I wake up out of my bed. Oh, a bed! A house! Sure, all we foals have to share beds, but we still have beds and a roof! If sales go good, we could keep this up permanently. Hell, even if sales flopped for a month, we could still pay for this!
And it’s now I notice I woke up late. All of the others have already left to start shouting the news. Guess I should roll out the wagon.
———
I set up my wagon, ready to start a new day. Then, I see Ink walking over to me, “I heard from a source that the noble mare yesterday set off on the road, and was taken by an Orc Raid. Said she was kidnapped, not killed.”
I nod, and smile, “Get the others. We have a business opportunity.”
He nods, “Mind telling me the plan?”
I smile, “Normaly, I wouldn’t care about the ponies that bought from me. But she is a rich customer, and saving here might get her to buy more. Of course, we can also scavenge the Orc weapons and armor, as usual.”
Ink tilts his head, “Are you sure this is a wise decision? We’ve never actually fought before, just picked over the remains.”
I nod, “I have a plan, don’t worry. And if it turns out she dies, I can get my weapon back. Now, we don’t want that happening, but I still need to plan for it. Now, gather the rest of the Knights.”
Ink smiles, and runs off.
I look around, before entering into an alleyway, “Deceivers, I need some help.”
I can hear a light landing behind me, and an adult male voice speaks out, “You call for help, Knight?”
I nod, not turning around to face him, “I need some potions, if you don’t mind. I will pay fifty for twenty.”
I can hear the voice nod, “What type?”
I smile, “One to slow down reaction time.”
Right after I say that, a box of bottles lands at my feet, “Gold, now.”
I drop a bag of fifty, and the Deceiver picks it up, “Thank you.”
They vanish right behind me, “Enjoy, Knight Hopeful.”
I levitate the box out to my wagon, and can see other Knights approach. Basically, all foals are either Knights or Deceivers. Knights are the paperponies and me that share housing and money. The Deceivers are thieves and gang members here for far longer than the Knights. We luckily have a sort of understanding, and can help each other out if they pay.
I nod at the Knights as they approach, and smile, “Hop on in the wagon. Grab any armor you can, and put it on. Find any crossbows, bows, or guns and be prepared to fire when I knock three times on the side.”
They all hop in, and I can hear them shuffling around. I attach myself to the front, and start off towards wherever Ink says the camp is.
———
I finally start to pull my wagon into a clearing. This clearing is full of thirty Orcs at least, and one noble filly. I can see the Orcs grabbing their weapons, and starting to get ready to attack me, “Woah, woah, easy there! I’ve got some good stuff I can sell you, and killing me won’t help with that.”
The Orcs all stand down, and one approach’s me, “What does pony have?”
I detach myself from my wagon, the back pointing towards their camp. I take out a box full of twenty one bottles, “Very good tonics! A cure-all for everything!”
The Orcs look at me with distrust, “Why should we care?”
I reach into the box, and grab a bottle differnt than the rest, “Maybe you need a show of why it’s worth.”
They growl, “Do quickly before pierceing time.”
I nod, and down the bottle of water. I then take out a fake sword, and make a show of ‘stabbing’ myself. The ‘sword’ bounces off, “As can be seen, this tonic makes your skin harder than even Dwarven steel! Not to mention the fact that it will cure all diseases you might have!”
The lead Orc nods, “We’ll buy it all.”
I hand them the box, and they hand me two hundred gold. I smile, “Go ahead, drink it down and watch your entire life change!”
Twenty of the Orcs drink down the poison. Perfect, they won’t even be able to realize their dead. Reaction times slowed down so much, they won’t know what hit them.
I go back to my wagon, and tap the side three times, “And that’s not all that’s within this cart!”
The three taps give the signal for the wagon to deploy. There, the Knights stand armed with all sorts of ranged weapons. 3... 2... 1.
One of the Orcs not affected reaches for their weapon, “A trick!”
I smile, “Fire!”
The salvo cuts down the twenty Orcs that are slowed down. I quickly summon my scythe to take out the rest. I also see Open Skies get through her bonds and grab her halberd. Unicorn like her, specialized in destruction, should be able to take five as I get the other five.
I quickly jump the one nearest me, nearly catching them off guard. They manage to push me off them, and use the moment I’m on the ground to try and impale me with their spear. I roll to the side, and use the moment of the spear being stuck in the ground to cut off their head.
Another rushes up to take advantage of my position, and swing down to try and hit me. I pull myself out of the way with a bit of magic, and manage to cut off their hand. With their main arm a stump, I chop off their head and get up easily.
I hear one rushing up behind me, and duck underneath their thrust. I find a gap in their armor, right where the head is. I thrust myself upward, and impale their brain on my horn. An advanced headbut, if you will.
I quickly rotate my head to throw the body at another, knocking them down. I use this time to calmly off them, and take out the final Orc with a simple thought
With all that done, I look back towards the Knights, “Alright, let’s do some cleanup!”
They all disembark from the wagon, and pick up any equipment or loot they can find. Open approaches me, “I guess I should thank you for saving me.”
I shake my head, “Nah, it’s alright. If not for your unintentional bait, we wouldn’t have found these Orcs. And this here will allow more weapons and armor to be sold. Either way, I couldn’t just let some filly die.”
I look to my right, and see something in her golden magical aura, “Here, I found your necklace.”
I reach out to grab it, “You came out here just for my necklace?”
She shrugs, “I have nowhere to stay, and helping out a pony sounded like a good nighttime activity.”
I put on the necklace, and smile at the familiar weight.
Unity, Element, Harmony, Raven
I smile over at her, “No foal should stay out in the cold snow. Our house is warm, and you’ve done us Knights a service. I’d be glad to invite you to the house.”
She smiles, “I would love that.”
I nod, “The rent is to help. So, let’s get to searching.”