From the Dust

A man lied in a forest clearing, sunlight shining upon his face threatened to wake him, yet he neither woke nor stirred. Somewhere in his inner conscience, however, someone else woke up.

Wuh...Where am I? Did I have another late night drink at the bar and pass out? I can hardly move my body...wait. I CAN'T move my body. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! said a voice in the man's head. It was then, that the man stirred.

"Shut the hell up," he groggily slurred out, "Some people aren't early birds and I think I feel a hangover coming along." The man said nothing else but was starting to wake up. Meanwhile, the voice in his head was panicking.

Aww crap, oh crap. How the hell am I going to get out of this one? I think this guy is controlling my body somehow, It said to itself, Hey buddy! Could you wake up and get up off your—I mean MY ass? The man groggily got up and finally felt the bright sunlight shine upon his eyes. The man groaned in pain from the light hitting his eyes and the voice coming from somewhere.

"Alright, alright, I'm up," The man yawned and stretched out his limbs, "Now could you tell me why you woke me up when it feels like it's..." He turned around to face the person talking to him, only to be met by dark trees, "Ok, you guys better hope this is a joke; Pyra, Carys, you two better come out and confess." He shouted around him, but he doubted that two little girls could have done this. Even so, silence was his answer. The voice mentally facepalmed.

Jesus Cryst, this is the guy controlling my body? She said, annoyed at both him and herself. The latter for getting her into this, Hey, there's no one around us and judging by the way you are reacting to what's happening around us. I would have to guess you don't know any much more than I do. So I guess this should start out as most companionships do, telling each other's names. She offered to the man, I am Yang Xiao Long, huntress-in-training and you are currently controlling my body against my will. SO! What is the name of my new puppet master?

It took the man a while to search where the voice was coming from, only for the voice to tell him that it stayed in his head. He also noticed that the voice had a feminine aspect and called herself a huntress instead of a huntsman. He decided that the best choice was to stay calm, sit down, and communicate with her. "H-Hi? Well my name is Leon Belmont, next in line to own Belmont's World Gym, and I am a MMA fighter who won multiple tournaments across the US." He said cautiously, "Do you know how I-WE got here? I don't remember passing out in a forest or putting on these bracelets and clothes; you did say that this was originally your body, correct?" He felt a mental nod from Yang. "You sound female, so why is this body male?"

That question sent Yang into a panic, she quickly scanned her new body and found that she was indeed male. Her breasts were replaced by large pecs, her muscles were more defined, she was taller than she remembered, and she was suddenly curious at how big her new member was. Leon felt that last piece of curiosity and he sent a mental scolding to her. Oh come on! We are going to be sharing this body now, I might as well get use to every nook and cranny of it.

That sent a chill down Leon's back, his face burned with a blush and his hands went reflexively to cover his privates. Yang, however, was having a blast screwing with her new host's mind. Woah! I thought we would've been big, but holy crap. That thing feels like a monster! Leon's face blushed even more red and Yang couldn't stop from laughing, her laughs resonating off his mind's walls. When she calmed down, she decided to calm him down as well. Ok, ok, I'm done. Sorry, but this new body is tempting and I went a little overboard. We actually have what I would think a bit bigger than average size. But I honestly thought that a fighter like you wouldn't have been so sensitive about these kind of things. She said, trying to make feel comfortable again.

"It's alright, I forgive you and thanks for trying to make me feel better. You honestly remind me of my two little sisters, they were always pulling pranks on me and our younger brother..." He felt a little homesick after he thought about his family. Yang felt his mood dropping again, but with sadness this time. Her thoughts flew to her younger sister as well.

I understand how you must feel, I have a little sister as well, but she has shown time and again that she could survive without me. I just hope the other 2 are keeping her company in my place. She said, making her feel a bit homesick as well but felt a little better when Leon's mood lifted after feeling that someone else could empathize with him. C'mon, let's find a water source to clean up, I still feel a bit groggy and I bet you do too.

"Yeah, let's do that," Leon agreed. He got up and brushed himself, sending dust drifting off his clothes, "Whoa, where did this dirt come from and why do I see flecks of white?" He felt Yang mentally shrug, "Well now I really want to wash up." I think I hear a waterfall coming from our left. Let's clean up and after that we can try to figure out how I ended up in your head. Leon sent a mental agreement and walking in the direction pointed out. Each mind wondered how far away from home they were.

As the two minds walked to the waterfall, they began a mental conversation about Leon's old life. He told her that he was from a family of five: twin little sisters who were 14 respectively, Pyra being the older sister and Carys the younger, Galen the youngest who was now 10, himself who is now 19, and his mother who owned the Belmont's World Gym and they lived in a two story house less than half an hour away from their gym. Yang pointed out that he didn't say something about his father and he got a bit upset over the subject. After he calmed down, he explained that when he was 14, his father was an firefighter who got injured on the job and was put on paid absence; so he stayed home all day and drank himself to sleep so he wasn't really there for him and his siblings. His mother owned the gym and had to work late so that they could stay afloat and it was up to him to care for the others.

It was 2 years later that when Leon was preparing dinner with Carys while the Pyra took care of Galen , that split his mother and father apart. He told her what they needed to do and what her part was, one of his jobs was to carry out and set up the 5 dishes at the table; his mother would've been late and he would just wrap up her food for when she came home. She said that she could do it while he cooks, he was worried that she could hurt herself, that the plates would have been heavy for a 9 year old but she told him not to worry and gave him a mock salute. He laughed and agreed to let her do it, but only if she was to do it one plate at a time. She thought, however, that she could bring all 5 plates at once. While Leon was preoccupied with cooking though, when he heard was a yelp, then came the sound of plates and silverware crashing down onto the tiled floor.

He immediately threw down the ladle and rushed to where the sound emitted from, he found his sister surrounded by broken pieces of glass and silverware, she was crying and apologizing to him. He stepped carefully through the wreckage, sweeping aside the glass and telling her that he will fix this, clean it up, and everything will be fine. She calm down, but her eyes were still red, she grabbed another broom to help him. Pyra came to check on us, with Galen following behind, then came their father who woke up due to the noise. He saw the mess Carys made and was furious at her. His father had a hangover and still had the alcohol in his system, even though his father was injured, it didn't stop him from wanting to beat Leon or his siblings. He told Pyra to take the two to her bedroom, she knew what was going to happen and complied.

But before they could leave, his father yanked Carys' arm with one arm and had a almost empty bottle of beer in the other, and started to yell and berate her. Leon saw tears reforming in her eyes at his slurs of verbal abuse, he was fed up with it and gripped the arm holding Carys. His father was astonished at his son for standing up to him but the alcohol still clouded his system. His father let go and stared intently at Leon for a while, Leon gestured the others to leave without glancing at them. His father swung first and caught him in his chest and from there on was a one-sided fight. He soon left his son lying on the ground almost unconscious and his father went back to his couch. After his mother found out about it, she divorced him and left him on his own. He was the reason why Leon became an MMA fighter, to make sure he can defend himself and anyone else needed it. He knew it was a corny reason, but he also enjoyed his career choice.

Before Yang could spin her own little tale, they reached the waterfall. They expected a waterfall splashing into a river, but what they got was a lake. The lake had a river flowing away to carry out excess water. It also look clear and no insects were swarming around it, so it looked safe to drink. To describe it bluntly, it looked like someone tore it out of a story book, untouched by any human life. Leon started to undress, starting with his upper body. He tried to take off his bracelets but didn't find any locks or fastenings.

