Ice and I sat around the campfire I had started and Ice pulled out a bag of marshmallows, “Are you serious?”

“No way dude, I heard from everypony that you can’t go camping without roasting marshmallows.” With a flash of green his was back in original form and used his magic to open it up and toss one in his mouth, “Mmm poofy.”

“Hold on I’ll go grab a couple sticks,” I walked to where our light met the darkness and snapped two slender limbs off and stripped them of leaves then when back, “Here we are; two patented marshmallow roasting spears.” We each took one, speared a marshmallow, and set them ablaze but Ice had to try it a couple times to keep it from falling off, “So about that Pegasus that mugged us, mind showing me what she looked like?”

“I’m not your boss,” He simply laughed and turned into a smaller than average maroon Pegasus with an auburn mane and a coil of ivy with pink thorns as a cutie-mark. “That doesn’t look right, Ice… all the ponies I’ve met was pastel nightmares, and you sure this is her right coloring?”

“Yup, this is her; as for the color I’m not positive but I’ve seen ponies with darker coats. I saw a stallion selling apples and his coat was kind of dark red and there was a mare that was kind of a deep pink so it can’t be gender related…”

“Think Ivy is from Ponyville?” He cocked his head at the mention of the name I gave her, “What it’s the first thing that came to my head, so sue me.” He changed back and we sat in silence while I thought about our first day. After Ivy’s chi or magic blocker or whatever wore off a couple of hours so we kept walking until we hit the a river and after we crossed it by using a little covered bridge the sun was setting so we decided to set up camp on the side of the road near the tree line.

“Hear what?” I strained my ears to listen for anything over the sounds of the crackling fire and then I heard it; a clicking sound, “Yeah what is that, a squirrel?”

“It sounds way too big to be a squirrel…” There was a sudden gasp, “Uh Shin… how to you feel about spiders?”

“They’re alright I guess, one of the other dorm-mates in the building had a tarantula that kept getting loose, sure it could bite but it wasn’t lethal… I don’t think, never got bit… Why?” He just made a squeaking sound and pointed a shaky hoof behind me so I turned around and saw a violet spider the size of a Labrador with a red skull on its abdomen lowing itself out of the tree with its web and started skittering towards us, “Screw that noise!” I grabbed my pack, ripped the tent out of the ground, and doused the fire, “Fucking run!!!”

I sprinted off into the darkness with Ice galloping right behind me, “Why are we running?”

I nearly skidded to a halt but remembered what was chasing us, “I don’t care who I Shift to I just need something with wings!” It was almost instantaneous; the back of my vest became really tight then there was a ripping sound as familiar way to big bronze dragon wings burst from my back and with two quick flaps sent me soaring, “Oh come on I like my clothes in one piece!”

’My condolence on the loss of your enchanted fabric, my king, it was a treasure worthy of any hoard. I heard the call and I couldn’t resist the urge to spread my wings, as it were.’
‘King, what do you mean by king? I’m not royalty.’

’This body hold many beings and by overcoming each of us you have proven your right to rule this body by might. I believe there is a saying on Earth; my body is a temple but your body is a kingdom and every kingdom must have a king!’

“Shin, how did you… what’s with the giant dragon wings,” Ice Flow buzzed up to me after he finally caught up, “I caught your vest… It might be able to be fixed; the rips are only around the front of the arm holes.”

“Thanks Ice, as for the wings, they belong to Makarov. One of the voices in my head, before you found me I was able to talk with all of them and they’ve decided to help me,” I took the offered piece of fabric and stuffed it in a pocket then disassembled the tent enough to where it could be rolled up until I could properly put it away then strapped it to the top of my pack. “Shining said it was three days walk to Canterlot and I think we can both agree we should just fly the rest of the way…”

“Yup, totally, I’m just adding arachnophobia to my list of fears… right up there with clowns and murderous toys dolls.”

“Who wouldn’t be, I was forced to watch ‘It’ and it scarred me for life.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry but if you’re going to be flying with those giant thing I’m going to need to hitch a ride with you because I can’t keep up,” with a flash of green and a lizard the size of my forearm landed between my wings, “Alright let’s go.”

‘I’m not taking my pants off, this will be fine,’ gripping my pack in both of my hands I started flapping my wings until we were flying at a nice fast pace. With the land below zooming by I had nothing else to do but keep my eyes on the large city.

“Sweet Chrysalis, boss! We finally made it to Canterlot, I bet this would be a record time!” I was hovering quite high over the city when the little lizard chirped up the launched itself of me then went through the routine and Ice Flow stood hovered before me.

What… ever… Let’s just… land,” I was trying to take deep breaths, trying to get my heart rate down. I extended my wings and glided down in a corkscrew, “Now I know why we aren’t born with wings, flying is hard. Not to mention I’m starving, I could go for a big juicy leg or several pearls and I can’t even eat pearls.”

’I wish to apologize, my king, that may be my influence; the one thing dragons are known for is hoarding gems and treasures but mostly because they need them to eat.’

’Even if the knowledge is not shared through texts or speech, a races knowledge can be found in their D.N.A.’

’I suppose, if you wish to see it as such…’ as I neared the city I could see tiny ponies running around, ’Would it be too much to wish to hear them screaming Godjira?’ I only responded by bursting out laughing.

“Hehe, just saw the ponies running around and Makarov was hoping they were screaming Godjira.” His blank look told me he didn’t get the joke, “Never mind, inside joke.” I landed with a few heavy wing flaps and nearly collapsed when the blood rushed to my head when I stopped flapping, “ Whoa~” The guards that surrounded us looked at me strangely, “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean it like- what am I apologizing for, I probably did mean it somewhere in here.” I turned my head just in time to see a beige earth pony with a manga sheet cutie-mark running down a street screaming Godjira, “Ha! Scaring the ponies is totally justified now, I heard Godjira! High-five!” I held a hand up to each of the guards but they flinched at it, “Come on don’t leave me hanging… Ice?” I held up a hand and he smacked it with a hoof, “That’s right! Alright, enough joking around… take me to your leader.”

’I don’t wish to impose my king but will you keep my wings? I hope that you will grant me the wish of experiencing Canterlot through proxy. The memories have told me that it has been many years since foreign dragon has set claw in the palace.’

‘Sure, I don’t mind keeping them for a while. I always wanted to be part dragon, especially a western dragon; so much cooler.’ My wings curled close to my body, I flung the pack onto my pack, and then the wings curled around me to keep out the mountain cold that was coming down the mountain, “Well what are you waiting for? Lead the way, she’s expecting us.” With that they boxed us in and lead us on a march to the castle’s front gate, then past two staircases into a large hallway that led to a pair of large golden doors twice my height and I whistled in awe which caused the guard’s and Ice’s ears to twitch. The guards stopped at the door and I heard a woman yelling at someone on the other side.

“CAPTAIN ARMOR, YE SPENT WEEKS TRYING TO RESCUE SOMEPONY AND THEN THEE LEAVE THEM?! UNEXCEPTABLE, TWO MONTHS IN THE DUNGEONS, GUARDS!”

“Luna, please, inside voice.” As soon as I heard two months, dungeon, and Shining Armor’s name I did the only thing that came to mind; I dropped my pack, flared my wings back, and tried kicking the door open with all my might to stop them from locking away someone who I considered a friend, I mean he did run a search and rescue team to find me for those weeks.

’This is a really bad idea, these are the avatar of the sun and moon. I doubt they will take kindly to interruptions.’

***Inside Canterlot’s Throne Room.***
“CAPTAIN ARMOR, YE SPENT WEEKS TRYING TO RESCUE SOMEPONY AND THEN THEE LEAVE THEM?! UNEXCEPTABLE, TWO MONTHS IN THE DUNGEONS, GUARDS!” Luna was livid to say the least; her wings were flared as she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Luna, please, inside voice,” Celestia rubbed a hoof on the temple, “There’s no need-“

She was cut off with a loud bang from the throne room doors, “Gah fuck! MY FOOT!”

The door pulled open and there was a light blue Pegasus with a snow cloud cutie-mark holding the door-ring, “It opens out, Shin.”

“You think?!” The sun princess beamed at the mention of the traveller while Luna was getting ready to shout at whoever had the nerve to interrupt their trial again. Both golden doors opened up to show the traveller hopping up and down on one foot and holding the other one while a pair of dragon wings flapped to keep him balanced. He looked up and stopped hopping, “Oh… hello princess… princesses I know you already doomed Shining Armor to the dungeon but as you can see; I’m present and accounted for so no need.” He gave them a grin that shouldn’t be possible with a mouth that small.

“Hold that shout,” he held up one of his digits and limped out of the room only to return a second later with a large pack then limped in front of the sun princess while talking to himself, “You sure about this? What do you mean you have more experience; you’re inside my head… Just do what you want.” His eyes changed colors and took a dramatic bow with his wings while he spoke in a deep voice that wasn’t his own, ”I greet thee Reagent of the Sun, the life-giver as well as thee Reagent of the Moon, dream-walker. We are honored to be in thy presence and are sorry for this breach in protocol but We did not wish to see our new friend imprisoned wrongly.”

Luna’s mouth clicked shut at the sudden change of personality while Celestia simply looked at Shin as if staring into his soul then spoke with slight malice in her voice, “Who are you? You are not Shinza Monk.”

”I am known as Makarov and as you have stated; this body is Shinza Monk’s I merely serve my king,” he stood and wrapped his wings around him and his eyes changed color to their original color.

Shinza voice spoke this time and turned to Shining Armor, “Didn’t you have like one job? Why didn’t you tell them about what happened to me?” He waved a hand in front of Shining’s face, “Hello~?”

“How are you here? I just got here,” he seemed mystified and tapped Shin on the chest, “It was a three day trot from Ponyville.”

“Exactly, which was why we flew… on these bad boys!” He flared his wings to their max and almost toppled over.

“Luna, please, this is the foreign representative of an island nation I was telling you about. I’ve waited anxiously to meet him, the last time we spoke he was being held by the guards of Baltimare.”

“ME THINKS- ahem, We- I do not doubt that… He acts nothing like a foreign representative.”

“That’s because I’m not, I’m just a traveller,” a loud rumble emanated from Shinza’s gut, “’Cuse me… do you mind if I ask when you’re going to eat?”

“So the kid asks why and he replies; because you can’t have your cake and edict to.” Princess Celestia giggled lightly into her teacup while Luna could hardly breathe.

“Hehehahaha, Tia, it’s just like what happened to you that one time when you went on that cake binge!”

“I don’t know what you are referring to sister,” Celestia’s denial just made Luna laughed harder while I simply chuckled as I prodded the food on my plate; julienne veggies in some kind of sauce, pasta salad, and several flowers which I scraped to the edge of my plate. “Is the food not to your liking Shinza?”

“Celestia is fine, Shin,” she threw my request right back at me, “Well if you wish for something else I have an idea of what it could be.” She picked up a silver bell and rung it three times in quick succession and shortly after an Earth pony wearing a chef’s hat and had a cutlery cutie-mark pushed a cart with a covered dish that was soon place before me. “I hope I wasn’t wrong in assuming you were an omnivore.”

On the plate before me was a large bass that was split down the middle, seasoned in various herbs with a drizzle of mango juice that pooled in the ribs. ‘It’s enough to make a grown man cry… Get back in there tear!’ I blinked a couple of times and the tear went away, “I don’t… you’re assumption was right but I thought ponies despised eating meat.”

“Oh don’t be silly, there are many sub-species of pegasi that eat meat; they need the protein to have the energy to fly or simply live to far north to farm anything that can provide it,” Celestia took another sip, “Luckily there was still a griffin chef that travelled with a representative that wished to learn the Equestrian Culinary Arts.”

“Thank you…” It had been some time since I had done it but I bowed my head and thanked the fish for its life then dug in with the hunger of a thousand wolves, when I finished there was nothing on my plate and the princesses, Shining, and Ice just stared at me in horror, “Ugh… I think I swallowed the bones…”

“By my sister’s large derriere,” was all Luna had to say on that which got a look from aforementioned sister.

“Well that was certainly horrifying,” Shining looked at his plate then slid it away. “Why don’t you tell us about your trip to Canterlot and how you got here so fast? While I try to purge that image out of my head.”

“Yes Shin, do tell. You said you flew here with those wings which are obviously dragon wings and Makarov is obviously a dragon’s name.”

I wiped my mouth with a napkin, “Well telling how we got here so fast is the easy part; we had set up camp just on this side of the river after getting mugged by this pegasus that when she punched us our body went numb and we couldn’t use our abilities.”

There was a clattering of utensils, Shining Armor stood up and slammed his hooves on the table making the plates rattle, “Someone attacked you?!”

“Shining Armor,” Celestia’s voice was calm like a mother chiding her son, “Don’t slam your hooves on the table.”

“I apologize for my behavior, your Majesty,” he hung his head and sat back down.

“Don’t worry about it Shining, we know what she looks like so she’ll be easy to find.”

“Well for one she had a maroon coat and auburn mane and second we saw her cutie-mark; a coil of ivy with pink thorns. I haven’t been in Equestria long but I think a pony with that dark of coloration would stand out like a sore thumb.” I wiggled by thumbs for anyone who didn’t know what a thumb was, “Anywhoozers, we set up camp near a tree line and started to roast marshmallows when Ice started freaking out and with good reason; there was this freaking giant purple spider with a red skull on it abdomen. Thing must have been the size of a large Labrador…” I shuddered at the image in my head while the princesses looked at each other uneasily.

“A Doomspinner?” Luna asked Celestia, the worry in her voice was evident. “I thought thou purged the last nest in Equestria before my banishment.”

“It would appear an egg must have remained hidden… Shin if I provided you a map could you show me which tree line you camped at?”

“No need, I have a map right here,” I reached into one of my many pockets and pulled out a thick folded piece of parchment and a pencil and unfurled it. “Let’s see, let’s see… aha, here it is,” I marked the location and Celestia levitated it to her with her golden aura and with a soft pop an exact copy of my map was there and she gave mine back. “So what’s a Doomspinner? I mean the name is kind of obvious but can you tell me anyways?”

“Doomspinners were once the most venomous species of colossal spiders in Equestria as well as the most aggressive. They set up their webs near roads and in well-travelled forests where they hurled down their webbing to lasso ponies and eat them or the chased them for the thrill of the hunt.”

“That doesn’t make any sense though; if this was a Doomspinner it couldn’t lasso with its webbing or chase us that fast, it looked more like a species of spider that spun webs to catch insects. I don’t think any spider species could be a spinner, hunter, ambusher, and netter, it goes against the evolution- Wait… duh, magic. Never mind, continue.”

A small smile crossed Celestia’s face, “You know you remind me of Twilight when she was a little filly? But you are correct; Doomspinners are a magical species that could flourish in any temperature, in most biomes, and their eggs can apparently survive for thousands of years on their own. Shining Armor, will you please take this map down to Sellsword Hall and tell them to consider this a mission from the crown?”

“But your majesty, wouldn’t it be more efficient to send the Royal or Equestrian Guard to deal with this, this Doomspinner?”

“Oh yeah, cause we were really efficient; took us several weeks to find a single person and a civilian found him first,” Ice spoke into a teacup and Shining narrowed his eyes at him.

“Be that as it may Shining Armor, I believe we should leave the monster hunting to the monster hunters,” Celestia rolled the map up and presented it to Shining, “Take Shin along with you, I think he’ll benefit from their usage as well.”

“Yes your Majesty,” He took the map and stored it somewhere, “Alright you two, let’s go.”

Everyone stands and Makarov speaks to me, ’My king, my I have the honors of giving our host our goodbye?’

‘Hello Makarov, you’ve been kind of quiet lately, sure you can give our goodbye but I’m sure we’ll be back.’

My vision tunneled a little as I took a backseat while Makarov controlled my body, they must have seen my eyes change because Luna tensed up, ”I am both honoured and graced to be allowed in your palace and though I might not be a full dragon the gratitude is still present.” He held a hand out to Celestia which she took and he kissed her golden hoof. He done the same for luna and took one final bow before standing up while his wings shrunk into my body and leaving me topless in front of the princesses and in control, “Geez it’s flipping cold in here, what is it like sixty-five degrees in here?” I rushed over to my pack and dug around for another vest that always seemed to keep the cold or hot out, finding a royal purple one I slipped it on, “Man I need to get this other one stitched up, I’m ruining all of my clothes. Alright Shiny, lead the way.”

“Don’t call me Shiny, only Twily can call me that,” he mumbled through gritted teeth as he led us out of the dining room and into the hallway.

I wasn’t paying much attention due to the fact I was trying to scrub my tongue, “Gross Makarov, never do that; they walk on those.”

***Dining Room***
“Well I think that encounter went surprisingly well, how about you sister,” Celestia asked Luna as one of the servants brought a slice of red-velvet cake.

Luna was just staring at her hoof where Makarov or Shin had kissed it, “Wha- what? Oh yes I think it went surprisingly well considering who sent him here. Are you just going to let Tanya do as she wishes?”

“Absolutely not, I know what she’s planning and it’s not going to work. I don’t know what she promised him but there’s no way Shin could cause enough chaos to do what she wants… Luna are you blushing,” Celestia asked incredulously.

“What?! Nay! We are simply not feeling well, good morning dear sister,” Her face practically glowing red there was a dark flash and Luna was gone and a servant with a scroll and inkwell cutie-mark stepped up to the princess.

“Ah Quick Scroll, I trust you were able to get everything down on paper,” Celestia lifted the last bite of cake to her mouth.

“Er yes your Majesty but um… you let him leave befoore getting him to tell you how he got the um dragon erm wings.”

The fork was halfway to her mouth when it froze and the bite of cake fell to the plate with a splat, “…Buck!”

***Outside Sellsword Hall***
We turned a corner and I saw a massive marble temple where several species were fighting; earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, griffins, a few Diamond dogs, and even a couple of short bipedal cats. “Holy shit! This place is amazing, and you’re telling me there are Halls just like this one all over Equestria?!”
Several of the fighters lowered their weapons and started talking amongst themselves while Shining Armor simply nodded and hailed a large brown Earth pony, “Double Stakes!”

“Ah, Captain Armor, my old friend! So, how’ve you been? Good to see you. What do you want?” Double Stakes walked down the marble steps, his heavyly armored hooves thudded against the stone betraying how heavy the were but they didn’t seem to slow him down. He stopped in front of us and craned his neck a little to look me in eye, “Geez son, what they been feeding you; magical growth elixer?”

“Haha in the land of tiny magical ponies I am a giant but at home I’m pretty average. Name’s Shin and this is Ice Flow… my bro-tler.”

“Anyways,” Shining interjected before Ice could voice his comeback, “Her Majesty has granted you a mission; a Doomspinner has been spotted in a forest between here and the town Ponyville.”
As soon as Shining said Doomspinner all the other warriors were in an uproar until Double Stakes raised a hoof, “A Doomspinner you say? My friend I think you must be mistaken, my ancestors were part of the assault that wiped out the last nest and they were all destroyed.”

“Unless you know of another species of collosal spiders that are violet and have a large red skull on their abdomen then it’s a Doomspinner and according to Shin it’s a large one; about the size of a large dog and there may be more than one.”

“By Celestia’s teats… Alright listen up,” he turned in place to face the other fighters, “We’ve got a mission from the crown and I’ve decided that the leaders of Team Echo and Team Hades will lead this assignment so you can choose your parties. Do you think you can promise me that you won’t try to kill each other this time? We won’t grow your feathers back for you next time Griffin.”

“Ha! I’m cool if he’s cool,” a griffin with bright red feathers stepped out of the crowd with a giant black sword attached to his back, “You cool Fluffy?” A Diamond dog wearing a green hoodie and carrying a large staff let out a gruff strangled noise and the griffin nodded, “We’re cool, I’ll be taking Etch and Growl with me and I’m sure Fluffy will be taking his normal lot… Hey Double, do you mind if I do the thing I like to do?”

Double gave a withering sigh, “I guess so but no pyrotechnics! I’m still filing paperwork from the last time you blew up a royal airship.”

Griffin simply laughed and took off to one of the smaller but still impressive buildings while shout-singing, “The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout, down came my blade and burnt the spider out!”
Shining Armor passed the Diamond dog the map and nodded to Double before leaving us just standing there with Double looking at us, “What are you still doing here? Are you looking to be recruited?”

“Actually we’re here about seeking help, we’re looking for somepony,” Ice spoke before I could answer, “A maroon pegasus mare with auburn hair and a coil of ivy with pink thorns for her cutie-mark. She robbed us on our way here and wish to see her brought to justice.”

Double just smirked which caused my right eye to twitch, “What’s so funny? That money was granted to me by my patron for this journey and that is no laughing matter.”

“The only thing that I find funny, my new friends, is that the Fates seem to have an amusing sense of humor, follow me.” We followed him up the stairs towards a large stone building that had several greenhouses attached to it, he banged on the door several times before entering, “Wait here while I’m inside, won’t be long.”

With a thud the door closed behind him, leaving Ice and I alone, I began removing my pack, “Shin, what are you doing?”

“Following my gut instinct, I think the pony we’re looking for is a Sellsword.” He started to say something but the door opened and Double came out first and followed by a unicorn. The unicorn’s horn supported a simple cap atop his short, mud-brown, and seemingly unruly mane, that was only just peeking from underneath it, while his clothes were smudged with different soils, ranging from reddish and grey to brown and black. With an average build with a slightly shorter height, he moved slowly, wiping his hooves with a rag hanging from one of his many coat pockets, exposing more of his light green pelt. The unicorn’s strangely purple eyes looked straight through us, “Hey Double, who’s this? I thought you were getting the pony we were looking for.”

“Please, call me Campanula and yes I know where she is. I sent her to the glassblower to get my case of vials. She should be on her way back any moment now. Please walk me over to the front gate, I have some words to exchange with my apprentice,” He stepped past us lead us to front gate while muttering to himself, “Foolish foal, she should know better than to steal.”

I leaned down to Double, “What’s with the old unicorn? Why’s he all whoo~” I waggled my fingers in front of my eyes.

“Like I said, he’s our magical botanist. He was blinded as a foal and adapted a unicorn spell called Second Sight to give himself some semblance of sight. He acts like a geezer but he’s younger than I am.”

“Of course you can, you can hear a mouse fart across the court,” Double laughed loudly and the unicorn just huffed, “Oh come off it my friend, you know I have nothing but love for you and your talents.”

“I thought Earth ponies were the ones that handled the plants and stuff,” Campanula stopped at the entrance right as Ivy flew in and I jumped in front of her, “Think we wouldn’t find you huh?!”
She tried stopping in mid flight but instead ended up tumbling head over hoof, “Oh ponyfeathers!”

“You are in so much trouble young filly,” Campanula was in her face in full roar, “Stealing?! I thought I taught you better than that!”

Ivy pulled my coin purse out from under her wing and tossed it to me, there were significantly less coins than when I last had it, “Where’s the rest of it?”

“Gone…” I hear her moan as she tried to hide under her hooves from Campanula's magic gaze. “Some mare came up to me and offered me a mission; to stake out around a covered bridge and take your bits and act like I did. She even gave me a script to memorize… When I brought the Bit-bag to her she simply poured the bits and they vanished in thin air then she tossed me the bag and a case and told me that was my payment.”

Campanula was shaking from anger, “Taking a job even though you are not a full member of the Hall… Stealing from travelers… Gather your things, your apprenticeship with me is over. You are now bound to the one you stole from until you can pay him back in full, that is my final say on the matter.”

He lifted the case from her back with his magic, turned on his hooves, and proceeded back to his building while Ivy quietly sobbed, ‘I kind of feel bad for the girl…’ I turned to Double who was patting the mare’s back as she sobbed, “So what now?”

“Well the scrolls dictate that should a master end his or her apprenticeship by binding them to someone else makes them little more than a servant until the apprentice is forgiven or has fulfilled the masters orders when they were bound. Come on sweetie, let’s get you over to Cookie. She always knows how to cheer up sad fillies.” Double easily lifted Ivy up with one hoof and put her back on her hooves then started to lead her off somewhere.

“Hey Ivy… you said the mare gave you a case? Did you open it?” She shook her head, “May I take a look at it?” She pulled out an eight by six wooden case from her wing-space and gave it to me, “Thank you… I’m sorry it ended up like this kiddo.” I patted her on the head and she followed after Double.

“What you think is in the box, Shin?” I didn’t answer him and clicked the dual locks open, I lifted the lid and almost dropped it and I had trouble breathing. What was inside was something very familiar; a bright yellow pegasus feather and a locke of pink mane, I lifted the feather out of the box causing Ice to gasp and a note fell out. I picked it up and began to read it silently;

I originally just wanted that little filly to rob you to make this game of yours with Tanya a little more interesting but you just had to go and camp by that specific treeline and entice my baby… Now Celestia and Luna know that Doomspinners aren’t as extinct as they thought they were. Do you have any idea how hard it is to incubate Doomspinner eggs? Obviously you lack appreciation of being a mother. Let this be a warning that I know who to kill to make you feel the loss I feel when someone kills my children.

“It’s a threat, the mare that hired Ivy did it to make my deal with my patron more interesting and since I told Celestia about the Doomspinner in the woods she’s even more unhappy with me; threatened that she knew who to kill to make me feel the loss she feels when her ‘babies’ are killed.”

“Of course, what do you think I was doing while you were telling stories? There were a couple of drones that were stationed in town that I had look after her. I knew how much she means to you.”

“Alright then… I hate being threatened,” I glared at the paper with such malice if I had magic it would have burst into flame.

“What are you planning,” Ice asked me as he took the feather and put it back in the case with the locke of mane.

“How do you feel about joining the Sellswords and go tweek this bitch's nose,” I gave him a harsh smirk and he returned it with his fangs showing.

“I doubt Chrysalis herself could stop me from following you into Tartarus boss.”

“For the last time; all members who wish to join the Hall must be appraised by the battlemaster. To be tested you must have a party of five; either made up of veterans or recruits,” the grey earth pony spoke in a monotonous tone that reminded me of an eye drop commercial. “I count two parties present.”

“I told you already; one of our members is already an apprentice here and we totally have two more members besides her.”

“Yes we do; their names are Makarov the dragon and Momo the half Earth pony.”

“I wouldn’t trust that slimy ladies man to get anywhere near our new addition without trying to fill her holes,” I whispered back to Ice to try and keep the stallion from hearing me.

The stallion simply sighed and pulled out an application, “So your party consists of; Shinza the Obsidian, Ivy the Pegasus, Makarov the dragon, Momo the half Earth pony, and Ice Flow the Changeling.”

“Yes a changeling… You don’t get to be as old as I’m am without being able to tell a changeling from a pony; the tipoff is usually the smell. You smell of beetles but don’t worry, species doesn’t matter in the Sellswords only your fighting capabilities and talents do. Give each of your party member a sheet and have them present them to Silver Chains, our Battlemaster, just prior notice; if you complete a mission then the Hall takes a forty percent cut. This will serve as your monthly dues and boarding costs should you need it.”

“Not that I could tell but pony noses are probably stronger than mine so they can probably smell it,” we walked past a Diamond Dog arm wrestling with a small Earth pony filly. “Do you think we should stop that,” right as I said that the filly slammed the dog’s arm into the table which boke easily, “never mind.” The dog got up, patted the filly on the back and hoisted her onto his shoulder and they both howled. Several thoughts ran through my head as I watch them; were the Diamond Dogs here like the ones in the mine, would they try to eat a pony if they were hungry, and if I xuld ever let go of these feelings that made me distrust them. I had to push all of that aside when we walked onto the training grounds and were stopped by a massive silver Minotaur with shaved off horns. I looked up at his face and saw a silver chain about three links long that ended in a gumball sized emerald. “I take it you must be Silver Chains?”

He flared his nose as he breathed out hard, his piercing eyes studying us and spoke in a heavy Scottish or maybe it was Irish accent, “’Ave ya ta ao’plications?”

“Yes,” I pulled out the five sheets of paper, ‘Do not laugh. Do not laugh.’
“Ya be t’amed oup wif Eivy aye, lass be tooched in ta heed. Ah’ve fooled ‘er ao’plications tree times,” He flipped over to the next page, “Droogen… naice, fierce footers.” He moved Makarovs application to the back with Ivy’s, “Hoof earf poony? ‘Ow’d t’at ‘appen?”

“He’s my uh, son,” Silver Chains just gave me a look that said ‘alrighty then’.

Flipping that page over his eyes turned hard, “Ya ‘ave a Changelin’ wit’ ya? Vury wool tin.” He flipped to the last page which was mine, “Woot’s an Oobsidian? Are ya toof and can ya foot?”

“Vury wool, ‘ave yer t’am roody bah sooper, e’ery booty enjoy a dinner and a shoo, Ah be toostin’ ya tin.” The minotaur rolled up the papers and stuffed them into a bag handing from his waist and on the other side was a long coil of whip made of metal that was twisted like weed-eater string. I nodded to Ice and we went off to find Ivy and see how she was doing.

“Where’d Double say he was taking her, to see Cookie right? Shall we try the kitchens,” he nodded and we set off to find the kitchens.

One of the bipedal cats were nice of us to give us directions to the kitchens, when we got there I opened the door and walked in. I was immediately stopped by several large knives, forks, and a spatula being buried in the wood to my right, I looked at the attacker; a gruff looking tomcat with an eyepatch was screaming at me in a language I couldn’t understand but it sounded german or was it something like germane here?. He was about to throw another butcher knife at me when Double snatched it out of his paw and ordered something at him in the cat’s language.

“Don’t mind Shrodinger, he’s just very protective of his kitchen; likes everything to be in its place and every place to have a thing. I take it you’re here to see Ivy?” We nodded and he jerked his head behind him, “Through that door and third door on the right.”

I stepped past him, giving the cat a wide berth and went throught the door and stopped outside the door Double indicated and heard a female voice talking, “Come on now honey, tell mama Cookie why you took that mission?”

Ivy sniffled and I heard her blow her nose, “I just wanted to be one of you guys…”

“Then why did papa Monkshood bind me to that thing? That doesn’t seem like love…”

“I believe he’s trying to make this a teaching moment honey, if I had a bit for every time he done the same thing to me... Just go along with it, maybe in doing this it will show him that you’re not his little filly anymore and he’ll just have to learn to trust you with things like this. Now come on, give mama Cookie that cute little smile… There it is, now dry your eyes honey. I think somepony is here to see you.” As soon as she said that the door swung open, “Hello gentlecolts, can I help you with something,” asked the pink pony that had the same kind of body as the princesses which meant she must be a princess as well.

“I get that reaction a lot, I am princess Cadence but everypony here just calls me Cookie. I take it you’re the one Ivy was bound to?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said suddenly nervous for some reason, ‘Makarov had called the other princesses avatars of the sun and moon so what was this princess avatar of?’

“He’s not as scary as you made him out to be,” Cadence chided Ivy slightly.

“I could help but overhear but you said you wanted to be like them; does that mean you wanted to be part of a team?” Ivy just nodded, avoiding eye contact, “Well good news then, Ice and I just made a team and want you on it. What do you say, wanna join?”

Sniffling a little as she perked up, “I would be happy to be part of a team but master bound me to you, I can’t join until I’ve paid you back.”

“Well just look at it this way; if you do this you can pay me back with mission rewards and by watching my back. Alright? Now come along kiddo, I think we need to practice for the dinner and show.”

“Goodbye sweetheart,” Cadence hugged her with her wings and watched her leave and turned to look at me, “If you so much as cause that precious filly to be harmed you’ll find out what it’s like to be in love with a cactus.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it princess,” I did a little bow and left with Ice right behind me, looking like he was going to be sick, “What’s wrong dude?”

“Ugh, love and malice together always gives me indigestion,” he belched into his hoof.

We followed Ivy as she lead us to a secluded part of the training area and took a seat and just looked at us, “So where are the other two members? A team needs five members, who did you even get to join this motley crew?”

“They’re around but I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you; we have a dragon named Makarov and a half Earth pony named Momo joining us,” I reached up to slide my pack off and remembered I had already taken it off at the greenhouses. “Damn, Ice can you go grab my pack while I see what the kid can do?”

“Not just yet,” he nodded then took off towards the greenhouses. “Alright kid, let me see your skills. What can you do?”

“I’m not a goat,” she muttered as she took a place in front of a target and with a flash of her wings the target had several long needles buried in it. “So what’s the deal with the half Earth pony? Is he like half dragon or something?”

“No, he’s mine,” I walked up to the target and pulled a needle out, little over half a foot long and about centimeter wide, “This is pretty nice; light, easy to hide in your feathers, and works great against people who are afraid of needles. Even I’m getting the heebie-jeebies from looking at it. Any other skills you’re good at?”

“I was the apprentice of a botanist; I’m good with plants, potions, and poisons but master disapproved of those… and also the magic blocker that I used on you and your friend. What about you?”

I thought for a moment before deciding to tell the truth, “I’m a scholar with a little martial arts training but other than that let’s just say I’m a wild card.”

“Ice Flow is a pegasus who received training from the Equestrian Guard for who knows how long and he’s a good tracker. He tracked me from a train wreck to a small town while I wasn’t myself and I wouldn’t mind claiming he’s good in a fight.” She finished plucking the needles from the taget and put them back in her wings, “And before you ask I don’t know what the other two’s talents are, I just recently met them.”

“I’m not your butler! See if I go get anything for you again,” He stomped his hooves.

“Haha I’m just joking Ice, I’ve seen what the kid can do; she’s mid-range fighter with needles as well as being trained in botany and apothecary,” I took my pack and slid the box with the threat and Fluttershy’s feather inside, “well we’ve got some time to kill so let’s go out and have some fun in town.”

Monstrum Tome of Equus

by Campanula Monkshood

Princesses, Sellswords, and Threats