//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Training Day // Story: New Land Old Enemies // by Silent Scout //------------------------------// Name: MSG. Adam “Shifty” Smith Date: August 26, 2015 (December 13, Equestria) Location: Lunar Guard Lieutenant's Office Time: 0943 The sudden sound of knocking brought Adam back to the waking world. His attempt to stand sent him crashing from his chair to the floor, in his sleep deprived state, he had forgotten that he was in a pony body rather than his human one. Lifting his left forehoof to his face he looked at his watch and groaned, he hadn’t fallen asleep until about 7:30 that morning, having to babysit the others on top of all the reports that had been neglected had kept him busy. Sitting up again, he felt a drool ruined report peal from his face and land on the floor with many of other ruined reports. The ink on the paper left a smeared blotch on his fur, that he was unaware of. Adam had ruined many reports trying different methods of writing with a quill. He had seen some improvement after tossing a dozen reports to the ground in frustration, the same reports he now sat on. Another knock reminded him, why he was awake again. A familiar male voice called out through the door to him, “Lieutenant Smith are you in there?” Groggily Adam replied, “Yeah, I’m here just give me a moment.” I swear whatever asshole that is on the other side of that door is going to get a piece of my mind. Stumbling to his hooves, Adam cast one last glance at the pile on the floor before making his way to the door. His trip was short lived as his left leg clipped the corner of his decks just above his stitches. The now irritated area sent a shock of pain lancing up his leg, causing him to yelp in pain and glare at his unmoving desk. The voice called out to him again, “Is everything alright in there?” Adam didn’t answer as he limped over to the door and flung it open, scowling at the two that stood on the other side giving him confused and worried looks. The mental fog brought on by his lack of sleep prevented him from recognizing the dark blue alicorn that stood in front of him and the Solar guard that escorted her. Continuing to scowl at the two, Adam growled, “Can I help y’all?” Luna stood there baffled at how Adam was speaking to her, no one had ever spoken to her in such a way other than her sister. She didn’t know what to say, while Lieutenant Light Blade looked over Adam’s shoulder into the room. It took little effort to spot the papers on the floor that was then added to as the new air current caused the stack on the desk to fall as well. Adam’s face darkened as he said, “Please tell me that wasn’t what I think it was.” Light Blade understood what was going on now as he replied, “I’m afraid it was.” Adam plopped down on his flank as he vigorously rubbed his temples, he just wanted to go back to sleep. With the mental fog slowly leaving him, the two that watched him saw as his eyes shot fully open and his pupils shrank to mere pinpricks. The color of his coat faded slightly in his horror at what he had just done, Light Blade felt sorry for him. His spine straightened as if it had been replaced with a steel rod, his right forehoof snapped up to his forehead in a salute and stayed there. Adam fumbled with his words as he said, “Sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean any disrespect to you.” The two of them waited to see how Luna would respond, she seemed to be lost in thought as her gaze shifted from him to his office and then back to him. The seconds ticked by with nothing being said, neither one of them wanting to break the princess’s train of thought. When she finally did speak, both were surprised by her statement. There were a mixture of emotions in her voice as she spoke, out of all of them Adam could sense a feeling of longing for what he could only guess. “It is rather late for us, who work through the night. I remember many years ago when night court used to be far more active than it is now. Several times they would last so long that they would eventually extend into the day court. It was those times that I would wish for nothing more than to sleep my sister’s days away until the next I had to raise my moon. But while I understand your need for sleep Adam, there are still things that need to be done today. As I am aware you have already met with Lieutenant Light Blade of the Solar guard.” Bringing her attention to Light Blade she spoke again, “Lieutenant if you would lead us, we shall begin immediately. The sooner his training is completed the better.” With that the two turned and started their walk down the hall. Adam felt relief at narrowly avoiding a very severe ass chewing, but was unable to fully bask in the feeling as he had to scramble to scoop up his vest and slip it over his head. Not bothering to firmly secure it he was just able to see the last of Luna’s tail pass around the corner and out of sight. Hurrying down the hall he caught up with the two and fell into step on the other side of the princess. Their walk in silence last for several minutes, the only sound coming from Adam’s occasional yawn, before they came to a stop in a large open field. There was very little of interest out on the field except for the four flags set up in a rough rectangle about one hundred yards in length. Confused as to what Luna was planning on having him doing he asked, “When you say my training, what exactly do you have in mind?” It was Light Blade who answered Adam to his surprise saying, “I received a letter from Princess Celestia stating that she wished that I train you in how to properly fly. It stated that you haven’t had any formal training and because of that you to exhaust yourself faster than the effort should. It also stated that I am to teach you the proper technique while Miss Rainbow Dash helped increase your endurance, so I’ll just focus on your method of flight. Today I have an exercise ready to see for myself how you currently fly and see what improvements need to be made.” During the pause Luna commented, “I came to Ponyville to see the start of your training for myself, saves time from waiting for you to come to me. Its also nice to leave the castle every once and a while.” Adam nodded and looked out to the field again, but seeing nothing he asked, “What’s the plan? I only see flags placed.” “Simple enough really,” Light Blade announced, “all you have to do is fly around these four flags in a large oval. I’ll be flying with you to better view you in flight.” “Sounds easy enough. How many times do I have to go around the flags?” Light Blade tapped his chin giving it some thought before coming up with a good number, “I think seventy-five laps around should be a good start and allow me get the best understanding of how you fly.” Adam’s confidence in his abilities wilted at the sheer number of laps that were waiting for him. He may have gotten better since the first time he ever flew, but he was pretty positive that this would be his new hell for the next hour. Light Blade caught on to his uneasiness, “We’ll take breaks here and there, we don’t need to do it all in one go. We can start whenever you are ready.” Securing his vest to keep it snug against himself, Adam looked to the sky seeing nothing to get in their way. Wanting to get this over with so he could get back to sleep, Adam launched himself into the air with a great thrust of his wings. Light Blade followed after him getting the same effect with less of the effort, his eyes never left Adam’s movement. They went around and around, Adam pushing himself as hard as he could go without stopping. By the end of his seventy-fifth lap, Adam was gasping for air, his lungs burned from the stress. In the end he had taken seven breaks and well past an hour before he did finish. The muscles around his wings ached and he wanted to nothing more than sleep, he would even sleep in the middle of the field if he thought no one would disturb him. When the two of them had touched down again, Adam more or less collapsing to the ground, while Luna approached them a concerned look on her face. Hours had passed since they had started and it was now well into the afternoon, leaving Adam absolutely exhausted. Light Blade stood nodding to himself in thought before bringing his attention to the others. “I think I have an understanding of how to train you. I’ll come find you in a couple of days and we can then really start. In the mean time rest up.” With a quick bow to Luna he left for the guard station. Adam was finding it harder and harder to stay awake, and lying on the ground gasping for air wasn’t helping him much. Forcing himself to his hooves, he stood up ready to find a tree to lay under. He wasn’t going to even bother heading back to the barracks just to go back to sleep. Luna stood just behind him and spoke, “While I wish to stay and speak with you more Adam, I must return to Canterlot as well. There are things that must be done and I need to speak with my sister. I look forward to seeing you again on my next visit.” Not really paying attention to what was being said, he merely grunted as he shuffled across the clearing to the nearest tree. Giving the ground a quick scan for ants, he settled down at the roots of the tree and passed out. ---- Adam wasn’t sure how long he had slept under the tree until he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He ignored it the first few times, only giving a groan of annoyance in reply, but when the culprit continued he was finally forced to acknowledge the person. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted by three little fillies, their innocent expressions of joy was something he had not seen in a while. Each of them were making an effort to hide their laughter, each having different levels of success at it. The girls took notice of his eye movement too and saw that as their opportunity to talk to him, the only other time they had seen him was the night before and that was just before they were sent home. It was Scootaloo who started, "Hey Mr. Adam. Whatcha doing?" "Sleeping, you should try it sometime.” “You should be careful Mr. Adam,” Sweetie Belle snickered, “Somepony might mistake you for Rainbow Dash.” “I heard that,” shouted someone out of Adam view. Tilting his head back, so that the top of his head rested on the ground, Adam could see Rainbow Dash grumbling to herself, tail flicking in annoyance while her friends stood around her laughing at her expense. Twilight trotted over to him, the light of the sun behind her caused a glare to flash across his vision. When the glare had gone a strange sight laid out before him. Standing over him Twilight stood crying out his name in between sobs, her wings extended out. Her forehooves were stained with blood that didn’t seem to belong to her, while her face openly displayed a scared panic that he had never seen any of these ponies show anyone before. The grey cloudy sky parted to let a ray of light through causing another flash of light to blind him again. When it too had ended did everything go back to normal once more. A wingless Twilight stood over him waving a hoof in his face while talking to him. “Adam. Adam? Hellllloooo, Equis to Adam. Are you alright?” Clearing his eyes Adam quickly replied, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night is all.” Twilight slowly shook her head, “You should really get a good nights sleep, Adam. You won’t be able to function properly if you don’t.” “Now if only she would just follow her own advice,” Applejack quipped bringing Rainbow Dash from her brooding to snicker. Twilight merely ignored her friend’s comment to focus on the matter at hand. “As I was saying, you should come join us for dinner. We were going out to go get something to eat when we saw you sleeping over here. The girls and I thought you might want to come join us.” “Food sounds good. Have any particular place in mind?” Twilight shook her head saying, "Not really but there was a new restaurant that opened up not too long ago. Would anypony like to go there?" All present agreed that they had all been interested in trying the food. It was only Scootaloo who had backed out of the idea. Putting on her helmet and grabbing her scooter she said, "Sorry guys but I promised my mom that I would have dinner with her and my dad. They both don't have guard duty tonight so we were going to do something together. Hit me up when you guys are free again so we can do some more crusading." With an agreement from Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo raced off in the direction of her home. Rolling off his back, Adam stood up and rubbed the last bits of sleep from his eyes. Stretching out his sore wings, he felt as the joints popped causing a sigh of satisfaction to escape his lips. He may not have gotten all the sleep he had wanted but a little grub wouldn’t hurt. Ready to go eat Adam let the girls take the lead as he followed behind them, there were still many streets he was going to need to orient himself with but that would be for another time. ---- The girls seemed to know where they were going as it only took them roughly ten minutes to get to the restaurant, the two remaining crusaders chattering away next to him, giving him the occasional glance. When they stood out front, there wasn’t anything that made it stand out in comparison with its counterparts across the street. It was a simple rustic theme, its very lack of bright colors was a relief to his eyes however, and he greatly appreciated that. The place reminded him of the steak houses that he would see in back home, but knowing these ponies he doubted that there would be anything having to do with meat here. The group went in and were surprised to see the amount of ponies sitting around at the different tables eating. They weren’t the only ones who wanted to try out the new restaurant that day. A hostess stood behind a stand and counted them out before taking them to an open table, it may have been busy but it seemed like they were prepared for it. The hostess took them to a corner booth and gave each of them a menu before heading back up to the front. Opening the menu proved Adam to be correct in his assumption of there being no meat on the menu. While there were many things that would be tasty, he would have preferred a good steak. His stay at the castle might not have been all that great but at least they had meat. If they don’t eat meat, how did their chiefs know how to cook it? That sudden thought puzzled Adam for a moment until he pushed it from his mind. His breakfast had tasted just fine and that was good enough for him. Not being very impressed with the vegetarian menu, Adam ordered a baked potatoes with everything on it... minus the dandelions. After placing his order with the waitress that came by he found it difficult to remain awake. The two remaining crusaders tried to keep him awake but found little success in their efforts. By the time their food had finally arrived Adam was face down on the table with a new puddle forming. Frowning at Adam's lack of manners, Sweetie Belle gently shook him in attempt to wake him. "Mr. Adam, you need to wake, its not very polite to sleep at the table." Rarity quickly stopped her from trying any further and possibly more drastic methods of waking him saying, "While you are correct Sweetie, why don't we just let him rest this time. We can have them package his meal to go so he can enjoy it later. Poor dear looked absolutely ragged today." Agreeing to let Adam sleep everyone else ate their own meals while his was packed up. When it finally came to leaving they found a new dilemma. “So, uh, where are we goin’ to take Mr. sleepy head ‘ere anyway,” asked Applejack, who had been tasked with carrying Adam around on her back. “I guess back to the guard station barracks, I mean all his stuff is there and everything,” Twilight stated. Luckily it was only a short trek through town until they reached the guard station that housed both the Solar and Lunar guards when they were on duty. When they made it to the barracks itself they found another problem. Waving her hoof in the air at the rows of identical bunks that lined the room, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Now how are we suppose to figure out which one of these stupid bunks is his.” A bright orange pegasus glided past them and landed next to an empty bunk, giving it a gentle pat saying, “You can just put him here for now, nopony is going to mind.” Encasing Adam in her magic, Twilight lifted him from Applejack’s back and placed him down on the bed. “Thank you Stormy, we didn’t know which bed was his, though you look like you could use some sleep yourself.” Letting loose a yawn, Stormy Night’s head and tail sagged down, “Yeah, its a lot of work flying to Canterlot and back. I had to deliver the reports that the Lieutenant filled out, and he had a lot too. You should have seen the mess in his office, there were papers everywhere. Though it wasn’t anywhere near the size of the mess that we made