Four Dragon Brothers

by Princess OtakuGeek

Strange Creatures (edit)

Consciousness brought with it a headache that made me moan and curl up to wait out the throbbing pain. As the headache began to diminish, I was able to take better stock of my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was how hard the ground was beneath me which was confusing. I fainted, right? And not in the privacy of my home, in public. Surely someone would've called for an ambulance or something. And even if I'd only been out for a minute or less I should be hearing people crowding around me, but I heard nothing.

Deciding that nothing was going to get done just laying here, I slowly eased my eyes open. At first my sight was blurry and the only thing I could perceive was the color green. As my vision cleared, the reason for all the green was revealed. I was in a forest. As I climbed up from the forest floor, it quickly became apparent that something was off. My initial examination revealed that I was still a human and still dressed in my costum, though the fabric felt different.

It wasn't until I tried to remove my dragon claw 'glove' that I started to figure out that something was very wrong.

Instead of slipping off my hand, it stayed put and even started to hurt as I tugged at it. Worse still, it no longer felt like rubber. Now it was smooth and felt scaled like I was holding a snake. A cold feeling began to settle in the pit of my stomach and before I could start panicking, I reached up to my head with the intent to pull off the wig I'd used to cover my real hair. I was rewarded with the sensation of my hair being pulled as I tugged my now white locks.

Silence permeated the air as the full implications of my situation sank in. Then in a completely understandable reaction, I started screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH-!"

*SMACK!*

"OOOWWW!"

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It was a pretty normal day in Ponyville. Sun was shining, birds were chirping and everypony was going about their business. The Apples were busy working the farm while Rainbow was napping in the trees. And like clockwork the pegasus was given one heck of a wake up call when she found herself bucked from her perch. As the pegasus and earthpony were arguing, Fluttershy was making her way to town to pick up supplies. In her shop Rarity was busy working and in her castle a certain alicorn princess was busy with her own duties.

Berry Punch was getting ready to open her bar while Time Turner had already opened his place of business and was busy selling and repairing clocks of all sizes and makes. The children had already returned home from school, quickly finished their homework and we're now out playing.

"CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS!! YAY!!"

Which meant that the CMC were also out of school and currently out Crusading. Now that's not to say that anyone hated the Crusaders, but some businesses were somewhat wary of letting the three fillies try to earn their cutiemarks in their establishments. They were eager enough, but they were also a little young and tended to make a mess of things. Mostly to themselves but there were some times when there shenanigans would effect certain businesses.

Like for example the Candied Flower incident. It all started when Bon Bon had more on her plate than usual and the Crusaders offered to help. Not seeing the harm in a few extra hooves, Bon Bon accepted and set them to work making candied flowers. The result was an event almost on the level of the Baked Bads incident and a drop in business for almost two month. Bon Bon's candy shop did eventually recover and in hind sight she probably shouldn't have left the Crusaders alone or have made sure she was stocked up on the proper flowers, but since then she absolutely refused any assistance the trio of fillies offered.

A number of business ponies in Ponyville agreed and there were very few establishments that would allow the Crusaders to Crusade for their marks. Of course they understood that the Flower incident was an accident (after all, how were they supposed to know those flowers were poisonous) they still weren't taking any chances. These facts however weren't much of a factor when the Crusaders approached Berry Punch asking if they could try earning their cutiemarks at her bar. The mare flat out refused for obvious reasons.

"Ah don't know why we thought that would work." Applebloom said as the Crusaders trotted away. "Mah sister is always telling me that Berry's place is fer grown up ponies only."

"Mine too." Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Remind me why we thought that was a good idea."

"Because it's one of the few places that we've tried, there was a slight chance we would find our cutiemarks there." Scootaloo replied.

"Oh yeah, that's right. But if our cutiemarks are there, it looks like we'll have to wait till we're twenty or twenty one." Applebloom commented.

Scootaloo sighed. "Which means our Crusading plans are shot." She said glumly. "That's the only place I could think of that could possibly work. Everyone else is either too busy or they refuse. And I can't get any sort of spell or potion book from Twilight."

"After what happened with Big Mac, I'm surprised we're even allowed the basic spell books." Sweetie countered. "Even then we have to have adult supervision."

"We've already looked through the basics anyways." Scootaloo said glumly. "Point is we are now at a dead end."

