“SHANG”

“SHANG”

The incessant sound of two forces colliding, trying to overcome each other, one, two

"TINK"

And three times, finally one had to give in and of course it was me

"Ouch" I had to stop and rub my horns for a second, the brute hit them hard

"Ha, what's up? That is all? Lots of talk and little action” Oh this jerk, if I could use my magic… I would probably lose anyway, there was no point in denying reality so I reluctantly got back into fighting stance.

“SHING”

And the forces collided again

After our encounter with the hydra I spent about two days recovering, healed extremely quickly, even Aspen was surprised to see me on my feet on the second day.

Doubts of who I am are growing, but I didn't let them distract me for too long. I had more important things to do, like presenting the deer to Zecora... He disappeared shortly after meeting the first alchemy teacher.

Do not neglect my wolves, I lost almost half of the ones I had, luckily the alpha was saved, but it would still take time to replace my losses and last but not least, but if the most annoying, train

As much as it pains me to admit it, Hawthorn did have a great ability as well as being an expert using it, I still remember their fight, he not only shook his head like a madman, but waited for the right moment to attack as well as calculating how much of his antlers he should bury in the meat so they wouldn't get stuck

I spent the next day trying to create a replica of his ability using the rays from my horns, but the best I could do was use those rays to wrap around my horns, which only greatly increased their hardness and although it wasn't the desired effect, it was enough. useful, too bad I had to kill my dream of having my own lightsaber

The last and most unpleasant thing was to ask Hawthorn for help to train me, he laughed then looked at me and then laughed louder, I had to hold my breath until I turned blue so as not to bathe him in flames, but luckily Aspen arrived before I could. it will explode… again

And that brings me to my current situation, voluntarily taking beatings from whoever I hate the most.

“SHANG”

This time when we collided he tangled his antlers in my horns and I twisted them so I couldn't apply much force and almost made me hit the ground.

"What are you doing? Increase the distance between your hooves, if you keep them so close together you will only be easier to knock down" Following his advice I separated them and although I felt that the load increased in one of them, it was easier for me to move enough to get out of that awkward position and force him back

I was stronger than him, but that didn't mean I had to win, the five marks on the ground with my form could testify to that, his lack of strength he made up for with technique and experience which proved to be more than enough to give me a beating

“btt”

“Ok, enough for today” Bless those drones, they almost make me not miss my cell phone

Almost

"What? Are you tired yet?" Although he sounded smug, you could see that he was as tired as me, maybe he was a better fighter, but it didn't mean he had it easy.

"No, but I have to do things today, we'll continue when I get back" She had spent the last two days training with him which meant that he had the rope up to his neck and if there was something he would not do at this moment it was to check that it was worse, the wrath of the hydra or that of an alicorn

For my luck, our deal only said that she had to give her sister a concert, she never mentioned that she also had to be present, so I decided to wait one more day since apparently she had to be present for some kind of flying competition, I don't know I don't even care, it only matters that she won't be there

"Would you mind telling me where you plan to go?" Shit Aspen, since we came back he's been a little... overprotective and not just him almost all the deer seem to look at me mesmerized and even bow to me when I talk to them

I asked him about this and he told me that it was for the feat of killing the hydra which, although true, I couldn't help feeling that he was hiding something from me, but since it didn't seem to be anything bad, I let it go.

"I'm going to Canterlot, I made a deal with...someone and I have to settle it." He looked at me suspiciously, but it was obvious that he wouldn't tell him what he was going to do.

"What a coincidence, just today we were going to revive our trade with Equestria, you don't mind going with them right?"

"Of course, no problem." I had to force a smile onto my face.

Living back in civilization has its drawbacks, like not being able to say no to your host, or at least not explicitly.

"That was today? You didn't say it would be like in five days or something like that” As expected the idiot is not able to read between the lines

Aspen just gave him a reproachful look combined with disappointment, which was enough for him to understand that he had screwed up and had to leave, something tells me that for him to understand that he must have seen that look several times

“Rekindle? Something happened?" I decided to play dumb about that topic

“We just…we had some conflicts recently, but nothing serious”

"I wouldn't say that if you cut yourself off from Equestria financially, that seems very serious." I'm probably pushing my luck too much there, but stopping the conversation now would be suspicious.

"Not so much actually" I couldn't help but give a look of confusion to that. How could it not be serious if it forces you to close your business? I was not an expert in politics or economics, but I knew that this was something that a country avoided at all costs, or so I think at least.

