//------------------------------// // 20- Never Looking Back // Story: Bound by Scales // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// Bound by Scales- Never Looking Back Point of View: Ken         A few days have passed since when I was in the Dragon Lands and things have… well sort of gotten back to normal I guess. I say that because it was a little strange to try and have Ember adjust to a lot of social customs that she wasn’t familiar with at all, along with the barrage of constant letters that we would get from Twilight regarding Spike’s safety and also the numerous amount of questions she had for Ember on Dragon culture. But that wasn’t the only reason why returning to the hollow took a bit either. Revaan suggested for us to stay for a little bit to make sure that Ember was comfortable with her new position first before returning home since she didn’t have her father beside her for guidance this time around. Something that I could relate to personally… even if I didn’t lose a family member or anything like that, I had not seen my mother in a long time, so my father had to play the role that Torch would play in giving me support and guidance for the road ahead. That way I could make choices in my life and never have to look back and ask myself if the choice I made was the right one.         However, one of the things I hadn’t had the opportunity to try on my own was to figure out my newest set of weapons. The dragon arms that called themselves Norok and Ruvaak Iiz. I had a talk about it with Coryena and she hypothesized that the souls of the dragons that were forced to do the bidding of Nightmare Moon would become Dragon Arms as both a sign of thanks for freeing them… and a sign of trust. Yet, personally, I was only familiar with how to use the blade, bow, and hand cannon that I had acquired previously along with my spear. Not a pair of Gauntlets and Greaves. Which of course, leads to right now… When I finally returned back to the Hollow with Revaan by flight so Revaan could stretch his wings and the first person I saw was my friend from back home, Aaron.         “Hey there you are,” He replied as Revaan touched down and I leaped off of his back. As the dragon himself returned back to his quarters to get some much needed rest, Aaron greeted me with a fistbump. I also happened to noticed both of his death weapons, Fire and Thunder, alongside him in their physical form. “Welcome back. I was beginning to wonder when you would come back.”         “Thanks man,” I replied, looking around a bit before I posed a question for him. “Where’s AJ and her friends, just out of curiosity?”         “She went back to Ponyville to help Twilight with something and from what I last heard, Rainbow got accepted as part of the Wonderbolts. Though, I also heard from her that getting adjusted up there is not quite that easy for her,” Aaron informed me, putting his hands in his pockets. “Don’t worry. Fire, Thunder and I have been looking over Magma and Ruby for you and AJ while you were away.”         “Thanks man, I really appreciate your help,” I told him, causing him to scratch the back of his head and say that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Now though, a new thought came into my head as I looked back at him along with Fire and Thunder. “Hey, while we’re on the subject, would it be possible if you can help me with something?”         That caused him to raise an eyebrow for a minute and fold his arms. “Dude, I honestly never thought that you would ask me of all people for help… because I’m not the best person when it comes to advice… especially advice on relationships-.” I facepalmed in response, groaning a little by the way he took things too far out of context.         “That’s not the kind of help I was asking for,” I clarified to him, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. “I acquired some new gear on my trip to the dragon lands and I need some practice with it. I’m good when it comes to fighting with hand to hand combat, swords, halberds, and what not, but I think you can help me with this one.”         “Okay, what is it exactly?” He then asked in an attempt to acquire more information. “I can’t help you unless I know exactly what I’m dealing with.” Taking a moment, I had him follow me to the training grounds, where I soon called upon Norok first as I let it materialize on my arms and allowed myself to adjust to the newfound weight on my limbs.         This was soon followed up by Ruvaak Iiz, which was now on the bottom half of my legs as I tried to make sure I did not feel like I was freezing to death in the process.         “Well… that’s… to be honest, I did not expect to see anything like this to tell you the truth.” Aaron told me as he gazed at my dragon arms, scratching his chin a little. “What seems to be the problem though?”         “I’m just going to need some practice and learn how to fight with these. I’m just really unfamiliar with using gauntlets and greaves like these.” I explained. Normally, if I were to try and punch or kick something, it would be with my own free hands. Not with a weapon set like this where the safeguards on my feet made my legs look like I had claws and the armored gloves looked like blades at my wrists. “I just thought that with someone like yourself, who wields a pair of gauntlets as weapons, I thought you could give me some advice.”         “Well, there's a difference between my weapons and yours. Mine are death weapons and with Fire and Thunder, I communicate to them since I see them as living beings.” Aaron explained as both of the ponies next to him formed into his gauntlets. “Second, you need to put some more strength and muscle into your arms, not just for simple attacks, but for if there’s anything fancy with them that I don’t know about.”         “You mean like special abilities?” I asked to inquire.         “Exactly. See, Fire and Thunder allow me to wield the elements of Fire and Thunder. Your gauntlets look to be fire, but those shinguards of yours seem to be something else. Either way, you need to focus and put more strength and power into your attacks so the follow through on them can come out clean.” His explanation was followed by a simple one two combination punch that he had thrown. But with that, his left gauntlet had spewed out lightning and his right gauntlet had flames. “If you break your focus, you won’t be able to follow through accurately and with it, you may lower your guard. Let’s try sparring a little so you can get used to your new weapons a little.” I didn’t mind the opportunity to practice sparring with Aaron. In fact, we would normally do it back home since we used to do martial arts and self defense training together back home. However, the difference now is that we both had weapons… high powered weapons that were deadly if you couldn’t control them right.         But at least we knew what exactly we were doing. We’re… sort of professionals in our field I guess. But no time to talk right now. Better focus on the task at hand. Aaron himself decided to go first, throwing the first punch as I quickly moved to the right to dodge it. That part was successful, but the flames from it still hurt… a lot. My opponent continued to try and attack in rapid succession as I backpedaled and strafed left and right. Now that I think of it, the more I do this, the more I feel adjusted to my new set of gear. Maybe I should go on the offensive… Yeah, that was not a good idea. How the hell was I suppose to go on the offensive if I don’t know exactly how to fight with this new set of gear?         Then, it hit me… Norok and Ruvaak Iiz… The two of them reminded me a lot of Beowulf in Devil May Cry 3… if you add on the elemental variation between the two weapons. I just needed to focus on my attacks and I think the weapons could take care of the rest. With that in mind, I slammed my left foot down and in response, the weapon glowed a small bit. Causing the floor to freeze and shards of ice to rupture from under Aaron and for him to drop his guard. My chance for a counterattack.         “W-what the hell?” He responded, just as I planted my feet and had myself push off the ground towards Aaron, where my two gauntlets were lit ablaze as claws of fire emerged from both of the armguards as I punched him. However, at one point, he struck back, channeling lightning in his other weapon as it caused me to back up and out of the way so he wouldn’t hit me at close range. Only to find the lightning that he released chasing me in the process.         “It’s going to take a lot more then that in order to beat me, Ken.” He taunted as he conjured flames around his right gauntlet this time. “Though, I have to admit, you caught me by surprise with the ice trick.”         “Trust me, I believe I have more in store for you then just that.” I smirked, acknowledging the fact that my friend was now getting serious and no longer playing around like before. During the course of the last few attacks, I realized that when it came to Ruvaak Iiz, there were originally two components to it. First, it could freeze the ground and slow my opponent and Second, the weapons can conjure ice at different locations a few meters in front of me. But, I also realized that there was also something else that I didn’t realize until now. The ice did more than slow my opponents. It also allowed me to move more quickly on my feet. Which of course, would come in handy right now since Aaron was charging at me with full force, unaware of his current predicament.         With every ounce of strength he had, the meister pushed forth. But something was different this time. He had combined both his elements into a single attack this time, which made me automatically think that he was trying to use his Soul Resonance; Apex Twin. If he was doing that, then something told me that he wanted to see if I could dodge or block it with my newfound weapons. Yet, he wouldn’t expect me to do something else that would seem incredibly insane right now.         Counterattack. Because as soon as he got close, I jumped up into the air, using Ruvaak Iiz to give me a boost to avoid his attack. Followed by somersaulting forward to kick him in the head not once, but twice. The added effect for having claws on the bottom of these new weapons also came in handy for dealing more damage to him as well as catching him off guard again.         “Well, I’ll be damned… You seem to be getting the hang of those new weapons rather quickly,” He complimented, clapping his hands a little. “Now that we’ve seen what you could do with those combat boots, maybe we should see what kind of attacks you can pull off with those gauntlets of yours.”         He did make a valid point, I had to admit. My last few attacks had been with Ruvaak Iiz instead of Norok, so maybe it was time to switch things up so I can balance my attack combinations. Taking his advice, I worked on attacking with my fists as flames began to churn around me and form into those claws again, allowing me to attack more frequently. Yet with this, I felt compelled to instead do more than just use my gauntlets and combine both weapons together so I could possibly increase the effectiveness of my attacks. I first had to get comfortable with what I could do with Norok first though, which was a bit simpler than I thought after some practice with Aaron.         Now to combine the two… Which was tricky since Aaron’s attacks were always tricky to avoid. But it all came down to remembering the placement of his weapons. Fire was around his right hand while Thunder was around his left. Making it to where I needed to find an opening with a specific attack of his before I could unleash my own strikes. Our speed was about the same, so it was best for me to focus on attack combinations. Especially since a few included a rapid succession of punches and another one was a frozen flurry of kicks.         But even after the amount of fun we had while doing this, if you continue doing it for an hour straight… you’re going to get tired. No questions asked. Which was exactly the case when it came to us. “Wanna take a break?” I asked, trying to catch my breath as I sat down on the stone floor, dismissing Norok and Ruvaak Iiz as well so I could regain some energy. Having them active while fighting was fun, but I need to be able to have better control over them first before actually thinking about using them on the battlefield.         “Yeah, I think that works. Fire and Thunder can use one too,” He said as both of the weapons returned to their Equine form and tackled Aaron in the process. “Easy there you too… I’m still sore from a couple of the attacks that hit me earlier.”         “Wait, why are both of you tired?” I asked, a little bit surprised by this.         “Dude, unlike your weapons, Fire and Thunder fight with me based on the soul wavelengths we release. The more hits we deal and the more we take, the more those wavelengths can be strained.” he explained to me as I felt Fire actually cuddle up next to my lap. Honestly, that looked too cute… but I was a little more focused on Aaron right now. “A soul resonance like ours requires our wavelengths to be in sync. My attacks earlier were fine, but when I was using abilities such as Apex Twin, it requires a little more effort. We all basically work as a team.”         Well that made sense. At least… I think it did. Meh, better not question it then. We both had different ways of fighting against opponents so who am I to judge?         “There ya two are! I was beginning to wonder where you were,” The voice caused me to look up and see Applejack, making me smile a little as I saw my marefriend trot down to where we were resting. “What was with all the racket earlier? It sounded like the two of you were trying to beat the living hay out of one another.”         “Well, you’re not wrong there… Ken wanted my help with some new weapons he acquired recently, so he and I were sparring a little so he could get accustomed to them.”         “Ah hear ya.” She replied, looking back at me. “Can ah see them? I’m a little curious as to what they are.”         “Maybe once I catch my breath,” I told her, panting a bit as I took in some deep breaths and tried to relax a bit. Still though, some other things came to my mind now that I thought more about AJ. “So how have you been? You know… while I was trying to help Ember?”         “Ah the dragon Princess?” She asked, causing me to nod my head as Applejack looked back at me. “Well, we had a ponyville talent competition, even if she was there.”         “She?” I asked, seeing how Applejack was putting some emphasis on it.         “It was a Unicorn mare The girls and I have seen before named Trixie. She’s a magician who’s very egotistical and has too much pride for her own good. I’m just thankful that her tricks this time around didn’t endanger Ponyville.” The farm mare explained. “Starlight was wanting to bring her here since she needs a place to stay after her wagon was destroyed a while ago. I thought I would tell you in advance because Starlight tried to inform her about you and the others… But it only led to her boasting about how she wasn’t afraid of dragons or you for that matter.”         Okay, definitely a case of Vegeta like pride, that’s for sure. “When would she be here? I want to make sure that she’s… comfortable with the locals first before she does anything drastic. The last time Brutalight was here, she played pranks on everypony in the entire hollow.”         “Bruta who?” Aaron asked.         “A displaced that comes here from time to time. Remind me to formally introduce you to her next time she’s here.” I said to the Meister as I hopped back up onto my feet. I left Fire and Thunder to stay with Aaron as I walked back up the stairs with Applejack. Once I got up, I soon heard a few ponies talking outside the temple since words in here can echo and bounce off of the walls like a trampoline.         “AJ, where are Starlight and this… Trixie right now?” I asked her, trying to tell who the voices belonged too. The first three turned out to be Maple with her sister Holly and uncle Zektor, the next one was Mystic, who looked to be doing research on something and lastly, I just heard Magma and Ruby being sound asleep. Spike and Revaan were in Revaan’s chambers, discussing something involving culture I believe from the sounds of it. However, my attention was on Applejack.         “They’re back in Ponyville. Trixie wanted to shop for some essentials before coming here.” She explained to me, which did make sense. After all, if I were in her position, I would want to have everything I needed before moving in somewhere. However, I soon heard a small giggling noise from the other end of the temple as the earth pony sighed. “Oh yeah… I almost forgot…”         “Forgot what exactly? That Pinkie Pie was here with you?” I asked, before the party pony popped out of nowhere and surprised us.         “Hi Kenny!! How are you and the kiddies doing? Are they ready to see Aunt Pinkie!?!” Okay, I’ll let the part of being called Kenny slide since I really hate that nickname… But what the hell did she mean by Aunt Pinkie         “Yeah… I forgot to tell you this earlier, but about a few months ago, I found out that Pinkie Pie is a cousin in my family,” Applejack explained to me while Pinkie was bouncing in place. “So she’s an aunt of the kids now.” And now that answers almost every question I had… Now to answer her questions.         “Well, that’s surprising… Oh and Pinkie, to answer your question, the kids are right now asleep… Speaking of which, Applejack,” I asked her, turning to face her direction. “When were we going to introduce the little ones to Applebloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith?”         “Maybe once things settle down a little back in Ponyville first beforehand,” Applejack replied back, looking at both Pinkie and I. “Wouldn’t want to give Granny a heart attack or anything when she finds out about Magma and Ruby. Because trust me, almost everypony, including Pinkie, fainted on the train when I broke the news to them. So I expect the same kind of shock or even more when it comes to mah family.” That I can agree with. I knew from talking with Applejack before on the subject that she had a very big family compared to my own… I wonder what family reunions are like for Applejack with that big of a family. Ehh, that should be a question for another time.         “Oooh Oooh!! Speaking of family, I just got a letter from my sisters!” Pinkie proclaimed as a envelope soon appeared out of her mane after shaking her head side to side a few times to get it out… and all of the confetti that was stuck in her hair as well. I’m seriously beginning to wonder how in the world is she able to do that… Wait, did she just say sisters!? Oh god, don’t tell me that they’re just like her!!         “Pinkie’s sisters help out with the family business back on their parents rock farm. I went there with Applebloom and Big Mac once to celebrate Hearth's Warming with them before we went to that Christmas party.”         “Why didn’t you have me come along?” I asked, just out of curiosity.         “You and Revaan were already gone by the time I came to the temple. I believe you were meeting that Connor person for the first time when it happened.” Well that clears up that mystery. Around now was when I noticed Pinkie reading the letter to herself before looking back at both of us.         “Hey, I know that this may seem a little silly, but can you two help me? Pretty please with whip cream and a cherry?”         Raising an eyebrow, I looked back at Applejack before looking back at Pinkie Pie. “What seems to be the matter?”         “Well, my sister Maud wrote to me and asked if I can come help her cheer up Marble. With their parents at a rock convention over in North Daykota, she’s been acting… well… different.”         “How different?” Applejack followed up on Pinkie’s response. “I know that out of the four of you, Marble is the shy one, you’re… well you, Limestone is the serious one and Maud doesn’t quite understand certain figures of speech.”         “Maud didn’t really say. Just that she’s a bit more afraid than what she normally is,” Pinkie replied, shrugging her shoulders and holding her hooves up in the air as she put the letter back in her mane. “Even so, we should go to see if she’s okay. The thought of my sister being down makes me want to throw a party for her to cheer her up.”         “You think we should go help?” Applejack asked me. “I mean… you might’ve been back for a while, but I don’t want to tire you out in the process.”         