//------------------------------//
// 24- Something Wild 
// Story: Bound by Scales 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Bound by Scales- Something Wild





Point of View: Applejack




        The moment when my eyes first flickered open and I did not feel Ken right next to me, I began to feel that something wasn’t right at all. It was too early in the morning to be awake right now and it was unusual for him to be up this early unless there was a specific reason. I tried getting back to sleep, thinking that when I wake back up again that he would be right next to me. But that didn’t help ease my thoughts on the matter at all. I waited for him to come back, patiently I might add. But the longer I waited, the more concerned I became. 

        Finally though, I decided to actually do something about it as I woke up from under the covers and got on all four of my hooves. But when I did trot out into the courtyard, a small rock fell from the stone ceiling and landed by my front forehoof. Causing me to look at it before hearing something from Revaan’s chambers. I wanted to talk to him, but one glance at him and I could tell immediately that he was in pain. Which didn’t make sense… because the only way that he would be in pain was if-.

        “Oh no…” I muttered to myself as more pebbles from the ceiling fell by my front hooves. I needed to hurry and find him fast… before something terrible happens to him.




Point of View: Ken (Sometime earlier)




        Straight out the gate, I had to be quick and versatile on my feet in order to counter Athena’s oncoming strikes. She may have had only one sword, but as the fight played out, I was beginning to realize exactly what I was dealing with. Back home, Aaron and I liked to play Co-op with the Borderlands games and the one I was fighting was based on Athena from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Something I didn’t fully take into effect until after her shield lit up and almost clipped my face as her sword began to clash with the two blades I was using. Even with an extra blade I was barely able to even land a strike on her because of how fast she was and how quick she swung her blade. I had only mere seconds to block and barely any time at all to counterattack.

        I needed to come up with a new plan of attack and quickly before I get overrun here. Aiming my dragon arm at the ground, I used an pulse blast from it to push me back far enough to gain a fair amount of distance from Athena as I quickly summoned my bow and prepared three arrows. Two incendiary and one explosive one to fire alongside it. The point for this grouping was to have the gladiator assume for the last arrow to be the same as the previous ones and have the explosion that would result from it catch her by surprise. Quickly, I fired them off and sent them hurling towards her, whizzing freely in the air… However, something about this did not feel right.

        When Athena saw my arrows coming for her, all she did was grin. Grabbing her shield, she threw it at the first two arrows and caused them to break mid-flight, while for the third one I saw something take form out of pixels from her hands. It was a pistol, but it wasn’t any ordinary one. The color scheme was orange, silver and blue. The typical setup for a Maliwan based weapon that focused on elemental damage. From where I was at, I saw her point the Aegis pistol she had at my explosive arrow and fired one shot, destroying it and setting the shaft for the arrow on fire in the process. But I was not done yet… not by a long shot.

        If she was going to play the range game like that, then so can I. Quickly, I dismissed my bow and this time had one blade in my left hand as I drew out Hawkmoon with my right. Taking a knee and aiming, I began to fire off a few rounds and catch Athena by surprise as she barreled out of the way and waited for her shield to return to her. So I tried to redirect my focus to shooting that shield, but that turned out to be just as hard as trying to shoot a frisbee in mid flight with a nerf dart gun (Trust me, I tried… didn’t turn out so well).

        My focus needed to be Athena. Because if I focused on her and kept making her move, it would keep on messing with her trying to catch that shield of hers. Now, one would think that I should try to use a stronger weapon like one of the two sets of dragon arms I already have, but there was a problem with that… First off, they’re primarily for close quarters combat, not long range. Second, I still had not found out all the things I could do with my second weapon, Denek Sil. I had to stick with using Hawkmoon right now and hope for the best because that fire weapon she used earlier made trying to hit her with arrows a wasted effort. At one stage, I thought I was getting somewhere… but that was when she switched weapons.

