"So you see, we're the only group who has been having constant resistance from the detained invaders. Every single one of them has instantly recognized you as their opposing champion and started fighting us with a renewed fervor. When compared to the behavior of the prisoners of the other teams, it's far too often for it to be chance."
Tempest took a berry from Zecora, bit down on it once to break it open then immediately swallowed it without further chewing.
"We want to help them as best we can, but there's something about you and how you were sent here that sets them off."
The prisoner was put back down in the hold as we followed.
"We appreciate the help you've provided in understanding how to bring the few mages that slipped through in... relatively unharmed, but the princesses have agreed that you have to be pulled from the roundup missions."
The other prisoner was sitting down, still chained up and gagged. Unlike the first prisoner, he had no armor, but was instead clothed in a fine, if well worn, set of robes.
When they opened up his gag to let him eat, he immediately called out to me. "What is your name?"
I felt a compelling force driving to answer that I could have fought, but chose not to, instantly knowing why he asked.
With a calm turn towards him, I allowed myself to be forced to utter an answer, "@#^$#*Moss."
He grinned a sly and confident grin. "Well then, 'Moss,'-" He mimicked my pronunciation through the language gap while twisting the index and middle fingers on one of his chained hands upward in a compelling manner. "-I demand that you kill these animals and free us."
I once again felt a compelling force, though different and with far more presence than before.
I used my last remaining luck charm to ensure I could fight it. It was only on the slightly fortunate side, but combined with my innate fortitude with saves like this, it was enough to ensure I didn't slip up and fail.
Instead of following his order, I walked straight up to the guard that just removed the gag, grabbed it, turned back to the prisoner and put the gag back in. All the while he looked at me in shock.
"Guys! I keep telling you to keep the gags on, feed them through the straws and keep their fingers bound! He realized I can understand him and used a spell that almost got me to kill all of you."
Tempest lifted an eye brow. "All of us?"
I rolled my eyes and gave a huff in agreement. "Well, to try at least. I think if it weren't for that bewitched effect keeping me from telling anybody my true name, he might have succeeded."
I then wrestled with his curled up hand, exposing the chopped off tongue of a snake that had been soaked in a sweet oil and was bent up and shaped funny like it had been hidden away somewhere for a while.
I then took it and showed it to the guards.
"And you need to take everything from them, not just any crystals or wands you find! Those are the fairly universal things arcane casters can use, but there are other materials they can use to cast specific spells too."
I looked around to find the guards in charge of the prisoner avoiding eye contact and looking embarrassed.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go back to the barracks and crawl under a blanket to warm up properly."
As the ship made it into port and the crew was working to secure it to the dock, I stood next to Plasma Wave and looked out to the ponies looking to greet their returning family members.
"I'm surprised you stayed with the squad after the fight in the desert."
Plasma Wave scanned the crowd while absentmindedly rubbing his featherless wing, which was rigged up into a mechanical wing with pink wires laced within its artificial feathers.
"Tempest said she could still use me and If I didn't take the position then my daughter would have."
He stopped scratching and looked at the artificial wing. "And I'm glad I could give the new hybrid prosthetic wing design a field test. It's sure a lot smoother and easier a flight than the first prosthetic they tried to give me. This one is so close to being as strong as my other wing that I almost forgot it wasn't real. Who knew a mere colt would be the one to take the prosthetic transference efficiency barrier and just blow it right out of the water?"
He stiffly put the wing back to his side as the gangplank finally was secured in place. "If I could just get the thing to stop being so gosh darn itch..." his words died in his throat as his eyes fell on a pony in the crowd. "Chocolate Dust!"
Plasma Wave dove right overboard, swooped over to the crowd and heaved a dark brown unicorn up into the air, nearly falling into the crowd in the process.
"My beloved wife!" He exclaimed as he did his best to land in the area that the crowd was clearing for him.
Once they landed, he saw the shocked look on her face, which quickly turned into an expression of being impressed as she glanced down at his prosthetic wing.
Their expressions of giddy embarrassment and excitement died down after a few seconds, soon transitioning into a long, intimate and content nuzzling.
The scene I saw unfold as I marched down the gangplank managed to crack the ice around the normally grim demeanor I often found myself having after returning from a mission. At least for a moment.
"There's Moss! That's the one that gave up his home to save ours!"
