex, Rory and Zecora. As they were sitting inside of her house and around a tiny table. On said table, was an unfurled map of Zebrabwe. The plan was that they would head out in the morning the day after tomorrow. That at least gave him some time to get his affairs in order, as well as the needed supplies.

If truth be told. Brex could probably leave right then and there, if he was to go alone. But the time frame was an excuse to not divulge his ability to travel quickly. Zecora was led to believe that it would take that long for two more traveling companions to meet up with them and head towards the western part of the continent. Along with making the traveling arrangements.

From that location. They would get on a air ship and sail across the sea to check out the situation that the Zebra had filled them in on. This also gave Zecora a bit of time to whip up a sizable batch of the oils and tonics that she had previously promised to the spa sisters, so that they would have enough to last until they came back. Which meant that she was going to be busy pretty much all night long. But assured Brex and Rory that she would be ready to go at the appointed time.

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Ponyville*
*Time: Three-thirty in the afternoon*

After having the extended talks with Zecora were finished in regards to the situation and traveling plans. Brex eventually got back to town and upon entering their hotel room, he started to use one of his Link Pearl’s to make the suitable preparations. One call was made to HQ to have some transportation brought up. Even with it being on such short notice, Brex got the feeling that it would not have been a problem if he wanted to leave that very moment by the way the Changeling on the other end sounded.

Next up was the direct line with his maids back in Canterlot. Once everything was properly explained to the both of them. The two sounded as though they were about to make their way right then and there to Ponyville, even if it meant flying in broad daylight. To prevent this, Brex gave them the explicit order not to draw attention to themselves and that he would go and pick them up when it was time. All they needed to do, was to rest up and pack for a long trip.

Brex even made a stop over at the flower sisters place in order to give Rose a heads up that he would be out of town for what would most likely be about a month and a half. But he did leave out a bunch of stuff and just played it off as a business trip. Of course, her sisters were there as well and each one was giving various types of reactions. Daisy, who he had barely any interactions with at all. Just gave him a shifty glare before turning to that of neutrality. Which was pretty normal for the mare, so he didn't take much offense to it at all.

With Lily, she was a little concerned. But after a little bit of convincing that he would eventually come back had calmed the mare down a little and wished him good luck on his travels. Even though the two of them hadn't seen each other very much since the Summer Sun celebration. Lily still doted on him even if just a little bit. It kind of seemed that the incident with Rainbow had sparked a protective Instinct in the mare. At least she wasn't being all weird about it. She had even asked him questions as to where he was going and if he had the proper clothing for the trip.

When it came to Rose, who was the one he went to go and see initially. Unsurprisingly took it the worst as she ended up giving him a hug after everything was explained. She ended up crying a little bit and asking over and over again if he was going to come back the Ponyville. Which he promised multiple times. To the Roegadyn, it became painfully obvious from the way rose was crying and pretty much smearing her snot onto his clothing, he was definitely going to need a moment or two once he got out of that shop to use that cleaning spell on himself.

But after a little bit, it started to get a bit uncomfortable for both him and the rest in the room. So Brex went ahead and invited Rose and her sisters if they were interested, in going to the local bar later that night for a small farewell party of sorts. Rose was all for it and so was Lily. Although when it came to the last third of the sisters, it had taken a little bit of effort to convince Daisy into coming as well. Even though he didn’t know her well enough. He could pretty much see a small smile that crossed her lips at the idea of going out with her family for an activity, that doesn’t have anything to do with work

Although, once Brex mentioned the get together. There was this sudden jolt that ran up his spine that he was not ready for and his senses went wild for barely a second as it faded. He even noticed how Rory's fur was standing on end at the same time, which clearly indicated that she had the same type of response as himself and wondered if something was about to happen later.

After the visit at the shop was concluded. Brex and Rory doubled back to their hotel so that the one running the place, known as Young Geezer was let in on him being gone for a while. But Rory was going to stay in his room so it was all paid in full up front. This of course also included Gilda's tab as well, seeing as he didn't really give her much of a choice on where she was living and she didn't have a lot of money to her name just yet.

And speaking of Gilda. During his little talk on the Link Pearl. An order was given so that when the supply train containing a delivery of the Gobblers were to head to Canterlot, before getting sent off in different directions along their train stations. There would be some dropped off and delivered directly to Gilda's door.

Even though she was technically an adult and already had a part-time job. He didn't really feel right about leaving her without having a somewhat steady meat supply. This was because otherwise, she would end up going into the forest by herself and he was a little worried about something happening while away in another country.

Now, the next bit was when things got just a little bit interesting to say the least. After taking care of the previous items. Brex, along with Rory. Went into the Guild Hall. Normally, he would be seen as someone who would go in on a daily basis, in order to take the available quests. And it was because of that very reason, that there were quite a few regularly posted ones by Ponies who appreciated his work. So, in a long story short. Brex had reoccurring customers in a way and these ponies preferred his assistance.

Seeing as he was about to be gone for some time. Brex originally intended to go in, in order to make sure that the quest givers were notified. Instead of being disappointed when he doesn't show up. But as soon as he had come in, he was pretty much blindsided by one of the friendly mare’s that was running the counter.

