A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 73: The First Day.

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Sweet Apple Acres*
*Time: Six-Thirty in the morning. Two days after the… Uh, let’s just call it the mock fight*

The wide site of trees belonging to the Apple family’s orchard could be seen almost touching the horizon with how massive it appeared if one was to stand on the very top of a single hill on the property. The morning air was beginning to feel slightly chillier compared to previous days with a subtle drop in one or two degrees to mark the changing of the seasons was soon on its way. These small yet almost in perceivable changes would still occur even with the required help of the ponies to usher in the next part of the cycle that would be done naturally on earth.

Typically, a majority of the apples would be harvested around the time of July. However, there were certain types that came to a crisp freshness around autumn. But for some unrealistic reason, the Apple family's trees would have an all-year-round growing spurt that fought most of the seasons aside from winter. Fortunately enough, it was thanks to the Mirror Apples provided by Brex awhile back, that they had something that would go during those harsh winter days and nights to produce a subclass of apples that went quite favorably among all of the residents of Ponyville and those of Canterlot.

Off just a short distance and at the bottom of the hill could be seen two figures working underneath a couple of trees that still had a number of the red juicy fruit ready to be picked. Well, in this case, more ready to be kicked if one was to be more direct with the method used in getting them down. One of the two was undeniably Applejack. Who was wearing her usual Stetson hat, white and red checkered shirt that was tied in the front and allowing a number of the buttons to be undone. There was also a set of flannel genes that had its fair share of scuffs along the knees and sides of her hips.

Her leg had just struck a tree with enough force, that it made a resounding thud and echoed through the gaps of the surrounding foliage. The apples above immediately fell down and remarkably landed inside the well-placed baskets. What made it even more remarkable was how not a single one tumbled back out after bouncing off of the earlier ones that fell in first. The farm mare tilted her hat back a little to wipe the sweat on her brow, before turning her attention over her left shoulder and speaking out loud in a tone that had a mix of light exhaustion and what could be called satisfaction.

“Woo wee! We may just get done a lot faster than I was thinkin'. I do appreciate the extra pair of hands and getting’ my chores done. Just another twenty more trees and that’ll be enough done for today. Just might get all these in the barn in the next half hour if we're fast about it. I don’t mind in the least if yeah want to go ahead and take a... break if you... want for a few... uh, minutes.” Applejack's voice mindlessly trailed as she watched unbelievingly at the site that she was plainly unaware of going on behind her until just now.

The one she was speaking to, turned out to be Brex as he was wearing is usual white and blue robes along with the brown mask. As for the reason he was there. It was discussed that they could either come all at once for some group training, or break off so that two or three could come a day for some more hands-on help. In the end, they chose to come in groups on the weekdays and to have a full session with all of them on the weekend so that it would not constantly take away from their daily lives and jobs.

Today just happened to be with Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie. Seeing as they are all physical Fighters. And in another two days it would be Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy because of their magical nature. Now, as for Applejack's current reaction. This was due to the fact that Brex was just near the end of completing his work much faster than she had earlier anticipated.

However, the method he used was for a lack of better words, unorthodox. The two of them had already placed the required number of buckets under the trees that they were going to do, as well as a few that they would have scheduled later in the day that would be done by the other family members of the Apple clan.

She had originally tried to teach him how to properly buck the trees in the beginning. But instead, he opted for using an odd fighting stance which utilized not only the bottom of his legs but almost every part of them in unison with his arms as well. To her, time was almost slowing down to a crawl as he swiftly went from one tree to the next with the odd shifting of his stance and placing of his legs. Some trees would be hit with a palm of his hand. While others would be struck with his elbow. A few even got the back of his fist and his knee. There was even a straight-on punch or a roundhouse kick thrown in here and there.

His steps would oddly pivot in place or he would manage to move his body with subtle motions that would almost give off the impression that he was gliding while swinging his legs in a half semicircle from time to time. He did not even come to a stop at any moment as he transitioned from one apple tree to the next. In a way, he was even using the collision to send his body into another direction to launch his next strike on an unsuspecting tree. Normally, this would not have been an easy task, but thanks to his large stature, he was able to traverse between each of his goals.

Even when he needed to get around and towards the next row to start again. Brex would shift his body to narrowly collide with the bark by the narrowest of margins at such a breakneck speed, that one mistake might have caused some injury. By the time he stopped and looked over towards Applejack a few seconds later. Brex said the following while slightly tilting his hooded head. “Wait did you say, twenty?” He then turned back the way he came before returning his gaze back to the farm mare to continue with a somewhat apologetic tone. “My apologies. I may have gone a little overboard and lost track.”

What Brex was referring to was the way there were not just the stated number of trees done, but he had easily done over a hundred while Applejack was apparently preoccupied for a fair amount of time without noticing his progress. Applejack just stood there blinking nearly a dozen times with her eyes going wide before she muttered out her response almost dumbfounded.

“Huh?! What, Oh! No... Ah, that's fine, don't be goin’ and frettin’ about it. I-I should have said something sooner. I guess we'll just be spending the rest of the time and take these back to the barn. I'll get the cart ready so you can pull, while I get some of those buckets hooked up so they can be carried.

What Applejack had planned was to load eight baskets onto the wagon so that there would be a layer of four with the other half on top. Typically, she would try to put a third row to make up to twelve and pull it herself. But even that was a little challenging for her, so the farm mare wanted to go a little easy on him. In fact, her own brother and father could just barely manage a wagon of eight for multiple trips. On her part, she thought that he would at least be able to handle that without much in the way of problems.

For her, she was going to attach the rope from the large buckets so that they would be hanging off of the ends of a slightly curve piece of wood that she could have on her shoulder. If anything, she was expecting to make multiple trips by the time he got to the barn with the first load that she prepared. However, when she told him of the plan as soon as the wagon was nearly half full. Brex informed her that she should go ahead and take the wagon, as he was going to carry his load instead.

At first, she believed that he was probably tired out after getting all those apples down and was going to take it easy by carrying two buckets at a time. If anything, Applejack couldn't fault him for that as he did do a substantial amount of work compared to what was originally expected on her part. After reluctantly agreeing, Applejack went right ahead and placed 12 and began to make her way over to the barn. However, she and the wagon were easily overtaken by Brex who was jogging ahead at an abnormally fast pace.

He was so fast that he was literally causing a strong enough gust of wind as his body displaced the air. A few of the fallen leaves and grass could be seen flowing and getting kicked up as a low woosh sound was made. The expected heavy footsteps for a being of his size were clearly absent as his footsteps landed softly and barely even made an impression on the floor. If Applejack had not seen it with her own eyes, then she may have not even noticed his progress and thought that he was lingering behind.

She even had to stop in her tracks to rub her eyes as she made sure she wasn't seeing things. Instead of using one of the wooden poles to carry a set of two buckets full of apples at a time. Brex was Now using two of the poles and each one was holding four and now carrying a total of eight. If that wasn't enough, he even had balancing on both hands a set of three for a total of 14 in all. If she didn't already know that it was him, then she would have thought that the apples were bringing themselves to the barn all on their own with how they were almost blocking his body from being seen.

After recovering and continuing on. She had only just arrived by the time she was passed by on the path with at least three loads on his part. Honestly speaking, she had expected them to be nowhere near to be done with picking them all up before needing to leave to meet up with the others. But with Brex moving at such a speed and carrying so many at once. The entire chore was done so quickly that it even left Applejack wondering if this was just a dream. She was even almost sure that this was the case and proceeded to pinch herself a number of times before she accepted it as reality.

It wasn't until they were about to exit the barn after placing the last of the apples inside, when Big Mac and Bright Mac came walking on in. The pair just stood side by side with their mouths gaping open at the site of so many apples in the barn at once. If it wasn't for the small signs of their age difference and their color scheme, then one would have thought that someone had placed a mirror in between the two as they were a perfect reflection with the way they look so much alike. Well, aside from Bright Mac wearing a hat.

