One day has passed since Dale and Matt made their agreement and, sure enough, the two were out in the Everfree forest by the morning. Dale had gotten lucky enough to find a place to stay at for his remaining week in town. Matt was able to butter Fluttershy up to let his "friend" stay at her place for at least a few more nights. Dale was very grateful for her kindness, even though he wasn't there to break the news about her bear. Dale did think Fluttershy was handling the situation as well as she could, even though she did seem to be in a very bad mood.
"Alright, Dale. It's time I fulfil a promise I made to you last time we were out here!" The way Matt spoke was with the tone of someone who had hatched the ultimate plan. The way he marched through the foggy forest only added to the analogy.
"Yeah? And what would that be?" Dale clearly didn't like where this was going. He'd realised that Matt wasn't exactly the best teacher in the world not too long after the two began their journey throughout the forest.
"I'm glad you asked. You see, you have a flaw that is hard for you to grasp. You keep getting your ass kicked!"
"H-Hey! It's not my fault that I'm constantly going up against creatures that can blow up the side of a mountain casually! Especially when I have to do it alone!" Dale shouted angerly.
"See, that's your problem," Matt stopped walking and turned towards Dale, "You're not going at this with the right mindset. You're not supposed to fight on your own. I mean, you certainly can, if you want. But, the way this world seems to work is like a video game. Did you ever play RPG's back on Earth?" The way Matt said 'Earth" clearly made him uncomfortable, but he was trying to not let the fact that it was gone get to him.
"I played them a bit when I was younger."
"Think back to that time then. When playing those video games, you weren't alone in the game. You had a few people following you, helping out with difficult battles."
"Yeah, we went over this already the last time we were out. You told me I needed to recruit people to help me out."
"And how did that go?" Matt crossed his arms with a smug grin on his face since he already knew the answer. Dale glared at Matt with annoyance. Dale thought it wasn't his fault that he didn't have anyone tagging along with him. He tried to recruit monsters already, but that was a total bust. Dale also knew he'd be driven mad if he had any of the ponies following him around 24/7.
"Are you going to teach me or not!" Dale was beginning to get frustrated at the berating. He didn't want to waste time goofing off when he could be heading towards Canterlot.
"Cool your jets..." Matt replied.
The two boys began their journey through the forest, looking for enemies that Dale could attempt to recruit. There was a surprising lack of enemies in the forest today, and the boys didn't know what to think of it. No matter where they looked, their search ended up in a dead-end.
"Come the fuck on!" Matt shouted at nothing in particular, "Of course when we actually want to fight an enemy, it just doesn't show up. But when we're minding our own business. it's like 'oh shit, here's about 50 timberwolves and 12 manticores' like Jesus Christ!" Matt's bouts of anger amused Dale a bit more than it should. Seeing Matt in a state that wasn't calm and collected was a bit refreshing. Dale's attention was drawn to something else not too long after though. It was a lone timberwolf.
"Hey! Hey! Matt!" Dale patted the back of his companion who was still cursing to himself.
"What is it now?" Matt answered, his face a bright red from the yelling. Dale pointed at the timberwolf with glee, "Way to go buddy." Matt said, "Now let's get you a party member!"
The two quickly ran up to the Timberwolf and engaged it in a fight. The familiar holographic display appeared in front of Dale.
Timberwolf
HP: 40/40
MP: 0
Skills
(Unkown)
Actions
Fight
Talk
Run
Dale immediately found it refreshing to finally have the ability to just run away from a fight back. Dale knew that it would be difficult to find another timberwolf out here, so it was now or never. Dale carefully approached the timberwolf.
"Hey there, buddy," Dale raised his hands up to show that he was no harm to the creature, "Would you like to join my team?"
The timberwolf snarled at Dale, causing him to back up slightly.
"Dale, offer it something. Sometimes you just need to butter them up for them to join you," Matt informed Dale. Dale quickly thought of what he had in his inventory. What would a wolf made out of branches and twigs even like?
"I've got... uhh... money?" Dale quickly summoned a coin pouch filled with some of the bits he earned from doing quests. He proceeded to toss it to the timberwolf. The coin pouch rolled on the grass before coming to a stop. The timberwolf approached the offer cautiously, sniffing the pouch a bit before picking it up in its mouth. The timberwolf looked at Dale for a second, before adjusting its eyes back down to the pouch. Dale's arm brace beeped twice before opening up a menu.
Congratulations!
You've acquired a Timberwolf as a member of your team!
Timberwolf
HP: 40/40
MP: 0
Status
(Ally status increases every level, just like yourself. But, the Status Point distribution is out of your control)
Strength: 5
Magic: 0
Vitality: 4
Agility: 7
Luck: 2
Skills
Feral Bite (Moderate physical damage to one foe, medium crit) 12% Max HP
Learnable Skills
(This skills will be taught to the creature upon levelling up. Every level gives you a new skill, but once the creature learns all of their skills, levelling up will only provide status bonuses.)
