//------------------------------// // Episode 5: My First Quest, as a Pony // Story: My New Life as a Pony // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Dear Mom and Dad. Things have been amazing since I managed to get into the Adventurer's Academy. My grades are staying steady thanks to the help of my friend, Wallflower, and our team is getting stronger every day. And guess what. Shining Armor came around and asked us to help him on a quest. It was awesome. Apparently, a small town in the middle of Equestria was suffering from a pretty bad sickness. The only cure the healers knew of that could fight it required a rare herb. One which only grows in certain areas. Shining knew where to find this herb and he thought this might be a good learning opportunity for me. So he came around and asked me to help him on the quest. He even let the rest of my team join, since he needed to get as much of the herb as possible. Team Relic's first official adventure had begun. Flash could barely sit still, as he looked out the window of the train taking them to their destination. He was sitting beside Soarin, with Trixie and Wallflower sitting on the opposite seat. Shining was on the other aisle, looking half asleep as he laid upon the seat. "Ah," Soarin vibrated on his seat, "how much longer until we get there? I'm busting to get adventuring." "Would you relax," Trixie told him. "You're gonna waste all your energy dancing around and be too tired to actual enjoy this adventure." Wallflower spoke up. "Should we really be enjoying this? Pony lives are at stake. If we mess up, a lot of innocent ponies could die." She looked terrified, clearly wishing her first adventure wasn't something so important. "Relax Wallflower," Shining stated from his seat before getting up. "Yes, this mission is important. But it's also simple. That's why I'm not worried about bringing you guys. If I thought it was too dangerous, I never would have asked you guys to come. So relax and enjoy yourselves. Try and use this quest as a learning experience. It's a good way to see how you act in a real life adventure and if anything unexpected happens, I'll be there to help. Okay?" Team Relic shared a smile before nodding, "okay." Shining nodded before looking out the window, "we're here." They turned to see a town in the distance, which was very near a wooded area at the base of a mountain. Flash was almost reminded of his own home town, which made him think the forest he was staring at was likely full of monsters. The train pulled up to the station outside of the town and they all stepped out onto the platform. Making their way through town, they saw a variety of different equestrians scattered around the place. Most of them appeared to be every day equestrians, just doing their jobs and working their lives. But others, based on the gear they were wearing, were adventurers by trade. "So many adventurers," Wallflower whispered. "Wait, if they're here then why are we the ones doing this job? In the time it took us just to get here, they could have gone into the forest and gotten the herbs." "True," Shining nodded. "But they chose not to." The four were wondering why. "This quest is a lot of work, even though it'll be easy work. The amount of herbs needed would require several trips for a single pony, or one trip for several. That means the reward would usually be large to accommodate either the amount of work or the number of adventurers who did it. But the town that needs the cure isn't a very rich one." "So the reward's small," Soarin realised. "Yup. That's why nopony's taken it. Celestia actually planned on lending the town money to up the price until I decided to take it." "That's horrible," Flash glared at the adventurers sitting on their backsides. "These guys would rather do nothing instead of helping ponies in need. I can't believe that." "I know Flash," Shining nodded. "But I'm afraid most of the time, an Adventurer goes into this profession for the money and not because it's the right thing to do. Sometimes, Adventurers will only take a job if it pays extraordinary amounts for the reward. Some with special Null Magic can even demand larger sums than the original reward because their magic is so valuable to the mission." "That's horrible," Trixie frowned. "I mean, my illusion magic must have some specific use. But I'd never demand more then what's being offered." Shing shrugged. "At the end of the day, Adventuring in a job and you want to at least be compensated for your time. It's okay to sometimes take a low paying job or even doing it for free. But if you can't make enough bits for equipment maintenance and to feed, cloth, house and restock your supplies, you're not gonna last long in the Adventuring world." "I guess," Flash sighed. "But it still doesn't sit right with me." They continued through the town, seeing many more adventurers that had likely refused to take the quest. Eventually, they reached the edge of town and headed out towards the large forest. Flash was reminded of the forest he found his relic in, which concerned him a bit. "Is this it?" Wallflower asked, moving over to place a hand on a tree. "Yes," Shining nodded. "This forest is the only place we'll find the herbs. Raw magical energy flows through it, so a lot of magical plants and animals live here." Wallflower nodded, "I can just feel the magic flowing through the ground and this tree. This place must be located over a magical layline." "Magical layline?" Soarin asked, "what's that?" The others turned to frown at him. "Dude," Flash sighed, "that's like the first thing we learn in preschool." The others nodded as Soarin put his hands in his pockets. "I...must have been off sick that day." Shining began to walk