The next day, Canterlot Central Hospital.

Director Deep Pockets was extremely confused, the almost the entire Intensive Care unit was suddenly flooded with reports from doctors about patients, some that weren't expected to make it to the next day, suddenly making a miraculous recovery overnight.

He had the doctors triple check the results and diagnosis of each patient, 13 of the 18 patients from the room were in suddenly stable and even in healthy condition, the only non pony who was there, a middle aged male griffon had claimed to see a white light in front of him coming from the foot of his bed, before he suddenly was completely healthy again, his broken wing and wound from an industrial accident being completely healed, not even scars were left.

He was unsurprisingly very happy with the improvements of the patients of the hospital, at first, but he started getting a bitter taste in his mouth as he realized the full extend of the situation.

Patients being healthy meant that they didn't need room in the ICU, which was the most expensive part of the hospital, and it provided the hospital with the most amount of profit per day, as the prices could go up to five hundred bits per day in there, per patient.

Losing most of the patients, and having them be discharged also meant further losses, the press had even gotten hold of the story somehow, probably one of the happy family members of the patients, cheerfully telling the press of their loved one's miraculous recovery, he was starting to get really concerned.

What if this happened again? What if the entire ICU was emptied, the profits would plummet! The expensive alchemical ingredients requires to make various analgesics and medicines to treat diseases, usually natural ingredients from far off lands cost a whole lot, and they degrade, so all the planning, bits and effort put into them would go to waste if no one needed them!

Thankfully there was not a shortage of accidents and injuries in such a city, the many dangerous jobs and, as one of the most advanced facilities in Equestria, being the Canterlot Central Hospital, they get patients from many other smaller cities as well.

There were other units with a very similar price point that treated patients of less severe accidents and diseases, still many were still life threatening and requires a similar level of sophistication.

He still wanted to know what happened, so he had the ponies that worked at the hospital ask for anything unusual that may have happened yesterday.

They mentioned seeing a very unique looking small dragon walk into the hospital, many just remember his scales being a reflective metallic silver, but other than that they don't remember much else, as they probably were too distracted by the color.

For more reports he would need to get into contact with the families of the patients, something easier said than done, it would take days or longer.

He sighed tiredly and pulled out a bottle of wine from his wine cabinet, deciding that he may as well try to relax during this stressful time, for now there was nothing that he could do, he was not going to go into the red just from this, it was just some lost profit, he could recover it soon.

But if this continued, he would need to start increasing the security on the hospital, it will be a large investment but if it means keeping whatever happened from happening again, it was worth it.

On the table, a newspaper read "The Canterlot Central Hospital Miracle, 13 patients make miraculous recovery overnight."

POV Princess Celestia, Royal Castle, Celestia's royal suite, earlier that day.

I awoke early like every morning to lower the moon and raise the sun, it was almost an automatic process, even if I was half asleep I could pull off the spell, but even then such a spell worked like a jolt of energy to get me fully awake quickly.

I prepared myself, heading for the bathroom before going to the royal eating area, my very own dinner room.

Already waiting for me was my typical breakfast, a delicious cup of tea, every day a different flavor, of course on rotation, there were only so many different tea varieties.

I also had some fruit salad, and a few small cakes made specially for me, breakfast always brought a smile to my face, specially the scrumptious cake.

I was also handed the daily newspapers, for a ruler it is always a good idea to remain up to date, and despite having specialized ponies bring me information about what happens in the nation, I still want to know what the everyday pony reads, so I had any guard who was on patrol bring me one of each.

"Canterlot hospital miracle" I read out loud, all of the newspapers had the same general title, with a black and white picture showing some ponies and even a griffon standing together and posing for a picture, with what I assume are their families.

I immediately go to the page and start reading, extremely intrigued by the title.

'Dear reader, today a group of very happy and enthusiastic ponies have contacted our news agency to inform of something many of you will find hard to believe.