Apparently, they were going to choose that day to give Gambit, his other identity a promotion. Brex had seen this a number of times when it came to others whenever he was in the guild buildings ever so often. However, even if this is his first time being promoted, the way to did it here was quite different from what was expected.

Instead of simply taking the Adventurer into the back and go through the whole song and dance of re-issuing their status plate. Brex found that there was a banner with the words, “Congratulations Gambit.” What's more, was the fact that Applejack and Fluttershy were inside as well and sitting at one of the tables. After having a quick glance, he could tell that they were in the middle of dividing up their bits from what was most likely them completing a quest.

Although what struck him as odd, was the way the two of them were acting once they caught sight of both him and Rory. Fluttershy looked way more nervous than normal. Even to the point that she was literally giving the impression that she was shrinking into her chair. As for Applejack, who was sitting on the other side of the table. Her eyes went wide before turning away so that her face couldn't be seen. She even went through the trouble of reaching up and tilting her hat so that it was blocking more of her head.

After seeing that kind of reaction. Brex began to think to himself. “I've never had any real encounters with Fluttershy, aside from when I started doing quests in town. As for Applejack. Hmm... I suppose she's still a little embarrassed about that fumble. I should probably expect the same from Rarity if I happen to see her again. On earth they probably would have been labeled as a pervert and arrested after such a scene, although I had no control over it to begin with. I wonder if it’s the complete opposite and they fear that I’m thinking of them in such a way?”

His thoughts were taken away from that subject, when he heard the mare coming up to him from behind the counter. She happened to be a shade of green, just a little darker than Lyra. But clearly with a completely different personality. The mare was just about the say something to him, but was interrupted by Lyra herself that was coming through the back door leading into the office and walking backwards with a cardboard box being held tightly in her arms.

The mare was pretty much screaming up a storm as she banged the box against the frame of the doorway and turned around before slamming it onto the desk, so that she could bring her attention back to whoever was inside of the office that she had just come from. “You got no right in firing me! I broke no rules! And if you think I'm going to take this lying down from a stallion, then you better think twice! I'll make sure to complain to the higher-ups about this misuse of power!”

Brex raised an eyebrow to this and look towards his mini-map to see who was in the room. From where all the dots were located. It showed six within the Guild Hall entrance and three more within the office. After a few seconds, Lyra could be seen backing away as the occupants were coming out an into view.

The first one who exited, was the town mayor, that went by the name of Mayor Mare. She was an Earth Pony. Moderate phthalo blue for the eyes. Her mane was that of a light cornflower bluish gray, with a lighter streak going through it. Pale, light grayish amber the rest of her fur was that of a pale, light grayish amber. At the moment she could plainly be seen wearing a stereotypical businesswoman suit that was both functional and stylish to show her position in town.

And between anyone there, including Lyra. She was easily the most riled Pony out of all of them with the way she was scowling at the mint mare. Mayor Mare then approached Lyra, who is now on the other side of the counter and slammed both of her hands onto the wooden surface before leaning in to yell out her own reply.

“Now see here little missy! I'm not sure if you're simply ignoring what was said or you have a hearing problem. Do you even realize just who it is you're yelling at? There's pretty much no other Pony that's higher up on the chain than Sir Fancy Pants!” Mayor Mare then turned around after giving a heavy huff of annoyance, so that she was back to her usual calm demeanor that Brex had seen around town now and then, so that she could talk to whoever was still in the office.

There came a voice that instantly registered to Brex, as they came out with another by their side. “I dare say madam, you are quite uncouth. As the receptionist here, you are the face of the guild and are expected to conduct yourself with a particular code of conduct. It is sufficed to say that your services will no longer be needed and considering your outburst, I have made a proper decision. Furthermore, I would under normal circumstances, say that we are appreciative of all you have done in this branch, but in light of recent activities. That would definitely not be the case here.”

The one who stepped through first, was none other than Sir Fancy Pants himself. Fleur De Lis was being guided right behind him as they held hands. Lyra was looking a little nervous now and was attempting to stand her ground, even though her voice was still shaky and apparently the situation was just beginning to catch up to her brain by the looks of it. “I-It's like I said already, I didn't do anything wrong.”

Mayor Mare was crossing her arms and giving a small glare towards Lyra, as Fleur De Lis was doing the same. As for fancy pants. The stallion was standing there unmoved as he calmly took off his monocle and wiped it with a cloth that was tucked away in his lapel.

After breathing onto it a few times to get some condensation to assist with the cleaning. The handkerchief was placed back into his pocket, as the monocle was set where it belonged in front of his right eye. This was then followed by a subtle raise of an eyebrow, which clearly sent the message for the Mint mare to go on.

“I keep up the records. As well as the rewards. It's not like I'm embezzling the company or any such nonsense as that. So, tell me exactly what did I do wrong that's worth getting fired over!” By this point, everyone that was there had their eyes glued to Sir Fancy Pants, this including Applejack and Fluttershy that was at the far table. But it would also seem that the ruckus had called in a few other bystanders that were partially sticking their head through the door to see what was happening inside of the building.

Fancy Pants slowly paced around the counter, by going the long ways, so that he had ample time to give his reaction. While having that professional businessman attitude going on that showed that he had hardly any real emotions that could be used to read his thoughts. He spoke in a slow and deliberate tone, that would leave no mistake in what he was about to say next.