I smiled, chuckling a little as I looked back at Applejack, messing with her mane a little before replying. “I’m fine, AJ. Plus, it’ll give me the chance to see what Pinkie’s family is like.” Hearing about Pinkie’s sister Marble just reminded me of Pinkis. So helping her with her shyness and fears shouldn’t be too hard. An hour later…         Okay, when I first heard that Pinkie’s parents and sisters lived on a rock farm, I honestly didn’t expect it to be an actual rock farm. My original assumption was a farm with a lot of rocks in the soil since I was told by Twilight that Earth Ponies helped a lot with planting crops and harvesting food. The moment I saw the farm, the windmill, and the stones in the ground being mined out by a couple of earth ponies… that blew up any other assumptions I had about the place out of the water. The whole feeling of it seemed… depressing. Almost like if you were looking at the wasteland that resulted from a nuclear fallout. On a few of the trees we passed, barely any leaves remained on the branches and can be blown off easily with the wind.         “We’re here!” Pinkie proclaimed as she ran off to pull her sisters together in a tight hug while Applejack and I walked up to the wooden fence. It looked to be constructed from old wood and a few of the logs that looked to have kept it together were missing. Right away, I could see one other earth pony. She had a flat mane, had dark navy clothes on, and her fur almost looked like a stone to tell you the truth. Pinkie herself was jumping up and down non stop, looking at the mare as the hyper party pony greeted her sister. “Oh Maud, long time no see, am I right?”         “Likewise…” She said plainly, before turning her attention to us. “Applejack… and you are?”         “I’m Ken… A friend of Pinkie’s and Applejack’s coltfriend.”         “I see.” Again, she spoke plainly. No emotion or feeling in her voice whatsoever. Something tells me that this is going to be a common occurrence. Normally, most ponies ask about my arm shortly after introducing myself, but that wasn’t the case with Maud though. “Come inside.” Chills could be felt down my spine when she said that. With her voice, that sounded more like an order than an invitation inside her home… well, more likely their home since Maud and her sisters lived there.         The inside of the home reminded me of the barn back at Sweet Apple Acres. Just a bit gloomier like the place needed a bit more light from outside. I came across two other earth ponies once inside. One that looked like the grayscale version of Pinkis with a different kind of cutie mark, which I personally assumed to be Marble, and the other one who was directly on my case the moment I walked in. Yeah, this must be Limestone. “Monster! Who or what the hay is that thing!?”         “Calm down, Limey!!” Pinkie squeaked. “Ken here is a friend! He’s really nice once you get to know him and I thought he and Applejack could help!” Despite Pinkie’s best intentions though, Limestone wasn’t buying it. At all. She still looked at me with a skeptical glare and questioned about my arm. So, like almost any other time somepony asks, I filled them in the best I could. However, it did little to ease the tensions.         “I know you think you can help Pinkie, but Marble’s fears have been getting a hold of her a lot recently,” She said, causing Marble to step outside while her sister continued to talk. “She’s been waking up in the middle of the night and saying that she’s been hearing “noises” from outside and thinks that the farm is haunted because she see’s some flames go off at different times in the night.”         “Have you tried giggling at the ghosties?” Okay, seriously Pinkie? How the hell is that going to help us solve anything-?         “She has, but thinks that it’s not working and she’s really not getting any sleep because of this,” Limestone explained. “Whatever the case, this has seriously gone on long enough, so that’s why I had Maud write you a letter so we can get to the bottom of this.”         “Oooh! A mystery!! I love mysteries!!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling out a bubble pipe and a detective’s cap, causing Applejack to facehoof herself in the process. I myself thought at this point that this was getting straight up ridiculous. So, excusing myself, I stepped outside for a moment. Maybe talking with Marble will give me the chance to hear things from her perspective.         Walking outside, I found the grey mare out on the porch, crying a bit to herself. I felt a little surprised to see the tears down her face, but sighed as I slowly approached her from the front so I don’t startle her. “Hey.” I said briefly to catch her attention, causing her to lift her head up as she noticed me and quickly used her hooves to wipe away the tears that were on her face.         “H-hello…” She whispered weakly. “C-can I… um… help you?”         “Honestly, I would like to ask you the same thing…” I told her, being careful of the words I chose to say. “Your sisters are worried about you, but I would like to hear what’s bothering you from your perspective… I feel as if hearing from you can find a way for me to help you.”         “Y-you really want to h-help?” She asked, sounding partially surprised with a bit of nervousness added to her feelings right now. “T-thank you… I h-honestly don’t know if you would believe me though.” Now what exactly would make her say that?         “What makes you say that?” I ask her, just out of curiosity         “W-well… two days ago, when I tried to sleep… I heard a loud growling noise that startled me. When I looked outside, I saw something that had a mane and wings of fire,,, Now I fear that even if I’m outside here, I feel as if some fire monster wants to come eat me and my sisters…” Now that may have sounded like a stretch, but if she saw something like that, it was worth investigating.         “Where did you see it?” The question was answered by her pointing her front hoof in the direction of the fenceline around the farm. Where certain parts of it looked to have scorch marks from whoever was there tried to trespass on the grounds of the rock farm. Definitely a sign that someone… or something… was there. “Alright… I’ll help you out… That way you don’t need to feel scared or worried anymore while you are at home.”         “O-oh thank you so much!” She said, hugging me with her front forelegs before quickly retracting those same forearms. “S-sorry… J-just a bit excited.” I chuckled in response, letting her know that it was okay before she went off inside the house with some newfound confidence. I knew that with that, I was going to be taking the night shift. But I had a feeling that this was going to be a lot simpler on my end than I thought. Later…         It was only an hour or so before sunrise and right now, I was on the roof of the rock farm’s cottage. I’ve only gotten a few hours of sleep since I needed to do this for Marble and her sisters, assuring them that I can figure out what’s been bothering them. During this time, I had been using my new Fire based abilities that I had acquired last week and with it, I gained a trait that was very useful right now.         That trait was being able to sense sources of heat within a hundred yards of my current location. I felt five heat sources below me. Those being AJ, Pinkie and her sisters and a few others in the distance. Like a few at most, but there was the possibility that these were just local wildlife, even if Marble assured that there weren’t any critters or anything that had bothered them recently. Which of course, was the reason why I had Revaan be on the back end of canyon to keep watch for any movement so he could alert me if anything happens.         Now one would think why Revaan would want to do something like this right now? Well, let’s just say that he was already awake… and bored from waiting for someone else to be awake as well. Yes, as it turns out, dragons can be bored. Don’t question it, he had to lecture me for a while on that.         Anyways though, one of the sources of heat I felt earlier was now slowly approaching the rock farm. A sign for me to prepare myself as I slowly dropped down to the ground and used the darkness of the night to hide myself from these trespassers. I continued to move, but I noticed that this singular source almost seemed dragon like in nature, but also looked equine. Something I rather not have pierce through my chest. So, taking a minute, I held my arm off like I was about to fire off a blast from my arm in the general direction of the intruders and said a few words. “Who goes there?”         “What the-!?” I heard it say, trying to react on the defensive as fire from it’s body tried to blast me. I dodged it, but then it soon tried to come at me with it. So, with quick thinking and good intentions, I disarmed the attacker and held them to the ground. “What in the name of Foenum is someone doing here!? I thought this place was abandoned!?” That same voice snapped, leading me to think the reason why this being was trespassing here in the first place.         “Abandoned? Are you kidding me?” I asked, loosening up my grip on the attacker. “This place is home to a family of Earth Pony rock farmers. They aren’t normally home because their job involves them working long days in the mines… and you, Ms. Fireweaver, had been terrifying one of them for the past couple of nights.”         “Hey, it’s not my fault!! I’m trying to find food and it’s hard to salvage diamonds from stones unless you burn away the dirt.” Now something clicked… if this… being was right, then the only reason why she would come out this far is because she was hungry and looking for food to eat. She sounded exhausted, not just in her voice, but she seemed too easy to subdue when I tried to hold her down. “I was just… trying to do my duty…”         Okay, what was that now? “Duty?”         “Yes… My empress… the one I serve in my home kingdom called Huoshan on the continent of Foenum… saw the Alok Kun in the sky a fortnight ago. She told me that it was from the one known as the Scalebound, something that was only thought to be a children’s tale back home, but my empress thought otherwise.” Holy crap, so the blast I set off in the sky was not a light show after all!! I had a feeling that it would attract somepony’s attention, but now it actually has.         In response, I released my full grip on the attacker, who seemed surprised as the sun began to rise on the horizon. “You were looking for the Scalebound?”         “Yeah, I know… it sounds crazy but-.”         “Actually, I don’t believe that,” I interjected, just as the rays of the sun now shined over us and revealed my arm to her and her true form to me. “After all… You just met him.” End Chapter 20