After seeing their reaction. Applejack ran off to their house to get cleaned up and grab her gear while yelling over her shoulder once she got past her older sibling and father, who were just standing there as still as statues. “Well, I think my chores are all caught up on for a while. I'll be headin’ out!” Once she was long gone and it was just the three guys inside of the barn. Bright Mac was the first to speak up after shaking his head a few times to get himself out of the dazed state he was in, while also snapping Big Mac out of it in the process.

“I can't help but thank you enough for this Brex. We did want to cut her chores so she can have more free time. But the mare could be really stubborn just like her mother. Instead, she says she can take classes on top of Adventuring. While still taking care of her chores without any special treatment. But wow. I was sure surprised that you had a place built and are going to teach our daughter there on how to be a Marauder. Here I thought you'd be coming to our place to do that.”

Brex raised his hand and began to wag his index finger playfully a few times before he responded and a joking manner. “Now now Bright Mac. You should know better than to use my real name. Remember, I go by Gambit in public? Only You, Big Mac, Pear Butter and Granny know. I hope none of you have let it slip by accident to anyone else.” This got a firm head shake from Bright Mac and a strong nope from his son.

For the last twelve years, Brex had been keeping a friendly relationship with the Apple family ever since that incident with the Timberwolves. In fact, as time went on. The entire Apple clan was getting some financial backing from Brex both on, and off the books. He then took a few moments to think of the following in his head as he started to replay the events leading up to now.

Of course, Applejack and Apple Bloom had no idea of their connection. So, when it came to that evening two days ago and he got to see Pear Butter, Bright Mac, Big Mac and Granny. The five of them pretended as though this was their first-time meeting at the restaurant after what transpired on his lawn. Yes, he did say he would take them all out to dinner if they managed to get him. But he just felt so bad and went right ahead and did it anyway to try and cheer them all up.

But this was not until Brex recovered and gave the group a piece of his mind with how poorly they all performed. Each one was made to sit on the grass for a neat line with their knees bent. Much to Rarity’s protest and constant fussing with how she did not want grass stains to add to the already messed up parts of her outfit. Just as it went down, he told each of them off in kind. As he was pinching his mask’s nonexistent nose, Brex started with Twilight. Who was in the middle of covering her body the best she could with some new clothes that were taken out of her magic storage.

“Your first little missy! Is there anything you want to say when it came to how that all went down?” Twilight’s eyes shifted from left to right as her voice was apparently out of her grasp, which left an opening for Brex to continue after a couple of seconds went by and a heavy sigh to be let out. In the beginning, Brex started off slow and calm. But eventually his frustration was leaking out and causing his voice to become strained as it slowly grew overtime.

“This isnt a game! You’re lucky that your spell wasn’t strong enough to put Rainbow’s life in any real danger with only one fireball to the back and it only knocked her out of the air. Also, why was it you that attacked first when your team was already in combat position to charge in? You need to give the tank and other melee the time to get in close so they could get your opponent’s attention. That way the rest of you can focus on your jobs without worrying over a counter-attack.”

“That was only mistake number one might I add. Now, onto you Rainbow. It didn’t escape me that you also jumped ahead of Applejack. Please be mindful of your surroundings. Especially as a flyer. You never know when your teammate is going to launch a long-distance attack so you need to keep an eye on everything on the battlefield, this does not only apply to you, but the rest of you as well.”

“Next would have to be your way of getting up after colliding with Applejack. You’re both carrying weapons. Did it not even occur to you once to be careful with where you’re sticking those daggers? You’re a Rogue. Why not use the hide skill and sneak into range? Avoid getting it and do the most amount of damage you can while doing so.”

“Applejack. I know you got poked in the ass, but please, do not buck your teammate into the others! Sending Rainbow flying with how much strength you got is not a good idea. If anything, I can’t fault you for neglecting to us an axe throwing skill as soon as we started with not being trained as a Marauder yet.”

“As for you miss Rarity. I know it takes a lot of concentration to cast a spell. However, it would be best to get out of the way if you’re being attacked. More-so while in mid channeling. As you are at your most vulnerable if not experience enough to handle the situation. Especially when it someone being hurtled right at you. Also, discharging a lighting spell at a random direction would cause more problems than good. Case in point, Pinkie getting electrocuted. We are all lucky that she is very durable. Otherwise, it could have done some major damage.”

“Moving on to that arrow that was fired. Pinkie. You need to control your Aether flow. That right there was not a good idea to throw everything you had into that shot. Your body already goes through a lot of stress when accessing your abilities. All of you are starting out and your bodies have yet to be strengthened to handle such a strong surge. We should count ourselves lucky that all that occurred from it, was you getting really tired. There was a lesson in school that taught the dangers of overtaxing your flow. People have died from drawing on more than they could handle.”

“By the twelve! A part of me believes that you’ve never worked together in your lives after witnessing such a colossal train wreck! Fluttershy, Rainbow and Applejack have worked together, so I can understand that they have a more in-your-face tactic as Fluttershy stays back to provide assistance with her healing magic and crowd control spells. As for the rest of you, I can only imagine that you rarely work together, if not at all. Perhaps I was looking into it too much as you are all friends. I believed that there would be some communication, or possibly a plan set in advance!”

“The only one out of all of you who correctly played their role was Fluttershy. If it wasn’t for her, I’d doubt that half of you would even be conscious right now to even be hearing me speak! I been in random formed groups in the past that had never even met the other members and they were never this bad! Perhaps using myself as a test was too difficult? Oh, who am I kidding! A stick in the ground with a paper plate and a face drawn on would have resulted in the same outcome.”

Brex paused himself as he brought both of his hands together into a praying gesture and placed it onto his mask. This was before releasing a heavy intake of air that would slowly be let out as a form of relaxation technique. After a few seconds, he brought it down and did a pointing gesture to the group of mare’s that were now looking at the ground with both hands still together before returning to a normal standing gesture with his hands at his sides.

Brex then said the next part under his breath just loud enough for the others to hear. “I find it hard to believe you all made it through the forest… Seriously, how… How did you all not get eaten? There is a multitude of beasts and monsters. Then there’s Nightmare Moon. Were you all just lucky when you fought her?!” As he said that one part. He did catch the way the girls were quickly glancing to one another with a puzzled expression that lasted for only a few seconds before going back to everything else that was said.

Of course, the Roegadyn knew exactly why they made it. As he frequently brought himself to the edge of Ponyville and walked back and forth to the castle so that there would be a distinctly visible path to follow. More-so, was that his scent was all over the place and most of the predators knew better than to mess with him after the countless encounters within those very same trees over the years.

He then closed his eyes for a few seconds as his back was turned towards the girls in order to pull himself back together. His head was tilted back as if wanting to look at the sky but he could not bring himself to gaze upwards until there was the sound of flapping from behind, and a sudden swoosh of wind going around his body. When he did finally open his eyes, it was Rainbow and she had landed right in front of him. At first, she had an angry expression. But even that faded in almost an instant as her shoulders slumped.

Brex expected the blue Pegasus to lash out and defend her friends. He expected that bold cocky and superiority complex to be unleashed in his direction. Inside, the Roegadyn felt a mixture of anger and self-loathing for having gone off on them. But underneath all of that. He had an inkling of hope that Rainbow might use this as an opportunity to talk back and to possibly break off their little arrangement over the herd talks. Perhaps, even with it being unintentional. Showing that he was not always a nice guy and would fly off the handle to speak his mind would be enough.

