//------------------------------// // 10: Storytime with a Witcher // Story: An Equestrian Witcher 2.0 // by OblivionShadow //------------------------------// He opened his eyes as the front of the barn filled his vision. A startled yelp sounded off to the side of him and he looked to find Applejack staring at him from the side of the barn. He looked up as Applejack and Twilight both looked at him from the farmhouse. “Ya’ll need ta warn a gal afore ya reappear like that.” She said as she put a hoof against her chest. “My apologies.” He said to her. “Ya ready ta head to the school ta meet with Apple Bloom's class?” “I will be once in a moment." He replied. “Ya don’t hurry yer gonna be late.” She advised. “I know.” “Hi, Oblivion.” Twilight greeted. “You seem like you’re in a hurry?” “I am speaking to Apple Bloom's class in a bit and I might need a bit of magical help.” He replied. “Oh?” “Can you blunt my sword?” He asked her. “Why would you need me to…? Oh.” She replied. “You can’t use magic around other ponies and using my magic will be easier than using your own. I get it. Okay, I can blunt it easily enough. How long do you want it to be blunted?” “An hour or so. Just long enough to keep it from being able to cut a foal.” He responded. “Okay, I can do that,” Twilight said to him as he pulled the weapon from his back and her magic gripped it carefully in her aura. He moved to the front door and trotted up the stairs and into his room. He pulled his cloak from within the same wardrobe. The Witcher tossed it onto his back and it settled to cover the swords that were on his back. He moved out of the room and went back outside to rejoin the mares. Twilight was still holding the sword in her magic as he watched as a cover seem to go over the weapon. The cover slipped over the weapon and he watched as its normal luster dulled for a moment before it was restored. “There. That should do it.” She said to him as she carried the sword back to him. “Thank you.” He said as the sword was placed in his hoof. He slipped the blade back into the scabbard and moved the cloak to hide them. He looked to the mares and they nodded in approval at his appearance. His mane was tied tightly in place as he shook his head for a moment before he turned to the front gate. “Better hurry up.” Applejack said to him. “Ya might need ta run there.” “I know.” He broke into a trot as he moved toward the gate and once he passed through it he lunged into a gallop and his hooves covered the ground as he moved. He raced forward and his pace was ground eating as he focused on his destination. Dust kicked up behind him as his hooves were remarkably silent on the dirt path despite his pace. His orange eyes fell on the rapidly growing schoolhouse and he slid to a halt outside the gates. He moved through the gate and neared the front door. The sound of small hooves drummed inside the school and the front door was thrown open to reveal Apple Bloom smiling wide at the sight of him. “Yer here!” She shouted, glee in her voice. She jumped down the few small steps and came to him and her hoof gripped his right foreleg. He allowed her to drag him forward and he walked three-legged behind her. Once he was inside he looked at the mare that was smiling at the filly’s antics. Her eyes connected with his and she tipped her head to the back of the classroom. He gave her a slight nod of understanding and he pulled his foreleg free of the filly’s grip and he moved to the back of the room. He could see the foals who had turned in their seats to stare at him. “Everypony, please face forward,” Cheerilee said to them, her voice gentle. Several of the foals groaned but they did as she had asked of them. He scanned the room and his gaze fell on the filly that he had seen teasing Apple Bloom. Her spirit was muted and subdued compared to the others in the room. His curiosity was piqued as he looked at her for several seconds but he ultimately decided that she was not in a condition that he would need to interfere. He had stepped in with Blue Blood due to the severity that he had seen. While the filly was muted in comparison to her fellows he did not need to step in to help every sad pony that he came across. He looked away from her and back to the front as he focused on what the mare was now teaching. If he was seeing it correctly it was a form of mathematics. He had never paid much attention to mathematics beyond what he needed to function day to day. His knowledge of the subject went as far as what he needed for his potions and decoctions, beyond that he did not know. While he was not sure what he was seeing on the chalkboard he knew that if he wished to know more than he could borrow a mathematics book from Twilight should the need arise. Minutes ticked past as the foals took notes and listened closely to her. A small bell sounded off on the desk and he startled slightly as the