"Hmm, maybe not." Applebloom said. "There's at least one pony, or should I say zebra, who might help us."

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Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath as she fluffed a cloud to nap on. There wasn't much planned for the weather today which meant that Dash had a lot of time to herself. So after completing what weather duties she did have and her training, the pegasus decided to just relax in her favorite apple tree and catch up on some Zs.

Unfortunately, AJ and her brother were harvesting that particular part of the field and not even an hour after settling in and closing her eyes, Dash found herself thrown to the ground courtesy of her friend's buck. Rainbow just knew that AJ did that on purpose, after all she didn't exactly blend into the foliage and her cyan coat with a rainbow mane and tail were rather hard to miss amongst green leaves. And when she confronted her friend, the farmpony didn't deny it.

Ultimately, Dash ended up relocating to a cloud she situated over Whitetail woods not far from the Everfree. However it seemed as though the universe seemed determined to keep her awake because no sooner had she lay down on the soft, comfy cloud than she was jolted awake by piercing screams. Dash's first thought was 'oh c'mon!' Her second was 'that sounds like the Crusaders followed closely by her third thought, 'and it's coming from the Everfree.'

The next second, the only evidence that she'd been there were a few dissolving pieces of a cloud and a prismatic trail.

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'How do I get into these sorts of situations?' Fluttershy whimpered mentally as she attempted to shield the Crusaders from their impending doom. After picking up some groceries, Fluttershy had been returning home when she ran into the Crusaders. When she asked where they were going in such a hurry, they explained to her that they were going to see Zecora for Crusading ideas.

Her first reaction was to try and convince them to not go into the Everfree and the Crusaders in turn of only refused but also somehow managed to convince her to come along. Although in their defense, they did make some very good points. Point number one, Zecora didn't live very deep in the forest so they wouldn't have to go too far. Point number two, ever since the Tree of Harmony had been saved, the Everfree had been pretty quiet. Nopony had even seen the timberwolves. And point number three, Fluttershy was pretty much a friend to almost every animal in the vicinity even a manticore! And even if she wasn't a friend, she was the Stare Master. Thus they had convinced the most shy pony they knew to accompany them into the Everfree forest.

At first it wasn't all that bad. In fact, it was actually kinda nice in the Everfree and Fluttershy didn't feel as scared as she usually would in the forest. Of course that was when things went horribly wrong. About halfway to Zecora's but, the group was suddenly attacked by a pack of timberwolves that drove them off the path and ultimately cornered them. If they'd been attacked by any other animal, Fluttershy would've been able to get them out of the situation by reasoning with them. But these were timberwolves, one of the most vicious, feral and basically unreasonable creatures known to ponykind. Not even Fluttershy's Stare could cow the wood wolves surrounding them.

By this point, Fluttershy was shielding the Crusaders, doing her best to protect them. Hopefully their screams got someone's attention (like maybe Zecora) and a rescue wouldn't be too far away. The timberwolves were closing in and Fluttershy was seriously doubting that rescue would come in time. The best she could do at this point was protect the girls with her body.

"Close your eyes girls and stay low." She whispered to them. The three very frightened fillies only nodded and did as instructed, closing their eyes and pressing as close to the ground as possible. Fluttershy, who'd been standing over them, pulled them as far underneath her as she could and spread her wings for further protection. While one might say 'you're a pegasus, just fly', flight was just not something Fluttershy was capable of at this time. First of all, this particular part of the forest was too dense for flying and secondly, there's a limit to how much weight a pegasus can carry.

Fluttershy couldn't fly with a full grown mare and her limit for passengers was two fillies and she wasn't about to abandon one filly to such a horrible fate. If Rainbow Dash was here, she definitely would've been able to take three fillies, but she wasn't here. It was just Fluttershy and an entire pack of timberwolves. As they drew closer and closer, Fluttershy's heart thudded in her chest but she stood her ground. She wasn't going to let these fillies get hurt if it cost her her life.

As the pack circled, they drew closer and closer until they were so close that they could smell their breath. Fluttershy let out a whimper and one leaned forward with its mouth open, intention clear. Fluttershy closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain that would come when the bite connected. A pain that never came. Instead she was greeted by the sounds of growls and snarls. Carefully, the pegasus opened her eyes to see what was going on.

