Bound by Scales

by FrostTheWolf

4- Apples and Hitting the Town

        When I was awake the next morning, I found Revaan grumbling a little outside my room as I left the chamber I was sleeping in. He seemed to be glad for me to be awake, but also seemed like something was affecting him. Like he was really hungry.

        “Hey big guy,” I greeted him casually. “You alright there?”

        The dragon groaned a little, shortly before looking back at me and replying to the question I asked him. “Not entirely… There isn’t anything good around here to eat that wouldn’t drive me crazy.” That… left me a little bit confused. Last night at dinner, I was seeing Fizzle eat as many gems as he could chew before he decided to have himself be… full. So food shouldn’t have been a problem for a big dragon like Revaan.

        “Can’t you eat gems like Fizzle?”

        “Gems are only seen as sugary foods to dragonkind,” Revaan retorted. “In addition, it’s used to help us with growth over time. We eat gems so we can grow as we age. However, this may become a problem if a young dragonling eats too many.”

        “Why? Is it a sugar rush?”

        “No. It messes with their young and fragile minds and causes them to be consumed by greed and the need to have whatever they desire.” Revaan sighed. “We don’t introduce gems to our young until they are at least two years old. That way, their brains and bodies have enough time to develop on their own before they need to rely on gemstones.” Now what he was saying was starting to make sense.

        “Well, I can’t have you starving to death. So, what food would you prefer to have instead of gems?” I asked him. All he did was grumble, telling me that he had already checked with some of the ponies in the town and had looked to see if they had it. When I asked him what “it” was, he deeply sighed before telling me.

        “ …… Apples.”

        “Apples?” I asked for clarification. He nodded his head and began to explain his reasons why. The apples that he would normally eat would do more than just put his hunger at ease. The juice from the apples here would also help restore his energy and stamina. A lot of it in which he had expended over the last few days in trying to help me and with bringing our home back to life. The least I could do was get enough of them in order to help him last a few weeks.

        “Alright, where do I need to go in order to get the apples for you?” I asked, tempted to cross my arms, but restrained myself from doing so.

        “The best place to find them is a ways away from here. It’s nearby the place called Ponyville that Fizzle had mentioned previously.” He told me, pointing to a map that was on the floor by my feet. “You will see a red barn when you arrive at the orchard. Just please, for the love of the ancestors, do NOT cause any trouble.” I can tell by his tone that he was being serious, but something told me otherwise.

        After all, how hard was it to just get a few apples?

Thirty minutes later…

        I was almost exhausted by the time I saw my first glimpse of the Apple Farm that I was told about. I know that for a Scalebound I was suppose to have powers, but could one of them PLEASE make traveling far distances like this easier!? I might’ve had my arm that could be used as a grappling hook, but that causes me to use my energy up very quickly. Not only that, but after getting out of the Badlands, I had to go through a creepy forest with almost all the creatures in the forest somehow trying to kill me. There were Manticores, Tree like wolves and even a FREAKING HYDRA!?! How the hell was I supposed to handle something like that.

        When I was finally out of that god forsaken forest, my clothes smelled like mud and hydra blood all over it. At least though for right now, I didn’t have to deal with anymore creatures that were coming at me. Hell, I was finally noticing the apple trees that were on the orchard. Hopping over a white wooden fence, I went to one of the tallest trees I saw that had the most ripest of fruits. I was going to climb up, but as I was getting my balance, a new voice caused me to trip and fall on my head.

        “Who or what the hay are you?” As soon as I heard that, I slipped and fell face first into the dirt below. It took a few minutes, but I then looked up, seeing a orange earth pony with a blond mane and tail with a mark of three apples on her flank and a stetson hat.

        “Umm… Hi?” I said, groaning a little as I tried to get back up on my feet. However, my small statement didn’t do anything to make things better.

        “I ask who and what you are partner,” She retorted before locking her eyes on me, “and why are you here on my family’s apple farm?”

        “E-easy there… My name is Ken,” I started speaking, thinking of something that I needed to say. “My friend asked me to come here to get some apples for him. He’s really hungry and I’m not quite sure how long it’ll be until he starts starving himself.”

