Once per Day

"This was supposed to be a quiet morning," Celestia groused in a low tone. Her wings twitched and bristled as she stood glaring into the garden. The guards anxiously looked between her and the figure they'd surrounded as the princess growled and stepped into the center of their formation. "Luna and I were going to have breakfast to celebrate her regaining the power of dream-walking."

"Well! You can hardly blame me for tearing you away from that!" Discord chortled. "After all, I neither called for you nor stripped your sister of her favorite means of stalking ponies leading to the circumstance in which its return is a cause for celebration!" He smirked and tilted his head, both actions require a visible effort on his part.

For while his face and features were no longer set in stone, the rest of his body up to the base of his skull were still petrified. Celestia scowled at the spirit before circling him and inspecting his form. Discord attempted to track her as best he could but after losing sight of her, he laughed instead.

"It seems my star pupil's managed to make some alarming progress! Especially when compared to the last one," he chirped, drawing a grunt from the princess as she reentered his field of vision. The spirit grinned at the sound. "Ah, but the less said about that lunatic the better, hm? You know, I didn't think to bring it up while I was free! How has your wing mended, may I ask?" Celestia paused and glared up at his face while he studied her side. The guards murmured nervously and looked amongst themselves in bewilderment.

"It certainly looks to have healed just fine, but is there any lingering discomfort?" His lips peeled back to a thin, toothy smile. "I recall you obligate corporeal types experience tremendous duress when something is removed after all." The wing he was eyeing bristled again, seemingly on reflex this time.

"I'm curious why you haven't begun wreaking havoc," Celestia curtly declared. Discord hummed and attempted to crack his neck to no avail.

"Well, it seems despite being at liberty to speak, much like an agitated arts student, my capacity for action ends at words," he let out a mournful sigh and frowned. "I presume the greater scope of the Element's effects on me are still in place."

"How fortunate for us," Celestia replied, managing a smile before nodding at the guards. "Relocate him to the lower caverns."

"Oh! And here I was trying to make up for the lack of small talk you were missing with Lulu!" Discord grumbled as a trio of guards tentatively crept up and plucked his stony body from the base he rested upon. The entire circle slowly splintered to help escort the spirit away, many sparing a final glance at the princess before departing. All except one, who remained behind.

Celestia frowned once the two were alone and cast her gaze south toward the fields and forest beyond Ponyville, in the direction Lieutenant Honeysuckle believed the Avatar had fled. The unicorn in purple officer's armor stared off that way as well, though with a much more severe expression.

"It seems I have underestimated this devil," she murmured.

"You don't think Twily and her friends are in danger do you?" The unicorn asked. Celestia considered his words for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. Of course not," she finally declared. "Your sister and her friends have the Elements. What could that devil hope to do against their power combined?"

Thirty-seven minutes prior.

"I told you my squad and I could handle this low-life!" Honeysuckle yelled with a noticeable hint of hesitation. I glanced between her and.. Fuck, what was her name?

"We don't know what he's capable of!" Uh, she declared, taking a step forward and thrusting a hoof at me. "I don't understand why you're being so-"

"S'cause I stole her momma's flimsy fencing foil," I interjected. Honeysuckle glared death my way, uttering a low snarl through clenched teeth which matched the creaking crackle of my shield as she attempted to strangle me magically. I returned a smile as her efforts had no effect beyond getting her in arms reach.

I swept my arm into her head, sending her sprawling with a squawk as my shield warbled from the impact. Her spell was cut and I hit the ground before scrambling to my feet, my attention immediately turned toward Amazing Shela and her trusty companions, all of whom were taken aback by my maneuver.

"You would strike a lady?!" The white unicorn with curly purple hair squealed. I barked a laugh and thrust my good hand at them like a claw.

"I'd do far worse! And she's no lady!" I feebly clutched my bad hand at Honeysuckle, who weakly snarled at me while rubbing her horn. "The vicious little monster sliced off my hand within seconds of laying eyes on me!" The white one gasped, drawing my gaze back to the group, most of whom were shocked by my words.

"She.. She did what?" Shela murmured. I grinned darkly and crouched at them.

"Well, it seems there are numerous elements at play you aren't aware of," I chortled before thrusting my arm and pointing toward the trees just behind them. "For example!" The entire group whipped around to see the nothing I was gesturing to, allowing me to immediately whip around and bolt as fast as I could run.