The timberwolf that had been about to bite her had turned it's attention from her to the newcomer that now had a grip on its tail. This new creature was bipedel like a minotaur but it definitely wasn't a minotaur. It was smaller than the average minotaur and wore clothes that she'd never seen before. But what was the strangest about this creature was it's face. This particular part of the Everfree was dark so she couldn't see clearly, but what she could see from her vantage point was a white with horns that jutted to the sides and a long mane of white fur.

Fluttershy only had a second to look this creature over however as the timberwolf that it had a hold on jumped and snapped at it. The creature quickly released the wooden tail and lept back out of range. The pack now had its attention on the newcomer but did not move away from the ponies. They remained in a circle around their prey while the wolf that the creature stopped stalked towards it. The creature edged backwards and reached over it's shoulder. Then in one motion it unsheathed a sword and took a stance.

At first nothing happened as the timberwolf stalked it's prey from a distance and the creature held it's sword out in front of itself. The timberwolf made the first move by leaping at the creature who responded by slashing downward on the timberwolf's, reducing it to a pile of logs and sticks. In response, the pack's growls increased and a second timberwolf jumped at the creature, ultimately meeting the same fate as the first.

On the third attack, two timberwolves broke away and jumped towards the creature. One attacked from the front and met the same fate as wolf one and wolf two while the other jumped from behind. Fluttershy almost screamed out a warning but to her surprise she didn't have to. After dispatching the the third timberwolf, the creature dodged it's partner, causing it to stumble before it could get, it dispatched that timberwolf too. By this point the rest of the pack was getting uneasy, but they weren't going down without a fight.

More timberwolves attacked the creature, but they were all as unsuccessful as the first few. One did manage to get on the creature's back, but that on was swiftly delt with. Pretty soon the pack had dwindled dramatically and they were beginning to have second thoughts about this creature. Then a large older timberwolf stepped forward, it's posture and the way the others interacted with it screamed 'Alpha'. With a low rumbling growl, the Alpha stepped forward to the challenge. Instead of jumping forward like it's predecessors, it began to circle the strange creature.

In response, the strange creature tensed, ready for battle but it didn't turn around as the timber wolf circled it. Instead it stood it's ground and slightly tilted it's head towards the wolf. All was quiet as timberwolf and pony alike watched the stand off. Finally the Alpha made it's move in the form of a jump from behind and like before, the creature dodged before the pounce could connect. The Alpha quickly recovered and began stalking the creature again. The Alpha jumped again, this time from the front.

However this time, the creature couldn't dodge and the Alpha managed to knock it down. Fluttershy gasped when the two hit the and all was silent for a beat. Then amazingly, the Alpha fell apart, revealing a sword where the Alpha's chest was before. The creature began to sit up and the other timberwolves, thoroughly spooked, decided to cut their losses and fled. The creature pulled itself up and looked around. Seeing no wolves, it relaxed and sheathed it's blade before turning to the ponies. Now that their lives weren't in danger, Fluttershy was able to make a better examination of the creature.

Fluttershy could see that it's skin was actually pretty pale and it was dressed it a black robe with white fur trim with a blue turtleneck underneath, two necklaces and fingerless gloves with wrappings. As it drew closer, Fluttershy's sense of smell told her that this was a male and now that she was looking at his face more closely, she could see that what she initially thought was his face was actually a white skull mask with a fur piece that covered his head, hair and back.

"So cool." Fluttershy was startled when one of the Crusaders, Scootaloo, whispered in awe and she looked down to see all three fillies staring wide eyed at the creature.

"Girls, how long have you been watching?" She asked.

"Roughly around when the second wolf was beat." Applebloom said. Fluttershy had no answer to that and instead turned back to the strange creature. By this point, he had stopped a few feet away and was staring at the group. Before anything could happen however, the sound of branches breaking and a thud heralded the arrival of a fifth pony.

Rainbow Dash first turned to her friend and the Crusaders and seeing they were unscathed turned to the threat. The pegasus flared her wings threateningly and shot a glare at the creature that from her point of view was a threat to her friends. Before either party could say a word, Rainbow rammed the creature, knocking it down then flew back to take up a defensive position.

"I don't know what the heck you are, but stay away from my friends!" The cyan pegasus snorted. The strange creature stared for a bit then quickly got up and disappeared into the forest. Feeling very satisfied with herself, Rainbow turned back to her damsels in distress.....only to find herself on the receiving end of Fluttershy's disapproving scowl. The cyan pegasus shifted uncomfortably.

