It was another night for Equestria. Moon and stars were shining, and everypony and creature in Ponyville were asleep...At least most of them.
Breaking glass SFX
Vlad opened his eyes. For some reason, he wasn't able to sleep.
He groaned and sat in his bed "Good grief..." Vlad approached window and opened the curtains "Man...What time is it?"
Suddenly, his Panel activated itself and showed him the time. It was 3 AM.
Vlad clipped his eyes "Oh uh...Thanks" he then turned into Ferum and slowly opened his door "Whelp, guess a little walk won't hurt"
He walked out of his room and locked the door. Vlad looked at the painting. Something was odd...
Ferum turned to the left and started walking. Even though it was dark, he could see everething good enough. Ferum was walking slow to avoid making any sounds. After walking for five minutes, he entered library and quietly closed door behind him.
Ferum turned around and sat at the table, leaning his face on fist "You can come out already"
Firstly, there was no reaction to his words. Then, one of the shadows moved and jumped at dragon, entering his head.
Vlad sighed and closed his eyes, falling into the darkness.
...
When Vlad opened his eyes, he noticed that he was still falling.
Voice from nowhere laughed menacingly "FINALLY, I WILL BE ABLE TO GET MY RE-..Wait, what ARE you?"
Vlad groaned "That was rude, you know?"
Voice stopped for a moment and continued "Doesnt matter! Do you know who am I?"
Vlad shrugged "Nope, care to tell me?" he then put arm to his chin "Actually, I will think about a nickname...What about Bob?"
Voice shouted "I'M EMBODYMENT OF DARKNESS ITSELF! I'M SOMBRA, EMPEROR OF-"
Vlad didn't listen "Actually, what about Lazarus hm?"
For a second, there was silence, then, voice answered "I suppose I will have to show you WHAT am I" black tentacles started to approach Vlad "You are trapped in your head with me, I have FULL CONTROL of you and your body!" he laughed "SUCCUMB TO M-"
Vlad suddenly put his fingers in snap position "Whelp, I guess games are over then"
Voice chuckled "What are you going t-"
Vlad snapped his fingers and bright light filled this realm. It consumed darkness and was growing non stop.
Sombra shouted "No, IMPOSSIBLE! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! WHAT IS THIS?!" the light was so strong that you could barely see his body.
Vlad answered with different voice"This is...Requiem"
Sombra screamed before he got absorbed with light. Few seconds later, Vlad landed near to the red couch.
He looked around and spotted dark unicorn "Ah ha, there you are!"
He approached Sombra. Unicorn was so weak, he couldn't move his hooves.
He moved his eyes on human "How...How did you...do that?.."
Vlad squatted down "Let me remind you, you are in MY head! That means you've trapped yourself with me"
Sombra groaned "But...The fear...You had to-"
Vlad snorted "Aw come on! You thought you could scare ME by putting myself into darkness?" he then added "Though tentacles part wasn't so bad"
Sombra's head fell down "Just what...are you..?"
Vlad rolled his eyes "Good grief, didn't I tell you that was rude?" but he answered the question "My name is Vlad, and I'm human"
Sombra smirked "Very well then" his body started to dissapear "I will take my revenge on you as w-"
Vlad groaned "Blah blah blah! I got it already!" he stood up "Just leave my body!"
Few hours later...
It was 7 o'clock. Twilight was walking through halls into the library. She was always the one to wake up first, and the first to check library every morning. Twilight yawned and opened the door. Everething was on their place: Shelves, books, table and chairs and Ferum (who was reading a book with glasses on his face).
Twilight yawned "Good morning"
Ferum waved with his arm weakly "Mornin' "
Twilight turned around to leave the room when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She rubbed her eyes and turned around, looking at Ferum.
Twilight raised her eyebrow "What are you doing here at this time?"
Ferum closed the book and took off glasses, showing his tired face "I had some problems with sleeping, so I decided to read some books, why?" he looked at unicorn with blank face.
Twilight blinked few times "Just...Since what time did you..."
Ferum sighed "Since 3 AM. And no, it's not normal" he put arm to his head "Man...I sure need a shot of S44-UL1..."
Twilight gasped "Since 3 AM?! We gotta show you to-..A shot of what again?"
Ferum mumbled "Stimulant that fills body with energy" he stood up "Black tea could do the work too though"
Twilight tilted her head "How can black tea be compared to something you have described?"
Ferum pointed finger at his head "Caffeine hits me really hard...I just don't like the taste of coffee"
Twilight sighed "My my...You are full of surprises ar-" she then noticed the book he was reading "Uhm...Ferum?"
Dragon took the book and wanted to put it on it's place "Yep?"
Twilight pointed her hoof at the book "Why are you reading about threats that affected Equestria?"
Ferum put the book on it's place "Well you see? It seems that I'm attracting troubles"
Twilight didn't understand "What do you mean?"
Ferum sighed "Two years ago, I encountered...What was her name again..." he put fist to his elbow "Chrono...Chris...Ah ha! Chrysalis!" he snapped his fingers.
Twilight' jaw was down "Y-. Ho-..."
Ferum then raised his left arm "She left me quite a gift!" he then put it to his face "But if it will continue happening, I mean bad guys appearing near to me, I will have to..." he suddenly started to talk quieter "To..."
Twilight looked around confused "Uh...Ferum?" she looked back at him and put hoof on her mouth trying not to giggle.
Ferum fell asleep! He was literally sleeping while standing. His arm was still on his face.
Twilight approached him "Uh...Ferum?" she waved her hoof in front of him.
Ferum opened his eyes and continued talking "...enter combat mode" he yawned "I mean...This guy called Sombra was in my head, so I gave him small beat down and-"
Twilight backed off "Wait wait WAIT!" she shook her head "Did you say that S O M B R A was in your head?!"
Ferum tilted his head "Well...Yeah, why?"
Twilight's eye twitched "And you gave him...A 'Beatdown' ?"
Ferum shrugged "He though he could defeat me from inside" he then smirked "But he just underestimated me"
Twilight's jaw was down "Y- WHAT?! SOMBRA IS BACK?!" she started trotting around the room "No no no...This is bad...He is attacking my own students. What if this is not the first time! Who will get attacked next? I gotta tell girls an-"
Ferum coughed in his fist "Ahem! I think that I'm his target right now"
Twilight looked at dragon confused "Wha?"
Ferum explained "It's obvious, he wants to take me down because I'm the first one to 'parry' his attack that easily"
Twilight nodded "Right...He thinks of you as a threat..." she then gasped "But wait! That means you are in danger! Who knows what he is going to do next...Maybe he will use his full power to take control over you and..." she looked at Ferum and sighed, he fell asleep again.
Meanwhile...
Lyra and BonBon were sitting in the kitchen.
BonBon drank her coffee and sighed "Man, that dragon yesterday..."
Lyra finished her food and looked at her friend "What do you mean?"
BonBon explained "Yesterday there was a dragon that wanted to give you something. I started asking some questions and that made him go away" she snorted "Softie!"
Lyra tilted her head "Something...For me?"
BonBon nodded "Yeah, I've put it in your cupboard" she collected dishes and put them in the sink.
Lyra shrugged "Well, guess I will look at it!" she trotted upstairs and then in her bedroom.
Lyra opened cupboard with her magic and froze in place...
BonBon finished washing dishes and looked at the stairs 'Hm...Lyra is supposed to meet with Twilight today, right?' she trotted upstairs and knocked on the door "Lyra! You don't want to be late, do you?" after she didn't hear anything in answer, BonBon groaned and entered the room.
Lyra was holding case with magic, her eyes were widened "BonBon...How did this dragon look like?"