foals suddenly all spun in their chairs to look at him. “Okay everypony,” Cheerilee said to them, laughter in her voice. “I know you’re all very excited for Mr. Shadow to speak today but you need to wait for Apple Bloom to introduce him first. Now everypony. Be quiet and respectful.” Apple Bloom jumped from her seat and quickly walked down the short aisle to get to him. She reached out and gripped his foreleg once more and he followed behind her. She reached the front of the classroom with him on her heels and she turns to face the other foals. The black Pegasus said nothing as she patted his foreleg. “Its mah pleasure ta introduce mah eldest brother, Oblivion Shadow.” She began. “Isn’t Big Mac your oldest brother?” A spindly cream Pegasus interrupted. “He is yeah. But Oblivion is older than ‘e is.” She explained. “He’s not from around here so ‘e can tell us about where he’s from and about bein’ somethin’ called a Witcher.” She looked up at him and he nodded to her as she went back to her seat. He looked over the expectant faces of the foals as they were now focused entirely on him. “As she said I have only been in Equestrian for a few weeks now. To answer the immediate question a Witcher is a monster hunter. My purpose is to protect ponies from monsters when I am needed to, there are times when I protect the monster from ponies.” He explained. “We are meant to keep the peace between ponies and monsters and maintain that peace should it be needed.” “You may ask questions of Mr. Shadow but be sure to tell him your name if he calls on you,” Cheerilee added as he nodded in agreement with her. A grey filly with a darker grey mane that had a thick streak of light grey going through raised her hoof and waited for him to acknowledge her. “I’m Silver Spoon. What kind of monsters have you met?” He looked thoughtful for a moment before he took the weight off one hind leg. “Many of the monsters that I will mention will not be ones that you have seen or heard about. But I have come across Leshens, various types of Trolls, Elementals, various Wraiths, Fiends, Chorts, and my fair share of Drowners. Each one is different and must be fought and handled differently.” The foals gaped at him as the names of the monsters were indeed ones that they had never heard about before. He could see the curiosity in their eyes as the spindly foal from before raised his hoof and waved it in the air to get the black Pegasus’s attention. Oblivion tipped his head to him and the colt spoke. “I’m Featherweight. What kind of monster have you helped before? You said you sometimes help them.” “I did say that that’s true. Most recently I was called to a village by the alderman.” He paused at the confused looks that went over their faces and he clarified. “By the Elder of the village.” The foals nodded as understanding went over them. “They asked that I find out what was driving the ponies from one of the fields. I was able to ask around the village and none of the ponies were able to tell me much about what had frightened them. After they were not able to tell me anything I went out into the orchards to find out what was out there.” He went silent as several small hooves were thrust into the air. A filly with various shades of purple in her mane and a greenish-blue coat looked at him, her eyes pleading. He nodded and she lowered her hoof back to her desk. “I’m Lily. Why didn’t the ponies help you?” “It wasn’t that they did not help me as much as they were able. They were simply too frightened to get a good look at the monster. They did not get a good look at it and they were not able to give me a description of it. Their fears stopped them from trying to get closer and I did not blame them for it.” He explained. “They were afraid that it would hurt them or worse so they avoided the entire area.” He turns his eyes to a colt with a short mane and tail, a deep green coat, and a pair of scissors for a marking waved his hoof in the air. “I’m Snips. Were you scared to find the monster?” The Pegasus shook his head. “Fighting monsters is what I have been trained to do. Fear is not something that I concern myself with. While I’m sure fear is there for normal ponies it is not something that affects me, Witchers tend to ignore fear.” He lied as he did not know how to explain how his emotions had been removed to a group of foals. A white foal with a light blue mane and tail was next to gain his attention. “I’m Shady Daze. How do you fight monsters?” “I will get to that soon enough. Unless you wish for me to tell the story another time?” The foals lowered their hooves and fell silent as he waited for what they chose. “When I walked into the orchard I spent some time finding any tracks or anything else that might tell me what I was facing. The further into the orchard I went I began to hear something. The closer I got to it the more I came to realize that it was singing. Granted the sound was off-key and it sounded as though somepony was stomping through gravel but it was singing nonetheless.” He paused as they stared. “I saw the glow of a fire ahead of me and I moved forward carefully as I peered around the side of the tree to see what was there. Though I was not shocked by what I found I could see why ponies were afraid. It was a medium-sized rock Troll.” The foals gasped and leaned forward in their chairs. He said nothing as they watched him closely. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Cheerilee paying close attention as well. “What I was hearing was actually the troll singing and that was why it sounded so off-key. I have met many Trolls and they are able to reason and if you talk to them they will usually talk to you. I knew that I could either attack it right away or I could choose to speak to it.” “What did you do?” Apple Bloom asked. He gave her a reproachful glance and she ducked down as she realized her outburst. “I chose to speak to it. I did pull my silver blade just in case it did attack me. I moved out from the tree and allowed the Troll to see me and it charged after a moment's delay.” The foals all leaned even further forward as he went on. “I jumped out of the way but it kept coming after me and I dodged it for a minute. I am able to cut it using the silver sword but I chose to wait and see what happened. The longer our fight went the more I began to notice that it did not seem to be trying to harm me. I realized that it was trying to scare me off and drive me away.” A hoof hesitantly went up. A creamy white filly with thick glasses and a red mane looked at him and he nodded for her to go ahead and speak. “I’m Twist. Did it really attack you? But not hurt to you.” “It did attack but it was not trying to harm me. An attack is more of a violent aggressive act and this was not exactly aggressive. It charged me but it never swung its arms to hit me and simply charged and then stopped and then charged again. I realized that I still have the choice to fight it or speak to it. So I gambled a little bit.” “And?” Cheerilee said and she leaned back in her chair, embarrassed by her interruption. “I put my sword away and stopped dodging its charge.” He said as the foal's eyes went wide. “It was a couple of feet away from me when it also stopped. It stopped and watched me for several seconds before I told it that I wished to talk, not fight. It accepted that I wanted to speak to it and we both relaxed and agreed not to attack each other. I asked it why it was frightening the local ponies and it took some time to think about it. After a minute of waiting it admitted that it was not trying to scare the ponies but it was trying to go home.” The foals all looked confused as he went on. “I realized that the Troll was not targeting ponies it was simply lost.” The foals stared and blinked at him as he waited for them to question him. He was silent as several of the foals began to giggle and he gave a slight shrug. “How could it be lost?” Diamond Tiara shrilled. “How stupid could it be?” “Trolls are not the most advanced monsters in terms of raw intelligence. But they are able to recognize an insult if it’s thrown at them.” He replied and the filly shrunk in her chair. “It was simply confused and had gotten turned around within the orchard. I tried to tell it where to go but after several minutes of trying to explain things, I gave up and chose to simply lead it to the mountains that it was trying to get to. It took some time to lead the Troll to where it had been trying to go but it was done.” He informed them. “So you made sure it was gone?” Snips asked and Oblivion nodded. “What did the ponies say?” “The Troll was the first to thank me and I went back to the village. I informed them that the Troll was gone and they had nothing to fear from it now that I had removed it.” He said and the foals smiled as he finished. “That was a wonderful story, Mr. Shadow. I’m sure the foals have many questions for you.” Cheerilee said as she clapped her hooves together. “I will answer as best as I am able.” He looked away from the adult mare and he could see Apple Bloom straining to get his attention with her hoof high in the air. “Yes, Apple Bloom?” “Ya said ya used a silver sword.” He nodded as she went on. “Do ya have it?” “I carry it with me yes.” He replied. “I am trained to carry two different swords with me at all times. One is the silver sword I have mentioned and the other is a steel sword.” The foal’s eyes widened as he rolled his shoulders and the pair of hilts poked out from under the black cloak that he wore. Their eyes were glued to the pair of hilts and he said nothing about them. “I’m Snails. Can we see it?” A dark orange foal with a green mane and a snail marking asked. Oblivion considered the question before he shook his head. “I thought you might wish