//------------------------------//
// CH 5: Speaking Their Language 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria Bonus Chapters: Archimedes's promise 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

Bunny Angel sat behind me, carefully extracting the pebbles and small rocks from my back with the set of tweezers from my tool kit.  They stripped me of my stuff, but hadn't taken it with them when they jumped.  So the celestial was more than willing to assist with my dilemma after introductions were made.
"You're tool here is ingenious.  You simply  use the natural elasticity of the metal while keeping them in form with forging together only the ends."  Bunny Angel commented as he got another small rock out.
I slowly nodded in recognition.  "Well I can't take credit.  The design wasn't originally mine. I just recreated it once I learned metalworking."
"And this metal.  It appears to be a form of steel, and yet it shows no signs of rusting.  I would wonder if it was plated, but the scratches from being well used go too deep."
I gently shook my head.  "It's in the alloy.  You're right about it being steel in that it's an iron-carbon alloy,  but it's also about one eighth chromium.  The chromium makes it weaker than standard industrial steel, or even the extra elastic spring steel similar to what you might use for swords, but it also greatly retards oxidation.  It's more for tasks that aren't under a great strain, but need to not rust rather than one that takes raw strength.  It will still rust if you just don't take care of the tool, though."
By the time I finished my explanation, Bunny Angel had stopped working on my back, although he hadn't finished.  He had been working left to right, and still had about a third of the back left untouched.
"Is something wrong?"
"No."  He answered in a light breath.  "It's just that a smith's trade secrets are the life blood of his shop, and yet you freely gave away the secret to making your alloy as well as a summary of its strengths and weaknesses without even a care."
I shook my head again and gave a small laugh in embarrassment.  "Well, I'm not a smith.  I branch into many craft fields to bring them together into the field of artificery, and that "secret" was common knowledge among any metal worker in my time.  Straight smith's do still exist, but they aren't as threatened by people knowing their secrets.  They are more of a novelty shop where people pay for the time and effort for custom orders.  Standard items are usually made in bulk with specialized equipment that streamline the process of making several things the exact same way anymore."
I gave a sigh of disdain as I thought about what I said.
"Though they aren't quite as durable as a quality custom item built for the same task."
Bunny Angel returned to his work on my back and spoke with a friendly air.
"It's funny.  You speak like an alchemist, with big words like oxidation, yet you carry yourself almost like a man seeking repentance, bordering the conviction of a holy man.  Most holy men see Alchemy as an affront to their beliefs.  They believe it to be something cults mi-dasdcs."  His voice dampened out as I realized the tongues spell had faded.
Apparently there wasn't much left, because I saw the tweezers being past back to me over my shoulder.
I took the tweezers with one hand and slapped my chest, reflexively looking for my amulet.  "I didn't catch that last part."
I heard him call out a spell behind me, touching my shoulder in the process.  Turning around, I saw him put a small clay statue of a pyramid like temple carefully back into its pouch.  When he saw that I had spied him doing this, he blushed.
"Though I'm much older than yourself, I still am not yet powerful enough to work a spell without a material focus.  Items that can work as holy relics are so hard to come by for the resistance and my goddess's holy symbol has no power in this world.  Calling out to the dragon deity I served her through by proxy would not only draw his ire, but alert him to our location.  So the mundane versions of a spell's needed materials have to serve."
He then pointed down and turned his index finger in a circle.  "Now turn around and I'll heal up those wounds we just cleaned out.
I nodded, started to turn and waved my hand as best I could over my shoulders, calling "Nickto."
Before I finished, I saw a look of disgust on his face, though he was trying to hide it for politeness.  When he saw the question in my eyes, he answered before I asked.
"You are... a mage.  I took you for a smith... or at least some kind of craftsman."
I nodded.  "Not much for mortal casters?" 
he shook his head.  "I can respect priests or other divine casters, as they are calling upon a link to a proper source of magic.  I can also put up with sorcerers who did not ask for their magic but have it come naturally to them.  My kind and Torilian dragons are blessed with magic in a similar way to sorcerers.  So I cannot hold it against them.  Are you a sorcerer?"
I sighed again.  "While I would be tempted to say yes, and some of my magic was not of my own choosing... exactly, sadly, I have to say no.  I studied as a wizard early on and now currently study a related field called artificery.  While I don't worship it, I also had a knack for asking for help from the Animus Mundi in my time.  In fact, I wonder what would happen if I tried to contact her in the past."
He closed his eyes, took a breath and let out the distaste as he let the breath go.  He then looked back at me with that same smile.
"Ah, yes.  You are from the blue box and are thus likely from another time, if its master is to be believed.  I can respect druids.  Likewise, while we have a common goal, I will bite my tongue on matters of your wizardry and the other art you speak of.  As I once spoke when I betrayed Bahamut, 'I would rather do good with those that are unorthodox than blindly follow the path of orthodoxy, only pretending to do good.'"
I paused and looked into his eyes, seeing a strain in them of having to make hard choices.  It couldn't have been easy for him to leave his entire order like that.