BonBon put hoof to her chin "Well, he doesn't look exactly like dragon...He was light blue, fluffy and wore clothes" she then looked at the case "What is this anyway?"
Lyra suddenly dashed towards her closet "I GOTTA FIND HIM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!" she pulled out her saddlebags and put them on.
BonBon groaned and stomped her hoof "Lyra Heartstrings! Explain everething to me!"
Lyra stopped for a moment and sighed "Bonnie, remember what happened 2 years ago?"
BonBon rolled her eyes "We've being through a lot of troubles, can you clarify?"
Lyra nodded "Do you remember..." she looked down "Do you remember Vlad?"
BonBon's eyes widened a bit and she sighed "Lyra, I already told you that this is not your fault...But you have to let it g-"
Lyra interrupted her "You don't get it!" she levitated case to BonBon's face "This is case where he kept his glasses!"
BonBon clipped her eyes few times "And...What does it mean?"
Lyra sighed "It means that he wants to tell me that he is alive!" she then put case in her saddlebag "I have to meet this dragon, maybe he knows where is Vlad!"
BonBon sighed "Lyra..." she looked at her friend "We talked about this a lot"
Lyra stopped in front of the doorway.
BonBon continued "If Vlad was alive, he wouldn't need to be that sneaky" she added "I mean...Sending somepony just to give you this case? Pft!"
Lyra turned her head around and smirked "This is EXACTLY what he would do!" she ran down stairs and shouted "I will be back when dinner is ready!!"
BonBon heard door slam and sighed "And this dragon had to show up JUST after Lyra finally forgot about this incident..."
Meanwhile...
Ocellus Silverstream and Yona were sitting in the canteen.
Yona rolled her eyes "This is exactly why Yona never plays table games"
Silverstream argued "But they are so much fun! Just because you can go nuts doesn't mean you can't play them!" she then gasped "Wait, did you even try to play any?"
Yona shook her head "Nope, never"
Silverstream gasped and moved closer to Yona, explaining something.
Ocellus was sitting at the table with cup of tea and confused face "How did we end up talking about board games..."
She sighed and closed her eyes 'Smolder, Gallus and Sandbar are walking in the town...I wonder what is Ferum up to'
"Ocellus"
'Maybe he needs some help socializing. After all, he is not like anybody else here' she smiled 'I hope I will be able to help him. He is kinda interesting person'
"Ocellus look!"
Changeling giggled for herself 'I'd even call him cute. Polite, fluffy and cute dragon'
Silverstream inhaled some air "Ocellus, look at Ferum!"
Changeling got confused "Eeeep!" she looked at the Silverstream "W-what is wrong?"
Silverstream pointed at Ferum. He didn't look so good. Dragon was walking slowly (and menacingly) towards food stand, you could even see those m e n a c i n g parts levitating around him. There was one word to describe his face: Tiredness. Oh yeah, he was also covered in his hardened scales.
Pinkie Pie looked at him and waved her hoof at EXTREME speed "Oh hiya Ferum! What can I do for ya?"
Ferum pulled his finger out "Just give me a black tea..." his voice was weak "No wait, give me extra strong tea with three spoons of shugar and-" he closed his eyes for a few seconds "...piece of bread with chocolate pasta on it" he pulled arm down "Thanks"
Pinkie Pie nodded and smiled "Okie-Dokie-Lokey!" she bounced inside of the kitchen.
Every single person was looking towards Ferum. Some of them didn't know who he was, some found his behavior strange.
Yona shivered a bit "Creepy..."
Silverstream snorted "Aw come on Yona! You can just buck him outta here if something happens!"
Ocellus gasped "Dont say so! It's not like he is bad...Right?"
Silverstream giggled "I was acting!" she then changed her face to serious one "Or was I?"
Yona rolled her eyes "Oh, come on! It's not like Yona will hurt her friends" she smirked "She will help them instead!"
Meanwhile, Ferum grabbed his order and sat at the nearby table. He put tray with food on table and yawned.
Ferum smiled "Ah yes, nothing can be better than cup of tea in the morning..." he took the cup and made a sip.
TF2 healing SFX
Meanwhile...
Yona finished her sentence "...and that's why knocking him out would help him!"
Silverstream put claws to his beak "But wouldn't that be mean?"
Yona snorted "Hmpf! We are doing it for his own good!"
Ocellus sweated a bit "Uhm...Shouldn't we at least ask him?"
Silverstream nodded "Yep! Give me a second" she jumped off the chair and walked towards Ferum.
Dragon was enjoying his bread with chocolate "Man, not bad! How are they making this choco?"
Silverstream shrugged behind him "I dunno, maybe they are usi-" she gasped "How are you ok already?"
Dragon was fluffy again and looked a lot better.
Ferum smirked "Magic of caffeine" he then turned around "Did ya need anything?"
Silverstream waved her claw "Oh, since you are fine it doesn't matter!"
Ferum shrugged "Alrighty then..." he looked around "But where are your other pals?"
Silverstream put claw to her beak "I dunno, Gallus and Sandbar ate really fast and left. Smolder didn't even bother coming"
Ferum put cup and small plate back on tray "Whelp, guess we don't have to worry 'bout them!" he picked tray up.
Silverstream nodded "Yep!" she then tilted her head "But why did you look so tired?"
Ferum waved his hand "Eh, doesn't matter" he approached stand with food and left his tray nearby.
Ocellus approached Silverstream "So...Is he alright?"
Silverstream nodded "Yep, that means our plan won't come in handy"
Ocellus sighed with relief "That's a good thing to know..."
Meanwhile...
Lyra was galloping around Ponyville, asking locals about 'Fluffy dragon with clothes'. Everypony looked confused and didn't know what she meant. Sooner, Lyra trotted inside the School of Friendship to meet Headmare.
Twilight was in her library when Lyra came in "Oh hello there Lyra!" she flew down on the floor from ladder "Is something wrong?"
Lyra sighed "Yeah yeah...Sooner or later it wont be" she then looked at Twilight "So, why did ya want to see me?"
Twilight put hoof behind her head "Uh...I wanted you to look after the library"
Lyra tilted her head "You are going away?" she smirked "Let me guess, it's your 'friendship' call?"
Twilight shook her head "No, I wanted to meet Ember to discuss something about dragons"
Lyra shrugged "Alrighty then!" she then asked "But can't Starlight or somepony else do that? Not like I don't want to look through the library..."
Twilight smiled shyly "Well, Starlight asked for a day off, and others got stuff to do so...Yeah"
Lyra put her saddlebags on the table "You can rely on me!" she looked around "Hm...I wonder where can I find the Spell book..."
Twilight collected some papers and put them inside one of her bags "Hm? Why do you need it?"
Lyra gasped "Twilight, you won't belive wh-" she then froze in place.
'Wait, if Vlad wanted to let her know she would already tell me...That means he wants to stay anonymous for now..."
Twilight tilted her head "Belive what exactly?"
Lyra sweated a bit "Uh...Belive that...I met...An old friend!" she smiled and made a 'squee' sound.
Twilight raised her eyebrow "That's a good thing, but why did you need a spell book?"
Lyra averted her eyes "Uh...We wanted to...Uh...Exchange magic experience!" she smiled nervously.
Twilight put hoof to her chin "Wasn't your friend a dragon by any chance? He is also wearing clothes"
Lyra thought for a second "Uh...Yes?" she seemed unconfident.
Twilight's jaw dropped "Dear Celestia!" she collected some more items in bags "Lyra, I will be back in a hour! That's just amazing!" she dashed out of library "Dragon that posseses magic!Unbelivable!"