"Stop him!" Honeysuckle screamed as I tore through the woods back to the hotel grounds. Just before I broke free from the treeline, however, I heard a whoosh, a warbling thud, and a heaving grunt as my shield flashed across my vision. Casting a glance back, I saw the blue rainbow-haired one on the ground just behind me shaking her head and then glaring at me. Then there was a crackling pop and my legs were yanked out from under me.

"No fair!" I heard the blue one yell as I fell over. "I slammed him as hard as I could!" I rolled over as best I could to see my leg snared in Shela's magic, while she herself was looking me over with a severe expression.

"He's got a magical shield that's warding against physical force," she assessed as her friends came galloping up. "But I've never seen a shield spell built like this."

"You've also never seen THIS!" I yelled as I drove my free knee into her-

"Hush," she ordered, locking my other leg down and folding it over the other. I gasped in discomfort as she forcibly rolled me over just as her friends encircled me. "It's resistant to magic too, but unlike most shields, it doesn't keep simple telekinesis from grabbing it. See?" She punctuated her explanation by dragging me closer.

"Is, uh, that normal?" The orange one asked, rubbing her head under her hat while looking me over.

"It's definitely weird," Shela declared before shaking her head and fixing me with a stern expression. "But enough about that. What did you mean when you said she cut your, uh.. whatever off?" She waved her hoof over me. I grunted in frustration as I struggled against her hold.

"I-"

"Don't listen to him!" Honeysuckle cried, drawing their attention over to her. She stood looming just outside their circle, looking between each of them and still rubbing the side of her horn. "He threatened me while he was in possession of an unknown set of magical artifacts, and his actions since then have proved my assessment-"

"Fuck you! You came in stanced up and ready to fight!" I spat, drawing a gasp from a few of Shela's friends.

"Language!" The white one yelled.

"Fuck you, too!" She recoiled with an indignant huff while the blue one punched my shield.

"Hey! Don't talk to Rarity like that!" She demanded.

"Make me!"

"CHARGE!" Came a roar from a familiar rumbling voice. All of us turned toward the hotel to see Orgnar and some of the larger cultists, especially the dog and griffin, rushing toward us. "Free the Avatar!"

"Yeah! That's me!" I yelled back, pumping my fist in their direction.

"Merde," Honeysuckle growled.

"Wha- Hang on!" Shela cried, raising her hooves and wilting at the sight of the charging elk. Her yellow pegasus friend let out a squeak and hugged the ground while the blue and orange ones shared a look before charging the cultists.

"WEEE! Crazy moose fight!" The pink one hollered before bounding towards Orgnar with a feral roar. She and the hulking creature slammed into each other and to my lasting shock fell into a slugging match. The blue and orange pair zipped by and crashed into the rest of Orgnar's team. The griffin and the blue one locked hooves and claws before tumbling into the air, while the orange one produced a lasso with which she snared the diamond dog's left arm, and the two began a tug-of-war.

The larger ponies Orgnar'd brought slid to a halt before turning to tackle the orange one, but were blasted down by Shela's magic, which alerted me to the fact she'd released her hold on me. As she and her unicorn friend galloped over to help their friends, I rolled onto my hands and knees before scrambling away.

"Lieutenant! Keep the Avatar restrained!" Shela cried just as she joined the brawl. I choked out a groan as I felt the grip of a certain someone's magic around my ankle.

"Where do you think you're going?" Honeysuckle demanded as I was dragged toward her and flipped onto my back. I grunted in annoyance as she pinned me with just her magic and kept her distance.

"I was thinking of paying your mom a visit," I replied. She smiled and shook her mane.

"You're going to have to try harder than that to get me again," she chuckled.

"Guess that's another thing you never inherited. Cause she was plenty easy." And just like that, I was horizontally mobile again.

"Fils de pute! You think you can just say these things? ENFOIRÉ. I WILL-" and that was the last coherent thing I heard her scream as the sound of splintering wood and earth rolling around my shielded head became deafening. I folded my arms in thought as she swung me about, pondering how I could get her to release me. As I whirled through the air, I blinked as I noticed a large purple blob filling my vision before it suddenly vanished. Turning to try and get a look at what it might have been, my jaw dropped in shock.

"Hey, Honeysuckle?" I called.

"-AND THEN, just when you think it's finally safe to have yourself a little nap? You perhaps begin thinking 'Oh! I was so wrong about her!'" She replied, holding me up in the air and chuckling darkly. "Then I will let the spiders in!" She fell into a hearty cackling fit but continued holding me up, allowing me to really take in what she'd done.

"Christ on the cross, lady," I muttered as I scanned our immediate surroundings.