“Miss Lyra Heartstrings... What you have done is utterly inexcusable. Yes, you are kind, courteous and helpful to others. Yet you seem to have a particular disdain for a certain, let’s say… Group. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been looking into your conduct. It has come to the attention of not only myself, but the other board members that organize and run the Adventurers Guild of your actions.”

“Under normal circumstances, my present company would not be required. However, this case involves a dear friend of mine. Which felicitated my personal involvement.” When the stallion had gotten to that part about a friend. His eyes were clearly shifting to look directly at Brex, just before going back to the Pony in front of him, right as he finished going around the end of the counter and was now walking straight at her in an agonizingly slow pace before continuing.

“I will now retell your offenses, since you have oh so conveniently forgotten them already. Honestly, you should have just left with your dignity intact. But since it has been drawn out, then there is no course but to let your misdeeds be known publicly by those present today.” Lyra's eyes had shot open before she whirled around on the spot to finally notice that it was not the four of them there alone and began to clearly panic, as she shook on the spot and quickly motioned for the stallion to stop with her head shaking furiously.

“Miss Lyra Heartstrings. You have been found guilty of the following charges. Withholding earnings that are to be issued upon the completion of a quest, once the conditions have been plainly accomplished or a signature from the quest giver has been retrieved.

“Falsifying reports so that payment would either be diminished, due to claiming that the conditions were not fully met or putting false statements that would result in nearly a week of withholding earnings to individuals that work for this organization. Just how are we meant to keep those that are willing to do the job from simply up and leaving after such a severe level of mistrust to be shown as thanks for good work.”

Lyra tried to argue with Fancy Pants with them going back and forth as the stallion Drew closer. Brex couldn't help but to raise both of his eyebrows at the imposing nature Fancy Pants was giving off right now. The calm and collected Pony he knew was pretty much replaced with a brick wall, that gave the impression that it was about to fall on you, if you so much as looked at it funny. Well at this point, it was pretty much more of a spiked wall that was slowly coming at you in one of those cheesy dungeon traps one would see on a Saturday morning cartoon show.

“L-Like I said, I did absolutely nothing wrong I tell you!”

“I see Miss. Then why don't you tell me exactly what you were up to?”

“I-I was just trying to make sure that we weren't getting swindled by some random Pony off the streets. I merely stayed on the side of caution.”

“Well Miss. I can certainly see the merit in that argument. However, it would have more weight if it was a one-time occurrence. For as long as a particular male... No, what I should say is, for as long as the only male in Ponyville has been coming to this office. You have not once given him his reward on time and would come up with one excuse after another to write down on the report. All in order to delay his payment time and time again.”

“I didn't do such a deed! Sure, his rewards may have been delayed a little, but I had good grounds to do so. Mayor Mare, please believe me!”

“I am the one asking questions, it would do you some good to remember that. Oh, and is that so? How about we take a look at some of these shall we? It just so happens that I happen to have a few of the copies here in my possession. How about we all go through them in chronological order. Of course, we won't be reading them all due to the numbers. There are quite a few and I rather not take up the time of everybody here.”

“First being, the completion of two quests, along with written testimony of his deeds. I can also see that there were some notes written by the quest giver, but they seem to be scratched out. We took the liberty of reaching out to them and they do recall exactly what they wrote originally. They would say, the adventurer known as Gambit received positive reviews and even a pay increase, due to how much work he did when compared to the original reward.”

“Another is several days after. Upon completing a quest that required him to do some repairs to the local schoolhouse. You stated here on these notes, that a building inspector was required to go to the site and determine that it was up to building code. This would be understandable, if it were not for some additional records that we found tucked away in a separate folder that was clearly unmarked.”

“On it, it showed that an inspector did indeed go there that very day and returned to state that the work was done perfectly and no problems could be found. However, on the official records, it's a whole other story and he was unable to receive the full amount due to, insufficient capabilities. A number of facilities were made completely unsafe for the foals and colts. This falsified report even led to the school being closed for an entire day for another inspector to show up and have it cleared for use.”

“Oh, and let's see right here. I do recall there was an incident involving an Ursa Minor. Carpenters were stretched fairly thin and Gambit lent a hand as well in that time. Here we see quite a lot of scratch marks with a quill to cover up multiple testimonies. Now, I wonder why that is... It would be one thing if this was a clerical error due to the guild for one reason or another, however each and every one of these clerical errors was under your watch.”

“Care to explain why it is that you not only doctored the paperwork, but continuously postpone or dwindle down my friends pay? Furthermore, while you are at this. Do please, also regale us as to your reason for shifting the follow up investigations onto your other staff members. I can only see two possibilities for that second question. One would be your attempt at covering up this grievous misconduct, by not having your face seen so frequently. Or it could possibly be due to a lack of motivation when it comes to your job.”

Mayor Mare and Fleur De Lis had not changed their expressions, that were of that of stern disappointment towards Lyra. But as for the rest of the onlookers, that was another story. Whispers began to go from one Pony to the next, along with some shifty eyes and pointing fingers from just beyond the door that led outside. Fluttershy had her eyes going wide at hearing the mistreatment. From the corner of his eye, Brex had just barely seen a small spark of anger coming from the yellow Pegasus that sent a cold chill through his very being.