Lyra blinked her eyes few times "Huh..?" she then snapped out and ran after Twilight "WAIT! You know him?!"
Meanwhile...
Vlad walked inside the park and sat on random bench. He stretched his body and yawned (accidentally making a 'meow' noice).
Vlad put hand to his chin "Alright...So turns out Sombra got trapped in my head, Lyra will eventually find me and Twilight will meet some kind of a Dragon Lord..." he sighed "Just great!"
Vlad felt like he was being sucked inside of his mind "Aw man, not again!" he facepalmed and fell asleep.
Now Vlad was back into his dream realm. He looked around and spotted Sombra.
Vald said with annoyed tone "It's the 5th TIME ALREADY!"
Sombra had a smug face "My my, so angry already?" he then started levitating "This time...I wil-"
Vlad appeared in front of him. His face was darkened.
Sombra smirked and his eyes glowed with dark purple with green "Way too predictable!"
Dark tentacles appeared out of nowhere and launched at human while they were in mid air.
Instant transmission SFX
Sombra gasped and turned his head around with widened eyes...Vlad was levitating behind, caught in white aura. Human's eye blinked with red and he sent sombra flying, by kicking him up with leg. He then levitated higher on an incredible speed and chased unicorn.
Before Sombra could do anything, Vlad appeared above him and spinned with his leg out. Human hit unicorn once again and made him fall down on even higher speed. Sombra hit the floor, making a lot of cracks on it. When he opened his eyes, he saw human's upside down face above him.
Vlad smiled "Thank you for letting me practice"
Sombra groaned "You win...Once again..." he hit floor with his back and moaned.
Vlad smirked "So you give up on defeating me this way?" he summoned pack of crackers with ketchup flavor.
Sombra snorted "Don't get to cocky, you are still vulnerable in real world!"
Vlad threw one of the crackers inside his mouth "That's why I locked you in my head" he sat on the red sofa.
Sombra smirked "Oh, did you?!" he turned into shadow mist...And then turned back, confused "What...NO!" he was trying and trying again untill he fell, exhausted.
Vlad finished with his snack "Whelp, guess you finally got it eh?"
Sombra looked at human with fury "How do I get out?!"
Vlad threw plastic bag out and it dissapeared "Two ways. First: Defeat me in this realm" he then snorted "Not like you had any progress though..."
Sombra groaned "And what is the second one?!"
Vlad rolled his eyes "I'm sure you won't like it but...Just stop being evil"
Sombra suddenly stood up and approached human "I'm NOT evil! I'm taking my REVENGE!" he stomped his hoof loudly.
Vlad looked at him "That's EXACTLY what an evil guy would say" he then put hand on the sofa "Well, I could hear you out, you know? Here, take a seat"
Sombra blinked few times and snorted "Hmpf! YOU, listen to ME?!" He laughed loudly "Don't make it look awkward! I don't need a therapist!" he then frowned "You wouldn't understand me anyway..."
Vlad shrugged "That's exactly what sick person would say back in my world" he than noticed that his hand started to dissapear "Oh great, now someone is waking me up" he looked at Sombra "I suggest you to think twice before rejecting my offer, I want to stay as a badass pacifist in this run" he snapped his fingers and dossapeared.
Sombra looked down "Just...Talk about it..?" he then made confused face "Just what did this fool mean by 'badass pacifist'?!"
Back to the Equestria...
Ferum opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He noticed Gallus and Sandbar behind him.
Ferum clipped his eyes few times "Can I help you?"
Gallus was holding orange ball in his claws "Yeah, we are looking for extra player in our team for dodgeball!"
Sandbar put hoof to back of his head "Yeah...Turns out Spike ate too much gems and...Well..."
Ferum thought for a second "Hm...You know what? Let's do this!" he stood up and looked around "Where is the field though?"
Gallus did a lap and shouted "Oh yeah!" he then added "Oh well...The whole city is a field so-"
Voice from ahead shouted "FOUND YOU!"
Ferum looked up and saw Smolder and...another griffin. They were holding same orange balls.
Smolder raised her hand "ARTILLERY STRIKE!" both of them threw balls towards Gallus and Sandbar.
Stallion shouted "TAKE COVER!" They ran behind Ferum.
Dragon looked at approaching at high speed projectiles "Seriously?" he sighed and raised both of his arms.
Meanwhile...
Gilda and Smolder launched their balls towards trio and laughed.
Dragon looked at griffin "I can't belive they want to team up with softie!"
Gilda raised her eyebrow "Eh? Another stud in school?" she looked at light blue fluffy dragon "What can he even do to protect them!"
They then noticed that dragon raised both of his arms.
Smolder snorted "Pft! It takes A LOT to stop our Artillery Strike! He doesn't stand a chance!"
Back to the trio...
Balls were approaching at incredible speed. Ferum raised his arms and put palms towards projectiles.
Gallus gasped "DUDE RUN!!"
Sandbar shouted "NOOOO"
When balls hit dragon's palms, scales appeared and stopped projectiles instantly. Strong air pressure appeared around his hands. Gallus and Sandbar stood behind with jaws dropped.
Ferum threw one of the balls towards Sandbar "Don't just stand there, we gotta regroup and win this..." he then added "And you gotta tell me what are the rules"
Sandbar managed to catch ball with hoof "Uh eh...Right!"
Gallus shook his head "Uh, alright, I know the spot!"
Meanwhile...
Gilda and Smolder watched their foes running away with dropped jaws. They looked at each other.
Gilda was pointing her claws in different directions "HE- WH- HOW?!" she then put claws on Smolder's shoulders "Why didn't you tell me that he is invincible?!"
Smolder put hands on her head "HOW DID HE SURVIVE DOUBLE CANNON?!" she then pushed away Gilda "Calm down! We gotta think about a plan...If we won't take him down, he will...Take us down?" she said it with unsure voice "I mean...He is not a jerk, as far as I know but-"
Gilda groaned "I GET IT!" she then put claw to his chin "And I think I got an idea..."
Back to Vlad...
Gallus, Sandbar, Ferum and Spike were hiding under the houses, making everypony look at them confused.
Ferum sighed and waved his arms a bit "Damn...Those throws were strong. So, what are we going to do next?" he then looked at Spike "And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to like...Rest or something, Spike"
Spike answered "Well you see, I lied about my-" he stopped talking "Wait, we didn't meet bef-"
Gallus gasped "You LIED?!"
Sandbar put his hoof on griffin's shoulder "Dude, calm down, it's fine"
Ferum though averted his eyes 'Damn...I gotta be a bit more careful...' he then looked at Sandbar "So, what are the rules?"
Sandbar shrugged "Well, we are playing simple dodgeball..." he then smirked "EXCEPT the fact that entire Ponyvile is the territory of game" he then added "Oh, also sooner we will start hunting Smolder and Gilda down" he then added "The only restriction is for Spike and Smolder. They can't use fire. Other methods are welcomed though"
Ferum nodded "Uh huh! So it's like changing roles!" he then asked "So what do you have to do to win?"
Sandbar put hoof behind his head "Well...You gotta hit the head...Like, let the ball touch it"
Ferum snapped his fingers "Alright, gonna be easy then! Here is the p-"
Gallus sat down frustrated "I can't belive it! Spike, you jerk!"
Spike rolled his eyes "Well, EXCUSE ME! I didn't want my face to be turned into a hole!"
Ferum coughed "AHEM!"
Spike and Gallus continued arguing anyway.
Ferum facepalmed "You know what? It's going to be harder than I thought..."
Sandbar sighed "True..."
Meanwhile...