But what Rainbow did and said next only made him confused. “You’re right! I should have known that flying ahead was not the best idea… I I only wanted to show you what I could do.” Her head was hanging low along with her ears pinned to the sides of her head. He took a couple of seconds to take stock of her appearance before turning his attention to the others. Once he did, he found himself raising an eyebrow questionably at the sight.

Instead of getting angry or arguing with what was said. The rest of the girls were slowly nodding their heads with their eyes shut tight while still sitting on the ground. Even Rarity was sitting in place and not making any kind of motion to prevent her outfit from getting more stained than it already was. Even her hair was still somewhat out of place, yet she made no effort to pull out any brushes to fix it as she was giving this aura of a beaten puppy.

Brex then thought the following as he was taking all this information in. “Wha? OK what’s… ohhh, hold on. Right, the gender role switch. Kinda like in those anime’s where the girl yells at a bunch of guys and they’re just sitting there with their heads hanging low, along with agreeing with everything that the angry woman is saying. What am I now, their mother? Oh, and just great, just freaking great! Even Pinkie’s mane is completely flattened and Fluttershy looks to be close to crying. Now I just feel like I’m an ass…”

After a few seconds. Brex motioned for rainbow to join the others and he crouched down so that he was near their eye level. He then said the next part in the most reassuring and calm voice he could. “I’m sorry if I went overboard with my words. I just want you all to understand that I’m only frustrated because this is for your well-being. I have already mentioned that the world is getting more dangerous by the day. Don’t take this as me being mad or that I hate any of you. The last thing I want for anything is for you all to not make it back if another incident should happen.”

“Now, we all know what to work with and plans could be made for a more effective training session. I don’t want any of you to forget what happened this day and use it as a stepping board for what you should strive to overcome.” Brex did not know why. But thanks to how Rainbow positioned herself so that she was closer to him. Along with her obviously looking down on herself. Rex felt the uncontrollable urge to reach over with his right hand and gently placed it on the side of her face. This got an unconscious reaction from the mare as she began to lightly press herself into his palm.

This only lasted for a second before he pulled his hand away and elicited an almost undetectable wine from the blue Pegasus once his touch left her face. He then thought to himself in both a mixture of confusion and panic. “What the FUCK! Why did I do that? I just wanted them not to give up!”

Over with Rainbow. The mare was inwardly pouting so that the others could not see at the loss of the contact of his hand. Somewhere deep, she was beginning to feel an odd sensation. It was not one that she was fully comfortable with, but at the same time almost pleasant. Being scolded and following up with a form of reassurance sent an electric current through her body. Afterwards, Brex stood back up and began to make his way to the house. As he had gotten a couple of steps away. He motioned to the girls while calling out. “Come on! Let’s see about helping you all get cleaned up a little before we head out.”

When it came to the place they went to. It certainly was not one of those fancy types that required a reservation to enter. It was one of the local ones that was slightly on the pricier side when compared to getting Hay Burgers or going to Sugar Cube Corner. Although, it did have an upside as there was some meat-based dishes that were on the menu. This meant that Gilda and Rory would not have to worry about going without a proper meal. However, when it came to the time that they were ordering, he remembered that she would not have been able to order any meat with her still in her disguised Pony form.

He had invited his maids to join as well, but they gave the excuse that they were a little too busy and would have to take a rain check. It was because of not only the two of them, but Rory's predicament that he began to feel uneasy during the outing. He even knew that if the two of them were there with him at the time, then they would have been able to pick up his guilt with how hard it was to contain. It was that very night that he decided on a few things.

One was going to be Rory being able to show who she is to at least Twilight and her friends so that she can have some type of semblance of a normal life without having to constantly hide herself. Although, Brex himself was seemingly fine with the concept when it came to him and only him. But he wanted to make Rory happy and this was probably the best course that he could bring himself to do. As for the house situation however. Some additional help was definitely needed. Otherwise, Rin and Lin would have jumped at the chance to go out with him and Rory in a heartbeat.

When it came to everyone else, it appeared that they were all enjoying themselves and conversing with one another. Twilight had gone and grabbed Spike so he was now sitting next to her. But when it came to him asking how it went today over at Gambits place. Twilight and the other girls could not bring themselves to answer as they all looked in different directions and acted as though they didn't hear the question and immediately found something else to preoccupy their time, whether it be the food or their family members.

Unfortunately for Twilight, Spike was not one to give up so easily as he kept on pressing for answers for some time after. Ultimately, Twilight had this look that she just broke down as her hands were covering her face and was about to lay it out on the table to all the other girls dismay when Brex stepped in.

“They all got to show me what they could do. It wasn't much, but I got the general idea. Although, I do believe they are going to require some remedial classes for a refresher course. After all, there's only so much you could learn in school. I believe I once heard this in passing and it might play true in this situation.

“While in school you learn what is in the world and what makes it up. It is when you leave that you truly learn how it works. Now, there are a couple ways to look at that phrase, but what I take from it personally is this. It is important to get as much knowledge as you can. However, learning first hand as well on top of it is much more valuable. They all have the knowledge but they have not been able to practice it enough to draw out their full potential.” A few of the invited members were a little confused at what he was saying while others were not really paying attention. The second-half was mostly the younger ones.

On Spike's part however, that was a whole other story as he pointed at Twilight and said the following while having this look that just screamed he was right. “You see Twilight? I've been telling you this whole time that you need to get out of the library and do things outside more often. If you keep up with what you're doing, you're going to end up sleep reading if that's all you do from the moment you walk in the library and until you go to bed.” Twilight started to pout as a couple of her friends gave a few giggles.

She then gave Spike a dirty look before she retorted in defense of herself. “I don't read all the time Spike!” The kid remained silent for a good few seconds while giving Twilight the flattest stare that Brex had ever seen come from anyone who was not some old person and called Twilight out with the following words.

“Twilight... you literally eat my food without even taking your eyes off of the book you have at the table. You only know that you're done once you hear the sound of your fork hitting an empty plate a couple of times and then walk off. I've even caught you trying to put an oversized shower cap on one of your books in preparation to go into the shower last week with it.

Twilight was now nervously chuckling to herself as she quickly pulled spike in and held a hand up to his mouth to make him stop. Then through gritted teeth that belonged to a fake smile. She said to him while trying to keep her voice down enough so that everyone in the restaurant wouldn't hear. “Okay Spike, I get it, that's enough. You don't need to say anything else that we do in the privacy of our home.” It was because of this, that Brex thought the following in his head.

“Note to self. Rain storms and trees falling through windows may not be the only source of water damage to those books in the library. May want to talk to the girls at HQ about circulating waterproof paper to the public. No… no. That won't work. Then how would the ink from printed works stay on the paper. Maybe I should just phase the books out and get them to work on electronic tablets. Hmmm... what would I even call it? Maybe I can call it and E-tablet. as in Eorzea from the game. Eh. I guess I could just call it the Hex-tablet instead.”

This also turned out to be the first time he got to meet Apple bloom and Sweetie Bell in person. But thankfully they seem more preoccupied with sitting together and talking more than getting up in his face and asking a million questions. Although, he did catch something that was muttered by Sweetie Bell for an instant that pulled in his attention right as she pointed over in his general direction. “Hey Apple Bloom, do you see the big guy over there with the mask? He looks a lot like the plushie Rarity has in her bedroom.”

Brex really wanted to hear what this was about after raising an eyebrow. But it seemed Rarity had heard this as well and immediately waved down one of the waitresses and got a piece of cake and placed it right in front of the kids to distract them so quickly that it may as well have teleported there. He found this pretty suspicious and looked towards the older sister. By then, all he found was her going back to her conversation with Fluttershy who was sitting on the seat right next to her and looking as if nothing happened.

When going back to the present. Brex could hear Applejack coming back from their house and carrying some gear. Which included some armor pieces, along with the two-handed axe she was known for having on hand. They both said their goodbyes to the stallions and headed right into town after that to pick up Pinkie.

