My Little Draenei: Shamanism is Magic

by scootalooftw

The Duel

Shining Armor let out a loud yawn as he stashed his final piece of paperwork for the day in the ‘out’ bin on his desk. After a moment's rest, he stood up from his desk and moved to exit his office, grabbing his helm in his magic and sliding it over his head. Stopping at the mirror he had mounted on the wall, he made a few adjustments to his armor, nodding in approval when it sat perfectly upon his form. Exiting his office, he trotted through the halls as he planned the rest of his day out in his head.

‘Paperwork is done for the rest of the day, so all I have left to do is check on the new recruits. From there, all I have to do is look busy.’

Exiting one of the many buildings carved into the side of the mountain, Shining stopped to check the position of the sun before turning and heading to the mess hall. While he would normally eat his lunch in his office while he worked, Shining had made sure to have his paperwork done in record time, in hopes that he would finish in time to meet a certain pony he had invited to use the facilities.

‘Scuttlebutt has it that Manet was out on the training field with her guards. With it being lunchtime, my best bet is to catch them eating in the mess hall. Manet didn’t seem like the type to insist on fancy eating, so I doubt she’d make them walk her all the way back to the castle dining area.’

Entering the mess hall, Shining’s eyes began scanning the room, attempting to pick Manet out from the throng of ponies present.

Noticing the officer in the room, a nearby guard approached Shining, and with a firm salute, stood at attention. “Captain, how can I help you, sir?”

“At ease, soldier,” Shining waved off any formality. “I’m just here to grab a bite to eat, same as all of you.”

“Of course, sir,” the guard responded, still confused by the officer's presence. “Do, uh, do you need help finding somepony, sir?” he asked, noticing Shining was continuing to look around the room.

“Yes, actually.” Shining did one more sweep of the room before returning his attention to the guard before him. “Sergeant Strike and Lieutenant Oak were accompanying a pony out on the sparring fields earlier, I was hoping to talk to them… I had figured they’d be in the mess eating lunch about now.”

“You actually just missed them, sir,” the guard reported. “They ate lunch early, to beat the rush. Last I heard they were heading back out to the training grounds. They were saying something about a duel, got quite a few of the off-duty guards riled up.”

‘A duel? I wonder who the lucky pony is…’

Thanking the guard for the info, Shining checked in with the nearby drill sergeants, grabbed an apple from a nearby food cart and turned to leave, returning to the training fields.

‘I had hoped to be the first to fight her, but it’s no surprise somepony beat me to it. I just hope she’s up for another once they’re done, or rushing through that paperwork will have been for nothing.’

When he reached the sparring rings, he had no trouble finding Manet and her guards, as the only field currently occupied was surrounded by a large number of guards all cheering and in a few cases, much to Shining’s displeasure, exchanging coins and placing bets. Reaching the edge of the group, Shining cleared his throat to get the attention of the nearby guards. Seeing their Captain standing behind them, giving them disapproving looks, the guards all moved to the side and gave him their best salute, giving him a clear view of the fight.

What Shining saw amazed him. In the ring fighting Manet was Sergeant Decisive Strike, a pony known to the higher-ups as a fearless fighter and a master of the blade. She was crouched low in a combat stance, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, a look of absolute fury on her face. Every inch of her coat that wasn’t covered by armor was covered in welts, bruises, and in more than a few places she had cuts that were leaking a steady flow of blood.

Manet, on the other hoof, looked like she hadn’t even been touched. Her breathing was steady and even, with not even a drop of sweat marring her coat. If the confident smirk on her face was anything to go by, she was just toying with the Sergeant.

“You need to take control of your emotions, do not let them control you,” Manet called out, a twitch of the Sergeant’s eye and slight baring of her teeth the only sign that she had heard. “Use your rage to fuel your attacks, if you allow your fury to blind you then you will never land a blow.”

Tired of the lecture Manet had been giving her, Decisive let out a battle cry and charged Manet, sword levitating in front of her. When she reached her opponent Decisive lunged with her sword, attempting a swift jab to her breast. Manet, having seen the attack coming, easily sidestepped the attack and knocked her sword away with the cudgel in her left hoof. Before Decisive had a chance to react to the parry Manet lashed out with her right-hoof weapon, landing a vicious blow to the side of Decisive’s head that knocked her helmet off and lifted her sideways off her forehooves. Continuing through with the swing, Manet pivoted on her right leg, spun, and kicked out with her left leg, bucking Decisive across the ring. Sliding to a stop at the edge of the arena, Decisive shakily attempted to rise, before dropping back to the ground.

Sheathing her weapons at her side, Manet dropped down on all fours and crossed the arena to the downed pony. Seeing her approach as an act of aggression, the guards nearest Decisive stepped forward, putting themselves between Manet and the downed pony.

“The fight’s over, back off,” one of the guards spoke up. Turning to the guards next to him, he motioned to Decisive before hooking his head under her foreleg and attempting to lift her. “We need to get her to the infirmary.”

With a roll of her eyes, Manet gently pushed the guardstallion trying to lift Decisive aside. “Calm yourself, she simply requires some healing and she’ll be fine. Besides, if she was as injured as you seem to think she is, then moving her is the last thing you’d want to do.”