Twilight, Ember and Lyra were walking through Ponyville to Castle.
Twilight put papers in her saddlebags "So...You want me to shorten information?"
Ember nodded "Yes, you gotta know that I hate all those scientific words"
Twilight put hoof to her chin "Huh...This is going to take so-"
Lyra interrupted her "Basically there is a dragon that lacks some of dragon's abilities, wears clothes and can become fluffy"
Ember looked at her confused and chuckled "Hmpf! What a joke! I can understand lacking abilities and even wearing clothes. But dragons just CAN'T become fluffy!" she then added "Besides, who are you?"
Lyra put hoof to her chest "I'm Lyra Heartstrings! And everething I said is true!"
Twilight nodded "This is indeed true. Ferum didn't know that he could change his scales as well. He also lacks abilities to fly, breath fire and eat gems...Though his scales are WAY harder than they should be. I suppose his magic resistance is on absolutely another level as well" she then added "And he is acting WAY too peacefull for dragons"
Ember put claws to her chin "Huh...If you say so..." she then smirked "I guess I will visit him. Besides, I'm sure he will appreciate that Dragon Lord herself is interested in his case!"
Twilight put hoof behind her head "Yeah...About that..." she exhaled "He told me that he didn't know there was a Dragon Lord"
Ember's eyes widened "He WHAT?!" she cracked her knuckles "Then I gotta show him that there IS one!"
Lyra put hoof to her chin "Huh...That means he lives far away..." she then gasped "I gotta talk to him before Ember annihilates him!"
Suddenly, orange ball flew towards Ember. Dragon got hit in her back and turned around, noticing Smolder and Gilda.
Ember shouted furiously "WHAT THE GEM IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
Smolder smiled nervously "Sorry Ember, I thought it was Ferum..."
Ember's eye twitched "HOW?!"
Twilight put hoof to her chin "Huh...Now that I think about it, he kinda looks like you..."
Ember looked at Twilight with widened eyes "Huh...I see..." she cracked her knuckles (again) "OI, SMOLDER! WHAT KIND OF A GAME WERE YOU PLAYING WITH THIS 'FERUM'?"
She walked towards Smolder and Gilda menacingly. They then flew into the sky.
Lyra followed them with eyes "Uh...Twilight? Should we do something?"
Twilight nodded "Of course we should! I can't let one of my students get hurt!"
They galloped towards Castle...
Back to the BoyZ team...
Ferum stood in the middle of a small field. Trees were literally 10 meters away from him. Sooner, Sandbar, Gallus and Spike approached Ferum.
Sandbar pointed his hoof into the nearby trees "Alright, traps are set! Now we need projectiles!"
Ferum nodded and looked at griffin "Did you collect as many balls as you could?"
Gallus saluted "Yes sir! I collected around..." he started counting "Uh...A lot!"
Ferum nodded and looked at Spike "Alright, Spike, put ball in each part of the trap. Make sure that path is clear to run around" he then looked at griffin "Gallus, patrol surroundings and alert us if you see something" he then finally moved his face to Sandbar "Sandbar, make sure that trap's parts are ready, we don't want this plan to fail"
Spike and Gallus saluted to Ferum "Aye aye!" Spike ran into the 'woods' and Gallus flew up.
Sandbar turned around and looked back at Ferum "And what are YOU gonna do?"
Ferum picked up rope's left overs"I'm going to upgrade trap a little bit!"
10 minutes later...
Ember was in team with Smolder and Gilda. Their main foe was Ferum. They were flying around, when Smolder noticed Gallus flying down.
She pointed her claws at trees "Ember, Gilda! They must be hiding under the trees!"
Ember bumped fist into her palm "How USELESS! Let's show them Tartarus!"
Gilda threw orange ball up and caught it with her claw "As you wish, Princess!"
They flew after Gallus. Sooner, they noticed small field in the forest...With Ferum in the middle of it. They started gliding around him.
Ember wanted to throw her ball, when Smolder stopped her "It's no use! This guy was able to stop my and Gilda's attack. We gotta take care of him in close combat!"
Gilda nodded "Besides, taking him out is our first priority! I don't want to lose to this team of losers!"
Ember groaned "Ugh! Fine!"
They landed on different sides to surround Ferum. He was just standing in the middle of the field, hiding his palms in sleeves.
Ember thought for herself 'Huh...So it was true. He is indeed strange dragon..Wait, is he fluffy for real?!'
Ferum snorted "Took you kinda long..." his eyes were closed.
Gilda smirked "You are going down!"
Smolder added "Any last words?"
Ferum started to look...Menacing "You have played right into our...Uh..." his 'menacing' effect faded away as he tried to come up with the word "Claws, hooves and arms?" he put arm to his chin "Clooms?"
Gilda groaned "Doesn't matter! ATTACK!"
Smolder and Gilad ran towards Ferum with balls ahead. Ember smirked and thought for herself 'He just gave up...Heh!'
Suddenly, strange noice could be heard from the woods. The next moment, big amount of ropes appeared from under the grass, covering Ferum from attackers. Ropes were attached to tree trunks and branches, so it wouldn't be possible for Gilda and Smolder to fly away.
Ferum revealed his palms, some ropes were attached to his claws "You forgot one thing...It's OUR time to hunt!" he inhaled some air "Take this! 10 meter radius, Ruby Ball Barrage!" Ferum pulled his arms towards his chest.
Some crunching noices were heard from tree's and balls started to launch from random sides rapidly. Smolder and Gilda tried to move, but ropes slowed their movement.
Gilda covered her head "OH YOU EGGHEADS!"
Smolder used her claws to break out "Hah! Is that all what you g-" she felt something touching her head from above.
When Smolder looked up, she noticed that Gallus was flying above her with ball in his claw and smug smile.
Griffin chuckled "Got 'cha!"
Smolder facepalmed "For real?!"
Meanwhile, due to his size, Spike was able to go through ropes easily "Watch out!" he leaped towards Gilda's confused face and touched it with his ball "You're out!"
Gilda smacked her head into the ground and groaned...
Ember on the other hand, simply deflected projectiles with her wings and tail "Hmpf! And THAT'S all you got? Impr-"
Suddenly, Sandbar threw up the ball behind Ember and bucked it, sending projectile towards Ember's head "Don't let your guard down!"
She simply turned around and caught ball with her palm, creating air pressure "Hmpf! I didn't!"
Meanwhile...
Twilight and Lyra were running through the park. They casted a tracking spell, that allowed them to know where was Ferum.
Lyra looked towards park's part with trees "Twilight, I think he is here!"
Twilight looked towards trees "Right, spell tells that he is here along with somepony else!"
They turned tight and galloped through trees. Sooner, they heard wings flapping and looked up, noticing Ember, Gilda and Smolder.
Twilight looked forward "Huh? Is that...Ferum?"
Lyra looked forward as well. She noticed that there was a field 20 or 30 meters forward with Ferum in the middle of it.
Lyra gasped "Oh hey! He is f-"
Twilight stopped Lyra with her hoof "Lyra wait!" They stopped 15 meters away from the field "Look at those ropes..."
Area around field was covered with balls and ropes. They also noticed that there was a quick made path around it to provide faster movement.
Lyra's eyes widened 'Wait...Did he do it all alone just to win a simple game?!' she then noticed another movement.
Twilight gasped "They are here!"
Smolder, Gilda and Ember landed around Ferum. Itw as hard to hear what they were talking about....
Lyra smiled nervously "Uh...I think if he gives up, he will be fine, right?"
Twilight sighed "Right, I'm sure he is wise enough not to fight them!"