Applejack was already on her legs and was just about to walk straight up to Lyra. But it appeared that her left hand was gripping onto the edge of the table tightly, as if a part of her was trying to keep something from happening. What's more, was the way Applejack was beginning to snarl and bear her teeth towards the mint mare that was in the crosshairs of everyone there.

Even Rory, who is standing next to him. Was looking pretty pissed off and that was calling it mildly. At the same time, there was this hint of a satisfied smirk that was just barely breaking past even that. Brex was just about to open a link to ask Rory about this, but she had beat him to the punch. “I'll explain it all to you later Master. In case you're wondering, I was the one that tipped them off. But even I had not realized that she went and gone this far with the harassment!”

After that, his attention was brought back to Lyra. Who was visibly shaking from both fear and a mix of anger, as she darted her eyes to everyone there. After seemingly having enough, her mind clearly started to crack as she lashed out by yelling at the top of her lungs and looking quite hysterical while doing so. “You really want to know why? Are you sure are you really sure that a weak stallion should be hearing this?! Fine, fine! I'll tell you!”

By now, she was pretty much beginning to foam at the mouth, as she had this deranged look in her eyes as she pointed towards Fancy Pants and then to Brex before continuing. “It's because you're males! If it wasn't clear, then let me spit it into your ears! Stallions are good for nothing, except getting mare’s pregnant! They're only use in life is that and that alone! Just look at our population! we got so many mare’s and so few stallions. They can't even be competent enough to get the gender ratio balanced!”

“They're nothing but weak, spineless, undependable pieces of garbage! In my honest opinion if they were not required to keep our species from going extinct. Then I'd be all for the idea of exterminating each and every one of those retched fools from this world of ours! The females are far more competent and deserving of life. It's plain to any Pony that has two good eyes that evolution wants the males to all die out! There is no other explanation!!!”

“We have the two princesses after all. Yes! We have that Prince Blue Blood, but he's not really a Prince at all. I'm sure that there's a spell out in the world that will get us mare’s pregnant and we can do away with all of them!!! WORTHLESS GOOD FOR NOTHINGS, they're all WORTHLESS!!!”

Everyone who heard that confession was completely stunned, including Brex. What Lyra had just said was pretty much what the cult would say when he had rescued Blaze Caster, except this time around. It was far more radical to back then. Instead of just capturing them and using them as a tool for breeding. It seemed that to Lyra's point of view, the stallions were no longer needed. But as this was going on. Lyra had taken the opportunity to move closer during her rant and just as she had finished with what she wanted to say.

The mare had reached into one of her pockets and swiftly pulled out a dagger and lunged at Fancy Pants with it being held in both of her hands. Brex was too far away to do anything, with how close the two of them were and had feared for his friend’s life. As the world appear to slow down in his eyes. The Roegadyn could see the three-inch-long blade going towards his rib cage and right for where his heart was located.

But just as the tip of Lyra's weapon had finally made contact with his suit. There was a metallic shing, as the blade was stopped and the additional force behind the stabbing motion was now causing it to slide along the materials surface.

Seemingly to have come out of his shock state. Fancy Pants went on pure instinct and without even looking fully at Lyra, had grabbed on to one of the arms that held the dagger and contorted his body so that he was able to do a judo flip with the mare. This resulted in Lyra being slammed with her back first into the wooden floor with a hard thud. This managed to cause her body to bounce once and to force the mare to release some spit from her mouth before clearly being knocked out by the collision.

Once Fancy Pants had disarmed her and tossed the dagger a short distance away. Lyra was quickly taken into custody and some manacles were slapped onto her wrists after being pulled behind her unconscious back. There was even a magical inhibitor ring that was placed onto her horn that showed a tiny Keyhole to be used in order to release the clamps inside the mechanism that would keep it in place.

Brex went straight up to Fancy Pants, along with Fleur De Lis and began to examine the spot that he should have been stabbed at. After taking a moment to go over the material. It was discovered that there was just this small crease along the fabric that could be seen that obviously came from the tip of the dagger.

As it was trying to penetrate, the blade ended up failing miserably. It was then that Brex realized the suit looked familiar to him. As it turned out, this was one of the few outfits that was made using the Demonic Spider Silk they had retrieved, while visiting Ryu's place that one time after that strange Garuda attack.

After patting himself down and seeing what they were looking at. Fancy Pants released a loud laugh as he looked towards his wife and spoke with sweat running down his face and still breathing hard from the excitement. “Well, my dear! It would seem that it would make sense as to why our tailor took so long to make our outfits with those bolts of silk. It feels no different than what one would expect, but perhaps this fabric is on par to that of bendable steel. Who says fashion can’t save your life! Hahaha!”

Fleur De Lis did not look amused at all with that little quip and kept on checking if there was anything else amiss. She even went so far as to undo his suits jacket and undershirt. Although in her haste, she was pretty frantic to the point, that Brex thought she was going to rip the buttons off is clothing. Once his bare chest was exposed and she had patted him down to check for any bruising. She finally satisfied when finding nothing there at all and released a heavy sigh of relief.

