D&D crossover: Dragons sent to Equestria as punishment, turned into ponies for good measure.
Dear Upper Management of the Which Ever Reality This Lands In,
I am sad to inform you that you've involuntarily been volunteered to now house some of the most wicked and most powerful beings that our reality has to offer. I must offer my condolences as these charges will become your problem instead of ours.
We are not overly cruel as to send these monsters anywhere near their full power however, (mostly because we don't want them finding a way back) and have sent them in a form we feel they will do the least amount of trouble. As an added measure, we have also sent a handful to also help contain them in your reality and act as a safety net if necessary.
Again I must apologize for the inconveniences this act will bring and I hope you won't hold it against us.
Sincerely
A reality away from yours, and more specifically Archmagius Ehinera,
Jaarxithan growled as his consciousness returned to him. His entire body ached and tingled. It felt like he had fought a thunderstorm with all his might and lost. Like all his muscles tensed to the extremes by lightning and now he was feeling the aftermath of sore and nearly torn tendons and fibers and the left over tingle of an electric charge.
This feeling wasn't exactly new, he had fought a bronze dragon a century ago, it's ability to spit out lightning gave him a clear frame of reference, though the intensity of this pain was marginally more uncomfortable.
Was he ambushed? No, that wasn't possible, he had spent over a decade setting up spells and enchantments just to prevent that. And that wasn't to mention the contraptions spread about his layer and his loyal minions. He was no wyrmling, his great uncle had suffered a fate of not being overly cautious and had his heart removed in his sleep. Jaarxithan would not follow in the fools example. He would have been at least alert to the presence of foolhardy adventurers trying to take the hefty bounty on his head and his hoard.
So why was it that he couldn't remember anything? His head throbbed as if someone and bashed him with a mountain several times, his thoughts working hard to fight the pain.
Last thing he remembered was grilling his latest acquisition (roasted villager was always a treat,) and then blank. Nothing.
Jaarxithan struggled unto his hooves to stand upright and dignified. He was a red dragon after all, fearsome creature of fire and sky, he wasn't going to take this lying down just because of a little pain. He grunted again as he almost fell back down on shaky legs.
Okay, a lot of pain. Still, he needed to gather at least some information on his surroundings, he could be stuck in a ditch or captured by some unknown enemy. Anger swelled at the thought, and he struggled with more force to stand up on his hooves.
Hooves, that word again. His mind grew puzzled. Why did he keep thinking his magnificent claws were hooves, that be plain silly. He ventured to looked down, grumbling about how his head must be more jostled than previously thought.
Hooves. His eye's looked down and saw a pair of deep red, fur-covered, not-his-own-fearsome-and-majestic-claws, hooves.
His brain, unable to comprehend anything at the moment, went silent as his eyes began examining himself.
Hooves, front and back, no scales, just deep red fur, a tail of hair, a body of surprisingly muscular but devoid of any reptilian features, and a severe lack of wings.
Trembling, whether through his still aching body or pure shock, his eye's surveyed the room.
It was spacious, the floor neat and tidy, covered in white marble tiles. A large bath full of water sat neatly in the corner, the rim and faucet highly decorated with elegant designs. If Jaarxithan had been in his right mind, he might have considered it for his horde. The room also contained a large shelf with a smaller faucet, it also containing fine craftsmanship. The shelf was littered in what Jaarxithan considered to look like various potions and brews, labeled in a language he did not recognize. One last devise was a strange dip in the far corner of the hall, next to a roll of toilet paper. Jaarxithan had no idea what that was.
Overall, the room looked like a lavatory belonging to a noble or a King. This would have certainly put the red dragon on high alert, warning him of great danger considering his position if he could think. Instead, all this lazily passed through his mind and out the back exit. His mind could echo, so devoid of thought he was in his current state.
He walked on over to a wall, noting the last feature of the room. A full bodied mirror. He looked. He did not like what he saw.
In his place stood a horse. A deep red, black maned, stocky, horse, with enormous round eyes, a gaping mouth, roughly well defined and rectangular muzzle. Only thing that he recognized as his own was his eyes, his reptilian yellow eyes.
The next thing he did would have made him a laughing stock to all dragon kind outwardly, but everyone secretly would admit it was a completely logical and rational reaction, and they would have done it to given the circumstances, but would never, even under threat of torture, admit it.