in the rec room.” Pinkie jumped up at the sound of a missed party, “WHAT, you all through a party and didn’t invite ME of all ponies.” Stormy Night scratched the back of her head giving Pinkie Pie an apologetic smile, “Sorry Pinkie but it wasn’t so much a party as an out of control food fight. The Lieutenant wasn’t too happy when he found us making the mess, but he was kind enough to help clean it up, especially after we had borrowed his little movie watcher machine.” “Movie watcher machine,” Rainbow asked, her interest in the conversation having reached an all new level. “Yeah,” Stormy Night replied, “it was this little small device, with a screen on it, that just fit into his pocket.” “Oh you mean his Ipod,” Twilight chimed in, “he never said it could do that.” She was going to ask to see what movies he had on it next time they met. Yawning again Stormy Night walked over to her bunk saying, “I don’t want to seem rude but I’m going to have to call it a night for myself. You all can stay here and chat if you want but please keep it down so I can sleep.” Shaking her head Applejack said, “Ya don’t have to worry we’ll be headin’ out, I’ve got to get back to the farm with Applebloom anyway.” Saying their goodbyes to each other, the group left the guard barracks and went to their homes for the night. ---- Celestia watched as the last rays of her sun lowered over the horizon, telling her that her time for the day court was coming to an end. The ponies had learned long ago that when the sun had set that their problems would have to wait until tomorrow if they didn’t demand immediate attention. With Luna’s return however the night courts were once again open to the public, though many still waited for the day court. Sitting on her throne, Celestia could only wait for the arrival of her sister, to begin her nightly duties. Luna had always proven to be punctual when it came to her nightly duties, and tonight was no different. The doors on the opposite end of the room opened and closed behind her sister as she made her way to her own throne. As Luna walked, Celestia noticed the two stacks of papers that were floating just behind her and a look of concern on the younger princess’s face. “What seems to be the matter Lu?” Several moments passed as Luna walked over to her seat and placed the papers down next to her. Luna’s response was not what she had expected. “I think we may need to get Adam a tutor.” Celestia’s ever present smile only widened at the thought as she asked, “And why would a grown stallion such as Adam need to be tutored?” Grabbing several different pages from her stack Luna explained, “As we, I mean I, was reading through the reports from the lunar guard of Ponyville, there was something that I have noticed on all the pages.” Levitating several of the offending pages over to her sister she continued, “As you can see from his hoof-writing, that he is having some difficulty adapting to his new form. It has also come to my attention after reading more and more of these, that it is frustrating him.” Celestia examined the pages before her and sure enough, each page looked as if they had been written by a foal. Luna’s statement of it being a frustration to Adam proved to be true as well as each following page given to her looked like more and more force had been applied to the quill being used, in several occasions punching through the pages here and there. On one of the pages it appeared that he had decided to not use ink at all but instead use the tip of the quill to cut his name into the page. The last page Luna gave her made her giggle at the silliness of what she was reading. On the page he had replaced his name with different swears. “If its any consolation Luna, I don’t believe this last page was meant for our eyes. It may have been mixed in with the others by mistake.” “I am thinking the same thing,” Luna agreed, “but it doesn’t change how difficult this is being for him. I even received this one mixed in with the others as well.” Another page was levitated over to Celestia and it was a curious sight. The page seemed to have suffered some sort of water damage which had smeared much of the ink on the page. Raising an eyebrow Celestia gave up and had to ask, “What happened to this one?” Tapping the page with a hoof Luna spoke, “Well when I went to visit him this morning, he had ink smeared all over the side of his muzzle . What I think happened was that he had fallen asleep while writing this one out and... drooled on it.” “D-did you tell him he had ink on his face?” Luna just shook her head, “I did not. I thought that if I was to tell him, it might stress him out even more.” “So instead of informing him that he had something on his face and worrying him, you instead just let him walk around all day with it.” The two guards just outside the throne room could hear laughter from within for several minutes before it finally died down. The two Lunar guards, who had just started their shift gave each other a sideways glance. “Well at least they’re happy.” ---- “Should I wake him?” Each member of the Lunar guard looked at Adam’s sleeping form, each of them in different moments of removing their armor. It was Heavy Shield that spoke up, “I think you should probably let him be, Quick.” “B-b-but that's my bunk, you wouldn’t be saying that if it was your bunk,” she groaned. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” laughed Soft Hoof as he jumped onto his own bunk, “but guess what. He’s not so good night.” “Sorry Quick, I forgot that you don’t like anypony touching your stuff. I should have told Twilight and her friends to lay him down on another bed, I was just too tired.” Stormy Night was truly sorry, she just hoped that it came across that way to Quick Note. “Why don’t you take his bunk in the time being. One night won't hurt anypony, right?” Quick Note could only sigh and bow her head in defeat at her predicament. Flicking her maroon tail in annoyance she trotted over to Adam’s bed and pulled on the sheets. She would just have to talk with the Lieutenant in the morning. ---- Today was going to be a good day, Adam could just feel it, as long as he didn’t move his wings much he wouldn’t feel much pain. The laps that he flew yesterday left the muscles around his wings aching from the slightest movement but he could live with that, it was a good sign after all, it proved that he was only getting stronger. He wasn’t going to bother questioning why he woke up in the barracks, he was just happy that he did. There are far worse places to find yourself after falling asleep, like a holding cell, now that was a memory. First things first though, he needed a shower... Badly. Not really knowing the layout of the building too well caused him to waste time searching for the barrack’s showers. He was hoping that there was some soap in there otherwise he wouldn’t be getting too clean. Just another thing I need to do today. Get soap at the market. With a little searching he found the showers with ease and upon inspection he saw that they split into two different rooms. One for the males and the other for the females, and dead center was a small closet full of towels and other toiletries. Balancing what he needed on his back, with a little discomfort due to his wings, he stepped into the male’s side. Careful so as not to drop his stuff on the ground, Adam set them on a near by bench, he undressed. Once he was done he trotted over to the showers and stood under a shower head, turning the water to a nice warm temperature. Closing his eyes he turned his head up into the falling water and let it fall down his face for several seconds before looking back down and watched the water flow down the drain. A dark grey stream of liquid caught his attention as it too joined the water on the floor and curious as to where it came from, he traced it back to its source. Surprised he traced the stream up his own body until he couldn’t physically follow it with his eyes. Placing a hoof to his cheek and removing it, he found it covered with a layer of ink that had to have been there for a while as it was clumped together in places as if having hardened. “What the- Has this been on my face since yesterday? Why the fuck didn’t anyone tell me, I must have looked like a real idiot.” Sighing in aggravation, there was nothing he could do about yesterday but he could at least wipe off the ink that was still stuck to his fur. Grabbing the bottle of shampoo, Adam sat on the shower floor as he slowly squeezed the bottle between his two