Bound by Scales

by FrostTheWolf

11- Scales and Snow

        It had been a couple of weeks since both Applejack and I met Gregar and in that timeframe, a lot has happened. For one thing, Fizz and Revaan had begun being able to teach Applejack how to control herself in her dragoness form. Turns out, her transformation isn’t just for show. The change in form also allowed her to control the very earth that was around her. She can rush forward in a landslide to tackle someone, have a barrier of stones erupt from the ground underneath her hooves, turn those same stones into a huge boulder, have a series of Rock soldiers or what I personally called “Rumblers” emerge from the ground and so on. I think she could cause an earthquake as well, but I wasn’t quite sure. Personally, I was just trying to get used to some new changes on my end.

        First off, after my fight with Gregar, I thought I change out some of the properties of parts of my gear. Primarily, my arrows. They were not wooden anymore, but instead made of lightweight metal with a spearlike tip at the end thanks to a weaponsmith that Maple knew outside the temple. The normal ones were almost complete, but I was told that my other arrows like my incendiary and explosive arrows were going to take a lot longer to make because of the type of arrows that they were.

        Second, after another session with Coryena, I now was trying some new methods with the abilities I already have and trying to accommodate them to my combat style. In the long run though, it’s still a work in progress and I think with time, I will be able to get some new skills to add to the routine. The hard part though will be trying to come up with something unique with them so I could catch my opponents by surprise.

        The final part, which ironically I was trying to do now, was marksmanship. After Gregar left with his friend, they left behind a little present in the form of a hand cannon with the name “Hawkmoon” etched across the bottom of the barrel. I personally have never had to use a gun before back home, but I did pass the test from the NRA to show that I could properly handle one. However, this one was anything BUT the firearms back home and just from the practice sessions I have been doing with it, I noticed a couple of things. One, every once in awhile, one of the shots I would fire would cause more damage to the intended target that I was firing at than my previous shots. Two, at certain times, two more shots would do considerable bonus damage to a target. Three, this weapon didn’t ammunition to fire, but could convert my energy into shots.

        Currently, I was practicing my aim and trying to focus on the target in front of me. In this case, was an apple. But only a few seconds later did a familiar voice startle me, affecting my concentration.

        “Hey Sugarcube-.”

        Seconds after I heard that, I unintentionally squeezed the trigger, causing the shot to go off and for the top half of the apple to be blown off from the rest of it. I looked back at Applejack, who was a bit startled by the time I put the weapon away. “Sorry about that, you startled me for a second,” I apologized, looking back at the mare. “How are you?”

        “O-okay. Just… surprised.”

        It was then I realized that this was the first time she actually saw me practice with the firearm. The other times were either she was with her friends or had to be called by some “Cutie Map” or whatever they called the dining room table in Twilight’s castle.

        “I’m sorry if I startled you.” I said, trying to be sincere.

        “It’s okay, sugarcube. It happens… which reminds me… Can we talk for a moment?”

        “Yeah, sure.” I replied, walking down the hall to our room. Normally, with conversations involving Applejack, they can go a variety of ways. However, there are a few main topics that I normally could pick up on when we do get the chance to talk. First, there’s family. When it came to this topic, it mostly meant events going on with the family that I was there to be a part of. This even included when we met Pinkie’s family earlier in the week for an early celebration of Hearth’s Warming. Which was actually their version of Christmas. Second, there’s friends. Mostly involving her having to do something with Twilight and the others. The last possible topic that would apply here would be us… and that could imply many things.

        “So, what do you want to talk about AJ?” I asked her as I took a seat in a nearby chair.

        “Well… Ah want to talk a bit about us…” She told me, looking at me with a sincere glance. “It’s almost Hearth’s Warming, so ah was wondering if you had anything planned.”

        I shook my head. “Sorry AJ, but I don’t. Trying to help out in the temple and at the hollow have had me busy.”

        “Ah see… Well, ah have an idea for something if you want to hear me out for just a second.” She said to me as she trotted over to my right. “Why not take me with ya next time someone calls for ya?”

        “Wait… You want to come with me next time a Displaced summons me?”

        “Why not?” The mare smiled. “It can be fun. After meeting Zinnia and Asphyxious, ah’m kinda curious as to what some other Displaced are like.” I thought about it, then realized that she was right. Plus, the circumstances were different now than the first time we met. Now, she could turn into a dragoness, had powers and was familiar with Displaced like I was.

        “Alright, sure.” I replied back, getting up from my chair as she followed me out into the center of the temple as we were talking. Around then though was when I noticed Revaan step out of his quarters and look at both of us, smiling a little before casually greeting us like he normally would.

        “Morning, big guy. Did you sleep well?” Applejack asked, causing me to chuckle a little because of the context in which she phrased that sentence.

        “More or less.” He groaned, stretching out his cramped wings before folding them back into his body. “There we go… much better. I hate it when my wings get cramped like that.”

        “Ah’m thankful that this new form doesn’t come with wings. Flying always sounds hard to do.” Applejack replied. “Ah sometimes wonder how Rainbow Dash does it so easily.”

        “It takes practice.” Revaan replied. It was around then though that I felt a slight tug. I looked up, noticing that Revaan and Applejack were also feeling the same sensation as I deeply sighed.

        “Applejack, remember when you said that you wanted to come with us next time we get summoned?” I asked her. All she did was soundly nod her head for a moment before I smiled. “Well, today’s your lucky day.” She smiled happily as we went over to where Revaan was standing, shortly before the three of us were whisked away to who knows where.

Elsewhere

        The second that we got out of the portal, my face hit the cold ground and I was greeted by white. Snow was falling everywhere and from the looks of it, there were a few cabins scattered across the winter plains. When I noticed that and noticed how Revaan was basically looming over the cabins like how the ghost of christmas present was in the old disney Christmas carol cartoon, I personally groaned to myself as Applejack and I walked over to him.