He let out a cry that resembled a sound that a human adolescent female would make when in incredible distress.
Princess Celestia sat on her bed, engrossed in the latest national best seller: One flew over the Gryphon nest. She seldom got a chance to spend some alone time to catch-up on her reading, running a country tended to keep one quite busy, but when she did, she loved to have her quiet moments engrossed in a book.
It was a trait she shared with her student, Twilight Sparkle. She used to read to her when Twilight was a filly, the nostalgic memory made her give a short sigh. Twilight had recommended this novel to her, and Celestia was very eager to give herself something that would give her a chance to reconnect to Twilight after all her time spent in Ponyville. A good book fit the job description perfectly, without seeming toooooooooooo desperate. By Faust was she lonely.
Luna was busy with the night court, leaving so little time to spend with each other, especially when one slept mostly while the other was awake, and the guards weren't great conversationalists, to nervous or to stoic to give more than short answers to her attempts to start small talk between court duties and during paper work.
As she reached the end of the second chapter, the high pitched scream echoed around her, a sound the castle staff could here from the farthest corners of the enchanted architecture. Celestia barely managed to cover her ears with her hooves to protect her eardrums, later she had the castle physician make sure there wasn't any permanent damage.
Celestia turned alarmed to the source of the sound, her own royal restroom. Two guards burst into the room, on high alert. "Princess Celestia, are you alright? What made that noise, it sounded like a filly screaming bloody murder!"
Xia carefully trotted on her numb limbs across a vast open field. She had to be very careful, she had fallin over at least a dozen times since she had arrived in this reality, partially due to the numbing spell she had placed on herself to quell the pain of the transfer between reality and partially due the fact that she no longer had any digits. You'd be surprised how much a dragon relied on their toes and tail to keep balance with their massive bodies. The lack of which was sorely missed, she had a tail, no longer scaly, but long and flowing like her new mane.
Xia's new body had, how you say it, 'issues' the dragon was not prepared to deal with.
One, the hormones this body produced were massive, she had spent an hour after her arrival sobbing, followed by uncontrollable giddiness. She highly suspected that this body was going through puberty, and that filled her with dread. Dragon puberty was a nightmare, and going through that in a body that is flooded in worse hormones was going to be horrific.
Two, the new white mane on her head was ridiculously long, constantly getting in the way of her vision. The recent rainstorm made it worse, forcing her to dry it off. The current condition of her head could best be described as an enormous moth ball.
The last problem also came from the rainstorm, she was shivering still from the cold, a sneeze escaped her muzzle. This body was so fragile, a little water, and now she miserably shaking in her steps.
On her golden fur was a bag, strapped on to her body. The bag and it's contents thankfully made it through the violent transfer with minimal damage, one of the small miracles the Ancient Gold Dragon was allowed.
Her newly acquired horn glowed a shimmering pearl colored aura as she adjusted the bag that was made for a different shaped creature. The last thing Xia was thankful that she still had was magic.
She had arrived in this world as an unicorn. Magic was still available to her. She lost her wings, her strength, her armored body, her glistening beauty, and even her great age. But she still had magic, and she still had her wits.
Xia reached the top of a hill, another sneeze escaped her lips as she surveyed the area, relief washed through her.
In front of her was rolling fields full of apple trees, apple trees with fences around its borders, apple trees in rows that were most certainly not a natural formation.
She had a farmed field.
She galloped down hill, throwing her caution aside. The field meant farmers. Farmers were people, people who could direct her toward the her destination. Civilization.
Xia's numbed chilled legs buckled beneath her, sending her into a tumble down the hill. Grass and mud flew behind her as she traveled faster and faster down the hill beyond her control. Her body slammed into a post, bringing her to a complete stop.
Xia laid still for a good while, her head spinning considerably, her body covered in mud and grass. The numbing spell was still in effect so she did not feel the full force, just the shock of the event held her down.
A bright red head of a horse popped up in her view, the owner of said head standing over the jostled dragon turned mare. The horse had a short main that was colored similar to straw and had a blade of grass in it's mouth.
It spoke in deep voice, which was distinctly male. "You O.K. Miss?"
Xia was surprised. He spoke Common? Xia was prepared to cast a spell to understand tongues, the ability to communicate would be an invaluable skill, but she was not expecting to be able to understand what the people of this reality said, what were the chances they had developed a language similar what was in her reality, never mind an exact copy.