Surprisingly enough, both the pink Pony and the blue Pegasus were both waiting outside of Sugar Cube Corner by the time they arrived. Rainbow was lazily laying on top of a small cloud that was brought near the ground, while Pinkie was apparently putting the very last touches to her arrows by placing a wine bottle cork on the tips as her tongue was lulling out of the side of her mouth and having a concentrated look on her face before shoving them into her quiver.

Brex was looking at Pinkie as she was doing that for a couple of seconds and it seemed that Rainbow picked up on it and try to explain. Apparently, that it was to prevent anything from the other day happening again. The Roegadyn did not believe that adding a cork would dampen the destructive abilities displayed by the sugar fueled nuclear reactor known as Pinkie. But relented with not giving any rebuttal seeing as this was Pinkie after all and left it at that. If not, then he may have tempted himself into gaining a migraine and he was not in the mood to handle one of them right now.

Afterwards, they soon arrived at Brex's place right as Gilda came swooping over the fence line to land near the group. The Griffin had no real reason to come today, but she was stubborn about being there to see how Rainbow stood up to his training sessions and immediately took one of the chairs that was set out the day before and plopped her rear right into it. She then proceeded to take something out that obviously came from the bakery in town and started to slowly munch on it in order to watch the show.

Once everyone was situated and placed most of their extra items onto the large table and then standing in a line before Brex. They were asked if they had worked together often and if they were also aware of what their teammates capabilities were off the top of their heads. When they answered with a yes when it came to going on Quest once in a while. Brex already knew this but wanted to play it off as he had only met them out in the field just one time. However, he was gravely disappointed when they showed practically no knowledge of their teammate’s capabilities when he continued with some follow-up questions.

As a result, he had them spend the next half an hour to get to know about each other's strengths and weaknesses when it came to their classes. This was along with how they preferably acted to get a better feel for a fight. Pinkie was apparently all for this and was ready to talk up a storm. While Applejack was a little reluctant at the beginning with how she had no real abilities with not having a designated adventurer class like the others.

Rainbow fought this idea for quite a while thanks to her stubborn personality. But when she tried to get some assistance on her point of view from Gilda. The blue Pegasus was left standing all alone when Gilda confidently said that she already knew what she and her friends were capable of thanks to the lectures given by Gambit over the course of a month and a half. She even went so far as to say that she probably knew more about them and what they could do later on than they knew themselves.

Once the half an hour marker was reached and Brex returned to learn of their progress. It came to little or no surprise that Pinkie had everybody else memorized down to the letter. Rainbow had the basics to where she had some type of idea. Although, the one who had it the worst was Applejack. As she was clearly standing there with her eyes slightly rolling in her head while the other two were giving their explanations to him. This was then followed up with Brex instructing both rainbow and Pinkie to use some of the training dummies that had been already set up ahead of time while Brex started on Applejacks lessons. Of course, Rory was on hand to give them some tips here and there.

But much to his surprise, neither one wanted to leave and stood their ground so that they too could be with their friend. Brex smile to this and slightly altered is teaching method by adding a small story in the beginning as he started to speak once they were all situated on the ground. With their legs crossed in a semicircle where there was a patch of soft grass nearby, did the Roegadyn begin.

“Hmm. I suppose I better start with explaining one thing before the lessons begin. As you may have already been told by Gilda. She is soon eligible for a class promotion.” The Griffin in question could be seen giving him a curious look at the edge of his vision before he continued.

“This has not been widely discussed outside of those who run the three schools. But once someone reaches a certain level of strength, are they eligible to go through with such an event. I won't go into too much details right now as you are all still nowhere near that point. But I will say this. If one works hard enough and meets the right conditions, then anyone can grow stronger. And I'm not talking about sheer strength alone. There are many ways one can achieve this. So, I asked that you keep what I say in mind.”

“Now I'm going to tell you a short story that has to pertain to what Applejack is aspiring to become. This was something that was handed down from mouth to mouth as what could be the beginning of what brought the Marauders and there promoted class to be widely known. It is unclear as to how long this story had been passed around, but it was once said that towards the north. There was two tribes who were constantly at war with one another. One side was dwindling in number as the other was beginning to gain the upper hand.”

As Brex was beginning the start of the tale. The rest of the girls were intently listening. Although, when it came to Pinkie. The mare pulled out a cup with a crazy straw and began to sip at it loudly every now and then. “The side that was losing was becoming more desperate as the days went on in their continuing struggle. They were stubborn and wanted to win on their own. But quickly realized that it was not to happen if things did not change soon.”

“The elders sent a messenger to another clan that was further along in the mountains to request for help. This third tribe consisted of fighters that were known to brandish large axe’s as their main weapons and boasted great strength as they were said to have never lost a war. Although, instead of receiving the aid of troops or additional supplies.”

“The third tribe sent only one of their fighters in response to the call for help. This one held a great axe in one hand that normally required the use of both to wield properly. Clad and a mix of metal and fur lined armor, he instantly took to the field and joined the small clan as the most recent skirmish occurred.”

“But the tribe was easily being overrun by the sheer numbers of their opponents. Even the loan fighter with his vastly superior strength was having difficulty as he was swarmed with one group after another. It wasn't until he was completely surrounded and was left to fend for himself as the rest of the clan members that requested his assistance had no other option than to fall back. That was when they heard a booming roar that rattled not only the sky but the very Souls of those on both sides of the conflict.”

“The lone fighter threw off his assailants and stood there holding on to his axe and not faltering at the least while charging into the horde of oncoming elites. No matter how hard the other side fought or even the many types of injuries they could inflict upon the fighter. There was just no stopping this axe-wielding mercenary. His body was an unstoppable force as each wave was thrown aside with ease. When the enemy saw him as the true threat, they forego to attacking the small tribe in order to take him down quickly. The lone fighter would give off one final roar before lifting his ax high above his head and swinging It to the ground when they came near.”

“This would result in the Aetheric energy within his body to course through not only his muscles and weapons, but into the ground as well. This force would be capable of unearthing a significant portion and send the shock wave and debris hurtling towards his enemy. Each piece being given the force in raw power equal to that of being struck by his weapon head on. Now that right there is the fighter tapping into what is called the Inner Beast. It's what they draw most of their power from.”

“Now Applejack, should you choose to go and follow this path. Then you must be told of the Inner Beast now so that you could be better prepared for the class advancement from Marauder. The Inner Beast is what lives and all living creatures. It is a part of that fight or flight Instinct that kicks in when danger is about. Most out there can go through their entire lives and never once tap into even a sliver of this force. However, the one in the story I mentioned was in control and drew on its full potential to win fights all on their own.”

“It can boost your strength, increase your defense and bring your sense of pain down to almost nothing. However, I must warn you that the old saying of too much of a good thing is true to this as well. One must be disciplined in both mind and body to be able to withstand and harness the Inner Beast. If not, then you will just become a mindless creature that is hell bent on fighting their next foe, whether it be an enemy or an ally. There would be no distinction between one holding a weapon and wearing armor to that of a small child standing in your sights and grasping onto a doll in fear.”

“Now, I ask you this and I will only ask it one time. Think carefully on your answer and only give it once you are truly sure. Will you follow the path of the Marauder and put as much work as needed to protect your friends and family to where you are even required to wrestle with yourself if it means they're safety? Of course, you won't have to go through that if you do not go any further and stay as a simple Marauder. But you will be giving up a lot more strength that could be useful in defending the ones you care for. If you are having second doubts then I don't mind training you in some other Defensive class.”

After all was said and done. Brex remains silent as he was carefully observing Applejack. The mare could be seen fidgeting on the spot as she was clearly weighing her options. Her head was slightly tilted forward so that her eyes were no longer visible as she slouched over somewhat. As for both Rainbow and Pinkie. The two of them were reassuring Applejack that she wouldn't go and turn into some axe wielding maniac and that she was the most dependable person that they've ever known.

