Bound by Scales

by FrostTheWolf

21- Something's burning...

        Well, as it turns out, Tianhuo herself was not only too overjoyed from finding out that I was who she was looking for, but also overjoyed to the point that made me think if Rainbow Dash had some kind of twin sister… a twin sister who looked like a dragon on the outside with the scales, but had the physical form of a dragon. From talking to her, I found out that her species was known as a Longma, hybrids of both dragons and equines. In fact, the fire that I had seen before and what Marble had described to me was actually her mane and tail and also served as her wings. Which explained to me how she was able to fly over here from her home continent into Equestria.

        However, despite the new friend, it also meant that I had to have her explain to everypony that was inside the farm what she was doing, because technically, her actions with trying to search for food to eat had scared the living out of Marble over the course of a few days. Meaning that I needed to have the Longma apologize for her reckless behavior. As I would expect from Rainbow Dash, Tianhuo was first defiant about having to do so and wanted to know the reason for her to do this. Applejack, Pinkie and I all had to explain why we were out here in the first place and explain to Marble that what she saw outside was actually Tianhuo. Meaning that she wouldn’t have to worry about a fire breathing monster devouring the souls of her and her sisters while their parents were away.

        The thought about souls though happened to make me think about Asphyxious once we had returned back to the Hollow and got Tianhuo accustomed to the Temple along with having her meet Revaan in person. Since he was a lich and everything. Last time though, we didn’t exactly meet on good terms and this was when I found out that Pinkis was hurt during the War of Shadows. So, while Tianhuo and Revaan were talking up a storm and Pinkie went back to Sugarcube Corner, I went to my room and grabbed the emerald that served as Asphyxious’ token. Of course, I wasn’t going to summon him with it, but use it to make a doorway to his world so I could hopefully see him. Just as I was about to get going though, I turned to see AJ not far from where I was. “Where the hay are you going?” She asked me, just as I held out the emerald.

        “I was going to check on Asphyxious… I feel like I need to take a chance to talk to him after everything that happened a while back. Can you help Revaan hold down the fort while I’m gone?” I asked her. Applejack’s reply was a simple nod of the head as it served as confirmation for me to get going. Opening the emerald doorway, I stepped through, not knowing honestly what to expect while on the other side.

        After I felt my feet touch the ground from being spit out of the portal, I felt my weight cause me to slide a little as I looked up at my new surroundings. Where I was looked to be all out marshland and swamps that reminded me of the times that I had been to the Everfree Forest. This was like that, but worse. Especially with the revolting smell in the air that seemed to be of something moldy or decaying in the soup that was the forest’s lake as I saw a couple of Timberwolves on the outskirts running around.

        “Yep… this is definitely the Everfree Forest,” I said to myself as I brushed the dirt off of my clothes. This was definitely not the place where Asphy would be right now, I thought. Most likely, since he keeps obsessing over his damn hoard, he’s probably spending time with them… wherever that place is suppose to be. “Now if I were a Dracolich, where would I-?”

        BOOM!!!

        “Hide?” Okay, that was definitely not normal… Even for Asphy, that was nothing like what he would do. At least I hope not. “SCREAM FOR ME! I WANT TO TURN YOUR SKULL INTO A SNOWGLOBE!” Oh god, please don’t tell me that Asphy’s hoarding addiction had put him on a psychotic killing spree.

        “EXPLODING HUG! KISS ME!” Okay, now that was a bit closer than I thought-. OH GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?! My instincts got me to draw Hawkmoon and try to fire a shot at the creature face, only for the bullet to get caught between this creature’s… fangs as she spat it out. Right away, I could tell that this figure was not Asphyxious, but someone else… Oh my god, I almost shot someone!

        “I-i’m sorry! I-.” The creature though, with one of its four hands (you’re hearing me right, it has four arms), put one to my mouth to shush me as she used two other hands to hold a journal and a pencil as it scribbled something.

        “Dear everyone… I got shot in the face… Hugs and kisses, Orendi.” Okay, that was just weird… But it did give me a name. Orendi… I was a little unfamiliar with it, but for now, I’ll just roll with.

             “Now then deary, what do I do with you? SHOW ME THOSE GUT’S FELLA!!”

        “Woah! Okay… Let’s not do that miss… Orendi right?” I asked her, only to get a nod in response. “I would like to apologize for… well… shooting you in the face…” Oh lord, how could this get even more awkward?

        “Awww that sweet, but I’m looking for my BB/BF. You and me, we’re gonna CUDDLE!” She then started laughing. “There something wrong with you!” It took me a moment to realize that she had seen my dragon arm right about now. It always seemed to stick out like a sore thumb and right now was no exception. “You have a freaky arm, but I have FOUR!” She yelled wiggling her fingers at me.

        “Yeah, I’m part dragon so my Dragon arm is a representation of that… Hey, you said you were looking for someone right?” I asked her, recalling what she just said. “Would you like for me to help you?”

        “Oh yes, yes. YesYESYESYESYES! I’m looking for my brother called Mark. Have you seen him? His dressed as this big metal skeleton guy, WHO FEEDS ON DESPAIR!” Okay, I have no clue who she means by Mark, but from the description, the closest person I could think of in that moment that would even relate to that person was Asphyxious. Maybe he knows something about it that I don’t… Only problem now was that I needed to try and find where the hell Asphyxious’ home is.

        “I think I might know someone that can help,” I told Orendi, stretching my fingers for a brief moment. “He goes by the name Asphyxious and I think his home is not far from here. If you can help me find it, then maybe he can help you find your brother.”

        “Just like my dream!” Orendi said, sounding excited as it looked like she was skipping in place before turning back to me dramatically. “Come on then let go find the GORE MONSTER!” Okay, this must be something to answer the prayers of all the Borderlands fans in the world that wanted the chance to play as Tiny Tina. I mean, my god, even the voice sounds the same!

        Looking ahead though, I seem to notice this world’s Twilight as she turned to see us walking. But before I got the chance to say or do anything, Orendi immediately jumped the gun on the craziness. “You’re so cute and cuddly! I’m your super fan NUMBER one! Of not dying violently.” I facepalmed myself in response… this is going to be the rest of my day, isn’t it?

        “You must be a lost displaced, it nice to meet you, I’m Twilight.” Twilight said to Orendi. Now was when I began to notice the dragon like features on Twilight body. Was this similar to how AJ got to be part dragon or something else? “I take it you’re looking for Asphyxious?”

        “Yeah,” I spoke up this time, looking back at this Twilight and introducing myself. “My name is Ken. I’m a friend of Asphyxious. I ran into Orendi here earlier and she said that she was looking for her brother so I thought he could help. Though, I must warn you-.”

        “And NOW!, Snuggling.” She said hugging Twilight before giving her a menacing grin. “Give me your neck.”