hooves. Maybe if I just gently and slowly squeeze it I can just dab it on the spot and rub it in. His efforts seemed to be paying off as he watched the level of liquid inside the container begin to rise at a crawl. Just as it was reaching the top of the bottle however, his hoof slipped and caused him to apply too much pressure and shot the shampoo out the top of the bottle and up his nose and left eye. Jerking his head back in shock, he yelped in pain as his wings flapped open and the cleaner burned his eye and nose, his muscles letting their displeasure known. “GOD DAMN IT, FUCK HOOVES.” ---- With his little scene in the showers behind him, Adam stood trying to dry himself off with the towel, with greater success than his time with the bottle. He did have to admit though, the shower did feel nice on his aching muscles and he even felt refreshed. Setting his used towel down on the bench next to his clothes, Adam made an attempt to put them on like he always did but stopped. Now that he was all clean he realized something, his clothes absolutely reeked and he didn’t have another set beyond the ones he came here with, but he never actually got around to actually cleaning them either. Item number two on my list, get more clothes. Slipping into his clothes, he collected his toiletries and trotted out the doors to the hall, tossing the used towel into the dirty hamper next to the exit. He needed to go to the bunks again and grab his untouched dinner from last night and store it somewhere, if this place was anything like base could get, he would need to hide it or he would find only scraps of it later. Back in the barracks Adam found that most of the guards were still sleeping in their bunks, he didn’t see the ponies he had been introduced to before but instead the colorful variety that he had grown accustomed to seeing around town. I’ll have to ask them how they do that, but thats for another time. Grabbing the little bag by the bunk he slept in, with his teeth, he made his way out the door again and back to his office. Adam froze after entering his office, none of the papers were where they needed to be. All the papers he had knocked to the floor, were no longer on the floor or even on the desk. The only paper sitting on his desk had a little note written on it. Dear Lieutenant, I saw all the filled out reports all over the floor and thought since you helped us last night cleaning up, the least I could do was help you. I have taken the reports and flown them to Princess Luna, she is probably a little upset that we haven’t been sending them in. There is no need for thanks. Sincerely, Private Stormy Night The Lunar Guard courier Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. I’m so fucked. He had intended to sort those out and throw out the bad ones but it looks like that is no longer an option. Tossing the bag of food onto the desk, he plopped down onto the chair behind his desk, and stared at it. “Well I guess there is nothing I can do about that now. I just hope she doesn’t take those reports too serious.” Sliding the wrapped potato onto his desk, Adam slowly opened up the wrappings until he saw the food that laid within. He still had other things to do but he could at least enjoy an early lunch before he left. It was good, even though it was cold, but he would have liked some meat on it. Finished with his meal, he slid the trash into the bin that sat next to his desk, the rest that he didn't finish he put back in the bag, and jumped out of his chair. Even though he had a couple of things he needed, he hoped he could buy the rest of what he didn't have at one place. Other than that all he had to do was speak with Rarity. Walking over to the weapon rack, he slung his multiple rifles over his shoulder and made sure that his pistol was in its holster. There wasn’t a need for his helmet but he grabbed his old boonie and tossed it on his head, it didn’t match with the forest pattern camo ACU Rarity had made for him but it didn’t bother him. With the last item he needed with him and his coin purse secure beneath his wing, Adam opened the office door and made it to the front lobby. The receptionist behind the counter gave him a slight nod as he walked on past her and out the doors, her eyes tracked him out of boredom and a bit of interest. Happy to actually having brought his hat with him, there wasn’t really any sun for it to block as dark clouds had formed, but what sun did manage to break through was at least blocked from his eyes. He could have sworn someone mentioning that there was going to be a storm coming and from the sound of things it was going to be a nasty one at that. Something about a blizzard. Either way he needed clothes if its going to be getting colder and he only knew one clothing designer. It was difficult to walk around with his rifles, and a bit more tiring than usual, but he was making it there if not a little slower than he would have liked. He saw many ponies walking the streets each with their own responsibilities but among the many colorful ponies he spotted one coming towards him. Twilight had appeared to have been looking for him with Spike comfortably relaxing on her back. Waving him over, Twilight and Spike greeted Adam before she asked, “Hey Adam do you have a moment?” Glancing over to where he was heading he replied, “Uhhh, sure I was just heading to Rarity’s. You can come along if you want.” “Great, and if you have the time would you mind coming over to the library. I have a few theories that I want to see if I’m right about and I need your help, both of these theories will benefit you greatly if I’m right.” Hearing that he might be the center of some experiments didn’t sit well in his gut but he doubt it was anything dangerous. “T-thats fine. I don’t exactly find the idea of you testing different theories out on me very appealing, but if you say it can help me I’ll do it.” Clopping her hooves together in glee, Twilight cheered, “I knew you would say yes. We should hurry, the sooner you get what you need to do with Rarity the sooner I can do some tests. You’re going to be thrilled if I’m right.” "Or in a lot of pain," muttered Spike. "What did he say," Adam asked in alarm from the baby drakes comment. "Oh just ignore him, he is just a little cranky since I woke him earlier than he would have liked. There is nothing to be worried about," Twlight reassured as she pinched Spike on the rear with her magic while Adam wasn't looking. ---- Rarity’s store was just around the corner from where Twilight had found him, much to Adam’s relief, and only took a moment to get inside. The bell above the door announced their presence to the busy fashionista in another room. Upon hearing the bell though Rarity dropped the work she had on hand and warmly greeted them. “Darlings, welcome, what ever could I do for either of you today.” Not wanting to use up all of the pony’s time, Adam unslung the rifles that lay across his back and presented them to her. “If you could ma’am, I need a harness that I can use with these while standing if needed. And,” unholstering his pistol he placed it in line with it’s larger counterparts, “I also need something that I can strap onto my right hoof that will allow me to handle this firearm. Something that can hold it steady without breaking or falling off easily.” Scrunching her muzzle at the weapons in front of her, Rarity examined and made mental measurements as to what would be needed for such a project. It helped that she knew a lot of Adam’s measurements from making some clothes but those were more rough estimates from past clients. For something like this she would have to be very precise. “I am confident that I can make something that can meet your requirements but this is very much out of my field of work. When would the deadline be exactly?” “Well the sooner the better, but since in the off chance that I may have to actually use them, I would prefer it if you took your time with their construction so that the harness is reliable. So just get it to me whenever you can.” Seeing no real problem with the demands and requirements, Rarity didn’t see why she couldn’t get the job done for him. “Alright I will see what I can do, though I do have to say that this may become quite costly. There will be materials that I will have to order for and some outside help that I may have to contact, so that it can handle whatever it is you need them to withstand.” Nodding in understanding Adam removed his coin purse saying, “Thats perfectly fine ma’am, just tell me how much and I’ll pay you.” If it comes down to it and it gets too expensive, I could possibly write it off as a work expense in another of my reports... If Luna doesn’t get pissed about the reports that were just sent to her. “Very well then, I estimate the total will come out to be thirty-eight gold bits, seventy-three silver bits and nine copper bits. Will there be anything else while we are at it darling?” Getting another whiff of the smell that was coming off his uniform was a firm reminder of what else he needed to buy while he was there. “Yes, actually there is. I also need several more sets of uniforms like this one for myself. Same design, possibly different thicknesses for colder weather, some for each season seeing that I will be here for a while.” “Are you sure you want it the exact same or not something else entirely.” Rarity was being obvious in her distaste for the uniform’s style but it was made for functionality not fashion, and that function was much more useful at keeping him alive as is, so he could care less about fashion. “Yes ma’am, the exact same way and if you would take a look at my vest and see if there is anyway to repair the area that the knife cut into it. I need this thing to last for as long as possible.” Giving up in her attempts to change Adam’s mind on fashion at the present Rarity replied, “Very well then, I will throw those in for free as a bonus with the previous order and as for the vest I will see what I can do.” Rarity took another step forward and took a closer look at the area he had mentioned. The fabric was beginning to fray along the edges from being neglected for so long but it wasn’t anything she needed to worry about, it was just a simple spell and it would be good as new. Collecting the energy into her horn, Rarity formed the spell in her mind before unleashing the power before her and repaired Adam’s armor. With another inspection, Rarity could find nothing else wrong with the spell affected area and was proud of her work. “There, good as new and I will even throw that one in free as well. It was a simple fix really, since nothing was needing to be replaced.” Turning her attention back to the original request, she levitated over a tape measure and went to work. It only took a few minutes for her to take all the measurements she needed of the weapons before turning to Adam and taking his measurements. With is measurements though she seemed to be going into far more detail than he thought was needed. She measured each of his legs, multiple different measurements for his torso and waist, ending it with his shoulder width. “Was all of those really necessary, the last set you made me fit just fine as they are?” Rarity continued her work as she made her way over to a table covered in papers and lifted up some other pages from the stack. From that distance it looked like a rough sketch of his current uniform, the numbers on it she erased and replaced with the new corrections. There was another page underneath but Adam couldn’t see what it could be from his angle, but it wasn’t his business so he paid it no mind. “Yes and no dear. While yes I could use the guess work from last time but with these I can make more fitting clothes for you, like for the tuxedo you're going to wear for the galla.” “I don’t think I heard everything ya’ll said, would ya please repeat that ma’am?” “Oh, I just said it makes it easier for myself to make your clothes better and faster.” Adam raised an eyebrow at her statement, not convinced by her attempt to trick him, but she was being generous enough to make some of these for free for him so he wasn’t going to press the obvious dodge. Stretching out his right wing, he untied the knot that held his coin purse in place and picked it up off the floor after hearing the loud thud that followed. Opening it up he counted out the amount needed for his purchases, not having anything but gold bits he instead grabbed an extra gold one before placing them on the nearest table. “Will this do, ma'am, I still am not sure about your currency here?” Looking over the bits, Rarity gave a curt nod, “This is more than enough, just give me a moment while I get you your change.” As Rarity turned and left the room, Twilight stared at Adam with a questioning look. Noticing her confusion he asked, “What?” “Are you walking around town with all your bits?” Blinking at her he didn’t really know what to say to her question. “Umm, yeah. Is there something wrong with that?” “Well most ponies don’t walk around with all of their earnings. We have a bank for a reason.” Snorting in irritation Adam growled, “Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a bank, I feel stupid walking around with this much money... Or at least I think its a lot of money.” “No your right to think thats a lot of bits, because it is. We need to get you set up with a bank account after we go to the library. Let me give you a quick run through of how our currencies work, for every one hundred copper bits equal one silver bit. Every one hundred silver bits equal one gold bit and lastly it takes one thousand gold bits to equal one platinum bit. Its a rather simple money system when you think about it and you won’t be spending too much each day, today being the only exception with this order.” It was then, that Rarity returned with his change, once reaching the three of them she levitated them over to Adam’s bag and placed them inside. “There we go. Just so you know the clothes should be easy to take care of, but as I said earlier the harness will take more time. On another topic I overheard you talking about going to the bank after going to Twilight’s. I would suggest that you go by there beforehoof, as they will be closing early today and I fear that if you go after your visit at Twilight’s you won’t be able to get to the bank before it closes.” Twilight sagged slightly at the news when she spoke her tone sounded deflated, “Well I guess we will have to go there first. I hate going to the bank. Come on Adam we better hurry, I expect we’ll be in there for a while.” She wasn’t wrong. --2 Hours Later-- Trotting out the doors Adam was very much relieved to be outside again. The papers he had to sign seemed to grow tenfold after they were told that he would be depositing four hundred gold bits. He had hoped to just go in and get a normal bank account, but much to his annoyance they had in the end forced him to create a premium account with them. What a premium account actually meant escaped him, but what he did know was that he would be able to have an account with a large amount of bits. “I don’t like that banker,” Adam grumbled, more to himself than to anyone near by. “Who, Filthy Rich? He’s actually a very nice pony once you get to know him, he just takes his work very seriously is all,” Twilight replied. She had practically forced him out the door after the account was made in order to get them back to the library. “What ever, lets just get to the library,” Adam said curtly. His patience was waning and it was only getting worse, he had more things to do but was running really short on time. "Hey Adam, can I ask you something?" Spikes sudden question reminded Adam that the little drake had been with them the entire time. The baby dragon had said only a few words since they met up earlier that he was surprised Spike wasn't just sleeping on Twilight's back. Spike waited a moment for Adam to nod before he continued, “Why do you talk to ponies differently?” Adam paused, not quite understanding what he meant, “What do you mean ‘differently’?” Spike hopped off of Twilight’s back to walk in front of the duo saying, “Like earlier, you were all polite to Rarity, saying ‘ma’am’ a lot but when you talk to Twi or myself you don’t.” “I was just being polite is all.” “But why not with us?” Adam contemplated over the best possible way to answer the dragon question, “Well aren’t you a little detective," he mocked. "Alright, well each person, in my experience, is each comfortable when spoken to in different ways. Like when you said I said a lot of ‘ma’ams’ earlier well that was me talking to her in the way I thought she would have preferred. It makes things easier to do when you want something or when someone is doing something for you.” “You mean you’re just using Rarity,” Spike exclaimed a hint of an edge was starting to color his voice at hearing what Adam had to say. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t and if you remember I was more than willing to pay her for the help she was giving me. It was her idea to offer some of the services for free anyways and I wasn’t going to turn that down.” Spike had met very few ponies who would take advantage of another, but he did know that there were ponies out there that would. When he did think back though he did recall Adam pay for everything that he was charged and not once did he really ever ask for any sort of discount, Rarity had offered that out of her generosity. “Still doesn’t seem right,” he huffed as he kicked a pebble from his path. “Hey if you want to know, it doesn’t always work, I mean just look at my marriage. No amount of pretty words was going to save that train-wreck of a relationship. Now is there anything else you wish to ask me?” Setting aside that issue for now Spike went on to ask his second question, “Actually I was wondering about your weapons.” Adam arched an eyebrow at the dragon. The little guy had been present when Twilight had run down an entire list of questions about his gear, a literal list, so anything else would have to be something she would have had to have forgotten. He hoped. “What do you want to know?” “Well there has been something that has bugged me about them.” “Yeah and what might that be?” “They all look weird, and when I mean 'look weird' I mean that they look so different from each other but yet they all do pretty much the same thing. Is that what everypony else uses?” Not exactly what he was expecting for Spike to ask but Adam was pleasantly surprised. “That is a good observation and to answer your question, no these are not standard issue. Short of the M16 and maybe the M82, but only if they believe I’ll need it. The only reason why I have these weapons is actually thanks to your Princess. Because of the sudden need to be sent out to protect her, the higher ups gave us open access to the armory on base. Steve had taken it upon himself to try and use what ever weapon we have at some point, so he grabbed the only Chey Tac there. He was lucky to even find this damn thing since we don’t even use them normally. But, hey, video games so...” "Uh, ok." It was obvious that the Spike didn't have a clue as to what Adam was talking about, but he had made it a point to shrug his shoulder, shaking each rifle in turn as he listed them off to help the dragon identify each one. “Videogames,” Spike asked, cocking his head to the side. “Yeah, for the past several years there have been a large number of games that had themed around some sort of conflict or another. I’ve played my fair share of them along with Steve and he thought it would be a fun thing to do. I mean we’ve both served for some time now, and over the years we've had the opportunity to use some fun things here and there. “Oh, but what about that one,” Spike asked pointing to the holstered pistol on Adam’s hip, “You didn’t say anything about that one.” “That is a special case, but no it too is not standard.” Spike waited expectantly for Adam to elaborate a few minutes but was in the end forced to ask when he wasn’t forthcoming with any information. “Soooo, why do you have that one?” “It has a story, but I would rather not get into it, maybe another time.” Spike groaned at the the refusal but said nothing more, if Adam didn’t want to say anything there wasn’t much the he could do to force him. All he could do was pray that it was sooner rather than later. From there the three continued in silence, Twilight lost in thought, while Spike didn’t have any more questions that he knew Adam would answer. It wasn’t long before they finally reached the library but not before Adam found himself breathing heavier than he would normally. His collection of rifles laying across his back was lighter than his normal gear load but for some reason he felt drained. Lighting her horn in a purple glow, that Adam had learned meant that magic was being used, Twilight opened the door and let everyone enter. Nothing seemed to have changed since last Adam had stepped foot inside. "Alright Adam, if you would be so kind as to step over here," Twilight said as she pointed to a cleared corner of the room. "Ok, but you still haven't told me what exactly we are doing. "Oh well after writing back and forth between the princesses, we think there might be a way to turn you human for longer stretches of time." Adam gulped at what that meant for his own body. The idea of feeling that kind of pain again wasn't rating very high on his list of things he wished to do again. "Is it going to hurt like last time, because if it is then we can just stop right here." Twilight was quick to respond, "Oh you don't need to worry about that. I believe I have figured out how to do it without causing you any pain... I hope." "What was that?" "Nothing, nothing at all, just stand right over there please." Sliding his gear off his back Adam slowly made his way to the indicated clearing. "Good now that you are in position we can begin. Just a warning, you will experience some drowsiness and maybe some dizziness but that should pass." "Wait what are you doing?" Adam was growing more and more uneasy by the second with whatever Twilight planned on doing to turn him human again. "Oh as I said there is nothing to worry about, I'm just going to drain the magic out of you and transfer it into a crystal. By doing this there won't be any resistance to the spell that I will be casting after that. Princess Celestia believes that, since your human body has never been in contact with magic before, the magic that was absorbed into your body turned you into a pony to protect it from harm. She also believes that the pain, from the last time you were transformed, was caused by my spell being resisted by the magic already there. So thats why I have to drain you of that magic." Now knowing what was to come, Adam felt a little better, but only a slightly. Similar to if he was hanging off the side of the building by slender piece of rope. Sure he was safe, but for how long. "What kind of side effects should I expect from you taking away the magic inside of me?" "Oh nothing major," Twilight replied as she placed a small blue crystal on the table next to herself, "just what I said earlier. Oh and if you have a sudden feeling of nausea, let me know. I have a bucket on standby just in case. All side effects should pass after a short period of time, unlike us ponies." Adam was confused by Twilight's last comment. "What do you mean, what happens if you drain a normal pony?" "Well magic is an integral part of the pony body just as is breathing is to you, but if you were to drain somepony then it can have some severe negative effects on them. Which is why it is normally forbid to us this sort of spell on anypony, but I have the princess's permission so its ok." That slender piece of rope turned into a thin string, causing Adam's sense of worry to increase the more Twilight spoke. It made him question the idea of going through with this unicorn's plan. He wasn't able to voice his new concerns however as he saw Twilight shut her eyes and stick out her tongue in concentration before hitting him square in the chest with her new spell. He had to admit... she had good aim. He stood there stunned at the sudden impact expecting, anything, to happen but he felt no change. He wasn't feeling any more tired than he was getting there nor was there any dizziness or nausea. Minutes passed with still no change to himself, however Twilight looked rather strained by the effort. Beads of sweat had formed on her brow while her eyes were shut tight. Twilight wasn't the only one changing as a faint glow slowly began to emit from the crystal. It was after Adam noticed the small gem, did he finally feel his strength gradually fade. Several minutes passed until he found it difficult to stand and his breathing became ragged. Just before he thought his legs would give out on him, Twilight stopped. She didn't seem to be doing very good herself. "Ok," Adam gasped, "what now?" Collecting herself Twilight said, "Now all that is left is to actually cast the transformation spell. The magic pulled into the crystal should be more than enough to cast this spell several times, I cast a spell on it prior to allow you to use it, if you ever decide you want to do this yourself. Whenever you are ready, just let me know." Nodding his head, Twilight lit her horn once again and shot another blast into his chest. Unlike the previous shot however, Twilight's horn after firing did not remain glowing and he felt something immediately. A numbness spread across his body, starting from his chest until it extended to each part of his body. Adam watched as each of his limbs elongated and the fur retract back into his body. Fingers formed along the edge of his hooves until they were recognizable hands and the digits on his hind hooves formed his normal feet. He felt no pain during the entire change and was even pleased to find that as each limb finished with it's change back to its original form, so did his clothes. The cloth on his, what was hooves, turned back into the gloves that he had been wearing before and his boots once again formed back over his reformed feet. The familiar snugness of his boots was a welcome sensation to experience once again. Taking a chance Adam made the effort to stand on his feet once more and heard each of his joints crack as if they had been merely cramped and not completely altered. The sudden vertical movement caused the room to spin for a moment as the blood left his head. He was whole and he couldn't be happier with his current situation. The sound of his cracking joints seemed to disturb Twilight and Spike slightly but Adam could care less at the moment. He felt great, the tiredness he had felt earlier had passed just as Twilight had said. Levitating the small gem into Adam's open palm, a look of relief was on her face as if she expected something bad to happen. "Its a good thing we did this when we did," sighed Twilight getting curious looks from both Adam and Spike. "Uh, why is that," Adam having decided to voice their shared question. "Well while everything went according to plan, I did not expect so much magic to be stored inside your body. In fact your body had so much magic stored inside that I'm surprised there haven't been any problems with the magic trying to get out. If this had been ignored, it could have caused your health to decline at a rapid rate as the magic would have done some serious damage. We call this magical poisoning and while it is rare for anypony to be afflicted by this, it does still happen. While you seem fine to me, I don't think you got away unscathed from this. You could have just gotten very minor symptoms that were mistaken for something else." “I think I would notice, it is my body after all.” Twilight shook her head, “If you hadn’t been over exerting yourself ever since you arrived here in Equestria, I might have agreed with you but that is not the case. The only time that I think you have actually sat still for more than a few seconds was when we were in Canterlot and you were confined to your room. That is besides the point though, now that you don’t have any magic in your body, you should naturally absorb it from your surroundings. Its not healthy to have your body pumped full like you were, other than magical poisoning there can be other things that could have gone wrong.” Adam raised an eyebrow at the now small pony standing next to him, “What do you mean, ‘other things?’” “Well did you ever take a chemistry class growing up in your world?” “Yes, why?” “Well lets just imagine that your body was a heated glass of water and while at room temperature you could hold only so much minerals. Lets say sugar. But now that the water has been heated up, it can now hold much more sugar, effectively over saturating the water. Now what do you think would happen if something were to agitate the water after it had cooled back down to room temperature?” Chewing on the inside of his cheek trying to remember, the room was silent for a few minutes until he spoke, “Well its been a while since I took high school chemistry, but wouldn’t it cause the water molecules and sugar molecules to separate?” Nodding her head in confirmation Twilight continued, “Yes, while for a unicorn this wouldn’t be so much a problem, we can just discharge the excess magic through our horns. Other ponies don’t have the luxury, though pegasi do have the ability to use there buildup of magic by either flying or manipulate clouds. The danger for you is the fact that you can’t willingly control the magic inside yourself yet and by removing it from your body now, we can start with the basics when your body has absorbed a normal amount of the surrounding magic. We don’t want the magic to try and find its own way out.” Adam’s stomach twisted at the thought of his body just bursting because of the something his body wasn’t adapted to handle. That still left one unanswered question though. “If its not common for people to suffer from magical poisoning, then why was my body so full of magic to begin with?” The question seemed to make Twilight fidget on her hooves as she tried to come up with a way that would not possibly anger him. “Well, Celestia told me that her spell that allows her to travel between this world and yours requires a lot of magical energy and when it pulled you through to our side, the energy was transferred into you.” An exasperated sigh escaped his lips at hearing that the princess’s actions had once again nearly caused his unknowing death. As calmly as he could manage without letting his frustration get the better of him, Adam asked, “Anything else I should be aware of, like anything else that could possibly be deadly to me? I don’t want to find out at the last minute that there is something else, caused by your princesses, trying to kill me again.” Twilight could see his obvious mistrust towards the princesses and hoped that over time it would change the longer he worked with them. Tapping her chin, trying to think of anything that she might have forgotten, she eventually shook her head. "No that should pretty much cover it, but if you feel sick and dizzy at any point let me know." "Good." A quick glance at his watch reminded him that he was still in the middle of getting a few things before Twilight had asked for him. "While I have to say this was a welcomed gift, that I greatly appreciate by the way, I must go and buy a few more things before the markets close for the day." Collecting his gear again from where he had placed them and slinging them once more onto his back Adam stepped outside. He was surprised to hear the door open and close behind him again, Twilight now standing right behind him. "I was just wanting to follow you. I've only seen you like this once and I was mostly preoccupied with our trip to Canterlot to really get a look at you. It's interesting to see another being other than the minotaurs and adolescent dragons, stand and walk around on two legs." Adam shrugged indifferent to the idea, "It's fine you could even help me find a few things too. Not sure exactly who sells what other than the obvious." With Twilight's assistance, they made short work of his list of necessities. He now found his arms and pockets full of various items, balancing a few so he could carry them all. Giggling at Adam's antics she had to ask, "Why didn't you just bring your bag if you knew you were going to be carrying so many items?" "Well, those bags weren't designed for ponies so it is very awkward to carry and I didn't know you were going to turn me human again." "Hmm, in that case you know tomorrow-" A loud cry interrupting Twilight before a large fuzzy object crashed into Adam's chest. The sudden impact caused him to stumble backwards and trip over Twilight, the items that were in his arms were now replaced with a grey derpy-eyed pegasus. The seconds passed until grey mass opened her eyes, confused by the warmth that she was feeling from what ever it was that she had collided with. When she finally looked down at what she was on top of she yelped in surprise. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to crash into you like that, please don't be mad." Trying to recover from have the wind knocked out of him, he could only give out a coughed acceptance. Crawling out from under Adam's legs Twilight Helped the Pegasus off of him asking, "Why are you in such a hurry Derpy?" "Oh I was just making my way to Sugar Cube Corner for one of Pinkie Pie's parties. Silver Bit got a promotion as branch manager in Appaloosa, so he is going to be moving with his family. Pinkie wanted to throw them one last party before they left." Having worked herself out from beneath Adam's legs Twilight spoke, "I didn't know anypony was leaving Ponyville, give them my regards for me please." "Sure thing, I better hurry or I'm going to be late. I'll make it up to you for running into you like that, I swear." With her final goodbyes she took off in the direction of the bakery. Adam checked his dropped purchases and was happy to find none of the broken. Once he had determined that nothing was wrong the two of them continued their way to the guard station, Twilight left after they made it to his office. Now that he had finally finished all his shopping for the day he grabbed the cleaners that he purchased, his dirty back up uniform, and a towel before heading to the showers. It had taken him a while to find these cleaners, he had to find some that wouldn't damage his uniform. The next problem that had presented itself was that they didn't have electricity and without that he doubted they would have any sort of washing machine. The showers would have to serve as his temporary laundry room until any real solution was found. Stripping down for the second time that day, it became painfully obvious that the showers were not designed for people his size to bathe comfortably in. Grabbing a stool, he placed it in front of one of the showers and turned it on, waiting to the side while the water got to the right temperature. With the water set, Adam got to work on his clothes. He made sure to go over every inch of the uniform so as to wash out as much of the dirt as he could. He had special plans for tomorrow and he wanted to look his best for the occasion. The process of cleaning both uniforms took him the better part of two hours to do, but once he was finished he was more than pleased with the results. Drying them to the best of his abilities there, he wrapped himself in a towel and went back to his office, making sure to grab a few extra towels on his way out. The air felt cold as he quickly made his way to his office, getting the occasional double take from some of the other ponies walking to their own destinations. Shivers ran down his spine from the sudden change and only encouraged him to speed up his pace. With wet clothes in hand he stepped into his office and locked the door behind himself. Careful in placing his now clean clothes down, Adam went about setting up a clothes line across his office to dry the clothes overnight for tomorrow. With the rope up and ready he then placed the spare towels underneath them and then proceeded to hang his uniform. Another chill ran down his spine convincing him to grab the blanket that rested on top of the folded cot in the corner. Since his clothes would have to hanging over night, he was going to have to sleep in the nude so that they could dry. Never really being the kind of person to find that to be a very exciting idea, he could live with it for at least one night. The blanket brought him some warmth but he was going to have to find something else if he was going to sleep at least somewhat comfortably that night. With little effort he found a small wood burning heater in another corner of the room. It would work perfectly for him, so he quickly start the small fire and was rewarded with the additional warmth that it provided. His stomach chose to make its presence none to him with a loud growl, now that he wasn't occupied with other things. Walking over to his desk he pulled out what was left of his potato and wolfed it down, it wasn't really filling and cold but all he wanted to do now was unfold the cot and go to sleep. Liking the idea more and more, he stood from his chair and went about setting the cot up near the heater. Happy to see the cot erected, Adam wasted no time climbing onto it and making himself cozy. Due to his size however not all of him was able to fit. His feet hung inches from the floor as they stretched out over the other end. Grumbling in slight agitation from this new issue, he tucked in his legs so as to keep them warm for the night. It wasn't long before his eyes closed and he was sound asleep. ---- Pinkie Pie had thrown another wonderful party and Silver Bit was both happy and sad for having attended. While there wasn't a single pony in town that could say they didn't enjoy themselves at one of her parties, it was also a reminder to him that her was leaving the town he had spent his entire life. He had never been to Appaloosa but from what he had been told, it was comprised of only earth ponies and to a unicorn like himself and his family it was a bit unsettling being the only ones. It was late by the time he finally left Sugar Cube Corner, his wife and daughter had chosen to head home before him so as to finish packing for the trip tomorrow, Silver Bit wanted to say goodbye to all his friends and coworkers so he chose to stay until the very end. After the last pony had left and he had decided to finally leave as well, Pinkie trotted up to him and gave him a box of cupcakes for his family to eat on the trip. With the box in his magical grip, he said his goodbyes to the hyperactive pink pony and started his walk home. More of the dark clouds had been placed over Ponyville that night and from what the weatherponies had told everypony that morning, they were to expect a lot of snow tonight. Not wanting to be caught out in it, Silver doubled his pace and was home by the time the first flecks of snow started to fall. He bet there would be a good hoof or two of snow on the ground tomorrow. Quietly he opened the door as he saw no lights on inside and didn't wish to wake anyone, it would be an early morning tomorrow and everypony would need their rest. Once the door closed and the locks clicked in place did two pairs of paws gab him from each side and force him to the ground with a shout of surprise from him. Across the room several candles were magically lit to illuminate the room and to his horror he saw roughly seven diamond dogs each clad in their roughly made armor. But what terrified him the most was the sight of his wife and daughter bound and gagged at the hooves of two other ponies. His wife seemed to have tried to protect their daughter as she had a bloodied nose and her eye had become swollen. Their daughter on the other hoof was perfectly fine though she had streaks of tears flowing down her face. "Ah, welcome back. We have been waiting for your arrival." The oddly accented pony standing over his daughter brought his attention back to the bigger problem. The pony speaking spoke fluent eques but it sounded like it was not his native tongue, but he could not decipher where he could have originated from. Having worked in the banks for so long he had learned to identify the different types of speech that could be found across equestria, it had become something of a game for him. The stallion talking was a unicorn that had a white fur coat with a dark brown, almost black, mane with a well trimmed beard on his face. He wore clothes that appeared to have been made of some of the finest materials but had been recently torn up from rough use. It looked like something that a pony would wear if they were from a noble family or some pony with a lot of bits to throw around. The stallion looked normal in most regards except for one thing, his eyes. His left eye was a hazel color but his right eye was something completely different and wrong. It was the eye of the pony that was only remembered of in nightmares and old stories. The eye was a shade of turquoise but instead of a normal pupil of any regular pony this one was similar to that of a snake. This pony had an eye like that of Nightmare Moon. "I'm sorry for the treatment of your wife, my men had been told to politely gather them but it seems it got a little out of hand for them. Rest assured the one responsible will be thoroughly punished." With the utterance of the last word, one of the large diamond dogs visibly recoiled, shrunk into the wall as far as he could go, whimpering, and his tail tucked between his legs in fear. Silver had never seen or heard of a pony being able to scare a diamond dog to that degree before other than the princesses. If this strange pony could command such fear from them, then it only made him all the more terrifying to be in front of. "Now then, if you would please come with me, I need your help with something." Trembling where he was, all Silver could ask was, "W-w-w-what do you need help with?" The stallion laughed as if the question was some sort of joke that only he seemed to get. His laughter caused the light from the candles to reveal his sharpened teeth similar to that of a wolf, his right in incisor however was longer than the other, further signs of the influence of the nightmare. The unicorn stallion that stood to his right just stared at him with cold eyes that no pony should have. It took a moment until the laughing pony wiped a tear from his nightmare eye before he finally replied, "Easy. Revenge."