Suddenly, some movement appeared nearby to trees. Gallus picked up the rope and pulled it. A lot of ropes appeared around Ferum, covering him from attackers. Gallus picked up the ball and prepared himself.
Ferum raised his arms. Twilight and Lyra overheard only one thing "Ruby Ball Barrage!"
Suddenly, some branches snapped, letting some balls fly towards the center of field. Sooner, Gallus and Spike took out Gilda and Smolder.
Twlight's and Lyra's jaws were down.
Princess mumbled "He...THEY...HOW?!"
Then, Sandbar tried to take out Ember, but didn't succeed...
Ember smirked "You are going down!" she raised her arm with ball and threw it at stallion.
Suddenly, Ferum dashed towards Sandbar. He was fast enought to get pin stallion on the ground.
Ferum sighed "Phew! Man, couldn't you do it yourself?"
Sandbar shook his head "Eugh...Wha-" he gasped "FERUM BEHIND!"
Ember fastly picked up one of the launched balls and ran towards Ferum "Got you now!"
Ferum pushed Sandbar away and rolled away before Ember smacked earth with ball "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"
Ember didn't answer his question and threw ball at him, missing "I will win this!" she dashed towards him using wings.
Ferum smirked "Oooh! Classic boss fight!" he dodged her dash and prepared himself.
Ember slid through the ground a bit and stopped "You are done!" she didn't pick up a ball. She just charged at him, spinning like a drill.
Everybody looked at Ferum and shouted "DODGE!"
Time was slowed for Ferum. He could see each move, and counter it. Even though this 'Ember' was just ramming into him, he doubted that he could block it as easy as balls from before. He wasn't planning on blocking anyway. When Ember was 3 or 4 meters away from Ferum, he jumped up, placing his hand with ball on her head and landed behind with a grin.
Ferum turned around with smug expression "Got you, GG"
Gallus, Spike and Sandbar ran towards Ferum with cheers.
Griffin leaned on his shoulder "Dude! You can't be THAT over powered!"
Sandbar nodded "True! I didn't think that you could defeat Dragon Lord in this game!"
Ferum snorted "Well, I was just lucky eno-" he stopped talking and turned on his poker face "Uh...Excuse me? Did you just say...Dragon Lord?"
Spike approached him and crossed arms on his chest "Yep! It's impressive! Ember is quite a fighter, and you were able to outplay her!" he then looked nervously towards Dragon Lord "No offence"
Smolder slapped Ferum's back "AHOOY! That was something!"
Ferum nearly fell and looked back at dragon with grumpy face "NEVER do this again..."
Smolder shrugged "Eh, can't promise anything!"
Gilda rolled her eyes "Yeah yeah, you win. I have something else to do, so see ya eggheads!" she flew away quite fast.
Twilight came out of the woods. She trotted towards Ferum.
Twilight looked at Ferum with a frown "You DO realize that you could get hurt, right"
Ferum shrugged "Well, as you can see, I'm totally fine, Ms Twilight"
'Though I won just in time...I feel that caffeine starts to fade away already. Strange, I thought it would hold for at least 2 more hours. Eh doesn't matter'
Twilight sighed "OK look. Safety of my students, is my FIRST priority! I don't want you to get hurt on your second day of being my student"
Ferum nodded "Yeah, right...Sorry for acting reckless, that wasn't kind of me"
All this time Ember was standing nearby, speechless. She was simply looking at others.
Spike approached Ember "Uh...Are you ok?"
Ember waved her hand "Yeah yeah, totally" she then added "Though there is just one thing for me to do..." she started walking towards Ferum.
Spike turned around and gulped "A-alright..."
Ferum sighed "Alright, after all it was just a game, right?"
Twilight coughed in her hoof "Anyway, I wanted you to meet Ember, The dragon Lord. Since you have already met, we can discuss everething in ca-"
Ember approached Ferum from behind "Oi, kid!"
Ferum turned around and gulped "Uh...Y-yes?"
Ember put her hand on his shoulder and...Made a thumb up? "Good job on defeating me! You really are skilled!"
Ferum clipped his eyes few times "O-oh...Uh...Thank you..?"
Ember put her hand away and looked at unicorn "Anyway, I don't think I can help you, Twilight" she shrugged "I never saw somebody like him" she then smirked "And I wonder, where do you see fluff on him? Seriously, there is no way that-"
Ferum interrupted her "Oh, I actually can turn fluffy" he inhaled some air and slowly exhaled it "I just need to calm do-" his body turned fluffy with 'pop' sound "...There we go"
Ember looked at him with surprised face "You...Are you sure you are dragon?"
Twilight sighed "I asked him the same thing"
Ferum rolled his eyes "Alright guys, it was nice game and all, but I got some uh...Problems to deal with"
Gallus tilted his head "What do you mean?"
Sandbar added "And can we help you somehow?"
Ferum waved his hand "Nah nah, I'm fine" he then turned around "If ya need me, I will be in a cas-"
Suddenly, Ember stopped him "Hold on! You are not acting like dragon would as well...Like Sparkle said" she then bumped her fists into each other "I wonder...How did you fight those who attacked you on your way here?"
Ferum clipped his eyes few times "Uh...Well..." he started to walk away "You see, I REALLY gotta go...Maybe later we co-"
Twilight put hoof to her chin "Huh...Now that you mention it...How could changeling break through your defence, if you were able to deal with a timberwolf?"
Gallus, Sandbar, Spike and Smolder looked at Twilight with opened jaws "HE DID WHAT?!"
Ember snorted "Why are YOU wondering Smolder? Just burn those dogs and...They will..." she frowned "Oh right..."
Gallus put claw to his chin "Maybe this changeling was uh...Overpowered?"
Spike raised his eyebrow "What do you mean?"
Sandbar explained "I heard that before reforming, changelings had elite units. I'm not sure what was special about them though..."
Everyone turned back to dragon to ask-..
Smolder tilted her head "Where did he go?"
Vlad was going through Ponyville slowly. Because caffeine faded away, he started to feel tired again.
Dragon yawned "Man...If it wasn't to Sombra, I could have felt better..." he then frowned "Even my 'Instincts' and 'Reflexes' upgrade didn't work when Smolder hit my back...Strange"
He noticed strange looking building. After looking for it for a few seconds, he memorized that it was Raritie's boutique.
Ferum continued walking 'Alright, I promised Sombra to talk with him about his uh...Revenge? Man, that's just stupid. Since when do I have to...' he sighed 'Good grief, I'm already a bit stressed. I better get to my room and close myself until I calm down'
He looked around and opened his map...
Meanwhile, Lyra was following Ferum through Ponyville. She heard everething at park, and started to put all pieces together.
Lyra was trotting after Ferum "Alright, so he had Vlad's case, knew my name and even BonBon's. He fought Timberwolf and won, but 'lost' to changeling. It means, that it happened quite long ago" she noticed that Ferum approached the Castle "Oh...I had to watch the library..."she sighed "Either way, he has way to many similarities with Vlad..." she then stopped behind one of the buildings after Ferum entered Castle "Just in case, I gotta check one thing..."
Vlad went through the main doors of the castle. There were some other students. They were talking, laughing and doing their stuff. Vlad entered the canteen and noticed that there were more ponies and other creatures.
'Alright...I might wanna get tea and something NORMAL to eat. This choco sandwich was probably nothing for me'
"So go ahead and take something, silly!" Pinkie Pie stood behind him with a wide smile.
Ferum slowly turned his head around "Yeah...I was about to..." he slowly approached the food stand.
Pinkie's head appeared from behind the stand "Hiya Ferum, what can I get ya?"