        “Revaan, please don’t tell me that someone brought us here to terrorize a whole town.” I groaned as I looked around. Only to hear a very familiar voice come to greet us.

        “It was me!” I turned around at the sound of the voice and was soon tackled into a hug by the same lich that I had only met a few weeks ago. Asphyxious. A little bit behind him was a pink dragoness, who seemed to be patiently waiting on him for something. “I thought you and AJ could join the party, also the Pink Dragon apart of my hoard so no biting.”

        “Oh, Hi Asphy! Nice to see you guys.” I smiled, sighing a little to myself as I looked back at him. “Oh and for the second part, wasn’t planning on it.” Looking around now, I finally began to see that this was indeed a christmas party. And it seemed like someone had gone through a LOT of effort in order to host an event as big as this one. Before I could ask the Lich about it though, I saw two individuals crash through a nearby window. One was a pony and the other a Draconequus, but both of them had red lightsabers and were fighting one another in the snow.

         “Well… someone’s ready for The Force Awakens…” I chuckled, looking back at Revaan. I didn’t necessarily pay a lot of attention to the fight that was happening, but judging from the expression on Revaan’s face, he seemed to find the playful duel with lightsabers… amusing to say the least. However, just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier, someone that resembled Edward Kenway in a Christmas outfit soon jumped onto Revaan frontlegs as he looked back at the Onyx Dragon.

        “Please don’t let me get dog piled again… Scales… Warm… Am I hugging a dragon for protection right now?” He asked, soon realizing what exactly he was doing and turning around to look at me.

        “Yes you are.” I deadpanned, facepalming myself.

        “And Who would you be? Also… Who is the dragon I’m hugging?” He then asked, looking at Revaan again briefly.

        “One… I’m Ken Ahkrin.” I said, introducing myself in the process. “Two, you're hugging my partner Revaan.”

        “Hello.”

        Revaan’s simple answer got the man to jump off of him as he brushed the dust off of his clothes and looked back at him. “I am terribly sorry for that, Mr. Revaan.” He apologized, offering a hand to shake, in which Revaan just used a talon to do so.

        “It’s okay. A lot of things happen and I’m kind of used to it.” he replied, turning his attention back to the battle taking place in the snow. As for the Captain though, he soon turned around, facing Applejack and I as he greeted me.

         “And Mr. Ahkrin I don’t think we’ve met before.” Holding out his hand for a shake, in which I shook back out of respect.

        “Me neither. This is quite a large amount of people if you ask me.” I commented, only to turn around and notice someone in a blue long jacket approach the two of us. This guy had blond spiky hair and also a long braid with some kind of metallic clip at the end of it. Must’ve been who he was displaced as.

        “Well, it seems like everyone is having fun.” He said to himself, but looking at the guy next to me. “If I knew this was a christmas celebration, I would’ve invited my Fiance’ Max.”

        The name of this “Max” person caught the captain's attention rather quickly as he smiled a little and handed what appeared to be his token to the two of us as he spoke. A metal skull that was the size of my fist and made of metal. “Ah so you are the one Max is going to marry, names Edward if you didn’t already know.”

        “Pleasure to meet you, Edward.” The Stranger replied, looking back towards me for a moment before speaking. “I take it you must be Ken? I heard about you from Zinnia.”

        “Yeah, that’s me. Though, she never mentioned anything about you.” I pointed out.

        “Well, we only met a couple of times, so it’s bound to happen.” He answered me, offering a hand for me to shake. “Lance Walker.”

        “Ken Ahkrin.” I said, shaking his outstretched hand.

        “Nice to meet you.” Lance replied, before looking at the roof of the nearby cabin for a minute. “You know, I was going to have my cousin Sun come down for a second, but after what happened earlier, he needs a much needed break.”

        “He called me a midget…” Edward grumbled.

        Well, when you came out in red, I think he mistook you for Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Case of Mistaken Identity, Mr. Kenway.” Lance sighed. That got me to chuckle a little upon looking back at him and realizing the resemblance. The two of them continued to talk for a little bit more until I noticed Lance looking back at Applejack and I for a brief moment. “Well, I’m going back inside. Ken, you want a cup of coffee?”

        “Oh you have no idea…” I replied, nodding my head briefly before turning around and asking Applejack if she wanted to come inside. She said yes, adding on the fact that she wanted to get some Apple Cider for herself. For me, I haven’t had coffee since I was Displaced. Normally, I would drink a cup a day back home. But with myself being Displaced for a long amount of time, it felt like when smokers go through what they call cold turkey. And let me tell you… it sucks… big time.

        Once we both walked into a wide kitchen area, Lance poured the two of us some hot coffee and added a bit of french vanilla creamer to add a bit of sweetness to it. Personally, I would prefer a hazelnut creamer, but french vanilla is a good alternative. Taking the coffee, we walked back to the living room and took a seat.

        “So Ken… I’m a little curious about a couple of things.” Lance said once we sat down. “First and foremost, and sorry if I sound rude, but what happened to your arm?”

        “Well, I’m a Scalebound.” I told him. “The Onyx dragon outside with Edward is my partner Revaan. My soul is linked with him and I’m trying to help him out since he’s the last Onyx Dragon back home. Now we’re trying to do what we can to bring back everything he lost.”

        Applejack herself soon trotted over with a platter to hold her cider on as she set it over on the nearby table. “He’s right. And ah am helping him out with that. What about you?” She asked him. “What’s your world like?”

        “Well… It’s a lot to explain.” He stated, causing Applejack to chuckle a little.

        “Oh come on now, sugarcube,” She said to him, taking a sip of her cider. “It can’t be that hard to explain to us about it.”

        “Well… That depends on how you look at it,” The teen replied back. “To start though, I’m an Adept. A human with a series of psychic powers that’s called a septima.”

        “Oh? What’s your power then Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, taking the words right out of my mouth. The Adept raised a hand, surprising the both of us when it looked like electricity was coursing through his body. I honestly thought he was hurting himself, but to my surprise, he was taking it quite well.