He gave a small courtesy.  "Instead I will simply just ask of you as I would any person with power.  Be responsible with your power, regardless the exact path you take for it, and I will have no reason to act against you despite my distaste."
With this, he reached for my back and performed the most potent casting of cure wounds on my back I had ever seen. I could see the skin on the back most part of my shoulder become as fresh and strong as it had ever been.
"I'm afraid I must keep the level to a minimum.  I am here to treat the injured and I already spent more than I should have, renewing your tongues spell."
I looked at him funny.  "That was a level one?  I'd have to use two slots at that level to heal that well."  Not that I would waste the extra on the cosmetic damage and mitigating scars past functional damage in the field, but it was true.
He looked at me odd.  "Only twice?  It usually took the druids three times to match me when they were with the resistance.  That must have been an exceptionally poor execution of the spell.  My apologies."
He glanced at the part of the back that he just healed.  "Still, you seem to be pretty good none the less."
I swallowed a lump in my throat as I realized I had measured off my ability with the assistance of Archimedes's disciple of life effect, boosting my healing.  He was measuring off what a normal druid could cast.  I had nearly let my power level with healing slip.


A little while later, Diary popped back into the cave.  "The counsel of this hideaway has agreed to allow the outsider to come in and speak his business, but his equipment will be commandeered from him and redistributed."
Her master quickly popped in and took my workshop gear, my amulet, my component pouch, my tools and my artificer glove, popping back out again.
Diary was looking at me quietly as I processed that.  After a second, I realized she was testing me.
"Well, thanks for leaving my clothes.  You might take the device out of the apron's pocket, as it is useless to a non alchemist and would only get in the way of the armor's protection and flexibility for someone that can't use it.  The glove will still make a shield while I'm here in the past with it to keep it infused with my energy, but it can't be used by anybody but me for spellcasting.  It's kinda an artificer specialty tool.  The amulet has songs in it, and it's kinda special to me if I could get it back some time, but it also allows for baseline communication.  I can hear your words with it while wearing it, but it doesn't have the capacity to help with me translating my words back to others, at least not while I have the songs stored in it."
With this I stood up and offered her my tweezers to put with the rest of my tools.
She raised an eyebrow.  "Unexpected.  We felt you would be as stingy with your gear as the little meddler."
I shrugged as she took my tweezers.  "I'm not happy, but all that stuff could be replaced if I needed to.  That exact amulet has sentimental value and helps me back home, but the mission is more important than the sentimental value.  Can I get my clothes back on now?"  I pointed at the one part of the pile left behind.







With a quick, nauseating teleport, I found myself in a different cave, one lit from artificial lights of differing kinds, both magical and more mundane like an old oil lamp I saw, rather than residual sunlight.  Combined with a danker taste to the air, I could tell that we were suddenly a good deal deeper underground, though probably not too far, as the teleport Diary made did have the two of us practically pressed up against a wall, only for a new wall to suddenly be behind me by only a foot.  The jump she made was clearly something that had a range limit and this new cave was just in range of the prior one.
The next thing I noticed was guards coming in and getting waved off by Diary.  "He's not a hostile, and hasn't had a chance to restore his magic.  My master has already confirmed he has very little left."


She wasn't wrong.  I was already down one spell when I arrived, due to Pinkie's tea.  Keeping the hunters asleep long enough to get the nets open took me casting the sleep spell at higher levels, at least once for each of the separate nets, one took a second casting when I cast the spell too early in haste and had to redo it.  On top of that, I had my longstrider spell, my three potions, my heat metal spell and the flaming sphere spell.  I didn't expend a spell on my create or destroy water thing, as that was a water genasi ability, and was kinda a once a day cheat way to cast the spell I didn't actually know, but the activation of the song also added to the bill.
I had one spell slot between the levels five through eight each.  I had also used up my portent trick and something wasn't right with my link to the Animus Mundi.  I didn't feel my wild shape ability restore when I sat with Bunny Angel and rested.  It was definitely long enough to do it.
Even if I counted my speak with animal cheat cast for free once ability too, I was only at about a quarter of my expendable power left.  Combined with my equipment suddenly gone... Yea.  I was kinda at their mercy.
The unicorn levitating a spear and shield in front of her only glared and tightened her stance as her commanding officer spoke.
"He's had a chance to rest.  Surely his stamina-"
"How many times to I have to tell you!?  Torilians don't have mana wells!" Diary practically shouted at them.  "That's a thing with you natives!  We use spell slots and it takes a lot longer for us to get them up and going again once we use them!"
The head guard took a step back as she glared at Diary.  "Says a Torilan that can restore some of her energy in an hour."
Diary stepped back and put her paw to her nose. "It's the exception to the rule, and is a double bladed effect.  It only applies to my pact magic slots I get from my master, which is only a fraction of my slots.  Why do you think I almost always use them first?  It's so the others can stay in reserve because my wizard slots don't restore like my warlock ones."
She took a breath and reset herself as best she could.  "You know its only a warlock thing and I gave you guys all the tools to be aware of them too.  He's not a warlock, so he didn't recover."