to see it.” He said with a slight chuckle. “I can show you the steel sword but not the silver.” “What? Just the one?” Apple Bloom asked, a slight whine in her tone. “The silver sword is more dangerous to handle than the steel. I cannot allow the silver to be handled. Even among my own kind, we do not ask to handle the silverswords of each other. The steel can be handled easily enough but the silver is not meant to be gaped at. The silver is most often enchanted and has oils applied to it to make it more deadly than the steel.” “Why is that?” Cheerilee asked him. “The steel sword is meant to fight ponies. The silver is exclusively for monsters. Monsters are often more deadly than ponies so the silver is treated in a way that allows us to kill and remove monsters using the power it has.” He explained. “So neither of them would be safe for them to look at,” Cheerilee stated. “I thought ahead, just in case they asked to see them. The steel has been blunted by magic and has been rendered as safe as possible. The silver will remain in the scabbard.” He assured her. The foals were now staring at the mare as she backed up a step at their gaze. He watched as she closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “Very well. Are you certain that it has been made safe?” “I had Twilight look at it earlier and she was able to blunt it.” He replied. “I suppose I will have to walk it down the aisles?” “That will take too long.” Apple Bloom groaned. He gave her a look and she fell quiet. He looked around the room and realized that putting them in a circle would allow it to be passed easily from foal to foal. “Can we put them in a circle?” He asked the Earth pony mare. She looked curiously at him for a moment before understanding dawned on her. “Of course. Okay everypony. Put your desks in a circle for our guest.” He watched as the foals quickly jumped from their desks and began to push them around the room. He waited as they moved and he stood in a gap to allow him to set the sword in place and keep a close eye on it as they passed it around. Once they had finished each foal jumped back into their desk and waited as they stared at him. He pulled the blade free of the scabbard and the foals stared as the weapon gleamed. The runes that were buried in the blade lit as the rune for fire flowed and lit the blade in red for several seconds before it faded to a dull glow. “Oooooohhhhhhhh.” The foals all leaned forward as they watched the sword closely. Cheerilee had gotten to her hooves from her desk and had come to his side to see the steel sword as well. “I have never seen a weapon like that before.” She said to him. “It is native to my homeland. It has three runes buried within it. It also has oil burned into the blade to help make it sharper.” He replied. A foal with a dark blue with a darker blue mane and a bow and arrow cutie mark raised his hoof and Oblivion looked at him. “I’m Archer. What are runes?” “A rune is a small stone that can be buried within the blade if it has the openings for it. The effects of the runes vary depending on what their purpose is. For example, this weapon has a rune that represents fire. That is where it gets the coloring on the blade. If it activates it has the ability to set things on fire.” He said and he saw Cheerilee look at him her eyes wide. “Runes can have other elements buried within them as well. For example, some of them can use ice, poison, and other attributes.” He explained. He laid the sword gently on the first desk and removed his hoof from it. The foals were staring at it and then at him as they waited for him to explain. Beside him, Cheerilee also waited for him to tell them what to do. “Okay. You can pass it around easily. It looks like it should weigh a fair amount but it is in fact very lightweight. One of the runes buried in it helps with its weight.” He explained and the foal in the seat, Archer, reached out to the weapon and it slid toward him. “Wrong,” Oblivion said as he started to pick it up. “Put your hoof on the hilt and the other as far down the flat of the blade as possible. That will allow you to hold it easier without it dipping.” The foal followed his directions and held the sword up so he could look closely at it. After a few seconds, he moved to pass it along to the next foal. The Witcher watched closely as the blade made the rounds to the foals. He remained close in case one of them dropped the sword, his body ready to move to keep it from hitting the ground. “Can we see the silver too?” Featherweight asked. “I mean not the blade. But the rest of it.” He corrected himself at the look from The Witcher. He considered the request for a moment before he reached under his belly and unbuckled the baldric. The baldric bumped his saddlebags that he had forgotten to put back in the wardrobe and he cursed himself for forgetting them. He brought it up and the foals