"What?" She grumbled, turning to see what I was looking at. "Oh."

All around us, for dozens of feet in a near-perfect circle, the forest was shorn down to stumps. And within that circle lay the moaning, crumbled forms of the cultists, including Orgnar.

"Oooooh," Honeysuckle moaned, slowly wobbling and collapsing onto her side. I couldn't blame her and, in fact, was a bit shocked myself.

'Cause, in addition to the cultists, Amazing Shela and company were also laid the fuck out.

"OOOOOOOOOOooooh," she squeaked again for good measure, slowly covering her face with her hooves. I grimaced in discomfort at the scene and scratched my chin.

"Yeah, I feel like that one's gonna be tough to explain," I declared. She uttered a noise somewhere between a gurgle and a sob. Before I could offer any further insight, I blinked as my vision was suddenly an explosion of color. As it subsided, I laughed and clapped. "Aw, shit! I think you using me to kick all their asses counted! Thanks, Honeysuckle!"

"Hwha?" She asked. I nodded with another laugh before pulling out my book and double-checking.

"Yeah, my magic gets stronger when I get money or treasure, but also when I kill stuff," I explained, nodding as I looked over the passage. "Or at least, that's how I read it previously. It just actually just says 'defeat.'" I smirked and looked over the ruin she had wreaked.

"Yeah, they look pretty defeated to me," I hummed and crouched to pet her back with my bad hand. "So hey! Thanks for the help, Darlin'."

"Ooh," she gurgled. "I may be ill."

"In the head? There's no 'may' about it," I replied before withdrawing and starting for the hotel. "Anyhoo, I'll send your cronies to find you and help you clean up."

"Going to kill you," she groaned with her face buried in her hooves. I paid her threat no mind and walked on, with a skip in my step and my eyes scanning for what to use next. A third first-level spell and a single second-level! Jeezaloo, how much were Shela and her friends worth? And more importantly, since they weren't dead, could we make this a weekly thing? Give 'em time to recover from the head trauma and all.

"Goober!" I looked up to see Snowpea and her buddies standing in my way and looking all serious. She took a step forward and stomped. "Stop right there!"

"Honeysuckle needs help," I replied waving back at the woods, and to the scene said angry French horse had caused, which was all well in sight. The three gasped and shared a look before Snowpea fixed me with an angry glare.

"You've got something to do with this!" She accused. I shrugged and pushed past them, an act made easy by my shield. The three gasped as they were repelled by my magic and quickly scurried out of my path. Really have to wonder how long this thing lasts.

"Probably! Not much you can do now though," I laughed. Just then, I saw my barrier shimmer and then vanish. Oh. What was that, twenty, twenty-five minutes? We'll call it twenty. I anxiously looked back over my shoulder at Snowpea and company, who luckily hadn't noticed the spell end, and were instead sharing a look of trepidation. After a moment, Snowpea glared at me and snorted.

"You aren't gonna get away with this! Just you wait!" She turned and galloped off, leading her fellows to their boss. I finally exhaled and then bolted. I rapidly cleared the ruins of the laundry pool and ran toward the passage to the front lot, but suddenly the dining room door flew open and a pair of white-robed ponies came galloping out to cut me off.

"Avatar! Wait!" One of them cried, revealing them to be one of the two I blasted to sleep earlier. I ran up and stood before them.

"No time. Honeysuckle's going to recover from her shame any minute now," I retorted, casting a nervous glance over my shoulder.

"Yes, the guardsmare, of course. Please, come with us! We have a plan!" The other one pleaded before grabbing my pant leg with his teeth and pulling back toward the dining room door. Looking that way, I saw a few familiar faces from the laundry pool looking back at me with similar pleading expressions. I grunted and finally sighed before lumbering to the door.

As the three of us slipped inside, I saw that the rest of the cult, mostly ponies with the exception of the sheep, was now gathered there. A few of them were curled up on the floor, wincing and nursing their sides or heads where Honeysuckle had slammed me. However, as I entered the room, all eyes were drawn to me.

"It's him," one whispered.

"Orgnar did it!" Another cheered.

"We need to get him back to the badlands!" The sheep bleated, slowly rolling to his hooves before wincing and collapsing. Before I could say anything, the reception pony burst through the kitchen door.

"Great news! I found some rat poison we could mix in your punch!" He chirped, holding up a leaking bottle with both hooves.

"We're not that type of cult!" One of the ponies hissed, at which the receptionist slowly set the bottle down and nodded.