The Red stallion had a look of concern, Xia's failure to respond was taken as a sign that she was not 'O' 'K'. What ever that meant.
He lifted his head and shouted, "AJ!"
More abbreviations.
After about a minute, a new head appeared above her, this one wearing a hat and was orange. Judging by their similar freckles, Xia had a hunch they might be siblings. "Woah Mac, what in tarnation happened here? Are ya ok, young lady?"
Young lady? I'm 893 years old.
What came out of Xia's mouth was more like a "Guyaaaah." Apparently she hit her head much harder then she thought.
The orange one was swift to react. "Mac! We need ta get her some medical help! Movin' her might do more harm than good, I need ya to watch her while I go and fetch a doctor."
"Eeyup." Was the big one's only response. The orange one hurried off.
Xia stared at the big red stallion and a thought crossed her mind that instantly confused her. She found this creature... attractive?
'Dammed hormones!' Her head screamed in rebuke.
'I'm going to beat Ehinera, I'm being turned into an overly emotional adolescence in heat!'
Three figures stood over body that laid limp on the dirt floor of the tunneled cavern. Light was near none existent this deep in a cavern, but the three were creatures known as Diamond Dogs, a race that was designed to live deep in the earth, with strong upper bodies and large forearms and paws for digging through solid rock and clay, a short snouted head filled with features for a life in the dirt.
They're ears were hypersensitive, to take in the surrounding vibrations underground so that when they dig they don't bump into each other, an nose for minerals of the earth, and eyes that could see with the faintest traces of light. Their jaws and teeth were strong enough to eat even diamonds, as jewels were their main form of nourishment. And oh, how do they love jewels.
One distinct probable though that the Diamond Dog race had begun to experience was an extreme case of laziness. They loved to eat jewels, it was their life goal to eat the biggest ones they could find, but it was so much work.
One of the more clever specimens of the breed came up with a solution to their dilemma. While Diamond Dogs were lazy, their above ground neighbors were not, ponies made great workers, so all they had to do was convince them to do the work for the dogs. Unfortunately for the ponies, 'convince' in Diamond Dog meant to brutally kidnap said race and force them through threats with large pointed sticks to do what they want.
While Diamond Dogs were not a very clever race, they were also not stupid, ponies tend to get mad when a bunch of them go missing, and that causes them to gang up. Diamond Dogs were strong, but there were many, many more ponies. So they took very few, a couple here and there, few enough to hide away, and far away enough keep suspicion from the main den.
So what was puzzling to these three Diamond Dogs, was why there was just a lone pony on the floor this far below ground. One they didn't bring.
"It trap." grunted the smallest of the three, it eyeing the unconscious pony suspiciously.
"How be trap? No other pony around. Maybe wandered?" The middle one suggested.
"Don't matter." The biggest and the leader of this small pack said. "Boss ordered us to get pony. We found pony. We take pony, Boss be happy. Maybe extra jewels for being quick." The big one drooled.
The middle one like this idea as well, as evident by it's tail starting to wag. The smaller one was not convinced.
"Not know where come from. I smell trouble." That got the other two's attention. The smallest ones' name was Sniff, and when his nose smelled trouble, he was usually right.
The big one, Named, Gruff. "Your nose wrong, where trouble be? It one pony."
In the shadows, watching the three stood quietly another figure, this one was also a pony, like the one that was now being picked up and being carried away by the ugly dog/troll thing.
Her coat was luxurious, even covered in dirt, a brass like color shown, her mane and tale had a similar color that turned to a reddish rust like color at the end. Her eyes, unlike other ponies, were her strangest feature, reptilian in design, and able to see in the piercing darkness.
Bassia cursed as Delepax started to be carried off. Her new body was small and weak, she was not sure what she could do to help the young Bronze Dragon turned pony. These creatures were obviously designed to be big, dense, and strong. Her unfamiliar form still tingled and ached from the reality transfer and transformation that went with it.
Her old body, strong and armored in Brass colored scales, could have easily scared away these creatures with just her presence. But now she was a small horse, and not even her magic worked, at least not like she wanted it to. She could still feel it, deep inside her, but it's purpose had changed to something foreign, new function she did not yet understand.
She would just have to wait for her chance, these creatures seemed slow witted, and far to focused on their find to notice her presence.
She followed them down the tunnel. Even with her severe disadvantage, she was still a dragon, and Delepax was still her friend, she was not going to just abandon him, not just yet.