        “Lightning. That’s my power.”

        “That… sounds simple enough.” I responded.

        “In theory, yes. However, when you look a little more into it, it’s a little more complex than you might think,” The Adept explained. The next thing he did was quite surprising as he placed two fingers on my forehead before withdrawing them. “I see. Looks like you and Applejack are trying to raise a family.”

        Both Applejack and I looked back at one another, shocked. “Okay, how-?”

        “Neuroelectric energy runs through the body and primarily runs through the brain. Therefore, placing two fingers on your forehead allowed me to see your memories.”

        Okay, I have to admit… that was kind of cool…. Wait a second… “Hang on, what memories did you see?”

        “Just you two talking to each other next to an egg, so I just took a guess.” The Adept replied casually.

        “Well, ya guessed correctly.” Applejack smirked, taking another sip. “Ken and ah are trying to help Revaan out the best we can, so we tried to start a family.”

        “I see. Congratulations to the both of you.” He complimented as he took another sip. “I’m on the same boat as you guys. However, my family’s a little more… diverse.”

        “Care to explain?” I asked.

        “Well, I have four children with a fifth on the way. One of them being a Filly Rainbow Dash and another three being adopted. I have two Fiance’s named Max and Seph, who are very unique if I do say so myself,” He first started speaking, showing us a photograph of the family before continuing. “Aside from that, I know the guy hosting the party, Time Spinner.”

        “You do? How?”

        “Well, he asked me to try and help bring him back to my world because some jackass named Roach banished him from the world where I live at before I came here, so I promised to bring him back.” The Adept was just done speaking, when I noticed a familiar face to my right. Turns out, Asphyxious was in the room next to us and he decided to come join Lance, Applejack and I.

        “Hey Ken, how the egg doing? Has a little dragon come out yet?” Asphyxious asked as he sit down with the group. “When I got my first brood I was kind of worried yet happy to have them. I love those little trouble makers.” He said with a smile.

        I smiled, looking back at Lance. “Lance, this is Asphyxious. He’s a friend of mine-.”

        “And the same guy that was chasing my cousin all across the place,” Lance sighed, offering a hand to shake. “Still, it’s nice to meet you.

        “You too matey, but he was hitting on my little Pupa. I also may of had too much to drink…” the Lich said as he began to drink some more vodka.

        “Sun isn’t the type to be hitting on others. From what I saw, she was coming onto him. Also, Sun doesn’t understand social cues like that.” Lance told him as he looked back at me. “From what I heard, he’s trying to save himself for his marefriend.”

        “Aye laddy! I be post the sails and be on the mast!” Asphyxious slurs as he start to wonder off. I just looked at Applejack, a little bit concerned if he would cause any trouble in his drunken stupor.

        “Well… that happened.”

        “Yeah…” I said in response to Applejack. “I almost forgot to tell him that it’s still going to be a few months before the egg hatches.”

        “Is the child a boy or girl?” Lance asked us.

        “That… we don’t know yet.” I replied. “The eggs only been around for almost a month and it usually takes five months for an egg before it hatches. Well, that’s what Revaan told us.” In that moment, I noticed Applejack finish her drink and look back at me, almost with bedroom like eyes.

        “Ya know…” She cooed. “Ah wouldn’t mind havin’ a second child, Ken…”

        That, caught me by surprise. “Applejack… Are you drunk?”

        “Maaaybe…” She said, licking her lips.

        “That just answered almost every question I had,” Lance spoke, looking back at us as he moved forward in his seat. “Hey, if you two are trying to start a family, then did you two say your vows?”

        “O-our what?” Applejack asked, almost burping to herself.

        “You know… Get married?” The Adept’s words hit me harder that falling onto concrete. Were we actually going to get to that point? We can’t just go to a place like Vegas or however the hell it’s said back home and get it done there.

        “That… is still on the to-do list.” I replied. It was then that I had a look outside and noticed Revaan talking to another dragon that was just as tall as him. “Hey, it seems like Revaan’s met some fellow dragons.”

        “Wanna go check it out?” Applejack asked. I nodded my head and soon, both of us stepped outside. I was concerned that Applejack would be too tipsy to walk. But, I was surprised to see that she was holding her liquor very well when she was walking.

        “Seems that you found some company Revaan,” I said as AJ and I walked over to Revaan and the dragon next to him. “Who’s your big friend?”

        “That is Neltharion. Known as the Earth Wander in his realm.” the dragon replied.

        “The pleasures mine, though might I ask… what’s with your arm?” Neltharion asked

        “You mean my dragon arm? Comes with being a Scalebound.” I replied. “Revaan’s soul is bound to mine, so in a way, we’re connected.”

        “Strange how that is, in a way I understand that.” Neltharion responded as he looked back at us. “My brothers and sisters are each empowered by the Titans with a part of them, so far I have only found one of my lost siblings.”

        “You’re lucky. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. But Revaan just reunited with his son, Spike, three weeks ago.” I casually replied. I was starting to wonder how come Deathwing hadn’t noticed Applejack… and the fact that she had changed into an earth dragon just a few seconds ago. Only a few seconds later did we hear a large explosion go off and a snowy mushroom cloud form in the distance. “Yeah… that must be the snowball fight. Glad I’m not over there.”

        “What in the name of food coloring is going on over there!?” I heard somepony shot as I saw an angered stallion march up next to Applejack.

        “Somepony set off an explosion.” AJ said.

        Trying to be a bit more descriptive, I added on. “Or in Fallout terms, they set off an Atom bomb. Seriously... Those idiots, the last I heard from, are doing turf warfare.”

        “Atom Bombs aren’t just in fiction, they were real weapons back on Earth. So it’s not ‘Fallout terms’.” Okay, wise guy, I already know that. Can’t you take a joke?

        “I know that. I was comparing them to it because a snow mushroom cloud went off.”