"Hey, that's fair! But are you the type of cult that's gonna pay for the laundry pool you all smashed up?" He tilted his head and queried. The pony wilted and the rest averted their eyes. I grunted and waved at him.

"Do you take valuable heirloom swords?"

"We surely-durly do!" He replied with a little dance.

"Right. I'm going to be checking out soon, so we'll discuss it then," I explained before grabbing one of the least dusty chairs and sitting down.

"Works for me!" He chirped as he returned to the kitchen. Once he was through the door I cast a glare over the cult.

"So, what do you want?" I demanded. The entire group hesitated and shared a look before the sheep cleared his throat and slowly sat up.

"We are the Children of Change. We are gathered with the singular purpose of seeking a better station in life where our homes have failed us, either by accident or design," he explained, struggling and then trotting up to me. "Our prophet and high priest spoke of an Avatar summoned by the Spirit of Chaos, who we might convince to aid us in our quest."

"And you think that's me?" I hummed, leaning on the table. He and several others nodded fervently.

"Yes! Even discounting the strange magic, you look exactly like what he described!" The sheep declared, looking me up and down. "It has to be you." I rolled my head back, mulling over his words.

"Okay, so, assuming you're right, what then?" I held my hand out toward the door. "Cause I've still got a band of unconscious magic horses out there and one seriously pissed-off officer and her cronies to worry about."

"Ah, you mean Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony?" He asked, blinking and looking at the door in wonder. Twilight, that was her name. "Orgnar actually bested them?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, no. Honeysuckle went berserk and laid Twilight and Orgnar's entire group out."

"O-oh," he sighed. For a moment, all eyes were on the door before someone gasped.

"Hey! If they're knocked out, let's just go tie 'em up!" They cheered. Several others gasped in realization and cried in agreement with their plan. I grimaced and shrugged.

"Two issues I see with that. First, they have magic, so I don't know how effective just tying them up will be," I explained. "Second issue is again, Honeysuckle."

I slipped my book free and shook it at them. "I've got a spell that can put her to sleep, but when she wakes up, again, she's got magic." A contemplative silence fell over the group for a few moments.

"We could," one of the ponies quietly began, swallowing before continuing. "F-finish them off." Some of the other ponies shivered at the suggestion and the sheep went paler than he already was. I clicked my teeth and sighed hard.

"Well," I began. Before I could continue, the door to the kitchen swung open as the reception pony came trotting out.

"Hey, folks! Couldn't help but overhear!" He chirped, trotting to the center of the room before sweeping his hooves over the crowd. "Going to have to ask you to not murder the national heroes while they are on the premises. A cult's ritualistic suicide is one thing! But if you go killing somepony important, folks might think poor of us!"

"You have a skeleton rotting in your front lot," I squawked. He blinked and looked over his shoulder.

"Really? Uh-oh, thought I cleaned that up," he whirled around and took off toward the front of the building. Again, silence fell over the group and I flipped open my book, scanning the new tier of spell I had access to. As I read on, the sheep cleared his throat.

"Well, perhaps it would be best if we," he hesitated and rolled his head back and forth. "Brought you to the fort?"

"What's the fort?"

"It's our home for the time being, where the rest of our members are waiting," one of the ponies explained. "It's very well hidden! If we leave now, I don't think they'll be able to track us!"

"What about your friends who got knocked out?"

"They know where it is," the pony retorted with a shrug. I frowned and shook my head.

"Sure, but are you just going to leave them behind?" The sheep scoffed in response.

"It's just Orgnar and his goons. Who cares?" He declared. Several voices rose in agreement. "He's only on our side cause he thinks the Avatar will aid him in conquering Equestria."

"Huh," I huffed, leaning back in my seat and folding my arms. "Well, I barely know the guy, so it's no skin off my back. But there is one more thing I need to consider!"

"Yes?" The sheep asked, tilting his head. I leaned forward, jabbed a finger at him, and fixed him with a withering glare that caused him to hug the ground.

"I need to make sure you aren't lying."

The sheep, named Sash it turned out, hugged the floor of our hotel room with his eyes darting between me and Nettle. The dog was glaring hard at him and had been ever since I explained the situation and had Sash give his side of things. The rest of the cult was already mobile and waiting further south for either all of us or just Sash.

I turned to Nettle. "Well? Time's kind of against us here." He narrowed his eyes and sighed hard.

"Not lying. I still not like the idea."

"Me neither!" Sneaky shrieked, flying up and punching me between the shoulder blades drawing a grunt of pain out of me. "You were supposed to find out how many of these guys were out there, not get all buddy-buddy with them!" I rolled my shoulders with a wince before turning to her.