into the woods. "Magical laylines are streams of magic that floor through the planet's surface. Think of it like a large river that's made of magical energy. These laylines have many branching paths, which allow magic to flow through the world and into living beings. And large ones like this result in powerful spots of magic, which means powerful and rare magical things can occur here." They all made their way through the woods, Flash creating his water bowgun whilst the others held their own weapons protectively. Shining led the group and stopped them when they reached an area of the forest. He then checked the ground, the others watching him as he did so. "Something's been through here recently and might still be around." He picked up a broken stick and gave it a sniff, pulling it away in disgust. "Be on your guard." They nodded, Wallflower transforming her gauntlets whilst they all looked around. The kept moving forward, being ready for anything that might show up. As they made their way through the foliage, Flash's ears picked up a rustling coming from his left. He silently got the other's attention and carefully gestured in that direction, the other four nodding as they prepared to investigate. But before they could get too close, what was in the bushes suddenly sprang out. They all gasped seeing a giant centipede that was standing at around ten feet in height, being red in colour with a black head that had scissor claws sticking out the sides. The beast stared down at them, letting out a hissing roar as it did so. It then spat out a yellow green mist, which flew towards the equestrians. Shining leapt in front of them with his shield held out, his horn glowing. "Fortress!" A magical dome appeared around them, right before the mist struck it and spread around them. "What is this stuff?" Trixie asked, glad she wasn't breathing it in. "Paralysing Mist," Shining explained. "A Killer Centipede's best mode of capturing prey. They like them to still be alive when they eat them." The Adventurer's in training all went wide-eyed at this, knowing they needed to deal with this thing now before it could paralyse them. As the mist dissipated, the centipede prepared to fire another blast. But before it could, "Super Freeze!" Trixie fired a bolt of blue lightning, hitting it in the mouth and freezing it shut. Flash and Soarin then started firing blasts of ice and wind from their weapons whilst Shining and Wallflower ran forward. Its mouth might have been frozen, but the beast's scissor claws could still move. It thrust its frozen head down and tried to pin the pair between them. But Wallflower took a stand and grabbed the claws in her gauntlets. She used all her strength to hold them back and the centipede in place, allowing Shining to finally get close enough. His shield's blade extended before he thrust the weapon forward, piercing it into the centipede's chest. The creature screamed through its ice-covered mouth, as Shining slashed his blade out of its body. The creature could no longer take it and suddenly exploded. As it did, something fell to the ground from out of its now destroyed body. A crystal the same shade of yellow as the centipede's mist. Shining caught it and looked it over, seeing the crystal's colour came from the mist that was trapped within it. He smirked and threw it towards his friends, Flash catching it. "What's this?" "Sometimes, defeating a monster will result in it dropping items. That right there is a paralysis crystal. If you throw it hard enough to break, it'll unleash the mist trapped inside. You might be able to use it to your advantage at some point." "Cool," Flash smirked as he handed it to Wallflower. The girl nodded and put it in her bag, Flash knowing she was the best one to hold onto it since she had the most physical strength on the team. With the centipede destroyed, the Equestrians continued to make their way through the forest. But along the way, they ran into several more creatures. These ones weren't as big as the centipede, but they came in larger numbers. There was an entire swarm of dog-sized bees that attacked them, Shining once again using his Fortress Null Magic to block their stingers. As the bees bounced off the shield, the others started firing their long range attacks at them. Many of the bees ended up going down with just a single hit, but one larger than average bee managing to tank a shot from both Flash and Soarin's attacks. It got in close and would have likely stung one of them, but Wallflower was able to grab it by its stinger to keep it in place long enough for Trixie to cut it in half with her staff's blade. As it died, part of its stinger broke off and they all decided to pocket it as well. A little while later, the five of them ended up walking into a giant spider's nest. There were three of these spiders, Wallflower managing to get herself stuck in their webbing. As the others fought these beasts off, Flash switched to his lightning sword and used it to cut through the webs. He managed to shift its voltage so that the blade was hot enough to cut through the webbing, but not so hot that it would light anything else on fire. As their friends defeated the three giant spiders, Wallflower started pulling the webbing off her body. She ended up rolling it into a ball, which stuck to her hands until she managed to get it off and throw it into her bag. "We've come pretty far in," Shining announced. "We shouldn't be too far from the area we'll find the magic herbs in." "What if we find a really strong monster there?" Soarin asked. "I don't like the idea of having to fight near the things we came to collect. What if we damage it?" "Don't worry about it," Shining assured him. "That area belongs to the Storm