        “Hm… well you seem to be telling the truth and all. But how do I know you won’t cause any trouble are here?” I sighed, trying my best to think of something before I speak. Judging from her personality, the earth pony seemed to tell whether or not I’m telling her the truth or not, so maybe I can find a way to gain her trust by proving myself to her.

        “Maybe I can prove myself through a test?” I suggested. “You give me a task and if I pull it off, then you know that I won’t be causing any trouble. I would like to explain everything to you, but right now, I want to make sure we’re on common ground first.”

        “Alright fine, if you can take care of fixing the tractor in the farm next to my house then I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” The Earth Pony told me. This, ironically, was right up my alley. Back home, I use to have a job as a mechanic and helped my friend Lamar fix broken down cars and machines. We even were called out to fix a tractor once. Guess I still had some skills from home that can be useful.

        “Sure thing, Miss… I apologize, I don’t think I caught your name.”

        “Applejack.” Well, that explained the whole thing with Apples. I followed her out to the old farm that was next to the Red barn that Revaan told me about earlier. Inside was the tractor that Applejack, or as I personally called her AJ, was telling me about. I had a look at the machine from all angles before looking back at the earth pony. “What seems to be the problem with it?” I asked, trying to figure out where the issue might be if I had a little bit more details with what I was dealing with exactly.

        “For some reason, whenever we try to start it up, white smoke appear from under the hood of it and it just stops working for about a few hours.” Now this gave me two possible theories. The first could’ve been that it was out of fuel. But upon looking at the fuel tank and seeing that it was at half full, I crossed that out. The second one could’ve been that something was stuck inside the engine, preventing the fuel from flowing through the motor and reaching the rest of the tractor. Using my right arm, I lifted the hood and got to work on the engine. It took me ten minutes though to find the source of the problem and what it was surprised me.

        A small rubber ball the size of a pellet was stuck in their and it looked to have wedged itself in there pretty deep. I even had to use my dragon arm to take it out before closing everything back up. “Okay, try it now!”

        “You sure you fixed it?”

        “The problem was that something was blocking the fuel from reaching the engine compartment in the tractor and when the fuel is blocked off, the rest of the tractor begins to overheat.” I told her. “I removed what was blocking it so give it a try right now.”

        “Alrighty then.” Within a few seconds after I heard the ignition, the tractor roared to life and I saw the mare's eyes widen. She looked very happy from the results of things and how the tractor was back to normal now. After turning it off, she hopped down, almost leaping onto me to give me a hug as she thanked me for all my help. But now though was when she happened to notice my… arm. My dragon arm. She looked at me now with confusion on her face as she tapped my arm with her hoof before looking back at me again. I could tell that this time, she wanted answers.

        “Okay, seriously, what the hay are you?”

        “That… is hard to explain,” I told her, sighing a little as I sat down on a barrel of hay. “Are you familiar with dragons by any chance?”

        “Yes, but they rarely appear in Ponyville and tend to keep to themselves, why?”

        Scratching my head, I gave her the best answer I could come up with. “Well… You see, I’m what’s called a Scalebound. I formed a pact with a dragon named Revaan, who is the last of his kind and is trying to find his lost son. My arm, as you can see, is a symbol of that bond and unlike the rest of my body is composed of scales. To put it in less complex terms… I’m part dragon.” Taking a breather gave me the chance to compose another thought before speaking. “That friend I was telling you about… was the dragon I mentioned.”

        “Wait, so there’s a dragon near Ponyville?”

        “No no no… He’s back at our home in the Badlands. He told me to go by myself since he thought that his presence would attract too much attention.”

        “I guess that kinda makes sense. So how did you get from the badlands all the way here to Ponyville?”

        Taking a breath, I then held out my arm to show her. “Mostly, I was able to get here because my arm works like a grappling hook. I can pull things to me or myself towards them. I was mostly doing that, but when I needed to let my energy come back to me, I had to go through the forest-.”

        “Wait, you mean the Everfree Forest? Do you know how dangerous that place is?” I chuckled at her saying that, pointing to the sword on my back and the stains on my clothes.

        “Oh I know… I survived.” I told her, leaning back a little. “The hard part was distracting the Hydra. The darn thing was impossible to defeat, so I had to distract it and then run.”