The Canterlot Central Hospital as many of you know takes in cases from all across Equestria, and while it is very expensive, it offers the best quality of care, even when the injuries can't be healed, they at least give the pony every possible chance to recover with their potions and natural healing, even blood transfusion and more.

In the Intensive Care Unit 1 is where the patients with the worst conditions and wounds are usually admitted to, sadly those who are at this stage are very likely to pass away, it's the sad reality of life that we all will eventually die, but yesterday, not many know exactly when, during the day.

A miracle happened, a miracle that healed those ponies who were sick, and mended the wounds of those who had been in an accident, almost all of them at the same time reported feeling their condition improve incredibly fast, some patients awoke from what was supposed to be their last sleep, feeling good as new!

Dear reader, what do you think caused this? We do not know, but one of the individuals healed during the miracle mentioned seeing something glowing at the food of his bed, a hard working griffon who had been gravely injured in a lumberjack incident, where a high speed blade cut deep into his chest and his wings broke from the impact of him against the wall.

He chose to remain anonymous but his interview is here for you.

"First I wanna say thank ye, whoever or whatever did this for me, I thought I was done for, my wings broken and my lungs fillin' with blood, but that light...
It was white as a cloudy sky, I saw it glow in the foot of my bed, I felt as if a pony was there with me, I could smell him, ya know all that you ponies say about us being nothing more than dangerous predators, well it's not all wrong ya see?
We have good senses for huntin' and I know I had caught the scent of a young stallion, not sure what age but definitively younger than mahself. Nah relax ma'am I was joking! I ain't ever gonna hunt ponies, it's just a way to say that I think that a fellow male saved my life."

What do you make of this, dear reader? This interview was the only one who claimed to have seen anything, as all the other patients were asleep at the moment, I think everypony, specially those who have their family back from the hospital, owe this mysterious stallion a big thank you, whatever he did, if it is indeed a he, he clearly did it without the intention of becoming famous or getting anything out of this.

Dear viewers, other families have contacted us too, but they didn't give us a full interview, however what we learned about the patients gives us a clearer picture of what kind of powers this mysterious individual seems to posses.

A few of the patients had diseases, some believed to be incurable like cancer, and others had chronic conditions that can't be cured either, and can just be slowed.

The initial reports by the doctors indicate that the diseases, even those who are supposed to be incurable, are gone, the recovery is not immediate, as some patients are still weakened from the disease and can't really move much yet, they have completely stopped deteriorating and are improving every day, very quickly.

Make what you wish of this, our dear reader.

A message for you, mysterious miracle healer, we cordially invite you to our news agency, and we beg of you to come, you will be compensated for giving an interview, even if you wish to remain anonymous, we will accommodate for that too, we just want to get to know more about you and what your goal is.

Thank you for supporting the Canterlot Dove newspaper!'

Many questions swirled around in my mind.
I sipped my tea, feeling very curious and excited, could I find out who this pony was? Was he a stallion? Could I trust the old bird's interview? I knew first hand that griffons are excellent trackers and have strong senses, better than even ponies, so probably yes.

For now I could only wait, there is little I can do now about this pony, and he was not hurting anyone, in fact he was doing the opposite, except maybe the hospital he is visiting will not be very happy with him.

Will he reveal himself? I just hoped this was a good sign of things to come, and not the opposite, magic like this was not known by ponies, not even by me, I heard legends and myths about ancient mysterious ponies who traveled from town to town healing the sick and injured, but they were already myth when I was born, over a thousand and one hundred years ago. If I ever met him, I have so many questions!

I keep eating my breakfast, quickly reading over the other newspapers, all had similar stories but nothing stood out as particularly odd, just the same news covered and crediting the original.

I had to gather my information agency, and have them look into who this mysterious stallion could be, and then I need to find a way to convince him to work for me, he could be an extremely powerful asset and bargaining chip when it comes to foreign nations, having a doctor who could cure any disease would bring Equestria way too much benefits to ignore, he could greatly improve my image with ponies, when I tell them he was sent by me.