Hounds. Even when they're not there, other creatures don't like to go near it." "What's a Storm Hound?" Wallflower asked. "And why shouldn't we be worried about running into them?" Trixie followed up the question. "Storm Hounds are a powerful group of monsters that exist and live in this part of the forest. They fall under the Sky Attribute, allowing them to unleash blasts of lightning and run like the wind. They're a pretty strong creature to face, especially considering they usually live in packs and are great at working together." Everypony gulped, seriously not liking the idea of facing something like that. "However, at this time of year they shouldn't be here." "Really?" Flash asked, "why not?" "They're a migratory species," Shining replied. "They live in the forests during the winter and spring seasons. But during the summer and autumn seasons, they travel to large mountains where natural thunderstorms occur. Storm Hounds are completely electricity proof and can actually use it to charge themselves up. That's why they usually migrate between two areas depending on the season." "I get it," Trixie nodded. "So at this time of the year, they'll be off in the mountains and shouldn't be a problem for us." "Exactly," Shining nodded. "So we should be able to walk through their territory and take what we need without needing to fight them off." Everypony liked the sound of that, though Flash was still confused. He had watched a few nature documentaries during his previous life and was pretty sure wolves weren't migratory. Even though it had been an entire life-time, he was still amazed at how different this world was from his old one. As they continued through the woods, they started coming to an area that was a lot more rocky. The previously flat tree covered terrain started elevating in certain areas. They had to either climb over or go around higher areas that ranged from either a few feet to almost ten meters. Eventually, they came to a large wall that was almost fifteen meters high. Shining had them follow the wall until they came to a gap in it, the five looking through the gap and seeing it led to a long trench with stone walls on either side and a few trees sticking out of it here and there. They headed down it and as they did, they started hearing noises. "That doesn't sound right," Shining stated as they all held their weapons. "I thought you said nothing came into the Storm Hound's territory?" Trixie asked, as they picked up the pace. But as they did, they heard noises coming from up on the walls. They all looked up and were shocked by what they saw. "Storm Hounds," Shining whispered. Team Relic got their first look at these creatures and couldn't help but be impressed. These wolves were the size of lions, who were a mixture of black and yellow. The yellow parts covered the openings of their ears, around the tops of their eyes, the upper snout below the nose, front neck, chest, underbelly, paws and the tips of its tail. The rest was all black whilst the yellow bits had lightning bolt patterns running off of them. The Storm Hounds growled as they looked down at them, arcs of lightning crackling around and between them. "What are they doing here?" Wallflower asked. "You said they weren't here at this time of year." Shining clearly had no clue and before he could think to hazard a guess, one of the wolves leapt into the air. It suddenly let out a mighty howl, which caused a blast of air to fly towards them. They all cried out and leapt to the side, as the sonic blast struck the ground and caused it to explode. Flash and Shining took cover behind a rock sticking out the ground, whilst Soarin, Trixie and Wallflower found small gaps in the wall they could hide inside. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way through them," Shining explained as he prepared his shield. "Everypony, do what you can to incapasitate them without causing to much injury. Remember, we wandered into their home. They're only doing what's right." The others nodded and Flash was the first to leap out before firing blast of water form his bowgun. The wolves leapt into the air to avoid this and as they did, more lightning surged around them before exploding off. The others leapt out from their hiding places as Shining's horn glowed, "Fortress!" The shield appeared around them and blocked the lightning, the lot of them using this to run forward. Trixie fired Super Freeze spells at the ground around them, freezing it up and causing the Storm Hounds to start slipping. This allowed the equestrians to get passed them before they could regain their footing, the Adventurers running through the canyon until they got to the very end of the trench. Rushing out of it, they found they were now in a large storm circle, the rock walls having stair-like ledges going up it. Holes were also lining the wall, forming a bunch of caves that they assumed were where the Storm Hounds lived. One of the holes had water pouring out of it, that flowed down the edges into a pool on the ground. Grass covered the rest of the ground and in the middle of the area, a large patch of green leaves were growing out of the ground. "There are the herbs!" Shining cried, Soarin rushing out of the forcefield to try and grab some. But before he could, lightning exploded out of a cave and almost hit him. "WOW!" He leapt back and Shining was forced to drop his shield, allowing Soarin to return to them before he put the dome back up. As he did, more Storm Hounds stepped out of the caves and looked down at them. At the same time, the first group of wolves managed to slide into the area on the icy ground. The equestrians were all surrounded. "What do we do?" Trixie asked. "The only thing we can do," Shining