        “Try this on for size!” I heard her call he out as she brought out another weapon this time. I tried to stop her from switching weapons by shifting the element of my pulse to fire and launched some pyrokinetic bolts. It hurt her a little, but the bad news was that even though I tried to stop her before she could switch weapons, my attempt was unsuccessful. Now she was armed with something differe- WOAH!!!

        Immediately, I had to bolt and run. I only had seconds to react to the hail of plasma bolts that we’re being fired in my general direction, a few of them hitting me and shocking my body. This Athena was now armed with a shock based Plasma Caster, and from the gold, black and red color outline, it was a Hyperion model. Before I was displaced, I love shooting enemies with one of those weapons and watching them run as I shocked them. Now… not so much.

        But I couldn’t stop now… I needed to fight back and to do that, I needed to take a risk. Holstering Hawkmoon, I had Denek Sil form in my hands now. There was something that I wanted to try that would hopefully catch Athena here off guard and now was the only chance I had. Putting all the strength I have into me, I threw one of the hatchets at the ground below Athena’s feet.

        When the blade of the axe touched the ground, a powerful pillar of stone struck Athena in the ribcage, throwing her backwards and dropping her weapon. Now was my chance! Recalling Denek Sil, I took off and ran straight for her weapon. Only to felt something smack me in the side of the head and knock me to the ground too. Ah crap, I forget about her shield! She must have thrown it while switching weapons. That wasn’t the worst part of it though, I can tell you that.

        The worst part of it was that when I got back on my feet, I had nothing to protect myself from Athena’s sword as it slashed across my upper chest. And son of a b*tch, did that hurt!! I was vulnerable now… just as the sun was beginning to rise. But I could not give up now… I needed to fight back. But Athena thought otherwise.

        “There’s just no end with you now, is there?” She said as daybreak could be seen over the horizon. “You’ve took a hit from my aegis, a strike from my blade and have been electrocuted by rounds of plasma… Yet, you still insist on fighting back… why?” The part where she asked me that question at the end really threw me off guard. Even with my current state, now wasn’t exactly the so called proper time to be asking questions like this.

        But still, I had an answer for her. “Because I have people I know and care for that I need to protect and they count on me in order to help them.” After that, I coughed a little,before trying to stand up. “You may see me as some kid who doesn’t exactly have a purpose for why I fight, but I do. And there is no way in hell that I will let those I care for be harmed by anyone.” The gladiator sighed, dismissing her weapons and placing a shield on her back. I saw her hand move to her right pocket, holding a vial with a syringe on it as she injected it into my arm. However, despite the pain, I soon felt my wounds… beginning to heal and I was recovering.

        “You fought well… I can respect that…” Athena then said to me before throwing the vial away. “Now… who exactly are you?” Well, I did promise that I would say who I was. Better keep up my end of the bargain.

        “I’m-.”

        “GET THE BUCK AWAY FROM HIM!!!” Okay, what the hell?

        Just as I thought things were beginning to calm down, I turned around just when Applejack came out of nowhere and blindsided Athena by delivering a swift jab kick to her ribcage. Sending her back a few feet. “Applejack, what was that for-!?”

        That was when I felt her forelegs wrap around me and pull me towards her as I felt something moist along my chest. Oh my god, was she crying? Upon lifting her head was when I noticed the tears coming down her face. “Dear Celestia you scared the daylights out of me, Ken!! I woke and saw that Revaan was hurt and… I panicked!”

        Well geez, now I felt like a major idiot. “AJ, I’m really sorry for that. I promise that I'll try to not have that happen again-.” Just as I had said that, both of us turned to notice that Athena was still standing. But her expression had greatly changed from what it was before.

        “D-did you say… Ken? As in Ken Ahkrin?” Okay, just how exactly did she know my name? I didn't even tell it to her and she knew it completely. I nodded my head briefly, but all that did was cause her eyes to widen as she stared at me in a state of shock. “O-oh my god… is that really you?”

