//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Preparations 
// Story: When life gives you EXP 
// by FanOfSun 
//------------------------------//

Ferum opened his eyes. He was in his room, laying on the bed. It's been two weeks since he, Spike and Lyra started to meet each other at the forest and go into his own world. Turned out that dragon had suspicions about Ferum, so it ended up with revealing human's secret. It wasn't a bad decision though. Of course at first, Spike didn't trust Sombra. But in the end, everething turned out just fine. All together, they managed to create an incredible world inside Vlad's head. Every time 
when they were entering it, the grouo would do so many things. Adventures, fights and just chaos...Which Lyra didn't approve at first. But obviously, their dissapearance attracted a lot of attention. So much, that six particular students tried to spy on the trio. Luckily, Vlad's intuition saved the group. They tricked them by going elsewhere while students were spying.

One problem however, was still unresolved. Princess Luna was getting closer to entering Vlad's mind. Last time when he, Lyra and Spike came together, she even noticed them, which made their 'session' come to an end. Sombra was kind of concerned about it too. While it was possible to explain that he is good now to Lyra and Spike, it wouldn't be so easy with somepony who personally knew him. But right now, Ferum was in his room. He didn't have any plans for weekend. 

Dragon stretched and sat in his bed "So, what about some practice, Sombrero?"

A voice from his head answered "I told you to stop calling me like that" 

Ferum shrugged "OK, I won't"

Sombra snorted "But of course, you woul-" he stopped mid sentence "...Wait, you mean it?"

Ferum nodded "Yeah, I would be annoyed too" he walked towards the door "So, are you up for a training?"

Sombra answered quickly "Sure, besides, it's kind of facinating to see your progress" he hummed "It's like watching your doll getting stronger"

Ferum rolled his eyes "Wow, you are so good at not looking evil" he closed his eyes and slowly breathed. Then, dragon opened his non-panel eye. It's pupil was glowing with purple now.

Sombra seemed to clap with his hooves "Not bad, you can now enable the vision without my help" he then added "Though if you let the magic flow out fully, you wouldn't have to focus so much"

Ferum snorted "Well, I don't want to scare anyone here. And besides, learning about the magic control is essential" he then added "Especially when it comes to this dark stuff"

One of the things that Vlad learnt, was the ability to enable 'Umbra Vision' (Another one was that Sombra is bad at naming things). He asked unicorn about it. The reason why Sombra always had those weird waves coming out of his eyes, was not to just look intimidating. He could see powerful sources of magic, living beings and other stuff that he needed to see. Thanks to the time they had, Vlad managed to learn this ability. He couldn't activate it in human form though. Sombra told him that human eyes are not built for this kind of magic, so he could only enable it while in Ferum form. 

Right now, dragon was looking through the door. The hallway was empty, not a single soul. As usual.

Ferum closed his eye and opened both of then "It's still hard to keep it active. It's like I'm holding a fish and it slips away!" he rubbed his head.

Sombra snorted "Well, obviously it's hard. Dark magic isn't the thing everypony can get used to"

Ferum rolled his eyes "Apparently, you did" he then left the room and started walking towards the exit. Vlad was already able to use map in his Panel, so he knew where he was going. 

While walking, he memorized another 'problem' he had. Those two points that Sombra waisted the other day. They both still didn't know what did they stand for. The only clue Vlad had, was that Sombra used those points to upgrade the disquise. Today wasn't really special, so he could use the free time to try and find his new upgrades...Or do it tomorrow. Today, Vlad was in the mood for reading.

Ferum looked through the map "Well, guess library it is then" he was about to continue walking, when hammer noices started to come out of the window in the hallway.

Ferum looked out of it. It was another pony setting up a tent for the upcoming event, another thing that Vlad was interested about. Obviously, it was about to be big. Sandbar and Gallus told him about this event. A lot of authors were opening their shops to try and become more famous. It sounded not like a big deal. But when something here in Equestria was boring?

Ferum shook his head "Alright, let's get going" and so he did.

Sombra suddenly asked "Did you always talk to yourself? Because I didnt see any memories with you doing it"

Ferum hummed "Occasionally, I did to calm myself down. But here? Well, I started to do it way too often...For some unknown reasons" 

The answer seemed to satisfy Sombra, because he went silent again. Meanwhile, Vlad came across Spike.

