The Strength of Honesty

Chapters

1 - Summoned
2 - Expanding the Party
3 - Lunch*
4 - Training On the Clock and Terrors on the Block (slight edit)
5 - Facing Your Fears
6 - Preparations - Edited
7 - Defense Wave 1 - Edited
8 - Why we Can't Have Nice Things - Edited
9 - Birds of a Feather
10-Casters, Creatures and Clothing
11 - Highway Robbery

1 - Summoned

Just after being accused of sexual assault upon the secondary Princess, Malty S Melromarc (Aka Myne), Naofumi Iwatani (Aka the Shield Hero) was about to be thrown out of the throne room.

'As if my time here wasn't already miserable.' He grumbled inwardly. His hands were clenched tightly in anger, but he kept his silence, knowing that nothing he said would improve the situation.

Behind Motoyasu was Myne, a sinister smile of her face. She was practically daring him to say anything.

His expression lightened by a fraction. 'If anything, defying her makes it easier to bear. I'm not going to give her any more reason to keep that smug look.'

King Aultcray continued his blathering. "-and just to ensure that you don't commit any further nefarious deeds, We'll summon a watcher." So saying, he gestured to a nearby mage, who stepped forward and invoked.

"By the order of the king, I order thee; decipher the laws of creation and bring forth an avatar of honesty. SUMMON!"

A rift opened in space and time. From it came what looked to be a woman; about 5'8", tan (no, closer to gamboge) skinned, yellow haired. Her frame was slim, but muscular, as if she'd willingly forgone any days of relaxation for a LONG time. She wore a white t-shirt and a red vest.

Only when she got up did he notice other details. For one, she had an equine muzzle and ears For another thing, she had hooves instead of feet like a typical person. On her hands she had a pair of gauntlets, a green gem on the back of both(1).

Oh, and that wasn't her skin tone. She had a coat of fine fuzz.

She put one hand to her head. "Ugh. Did anypony get th' number on that wagon what hit me? Mah head feels like a drum and it sure as sugar must be a right hoot'nanny, Ah tell ya what." Then she opened her eyes and took a look at her surroundings. "Great horny toads!" she exclaimed.

Aultcray scowled. "A demi-human? Hmph. Outsider. tell me: Who are you? And are you the honest type? Can you sense untruth?"

The mare shook her head to clear it and said "Name's Applejack, sir. Honest and honest workin'. Ah'm not 'xactly a para-gon o' virtue, but Ah can sniff out a lie at a hunnr'd paces. "

Rolling his eyes. the king said, "Well, in that case, you'll do. You've been summoned here to perform a task for the kingdom. The Shield Hero here stands accused of attempted rape of my daughter. You are to follow him and report any further wrongdoings to me."

(Applejack)

Applejack frowned slightly, then focused on one of her race's powers; this one showed emotions, motivations (etcetera) represented by plants. Behind the king was a geranium(2a). One of them (a princess, perhaps?), standing behind the Spear Hero had an aura of a rhododendron and a crab blossom, wreathed by silk daisy and hibiscus flowers(2b).

Looking over at Naofumi, she nearly gasped at what she saw. The king and the princess had only slight flavor to them. Naofumi was a spice rack by comparison! In his aura she detected dill, cyclamen, chives, chamomile, coriander, holly, purple hyacinth, mint, thyme... and several bits of willow. Also there was a bunch of tansy flowers, pointed toward the king and the princess.(2c)

She scowled, now. "Ah see how 'tis. Well, there ain't nothin' fer it. Ah dun got brung here fer bein' the right one fer the job. 'S only right that Ah do it. Ah'll accept." she said, then paused. She said, "You thar, with th' spear? That lady be-hind ya is a snek. Believe half'a what she says an' none'a what ya see."

Myne protested, "What?! I'm a good girl; an honest one!"

"Yeh. An' Ah'm a princess too." Applejack deadpanned. "Ah betcha 200 bits the... Queen? Would confirm that, if'n ya asked."

Then she dropped to one knee, lowering her head. Raising it briefly, she queried, "Permission to make an Oath, yer hah'ness?"

"Granted."

"Now lessee..." she mumbled, before invoking,

"By th' earth o' this land where Ah intrude,
A duty accepted; with pride, if not gratitude.
To follow this hero and serve this cause,
To ensure his honour; keep 'im obeyin' this land's laws.
No right won't Ah honour, no wrong won't Ah find.
His friends will be mah friends, his enemies mine.(3)
Ah'll defend this land as best 's Ah can,
Ah'll protect each woman, child n' man.
This Ah do promise, so Ah decree,
'Til our duty's complete an' our homelands we see."

Her oath completed, a green light flowed from her hooves to her head in a split second. Naofumi turmed to leave, Applejack following closely behind.

Author's Note

1: Why gauntlets? To be honest, two reasons. One thing: her prowess in unarmed combat. Secondly, I've been playing a lot of Hades recently and all the weapons therein are covered save for the gauntlets (the Twin Fists of Malphon) and the gun (Exagryph, the Adamant Rail).
2: For this I used https://www.almanac.com/flower-meanings-language-flowers.
A: Represents foolishness
B: Represents danger and ill nature, hidden behind false innocence and delicate beauty.
C: Power against evil, resignation, usefulness, patience in adversity, hidden merit, defense, sorrow, virtue, courage/strength and sadness, in that order. Also, hostile thoughts/declaration of war.
3: At the end of this line, she glared at Myne before lowering her head to continue.

2 - Expanding the Party

Naofumi grumbled to himself while he walked down the street. 'Haven't even been in this stinking world for two days and I'm already in the dog house.'

Aloud, he asked his watcher, "So what do you suggest we do first?"

Applejack put her gauntleted hands up in a 'don't ask me' gesture. "Hey; Ah'm even newer ta this world than you're. That said, It's just you an' me, right now. Ah didn't even git no extra 'quipment."

Naofumi suddenly had a thought. "You're right. And I think I know just what to do to fix that..."

The two heroes walked into the large tented building. Within were rows upon rows of cages, most of them had monsters of some sort. Some more dangerous than others. The merchant greeted them, "Welcome to my emporium! I am Beloukas(1). Say, you must be the Shield Hero, correct?"

Naofumi put his off hand to his hip. "News travels fast here, I guess."

The slave merchant chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." Looking toward Applejack, he said, "And who's this? A trade in, perhaps?" he strode foreward. aiming to get the measure of her.

Applejack scowled at the man. "Try it and you'll have ta trade in fer new teeth, bucko. Capisce?"

"Practically the opposite." Naofumi clarified. "She's basically MY handler."

The merchant chuckled, but he turned around and they all moved on. As they proceeded inside, Applejack began to feel more and more uneasy. All of these creatures caged up, such as they were? It grated on her nerves.

Beloukas pointed out a particularly ferocious looking specimen. "I suggest one of these."

Naofumi huffed. "Showing me your finest first, knowing we can't afford -much less control- it, as yet?"

Applejack nodded in approval of Naofumi's intuition.

Naofumi stepped over to a cage containing a sickly-looking demi-human. Looking at her as well, Applejack could practically hear the numbers crunching in Naofumi's mind.

Finally he said, "I've made my decision. How much for this one?"

The merchant looked confused. "Uh, this one's not long for this world. I'd suggest another." he... well, suggested.

"How. Much?" Naofumi insisted.

Beloukas paused. He shrugged and said, "How about 50 silvers?"

Naofumi made to withdraw the amount from his coin-pouch, but Applejack said, "Bit much for a sickly demi-human, don'tcha think? 15."

The man grinned. The game was afoot. "Are you kidding? That wouldn't buy my boots! 45."

Applejack thought a moment. "You're right; Those boots do look purty ex-pen-sive. 20." she returned.

"40?" was the return.

Applejack thought for a moment, looking around the area. "40 if'n ya throw in one o' them magic ringy thingies" she said, pointing at the box of said rings.

"Deal!" Beloukas declared, laughing heartily afterward. "You drive a hard bargain. I love it!"

He laughed as he grabbed one of the rings and -not even looking at it- selected a key from his massive keyring. He seemed to know just which one to pick despite the sheer immensity of his selection.

Addressing the child, he said, "Today's your lucky day, little one. Should you survive it, that is." he said, tugging the young kit(2) to her feet with a surprising gentleness.

'Probably doesn't want to bruise the merch, I suppose.' Applejack thought to herself.

With a gesture from Beloukas and a modicum of pain, there was a mark on the girl's chest.

"This Slave Crest will ensure that she doesn't disobey your orders." he explained.

Naofumi stepped forward. "What's your name?" he demanded,

R-R-Raphtalia, master Naofumi." she replied, coughing a few times just after.

The merchant was quick to explain. "When the bond was forged, she learned his name."

"Convenient." Naofumi said curtly.

Withdrawing the decided amount from his bag, he paid the man and made to leave.

The merchant grinned. "See you soon~." he all but promised.

The next order of business was getting a proper weapon for the young kit. Thus they went toward the forge.

On the way, Raphtalia collapsed to her knees, coughing harder than before.

Naofumi scowled. "C'mon. Get up." he demanded huffily.

"Have sum c'mpassion, here, sugar-cube." Applejack admonished.

Naofumi let out a sigh. "Sorry. I've received little of that myself, as of late. You might've noticed."

"Ah understand, but jus' 'cuz ya got a bad harvest, it don't mean ya should stop workin' th' land." Putting a hand to Raphtalia's head, Applejack closed her eyes. Before her perception there was a whole grid of skills and abilities that she had. Looking around for a moment in the suspended time-space, she found a skill that would help. 'Here we go!' she thought to herself.

Returning to real time, Applejack intoned, "As source'o this power, Ah order thee: Decipher the laws o' nature to ease the aches and lessen the pains o'mah tar-get; Lay on Hands!"

A green light flowed from Raphtalia's feet to her head and vice-versa. Applejack said, "This won't cure ya o' whatever it is ya have -that ain't part of mah skill set. But it'll letcha run 'round the block a few more times at least, if'n ya catch mah drift.-"

Raphtalia got up, shakily, but hugged Applejack before running over to Naofumi's side.

With a smirk, Applejack stood up, following the two to their destination.

Entering the forge, The trio was greeted by the salesman/smith therein. "Hey! Welcome to my shop. Name's Erhard. (5) What brings you by?"

"First weapon for this one." Naofumi said, indicating Raphtalia.

Erhard looked Raphtalia over. "Hmm... How about a shortsword?"

Taking the measure of Raphtalia's arm, from her elbow to the tip of her middle finger(3) , Erhard looked in a barrel he had to the side. After a moment, he came up with a sword about the right size. "This should do it." he said, handing it to Raphtalia.

Naofumi pushed his cloak aside, revealing a balloon-like monster clinging to his side. "Slay it." he ordered. When Raphtalia hesitated, he insisted, "Come on! Kil it; Now!"