        I looked back at Applejack before returning my gaze to Athena, slightly a little more confused than before. “Uh… how do you know my name? Matter of fact, who are you really?” When I asked her that, she looked at me for a moment in disbelief before getting something out of her pocket. It looked like a slip of paper, but when she extended her hand, I soon noticed that the paper was actually a photograph.

        And that photograph had a picture of me when I was ten years old with my mom right next to me. How the hell did she have something like this? I was going to ask her about this, but it was when she took off her hood that I realized who she was. “It has been… too long since I've last seen you… Ken.” Oh my god, this can't be happening… This cannot be happening right now.

        I slowly moved to her, a bit of tears beginning to fall across my face. Applejack may be looking at me with a confused look right now, but I did not care if she did. There was only I could say right now as I looked at her. “M-mom? Is that really you?” My question was answered by a simple nod from her as she pulled me into an emotional hug. “O-oh my god.”

        “My son… You have grown… so much since I've last seen you.” She said. The last time I saw her was when I was ten at the airport… watching her get on board a plane to London and not knowing if I would ever see her again.

        Our brief moment did not last long though as our reunion was interrupted by the earth pony that was with us at the time. “Hang on a darn minute… she is your mother!?” Upon realizing that, she soon noticed her blunder from a few moments ago. “Oh dear Celestia, I am SO sorry for attacking you!!”

        “You don't need to apologize… to be honest, if I were in the same situation, I would've done the same thing.” Athena soon replied to her, spinning her tears away. “Uh… I'm sorry, but I don't believe I got your name.” Well, that had to come sooner or later I guess. Looks like I need to step up to the plate now.

        “Mom, I would like you to meet Applejack. She’s my marefriend and also some pony I really care for.” I told her briefly before thinking of something. “Maybe we should move this conversation inside the hollow. It may take a while to explain everything.”

        “I'm okay with that,” Mom said back to me as we began to walk back to the hollow. “Say, you were pretty skilled with that sword of yours, son… did you learn how to fight on your own or from a teacher?” 

        I paused for a moment before looking back at her, sighing a little. I took a deep breath before continuing my walk into the hollow. The first person I was going to meet was Revaan to check and make sure that he was okay, but I now had even more of a reason to meet him. “I have a teacher… in fact, we're going to meet him right now.” I had Athena and Applejack follow me through the passage that I would use to get aboveground to go back underground this time. Walking through as I stood to the side so mom could see the sight that was the hollow. And by the looks of things, she was blown away by everything that was inside.

        “My god… this is unbelievable.” She muttered, causing me to personally chuckle to myself as we began to walk through the courtyard of the temple towards Revaan’s chambers. 

        “Oh trust me mom… You haven't seen anything yet.” I replied to her as I gripped the handle of the door and began to pull it towards me. When I pulled the door open though was when mom noticed the most… obvious difference.

        “What the-? Ken, what happened to your arm!?” that had me turn around and look back at her for a moment before saying a simple reply.

        “Give me a moment and I will answer your question soon.” I told her, opening the door as I found Revaan asleep for a brief bit. But he soon began to open his eyes as I touched his head with my arm. “Hey Revaan, there's someone I would like you to meet.”

        He looked to where Applejack and our… guest were, sniffed the air and then spoke up. “This is the same presence that I sensed earlier… And her lifesource is the same as yours…” He spoke, now rising up and sitting down on his back legs. “Ken, who is this?”

        “I was going to ask you the same thing,” I heard mom say back to me as I look back to her. “But I have a feeling that it relates to what happened to your arm.”

        “Athena, I would like you to meet Revaan. He’s my teacher and partner and has been helping me adjust here along with Applejack and her friends.” My first set of words were soon followed by what I had to say next as I looked back to Revaan before having mom come closer to me. “Revaan, this is Athena… she’s my mother.”

        That surprised Revaan for a moment, before he smiled a little and looked back at the gladiator. “Well, I am honored to be in the presence of one of your kin.” He then turned to look back at mom for a moment before mischievously grinning. “I must say, for being a scalebound, your son can be… reckless at times… But he is strong and a brave fighter. And that, I am thankful for.”

