Twilight had a list of places she wanted to visit: they were the barracks, the medical ward, the mailroom, the smithy, the sanctuary, and finally the training school. Flash wasn’t sure why she was interested in the barracks and mailroom of all places but he brought her there nonetheless. The barracks were adjacent to the castle courtyard, which had been fitted into training grounds. As Flash and Twilight made their way to the barracks, they noticed that a group of soldiers had gathered around the training ground and were cheering, Twilight didn’t know what it meant, but Flash knew all too well what a large crowd and excited soldiers meant.

There was a challenge going down.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked Flash as they got closer to their destination.

“It must be a challenge,” Flash began explaining, “in the rules of conduct, disputes are to be settled in a friendly game of king of the hill.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight said, a hint of interest in her voice. “So who’s fighting today?”

“Don’t know, I can’t get a good look from this crowd,” Flash said, trying to look over the mob of soldiers, he also couldn’t hear too well as there was a bunch of soldiers gathered at a quickly made booth shouting at Soarin who was taking bets for the fight, adorned in full armor and wearing a helmet. “Hold on, I’ll be right back,” Flash promised, opening his wings he flew past all of the soldiers and hovered above the grounds to see who was fighting. When he saw the two contestants, he couldn’t help but facepalm, “I should’ve known better.” He muttered.

Standing in the sandy grounds was none other than the specialist, Applejack, and her opponent was a mage with pearly white hair and pink eyes that was known to everyone as Trixie, another specialist like Applejack. Once again, Trixie must’ve challenged Applejack to a duel to settle another one of their disputes.

Flash flew back down to meet up with Twilight, only to see that she had taken a front-row seat to the duel. Flash landed next to her, “I didn’t take you for someone who’d be interested in a fight.”

“Normally, no,” Twilight admitted, “but I am curious to see how duels are handled here. Also, which one of the two is Applejack?”

“The terra woman with the cowgirl hat,” Flash answered, suspicious as to how she knew AJ’s name. “Why do you ask?

“Oh, no reason.” Twilight shrugged. Flash could’ve sworn he saw a bidding ticket on her for Applejack.

Soarin hovered above the two contestants, acting as the referee, “Alright, the rules of the duel are simple, you each have 15 minutes to make your opponent surrender. The only tools you can use are the training weapons, all magic is allowed so long as it’s non-lethal. Begin!”

With that declaration, a bell was rung, causing a flip-board timer to start counting down. Applejack wore light leather armor and was equipped with two hatchets that had rubber blades. Trixie wore a magician's outfit with a starry cape and matching starry witches hat and was equipped with a training wand that had limited use of spells.

Trixie waved her wand and in an instant, about twenty clones of herself appeared, Trixie was a specialist that had the special ability to create illusions of just about anything. However, Applejack was also a specialist who possessed the ability to see the truth of all things, which allowed her to see right through Trixie’s illusion.

“Ya never learn, do ya girl,” AJ stated as her eyes scanned the illusions, who were beginning to start moving around randomly when her gaze fell on the real Trixie. She rushed towards the real mage, only to be struck by a magic missile right to her back by one of the clones. Applejack quickly recovered from her fall, rolling back to her feet and taking a defensive stance.

“Ha ha ha ha!” All of the Trixie’s laughed mockingly. “What’s the matter, farmer? I’m right over here.”

It didn’t take long for AJ to realize what had happened, Trixie had mixed some clones of herself in with the illusions, making it harder to reach the real Trixie. She could see where the real Trixie was, but the clones blended in the illusions in a way her eyes couldn’t tell the difference. But, being the driven and headstrong woman she is, AJ continued to charge forward at the real Trixie.

Each time she got close to Trixie a clone would shoot her back with her magic. This happened a couple of times, although some bruises were on her body, her leather armor was torn up, and her body heaved from signs of exhaustion.

“Ha ha ha!” All of the Trixies gave off a haughty laugh. “Now you’ll see that no one is a match for the great and powerful-“

Trixie was caught off by Applejack throwing her two hatchets into the sand, grabbing her leather chest armor and ripping it off of her body. Now revealing her fit and toned body, her six-pack glistening from the sweat and her rather busty chest held up by a black sports bra. She then tore off her leather pants, showing off her tight and bulky thighs. The entire crowd around her erupted into cheers and wolf-calls, to Twilight’s surprise even Flash was joining in on the cheering,

“Yeah AJ! Show em what you got!” He hollered, his cheering being more supportive than flirtatious.

AJ only had a small smile from the cheering, pulling out an elastic band she tied her hair into a ponytail. Trixie couldn’t help but avert her eyes from, a small blush forming on her cheeks from a mixture of jealousy and arousal. “Stupid, sexy, farm-girl.” She grumbled.

Applejack let a sigh of relief, feeling the cooler thanks to the absence of her stuffy armor. “Now then.” Applejack grabbed her two hatchets and dashed one of the clones of Trixie. Applejack didn’t take those hits for no reason, she was watching and observing which of the Trixies were her clones and which ones were illusions. Once she was certain which of the Trixie’s were the 3 clones, she rushed towards the first one and, after dodging her attacks, struck her with the rubber hatchet. With the blow, the Trixie clone erupted into a cloud of smoke with a loud “poof!”. AJ knew the spell Trixie was using, the clones had the same magical powers as the caster but had a terrible defense, one hit and they dissolved. Applejack made her way through the illusions, striking down the next clone effortlessly. When her gaze landed on the last clone, who was sneaking up on her, she swung her hatchet and chucked it right at her. The last clone disappeared once the rubber hatchet smacked against her forehead. With no remaining defense, Applejack closed the distance between her and Trixie, with no remaining obstacles the terra human smacked Trixie across the face, sending the mage flying backward and knocking her out.