Brex looked over his shoulder to watch as Lyra's unconscious body was being carried away through the front door. In his mind, he began to think to himself with a worried tone. “Was Lyra really like this to begin with? I knew how she was against the opposite gender, but this is way too much. Also, the way she just snapped like that was really odd in itself. Sure, she was always a little crazy, but not this crazy. Hmmm, at least I don't think she was.”

After about a half hour of the guards getting written testimonies from all of those that were witnesses. Fancy Pants asked one of them as to what was going to happen to Lyra. In response, the guard quickly answered that after stating the facts of not only doctoring the books for the Adventurers Guild and attempted murder.

Then the odds of Lyra not getting out of going to jail was pretty much at zero. She might even end up in a psychiatric hospital with how erratic she showed herself to be during the premeditated assault. What made it even worse, was how it was aimed towards a stallion. Which in their country was a serious offense, even if it was not life threatening to begin with.

While this was going on. Brex was having a frown from behind his mask, as he looked over the scene. He then thought back to Zecora and began to think the following in a melancholy, inner tone of voice. “It would seem that the stars are lining up for me to stay away from Ponyville for a little while. I'm sure it will just be awkward for everyone here if I stuck around. Not really sure as to why, but aside from Rory. I don't really have much of a reason to be here. Now do I?”

Rory quickly spoke up through the connection after hearing this in clear defiance. “Please Master, don't go down that road again. It wasn't your fault. She was obviously messed up before we even got here and if it was another male that tried to join the Adventurers Guild here, then she would most likely have done the same regardless. Besides, don't we have a little drinking party to get to?”

Brex couldn't help but the shake his head in the outside world for but the slightest of movements, before responding. “Is this really a time for me to do this? I don't know about you, but wouldn't this situation put a damper on any festivities? I don't know about you. I at least don't want to be in here at the moment.”

And with that, Brex attempted to turn around and take a few steps towards the door, before he heard the voice of Applejack from off to the side. “Where do you think y'all going there Gambit? Aren't you forgetting that you still got a promotion that needs to be getting done? Hearing what Lyra did was just plain wrong! I guess I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. but it doesn't mean you still can't get what's coming to you after all the hard work you gone and put in. Now, is it?”

Brex really wasn't feeling in the mood for the whole song and dance to fight back with her. So, he approached the counter and took out his plate and just chucked it onto it, without really showing much care for the formalities. He then gestured with a nod to the peace of metal with his head before saying, “Fine, I guess I've waited long enough.” What Gambit had said was clearly able to confuse both Applejack and Fluttershy, as they either scratch the back of their ear or tilted their head and confusion.

Fancy Pants however, had this broad smile as he came over to Brex and placed his right hand onto the Roegadyn’s left shoulder. The stallion then said, “It's about time old chap. What's it been, eleven years now? I don't know about you. But that is a very long time to go without getting any kind of recognition.”

With a quick glance towards Mayor Mare from Fancy Pants. Who is now on the other side of the counter and waiting for him. The plate was picked up by her and moved over so that it could be placed onto a familiar object that originally created it.

Upon seeing this. Brex just released an exhausted sigh before going through the motion of placing both of his hands onto the device. However, before it had a chance to activate. He began to think to himself as to how he should adjust his levels, so that it would be displayed a certain way on to his new plate. Still not wanting to put his full power on there just yet. Brex opted for a number that he felt might be appropriate for ten or eleven years of being an adventurer.

With all eyes glued on him. That was easily more than a dozen ponies by this point. Brex mentally went into his character window and selected the level sync option tab. From there, he dropped from his standard level fifty setting out of seventy. To that of level thirty-five just to be safe. However, there was a feeling that was coming through the link with Rory and when he turned his eyes just enough to get her into his peripheral vision. The girl was giving him a serious pout and lightly shaking her head in clear disapproval.

Brex then narrowed his eyes at her and gave a week growl of annoyance, that was more playful than anything else. Rory only made her gaze sharper in his direction. From that little push from the girl. Brex went ahead and boosted the number up to forty instead, right as the device was beginning to light up. Just like before, there was a faint glow appearing underneath the plate. The symbols that were engraved into the metal were beginning to undergo a change and shift into a semi liquid state in those sections.

Brex could recall the faint glow from the first time he had registered all those years ago, but this go around was quite different than what happened then. Mayor Mare’s eyes were going wide as the light only grew an intensity. Soon, some barely noticeable beams of yellow and white light were shining off of both of the items and hitting the ceiling. There was even this odd melodious sound that accompanied the near blinding spectacle.

It was plain to see that the background showing the letter “F”, was beginning to fade and the texts printed were lighting up as well in response. Although when it came to the information on Brex. All of it was being jumbled around before returning back to saying the word classified. However, it was different when it came to the displayed level of the plate’s owner.

The number began to change slowly, as it morphed from one to the next and Mayor Mare was reading them out as they came. Level twelve… Level thirteen… Level fourteen… Level eighteen… Level twenty-two… Level twenty-nine?” As time went on. Within the next several seconds, the rate at which the numbers climbed had increased dramatically until it began to finally slow down once it hit Level thirty-five.