        “She sounds a little over excited.” Asked Twilight as she looks between Orendi and me. “If you want to see Asphyxious you can used the teleportation crystal in the middle of town. It right outside my castle next to the statue of Asphyxious.” Now I turned to look at the statue, only to see the stone version of what looked like the Lich’s own ego. But when I turned back, only one question was on my mind.

        “Hey, where did Orendi go?” Oh damn it… You had ONE job and you still screwed it up! Good going, jackass!!

        “Oh I love this part.” I heard Orendi voice from the other side of a house. “Power taste like lemons!!!”

        I looked back at Twilight before facepalming myself again. “We might want to get her before anything else happens. She said earlier that she wanted to turn the skulls of some of the creatures in the Everfree into snow globes.” That when I heard a loud sound and saw a flash of light.

        “I am here to save the day!” Oh god no, Asphyxious is here. AT THE WORST POSSIBLE FREAKING TIME!! “I love doing that.”

        “Oh you look like fun~” I heard Orendi say before hearing her laughing madly. Twilight ran past but stopped once she got to the other side. I went after her, only to see Orendi begin to channel something with her hands as she looked at Asphyxious with an evil smile. “Why aren’t you ON FIRE RIGHT NOW!!!”

        “Huh your new? Never seen someone like you before, name Asphyxious and you’re?” He asked calmly like this was no big deal. Just as he was swallowed up by what looked like a pillar of shadowfire. “Hmmm, feel like Hellfire but it’s not.”

        I groaned a little as I stayed by Twilight, trying to not get myself involved in the fiasco that was going on right now. Especially with the random sayings that Orendi was saying every few seconds. “I BAKED YOU SOME SCREECHING PAIN!!!”

        “GIVE ME MORE! I LOVE IT!” Asphyxious screamed back, as he somehow absorbing magic from her. “HIT ME!! TELL YOU LOVE ME!” Okay, this had gone far enough and something needed to be done about it.

        “Any suggestions on trying to stop this without them killing each other?” I asked Twilight. She nodded her head, before turning to Asphyxious and then saying something that I did not think would work.

        “Asphyxious, Zecora’s back~” As soon as she said that Asphyxious stop fighting and looked around like a pancked chicken. But then looked annoyed that Twilight did that then he finally noticed me.

        “Oh Ken, what’re you doing here?” He asked dusting himself off and make a time out sigh to Orendi.

        “I was coming to see how you were doing and I happened to find Orendi in the forest… I was thinking that you could be able to help her…” I said, while looking at Orendi as she readjusted her hat. Then went up and hugged Asphyxious.

        “Ummm, Hi?” Asphyxious said looking down at her as she hugged him. “What do I do?”

        “She’s… a bit of a hugger… I was wanting to help her find her brother and brought her here, looking for you because I thought you could help.” I explained, just as Orendi let out an outburst that really made things awkward.

        “I demand… SATISFACTION!!! I HATE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!!!” Asphyxious just looked down at the crazy woman and blushed a little.

        “Ummm, W-who is she looking for?” He asked trying to find away out of the hug, as she was giving him bedroom eyes. “Wow, look… eye.”

        “Yeah… Orendi said that she was looking for her brother. She said that it was like a metal lich sort of like you, but she knew him as… Mark I think?” However, my words did little to help the situation as I noticed the expression on Asphy’s face change immensely. Something did not seem right, but what could possibly be different right now? “You okay, man?”

        “Yeah…” He said simply as he returned the hug. “Looks like you found what left of him, Sorry for being gone for so long.” Oh my god, what the actual hell is happening? “Do you remember your old name or should I keep calling you Orendi?”

        “Ehh… I like the new one… BECAUSE I EAT CLOVERS FOR BREAKFAST!!! I wonder if a leprechaun would taste like lucky charms if I eat one.” Asphyxious laughed a little and pulled her into a cuddle.

        “It okay. You can call me Mark or Asphy, if you want.” It was then that I happened to notice that Asphy’s Twilight walked over and join in on the hug between the two of them… and also when I saw something come down the sides of Asphyxious’ face. Oh my god, he was crying. Since when could a lich shed tears for crying out loud!? “So how did you know me, my memory not as good as it used to be.”

        “I can hear your loved one laughing, kiss me~” Asphyxious was taken by surprise as Orendi kissed him on the lips. She then pulled away looking at him. “This is going in my memoirs!” And just when I thought Asphyxious by himself was crazy enough. Now as I’m looking at him and Orendi, I felt like I was looking at a pair of twins because of how similar they seem to be in personality no less. I was going to leave them be… until I felt one of Orendi’s spare arms yank me into the dogpile.

        “Hey you, come here, now!” Orendi then hugged me, petting my head like some kind of pet and also tickling me.

        “I do not know how to feel about this.” Asphyxious said still looking a bit shocked.”I am, Unsure of my feelings for Orendi right now. Where’s Discord when you need him?” Okay, who the hell is this Discord that Asphy is talking about? I never heard of or even met some guy that was named that.

        “You know Dissy?!” Orendi asked with a big smile on her face. Oh my god, that’s too creepy!

        “Dissy? Wait, you’ve meet Discord before?” Asphyxious asked sounding confused. “Wonder how that went?” Okay, please don’t tell me that this Discord guy is just as crazy or insane as Orendi. My brain cells have been committing suicide one by one because of the insanity brought on by Orendi once in town and I don’t need to lose any more of them!

        “Okay so Ken did you just come here to help Orendi find me. Or was there anything else you needed?” Asphyxious asked.

        “That what I’ve been wondering too.” Asked Twilight as she hugged Asphyxious.

        “Well… I wanted to see how you were and if there was anything new recently… Now that I’ve seen you and how your Twilight is… well… different… I feel less tempted to ask about what the hell have you exactly been doing since I’ve last seen you.” Hey, it’s a valid question. I was just worried about the kind of answer I was going to get in response.

        “I see, well it was not my idea to give Twilight my blight.” Asphyxious then looked to the half dragon alicorn as she blushed and looked away. “She even dragged Dash into it  just to see what happen.”

        “I couldn’t help it! The scientific implications could change the world, I could be on the cover of the new science and sorcery weekly!” Twilight said, smiling brightly as she looked back at both Asphyxious and I. It took me a while to process this, but once I figured out what he meant, I just ended up facepalming myself as I sighed deeply, trying to erase the disturbing mental images in my head from what I thought he was talking about. I knew that from personal experience, Twilight was kind of a nerd… But I honestly never thought she would go hands on with an experiment to get to a point like this.

        “Great… and just when I thought that the Aspects in my world were giving me enough trouble back home.” I grumbled to myself, thinking that no one would hear it as it was suppose to be a personal thought and nothing for the lich or anypony from his world to worry about. But nevertheless, Asphyxious did and he seemed confused along with his Twilight. Ugh, me and my damn mouth.