Raphtalia's Slave Crest started to activate, but Applejack knelt beside her. "Okay, sugar-cube. A bit o' motivation fer ya. Imagine that that thar monster is like a rat -one o' many-, speadin' a disease through the land. Ev'ry one ya kill makes life easier fer others. And now it's got yer master! Better git it quick-like!"

Naofumi, going along with the game, said (a little more frantically), "Raphtalia! Get this thing offa me!"

Sufficiently motivated, Raphtalia said, "I won't let you take my master from me!" She lunged forth, slashing the monster and then stabbing it, popping the creature. Applejack then pointed to a nearby training dummy. "And there's a whole mess'a them right thar!"

With her inertia going, Raphtalia slashed and stabbed in quick succession, again and again. Eventually she stopped, arms tired.

Applejack clapped and said, "Yeehaw! Now that thar's the hot ticket!"

Stepping over to the much happier-looking kit, she added, "Good job, Raphtalia! Ya saved a mess o' lives. Buuuuut...(4)"

Going over to one of the training dummies, Applejack continued, "Ya might find that ya get more of a punch if'n ya sync yer movin' an' yer breathin'. If ya breathe right..." Applejack went into a quick flurry of strikes, hitting to great effect. "Ya move right too. O'course, Ah'm a mite different. Where Ah'm from, Ah tend ta use m'ba... m'legs fer thangs like that." she said, almost kicking herself mentally for not thinking of that; being in a different form in a different world would mean different terms apply. "F'rinstance..." she added, before delivering a hard roundhouse kick to a nearby dummy, completely blowing it apart.

Naofumi whistled in appreciation. "Talk about fancy footwork." he quipped, raising his eyebrows as well.

Erhard looked at Applejack with new appreciation, thinking for a moment. "Hmm... Hold up a moment, here.." he said before going into the back room. The trio could hear the sounds of rattling armour.

"AH-HA! Here they are!" they heard before Erhard came back with what looked like a large suitcase.

"This set is what I called Showtime(6)." he said before opening the case and revealing a set of Gauntlets and Sabatons "Careful not to break 'em; they're a one of a kind set." he added. Before Naofumi he placed a large sun-shaped shield. "An' this one I called Solaris." he continued. "It can absorb energy of various kinds, from solar to kinetic to a stiff wind, if you find one that's fast enough. Then you can use it to enhance your (or your allies') defensive power... or send it right back at your enemies! These have to be my finest work." he said proudly.

Applejack made to touch the set and it disappeared before her eyes. "Great horny toads!" she exclaimed. "What happened?!"

"Your magic absorbed it and now you can call on it at any time." Naofumi explained, demonstrating. "Rather handy, that." he finished.

Just then a runner came by the door, panting for breath. "You... you two, you.... move... -hold on-" the poor guy said, trying to catch his breath. At length, he said, "Phew! You two move quickly. I had to ask around to find you."

Reaching to his side, he gave Applejack what looked like a duffflebag. "In here there's quite a number of things; Medicines, money, a holy symbol, a pocket dimension containing a shelter that you can take just about anywhere, a travel pass; suffice it to say, if you need it, it's likely there." he said.

Applejack smiled. "Well, now! Ain't that somethin'? Thanks. Ah imagine ya gotta... run along, now?" she joked.

As it happened, the man saluted and did just that.

Applejack said, "Well, Ah guess Ah'm payin' fer lunch. Y'all in fer a bite?" she queried

Naofumi nodded. "Well, you're buying, so... why not?" he then turned toward his 'partner'. "You coming, Raphtalia?" he asked.

Raphtalia was about to respond in the negative, but since her master and friend were moving along without her! She sighed and shrugged. 'Story of my life.' she thought to herself before running after them.

Author's Note

1: Yes, that is his name, apparently.
2: She is part fox, after all.
3: I'm fairly sure that longsword and katana blades are from the shoulder to the middle finger plus the pinkie finger, so for a shortsword I think that's a fair estimate, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
4: This next bit references a show and a movie. Cookie for those who can guess which.
5: Yes, that's his name.
6: Reference to Bayonetta's Scarborough Fair set.

3 - Lunch*

The trio eventually went into a tavern (one of few that would actually serve Demi-Humans willingly) and seated themselves at a table.

Applejack had volunteered to pay for lunch, as was her wont, and Naofumi needed to hold onto the few coins that he'd been given. Apparently, the Shield Hero figure... wasn't exactly a well-liked one around that country in general. Even before the royal scandal.

She'd also clocked one of the barkeep types in town for trying to manhandle her. Presumably he'd had a bit of what's on tap and clean forgotten that Melromarc was a matriarchal country.

Needless to say, they'd moved on after that one too.

'Serves that jerk right.', she thought, huffily.

At this point, they were at their... fifth pick? Sixth? One or the other. Naofumi had ordered the soup of the day, and a sample platter for Raphtalia, who ate like she hadn't eaten anything for the past month or so. Which was likely closer to the truth than any of them liked to think about.

Applejack, herself, ordered a salad and a couple of slices of the local apple pie -which, one might add, she rolled her eyes at when she was told it was the best she'd find in the country. 'Just as likely that they ALL say that.' she thought to herself.-

Upon tasting the local fare, she wasn't awfully impressed. "This's what passes fer apple pah 'round these parts, huh?" she said loud enough for the owner of the establshment to hear, "Good thang Ah keep summa these on me, fer jus' such an occasion." she added, bringing out a handful of seeds from one of her pockets. Selecting an impressively large apple seed, she stowed the rest away and went into the (relative) back yard of the tavern. Feeling the earth there, she nodded and said, "Perfectly loamy deep down. This ought'a do."

Naofumi raised one eyebrow, but otherwise kept silent. One thing was for sure: Whatever was about to happen, it was gonna be good.

Applejack sowed the seed, then mustered some of her magic and raised one leg, which then had a slight green sheen to it. Slamming it down, the not-yet sprouted plant did so and shot up by about four feet.

Applejack frowned. "Magic here mus' not be strong's it is back home." she thought* aloud, then shrugged. "Oh well. Nothin' fer it but ta give it 'nother try."

Doing just that, she had the tree grow another two feet, quickly beginning to sprout apple flowers, which just as quickly became apples before she had the tree slow its growth. Taking her hat off, she knocked on the wood seven times. Sure enough, seven perfectly shaped -and ripened- apples fell into her hat. They were each about twice the size of those on the nearby tree, which looked... fine, but not exactly A-Grade.

Strutting casually back into the tavern, she looked at the barkeep, who was, naturally, absolutely thunderstruck. Applejack smiled smugly and said, "Try these ones, pardner. Yer gonna like the difference. Mebbe ya won't need ta put all that mullin' spice in th' pah."

Turning back to her party, Applejack said, "Ah think that ought ta cover our 'spenses."

Naofumi blinked twice. That was all the surprise he showed. He then shrugged, making to walk out the door. "Coming, Raphtalia?" he queried before following after Applejack.

Raphtalia was quick to follow.

The barkeep was still at a loss for words. He looked down at the hat that was left behind, apples still within.

As if on cue, Applejack poked her head back in the doorway. "Ah'm gonna need that thar hat back, sugar-cube. Mind givin' that a toss o'er thisaway?" she requested.

The barkeep upended the hat, not expecting that the apples would form a pyramid shape. He shook that off, then tosed the hat back to Applejack, who caught it deftly before winking and giving a salute, disappearing a second or so thereafter.

Looking skeptically at the apples, maintaining the pyramid-like structure, he took the top-most one. Biting into it resulted in a pleasant crunch and a fair bit of juice. He was quite delighted. "Hmm! Now THAT is an apple!" he commented appreciatively.

That demi-human had just given him a gift nearly beyond price. He was glad that he'd reconsidered the policy that he'd had before that day.

4 - Training On the Clock and Terrors on the Block (slight edit)

The next thing they did was go into the field to do some hunting. They started off with some wild versions of the balloon like monsters from before,

Raphtalia actually did pretty well for a first time. Naofumi would let a monster cling onto him, followed by ordering Raphtalia to kill it.

She was still kind of sickly, stopping to cough rather frequently as the day wore on.

Applejack, unused to fighting these kinds of creatures -not to mention being in a different form than usual-, had a bit more trouble with the first few.

When she rolled down a hill after jump-kicking one, she'd actually glared at Naofumi and said, "Not ONE word."
Naofumi, to his credit, didn't say anything (or laugh) at all and made the classic "don't look at me" gesture. With a slight smirk still on his face, went back to what he was doing.

After that, Applejack started having more luck as she got used to fighting on her back legs. She got better, one enemy after another, letting fly with fists and hooves.

Most of the monsters they slew pretty much fell apart, leaving behind various miscellaneous parts of them. A few did not, however. Applejack made a mental note to ask Naofumi about that, later.

All too soon, however, it became night, and thus time to rest. So, they made camp for the night. They each had their own bedrolls and (in Applejack's case) a tent. It was apparently enchanted to stretch a LOT; from a few feet to several meters, if necessary. As a bonus, it was element-proof and was able to filter out poisons. As a result, they were able to keep camp relatively indoors.

Turns out that having a lady on your side in a matriarchal society can be a shot in the arm. Go figure.

Applejack still insisted on taking first watch when the time came, though.

The meal that night was roasted rabbit (one of the things that didn't burst into bits) stew with wild vegetables. Hot apple cider to drink (care of Applejack, of course).

Considering her equine physiology, Naofumi was surprised that Applejack partook of the rabbit, but didn't comment.

When Raphtalia started coughing violently, Naofumi gave her a leafy cup full of what looked like herbal tea (If, you know, it was 80% herbal and 20% tea). Applejack could tell there was more to it than that, but there were too many (and too many unfamiliar) ingredients for her to be able to tell for sure.

'My sister'd be more likely to know than I am, after all those lessons with Zecora.' she thought to herself.

Adding some of the apple cider to it did make the medicine FAR more palatable for Raphtalia. Either way, her coughing eased quite noticeably, so Applejack presumed that the medicine did what it was supposed to.

Later on, looking over, she saw Naofumi "feeding" the remnants of some of the monsters they'd defeasted to his Shield. Curious, she went to take a look.

"What y'all doin' thar, pardner?" she queried.

"Well," Naofumi said, "I'm collecting XP by feeding reagents to my Shield. You know, the little items that drop when you take a monster out? Anyway, as it grows stronger, so too do I. Though, of course, I'll make sure to save a few in case I need 'em later." he explained.

Applejack's eyebrows rose by an inch or so. "Huh." she said, "I'mma hafta try that. But... wait, why do summa those monsters explode into pieces, while others don't?"

Naofumi shrugged. "Maybe it's that the creature itself can be used as the reagents? Or the snow-pile effect -you know, how a larger pile of snow takes longer to melt? - Beats me."

"Either way, 's yer turn fer watch." she finished.

As Naofumi exited the tent, Applejack thought it was a good thing that she'd thought to save the bits she got from her kills.