stared at the silver encrusted scabbards. “You can see the scabbards, do not try to pull the silver out of its place or I will take both weapons away.” He warned as he set the baldric on the desk. Silver Spoon stared at the bright silver scabbards and her hooves reached out and pulled it closer to her. He watched as she ran her hoof over the silver threading. He remained watchful as she slowly gave it to Diamond Tiara at her side. Symbols ran the length of the scabbards and the foals were entranced by the sight of them. He stayed back at the two weapons that were slowly passed around. Apple Bloom raised her hoof once the steel had gotten to her desk and he nodded for her to go ahead. “Is it supposed ta be broken?” “Come again?” He asked her quickly. “The sword. It’s broken.” She stated and pointed. He took two steps forward and reached her desk to look at where she was pointing. He was horrified to see the chip in the weapon and the hairline crack that went with it. He picked it up in his hoof and his orange eyes went over the weapon carefully. He scrutinized the crack for thirty seconds or more before he lowered it back to the desk. “It’s not so dire that it cannot handle being handled right now. You can keep passing it around.” He said as he gave it back to the filly. He backed up to the place he had been standing and looked at their teacher. “Is there a forge in town?” She looked thoughtful before she nodded. “I believe so. I don’t know where it is but Applejack might know.” “I’ll ask her later about it, thank you.” He replied as he looked back to the foals. He watched as they continued to happily pass the swords around and the steel sword was moved around a bit faster to get it closer to the baldric. It came back to Archer’s desk and the stallion picked them both up and slid the steel sword back into the scabbard and backed up to lean it against the teacher's desk. He would buckle it back in place when he needed to leave. “Okay everypony. Move the desks back into line please.” Cheerilee called out. The foals scrambled to do as she had asked and the desks were soon back in their original places. Once they were back in place and quiet she came to stand close by the stallion who had moved back to the front of the room. “Does anypony have any last questions for Mr. Shadow before our time is up?” She asked. The foals raised their hooves and the Witcher looked toward the back and pointed at a dark brown foal. “Have you ever had to fight a monster for real?” “Many times.” He replied, a bit surprised by the obvious question. “What kind?” Archer cried out. “A Leshen and a Forktail most recently.” He replied. “What's a Leshen?” Apple Bloom asked. “A Leshen is often called a woodland spirit or a wood guardian. They are found most often within the deep woods or areas that are thought to be too wild for ponies to live. They come in several types, usually depending on where they inhabit and their age. Some of them are as old as the woods they live in so they are commonly referred to as Ancient Leshen. The last ones I came in contact with were Ancient Leshens.” He informed them. “Did you win the fight?” Silver Spoon asked. He paused for a moment as he considered her question. ‘I can’t say I won or lost since I did wake up here.’ He thought to himself for a moment before responding to her. “Well… I can say neither of us won.” “Can we see a rune?” Featherweight asked. “How do you mean?” He asked. “I mean, the type of rune it has?” She clarified as she pointed to the swords on his back. “One moment.” He said as he reached into his saddlebag and looked back as he thought about what he wanted and he pulled out the rune he wanted. ‘Interesting’ He thought to himself as he brought it back around for the foals to see. The greater fire rune gave off a slight red glow for a moment before it faded to nothing in his hoof. He walked up the filly and set the rune in her hooves. She held it up and looked closely at it as he motioned for her to pass it around. Diamond Tiara took the rune and she looked from it to the weapon. He could see the questions that flickered in her eyes as she finally looked up at him. “How does it fit in it? It looks too big.” She asked. “The runes shrink in size when you place them. When it is embedded in the blade you have to use a bit of force to place it. For example, when I placed the runes in that weapon I had to hold it against my leg and push to force the rune into place. With the right amount of force it shrank to fit the space that was built into the sword itself.” He explained. Apple Bloom held up her hoof and waited for him to nod to her. “How many runes does it have?” “In the steel sword?” She nodded and he looked over at the weapon. “It has three.” “What ones are they? All of them are like that one?” Featherweight asked and pointed to the rune that was being passed around. “Devana, Morana, Dazhbog.” He