Vlad didn't question her 'teleportation' "I will have bl-" he suddenly stopped "Actually, I'd like to have the carrot soup over there!" he pointed at steaming pot behind Pinkie.
Pink pony looked around "Alrighty then!~" She bounced towards pot with bowl on her head.
Ferum pointed his finger out "Uh...Ms. Pinkie, I don't think it's a good idea to-"
It was too late. Pinkie poured soup into the bowl and grabbed it with her hooves.
She gasped "AAAH HOTHOTHOTHOT!" Pinkie threw bowl away and accidentally aimed at Ferum.
Dragon tiredly chuckled "Haha...Man I'm dead..."
Bowl hit him right into his face. It shattered with loud noice and fell down, spilling soup. Everyone gasped and looked at Ferum...
His face was covered with hardened scales. He lazily clipped his eyes.
Ferum wiped soup away and his scales turned fluffy again "Oh well, maybe not that fast..." he then crouched to pick up what was left from the bowl.
Some creature galloped to him from behind "F-Ferum, are you alright?"
Vlad turned around "Oh, heya Ocellus" he waved his hand "Yeah, I'm totally fine"
Ocellus exhaled "Good thing to know..." her horn glowed up and pieces got caught in magical aura.
Ferum sighed "Thank you, it would take me some time" he then looked at clock "Speaking of which, I should probably get in my room...I'm not that hungry to be honest"
Pinkie Pie appeared behind dragon, scaring Ocellus "Not on MY watch! If you wont get fed enough, you won't have strength for future chapters!" she explained and gave him another bowl with soup.
Ferum grabbed bowl and his scales hardened "Yeah yea-..Wait what?" but Pinkie Pie dissapeared again.
Ocellus exhaled "I still can't get used to her...Abilities" she levitated pieces towards bin.
Ferum shrugged "Eh...I just accepted it"
Silverstream approached them "Oh, heya Fe-" her eyes widened "What in Celestia's name happened to you?!"
Ocellus raised her eyebrow "What do y-" she turned around and gasped.
Now that she got a better look, she noticed that Ferum looked even worse. Bags under his eyes got darker, and his tail was laying on the ground without any strength left. Another difference were his spikes. They looked...Whiter than they should be.
Silverstream tilted her head "But...Didn't your 'Caffeine magic' suppose to help you?"
Ocellus looked at her friend confused "Excuse me?"
Ferum shrugged "It's a temporary thing. When I drink caffeine, I get loads of energy. But after this effect ends, I'm becoming EVEN MORE tired"
Silverstream gasped "Oh no! Then why did you use it?"
Ferum facepalmed "I actually had no reasons...Just wanted to stay awake for a while" he was holding bowl with one hand "Alright, Imma eat soup and go have a nap..."
Turns out Yona was behind Ferum with a bat "Oh...That means there was no need to..."
Ocellus clipped her eyes few times "N-no..? Yona, what were you going to do?"
Ferum turned around "Huh?"
Yona hid bat in her coat and whistled.
Silverstream looked around "By the way...Have you seen Sandbar, Gallus and Smolder?"
Ferum nodded "Yep, we had a nice game of dodgeball with uh...What were their names..." he hummed "Right, Gilda and Ember" he then added "And I'd prefer not to meet with the last one again..."
Ocellus, Yona and Silverstream looked at him confused "Say whaa-"
Ferum walked away "I know she is some kind of a princess or something...Let me just have my meal and nap already!" he sounded a bit stressed.
Ocellus watched him going away to take the table "Maybe he does need some sleep..."
Yona sighed "Yona thinks that he DID need some...Therapy"
Ocellus looked at her with widened eyes "Dont say so! I know that he is actually a very good person!"
Silverstream grinned "How come? If I recall correctly, you had just two conversations" she giggled "Is there a way..."
Ocellus looked at her friend with smile "Silverstream, I'm just saying obvious things. He is a good person, compared to other dragons (Not including Spike of course)" she then added "I wonder why you thought about this in first place"
Silverstream shrugged "I dunno, I thought it would be funny"
Yona shrugged "Well, as long as he is not hurting Yona's friends, he is safe"
Meanwhile, Ferum sat at the table and ate his meal 'Damn, I should apologize to them sooner. I don't wanna look like a jerk' he looked at the doors 'Well, guess now it's time to come back to the dark guy'
He stood up and walked towards food stand. Ferum put bowl to other ones and exited canteen.
Sooner, he walked inside his room, locked the door, window and curtains "Alright, time to get some sleep...And perhaps help a bad guy?" he layed on his bed without transforming.
Vlad closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep, not noticing that curtains weren't completely closed.
Meanwhile...
Twilight, Ember and students were talking at the park. They simply took the opportunity to have some fun and relax.
Ember crossed arms on her chest "I gotta admit...You ponies just won't stop surprising me! Set all those traps in just 10 minutes...Impressive, really!"
Twilight smirked "Well, they are learning at the school full of magic and other creatures to learn from after all"
Gallus, Spike and Sandbar raised their limbs "Actually it wasn't my idea" they said it synchronously.
Twilight and Ember looked at them confused.
"Then...Does it mean..." Twilight's eyes were widened "That's just...AMAZING!" she jumped up, surprising everyone around.
Smolder raised her eyebrow "Uh...Ms Twilight, what do you mean?"
Twilight mumbled to herself "A unique dragon that posseses ability to use magic AND create something like this..." she put hooves to her head "That's just CRAZY!"
Ember looked confused "Say WHAT again?"
Twilight clipped her eyes few times "Oh uhm...Well you see, before I arrived to meet you, I asked Lyra to look after library for a while"
Ember snorted "And instead she arrived with you..."
Twilight nodded "Well, she said that Ferum was her old friend. Lyra also mentioned that she wanted to exchange magic experience with him, meaning that Ferum can use magic!"
Spike and Sandbar shouted "HE CAN DO EVEN THAT?!"
Smolder looked at Gallus "You are not surprised?"
Gallus shrugged "I mean, it's impressive and stuff. But I'm just tired to get surprised every time we find something out about Ferum"
Ember looked around "By the way, where is this Lyra?"
Twilight clipped her eyes few times "Huh?"
Meanwhile...
Lyra was trotting through halls of the castle. Students were greeting her, and she was answering back. Lyra was asking everypony about new student, but they weren't able to help her.
She stopped near to the strange painting and frowned "Huh..? Since when did Twilight get interested in 'fancy' art?" the painting was just white, without anything on it.
She heard steps and turned her head to the left. Silverstream along with Ocellus were going through the hall, chatting about something.
Ocellus rolled her eyes "My point still stands. It's very rude to interrupt some creature's sleep" she then frowned "Especially when they are THAT tired"
Silverstream snorted "Aw come on! I'm sure that he would be interested in-" She turned her head towards Lyra "Oh, hello there, Ms Lyra!"
Ocellus raised her eyes "Good afternoon"
Lyra smiled at them "Hello there fellas"
Silverstream looked at 'painting' "So...What does this picture is supposed to mean?"
Lyra shrugged "I don't know, ask Headmare I guess?" she then sighed "Why is it so hard to find him..."
Ocellus tilted her head "Uhm...Are you trying to find somepony?"
Lyra nodded "Yeah...I heard about newbie at the school, so I wanted to talk to him" she then mumbled "In private..."
Silverstream snapped out of her thoughts about art "Huh? What was the last one again?"
Lyra waved her hoof "Eh, just wanted to know where is he right now! I mean, Princess Ember arrived here to meet with him and he just went away so-"
Silverstream gasped "WHAAA? Even Ember herself decided to meet him!" she then put claws to her chin "Damn Ocellus...You are getting strong rivals..."