As she fed the first bit to her gauntlets, a skill chart appeared before her, unlocking a couple of new abilities just then.

'High Cryo Blast? Interposing Hand? Those sound useful...'

A little later, Raphtalia jerked in terror. She was clearly not awake yet, but whatever it was she was dreaming about terrified her horribly.

Having a sister that occasionally went through night terrors herself, Applejack hugged Raphtalia tightly. "You're okay! You're safe. Ah'll protect ya." she did her best to assuage the violently awakening child. Slowly, Raphtalia began to wind down. "There ya go. Jes relax, now." She looked worriedly over at Naofumi, who had just entered the tent.

Raphtalia hugged back, in tears. "Mom... Dad..." she bawled.

Applejack asked, "Raphtalia... how long've ya been havin' these nightmares?"

After a moment Raphtalia sniffed, then answered, "Years. Just about every night. That horrible dog-like creature... every time it chases us down... it kills my parents and eats them... while I'm forced to watch. Then it turns to me... And just when it-"(1) she started shuddering.

"Ya poor darlin'!" Applejack said, "Ah know Ah'd be terrified!"

Naofumi kept his silence, but gritted his teeth, seething internally. 'On my honour as the Shield Hero -for whatever that's worth-, If we ever find the beast that gave her these nightmares, - or one of its kin, for that matter...' he thought to himself, 'It is dead meat..'

The next day, somewhere around midday, the trio went back into town. The first place they went was the apothecary shop. As it turned out, Naofumi had quite a collection of herbs from the day before. Approximately 40 silvers worth, but apparently the man would pay more for actual medicines made from it.

Naofumi made a mental note of that.

The next place they went was to see Erhard again, this time to get a proper weapon for Raphtalia. This time, he selected a wakizashi from the barrel. How he had one of those was beyond Naofumi's reckoning, but he decided that it really didn't matter.

Erhard handed the new blade to Raphtalia, saying, "Why don't you try attacking with two weapons at once?"

Raphtalia took the weapon, unsurely, but then faced toward one of the nearby training dummies. Taking a deep breath, and blowing outward slowly, she then nodded, indicating that she was ready.

Naofumi raised his hand, then sliced downward. "GO!"

Sure enough, Raphtalia basically became a false kamaitachi, scoring dozens of small gashes on the target within a few seconds. Naofumi was quite pleased with the result, clapping for the little kit.

'Though...' he thought to himself, 'Come to think of it, she doesn't seem quite so little anymore.'

Indeed he was correct; Raphtalia had gone from a sickly, scared child to what seemed to be closer to a... squire? Was that the right term? Not quite a trained bladeswoman, but far from her starting point. He could swear that she was also taller than before.

'Maybe she's just holding herself straighter? Whatever.' he thought.

"Say," he started, having an idea, "Would it be better for her to have two similar blades? Can we trade in the shortsword she has for a second one of those?"

Erhard shrugged. "Sure." he said, getting a second wakizashi from the barrel. "I'll even sharpen both for an extra ten silvers." he added.

Naofumi cast a glance to Applejack, who nodded.

Getting an extra ten silver coins from his pouch, he handed those (Raphtalia adding both weapons) to the man, who got right to work..

As Erhard was sharpening the new blades, he said, "I believe that each piece of metal I use 'wants' to become a specific weapon. Within each lump of iron, bronze or silver there is a weapon waiting to come out.(2)"

When he was finished, he raised both blades to check the quality of his work. The edges of both blades shone in the light coming through the window, creating a stunning effect. They cast a rainbow on the nearby wall.

Erhard nodded. "Some of my best work yet, if I do say so myself..."

"Ya jus' did." Applejack pointed out. "Ya also said that 'bout what'cha gave me."

Erhard smiled, then handed the blades to Raphtalia, who (needing no prompting, this time) attacked the training dummy. She managed to take it apart in 11 hits, taking only a split second.

Naofumi was even more pleased by that result.

For the rest of that day, they had a little fun, figuring that they'd earned it. Selling some of the parts from the monsters they'd slain to a rather... eccentric merchant (who apparently was an avid collector of such) paid off. Quite literally.(3)

Naofumi facepalmed when he realized that he could have done that before geting a new weapon for Raphtalia, but done was done.

They had their lunch in the same tavern as before, the barkeep only too happy to let them in. The pies he made were, as promised, better than ever before. When he pointed out to other patrons that Applejack gave him that gift, she shrugged and explained to the crowd at large, "Quality ingredients an' quality o' skill make fer a quality product. 'S that simple. 'Th' extra in-gredient 's care', Granny Smith oft'n says. He was nice enough ta let us in. Despite only that day decidin' ta change his policy - Yes, Ah could tell. Either way, Ah thought that a 'thank ya' gift'd be nice."

Humble or earnest her words may have been, but the pie was hardly the former. A good time was had by all.

Monster parts and good will could only bring them so far, however. Taking the advice of a different merchant, the trio headed toward a small village called Riyute.(4)

On the way, they slew any monsters that crossed their path. This, of course, resulted in more training opportunities and consequently more XP and items. 16 encounters were had, in all.

Later on, selling a rabbit pelt to a vendor, Naofumi was less than enthused by the offered sum.

"I'd say... about two silvers. Give or take a copper."

Even more discouraging was that Applejack tended to agree.

"Ah'm 'fraid that's th' right of it. He ain't whistlin' Dixie, sugar-cube."

Naofumi sighed. "Look, is there anywhere that we can make some quick money?"

The merchant thought for a moment. "Well... The mine nearby used to move some pretty good quality ores. Recently it's become a home for some monsters, but you look like you can handle yourselves."

Before you could say 'done and done', their next destination was set. Upon arriving there, they found that the mine did indeed have some rare-looking ores - and gem stalagmites, to boot!(5)

Naofumi and Applejack started collecting, Raphtalia keeping watch, this time.

After a short while, Naofumi got up, nodded and said, "This ought'a be enough."

Applejack got up too, saying, "'Kay. Let's get out of- here?"

Looking over at Raphtalia, they could see that she was frozen in wide-eyed terror.

Quickly looking in that direction, they saw what appeared to be a giant two-headed dog, coated in swirling black shadows.

Thinking fast, Applejack grabbed both of her party members before diving into the natural river below.

Using as much of her race's gifted strength as she could bring to bear, Applejack manged to get the three of them to shore safely.

"You two okay?" she asked.

Naofumi coughed, but affirmed, "Yeah. I think we're alright."

Applejack glared back at where they'd fallen from. "We need ta put that dog down."

Raphtalia's ears perked up at this, eyes widening again. "What?! That thing terrifies me!"

"That's part'a WHY we need ta make sure that doggy gits along, if'n ya take mah meanin'. What if we find 'nother one? Would ya rather freeze up then too? Or e-limin-ate that fear right now and make sure that no other li'l'uns need ta feel that way or go through what you did?"

Naofumi sighed, but said, "She's right, Raphtalia. If you can't face that fear now, you'll keep feeling that fear every time you see one of... those."

"So... We need to kill it so I don't fear it later?" Raphtalia asked.

"Not quite, sugar-cube." Applejack said. "We need ta do this BECAUSE ya fear it NOW."

Author's Note

1: I made a bit of a change here. A fair bit darker.
2: Yes, this is a reference to Michaelangelo's philosophy; That within every block of stone there is a sculpture.
3: Reference to Kilton the monster parts merchant from Breath of the Wild. You like monsters? HE LIKES 'EM MOAR!
4: Yes, apparently the village is called Riyute, effectively killing the joke that was below. Lute is an "ambiguous translation". It still doesn't work quite as well, anymore. :ajbemused:
5: Before you ask, yes... but the stalagmites were easier to reach.

5 - Facing Your Fears

Making their way back around, in due course, the three heroes were able to sneak around to the side of the creature.

"There's our mark." Applejack stated the obvious. "Looks like Cerberus, but it's got only two heads."

Naofumi nodded. "Yeah. Now we just need to slay it."

Applejack shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Raphtalia needs t'be the one ta kill it."

Raphtala's eyes widened. "ME?! What?!"

Appejack looked back at her. "Yer th'one what fears that thar beastie. If we did it in fer ya, then ya still wouldn't be able ta face it down yerself, if we find 'nother one. B'sides, this's a matter o' vengeance! Do it in yer family's honour."

Raphtalia still looked unsure, but Applejack attempted to assuage her further. "Look, hun; You'll be doin' this so no other children ev'r hafta go through what you did - what you do even now. If that monster ev'r e-volves inta whatever it is ya fear s'much, there'll be more problems an' more families lost. Do ya want that?"

Raphtalia took a deep breath, then let it out, a determined look on her face. "You're right. That thing needs to go. Afraid or not, I need to face it. I get it."

Naofumi smiled. "That's the spirit. But remember, we can only open the door for you. You need to walk through. Okay? On my mark, like always..." Naofumi raised one hand, counting down silently. When he put the last finger down, they dashed forward as one.

Raphtalia was visibly shaking, but held her ground.

Naofumi called out, "{Air Strike Shield}!" and a giant kite shield appeared between him and the monster, blocking its forward momentum.

It was about to go around, but Applejack pointed in that direction. "Nothin' doin', ya varmint! {Interposin' Hand}!" A gigantic hand appeared to block the monster's path.(1)

Naofumi then ran forth, slammming the monster in the lower face. It bit down on him, suitably distracted. "Raphtalia! Come on!"

Raphtalia trembled, memories of that day coming back, her parents pushing her aside, the -

"NO!" she exclaimed, Pushing the horrible visions from her mind. Refusing to look at the monster's faces, she ran toward it. Baring both of her blades, she leapt, bringing down both at once, piercing the monster's chest, but not quite hitting its heart. Nevertheless, it roared in pain.

Withdrawing her blades, she exclaimed, "This is for my mom and dad!" She thrust again, this time hitting home.

As the monster went down, a notification appeared before Naofumi's vision.

[Raphtalia has earned the title "FearSlayer"]

Raphtalia withdrew her swords, breathing heavily, soaked with the two headed dog's blood.

Naofumi walked over, casually patting Raphtalia on the head. "I'm proud of you, Raphtalia. Good job."

She smiled, still breathing heavily. "Thanks.... Master... Naofumi." she said, sinking to her knees and blacking out.

"Let's git a'goin' back ta the village. Th' people thar will wanna know that the monsters are dealt with, an' we can git Raphtaliia a good night's rest. An' a bath. She's earned it, Ah'd say." Applejack suggested.

"Good idea." Naofumi said, with a nod. "Something tells me that her dreams will be a lot more peaceful from here on."

Withdrawing her swords from the Cerberus' chest, she kicked one of its heads. "And this time, STAY down." she grumbled. She then sheathed her swords. Would she be able to face the real thing anytime soon? Maybe? Maybe not. But this was a step in the right direction, she was sure.

Her parents ran toward their daughter, giving her a big hug. "We're so proud of you, Raphtalia." her father said. "And especially proud that you've become a confident and strong young lady." he added.