After several long moments passed. Applejack finally spoke in a low volume that started off in a whisper before her voice grew in determination. “My whole family nearly died... but if it wasn't for some stranger... No, if it wasn't for some stallion. Then I wouldn't be here right now. I was knocked out so I couldn't see anything then, but I was told of what happened afterwards. Came through the orchard and slaughtered the pack of Timberwolves. All while wielding a large axe. He too roared in the same way you mentioned and scared the wolves. He even took out their leader that turned into a large one that was almost taller than our trees with his bare hands.”

Applejack then raised her head as she had this look that just screamed that she was not about to back down. Her eyes even flashed red for but a split second, but that was enough for Brex to catch on to as she began to talk while a small amount of moisture was beginning to form in her eyes. “I… want to protect my family. I want to protect my friends. No way am I going to allow another filly to feel the way I did on that day. The hopelessness of losing your loved ones. There's no way in Tartarus that I'm going to allow Apple Bloom to feel that way in her life!”

The farm mare stood up so that she was now looking down at Brex from a slightly elevated position as she pointed her right hand's thumb towards her own chest and also making the next proclamation. “I'm Applejack! The eldest daughter to the Apple family here in Ponyville! I admit that I don't quite understand all of it. But I'll wrestle this Inner Beast you've been talkin’ about to the ground and make it listen to what I have to say! So yes, I'm plenty sure on wantin’ to keep going as a Marauder!”

Over with Brex. He started to think the following in his head as he had this small smirk on his lips from behind his mask. “Hay there! Say Applejack, I think you already got a small hold of it right now.” He then snickered within his mind as he continued. “Now I wonder about something.” That was when he brought up his character window and opened the section that housed all of his soul stones. He instantly saw that one of them was beginning to pulse. Which turned out to be the Warrior Soul Stone as it was clearly reacting to Applejack's words.

He then said out loud as he was bringing himself up onto his own legs and also slowly dusting the grass off of his backside. “That's all I needed to hear. Now you two go ahead and get to work on those training. I’ll get Applejack set up for her first training session.” The blue Pegasus flew up next to him while her arms and legs were dangling in disappointment before she spoke up. “Aw! You can't leave us hanging! Applejack got a cool story about her class, why not mine?!” Pinkie chimed in right next to Rainbow as she was on the other side of Brex and giving him the puppy dog stair. “Please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please, me too!”

Brex started to shake his head as he raised both of his hands and placed them on top of the two mare’s heads in order to lightly pet them both. They were caught unawares of this before it was too late. Rainbow lazily went into a trance as her flapping wings lowered her onto the ground. Pinkie was even starting to fidget with her right hoof as it was quickly tapping on the ground in the same fashion that a dog's leg would kick when being scratched in that one really good spot.

What they both had in common, turned out to be the way that their tongues were slightly hanging off the sides of their mouths, along with a distant look in their eyes. Even their tails were lightly swishing on the floor after a couple of seconds. There was also this twin set of sounds coming from their open mouths that was a mix between a small moan in a winnie that was in time with the motion of his hands.

Gilda, who was sitting a short ways away on her chair, had to stop and lower her snack as she used her other hand to run down her face at the sight of Rainbow being completely enthralled by Brex. Once her hand had passed her own beak, did she say the following while pointing right at the blue currently zombified Pegasus.

“I warned you about that Rainbow. You're not supposed to lower your guard when that happens.” When it came to Applejack who was watching the exchange. All she could do was to look between her friends and then back up at Brex before slowly taking a step back. The farm mayor was even taking light steps as she did not want to give off any indication of her movement as she said the following words.

“Okay fella… I'm not sure what you're doin’ to my friends, but just keep those mitts to yourself, okay? There's no way that I'm going to let myself be seen looking like the pair of them.” Brex nodded to that and released the two from his weird hypnotic ability. Although Pinkie while still in her somewhat dazed state, still retained the ability to reach up and grab onto his hand before all the pressure was let up to try and keep it there.

Ultimately, his hand was finally wrenched free as the mare gave out a few whimpers that the experience came to an end. It took several moments before the two of them started to shake their heads and come back to their senses. In Rainbow’s case. The Pegasus was unaware as to what happened and Pinkie was giving off a small pout as if someone took her favorite toy away.

The blue Pegasus had this look of panic after a few seconds went by as she trained her sights on everyone there before yelling out the next part towards Gilda. “Did! Did he just do what I think he did? Oh, come on! At least say I still looked cool!” This earned her a small chuckle from Applejack as she said, “I'm sorry sugar cube, but that wasn't cool in the slightest. But I think you were enjoying it. If you don't believe a word I'm saying, then take a gander at your shirt.”

Rainbow did just that and grabbed on to said shirt to pull it forward so that she could get a better look. Her face fell when she noticed a obvious wet spot that was already fully soaked into the fabric as Applejack continued along with adding another set of snickering. “I've never seen you drool that much even when it came to Apple Cider Season.” The athletic Pegasus immediately turned towards Brex and pointed at him before her finger went to one person and then the next as she yelled the next part angrily. “Nothing that is said and done here, leaves here! Got it?!”

Once everyone was settled down. Brex sent the two others to what they were supposed to do while he motioned with his hand for Applejack to follow him to the table. Once they got to standing next to it, Brex waved his hand over the surface and produced a level one, two-handed axe. He then said to her while motioning towards it with his left hand.

“This here is a class specific weapon. Also, it has a soul-bound effect. Meaning only a marauder can wield it. And once you pick it up, no others can use this one in particular apart from yourself. Once you do, you'll be registered as a Marauder when you go to the guild and have your identification plate reviewed. Furthermore, you'll be starting at level one.”

Applejack was eyeing the axe with Intrigue clearly in her eyes. But as soon as she was about to touch it during his little talk. Her hands jerked away as she looked at him with confusion now becoming dominant in her features as she asked her question. “Now whoa right there! Just wait a cotton-pickin’ minute! You saying I'm going to lose all my points and go straight to square one?! That's not exactly what I signed up for mister!” Brex calmly responded to that as he slightly leaned on to the table with his left arm so that he was facing her.

“Applejack. let me ask you something. How strong would you say is the average person before the schools even started this whole thing?” This earned him a small shrug to show that she was not clear, so he continued. “The average adult Pony was around level fifteen. The stronger ones were perhaps around level twenty to twenty-five. And that was after them growing up after being in the guild for awhile. Now, you could surpass that before you even reach the age of nineteen if you were to be in constant fights. I know you won't believe it, but you can get back to your original level so quickly it would make your head spin if you allow me to help.”

Applejack was clearly trying to get a reading on him as she was scrunching her muzzle and looking squarely into his eyes for several long seconds. Eventually, she closed her own and released a heavy sigh of reluctance before she answered. “Fine... I can see you ain't pullin’ my tail.” She then drew her attention over to Gilda for a second before bringing it back to Brex as she went on. “She's a prime example of your method working. That was when she went ahead and picked up the axe and started to give it a few swings.

When she was getting comfortable with wielding it in both hands and doing a couple of motions, did Brex speak up. “Good I won't have to worry about you cutting your own tail off seeing as you're pretty familiar with it. Now we're going to take a couple minutes to go over the basics on your Aether control.” This got a confused sound from Applejack as she replied while slightly tilting her head when her arm was in the mid motion of swinging. “My Aether what now? Are we even speaking the same language?”

From behind his mask. Brex was giving Applejack a flat look before he muttered the next bit from under his breath. “This is going to take a little while.” He then spent the next half an hour going over the mechanics when using a Marauders inner flow of Aether to strengthen their body and to give bursts of energy to produce powerful weapon technique’s. Applejack was even brought over to a small boulder and instructed to use the very first Marauder weapon skill on it in order to see how much damage she could do.