        “..... You sure you’re not gonna cause any trouble in Ponyville? Because right now I’m starting to have second thoughts about you.”

        “Oh no I won’t,” I ensured her. “I wasn’t planning to be here long anyways. All I came here for was some apples. Once I got them, I was going to start the trek back to the Temple. Maple and the others might be worried if I’m gone for too long.”

        “By others you mean?”

        “Other ponies.” I told her. Taking a bit of time gave me the chance to explain about the community that Maple and Mystic had set up. Telling a bit about how Maple was seen as an outcast of the Hive and how Mystic helped bring refugee’s from a burned town that was destroyed by Lord Tirek to a safe haven. She might have been skeptical about changelings and ponies living in the same place, but the mare was still optimistic nonetheless.

        “Hm, mind if I come with yeah?”

        Now that caught me by surprise. “You want to visit?” I honestly didn’t think that she would be up for something like that. “Sure, why not? But first, I need to get some apples for Revaan.”

        “Oh sure, how many do you need?”

        “Maybe five or so… He’s quite a big dragon,” I told him, looking around. “Think the size of your barn.”

        “... Beg your pardon?”

        “The size of your barn is how big he is.” All that got from AJ was her jaw to drop and her eyes to look at me in shock.

        “I hope you have the bits to cover for that many apples you are requesting?”

        I chuckled a little. “Right… I think we have that back at the temple. Now though, should we get started?”

        “After we make a little trip to Twilight’s castle. Can’t have somepony attack you because the way you look, plus she might be able to help you out with whatever it is you need help with.”

        “Okay, thanks Applejack.” I told her, thanking her for all the help she had been giving me so far. “Lead the way.”

        “Follow me and try not to stand out in the crowd.”

        “Yes, Ma’am-.” I told her. Until I felt three small bodies jumping on top of me and almost causing me to fall over again.

        “Girls, I did it! I caught a monster!” One voice called out, close to my ear.

        “No, Applebloom. WE caught a monster!” another voice corrected the first one. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MONSTER CATCHERS, yay!!”

        “Applebloom! Get off of Ken!!” I heard Applejack say as she turned around to face me. “He’s not a monster, just… a complex being.” Well, that was one way of putting it. I felt the little sets of hooves slowly let go of me as they dropped down to the ground and landed by my feet, looking up at me as one of the three soon spoke to Applejack.

        “But sis, how are we supposed to get our cutie marks if he isn’t a monster?” All I did was raise an eyebrow as Applejack sighed, readjusting her stetson hat and looking back at the young pony.

        “Like I told yeah before, it takes time for somepony to find their cutie marks. You can’t just rush something like that and expect to get it that way.” All three of them whined a little before rushing back to a small tree house not far from the orchard as I began to follow Applejack again. Now though, I had a question on my mind regarding what just happened.

        “Hey Applejack, what’s a cutie mark?”

        The earth pony looked back at me, raising an eyebrow. “You haven’t heard of a cutie mark before, yet you have been living around ponies for the past couple of days… How does that happen?”

        “The subject never really came up.” I told her, sighing as I put my hands in my pockets and shrugged my shoulders. “Care to give me a quick explanation so I don’t look like an idiot in public?”

        “It’s pretty much shows you what your special talent is.”

        I looked back at her, intrigued a little. “So, it’s something that defines what you’re good at? What does your cutie mark mean then?” I asked, trying to stay on topic while getting to know the earth pony a little better.

        “Apple farming, pretty much anything to do with apple related stuff.”

        “I guess it runs in your family?” I asked, followed by a brief explanation on what I meant. “Back where I’m from, some traits are passed down from parents to their children.”

        “Really? That’s just weird.” Well, at least I tried.

        “Yeah, I thought so too when I first heard it.” I replied. “So, what’s the rest of your family like. I can guess that Applebloom is your little sister? Based on how she spoke to you and called you sis?”

        “Yeah we’re sisters.”

        “Wow… I wonder how that feels like,” I muttered as she continued trotting and I continued walking next to her. “I’m the only child in my family.”

        “Sorry to hear that… You know you could always join our family.” Hearing that though was… surprising. I never thought that a mare I just met would offer something like that after talking with her for just a few minutes.