        “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard…” He said as he began to hover. I heard Nel comment something else, but I wanted to try and help the stallion. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to hover up here, so I used my arm to try and pull him up so he could see.

        Turns out… that was not really the best idea.

        “What… The actual f*ck… ARE YOU DOING!?!?” He roared at me. “I’m a f*cking Displacer! I made this realm you idiot! I can fly! Don’t you ever man handle me again!”

        Oh for god's sake, it was just one mistake! Don’t try to rip my head off!!

        “Yeah…… I was just trying to help you before that snow cloud disappeared-.” That was when a white fluffball smacked me dead center in the face. When I looked back at it, I soon realized that the fluffball itself was a Poro from League of Legends. “Okay, who brought Poro’s?”

        My question was heard on deaf ears as the stallion continued to rage at me. “I don’t care if you were trying to save my life, don’t touch me again or I’ll Displaced whatever family you had back home into a f*cking volcano, you sh*t head!”

        Okay seriously? This guy had anger problems.

        “Okay… Sorry about that… Shouldn’t you be going over there before they try killing themselves? I think things are a little more-. ” It was around then that I had turned around and found myself staring at another dragon that had showed up next to Neltharion. “Holy crap, bronze dragon!”

        “This is Nozdormu, the Timeless, he is the brother I was talking about.” The Earth Warden told us as the other dragon gave a slight bow.

        “Oh, nice. I’m Ken Ahkrin, Scalebound. This dragon right here is my partner Revaan and my friend Applejack.” I replied as the Poro on my head was beginning to lick my face. “This guy… he just landed on my head. Maybe call him Snowy?”

        “Fred sounds better.” The stallion grumbled as he hovered away. It’s official, I really am beginning to not like this guy. I can tolerate him, but he just pisses me off at times. So, I personally just decided to drown out the shenanigans around me. The noise and everything that was going on was too much for me and I rather not listen to any of it or the angered stallion in charge of the place. Then again, I’m beginning to think that this guy must be Time Spinner. The one that Lance had said about earlier.

        Speaking of the Adept, ten minutes after I placed my headphones on and halfway through the current song I was listening to. He seemed to be quite shocked by what was unfolding outside. Either that or it was because Asphyxious was chasing some faunus guy. I think it was the “Sun” person that Lance was talking about earlier. That was added on by the continued rambling from the Lich about his hoard mates and getting them things.

        But the topic of hoard did dawn on me for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Zinnia had still not responded to my letter from when I originally sent it. Second, there was Applejack. I knew that we were on good terms with our relationship and Lance did mention a few things for us to take care of. But something Applejack said to me had me wondering about if she really meant it.

        Did she really want to lay a second egg… or was that the alcohol talking?

        Eventually, I saw everyone walk inside with Lance, so AJ and I joined up with him while Revaan stayed outside and watched what happened next from the nearby window. The monkey faunus though had quite a spring in his step as he ran inside like something was chasing him. Hopefully, something other than Asphyxious. I did talk to him briefly to try and act curious, but all that did was spark up other people to join the conversation. Not the best idea personally.

        Anyways, there was one moment when Sun was speaking where I decided to speak up and on to it. “ … However, all that did was have me end up getting chased by the Undead Lich… dragon thingamajig. Seriously, I can’t remember what his name is to save my life.”

        Ladies and Gentleman, Asphyxious is not the best person to have as a role model.

        “Don’t give him any ideas. One time when he went into his dragon form, he was acting like a puppy. I think I got him to roll over once.”

        Another voice though caught my attention as I heard them speak. “Yes, I saw him do that.” Turning around, I found myself looking at a pair of spellcasters that resembled Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh. Or more likely, the reason why they are talking is because a wizard did it.

        “Decided to take a break from all the shenanigans?” I asked them, noticing Revaan turn his head outside to look at them. In a non-creepy way of course. “I think we haven’t met before.”

        “I am the Dark Magician the watcher of all displaced and co-founder of Neo Domino Town. I would say my other tiles but it would take to long.” Dark Magician said as he offer a hand. I shook it with my own dragon hand, introducing both Revaan and I as Applejack nuzzled against my side. Drinking another mug of cider.

        “Oh I already know who you two are. I don’t have the tile of watcher of all displaced for nothing.” The sorcerer replied as Nel and his brother entered the room.

        Okay, that could have many implications. Some more creepier than others.

        I briefly said hi to Nel’s brother before taking the chance to move back outside with Revaan. I didn’t want to leave him by himself in the cold, even though he was a dragon with fire for pete’s sake. But that didn’t last long as both AJ and I saw food appearing at the dinner table and we both raced over there.

        “Dibs on the apple pie!!” I hollered, thinking that Applejack would be up for it. As we were eating though, things became a little bit chaotic when Lance had surprised Time Spinner. How? Well, with his marefriend showing up (that being Lance’s Pinkie Pie) and meeting him under a wreath of mistletoe. Once that happened, the whole place became a riot and it was really affecting the two of them.

        I tried to help, but I’m not sure if I helped anyone at all with what I said. Especially if I had to yell at them in order to shut up. Eventually, Lance was able to properly escort the two of them out of the room and the Displaced draconequus that was named Loki began to give out presents. He even dressed himself up as Santa Claus to play the part.

        “Nice one… Hey Santa Claus… do you think that we might might be forgetting anyone?” I asked, looking around and wondering if anyone was missing. “I think Edward Kenway was on the roof…”

        Then, it clicked inside my head. “Oh crap… WE FORGOT ED!”

        “Don’t worry.” Loki pulled out another sack pulling Edward out of it.

        “That… is convenient…” I replied. As the night went on, many things happened. Most of them being events from the total craziness of all these Displaced being here in the same room. However, one thing I noticed was that Sun himself… was in a bit of a pickle. Specifically, with one of Asphyxious’ children. But what came next from the Lich’s… mate I think, really set off the Faunus like dynamite.