"I heard he can conjure a giant flame out of thin air!"
"I heard he took on a polar bear solo when it threatened his team, and subdued it without killing it!"
"I heard he can turn into a polar bear now!"
"I heard that..."
I did my best to tune it out. Instead, I looked around for the one pony I needed to find.
"Moss! Over here buddy!" I heard a somewhat familiar pegasus call out.
Looking over, I saw Rainbow Dash waving towards me and pointing to the edge of the crowd, where Fluttershy was eagerly awaiting me.
Stepping off the gangplank, I was immediately swarmed with admirers and paparazzi.
"Mr Moss! Can we ask a few questions?"
"Have you been to the sea pony domain? What is it like?"
"May we touch your head ridge?"
I raised one of my hands and gave them an irritated glare as my other hand pressed on my amulet.
"If you want me to answer your questions, then get a warrant," I stated in a low growl then switched to a more sly, business like tone I had practiced for such a swarming, "Otherwise it's five thousand bits per question, in advance."
The crowd went a bit quiet at this, with about a third of them genuinely weighing how much they had to spare or could pool together.
"Don't have that much on you? Then tough luck. And remember, I said per question."
I gestured to them to make a path.
"Now let us through. The crew needs to unload the haul and they can't do it safely with the docks full of by-standards."
With the crowd backing up, Scraps and Tempest were able to walk of the gangplank too.
"Does Moss really need to take large piles of metal coins from ponies?" Scraps whispered from behind me, though with his way of speaking, I couldn't tell whether he was talking to me or Tempest without looking back to see where he was looking.
But I heard Tempest whisper back to him soft enough to where only we could hear. "No, he doesn't need them. He just gives the bits to me to pass along to a charity. But it's what he does to keep them from asking too many questions and to keep them from liking him too much. I still don't understand why he wants that last part, but he keeps upping it each time they manage to pay. last time it was two thousand."
After finally managing to have the crowd disperse, I was able to reach Fluttershy with Tempest and Scraps.
"As per his work arrangements, I am now returning custody of Moss to you, Fluttershy. And as for when the next mission is, there won't be one."
Fluttershy signed off on my paperwork just as she heard this. Turning her head up from the papers, she gave Tempest an odd look.
With this, I piped up. "Apparently I'm scaring them just by being the guy sent here to oppose them."
Tempest gently shook her head with a frown. "Actually the entire team is disbanding. Zecora and Speaks with Talons need to get back to their duties as servants of the Animus Mundi, Plasma Wave and Iron Bastion got offers as prison guards, having gained experience handling so many of the invaders, and extended combat isn't good for my work with Scrap's rehabilitation and reintegration development, so we have to leave too. With so many of the stragglers rounded up and half the team leaving, we've agreed the other teams can take over from here. It's just time for us to move on."
After a moment of thought from her on this, I saw Fluttershy looking towards the clock at the train station and what I presumed was the train schedule.
"Is it possible to take a detour to Canterlot, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy turned to me in a mild surprise, as well as a little hesitation to try to read my face and what I was implying.
I explained in my best hodgepodge of broken Equestrian while filling in with the amulet's translation where I had to, "I really want to try to get back to doing my Equestrian lessons, and the only place I can be tutored with a pony that really understands how to tutor me is at the... castle."
I saw her positively glow with pride at my improved understanding of the language and the conviction of my desire to visit the castle again, but I also could see her and Tempest wince at my chopped up imitation of their way of vocalizing their words. I could make my words readily legible without the amulet now, enough to get a message across clearly at least. Yet it had become rather apparent that I'd always need the amulet to not sound like one of their slow children with an impediment to them due to how I'd never catch the subtleties of the way they pronounce their words.
But if I ever wanted to grow and thrive in their world in the long term then learning at least some basic verbal communication without the amulet was a skill I needed to learn, and I needed to go see the pony that tutored me for other reasons too.
Not wanting to make them suffer through more of me butchering their language, I switched back to letting the amulet just do the translating.
"I'm sure Sunburst and Starlight would want to talk to me some more about the Animus Mundi and arcane magics if they have time, and I did give my tutor my word I'd do my best to come visit her again when I got back."
Fluttershy gave a happy smile filled with about as much honey as a bee hive at the end of spring. "I know she'll be absolutely over joyed to see you again."