stated. "Fight our way through these things and grab the herbs. They're the only thing that can save those sick equestrians." They nodded and all prepared their weapons, Flash changing to his lightning sword and fire shield. "Maybe I should use that paralysis crystal we got," Wallflower suggested. They seemed to be considering this. But they could make a decision, Flash noticed something. Stepping out of one of the caves was a small Storm Hound, Flash realising it must be a pup. And this pup didn't look good. It was staggering around, looking like it could pass out any moment. It also sneezed and let out a tiny gust and spark of lightning, followed by another and another. Then, a second pup staggered out looking just as unwell as the first one. A third followed, along with a fifth and sixth. "So that's why they're still here." The others looked confused until he pointed at the pups. "Those babies are all sick. That's why the Storm Hounds are still here." The others followed his sword point and spotted the pups, making them gasp as they realised Flash must have been right. "Makes sense," Shining nodded. "But that doesn't change that we need the herbs to...of course. I know what we need to do." The others looked at him as he put his sword away. "We need to make a potion to cure them." "Why?" Trixie asked, as a Storm Hound howled at the shield and buffeted against it. "If we can cure the pups, the other Storm Hounds might stop attacking us." "You sure that'll work?" Wallflower asked. "It's better then fighting against them just for protecting their territory," Flash pointed out. "What do you need?" "We'll need a few of those herbs," Shining explained as a bolt of lightning struck his shield. "I'll also need something to boil it with. I've got some ingredients with me to make a potion that should get rid of their sickness. But I need those herbs to tie them all together." "Alright," Flash dispelled his weapons and took out a new card. He slotted it into his belt and in a flash, a metal pot and spoon appeared that he quickly disenchanted. Shining took the pot as Flash turned to the others. "Soarin, I'm gonna cover you as you go for the herbs. Trixie and Wallflower, protect Shining as he works on the potion." They nodded as Flash took out a new card and thought about what he wanted. He slotted the card into his belt and closed it up, the light flying out and forming a new round shield that was covered in lightning bolts blades. Flash held it and nodded to his team, who nodded back before Shining dropped the shield. As soon as he did, the Storm Hounds started firing more lightning at them. Flash leapt in front of Soarin and held up his shield, the electricity slamming into the blades and being drawn inside like a lightning rod. Flash and Soarin flew forwards, whilst Trixie pointed at the Storm Hounds behind Shining. "Lumino Burst!" The equestrians closed their eyes as light exploded from the staff, blinding the wolves and making them cry out. Wallflower then used this opening to slam her gauntlet into the ground, using all the terran magic she had to make a wall suddenly appear to block the trench entrance. Shining took the ingredients out of his bag and started mixing them inside the pot, Trixie quickly filling it with water as he measured the exact quantity needed. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Trixie asked, knowing how hard potions could be. "Relax," Shining told her, "potions might not have been my best subject at school, but I know enough to get a simple anti-sickness potion right." A Storm Hound unleashed a howl attack that would have disrupted the potion, "Fortress!" The barrier appeared for a moment and blocked the wind, as Trixie fired a blast of water that struck the wolf and knocked it backwards. Flash continued to shield Soarin as he went for the herbs, the pair managing to get closer and closer as the wolves fired more and more lightning. Flash could feel his shield was beginning to reach its limit. It could absorb lightning, but that energy had to go somewhere. Even his belt couldn't constantly store endless amounts of power. "It's now or never!" He told Soarin, as the pair flew up high. "If you're gonna get those herbs, you need to do it now." Soarin nodded and as Flash blocked another blast of lightning, the avian dived. "ACCEL!" He suddenly accelerated to an incredible speed, moving faster than even the Storm Hounds could keep up. This allowed him to shoot passed the wolves and reach the spot that the herbs were located, Soarin grabbing some and pulling it up as fast as he could. As he came to a stop, he spun around as the wolves turned towards him. "Accel!" Like before, he rocket forward at incredible speeds. He shot passed the wolves as they wildly fired blast of lightning, but Flash was able to reach Soarin just in time. "Take this!" He thrust the shield forward and unleashed all lightning stored within it, which sent out a wave of electricity that blocked the lightning of the hounds. The two forces pushed against one another and eventually cancelled each other out. As it did, Flash and Soarin returned to the others and Shining put up another shield. "Here," Soarin handed Shining the herb. "Good." Shining started cutting up the herbs, ripping pieces off to throw into the now bright pink water. "Now we just need to boil it." Flash nodded before dispelling his shield and took out another card, imagining a gas cooker like the one his human parents had back when he went camping as a kid. When it appeared on the card, he slotted it in and summoned the device. "What is that?" Trixie asked when the cooker appeared, Flash wondering if portable cookers were a thing in this world. "Hopefully, it'll be what we can used to boil the