        “We all have a gift for you once we get home~” Purred Chrysalis as she kissed the other side of the Lich skull. “Also Pupa, if you’re going to bed with this Monkey use a condom.”

        Wrong move lady… Wrong move...

        “Okay, THAT’S IT!!” Sun snapped, throwing the condom that the woman had playfully put in his hands in the fireplace as it burned to cinders. “I’M NOT SLEEPING WITH ANYONE BECAUSE BEFORE I WAS SUMMONED HERE, I WAS GOING TO GET A GIFT FOR MY MAREFRIEND!” Breaking himself free, he took the Poro that was with him, zipped up his jacket and walked outside. “Now, if you would excuse me, I will be seeing myself out. Good night and merry christmas. I’m sorry if I angered anyone or hurt anyone, but I just about had it with the way I’m being treated tonight.” With that, the Faunus took his own token, tore open a rift for him to walk through, and returned home, closing the tear behind him so the lich’s daughter wouldn’t follow him.

        The silence that drifted on afterwards though was soon broken by Lance. “Moral of the story... pester a monkey too long and eventually, he’ll go bananas.” He tried making up for Sun’s behavior by giving the girl a life sized plushie of him, which I personally thought as clever, but then, another question was raised by another mare in the room.

        “What’s up with that monkey?”

        “Ever had that moment where you have bottled emotions that you haven’t used and they just blow up? Like when you shake a soda can before opening it?” Oh I think we have all been there before. “That’s my cousin for you. Plus, he told me that he was soon going to propose to his Fluttershy.”

        I saw a displaced that look like a Digimon soon speak up afterwards to add on to the conversation. “That's ironically how Devi was created… and good luck to him.”

        “That’s why he was frustrated,” Lance added on as he continued speaking. “Before coming here, he was trying to get a Christmas Present for Fluttershy, only for him to get tangled up in this web of shenanigans. At least things have settled down a bit… I think.”

        “If he wanted a gift for Flutters why didn't he ask for a pet to give to her? She loves animals.” Some other dude named Arthur spoke up.

        “Technically, Sun is a Faunus… who is part animal… He has a poro with him and also has a wolf pup back home named Grif. No, don’t ask me why, all I know is that the pup is lazy sometimes.”

        “At least he handle the shenanigans longer that racist Ben Ten at Ironman’s Christmas party.” Dark Magician said, nodding his head.

        Okay, how the bloody hell does that have to relate to this?

        “Don’t even get me started about when he visited my Fiance’ Max.”

        “I already know about what happen he visited her.” Dark Magician replied.

        “Let’s not go into details.” The Adept replied, only noticing a few faces looking at him with expressions that could only mean they wanted to know what happened. “We’re not talking about that around kids, you sick minded people!!”

        And now I begin to not pay attention to this conversation. Too many things regarding the bedroom if you ask me. I can’t believe a lot of them were actually willing to talk about it openly. God, that’s just weird. After a short while though, Lance began talking about another individual. One that went by the name Nicko. Apparently, some of the Displaced that this Nicko had met ran into Asphyxious before and judging from what he had to say, things didn’t turn out so well between both parties.

        Speaking of which, it was later that the said individual actually showed up in the cabin with a Draconequus and later, his niece. And boy, he hated being referred to by his height. I can tell though that he was strong, just from the fact that Asphyxious was actually asking for a duel from him. The same guy that forfeited a match against my Luna was now requesting duels from other people…

        He’s seriously going over his head.

        A little while later though, someone mentioned Zinnia and I had to clarify that she wasn’t this “Max” that was Lance’s Fiance. The Adept himself had to leave soon thereafter and the whole group got around to talking to Nicko. Giving him overwhelming support over the fact that some demons were soon going to try and take over his Equestria. I gave him my support as well, but it was around them that he mentioned a friend of his named Amy. From what I could gather, a lot of other people were comparing her to Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.

        Right on schedule, blood dripped from a nearby wall as she made her appearance.

        “HEY KIDS WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY?!”

        Heh… classic…

        “Hey, is it just me or there a dragon outside?” Nicko asked.

        “That’s Revaan and he’s my partner.” I briefly told him, shortly before seeing someone as Scout try to approach Amy and hit on her. As everyone went outside to watch two other Displaced go at each other in a fight, I was up on the roof with AJ, Nicko and Faith so they could be able to meet Revaan. Soon, Neltharion showed up next to him, but what I heard from the young girl was… kind of funny to say the least. Especially with the nickname she had for the Earth Warden.

        “Ah, hey Nelly,” Faith cheered, trying to hug the dragon once he touched down. “Good to see you! Merry Christmas!!”

        “Thanks I had to go see off my brother, he can’t stay away from the caverns of time for long.”

        “Never knew you had one. But then again, responsibilities.” Nicko said, looking around a bit in confusion. “Speaking of which, Where’s Lance and Sun? I heard they were here earlier.”

        “Lance left to bring his gifts to his family and Sun was being pressured by Asphyxious’ hoard mate and being chased around all night so he saw himself out.” I stepped in, explaining it as simply as possible.

        “Ouch…” He briefly muttered, before speaking again. “Guess you’re new here? Nicko Nocte, Rune Slayer.”

        “Ken Ahkrin, Scalebound and head of the Chroma Branch in the Kazoku family.” I said as we both shook hands. Soon a few others joined us as they struck up a conversation with Nicko on his end. Before he left though, he gave us a demonstration of his magic and I had to say, just from one cast alone, his power was ENORMOUS. Seriously, it was like Celestia, Luna and Twilight all combined their power into one source.

        Later, Lance returned, but that was in order to stop by briefly and return Time’s marefriend back home. AJ, Revaan and I just used the chance to stay outside and relax a little. However, that was kind of impossible because soon, the shenanigans going on inside the cabin were beginning to spill outside.

        I just stared at AJ, surprised as she was. “... Do they even realize it’s past midnight?”

        “Ah don’t think so.”