Yang, you said that this was originally your body but gender bended. How do I take off the bracelets? He said mentally to Yang.

Dude, you have to use our Aura to unlock them, Yang said, as if it was obvious. Didn't they have these type of weapons back in your country, the 'US'? Leon immediately stop fiddling with the bracelets.

Whoa, whoa , whoa! These things are weapons? But they don't even look big enough to be a weapon. He said, forgetting that she mentioned that she didn't know about the US. He was now cautious, yet curious of the device on his wrists, How do I activate them, then?

I don't know about sharing this with anyone, but since you are controlling me, then you should know. I focus on my Aura and I draw energy from it, I then shift that energy to the bracelets and they come off. She instructed Leon. Try looking deep inside you and mentally doing it.

Leon could feel something surging inside him for a while and tried to grasp it with his mind. He slowly pulled the energy towards his arms, but halfway he stopped, gasping and started to sweat. Yang looked at the display of exhaustion and was left a bit disappointed that he couldn't do it. She wondered if she could do it from inside. Hey Leon, let me try something. Stay relaxed for a while and try again. But this time, I am going to try and help maneuver our Aura flow. Leon did as he was told and sat down, trying to draw the energy again. After a few seconds, the bracelets came off with a clank. There, now we need to work on that if you are going to make me your little puppet. I also need to teach how to activate them. You also need to stop calling them simple bracelets, they have a name. They are called Ember Celica, got it? She now demanded Leon.

Are you sure you are the puppet here? He said with a sigh, and started to take off his boots. When he got to his pants, he stopped. Yang noticed that he did and decided that it's been a while since she teased him. What's wrong Leon? She said innocently, I thought we wanted to get ourselves clean. Why did you stop?

Of course I want to get clean, but you have to close your eyes! He said, not even paying attention to what he said meant. He facepalmed and Yang burst into laughter. Embarrassed by her, he decided to get it over with and took off his pants without look down. When he finally took off his boxers, he jumped into the lake, letting the semi-warm water wash away any dirt and grime. After that, he decided to just relax in the water. He leaned against the water's edge. He remembered that she didn't know about the US and sent a request to Yang to talk mentally. See big boy? That wasn't so hard, hmm just like we are right now. She said the last bit, a little more quieter. Leon, nevertheless heard her.

Shut up Yang, that wasn't why I asked to talk to you. He said, much calmer than before, You mentioned that you didn't know what the US was, right? A mental nod answered his question. Then tell me exactly where you came from, since the United States of America is one of the major countries in the world and would be known worldwide. He asked with pure curiosity. Sure? But you might want to get out and get dressed, it might be a long story.

Well I've never heard of the United States of America and since I haven't heard of your country, I will guess that you've never heard of mine. I've read theories about alternate dimensions and multiple universes on my spare time and this feels like it's one of those cases, so I will start off with my world and country.

Our world is called Remnant, we are highly a magnitech world, meaning that we mix magic and technology. Most of the technology run on the magic and an energy called Dust: the technology that use these power source and usually airships, gadgets, and even weapons like Ember Celica, but I can teach you about that another time. Our continents are divided between 4 kingdoms: Atlas, Minstral, Vacou, and Vytal. The kingdom I belong to is Vytal, the Vale region to be specific.

Now, you should still keep an open mind about the possibility of this being another dimension. That may be our closest answer we can get for now.

By the time Yang was done, Leon was already dressed and was in a deep thought on what Yang said about multiple universes crossing over. He was a pretty open minded guy, but even this made him a little skeptical.

Nonetheless, he mentally agreed with Yang. "So you are saying that we are from separate universes? Going by that thought; say we were to somehow collide with each other if we got blasted out of our universes. Your body then rejected you as the host but accepted me and had to change its physical form as a result."

Yes, I had the same thought. But what would've blown us out of our—Leon, I sense trouble. Something big, dangerous, and angry is heading our way. Remember that I told you that I will teach you how to activate Ember Celica later? Well later is now, the beast is far away enough for me to prep you. Try to reach into your Aura and connect it to Ember Celica, but don't think about making them come off, instead flick your wrists and push downwards. Yang felt Leon bolt up and his panic levels were rising and that is not good sign when you are going to fight with your life on the line. She had to calm him down, Leon, chill, people will make mistakes if they are panicking. Now just do as I told you and both our skills will get us through this.

Leon calmed down and focused on his Aura, sending it towards Ember Celica. When he felt the two connect, he flicked his wrists and the bracelets expanded into thick gauntlets. He was amazed that a little accessory like this could be turned into a killing weapon. Killing...Leon had to kill the beast before it killed him, this was a matter of life and death and he was really fond of living. Leon, come on, get into a fighting stance. You said you were an experienced fighter, right? I'm sure my body retained its physical prowess and with you knowing the moves, we could win this. Yang mentally face palmed after she forgot a few important pieces of information, but it was too late to tell Leon both of them. She had to choose between them, Crap, Leon, I forgot got to mention this. Ember Celica can shoot shells out. I have standard shells right now and they are only good for close quarter combat, they won't reach far but will deal a good amount of damage. Use your aura to charge the shell and punch to shoot it out.

Leon heard rumbles and claws scraping the trees, a gust of wind hit him and saw the the creature was now airborne, making it much more deadly. It landed a few meters away from him and now he got a good look at the beast. It had the body of a lion, wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. He's played enough video games to know that those are signs of a manticore, proving the idea of alternate universes a lot more. The manticore let out earth-shattering roar, but it did not faze him, it then dashed towards him and felt Yang's mental support rooting him on.

It lunged at him, jaws open with razor sharp teeth ready to maim, but Leon rolled out of the way and the manticore bit onto the tree behind him. Leon recovered and saw that the tree was in the manticore's mouth, but when he chomped onto the tree, it shattered it and spat out the remains. It tried to use its tail to poison him, the movement was quick, but Yang called out a warning and he backstepped. The stinger was then jammed into the ground and Leon grabbed the tail. He felt a surge of strength and swung the tail in a circular motion, the manticore flying behind it going along, but the stinger popped off the tail and sent the manticore flying into a tree. It roared in pain so loud, that people miles away would've heard it.

The manticore only wanted a meal and smelled a new scent in the area. He thought that it would've been a simple target, but the new creature was resilient and severly damaged the manticore's stinger. It no longer wanted food, it wanted blood. The manticore let out a bloodcurdling roar and charged the bi-pedal creature.

Leon noticed that manticore stingers are apparently easy to break off and that a manticore would be furious if you did so. The manticore let out a bloodcurdling roar that shook every fiber of his body and it charged at him. Yang gave out a quick idea of how to handle this and he had to trust her. He held the now detached stinger in one hand and was ready to fire with the other. The manticore was dripping poison from his tail and his black eyes were filled with rage. Leon lined up the shot as the manticore got closer and tossed up the stinger, he reared back his other hand, cluctched the trigger and punched the stinger on the opposite end, shooting the pointed part to the manticore.

The manticore was too far into rage to notice that its stinger was in the creature's hand. It heard a bang noise, unknown to it, and later felt immense pain and then numbing. The creature has somehow launched the stinger so hard at it, that it was now imbedded into his chest, close to the heart. It swayed from the poison still inside the stinger and then collapsed, due to both poison and bloodloss. It layed at the base of a tree, just a few feet away from the creature.