At this time, Diary and the guard were showing their long history and negative energy for all to see.  I honestly wondered if they would just have a scrap right then and there when I heard a silvery voice call out from just out of sight.
"Please, we are trying to improve morale here. The last thing we need is a fight.  I will vouch for the newcomer."
I felt something familiar about that voice.  The guards backed up a little as I saw a pony type combination I had not yet seen before.  I saw a crystal pony thestral, her dark coat shone through the crystalline sheen like onyx.  She came into the room holding herself almost like a queen, but not quite.  She had the dainty like grace of a queen, but the way she held her smile and the toughened parts of her knees and ankles was more akin to a country bumpkin who wasn't afraid of earnest work.
"Mam.  It isn't simply abou-" 
She cut the other mare off as she put the other mare's head to her own so gently that I could have sworn I saw a kindred spirit to Fluttershy.  "I know security is vital, but go get some sleep.  Bunny Angel is here and he can cover your shifts while you rest.  You need it."
The way the guard mare's face melted like she was showing concern to a beloved mother was borderline precious.  I wondered if mine was remotely like that when I fell in love with Fluttershy like all her animals did.  "But mam, you need sleep too."
I could see every other guard ease up and give that same affection to her, nodding in agreement.
"And the counsel makes a point to lead by example.  So I will get rest soon too.  But right now you have the chance while Bunny is here.  I'll get mine once I've seen what is going on with our guest.  If it makes you feel any better, I give you my word that, short of an attack on the hideout, I'll even start my rest before you are back on duty."
The guards slowly started to nod at this.
Diary spoke out,  "The word of a counsel member, especially hers, is not given easily.  If it's any consolation, I'll also volunteer my own recreation time I was going to spend to guarding this guy personally instead, at least until you guys come back."
Another guard shook his head.  "You didn't need to do that Diary, but thank you.  Our counsel mare has easily been the most loyal to the cause.  Her word alone was enough to set our minds at ease."  He glanced at me.  "Although we wouldn't mind the extra layer of security."
With the guards leaving, I saw Bunny Angel come in, ducking slightly to clear the low doorway.  With this, him and the mare came up to me.  Getting a good chance to look at her face in detail, I could see an intelligence in her eyes and mannerisms.  If I didn't know we were in a war zone and seen her diplomatic skills already, I'd say I'd have seen a muzzle like hers buried into a book like a stereotypical, average looking bookworm.
I saw her shake her head and then offer a hoof to me.  After she saw me ball up my fist and put it against her hoof, she looked impressed on how I was able to mimic a pony's hoof shake.  "I must say that is a refreshing change of pace. Most Torilians grab the hoof instead, mistaking it for one of their gestures of a similar nature.  We manage, but it is not the kindest to our ankles, though.  You've worked with ponies be-suxu?"
With my amulet gone, I put my hand to my throat gently, looking to Bunny Angel.  When I saw him confused on this, I shook my head and cupped my hand to my ear instead.
He seemed to get it, then looked to Diary, who simply shook her head, then down to the mare as if to ask permission to set the spell up again.  After a few moments of discussion, she gave him a simple nod and put a hoof to his hand, causing him to blush.
A pulling of the little pyramid out, casting of the spell, then a return of the pyramid to its pouch later, I was active with my tongues spell again.
"Well, let us speed through the pleasantries and get to business shortly.  I'd rather not waste any more of Bunny's magic and we need to get situated so Diary may regain hers."
Diary got up.  "I'll be in the meeting room, finishing up my rest for the next time you need it.  This is why I volunteered.  I was going to have to do it anyway.  You got him for the next few minutes, right Bunny?"
Bunny was having a hard time hiding his blush, only barely managing to get it to start to fade as I looked back at him.  Seeing he had nothing to say, I looked back at the counsel mare.
"I must apologize for the guards.  Tempers have been a little high strung here of late.  Since it is hard to keep morale up around here, I find myself often acting as an unofficial morale officer."
After a second of hearing the last part of her apology, something started to click about this strange mare.  As Bunny Angel began to speak, items came through my mind rapidly.
"I suppose I should introduce you properly. Moss, this mare here is the heart and soul of the resistance in this region.  She more than earned her spot on the council despite being so young when she gathered her fellow druids—I-I-I mean 'servants'-to..."
The dainty like grace of a queen...
Country bumpkin who wasn't afraid of earnest work...
"Most loyal to the cause..."
Intelligence of a bookworm...
Morale officer...
My mind was wanting to put something together that wasn't quite there, hearing her voice, but it felt it should be.  A memory flashed through my mind of a conversation years into the past... Well, my past.
"She was only an average looker, for a just fully grown mortal, but her heart was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen . . . Only a few in the old world or this one could even hold a candle to her inner beauty, your beloved Fluttershy being one of those few."
Average looking bookworm...
I could have sworn I saw a kindred spirit to Fluttershy...
I still felt there was something my mind was wanting to put together, but didn't have all the pieces of.  I did, however, realize who I was speaking to even without that mystery solved.
"In short, may I introduce you to-"
With my mind catching up, I interrupted him by jumping back with an outburst of absolute shock.
"Ebony Nexus!"