At first, the farm mare had a hard time with grasping the very concept. Each swing with the axe would result in her stumbling or almost losing her grip. But near the end of the thirty-minute marker did she finally show some progress. It was subtle in the beginning with a few nicks here and there along the rock's surface. But this eventually evolved to her burying a solid inch into the rock on her final swing. Which elicited a set of claps from Brex as he congratulated her for successfully executing her first weapon skill properly.

This pulled a bashful look from the mare as she tried to hide her face with her hat for a couple of seconds. Once she recovered and the pair walked over to see how the other mare’s were doing. Did they finally get to what they were waiting for. This turning out to be an outing into the Everfree Forest to do some real combat training with the creatures within. However, they had to pause for a few minutes as Brex needed Applejack for something before they were to head out. But what he asked for. Got a loud scream from the mare as she yelled out the following words and started a go-between with herself and Brex.

“You want me to do what?!”

“We're going into my house and you'll be escorted by one of my maids to a spare room. While inside, you're going to remove your clothing and hand it to her. From there she will give it to me and I'll use it to change the gear you need to look exactly like it.”

“Wait-wait! I… Okay… One more time! You want to do what with my clothing?!”

“I have specialized gear that will boost your overall effectiveness and increase how much you grow in level. I want you to wear it from now on whenever you go training or on a quest to raise your level faster. Unfortunately, it's not really your style so I'm going to use a special magic that will alter it into another form. And in order to do that, I'll need a piece of clothing to change it into. That's unless you want to wear something flashy like Gilda did back at the Gala all the time.”

“I don't think I feel comfortable being naked in another stallion's house...”

“You won't be completely naked. My maid will assist you and give you a blanket. I won't even require your underwear for this. I just need your leg coverings, pants, shirts gloves and hat.” This Was Then followed with him showing a projection in his hand of Applejack in her usual clothing before it shifted into what Gilda wore when they got to see each other again in Canterlot.

“Nope! No way am I wearing that every day. Fine! Let's go! But you better not be peeking or you're ganna lose an eye!”

It all went smoothly once inside and Rin handed Brex the required articles of clothing. They were then brought to another room with the door closed and he went straight to work with glamouring the items. Originally, Brex planned on having all of the girls wearing variations of the same type of clothing and glamoured into their desired outfits. But for the moment, he decided to focus on Applejack so that she could catch up to the rest.

But back at the room that Applejack was inside of while this was going on. The farmer was standing rather awkwardly as she tried to keep herself completely covered from the neck down as Rin stood silently near the door and facing towards herself. Things were feeling a little awkward with the silence after a bit, so the farmer attempted to make some conversation with the Unicorn for the first time since seeing them on the train.

“Um. This is a mighty big place y'all got here. I could just imagine that there's a few more of you that I haven't seen yet keeping everything clean.”

“Aside from the Lord and the Mistress, it is only I and my sister who service them.”

“Oh, I uh see. Sooooo~ you want to fill me in on how you both ended up with Gambit and Rory?”

“I don't see why not. Long story short, the Lord saved my family when we were in big trouble. We are all truly indebted to him and my sister and myself have been dutifully serving under his command ever since.”

“Seems what the princess’s said was not some tall tale.”

Unbeknownst to Applejack. The Changeling in disguise had this glimmer in her eye as she bared her teeth for just a moment. Said teeth were clearly fanged to indicate that her disguise was partly lifted before returning to a normal expression as she replied. “The princesses have been talking about my Lord? Might I ask what they were saying?”

“Oh I um. They seem to think he's a decent fella.”

“I can tell that there's more, but I won't force you to say what it is.”

And with that, the silence return as Applejack started to turn on the spot so that she could look for anything that could possibly distract her until her clothes were finally returned. Luckily enough, it did not take much longer until there was another knock at the door and her clothes were promptly placed onto a nearby table within the room along with an identical set.

It even had the same scuff marks and small worn-out patches that made it almost impossible to tell them apart. The only real way to tell which was the set that she wore coming out from her house, was the one that did not have some small letters that were stitched into either the inner lining of the hat or somewhere else on the rest of the clothing. These turned out to be her own name.

Seeing that there was no harm. Applejack immediately put the new set of clothing on and found at once one article was added, that she could feel a small sensation that seemed almost pleasurable. She felt stronger. Almost light on her hoof as if she had lost several pounds in the blink of an eye. There was even a small exhilaration and an extra burst of energy that she easily compared to how she felt upon getting a short rest in the middle of a work day at the farm.

Above all else. Applejack had an easier time and sensing the flow of energy in her own body when compared to earlier in the yard. She was just about to pick up the rest of her clothing to put away so that she could grab it later and take home but was stopped when Rin presented a small box that was about six inches in diameter and began to open the lid as it was connected towards the back. Inside was a set of earrings and a single ring that had a large blue stone fixed in place. Along with that, was a brass-colored ring, a necklace of the same material and wristbands.

Upon seeing them, the farm there began to blush as she was fidgeting on the spot. This was followed up with her immediately looking up at Rin and starting to stutter with her words. “If I didn't know any better, then I'd be thinkin’ that Gambit has a thing for me.” This caused Rin to giggle a little bit before she replied. “You have nothing to worry about. The earrings and ring right there have the same boosting capabilities as your attire. The rest have enchantments to further increase your overall stats that pertain to your class.”

Applejack began to sweat a little bit as she gave this wincing smile when the next words escaped her lips. “Y-You say this is all… Enchanted, right? I can't except this. It's just too much. All of this must have cost a fortune.” The Box itself was carefully pushed into Applejack's hands as Rin started to talk again. “Not at all. Everything there and including your clothing was made by my Lord's hands personally just last night. Hmm. I do also recall him saying that these were of the superior grade. Must have wanted them to last longer before needing to be switched out for a better set.”

“Aside from the basic materials. It was all fairly cheap when compared to his high-end works. These just happened to be what you're able to use at your current level, that's all. I'd say with the whole set, I think your stats have more than doubled all around. Who knows, you might even be as strong, if not stronger than you were before coming here today.”

“Oh, but my Lord did say to remind you of a simple fact about your gear. It has to do with the overall defense that it offers. In exchange for increasing your rate of growth in leveling up, it won't be as tough as what you would normally be wearing. Not only that, but the unique enchantment will only be effective until you reach level thirty.”

Rin took a moment to allow Applejack to slowly put on the rest of the items before motioning to the door with her right hand as she spoke again. “I believe the others are currently waiting for you outside.” Applejack quickly gave her thanks to Rin and headed outside. However, as soon as she had gotten close enough to the rest. Did she start to get some odd looks from the other girls. First, it was the earrings and necklace, but as soon as their eyes trailed down and locked onto the large azure stone sitting on the ring for her left hand. Rainbow’s eyes shot open before turning into a harsh glare.

Said glare was aimed at Applejack for a few seconds before turning it onto Brex. The Pegasus took flight and was squarely in his face as she angrily spoke the next words while pointing in Applejack's general direction which was now behind her. “We're technically dating and you're already giving Applejack jewelry when I've gotten nothing?!” This cause Brex to give a small grunt of annoyance as he lazily pointed towards the farm mare and said the following in a flat tone just loud enough for them all to hear.

“All of you will be getting similar items. The only reason she's got hers now is because she needs to do some catch up work so you're not all spread out. What she's got on is the same equipment Gilda used until just recently.” Pinkie was the next to pop up in her usual excited tone. “Oh phooey! And here I thought you made Applejack your special some-pony. I had a party plan and everything in my head. Well, I guess I always have a party plan in my head, but this was going to be an extra special party plan.”