POV Onyx, October 6

Dad and I have been going to the hospital once every few days, we were both aware of the news about our escapades, so the second time I already told him we would be more discrete, there was a way to have less chance to get caught.

We must not be seen going in or out of the hospital, it was going to be all him this time, we didn't even go to the same street, choosing instead to go into a store with the excuse to buy something, use the bathroom and then he would leave invisible, while I pretended to look around inside the store, usually actually buying things to make the process more convincing, doing this I ended up getting some toys I liked, like soccer balls, volley balls, a ping pong set, even bought a ping pong table, a sport ponies found very amusing, and I had to agree.

At this point the hospital was empty of any serious cases, and going into lower risk rooms would take too much time so we decided to stop for now.

They even have guards at the ICU door! Like actual hired security guards, not royal guards, but still that made me really worried at first, but greater invisibility was a thing of beauty, dad could just push the door open and the guards didn't notice most of the time, as they weren't exactly watching the door, this hospital clearly didn't have the same budget than the restricted section of the Royal Canterlot library.

Invisibility spells weren't common knowledge, and only the highest security areas of the palace had ponies equipped to deal with it, which made our little infiltration much easier to pull off and honestly thrilling, dad said it felt amazing, and i had to agree, it was like getting away with a crime, the same thrill and adrenaline, exciting for both of us, like a game, but better! It was probably not a crime but I realized we were fucking with the system, with a big prestigious hospital that probably had some serious cash to throw around and stop the problem.

It seems they got fed up too, as the last time we tried, they went all in and installed a security system to the doors, a month of losing money will do that to you, they didn't want absolutely anyone to enter but the doctors, now the doors were not just push to enter, they were locked all the time unless the guard unlocked it by an authorized doctor.

I caressed father's side softly as we stood at home, he looked a bit sad and upset, but I did my best to cheer him up.

"Hey dad please don't give me that face... You can't expect them to just let you go in and heal all their patients, they make no money if everyone is healthy and happy, you know that right? There's only a few things you can do in this case, one is to stop, to find another hospital you can sneak your way into, or third and most logical I think would be to open a clinic, you don't have a doctor's degree so I don't know the legality of that."

"B-but how do I even do that?! I'm... Only able to run my father's store because he taught me how to, but running such a business, it's far beyond my abilities!"

"Oh I know, just have in mind if you don't charge any money, you will have thousands of creatures coming to knock on your door 24/7 begging for you to heal them, and you can't heal more than a few per day."

"So... Think carefully, and don't rush ahead, you can probably charge exorbitant prices and still get more costumers than you probably need, or we can go and sneak in Manehattan's hospital, or Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia? So many possibilities! We will need to travel a lot, in fact mom will not like it, and I probably won't either because I'll miss too much school days, so mister chosen of Faust, think carefully what you plan to do and stop moping like that, you already did a LOT for all of the lovely creatures of this nation."

"B-but I don't want to... I don't want to charge ponies to help them! That's unfair, and I feel like I'm taking advantage of my goddess... But I can't just go around the country, sneaking into hospitals and leaving my family behind! What do I do? How can I do my mission of helping others? I have no choice if I want to help at least some ponies, but I will need to rent a place somewhere, away from home.
I don't think neither you, Sylf or the twins want to have the attention of the whole nation on your backs, that would put us at risk, wouldn't it?!" This is a complicated matter, he could even get ponynapped and forced into servitude to some noble or by some other nation too, I think for now he needs to stop using his powers until all of us can learn to defend ourselves, especially him.

"I'm afraid yes this would be really risky, most ponies will be well intentioned, sure, but those who want you for themselves...
They will come and they'll try anything to get to you, I fear for your safety dad."