        “Well, that sounds like him.” She said, before catching me off guard and scratching my head like I was a puppy. “But what exactly do you mean by Scalebound? Is that the reason for his arm being like that?”

        “That’s only a part of it,” I interjected as I leaned against a nearby pillar as Applejack soon trotted over to my right and sat down. “When I originally came here, Revaan told me that his soul and mine were bound together by a pact. An unbreakable bond that affects the both of us. It’s also why that Applejack was concerned for me when she saw Revaan in pain because of the connection we have. If any one of us gets hurt, the other person feels the same pain no matter how severe it is. In turn though, it also provides me some of the powers and abilities that I demonstrated during our… earlier encounter. But I still have a lot to learn even with what I’ve known over the past few months.”

        “Indeed you do,” Revaan then interjected before clearing his throat and speaking up to me. “There are many things that both of us can do as a team that we have yet to go over because of recent events and having to deal with the aspects that threaten the safety of the hollow. We’ll need to go over these techniques later.”

        “Thanks for the reminder, Revaan…” I mentioned to him, before realizing the full context of what he was saying. “Wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘both of us’.”

        “Remember when I told you how dragons use gemstones to help them grow and mature?” I nodded my head, remembering that conversation since it was the one we had before going to Sweet Apple Acres and meeting Applejack for the first time. “There is something that Onyx dragons can do that the other dragonflights can’t, which is known as mutations. These mutations can range from the abilities I have in general to a complete change in my physical form depending on the roles I play in battle. But, like I said, we will need to discuss this later.” I nodded my head in acknowledgement as I turned back around and faced mom. Revaan made a valid point there and right now, my main focus should be answering any potential questions that she might have along with explaining more about the concept of the Displaced.

        Explaining to her about the Displaced took necessarily another few minutes, but it seemed like she was able to easily understand it. But there soon was something else that I needed to tell her once Applejack and I noticed two little young rascals scurry on into the room and climb up on my shoulder. The sight of Ruby and Magma playfully messing around almost startled Athena for a moment. But what really caught her by surprise was when Magma then spoke as I rubbed his head. “Dada……”

        “… Did that… little one just call you… his dad?” She questioned, causing both AJ and I to sigh as we looked back at her.

        “Yeah… I was going to mention this sooner, but the topic didn’t come up,” I told her as both of them crawled onto my shoulders now. “Mom, I would like you to meet our kids. This little guy on my right shoulder is Magma and the one on my left is Ruby… and yes, they are your grandchildren… Grandchildren that are part dragon and part earth pony.”

        Athena just raised an eyebrow before looking at me with her arms folded. “I was gonna ask how exactly does that work… but then I stopped asking a long time ago ever since I first came here.” The last part of that sentence got me a little bit curious, but it was Applejack that got around to asking that question before I could say anything.

        “Not to sound rude, Ms. Athena… but when exactly did ya end up here?” Applejack then asked. “I mean, we have Displaced coming in here all the time and some going as far as staying here with us, but when exactly did you come here?” That question had her sigh a little as I let Magma and Ruby back onto the earth pony’s shoulders and turned to her.

        “Yeah… before I answer that, can you explain what you mean by a Displaced?” She then said, looking at both of us. Roughly, it took us between five to ten minutes on explaining everything from the general meaning of the term to also explaining about summoning tokens since she wanted to know how exactly did they end up on our doorstep. We did not mention about Zinnia or the hoard right now since that would be a preferable topic to discuss about another time.

        “Heh… Well, that is certainly a lot to process.” She commented, looking back at me. “Well, before I answer your question Applejack, can I ask one more?”

        “Sure I guess.” She replied back before looking back at her as Ruby was now resting on top of her head and Magma was trying to nibble on one of her ears before a glare from her caused him to stop.