But by then, the mare was holding on to the table with both hands and screaming out the numbers as they went by. What made it even more ludicrous to the Roegadyn, was how it was now going at an agonizingly slow crawl as it continued on. There was even a loud gong of sorts as each number fully morphed from one to the next.

By then, Brex had to resist the urge to hold up his arm in order to block the light and was just squinting from behind his mask, as he screamed the following in his head. “Okay! This is just getting ridiculous! Who the fuck went into the graphic settings and turned the god rays all the way up to Max?! Someone's going to end up going blind here! And what's with all the special effects and music! This is just too much! And you why do you have to keep calling out the numbers like that?! I doubt that's standard protocol! What happened to personal info being protected!!!”

Mayor Mare would only get louder and louder, as the next set of numbers came up. “Level thirty-six… Level thirty-seven… Level thirty-eight… Level thirty-nine… Level forty?!?!?!” As soon as the last change had occurred. The items gave out a loud sound that was comparable to a heavy anvil being struck by a giant. Even the mare’s main was blown back by the shockwave being made, which Brex did not really understand.

The plate show that it was no longer going to go up anymore. The lights suddenly died down and the room was back to how it normally was. Although, when Brex looked around. All he could see was a room full of Ponies that were clearly not there to begin with and their eyes were bugging out of their skulls.

Well, that is aside from Rory, who had a small grin on her face. He then said to Rory through the link in a panicked voice. “I knew I should have just put down thirty-five instead of forty! And by the name of the twelve, just what was with all of those special effects about?!”

Rory sounded just as confused, as she replied through the connection. “I can safely say that I had no clue that would happen. It probably has to do with how there was a drastic increase from the time that this was done over at Baltimare. I've been an Adventurer for a while and my level has been going up little by little as per your instructions.” The discussion between the two of them was abruptly cut off when Mayor Mare finally spoke up after a long stretch of awkward silence.

“I-I uh, never. But! How does...” She had given herself a quick shake before going on again. “I have never seen such a drastic spike in a Ponies level! Also, it's safe to say you are now one of the top strongest Adventurers on record according to this.” Applejack had rushed up alongside the rest that were beginning to crowd the table in order to even get a glimpse of the plate. Upon seeing the commotion, Brex reached down and picked up his plate in order to give it a once-over and saw that there was another change that he did not expect to be there.

Instead of going from rank “F” to that of rank “E”. The background had something else, which caused him to speak aloud, in a disbelieving tone. “I believe there is a mistake here. One line is missing and it is curved.” Fancy Pants was the next to speak up in a rather amused tone of voice after looking at it as well from his left side.

“That my good sir, would be the letter “D”. I took the liberty of using my authority to transfer all of your records over to this branch upon your rank up ceremony. You did accompany a few upper rank parties over the years and that did add to your points. Under normal procedures, this wouldn't be enough to rank you as a “D” Adventurer. Although, with the multitude of rank “E” quests under your belt. That more than made up for it when it came to the points.”

He then gave a small laugh, as he gestured with his head to Rory as he continued. “Besides, it would not do at all for there to be such a big gap between you and your lover. Now the two of you will be able to accompany one another on your quests.” Upon hearing this, Brex immediately jolted his head from Fancy Pants and towards that of Rory. Before speaking in a slightly suspicious tone. “Why do I get the feeling that the two of you were in on this whole scheme from the beginning?”

To that, the stallion looked away, while humming a tune and Rory was sticking out her tongue and lightly tapping on the side of her head with her right fist to indicate that she was caught. Fleur De Lis chimed into the conversation, by placing herself between Brex and her husband. And with glee in her voice, she called out to the three of them. “You are going to be leaving tomorrow and this is a big occasion! We were informed that there would be a get together. Let us be on our way, for the night is young!”

She then leaned herself closer to Brex and motion with her left hands index finger to lean in himself, so that she could talk to him over the murmuring crowd around. Once he had done so. She began to speak close to the edge of his mask.

“Don't worry about Rin or Lin. They're both still up in Canterlot and getting their things ready. As for Lyra, my husband took this as a good opportunity to come down and take care of the problem personally. I'm pretty sure that you already suspected, but the mare seems quite unhinged. I dare say she's either a member or has been severely influenced by that Herd Cult’s teachings.”

Brex responded in kind and kept his voice just slow enough that only Fleur De Lis could hear it. “I take it that one of your sisters will be monitoring Lyra from now on?” The mare simply gave him a curt nod, before returning back to her husband. And with that out of the way. Brex, Rory, Fleur and Fancy Pants push their way past the crowd that was not only within the Guild Hall. But just outside of the door so that they can make their way to where they had intended to drink before Brex headed out in the morning.

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Close to Ghastly Gorge*
*Time: Five fifteen in the afternoon*

Just to the east of Ghastly Gorge, was a set of tracks going east and west. Said tracks were covered on both sides by some tall hills. Each were a good eight to thirteen meters tall. With a sparse number of high trees along the tops. One of said trees, apparently fell down and right over the train tracks which was currently blocking a train that had come to a stop several dozens of meters before coming to it. Along with a few smaller ones as well.