potion." He put it down and fired it up, flames coming from the device. Shining smirked as he lifted the pot onto the flames, Flash putting the heat on full. As they did, the storm wolves had recovered from the lightning blast, blinding light and climbed over the wall. Now they were once again blasting the shield with their attacks, Shining grunting at this. "Stir!" He told them, Flash stirring it with a spoon as best he could. The potion began to slowly change colour, turning into a more bluish purple colour as it bubbled and boiled. Shining continued to keep the shield up, but the constant attacks on it were taking its toll. "Alright, take it off the heat." Flash did so and dispelled the cooker, as the potion cooled down and turned a clear white colour. "Perfect." "Now what?" Wallflower asked. "Even if this potion could cure the hounds, how are we supposed to give it to them." "We don't have to feed it to them," Shining explained. "If we can get close enough, spilling it on the ground will create a mist that they can breath in." Soarin turned to Flash, "got a weapon that could do that?" Flash thought for a moment and slowly, an idea formed in his head. He held up the cooker card and thought about a bazooka, one which could fire the potion at the pups. In a flash, the device he pictured appeared on the card. "Here goes nothing." He slotted it in and the belt unleashed the light, which created the large cannon that Flash rushed underneath. When it fell from the light and onto his shoulder, Flash almost collapsed under its weight. Soarin quickly rushed over and grabbed it, the pair hoisting it up. "Alright," he pressed the button on the side and the back slid open to reveal a slot that one could fill with liquid, "load us up!" Trixie and Wallflower lifted the pot and used the spoon to start filling the slot up with the potion. Once it was full, Trixie shut the slot as Flash and Soarin spread their wings. "You ready?" Soarin asked Flash. "Oh yeah!" Flash nodded, the pair exploding into the air and pushing the bazooka up with them. As they left the shield, Trixie used another Lumino Burst spell the blind the Storm Hounds again. This allowed the avians to fly above them and aim at the pups. "Say hello...to my little friend!" He pulled the trigger and the weapon fired, launching the potion towards the pups. It moved so fast, the Storm Hound babies didn't even realise what had happened before the potion hit the ground. It exploded into a mist that completely surrounded the pups, making them whine as they started breathing the magic in. Flash and Soarin quickly flew down and returned to the shield, as the Storm Hounds recovered from the blinding. They all watched as the mist faded, revealing the pups. One by one, the pups started looking a lot better. They stopped sneezing, they didn't look like they were gonna fall over. The adults had noticed the mist that had surrounded their young ones, then noticed how much better they looked when it faded. The pups began jumping around and looking better then they probably had in weeks. One of them ran over to where the equestrians were and looked up at them, as if knowing they had just helped it get over its sickness. The equestrians smirked at this and Shining carefully lowered the shield, moving over to kneel in front of the puppy and holding out his hand. The Storm Hound pup sniffed it before letting Shining scratch him behind the ear, the other puppys running over and allowing the others to start playing with them. "Awe," Flash smirked as he patted a pup that let out a tiny electrical current. It tickled Flash and he laughed, whilst the adults seemed to understand that they weren't a threat. One of the hounds leapt up onto a ledge and howled, catching the other's attention. The baby hounds rushed over to their parents and allowed them to pick the pups up by the scruff of their necks. The wolves leapt up and onto the ledges, climbing the giant staircase until they reached the top. The hounds then looked down at the equestrians, who waved back at them, then shot off in a burst of wind. Storm Hounds now gone, the Adventurers sighed in relief. "That was a close one," Flash stated. "Yeah," Shining nodded, "glad I had you guys here with me. That could have gone very differently if it was just me here." He turned towards the object of their quest. "Now come on. Let's get what we came for and get out of here before anything else decides to cause us trouble." The others nodded and they started gathering as much of the herbs as possible. Once our bags were brimming with herbs, we all headed back the way we came. Wallflower had to bust through the wall she created and I had to melt Trixie's ice path, but we managed to get back through the forest with barely a problem. We ended up fighting against another Killer Centipede, but managed to take it down without it even being able to spit its breath this time. We didn't get a drop from it, but our bags were already full anyway. We finally reached the edge of the forest and left, returning to the town and heading to the guild there. We dropped off the herbs and they said they'd magically teleport them to the place they were needed. The mare running the front desk jotted down everything that happened during our adventurer, needing to chronicle it for record's sake. She was quite impressed that a bunch of trainee adventurers managed to defeat two Killer Centipedes, three Great Arachnids and a swarm of Sting Wingers, then fought off a whole pack of Storm Hounds. Even with Shining by our side, this was still and impressive feat. She promised to deliver the details and when the guild finished processing everything, the five of our would have our reward sent to our places of residence. "And