        “What’re you talking about? Something happen back home?” Asphyxious asked as he try to get up with Orendi hanging from his body like some kind of monkey.

        “Yeah, but it’s a bit complicated to explain… Remember when you first came here and that undead dragon that was Revaan’s mate was giving us problems? Well, it turns out that I can see her soul and Coryena has been helping me. But recently, concerns about Nightmare making advances ever since AJ’s kids hatched have been problematic. Especially since what she is doing is taking the souls of undead dragons, controlling them, and causing them to possess victims and destroy their souls. One Aspect already caused enough trouble with us at the Gauntlet of Fire and murdered the former dragon lord, leaving his daughter to be his successor and his victim, Garble, dead,” I explained, adding on one last piece to what I said previously. “They also look for weakness in emotions. For Garble, it was his pride.”

        “Okay let talk more about this inside. You can give me the details on the way.” Asphyxious said making his way to Twilight’s new home.

        The walk over to Twilight’s castle allowed for me to explain everything to Twilight and Asphyxious from what Coryena told Revaan, Luna and I about the Aspects, Applejack’s eggs hatching, and also the encounter with the Fire Aspect during the Gauntlet of Fire. That was also added to the explanation on who Ember was and also some of the other Displaced that had recently showed up. The only thing I did not get the chance to talk about though was my dragon arms… because I wanted to save that as a surprise for if I was in the mood to give Asphyxious a major asskicking.

        “Wow, sounds as bad as Tirek showing up with that damn Lich Poison Dagger.”  Asphyxious said as he took a set at a table. With Twilight setting next to him, leaving Orendi to run after Spike to try and cuddle the little dragon.

        “Right… But the fact is that Aspects can’t be destroyed by any normal means. They can only be killed by certain weapons that I can use.” I explained to him, showing the sword I normally keep on me as an example.

        “Twilight are you here?” Asked a familiar voice as the door to the room we were in opened and I saw Starlight Glimmer with a hood over her head. She quickly scurried back behind the door to hide once she saw me.

        “It alright Starlight, he’s a friend.” Said Twilight as she walked over to the startled mare. Starlight slowly came inside with Twilight help, it then I noticed the glowing eyes and the metal hoof. Almost similar to Asphyxious’ lich form, but different. Calmly, I greeted the mare, trying my best not to startle her and show that I was indeed a friend.

        She smiled and talked a little before leaving with Twilight as they started to talk about a spells. Asphyxious sighed as he pulled something out of his echo and looked at it. The glass and steel cylinder glowed a sickly green as Asphyxious looked at it.

              “Ken meet Poison Dagger, worm in a jar meet Ken.” Asphyxious said calmly, as he put it on the table. “He’s the one that did that to her and turned her town into a nightmare.”

        “One dagger did all of that to her?” I asked. “Damn, I feel really bad for her.”

        Asphyxious just facepalmed at this. “He was a pony, that turned himself into a iron lich. This is his core where his soul is kept. I most likely have one too, but I guess Kat and the other dogs have seen it when they was working on my lich form.”  Asphyxious explained as he flicked the glass with his finger. “I don’t know what to do with him, ever keep him in the core trapped or brake down his soul into mana. But the idea of using him to give me more power make me sick, seeing as I know where his power came from.” I can agree with that. But mana could be used for more that one purpose… well, I’m no expert in magic, but I believed that’s how it works… I think. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an expert in this field.

        “Wooo, I always wanted a pet, can I keep it!” Asked Orendi as she picked up the cylinder and started shaking it like crazy. Asphyxious laughed at this, but something tells me that this might’ve given him an idea… one that would make his face look a lot like the grinch from Dr. Seuss.

        “Oh I know just what to do with him. I’m going to turn him into a thrall, and cut off his ability to use magic, then use him as a magic battery for my diamond dog warcasters. Then they could use magic!” Asphyxious then took it back and gave a Orendi a kiss. “Thank you for that idea!”

        “Y-your welcome, FEED ON HIS SUFFERING!” Again, that just made me facepalm myself in response to Orendi’s outburst.

        “And just when I thought having my Starlight stay in the Hollow was the tip of the iceberg.” I said, looking back at them. “Then again, my home is known for it’s… residents. Especially some of the newer ones, including Tian-”

        “Oh shush, I’ve gone crazy for 900 years and been given permanent blue balls by a goddess. You have it easy compared to me.”  Asphyxious replied as he thought about something. “Want to see Sonay eggs?”

        “Who?” I asked. Asphyxious just smiled, making me think that this wasn’t exactly going to end well for me because of that Grinch like smile again.

        “She’s one of my hoard mates, she laid her eggs and they should be hatching any week now.” Asphyxious said as he started to giggle to himself. “I can’t wait to meet them!”

        “Geez, you’re making me think of my own kids now…” I said, until I realized the fact that Asphyxious wasn’t quite aware of the fact that Applejack’s eggs had hatched. I don’t even think he knew that she laid two eggs. “Oh right, I forgot to mention this, but remember AJ’s egg back home? Well, two things. One, she laid another one. Two, both of them hatched and I now have a son and daughter to look over.”

        “That great news! Congratulations!” Asphyxious said as he get up and shakes my hand. “I am so happy for you man, I can’t wait to meet them one day. Have you named them yet?”

        “Why yes,” I replied. “The son is Magma and the daughter is Ruby.”

        “They sound adorable.” Asphyxious said smiling as Orendi sat down and started to drink some tea. “Say, you should ask Rin to babysit them some day. She told me she was the master of it or something.”

        “I’ll consider it once I meet her.” I replied back, unsure about having to trust my kids with someone I did not know.

             “Up to you man, so anything else you need? Wait, where did Orendi go?” He asked, just as I happen to notice her crawling up the walls and right above where the room of one of the other ponies was. My guess? Judging from the stuff on the walls…

        “ASPHYXIOUS!!!”

        Yep, it was Rainbow Dash. I then heard Orendi laughing as she ran past us with Rainbow Dash not far behind. The strangest part was Rainbow Dash was part dargon to… And it looked like her mane was burned. Then again, Twilight did say that she got Rainbow on the whole blight idea as well, so that sort of cleared things up.

            “Hope she don’t run into Revan and Gwen.” Said Asphyxious with a sigh.

        “Let me guess… More hoard mates?” I asked, not even wanting to know what the answer to his question was at this point. He just nodded his head.

        “One’s a sith and the other’s a spider girl.” He smiled at that, but something tells me that there was more to that then he was letting on. “Anything else or do you just want to hang out?”