"So uh...what'd I miss?"

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".....and that's when Rainbow Dash arrived and scared off this creature." Twilight said, recapping the story her friends had told her. After dropping off the Crusaders at their respective homes, Fluttershy and Dash went around picking up the rest of their friends so they could share what happened. After RD's rescue, Fluttershy refused to speak to her friend about what happened until they were all gather so she wouldn't have to repeat herself.

At Twilight's recap, Fluttershy nodded. "Although technically, Dash attacked the poor thing unprovoked." She said, sending a look at said pegasus.

"How was I supposed to know he saved you!" Rainbow burst out. "Besides, you don't know what he would've done if I hadn't been there. For all you know, he could've eaten you!"

"True, but I doubt he would've done anything." Fluttershy responded.

"How would you know that?" AJ asked curiously.

"I saw a squirrel follow him and jump up onto his shoulder." Fluttershy said simply. "Animals are excellent judges of character and always notice things a pony wouldn't see. And squirrels are especially skittish around other creatures so the fact that a squirrel has bonded with him like that must mean that he's very kind and gentle, maybe even a bit shy."

Fluttershy then shot a glare at Rainbow Dash. "And you attacked him!" She said as 'loudly' as she could. "He'd just saved us and you went and attacked him without a second thought! If you just waited a bit or asked before jumping to conclusions, you would've known that!"

"I agree." Twilight offered her two bits. "While I can see how the situation could be misinterpreted, asking about what was going on would've been a large boon. Even if he wasn't friendly, Fluttershy and the Crusaders could've had important information about the opponent. Charging in without knowing what you were up against could've ended with you getting seriously hurt."

"Okay fine! I messed up!" Rainbow exploded, her ears flat against her head. "I acted before thinking and hurt someone innocent! Happy!? Now can we please move on to something else?"

"Dash's got a point. Ain't no use in bucking a dead tree." AJ stepped. "Right now, we've got other things we need ta figure out."

"Yeah! Like where are we going to find guy?" Pinkie piped up. "I can't throw him a Welcome to Ponyville party if I don't know where the guest of honor is. And that's not counting the Thank You for Saving our Friends and the Sorry Dashie Jumped to Conclusions parties I'll have to throw. Actually, maybe I could combine all three into one big super party!"

"Pinkie Pie's right, in her own Pinkie way." Twilight agreed. "I personally would love to study this new creature."

"And I for one would like to thank this gentleman for saving my sister." Rarity announced and Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, me too." She said simply.

"I want to thank him too." Fluttershy said softly. "And make sure he's okay."

Rainbow sighed. "Yeah and I suppose I should apologize for how I acted. So how do we start?"

"Perhaps I maybe able to help." A new male voice made all the assembled mares jump and spin around towards the door. There standing casually in the entrance was a strange creature just like the one that Fluttershy described only he was taller and looked older. He wore a robe with yellow hemlines and his long green hair was tied back with an orange ribbon. His bangs were styled to cover the right side of his face and as they looked at him in shock, mirth twinkled in his left eye which was purple in color and matched his stud earrings.

As they all gawked at him, the stranger push himself up and approached slowly. "Hello, my name is Jea-ha." He introduced himself with a flourish and Rarity practically swooned. "Now tell me about this strange creature."

Author's Note:

I finally got one out! Woo hoo!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you're curious about the Flower incident, I'll tell you. When Bon Bon had the girls make candied flowers, she completely forgot that she hadn't restocked (yes people can forget things on accident. It happens).

As a result, the Crusaders decided to go get more flowers and since they didn't have the bits for flowers, they decided to go pick some themselves. Unfortunately not all the flowers they picked were 'healthy' for ponies. The result you can already guess. Nopony died of course, there were just a lot of sick ponies. Some avoided eating the flowers because they recognized the danger of course.

Anyways, that my story and I'm sticking to it. Again, I hope you're enjoying this story (or the original manga) as much as I do. Next chapter will be a crossover. This is a Displaced fic and I hope to crossover with a bunch of people in this story. If I manage to crossover with Gilgamesh, I'll be over the moon. Nudge nudge hint hint. Of course he'll have to wait till I get my token out.

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Nice job mate!

[Shadow Hero]

Nice chapter.