Ocellus was covering her ears "S-Silverstream, stop it!" she sighed and looked at Lyra "Well...As far as I know, Ferum lives here" she pointed at nearby door "Though it might be a bad idea talking to him right now..."
Lyra clipped her eyes "Huh?" she then memorized Ferum's look from 20 minutes ago "Oh...Right..."
Ocellus put hoof behind her head "He is uh...Not in the best condition to talk right now...We could tell him about you when he wakes up"
Lyra put hoof to her chin 'Hm...I guess it will be better to wait...I don't want to look rude to some creature who seems to be friends with Vlad...' She sighed "Well, guess this is the only solution for us...I still gotta look after the library for Twilight so...See you guys around!" she turned around and started trotting away.
Silverstream waved with her claws "Goodbye Ms Lyra!~"
Ocellus suddenly asked "Uhm...Excuse me?"
Lyra stopped and turned her head around "Huh? What is it, Ocellus?"
Changeling put hoof behind her head "I was wondering, who are you to Ferum?" she then added "'I-I mean, you seem to know him a bit"
Lyra put hoof behind her head "Well you see uh..." she averted her eyes "We are uhm...Pen friends!"
Silverstream and Ocellus tilted their heads "Wha?"
Lyra smiled nervously "Uh, we were writing to each other years ago and uh...When I heard about newbie I assumed he was my friend so..."
Ocellus clipped her eyes few times "So...You know little about him, right?"
Lyra sighed "Yeah...We didn't even meet in person yet!"
'Damn, I feel bad for lying to them...' She sighed and trotted away.
Silverstream looked at Ocellus and grinned "What was that question for?"
Ocellus blushed weakly "Uhm...I hoped to know something new about Ferum..."
When Silverstream wanted to say something, both her and Ocellus shivered. Sudden cold appeared out of nowhere, catching friends by surprise.
Ocellus looked around "Guess somepony forgot to close windows"
Silverstream nodded "Yeah...It's kinda windy today!"
They walked away to the library to avoid cold breeze. Little did they know that shadows in Ferum's room got bigger...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the sky...
Rainbow Dash was having a nap on the clouds. Suddenly, something blocked sun, sending shadow on her face.
She groaned and half opened her eyes "Ugh...Move!"
Familiar voice talked "Aw, now THATS how you greet your friends?"
Rainbow's eyes widened "Gilda?! Is that you?!"
Griffin smirked and crossed claws on her chest "The one and only!"
Rainbow flew up and raised her hoof for a bump. Gilda clenched her claw into a fist and bumped it into Dash's hoof, creating air pressure.
Rainbow Dash smirked "What are you doing in Ponyville?"
Gilda shrugged "Eh! Just wanted to relax a bit. Thought it would be a good idea to visit you"
They were talking about what happened to them since their last meeting. Sooner, they were walking around Ponyville, relaxing.
Rainbow Dash's ears perked up "Oh, forgot to tell you!" she put milkshake away "We got a new kiddo in our school!"
Gilda snorted "Already met him while playing with other kids..."
Rainbow smirked "Since when you got interested in foals games eh?"
Gilda then told Dash about the game and how did opposite team fool her team. She also mentioned that Ember lost to Ferum.
Rainbow Dash's eyes were widened "Y..He did WHAT?"
Gilda nodded "Yeah...This guy is something.. " she then looked at her friend "So, what are we gonna do now?"
Rainbow Dash put hoof to her chin "You know, I wanna talk to this guy. Seems like he has some cool tricks in his sleeves" she then smirked "Nightmare Night is coming soon after all! It's becoming boring to use lightning bolts, you know?"
Gilda snorted "Didn't think you would plan something THAT early"
Rainbow shrugged "If there is a thing in this world that I take seriously, it's the prank!" she then flew up "Well, it was nice meeting you here! See ya!" she flew away, leaving rainbow trail behind.
Gilda put claw to her beak 'Hm...What should I do now?'
Meanwhile, Vlad's realm...
Human appeared out of nowhere "Heya d- WHAT THE ACTUAL?!" he looked around, shocked.
Entire place was covered with different items. Vlad could recognize each of them. Those were weapons from the games he used to play back on Earth. They were very different. From strange looking swords and accessories, to heavy machine guns and futuristic rifles.
Vlad looked around and noticed confused Sombra. He was holding with magic dark umbrella with crystal like cover. Unicorn wasn't wearing his armor anymore as well.
Sombra had eyebrow raised "Just...Why do I feel so much danger from those things?" he accidentally threw umbrella at human and turned his head to the pile of other items "What is the point in memorizing each of those...Things"
Vlad approached Sombra from behind "Because, they look and/or act cool!"
Sombra quickly turned his head around "You...How lo-"
Vlad interrupted him "25 seconds" he then looked around "You better explain yourself, MISTER!" he crossed arms on his chest and looked at unicorn strictly.
Sombra fully turned around and rolled his eyes "Well, since you somehow seem to belive me, you didn't block anything in your head from me"
Vlad sweated a bit "Uh...Yeah, because I want to make you a good guy!"
'I could block my memories?!'
Vlad shook his head "So uhm...What is your answer to my offer?"
Sombra was silent for few seconds "I...I think you were right.."
Vlad clipped his eyes few times 'Wait, did it actually work?'
Sombra continued "About me I mean...I was thinking only about the revenge, never noticing that I was failing. Whenever I tried to do have my revenge, I was always left defeated..." he sighed "Maybe there was another way for me"
Vlad raised his eyebrow " 'Was'? You mean like...You can't get a new body?"
Sombra snorted "HMPF! I can easily create myself new body! Who do you think I am, amateur?" he then averted his eyes "Obviously its because of what I did, I didn't call myself 'Embodyment of darkness' for no reason"
Vlad shrugged "Well, what about you tell me..?" he looked around "Uh...And where is the sofa?"
Sombra motioned his head towards pile of ash still steaming "And that's another reason why I chose to...Listen to your advice" he looked around "Each of those items hide enormous power...It's just futile for me to try to defeat you" he then looked at human "Just where did you find and learn those things?"
Vlad put hand behind his back "Well...It's kinda complicated and awkward..." he snapped his fingers and red sofa reappeared in front of him "So what about you tell me what happened?" human fell on the right side, inviting unicorn to sit nearby.
Sombra sighed "It's...Now that I look back, that is terrible..."
Insert Sombra's backstory and crimes because author is not fully aware of them
Unicorn exhaled "..and now I'm here, in the mind of creature from another world..."
Vlad had arm on his chin "Well...I mean, of course being tyrant is bad, but at lest you didn't go any further"
Sombra looked at human with raised eyebrow "..any...Further?"
Vlad sighed "Well, now it's time to tell you something..." his face became more serious "My kind is intelligent...and very cruel" he crossed arms on his chest "Humanity did a lot of really bad things, much worse than yours"
Sombra snorted "And how did you do it without magic?"
Vlad put fingers in snapping position "Technology" he snapped his fingers.
A lot of images and videos appeared around them. They were showing different things like cars, rockets, robots and other stuff. Then they changed, showing machines created for entertainment like rollercoaster, virtual reality glasses and phones.
Sombra was surprised "That is...Truly impressive" he then looked at human "But where is cruelty in this? Not even I feel anything dangerous"
Vlad sighed "And THAT'S where our cruelty shows up..." all images and videos dissapeared "Even if something was created to do good things..." he clenched his fist...
There was only one square with a video. It was a small town. You could see small dots walking nearby to the buildings, cars driving around...Then, something small flew above the town. It dropped something even smaller on town.
Vlad continued "...we change into a weapon..."