"That was my plan. Then Honeysuckle showed up and things escalated, weren't you listening?" She nickered and landed on the bed with a scowl.

"Sure have. It sounds like it's not enough for you to have me bound with a curse, you want to surround yourself with a bunch of cronies too!" She grumbled, curling up and pouting off to the side. I rolled my eyes with a huff.

"Again, that wasn't my plan for today. But if Nettle says they're not lying," I gestured to him and then to Sash. "And they say they're on our side, I say why turn up our nose at such a choice opportunity?" Sneaky jabbed a hoof at me.

"Cause they aren't on our side, they're on yours!"

I recoiled and shook my head. "What's the difference?" She flinched and fixed me with an incredulous glare. I shook my head again and crouched on one knee to meet her at eye level. "Sash, wait outside." He hesitated but did as requested after a moment. Once the door shut behind him, I continued, clearing my throat and adopting my evil wizard voice.

"Free reminder, but when I enslaved you I promised rewards in exchange for your service. That should tell you I intend to take care of you as best I can," I pointed at Nettle, who stood with his arms folded but an otherwise unreadable expression. "And you've been a major help, so I'd like to try and return the favor."

I rose to my feet and pointed at the door. "This little band wishes to make themselves useful to me, so I wish to make them useful to you," I added, turning and unfurling my arms at the two. "So, if you will allow, that is what I propose we do. Unless you have another plan for escaping Honeysuckle and the Elements of Harmony here and now." Both shared a look for a few moments, during which time I cracked open the door to scan the lot, ignoring Sash as he looked up at me nervously.

"And if you do have another plan, please speak up," I said, turning back to the two of them. Nettle was nodding slowly in thought, while Sneaky had me fixed with a glare. "I don't know how long until Honeysuckle recovers from her shame or how long until Amazing Shela and friends are back on their feet." I scanned the lot one more time before closing the door.

"Remove the curse," Sneaky spat, drawing Nettle and my eyes to her. She was on the floor right beside me with a firm frown. "Remove your curse and I'll go." I frowned back and folded my arms.

"And how do I know you won't just run?"

"How do I know you actually have my best interests at heart?" She retorted. I raised an eyebrow and looked from her to Nettle, who met my eyes with his arms folded and a shrug. I sighed and nodded.

"Alright," I began, holding my hand out and waving it over her. "I release you from my spell." She blinked and stared at me for a moment before frowning and looking herself over.

"How do I know it worked? I don't feel any different," she declared. I rolled my eyes and nudged her with my leg.

"Don't hit my leg, that's an order," I said. She stared at me in confusion for a moment before jolting in realization and doing exactly as I told her not to, with perhaps way more gusto than was necessary. I stifled a squawk of pain and fell over, my hands locked around my shin.

"You actually did it?" She said in amazement. I responded with a wheezing wail as I rolled, holding my leg. "I- Wow, okay."
I heaved a breath and weakly nodded. "We good?" I squirmed to look up at the pair who were sharing a look before they turned to me.

"Yeah, I think we're good," Sneaky replied, to which Nettle gave an assenting nod and grunt.

Honeysuckle scanned the hotel's dining room which had been repurposed as a temporary holding chamber for her captives. The giant moose that led the attack glared back at her and strained against the chains binding his limbs. Why the hotel had so much rope and chains she couldn't care less.

Instead, she turned back to the receptionist at her side. "A wagon will be along in a few hours to collect them and deliver compensation for the room Twilight Sparkle and company are recovering in and for the damages," she sighed and shook her head. "Ça alors, what a headache."

"Ah, don't worry about the pool!" The receptionist chuckled, patting her on the back to her unrestrained annoyance. "We had a guest give us a pretty hefty tip as he and his friends were checking out."

Honeysuckle bristled and inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Oh, yes, and I'm certain this guest wasn't the fellow I was looking for, hm?" She cast a bitter smile at the receptionist as he hopped into his booth and fished around for something.

"Who knows! Maybe it was them, but no way of proving that now!" He laughed, at which Honeysuckle let out a low chuckle of her own. "But hey, whoever he was, he must've been pretty rich! Look at this thing!" Honeysuckle rolled her eyes and glanced at him as he withdrew, holding up her heirloom sword with his teeth.

"Hretty hrool, hruh?" He asked. The lieutenant stared at him in silence for a few moments, during which time he began to sway from holding the blade upright. Finally, her ear twitched and she managed a response.

"Quoi?" She squeaked.