“What do you mean, ‘as injured as I think she is’?” The guard attempted to get back between Manet and Decisive. “Look at her! You...”

“Didn’t do any damage I couldn’t fix.” Manet fixed her glowing blue eyes on the guard, unnerving him with the intensity of her gaze. “Now if you will kindly step out of my way, I will heal your fellow guard and show you there was nothing to worry about.”

The guard opened his mouth to retort, but his response died when Shining Armor stepped forward.

“Stand down, soldier. Let her do her thing.” Looking at the state his guard was in, Shining shook his head in disbelief. “I had heard you weren't a fighter, but a healer. Well if this is what ‘not a fighter’ from your people can do, I’d hate to face off against one of your fighters.”

Manet crouched beside Decisive, her forehooves glowing with a gentle green light. “The outcome of this fight had nothing to do with my skill as a fighter. It had to do with training and experience.”

“What do you mean by that?” Shining questioned.

“If the fight came down to skill with a blade alone, she would have easily trumped me. However, she is still quite an inexperienced fighter, so I was easily able to take advantage of quite a few things seasoned fighters would have known to look for, like her temper.”

Shining watched in amazement a glow matching the one on Manet’s forehooves encased Decisive, causing her wounds to slowly start healing themselves as flowers grew and bloomed around them, soon leaving nothing but blood matting her fur to mark where she had been cut.

“As for her training, I can guess just from a fight with her that you train your troops to avoid lethal strikes, correct?”

“Well yes, of course,” Shining answered, noticing some of the guards giving Manet uncomfortable looks. “Equestria hasn’t had a war for hundreds of years, most of what the guard deals with now is small-time criminals and wildlife getting too close to cities, we have no need for lethal force. How could you tell?”

“Besides that last strike, she went out of the way to avoid striking center mass. She left plenty of openings to slip by when a quick strike from her blade would have crippled me and ended the fight. At the very worst, her strikes were intended to temporarily disable.”

“You act like that’s a problem,” One of the guards called out.

“Here, it isn’t,” she answered, focusing on healing the last of Decisive’s wounds. “But where I come from, fighting like that will see you dead before the sun reaches its zenith.” The light from Manet’s hooves faded as the cut from the final blow to Decisive’s head sealed itself, leaving not even a scar in its place.

Decisive’s eyes fluttered open before a hoof shot to her head, rubbing the spot where Manet’s cudgel had impacted. “Did anypony get the plates on that chariot?” she groaned out, rolling to her stomach.

“That was me, and I apologize,” Manet reached a hoof down and helped Decisive to her hooves. “I may have gotten a little more into that fight then I intended.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Decisive threw a hoof over Manet’s back and pulled her into a hug, trying to show her there were no hard feelings. “You gave me some great advice, even if I was a bit too proud to try and listen at the time.” Noticing Shining Armor for the first time, she quickly withdrew her leg from around Manet and snapped to attention and gave him her best salute. “Captain Armor, sir!”

“At ease, soldier, you know you don’t need to salute when your off duty. Or at least, I assume you're off duty, with you being out of uniform.”

“She is, sir.” Heavy Oak stepped forward from the crowd. “Ah gave her permission ta take the rest of the day and train with Manet. Figured she could use the distraction, Sir.”

“Well, as long as you signed off on it, I’m only upset that I wasn’t the first one to fight her.” Shining stepped up to the armor racks and started removing his armor, much to the surprise of everypony present. “What do you say, Manet, up for another one?”

The Princess of the Moon stood peering out from her tower, having just witnessed the fight between the Captain of her sister’s guard and the strange visitor they had staying in the castle.

“Interesting,” she murmured to herself. “We haven’t seen a fighter quite like thee since Our return.”

Her eyes scanned the training field, watching as the guards cleaned the mess left in the aftermath of their intense duel. “Thou strike with such precision and ferocity, something ponies these days aren’t capable of.”

Luna watched in amusement as a pair of nurses from the infirmary took to the field and attempted to load Manet onto the stretcher hooked between the two, only for her to wave them off and shakily climb to her hooves. After taking a few shaky steps towards the castle, and nearly falling when she put weight on one of her forelegs, she appeared to have a short argument with the nurses before the Captain and another guardsmare Luna didn’t recognize took up positions alongside Manet and led her to the castle, supporting her the whole way.

“Thou are quite strong on thine own, a true warrior, yet thou art hesitant to let ponies in, to let them help thee. We just can’t understand thee, Manet. Thou art friendly and laughing just this morning, yet as soon as their is a weapon in thine hooves, thy fight like a wild beast that has been backed into a corner. Why has happened to thee, to make the act this way.”

Luna sat and pondered her question before the light creaking of her chamber doors opening drew broke her out of her thoughts. Sensing a presence behind her, Luna addressed the pony she had been expecting, keeping her eyes glued to the training field. “Captain Wing, have thou made thine pick of guards for Seer Manet?”

“Captain Wing was preparing to brief his chosen guards when I saw him in the hall,” came the unexpected voice of Luna’s sister. “I was surprised to hear you were already awake and decided to take this opportunity to come speak with you.”