        “Probably hang out for a bit. I mean, I just got back from the rock farm that Pinkie’s sisters lived at because a Longma was causing Marble to be scared out of her mind.” I said to them, unsure if Asphyxious knew what a Longma actually was… Or when Twilight was going to ignore that and go straight for asking twenty questions about myself.

        “I’d like to ask you something Ken… Are you like Asphyxious? And can you tell me a little about your Equestria and what the difference is.” Twilight asked, As Orendi tried to hide behind Asphyxious as Rainbow Dash fly into both of them.

        “I’m going back home and telling everyone the good news, I FOUND THE FIRE LORD!” After Orendi’s outburst, she opened a portal and left by launching herself through it. Leaving behind Rainbow Dash laying on top of Asphyxious.

        “Well… Where should I begin?” I asked her briefly. “For one thing, I’m not like Asphyxious, that’s for sure. I was human originally and still am… mostly.” At the mostly part was when I stretched my dragon arm, which was now visible to Twilight.

        She looked at it and made a few quick notes from that, which did not seem like the Twilight that I was familiar with. She seemed a lot more calmer and took her time when it came to examining it, but I thought that somehow, she had some sort of hidden agenda. Maybe she just did not have enough information about me just yet-.

        “Oh my. Your arm acts on a completely different system then Asphyxious dragonblight. What is it!?” Twilight asked excitedly… yep, now that was the pony that I was familiar with.

        “Well, I’m a Scalebound and my arm is a sign of the bond that I formed with my partner,” I stopped there for a minute and looked towards Asphyxious for a moment as I raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell her about Revaan, did you?”

        “She already met Revan… and she also kicked Twi out of her room for trying to spy on her.” Asphyxious said, smiling a little… which looked a little bit creepy in a way.

        “That was one time!” Twilight yelled hotly with a blush appearing on her face. All that did was cause me to facepalm as I groaned a little and tried to hold back the temptation of smacking Asphyxious’ face.

        “Not Revan idiot… Revaan… You know… my partner that got pissed off at you?” I told him, trying to jog his memory. Only to look back at Twilight and speak again. “Revaan is not like this… Revan that you mentioned earlier. He’s a onyx dragon that’s my partner. Our souls are bound to one another and he’s the last of his kind. I’m trying to help him find out what happened and trying to stop Nightmare in our universe from tearing everything apart.”

        “Interesting, the Nightmare of our universe is living with a displaced in the woods.”

        “Mine had originally formed from Luna’s anger and also proceeded to make the Onyx dragon thousands of years ago go mad. Corrupting them to turn on their own kind. I still can’t believe everything that Revaan had to go through come to think of it… It doesn’t stop there though… Being a Scalebound has allowed for me to see the souls of departed dragons. Some in which grant me new abilities and also take the form of dragon arms… remind me to show you that later.” Twilight nodded in response, but just as she was able to speak, one of the guards soon came in and looked towards Asphyxious.

        “Uh… sir? There’s a bit of a commotion going on outside with the guards at the recruitment table.”

        “Wait, we have a recruitment table? Since when?” Asphyxious asked, clearly not been kept in the loop of one thing or another.

        “Well, we were holding applications for new soldiers into the guard stationed here at Ponyville under Celestia’s request but… You might want to see this for yourself-.” Just as the guard said that, they soon heard something else from outside.

        “Okay, listen uh… Billy…”

        “MY NAME IS TOBY, YOU F***ING MUTANT!!!”

        I looked back at Asphyxious, raising an eyebrow in response as the Lich looked back at me with the same confused look. “What… the hell… was that?”

        “I don’t know… But he sounds angry…” Asphyxious replied with something that was a complete captain obvious moment to me before getting up to find out. I followed him outside, only to realized that what was actually causing the commotion… was a freaking talking penguin!! A penguin for god’s sake!!

        “O-okay, um… Oh, I got an idea. The medbay! We can use some extra hands there. I mean, you would be the king of cuteness around the foals-.”

        “THAT’S IT!! SCREW THIS AND SCREW ALL OF YOU!!! ME AND MY DEATH MACHINE ARE OUT OF HERE, YOU DUMBASS-!!” Around then was when he actually turned to see us, and was almost shocked at first glance. “Oh great… More problems…”

            “Who are you, where did you come from, and where did you get that mech?” Asphyxious asked… in that order.

        “One, my name is Toby… Two, I came here with some four armed crazy lady that was my friend Clover and three… I have absolutely no idea… but it’s F**KING awesome!!” The penguin said, shortly before turning to them and clearing his throat. “Now, who the hell are you… where the hell am I… and why do I feel like I’m going to get blindsided- AGH!!”

        “Attack with SNUGGLES!” yelled Orendi, who I thought left only to arrive out of freaking nowhere and tackle the penguin. Honestly, if I didn’t know any better, I thought that would’ve been something Pinkie Pie would’ve done.

        “Oh no, Orendi asked me if she could do it.” That caused me to turn around and find the party mare herself, Pinkie Pie standing next to Asphyxious. Okay, how the bloody hell was she able to… You know what, nevermind. I stopped asking a LONG time ago.

        “So, Toby was it? I’m Asphyxious, this is Equestria and is my sister your friend or something?” Asphyxious asked. As Orendi was petting Toby head, the penguin was able to fully process what he was saying and then looked at Orendi.

        “Back up… This guy is your brother?” He asked, looking at Asphyxious again. “I honestly thought he would be a bit… taller.”

        “Don’t tempt me, I have more than one form.” Asphyxious replied with a grin.

        “I’ll believe that when I see it.” The Penguin replied. Oh god, this guy was seriously asking for it. Asphyxious just smarked before turning into his lich form.

        “I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked towering over them.

        “YAY! The death of bacon bits is heeeeere~!” Orendi yelled giggling. All while Toby just stared at Asphyxious, slackjawed. He then turned back, smiling that creepy smile of his. I just deeply sighed as I looked at the two of them and just facepalmed myself due to the sheer craziness that was happening. I was going to suggest to Twilight that we leave Asphyxious to be with Orendi and Toby… until the Penguin said something that caught me off guard.

        “My god, my girlfriend’s brother is a lich… How crazy can this day even get?” Okay, if that wasn’t a sign for Twilight and I to leave Asphyxious alone, I did not know what else could be a possible chance to get myself out of a weird conversation turned awkward.

        “Twilight, I think maybe we should let Asphyxious talk with Orendi and Toby for a little while.” I told her, turning back around as I went back inside. Twilight didn’t seem to agree and stayed. Something in which didn’t seem like Twilight because I thought she wouldn’t want to pass up any opportunity for possible knowledge.