Leon was victorious but somehow did not feel it. Even with Yang's shouts of joy and praise, he felt somehow woozy. Then the adrenaline left him and searing pain filled in from his side. He touched it and his gloved hand came out crimson red. The manticore must have slashed him when it dove for the bite, Yang told him that he was going to be alright, that their Aura will heal it back. But the pain still stayed, he took the cloth from his side and folded it to cover the whole wound. Next, he took off his orange scarf, placed the cloth over his wounds and wrapped the scarf around him, tightening the cloth.It wasn't a medical bandage, but it covered and applied pressure to the wound until he got real help. He got up and swayed, Yang told him to try and stay put, to let the Aura do its magic.

He ignored it and took another step, but when he tried to take a third, he collapsed next to the now dead manticore. He wondered why he was so woozy from a manticore's slash. He simply jotted it down that it was deeper than he thought it was and lost blood too quickly. He became more tired and felt the need to close his eyes. "Soon I would be like it." Leon said darkly, No you idiot, we can't die yet. Why hasn't our Aura kick in?! It was suppose to act like a barrier! Leon, you need to stay awake. WE need to live, it's both of us who are going to die if you keep this up. Yang's voice was becoming distant to Leon. He never would have thought that it would've ended like this, this all felt like one big dream. Huh, maybe it was, he thought sleepily, Maybe I will wake up back in my bed, with Galen running into my room asking me to make him breakfast.

He drifted onto sleep, Yang could only rest if she thought about doing it. The last thing he heard was a feminine shriek, someone was crying, possibly over the death of the manticore or maybe even him. A group surrounded him and were pondering what to do, multiple things prodded him but he didn't fully awaken, in the end he was lifted up; someone was carrying him to somewhere. Whatever, he thought, Once I wake up, I'll be back home. With that, he passed out.

Elsewhere, deep underground, a group of diamond dogs surround a unconscience body lying on the floors of their tunnels. "What should we do with this one, boss? It ain't got any shinies on it," Said the tallest one. "Except for this heavy stick he has."

"If it ain't have any shinies, then we should eat it. Good meat on this one." Said the shortest one.

"No you fool!" The one with an average height said with a snarl, "This one seems special, we should take it to the boss and let him figure out what we should do."

This confused the short one. "But boss, I thought that you were the boss?"

"No, I meant the chief!" The average one said, "Maybe this one could be more useful that that white pony" The other two nodded in agreement and lifted the body, but once the body was lifted he woke up.

His eyes shot open and his hand grasped his cane. The tall one had his upper body up and was stunned at the rapid movement. He quickly dropped the man and the man caught himself and bolted upright, he bashed the tall one's arm and a crack was heard in the tunnel. The other two backed away from the man and he aimed his cane at the base of their feet and shot. The two fell back in fear of the now deadly stick, the ground at their feet was now charred black and smoke emitted from it. The man gestured to the two to go to their fallen friend, who was still holding his arm in pain.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Now that wasn't a very good idea." He said mocking them, he dusted his suit off, Why do I have all this dust on me? Might be from the cave, but this dust is a different. It seems white He shrugged off the thought, his the cane still aimed at the three. He stared at them with disgust. "What on Remnant are you creatures, I have never read of Grimm that fit your description." More to himself than to the diamond dogs.

The average one half-stepped forward and seemed to be the leader of the group. "W-We are diamond dogs, s-sir."

The man was surprised that he has found some new type of Grimm, although they do not look pitch black with bone jutting out of them. No, they have color variation and were sentient, meaning they should have an Aura as well. Finally, the man spoke to them again and used a more threatening tone, "Diamond dogs? Interesting, you ordered your fellow dogs to take me to your boss, this chief of yours." He demanded. The diamond dogs were fearful of the new creature and his deadlyness. He seemed to have a sense of authority around him and had a powerful weapon, in contrast to their own chief's ability. This may work out in their favor.

"Yes sir, follow us and we will take you back to the den to see the chief." The average one said with a little too much enthusiasm. They led the man back to their den and the tall one was still nursing his possibly fractured wrist. As they led him, they told him their names, from tallest to shortest: Fido, Rover their leader, and Spot, they also filled him in about his new surroundings: the name of the country, its inhabitants and leaders, and even told him information about their chief. They tried to get on his good side and also tried to imply that he should take over the pack by getting rid of their chief.

These mutts might actually be useful, He said thoughtfully, Having a pack of loyal dogs would help me take over this new land, but the princesses might be a thorn in my side. Nonetheless, I should at least make a base of operations for the White Fang here. The leader of the group, Rover, broke his train of thought.

"Sir, what should we call you, do you have a title or name to go by?" Rover asked.

The man smirked and tipped his hat, "Yes, you shall call me Torchwick, Roman Torchwick. Your new boss." They continued to stride down the tunnel with the three filling Roman in with as much information they can muster.

The First Footholds

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"Yang....Ya-ang," A voice said throughout Yang's mind, she felt like she was drifting somewhere else. "YANG! Wake UP!" Yang bolted up from her bed, shaking the books supporting the bunk bed.

"Leon!" Yang looked around, not within Leon's mind, but with her own eyes. She saw that they- she was back in her team's room and that Ruby was peeking her head up to Yang's bed which was the top bunk.

"Leon? Was that one of the names of those 'buddies' you hang out and drink with?" Ruby as questionably.

"Ruby, hurry up and get her. I can't hold you up forever!" The strained voice of Weiss said, as if she was over-exerting herself. "You said this would be quick, but your sister is once again, difficult to wake up. And now that she is awake, you can get off. I think I'm losing my grip." A crash was heard throughout the room, but multiple thoughts swarmed Yang. Was that whole little adventure with Leon a big dream? It couldn't have been one of my friends or drinking buddies, I would remember a name like Leon. Or maybe it was some sort of vision, telling me that something was going to happen? But there was still the possibility of— Yang was thrown out of her train of thought by Ruby's voice.

"Yang, could you just get up. We are going to be late for class, I have already sent Blake to stall Professor Chaos Theory." Ruby informed her, yet Yang gave her a confused and drowsy look. "Ugh, Yang. You know, our new professor, here at Beacon, in the region of Vale. Do I need to go on? Just get ready and put on your clothes."

Yang got out of bed, washed up, and put on her uniform, but was still thinking about what happened with the manticore and Leon. I remember that the manticore slashed us and I somehow got tired, but I was still inside Leon's mind. Could the wound affect Leon and myself, despite me having no physical form? The trio soon reached their class and saw that Professor Chaos was almost finished answering a question that Blake had presumably asked. Professor Chaos had his back turned to the class and was chalking down multiple arrows and symbols to explain Blake's question. The trio sneaked into class while Professor Chaos explained what they meant.

"So you see class, when you pour an exceedingly amount of Nergy and Struix dust, which represent energy and matter respectively, onto one of the many magical lines that cover Remnant where raw magic is most potent, and as Miss Belladonna has asked, a minuscule rip in the fabric of time and space could appear. Now mind you that even with that much Nergy and Struix falling onto the magical lines, it is no where strong enough to transport matter on its own." Said Professor Chaos with his back still facing the class, he announced the three who barely got in their seats. "Ahh, Miss Rose, Schnee and Long. I am so glad that you can come attend my little lecture about my theories on multiple universes and dimensions, even if it was the last bit. Now I presume you three don't have a very excusable reason to be late?"