With a glow of her horn, Luna closed the curtains as she was pulled into an embrace by her sister.

“Is there anything of import thou wished to speak to Us about, Tia?” Luna asked, not fighting the hug. “We planning on returning to our slumber once Captain Wing had reported to Us.”

“Nothing important, Lulu.” Celestia released a content hum as Luna shifted in her embrace and returned the hug. “We simply don’t get enough time together. I spent one-thousand years missing you, and now that you're back I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

“Tis true,” Luna agreed, burying her face in Celestia’s shoulder. “We have missed this.”

“I have too, Luna. I have too…” Celestia wrapped her wings around Luna as they sat in silence, each content with the presence of the other.

A few minutes passed, just the two of them lost in their memories of days long past before Luna broke the silence with a mighty yawn.

“As nice as this has been, I suppose I should let you get back to sleep, Lulu.” Celestia giggled. “Just, before I go… I also wanted to thank you.”

“Whatever for, Tia?” Luna questioned.

“For breakfast this morning, with Manet. I know how important it is to you be too formal in front of our subjects… It made me happy that you were able to put that aside to help welcome our guest.”

“Think nothing of it, Tia. Thou always told Us that ponies would like Us better if We were a bit less… formal. Besides, Twilight Sparkle isn’t just important to thee, sister. Were it not for the actions of her, and of the other Elements, We would still be lost in the madness of The Nightmare. ‘Twas the least We could do, helping her feel welcome.”

“Still, it made me very happy to see you open up like you did. It reminded me of when we were fillies before we had all of these… duties”

Rising from where they had been sitting on the floor, Celestia kissed Luna on the forehead, just beside her horn, before making her way to the door. “I’ll see you at dinner, Lulu, sleep well.”

Celestia had only gone a few steps before Luna called out.

“Tia, wait!”

“Yes, Lulu?”

“Can you…” Luna looked away, biting her lip as she worked up the courage to make her request. “Can you stay with me, and snuggle. At least until We fall asleep.”

Celestia’s heart melted at the pleading look Luna gave her, and she found it harder and harder to say no, not that she had planned to.

Celestia gave her sister a loving smile. “Of course I can, Lulu.”

With a squeal of delight, Luna teleported to her bed and made herself comfortable, waving her sister over. Celestia climbed in the bed with her and pulled her close, draping a wing over her back. The two mares lay in a state of bliss, remembering days from their childhood when Celestia would comfort her sister, just as she was doing now when she had trouble sleeping. It wasn’t long at all before Luna’s slow, rhythmic breathing let Celestia know she had fallen asleep. Giving her sister one last kiss, she quietly rose from the bed and exited her sister’s room, leaving Luna to dream of days long past.

Doctor Mender was not having a good day. Not only was the Captain of Celestia’s Day Guard currently in the infirmary, nor was there just a foreign dignitary currently receiving care. Oh, no, either of those things, as bad as they were, would be preferable to the current situation. Not only were both the Solar Captain and a dignitary currently laid up in recovery beds, but they had put each other there!

Bone Mender couldn’t help but grind his teeth in frustration as he rubbed his temples with his forehooves. ‘What were they even thinking!’ Mender mentally ranted. ‘That’s the problem, I’ll bet. They weren’t! All Captain Meathead in there was worried about was finding a challenge.’ Mender glared at the small mountain of paperwork laid out before him, grunting in frustration. ‘I’m sure he didn’t even consider the amount of paperwork he’d be making for me. Not to mention the fact that he just put a protected foreign visitor in the hospital.’

Mender leaned back in his chair, releasing a long, drawn-out sigh as he covered his face with his forehooves. ‘But that’s not even the worst part. No, the worst part is that Shining Armor, Captain of the guard, put the foreign dignitary, whose protection he was tasked with, of a new race that we have never had contact with, in the hospital. That is just asking for an international incident! How are we supposed to explain this? “Oh, we’re sorry she’s a little beat up. The pony in charge of protecting her decided to beat the hay out of her instead! Hope this won’t affect our relations.”’

Without opening his eyes, Mender kicked off one of the legs of his chair, and couldn’t stop a small smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth. As foalish as it was, spinning around in one of those new ‘spinny chairs’ the infirmary had gotten always brought a smile to his face.

‘Then again, if what I hear of her people is true, they may see this as some type of honor.’ Mender couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ‘They could be like the griffins, who see beating the crap out of each other as some sort of bonding exercise.’

Mender slid out of his seat as it slowed to a stop, taking a moment to adjust his lab coat before collecting the folders on his desk in his magic and preparing to leave his office.

“Oh,” As Mender reached the door, he paused in his stride and turned to address his assistant. “Ms. Script, I’m heading out to pay a visit to our three newest patients. If anypony needs me, unless it’s an emergency, please take a message for me. I’ve got enough on my plate right now, dealing with those three.”

Getting a brief nod in acknowledgment from his assistant, Mender trotted out of his office and down the hall, closing the door behind him with his magic. Opening the first of the three folders he had grabbed, he began leafing through it, a look of deep concentration on his face.