Ferum called him out "Hey dude"

Spike turned his head and raised the claw "Morning guys, how did the night go?" he stopped walking.

Ferum approached him and got on his knee "Luna didn't seem to get us yet. So I'd say it was fine" he motioned his head towards his shoulder.

Spike nodded and deftly climbed it "Well, that's good. I can't imagine what would she do to Big S" he sat on the shoulder, looking forward.

Ferum stood up and snorted "Don't tell me, I'm starting to think about setting up a shield around him" Dragon started to walk forward.

"I CAN protect myself. If it wasn't for the fact that I am stuck in this weirdo's head, I would-" he then stopped and sighed.

Ferum nodded "Exactly Sombra, you won't fight" 

Spike looked at his 'mount'  "So, where are you guys going?"

Ferum motioned his hand "Well, with this whole festival thing I decided to read something in the library. You know, to fit in" he then moved his eyes on Spike "By the way, can you recommend me anything popular?"

Spike didn't even hesitate "There is this giant comics that has blown up recently. We have some of it's copies in the library. I was on my way there too. Just to finish the chapter I was reading"

Ferum nodded "Good, I might as well try Equestrian fiction" he then looked up and put a hand on his chin "I wonder what counts as fiction here to be honest. I mean, you guys have magic and all!"

Spike raised his hands, excited "You wouldn't belive dude! It's like, another guy was transported into another world, and made friends with a guy here!" he the jumped on the Ferum's shoulder "And he has to keep it a secret!..For some reason" he sat down again "The reason will be explained in the new chapters"

Ferum whistled "Well, would you look at that! It's just like my situation!"

Spike chuckled "Hehe! He...Huh..." he stopped laughing and his face turned into a curious one "Now that I think about it...It is. What a coincidence!"

Ferum snorted "Tell me about it!"

Sooner, they entered the library. There was no creature inside. Ferum approached the shelves and looked up "So, where is the comics you were telling me about?"

Spike hummed "Well, it's supposed to be around...Here!" he managed to pull out a...Book.

Ferum looked at it confused "Uh...Comics are supposed to be slim, arent they?"

Spike smirked and jumped down from Ferum's shoulder "Well, this one is VERY big!" he approached the table "By the way, if I memorize correctly, another one should be behind this shelf"

Ferum shrugged "OK" he walked around to look for the same book. After looking for a while, he found it and joined Spike at the table. Ferum looked at the cover and froze "...uh?"

Spike raise his head from the comic "Hm? Is something wrong with the book?"

Ferum looked at Spike with a shocked expression "Dude, what is that?" he showed the book to a dragon.

Spike leaned closer and narrowed his eyes "There is nothing wrong with it...What are you trying to show me?"

Ferum facepalmed "Spike, seriously?" he then pointed at the dragon on the cover "He..." and then on himself "..looks EXACTLY like me!"

Spike looked at Ferum and bursted out in laugher . He glanced at him holding a book and continued to do so. Spike then looked back at him and frowned "Are you serious?"

Ferum took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes "OK, try it now" he placed a book in a way so that it could stand.

Spike looked at the cover, then on Ferum. He clipped his eyes confused and did it again. Spike's eyes widened as he started to repeatedly turn his head. 

Ferum took the book "See what I mean?" he looked at the cover and hummed "..Not like it should really bother me anyway, but I'm just curious" he started to look for the author's name.

Spike rubbed his head "Author is anonymous..."

Ferum huffed and placed the book on the table "Of course he is...What a luck I have!" he sat like that for a while. Then, his ears perked up "Hold on...Do you think that there will be someone selling this comic?" when they were alone, Vlad could use terms from his world freely.

Spike looked up "Well, author DID announce that he has the next part done so...I think so" he then raised his finger "But I'm pretty sure he won't be selling books himself"

Ferum groaned and his head fell on the table "Obviously..." his tail was slowly moving on the floor "...ok, guess we will forget about it for now" he grabbed the book and opened it "Let's see what is this book all about!"

Spike smirked and went back to his book "Trust me, you won't regret it!"





2 hours later...

Ferum was looking at the pages shocked. To be honest, this was the first time he experienced such a strong emotion since appearing in Equestria. He was now flipping through the pages fast, glancing at the images.

Spike looked at him, concerned "Uh, dude? Are you ok?"

Ferum kept flipping the pages "Each of those stories and chapters, words and images..." he stopped flipping and looked at Spike "They happened to me and my friend..."