Then I continued explaining.
"You can't escape easily like I can, a null ring can be placed on your horn, too and prevent you from using magic, I don't want anyone to hurt you! Let's... Stop for now until we both are strong enough to defend ourselves, okay? I'm not saying you never heal anyone, but let's keep it down for now, at least until both of us have more training with weapons and fighting overall, you are far behind us in power, in healing power you are the best, but you can't fight yet at all!" He looked a bit dejected at my words, but nodded, acknowledging I was right on this.

"Then the next step for us, specially for me is training, isn't it? I need to train my body and mind, and I would appreciate if you trained with me, at the same time, join me? I could use a partner of comparable skill level to me, even if you're way stronger, maybe that will help me become stronger."
He asked me softly and hopeful, his smile returning.

"Well duh! That's the whole idea of training, we must train together! I have no idea how to fight with weapons or with my fists either, I'm pretty sure my punches are weaker than most ponies, because I'm not used to punching at all, I can grab onto things and stab with my claws sure, but my punches with no claws kinda suck, my claws are made for stabbing." I mean... I wasn't terrible at it but I wasn't good either, nah who am I kidding? The time I tried punching a pony he just pushed me off. I suck at punches.

Suddenly steps were heard coming down the stairs, and Sylf approached us with an easy smile.

"Hey you colts, so you finally decided to start your training hm? Well, the foals are asleep, we can go train in the third floor, I have had training weapons and padded armor ready, I prepared this long ago when you said you wanted to train Onyx, but you never actually did you lazy flank! Now finally, you can at least begin to learn." She said and turned towards the stairs, gesturing for us to follow.

"Am ready ma, don't go easy on me! I don't think I need the padding, I'll just take the eye protection and that's it." I said confidently, she let out a chuckle in response.

"Cocky, aren't you son? I'm gonna give you a lesson then, as for you my beloved... Make sure you wear padding, eye protection and horn padding, this is not a magic duel anyways, you need to learn to fight without any magic, the magical training will be Onyx's job, he is better than me at the whole thing anyways." She said to Coconut, who quickly agreed with a nod.

"Of course, I know I wouldn't want to fight you without padding, unlike Onyx here that has scales, all I got is my coat." He was right about that, and that is why I worried about him, he had shorter and less dense fur than Sylf, so less protection from physical damage, he also was smaller, had more weak points, the horn for example, unicorns who lost their horn in battle were highly likely to die of brain hemorrhage.

"Good stallion~ I really like attitude, being overly cocky like Onyx here will get you in lots of trouble in a real fight, isn't that right son?" She asked the last part in a playful mocking tone, yes I had told her how I got my ass kicked, she was angry at first but how she just made fun of me for being so fucking stupid and cocky.

"Yes mom... I admit am being overconfident but it's all for a reason." I ran closer and scratched her back, making her wag her tail happily, never fails unless she was angry for real, or sad or something.

Once we were up there, we both got ready, Coconut was the one who had the most padding, mainly on his horn, eye protection that I also wore, the neck and other areas, it kinda looked like he had a giant diaper, which made me giggle while mom put it on him.

I struggled not to call him a name I had in the tip of my tongue, but this was genuinely how stallions had to protect themselves in battle, even real guard armor had this diaper looking padding across that area in particular, for both mares and stallions.

I didn't bother with any padding.

"Are you sure you don't want any padding Onyx? Because I'm not going to go easy on you, despite your age I know you can deal take quite a bit before you're actually hurt, you're tougher than me! Or at least close." She asked with genuine concern, I shook my head, I needed to set the example for the unicorn next to me.

"I'll be fine mom, and if I get really messed up, dad can always just heal me, he's all full of energy today, we aren't going out healing others until things calm down, and until we both are strong enough to defend ourselves, him most importantly!"

"Oh thank you Coconut! You have no idea how worried I was with you going out there... If you somehow got found out and they tracked you, our family would have a huge target on our backs! Even the twins will be in danger from ruthless nobles or rich CEOs! I'm glad you decided to stop for now and focus on learning to fight, after you learn this I think Onyx has a suggestion for us, even if we will need to find some pony to help." Oh yes mom remembered my idea.