with that, I can now announce that Team Relic's first mission is a success." The mare at the counter smiled as she said that the lot of them cheering and high-fiving as Shining smirked. "Yup, you guys did great. I'll be sure to give Grand Hoof a glowing report about everything you guys did. Now, why don't we celebrate your first successful mission. Come on. It's on me." They all cheered and headed out of the guild hall, Shining knowing of a great restaurant that could be found in the town. We partied right into the night. The next day, we headed back to the Academy and Shining really did give a glowing report to Grand Hoof. Of course, the four of us had to do remedial lessons to make up for what we'd missed during our adventure. But everypony wanted to talk to us, asking what it was like to be on an official quest. A couple of other students had been on quests with other adventurers they knew, but we were apparently the first ones who got to fight a bunch of monsters. Wallflower's holding onto all the drops we got. We don't know when we'll need them again, but they might come in handy. Growing up, I always wanted to be an Adventurer. And now that I've actually gotten to see what life as one would be like, I know I've made the right decision. I know it's not always gonna be easy, but I'm gonna keeping pushing until I can't push no more. And know you two are supporting me, I know I'll always have somepony to turn to when I feel overwhelmed. Right you again when something interesting happens. Love, Flash. Flash sighed as he finished writing about his adventure. He was in his dorm room, Soarin having headed off to the training dome to try and break his long shot record. Currently, his record was hitting the bullseye at fifty meters. Hopefully, he would be able to hit fifty five by the end of the day. Trixie and Wallflower were studying in the library, Wallflower helping Trixie the same way she had been helping Flash. Flash folded his letter up and grabbed an envelope off the side. He headed out as he prepared the letter, flying off the stairs as soon as he was outside. Flying over the buildings on the street, he spotted the campus post office and flew down to post his letter. He looked around and realised he hadn't really had a chance to explore this part of the town. A such, he decided to take a look around. Walking instead of flying he saw that there were multiple different stores and eating establishments scattered all around. Book shops, clothing shops, shops one could buy potions and the ingredients to make potions. There was even a blacksmith's shop, where most of the students went to get their weapons repaired or replaced. With his magical relic having the ability to make any weapon he wanted or needed, he had never had a reason to come to the blacksmiths. Getting closer, he heard the sound of banging and realised somepony must be working inside. Curiocity getting the better of him, he stepped inside and saw that the one doing the banging was a terran that looked a year or two older than him. Flash suddenly remembered seeing him in school. He was a student in the year above him, being a bulky equestrian with gunmetal gray skin and dark gray hair. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and long white pants, his hands having black fingerless gloves on. He was using a large hammer to bang away at the metal he was working on, eventually stopping and wiping his brow. He lifted the metal with his prongs and placed it in the water. It was at this moment, that he spotted Flash and stood straight. "Can I help you with something?" "Sorry," Flash told him, "didn't mean to surprise you. Just never been in a blacksmiths before. Curious to look around." "You're not the first one to come in here out of curiosity." He lifted the metal out of the water and moved it over to a grinding wheel. "You're the Flash Sentry kid, right? Soarin's roommate." "You know Soarin?" "Come's in every two weeks to make sure his weapon is okay. Nice bow, strong and the magical crystal used for it is high quality. You were the one that made it, right?" "Soarin's the one who imagined how it would work. I just used my relic to bring it into reality." The terran nodded as he ground the metal. "You're a student at the school, right?" He nodded. "Um...Iron something?" "Core," he replied. "Iron Core." "Cool. Iron Core. So what are you doing here? If you're an adventurer?" "Lots of Adventurers learn a second trade, to take up when they're done with the adventure lifestyle. My parents are blacksmiths, so I'm gonna become one when I'm finished with my Adventurer career." Flash nodded, understanding. "Anyway, you here to look or do you wanna actually buy something. No offence, but I got a lot of work to do." "What are you working on?" Flash asked, as Iron held up something. A sword. But not just any sword. It was a double-edged longsword that had a mint green handle and crossguard. A pearl-like gem was in the middle of the crossgard, with blue seams coming out the side of it. The blade was silver at the bottom and around the edge, with a mint green section inside of it and a blue line running down the middle. "Wow," Flash took a closer look, "that is cool. What is?" "An Ocean Blade," Iron explained. "The store was commissioned to make ten of them for the nearby coast guards, but my teacher threw his back out when he was halfway done with this. I'm the only other one who knows how to make this, but I'm still not as good as him. In the time it took me to complete this, he would have been able to do three." "How long do you have to make them all?" "Not enough," Iron replied. "If I can't get them done in time, the store's reputation is gonna take a hit." Flash thought about