said and the foals and their teacher stared at him at the names he told them. “Devana can cause a wound to bleed more, Morana is poison, and Dazhbog is for flame.” The foals looked at the steel sword and the silver that was leaned against the desk and then to him. “So it was bad to hold it?” Silver Spoon asked. “No. The steel was blunted and protected. The runes themselves can only be activated if they are struck. Simply holding it will not activate them so far as I have seen. I have handled them many times and never had one activate against me.” He replied. The black Pegasus watched as the rune made its way around the room to each foal. He reached back into the saddlebags and called on each of the other runes he had mentioned. They came into his hoof and he took them to a different foal and they began to make their way around the room as well. He watched as the foals seemed to be more attracted to the Morana rune with its slight green tinge rather than the more muted colors of the other two. Devana gave off a light red glow but did not seem to attract their attention more than Morana. He watched as Apple Bloom put her hoof up once more and he looked at her to ask her questions. “Our sis mentioned ya have armor too.” He nodded in affirmative to her and she went on. “Can we see it? Does it have runes too?” “I don’t use it unless I need it and it does not have runes.” He supplied and he could see the disappointment in their eyes. “It does have several armor glyphs though.” “What's that?” “An armor glyph is similar to a rune in that it can be embedded in a piece of armor to enhance the attributes of the armor.” He supplied. “What kind?” Snips shrilled. He managed not to cringe at the shrillness of the colt’s voice. “In the armor, I use it has ten glyphs buried within it. It has two Mending, two Igni, two Aard, two Yrden, one Quen, and one Binding.” He replied as he gave the names of the glyphs, and the foals were now staring at him. “As a Witcher, I have the ability to use a skill we refer to as Signs. They are a minor form of magic that we are able to accomplish. We cannot do more than that though.” He explained. “What do they all mean?” Diamond Tiara asked, for once appearing interested. “The main glyphs are meant to allow my Signs to be stronger than what they would be normally. Mending does exactly what it sounds like. It allows healing to be faster than normal. On a Witcher it means we heal much faster than we would normally. We have our natural regeneration so it speeds that up greatly.” “So you heal faster than the rest of us?” Lily asked him. “Exactly.” He replied. The foals talked quietly amongst themselves for a moment before they were looking back at him. “And the others?” Archer asked. “Igni is for flame. That glyph makes that skill even more powerful when used in a fight. Yrden means to trap or slow an opponent or monster so it slows it down to allow me to attack or defend. Quen is for shield.” He tapped his hoof and the golden light of Quen went over his fur and glowed in place. The foals gasped and stared at the glowing light that covered him. He glanced at their teacher and a hint of mischief went through his eyes as he looked back to the foals. “I think this one is fine to use for a demonstration.” He said as he looked back at the mare. “What do you mean?” She asked as a grin tugged at her mouth. He looked down at the front of her desk where the blades were leaned up against the wooden desk. He walked over to them and pulled the steel from its scabbard. He knew that it had a hairline crack to it but the mare would not be able to worsen the damage with what he had planned. He backed up and held the weapon out to the mare as she stared at it and then to him. “Go ahead and swing it to hit me. Don’t worry about hurting me. Between Quen and my own abilities it won’t even leave a bruise on me.” He assured her as she looked hesitantly at him. She looked at the foals who were all leaning forward against their desks for the best view possible. “You’re certain of this?” He nodded at her as she took the weapon in her hooves. She gripped the hilt with both hooves and lifted it as she balanced on her hind legs. He stood still as she breathed out an uncertain breath but still swung the blade at his back. She yelped as the blade hit the shield and it erupted and sent her back several feet. She managed to keep the blade from hitting the ground as she nearly fell into the wall. She looked at him as the tip of the blade nearly dug into the wooden floor. He looked at the foals as they began to cheer. He turned to the side to show them that he was unharmed, not even a hair out of place. He reached out to the mare and she gladly gave him back the sword and he slid it back into the scabbard. “And that little ones, is how Quen works.” He said to them. “The last glyph that is in the armor is the Binding glyph and