The bell rang out three times as the illusions vanished, singling that Trixie had been knocked out and the winner was Applejack. There was a mixture of cheers and groans from the crowd, cheers from those who bet on Applejack, and groans from those who bet on the latter. Applejack picked up the unconscious mage and draped her over her shoulder, making her way towards the stands she saw Flash and Twilight.

“Heya Flash!” Applejack waved, approaching the two. “Didn’t expect to see you here of all places.”

Flash gestured to Twilight, “AJ, this is Twilight, the new Maiden here at Tintagel. Twilight, this is Applejack, she’s the specialist of my team.”

“Pleasure ta meet ya, your holiness.” Applejack extended her left arm for a shake, as her right was too busy holding the unconscious Trixie.

“Just Twilight is fine.” The Maiden returned Applejack’s gesture, shaking her firm hand.

“I take it you’re gonna be taking Trixie to the medical ward now?” Flash guessed, putting a hand on his hip.

“You betcha.” Applejack beamed.

“Mind if we join you, the medical ward is the next place I’m showing Twilight,” Flash asked.

“Heh, feel free, the more the merrier.” Applejack grinned, as the three of them made their way to the medical ward.

As the three walked towards the medical ward, Twilight began asking Applejack some questions.

“Tell me, Applejack, you’re a specialist right?” Twilight asked.

“Sure am!” The terra human boasted. “I’m a berserker to be specific, which means I use my terra magic for a boost to strength.”

“How did you become a specialist? I’ve read about the trials to become the other soldier types, like Defender, Warrior, Ranger, Healer, and Caster.” Twilight inquired.

“A specialist is someone who holds two classes,” Applejack began to explain, “Flash here is a Defender, which means he’s trained to defend and protect the team, so he wouldn’t be too useful if we put him in the field like a Ranger. Likewise, our leader Soarin is a Warrior, which means he’s trained in pursuing the enemy and being offensive, so he wouldn’t be useful if he was assigned to heal people. Specialists are those who wield two positions, as for me, I am both a Warrior and a Healer.” Applejack held up her left arm, showing that most of her bruises had already begun to fade. “My specialist powers give me incredible strength and the ability to heal myself and others in case of emergency.”

“Fascinating,” Twilight stated, inspecting Applejack’s arm with curious intent. “Is your magic also enhanced when you remove clothing?” The Maiden asked bluntly, causing Flash to be taken aback and Applejack to laugh.

“You’re a funny one, ain’t ya!” She hollered. “And no, my powers don’t increase when I take off my garments. I just did that because the armor was so beaten up that it wouldn’t defend me anymore. That and…I kinda like to show off my body.” Applejack admitted.

“Really?” Twilight asked, cocking her head.

“See, here’s the thing.” Applejack began to tell her story. “I used to be very…chubby, thanks to my terra heritage my family can gain weight very easily, it’s helpful for the men in our family like ma brother Big Mac, but for women…not so much. If the food we eat isn’t used our bodies store it as fat, and I quickly became overweight thanks to the extra nutritious meals they serve to soldiers. But thanks to a strict diet, plenty of exercises, and a whole lot of patience.” Applejack flexed her muscles to show off her years of hard work and determination. “I was able to give myself the body you see before you. I don’t mind the whole cat-calls some of the men and women give me, I know just about everyone here and they’re all very supportive of me. I like showing off what I got because…well…it makes me feel attractable in a way.” The terra mare admitted, blushing slightly.

Flash was amazed at how honest Applejack was being, it had taken him months of getting to know Applejack before she told him this, yet it only took Twilight a few seconds for the terra to warm up to her. He sensed a similar feeling he had when Shining Armor had talked with him but convinced himself it was because Twilight was a Maiden.

“So, you don’t mind the looks and cat-calls from your fellow soldiers?” Twilight asked.

Applejack chuckled, “They don’t mean anything by it. Besides, if any tries to get frisky with lil-ol’-me…well, let’s just say that they’ll have to find some other way ta communicate with people.” Applejack grinned maliciously, remembering a time when Fluttershy’s brother had groped Applejack’s rear and ended up with a broken jaw.

“Here we are,” Flash spoke up, hoping to end the conversation as the trio arrived at the medical ward.

The medical ward was a long rectangular room with beds aligned at the sides of the room, curtains separating each of the beds. Thankfully, most were empty, but some housed soldiers, and they were being tended to. The soldiers had all manners of injuries, some had minor injuries like weak poison, scrapes, and bruises, while others had more extreme injuries like 3rd-degree burns and curses. Tending to the wounds of these fallen soldiers were several nurses, among them was a familiar face; Rarity.

“Heya, Rarity,” Applejack greeted, approaching the mage, “got a new patient for ya.”

Rarity looked to Applejack with an annoyed expression, she handed the care of her patient to the nurse on standby as she went to the trio. “Honestly, Applejack darling, you need to stop these kinds of fights. I swear you’re doing more damage to our soldiers than the Night Creatures.” Rarity exclaimed, using her magic she levitated Trixie into an empty bed and then began diagnosing her.

At the end of the room was the emergency section of the ward, where those who bore more extreme injuries were kept. Exiting the emergency room was one doctor Redheart, covered in splotches of blood, she let out a sigh of relief before pulling out a package of what one could mistake to be cigarettes. In actuality, they were health suckers known as Calming Canes, which reduced stress and anxiety when sucked on. She pulled one of the stripped red sticks from the box and stuck it in her mouth, holding it with her teeth as one would do with a cigarette. Her gaze landed on Flash and Applejack, “Hey, Flash and AJ, can you come over here for a second.” The doctor requested, and the two complied, leaving Twilight with Rarity, “I need you two to help me with one of my patients, he dealt with a nest of Xenomorphs and a face-hugger got the jump on him. I need to surgically remove the egg before it hatches, AJ I need you to be ready to kill the spawn if it’s still alive and Flash, I’ll need you to keep the patient sedated.” Redheart explained as she led the two into the emergency room. “Flash, grab some of those sleeper shots from the cabinet over there, just one should be enough to knock him out.”