Her mother nodded, saying, "Now we can move on."

Raphtalia was startled. "Move on? What?"

Her father said, "You carried us with you. Now that you've faced your fear, we can finally rest."

Her mother added, "Good on you for doing so." She and Raphtalia's father began to fade, rising into the air.

Raphtalia reached out for them. "Wait! No! Don't go!"

"Keep growing; be that strong young lady that you've become." her father advised

"Never forget that you have all the strength you need if you dare to use it." her mother added. "Goodbye!" she said, as they both faded from sight.

Raphtalia lowered her head, weeping somewhat. She sighed. "Don't worry, Dad, Mom. I won't forget. And if I see another one of those things, we'll make sure that they don't either." she vowed.

That night, she did indeed have pleasant dreams for the first time in a long while.

Author's Note

1: To complete the mental image, think of Master Hand. I did.

6 - Preparations - Edited

It'd been about a week after that day, back in the mine. Since then, the three of them had grown in power and skill. To say nothing of the number of Skills they'd acquired as well!

Naofumi was feeding parts to his shield, awaiting the next hapless target.

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia called out in warning.

Turning to the side, Naofumi saw another Dire Porcupine running at him.

Raising his hand toward the beast, he called out, "{Shield Prison}!" In a flash, the prickly customer was ensnared. Raphtalia leapt and brought her blades downward, cleanly trisecting the creature, which of course fell apart.

Sheathing her blades, Raphtalia and Naofumi shared a high five (which he'd only recently told her about). "Nice job, Raphtalia!" he praised.

She bowed demurely. "Thanks, Master Naofumi."

Naofumi looked toward the sky and thought aloud, "The next wave will have to come sometime soon."

Coming up beside him, Applejack said, "Might be high time ta make final prep'rations back in town."

That agreed on by the others, the trio went back to the capital.

"Back again?" Erhard queried jokingly.

Naofumi actually smiled at that. "At least I get to see a friendly face whenever I come here."

Erhard grinned at that. "Fair enough. So! Time to get her the next grade weapon?"

"You know it." Naofumi put shortly. "But this time we brought some materials that might help."

Reaching into his inventory, Naofumi brought out some of the ore that they'd gotten from the mine.

"Think you can use some of this to give them a brighter edge?" Naofumi half-challenged.

Erhard grinned, said "Can I?" and got right on it.

Naofumi looked to the sky, wondering aloud, "I wonder if there's a way that I can get a sense of when the next wave'll hit..."

Erhard looked taken aback. "You mean they didn't tell you about the Dragon Hourglass?"

"I'm the Shield Hero, remember?" Naofumi deadpanned. "Like they'd tell me anything."

"An' Ah'm a recent addition, so there's only so much Ah can git done."

"Yeah, but you two've been a huge help, in that." Naofumi said. "The townsfolk were practically fawning over the two of you." he added, thinking back on the time they'd had in town thus far. The two girls seemed to get every advantage, from store discounts to free food. Naofumi, in that manner, basically gained celebrity privileges by proxy.

The townspeople seemed especially taken with Raphtalia, who appeared to still qualify as being "cute" despite being a couple of inches shy of Naofumi's height. Raphtalia, using her sub-species' cleverness, charmed up the place, basically fleecing the people there. They just couldn't get enough of her smile. (1)

Neither Naofumi or Applejack saw any reason to stop her.

"Well..." Erhard said, "If you go to the church there, in the center is the Dragon Hourglass. It'll tell you how much time there is left."

Before you could say 'clock's a'ticking', the three were due to see the church.

Raphtalia had requested somethhing special for her two partners. Erhard had agreed eagerly, proving Naofumi's earlier comment. They'd pick those up on the way back.

Coming into the church, they were greeted by the pope himself. "Welcome to the Three Heroes Church."

"Where's the Hourglass?" Naofumi queried curtly.

The pope's expression cooled by a couple of degrees, but he pointed. "Just over there." he answered.

Applejack said, "Thank ya kindly, yer holiness." getting the pope to smile a touch more warmly again.

Approaching the Hourglass, Naofumi wondered aloud, "Now how does this work?"

Having stepped into the artifact's proximity by this point, beams of light issued from their respective weapons.

"Great jumpin' juniper!" Applejack exclaimed.

Shortly thereafter. they were synced to the Hourglass, a countdown appearing in their vision, -approximately 20 hours left on the clock-(2)

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Naofumi and his partner. Still using your old equipment, are you?"

Naofumi facepalmed, while Applejack just rolled her eyes.

"Do you know these people, master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked

Naofumi clenched his hands, but refused to say anything, making to walk past the lot of them.

Motoyasu walked up to Raphtalia, intent on taking stock of the young warrior-maiden. "Wooooow, you're cute :heart: ." he whispered, much to Myne's chagrin.

Before he could touch Raphtalia, however, Applejack interposed herself. "Mitts off, pardner." she said threateningly. She then did the courteous thing and introduced the heroes. "Raphtalia, meet th'otherer three cardinal he-roes. Ren's th' one with th' sword, Itsuki has th' bow an' lastly -an' certainly leastly-" she growled at the end, "Motoyasu's the Spear Hero. If y'all might excuse us, we did what we came here ta do. We were jus' leavin'."

Raphtalia got the picture and made to leave as well. Motoyasu attempted to stop her. "C'mon, a cute little thing like you shouldn't be running off with a scoundrel like him. Haven't you heard the rumours about him?"

Raphtalia frowned. "All the more reason for me to stay at his side, as far as I'm concerned." she said.

Ren said, "See you when the wave hits, I guess."

Itsuki added, "Just don't get in our ways."

Naofumi grit his teeth, clenching his hands more tightly, but kept his silence.

"An' don't let the door hit ya on th' way out." Applejack said. "Jerks."

The door slammed behind them.

"Ah think ya took th' high road there, pardner." Applejack said. "If Ah'm ta be honest -An' that's why Ah'm here- if'n ya hafta change who you are jus' ta gain their approval, they ain't worth the trouble of gittin' their approval, in mah o-pinion."

Naofumi smiled wanly. "Thanks. That means a lot to me." he said.

Applejack said, "Aw, t'ain't nothin'. C'mon, let's git that new outfit a' yers and vamoose, maybe back ta Riyute village."

That agreed on, they went back to see Erhard. He gave them their new duds and Raphtalia a gleaming new pair of katanas.. "Possibly my best work yet." he said, like usual. "They even have a few different functions... But I won't ruin the surprise." he teased.

Thus equipped, the trip back was noticeably less hazardous. And that night, the three of them rested well, for late the next day, things would get more... interesting.

Author's Note

1: I'm not kidding; I broke out the d10s for this one; I think it's more than fair to give Raphtalia a 6d10 pool, given her charm and presence in-show, boosted by her race's features. If so, I managed to get seven successes (those who are int D&D will know what I mean), so the townsfolk didn't stand a chance.
2: I re-watched the episode. - about 20:12:44.

7 - Defense Wave 1 - Edited

On the way back to Riyute village, they had a small amount of time to prepare. The one they'd paid to take them back there was content to give them the time to do so.

Naofumi went over his skills, determining which ones would be most useful. Also, he took the time to create some healing potions and the like, should the inevitable occur.

Applejack was polishing her equipment and stretching with a bit of shadow kickboxing.

Raphtalia was polishing, sharpening and otherwise performing maintenance on her equipment as well. She wanted to be sure that her stuff was able to do what was necessary, so she could be of use to her master.

After a while, the counter ticked down to Zero. Immediately after that, it was like someone had added coloured oils to the sky, swirls of colour weaving and spinning through the air.

If not for the circumstances, it could be considered quite beautiful.

Just then, they were teleported to a location near the very village they were headed for. Applejack grumbled that that would've been useful information BEFORE, but they were closer now, anyway.

From the sky above came hundreds upon hundreds of monsters.

"Great jumpin' Jehosephat!" Applejack exclaimed at seeing the sheer immensity of their numbers.

Naofumi was inclined to agree. "How do we fight so many of them?"

Applejack mustered her courage, then said, "Hit 'em hard; Hit 'em fast. Protect the townsfolk; Take out as many monsters as you can." she summarized.

Naofumi nodded. "It's not a great plan, but it'll do. Raphtalia, with me! {Spiked Shield}!"

Naofumi's shield flashed, then rounded out and in an instant grew spikes along the side, effectively literally making the best defense a good offense. He then began charging toward the town, Raphtalia and Applejack in hot pursuit.

The cart driver paused for a moment, to reflect on what just happened. He then shook his head and said, "I STILL wasn't paid enough for this."

Turning the cart around, he started to head back to the capital, which would hopefully be safe once he got there.

"Okay, we need a plan of attack." Naofumi said, as they charged forward.

"It seems a mite late fer that." Applejack stated.

"Hear me out, here; Raphtalia, protect any citizens you see on the left. Make sure they can get to safety. Get them to grab something with a handle and a focus, if you catch my drift."

"I understand, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia affirmed.

"AJ, you take the right. Send any citizens you find Raphtalia's way. Oh, and any enemies you come across? Turn 'em back or turn 'em to scrap."

"Dead 'tis. Makes thangs a load easier thataway." Applejack said, darkly.

"Alright! BREAK!" Naofumi said at a conveniently placed intersection, causind the small group to section off.

Raphtalia dashed in, just in time to stop a gigantic skeletal monstrosity from killing a downed man. Using both of her blades, she blocked the attempted strike, then incanted, "{Dual Blade Art; Vertical Cleave}!" swiping upward.

Her swords left sawblade afterimages in the air as the giant skeleton's arms were cleanly sliced off, allowing her to bring her swing around and to the right, trisecting the undead creature laterally.

Helping the man up, she said, "You look strong."

"I'm the local woodcutter; I kind of have to be." he said, relatively proudly.

"Have you ever used a weapon in combat before?"

"Well..."

Raphtalia pointed to a nearby two-hand axe. "Grab that, but hope you never have to!"

The man nodded, doing both.

Raphtalia had already found her way to another couple of skeletons, which she leapt at, cutting into both and sliding a small way across the grass. The skeletons just slumped into a heap. Just to double-tap, she brought one sword down, cutting through much of the amassed bony pile, hopefully stopping the creature from coming back. Again.

"Don't worry, everyone; the cavalry's here!" she said, trying to assuage the people she came across. "Grab a weapon and head toward the mine! Even if you don't know how to use it properly, you're better off with one than without!" she ordered, pointing back in the direction of the mine.

A woman pointed behind her, shouting, "Look out!"

Raphtalia spun around and met the gigantic blade of another of the large skeletons. Managing to shove the monster a short distance away, she intoned, "{Finishing Strike: Extreme Void}!"(1)

A blade of force sliced out of the ground and effectively impaled the creature before disappearing just as quickly,

Looking back at the stunned civilians, she pointed toward the mine again. "Go! Get there as fast as you can! More will come, but HURRY!"