        “You two mentioned that some Displaced love here with you guys. I was just curious who they were just in case if I know any of them-.” She stopped for a moment, looking towards the door as the both of us also turned around as we heard footsteps and hoofsteps approach the chamber from outside.

        “Hey Ken, are you in here-?” It was Aaron and both Fire and Thunder were walking up next to him in their pony forms… and his gaze was immediately directed towards the newcomer in the room. “Holy sh*t, Ms. Ahkrin?! Is that you?”

        I sighed a little, looking back at them. I was going to speak, but it was then that mom got the jump on it before I did. “Good to see you too, Aaron.” She then noticed Fire and Thunder for a moment before looking back at Aaron before redirecting her attention to me. “I think that answered my question.”

        “Partially… you haven’t met Shayne and Aurox yet.” I sighed, looking back towards Aaron before he soon left the room, mentioning that he needed to go check on something in town. “Still, back to the original topic, Aaron is here with his two weapons Fire and Thunder. Another Displaced named Shayne and Aurox are here too and also a few others. As for Displaced that we have met, I have a shelf in the armory of the temple that contains the tokens of those we met so we could call on them if we need help.”

        Applejack then took the chance to speak up shortly after that. “Now… back to the original question I asked… when exactly did you come here?” That had Athena sigh a little as I we both looked back at her.

        “A couple of months ago. Before ending up in Equestria, I was with a few members of the family along with a friend of ours out in Boston to attend a convention. Normally, I don’t do these kind of things… but your father insisted on doing it since it was your cousin’s first time to going to one of these events.” That, had me surprised. My cousin Tina was only thirteen last time I had seen her, but she was really into a lot of games and anime just like me. The same went for my aunt Molly and my uncle Vincent. “Long story short, the group split up after a while and after buying my shield from some merchant that resembled Crazy Earl from Borderlands, I ended up in a place called Hollow Shades… But that was only the tip of the iceberg.”

        Now that got my attention rather quickly. “Tip of the iceberg?”

        “Remember when I mentioned your cousin? Well, she’s here with her Aunt and Uncle as well. I would presume that your father would also be here, but I have not seen him or anything like that,” She said, looking back at me as she gave me something. “Here, take this spare ECHO communicator I have. It should help in the long run.”

        I nodded my head and took the device, but soon spoke up afterwards. “So what’s been going on with Aunt Molly and them now?”

        “Well, she’s opened up a restaurant and bar in Manehattan and also goes by her new name… Other than that, I don’t know exactly where your cousin or uncle would be. I know that they are in Equestria, I just don’t know where.” That was when I heard Applejack speak up as she nudged the side of my leg.

        “Well, Manehattan sounds like a good place to start.” Applejack told me in response. “I’ve been up there a couple of times before with Rarity and the others so finding her shouldn’t be too hard, sugarcube.” In that moment, I noticed mom look down at her feet and chuckle to herself before looking back at the both of us.

        “Just one piece of advice… don’t say that phrase.”

        “What, ‘Sugarcube’?” Applejack questioned, with the only reply from Athena being a nod of the head. “What’s wrong with Sugarcube?”

        “The implications can mean many different things… especially since the person you’re going to meet is very… forward with her language.” Oh god, don’t tell me that she came here as what I think she came here as… if that is the case, I have to deal with another Zinnia! “Not to mention the literal definition of the phrase ‘Looks can kill’.” Yep, this is happening… Good lord, what did I get myself into?

        “Uh… Ken, what is she talking about?” Taking a moment, I birefly whispered into her ear that if my assumption was right, we were dealing with another version of Zinnia. Hopefully though, things won’t get too out of hand like the last few times we met her. After that though was when we had decided to go look for her tomorrow.

        Because right now, I had a small hunch that somehow, someone was going to call upon Revaan and I for something. Well, at least this will give me some time to get ready beforehand.