Stun Claw (light physical damage to one foe, medium stun chance) 17% Max HP
Taunt (Causes every enemy to focus on the caster, gives defence boost) 20 MP
Dale felt a bit overwhelmed by what he saw. There was a new type of skill that would drain the user of their HP when used, and the fact that the timberwolf has a magic skill despite the fact that it doesn't have any MP currently. He was also confused that he didn't get the money back that he gave to the timberwolf. If it was in his party, why would it need to keep his money? cheapskate.
"Way to go!" Matt called out happily, "That wasn't so bad. I'm even a little jealous, I still don't have a timberwolf in my party."
Dale's arm brace beeped once again. A new notification popped up on the screen
Summoning function now available!
You're allowed to have one creature summoned at a time, but are able to switch out your current creature at any time. If the creature is defeated, the data of its current form will be stored. but you need to revive the creature with an item before it can be summoned again. At your current level, you can contain a total of 4 creatures before needing to delete any to make room for more creatures.
Dale studied the new mechanic for any 'gotch ya' moments, but it seemed to be as straight forward as it sounded. Dale tapped the Summoning command on his menu and was greeted with a new screen.
Summoning
Timberwolf: HP 40/40, MP 0
N/A
N/A
N/A
Retract or Replace Summon
Yes
or
No
Dale pressed the 'yes' to see what would happen. His arm brace's touch screen lit up a bright white, as well as the timberwolf. The light blinded both of the boys and when it dimmed down, the timberwolf was gone.
"You can summon it whenever you want in or outside of battle now," Matt said.
Dale was pretty satisfied with what he was able to accomplish today, so the two boys went back to town to celebrate.
Not too long after Dale and Matt left the Everfree forest, the two were dining at the Sugarcube Corner. Dale was surprised at how busy it was for a sweet shop, he hasn't been here since Matt's welcome party. Even then, he didn't stick around for too long. The party pony Pinkie Pie hopped towards the two, a smile on her face, and a tray balanced on her head.
"Here you go you two! Two Pinkie Pie speciality cupcakes, fresh out of the oven!" Pinkie Pie did a quick hop and the tray landed perfectly on the table.
"Thanks, Pinkie! Your food is to die for," Matt complimented while tossing her a few bits, "Don't worry, Dale. I've got you covered," Matt added before digging into the sweet treat before him. Dale sat there, casually picking at his cupcake. He wasn't the fastest eater in the world, and it was nice for him to finally relax a little. Dale could barely remember the last time he didn't have something he was worried about.
"So, what is next on the list?" Dale asked.
Matt placed his hand on his chin while trying to think, "Well there are a few things that we can do to get you ready. We can head out and level grind for a bit so your timberwolf and yourself can get stronger. That's the obvious one. I'm not too sure how long it would take you to get to Canterlot if I'm being honest..."
"Then that means I should get a lot of supplies for the journey ahead. Like buying a lot of food and other things," Dale finished Matt's thoughts for him.
"Exactly. That kind of stuff costs money, so you should try to see if you can do any quests to earn money" Matt lowered himself to a whisper when he said 'quest'
Dale agreed with Matt on that one, nothing in life is free, and if he needed to do the odd job to earn some cash, he was all for it.
"I just need to find some time in order to train up in between that," Dale crossed his arms. His words caught the attention of one of the pegasi in the store. Her cyan ears perked up a bit and she quickly flew over to the table Dale was sitting at.
"Did you mention training?" The tomboyish sounding pony said with excitement.
Dale was a little uncomfortable with how close she was to his face, her rose eyes glaring deep into his own, "Uhh... yeah?"
"Hey, Rainbow Dash. How's it going?" Matt said to the mare. It was obvious to Dale that Matt knew her.
"It's not going fine at all! I haven't been able to practice any of my moves in such a long time since my last training partner is currently in the hospital!" Rainbow Dash panicked, "So I came here to try to find somepony, anypony, that would help me out!"
Matt chuckled, "You know you could have just asked me to help out, right? I'd be glad to help you train up!" Matt winked at her with a smug grin.
"Do you really mean it?" Rainbow Dash flew over to Matt and looked at him with hope in her eyes.
"Of course! In fact, you've got two partners now."
Dale rolled his eyes, once again he was roped into doing something shitty against his will. But the more Dale thought about it, the more he realised that it would actually be a good idea. Training not only with Matt but also this athletic-looking chick, she's bound to know a good method that's for sure.
The trio decided on the time they would meet the following day rather quickly. Dale began to eat his cupcake while Matt and Rainbow Dash really hit off the conversation. Dale knew he only had to put up with six more days, what was the worst that could happen?