‘First patient, unicorn mare. Admitted after receiving a hard blow to the head, temporarily rendering her unconscious. Shortly after entering concussion protocol, she was cleared and given paracetamol to treat her headache.’

Closing the first folder, he shuffled it to the back of the stack and opened the second, reading it as he continued down the hall.

‘Second patient, unicorn stallion. Admitted for treatment of a single laceration to the right side of his face, as well as swelling of the right side of his face, and minor magical exhaustion. Was administered paracetamol for pain relief after complaining of pain centered in and around his horn. No damage was found following a thorough examination, recommended to be put on light casting duty to allow his magic to recover.’

Doctor Mender couldn’t help but scoff and roll his eyes. ‘Right, like the captain would agree to light duty.’ Rounding the corning, the doctor navigated past a pair of nurses idly chatting as they checked the supplies of each room, as well as a few members of the cleaning staff who were busy doing their jobs, all without looking up from the folder.

‘Treatment included six stitches to close the laceration, and a minor healing spell to reduce the swelling.’

Mender came to a stop outside the room containing the Captain and the dignitary. Closing the second folder, he opened the final folder and began reading it, waiting to enter the room.

‘Third patient, mare of previously undocumented race, identified as Draenei. Admitted for treatment of several small lacerations across her face and body, a fractured muzzle, and a hairline fracture of her right coffin. Treatment including cleaning and bandaging of the lacerations, minor healing spells to help set and mend her muzzle, and a splint and sling for her right foreleg.’

Flipping through the files once more, Mender placed them in the bin next to the door before giving a quick knock to announce his presence. Nodding to the guard stationed in the hall, he opened the door with his magic and stepped through, freezing at the scene before him.

The green glow faded from Manet’s body as she let out a sigh of relief. Doing her best to keep her body covered with the sheets on her bed, she began removing the bandages covering her neck and barrel.

Looking up from her seat in the corner of the room, Decisive rolled her eyes and stood up, placing the book she was reading on her seat.

“Ya know, the doctors put all those bandages on you for a reason, I don’t think they’ll appreciate you taking them off like that.”

Manet paused, giving Decisive a look of confusion. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Because they put those on you to heal you,” Decisive responded, “not so you could take them off as soon as they leave.”

“But I’m already healed, look!” Manet pulled off the bandages on her foreleg, revealing the previous bruised and battered coat that was now perfectly healed and unblemished.

Decisive couldn't help but gape in amazement. “How?! When they wrapped you up you were almost literally covered from hoof to horn in bruises!”

“And I tried telling you that I could heal it myself, once my Exhaustion wore off and my mana regenerated, but you didn’t want to listen. The Captain and you both insisted I see a medic.”

Manet began removing more bandages from herself, flinching in pain when she attempted to remove her foreleg from its sling. Seeing this, Decisive put a hoof on Manet’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Perhaps you should leave them on, at least until the doctor has a chance to check on you.” Decisive eyed the hoof that Manet held securely to her barrel. “Especially if your hoof is still bothering you.”

“My hoof is fine, it was just a pinch,” Manet waved her off “now help me get this thing off so we can get out of here.”

“Get out of here…” Decisive cocked her head in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“Well, my wounds have been treated, and I’ve healed myself,” Manet held up her partially bandaged foreleg to accentuate her point “so now we leave, yes?”

“What? No, that’s not how it works here.” Decisive attempted to gently push Manet back into the hospital bed she was currently attempting to get out of. “The doctor treated you, yes, but you need to stay in bed and rest until they clear you.”

“That’s ridiculous, it’s just a sprained wrist!” Manet attempted to push Decisive off her. “When I was in Northrend I broke my tail, in multiple places, and I was out fighting cultists the next day!”

“That was in Northrend, things are different here, Manet.” Decisive lit her horn up and used her magic to gently force Manet back into bed. “There are no evil cultists, or world ending Lich to worry about. You were hurt in a sparring match, for Celestia’s sake!”

Manet waved her forehoof, which flashed white, and Decisive was blasted in the face with a quick gust of wind. In response, her horn started sparking as the aura surrounding it sputtered out, releasing Manet from her magical grip. Taking advantage of Decisive’s momentary confusion, Manet pushed Decisive off of her and once again attempted to climb out of bed. However, before she could get more than a hoof on the floor, Decisive recovered and forced her back into bed again.

“I told you before you brought me here, and I’ll tell you now, I’m fine!” Manet said, once more trying to push Decisive off of her.

As Manet continued to struggle Decisive, unable to access her magic, climbed on the bed and sat on her. “Alright, good, if you’re fine then just stay in bed for a few minutes so we can get a doctor here to clear you.”

Manet opened her mouth to respond, but before she could she was cut off by the sound of a knock at the door. They both froze and looked over at the door just in time to see a doctor open the door and walk in, freezing when he saw them. They slowly looked at each other, then at the now ripped bandages scattered around the bed, and finally down at themselves, faces flushing as they noticed the compromising position they found themselves in. Before either of them could do more than try to stutter out some type of excuse for their current predicament, the doctor gave his head a quick shake before shooting them a glare.