(Meanwhile)

Naofumi rushed in, just in time to intercept a monstrous skeleton's equally enormous maul. The hammer and Shield colliding caused a massive wave of force to erupt, Due to the nature of the form Naofumi's Shield was in, the damage inflicted reflected back onto the attacker, blowing him a fair distance backward and dealing heavy damage.

Helping the downed man up, he said, "Help those other people! Head toward the mine! Grab a weapon if you can! Go! Go! Go!"

That was all that he had the chance to say before having to face the monstrosity again. This time he spun, striking with the spiked portion of his shield. With the rather satisfying sound of crunching bones, the skeletal construct fell over and apart.

Turning to find another target, Naofumi bravely challenged, "Okay. Who else wants some?!" only to find no shortage of takers. Steeling himself, he shouted, "Come on, ya stupid zombies! Catch me if you can!"

Seeing a swarm of giant bees descending upon a small family unit, he gestured towrd them. "{Shield Prison}!" The flying insects were repelled by the barrier.

A small skeleton was bearing down on another man, who had his back turned. "{Air Strike Shield}!" Naofumi called out, the shield of force appearing just in time to make the block. He quickly ran over to the skeleton and smashed its face in with his Shield, knocking it to the ground where, just to double tap, Naofumi crushed its skull, ensuring that the skeleton wouldn't rise again.

Looking around for some way to thin the numbers of the foes, he saw the village's main water tower. Having an idea, he looked nearby, coming up with a makeshift torch. He waved it at some of the monsters, calling out, "Come on, slowpokes!"

He then ran to the tower and climbed the ladder as quickly as he could. Seeing the monsters following, he placed one hand against the cold metal of the water repository. "Here's hoping this works..." he prayed. "As source of this power, I order thee: decipher the laws of creation and bless this water, make it bane to Evil! Sanctify!"

His Shield and the tower's metallic cotainer flashed a vibrant green briefly. Swiping with his Shield, he sliced a slit in it, causing the water within to start gushing out, trickling down the tower. Any of the undead monsters it touched either let go of the tower or burst into white flames on the spot.

"How about that?" Naofumi mused aloud, "It worked."

Before his eyes, he saw his Skills menu come up, the spell that he'd just made up on the spot adding itself to his spells section.

"So I can pretty much make these up on the spot as long as I have enough faith in it? Awesome!"

Looking down the tower, he figured that climbing down was out.

"Time to test this out." he said to himsekf. "As source of this power, I order thee: Decipher the laws of creation and soften my landing. Feeather Fall!"

He flashed a golden yellow briefly. "Here goes nothing!" he said aloud. "Blessed Shield" he called. shifting the Spiked Shield he had out for a golden yellow kite shield, crackling with holy magic.

Leaping off of the tower, he "floated" (with mild success) toward the ground, the spell expiring as he neared the ground, thus he ended up crushing several monsters with the sanctified object.

"Finally, things are looking up!" he crowed, thrusting his off hand in the air in delight. Turning back to the horde of monsters, he said, "Okay. Who's next?!"

Meanwhile, Applejack was fighting off several of the monsters herself. Having practiced for a while, she was now relatively well versed with bi-pedal combat. It helped that the monsters seemed to come at her one at a time, allowing her to dispatch them fairly easily.

"Alright, ya varmints!" she called out, "Who's next? Or do ya want me ta choose fer ya?"

Mis-timing a swing in her over-confidence, she scored a glancing blow on one enemy, recieving a few blows herself. With a quick flurry of kicks, she knocked her current targets away. "Not gonna make that mistake agin." she admonished herself. Nevertheless, she dove back into the fray.

After that, she began to have more success, managing to save several people along the way. But, looking around, she saw that there were dozens -if not hundreds- more of the monsters. Just the three of them wouldn't be enough. It seemed like only a miracle would save them.

Bringing up her Skills screen, she looked for a skill that would help in a situation like this. And boy did she find what she was looking for.

{Rallying Cry}

{Up in Arms}

"Those sound useful. What do those do?" she thought aloud.

Rallying Cry: The user gives a stirring speech, (requiring a roll of Charisma + Presence[2]), stirring spirits and emboldening the hearts of those who hear it, causing them to fight with increased effectiveness.

Up in Arms: Empowers those fighting alongside the user with temporary arms and armour, channeling some of the user's power. (Strength or Toughness + Charisma(3), lasting 10 minutes per success and increasing in quality per three successes)

'What we wouldn't have given to have magics like THESE back home.' Applejack thought. 'Well, worth a try.'

Thrusting one arm toward the sky -also making sure she wasn't being targeted at the time- she called out "{Rallying Cry}!"

A wave of energy began to radiate from her, gathering the attention of all those nearby.

"Alright, y'all! This here's yer town, yer homes, yer families that're in danger! Are ya gonna take this lyin' down? Or are ya willin' ta stand up and fight!? We're doin' our possible ta defend ya; Let me be yer strength. So who wants ta run.... and who wants ta FIGHT B'SIDE ME!?!"

A chorus of "YEAH!"s souinded out as people gathered to her side, men, women and children alike. Nodding, she said "Mm-hm. Darn tootin'. Now, part two..."

She sub-vocalized, "{Up in Arms}" then she lifted both arms to the sky and shouted, "Dono Armorum Es(4)!"

Another wave of energy exploded outward as the gathered people were endowed with armour of varying qualities, from lighter Studded Leather armour for the children to heavier Scale Mail for the bulkier males. Also, they were given clubs, morning stars, hammers, whatever the magic could give them that would work best against the undead horde.

"Now this's more like it!" Applejack cheered. "If'n we stands t'gether, we can give these varmints the ol' heave-ho! Am Ah right?!"

"MA'AM, YES, MA'AM!" the impromptu militia shouted in unison.

"Yer dang right Ah am! Fer queen 'n country! CHARGE!"

The assembled people rushed into battle, using their granted arms and armour to great effect. Even though they were outnumbered and recieved a few cuts here and there, they fought courageously. By the time the literal cavalry arrived -late as usual-, much of the attacking invading force had been eliminated. Some of those who had come decided to fight beside the Shield Hero. Others just decided to fire off some flaming arrows, burning some of the undead to the ground, but doing the same to several of the houses as well..

By that time, the sky had cleared up somewhat and there were just the remaining monsters to deal with.

The most decorated of the arriving force -a colonel, by the look of him- nodded and said, "Alrigt, men. Good job. The village is saved. Let's move out."

Naofumi made to stride forward, but Applejack beat him to the punch. "Yeah, yeah. You fellers ain't 'xactly what Ah'd call as fast's a speedin' arr'er."

Naofumi nodded and said, "And when you DID provide "help", you did nearly as much damage as the monsters did!" he said, pointing out the devastation.

Applejack spoke up again, "Keep performin' like this, friend-os and next time there'll be nothin' left ta save!"

The colonel huffed and turned his horse to leave the area. "Come on, men. We're done here." He didn't even acknowledge what either Applejack or Naofumi had said.

One of the junior army members said, "Wait, we made some of this mess, and some of us are FROM this village! Shouldn't we at least help clean some of this up; help them rebuild?"

Several of the juniors began to make noises of agreement.

The colonel just gestured dismissively and said, "If that's what you want to do, feel free." He looked back long enough to address the remainder of his unit. "Let's go."

The soldiers that decided to stay -some 30 or so of them- arrayed themselves before the trio of heroes, bending to one knee in unison. The one that had spoken against the colonel said, "Sir, madams... we want to fight beside you next time. Some of us have homes, families here and.... well, put shortly, we feel that we need to repay that debt. In the next battle, we'll serve you."

Naofumi sighed. 'What a pain.'

Applejack smiled and said, "Welcome 'board. As one'a the heroes, Ah think it's within mah rights ta do this." stepping over to the speaker, she asked, "What's yer name, sonny?"

"Corporal Alexander, ma'am.(5)"

"Then Ah name ya SIR Alexander, knight an' Captain o' th' army o' th' Shield."

Naofumi deadpanned, "'Army of the Shield?'"

Applejack glared at him. "It's a workin' title."

Turning back to the young man, who was looking greatly honoured, she said, "Don't just sit there all slack-jawed like that; yer gonna 'tract flies." Looking at the rest of the small group, she said, "The rest o'yas get promoted too. RCCs ta... Hoplites, Ah b'lieve?"

"Uh... Yes, ma'am." Alexander said.

"Done 'n done. Now let's git this place cleaned up. We got a lotta work ta do. More hands'll make it easier, though."

Author's Note

1: From one of my all-time favourite games; Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. I hope that using that in a case like this isn't against the rules? If so, I'll change that. :unsuresweetie:
2: I believe I mentioned before that I'm using my D10s to determine some of the story's elements.
3: Applejack retains her Earth Pony powers even in this form. This is gonna be good.
4: Cookie for those who get this reference
5: I don't think they actually name this character in canon, so I'm making this up.

8 - Why we Can't Have Nice Things - Edited

A couple of days later, Riyute village was more or less fixed up. Things were made at least four times easier with the "extra hands", as it were.

Around 1:00, a messenger came up, riding a fillolial.

"Heroes! His majesty, King Aultcray, sends a message: There is to be a celebration in the capital, to honour the repulsion of the first wave."

Naofumi raised one eyebrow. "You don't say?"

"Yes. And all five heroes are to be present." The man affirmed

"I'm actually welcome this time, huh? Nice." Naofumi said, snarkily.

Applejack elbowed him. "No need ta shoot the messenger, sugar-cube."

Naofumi had the decency to be embarassed. Turning back to the messenger, he said, "Sorry about that. I've been... dealt a bad hand, recently." Then he asked, "How long do we have to come in for that?"

"Until tomorrow night." the man replied.

Naofumi nodded. "We'll be there."

Applejack lifted a wooden beam. "In that case, t'morrow can wait fer t'morrow. In th' meantime, we still got work ta do."

Naofumi smiled and shook his head. 'That mare and her work ethics.' To the messenger he said, "Anyway, like I said, we'll be there. And don't worry, you won't be on the receiving end should the... inevitable occur. Thanks for the message." then he tossed ten silver pieces, which the messenger caught deftly. "Buy yourself something nice." he added.

Grinning happily, the messenger saluted. Then gettting back on his mount, the two were soon out of sight.

With that, work was continued.

Later on, dinner was a hearty soup, made with locally grown -yet very familiar- vegetables such as red carrots, orange cauliflower, beans, and corn, as well as bacon, chicken and purple onions.

Sleep came easily that night, the satisfaction of a hard day's work on their minds as they fell asleep.

The next day, they began travelling back to Castle Town, managing to get there in the late afternoon. This left plenty of time to get to the castle proper for the "party".

As they were about to enter, Naofumi said, "When this inevitably goes wrong, be ready."

Applejack raised one eyebrow. "What makes ya think somethin's gonna go wrong?"