He turned to face them and Yang got a good look at his complexion: his hair was snow white with a thick single black line running across the side of his head, a beard that was also white, and was wearing a brown coat with a yellow inside shirt and a red tie to finish it off; but those weren't the things that caught her eye. It was his eyes, they looked like they have seen madness and laughed in its presence. His red eyes surrounded a small black pupil which was an uncommon eye color but the white of his eyes took the cake, they weren't white, but were yellow. Yang snapped to attention when she realized that Professor Chaos redirected the question to only her.

"U-U-Uh," Yang was surprised and didn't know what to say, but she did know that what she would say was going to be foolish. "I had a strange dream about a guy controlling my body and that I was only in his mind. I woke up to find out that I was late for class."

"Partially correct, Miss Long, but your dream of Mr. Belmont was not a dream" He saw that Yang looked at him with suspicion and he snapped his fingers. Everything turned grey and everyone stopped, even when Jaune was in the middle a nap when Professor Chaos snapped his fingers, he shot up when he heard it but was frozen midway.

Yang glared daggers at Professor Chaos, "What did you do to them and how do you know Leon's full name, how do you know that that wasn't a dream?" She tried to flick open Ember Celica but with another snap from Professor Chaos, they vanished. "What did you do to my gauntlets! No matter, I still have my strength."

Professor Chaos smirked at Yang, the look made her want to hit him there and now, but she held back as he opened his mouth to speak. "But my dear Miss Long, have you even thought that this was—" He snapped his fingers and the floor beneath Yang was pure darkness, she fell in screaming. Throughout the unending darkness of the void, Chaos' voice resonated, "What if this was just a memory before you were sent to my dear home of Equestria? Here, a gift from me to you; I've noticed that you are just itching, mind the pun, to have a physical body while inside Leon's mind, so I give you this. A snap was heard and a mirror appeared in the darkness. "This is your new form and you may choose to change whenever you want from between Leon's mind or this form and you can even interact with anything from the material world, it will give you more freedom that the little cage of his mind."

Yang peered into the mirror and saw a yellow feminine sprite, no bigger than her hand. The sprite moved as she did and it carried some of her features, most noticeable was her bust and hair that was waving in the non-existent air. Chaos' voice carried throughout the void once more, "Now my dear, I am interested to see how much chaos the two of you could make along side that other being from your world. Ta-Taa, my dear Yang and say hello to Leon when you wake up." He ended with a maniacal laughter and another snap resonated in the unending darkness and she felt nonexistent, slowly drifting in a void.

Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Leon began to stir. An window was open and was shining the glorious sun's rays, right upon his eyes. He groaned in discomfort but felt the warmth of a blanket on top and the softness of a couch underneath him. Leon was peacefully laying on the couch feeling the warmth and softness of the blanket all with his skin, he didn't have his shirt on. Huh, I don't remember that I got this blanket before. Did mom buy this for me when I didn't know? And why am I laying on the couch without a shirt on instead of sleeping my bed? These questions swarmed Leon enough to open his eyes and rub the crust off of them. It seems that the sun knows that his eye lids were now open and intensified the strength of the rays into the small square window. He groaned once more and turned away from the powerful sun, his eyes were shut but could still feel the glare of it coming from inside his own eye lids.

A flapping was heard and the amount of sunlight entering the room was diminishing, though Leon still had his eyes shut tight until the last of the curtains were closed. A soft, motherly voice spoke to him. "There, there big guy. I closed all the curtains so the light is more dimmed." Leon opened his eyes and scanned the room, it wasn't his house that he was sleeping in. He was too panicked to speak to the voice and quickly looked to his right side, it was bandaged and he saw a crumpled line of semi-bloody bandages near the couch he was sleeping on. She must have seen him looking at his old wounds and tried to calm him down, "Calm down big guy, you were hurt pretty badly by a manticore attack. A manticore's claw has a special coating that immobilizes their prey if they are scratched by it. Although, the manticore had had it worse." Her voice dropped a little, "Yo-You didn't kill it yourself, did you? Manticores are one of the top predators among the Everfree, yet a creature of your size defeated one."

Leon could still not find any words to use. His mind flashed back to what happened last time he was awake: he woke up in a forest, found out he stole the body of another person and that said person's mind was now trapped within his, he learned about their world, and finally fought...the manticore, he won but was still wounded by the claws of it. He gripped his head in pain over that this was all reality, including the fact that he was maybe a universe away from his own. Tears started to drip down his face over this fact, he continued to do so until a felt warm fur pressed against his left side, a flat appendage stroked his head. "There there, I know it must have hurt, but I cleaned out your wounds and they have probably healed since the last time I checked. Your recovery rate was amazing; I wonder why I don't see more of your kind around Equestria?" That last sentence caught him off guard, 'I don't see more of your kind' She just implied that humans must be a totally new species to this land. Which calls the next question to step forward: just what is she then?

Leon slowly turned his head so that it was facing the source of the voice and he saw a equine as tall as him since he was sitting on the ground, she had a butterscotch coat and pink mane with matching pink tail. She was still consoling Leon and was emitting warmth and love, despite the shock realization he had in his eyes. The room was silent with only the equine's gentle care and another thing hit Leon, Yang, Yang you there? Yang! He called out in his mind, his mind was even more silent, Yang, was that just a dream? I thought I actually had someone close to a human in this world and now you're gone. Tears streamed down his face once more, he just lost the closest thing to a friend in this world, someone he could relate to. "Yang...Don't leave me." He said quietly. The equine holding him stopped stroking his head the second he talked.

"Yo-You can talk?" She asked, a bit more scared now. She started to back away slowly from Leon, her shyness getting the best of her, but she at least tried to actually have a conversation. "W-Well since you can talk, could you tell me about yourself?" Leon rubbed his eyes and slowly nodded and thought, Maybe I could make some new friends, I am also curious about this world.

"Well I am not from this place, you said Equestria, right? I am going to guess that the name of this place isn't named Earth." She nodded a bit more confident that he wasn't going to yell or something like that. "I am originally from a place called Earth and there are only a few sentient beings on it, my kind are sentient dominant species there. Which brings me to my next question: what are you?"

"Well here in Equestria, ponies make up most of the population. Ponies fall under three races: the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Each three have a unique ability: the earth ponies are more attuned with the earth, pegasi are flyers, and unicorns could use magic. Princess Celestia rules over Equestria with a soft hoof and she is all three ponies combined. She has the horn of a unicorn, wings of a pegasus, and is attuned with the earth." She stopped backing away and went to sit next to him at the base of the couch. "Now the world is called Equis and each land is divided among the beings here. There are minotaurs to the west, dragons, griffons, and zebras to the east, and changelings to the south. I wasn't top of the class in my geography studies, but I wasn't the worst" She said with a smile, Leon felt that no one could resist her smile and smiled too.

Leon went over his world and its ups and downs. The technology that made them the dominant species, how they were used, what he did before he came here, the animal and plant life that surround the Earth. All this was interesting to her and she suspected there was more that she didn't know yet, some of the information shocked her but she understood the reasoning behind most. They talked until it became the afternoon and the pegasus was resting her head on his lap while he stroked her fur.