        Then again, Orendi and Toby could be more interesting right now. “Welcome to the family little dude. Looks like crazy runs in it, so take good care of Orendi for me.” Asphyxious said with a grin on his face. The thought of family though, really had me in an uncomfortable position. So much so as to leave them alone and to just walk on my own. I was happy for Toby, I couldn’t doubt that… But I also felt a little bit uncomfortable. Family in itself before I was Displaced was always a subject that really made me feel this way. Not the one I was a part of with Zinnia or the one I was forming with AJ, but my own family back in the world I used to call home before coming to Equestria. Life is Strange to me… so for that matter… do my parents even know I was gone?

        “Hey, you okay dude?” Asphyxious asked, as he noticed me walking off. I assured him I was fine, insisting that he should pay more attention to Orendi and Toby, especially with Orendi using her arms to make the penguin erupt in a fit of laughter. The Lich’s attention was elsewhere the moment I mentioned his sister, but someone else… or somepony else for that matter… was still focused on me.

        “Are you sure you’re okay? Want a cupcake?” Asked Pinkie as she handed me a cupcake. Respectfully, I took the pastry and bit into it, letting the sweet taste take my mind off of things for a while. But looking as Asphyxious and Orendi again just made me feel the same way that I was before.

        “Yeah I just… needed some space…” I sighed, telling that to the mare to try and be discreet about it. I knew that Pinkie was a baker, but I did not need to tell her my life story like she was a therapist.

        “You're home sick aren’t you. I can tell.” Pinkie Pie said giving me a sad smile.

        “Not exactly homesick… Just… worried I guess.” I mentioned to her, sighing a bit as I looked away from the Lich outside and focused my attention to her.

        “Asphy told me he used to have a home and family, he can’t remember their names or what they look like. He still misses them from time to time, but he has us now. We’re his family so it helps him. Let me guess, you did the same thing as him didn’t you?” Pinkie asked with a knowing smile.

        “That depends on how you define same thing,” I told her. “I’m part of a Hoard, but it’s different from what Asphyxious has set up here.” At that moment, I deeply sighed for a minute before taking another moment to quickly recompose my thoughts a bit and chuckling. “Still… my family life back where I came from before ending up in my own Equestria wasn’t quite exactly… how I would want it so to speak.”

             “Fun?” Asked Pinkie.

        “Something like that… I haven’t seen my mother in eight years since she mostly works overseas and I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my dad since he’s extremely busy trying to support the family.”

        “And now you’re displaced. You know what you need, a hug.” Pinkie said as she give me a hug. “This always helps Asphy when he’s feeling down. There other stuff too, but that’s too naughty for you to hear about. And I think your marefriend can help with that.” She then giggled at the look on my face as she walked off. But before she left, I had the chance to speak again.

        “Thanks… and for the record… I already know what you’re talking about.” I clarified to her. “Asphyxious is not the only one in a hoard, Pinkie,” With that, I showed her the bite on my neck that Zinnia had “given” me as it glowed a little. “I’m in one too.”

        “Wooo, that must of been fun. I’m still trying to get Asphy to give me his blight myself.” Pinkie then giggled to herself, before moving her mane and showing off a bite mark to. “But I’m getting really close now. The things he can do with his tail.”

        “Yeah. Mines not quite the same. It’s a hoard where the members comprise of other Displaced. My branch of it though has my friends and also my marefriend AJ, who can change from Earth Pony to Earth Dragon at will. Plus, my partner Revaan also helps keep an eye on things.” I replied, until I noticed the look in Pinkie’s eyes as she stared at me. Oh god, don’t tell me she’s fantasizing about me. What did I do to deserve this!?!

        “Wish I knew how to turn into a Earth Dragon, oh the fun I could have with Asphy.” She said with dreamy eyes. “Oh just thinking about it, I can’t wait to marry him!” Great, that was one thing I still needed to do with Applejack back home. I just don’t know where the hell I would go besides the pony version of Las Vegas in order to pull that one off.

        “Oh maybe you should call Ava, she a displaced to and was a big help last time she was here.” Pinkie said, it was almost like she could read my mind. Also ,that smile made me worried. “Also you should keep AJ by your side just to be on the safe side. She a bit… hands on.” Yep, now the memories of Zinnia are beginning to return to me… speaking of which, I haven’t seen her in a while. I wonder how she’s been recently… Ehh, I’ll write a letter and ask her later.

            “Hello miss Velvet, what’re you doing here?” Pinkie asked, as I turned to see a mare that looked almost identical to Twilight as Pinkie walked up to her.

        “Hello I was just here to see how Twilight and her lovely coltfriend were doing… Oh my, who this handsome stallion.” Velvet asked as she walked up to me.

        “Uh… a friend of Asphyxious… My names Ken… and before you ask,” I said, looking at her as she trotted over to where I was sitting and looking at me, making me think she was a bit too close for comfort. “I have a marefriend.”

        “I see… she must feel really lucky then.” She then wrapped her arms around me and push her chest onto mine. Oh god, who is she and what the hell is she trying to do!? When did I become some kind of f**king mare magnet!?

        “You smell like Asphyxious and I like it.” Velvet purred before trying to kiss me. I tried to back away, hopefully not wanting to use my abilities to push her off of me… But then I heard the voice I least expected come to my aid.

        “Mom… what the hay are you doing?” Two thoughts came through my head… First, when did Twilight actually get in here. Second…… wait, MOM!?!

        “Oh Twilight, you can’t expect me to not flirt now and then. Especially after what Asphyxious did with us.” Velvet purred with a wink that made Twilight blush. I was going to say something… possibly for Velvet to please get off of me and not make this awkward anymore… but that didn’t happen.

        “Mom! Not in front of guests!” Twilight yelled before pulling her mother away from me. “Now why are you really here?”

        “I just wanted to make sure you were okay, after the whole Tirek thing. Also, I wanted another go with Asphyxious.” Always straight to her point apparently… I would use this chance to flee, but then again, I was a guest and that would be rude. “Maybe your new friend here could join us.” Oh god, please no! Abort! ABORT!!!

        “That may be something you should ask him… He’s out back with some… new family members.” Twilight told her mother, pointing in the direction of where the Lich was. “Just be careful… One doesn't like being called cute and Asphyxious’ sister can be a bit… crazy.”

        “Crazy?” Velvet asked with a raised eyebrow. “How so-?”

        “WHY AREN’T YOU ON FIRE RIGHT NOW!?!” That was followed by a loud explosion out back as I sighed. Yep, Orendi was back to her usual craziness.

        “Orendi! I have to pay for that!” Asphyxious voice soon followed. “Toby, do something!”

        “The last time I did something, I got discriminated by the guards because I look like an adorable penguin.” Toby replied. “Plus, we have nowhere else to go.”

        “Fine, you can stay in ponyville, just tone down the crazy alright?” Asphyxious asked.

        “I can try, but no promises.” He replied, which was soon followed by Velvet walking outside towards them. Leaving me here with Twilight and… wait, where did Pinkie go?