Naofumi shrugged. "Experience." he replied curtly. Then he sigjed. "Let's... enjoy it while it lasts, anyway." he added.

Shortly thereafter, the party was in full swing. There was a plethora of food -ranging from plainer fare such as bread rolls, potatoes (scallopped, fried, baked and boiled) and salad to desserts such as cake (angel's and devil's food), doughnuts (of many varieties), and pies (specifically peach, blueberry, pumpkin, mincemeat and banana cream) to meats such as venison and fish (including but not nearly limited to what seemed to be salmon, trout, swordfish and shellfish - turns out that, despite the distance from the sea, there was a bustling food-based industry in Castle Town, it being the central territory of the country, after all) and merriment all around.

Applejack made sure to add some of the available foodstuffs to her inventory, knowing that these things were around for a limited time only.

Naofumi was seated at one of the tables, looking somewhat standoffish, but trying to avoid attention. He was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Eventually, Applejack excused herself to find what qualified for a washroom in the city. Myne, who was watching carefully, smiled mischieviously.

Upon returning, Applejack came to see Naofumi on the floor, Motoyasu walking away angrily.

She facepalmed. "Really?! Ah can't even head fer the washroom without somethin' happenin'?" she sighed harshly. "Okay. What happened THIS time?"

Naofumi looked sourly in the direction Motoyasu had gone. "Apparently someone -I wonder who- 'informed' Motoyasu that I'd enslaved Raphtalia."

Applejack was aghast. "That ain't even halfway true."

Naofumi nodded and said, "Tell HIM that. Anyway, he voluntold a challenge to me."

Applejack cocked one eyebrow. "Don'tcha mean "volunteered" a challenge?"

At this, Naofumi deadpanned, "Nope. Happening in an hour or so. And if I know him, nothing is gonna change his mind."

Applejack pinched her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Well, ya were right 'bout somethin' goin' wrong."

Naofumi and Motoyasu were standing in the center of the local arena, being observed by hundreds of people. 'Might as well try being diplomatic first. It won't work, but it can't hurt overmuch.' Naofumi thought to himself

To Motoyasu, he said "Are you sure you want to do this? I've already explained myself. I'd rather that this doesn't escalate. One of us is liable to get hurt."

"Liable? I think it MORE than likely." Motoyasu growled, bringing his Weapon to bear.

The referee equivalent stepped between them, saying, "Alright; Naofumi Iwatani -the Shield Hero- versus Motoyasu Kitamura -the Spear Hero-. If Naofumi wins, Motoyasu backs down and Naofumi receives an apology, as well as 2300 Silver. If Motoyasu wins, Raphtalia is released from her slave crest and Naofumi is ejected from Castle Town. The Hero that Knocks the other out shall be the winner. Are the conditions clear to both parties?"

Motoyasu took on a battle ready stance. "Crystalline." he said curtly, through his teeth.

Naofumi sighed. "Yes. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. Not like saying no would help anyway." Naofumi took on a defensive stance, keeping himself ready to counter anything thrown his way.

Off to the side, Raphtalia said to Applejack, "Does this really have to happen over me?"

Applejack was keeping a watchful eye on Myne, ready to act if she tried anything. Nevertheless, she responded, "Like yer master said, nothin's gonna change Motoyasu's mind. Ain't no thin' we can do ta stop this from happenin'."

The 'referee' raised his hand and gave the three-count, making a slashing motion at the end. "BEGIN!"

Motoyasu brought his weapon back. "{Lightning Spear}!" he exclaimed, thrusting forward, three lances of blue energy shooting toward his opponent..

Naofumi brought his shield up, blocking two of the lances and catching the last, sending it back at Motoyasu, who dodged the reflected attack.

Motoyasu spun his spear for dramatic effect before thrusting forward again. "{Meteor Thrust}!"

Naofumi made the block, but was knocked down by the impact.

Motoyasu attacked again. "{Chaos Spear}!" His spear split into multiples, all flying toward Naofumi.

'He's really trying to kill me!' Naofumi realized. "{Air Strike Shield}!" he called out, blocking the multiple attack.

The two started to run around the arena's edge, ready for what the other was about to do.

Naofumi thrust one hand toward Motoyasu, "{Shield Prison}!"

Motoyasu was briefly entrapped by the attack, but easily broke it.

'Should've known that wouldn't work.' Naofumi thought to himself.

Motoyasu thrust toward Naofumi again. "{Air Strike Javelin}! {Second Javelin}!"

Dual spears of energy flew at Naofumi, who was only able to block one, just barely managing to avoid taking the hit from the second, which did leave a burn along his side, causing him to shout in pain. Nevertheless, he brought his shield to bear again. "{Bladed Shield}!" he exclaimed, his Shield growing blades along its side.

Both fighters ran toward each other, yelling.

Applejack noticed Myne's hand in the air, coruscating red energy gathering.

Just as Myne was about to launch the attack, Applejack called out, "Oh, no ya don't! {Interposin' Hand}!"

The attack -a fireball- went around the attempted defense, but missed its intended target, heading toward the audience.

Naofumi leaped to deflect the attack. "NO!" he shouted. He managed to catch the fireball, sending it upward, just barely being able to fend off Motoyasu's next thrust.

Then things came to a standstill, Naofumi's bladed Shield at Motoyasu's throat, Motoyasu's Weapon trained in kind.

Neither dared to move.

The referee called, "STALEMATE! No winner!"

The two Heroes backed down, but glared at each other before heading to their respective exits.

As the Heroes went back into the castle proper, Applejack stormed toward the princess, quite furious. "Ah knew you were up ta no good, but THIS. BEATS. ALL! Not only were ya interferein' in a personal duel, but someone could'a got hurt by that spell ya cast!" sne snorted in a (naturally) equine manner.

Myne could do little but grit her teeth and glare back. The half-Pony was right, and she knew it.

Naofumi had received half of the agreed sum, given for defending the audience from the fireball spell. Still, the king refused to give him anything more.

At the time, Applejack had muttered, "Flint-skinned cheapskate."

Naofumi was making to leave the castle, not trusting himself to say anything beyond "Applejack? We're leaving. Now."

As they were about to do so, Applejack paused, "Oh! That reminds me." She turned toward Motoyasu. "Motoyasu! Care ta double down on that bet? 400 gold pieces."

Motoyasu thought for a moment, but then said, "You're still on." he said, trying to see the best in his party member. But he still gave her a short glare as the opposing parties separated.

-->Omake (1)

"I've got... the advantge... over you... Motoyasu!" said Naofumi confidently, if nearly breathlessly, a spell at the ready and his opponent disarmed, at length.

Myne said, readying a fireball spell, "Yeah, well I have the drop on you, Naofumi!"

Applejack countered, "An' Ah got it on you, ya witch!"

Itsuki next said, drawing his Bow, "No you don't!" But he felt a presence behind him. Turning back, he saw that Ren had his Sword drawn, glowing with energy. "And I guess you have the drop on me."

Ren said, "Yeah. And Raphtalia has it on me. So (with the exception of Motoyasu), everyone has the drop on someone."

Aultcray guffawed, clearly enjoying the show. "Senseless! I love it!"

Naofumi facepalmed, making sure to keep concentration on the spell he had at the ready. "As if things weren't already ridiculous enough."

"Tell me about it." Applejack tended to agree.

Author's Note

1: Cookie for those who get this reference.

9 - Birds of a Feather

As they were about to exit Castle Town, Applejack paused. "Ah get th' feelin' that we should see that feller agin.... what was 'is name?"

Naofumi responded, "The slave merchant? Beloukas, I think."

Applejack nodded. "Him. We might need ta... expand our party agin."

Taking Applejack at her word, that was their next stop.

Beloukas was in awe as he examined Raphtalia. "Amazing! In such a short amount of time, you made a sickly little thing into a fine young lady, I see! You could possibly get... 20 gold pieces for her now; even more if she was a virgin."

Raphtalia looked offended. "I AM a virgin!"

"35 gold pieces!" the man countered.

Naofumi said, "Tempting.... but no."

Beloukas frowned, but dropped the subject.

Applejack noticed a box with a bunch of eggs in it. "What's with these eggs, here?" she queried.

The merchant grinned, seeing another opportunity. "Ah, those are monster eggs; for familiars, like bears, various monsters, Filolials..."

Naofumi looked confused. "Filolials?"

Raphtalia was quick to respond. "You know, those birds pulling the carts and such? More often than not, they're beige or brown, but can also come in shades of red, blue, yellow, silver or gold."

"And," Beloukas continued, "If you get REALLY lucky, you might win a dragon!"

Naofumi raised one eyebrow. "So this is kind of like a gacha game?"

Raphtalia and Applejack echoed in unison, "A 'gacha game'?"

Naofumi shook his head. "Nothing. Never mind."

Going over to the box himself, he looked at the selection of them. "How much?" he asked.

"For you? Only 300 silvers." the pleased merchant replied.

Naofumi looked to Applejack, who nodded. "Seems fair."

Passing over the agreed amount, Naofumi chose a bright bluish egg. "By the way... how durable are these? Out of curiosity."

Beloukas smiled at that. "A sledgehammer wouldn't so much as crack it. Your prize will hatch when it's good and ready to."

Applejack passed over the same amount and attempted to pick one up... which disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to everyone's surprise. Beloukas most of all. "That's never happened before. Select a new one. This one's on the house."

At that, Applejack selected a dark orange one, depositing that in her Inventory. Before her eyes, a notification appeared, likely indicating her having learned a new skill.

{Beast Form/Natural Form}; {Acquired Monster Egg}

Showing no sign of surprise at all, she was the first to exit the tent.

They decided that they would make their way Southward again. In this case, they walked. The nearest village wasn't THAT far, after all.

Right?

Arriving shortly before the evening (turns out it WAS that far), they rented a large room for a few nights. The special for dinner was a hearty soup, with mostly vegetables, but Applejack noticed a few pieces of some kind of seafood were in there, too.

Noticing Applejack's searching look, the... waiter for the night replied, "Clam chowder. Heavy on the vegetables."

Applejack briefly raised her eyebrows, then (after saying Grace for the meal) dug in.

Naofumi raised one eyebrow, giving Applejack a questioning look. "You didn't strike me as the religious type, AJ."

Applejack shrugged. "Well, Ah'm more... spiritual than re-ligious like; Comes from havin' goddesses fer rulers, Ah s'pose. Still, foreign lands means foreign deities, right? All are still deservin' of our re-spect."

Finding no argument to the contrary, Naofumi went back to his meal too.

In the morning, Applejack's sensitive hearing picked up a sound coming from Naofumi's area of the room. Cracking.

She got up, noticing that Naofumi had already awakened.

"Psst! Raphtalia! Applejack! They're hatching."

Sure enough,the first to hatch was Naofumi's. It was a pure white Filolial, of exceptional quality. It chirped excitedly and took a place on Naofumi's head.