A snap was heard and he looked around for the source. Soon, a familiar voice talked in his head, Wow, nice pet. She looks so adorable, is this what you've been up to since I was gone? Leon was speechless but he didn't need to talk, his emotions washed over to Yang and she felt the happiness and love that he had for her since she was now back. Aww I missed you too big guy, but hey! Check out this new little ability some crazy guy gave me. She popped out and a small yellow feminine sprite appeared in front of him, it was floating around the small house looking at things. "So you found a house? I am going to guess that whoever owns it also owns that small horse resting on you." She said aloud, with the walls of his mind no longer there. Aww sweet! I have my own voice, maybe that guy isn't so bad after all, still crazy but not bad." The pegasus in question was starting to stir.

She got up on all fours and stretched, letting out a cute yawn, "Leon? Did somepony enter my house?" She rubbed her eyes and stared at the new sprite with curiosity and it stared back, "Uhh, Leon. Did that horse just talk? Fluttershy gave Leon with a confused look, he simply shrugged and got up to introduce the two.

Leon cleared his voice to get both of their attentions, "Well Fluttershy, this is the girl that I told you who lived in my head, Yang. Yang, this is the pony who cleaned out our wounds and took care of our body," He gestured to his bandaged side where the manticore had hit him. "They are also the dominant species of this country. See if you can access my memories about both our worlds from the conversations I had with Fluttershy here."

"Yes, oh glorious puppet master." She said with sarcasm and bowed before popping back into Leon's mind. Leon chuckled and looked over to Fluttershy, "Hey Fluttershy." She was walking to the kitchen before Leon addressed her, "Where did you put my clothes?" He gestured to his naked upper half and Fluttershy squeaked in surprise that she never got him his clothes.

"Umm, your clothes were pretty damaged due to the manticore so I had sent them to a friend to get them stitched back up." She was looking down at the ground as if she did something bad. Leon smiled warmly and walked over to her to rub her head. She leaned against it and knew that she didn't mind. "She said that it was a minor patchwork job and that she should be done by this afternoon. Though I wonder why she hasn't—" A knocking came from the front door and she hovered over to it and opened it cautiously. "Yes? Who is it?"

A feminine voice with a posh tone answered her, "I brought back the beast's clothes, darling. But I don't know why such a creature could have these unfashionable clothes, much less wear them. But alas, you know animals better than I do." What she said infuriated Leon, he clenched his fists in anger but didn't let Fluttershy see it. "Oh and I also brought Rainbow and Twilight, if you don't mind." Fluttershy opened the door to find her three friends waiting there and gestured for them to come in. None but one noticed Leon's anger towards Rarity's words and she charged at him.

"Don't even think about it!" A rainbow was flying straight at him but Leon saw it coming. He dropped backwards and propelled the charging rainbow behind him. She landed against the wall with a thud and he was about to make sure she stays down, but he felt resistance in the air, a lavender aura was holding him in place.

"Don't you dare, you monster, I saw what happened to that manticore." A lavender unicorn said, the same colored aura surrounded her horn. He struggled to get out of his purple prison but couldn't move anything. He saw the pony that tried to attack him get up and she was pissed. "Hold him still Twi, this punk will learn not to mess with me or my friends." She said as she flew towards Leon and he was in a defenseless position, he couldn't do anything as he felt the pony punch him straight on his bandaged right side and he let out a cry of pain. She was about to land another punch before someone, or somepony, stopped her.

"Rainbow, Twilight, please stop, your hurting him!" Fluttershy's alarmed voice made Twilight drop her spell and Rainbow stop beating the man. He landed on the floor with another pained sound. She fluttered over to Leon and rolled him over to see his right side. She took off the red bandages and saw that several stitches were snapped and was letting blooding flow. She quickly put the bandages back on, placed a pillow under his head and addressed her friends "I want to thank Rarity for fixing this man's clothes, but you three better leave. You've done enough damage to his wounds than I have fixed." Those words hurt Rainbow and Twilight, but they knew what had happened to the man. They silently went back to their houses while Fluttershy went back to find the supplies to stitch Leon's wounds back up.

Holy shit Leon, you got your ass beat by two horses. Yang told him mentally, Leon let out a mental response similar to a middle finger. He was in too much pain for a wittier comeback. So you don't feel any of this? Wow that sucks for me. No, but I can feel the emotions you have and along side that is the pain. But I can only feel it if I wanted to. It looks like our Aura isn't doing that great of a job since we came here. Wait...Did you have anything to eat before waking up here? Leon mentally shook his head. Then that's our problem! Aura comes from inside , if the user aren't well fed, then it gets weaker, the same deal happens if the Aura takes too much damage. But now that the wounds are more healed, maybe I can direct some Aura to it. Try not to tense up and after I'm done you might get sleepy again. Leon tried to relax despite the pain and he saw Fluttershy hover over to him with a white box that has a red cross on it in her mouth. He smiled warmly at her kindness and she returned it.

Her smile fell as she talked to him, "Leon, I have to say sorry for my friends reaction to you. What Rarity said made you a little angry, right? I'm sure we explain everything to them later then it will turn out fine." She flew to his right side and started to take off his bandages, "Let's get you stitched up first, though." Leon started to get a bit sleepy from the lack of Aura. Fluttershy was shocked when she finished taking off his bandages, she saw that they were all healed up. She was about to ask Leon how did his wounds heal so quickly, but he was asleep. She gave him a motherly nuzzle and Yang popped up in front of her. Yang floated to the ground to inspect Leon's wounds and was satisfied that she did a good job. She flew back up to Fluttershy's eye level.

"Fluttershy, right? I fixed up Leon's wounds from inside him but he will be asleep for a while and will be really hungry when he wakes up. Do you have any food that he could eat? She asked Fluttershy, Fluttershy pondered this for a second before a question out of formality appeared at the tip of her tongue, and apparently Yang saw this, "Before you ask, Leon is an omnivore. Which I'm sure you know means that he can digest both plant and meat. Although I think meat would supplement our Aura levels even more than vegetables or fruit. She wasn't shocked about this, Leon had told her that other animals weren't sentient so most humans didn't feel remorse for animals, yet there were still groups who fought valiantly for their survival. She also took care of many animals who were omivores, while she did try to turn their food choice to a more herbivore status, she still gives meat to some. She looked back at Yang, nodded and gestured for her to follow her into the kitchen.

Although Yang learned a lot from Leon's conversation with Fluttershy, she still wanted to talk to her directly and it seemed that Fluttershy felt the same. So they cooked dinner for him and Fluttershy, but Fluttershy did most of the handiwork while Yang zipped here and there gathering the ingredients. Through all that they were regaling about their lives and adventures. From the living room, Leon creaked one eye open and saw the two, he closed it and fell back to sleep with a small smile on his face.

Roman knew every basic thing about these diamond dog's chief, although they were apparently too scared to be descriptive on his physical appearance. They simply stated that the chief was a hoarder and kept the diamond dogs in check by killing the ones who failed or disobeyed him. He also learned about this new land, Equestria: its neighboring countries, the multi-racial population, political leaders, even the abundant minerals and ores. The fact that precious gems could be found by simple digging a few feet below ground opened up multiple business opportunities. And even though he was ripped from his own universe, he couldn't care less of how or who did it, but if there was a way back. he would manipulate it. Make it so that more White Fang members could get in and help take over this pitiful country of hugs and smiles. Rover, once again, broke his train of thought.