“Excuse me, Ms. Strike, but could you tell me what you are doing to my patient?” Doctor Mender asked.” Because from where I’m standing, it looks as though you are either assaulting her or preparing to mount her, neither of which is appropriate in a hospital setting.”

Decisive hopped off of Manet and out of the bed, nearly face-planting when she landed. “It’s not what it looks like, I swear! She was trying to take her bandages off and get out of bed, and I was trying to stop her, and...”

“You were trying to keep an injured patient in bed, by sitting on them?” Mender asked incredulously. “If that’s how they taught you to handle injuries in the guard, then I’m going to have to have a word with your superiors.”

“No, sir, we are taught to be gentle and treat them with care. But I was having trouble holding her down,” Decisive poked at her horn, “and she did something to my horn that kept me from using magic to hold her down.”

Mender shifted his gaze to Manet, who just waved him off. “Oh please, she’ll be fine. The spell lock from Wind Shear only lasts for a few seconds at most.”

After eyeing the two of them a few moments longer Mender stepped fully into the room, ignoring the stifled laughter of the guard in the hall as he pulled the door closed behind himself.

“Regardless of what the two of you were doing, I’m going to ask that you refrain from continuing, lest you injure yourselves further.” Lighting up his horn, Mender pulled back the curtain separating the two halves of the room, revealing a highly entertained Shining Armor sitting in bed, his face, head, and horn all wrapped in bandages. “And what about you, captain? You didn’t feel it would be prudent to try and stop the two of them?”

“I’m stuck in a hospital bed,” Shining smirked, “I needed some kind of entertainment.”

Rolling his eyes in response, Mender levitated a pair of glasses out of his coat pocket and placed them upon his snout. “Now, seeing as you are so very insistent upon getting out of here, why don’t we see if I can get you cleared so you can stop making a mess of my room.”

Grabbing the sheets with his magic, he attempted to pull them down so he could examine Manet, but she was quick to grab the sheets and hold them in place, leaving her body covered.

“Uhh, Ms. Manet,” Mender raised an eyebrow at her, “I need you to remove the sheet. I can’t release you without an exam.”

Pulling the sheets tighter to herself, Manet shot a nervous glance in Shining Armor’s direction. “Could you close the curtain first, please?”

Before Mender could respond, the curtain was enveloped in Decisive’s magic and pulled closed, blocking Manet’s bed off from the rest of the room.

“It’s a cultural thing, Doc. We had the same issue earlier, one of the nurses started undressing her where Shiny over there could see her, I thought we were gonna have to find a bed for the poor mare.” Decisive snickered.

“Yeah,” Shining laughed from his bed, “I thought she was going to put the nurse through the wall.”

“I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen,” Manet said, trying to defend herself. “Where I come from, a female undressing in front of a male is considered an intimate act.”

“You were covered hoof to snout in cuts and bruises,” Decisive said with a smirk, “if you view that as intimate, then we need to party sometime.”

“As thrilling as that view into your personal life was,” Doctor Mender cut in, “I would prefer it if we could proceed with the examination, so that we may get Manet out of our mane sooner rather than later.”

“Hey,” Manet said, sounding slightly offended, “you say that as if I’m a nuisance.”

“You threatened my staff and ruined hours of their hard work in an attempt to leave before being cleared,” Mender responded, fixing Manet with a glare. “As far as I’m concerned, that is all you are.”

Significantly cowed by the doctor's response, Manet slumped back in bed and laid quietly as the doctor looked her over. After a short time, Mender mumbled quietly to himself while scribbling on the clipboard that had been hanging from the foot of Manet’s bed.

“It appears that whatever you did to yourself has completely healed all but the worst of your wounds.” Mender said, turning to face Manet. “So long as you refrain putting weight on that hoof whenever possible, and avoid taking any more blows to the face, I see no reasons to hold you here any longer.”

Dropping the clipboard back in its bin at the foot of Manet’s bed, Mender pulled the privacy curtain open with his magic and stepped outside of it before turning back to face Manet.

“I will give you your requested privacy while you redress yourself,” He said flatly. “I suggest you take the Sergeant’s help, to avoid aggravating your injuries. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get the captain cleared as well.”

Turning to leave, Mender pulled the curtain closed behind him with his magic.

“Well,” Decisive said, standing from where she had sat and stretching, “let’s get you dressed so we can get out of here. I’m starting to get hungry.”

“I can handle dressing, thank you,” Manet said throwing the covers off of herself and throwing her hind legs over the edge of the bed.

“I’m sure you can,” Decisive said, “but I’m also sure you wouldn’t want to slip and end up stuck her for longer. Hippocratic oath or not, from the looks that doctor was giving you he might just kill you if you stick around too long.”

Manet opened her mouth to argue but decided the threat of being stuck in the hospital longer was greater than the annoyance of having to have someone dress her. Resigned to her fate, she gently hopped off of the bed and turned to face Decisive, the first article of her clothing already floating in the mare’s magic.

After spending the better part of the afternoon in the infirmary Manet was on her way back to the barracks mess hall to meet with Shining and Decisive. When she had finally been cleared to leave the infirmary the captain, still awaiting his own clearance, had promised to meet her there. The sergeant had split off shortly after their departure, stating that she had to take care of a few errands to run before dinner.