"Yeah dad we will go back into the second dungeon and there we will complete secondary objectives, earn some XP for you and you will have your combat experience! It will be awesome, trust me! If a bit dangerous haha~" I slapped him gently on the back encouraging him.

"Okay, but that's for later, now Onyx, you try to hit me with this sword as best as you can, don't be afraid of going full force, I can take it!" She handed me a wooden training sword from the rack on the wall, using her mage hand.

I grabbed it and held it firmly on my right hand, moving it and swinging it a bit to get a feel for its balance.

"Yes ma'am, I will attack now!" And with that I jumped forward towards her, she has a wooden shortsword in her maw too now, I tried to feint by swinging from above and then quickly moving my arm and trying to swung much harder from the side, aiming at her padded neck.

Instead of staying still and letting me hit her, she rushed forward and parried my second true swing before it fully began, cancelling the entire attack and leaving me exposed midair, basically she held my foreleg back with her shortsword and I was helpless.

She just pushed me forward, cancelling my smaller momentum and forcing me to land on the ground in front of her, I barely landed on all fours, and right after I landed before I could lift my sword again, her shortsword was tightly pressed to my neck, point first.

"Boop, you're dead." She said with a serious tone and I realized how far away in skill we were.

"Damn... That would feint would have worked on someone other than you!" I defended, feeling a bit like a sore loser.

"Only a bumbling idiot would have fallen for that Onyx, you're now my trainee and I will make you a capable fighter, but you have to first learn the basics before you want to try fancy moves, or those fancy moves aren't more than annoyances to the average guard, or even a mildly experienced criminal. Remember, even if you're all scary and tough, someone with enough strength can still run you through with a sword, even a short sword like this... You're not that big yet either so you can't rely on your size and weight." She corrected my mistakes, one by one all of my preconceptions were dismantled.

"B-but I'm heavier than dad! And I'm only 9!" I tried defending, but she just sighed and shook her head.

"You're right, but earth ponies exist, along with other much stronger creatures, and even an unicorn or pegasi can lift you and throw you around if they work out occasionally, and criminals usually work out a lot, so they really aren't to be underestimated, now try again but this time try a regular attack, focus on attacking right and put your power behind it, okay? Use your leverage, swing with your whole body and not just your arm." She offered advice and stepped away, giving me room to attack again, her posture was relaxed, but shortsword still held firmly in her maw.

I prepared myself, in a bipedal stance as i grabbing my sword on two hands and aimed it at her, my body tensed like a spring, then I ran forwards and released the tension, swinging the blade at her head while using my tail against the ground to firmly brace myself, she brought her sword to bear, blocking my strong attack with a loud sound of wood on wood.

The sword was thankfully not broken, maybe enchanted to not break easily, while we were locked, as we pushed against each other, I was shaking and pushing with all my strength, but she held firm she was putting some effort into it too, but then she moved to the side, our swords unlocked but I was putting too much force behind it, thinking she was going to keep holding the swords locked.

I tried to turn around and recover but she had already pounced on me, knocking me to the floor and stabbing me with her sword from behind right on the middle of my neck, where my spine is, of course she didn't actually stab me, just poked me, but she may as well have because I was feeling ashamed of myself.

"And there goes the little dragon, I have to say son, you have quite the raw strength, not many can hold their sword to mine like that, not for how long you did! But still, you're slain again." She taunted with a playful smile.

"Ghrr... Damn it, again!" I got up again, she moved to give me room, and I prepared myself, this time I would not fall for that trick again.

"Ready son, come whenever you're ready!" I nodded, then started circling her, looking for the best line of attack, she turned to face me but didn't move her body much, deciding to hold her ground.