Raphtalia was excited. "Aww! It must think you're its mother!"

Naofumi was far less enthused. "Great." he commented drily.

Shortly thereafter, Applejack's hatched, revealing a golden coloured Filolial. Which took a position on her head.

Raphtalia fairly squee'd. "That's so adorable!"

"Well, this is gonna be... interesting." Naofumi deadpanned.

"Definitely." Applejack concurred, not even needing to use her Purview to verify that.

The chicks grew quickly over the next few days, even eating what their owners didn't want to eat. As it turns out, Filolials are omnivorous, and not particularly picky, much to Applejack's continual discomfort.

Before long, they both neededed pens.

Raphtalia said, "I'm surprised that they've grown that fast."

"Probably due to that 'Rapid Growth' Skill that we have." Naofumi percieved.

"Ayep." Applejack agreed, having inferred that long before. "Ah'm more surprised that we both have that Skill."

"Still, they seem to be fine with that." he continued, "Right, Filo? Loiosh?"

"Kuah!" the birds agreed in unison.

"Wait, 'Filo', as in Filolial? Isn't that a bit... on the nose?" Raphtalia queried.

"Yeah, but she seems to like it." Naofumi said.

"And 'Loiosh'? Where'd you dig that up?" Raphtlia asked Applejack.

"Eh, from a book Ah read. Figgered t'was appropriate." she replied curtly.(1)

Anyway, from that point came training the two large birds. They learned fast, and ran even faster.

But then one day....

In the morning, the three Heroes and their mounts awoke to the sounds of a commotion going on outside. So, they went to investigate.

Outside, they noticed that the villagers werre gathered and someone was giving a speech. Moving closer, they discovered the cause of said commotion. The princess giving out a decree, backed by Motoyasu and a contingent of guards..

Applejack frowned. "Oh. THAT drama queen." she growled under her breath.

"-And so there shall be a fee for entering and exiting the village of 50 silvers; both ways."

"But that would ruin us!" one villager complained.

"You dare defy a royal decree?!" she replied scathingly.

'I've had enough of this already' Naofumi thought before speaking up. "Yeah! You bet!"

Myne frowned. "Shield Hero. What are you still doing here?"

Naofumi snorted. "Hmph. Oh, I'll be happy to leave, but I doubt that the people here will be quite so pleased. Motoyasu! Do you know how muc it costs to stay here?"

"Um, actually..."

Naofumi raised one finger. "ONE silver a night; FOOD INCLUDED. You're charging the equivalernt of 100 nights, just to enter and exit the village! Do you realize that!?"

"An' asides that," Applejack put in, "Y'all coulda just drafted that up yerself on th'way here!"

The crowd was in agreement. "Yeah!" "What she said!" "And besides, it was the Shield Hero's party that defended us against the last Wave!"

"You dare defy a royal decree!?" The guards nearby readied their weapons.

Naofumi and Applejack said in unison, "I suggest that you all (Ah suggest that y'all) KNOCK IT OFF!"

Suddenly, a half dozen or so cloaked figures arrived, alighting with one knee bent.(2)

Myne was just as surprised as everyone else. "What?!"

One of the figures passed her a scroll. "For you. From the queen."

"Who are those people?" Naofumi wondered aloud.

Raphtalia unexpectedly had the answer. "I think those are the Queensguard. Also known as the Queen's Shadows. Her Majesty's personal messengers/defenders."

"So they're kind of like ninja?" Naofumi queried.

"Ninja?"

"(sigh) Never mind." Naofumi said, rolling his eyes.

Upon finishing her reading of the scroll, Myne snarled. "Shield Hero! I challenge you for the ownership of this village!"

Naofumi frowned. "I decline. You shouldn't have the right to do what you plan to do anyway!"

After some pleadiing by the villagers (and another eye roll from Naofumi), things were set up shortly thereafter. Also, it turns out that dragons (Like the one Motoyasu had apparently drawn) and Filoloals notoriously don't get along.

The challenge would be a race around the village, three times.

Upon the word "GO!" from the village elder, they were off. Filo looked to be getting a lead. Suddenly a hole appeared in the ground in front of them. Filo was able to avoid that, but overbalanced and fell, allowing Motoyasu's dragon to get the lead. That was brief, because Filo was quickly back to her feet and running with even more determination than before.

As they came around for the second lap, they were kicking up a fair amount of dust, much to Myne's discomfort and Applejack's amusement from further back.

On the second lap, Filo had once again gained the lead, until suddenly a Slowing spell was cast, cutting their speed by about 1/3, allowing Motoyasu to once again take the lead. Filo, however, wasn't done yet and was soon running even harder to make up.

On the third lap, another hole opened up, but this time Naofumi was ready for it.

"{Air Strike Shield!}" A green kite shield made of energy covered the hole. Filo launbched herself from that onto the dirt wall of the track, leaping back over a moment later to be neck and neck with Motoyasu's dragon. Three voices shouted out with their determination as Filo just barely won the race, to the cheering of the townsfolk.

Naofumi was about to congratulate his mount on their victory, only to find that she'd transformed once again, becoming much... bulkier, at least in appearance.

Myne snarled. "The Shield Hero must have cheated!"

One of the QueensGuard members shook her head. "Earth and Curse magic were used during the race, but the Shield Hero's purviews are Healing and Support magic. There was absolutely some cheating, but it was not his doing."

"Yeah!" said one of the townspeople. "And that Filolial only changed AFTER the race was over!"

Myne snarled again. "Fine. We're leaving. But don't think this is over!"

As the Dark Clouds were about to leave the area, Applejack called out, "Motoyasu! Care to double that bet we made again?"

He returned, with a determined look, "You're STILL on!" before he turned on his heel and they stalked off.

The village elder thanked Naofumi profusely. "Thank you, sir Hero! Thank you soo much for saving our village?! How can we repay you?"

Naofumi thought, "Well..."

Filo poked Naofumi a couple of times before pointing at a nearby cart.

Naofumi thought for a moment more. "Why not?"

Author's Note

1: Cookie for those who know what that's a reference to.
2:

10-Casters, Creatures and Clothing

As thanks, the villagers inundated the party with food and supplies that they might (and many they almost assuredly wouldn't) need for their journey. They also gave a travel pass, which would render toll stops null and void. For a while, anyway.

After acquiring the impromptu wagon, travel was made much easier. Having two Filolials (difference in sizes notwithstanding) made the long roads little more than a minor inconvenience. The next morning, however... came with a surprise.

Applejack awoke early, as was her wont, only to find that one of the Filolials was missing.

Rushing back to the cart, fearing the worst, she noticed that there, with Naofumi, was what looked like a small child.

She frowned, then put two fingers to her mouth, whistling shrilly, awakening the other three.

Raphtalia was the first up at that, having the keenest hearing of them all. "OW! Applejack! What was that... for?"

She'd noticed the fourth occupant of the cart, who was then getting three curious looks. "An' weho might you be?" Aplejack queried.

The youngster said, with a blush., "Of course you wouldn't recognize me. Hold on!"

With that and a pufff of smoke, there in the girl's place was the large Filolial they'd come to know.

Naofumi was incredulous. "Filo?!"

Just after that, they made for Castle Town once more.

Along the way, Naofumi used his Leaf Shield to great effect, being able to gain more ingreduents from plants that they occasionaslly stopped near. A passer-by suggested that they might be able to make some good silver as a merchant band.

Naofumi decided to definitely consider that.

When they stopped by the Slave Merchant's tent, explaoining the situation, Beloukas was, oddly, immensely pleased by what he called. "A fine form of a Queen Filolial!" Apparently, a Slave Crest had to be implemented, much to Filo's pained chagrin.

She glared at the slave merchant balefully for the rest of the time that they were there. If looks could kill, he would be ashes. Fortunately for him, he had animals that were FAR more dangerous, so her glare didn't faze him in the slightest.

The next place they went was back to Erhard's smithy. The man cocked an eyebrow upon seeing Filo. "Anoother one? A bit of a lolicon, ain't ya?"

"Guess again." Naofumi returned with an eye roll.

Upon seeing Erhard's two-foot sub sandwich, Filo had requested some, to which the man agreed. "How much could she eat?" he asked rhetorically.

Only to be stunned when Filo transformed, returning her to her base form and effectively shredding the dress she had on. As it turns out, she could easily have eaten the whole sandwich, but she was oddly polite and only took two thirds of it.

Erhard stared in stunned silence for a long moment. Then, recovering, he said, "Oh... kay. It's a good thingIi brought an extra one."

Naofumi chuckled. "We were hoping to find some clothing that doesn't explode when she changes. I'm glad that AJ here thought to buy a few extras. Know where we could find some of that?"

"Well..."

As it turned out, the next thing they needed was Magical Thread, as the tailor Erhard directed them to said. For the purpose, they went to ask the local apothecary/fortune teller/magic shop owner. She introduced herself as Maven(1).

Apparently the next objective in the fetch quest was to find a special kind of crystal. That kind of crystal, when used in a spinning wheel, "feeds" on the mana of the one making the thread, literally making the thread with it.

Fortunately, Maven knew just where to find such a crystal.

Speaking of crystals, Filo, back in her much smaller form, was curious about the crystal ball on the witch's table. "What's this?"

"That's a magical orb. They have various different effects, each a little different from another. Most often it allows you to learn the spell sealed within. I was under the impression that all of the heroes got at least a few."

Naofumi rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. "Of course. Except for me. And Applejack here is new."

Maven frowned as Filo continued her line of questioning with, "Well... what does this one do?"

"Oh, primarily it detects your magical affinity. Would you like to find out what that is?"

As they travelled along the road, Filo sang joyfully about her newfound affinity for Wind magic. Much to everyone else's mild amusement, more than annoyance.

Raphtalia, as it turned out, had an affinity for Shadow and Illusion magic. Considering her subspecies, this made perfect sense.

Naofumi himself had the affinity for Healing, Support and even some Nature magic.

Applejack, to no one's great surprise, had an affinity for Earth magic.

Anyway,

On the way, Maven talked to Naofumi about recent events in the town and those in the area. There were several problems that needed solving.

A distance southward there was a town that was under threat of starvation.

In another area, a greedy baron was sucking the income out of the town, taxing the people ridiculous amounts, but making sure that they had no place else they could go.

In yet another, a Dragon had attacked a village, as it had decided to take up residence in a cave near there.

The three other Heroes had gone to these locations to solve those problems. 'How much do you want to bet that they just make things worse?' Naofumi thought to himself.

Soon, they arrived at the cavern they were looking for. Enterng it, they were surprised to find a box that used to contain soemthing round-ish. Clearly someone had already come and taken whatever this treasure was.

Proceeding further, they found a large area filled with crystal formations that were almost crackling with mana. It made the hairs on the back of Applejack's neck bristle.

Sitting in front of the largest formation was a leonine/serpentine creature.

Maven whispered, "That's a Nue! They're quite dangerous. This one's on the small side, as they go, but we still should be careful."