As Oak lead the way through the castle halls, Manet couldn’t help but stop every few steps to scratch at the wrap the doctor had put on her right front ankle.

“This thing is going to drive me crazy!” Manet whined, pulling at the sling her hoof was in. “I told that doctor I was fine, why did he need to put this stupid thing on me.”

“That ‘stupid thing’ is ta keep ya from walking on yer leg before it’s healed.” Came Oak’s grumbled response. “Ya fractured yer coffin, that’s not something ya want ta walk around on.”

“But I healed it!”

“Yer healing spells healed yer surface wounds,” Oak corrected her. “The doctor said when he scanned it after the spell ya still showed signs of swelling and stress around the ligaments, and yer muzzle was still fractured. Now, unless ya want ta walk with a limp forever, ya’ll stay off it and let it heal.”

Manet grumbled in response, following Oak out the same doors they had exited earlier towards the barracks. A few minutes of walking later, and a quick detour for Manet to pick up the rest of her stuff, they reached the mess halls. Upon entering the mess, they were quick to locate Shining at a table, surrounded by ponies she didn’t recognize. When Shining spotted Manet, he waved her over as one of the unfamiliar ponies rose to give her his seat.

“Manet, great to see you’re still up and about!” Shining cheered. “I was worried I went too hard on you.”

“Oh please,” Manet scoffed. “I’ve walked away from worse beatings than that.”

Taking her seat, she was surprised when a tray and a mug wrapped in a brown aura dropped on the table in front of her. Looking up, she saw a smiling Decisive take the seat that had just opened across from her, a tray and mug held in a similar aura in front of her.

“Ya know, I don’t feel so bad about the beating you gave me anymore,” Decisive quipped, picking up an apple from her tray in her magic and taking a bite of it. “The beating ol’ Shiny here gave you? Mine paled in comparison.”

“Yeah yeah,” Manet rolled her eyes, picking the mug up with her unslung hoof. “I’ll remember that next time I hold back against you.” Taking a large gulp of her drink, she set it down, giving the mug a questioning look. “What is that stuff?”

“It’s cider, some of the best in Equestria,” Shining said, taking a large gulp from his own mug. “I signed off on the serving of alcohol for tonight, figured a fight like the one we had deserved a bit of a celebration.”

A collective cheer rang through the barracks as all the ponies signaled their approval. As Manet looked around the room, she noticed that it was filled almost to bursting and that more ponies were squeezing their way in, including a large light brown earth pony stallion with a mud-colored mane. Spotting the three of them, the stallion in question turned and made a bee-line straight for their table. Taking a seat next to Decisive, he reached across the table and took Manet’s hoof in his own massive hoof and shook it vigorously.

“It’s nice tah properly meet ya, Manet. As Ah’m sure D over here has told ya, mah name’s Heavy Oak.”

Manet’s jaw dropped when the pony introduced himself. “There’s no way you're the same pony that has been following me around all day. He had a stick shoved so far up his ass, I’m surprised he had any room for food when he ate!”

“Nope, there’s room for plenty in here,” Heavy leaned back and patted his belly, going along with the joke. “Besides, Ah take it out when Ah’m off duty. Gotta make sure it stays clean.”

The entire table had a laugh at the joke, and soon everypony present had a mug of cider in front of them as they went around the table, introducing themselves and telling stories. As the night drug on, Manet had just finished her eighth mug of cider when she got an idea. Having the ponies clear a large spot on the table, she reached into her bag and, with assistance from a nearby unicorn, pulled a large keg out and placed it on the table.

“Gather round ponies, I’d like to introduce you to a personal favorite of mine.” Manet waited for the room to quiet down before continuing. “This here is one of the stronger brews from where I come from, made by the dwarves of Dun Morogh.”

Tapping the keg and pouring a mug, she slid one to Shining. Grabbing the mug in his aura, he picked it up and, without a moment's hesitation, brought it to his lips and attempted to drink it in a single massive draught. Instantly, his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as he slammed the mug down, coughing and sputtering

“What in the hay is that stuff?!” he asked, trying to stifle his coughing.

Pouring herself a mug, Manet took a drink and killed the entire mug in a single swig, slamming the mug down upside down to show it was empty. “It’s Dwarven Thunder Ale, one of the best things the dwarves ever made! What do you think of it?”

“It’s got a hay of a kick to it, I’ll tell you that much.” Draining the remainder of his mug, he slid it back to Manet and asked for a refill.

Manet picked up his mug and complied, filling it to the top and sliding it across the table. “Enjoy, obtaining this keg was no easy feat.” Refilling her own mug, she took a seat next to Shining, leaning back against the table.

They sat silently for a few minutes, both content with nursing their drinks before Shining Armor decided to start a conversation.

“So,” he started awkwardly, catching Manet’s attention. “You feelin’ ok? I was a little worried I might’ve gone a bit too hard on you.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Like I said, I’ve walked away from worse. I could heal most of the damage.” Manet started scratching at the wrap on her foreleg. “My muzzle and this blasted hoof are the only things that wouldn’t heal.”