        “LET’S HAVE A PARTY!” I heard Pinkie yell as a cannon went off outside.

        And that answered almost every other question I had about the party mare. “Sorry I better go and keep an eye on them, I don’t want to leave my mom alone around Asphyxious for too long. It was nice meeting you.” Twilight said as she ran after Velvet… and leaving me alone again… Well, that’s just great.

        “Hey! Where did everypony go?” Called out Spike as he ran up to me.

        “That… I honestly want to know.” I sighed. “I think Pinkie said something about a party?”

        “Oh cool, Say who are you anyway?” Spike asked looking up at me. “I’m Spike.”

        “I’m Ken, a friend of Asphyxious,” I said to him as I extended my hand so I could shake his claw. A friendly gesture. “It’s nice to meet you.”

        “You to, but by the looks of things it going to get more crazy before things calm down. Things like this happen once or twice a week.” Spike added, as he start to walk off. “Come on let go before all the cake gone.” Ah what the hell? What’s the worst thing that could happen? I happened to follow Spike over to where they were hosting it and as I walked through the town, I happen to realize how expansive it actually was. I didn’t really get the chance to explore neighboring buildings and shops, so I never knew what it was like…

        Or the fact that where Pinkie lives/works is a FREAKING gingerbread house!! Dammit, you’re making me hungry again, Pinkie!! Just as I was thinking about that though, I saw the party mare once again as she yanked both of us inside the bakery. Note to self, I need to remember the name of this place.

        “Welcome to Sugarcube corner!” Pinkie yelled throwing confetti into the air and also telling me the answer to the non existent question that was in my head.

        “Thanks… Just out of curiosity, who is the party for?” I asked, a little unfamiliar with how things were done here.

        “She throws parties for every new pony in ponyville as a way to make them feel welcomed.” Spike told me. Based on what he said, I could only think of two possibilities when it came to thinking about who the party was for. That being both Toby and Orendi… I wasn’t trying to count myself out or anything, but I honestly thought that this was more focused on them from the looks of it. Until I saw the banner.

        “Welcome to Ponyville, happy reunion, Orendi ate a whole cake/Toby cute, party?” I read out loud, looking back at Spike. “Don’t you think that is a bit of a stretch? Toby… well…”

        “Cute flightless bird? MY ASS!!!” Toby yelled, as Orendi was feeding him a piece of cake.

        “He doesn’t like being referred to as cute. It’s like what happens if you irritate Twilight by calling her egghead.” I said, based on earlier observations… and the recent outburst. “How’s everything going so far?”

        “What do you mean? Asphyxious going out with Twilight?” Spike asked.

        “No, I was asking Pinkie in terms of the party. It looks like she put a lot of effort into setting this up, so I was asking how the party was going so far.” I explained, looking back at Spike. “Sorry if I had to go into specifics, it’s easier for me like that.”

        “Don’t worry about it, also this is nothing. You should see her at birthday parties.” Said Spike as he ate a piece of cake. “And it looks like Pinkie is pulling Asphyxious away for something? Hey how old are you?”

        “How old am I?” I repeated the question. “Last I checked, I was twenty… What brought this question up?”

        “Oh nothing, I just thought seeing as your part dragon you would be as old as  Asphyxious.” Spike replied.

        “Well, to be fair, it has only been like six months or so since I was displaced… Wait, how old is Asphyxious anyway?” That question had dawned on me the moment Spike said that originally. But it took a while to process… I’m not even sure if time flowed the same way in my Equestria the same way it did back home… Dammit, it’s making me think of the topic I rather not think about again!

        “Last time I checked, he said he was nine hundred and twenty five years old. Maybe twenty six some time this year.” Holy sh*t… I was not expecting anything like that. Like at all. Still though… That just got me thinking a bit as I then thought of something.

        “Spike, do you happen to have a calendar? I want to see something real fast.”

        “Sure, I’m sure the Cake’s keep one around here somewhere.” Spike then looked around before finding what I wanted to look at. Now, as I looked at it, I was glad to see that there wasn’t any corny puns on the names of the months or anything like that… but one thing caught me by surprise as I looked back at Spike for a moment before looking back at the calendar… However, it felt a little bit unnecessary to say it right now because I didn’t want to cause a lot of confusion.

        Because if what the calendar said was correct… My birthday falls on the same exact day that I met AJ for the first time… Well, I wasn’t sure if it was my Applejack or Asphy’s, so I’m leaving a margin of error for if things aren’t exactly the same. “Thanks man, much appreciated.”

        “No trouble at all, but why did you want to look at this? Trying to find out when  Asphyxious birthday is?” Spike asked as he put it back.

        “More like mine. I wasn’t sure if the calendar system back before I was displaced was the same one used here. Turns out, I have nothing to worry about.” I sighed happily. Leaning back against a window though, I happened to notice something off outside that didn’t really fit along the terms of “normal” so to speak. Some smoke was rising from the same forest that I happened to find Orendi at… Which could mean a lot of things. “Hey, I need to excuse myself for a minute. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

        Shortly after that, I stood up and walked out the door, before going into a side alley and bolting out to where the smoke column was. It might have many implications… most of them revolving around the word fire. Bonfires, Campfires... Wildfires… Hopefully, not the last one. Thinking about that is just messed up. Anyways, when I got there, I didn’t really see anything other then what looked like a shaman’s hut and the smell of something cooking. I could feel one presence inside… but something else was watching me.

        Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate my senses. Listening to everything around me… There were three of them… One in the bushes… another one in the trees… and the last one being behind a boulder in the nearby shrubbery. I couldn’t make out heads or tails of who they were or what they wanted. But it either had to do with me or the other figure inside… who seemed to be minding her own business.

        That when I heard the squeal of a pig and gun fire, Wow! Something shooting at me!? How unoriginal… But that was when I actually saw what it was… and this was nothing like the others I picked up a few moments ago. They were standing on two hooves, had arms holding some kind of rifle made of iron and also looked like some kind of… Pig men? Pfft, I’ll just go with Boar men for now.

        “Well what do we have here? Lunch maybe?” Asked a bigger one carrying a large meat cleaver of a sword. No really it looked like a huge meat cleaver. “Haven’t seen one of you before.”

        “I could say the same with you… I’m not looking for trouble, I was…” Come on, think of something… “I was just out on a walk.”

        They all snort to each other before looking back at me. “Ya, let’s eat him.” Said the big one as the others point their rifles at me.

        “Pfft… You really think that can work?” I said to them. “Because I’m pretty sure that in five minutes, I can send you running like piglets.”

        The big one snorts before yelling something that confused me. “SOUIE!” That was followed by the sound of something big lumbering in the forest behind them. Another, boar man walked out grunting away to itself, this one being bigger compared to the rest. But it acted more like an animal. A really big animal.