Twilight tried to follow the three into the emergency room but was stopped by Redheart. “Sorry miss, authorized personnel only, I’m afraid I can’t have you in here.” She stated, closing the door on her.

Twilight let out a small whimper, disappointed she wouldn’t be able to see the surgery. “Don’t take it too hard, Darling.” Rarity consoled the Maiden, “it’s not all that interesting anyway, miss…” She trailed off, waiting for Twilight to give her name.

“Twilight Sparkle, the new Maiden,” Twilight answered.

“Rarity, I’m the castor for my team.” Rarity responded in kind with her own identity. “Tell me, what brings you to our lovely little clinic?”

“I was interested to see how the Sleeping Sun heals its wounded,” Twilight answered, looking at all of the soldiers and caring nurses, “I must say, I’m impressed. How do you manage all of this?”

“Well, medics like us can’t take all of the credit,” Rarity began, “most of the hard work comes from the scouts and rangers who gather the supplies needed to create our remedies. Our job is to identify the source of their injury and then treat it.”

“What kind of injuries do you usually get?” Twilight asked.

“Thankfully, most of the patients that enter only have medium injuries that can’t be healed by the hot springs, but we do get some soldiers that suffered more…gruesome ailments.” Rarity cringed, as she heard the cries of the newly hatched Xenomorph from the emergency room.

“You said you were a castor, right? Why are you here in the clinic if you’re not a healer?” Twilight asked, trying to distract the woman from the surgery occurring nearby.

“I’m currently training to become a specialist,” Rarity beamed, “I’m working with the medical staff here to learn how to apply some of this to the field. After all, many of the injuries we can’t remedy are due to letting them go untreated for too long. Which is why I’ve been working on a side project of mine for a while.” Rarity said, reaching into her purse, she pulled out three crystals, “Gems and Crystals have a unique ability to hold and contain magic, so I’ve been working to create spells that can heal wounds in the middle of a battle.” Rarity walked over to one of the wounded soldiers and held the blue crystal over the burn marks on the soldier’s arm. A light blue glow emanated from the crystal, causing the burn marks to slowly fade.

“Fascinating, I take it you took the idea from Mistmane who used a similar method by channeling her magic into crystals and used them as batteries.” Twilight guessed.

“Yes, I’m glad you noticed,” Rarity said with glee, excited that there was someone else that knew her idol, “although, I want the crystals to contain a spell instead of fueling my life force. Sadly, I haven’t found a way around the Magical Decay Theory.” Rarity sighed.

The Magical Decay Theory was the idea that magic cannot remain in an object forever. The theory was written by scholar Starswirl the Bearded, who discovered that a newly made amulet held more magic than a re-enchanted amulet. Starswirl realized that items that contain magic lose the ability to hold on to that magic over time, eventually, an item would lose any ability to contain magic at all. He worded it in terms of percentages, if an amulet was able to hold 100% of magic once it’s created, over time the amulet would only be able to hold 80% of magic. Thankfully, a blacksmith by the name of Rockhoof found a way to reforge blessed items to restore their ability to contain magic. This was done by depleting an item of all magic it contained down to 0%, then breaking apart the item and recycling it into a new item. An example of this is if a blacksmith took an enchanted sword, removed all magic it contained, melted it down into its liquid form, then created a new sword from the recycled materials, replacing any damaged parts wherever needed. While this process works for items used by soldiers, such as armor, tools, weapons, equipment, etc, it cannot work for items such as gems and crystals which form naturally. And artificially grown crystals and gems have proven to possess no ability to contain any kind of magic. Although they still retain their chemical properties, making them useful in constructing healing tubs, potions, and other medicines.

“I’m hoping that I can find some way to reforge the crystals or prevent them from decaying by the magic. Sadly, I’ve had no such luck,” Rarity sighed.

“Also, the act of infusing magic into objects by someone other than a Maiden is forbidden,” Twilight added.

Rarity perked up at that, realizing that what Twilight had said was very true. Magic was an unruly force in the world that existed in two states; Chaos and Divine. Chaos magic was powerful but destructive whereas its counterpart, the Divine, was restorative and peaceful. There was of course a neutral state of magic that mages had access to, but those more attuned to magic wielded either Chaos or Divine. Chaos magic was forbidden as it was shown to be uncontrollable and corrupting, whereas Divine magic could only be wielded by those worth. Those who would wield the Divine were known as Maidens and Dominions, the only difference between the two were their requirements and the presence of Yin and Yang energy. Yin aura is required for Maidens and Yang aura is required for Dominions. Nevertheless, Rarity’s project was technically forbidden, which made her wonder, why did she share it with a Maiden.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight said calmly, “I won’t tell anyone. Your project seems like a very good idea that can save many lives if done right.”

Rarity felt a wave of relief after Twilight what Twilight had said, “Thank you, your grace.”

“Please, call me Twilight.” The Maiden smiled.

“Rarity!” The yell from Redheart broke up the interaction between the two women, “Get in here, I need your help keeping this guy alive!”

“Coming!” Rarity yelled back, but not before giving one of her crystals to Twilight. “Here, you can have this. If you’re interested in my project don’t hesitate to give me any pointers.” With that, Rarity dashed into the emergency room, nearly knocking over a distressed Flash who was holding a bag in outstretched arms. One of the nurses took the bag from the poor man, who let out a sigh of relief and took a moment to breathe.

“You look like you had fun.” Twilight joked.