When black dot touched the ground, giant explosion appeared in the middle of a city. All buildings got consumed by it. Even parts of city that weren't in radius of explosion got damaged from it's shock wave. When everething settled down, ruins were the only thing that was left.
Vlad put arm behind his back "And it's not even 10% of what humanity did...Bio weapons, fire arms, nukes..." human looked down "I'm usually not that serious about this stuff, but since you though you were THAT bad..."
Sombra was shocked, his eyes were widened "You...You are like-"
Vlad snorted "PFT! Of course I'm not!"
Sombra looked around "Then...What are th-"
Vlad interrupted him once again "And now to another part!" he snapped his fingers and all the mess dissapeared "Video games!"
Sombra looked confused "You...HOW CAN YOU MOVE ON LIKE THAT?!"
Vlad smirked "See? You are not as bad as you thought!" he then sighed "Though my point still stands, video games from my world are cruel, and those games are played by kids"
Sombra grimassed "Are you saying..."
Vlad nodded "Kids can be cruel..." he snapped his fingers and strange long stick eith handle and barrel in the middle appeared in his hand "For example, what do you think this weapon can do?"
Sombra raised his eyebrow "Weapon? I mean, I can feel aura around it but..."
Vlad aimed at sofa and pulled the trigger. Loud 'Bang!' thundered, and Sombra grimaced. When unicorn opened his eyes, he saw hole in the sofa.
Vlad rolled revolver in his arm "And that's just the gun...Powerful one, but still"
Sombra looked at the gun with...Curiosity? "So much power in one little item...If I had it, I-" unicorn cut himself off when he saw human's blank face "I mean...I'm not like that anymore..."
'He can just evaporate me from his head with this power...Even just with a snap of his fingers dammit! But...'
Vlad snorted "Listen, I might look confident right now and stuff...But it's only because I have power here" he looked at Sombra with serious face "Humans are very fragile, so anyone...AnyPONY could easily defeat me even if I have magic. Damn, even in my dragon form I would lose in a fight!"
Sombra looked puzzled "What are you saying?.."
Vlad stood up "I'm saying that I'm believing you, but if you betray me..." he looked back "Belive me, rage makes humans REALLY strong...And I won't calm down untill I get my vengeance" he looked truly menacing...
Sombra sweated a bit "I...Understand it..."
Vlad clapped his hands "Great! Besides, since you are going to become good, I'd like your help!" he then added "If it's ok with you, 'course"
Sombra frowned "My help..?"
Bald nodded "Yeah! You look like you are experienced magic user, so I thought you could teach me!"
Sombra chuckled and then started laughing "BHAHAHA!" entire realm was shaking because of it "ME teaching YOU?! ARE YOU TRYING TO DEFEAT ME WITH LAUGHER THIS TIME?!"
Vlad crossed arms on his chest "I mean...Our magic is kinda similar"
Sombra stopped laughing "Ph..Eh?" he looked at human confused "You can..."
Vlad snorted "Of course I can! I mean, I can turn into a dragon, wasn't it obvious?"
Sombra rolled his eyes "Right...So what did you mean anyway..?"
Vlad unclenched his arm and a lot of light blue squares came out of it "Alright, I didn't expect it to work..." he started sorting them out "Now where was it..."
Sombra was still sitting on 'damaged' sofa "You know, it's amusing to look at your actions"
Vlad rolled his eyes "Am I a clown to you or something?.." he pulled one particular tab in the middle of others "Alrght..."
It represented simple line. Line had small dark blue part on start, and even smaller part on end. Middle of it was just white.
Sombra approached human from behind "And this is..?"
Vlad put his finger to the line "My ability" he explained "I can upgrade myself just like I want. Video game leveling up basically" he then turned around "I think that after 'respawning', my Panel got an upgrade as well"
Sombra raised his eyebrow "Respawning..? What does it even mean?"
Vlad sighed "Alright, now what about you sit back and listen to my story?"
10 minutes later...
Vlad was finishing his sentence "..and after Chrysalis nailed the spell, I guess I died. I mean, it was kinda small explosion, but focused"
Sombra looked REALLY confused "So basically...You died, reincarnated in Equestria, died again and got new powers?!"
Vlad shrugged "Eyup! You are not bad in shortening someone's story"
Sombra pointed his hoof at Vlad's arm "And...You can form anything out of your 'energy'..Right?"
Vlad unsummoned all squares except for the one with line "Yep, mostly anything. My only weakness is that I can't control my magic after it's detached" he put arm to his chin "It could just stop in mid air, dissapear or explode...I dunno!..That's why I'm asking for your help" he turned around, so did the tab.
Sombra went silent 'He is...Believing me? He might not know what I really am, but still...He is just naive or-'
Vlad interrupted his thoughts "Just so you understand, I don't really want to bother girls at the moment. They have school to run, job to do...And you are stuck with me in my head"
Sombra looked at Vlad "Didn't you say 'trapped' earlier?"
Vlad put arm behind his head "W-well the truth is that...I.."
Sombra narrowed his eyes "The truth is what?"
Vlad sweated "I might...Not know how to let you out.." Squee
Sombra's eyes widened "YOU WHAT?!" he dashed towards human, grabbing him with hooves and shaking him.
Vlad didn't resist "I'm so-o-orry! It didn't look like I could think rationally" his face had T-T expression while he was shaked "Besides...It's not like you could do anything outside.."
Sombra stopped shaking human and thought for himself 'But he is telling truth...Anypony would run in terror from me...Just what is-"
Vlad continued "..for now"
Sombra looked at human confused "What..?"
Vlad pushed unicorn a bit away "Well, I kinds nailed my part with trapping you, so what about this?" he snapped his fingers "You are teaching me how to use my magic so that I can let you go, and I will help you with problems in future!"
Sombra looked down "It's not like I have a choice..." he sighed "Very well then...My student"
Vlad cringed "Damn...You gotta work on your phrases" still, he smiled "But it's good to have you as my...Sensei?" he put arm to his chin "How should I call you...Sempai? Or maybe-"
Sombra groaned "Just...Call me Sombra!" he sighed "But I will need to do one more thing before we start"
Vlad looked at unicorn a bit surprised "We are starting already?"
Sombra turned around "As much as I'm interested in your abilities, I want to have guaranty that I will be able to get out.." he then added not confidently "No offence..?"
Vlad shrugged "None taken. I mean, I kinda have a sick mind. Wouldn't want to stay here long too, if I was you"
Sombra nodded "Good now I will need your cooperation" he turned his head around realm "I will need to fuse with your mind, so that I will be able to see through your magic structure"
Vlad saluted "You got it!" he then stayed silent for a few seconds "..wouldn't it be easier for you to fuse with my ability though?"
Sombra raised his eyebrow "Your so called 'Panel'?" he averted his eyes "I'm not sure if I will be able to do it. It's absolutely another kind if magic..."
Vlad shrugged "Well, I offered you to do it, you are the boss for now" he then crossed arms on his chest "So uh...How are you going to...You know"
Sombra rolled his eyes "Just give me few moments. Since I have your permission, I can do it without tormenting you"
Vlad clipped his eyes few times "Oh..Huh..." he sat on the sofa "Well uhm...Go ahead and...Do your stuff, I guess?"
Sombra snorted and turned around. Few tentacles.appeared out of his horn and dug into the ground. Silence appeared once again. Vlad was looking at the hole in sofa, and Sombra was focused with 'merging'.
Human stretched a bit and whispered "By the way, it's possible to die of laugher"
Sombra's ears perked up "Did you say something?"
Vlad smirked "Hm? Nope, not at all"