Then I attacked from the side, running and trying to stab forward with my sword, using both hands, but she was fast, she turned and blocked attack after attack, I mixed up strong stabs with slashes, then sliced at her legs, trying to get her off balance.

She answered every strike with a faster deflect, block or parry, but I didn't give up, then while I was trying to hit her, she moved her head really fast while ducking under me, stabbing me right in the upper belly and making me double over in pain, the blade didn't go through but it hurt badly, after stabbing me she moved back, giving me some room.

Onyx has taken 10 damage!

A soft whimper of pain escaped me, that stings... oww.

"That... Ughh you win, I can't even get a single hit in, and now I feel kinda like puking, but it's fine, it's going away." I took a few deep breaths to make the uncomfortable sensation in my stomach go away

"You held your ground much better there Onyx, but you still don't know how to properly hit, you attack with your body somewhat now, but you still don't have good balance, your attacks are slow too, you need to practice more your attacks, don't worry son, you're going on the right path! Your dexterity and claws give you a big advantage in that, and you have good power behind each of your hits." She approached and nuzzled me lovingly, calming me down and making the pain and shame of losing so many times fade slowly.

"Thank you mom, I... I learned a lot, you're a brutal teacher tho, I think I'm gonna be bruised tomorrow." I hugged her softly as well, I didn't like losing at all, I was a terrible loser, but this small gesture of affection made it all feel less painful and humiliating.

"I admit I hate losing, I need to get over that, I-I need to control my emotions better, now I'll stop, I think its dad's turn to try." I told them both and went to a corner to sit down, rubbing my tender belly, it wasn't too damaging of a hit but it still caused some real damage, I don't want to even imagine what she could have done to me if she was more aggressive and less gentle, she definitively held back with that strike.

I just relaxed now as Sylf explained and showed dad how to hold the sword in his telekinesis, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of using telekinesis, then going over how to best attack with it, how to prevent your sword from being simply pulled away, and many other tips and explanation that he would need.

He was clearly enthusiastic and happy to learn, I could see it in his face, they both smiled, I could see the look they gave each other, it was real love.

I wonder if changelings existed here, I hope they aren't too big of a threat, I already have a lot to deal with here.

I went back to watching, she was teaching him how to swing the sword properly, how to angle it to deflect a hit, and how to block or even parry, he tried to repeat the movements but wasn't very successful with parrying, it was difficult to do, as it required precise timing and hitting the right spot to disrupt an attack before it was done.

Then after some more concepts that I watched carefully, maybe I can still learn something.
Telekinetic swordplay has always been fascinating to me, it was safer and could counter other melee opponents.

They started to fight, if you could call it a fight, he tried to get past her defenses with his sword, but she was fast and much stronger, clearly she held back so his sword wasn't just flung across the room with each hit, and he was slowly learning and improving his hits, his face was very focused and his horn was glowing intensely, a bit of sweating forming on his head.

The sword stabbed, slashed, moved out of range and moved back in, all floating in a white field of telekinesis.

His biggest advantage was also his biggest weakness, Sylf didn't waste the chance to show him, she smacked the sword across the room away from him with her own swing, then pinned him down, he was with his back to the floor, and she was on top with her shortsword pointed at his chest, a smirk on her face.

"I got you, mister Coconut, what do you have to say for yourself?~" she asked smugly, putting her sword to the side and laying on top of him.

"I- uhh you know, I surrender to you, my beautiful wife?" His face slightly red as he looks up at her with hope in his eyes.

"Oh come on Coconut! You're so easy~ you're supposed to... Well you know, fight! Oh right you don't have a shortsword anymore." She laughs a bit and gets up from him, going out and picking up his shortsword with her hand spell, and returning it to him.

"Try again, you're not doing too bad but you need to get closer to Onyx's level first before we can finish for today." mom explained softly to dad who lowered his ears as he realized he was not good enough yet.

We trained for a few hours and then went to wash up, we all got really tired and they got very sweaty, specially Coconut.