“Yeah…the miracle of childbirth has never been more fun.” Flash joked back, returning to his normal composure. “So…are you ready for the next location on our magical tour?”

“Lead the way, my guard.”

The next stop on the tour was the message room, a section of the keep that housed many of the dragons. Of course, these weren’t fully grown dragons, but small dragons that were about the same size as humans, some were smaller. The history between Humans and Dragons is a difficult one to understand, in the past, both humans and dragons fought one another like hate-filled enemies, but today both the Humans and Dragons coexist with a peace treaty kept between Dragon Lord Ember and all of humankind. This treaty allowed Humans to claim the abandoned eggs of dragons and raise them as their own. Dragons could live for hundreds of years and they aged slowly. Dragons have a unique tie to chaos magic that many of the Order exploit, specifically the ability for dragons to teleport letters between other dragons. Thanks to the Dragonion Messages or DM as some abbreviated, all of the kingdoms within Equestria were able to communicate with one another. Of course, Flash and Twilight couldn’t talk with any of the dragons due to them being hard at work. Except for one dragon in particular.

“Hey Spike, got a sec?” Flash asked as the two approached the purple and green drake.

“Sure!” Spike smiled, “anything to get me a break. What can I do for you two?”

“Nothing much, just a couple of questions for a curious woman,” Twilight answered.

“Well…I’ll try my best to answer them, but don’t expect too much.” Spike chuckled nervously.

“For starters,” Twilight jumped right into the questions, “how does your job work? Like, how do you teleport letters from others?”

“Like this,” Spike answered, picking up a sealed letter he blew green fire on it and it evaporated into ashes, “that one just got sent to Manehatten.”

“Fascinating…how do you know where to send them too?” Twilight asked.

“Easy, I just look at the address on the letter and then picture the location in my head before sending it there,” Spike answered.

“So then, would you say your job is very fun?”

“Well…fun isn’t exactly how I’d put it.” Spike scratched the back of his head, “but it’s certainly easy. All we have to do is sit at this here desk for hours sending letters to other dragons and receiving letters. We get 3 meals a day in gems and even have a weekly wage.”

“Nice to see they’re compensating you.” Twilight nodded.

Spike burped and a letter appeared in the green flames, he took it and looked at the address before sending it into a pipe system where it shot off to another part in the castle. “Yeah, it’s honest work. But the real action is whenever we have to go out during a raid.” Spike cheered.

“Raid?” Twilight asked the question aimed more so at Flash than the dragon.

“A raid is a whenever multiple teams need to work together to deal with a nest, infestation, or a high-level monster. Dragons are taken with other teams to ensure that communication between all the groups is kept.” Flash explained.

“Fascinating…” Twilight trailed off, “But wouldn’t Commune Crystals be better?”

Spike shook his head, “They’re not as reliable, thanks to the decay of them, they loose their range for connection.”

Twilight nodded, “Makes sense. Although, wouldn’t that put you at risk then during a mission?”

“Dragons that go into the field are required to have some training in self defense,” Flash answered.

“Can dragons become soldiers?” Twilight asked.

Both Spike and Flash hesitated to answer, thinking of the best way to formulate an appropriate response. Spike decided to answer, “It’s…complicated. Dragons are kinda like hammers whereas Soldiers are scalpels. When it comes to fighting Night Creatures, dragons could do more damage than the monsters if we’re not careful.” Spike cringed, memories of his accidental growth transformation during his first mission crept into his mind.

“But they are more than just messengers,” Flash put a hand on Spike’s shoulder, “remember that mission we brought you on where you realized that we were fighting a banshee instead of a succubus? Rarity and I would’ve been goners if you didn’t pick up on the difference.”

Spike crossed his arms with a triumphant look, “Yeah, I am pretty useful.”

“Okay, I think I’ve got what I needed,” Twilight said.

After she had received enough information, Twilight and Flash made their way to their next location; The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was a mixture of two wards; the Sealed Ward and the Smithy Ward. The Sealed Ward was an outdoor garden full of statues of spirits that had been sealed away. The Smithy Ward was connected to the garden and was full of furnaces, anvils, and tools for turning clumps of metal into pristine armor and deadly tools. The reason for the two wards being connected had to do with a combined need, the crafted tools needed to be blessed by Maidens and Dominions, or their lesser counterparts, and they were also needed for the ritualistic sealing ceremony that some of the spirits needed to keep their currently stoned state permanent.

Upon entering the Smithy Ward, Flash and Twilight were met with two familiar faces they had seen only moments ago; Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer.

“Well, fancy running into you two again,” Twilight smirked, noticing that Starlight was rather close to the magus.

“Oh, hello again your grace.” Sunburst bowed slightly.

“Please Sunburst, you’re a Dominion yourself, there’s no need for you to bow to me.” Twilight scoffed.

“Well, actually I am a Dominus, a lesser-dominion.” Sunburst corrected. “Anyways, what brings you here today?” He asked.

“Twilight wants to see how our tools are made, as well as how they enchanted,” Flash answered.

“Specifically how they are blessed and enchanted.” Twilight corrected.

“Certainly,” Sunburst said, moving over the forge, where a minotaur was hammering a newly made sword, “may I?” Sunburst asked, holding out his hand.

The Minotaur understood and placed the newly forged blade in Sunburst’s hand. Sunburst then raised his finger, causing the tip of it to glow with a white aura, then he wrote several runes on the blade. The runes pulsated with a small hum before fading into the blade.