The vehicle was comprised of the engine and four cars behind it. One seemed to be a passenger car. While the other two were clearly meant for transporting cargo. On the side of one of the two, could be seen with a stamp with the picture of a Cherry in vibrant colors on it for the sliding doors.

A number of workers had already stepped out of the train and were surveying the obstruction. Most of which were Ponies and a couple of Donkeys in the mix. They had varying tools going from hammers to pickaxes and a few handheld hatchets. They were already hard at work with trying to chop up the large tree that had fallen over, that was clearly over two meters wide and stretched the length of the gap between the two hills.

One mare came out of the passenger car, wearing a salmon pink colored saloon style dress and her red mane was done up in a very extravagant set of rolls. The mare quickly made her way over to one of the earth Ponies who was wearing a striped cap and overalls with a concerned look on her face, as she called out to him in a southern drawl. “My word, is this going to take all that much longer? The other passengers are getting a little antsy.”

The conductor was a male Earth Pony, that appeared to be close to his middle age. He was already going a little bald. Which was quickly made obvious when he took off his hat in order to tilt it towards the mare, before placing it back on his head while responding to her. “You don't got nothing to fret about Miss. The rest of us will get it cleared as soon as we can. The only problem is on account of it being so dang big. Sure, we got the hands, as well as the tools. It's going to take us a while longer. Unfortunately, our tools are just a bit too small for the job.”

That was when he pointed towards two mare’s that had a two-person metal saw being gripped between the both of them and was already on top of the tree and trying to cut away at it. The mare was looking quite relieved upon hearing this and was about to turn around to tell the passengers. But was stopped when she heard a set of screams as she turned around again. The mare’s who were meant to be on top fell off, thankfully they received no injuries after being caught by the others below who were ready to react in time.

The downside was that the large saw that they had was broken in half and a piece of it had been lodged into the wood. The stallion took off his hat and threw it onto the ground before giving it a good stomp, as he spoke out in clear defeat. “Just our luck! That was the only one we had that could get the, job done quick enough. I dare say this is going to take at least a day, maybe more to do it with the rest of the tools we have on hand.”

After that, the crew kept on going as best they could. Unfortunately, they barely managed to get in a decent amount of progress with what they were capable of using on the obstruction. The sun had eventually gone down and it became too dark to work effectively. This was on account of them not having sufficient light sources to set up. So, the crew had no choice but to stop and wait until the morning to finish their work.

Back on the train. It was at least an hour after the sun had already gone down and the conductor was making his way through the train cars, after first starting at the back end. Once the cargo was double checked and secured, he had gone into the passenger car from the back entrance and saw the mare he was speaking to earlier.

She was currently sitting at a table and having a small cup of tea, while looking out through the window. The stallion approached her and stood at the edge of the table so that she had plenty of space before gaining her attention, thanks to his reflection that she could obviously see from the glass. As she turned around to give him her full attention. The conductor lowered his head before saying to her. “I'm a might sorry for the delay Miss Jubilee.”

The mare just shook her head and gave him a gentle smile, before motioning with her free hand that was not holding on to her cup, to take a seat across from her. The older stallion graciously took the chance to sit down. But at the very moment that he had done so, he had released a very long and satisfied sigh of relief. Which caused the mare to giggle a little. She then said to him. “I suppose it will be quite some time before we can get moving, even after the sun goes up, I take it?”

The stallion removed this hat and placed it on top of the table, before giving her a nod. As he looked out towards the window and into the darkness of night. He said to her, “That's about right Miss Jubilee. Even with the saw not breaking. I doubt we would have gotten it out of the way before the sun came down. Without it, we probably won't be hitting the rails again until nine or even eleven tomorrow morning. We don't even have enough lanterns to go about and work on it throughout the night. So, there's no choice but to wait until light comes up again.”

Jubilee soon followed his gaze and looked out through the window for herself. Everything seemed peaceful, even though they were stuck there for the moment. Jubilee released a sigh just as she was about to take a sip of her now cooling tea. But at the exact moment the rim of her cup came into contact with her lips. There was a sudden flash of yellow and perhaps a hint of red that went right by the window, that was illuminated by the lights within the passenger car.

This had also caught the attention of the conductor, as he quickly stood up out of shock and nearly hit his head on the luggage rack overhead. But before either of them could make another move. All the passengers and workers for the train, gave a collective scream after hearing a loud crashing sound that was emanating from the front.

The conductor ran down the center of the aisle and was taking a step outside of the train right as there was another crashing sound. This time however, it was accompanied by a set of rumbling, which almost made him fall off the last step. But was caught by Miss Jubilee at the last second and pulled back by his suspenders.

Soon after, the two of them. A long with a number of the passengers and workers all came out and were now at the front of the train and carrying all the lanterns they could get their hands on to see what could have caused the noise they heard. What they did come across, had left them all flabbergasted after seeing the railway cleared and two halves of the large tree were laying a good ways from the tracks.

One of the workers came close to one of the trees and found an indentation that was clearly not there before turning in for the night. From what they can tell, it was the size of a Pony's head. Yet there was an impression that was rather close to that of a Griffin's head, or at least that was the best they could come up with. Considering there was a pointed end in the shape of a beak.