        “Hmm… Maybe they need a reminder.” Taking Hawkmoon from my bag, I fired a warning shot in the air, yelling soon afterwards. “ALL OF YOU, GO THE F*CK TO SLEEP FOR GOD’S SAKE!!! IT’S FREAKING MIDNIGHT!!!!”

        “MAKE US!!”

        “I GOT A DRAGON THAT CAN BURN THAT CABIN DOWN!!” I yelled back.

        “I DON’T SLEEP F*CKWAD!!”

        “I CONTROL THE ELEMENTS, BRING IT!!”

        Good lord, this is getting out of hand. Looking back at Applejack, who had the same expression that I had right now, I asked her something briefly. “AJ... shake things up?”

        “Those varmints might need it.” She said as she slammed a claw on the ground, causing a mini quake. That in turn got Loki to come out and talk to us.

        Do you want Time to be pissed?” Loki asked floating.

        “I bet he’ll already be pissed at what the hell you idiots are doing.” I said, looking back at AJ. “Applejack, I think they need a little bit of convincing.”

        “Highly doubt it. Unless those varmints want me to turn them into stone they better stay quiet… Oh look, there’s Zi.”

        “Wait, what?”

        “The f*ck is- Scales!”

        Uh oh… When exactly did Zinnia show up? Matter of fact, why does she look like she’s about to-. Oh god, not again. “Get your sexy ass in here! And bring Jubilee!”

        “Wha-!? No!” Jubilee cried out “Please no!”

        “Sorry Zi, but Revaan, AJ and I are getting tired. Did you get the letter I sent ya a week ago though?” I asked her.

        Yep,” the Draconid chimed happily, fishing a piece of paper from her bag. “Right here. My world?”

        “I was thinking the Temple at Obsidian Hollow. Maybe we can talk out the details when you aren’t… busy.” He suggested to her as he noticed Applejack personally yawn to herself. Again, more shenanigans persisted.

        “So… what now?” Someone that looked like a skeleton in a hoodie asked me.

        “Honestly,” I said, “I think that Revaan and I are just about done here-.”

        “AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”

        “And that’s my cue to leave.” I said as Applejack and Revaan strolled over next to me. Looking at the Dragon, I smiled. “Come on big guy, let’s go home.”

Some time later

        Arriving home now was actually the shortest time I was back at the temple. I set Applejack down to sleep, who was quite tired and still a little tipsy from the cider she had. But she and I had a small talk beforehand concerning something. She wanted to ask me about if the relationship we had should be open or not. And when she meant open, she meant in terms of sleeping with others. Something that I personally wasn’t sure of, but I couldn’t just say no.

        I agreed with her on having the relationship be open, but I also told her that we shouldn’t keep things a secret. If one does something, the other should know. That way, no surprises come up. Applejack was on board with that, shortly before going to sleep.

        I however, couldn’t sleep much of the night. The thought of being a father still bothered me. I personally wasn’t sure if I felt ready or not. But I also knew that I couldn’t really back down from the task. I had to stay strong. For AJ’s sake… for Revaan… for everyone I know and care for. I had to stay strong for them.

        Around an hour before dawn, I couldn’t take much of having to be forced to lie awake and wonder. So instead, I left a note for Applejack and Revaan as I opened a doorway with my energy. I was going to go back to the party. Hopefully, I didn’t miss out on too much while I was gone.

        “Merry Christmas day-.” Seconds after I said that upon entering, I began to wonder what the actual hell did I just walk into. Everything around me was a complete mess and some of the displaced that were there had their clothes missing. I swear to god, if someone said something about me while I was back home… “Okay, what the hell happened while I was gone? I had a feeling I was blamed for something I didn’t do.”

        “Unless you did something to get me drunk to the point where I can’t remember what I did last night?” said the one named Amy as I look back at her.

        “Oh I remember~” Purred one mare with a smile at Amy.

        “I did not do anything to get you drunk. Most of the time, I was with Revaan and my Marefriend.” I told her. “Why? Did something come up?”

        Another Displaced, one that resembled Blaze the Cat, soon replied afterwards. “A lot of us got drunk and very horny last night. What do you think happened?”

        Oh good lord, Zinnia did do something. “Honestly, I left the moment one of you was with Zinnia and screamed so loud, the house almost came down. Speaking of Zi, did she mention to you about her brother?”

        That was when I noticed Asphyxious with a chef’s hat on, cooking what appeared to be bacon as he soon noticed me talking to the others. “I don’t know about any of that but grub up.” Amy shortly left the room afterwards as the conversation soon drifted on about Zi and her family. However, things got a little out of hand when Dark Magician soon mentioned something regarding the list of people she had slept with. A list I personally would rather not want to see. When the conversation soon became a little out of hand, my attention was elsewhere when I noticed a darkened version of Twilight shove her face into the snow outside.

        “Um… Is she okay?”

        “Beats me.” I turned around to see a darkened version of Fluttershy this time looking at me. Curious enough, I responded to her, only to have Zinnia reference Family Guy with the phrase “Smells like sweat… and shame…” It was only then that the other Twilight, who was named Brutalight, was screaming out loud as her wings flare up. Asking what was up, the Fluttershy I was talking too then (named Fluttershout) said something after Bruta constantly kept screaming about her not sleeping with anypony.

        “Yeah, she’s been talking to Rainbine for half an hour. If she did sleep with Rainbine I’d smell… Seed? On her.” Fluttershout said.

        “Oh god, don’t tell me THAT happened.” I rasped, facepalming myself. “Now I’m getting Zinnia flashbacks.”

        The conversation still continued, leading to a lot of the others who participated leaving to various parts of the cabin thereafter. However, Brutalight was still there in the same room I was when the others left. I was… interested to find out more about her.

        “I like your sense of humor.” I told her, shortly after she made a small joke.

        “Thanks, being a team leader doesn’t let me do-” She soon froze thereafter, and with her not being able to talk to me, somepony else came in the room shortly afterwards. An alternate version of Pinkie Pie from first glance… and damn it, she looked cute.