“Interesting, what runes did you place?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, just the standard ones.” Sunburst answered, “like ones that enhance the blade, making it stronger, and ones that are designed against the undead. Although more runes could be applied if I poured more Divine into-“

Sunburst was cut off as Twilight clapped her hands together, her eyes glowed white, and transparent white wings appeared behind her. The clumps of metal on the Minotaur’s table were levitated into the air and moved towards Twilight, then they began to circle her like a constantly moving ring. She moved her hands with grace-like motions, the metal began taking shape, becoming fine and thin before taking the form of a sword. She then drew runes in mid-air, those same runes appearing on all of the swords. Once her word was complete, the blades floated back onto the table, now twenty-five blades had been forged.

Sunburst couldn’t help but blink in astonishment, he knew that the Maidens had a stronger connection to the Divine than lesser Maidens and Dominions (Maidous and Dominous) but her demonstration could only be described as God-like. She had just produced several blades that would’ve taken weeks to make in a matter of minutes.

“Hmmm,” Twilight hummed, inspecting her handiwork, “it could be better…how about…” Twilight wrote some more runes on the blade in hand, instantly the blade’s edges changed from steel to silver and a soft glow radiated from it. “There we go, excuse me Mr…” Twilight trailed off, waiting for a response from the Minotaur

“Ironfoot.” The Minotaur answered.

“Mr. Ironfoot, could you pick up one of the swords I just made, please?” Twilight requested and Ironfoot did so. He held the blade up in a defensive stance, and in a blur of motions, Twilight swung her new blade at the sword Ironfoot held, shattering his blade into three pieces. “Huh, not as strong as I’d like it to be.” Twilight sighed with a tinge of disappointment, while Ironfoot remained standing with eyes as wide as dinner plates staring down at his now broken sword. “Thank you Ironfoot, that should be all,” Twilight said, levitating her newly made sword over to the others.

“Wow…I knew Maidens were powerful but…I’ve never seen anyone do that.” Flash stated, absolutely gobsmacked.

“Surely your previous Maiden did the same thing?” Twilight assumed.

Indeed, Granny Smith, the previous Maiden at Tintagel and currently the record holder for oldest known Maiden, was very powerful. As a Maiden, she had mastery over the Divine and could manipulate matter as though it was nothing, although that was mostly due to the fact she had Terra magic enhanced by the Divine. She could produce the same amount of tools Twilight just demonstrated but it would’ve taken her the entire day to do so.

“Granny Smith could never do something like that,” Flash stated.

“Mistress,” Starlight soon found his voice, receiving a scolding look from Twilight for hearing her royal title, “I mean…Twilight, would you like to see the other kinds of tools that are at your disposal?”

Twilight clapped with glee, “What a wonderful idea! I’d love to see everything you have available.”

Ironfoot looked to Sunburst, who gave him a nod in approval to which Ironfoot left to go retrieve some tools from the storage. He would return moments later with a large backpack full of all kinds of items. He delicately placed the backpack on a long wooden table and began displaying its contents, taking care to handle the items gently as one would handle their child. Finally, all items were available for Twilight to see what she had to work with.

To start were 3 variations of swords, a roman style short-sword with no guard on it, a European longsword with a standard guard, and a katana-style sword. Following the swords were 3 types of spears, a regular spear with a light metal pole and heavy metal tip, then there was a lance spear, and lastly, there was a glaive. Following the spears were 3 variants of axes, a one-handed ax, a two-handed and double-bladed ax, and then a hatchet. Moving on were the 3 types of tools for castors, a wand, a staff, and a gauntlet. Lastly, there were 2 types of firearms on the table, a revolver and a musket.

On the other side were items designed for protection and defense, starting with types of armor, there were metal armor plates with runes and symbols carved on the inside of their metal, then there was a lighter armor made from leather and hides that had been blessed, and lastly were cloaks designed for more stealthy operations. Moving on from the armor were other items that soldiers wore, such as amulets, rings, braces, necklaces, etc.

“Wow, this is all marvelous! I’d love to spend time modifying all of these,” Twilight said, admiring one of the amulets before setting it back down, “but, that’ll have to wait till tomorrow. For now, I’d like to visit the Sanctuary.”

The Sanctuary was a place of zen and harmony, luscious patches of flowers sprouted from all over, a small stream from an artificial waterfall softly trickled its way through the garden, small wooden bridges connected the two divided parts. Randomly placed around the garden were several large statues of various creatures, each one was placed in a circular patch of white sand with ripple patterns raked into it. Ordainments and candles decorated the base of all statues, providing an easy access point for Divine magic.

The statues in the sanctuary were not carved from marble or stone but were, in fact, the symbol of imprisonment for spirits of Chaos. Many of the statues were spirits that wielded godlike powers and tormented mankind for centuries. Thankfully, the sealing on these spirits couldn’t be undone, but a routine sealing needed to be performed to keep their magic from seeping through the cracks. This ritual was to be performed by a Maidous as they possessed a connection to the Divine, a weaker connection compared to Maidens, but a connection nonetheless. Upon setting foot in the Sanctuary, Twilight winced in pain, clutching her forehead as a sudden wave of pain pierced her.

“Twilight, are you alright.” Flash inquired, quickly springing into action.

“I’m fine.” Twilight said, slowly regaining her composure, “guess I’ve taken in more information than I thought.

“We can take a break and resume tomorrow if you’d like,” Flash suggested.

“No, it’s my duty to see this through.” Twilight resolved, moving forward into the garden.

The two made their way across the bridge, Twilight was searching for someone to talk to but couldn’t find anyone nearby. Whenever they did see someone, Flash would stop her and point out that they were in the middle of a sealing ritual, which was to be uninterrupted. Twilight thought that she wouldn’t be able to talk with anyone until she saw a woman sitting on a bench away from a statue who appeared to be having a conversation with a rabbit. Twilight looked to Flash, waiting to see if he would stop her, to which Flash confirmed that she could go talk with her, but gave one friendly piece of advice first.

“Hello.” Twilight greeted softly, almost whispering.