Spike clipped his eyes, confused "What do you mean?"

Ferum inhaled some air to calm himself "Alright...So basically, every single event here happened to me when I was back on Earth" he then looked back at the pony character "And my friend is here too..."

Realization appeared in Spike's head. He dropped the book and looked at Ferum shocked "Wait, are you telling me..." he knew what did he mean exactly.

Ferum looked at little dragon seriously "Spike, we will need to go and find this author..."





Twilight and Starlight were in the office. They were filling up some papers about the event.

Starlight exhaled as she put aside last of her documents "Phew! Sweet Celestia, this is a lot!" 

Twilight was focused on her papers, since she had much, MUCH more "Of course, this event is one of the greatest in the whole Equestria" she was working as fast and coordinated as machine would.

Starlight leaned on her hoof and smirked "Well, obviously" she then whispered "Though it's that big only for you"

Twilight's ear twitched "Did you say something?"

Starlight waved her hoof "No no, nothing" she then looked out of the window "..so, about this Ferum"

Twilight hummed "Yeah, what about him?"

Starlight turned her eyes towards alicorn "Don't you think that his story has a lot of...Gaps?"

Twilight slowed down with writing ans lowered her pen "Like what?"

Starlight rolled her eyes "Weeeell, for example the fact that he was able to survive in Equestria for a few years alone?" she tilted her head "Or maybe that he is finding something new about his body that he was supposed to know?" Unicorn raised her hoof quickly "Oh, maybe the fact that he was able to make friends with Sombra will make you feel that something is weird?" 

Twilight's eyes widened "I...I actually never thought about it this way" she lowered her eyes "Now that you mention it, it does seem weird"

Starlight put her hooves down and sighed "Twilight, he is obviously hiding something" she looked up at her mentor.

Twilight was tapping her hoof on the table "I know that there is something about him' she then smiled "But I'm sure it's nothing evil"

Starlight shrugged "Well, you are the boss" she stretched and stood on the floor "Well, I will be going now. See you, Twi!"

Twilight waved her hoof "Good luck, Star!"

The door closed after Starlight left. Twilight came back to filling the papers. However, her thoughts were somewhere else.

'This is indeed fascinating. Ferum actually managed to reform Sombra!'

Last time they talked about it, Ferum gave Sombra control. Even though Twilight was ready for anything, luckily, nothing bad happened. She and Sombra just talked for a few minutes, and that was it.

'Such a progress, in just two weeks!' 

'In just two weeks...'

She stopped writing. Her expression turned into a thoughtful 'I wonder how did he manage to do it' she then shook her head "Nope, I better focus on the Festival for now! I can always ask Ferum later"

And so, Princess continued to do her job...





Ponyville was full of tents and stalls now. Even though the Festival didn't start yet, everypony and creature wanted to be ready in advance. Residents were helping too. Ferum and Spike were going to help too. Though it was mostly a cover up. Their true intentions were to find the author of 'V and D' (They decided it would be easier to use shortened name). However, they were doing it for two hours now.

Ferum sat on the bench and huffed "God, I bet that we are late already..."

Spike managed to climb onto the bench and raised his claw "We shouldn't give up yet! I mean, yeah, it was quite a long time, but don't you want to find out about well ..Yourself?"

Ferum clicked with his tongue and waved it off "Come on man, we did what we could" he then stopped and clipped his eyes, confused.

Spike tilted his head "Something is wrong?"

Ferum facepalmed and groaned "OH GOD I'm stupid..." he looked up.

Spike raised his eyebrow "What do you mean?"

Ferum motioned with his claws "We could just wait untill the start of the Festival!" he groaned again and leaned on the back of the bench.

Spike shrugged "Huh, this could work too!"

...

"So uh, what is this 'God' that you keep mentioning?"

Ferum shrugged "It's just the thing that most people say in my world and don't even notice it. Well, mostly"

Spike moved his hands in circular manner "OK but uh...Who is this dude?"

Before Ferum could reply, groaning could be heard from the entrance to the park. When both dragons moved their heads towards the source of the disturbance, they found a small wagon and collapsed tent. Something was moving under it. When the fabric was moved away, the owner of the wagon appeared from it. 

It was a bat pony with the orange eyes and stripe in her mane. Her cheeks were puffed and she definitely was angry about the tent.