        “Good morning!” I greeted her as she turned towards me.

        “Nice to meet ya! I’m Pinkis!” The red mare said grinning. “Guess you already met Brute… Have you met anyone else?”

        “Yeah I met Fluttershout, saw Rainbine step outside… Jubilee if she counts. Other than that, that’s everypony. May I ask what are you guys? Just to be on the safe side?”

        “Okay. I’m a member of the Elements of Insanity, a Displaced group that are based off the Elements of Harmony. Only ones you haven’t met are Apple Pills, Rarifruit, Derpigun, Karateloo, Francie Bloom, and Creepy Belle.”

        Elements of Insanity? That’s a new one. “Well, that’s quite a group you got there. Names Ken Ahkrin. Nice to meet you Pinkis.”

        She was about to reply, until another pony came in, calling her insults that I saw as uncalled for and flat out rude. Eventually though, we were able to start over with our handshake as I spoke again. “So… If you guys are the Elements of Insanity, which one do you represent. I heard Rainbine is pride, so should I assume it’s based on a few of the seven deadly sins?”

        “Yeah, I’m Gluttony, Rarifruit over there is Greed, Apple Pills is Lust, Fluttershout is Envy, Derpigun is Sloth, and Brutalight is Wrath.” We had a small conversation thereafter, but with the amount of noise going on, I offered for us to continue somewhere else. With that in mind, we moved locations. Somewhere where it was just the two of us and no other distractions. I asked her if she could tell me more about herself, mostly because she reminded me of someone I used to know. But who it was, I was unsure.

        “I was studying to be an actor, I wasn’t really liked by most… Maybe it was because of how I acted, or maybe because I bit the principal… I don’t remember. I met my friends, the other Elements, when I got into a fight with Derpigun and Rainbine. Only one I didn’t meet that day was Brute.” Pinkis started. “We were forced to be friends, but we soon found that we enjoyed each others company. Brutal met us later when Flutters wanted us to meet her brother figure. Other than that, there’s not much I remember.”

        The first part though got my attention. “An actor? I remember a friend of mine when I was was like five who dreamed to become one. She really liked stories and always wanted to try to play the leading role in some of her favorite tales. It was too bad I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her before my family had to move to San Francisco.”

        “Well I hope she got her wish. It’s a nightmare in the lead though.”

        “Actually, you remind me or her.” I commented again, thinking to myself briefly. “Now what was her name… I remember it started with an H… Harper I think?”

        She just stared at me when I said the name. Shocked. “Uh… That’s my name… Harper Liz South.”

        Then it dawned on me. The name of my friend back then was the same name of Pinkis. Could it be… really her? Well, only one way to find out. But when I tried, she couldn’t remember if it was me or not. Nevertheless, I couldn’t give up now.

        It was only when I told her that Harper was the only one who was allowed to call me Kenny that she finally remembered. And my god, did I miss her. I was apologizing up and down, telling her that I was sorry for leaving her. She told me I had no choice, but I just couldn’t accept that personally.

        That may be true, but it was my choice of wanting to make things up to her. And it all started when she and I first kissed each other. The rest… Well, that’s another story.

        When I first woke back up, I was trying to process everything that happened. Shortly after another Displaced snuck into the room briefly, I turned towards Pinkis and soon remembered everything.

        We just slept together. Well, now I feel like I screwed up.

        It was then though that I heard something scratch at the door. “What the hell? Who’s there-?”

        This was followed by more scratching. Which in turn got me to finally get off my ass and walk to the door. Opening it though caused whatever was at the door to throw me backwards as it was torn off it’s hinges. Looking up caused me to stare into the face of not one, but four velociraptors. Okay, just who turned this place into Jurassic World?

        The raptors were giving him puppy eyes and watering mouths. Begging a little and asking for one thing… Bacon. It was then though that I remembered that somehow, two plates of bacon were somehow placed in the room, causing the four of them to rush past me to eat them. However, they weren’t satisfied yet. They wanted more. I personally tried to tell them that I didn’t have anymore food, but then I realized that Pinkis might’ve somehow kept some to herself. I tried warning her, but some more shenanigans caused the mare to be disturbed awake.

        It was then that the craziness accelerated into overdrive. Almost everything was a blur and when the two of us were finally alone again, Murphy’s Law came into full effect when Pinkis was smacked in the flank with a pair of undergarments that materialized from nowhere. Asphyxious came in, asking what happened as I briefly informed him of what transpired, trying to focus on helping the mare as I removed the undergarments that were forcefully put on her. She was trying to relax and calm down after that, still tense from what happened.

        “Is there anything else I can do to help? Anything I can get you?”

        “Some waffles sound nice… Go find Nizar, she’ll make some I th-think…” Pinkis groaned.

        “Where can I find her?” I asked.

        “Kitchen… Uh… Thirteen rooms to the left is her bedroom though, try there.” I nodded my head, following her instructions as I approached her door and softly knocked.

        “Whaaaaaaat!?” The mare inside groaned as she slowly opened the door.

        “I’m sorry for bothering you, but are you Nizar by any chance?”

        “Yes… You here for breakfast? No one comes around here unless they’re hungry… Or they don’t come at all...”

        I took some time to explain what happened and after that, I was accompanying the mare as she made her way to the kitchen. We talked for a little while as she cooked up the waffles, but it was during this conversation that I found out something about Pinkis.

        She was a Cannibal. Not by choice though. I guess that explained the reason for her not being comfortable around other people. Not to mention her other fears involving hurting or eating loved ones. I guess that was something that I wanted to help comfort her with. Well, both AJ and I… oh crap, I needed to introduce her to Applejack.

        When I got the waffles and brought them to her, I soon mentioned that I was wanting her to meet the earth pony that I knew back home. She was surprisingly agreeable with it, which caused me to summon the earth pony. Immediately, both earth ponies were getting along with one another quite well as they continued to talk after I briefly caught her up to speed. At one point though, Applejack had one thing on her mind as she looked at Pinkis.