        “Thanks. Can I think on it though? I have a lot of things going on right now and some things are more complicated than others.” I asked her, remembering Zinnia and the hoard I was now a part of.

        “Well okay then, why don’t we head off to Ponyville before it gets late?” I nodded my head in agreement, allowing her to guide me into the town as I followed the farm pony. As soon as we head on in, all the eyes of the civilians were on me. Sure, I wasn’t quite exactly normal, but being stared down by a bunch of eyes gets really creepy after a while. Even the children there were worried, some of them asking if I was going to eat them.

        When we arrived at the castle though, Applejack soon knocked on the door as another voice soon echoed from behind the crystalline barrier. “Who is it?”

        “It’s me Twi, Applejack.”

        The door soon swung open inward as I noticed a Lavender colored pony open the door. “Hello Appleja-.” Now her eyes were locked onto me… Great…

        “Now Twilight, before you say anything-.”

        “Applejack, why is there a human from the mirror world of Canterlot High here in Equestria?”

        “Mirror what now?” I asked, surprising the… unicorn with wings that I was looking at.

        “Twilight, this is Ken. I found him on my orchard earlier today and he told me some… things that I think you should know about,” The Earth Pony stated. “May we please come inside?” This… Twilight, was very hesitant at first. Of course, I sort of understood why. It must have been intimidating to meet someone new of a different species. I felt that way when meeting Maple and Mystic. It didn’t take long though for her to welcome us inside the crystalline castle that she called home.

        “So Twi, where is everypony today?” The farm mare asked her friend as we walked on into a huge room with a big map the size of a round table in those old legends of King Arthur back on earth.

        “Well, Pinkie is helping the Cakes out with the Twins, Fluttershy is back at her cottage taking care of the animals, Rarity is in Canterlot because of some offer to start a boutique there and Rainbow is with Spike, which I had run a couple of errands.”

        Spike? That’s an odd name for a pony. Then again, so was Twilight. “Who’s Spike?” I asked Twilight as she used her magic to pull up a couple of chairs from a nearby room.

        “He’s my assistant. He may be a young baby dragon, but he’s like a little brother to me.”

        I raised an eyebrow at the dragon part. It was funny that she mentioned that. Given my current circumstances and being part of a pact with a dragon. Around then though was when she was looking at my arm as I saw her expression changed from curious… to concerned. “By Celestia, what happened to your arm?”

        “That… is a lot to explain.” I glanced at Applejack, who nodded her head in agreement to my brief statement. Her friend though… was unconvinced.

        “Please, explain why your arm looks like that of a dragon’s arm?” Now I sighed deeply.

        “That’s because I’m a Scalebound. I made a pact with Revaan, a onyx dragon who is the last of his kind and my arm is a representation of that pact. He is my teacher, partner and friend. So, in layman’s terms, I’m part dragon.”

        “So you’re a human from the mirror world with the powers of a dragon?”

        “What the hell is this mirror world you keep mentioning? I was originally from Earth, but then ended up here on unusual circumstances.” I told her. Whatever this mirror world was, it sounded nothing like my old home at all. But what I needed was some answers on what exactly it was before I feel like smashing my head into a wall.

        “Well the mirror world is like a parallel universe of Equestria. Only thing different about it is that it populated by humans.”

        Yep, that definitely did not sound like Earth. “Do you have any photographs or something like that? I mostly do better with a visual reference.”

        “Maybe this picture of me at Canterlot High might help.” I took a look at a photo she passed over to me using her levitation magic and what I saw… kinda made me flinch.

        “Yeah… Definitely not where I’m from, that’s for sure,” I sighed, handing the picture back. “Maybe it’s because I’m what some ponies call a Displaced.” The idea for that came from when Zinnia explained to me how the entire thing worked. I was dimensionally misplaced from my home and so was she. Maybe that could somehow clear up some confusion.

        “The hay is a Displaced?”

        “It’s short for Dimensionally Misplaced,” I clarified for Applejack as I turned back to Twilight. “Are you familiar with the possibility of other worlds existing or something along those lines?”

        “You mean multi-universe theory? Yes I’m familiar with that.”