"Mr. Roman, sir. We are closing up near the chief's den." Rover said cautiously, Roman looked over and saw Fido was still nursing his arm, having two mismatched twigs and torn cloth acting as splints.

"Thank you Rover, lead the rest of the way." A quick nod from Rover was all he needed. Roman cracked his knuckles menacingly as he thought, Well, this took a while but here comes the first foothold in taking over Equestria. If their chief is anything like them, then he should just be some over sized diamond dog. Dog meat to be precise. He mentally chuckled as the four reached a torch lined tunnel leading to a brightly lit chamber. A roar was heard before they got into the room and they froze, a booming voice ran along the walls "You DARE disobey ME? You shouldn't hold back on my the things that are rightfully mine!" A diamond dog squealed and the crunching of bone was heard throughout the chamber that chilled the backs of the three diamond dogs. Roman gestured them to stay back and he went in to handle the chief. He peered into the den and saw that he couldn't see the ceiling and the other end was kilometers away from each other.

Roman walked into the huge chamber saying, "So lets say I want to take your people as my own? What would you do to stop me? I am Roman Torchwick and I challenge you for spot as leader." He got a good look at his new opponent, to put it plainly, it was a dragon. He glanced back to Rover with one eyebrow up, as if to say You didn't tell me it was a dragon., two thumbs up was his response. He face palmed and turned back to the dragon, it was a crimson red dragon, the spines on its back and ends of its wings were obsidian black and so were its claws, but the spines on its head were tipped with a crimson color, its tail had a spiked ball at the tip that was bigger than its head, its underbelly was a soft pink peach colored and it was resting on top of a mountain of gems and gold sitting in the back of the room. The dragon seemed both amused and angry that it was challenged by this strange new bi-pedaled creature, it compelled the urge to eat it there since it can learn something new from this creature before killing it. It spat out corpse in front of the creature before talking, ""I have lived for over 1200 years, I was there when the princess of the night was banished to her moon, it was a delightful light show by the way, and through all my time living I have never met such a creature like you. Before I devour you with teeth and flames, do you have any information you wish to share?

"Yes, oh glorious harbinger of death." He said with a bow and a sense of mockery that the dragon didn't detect, "I will give you a crystal from my world, but only if you give me a handicap, tell me a weakness of yours and a gem you have never seen before will be yours." The dragon pondered this, but Roman knew he won before the dragon could say anything, for he knew that dragons would be eternally greedy and that greed would be the death of it, but does it have to die? A scenario popped into his head and he hoped it will play out in his favor.

"Very well, I shall tell you one weakness I have, Agreed the dragon, seeing as how a mere mortal couldn't conjure the strength for it, "My kind are the fire dragons of the eastern lands our numbers are few but our power is strong. I have a hide as strong as iron, my claws are spears, my tail is an earthquake, my wings are a hurricane, my breath is death, but if we are struck on our bellies with a massive blow, it would damage our scales, rendering it useless. It sent a small diamond dog to him. "And now, for my crystal.

Roman smirked and dug into his coat, he pulled out a white crystal the size of his palm and tossed into the claws of the diamond dog. The diamond dog ran over to the dragon and placed it in its claws, it brought it up to eye level to inspect it, and the diamond dog scurried away, fearful of their chief. The opacity of the gem seemed unique in its eye and it grew instantly fond of it. It tucked it carefully underneath one of its loose scales on its belly, where it would be safe to keep yet there to see. Roman was laughing internally at the foolishness of the dragon, for it did not know its true power or how to unleash it. Roman stopped smirking and brought his cane up and spoke with a serious tone, "Now then, shall we have our battle?"

The dragon responded by propping itself up on the mountain its head high, but not high enough for its head to hit the enormous chamber's ceiling, and threw its head out into a bloodcurdling roar. The back of Roman's hair stood up but he showed no fear, nor did he show contempt, he kept a unreadable face. Around him, the diamond dogs cowered in fear behind whatever they could find. Others ran out to the tunnel's corridors but they peeked their heads out, eager to see who would become victorious: a unknown creature with undeniable confidence or their dictator chieftain. The dragon spoke with fire raging in its stomach, Then let us begin the feast."

Roman flipped his cane's sight open and locked onto the white opaque crystal underneath its scales but it propelled itself with its wings and flew, scattering gold and gems around room. It flew up and dove for Roman, black outlines started to appear under the scales of its belly and it opened its gaping maw to reveal more of the glow and Roman knew what was coming so he dove to the right as flames shot out of it and dance upon the rocky floor. Roman's coat ends were singed by the crimson red fire coming from a black flame of the dragon and he growled out a curse, he recovered and fired three consecutive shots out at the dragon and first of them bounced off its tough hide, the last two was fired into its mouth as it tried to breath fire again. Roman watched it let out a small screech and then open its mouth, Roman expected it to let out another roar and braced himself, but it never came. Instead, it was laughing, once its laughter died down, it spoke, "It has been more than 300 years since I have felt such pain, I commend you creature, but now you die."

It opened its great wings and brought unknown wind into the chamber, the wind slammed into Roman and he was thrown into the opposite wall. His breath was leaving him; he slowly raised his cane, aimed the shot, and fired at the opaque crystal underneath the scales of the dragon. It exploded, but only the air around it, then it came back and imploded causing the massive dragon to be knocked to the back of the chamber and both fell to the ground.

Roman got up, dusted himself off and walked over to the fallen dragon, it lied on its right side opposite to where the crystal was. He got close to the right side of its head, its eye following him. He crouched down and spoke softly, "I won and your people are now mine." A silent nod answered him, "I can save you, on one condition. You will serve me and belong to me." Its eye shot open and looked at him with new curiosity, "How can a mere mortal not only defeat me, but save me as well? I will never live this down, but I accept your condition." Its voice was strained and in pain.

Roman walked over to its left side and found the spot where the crystal imploded; several scales were turned upright and a steady flow of dark red blood streamed out. He got to work fast and focused his Aura to connect to its Aura to direct it towards her wound to heal it. His Aura flowed into her and the scales started to realign and the hole was filling in. He finished with and tapped it to let it know he was done. It got up and stretched its limbs, flinching when it moved its side, Roman cursed and went back to put some more Aura.

After a continuous flow of Aura, Roman was left tired and hungry, but still didn't show any signs of it. The dragon was back up and was content with the work Roman did. It called all diamond dogs to report to the main den and soon the room was full of diamond dogs and a dragon before Roman. "Roman Torchwick was beaten me and is thus, leader of the diamond dogs!" It spoke before the diamond dogs and they cheered for the good fight. It swiped a claw to hush them "A side proposal was made between Roman and I, along side the diamond dogs, I now fall under him. This form might be too demanding for food and supplies so I shall shift into a smaller frame. The diamond dogs looked shocked at this, even Roman didn't hide his surprise as the dragon shifted to a frame smaller than Roman but a head taller, but what surprised the most of them was the new bust she carried. It seems that none of the diamond dogs were informed that their chief was a female dragon. The spines turning into a feminine hair style and her now short wings stretched outward. It- She now spoke to Roman with a normal tone of voice, "I, Saphira, live to serve you, Roman Torchwick." She knelt and all the other diamond dogs followed. Roman smirked at the sight before him.