Water splashed on Delepax. "Pony wake! No sleep!" rang in his ear.
The cold forced consciousness on the previously prone dragon-turned-pony. His body ached and his head rang as he got up on his legs, his mind trying to figure out what was going on, but processing rather groggily due to his sudden changes in environment.
Gruff, pleased the pony was awake, walked off to go join his pack, moving a large boulder to the entrance of this particular section of the cavern back in place to prevent passage out.
Delepax shook his newly acquired mane, it was a similar color to his mane coat, a polished bronze, except for the strips of sea green and blue decorating his short mane and tail.
"Awake it seems, you were beginning to worry me." A familiar voice whispered in the shadow to his ear.
"Bassia?" He spoke in surprise
"Quiet, they have not caught me yet and I don't think it would be very helpful to get caught before I can figure a way to get us out."
Delepax looked around, still in a state of confusion. Before him were ponies, all shapes, color, sizes and of various ages. Most were laying on the ground, some were walking about, talking and talking care of the older ones that were aching or the younger ones that couldn't take care of themselves. The air was foul, and it was not hard to figure out where the stench came from. The one major thing these ponies had in common was they all had a sullen face, especially when they looked at the newcomer, they knew what he would be going through very soon, just as they will had been forced day after day to do. Labor in the dark mines.
His eyes narrowed, his anger began to boil. "Slaves, tis is a slaver den." he hissed.
"Before you do something heroic and dangerous, I suggest you look at yourself."
He took his friends advice and finally examined his condition, the memory of why he was here, in this world, looking at strange creatures that resembled horses returned to him. He was now one of those horses. That complicated things.
"Quick, do you still have your magic?"
Delepax concentrated, he searched with in him for the spark of magic, sweat grew on his brow, which was strange unto itself, he never sweated before.
"Nay."
Brassia cursed again for the second time since she had arrived. "This is going to be tricky."
Delepax nodded, as he started testing out his new body. The range of motion in his limbs was surprising, much more than a horses, on par with a humans limbs for the matter. The muscles on this body were sufficiently strong for it's size, perhaps more so. He might have to fight his way out.
"Doth thine plan include the rest of the slaves?"
Brassia grimaced "I'm not sure we can save them in our current condition. It might be best just to escape and come back with local authorities backing our hides. I counted at least 9 of those doglike trolls, and there may be more in the cavern, I was to busy following the ones that took you in."
Delepax grunted "Unacceptable, we shall not leave these... people to suffer much longer."
Brassia grunted at her young friends brashness. The bronze dragon was barely over 100, incredibly young by dragon standards, he still hadn't learn the common form of speech yet, relying on an outdated version of the common tongue.
Brassia was about to argue back, when the stone rolled away, opening the entrance into the small cavern. The three dogs that had taken Delepax stepped into the room, all three armed this time with spears. They had a new pony to break in.
"Pony come with me. Time to learn work."
Delepax growled, "And if I do not heed thy commands?"
Brassia held her breath as she hid in the shadows of the cavern and thought loudly at her friend. 'Fool, just play along, your in no condition to fight back!'
Gruff was confused by the ponies speech, he never heard most of those words before. He did know the pony was talking back though. He grinned, the ponies weren't aloud to talk back.
Gruff swung the blunt end of the spear against Delepax's head, a sharp crack echoed in the cave, and all the ther ponies looked away and winced.
To Gruff's surprise, the pony didn't start crying like they normally do, even the fresh ones at least fell down and shouted in pain when he did that. Not this pony.
Delepax took the blow and stood standing, the sharp pain against his skull hurt, but his anger and pride were far to large to be taken out by one blow. His anger grew and flared in his eyes as he locked them on the dogs face, the ferocity shown threw his eyes that Gruff had never seen before.
He took a step back in surprise, but quickly regained his composure when he saw the other two dogs look at him, he could not afford to show weakness.
"Tough pony will OBEY!" Gruff growled, and again tried to strike the pony with all his might.
Enough was enough as they say, and the dragon could not suffer this indignity no longer. He was to be no one's slave! He was a dragon, and he would not let this grave offense go unpunished.
Delepax ducked under the blow and charged forward with a roar, he might not have had his original size and strength, but he still had his indomitable will and a savagery known only to those who had faced a dragon before.