The woman looked to Twilight, revealing that it was, in fact, Fluttershy, who was anxious at seeing someone new, but relaxed when she saw Flash with the mage.

“Hi there.” Fluttershy softly whispered back.

“Mind if we have a seat with you?” Twilight asked, still whispering.

“Not at all.”

Fluttershy scooted down to make room for Twilight and Flash, the three sat on the bench for a moment in blissful silence before Twilight broke it.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the new Maiden, what’s your name?” She asked the timid woman.

“Fluttershy, I’m the cleric of my team,” Fluttershy answered.

“Interesting, but you’re also a Maidous?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “I have some knowledge of this spirit, so I’m in charge of his sealing,” Fluttershy said, indicating to the statue of a creature with mismatched body parts that was known as a draconequus.

“Really, would you mind telling me more about it?” Twilight asked, giving her best-winning smile.’’

“Oh…I’d really like to but…” The avian shifted uncomfortably, “I’m afraid I really can’ talk about him.”

Twilight wanted to press further, but Flash gave her a look that suggested it was better that she didn’t. Chaos spirits were a delicate matter within the Sleeping Sun, even talking about some spirits could cause their magic to run loose if the proper precautions weren’t taken.

“Fluttershy, do you think you could show us how the sealing process works?” Flash asked, hoping to brighten the Maiden’s mood, “if that’s okay with you, of course.”

“Um…” Fluttershy thought for a moment, the bunny within her lap seemed to be giving her words of encouragement, “sure, I don’t see why not.” Fluttershy took the rabbit and let him hop away, she stood up and made her way over to the statue, approaching it with soft steps as her bare feet made contact with the cool white sand. Taking care to not disturb the lines in the sand, Fluttershy made her way to the base of the statue and knelt before it, her hands closed in prayer. There was a moment of silence before Fluttershy chanted an incantation softly, Flash couldn’t hear it but Twilight was able to understand it. After she began her incantation, wisps of chaotic magic began to fume from the statue, wafting their way down and onto Fluttershy. The magic settled around Fluttershy before slowly entering her body through her skin, this happened for about a minute before the magic stopped. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief once the ritual was complete.

Fluttershy stood up again and made her way to the bench, where she took her seat next to Twilight and Flash. Flash had never actually seen Fluttershy’s ritual before, due to her private nature she often kept quiet about her work and the means of doing it. Yet she just performed her ritual right in front of Twilight without any resistance. Once again, Flash was amazed by how open everyone became when they were around Twilight.

“Are you alright-“ Twilight attempted to place a shoulder on Fluttershy, only for a spark of chaos magic to snap at her hand, giving her a harsh shock. “Ouch!” She winced.

“Ooh, sorry,” Fluttershy apologized instinctively, “it’s never done that before. And yes, I am fine, it’ll take a few hours for the chaos magic to disperse within me.”

“Is it painful?” Twilight asked, rubbing her hand to soothe the pain.

Fluttershy tapped her chin in thought, “Painful isn’t the right word…it does feel awkward at first but after a while, it gives me a sense of…fullness, kinda like after eating more than you intended to after dinner.”

“Fascinating, can you tell me more about this ritual of yours? Why don’t the other Maidous’ help out?” Twilight asked.

“Sealing can only be performed by chosen Maidous’,” The timid avian said, “this spirit’s magic is compatible with my own, which allows me to perform the ritual.”

Flash, seeing how open about herself Fluttershy was being, decided to ask a question that’d been bothering him for some time now, “Hey Fluttershy, how come there aren’t any Dominous performing the ritual?” He asked.

“Oh…” Fluttershy shuffled uncomfortably.

Twilight came to rescue with an answer, “Maidouses possess yin energy, they receive and produce life, which is why they’re the only ones who can perform the sealing ritual. They take the magic into themselves and slowly transform it into Divine magic, which they then dispel.” Twilight explained. “It can be quite sensitive for Maidous’ since it is so similar to intercourse and childbirth.”

Fluttershy nodded in confirmation, hiding her face behind her long silky hair. Flash awkwardly shuffled in his seat, feeling bad for putting Fluttershy in an uncomfortable position. The bunny in Fluttershy’s lap nuzzled against her, putting her at ease.

“Fluttershy, you seem to have a strong tie to animals,” Twilight pointed out, “can you communicate with them by any chance?”

“Yes…I’ve always been able to.” Fluttershy answered.

“Then you must have a very strong connection to the Divine or at least one that’s stronger than the ones I’ve seen, yet you’re still a Maidous? Is there a reason you didn’t want to become a Maiden?” Twilight asked.

“Um…actually…” Fluttershy hid behind her hair again, unable to get the words out.

“That’s a rather…sensitive subject,” Flash spoke up in Fluttershy’s defense.

Twilight could see Fluttershy was shaking, “I’m sorry, I’ve clearly overstepped my bounds. Please excuse us.” Twilight said, standing up she began to walk away. Flash made sure the Fluttershy was okay first, and after she confirmed that she was okay, he ran to catch up with Twilight.

“I hope I didn’t come off as too forward with Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she and Flash made their way to the school. “She seemed so shaken by what I had said.”

“It’s not you,” Flash said, trying to console the mage, “Fluttershy had…something happen to her that jeopardized her Maidenhood,” Flash said, being vague on the subject as he felt it wasn’t his place to comment on the matter. “You shouldn’t worry about it, Fluttershy isn’t bothered by it, she just doesn’t like bringing it up.”

“If you say so.” Twilight chewed her fingernail.