Luckily Aspen noticed my confusion and adopted his teacher mode, I could almost imagine him with a suit and a blackboard

“Equestria is rich in wild and agricultural resources which are the same ones that we collect and sell to them since we share much of our land or in other words they do not need them, most of their wealth comes from trading with griffins, minotaurs and to a lesser extent from the diamond dogs so the trade they have with us is more of a courtesy or as they would say, a token of friendship, although… I think they also have a similar relationship with Zebrica, but I'm not sure”

I could feel my brain overheating trying to process the information, literally my head was smoking

"Okay, thanks for the mental overload, I'm going to gather some things, I guess I'll meet yours in"

"In three hours at the main entrance" Some time to sleep, okay

"Ok" After a little bow I left there before he started talking again, I really don't know why he treats me like I'm a girl who doesn't know anything, although technically it's true... it still doesn't give him the right to treat me So

“BOOOOOM”

The sudden explosion made me put my guard up, for a second I came to believe that it was a shot, but I quickly ruled it out, after all, where I lived you quickly learn to differentiate them, whoever knows, knows

I searched everywhere for the source of the noise as well as everyone who wasn't in cover until I noticed some of them were looking at the sky… this was new, it looked like some kind of rainbow cloud, only it acted more like an explosion than an explosion. a cloud

I stared at it for a while, even tried to take a closer look with my drones or trace its origin, but it resulted in a colossal waste of time and by the time I realized it was time to go, stupid

Canterlot, it feels good to be back here during the day, although it's a shame I still have to wear the costume, it was good that the deer didn't question me when I put it on, I think not wanting to attract attention seemed more than enough reason

Taking advantage of the fact that we were in the market, I decided to buy some things. Do you have any idea how many accessories ponies need?

I'm serious, as a human I just needed a toothbrush and maybe a change of clothes, it depends on how much I fit, but here you need a horn filer, a mane brush and a fur brush, another file and some weird scissors for hooves and that was if we ignore the ones that humans also use

I practically lost everything I made selling the materials I collected in the forest to the deer

After that it was getting late so after leaving my things in the car along with a letter to Aspen, I ran away from the deer who were obviously on escort.

It's not my fault the princess only accepts overnight guests, but anyway, a deal's a deal.

As I got closer to the palace I felt like a ball was forming in my stomach, yes it may not technically be my first concert, but that was at the time and because I had no choice, but now my nerves were killing me.

I hope you like Lewis Capaldi, of the songs I managed to memorize these stood out quite a bit and it wasn't like I had a lot of options, rap, they wouldn't understand, rock, I'm sure they'll put me in jail and reggaeton, I don't think the ponies were ready for it. it's

"Good night" I blinked a few times when a bat pony took me out of my thoughts, it seems that I kept walking without realizing it "May I know the reason for your visit?"

"Of course, I came to see Princess Luna" The guard looked at me a little surprised for a second after leaving his serious look and nodding with a smile.

"Understood, please wait, I'll go report immediately" He disappeared in a blink, leaving me a little confused. Were you expecting me or something?

"Okay, please come in." The guard looked beaming to the point where you'd think he'd just gotten a raise or even won the lottery.

As I approached the main hall, if my bugs had informed me correctly, I thought about using some discreet spell to analyze the protective charms until I noticed that some of the guards were also wearing smiles or at least a surprised expression. What's going on? here? Don't tell me there was another mix up

"Uh, by the way, I'm Spirit Flame." When he said it, he seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

"Of course, you're right I forgot to say it" As soon as he said it he shot out into the main hall almost flying

Okay? Is someone going to tell me something? Like god heard me I got my answer

“I now bring in the petitioner Spirit Flame!” Immediately I saw him lean out of the entrance of the huge door and wave me in, which I did.

The place wasn't bad at all, whoever designed this even if I completely ignore all aspects of defense clearly did a great job, with the white walls edged in gold adorned with Equestria flags and the windows looking out from. I could see the whole city and beyond

No doubt a majestic sight and yet it was wrong, the image was in sharp contrast to its ruler, the princess with her dark blue fur, adorned with black metals which only blackened more when compared to her mane that seemed to absorb the light to give it to her. the stars that dwelt within, was so out of place

I was getting ready to speak when I noticed that the princess was going to do it, if I had known what was coming I would not have hesitated to speak first.

"GREETINGS SPIRIT FLAME, WELCOME TO MY NIGHT COURT, NOW TELL US WHAT PROBLEM AFFECTS YOU"

My fucking ears! How can he speak with such a volume while maintaining such a natural expression?! That could consider a sonic attack

"Um... I came to-"

"SPEAK LOUDER, YOUR PRINCESS CAN'T HEAR YOU"

They are killing me! I turned to see the guards or whoever for help, but they looked worse than me, the strongest tried to simulate their obvious expression of pain while the others struggled to cover their ears with their helmets, obviously it didn't work

Bat pony, I bet their sense of hearing is much better than mine, I can only imagine what they're feeling

I need to tell her to shut up without sounding disrespectful for what my trusty old lady applies, blame others

"Excuse me my princess, but I think you should turn the volume down a bit, it doesn't seem like your guards can tolerate such high frequencies" I tried to smooth it out as best I could while pointing at you guys, excuse me guys

She looked at me a bit surprised as she turned to see her stunned guards.