Raphtalia was just finishing subvocalizing a spell. When next they looked, she'd faded out of existence, it seemed. She tried to sneak around the creature, hoping to stealth-kill it, but at the last moment, it turned toward her and its snake-tail spat a burst of electricity at her. She just barely avoided the attack, but unfortunately her stealth spell was... well, dispelled.

Naofumi was the first to ask, "Huh? How did it see her?"

Filo was quick to answer, "Well, it didn't see her; it heard her. They have very good hearing."

Naofumi thought aloud, "Good hearing, eh? Let's see if we can't make its strength its weakness. {Voice Gengar Shield!}"

Naofumi's shield took on a rounded form with what looked like long ears and short horns. He instructed, "Everyone, cover your ears! Now, Filo! Shout into this as loud as you can!"

Applejack backed up a fair distance and covered her ears.

Following orders, Filo indeed shouted. "YAAAAOOOOHHH!!!"

Blood erupted from the Nue's ears and it howled in pain. Reacting quickly, Applejack and Raphtalia attacked, dealing heavy damage to the Nue, but not killing it. Filo went with a jump kick, cracking the Nue's skull and knocking it to the ground.

Maven said, "Get away from it, you three!" then, raising her staff, she incanted, "{As source of thy power, I order thee; decipher the laws of nature and consume my target with searing flames! Fireball!!}"

Sure enough, a ball of flame issued from her staff and when it hit the Nue, it exploded, blasting the creature. After the dust settled, all that was left of the Nue was the snake tail and a couple of fangs.

Naofumi immediately claimed the tail, feeding it to his Shield, unlocking the Lightning and Night Terror shields.

Applejack fed her Weapon one of the fangs, unlocking Lightning Fists. She gave the other (the larger of the two) to Maven, as she was, after all, the one who had delivered the final blow.

Naofumi went and took a chunk of the crystal formation that the Nue was guarding, nodding to himself shortly. "We have what we came for. Let's go."

Back in Castle Town (again), they made their way back to Maven's shop. Bringing the crystal over to a spinning wheel, she placed it by the spindle. Filo was curious as to how it worked, so she volunteered to go first. As she spun, the thread came out as a pure alabaster white. After getting about six skeins in, Filo was beginning to get tired. Maven explained that that was because her magical energy was being drained to make the thread, and that a good meal would fix that right up. She managed to get in a seventh, just barely.

Applejack then came up, volunteering to go next. Her mana thread came out as an alternating orange and green. Oddly enough, each skein flip-flopped in colour shortly before taking on one or the other. She also managed to get five and a half before starting to tire.

Raphtalia went next and her thread came out a pole-silver(2). She managed four skeins of that.

When Naofumi decide to get in on the whole thing, he managed five skeins of a verdant green.

Thanking Maven and even giving her a skein of each colour to show their thanks, they left. Before they got too far, Maven said, "Oh! I almost forgot! Catch!" so saying, she threw a metallic charm that was in the shape of a curled-up dragon.

To explain, she said, "That has two purposes. For one, it will protect you from flames. Secondly, when the next wave comes, I will be able to help you fight. This is my world too; I can't just sit idly by while the world crumbles around me!"

Naofumi grinned, donning the charm. "Thank you. This will come in handy, I'm sure."

The tailor(3) was rather pleased with the results. She got to work right away, making outfits for each of them, going to it with gusto. Clearly she was proud of her skill.

At length, the job was done, and she wiped her brow with satisfaction as she passed Filo her completed outfit to try on first. It was a white dress with a blueberry coloured bow.

The tailor put her hands on her hips with pride. "I put my best effort into this, and I must say, I think I did a HELL of a job!" She proceeded to explain the finer points of the outfit. "Like all of the outfits I made, here, this will repel dirt and grime and is extra durable. You could walk through waist-high mud and when you came out it'd be just as clean as when you went in. I also applied an Iron Body rune (X4), so it'll be extra protective AND look amazing!"

Naofumi whistled with approval. "A hydrophobic material. Nice!"

"Hydrophobic?" the rest of the party queried in unison.

Naofumi facepalmed at that. "(Sigh) Basically it repels liquids and other such things that would stain it."

"Ooooohhh!"

The tailor was quite amazed when Filo gave the outfit the final test, transforming right then and there. Sure enough, the dress transformed to become a simple blue bow around Filo's lower neck/upper chest area.

Raphtalia tried hers on next. It was a silver and red outfit, with a look reminiscent of scale mail armour(4), and would likely be just as effective.

Naofumi's was a little different. It had a sort of exotic look, evoking more the image of a Ranger than anything else(5).

Finally, Applejack's was also a sort of dress in an orange and green colour(6). She wasn't exactly one for... haute couture, as Rarity would put it, but she couldn't deny the craftsmanship was excellent. 'Ah wonder if she'd like to meet up with Rarity...' she thought to herself. 'They'd probably get along as smooth as milk and cream.'

The tailor could see that Applejack wasn't as enthused about her dress as expected. "Oh! I should mention that yours is a little special. There's an extra function built in. Activate that by saying "Armour Up"."

When Applejack did so, the outfit shifted to look more like actual armour.

The tailor quickly explained, "I could tell that you're a tomboy, but one that can at least somewhat appreciate a quality product. I thought that this'd be the best way to show both sides of you."

Applejack smiled and nodded with approval. "Ah'm not much for anythin' too frou-frou, but this's purty good work!"

The woman grinned at that, but Applejack was quick to add, "Don' go gittin' yerself a swollen head 'bout it, though. Keep up the good work an' Ah'm sure yer gonna be jus' fine."

Naofumi nodded, quite inclined to agree. "Thank you. These will come in handy."

Leaving what was left of the magical thread as payment, the party left.

Author's Note

1: She doesn't have an official name, so I'm going with this.
2: Yes, apparently that's a colour.
3: Again, I don't think she's ever given a name.
4: Something to this effect.
5: Something like this. 6: Like this and something between 4 and 5 here, respectively.

11 - Highway Robbery

As they continued down the road, the party sang a travel song. Even Naofumi joined in for a verse, to everyone's pleasant surprise. He actually had a really nice singing voice.

It was a song of promise for the future; of a new chapter in their journey; Of how much stronger they were together than apart.

If Applejack hadn't been wearing pants, they might have noticed her Cutier Mark glowing brightly.

Anyway, they were on their way further out, hoping to (sooner or later) reach Siltvelt, a place that sounded much more accepting. The Shield Hero would not only be welcomed by the populace (supposedly largely made up of Demi-humans). but next to worshipped.

Yeah. Siltvelt definitely felt like the best bet.

The next wave wouldn't hit for another few days, so they were good to go with that. Along the way, they picked up a merchant and his goods. Applejack was wary of the fellow, but said nothing for or against him.

After proceeding for a distance, they were waylaid by a group of bandits. When they called out, it was clear that they were aware of the man.

"We know you have him with ya! Toss him out and you may escape with your lives."

Naofumi rolled his eyes. "Which implies that you'll take everything BUT our lives, right?"

"This one's pretty sharp." one joked, eliciting laughter from the others.

Applejack could see the way the wind was blowing. If there was one thing she liked less than liars, it would have to be bandits, thieves and the like. Still, she decided to give them a fair warning. It was only honourable. "Ya picked yer targets poorly, pardners. Ah'm only goin' ta warn you once: Back off." Then she subvocalized, "{Heavy Strikers}."
Instantly, her gauntlets and leggings doubled in bulk. They would now allow her to hit harder, with a small cost in speed.

One bandit started to come forward. "Tell ya what: If you drop everything and start running now, leave the cart and the two birds -especially the fat one- behind we might give you a head- OOF!"

The man, in his overconfidence, had stepped into Filo's range. She took the initiative to deliver a forward kick to the man, sending him head over heels right back to his compatriots.

"Nobody threatens my masster." she growled, her eyes flaring red. "OR calls me fat!" If there was one thing she hated more than people threatening her master, it was being called fat. It was a REALLY close contest, though.

"Kwah!" Loiosh agreed.

From there, it was hardly a challenge for the party at all. Shortly, they had the group of bandits bound with a length of toughened rope. Wrapped around them four times, to be safe.

One of the men said, "Hey! That shield! You must be the Shield Hero!" He sounded rather confident.

"Yeah. And what of it?" Naofumi asked, off-handedly.

"Well, I'm sure that they'll listen to us more than you."

"'The shield hero nearly killed us and' yadda yadda yadda. Right?"

Applejack spoke up, "Ah don' think that's be a problem, what with me here." she shrugged. "But. If y'all're go'n drag our good names through the mud... Ah s'pose we can't letcha live." she finished grimly

Naofumi asked, "Filo! You up for a snack?"

Filo looked almost pleased at that. "Yes! Yes, I am!"

The bandits were starting to get nervous.

"You see," Naofumi launched into an explanation, "Filo and Loiosh here are omnivorous. They can't exactly live on salad and chicken feed. And you know what that might mean..."

Needless to say, the will of the men was broken and they began protesting their fate. That they'd do anything to be let out of the situation.

Applejack saw Naofumi actualy smile at that. "Aaaaanything?"

The bandits echanged looks. They knew that either way they were getting the short end of this one,

As the bandits were nearly finished loading their goods into the wagon. Raphtalia... wasn't exactly fort the whole thing.

"It feels kind of... wrong stealing from bandits, somehow. Doesn't this seem kind of... low?" She commented, frowning.

"I heartily disagree." the merchant said. "He's, you might say, treating their lives as merchandise. They're simply paying the equivalent exchange."

Aplejack was, oddly enough, inckined to agree. "He's got th' right of it, Raphtalia. An' B'sides, they'da done far worse ta us."

Raphtalia still looked unsure. But she figured that the sentiment made sense.

Before they left the bandits behind, Applejack tossed a couple of water skins to them. "Can't just let ya go off without something fer basic survival. Those hold a lot more than y'all'd expect.

The bandits were quite confused. After they tried to mug them, they still wanted to be kind to them. That was entirely different.

The lot of them looked to each other. They nodded to each other in unison. As one, they bowed respectfully. The leader of the group said, speaking for the lot of them, "thank you. Even after we tried to do that... You're decided to be generous to us instead. Thank you so much. I promise that we will give up banditry altogether. We'll find a way to make an honest living."

Naofumi scratched his chin and thought. At length, he said, "Okay. I accept your apology. I suggest that you had to the village of Riyute. Tell them that the shield hero spread your lives and directed you there. But NO FUNNY BUSINESS. The people there have been taught how to defend themselves relatively well. They won't be easy to just push over. Become productive citizens of the town and maybe you will earn a pardon. Who knows?" Then he frowned. "And stop groveling, will you?!"

After that, the two parties went their separate ways. Thanks for saving his life, the merchant decided to tell them some information. much of what he gave was kind of like what Maven did. But it was still good to know that things hadn't changed for the worst, at least. Not yet, anyway.