        One that looked like it was eager to ram it’s tusks through my chest. Well, that’s very enlightening to think about. “Damn it Asphyxious. I just wanted some air and now this happens… Well, at least I get the chance to actually fight something-.” They start shooting at me.

        Of course, this wasn’t their… best plan. Especially when I had my dragon arm ready. Yanking one of the attackers and using it for the not so fun job of being a meatshield… Hey, when you are in the situation I am in, anything helps! Wait, what that smell? Oh god! When was the last time this thing had a bath?! Ugh, forget it, I have bigger problems to worry about.

            The leader sent in the big boar as it charged at me. It didn’t seem to care I had one of their friends as a shield as when it got closer, it proceeded to tear it apart and out of the way… before chowing down on it right in front of his comrades. God, do these guys even have f**king manners!? “Well… that’s something…”

        “What are you doing Freckles?! Attack the other one!” Yelled the boar with the sword, as the big guy stopped eating and looked back to me. While the other boar men were reloading their weapons. Better stop this now then. With a movement of my arm, I fired off a bolt of energy. But, it wasn’t until I realized that the element I was using was my fire element… which was important because the energy bolt I fired split off into three of them and proceeded to turn their weapons into liquid metal… Wow, sucks to be them right now.

        That’s when they all looked at me angrily, at least the ones who were not squealing in pain. The leader gave out a loud squeal and they all charged me, with the huge boar coming at me from the other side. I adopted a fighting stance and was expecting to try and bring out one of my weapons… until I heard a few silenced shots fire off and go through the heads of those that were charging at me from the front as something else yanked the huge one into the forest. Was this the others I felt earlier? It was possible because they did seem to move… and now I could hear one of them.

        “All units, be advised… I killed someone stupid…” Okay, who would actually say something like that-. You know what, forget I asked. I then heard a painful squeal from the huge boar, and the sounds of flesh being torn. Okay, either something was happening or whatever pulled the damn thing over there was eating it.

        “Endless… HUNGER!!” I heard that statement echo throughout the Everfree, followed by the sounds of chewing and someone reacting to that like they just threw up in in their mouth. “Ugh… Holy crap, that’s gross!! First that… whatever it was killing itself and now you’re eating it Aurox? That’s nasty!!”

        “IT’S BACON!” Okay, so now I was hearing voices of two people, but what about the third that was in the trees?

        “Can you idiots please just stop trying to cause commotion for ten seconds?” A voice snapped, followed by the sounds of something jumping from the trees and landing nearby. “We still need to figure out where the hell we are, what’s going on and not have anyone see us.”

        “Uhh… You do realize I’m right here right?” Not the best thing to say in that moment, but it was the only remark I could think of at the time. “I can hear you.”

        “Everypony can hear you all from the river and back, I do say you’re louder than the Farrow pack.” I turned to hear this voice come from the tent as what appeared to be a Zebra made her presence known… and judging from the approach right now, she didn’t seem to be hostile.

        “Hey Reyna, look! This one’s a poet!!”

        “Oh shut up, Whiskey.” I heard the same voice a few moments ago say as a woman with slicked back hair, a leather jacket and pants, an eyepatch over her left eye, some kind of contraption on her left hand and a pistol holstered at her waist stepped out from behind the tree. “It’s no point as to hiding ourselves now… We were trying to find someone without causing a lot of commotion… However, it always seems like commotion finds up anyways.”

        “When dealing with Farrow, Trouble is always there motto.” The Zebra rimed with a smile as she pulled out a staff. “But I am well at home in the wilds as you can see, you’re not so please follow me. For you draw the beasts like a chicken to a fox, only the things that live here are far too big to be a fox.”

        “And just what the hell is that suppose to mean?” I heard the third and final voice. This time appearing from some kind of invisibility trick on top of the zebra’s hut and-. Oh my god, what the hell is that!?

        “There is much magic in this place. If you are unprepared, you won’t be ready for when there is a threat you need to face.”

        “Try telling that to Aurox… He just ate what was left of the guy who committed suicide a few moments ago.” The teenaged girl said, pointing up to the creature as it was trying to get what looked like a piece of flesh from out between its jaws… God that’s gross.

        “That was just a hunting party, now then. Let us move right away, or we’ll miss  Asphyxious all day.” The zebra said as she started to walk off, as she did I heard growls all around us. On instinct, I decided to move and follow her while the other three soon fell behind shortly after that. All seemed fine for the most part… until the Zebra spoke up once we were out of the forest.

        “Tell me, what are you names? it will make the time fly away. My name is Zecora, I live in these woods. But I’m also the hoard mate of Asphyxious too.” She asked us collectively.

        “That is… hard to say. Just call me Reyna.” The woman with the eyepatch replied. “To my left is Whiskey Foxtrot and to my right is Shayne… with her Djinn of a companion named Aurox.” She then looked at me for a moment, thinking something to herself as she groaned. “What about you kid?”

        “My name’s Ken Ahkrin… I’m just visiting a friend.”

        “Pfft… Like that would make any sense… If it were me, I would say you got here the same way we did… which reminds me… Did you happen to see a girl with a witch’s hat and four arms with a penguin piloting a mechsuit anywhere?” Holy crap, these three knew about Orendi and Toby.

        Before I got the chance to speak though, all of us heard a booming screech from where Sugarcube Corner was. “HEY, OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH SO I CAN BAKE YOUR INTESTINES!!!”

        “For the last time Orendi, I can’t eat any more! I’m only a little guy.” Okay, that definitely did not sound good at all.

        “Come on Toby just one more you can do it!” I heard Asphyxious cheering. Just what was going on in there? Please don’t tell me this is some kind of weird eating competition… Oh dammit, it is isn’t it.

        “Yo Ken, wow. Who’re they?” Asphyxious asked. Just as Asphyxious and Orendi turned to notice them, with Orendi taking it to an extreme.

        “YOU GUYS!!!” she yelled before proceeding to tackle Whiskey and pounce off of him like he was a trampoline, latching onto Asphyxious. “Guess who I found!?! Hehehaha! Come on, GUESS!!?”

        “Uhh… some guy?” Reyna asked, noticing Toby as he was being held tight by Pinkie Pie in that moment. “Oh my god, Toby, what happened to you? We left you guys alone for five minutes and you ran off. Just what the hell happened?”

        “Well, I first met Ken… who almost shot me in the face… but we’re cool now… and I found my brother-. Oh darn it, I RUINED THE GUESSING GAME!!” Orendi said as Reyna focused her attention on Asphyxious.

        “Well, while you two were screwing around, we had to deal with some stupid Farrow sh*t or whatever they were called and Aurox saw them as bacon.” The Valkyrie groaned as she facepalmed herself.