"We have some work to do, but first is that we are going to name our pack," Roman announced, they all picked their head back up, "We are now named, The White Fang." The diamond dogs roared their approval of the name. Roman basked in his glory...until his stomach growled. It seemed as if every dog and the dragon heard it, "Second order of business, I need to fucking eat! Fetch me fresh cooked meat, preferably, if not, just get something edible." Diamond dogs ran here and there preparing, meanwhile the newly-found-female dragon approached him, "As for you, Saphira. I need a place to sleep and like hell am I going to sleep on gold or rocks. So I need you to fetch me a bed my size, discreetly." She nodded, her wings grew larger and she flew off. Roman walked over to the mountain of gold and plopped down, grunting at the feeling of hard gold and sharp gems underneath him, but he didn't care. He got a small army at his disposal and there is much to do for The White Fang. He slowly drifted off to sleep on the uncomfortable mountain of gold.

Nightmares

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Two men stood in a brightly lit ring, fences surrounded every side, not allowing any to escape. One was blonde and blue eyed while the other had hair and eyes dark as shadows with only a red streak across his hair breaking the color. They stared intently at each other, sweat formed on their bodies and trickled off. Neither of them broke the stare, even with all the shouting, banging, and cheering around them.

Only one sound caused them to break into action. Ding! A bell rang out and the Shadowed one moved first, he threw his attacks precisely and each were meant to disable, but the Yellow one saw each movement before it happened. Shadow kicked his leg out to hit the back of Yellow’s knee, but he backstepped out of it. Shadow threw a right hook, but Yellow ducked. Shadow jumped towards the fence and pushed off of it, aiming a left kick to Yellow’s head, but Yellow grabbed Shadow’s leg in mid-air and twisted, causing him to fall straight down onto the floor. He got up hesitantly and Yellow simply waited for the next attack. Shadow showed no pain and kicked once more at Yellow with his right leg, his left leg supporting him. Yellow smirked at the movement, the leg came into contact with his left side but he was holding Shadow’s leg in place.

Fear settled into Shadow’s face when Yellow kicked his bad leg from under him and threw his whole body down. Yellow held nothing back as he sat atop Shadow while he endlessly beat him, all Shadow’s blocks were useless as he slowly drained strength. Yellow decided to finish it by trying to turn Shadow onto his belly, his constant spasms struggled to break free but Yellow got onto his right shoulder and pulled his wrist up towards his head while keeping on his toes and applying pressure to his right shoulder with his. Yellow kept applying pressure and pushing Shadow’s wrist up neither of them have said nothing throughout the whole match, but Shadow was chuckling as he was pinned down. “Is this all you will amount to, my little Leo?” His familiar gruff voice asked.

Leon felt a threatening aura around himself, he looked down at Shadow, that slight movement costed him dearly as he was thrown off Shadow and into the chain linked fence. He stared at Shadow as he grew in size, no. It was Leon who was shrinking, to that of a small child. The arena suddenly felt more of a cage of beasts and he was thrown to the lions. Shadow’s features grew more refined, no longer was he a faceless entity with dark hair. He had very tanned skin, a wife beater covering his chest and boxers covering his lower half. He gained weight and his arms, legs, and waist, becoming thicker. All these frightened the small Leon, but one last thing set him off, Shadow’s face showed itself. His father.

Leon felt a surge of anger as he stood up shakily and lunged forward to jab his father in his stomach, but he no longer had his big stature and his father deflected his fist with a swipe and brought the opposite hand across Leon’s face, blood trickled down the corner of his lip, leaving a trail of red and his cheek was already bruising. His father let out a laugh that could chill the most heartless of killers and stood over Leon once more. “Heh, well you can take a punch, that’s for sure. Let’s just see if you can survive longer than your even more pathetic sisters.” He said as he glanced towards his right.

Leon froze, not even daring to look there, but he did nonetheless. Two figures lie motionless on the floor, their bodies battered and eyes open and staring at him. Two sets of pale blue eyes that bore into him, but they didn’t say anything, they didn’t move, they were dead. The dark red trails of dried blood crusting their bodies and ruining their beauty.

Leon stared back at them, “No it can’t be...No, how could you?” He whispered to himself. His father brought his fist back up for another strike, but Leon didn’t even notice. “Pyra...Carys...You monster....” The fist came crashing down and Leon pounded the ground and howled out, “NO!” And the reality of everything broke.

An unheard voice said from the darkness, “So that’s what makes you tick...Noted”

“NO!” Leon said as he shot up from where he was laying, wet towels and a blanket flew off of him. He was panting, lying half naked and covered in sweat. His usual garments lie strewn about the living room, Someone must’ve acted in a haste to unclothe me, Leon thought as his erratic breathing returned to normal. It was just a nightmare, I’m still in Equestria. Leon felt a small tinge of pain from that thought, it reminded him time and time again that it was going to be a long time if he wanted to see his family again. He looked outside and it was well past afternoon, the moonlight was now overcoming the sun’s bright rays. A beam of moonlight was shining upon his makeshift bed from a ceiling window. Leon got up and stretched his aching limbs, the whole house was silent, save for the restless breeze threatening to fill the house with its warm air.

Leon felt something empty in his mind, he guessed that it was Yang, since her usual quirky jokes weren't there to liven the mood. He looked towards the kitchen and saw fried fish stir fried with a variety of vegetables, it was even a big enough serving for a human. He didn’t even want to think about the cost of the ingredients to make a size that big, it was at least twice as big than a pony would need to eat. He smiled at her kindness and was sure that he would pay her back in some way. He ate the cold food in a hungry haste so he could find out where his little buddy is.

Leon crept through the halls of his new friend’s small abode, pictures of a shy, yellow filly were placed here and there and there was even more recent ones. But one caught Leon’s eye, it showed Fluttershy with a group of friends, two of which were the ones who attacked him. Leon felt something dry up in his mouth and he knew that he had to apologize for that afternoon, he didn’t want her own friends to resent her. He turned away from the picture and came upon a door, light snoring was coming from inside.

He pushed it gently so he wouldn’t disturb the sleeper, or as he found, sleepers. Yang was a dim yellow ball curled upon Fluttershy’s pink mane. Not wanting to disturb the mare, he silently rolled Yang into his cupped hand and shined an opening for light to pour through. She groaned a complaint but he still carried the glowing yellow ball back through the halls and back to his spot on the floor, sitting cross-legged he unraveled his hands and shook her. She floated up and stretched, he guessed old habits die hard. She blinked a few times as if to shake the bleariness away, she finally took notice that Leon was awake and well. She flew up to his head and latched herself on, giving him a hug. “Leon, you’re okay!” She let go and floated back down to his hand. Leon smiled as she really cared for him, despite only knowing him for less than two days. He placed a finger on her mouth to silence her.

“Yang,” He said in a whisper. “You should keep your voice down, Flutters’ still asleep.” Yang nodded and he moved his finger for her to speak again. Leon started putting on his clothing as she started.

She spoke again, but not using her voice, Fluttershy and I were worried after you slept and we finished making your food, but you weren’t waking up and were writhing in your sleep. All we could do was clean you off when you sweated too much and be there. After a while, you stopped convulsing and Fluttershy relaxed. I’ve set up sensors to make sure I awoke when you had another nightmare, so I went to sleep with Fluttershy.