“Sorry about that,” Shining bashfully rubbed the back of his head, eyeing the sling Manet had her foreleg in. “That doesn’t look comfortable at all. But still, it could have been worse. I thought for sure it was broken, and yet you walked away from that with just a fracture.”

“Please,” Manet rolled her eyes. “It’ll take a lot more than a flimsy little shield to keep me down.” Manet eyed the gash a strike from her tail had left on Shining’s face, noticing his eye was bruised and swollen shut. “You know, I could easily heal that for you, save you the pain.”

“What, this little thing?” Shining waved her off. “Nah, it's fine, it's kinda like a badge of honor or a hard-earned trophy. Besides, if I’m lucky it’ll scar, mares dig scars.”

Manet rolled her eyes and scoffed at the joke. “If you insist.”

The two sat in silence as Manet nursed her drink and Shining wracked his brain, trying to think of a way to keep the conversation going. Not wanting the silence to get awkward, he asked one of the first things he thought of. “So how are you enjoying the castle so far?” Shining asked.

“It’s definitely a step up from a frozen wasteland, that’s for sure,” Manet joked, taking a drink from her mug before continuing. “The princesses are nice, and I’ve even managed to make a few friends.”

“I noticed, you and Decisive seem to get along pretty well, and from what I hear your maid is quite taken with you.”

“You mean Squeaky?” Manet asked. “She’s nice, a bit too forward at times, but I assume that has to do with cultural differences.”

“Yeah, ponies are a lot more open with things than most other species here in Equestria. It can take a bit of getting used to for outsiders.” Shining gave Manet a playful nudge with his shoulder. “I was surprised to see you opened up so fast, what’s up with that?”

“I’m showing you ponies a bit more trust. It seemed like the least I could do, all things considered.”

Finishing his drink, he grabbed Manet’s empty mug, along with his own, and floated them over to the keg for a refill. “I’m glad to hear we’ve at least started to earn your trust. Although I can’t help but wonder why you don’t offer it a bit more freely. I don’t mean to offend or anything, but ponies tend to work with a ‘trust until they give a reason for distrust’ philosophy, whereas yours seems to be the exact opposite.”

Shining floated the now filled mugs back over to them, and Manet accepted hers with a nod before taping a deep drink, draining half the mug.

“Explaining that would require a bit of a history lesson. I’ll start it by saying that my race is extremely long-lived. While we don’t have many records predating the Burning Crusades, the oldest living member of my race is over twenty-five thousand years old. We live a long time, so we don’t tend to forget when someone slights us. Even after our exodus all those years ago, my people held similar beliefs to yours on trust. After a time, we had settled in with a race of people called Orcs in a land we called Draenor, or ‘Exile’s Refuge’, and we spent many years living with them in peace.”

Manet paused to take a sip of her drink, eyes staring off as she thought back to her history lessons. “Eventually, the demons found us like they always did. They sent an envoy to meet with the Orcs, and used their Fel taint to corrupt them, turning our allies against us.”

Manet’s face darkened as she took another drink, draining her mug and setting it aside. “The Fel Orcs eventually declared war on us. The fight lasted nearly eight years, and wiped out over eighty percent of my race.”

The color drained from Shining’s face when he heard just how bloody the conflict had been. Draining his own mug, he rose from his seat and filled both their mugs again.

Barely acknowledging the mug Shining handed her, Manet continued her tale. “The remainder of my people were scattered across the lands, eventually taking up refuge in one of our well-hidden floating keeps. Years later another race found us, and with our people still recovering from the war, they were easily able to seize the Tempest Keep from us. My people ran from the Blood Elves and hid in one portion of the keep that came to be called ‘The Exodar’, and attempted to use its planar shifting abilities to flee Draenor and get help.”

Grabbing her drink from where Shining had placed it, she drained it in one go before continuing, a hint of anger in her voice. “The Blood Elves though, they didn’t want us to escape, and certainly not with a piece of their keep, so they attacked the Exodar and snuck agents aboard to sabotage it. The Vindicators held off the assaulting elves while the engineers did their best to counter the saboteurs, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. More than half of our Vindicators had fallen, and when we were finally able to achieve planar shift, the engine exploded. We crash landed on Azeroth and have been fending off the remainder of the elves ever since. Had it not been for the Alliance, I’m sure the elves would have exterminated my people by now.”

Rising from her seat, Manet stumbled to the keg and refilled her drink. “And that is why my people don’t tend to trust outsiders. When two of our three first contact scenarios end with the attempted genocide of your race, you don’t really look forward to a fourth.”

Manet returned to her seat and plopped down, leaning slightly against Shining as he sat, gaping in horror at the story he just heard.

“But ‘nough ‘bout tha’,” Manet slurred, finally starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. “How’ bout I tell a diff’r’nt shtory, light’n tha mood… hic!”

“Yes, please,” Shining shuddered. “How about the story of how you got that keg? It definitely isn’t a normal keg, it should have been empty ten times over by now.”