The two continued their walk until they came to the connected district which was the school. Unlike the other locations, the school was adjacent to Tintagel and not a part of it. The school building was a renovated church that had been outfitted with tables for kids to sit at, training courts with obstacle courses, and of course a playground for recess. The bell atop the building rang several times, indicating that school was over, causing several kids ranging between the ages of 10 and 18 to file out of the building. The two entered the now empty classroom, where at the back of the room was one Cheese Sandwich who was sitting at the teacher’s desk with three girls sitting at a table finishing up some homework.

“Hi Cheese, got a moment?” Flash asked the goofy terra.

Cheese was dressed in a suit and tie, his once poofy and curly hair had been tied back into a man-bun, and a pair of reading glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. He pulled out a rubber chicken and placed it on the desk, “Boneless 2, you’re in charge while I’m gone.” He said to the toy rubber chicken as he walked up to Flash and Twilight with a warm smile. “Howdy! Name’s Cheese Sandwich, Ranger by night, and school faculty by day.”

“Hello Cheese Sandwich,” Twilight returned Cheese’s smile with one of her own, “my name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m the new Maiden here.”

“Well I’ll be,” Cheese said, getting a close look at Twilight, “aren’t you a little young to be a religious Demi-goddess that wields the all-powerful Divine?”

“Yes, yes I am,” Twilight answered simply.

“Good enough for me,” Cheese said, folding up his glasses and putting them away, “so what can I do for you today?”

“I’m touring the grounds, this school is the last place I wanted to see,” Twilight answered.

“Ah, I see you saved the best for last,” Cheese grinned, “what would you like to know about?”

“Well for starters, what do you teach the students here? Like what courses do you teach and how do you organize and lead everything?” The Maiden inquired.

“We teach the basic courses necessary for the kids here, reading and writing, math, physics, history, and physical education.” Cheese answered, “we use a different method for learning than most other schools, we give a lecture on a subject and then let the students complete their assignments in class.”

“And do you teach all of the courses here?”

Cheese chuckled, “No, even I don’t have that kind of mental capacity. I just teach reading and writing, as well as math. Flash here teaches history, Soarin teaches physical education, and Ms.Cheerliee teaches the rest.”

Twilight looked to Flash, “You didn’t tell me that you taught the kids here.”

“Well, my mentor was a lover of history and would read me stories and history books after our training.” Flash smiled as he reminisced, “So I figured that it was only fair that I follow in his lead and teach some history myself.”

“Hmmm, so full of mysteries aren’t you, Mr. Flash.” Twilight hummed with a sly smile, before turning her attention back to Cheese. “Why does the Sleeping Sun have a school? Surely the city has public schools available for its citizens.”

Cheese’s smile faltered for a moment, “Yeah…see, all the kids here are younglings actually; orphans left to the Sleeping Sun.” Cheese leaned against the desk behind him with his arms crossed, “It’s a tale as old as humanity itself, guy meets girl, they flirt, hold hands and then *pop* a baby is born. But the guy and girl don’t have the resources to take care of the kid, nor do they have the heart to abort it, so they do the next best thing and orphan it. The Sleeping Sun then scoops up the orphans and starts training them to become soldiers, teaching them basic education and the history of Night Creatures.”

“That’s…terrible,” Twilight shuddered, “you mean all of the children here are forced against their will to fight Night Creatures?!”

“Huh, oh, no they’re not. Let me clarify,” Cheese began to clarify, “the kids here after they graduate, are free to go and do whatever they want. They can become farmers, merchants, mercenaries, heck, I know some students that work at the Civilizer of Men, of all places, and make more bits than even some royals.” Cheese wiped away a tear, “I’m so proud of them. But, admittedly, a majority of students do go on to become soldiers because they feel a sense of debt with everything the Sleeping Sun has given them.”

“But if they have a choice, why not teach them what they’re interested in pursuing? Like agriculture, chemistry, arts, all of the sciences that could help them?” Twilight asked.

“You’re preaching to the choir, sister. I’d love nothing more than to have teachers educate kids about everything you said and more…but there isn’t enough to go around,” Cheese sighed, “some of the people that go out of these walls end up never returning, either their village can’t sustain itself or they have no way to fend off Night Creatures. Do you know the most dangerous thing humanity is facing right now?”

“A lack of information,” Flash answered, as he and Cheese had this same discussion long ago when they were drinking after celebrating their class’s graduation.

“Gold star for you,” Cheese jests, pulling out a glittery gold sticker and smacking it on his armor, “but he’s right, there’s so much we don’t know about our world and there’s even less we know about Night Creatures. They’ve been around for as long as humanity and everything we know about them can fit in a 25 paged book, and that book would only contain 100 years worth of information.”

“But information is more accessible now, thanks to the DMs, right?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, communication has never been stronger thanks to the dragons,” Cheese confirmed, “knowledge is more accessible today than it has ever been. The only problem is that there is so much information and data that a lot of it conflicts with each other. One researcher would say that garlic weakens vampires and others would say that carrying around garlic is a lie told by vampires so that their walking meals would come with seasonings.” Cheese sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “There’s a lot of information that all of the higher-ups are trying to sort through and get the facts straight, in the meantime all we can do is our best to ensure the kids know how to survive in this world.”

“Professor Cheese?” The three girls from before walked up to the teacher and each handed them the paper they were working on. “We finished.” The human mage with green eyes and pink hair said. Cheese took the papers and began grading them.

He handed the papers back with a smile on his face, talking to them all one by one, “Good job, Scootaloo,” Cheese ruffled the hair of the avian girl, “you’ve improved a lot with your formulas.” He moved to the mage with dark pink hair, “Sweetie Bell, your punctuation is spot on as always, keep up the good work.” Lastly was the terra human with red hair that had a bow in it, “Applebloom, you followed my advice and fixed all of your mistakes, great job. You three are free to go,” Cheese pulled out some bits and flipped them into the three kids' hands, “now go treat yourself to some ice cream, my treat for your hard work.” The three girls cheered, thanking their teacher before running off. Twilight saw the grades Cheese had given the papers, in normal circumstances their grades wouldn’t even be considered passing in academic standards, yet Cheese gave them a pass.