Applejack was looking a little more embarrassed about the misunderstanding and was eyeing the stone on her finger. After seeing the problem. Brex held out his hand after getting around the still hovering Rainbow. He then said, “I don't want this to be an issue so I'll do something about it right now. Take off both rings for a moment and hand them to me.” After giving a nod she did just that and slipped the regular brass one off first and then the other. Once they were both in his possession and sitting in one palm. They watched as he brought out a small item that resembled a prism and held it in the other hand.

Over the course of a few seconds the item began to give off a shimmering glow that pulsed a couple of times with many vibrant colors. Almost immediately, after the same occurred with the two rings. The light grew until it was almost blinding the objects from everyone’s view. Once the light faded, it revealed two identical brass Rings side by side and the weird prism from before was no longer visible in the free hand it was once in. The rings were returned right away and Applejack hesitantly placed them back onto her fingers and gave them a small flex.

Pinkie was already standing next to the farm mare and looking at the rings with a scrutinizing gaze for a couple of seconds before scratching the back of her right ear in confusion. She then said the following, while trying to do multiple tests to figure out which one was the large stone ring, which consisted of looking, poking, placing her ear up against it and even licking the items, much to Applejack's dismay now that her fingers were coated and drool. “How’d you make that ring look like the other one? Also, how do you tell it apart if you got something special mixed in with a bunch of the normal ones?”

Brex rolled his eyes as he lifted his right hand and pointed to his masks eye holes and replied. “I have really good eyesight. I could easily tell which one is which. Not only that, I can even say who made a crafted item.” Pinkie changed from being confused to that of excitement as she started to jump in place and pull out a number of items that were laying across both hands now that they were placed side-by-side. Among these. Were a couple of rock necklaces, an oddly shaped retainer that Brex assumed was for her pet alligator Gummy.

She then asked,” Ooooh! Try it out on these!” Brex pointed to the necklace and then to the retainer and said, “That was made by someone called Maud Pie. And the other is from Colgate the dentist here in Ponyville.” The pink party pony sucked in a loud gasp of air as she stepped back with a look of surprise. She then said the following while bouncing around Brex cheerfully with the nature of someone who had just guzzled down three Triple Espresso lattes in a single sitting.

“Oh-my-gosh, oh-my-gosh, oh-my-gosh! He got that right; he got that right! Did you hear that?! He got it right! You don't even know my sister! And most just say the other one is from the town vet. I mean, almost everybody knows that I got a pet alligator and it's obvious it was made for him! Oh, wait! I got something else you can try!” And with that, she stopped right in front of Brex and bent over in the opposite direction so that her tail was pointed towards him. And in one fluid motion. She reached back and pulled on something that was just barely sticking out from her pants.

This turned out to be a section of her underpants and it was being stretched so far, that it caught Brex unawares to the point that he was inwardly flinching at how easily Pinkie was giving herself a wedgie. That was when she called out to him from over her shoulder in the same kid like fashion as always. “The brand logo got washed away and I've been wanting to get more of the same pair!” Applejack immediately slapped her hand over her head to pull down her hat over her eyes as she was clearly starting to blush from her friend’s antics.

As for Gilda, who was still at the chair from the very beginning. She clearly had her jaw dropped after seeing the blatant display coming from the pink party pony that she had an issue with before, but had recently started to get along with. Brex was just about to reprimand her for showing off her underwear to him. But was interrupted by his vision going dark once Rainbow zoomed around behind and started to cover his mask with her hands. The prismatic Pegasus then said the following in clear embarrassment by the sound of her voice. “Pinkie! Do you have any idea what you're doing?!”

The mare then straightened up after allowing her underpants to snap back loudly after letting go to give everyone a confused look. This of course changed after a couple of seconds after noticing how everybody else was looking at her and she started to have this "O" face. After looking extremely embarrassed herself, she replied with. “Oopsie! I kind of got a little too excited there! Hehe-hehe!” She even had one of the biggest smiles on her face as she was inching behind Applejack and firmly having both hands behind her back and covering the base of her tail.

While his face was still being covered, Brex calmly asked Rainbow to get off. Eventually, they all calmed down and went through the front gate and around so that they could go into the Everfree Forest. Today he was going to act as their fourth member and play the healing role. Once within, they did not have to go too far before they came across a set of carnivorous plants that ranged from Level three to level four. One was off on its own Brex told Applejack to take it out all by herself and ordered the rest to hold back to see what she could do.

The place that they were in gave just enough spacing between the trees for just her alone to move effectively against the target. This plant monster turned out to be a long, yet thin stock that would come out of the ground and have a large flower head at the top. The entire thing would move in the same way a snake would when standing upright.

Its only real attack was the ability to launch its pollen in a cone fashion in front of itself, while also shooting a couple of its seeds at high velocity. It was essentially the beginning level of the same type of flower that appeared in his dreams when he first encountered both Luna and Celestia at the same time in the Frozen Wasteland of his game world.

Applejack was a little hesitant in the beginning. However, she soon found out that she was more than a match for the monster. She was easily able to avoid not only the spray of pollen, but also the seed attacks that were trying to hit as she was approaching. Yet, one did make an impact on to her left shoulder, but the mare brushed it off as nothing and charged straight for the creature. She used a couple of swings that cause some damage and finished it off with her weapon skill at the end. The last hit ended up cutting it in the midsection as her axe came down diagonally.

The other's cheered for her success but they were unaware as to how much this did for the pony as Brex could easily see her level changing rapidly. When he mentioned that she was already level three off of that one fight alone. The others looked at him like he was crazy. But he paid it no mind and pushed them forward.

The next set of creatures they came across turned out to be an oversized wasp. It wasn't like the giant ones from the game, but it was almost half the height when compared to all three mare's. When he told them that this one was level twelve and that they would be working together to fight it. The group was full of confidence.

However, when he mentioned that he would not be taking part. He could easily see the fire quickly dim. At first, he didn't really understand it too well as to why. Then he realized that they were not all that accustomed to fighting something that was closer to their own rating. This was mostly due to them constantly going after the same targets so something like this was bound to cause them to be a little more fearful for their lives. He ran his hand down his face before he said that he would be helping only if they needed it when it came to healing. So, they did not have to worry so much if they should make a mistake.

Although, he did warn them that the bee monsters typically have this special skill that does a lot of damage when they get themselves steady in the air in order to launch their stinger. This resulted in him explaining how it was possible to tell when this was happening. Once they were properly instructed, did the three come out from behind the trees and attacked the bee monster.

It took some work which lasted a good five minutes, but they did defeat it in the end. He had expected it to go down a lot faster with three of them going at it but this was a life-or-death fight. There was also the possibility of friendly fire accidentally being used and they were strongly against having that happen again.

This went on for nearly an hour before they all started to head back to Brex's place. By then, all but him were almost exhausted to where even Rainbow could not fly anymore and Applejack was dragging her axe on the ground and behind herself. Pinkie was for once, seemed to be like any normal Pony with how she was not doing any jumping around anymore and wasting energy. Apparently, she had used up all her snacks and in her own words, she was beginning to get slow. On his part he only stepped in a few times during a fight and gave out some heals here and there after a skirmish to get all the girls back up to their tip top fighting condition.

The group were getting near the edge of the forest when he glanced over their status bars to check on what progress was done. Applejack was already up to level eleven. Whereas Rainbow and Pinkie were now at level fourteen and twelve. For a start, Brex thought they were pretty well off. But he knew very well that this was only going to get harder if they stuck to what they were doing today when it came to them being ready.

His main thoughts were the following as they were finally stepping out of the gloomy forest and into the open lands right next to where he now lived. “First, I need to get them all working together. Then I'll have to figure out a place for them to train properly as to get the most of their time. Not to mention we're wasting too much daylight with going in and out of the deeper sections. Guess my top priority should be getting them all to level fifteen as quickly as possible.