One week later, September 9
Training every day for a few hours whenever we all could, him and I improved slowly, I feel like I was a bit slower than him, but once we learned the principles and the correct way of attacking and defending, it was turn to fight dad, we both now are proficient with shortswords! we can use them in combat with some efficiency, but we are still novices.

One on one, with shortsword in hand, no shield for now, I held my shortsword in both hands, as I followed his.

Sylf gave us the signal and we jumped into action, he stayed back but his sword flew right at me, however I had experience dealing with telekinetic sword users, I ignored it until it was right in front of me.

Then a strong slap to the side sent the sword off course, making my opponent very confused for a second, he then focused and sent the blade flying right at my back as I ran on all fours at him, the sword laying flat against the foot with each step I took.

Using my long and powerful tail, I slapped the rapidly approaching blade out of the air with a lot of force, sending it flying halfway across the room, then I pounced at the disarmed stallion, he lifted his hooves up in surrender and I just hugged him gently.

"Look ma! I caught a pony!" I left my blade there and lifted him up gently by his midsection, standing on my hind legs and walked over to Sylf, offering him to her as if he was a curiosity.

She approached and sniffed him, nodding her approval.

"He good smelling pony, I keep! he husband now." She said in a deep caveman like voice, the three of us share a laugh and she nuzzles him while is being held, then I free him and let him back on the ground where he can walk.

"You win Onyx, you clearly know how to deal with telekinesis held blades, why is that?" Sylf asked me with curiosity and I explained that me and Shining love to play fight, she seems to remember me telling her something about that before.

"Oh yeah, you told me, but I didn't know you used training swords." It was kind of true but not the same.

"Oh no, they were just a wooden toy sword and shield, it had no enchantment and it was for fun, still I learned how to deal with it, what I don't know is how to attack with telekinetic blades." I confessed, because I never really tried, I knew probably less than dad.

"You should focus on one method for now Onyx! Trying to learn multiple ways to attack with swords it's just going to confuse you and slow you down when it comes to actually learning, you already know how to use magic, you can cast spells, very strong spells, now focus on just using your claws to hold the sword and fight with it I want you to fight Coconut without pushing his sword away, I want you to actually let him attack you and just deflect and block his strikes, understood?" Sylf ordered me.

"Yes ma'am! Let's try again then, I'm ready when you are." He picks up his sword, we stand at a good distance and I approach slowly this time, he brings his weapon close to me, and starts to attack me, his swings are decently fast but they don't have too much power behind them, I deflect most of them and block the ones I can't deflect, he seems reluctant to hurt me.

"Dad, attack full force, you're clearly holding back, don't worry so much about me! If you don't fight seriously you won't get better you know? I also can't improve if your hits are so light that they don't put pressure on me, please don't be scared to hurt me." I said reassuring him, he then nodded and actually started swinging the sword harder, but not as fast, of course it was easier to swing faster than harder, and doing both was really difficult for beginners.

Now I was feeling it, I had to actually put force behind my arm, I tried to see openings, every time he repositioned his sword after an attack, there! But how? He was out of my arm range.

The largest advantage of telekinetic swordplay was exactly that, being able to fight and attack without putting yourself in stabbing range.

I see now, this technique wasn't as bad as I thought first, my desire to learn it increased, but... I would not always have access to magic, I couldn't just rely on magic for everything! Bad mentality to have, pretty dumb, I'm meant to be practicing how to fight magicless, dad will also need to learn to use his maw or his hoof somehow too in battle, maybe... He could do with being an unarmed fighter.

It seems like a good idea in my head.

"Alright dad, I surrender, there's no way of getting to you and attacking you directly, not without using dishonorable tactics and this is a fair duel, mom said no sword knocking, I will assume also not grabbing opponent's sword, right?" She nodded, smiling at me.

Onyx and Coconut have earned shortsword proficiency, both are novice rank, practice will increase the rank and increase not only the weapon but the ways it can be used in a fight.