          “Haven’t seen Farrow in-Oh god Zecora!” Asphyxious yelled as the zebra took him to the floor and started kissing and... Oh my god she taking off his clothes! I’m not even going to see where this goes next. As I turned away, it looked like the kid that was named Shayne had a similar state of mind as Aurox was shielding her eyes.

        “Dude, that is so inappropriate…” I can agree with that, one hundred freaking percent.

        “Oh don’t worry Zecora does this all the time.” Said Pinkie with a smile on her face.

        “And how come the guards have not arrested her for something like that? It could go along the lines of-.”

        “Toby, be nice.” Orendi interrupted. “It’s like what they say… The bigger they are…” At that moment, all of us were looking straight at Orendi and just causing her to shrug her arms. “WHY IS EVERYONE STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!?!”

             “I can wait a little longer, but I demand your touch tonight no longer.” Zecora rhymed as she got up off of Asphyxious.

              “Damn, that mare’s wild…” He gasped as he set on the floor.

        “I’m beginning to think I’ve overstayed my welcome,” I said, turning towards Asphyxious. “Maybe I should get going-.”

        “Going where? Because if you are like the rest of us, we’re stuck here and also screwed as hell.” Reyna snapped, causing me to sigh.

        “Look, I mean what I say when I said that I was here visiting a friend… If you need proof, I can provide it… But we need to take it to the outskirts of Ponyville first. You okay with this, Asphyxious?” I asked him, waiting on a response from the lich.

        “Ya just let me get dressed and warn everyone first, no need for them to panic.” He replied as he looked for his pants. Of course, I was not watching this… but I could just as much hear it as other people could see it. I began to walk off in the direction outside Ponyville, with Pinkie, Twilight, Orendi, Toby, and surprisingly Shayne was following us too. Probably after the accident in town where she wanted to see what else was in store OTHER than what just happened. I forgot to tell them almost everyone in ponyville was naked… or almost that given the bare amounts of clothes that some individuals had.

        “Okay everypony in town is ready.” Said Twilight as she wore a lab coat and glasses on, while Pinkie still walked around with barely anything on! “You can call your friend now ken.”

        “Yeah… Let me remind you that there’s no need to panic…” I said, having my Dragon Arm channel some energy before bringing him the message I needed. Soon, a tear opened to which it was bigger that the entire town as Revaan soon landed as he towered over Asphyxious.

        “Well… this is not what I expected when I thought what Asphyxious’ Equestria would look like…” The dragon said as he looked down upon the lich, his friends, and the rogues.

        “Fascinating.” Twilight said as she took notes. Pinkie just waved while some of the other just looked at Revaan and I, slackjawed. However, I soon noticed Shayne and Aurox actually walking towards us as her comrades were questioning her actions.

        “Shayne, what the hell are you doing?”

        “Reyna, I’m sorry, but I rather go with him then stay around here and get my clothes yanked off out of nowhere by somebody.” The Angsty teen shot back, looking at me and sighing. “You’re okay with me coming you right?”

        “Don’t worry, Zecora only does that to Asphyxious because she apart of his hoard.” Said Twilight like it was no big deal.

        “Yeah… not a convincing argument since almost everyone else here has a lack of clothes… which is f**king creepy as hell.” Shayne sighed as she looked at me, “How sooner can we get the hell out of here-?”

        “Be lucky you didn’t show up in the middle for the heat cycle three months ago. Twilight had Asphy all to herself-.” Pinkie said with bedroom eyes at Twilight who blushed. Okay, if there was any good time at all to get out of here, it would be now.

        “And that’s our cue to leave…” I said, looking back at Shayne. “Don’t worry, if you need to see your friends again, I can open up the same doorway.”

        “Thanks… right now, I just want to get away from the madness.” She said, following me through the doorway as we left them behind. The last thing I heard was from Orendi as she looked at everyone else.

        “What? Was it something I said?”

Back at the Hollow

        By the time we got back, Shayne was able to breath a sigh of relief as she looked around the temple the second her eyes were readjusted. Revaan used the moment to readjust himself before returning to his quarters as I lead Shayne to the dining hall so she could sit down and I can answer any questions that she might have.

        “So… now that the craziness has died down… I believe you have some questions that need answering?” I asked, drinking a glass of water in the process.

        “Yes and… I honestly don’t even know where to begin.” Shayne replied, making me think something from a different approach.

        “Well, does this scenario sound familiar…? You go to some sort of event or convention that is being held, either dressed up as someone or as yourself, you meet a salesman that gives you something for a price you can’t refuse, some scenario happens and then you wake up in a world with talking ponies and what not?” I asked her, causing her to look at me with a raised eyebrow and folded arms.

        “Actually yes… How the hell do you know about this?” Shayne asked me, confused by what I was saying.

        “Because the same thing happened to me and other people like me,” I said to her, laying out two tokens I had on me. Asphyxious’ emerald and my scale. “Displaced like Asphyxious and myself are those who had been taken from their version of earth and ended up in their own version of Equestria… the world with all the ponies… Are you familiar with the multiverse by chance?”

        “You mean like the thing going on with DC’s new 52 comics?” She asked me. “Yeah, I’m somewhat familiar with the concept.” Well, this was going to be a bit easier than I thought. Using that small piece of information, I began to go a little in depth with how the whole Displaced thing worked while trying to simplify it so it did not sound so confusing or complex… Surprisingly though, she was taking it well.

        “That sounds interesting… One question though,” She stated, looking around a bit before looking at me. “Are the ponies here like anything in the world that belongs to that perverted lich guy?”

        “You mean Asphyxious? Definitely not,” I said immediately, having her breath a sigh of relief as I explained it to her. “Now… can I ask you something this time?” She nodded her head as I took a deep breath and then asked her the first question that came to mind. “How did you get yourself… well… paired up with your friend there?”

        “You mean Aurox?” She asked me, looking up at him for a moment. “Well, the person I dressed up as was a teenager from a game that was coming soon called Battleborn. In the game, my character had Aurox here as a companion and also a partner in combat. Allowing me to pull enemies towards me, hide in stealth for a few moments and other things too… What about yourself?”

        “Well, I’m a Scalebound. I have a bond with Revaan, which means my abilities are learned from him and I’m also part dragon. Only downside is that any pain we feel is shared between us. So if one gets hurt, so does the other.”

        “Wow… That sucks.” Shayne sighed. “But the whole dragon thing is still cool… I’m getting the feeling though that theres more to this place and the people here than meets the eye, am I right?”

        “Yup… definitely…” I sighed, putting the tokens away. “Hey, if you’re up for it… you want me to give you a tour of the place? So you can feel comfortable here?”

        It took Shayne a few moments to come up with a response, but soon, all I saw was a smile on her face. “I think I’d like that.”