        “Well, I was brought from my universe into yours. But, not only do I have the abilities of a Scalebound, but I’m a Displaced. They are other people like me who are sent to their own versions of Equestria under different circumstances. Personally, I’m all new to this, but my friend Zinnia gave me a brief explanation on how it worked.” I then took out the dragon scale that was my token and showed it to her. “If you are a Displaced, you can be called upon by other Displaced if they find the token you casted out into the void. However, it works two ways. You can either summon them or they can summon you.” The last part I personally believed depended on willpower, but it was unsure since the only time I had actually summoned a Displaced was by accident.

        “Are there more of you humans that are Displaced?”

        “Possibly. But like I said, I’m new to this so I’m not completely sure-.”

        “GET AWAY FROM THEM, YOU MONSTER!” The sudden voice had me turn around, only to use my arm to protect myself from a cyan blur that few into the room at very fast speeds. If it weren’t for my reflexes, I might’ve been launched into a wall. But instead, she fell face first into the crystalline floor. Yeah… that definitely had got to hurt.

        “Rainbow Dash, calm down. Ken here isn’t monster, just a… complex looking human.”

        Really? Again? That’s twice now I had to hear that! Once was okay, but now you’re just pushing it.

        “You okay, Ken?” I nodded my head briefly in response to Twilight, before noticing a fourth figure by the door. The figure looked to be holding some kind of magazine as it walked into the room. “Okay I’m back and……  why is Rainbow Dash on the floor?”

        “She… Well…”

        “Why is there a human from the mirror world here? Oh no, did he fell into the mirror portal at Canterlot High?” Oh for the love of god, not again! This is the third time I’ve got to explain everything.

        “Actually Spike, he’s a complex human from another world.”

        Okay, THAT IS EVEN WORSE THAN BEFORE!!

        “Wait, you mean like an alien from another world? Oh, does he have one of those cool blasters that space aliens have?”

        I shook my head. “No, but I am part dragon. I’m a Scalebound.” I said briefly.

        “In some ways Spike, he’s kinda like a human with dragon powers.” Twilight told him.

        “Yeah, the story is a bit hard to explain, but I was going to get to something else. I was going to head back to the Temple where I live with my partner, Revaan and the rest of the community that lives there. Applejack offered to come with me, so maybe you three would be interested in coming along.”

        “He might need some help with some stuff back home, so I figured I might be able to help him out for a while.”

        “What’s this about a community though?” Twilight asked.

        “They’re not like the ponies that Starlight Glimmer was leading with the equals thing back at Night Gliders village right?” Rainbow proceeded to ask her friend as she shook her head.

        “I don’t think so, hey Ken is there a pony named Starlight Glimmer where you live?”

        I shook my head. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that name before. Besides, where we live in is not in a village, but in a city inside a cliff in the badlands.” That though, caught their attention real quickly.

        “You live inside of a cliff in the badlands?”

        “That’s right,” I told her. “Revaan’s kind built their home inside the cliffs to protect themselves from those who would do harm to them. Now, Revaan lives there again and the community that’s there is composed of survivors from a burned down village destroyed by Lord Tirek and Changelings that were labeled as outcasts by the hive. They’ve been living in peace for some time. Hell, I kicked the ass of a dragon named Garble yesterday-.”

        “Wait, you kicked Garble’s butt?”

        “Sent him running with his tail in between his legs. Even one of his buddies decided to leave his gang to help Revaan and I out with the temple.” I smiled. That, got Spike’s attention as he looked like he was idolizing me. Twilight was impressed as well. But I think it was because she was intrigued when I said that Changelings and Ponies were living together in peace.

        “I knew it, he must be a spy sent to spy on us or something.”

        “Honestly, I was trying to get some apples back to my buddy.” I replied.

        “He’s telling the truth, Dashie.”

        “I’ll believe it when I see it. Till then I got my eyes on you pal.” I sighed, nodding my head a little. I kind of figured that she wouldn’t be that easy to convince. Ironically, she acted a lot like me back on Earth. The guy you would see that always had a reason not to trust one person or something along those lines.

        “I was thinking that we should get going before Nightfall. Would you need some time to prepare?” I asked. I figured that, given the length of the trip, they would pack some belongings with them just in case.