Leon had dressed himself, but left his warm jacket and scarf, only taking the yellow shirt with a burning heart on it. Yang blinked away and went back into his mind. She watched him go out the door and followed the faint sound of rushing water. As he walked she sent an mental inquiry, but he simply sent a wave of reassurance. He walked for eight minutes when they came upon a clearing, a small lake with a waterfall was to his right and specks of red glistened in the moonlight to the left. Yang’s question was partially answered, as they found where Leon had fallen, the specks of red was either his or the manticore’s, or even both. Leon stepped towards the lake, cupping his hands and splashing his face, its water cooled by the moon’s cold embrace, though the summer breeze still lingered.

Yang, to answer your question, we are going to train after I get out. He had said mentally. If I am going to survive in this fantasy world, I need to work on my fantasy weapons. You have proven before that you can change my body to help and I am now wondering if you can do anything more. He dried his face with the bottom of his shirt and found Yang floating in front of him.

“Ok big guy, then what do you propose I do first? See if I can shoot lasers out of my eyes or lift a mountain?” She said with sarcasm, Leon pretended not to notice it.

“No, I remember a story that you now sorta fit. I want you to wrap yourself around…” He paused as he looked around for anything. A torn branch lied on the ground, possibly from the fight, and he picked it up. “Try wrapping your form around this.”

Yang gave him a flat stare and eventually sighed. “Sure, worth a shot. All I have to do is focus on wrapping myself around this branch?” She asked to make sure that she doesn’t somehow screw this up. Leon nodded and Yang was no longer a miniature humanoid, but a bright yellow ball, completely round and featureless. Leon stared in awe as she floated into the branch and was absorbed by it, the branch now glowed yellow in his hands. Yang said nothing, or couldn’t say anything as he swung the branch in the air, it was lighter, now he needed to test if it was stronger. Leon wound his arm back and struck the bark of a tree, he felt as if he had swung something metal and the vibrations of it was sent through him and had dropped the branch, Yang pulled herself off the branch as it fell and watched Leon gripping his hand. His hand and arm felt very tingly from the blow and it soon wore off. “So did this work as how you intended it to be, Leon?” She asked inquisitively. He stared at the large indent left by the branch.

“That was good, you can upgrade a weapon, and that is good.” He repeated himself, still shaking off the vibrations. “The next thing I want to try out is something similar, I want you to become a weapon or ammunition.”

Yang regarded him with another flat stare, “What, badass gauntlets that shoot out bullets and increase your strength not good enough for you?” She said with the same amount of sarcasm as before, Leon pretended to not notice it again.

“Yes these are good, but I was thinking of what would happen if I ran out of ammo.” Said as he flicked one gauntlet out and shot out the shells, almost all of them were still interlinking. “All I would be left with is punches and kicks, I didn’t feel anything in my pockets and I am sure that no crate full of bullets came along with us. Now then, can you try to duplicate these shells using yourself?” He held out the belt of bullets to Yang, she actually seemed interested.

“Sure, I am wondering where my limits lie.” She said before she wrapped herself around the ammo, making them float, and it glowed bright then the real belt fell and all that was left was a bright yellow version of it. Leon took the belt off the ground and slung it over a shoulder, he then took the one from the air and fitted them into their chambers. He flicked it shut and searched for something to aim at. He looked back down at the branch and thought of something.

“Yang, could you— Nevermind.” He stopped himself before he finished as he wondered if Yang could actually form two separate bodies. This will be something to try next time. He said mentally.

Instead, he picked the stick up and launched it through the air. He aimed carefully and shot out one of the energy shells, it came out with sparks flying around it, the projectile itself looked as what he imagined it to be: a bright, flare-like energy bullet. The projectile of energy kept rising and rising at its slanted slope, because it missed its target. The stick fell in the woods as the bullet soared past it, it looked as if it was about to hit a non-moving, irregular cloud shape. It impacted against the cloud and exploded, scattering a big chunk of it. Someone was heard, yelling at the top of their lungs.

“WHAT THE BUCK!” It sounded familiar to Leon, he didn’t know that many ponies in this town, and three of them he met shortly. A bright rainbow pitted against the starlit sky gave him a shocking realization.

“Yang, we gotta go.” He said nervously and ran in a indistinct direction, making Ember Celica return back to default state. He knew that he could take her on if he needed to, but he wasn’t going to hurt one his friend’s best friend on purpose. He looked back at the clearing and saw the same rainbow trail charging to that location. He picked up his sprint and was alerted by Yang to duck, but he was too thinking of ways to apologize that didn’t end with him getting attacked again to notice. A dark shadow tackled him from the trees and he fell in a bush with this thing on top of him. He was about to shout out apologies, but it placed a hoof on his mouth and spoke with a feminine accent.

“Shush, I am not your enemy. The rainbow one is.” She reached over and pulled a mottled green and black cloak over them.

A whooshing sound was heard overhead and the trees swayed with the motion. They stilled themselves and the two emerged from their hiding spot. They sat underneath the moonlight and Leon finally could make out her features. It was a mare with a dark grey coat, shadow dark mane with silver streaks, a matching tail and a half lidded eye for a cutie mark. But what took his attention was two distinct features, she had maroon slitted eyes and leathery dark grey wings with dark red webbing. Leon stared intensely at the mare, she coughed to get his focus back.

“My name is Hazy Glare,” Introducing herself. “And from the staring you are giving me, I can deduce that you are either into me, or you have never seen a bat pony before.” She gave him a smile, revealing her fangs.

Leon stared at them for moment, mesmerized by her eyes and quickly remembered his manners. He got up, dusted off anything that would be on him and took a small bow, “My name is Leonardo Belmont, but seeing as you are no enemy, call me Leon.” He said, introducing himself as well and extending an arm down to the mare. She took it with a hoof but turned it over, getting a better look at his fingers, she released it soon after.

“I can tell you now that there are no towns that way. Here, let me guide you. I know these woods like the back of my eyes.” She says as she nudges Leon. Yang fizzled out of Ember Celica and appeared before the two.

“Ooh a bat pony!” Yang said with excitement. “I call dibs on riding her.” She floated over to Hazy and sat upon her mane. Hazy either didn’t notice at all or was fine with it as they walked back to the clearing. Leon saw where they made their mistake, they entered the clearing with the lake to their right. Now, however, they approached the lake from the center.

Hazy took this time to speak with Leon as they went back to Fluttershy’s abode. “Well I see Leon, that you are an interesting fellow.” She looked back upon Yang sitting on top of her. “Along with interesting friends.” They reached her house and Leon looked shocked, he turned to Hazy but saw that she was already leaving. Yang warped back into Leon’s mind, tired from the night. He was about to call out to Hazy when she interrupted, “Next time we meet, Leon, call me Haze. All my friends do.” And she disappeared into the shadows of the trees, a faint silver trail was all that was seen.

Leon entered the house without making any noise and crept back into his small couch, covering himself with his old blankets. Multiple thoughts swarmed his mind, how to fix things with the rainbow one, how many different kinds of species actually lived in this country, why was he here and what did he have to do to get back home. He didn’t know the answers to these questions, but he did know this. Hazy Glare...Haze is connected to me, I feel it. But how is she? He eventually let sleep take over, a dream full of old memories and a pair of eyes staring at him.

A New Shade of Yellow

by Blaze

From the Dust

The First Footholds

Nightmares