this, wanting to help but knowing nothing about blacksmithing. But maybe he didn't need to. "I might have an idea." He took out his belt and slapped it on his waist. "My relic can scan things and make a perfect copy of them. I could scan this sword and make ten copies." Iron hummed, "Soarin told me about how that thing works. He also said that anything you make can only be used by you, unless you disenchant it. But then it's just a fancy looking sword." "Can the one you made do anything?" "It's made of special materials that allow those with Sea Magic to control water." Flash smirked, "what?" "Can you bring me the exact amount of stuff you need to make this sword." Iron raised an eyebrow, but did so anyway. As he did, Flash slotted in a blank card and scanned the sword Iron had made. When he took the card out, the sword's image was on it. "Perfect." Iron brought the last of the materials he needed and Flash held up the card. "What are you doing?" Flash didn't reply as the card glowed, the light flowing into the metal and gems that were meant to make one of those Ocean Swords. The materials then vanished, shocking Iron as Flash slotted the card back into his belt. The device unleashed a light that created the sword that looked just like Iron's, with Flash hitting the disenchant button. It a flash, the sword fell to the ground and Flash managed to catch it. He pointed it at the water bucket and Iron was surprised to see the water be lifted into the air. "I get it. You absorbed the materials into the card and they're what your belt used to make the sword." "Exactly. Which means it still has all its powers when I disenchant it." He handed Iron the sword and the terran looked it over, smirking. "It is a perfect copy of the original. Man, that thing is a blacksmith's dream." Flash nodded and turned to scan the sword again, whilst Iron went to get the rest of the materials. The pair got to work, scanning and copying the Ocean Blades. Within thirty minutes, ten swords stood side by side. They were so perfectly identical, when Iron placed the original next to the new ones he quickly forgot which one it was when he looked away. He and Flash talked for a bit about possible weapons Flash could make with the relic. Iron told him about his own weapon, which was a spear that could transform into any other metal weapon. Iron could wield the Land and Sky magics, though he preferred to use lightning over wind, which he had learned to combine to create a form of electromagnetic attacks he could use in a fight. Iron had to soon get back to work, needing to box the swords up and get them ready for delivery. Flash decided to take this chance to head out and continue his exploration of the town, but told Iron he might be back if he ever wanted a weapon his relic didn't create. "Wait a second," Iron told him before rushing out of the room. He returned a moment later with something in his hand. A knife in a leather shieve. "Here!" He threw the blade and Flash caught it, taking it out of its holster and seeing the knife was a single-edged blade with a black handle and a gust of wind emblazoned on the metal. "That's one of my prototype creations. Probably can't take down anything too powerful, but it might come in handy if you can't get a second to slot one of those cards." Flash smirked at this and channelled some magic into it, the blade glowing as he felt a thin layer of wind begin to coat it. Iron was right. It might not be able to hurt a monster, but it wind would improve its cutting power and let him overpower other weapons. "Thanks," he put the knife away as Iron got to his own work. Heading out of the blacksmiths, Flash checked out several other stores that he had never been in. The store owners were all nice and helpful with whatever question he had. Plus, they didn't try and sweet talk him into buying something he didn't want or need. He liked that in a store owner. But as he was passing a wool store owned by a pair of old magi sisters, he heard a commotion and looked around to see the wooden sign over their store had just fallen off. "Oh," the old mare frowned, "not again." "We just had this fixed," her sister cried. "That carpenter better give us a discount on this repair." Flash raised an eyebrow, as the old mares tried to lift the sign out of the way of their door. He decided to help, since they appeared to be having trouble. "Oh, thank you my boy." Flash smiled and noticed something on the floor. It was a nail, likely broken off from the sign falling. And as he picked it up, he realised the nail was of terrible quality. Not only was the metal horribly forged, but it looked like it was old. "I think whoever put this up tried to cut corners using secondhand nails." The mares looked shocked by this, Flash putting his belt on and using it to scan the nail. He disenchanted the one created and saw it was a much better quality one. Flash quickly got to work, making a bunch more nails before creating a hammer and a special lift machine. The mares were shocked by this, as he used the lift machine to raise the sign up to the correct height. Once it was where they liked it, he made a hammer and used it to beat in the new nails in. Once he was done, he dispelled the lift to see if the sign would hold up. They waited and Flash even gave it a gentle shake, but it didn't fall. They smirked at this and Flash flew down to the sister's thanks, the teen telling them it was nothing. But they refused to let him off without thanks and gave him a nice wool sweater to wear when it got cold. Flash happily accepted and headed out, looking the sweater over and seeing it was blue in colour with a yellow lightning bolt on the back between the wing holes. He had to admit, it looked pretty cool. He