"BUT THIS IS THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL VOICE OF CANTERLOT, THE TRADITION IS TO SPEAK LIKE ROYALTY AND USE THIS VOLUME TO ADDRESS OUR PEOPLE"

FUCK, my brain is going to liquefy if he continues like this, shut up for once!

"YES, BUT I AM NOT ONE OF HIS PEOPLE" ... Silence took over the room, both the guards and the princess looked at me with varying degrees of surprise, oops

"I-I come from a distant land and I was visiting and I didn't want to insult, but-" I stopped when the princess raised one of her hooves to demand silence and fence that I achieved it.

"Okay I understand. Is this a more suitable volume?" Surprisingly, instead of sending me to the guillotine, he decided to take things easy.

"Eh... yes, princess, thank you very much for your consideration." Now I did bow to her somewhat belatedly.

"It's funny, I've been researching the world in this new era, but I don't remember hearing of a country of kirins or do your people now live with some other race?"

Shit... I already screwed up, right? At least he seems to ask out of genuine interest and not with sarcasm or mockery

"I... I come- in fact, my people live in another continent called America, I arrived recently" +10 points for ingenuity and -50 for reaching this situation

"Oh is that so? I thought that everything there is to see in Equus had already been discovered, to be able to remain unnoticed all this time your home must be quite small compared to us ”

"Yeah, something like that" I had to hold back the urge to laugh in his face, so I investigated. The whole of Equestria wouldn't even be a sixth of what the United States is, and that Equestria made up the majority of the continent.

"Now" The princess, apparently just realizing the familiarity with which she spoke, returned to her authoritative tone, although this time without that 'royal voice' thanks to the compassion of some benevolent god "What business do you bring to my court? ”

Well here it goes "I came to... play you a song" I said with some doubt as I took out the lyre that I had accidentally stolen the night of the concert

… Silence for the third time in this conversation, the guards were looking at me, some with fury and others with their wings in attack position ready to shoot me down at the command of their princess, while she looked at me with genuine interest with narrowed eyes! it will take out the soul!

"By any chance, wouldn't you have been the one to play that song on my behalf right before I left?" Now it was me who had to be surprised

"Yes princess, in fact it was me, I'm surprised you remember" Suddenly the atmosphere in the room took a 180° turn, the guards removed their bitter face and looked at me with surprise and approval while the princess, although she still kept the same expression I could see a slight flutter in its wings, I am not an expert, but I will risk saying that it is a good thing

"How could I forget you? I have been looking forward to being able to hear your ballads again, although every time I asked for you the name Spirit Free came up, is it some kind of stage name? Oh hell, I can't tell her that I broke into her house, I'm lucky Celestia didn't dig any further, but I couldn't take that risk again.

"Not just... I get confused with her often" Believe it, believe it

"I see, in that case it would be a real pleasure to hear what you have prepared for tonight"

"With pleasure your majesty, but is it alright here?" I only asked because starting to sing in the middle of the throne room seemed a bit out of place, but the princess seemed to realize something.

"Yes... you're right, it's not time yet, although your efforts are appreciated I can't give time from my night court for mere entertainment" That... made sense, I don't know about the court, but I could imagine the trouble it would cause if they found out that its ruler spends his time loafing when he should be working

"If you like, you could come back another night." Despite this, both the princess and the guards looked a little disappointed.

"If I'm honest, I don't mind waiting" I could see a glimmer of hope in her big eyes that now that I think about it are quite expressive

"Are you sure? There are still several hours left until the end of the court”

"I really don't care, I have nothing else to do and as long as I don't have to spend all that time standing around waiting I don't see why not." That seemed to cheer her up enough, enough for a smile to grace her face.

"Waning Shadow, please take my guest to the waiting room."

"At your command, Your Majesty." After a slight bow, he approached me asking me to follow him when I had one of the best or perhaps stupidest ideas I've ever had.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I was wondering if it was possible to spend this time in the castle's library. I've heard that they have quite an interesting collection." I tried my best to hide my growing nervousness.

"Of course, I hope you enjoy it" Apparently I have talent as an actor, someone give me an Oscar, because I am about to enter the hall of fame

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake