Strangers in a familiar world

by iMan203

Prepare For the Worst

It's been a few weeks since we were trapped in Equestria, and it hasn't been as detrimental as I would've guessed. Even though our family and friends are locked out from us, we have new friends and have each other as family. Our group is small, five ponies and one big house, only problem is that its all men. Crisco found a job cooking in Canterlot because of his wonderful Italian dishes, I'm surprised the princess hasn't reserved him as a personal chef yet. With such a high class job, he's been able to make quite a bit of cash to bring home on the weekends to help support us and Ponyville.

Bronze Hammer was correct when he said the forge would be a good idea in Ponyville. He's been able to redo all of the iron working in the town, melting down all the old stuff and refining it into new metal. He doesn't charge a thing for renewal of old items in Ponyville and any of his other costs are extremely low. The forge has been able to rejuvenate the town in certain ways not possible before. We finally were able to get holding cells in the basement of the mansion, like I had requested. All the bits he's made from the forge has gone to the house, after a token of appreciation was paid to the Apple family for assisted construction of the forge. Bronze and Applejack have been coming along nicely in their relationship, Applejack assisting at the forge whenever possible, and Bronze working the orchard on his off time. They've also been able to sneak in a few dates when neither of them had to work. Aside from that they've been spending a lot of time in bed, either AJ at the mansion or Bronze Hammer at the orchard after a long day of bucking.

Silver Dust has been able to help at the clinic and other places when needed, that and visiting Vinyl and Octavia. The amulet he's been wearing is becoming stronger, too. His practices in his spare time are honing the energy of the amulet, that and his overall joy from daily life in Ponyville has fueled it immensely. I never really knew Silver Dust as a man of relationship in the human world. Then again, I never knew he was so kinky, it was probably Vinyl's attitude giving him change. I'm not exactly sure how it'll work out with three ponies in one relationship, it might just stay the same, dating and sex if I know Silver Dust correct.

Tiki has been working with Rarity, modeling and designing, at first he had to pick up the skill to work with Rarity's skill level of finesse and design, but after a while they both started to work in perfect unison. Aside from every morning at the spa, Tiki has been doing his regular patrol, usually speaking with Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker on their morning jobs. After he had patrolled every aspect of Ponyville, investigating suspicious activity and whatnot, he would dash to Rarity's boutique in the afternoon and begin working with the fabulous unicorn. I know that they've become very fond of each other, aside from their differences, wings and horn. Tiki isn't a stallion of intense romance and all, but he knows his way with ladies. My best guess is that they're both taking things very slow and relaxed.

Aside from that, Tiki's eagle eye had been able to pick out two dangerous ponies from the sky. After he'd spotted their suspicious look from the sky, he would interrogate when he landed. The first pony was lucky enough to had just ran and be tackled by the red Pegasus. The second criminal was not so lucky. It was a nice day in town square, everypony was in the market at the time. Tiki had spotted a cloaked stallion moving through the crowd at an uneasy pace. He had come down for a landing in uniform and was spotted by the caped pony. The stallion then rushed for a mare running a food stand in the center with a dagger. Tiki had continued at a trot for the stallion, now drawing his swords with his wings. The criminal took the mare by the mane and held the dagger to her throat, he was a fool though. Tiki had been right behind him with one flap of his wings as the stallion drew the dagger. Since there was no time to ask questions, Tiki had ran one of the swords into the back of the stallions neck without further question. Hitting the spinal cord, the sword locked the stallion in place and the dagger fell to the ground with his body. Everypony in the crowd had cleared into a circle of bystanders. Silver Dust had soon showed up to take the body away to the clinic and everyone resumed their regular activities the best they could, after seeing somepony die just then.

I had been doing my regular activities throughout the weeks going by. I had my usual guard duty throughout town, usually concentrating more on the outer borders of town, while Tiki had most of the inside covered. I had stopped many bad ponies from entering Ponyville, most I gave a warning to. Some of the ponies proceeded to enter the town, either because they meant no harm or they were going to be caught by Tiki. Some of the ponies I confronted just attacked me blindly, most were in the bar at the edge of town, drunk. Some of the ponies were trained killers, mercenaries, sent into Ponyville to assassinate me or somepony else in town, but this doesn't happen often. Only one pony was brave and stupid enough to confront me with a weapon.

It was getting dusk out, I had started my nightly patrol after stopping at Twilight's library to say hi, and for a kiss to give me some strength for the night. A kiss of my love powered my emotional strength from my dragon blood, far more than a hoard of items could. I entered the bar to order a cup of cider and to speak with the local ponies coming in or leaving Ponyville. One of them was a dark purple mare with lighter purple eyes and a blue, messed, long wavy mane. I sometimes questioned why mares were in such a bar filled with dangerous stallions, but she looked like a tough cookie, with the blade at her side and her well built complexion, not to mention the scars on her neck and chest. After, say, ten minutes of having a laugh with an interesting stranger playing billiards at the other end of the bar, I went back and sat down next to the mare. We talked for a while and she didn't say much, so I told her who I was and left the bar. When I spoke my name her expression changed and her hoof leaned for the weapon at her side. I went out the door of the bar into the night, with the mare following me out.

"Hey! You! You think you're so tough and all? Being commander of the Ponyville 'guard'? I'm here to show you what a real warrior is like!" She smirked and charged me with the knife in her grasp.

I said nothing, almost laughing as she charged me. Over the weeks my complexion started to change, my coat becoming much tougher, my mane becoming thicker, and most noticeably my teeth sharpened slightly and the diamond pattern of my coat had appeared. This transformation happened on few occasions, most memorably the night when I stopped the goblin attacker from hurting Twilight. Now these changes have become permanent and are starting to worsen, but I know what it is, something related to the dragon blood mixing and overtaking the pony blood in my body. I snapped from the thought as the thick, razored knife hit my shoulder. The mare sat there with a satisfied look on her face, when I looked down at the blade laying on my shoulder. She hadn't noticed what had happened, and I laughed mockingly. The blade had bent in half from contact with my coat.

"What?! That's impossible! This is my best blade! This is my STRONGEST blade!" She looked into my eyes in horror, they were a deep, glowing, ominous green.

"Alright, lets make this quick, don't bother outrunning me, because you can't. Oh, and don't fight back if you want to live." I smiled and clanked my metal knuckles on my hooves and smashed them together.

"Please, no! Don't hurt me! Take the money, I was only payed to do this..." She dropped a sack of gems at her feet, horror and defeat sweeping over her face.

"The diamond dogs in the Ponyville gem mines told me to get rid of you, one way or another, so I accepted the deal and took the gems." She frowned.

"Hurt you? Well I was really going to hurt you very badly, but now I don't feel like doing this." I said with a smirk.

"So I'm free to go? We can forget about it all?" She asked.

"Oh no, of course not, you broke your knife on my shoulder! You're going to need a new one!" I laughed at the remark.

The mare looked at me with a dumbfounded face and just sat there. At first she thought this was a joke to stall her escape, then she thought that I was going to do something unspeakably horrid. I finally explained to her that she was going to help me put an end to the diamond dogs, once and for all. She agreed to the task to repay her debt she owed to Ponyville for her committed crime. We then walked back to the mansion, her telling me about her life and such. Her name was Glimmer, Glimmer Hunt. She had a cutie mark of a sealed document with a dagger going through the center vertically. She explained to me that she only had a sword on her flank when she was a filly, but when she started taking up contracts from rich ponies to do devious things with her talent, it became a way of life. The sealed contract was represented as a death warrant, the document she has ponies fill out when they want somepony else dead. Never in her life had she failed to assassinate somepony with their name under the document, this streak could continue because the diamond dogs hadn't filled any document for my death, just a sack of gems were given. We kept talking, and I explained my story of where I was really from and how I was fitting in for Ponyville. She didn't seem too surprised when I said I came from another universe, I guess word got around and its not such a big deal to some ponies, in fact, she remained professional when I told her a lot of things, she must be well trained. We then got into small talk, like what we like and some more of our personal lives. She was a single mare who traveled a lot because of her job and was used to getting into trouble in each town, since she only filled a contract and moved onto the next. I didn't have much to explain, I was a dragon blooded stallion who just entered the world of Equestria, I explained how I was trapped here until further notice, and I mentioned I was dating Twilight.

We arrived at the mansion, so the choice came up. Do I lock her in the holding cell or have her as a guest? I've only just met her after she tried to kill me. I took her to the holding cell for the night and she knew it was only expected. I didn't want to leave her there with nothing, so I had given her a snack and a mat for her to sleep on with a blanket. She thanked me for being unusually generous and went to bed that night, as did I.

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I woke up this morning after a good night's rest, like usual. I went downstairs to grab breakfast for two and went down to the holding cell to our only prisoner. I gave Glimmer her share of food, and she ate ravenously. I guess being on the road doesn't teach manners. Tiki was up on his usual patrol, Silver was sleeping in after the last night shift he had taken, and Bronze was going to be on the apple orchard for the next few days since the zap apple harvesting season had come by. After breakfast, I took Glimmer down to the forge to grab another weapon for her to take along when we confront the diamond dogs. There was a perfectly crafted dagger sitting on a rack on the wall of the forge. I didn't know if Bronze made it for an order or not, but it could be cleaned and returned. I handed Glimmer the blade. She took it, but she hesitated to sheathe it. Glimmer looked at me, either thinking I was crazy to give her another blade, or taking target at another body part that she thought could be pierced on my body. I sighed and said, "the only way you can hurt me is through my heart, if you get what I mean." I gave a wink and turned the other way. She then sheathed the dagger and continued to follow me.

"So, I hope you know how to get to the diamond dogs." I said.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I should show with you at my side, they might kill me for what I'm doing." She said.

"Don't worry, they have to go through me if they want to touch you. If you thought last night was scary, try fighting me when I'm breathing fire and all." I smiled.

"Yeah... Don't make me think about that, save it for when we get there..." She gave a pained look.

"So, why did the diamond dogs hire you to kill me?" I asked.

"They didn't want any guard or soldier interfering with their jobs or land, even though it is the PONYVILLE mine and not the diamond dog mine." She frowned.

"Yeah, even though nopony comes back to the abandoned mine anymore, I understand where they're coming from." I said.

"Well they're going to put up a fight at the first sight of you." Glimmer gave an unamused response.

"Relax, it's either going to come down to a pile of crisped dogs or a group of new allies." I said.

"Yeah, just leave out the option of anypony dying, it would never happen." She said sarcastically.

"It doesn't happen, only because I don't give them any other options. If I don't like them or the way they behave about the situation, I'll bring the mine down or just kill them on the spot." My eyes flashed a grievous, pale green as I gave a sharp toothed grin.

"Well I don't want to get this blade dirty if I have to return it, so lets try to be somewhat diplomatic." She said.

"Oh, I thought you would've jumped at the idea of killing a group of thugs." I chuckled. This remark made her explode.

Glimmer stopped at that note, "just because I kill for a living, doesn't mean I enjoy it. I can put up with killing dirty thugs but I'm not heartless!" She yelled.

"Is that how ponies see me?! Is that who you think I am? I don't enjoy some of the contracts I fill! It's hard to kill foals, or little fillies!" Tears rolled down her eyes.

"I've done the worst of the worst, taken the lives of good people to survive! I doesn't make me the worst of the worst!" I could tell it was becoming harder for her to speak.

"Taking the lives of innocent people... It's... Just..." She spoke no more.

Before she could utter a single word I was right in front of her. I took her in my grasp and hugged her until the sobbing was done and she just held me back. We were in a field of boulders, sitting in the shade of a large rock. I hadn't let her go because I knew she wasn't ready. "Just hug it off, you need the comfort more than anypony right now." I said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked like a little filly in my arms, looking up to me. She seemed so helpless at the moment, no where else to go, no possible way to go any lower.

"I'm a monster... My lifestyle has turned me into a heartless killer..." She weeped into my arm.

"I told myself that once, until one special pony told me different. I'm a monster because I protect the ones that I love, being a monstrosity is only a side effect." I explained.

"You aren't a monster either, you do bad things to keep going, but that can all change. You can put yourself to good use somewhere else, being your real self." I smiled at her glance.

"But I'm a killer, my cutie mark is set in stone, I'm a contract killer..." She looked down, defeated.

"It changed once, when it formed a contract. I don't know much about cutie marks, but the way it changed, You can bet your flank to me it'll change again." I said.

"That was so long ago though. I doubt I could change anything again, my destiny is locked." She whimpered.

"Anything can change, it just takes strength and willpower, the kind that you need to bring yourself to kill innocent ponies." The glimmer in my eye was an inspiring vibrant green.

"You're right... About everything. I can change my life, but it won't be easy." She said.

"I know it won't, that's why you'll have friends to help you along the way, friends like me." I gazed into her eyes, and it happened.

I leaned in closer, and she let her guard down, she let me in. I kissed her passionately, not for such a long time, but to give her that inspiring push she needed all of these years after being alone. I might've been too much for her, I hope she doesn't fall for me on this one kiss. I don't know how I would explain it to Twilight. It would crush me to see Twilight be hurt so much by one kiss, one wrong kiss for the wrong pony. I pulled away just in time, Glimmer opened her eyes soon after and a spark of determination was in her eyes.

"Now, can we not mention this to anypony else? I don't want Twilight to be upset by my way of inspiration." I frowned at the single idea of Twilight's heart, crushed.

"It's a deal, I promise not to speak a word." Glimmer Hunt stood up and started off for the mine once again.

I caught up to her and we continued to walk. There was nothing but silence in the morning sun as we approached the cave, guarded by two grunt dogs. The grunts took position at the sight of two ponies approaching the main entrance, but ran for their lives when I informed them of who I was. We entered the cave without trouble, since Glimmer knew her way through parts of the cave vaguely. The night she was hired by a diamond dog, she was led through certain tunnels to the center of the hideout. We continued our trek through the maze, fighting a few grunts that tried to stop us, most others ran. The only ones who chose to fight were extremely stupid or extremely brave. After a hike through the maze and a good amount of fighting, we reached the center hideout and the leaders of the pack.

"Please! Don't hurt us!" One of the leaders cowered.

"I'm not here to hurt, not yet." I smirked.

"Why have you come here then? We thought you were killed by our assassin!" He screeched.

"You dogs underestimated me, trying to kill me by blade." I laughed.

"It isn't possible! You were better off hiring a hooker to try and hurt me!" I laughed harder.

"What? The assassin did not even harm you? Has she challenged you?!" The leader was becoming very frustrated.

"Of course she did! She broke her knife on my shoulder." I said.

"No matter! This is not important right now!" Why have you come here?" Another leader had asked.

"I'm here for two reasons, either to make peace or exterminate your pack from this cave." I said assertively.

"We do not wish to make peace! We do not wish to share our cave with any ponies!" The leader howled.

The idea occurred to me, "would you rather come to an agreement? Or would you fend off an army of goblins? I know the goblins would take interest in this cave of yours more than we would." I smiled.

"What?! The goblins are raising an army? Once again?!" The leaders cowered in their own throne, even worse than before.

"Yes." I replied, "is there some problem with a group of goblins running around with sticks and leather armor?"

"Oh nooo! It's Blunt Will! He is raising an army once again! The battlefields will flow with the spilt blood of many creatures! We must prepare for the worst!" The leaders howled.

"Has this happened before? Is this really going to be a threat?" I asked.

"Yes! We must not let it happen again! The leaders continued to panic.

"There is only one way to stop him! We must fight back with all of our strength! We need an army that can defeat goblins in large numbers! We need a powerful weapon!" The leaders were ranting.

"Well then, I guess this leaves us on good terms, will your men fight for the army I've just now started to raise?" I asked, much calmer than the other dogs around me.

"Yes, yes! Take our men! Take us to battle also if you must! The goblins mustn't gain power once more!" The dogs were calm now, very serious.

"Alright, I'll send somepony to contact you if I need any further assistance." I said, walking out the cave.

"We will supply you with strong foot soldiers! But you need more power! You need ponies of war and even dragons!" The dogs shouted as I walked out of the cave with Glimmer.

We were out in the sunlight once more, about an hour and a half had passed while we were in the cave. I walked back to the mansion with Glimmer at my side, planning my ideas for an army. I'll contact Princess Celestia for more men and maybe get a lead to where I can find more warriors. I don't know how I was going to get dragons on my side, but I'll do it if I have to. Glimmer and I went back to the mansion for lunch, I didn't have to lock her up because her debt was paid and I had gained a newfound trust for the mare. After lunch I told her to relax, and feel free to roam Ponyville for now. I decided to go visit Twilight, I hadn't seen her in a few days, and I needed to send a letter to Celestia.

I was walking down the road to the library thinking about how the diamond dogs knew about Blunt Will, if he was a truly dangerous criminal like the dogs had claimed, and if anypony else knew about them. I made a note to mention his name to Princess Celestia in my letter. I was at the door of the library before I knew it, sometimes I just get lost in my thoughts. I proceeded to knock on the door, Twilight had answered.

"Hello beautiful!" I said charmingly.

"Hello to you, too!" Twilight giggled. "What brings you down to the library today? Something other than me?" She smiled.

"Yes, actually, I need a letter sent out to the Princess right away." I said.

"Why is it so important? Is there a problem?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"Yes, in fact there is." I said gravely, "I'm going to raise an army, we need to prepare for the goblin forces." I said.

"But they're just goblins! Unless... Oh Celestia..." Twilight had a horrified look upon her face.

"Blunt Will..." I grumbled.

"I was afraid you would say that, I had read an old book on the goblin wars that occurred about 300 years ago." Twilight informed me.

"And I'm guessing Blunt Will was behind this." I said.

"You're correct, and if he's back... He'll be more prepared for, well, everything." Twilight said in terror.

"That's why he won't be prepared for me, I'm going to raise an army to fight the goblin forces, and when all else fails, he'll have to go through me." I put my hoof to the ground.

"Alright, I'll send a letter to the Princess immediately!" She said.

"Alright, where's Spike? Is he here to take a note?" I asked.

"No, he's running errands for me right now, he should be back within an hour." She said.

"Can you teach me how to send letters? With the fire and all?" I asked.

"It's not just a skill, its an enchantment on your core fire, only powerful mages can put such a spell on dragons." Twilight's eyes widened when I gave her a cheesy look.

"Oh no! I won't do it! I don't want you to get hurt if I mess up! I may have the power, but I haven't ever practiced the spell on anything before, that and I have no idea how the spell would react to a half-dragon." She said informatively.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, and if all else fails, somepony else might be able to fix it. Lets do it. Right now." I said eagerly.

"Well... I really do want to see the full effects of the enchantment... This hasn't been used on anything other than baby dragons, the kind that can't grow from greed because of their environment with ponies. I fear the worst could come if I enchanted you." She kept going back and forth with pros and cons.

"Alright, enough with the debate, the tie breaker is me, saying its ok, because I trust you, and I really don't know anything that could actually hurt me physically." I smiled.

"That is true... Ok then, fine. We'll do the enchantment, come with me to the back of the library." She walked into the library.

We had entered the library and approached a familiar room. This was the room where we both expressed our feelings to each other, and it was still here, the emotion I had poured out for Twilight to take in, and she did the same. It was a truly glorious feeling, still lingering in the air. I knew Twilight could still feel the emotion after she glanced back at me and blushed a deep shade of pink. Twilight took position on one of the pedestals and I took place in the center of the room, a single candle was lit and the blind to the only window was closed. Markings had been drawn to the ground with wax and I sat in the middle. Twilight had begun to perform the spell as the wax markings started to glow a fiery deep blue. I could see the glow over Twilight's face as her magic illuminated the section of the room. I could feel the enchantment working, my internal fiery core was igniting and warming the entire room. I could feel the dragon blood in my body pulsing through my veins, urges occurred that I had never felt before, my primal side showing through the magic. I suddenly stood up from the center, almost levitating in place. Twilight had been lost in concentration with the spell, trying to focus on finishing the enchantment flawlessly. I soon found myself walking to her, and her coming to me. I found us both in the center of the circle within moments, and there was nothing else I could find myself to do. Her body was pressed against mine, the warmth of her magic emanating from her body, my central flame engulfing both of us now. Before it all ended, I kissed Twilight. It was a fiery, passionate kiss like we had shared the first time we were in this room, but stronger. Our cores of power were now exposed in the wooden room and truly connected through this single kiss. At the final moment the room illuminated green from my eyes, and twilight opened hers. Her stare was a glowing hot white, like when she used her element of harmony and released her true power to defeat many enemies in the past. I could feel that power coursing through me, as if I was made of glass, and the sun glowed upon me on a warm spring afternoon. Her magic was a part of me, and my power was now a part of her.

We were both now laying on the ground, the shade on the single window had flown open at the end to illuminate the center of the room. The candle had been blown out, in fact, the wax of the candle had been thrown onto the wall around the holster. I had woken up from the ceremony, it seemed like I was only gone for seconds. I had looked down to see Twilight, wrapped in my hooves, cuddled against myself. I looked around slightly to notice that the room had looked exactly like the first time Twilight and I had been here. Twilight had soon come to and looked into my eyes.

"Wha... What happened...? Did it work?" She asked drowsily.

"Not sure, there's only one way to test it out." Take a letter to Celestia." I smiled.

"Alright, lets get to it." Twilight said, going to stand up.

I didn't allow her to stand, just holding her in my arms, "and spoil the moment? I think not!" I said.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, then noticing the familiar surrounding.

"Does the look ring a bell? Because the tingling feeling that your enchantment gave me is bringing back memories." I said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't forget that moment for the world." Twilight smiled and laid back down onto my chest.

We sat there for what could have been an hour, talking, kissing, maybe a bit further than kissing, it all seemed like one large romantic blur. In the end, we just laid there for a seemingly endless time, resting from the dramatic enchantment session Twilight had pulled off. The silence was broken when the faint sound of a door creaking open was heard, followed by Spike. I could feel an awkward moment coming on.

"Twilight? I'm back! Where'd you go?" Spike went up the stairs, looking for answers.

"Alright, he's not in the room, lets go before he comes back." I whispered.

Twilight and I had entered the room quietly as possible. Twilight went up the stairs to get Spike, and I waited in the main room for her to return. I heard talking up the stairs, and I could only make out so much of what was being said. I only knew they were talking about me. After a minute, Twilight and Spike came down.

"So! You're one of us now!" Spike said with a smile.

"Yeah, guess I am." I said.

"Alright, time to send off your first letter! It's not hard, the only scary part is waiting for a return, you don't know how it happens the first time." Spike said nervously.

"Well, lets get down to business then. Write the letter." I said.

Twilight grabbed a quill and paper and started writing to the princess for me. I had explained in the letter the return of Blunt Will and the goblin army he was raising. I requested soldiers and the grant to raise an army to fight back the goblin resistance. The letter was finished and was ready to be sent. Spike explained to me that it was simple, I just had to picture who it was going to and blow a gust of hot flame. I did just so, but ended up only smoking the room and charring the letter. I had gained not only a new ability of magic in my core flame, but also a new level of intensity. My flame could burn hotter than anything imaginable, I just needed to raise the temperature to a clear, hot burst of flame in a controlled breath. Twilight and Spike both insisted that I went outside, near the pond to attempt such a stunt. We were standing near the dock, and I prepared for another attempt at the flame. This time it was successful, the sparks danced from my muzzle as I loosed an extremely hot burst of flame upon the letter, as the ashes blew into the wind toward Canterlot. The flame was not hot, though. It felt cool and clear as I breathed. It was magic, and it tasted sweet and tangy. Although I had tried again for the flame, it only worked while sending letters. I had loosed another small burst of fire, but the water on the surface of the pond had steamed away and the cat tails near the dock had been singed. My flame was not a regular orange, yellowish fiery glow anymore, but a deep blue aura that danced from my muzzle majestically. There was magic infused with my core, and the deep blue was my natural color, matching my coat.

"Well that was interesting, let alone spectacular!" Spike had yelled.

"Something isn't right... Even if your flame is magic, I don't understand how it could reach such temperatures!" Twilight was puzzled.

"You don't remember when you performed the enchantment? That kiss we shared? I felt the power magnify ten fold." I smiled.

"What? No! You didn't, did you?" Twilight asked, questions overwhelming her.

"Of course I did, you and I mysteriously came together somewhere in the center of the circle, I couldn't help myself but to kiss you in my arms, even at such a time." I smiled.

"Aw this is getting sappy! I'm out of here!" Spike stormed off back into the library.

"This only means so many things, that our powers combined, and magnified significantly, judging by the intense flame you wield now." Twilight continued to contemplate.

"I guess this only makes your magic stronger, too. That's a big plus!" I winked.

"I would think this was a bad thing, you disrupting the enchantment in such a way, but I can't think of anything negative, not yet atleast." Twilight glared at me.

"You know you're just so hot when you're angry!" I said charmingly.

"Not as 'hot' as you can get when you're angry!" Twilight laughed.