“This world sucks,” Cheese stated, preventing Twilight from commenting on the student’s grades, “but just because the world is sad doesn’t mean we can’t see the improvement in people. Sure their grades aren’t stellar yet, but they are improving and that’s what matters.” Cheese said as he walked back to his desk, opening a drawer filled with other poorly graded assignments that Cheese had passed. “The students are still kids, kids that never got the chance to have a home or family to live with. The least we can do for them is let them have a day where they can smile.” Cheese smiled warmly.

“As well as make sure they are prepared, even a little bit for this world.” Flash joined in. “There are still countries that have no knowledge or information whatsoever on Night Creatures. Not to mention the wars and crusades between all nations causes everyone to not share information at all.”

“Do you mind if I help out?” Twilight asked. “I can teach some subjects here and I can donate some of my books.”

“We’d be more than happy to accept the books and feel free to stop by and say hi to the kids whenever you want.” Cheese said, “Whenever Granny Smith came to the school, the kids were always so excited. Everyone enjoys the company of a Maiden.”

As the sun began to set and the moon started its ascent, Flash walked Twilight back to her room. Twilight was very pleased with her tour, she had seen and learned so much in just a short amount of time. Flash couldn’t help but stare at the Maiden, everything about her today showed how wonderful she was. Everyone she interacted with was so willing to confess with her, and she took the time to listen to people’s stories and offer not only advice but also a solution.

“You’re amazing, Twilight,” Flash blurted out of nowhere.

“I know, I’m just glad people are realizing it.” Twilight joked, slightly bumping Flash, the two giggled. “In all seriousness though, thank you Flash. This tour was genuinely fun and you made it very enjoyable.”

“I’m glad I was able to help.” Flash smiled. “What do you think was your favorite part?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation alive.

“Oh don’t make me choose!” Twilight teased, putting a finger to her chin she gave it some consideration, leaning back against the doorframe, “Well…I guess I’d have to choose the library.”

“Really?” Flash crossed his arms.

“Yeah…I got to see so many wondrous things and it all started there with you.” Twilight said, grinning at the small blush forming on Flash’s cheeks. “I look forward to working with you, Flash. You, and everyone else here.”

“The feeling is mutual, your grace.” Flash bowed dramatically, causing a playful eye-roll from the Maiden. “If you need anything, the barracks is just down this hallway,” Flash said, as he was about to take his leave the Maiden’s hand shot out and grabbed his hand.

“Hold on, we never did get a chance to see the barracks fully, did we?” Twilight announced.

Flash realized that they hadn’t actually seen the rooms within the barracks, they were too caught up in the duel between Applejack and Trixie to see the rest of the living quarters. “Oh shoot, and since it’s so late everyone is gonna be winding down for the night. I don’t know if we’ll be able to tour any of the rooms tonight?”

“What about your room?” Twilight suggested.

Flash was hesitant at first, but when he looked into Twilight’s big beautiful eyes he lost all logical reasons to say no. “Yeah…we can go to my room.” He decided, and the two made their way there.

Room 241 was the living quarters for Flash’s team, upon arrival, Flash unlocked his front door and entered. The two were greeted with the mudroom, armor stands were decorated with his teammate's armor, along with other clothing items like jackets and boots. Flash, feeling comfortable in his own living space, took off his armor and put it on his designated stand. While he did so, Twilight took the liberty of having a look at the connected rooms. Two steps lead to a sunken living room with a horseshoe-shaped couch facing a fireplace, a square coffee table in the center. On the side of the wall were two doors and one smaller shaped door, name tags with some decorations on them were placed on both doors, indicating whose room was who’s. Twilight assumed that the smaller door was for Spike. On another wall were 3 doors that lead to bathrooms and one door, in particular, that was all by itself on the final wall tempted Twilight to see what lay behind it. She looked back to Flash, who was struggling to take off his boots, and said, “Mind if take a look what’s in here?”

“Huh, oh that’s the bathing room,” Flash answered, setting his boots at the base of his armor stand.

“All seven of you share one bathing room?” Twilight raised a brow.

“Well…it’s a little bit complicated.” Flash rubbed the back of his head.

“Let’s see,” Twilight stated, curiosity taking hold of her as she grabbed the door handle to the bathing room and opened it.

Upon entering the bathroom she was met with white marble floors, walls, and ceiling, as well as a thick cloud of hot steam that exited the room. Lockers were the first thing the Maiden saw, there were six of them and one smaller one which she assumed was for Spike. However, what was most shocking to the Maiden was the large tub filled with semi-clear water with floating herbs in it, and the fact that the five people and one dragon she had met today were all collectively bathing in the said tub,

And all of them were completely, totally, stark naked.

Author's Note

Knowledge Available for Public Disclosure

Maidens and Dominions

Those who are Maidens and Dominions are Humans that possess all 3 magics of the humans; Terran, Avian, and Mage. Along with wielding all 3 forms, they also have a tie to the Divine, the most pure form of magic. This allows them to bless and change objects in the world. The exact limits and powers of the Divine are still not exactly known, however only a Maiden, Maidous (a woman who has access to the Divine, but not the other 3 forms of human magic), Dominion, Dominous (A man who has access to the Divine, but not the other 3 forms of human magic), may bless tools and equipment for the order.

Maidens and Dominions are known for possessing an aura that makes people calm and comfortable around them, this has to do with the nature of the Divine. Along with this, it is also known that people develop an irresistible sexual attraction towards Maidens and Dominions. The exact reason as to why is still unknown, but many scholars have chalked it up to “Power is sexy"