Gruff could not defend against what happened next, he was far to surprise that the pony dodged his blow and was rushing him. Delepax struck at the dogs legs in their joints, bones could be heard audibly snapping. While Diamond Dogs had a strong upper body, their lower body was tiny in comparison, the upper body having to help support the whole, a perfect spot to strike first.
Gruff yelped in incredible pain, and fell forward onto his hands. Delepax then did the simplest thing he could do in that situation, he wrapped his hooves around the creatures neck and with a great roar, snapped it's neck.
The other two dogs were stunned by this turn of events, the events happened so fast it seemed almost like a split second as they watched their pack mate go slump.
They slowly gained their senses and prepared their spears, but were to slow as Delepax did not give them a second to relax and had picked up Gruff's spear with his mouth as it fell from his hand and skewered a second dog through it's neck.
The third guard, finally ready to act was not going to be taken easily, and in mad grief went to strike at the pony as his spear was jammed into his compatriot.
This blow would have been fatal. Delepax was not used to having no scales to act as natural armor, and his muscle memory of the battles he had told him to deflect the spear with the scales off his wings, his reflex acting before his brain reminded him he no longer had such limbs or armor. It would have pierced his side and heart, if not for Bassia jumping on the diamond dogs back and wrapping her hooves around it's throat in an effort to choke it out.
Brassia had cursed when his friend went into the offensive, she was hoping to avoid any battles on their way out, fighting back could have cost him valuable strength, or worse they would take it out on the other ponies as punishment, especially if they escaped without them.
She had she snuck behind the three, looking for an opportunity and took it the instant she saw that Delepax was about to be placed on the wrong end of a spear.
Her soft hooves wrapped tightly around the dogs throat as tightly as she could. Unlike Delepax, her new body wasn't as muscularly built, instead, she found her body rather soft, including her hooves, which was rather convenient for sneaking around as they made little sound, however they were terrible for combat.
She squeezed as tightly as she could as the creature struggled and shook, trying to get her off, while also defending against Delepax as he had grabbed the other spear, abandoning the lodged one in order to help his comrade out.
The struggle went on for several intense moments, until the dog finally fell unconscious, slumping to the floor as Bassia let out a sigh of relief.
Delepax, covered in dog blood and dirt then turned to the ponies and shouted. "Victory be ours! Freedom is our right! Join me brethren and together we can drive these fowl beings to the depths of hell and take back thine own freedom!"
Now, to the ponies in the cavern, they had just witness a feral mare just brutally slaughter two guards and help choke out a third. They were absolutely terrified, terrified of this new and foreign dangerous pony covered in blood, and terrified of what the diamond dogs would do to them now that 2 two of there own had been slain.
Delepax was confused, why did they not take arms under his banner, now it was time to strike while his enemy was un-aware. Bassia put her hoof on her friends shoulder. "Guard the entrance, I'll take care of this."
The mare walked to the group and called out to the group, in a voice that sounded like honey, yet was filled with confidence that thy needed. "Please, do not be afraid! We have come to rescue you, but we cannot rescue those who aren't prepared to fight for their freedom! Now is the time to fight for your freedom, while the enemy is caught off guard. IF we work together and act as one, they cannot stop us!"
One from the group stepped up, trembling and answered, "But we are scared, they have spears, and now that you have killed one of them, they are going to be angry..."
Bassia answered back, "If you lack courage, draw it from Delepax, the warrior who stands before you. He will fight for you and in watching him, you can draw courage for he has plenty to spare. And if fear will drive you, think of this, you have old and young in your group, it is the job of the able bodied to protect those who can't defend themselves, and who do you think these cowards that held you captive will go after first?"
"Y-you!" Stammered another, "You brought this upon us, they wouldn't have any reason to hurt us if you two hadn't attacked them!"
"You are correct, and we take full responsibility, my friend could not sit idly by and watch you suffer, and neither can I. Join us, and you can have your freedom, help us drive these beasts off, for if we all don't work together, we will surely fall."
The stallion shouted astonished. "You left us no choice."
Bassia shook her head. "No, I left you a choice, just not a pleasant one. Follow us and help take back your freedom, or stay here and dam yourselves to the wrath of your masters."
A buzzing quiet argument broke out in the group, but it ended quickly enough with the answer Bassia knew they give.
"We have no other option to escape, and we probably won't ever get another chance to. For better or worse, our lot is stuck with you mares."