On further examination. They found that the tree had been destroyed with what appeared to be a single blow in the area that they were already working on cutting away. The force of which was not only capable of splitting it in half, but had sent the pieces tumbling several yards away as a result.

Seeing that they can now move ahead again. Everyone began to make their way back to the train in order to get the boiler warmed up. Although, one of the younger mares that was in charge of the train. Had stumbled after their hoof slipped into a small hole next to the tracks.

Fortunately, she was helped right away by a couple of the passengers and thanks to the light that one of them was holding. They were able to see what had caught her leg. One of the passengers looked at it and tilted their head before bringing their attention to the nearest Pony and asked, “Did any of you happen to spot a wild Chocobo around?”

All of those with an ear shot look towards one another, before shaking their heads to indicate that they had not. The passenger quickly shrugged and thought nothing more of it upon getting back into the train. It was either out of not really caring and just wanting to get to their destination. Or possibly with how dark it was, but if any of them had taken a good look at the entire scene. Then one of them might have realized that the footprint was that of a single leg of a Chocobo.

What's more, was how it was situated only a few paces from where the tree had originated from. And, an even more observant person would have also realized that the footprint was turned around to show that it was facing away from the obstruction. There was also the unmistakable sound that a Chocobo would make that was coming up ahead. Although very faint. But it was a little off with the way it came off as… Woozy. “KahWeeEe... WeEe! Weh…”

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Old Geezers Hotel*
*Time: Ten-thirty at night*

A door was roughly opened after the sound of rattling keys were made through the keyhole. This allowed some light to come in from the hallway and illuminate a small room that was perfectly identical to that of Brex's own. Standing right there inside doorway, was Gilda and the Griffin. Who was not looking all that great with the way she was slouching.

Her usual well-kept wings were slightly droopy and instead of her typically around the clock cocky attitude, which was displayed with her always walking as if she was ready for a fight at any time and any place. The girl was pretty much trudging with her paws lightly grazing the carpet with each step at an agonizingly slow pace.

Once she was finally inside of her hotel room and the door was fully closed after using the bare minimal effort. Gilda flipped one of the light switches on the wall, which turned on a couple of lamps that were situated around the room and made her way over to the bed and just plopped right into it with a heavy Puff.

This was also accompanied by a groan of discomfort from the female Griffin, as she rolled off of her stomach so that she was eventually laying on her back. With her arms, legs and wings now pretty much taking up the entire bed, even though she was laying in it sideways. She gave off a heavy sigh that lacked any real energy behind it with how it just droned on.

Her left arm was slowly draped over her head, so that she was pretty much covering the upper part of her face with her forearm. If one was accustomed to being around this one species. Then they could easily tell that her beak was clenched shut and nearly trembling. There was even a low teardrop that ran down the side of her face that could just barely be seen from underneath her arm. As for the free one, she was now tightly clinching the bedsheets between her fingers.

After a little while of this. Gilda began to sluggishly mutter to herself from just under her breath, as she continued to try and hide her face under her arm. “Stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid... Stupid dweeb! Stupid dweeb, stupid Rory! Damn that Zebra to Tartarus! Why did all of this have to happen now?!”

Gilda’s voice began to build up as it gradually became frustrated. “And why didn't he bother to even ask for me to come along to? Ghaaaaaah!” After that small cry of anger was giving out. Gilda quickly rolled off of the bed and back onto her legs, before reaching over for one of the lamps and picking it up to make the motion of throwing it at the wall that divided her room from the two that she was only just talking of.

Yet, just as she was about to throw it with all her strength, did Gilda stop herself right as her arm was already about to throw it after pulling her arm all the way back. This was when the voice of Gambit started to echo in her mind, from one of their training sessions. “Gilda, you're letting your anger dictate your actions far too much to see just what affects they would have on not only you, but those around you as well.”

“Lashing out maybe the first impulse that you feel to go on, but you need to take a moment to think it out carefully. Otherwise, you may end up doing something you might deeply regret. You're a smart girl, I know it and you know it as well. Just take a deep breath and control that anger. It does not rule you; it is you who must be in control of it instead.”

Gilda's face was partly obscured with the way her head was slightly tilted down so that her eyes were now being overshadowed. Her full expression couldn't be made out other than that of her beak showing a twisted frown. At the same time, the arm that was still primed to use the lamp as a weapon, was shaking violently as her fingers trembled as they gripped even harder.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a solid minute. The Griffin lowered the arm and carefully placed the lamp back onto the nightstand that she took it from with a small clatter being made as she did so. Before staggering over and plopping down onto her butt and crouching forward as she was now on the edge of the bed, with her head hanging low.

She then began to lately sob as she now had her elbows down on her knees to prop her head up, while both of her hands were covering her face. As she was doing this, she would barely make a sound as she said the following so low, that one would literally need to have their ear pressed right next to her mouth in order to pick up any of it.

“It's… It’s all your fault... Why?! Why do you have to be so fucking nice to me... Why did she have to come along before me? And what's up with that damn song at the bar. That was definitely not some happy go lucky pony shit from her! He also doesn’t normally sound that happy… Its not happening the way I expected it would… I'm so, so sorry Rainbow, but we may have no other way but to change our plans. Gilda’s tone quickly shifted to determination as she said the next line. “This is our only chance.”