        “I sure we’ll be fine, plus I can always teleport back incase I need something.” Teleportation? Now that would be something that could come in handy. Yet, I don’t know how magic worked. Maybe Revaan was going to teach me that as a later lesson or something.

        “Okay, if you insist.” I replied with a gentle smile. “I arrived at Applejack’s orchard after coming through the Everfree-.”

        “Wait you were in the Everfree Forest? Don’t you know how dangerous that place is?”

        “Yeah, I had to fight a hydra for five minutes before high tailing it out of there.” I told them, pointing at the stains on my clothes and the sword I had on me.

        “... AJ, you sure he isn’t a spy or a monster trying to lure us into a trap?” All I saw from Applejack was her smacking herself in the face with one of her front forehooves and casting out a deep sigh.

        “I told ya before, Rainbow, he isn’t lying.”

Another Thirty minutes later…

        “Here we are.” I told my four companions as I soon approached the basin in which the Temple was hidden.

        “Bored, how long before we get to this so called home of yours?”

        “Right now actually.” I told them, walking up before I waved my hands outward. Soon though, what originally looked to be a flat wall began to split in half, opening up the pathway inside the community. As I turned around, I noticed all four of them had shocked looks on their faces.

        “Dear Celestia, this place is huge. How can all these ponies live in a place like this?”

        I smirked at Twilight’s comment as I noticed Maple come towards us as we walked in. “Come see for yourself. Maple! I brought some guests.”

        “Oh my! Why Ken, you are just full of surprises,” The changeling chuckled. “I’m Maple Leaf. One of the four ponies that help keep things running around in Obsidian Hollow.” She bowed in front of Twilight and the others before looking back at them with a curious glance. “What are your names?”

        “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight for short.”

        “I’m Applejack, it’s very nice to meet you.”

        “I’m Spike the dragon.”

        “Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria.”

        “Why, we’re honored to be in the presence of a Princess and her companions,” Maple smiled, looking back at Ken. “Oh and Ken, Revaan was wondering where you were. You might want to go see him.”

        I nodded my head, turning to head towards the temple. “Right away.”

        “W-Wait for me! I wanna see this Revann.” I heard Spike call out as he followed me. I heard a set of hooves following me as well and turned to see Applejack with us as well. She must’ve been interested to see Revaan because of the amount of times I mentioned him over the course of my visit. When I approached the temple though, the first individual to notice me was Fizzle. Who at the time was playing around with some kind of polearm that he found. My only guess was that he found the temple’s armory, a place that I personally would need to spend some time in myself once I found it.

        “Oh hey, Ken. Welcome ba-.” The dragon stopped speaking, dropping the weapon once he noticed who was behind me. “S-spike!?”

        “Um… do I know you?”

        “I was on the Dragon Migration! You know… Fizzle?” He then sighed, shaking his head. “Nevermind that. Revaan has been waiting for your return, Ken. Let me go tell him that you’re back.” The white dragon then went to the door that lead to Revaan’s chambers as he knocked on it a few times. The doors soon opened, leaving enough space for the onyx dragon to step out into the room we were in.

        “Mother of Celestia, that’s a huge dragon!”

        “Whoa! He’s freaking huge… you think he might win in an apple eating contest?” The Dragon turned around at the sound of the new voices and noticed me standing there with Applejack on my left and Spike on my left. He seemed like he was going to say something, but his eyes widened once he saw the young dragon that was with me. Lowering his head down, he soon got closer.

        “Zeik?” He spoke, catching Spike’s attention. He told me on the way here that he learned how to say his name in the dragon language, but was honestly surprised to see that Revaan… knew him.

        “Um… who’s Zeik?”

        “T-that’s my name… in the dragon language…” Spike stuttered. “B-but how-?”

        Revaan soon motioned for him to come closer and when he was close enough, the dragon hugged Spike, speaking only a few more words in the draconic tongue. Only causing Applejack to look back at me in confusion.

        “What did he say?” I looked back at her, trying my best to hold back my own emotions over what was happening. Clearing my throat, I then answered her question.

        “He said… I’ve missed you… Son.”