continued his travel through the streets and eventually came to a street where an older terran was pulling a cart through the street. The cart was full of different fruits and veggies, which Flash noticed seemed to be wobbling a little bit. And he quickly realised why when he saw that the cart's wheel was about to break. "LOOK OUT!" He ran over, just as the wooden wheel snapped in half. Luckily, he managed to reach it in time to catch it before it fell and made the food fall to the ground. "WOW!" The terran looked around and realised what was going on. "Thanks lad. Almost lost my shipment." He then noticed Flash was struggling under the weight and quickly rushed over to take the weight. Flash gasped when the load was taken from him, then moved over to the wheel. It had broken entirely in half and would need more than glue to fix it. He then got an idea and activated his belt again, using it to scan the broken wheel before absorbing the wood. The terran watched in amazement as the avian teen took his broken wheel and made an entirely new one, which he disenchanted. He quickly attached it to the cart and managed to screw it into place. The terran let go of the cart and found the new wheel was holding the weight perfectly. "I owe you one," he told Flash. The teen smirked and offered to help the terran get his shipment to wherever it was going, the older pony smiling back before they worked together to drag the cart all the way through town. Turns out, the delivery was going to the school to be used in their dining hall. It took a while to get there, but not as long as it would have taken if Flash hadn't helped. "Thanks kid." He told Flash as they reached the loading bay. He took an apple off the cart and threw it over to Flash, the avian catching it and smiling as he headed off. The sun was starting to set and Flash decided to head home, enjoying his apple as he did so. He eventually made it back to his street and when he stepped into the bakery, he spotted Shining sitting on a couch drinking a coffee. "Hey Flash!" He waved at him when he entered, noticing the knife, sweater and apple core Flash was carrying. "Go shopping?" "Not exactly," Flash sat down and explained everything that had happened. Shining smirked as he finished off his coffee, whilst Meringue Tart walked over offering cherry scones. Shining paid for two and threw one at Flash. "Here, treat for the big hero." Flash caught it and raised an eyebrow. "Hero? I not a hero." "Really? So you helped the blacksmith, wool sellers and the school's cook because you knew you were gonna get a reward?" "No. I just helped them because they needed help and I could help them. It wouldn't have felt right if I'd just left without giving them a hand." "Exactly," Shining told him. "You want to know what a hero is? It's somepony who does the right thing for no reason. You didn't need to help those ponies, but you did because you're a good pony. That makes you a hero, no matter what anypony else things." "Seriously?" Shining nodded. "Sure, those with those titles usually get them by doing big feats of heroism. But I'm willing to bet a lot of those so called heroes never would have thought to help the people like you did. Be proud of yourself." Flash smiled at this and nodded, the pair enjoying their scones and drinks. As they did, Flash though about what Shining had said. Was he really a hero just for helping others. He had done stuff like that in his previous life, but nobody had ever called him a hero then. More and more, Flash marvelled at how different this world was from his old one. And every day, he was so glad he had agreed to reincarnate and been sent to this world. He couldn't wait to see what happened next. In Canterlot, the Royal Sisters were standing in a room looking something over on a large wooden table. "Are you sure?" Celestia asked, pointing at the map on said table. "This is where it is?" Luna nodded. "I don't remember a lot from...back then, but I'm sure that's where I hid it." She glanced at her sister, "I will head out and retrieve it." But then she saw Celestia looking worried. "You don't want me to go?" "I do wish for you to go," she magically pulled a chair towards her and sat down. "I just don't like the idea of you going on your own." Luna frowned, "I do not require any assistance. I can do this on my own." "I'm not saying you can't. I just want to make sure you have help just in case you need it. I'm not doubting your abilities, but the world is unpredictable. And I'd hate for anything to happen to you after I just got you back." Luna couldn't help but smile at her. "The question is, who should go with you?" "If I am to take somepony, I don't want it to be any over arrogant adventurers who won't do as their told. I wish for someone that will follow my directions." "Then why not take some students from an academy? They're bound to follow your commands, plus you'll have the chance to mingle with some of Equestria's youth. No offence, but you haven't exactly been very sociable since you got back." "Very well. But who? Maybe your apprentice and her friends?" "I'm afraid they're not at the academy right now. There were talks of a dragon-like monster taking residence in a nearby mountain. A member of their party has a strong connection to animals that we're hoping will allow her to commune with the beast." She looked at the map, "the closest academy to this area is the Manehatten one. Why not look for help there." Luna sighed, but nodded. "Very well. I will seek assistance from this academy. But I will only take the very best." Celestia nodded as Luna turned to leave, the omni princess of the sun sighing. "I hope you can get that item back. Being without it for so long hasn't been easy."