"I'm proud of you Onyx! Yes that was the point of this duel, to show you that sometimes magic gives us a huge advantage, but there are ways to counter it, for example that same thing you mentioned, grabbing an opponent's weapon while it's in their aura, it's much easier to take the sword away that way unless it is heavily enchanted to prevent just that." She continued explaining.

"If your opponent is a unicorn using telekinesis, and if you are fast enough, you can grab the handle of the weapon and once in your grasp, unless like I mentioned previously it is enchanted to prevent this, you can easily wrestle it away from their telekinetic grasp, this will work incredibly well for you specially Onyx. Do you know why?" I think I have an idea.

"My magic resistance?"

"Good! You know it already huh? Well it's pretty obvious because when an unicorn tries to pry their or your sword from your grasp, they will realize how hard it is." She explained further, more for Coconut than me.

"You can try grabbing the other end of the blade yes, but if Onyx touches his claws onto your aura you will lose the grip on the sword." After he confirmed he understands she began speaking again.

"For now we are done, you two have fought wonderfully! I think we are ready for going into the second dungeon and finding what we missed from there, right Onyx?" She looked at me and I nodded, we should be ready, while we weren't professionals we both could defend ourselves pretty decently.

"Yes but... How about we go tomorrow when we are more rested? And which one of us is going to stay to take care of the twins?" They book looked at me sheepishly, I rolled my eyes.

"I think its best if only dad and I go, you better look over the twins mom, and don't worry I wont hold back when it comes to defending and protecting your husband and myself, this time I'm stronger" my eyes glowed slightly as my voice was empowered, resonating around the room, I was not trying to scare them but reassure them so I kept it at that.

"I know you may think I'm a weak because I can't fight in melee quite well." I huffed a bit in frustration at that, it was true and that's what hurts the most.

"But I'm not as weak as I was, im not lagging behind anymore mom, not since I absorbed his knowledge and power, I have crossed dimensions and have been hunted for hundreds of kilometers by a very advanced military force, centuries ahead of whatever any army in this nation has, and I did it all without having to kill anyone, or even hurt anyone."

"I don't have a desire to kill even if they really wanted me dead by the end, I just want them to see their mistake and maybe work on correcting it... Peacefully." I sighed and just sat down on the floor.

"O-oh don't worry about that son, I really think you can take them on! It's just... You know im a big overprotective wolf mom, and now that I have my little ones, I am feeling really, really protective over you all, my son and husband, but I know you will protect each other, you mean the world to me!" She said in a soft and gentle tone.

"Both of you in your own way, and you know it!
So no my dear Onyx, I'm not questioning your power, I have fought alongside you before and you are really powerful, you saved my life many times!" Sylf continued with a determined voice, clearly she meant what she said.

"You can go together, of course I'll watch the foals, but if you feel things are getting dicey in there just come back, please?" She asked in a begging tone, we both agreed with a nod.

"And you love, please don't forget that you can heal yourself too! If you are getting hurt focus on healing yourself, Onyx is a sturdy little dragon, he can take a lot more punishment than you, no offense son, but dad is... Well he is less than half as resilient as you are! Please protect this adorable stallion as best as you can for me? Pleeease?" She gave me puppy wolf eyes as she looked at me, they worked too well.

"Of course mom! I know, I will protect him at all costs! I promise, I love him too you know? He's the only father I have, and I don't want another one!"

"You know it's a bit humiliating to be talked about as if I was a newborn foal that was made of glass, but... Considering the dangers you told me of this place I'm thankful for your protectiveness, come here you two~" then we both were squeezed in a hug, this time I let him and relaxed myself, even leaning into the hug with a soft purr.

After that we all went to shower, going about our day and preparing for tomorrow's dungeon delve.

Something was telling me that it would not be as easy as we have been hoping.

Author's Note

Sorry about the slow chapters, I promise there will be dungeon stuff next chapter!