        “Ah’m a little curious about one thing though… Why do you smell like Ken and why does Ken smell like you?”

        A blush began to form on Pinkis’ face as she looked back at AJ. “I- Uh… We… Slept together…”

        To my surprise, she wasn’t upset at all… She was actually… glad? “Ah see… Well… can ah ask you something Pinkis?”

        “You just did, silly!” Pinkis almost laughed.

        “Ah meant something else…” Applejack sighed as she got closer to her. “Do you two have room for one more?”

        “Uh… S-sure…?” Pinkis stuttered.

        “That’s all ah needed to hear…”

        “Well, that was interesting to say the least.” I thought to myself as we began to walk outside. Pinkis was going to introduce her to the rest of her friends, but when we first met them, the reaction I heard immediately… wasn’t quite what I was expecting. However, we soon were able to get introductions out of the way as I met each of her friends. Some other things began to crop up along the way, but eventually, I let Revaan come join us in the conversation.

        Shortly after arriving, Revaan soon became a little… playful to say the least. When I turned around, I found out that the Dragon actually licked Rainbine’s mane and tail.

        “Really? Was that necessary?”

        “What? She got too close. Plus, I always wanted to taste the rainbow like how one of the other Displaced described it.” He sighed, looking back at the two mares. “And that was rather… Sweet. Should I-”

        “TMI, Revaan… TMI.”

        It was then though that things began to go downhill as Rainbine’s front hooves turned into arm cannons as she took aim at Revaan. I tried to tell her to not attack him, but she opened fire anyways. Sending pain down my body as I dropped to the ground. Pinkis was worried for me as her friends tried to tackle Rainbine. But it was when AJ told her about my bond with Revaan that she snapped. Hurling herself towards her friend as she used her teeth to tear at Rainbine. I personally remember everything that happened, but couldn’t believe it. Brutalight though was able to used her own “methods” to put an end to the chaos.

        We had a short talk thereafter. Mostly about Time Spinner. But it was at one point where I thought about something and then posed it as a suggestion for them.

        “Well, I was going to suggest this to Pinkis, but I was gonna ask you guys about if you wanted to stay at the temple I live in from time to time.” I asked them. “Not like ALL the time, but just when you guys need to take a break from the craziness.”

        “I have one condition!” Rainbine said, flying up to my face. “I get a large room away from Revaan, and I don’t get disturbed when I’m working on tech. If I get that, I wouldn’t mind crashing there once and awhile.”

        “Done. All of you guys are welcomed. Applejack is staying with me as well from time to time and Revaan & I are no strangers to Displaced. Plus, Revaan usually prefers to stay in his own personal quarters so he would not disturb anyone else.”

        “Thank you for the offer, I might take you up for that.” Brutalight replied, followed by a few more nods from her fellow team members. “Anymore questions?”

        “Just one… Would you guys like to go there now?”

        “Sure.” They all said as I got my token and looked at Revaan, conjuring a portal to the temple as Revaan soon stepped through. After that, I smiled, holding my hand towards the gateway like a gentleman.

        “Ladies first.” I said, each one of them soon stepping through afterwards. Followed by Pinkis, Applejack and I.

        Pinkis looked around in awe as did Rainbine, Apple Pills and Rarifruit. Brutalight didn’t seem to care, and Fluttershout was just looking at her hooves.

        “Here we are,” I told them as Revaan excused himself to his personal quarters. “Home sweet home. We got a lot of things here, including a portal to Twilight’s castle, a huge library, training grounds, mess hall and a massive kitchen. Many parts of the temple are yet to be explored, but that makes it more exciting.”

        “Ooohhhh~ Sounds fun!” Pinkis said, smiling brightly.

        “Mind if I start building something?” Rainbine asked.

        “Go for it. We still have a lot of open rooms on the west and north side of the temple since the east and south are reserved for when the other branch leaders visit one day.” I told her. “Just be careful around Mystic. She’s a Unicorn that likes both Magic and Machinery.”

        “Noted… Wait, why should I be careful?” Rainbine’s eyes widened.

        “She gets really frustrated when there’s something she can’t understand. Trust me, she was cursing her head off when she couldn’t translate Draconic.” I explained. “Otherwise, she’s a good pony. Another thing for all of you to keep in mind though is that the nearby community of Obsidian Hollow is home to many species. Ponies and Changelings live together there actually.” Looking back at Pinkis, I then chuckled a bit. “Go ahead and make yourselves at home.”

        Pinkis zipped off, Rainbine teleported, Apple Pills screamed as she went flying after a bottle, Rarifruit started trotting away while Fluttershout and Brutalight stayed though.

        “So…” Brutalight said. “I guess messing with the locals is out of the question.”

        “That depends… Though, for now, you should stay here. Rather not have a case of mistaken identity and have them mistake you for Twilight.” I suggested to her, just to be on the safe side. “Plus, Zinnia has already done some messing around here before. It’s the reason for my bite mark.” I soon had that mark glow along my shoulder, showing them what I meant.

        “H-how’d you g-get th-that…?” Fluttershout asked.

        “Like I said, Zinnia messing around… You do know what this means in dragon culture right?” I asked them. “It means that a female has claimed a male and it’s a sign for other females to stay away… However, how it happened in this instance… was not my choice.” Instead of having to explain it to them though, I decided to do something else. “You wanna look around a little?”

        “Weird… And sure…” Brutalight then smirked evilly. “I think I’ll go introduce myself…”

        Why do I have a feeling that this is not going to end well? “Just don’t do anything crazy.” I warned her, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully, she would listen… Hopefully.

        When the Alicorn was gone, Fluttershout turned to me. “Our groups name ends with insanity… She’s gonna do something crazy…”

        “I figured as much.” I sighed, looking around a little. This was going to be a LONG night.