Point of view: Rarity




        My goodness was the city of Manehattan bustling with activity throughout Restaurant Row now that we have dealt with Zesty Gourmand. The ponies who owned the numerous diners, shops and other local eateries were so thankful now that the mare who ran this place with an iron hoof was no longer an issue. The owners of the Tasty Treat were the most thankful though, even allowing us to take some of their culinary masterpieces back home with us. But like with all things, we must bid this place adieu until the next time we come here.

        I thanked the mare at the register that gave us the tickets that we needed to go back to Ponyville, holding them with my magic and setting them in my saddle bag as I turned around. “Alright darling, I got our-.” I stopped speaking the second that I saw Pinkie wander off into an alley across the street. Now, just why would she go there in the first place is beyond me… but like with almost all the numerous times that we needed to solve a friendship problem, the two of us needed to stick together. So, I pursued her through the alley, avoiding any possible speck of dirt or mud that would get me dirty as I found my friend searching high and low for… something… I think. “Pinkie Pie! What in the world are you doing?”

        “Oh you silly nilly, my party radar went off and I was just curious at what was going on over here-.” Pinkie Pie simply replied to me, her mane acting as a guide that, if I were to understand her in this moment in time, would guide her to wherever this supposed party may be. But when we came across the place that she was mentioning… something about it definitely did not seem right as I realized where she was being directed.

        “Darling, are you trying to tell me that there is a party going on inside of my storage room?” I asked, only leading to her nodding intently. At this point, I wasn’t sure if this was just Pinkie being… well Pinkie or if she had one too many snacks earlier in the day. But that was when we… heard something.

        “I’m a little teapot, bloody and cut. Here is my handle, here is my butt-.” Now what could possibly come up with such a gross rhyme like that-? BOOM!!! Wait, what just happened? “-Uh, whoops… Sorry about that, Princess Fluffybutt, I just needed to fix the teapot and we’ll be all set for our tea party!”

        “Oooh! Ooh!! A Tea party!? I LOVE THOSE!!” I heard Pinkie Pie cheer to herself, who went straight through the door without even thinking twice or even giving me the chance to try to reason with her (even if reasoning with her was next to near impossible). I mean, what if there was something in there that could-.

        “Oh my god!! Oh my god! Oh my god!! Oh my god!!!” I heard the other voice squeel. “You’re THE Pinkie Pie! My number one favorite party planner in the entire world!!! Can I PLEASE have your autograph!? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!!!!”

        “OOOH!! A FAN!!! It seems like I’ve been getting a reputation!” I heard my friend respond. Hiding behind a box in the storage room, I could see at the corner of my eye something… strange. I saw a makeshift table with two stuffed animals at each end and an entire tea set all spread out accordingly. There were even name tags, one being for a “Sir Reginald” while the second one for the “Princess Fluffybutt” that she mentioned earlier. “Say, can I join your little party? You seem to be kind of lonely…”

        “Sure. I was wondering who I could have for company. Mr. Sparks was fun earlier, but the Ms… Zesty I think her name was… was really rude towards me and my parents. Good things she’s not that much of a problem now.” Wait, what was that I just heard-?

        “AWESOME!! What’s your name little lady?”

        “I’m Tiny Tina! I’m so glad to get the chance to finally meet my idol!!” I stood there for a minute, watching them as I saw them conversate and have fun with each other. Watching them have fun reminded me of the times I would spend time with Sweetie Belle before she met Applebloom and Scootaloo. Aw the memories.

        My flashback moment though was abruptly ended as I heard something behind me that was rather loud. “TINA, I’M HOME-!” Turning around, I saw… something that reminded me of Applejack’s marefriend Ken. But he seemed a LOT older, had facial hair, did not wear a shirt, had a red bandana over his head along with a pair of headphones, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, metal gauntlets, black pants and massive shoes. He looked at me… before speaking once again.

        “HOLY F**KS**T!!! TINA, LOOK!! IT’S BUTT STALLION!!!”

        Wait… What did he just call me?!




End Chapter 24