its purpose is to prevent any injury from getting worse. It works in tandem with the Mending glyph.” The foals listened intently as he explained and hooves went into the air as he finished speaking. Lily caught his attention and he nodded to her to speak. “Do you have any of those that we can see?” He reached back into his saddlebag and pulled out one of each rune and set them on the furthest desk for them to look at and pass around. He stayed quiet as the glyphs made their way around the room and he walked to the last desk that they would get to so he could collect them all at once. Once they all reached him he slid them back into his saddlebags and walked back to the front of the class. “Any further questions?” He asked. Hooves shot up into the air and he fought against hanging his head. He had realized the stupidity of the question right after he had said it. ‘Of course they have more questions. That was without a doubt the stupidest thing to have asked them.’ He thought to himself. He pointed to Featherweight and the colt squirm in his chair as he spoke. “Have you always been a Witcher?” He asked as he lowered his hoof to his desk. “For as long as I can recall I have yes.” Silver Spoon raised her hoof and he pointed to her. “Have you ever tried to do anything else?” Oblivion saw the sideways look from Diamond Tiara but chose to ignore it. “No. I was trained to be what I am. I can honestly say that I have never desired to be anything else.” Diamond Tiara raised her hoof and he pointed to her. “What does your cutie mark even mean?” He chose to ignore her snotty tone as he looked over his shoulder to the hidden marking on his flank. “It has the School of the Wolf where I was trained and that wolf head is the same as my medallion.” He began as the foals closest to the front leaned forward to see the wolf head medallion around his neck. “It also has my swords behind it. It shows the Witcher School where I have trained and the proficiency I have with the swords I carry.” He was guessing about the meaning behind it but decided not to concern himself with the deeper meanings too much if it had any. The foals all seemed pleased with the answer and Diamond Tiara seemed to shrink a bit in her chair. The foals raised their hooves again as the small bell on Cheerilee’s desk went off. They groaned at the sound and he nearly breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. She got up from her place by the window and came to stand close by him. “All right, Everypony. Thank Mr. Shadow for speaking today since we are now out of time.” She said to them. The foals all waved and cheered as he reached for his weapons and pulled them into their place on his back and buckled them in place. He made for the front door and skirted out as quickly as he dared. He made for the road and started to head back to the farm. He breathed a sigh as his hooves carried him silently down the road. He stopped and looked over his shoulder to the schoolhouse for a moment. ‘I must admit this place is very different than what I am used to. In my world, there is really not much chance for a child to grow up to be anything more than what they can afford. Their roles are chosen for them almost before their birth if they live that long.’ He thought to himself as he pushed forward. His mind kept going over the events of the day and he found himself stopping once more. He looked out over the empty fields as his thoughts rang through him once more. ‘If I am to remain here then what do I need to become? A monster hunter is next to useless in a world without monsters. Do I just choose to become a farmer? I’m not from this world and I am unsure of how I even got here or if I will be taken away from the ponies here. Which begs the question, do I want to go back at all?’ He shook his head after several seconds and tried to banish his own thoughts. He could see the beginnings of the far orchards in his vision as he looked out beyond the fields. He sighed and ultimately jumped the fence and broke into a hard gallop as he moved past the orchards heading for the Everfree. He had thought for a moment to work with his sword but he was reminded of the damage to it and chose to keep it protected within the scabbard until he could get it repaired. Using it would only make it worse and he nearly kicked himself for even considering it. He galloped past the old trees and let his wings extend above his head. They stayed even with his head to avoid hitting any low branches. The black stallion plunged to a halt and glanced around him. He had stopped in a very small clearing and he closed his eyes and listened to the quiet around him. He could hear the forest rustling around him, small animals running through the underbrush, and larger creatures in the distance. He was not interested in hunting at the moment, though he would before heading back to the farm for the night.