"Alright, lets go grab a snack somewhere and..." I really had to sneeze.

And so I did sneeze, the cool, blue flame danced from my nose and mouth, and a letter dropped to the floor. Twilight immediately opened the letter and began to read. Princess Celestia was very concerned about the return of Blunt Will, and assigned me from guard duty to leader of Poyville platoon. I was to raise an army on short notice from whoever I could get help from, she was also sending a group of royal guards and lunar guards from both her and Luna. Princess Celestia had full confidence of my leadership, and if all else failed, she mentioned a hidden power to be unlocked by myself still.

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After a relaxing afternoon date with Twilight at sugar cube corner, I returned to the mansion to check up on Glimmer. She had been out at town with the bits I gave to her, down at a cafe to get a snack and a drink and came back for a nap. I hadn't given her an actual room to sleep in, so she laid down on the couch in the living room. She made herself at home easily, surprisingly since she hadn't had a permanent home in years. I told her about how I was granted access to raise an army on the spot, and my first recruit, aside from the diamond dogs, was Glimmer Hunt herself. Tiki had returned home with Silver Dust after meeting up on patrol. Silver Dust had just finished a shift at the clinic, and was going back to the mansion to prepare for the dusk shift, while Tiki was ending the afternoon shift, flying home. Tiki met up with Silver and they both just went home after a snack from a food booth that was open late in the square.

"Ironclad! Whats the news of today? Anything interesting?" Silver had asked.

"Yeah, we're raising an army." I said flatly.

"Wait, what?! Why?!" Tiki and Silver had said in unison.

"Blunt Will is not a regular goblin, he's a warlord from 300 years ago that almost succeeded in his conquest of Equestria." I explained.

"Oh Snap! What do we do then?" Tiki asked.

"Well, we just prepare for the worst. I'm raising an army as we speak. I've got an army of diamond dogs at my disposal, and Princess Celestia and Luna are sending squadrons of soldiers to Ponyville to help. The only thing we're missing is a powerful armament of soldiers. Dragons." I explained.

"Either way, we should be able to fight off hoards of goblins, what makes these goblins stronger than other goblins?" Silver asked.

"Training, organization, and mass numbers." Glimmer chimed in, "supposedly, Blunt has been able to round up massive hoards of goblins into one place from across Equestria."

"I doubt this guy is even a goblin! Whats up with all of this?! 300 years? Organization of GOBLINS?!" Tiki was yelling.

"He isn't a regular goblin, he was a goblin leader, born by chance with excellence in power and smarts, but the way he continued to live is because he is deviated from dark magic." Glimmer informed.

"Iron. Who is this mare? Did you spend our bits on hookers?" Tiki asked.

Glimmer exploded and started yelling again, Silver and I were able to calm her down and I explained that she's a mercenary that was sent to assassinate me. I told them the story of the diamond dogs and our adventures, leaving out the part where I had kissed the purple mare to inspire her. Only we would understand what I did and why I did it, anypony else would just claim that I cheated on Twilight Sparkle. After a while of talking and a well placed insult thrown by Glimmer at Tiki, the two ponies became even and everyone laughed the night off over a glass of cider. I had also explained how I was enchanted by Twilight, which explained why Silver Dust's amulet reacted differently around me now, more confused and uncomfortable than disapproval. As I went more in depth from what I remembered, Tiki and Silver gave a playful hoot at the kissing part, but Glimmer didn't seem happy about it, I understood why.

That night everypony went to bed earlier than usual, except for Silver, who took the first night shift for Bronze's absence due to the zap apple harvesting. Glimmer slept in Bronze Hammer's bed, since he was gone tonight, although I wasn't sure about the next night when he would return. For now we all slept while we could, sleep was going to be harder over the next few weeks.

Author's Note:

Chapter 7 is finally here! After a week of camping I finally got to writing out another chapter! Hope everypony will enjoy and stick around for more.

I want to dedicate all of this to a friend, who is no longer with us, he isn't dead, he just isn't around us anymore.

Comments

[The outcast]

Blue Fire is always so cool.... and why do these Goblins remind me of Orks for Warhammer 40k?

[iMan203]

3023822 idk I've never heard of it before.

[The outcast]

3024308 you're missing out

[Tundric Spirit]

can't say i aproove of the kiss with glimmer......