Another hour passed since then and Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie had already gone home after getting a short snack break once everyone was safely out of the woods and back on his property. Brex had taken a moment to take a seat at the outside table and glance towards the general direction of Ponyville that could just barely be seen from the top of his stone-lined fence. His eyes closed slowly and he began to feel a presence nearby and it was coming in his way. A gentle smile creeped onto his lips from underneath his mask as he already knew the sensation of who this could possibly be and remained seated in silence.

Eventually, the sound of grass being stepped upon could be heard from behind and the light pressure of someone's body was now firmly against his back. Upon opening his eyes did he catch the sight of Rory who was just barely peeking her face into view on his right-hand side and laying onto his shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around as to give him a gentle hug as she spoke in a relaxed tone right beside his hood. “How was it to be a teacher again? Don't tell me you were just as harsh on them as you were on the Changelings when you took them out into the woods? I believe a few were in need of some counseling from the others afterwards.”

Brex reached up with his right hand to lightly press it onto one of Rory's before he replied in a tone that was both tired, yet at the same time, fulfilled in a strange way. “Rainbow wasn't that much of a hot head as I thought. Although, she tends to get two into what she's doing and leaves herself wide open to attacks on her right flank too often. I'll need to work on her perception of the battlefield or that's going to come back to bite her hard.” His head leaned back a little as he paused for a moment before continuing.

“Pinkie was being… Uh, Pinkie of course. I don’t think anyone can do anything about that. Although, she didn't drive me crazy. Still, it's scary to think that she caused that explosion with only firing one arrow. If she could stop being random for more than five seconds, then I bet even I'd have a hard time avoiding her shots even if I was to be at my best condition and maxing out my level. But I'm glad that she's always watching out for her friends. If it wasn't for her cover fire, then the others would have been getting more injuries from their blind spots.”

“Now, Applejack is really surprising me. I had a good idea that she was stubborn to a fault, but she's really taking to being a Marauder as if she's been bred for it for her entire life. She even exhibited signs of her Inner Beast slowly coming near the surface even if it was for just an instant. Perhaps I've been judging them too harshly on what I've been reading in my past life...” Rory began to lightly brush her face against the side of his hood while giving out a few soft hums of agreement on her end.

She then released her hands grip and walked around so that she was now sitting across his lap and leaning into his chest. Once she was settled in, she closed her eyes and started to talk again. “Hmm, think your preconceptions maybe coming into question if you're talking in such a way. What happened to my Master who was obsessed with how these characters are normally portrayed?” Brex chuckled again as he leaned down depressed the bottom of his mask with a minimal amount of pressure onto Rory's head as he replied. “Who knows... could be that I have had some time to properly process everything.”

Rory hesitated for a moment before she pulled away to look into his mask. She then raised an eyebrow as she said the next bit in one of those skeptical tones. “I guess when you-know-who comes along on the weekend is not going to be too much of an issue for you?” Brex tilted his head to this before he replied in a confused way. “I think I can handle all six of them coming over if that's what you mean?” The girl immediately shook her head as she said, “No that's not it. You can't have possibly forgotten that the princess is going to be here for a visit... Have you?”

Brex was slightly opening his mouth as he was going to say something to that. However, his words died in his throat as his eyes went wide. The only thing that came out turned out to be a tiny squeak of fright that just barely register to Rory by the way her ears flicked. The girl released an exhausted sigh as she got up and started to lean in to give Brex a peck on the edge of his mask before she spoke up again in a sweet tone that was behind a smile.

“I thought as much. Just happened to get two focused on your students to remember that little fact. Don't worry. I'll be with you for every step of the way.” And with that. Rory slipped herself off from his lap and strolled out of his line of sight and right back into the house.

Back over to Brex. He was motionless in the same way as a statue. This was made only more apparent as a single bird flew by and perched itself on top of his head. He then thought to himself in a zombie type of inner voice. “If I'm lucky… there might be another emergency that can get me out of the house before she arrives... Uh… What are the odds that another Primal will just pop out of the blue?” There was a small pause before he added, “Hay… This would be a perfect time for Murphy’s Law to kick in!”

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia's bedchamber*

In the well-lit room sat Luna on the edge of Celestia's bed with her elbows resting on her knees. While also hunching over with this unamused look on her face at something directly ahead. A piece of fabric literally came flying with a golden hue of magic that was just barely visible before slapping the lunar princess straight in the face so that her horn was poking out through one of the holes for one to slip an arm through. With a subtle grunt of annoyance, Luna pulled it off and tossed it over her shoulder in a practiced motion.

The piece of fabric could be seen as it landed onto a large pile comprised of the same articles of varying size and color. The entire mound was big enough to fill the entire bed of a pickup truck by this point and there was barely any room on the bed itself for Luna to lay upon. So now, she was now stuck in the small section where she was currently sitting. She then angrily began to talk through her teeth as her right eye was beginning to twitch. “Tia... I oh so love you, but please, oh please! For our mother's name, make up your mind already! We have other duties that require our attention! Surely this can be put on hold for more important matters?”

On the other side of the room was Princess Celestia. The mare was wearing what appear to be a silken nightgown with a purple hint to it that just barely concealed her naked form underneath. All around were open drawers and other pieces of clothing hanging off of the edges as they were roughly pulled aside while others were clearly tossed earlier. Even the walk-in closet itself was a living nightmare for the cleaning staff with how it was completely disheveled and unorganized. Celestia clearly had this glimmer in her eye that showed that she was beginning to give off an air of panic, while whirling on the spot to look at her younger sister to reply.

“I'm going to his house Lulu! This is my chance. What you wear can easily start a war. The right outfit needs to be chosen! No... no... This won't work. I can't wear that! I could probably wear this one, oh never mind! This one's far too early to wear! This won't work either, it's too conservative! Luna! I need your help! Please!” Luna gave herself a powerful facepalm that echoed in the room. But thankfully enough, the pair thought it was a good idea to put up another one of those sound dampening spells ahead of time so that the guards would not come storming in and assume that they were under attack. She then said, “Tia, you got four more days before the seven are up.”

This caused Celestia to whirl around so that she was facing Luna again. Her legs were slightly parted as her arms were outstretched and bracing themselves on to her dresser for support after leaning back. Just as it was for Luna, she too was beginning to have her right eye do a subtle twitch to what her sister said. She then screamed the following as she ruffled through some of the clothing that was on the ground nearby. “Only four days?! These won't do, I've worn all of them before! Maybe I can get a new dress made?! Oh, but I have no idea what kind of style he prefers! What to do, what to do!”

As Celestia was now going on a small rant while lost in her own world. Luna leaned back far enough that she was now laying on the stack of clothing. She even used her left arm and draped it over her eyes as she was saying the following under her breath. “I don't know how much longer the dampening spells going to work on you... perhaps I shall accompany in case the situation should turn in a bad course. At the very least, I can try to distract you.”

She raised her arm to lazily glance over to her older sister one more time. Only now, Celestia had pulled off her nightgown and was standing in front of her full-length mirror for a pathetic attempt at a provocative pose. She was placing one hand onto her right hip, as the other one was up and behind her neck.

What the eldest sister said next, cause Luna to plop her head back even harder and to give off a groan of annoyance as the pile fell on top of her entire body and continued to the floor. “I could always go in the nude! Perhaps that will convey how I feel?” At that exact moment over at Brex's mansion. The Roegadyn who was sitting in a stone like state, instantly began to shiver in a way that visibly caused his body to ripple from the ground going up to the top of his hood. He then said the next line as his teeth were loudly chattering. “W-Why… In the seven hells… do I feel cold right now? I’m definitely not supposed to feel cold!”