“The keg‘s enchanted," Manet slurred, "‘s long as I have the proper materialsh to brew more, the keg’ll refill itshelf as we drink fr’m it. Had ta crawl through lotsha sewers and kill lotsha rats to get tha’ thing, but it was sho worth it... hic!”

“Sewers full of rats?” Shining asked. “That sounds like a story you need to tell.”

“Yesh, of courshe,” Manet laughed. “Ya shee, ‘t all shtarted when I wash talkin’ to a Dwarf named Marleth in Brewnall Village…”

The night evolved into one of rowdy fun, and eventually, the drunk ponies decided more food was required. Awoken by the sound of singing, Turnip Salad entered the mess to see ponies tossing empty plates around the room as they made their way to a group of unicorns in the kitchen who were cleaning and drying everything.

Turnip sat, stunned by the spectacle before him when a pony stumbled over to him holding a plate.

“Excuse me, sir,” he asked. “What should I do with my plate?”

Before he could even attempt to respond, another pony approached the first pony and grabbed the plate from his hooves, tossing it across the room. “Here you go, Orion, give it ta me.”

Turnip could only stare in horror as they tossed not only the mess plates around the room, but they had somehow gotten a hold of his set of antique plates and were tossing them around as well.

“Hey, excuse me! That’s my mother’s West Furthing pottery, you give it back!” He gasped as the pony dropped the plate, and then nearly fainted when they kicked it back into the air and began volleying it back and forth with their hind legs. “That’s over one-thousand years old!”

As he chased the pony past a table, he noticed the ponies sitting at the table where banging their silverware on the table, then swiping them across each other, playing them as though they were some type of instrument.

“Could you not do that, please, you’ll blunt them!”

“Oh, do you hear that?” One of the ponies chuckled. “He says we’ll blunt the knives.”

Music seemed to drift in from nowhere as the ponies at the table began singing.

A plate was tossed over Turnip’s head to nopony in particular, and before it could hit the ground a pegasus swooped in out of nowhere, bouncing the plate between his forelegs and singing the next verse.

Catching the plate, the pegasus tossed it through the serving has into the kitchen. As he flew away another pony seated nearby picked up the tune.

All the ponies present took a moment to look at each other before smiling and singing in unison.

One of the ponies in the kitchen grabbed a large spoon and began drumming on the bottom of a large pot as everypony continued singing.

As the plates were cleaned and dried, they were tossed to an earth pony who caught them in his forehooves, soon having a stack that nearly reached the ceiling.

The earth pony balancing the places walked past Turnip, leaving Turnip staring in awe and horror at the feat of balance he was witnessing.

Turnip cried out in shock as a plate was thrown too far, then sighed in relief as the pony it was thrown to dove after it and rolled across the floor, catching it over his shoulder.

On and on the ponies sang, as more and more plates flew through the air. Turnip noticed a group of ponies in a corner that were dropping every plate that still had food on it in front of a large earth pony.

The earth pony was grabbing food with both forelegs, stuffing it in his mouth and cleaning the plates while barely stopping to take a breath.

Walking past the table of plates, Turnip saw Shining Armor and Manet sitting at a table together, each with a mug in a forehoof while Shining had his other foreleg around Manet’s withers as they both sang.

Manet and Shining were rocking back and forth together, singing along to the merry tune.

The music rose to a crescendo as ponies came out of nowhere playing lutes, flutes, and in one case, a tea kettle. The dining area was cleared of plates, and as the last plate was dried and stashed in the kitchen, everypony reared in unison and cheered the final verse of the song.

Shining and Manet both collapsed to the floor and passed out as the singing devolved into laughter. Turnip was left staring in awe, wondering how a bunch of rowdy drunks breaking into song could leave his kitchen cleaner than it has ever been. With a twitch of his eye, Turnip decided it was either too late, or too early to worry about it and stomped out of the mess hall, leaving Shining Armor and Manet passed out in each others embrace.

Shining woke the following morning to the sound of a very noisy pony walking towards him.

“Sweet Celestia, what did I do last night,” he groaned out, attempting to lift his pillow over his head to drown out the sound. Noticing his pillow was heavier than it should have been, he opened his eyes to discover that his pillow was somehow almost as large as him, and had turned blue. Blinking in confusion, his vision cleared to reveal that his ‘pillow’ was actually a pony and that that pony was Manet. Looking down, his face began to flush as he noticed that her left foreleg was wrapped securely around his barrel. Hearing a pony clear their throat nearby, his embarrassment turned to fear when he saw just who had caught him. He did his best imitation of a fish as he attempted to come up with an excuse, but was interrupted when Manet awoke.

“By The Light, I could really use a cup of coffee right now.” Smacking her lips a few times, Manet looked around the room before noticing the pony that was glaring at her. “Oh, hello, big pink wing pony. Would you happen to have any coffee?”

The pony in the room shifted her gaze back and forth between Manet and Shining, before sitting on the floor and closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she lifted a foreleg to her chest before moving it away as she breathed out. Opening her eyes, she gave the ponies a smile before addressing Shining Armor.

“Oh Shiny, dear fiance of mine. Would you mind telling me what you are doing?”

“Uh, Cadie, honey…” Shining chuckled nervously. “I can explain…”